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Are Being Made for Gordon; Senate Confirmation Hearings for Supreme Court Nominee Brett Kavanaugh; What's At Stake For Trump Administration. Aired 5:30-6a ET

Aired September 4, 2018 - 05:30   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


[05:30:00]

DAVE BRIGGS, CNN HOST: Officials in Biloxi have ordered the evacuation of the city's four harbors and marinas. People along the coast turning to sand bags and other measures to keep their boats and their property safe.

CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN HOST: In New Orleans, the mayor has declared a voluntary evacuation for areas outside the city's levee system. New Orleans City Hall now closed to non-essential personnel. Gordon has already lashed South Florida with rain and tropical storm force winds and many schools from Florida to Louisiana are closed or closing early. Meteorologist Pedram Javaheri joining us live in the CNN weather center.

PEDRAM JAVAHERI, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Hey good morning guys. So we are watching what's happening with Gordon here, a very disorganized storm system right now with 65-mile-an-hour winds. But what we're watching carefully is this forward progression west-northwest at 17 miles per hour. That's a key ingredient with this feature here because when you take a look, storms that move very quickly, historically speaking, bring very little rainfall. That is fantastic for this region that it's headed in the direction of but when storms move slowly like Harvey at 5, 6, 7 miles an hour, they have the potential to produce a 15 to 20 or more inches of rainfall across the region.

Now we know the conditions across the Gulf of Mexico are absolutely conducive for further development; 80 plus degree temperatures in the ocean there and when you take a look at the system is slated to, very gradual strengthening over the next 12 or so hours over the water here. And of course, if it were to remain over water for actually another day, you would see this potentially strengthen even further up to a category two or category three.

The good news with this is it will have little time over the waters and the high pressure that's further toward the (inaudible) is directly towards portions of Mississippi. That is where we expect it to make landfall across Gulfport and into Biloxi, Mississippi, between 7:00 p.m. to 9 p.m. this afternoon and tonight yet moving in with Category One potentially at that point with 75-mile-an-hour winds as it moves to shore this evening. Guys. BRIGGS: All right, Pedram, thank you. Senate confirmation hearings for Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh. Democrats plan to target four areas portraying Kavanaugh as misleading and evasive. A senior Democratic source tells us they will take aim at Kavanaugh's candor painting him as untruthful. They'll highlight his skepticism of the affordable care act and pre-existing conditions protections. Democrats will review his views on abortion and Roe v. Wade. They will probe his opinions on executive power and investigations of sitting president.

ROMANS: On the eve of the hearing, the Senate Judiciary Committee received an additional 42,000 confidential pages on Kavanaugh's time in the George W. Bush White House. Democrats complain they can't possible evaluate all those documents in time, but Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley claims his staff has already done it. CNN's Ariane de Vogue has a preview of the confirmation panel ahead.

ARIANE DE VOGUE, CNN SUPREME COURT CORRESPONDENT: Christine, Dave, expect today's confirmation hearing to be bitter. Brett Kavanaugh is up for the seat of Justice Anthony Kennedy. Kennedy was the swing vote on so many hot-button social issues: abortion, affirmative action, LGBT rights. Kavanaugh is not only more conservative, then Kennedy, but younger. He is poised to move the Supreme Court to the right for decades to come. Democrats have several lines of attack. They will press him hard on his views.

They say they have been denied thousands of documents from his days serving in the Bush White House and citing his views of a sitting president should not be indicted. They want Kavanaugh to pledge to recues himself if any of the current investigations concerning President Trump make it to the Supreme Court. Republicans, on the other hand feel confident he will be confirmed. Christine and Dave.

ROMANS: Joining us this morning is CNN Political Analyst Julian Zelizer, historian and professor at Princeton University. Nice to see you this morning.

JULIAN ZELIZER, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST AND PROFESSOR: Good morning.

BRIGGS: Good morning.

ROMANS: This is legacy-making stuff here. I mean we hear about these four points from Democrats how they're going to try to nail him on the four points. But, he's going to be confirmed, right? This is a legacy making endeavor here.

ZELIZER: This is a transformative moment from the Trump Presidency. You take a swing vote, you turn it right and this will set the court on a conservative legal path for decades to come. So this is really a key point in American history not just the Trump Presidency.

BRIGGS: Some comparing it to when Sandra Day O'Connor was replaced by Samuel Alito will dramatically reshape the direction of the court. But you say this is also on a column on CNN.com the beginning of the midterms. We're going to see a couple of Democrats, in my estimation, vote for Kavenaugh, somewhere between three and five that have to run in red states Senators. Why is this the beginning of the midterms? How is it a political issue moving forward beyond confirmation?

ZELIZER: Well even if the Democrats lose the pick, the hearings are a way to tell their voters, and even independent voters what's at stake with the Trump Presidency and what's at stake without having some kind of check and balance. The Supreme Court pick is as important as anything else for many Democrats...

ROMANS: Sure.

ZELIZER: ...and for Republicans as well. It's a way for Republicans to say to Republicans who don't love President Trump, this is what you get in exchange for having united government. So both parties will highlight what's at stake here.

ROMANS: I don't suspect we will hear from him until this afternoon, although this starts this morning with these - with these - right and this is what "The USA Today" says in an editorial, "Senators often waste valuable time making speeches rather than

[05:35:00]

Questioning nominees. Skip the speeches this time. Senators should ask probing questions to find out whether the nominee falls within the broad judicial mainstream and has a healthy respect for court precedence. I don't think anybody is going to skip any speeches this morning.

ZELIZER: No, I think everyone is going to be making speeches and I don't think the nominee is going to say much because that is the reality of how these hearings work. You say as little as possible and you are evasive. It is more about the Senators than the nominee at this point.

ROMANS: And the midterms.

ZELIZER: And midterms. Exactly.

BRIGGS: I, for one, would not be surprised if a Trump tweet comes up during these confirmations. A Trump tweet from yesterday and we shouldn't normalize this one. This is about Jeff Sessions. This is going after his A.G. which he has done that for the better part of his entire presidency. Two long-running Obama-era investigations of two very popular Republican Congress were brought to a well-publicized charge just ahead of the midterms by the Jeff Sessions Justice Department. Two easy wins in doubt because there is not enough time. Good job, Jeff.

So the president says basically that Jeff Sessions Justice Department should overlook crimes by republicans because they are going to win the elections. There were statements from Republicans. Ben Sasse says the U.S. is not some Banana Republic with a two-tiered system of justice. Paul Ryan also issued a statement from his spokesperson. .

ROMANS: By the way, I don't think there were Obama-era investigations either. I think that is incorrect.

BRIGGS: No there were not. 2017 is when the Chris Collins and we know both were in fact since he took over but the larger point is what he is doing here; can this be ignored by Republican Senators and Congressmen?

ZELIZER: Not if they're in favor of law and order. Can they ignore it? Yes, but if they are serious about being a party that takes the law seriously and doesn't want a president interfering in investigations, it is hard for them not to say anything at this point. These tweets matter. These are his public statements. These are his addresses on television we used to see when we were younger. And so for Senators to sit by in the Republican Party, they essentially concede that they agree with the president and that's a big statement.

BRIGGS: They'll have the distraction of the Kavanaugh hearings when they come back...

ZELIZER: Yes.

BRIGGS: ... but it will certainly be brought up.

ROMANS: Just the idea that the law enforcer in chief, the President of the United States, is saying this about the Justice Department and about two investigations -- by the way, they are at this point indictments, have not been found guilty yet, right? Maybe will be found guilty. But subverting the law - that's subverting the law isn't it?

BRIGGS: For politics, for political reasons.

ROMANS: Right.

ZELIZER: Right, but what he is doing in this tweet, he has attacked Sessions many times for the investigation and witch hunt, et cetera. Here he is warning Republicans that Sessions is almost the fox in the hen house and that he's going after the GOP and he's a risk to the party. So this is President Trump playing to that partisan base that he depends on, but this time, at the expense of being the president who will support the law no matter where it goes.

BRIGGS: At a time that should be so good for him with the Kavanaugh hearings set to begin. Julian Zelizer, good to see you my friend.

ROMANS: All right. Thanks Julian, nice to see you.

ZELIZER: Thank you.

ROMANS: All right, New Yorker - "The New Yorker" magazine has disinvited Steve Bannon as the headliner of its annual festival and the former White House Chief Strategist does not like it. Editor in Chief David Remnick recinded Bannon's invitation after several big- name participants threatened to boycott the event. Remnick was preparing to interview Bannon at the festival but after "The New Yorker" after "The New York Times" rather revealed Bannon's participation, celebrities like Jim Carey, Patton Oswalt, Judd Apatow, threatened to pull out. Apatow tweeting, "I will not take part in an event that normalizes hate."

BRIGGS: In a letter to "The New Yorker" staff, Remnick says he will interview Bannon in a more traditional journalistic setting in the future if the opportunity presents itself. In a statement Bannon says he accepted "The New Yorker's" invitation so he could face off against one of the most fearless journalists of his generation. He goes on to say in what I would call a defining moment, David Remnick showed he was gutless when confronted by the howling online mob.

ROMANS: All right. Some breaking news out of Syria this morning, air strikes launched on U.S. backed rebels just hours after the president warned adversaries who would be doing that would be a grave mistake. We're going to go live to the Middle East.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[05:35:00]

Questioning nominees. Skip the speeches this time. Senators should ask probing questions to find out whether the nominee falls within the broad judicial mainstream and has a healthy respect for court precedence. I don't think anybody is going to skip any speeches this morning.

ZELIZER: No, I think everyone is going to be making speeches and I don't think the nominee is going to say much because that is the reality of how these hearings work. You say as little as possible and you are evasive. It is more about the Senators than the nominee at this point.

ROMANS: And the midterms.

ZELIZER: And midterms. Exactly.

BRIGGS: I, for one, would not be surprised if a Trump tweet comes up during these confirmations. A Trump tweet from yesterday and we shouldn't normalize this one. This is about Jeff Sessions. This is going after his A.G. which he has done that for the better part of his entire presidency. Two long-running Obama-era investigations of two very popular Republican Congress were brought to a well-publicized charge just ahead of the midterms by the Jeff Sessions Justice Department. Two easy wins in doubt because there is not enough time. Good job, Jeff.

So the president says basically that Jeff Sessions Justice Department should overlook crimes by republicans because they are going to win the elections. There were statements from Republicans. Ben Sasse says the U.S. is not some Banana Republic with a two-tiered system of justice. Paul Ryan also issued a statement from his spokesperson. . ROMANS: By the way, I don't think there were Obama-era investigations

either. I think that is incorrect.

BRIGGS: No there were not. 2017 is when the Chris Collins and we know both were in fact since he took over but the larger point is what he is doing here; can this be ignored by Republican Senators and Congressmen?

ZELIZER: Not if they're in favor of law and order. Can they ignore it? Yes, but if they are serious about being a party that takes the law seriously and doesn't want a president interfering in investigations, it is hard for them not to say anything at this point. These tweets matter. These are his public statements. These are his addresses on television we used to see when we were younger. And so for Senators to sit by in the Republican Party, they essentially concede that they agree with the president and that's a big statement.

BRIGGS: They'll have the distraction of the Kavanaugh hearings when they come back...

ZELIZER: Yes.

BRIGGS: ... but it will certainly be brought up.

ROMANS: Just the idea that the law enforcer in chief, the President of the United States, is saying this about the Justice Department and about two investigations -- by the way, they are at this point indictments, have not been found guilty yet, right? Maybe will be found guilty. But subverting the law - that's subverting the law isn't it?

BRIGGS: For politics, for political reasons.

ROMANS: Right.

ZELIZER: Right, but what he is doing in this tweet, he has attacked Sessions many times for the investigation and witch hunt, et cetera. Here he is warning Republicans that Sessions is almost the fox in the hen house and that he's going after the GOP and he's a risk to the party. So this is President Trump playing to that partisan base that he depends on, but this time, at the expense of being the president who will support the law no matter where it goes.

BRIGGS: At a time that should be so good for him with the Kavanaugh hearings set to begin. Julian Zelizer, good to see you my friend.

ROMANS: All right. Thanks Julian, nice to see you.

ZELIZER: Thank you.

ROMANS: All right, New Yorker - "The New Yorker" magazine has disinvited Steve Bannon as the headliner of its annual festival and the former White House Chief Strategist does not like it. Editor in Chief David Remnick recinded Bannon's invitation after several big- name participants threatened to boycott the event. Remnick was preparing to interview Bannon at the festival but after "The New Yorker" after "The New York Times" rather revealed Bannon's participation, celebrities like Jim Carey, Patton Oswalt, Judd Apatow, threatened to pull out. Apatow tweeting, "I will not take part in an event that normalizes hate."

BRIGGS: In a letter to "The New Yorker" staff, Remnick says he will interview Bannon in a more traditional journalistic setting in the future if the opportunity presents itself. In a statement Bannon says he accepted "The New Yorker's" invitation so he could face off against one of the most fearless journalists of his generation. He goes on to say in what I would call a defining moment, David Remnick showed he was gutless when confronted by the howling online mob.

ROMANS: All right. Some breaking news out of Syria this morning, air strikes launched on U.S. backed rebels just hours after the president warned adversaries who would be doing that would be a grave mistake. We're going to go live to the Middle East.

[05:40:00] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BRIGGS: All right, some breaking news at 5:43 Eastern time. Airstrikes hitting the western side of the last rebel held stronghold in Syria. No media reports of casualties. A local media activist group blames the airstrikes on Russian fighter jets.

The airstrikes follow a warning from President Trump to the Assad regime and it's allies, Russia and Iran, against attacking that stronghold Idlib province. The president calling the prospect a grave humanitarian mistake.

Jomana Karadsheh, live in Istanbul with the latest. Jomana, good morning.

JOMANA KARADSHEH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning Dave. As you mentioned, the past hour or so, all positioned activist in Idlib province are reporting more than a dozen airstrikes, they say on the western side of Idlib province, they say was carried out by the Russians.

There are no reports of casualties at this point. Now, to put this into context, over recent weeks there has been this intensification and an increase in airstrikes targeting Idlib by the Russians and the Syrian regime according to activists on the ground there.

Now, the concern, of course, is the timing of these airstrikes coming, as you mentioned, after that warning from President Trump in that tweet, but also after the statement we heard, for example, yesterday from the Iranian Foreign Minister, Javad Zarif, saying that the terrorist groups in Idlib must be cleared out. That this province must be returned to the Syrian people, as he put it. This is, of course, similar rhetoric to what we've heard from the Russians also in recent days saying that the terrorist groups in Idlib must be cleared out.

[05:45:00]

That this province must be returned to the Syrian people, as he put it. This is, of course, similar rhetoric to what we've heard from the Russians also in recent days, all indicating that an offensive by the Syrian regime, backed by its Russian and Iranian allies to recapture this last province that is under rebel control.

Seems to be imminent at this point and the Russians and the Iranians saying that this is an operation to after terrorists, of course that's a term that the regime and it's allies have used to describe rebel groups and there are a few thousand hard core Jihada from Al-Qaeda and other groups in Idlib, but the concern here is for more than three million civilians, over a million of them already displaced from other parts of Syria recaptured by the regime, who are now facing this looming offensive, the United Nations and other agencies, Dave, are warning could be a blood bath.

BRIGGS: OK, stay on this for us. Jomana Karadsheh, live for us in Istanbul this morning. Thanks.

ROMANS: All right, we are getting our first look inside Brazil's 200- year-old national museum after an inferno gutted it. This drone video -- drone footage shows that a shell of the museum remains. Priceless artifacts spanning 11,000 years went up in flames. Images on the ground show ancient artifacts simply ash.

Some 20 million pieces of science history and culture may have been destroyed. Police used tear gas to disperse angry crowds who tried to force their way inside the incinerated building to see what was left. No cause has been announced, but museum officials have complained about government funding cuts and inadequate maintenance.

BRIGGS: An outcry around the world after Myanmar sentences two journalist from Reuters to seven years in prison. Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe OO, investigating a massacre of Rohingya Muslims, a Myanmar court ruling they broke the countries official secrets act. Now the U.N. High Commissioner for human rights says the ruling forces journalists to make choice to either self-sensor or risk prosecution.

The British ambassador to Myanmar speaking on behalf of the E.U says, the verdict has struck a hammer blow to the rule of law and U.N. ambassador, Nikki Haley, said it is the responsibility of a free press to hold leaders accountable in a conviction as a stain on the Burmese government.

ROMANS; All right, new data, about 10 minutes away, John Berman joins us this morning joins us this morning, and if I'm not mistaken, you're going to be talking to the CEO, right, of Reuters? Executive editor of Reuters about this.

These two men were invited to meetings with officials, then, these reporters, and then they were handed documents and then arrested for holding those documents. I mean, supporters of these two men say it was a complete setup.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN HOST: Yes, look, we're talking to Stephen Adler who is the executive -- the editor-in-chief of Reuters and by all accounts and by the evidence that we have seen, this was a setup. This was a complete setup.

This entire trial was a sham to begin with, let alone the fact that these two journalists were doing their job trying to shine a spotlight on the atrocities against the Rohingya, in the north of that country.

Where's Aung San Suu Kyi? You know, she's a Nobel Peace Prize winner who is saying she runs the government there. She has been silent on this, does this taint her legacy. We'll go into all of that.

Look, we're watching the hurricane or tropical storm Gordon, which appears it will be a hurricane by tonight as it strengthens and also speeds up. Brett Kavanaugh headed before the Senate Judiciary Committee in just a few hours and then this.

What does the president think about justice being apolitical and impartial? Apparently not very much. Not very much, at all. He's criticizing this federal investigation, in two federal investigations into two Republican members of Congress. Why? Because, it could hurt chances for Republicans to maintain those seats.

We have Republican Senator, John Kennedy, joining us. He's on the Judiciary Committee. What does he think of all this? That's all ahead, friends.

ROMANS: All right, John Berman, nice to see you.

BRIGGS: All right, J.B., thanks.

ROMANS: All right, investors are returning from a long weekend to the beginning of a new trading month and while the bull market is now the longest ever after a strong performance this summer, September is historically challenging for investors.

Since 1950 the S&P 500 has a half a percent on average in September, the biggest average decline of any month, but it's just an average. Last year the S&P gained in September. Still, there are some challenges investors face ahead.

And trade disputes, will Canada join the new NAFTA deal? Still questions surrounding China and the E.U. The labor market is tightening, can companies find workers and will wages finally surpass three percent annual growth, we'll get a look at that on Friday with an August jobs report.

Finally, the Fed, investors forecast a rate hike later this month. That in the face of President Trump's criticisms of Fed Chief, Jerome Powell, who he appointed, by the way, saying the Fed should be giving him more help. So there you go.

Look, near record highs for stocks, a lot ahead in September, kind of historic month September usually is. So, we'll see where we go.

BRIGGS: They need to get NAFTA done. Ahead, believe in something even if it means sacrificing everything. Nike commemorating an iconic ad campaign with some powerful words from Colin Kaepernick.

[05:50:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BRIGGS: Two days in the NFL season and Nike taking a very public stand on the national anthem debate in the NFL, making Colin Kaepernick one of the faces of a new ad campaign commemorating the 30th anniversary of its iconic Just Do It slogan. The former 49ers quarterback tweeting out a photo from the campaign with a caption that reads, "Believe in something. Even if it means sacrificing everything". Nike has sponsored Kaepernick since 2011.

ROMANS: He has not played since the 2016 season, the year he began kneeling during the national anthem to raise awareness about police brutality. Kaepernick alleges the league is conspiring to -- to keep him out because of those protests. The protests have divided the league, pitting the president of the United States and the conservative white owner base against the NFL's mostly African American players. All right, it is primary day in Massachusetts.

[05:55:00]

One of the closely watched races has two Democrats vying for the seat in Massachusetts' seventh congressional district. Boston City Councilwoman Ayanna Pressley is running against 10 term incumbent Michael Capuano. Pressley trying to capitalize on insurgent wins from the progressive wing of the Democratic party. We get more this morning from CNN's Miguel Marquez.

MIGUEL MARQUEZ, NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT, CNN: Christine, Dave, election here in Boston and a lot of people across the country will be watching because of -- of an -- bit of an insurgency from the left. Long time congressman Michael Capuano, he's been here for 20 years, 10 terms in a very deeply blue district in the part of the area that he's represented here was actually represented by JFK way back when.

Ayanna Pressley. She's a council person herein Boston and she's making a run sort of as left (ph), even though she's been involved in Democratic politics and doesn't quite fit that insurgent candidate. She's -- she's an African-American, the first African-American female elected to the Boston city council. She's trying to capitalize on some of that energy, that far left energy and we caught up with both candidates in their last full day of campaigning.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

AYANNA PRESSLEY, (D) PRIMARY CANDIDATE, MASSACHUSETTS'S 7TH DISTRICT: I do believe that there is a paradigm shift that is occurring. And there are winds of change that are afoot.

REP. MICHAEL CAPUANO (D), PRIMARY CANDIDATE, MASSACHUSETTS'S 7TH DISTRICT: The Democratic party -- like all parties, the Democratic party is no different -- we always have the issues internally. That's what families do. It's always a struggle for the hearts and minds and the -- and the soul of the party.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MARQUEZ: The polls all the way along in this have shown the incumbent, Michael Capuano up by at least 10 points but no one's taking anything for granted here. It is still a huge X factor as to whether or not Pressley can turn out those sort of disparate communities, people that don't often vote here, African Americans, other minority groups. This is a majority-minority district. Nearly 60 percent of the

district here is non-white and she's counting on that but it is not clear that she can get out enough of the votes. Dave, Christine.

BRIGGS: All right, Miguel, thanks. Torrential rains causing travel headaches at O'Hare International Airport in Chicago. Nearly 500 flights canceled on Labor Say with delays stretching into the night. Authorities dealing with heavy flooding in the terminal and directly outside the airport on I-190. Dozens of flights into O'Hare already canceled today.

ROMANS: Aretha Franklin's family says the message from the pastor who eulogized the queen of soul last week was offensive and distasteful. Reverend Jasper Williams was criticized for a political address. It described children in homes without a father as abortion after birth and said black lives do not matter unless blacks stop killing each other.

The late singer's nephew says he spoke for 50 minutes and at no time did he properly eulogize her, adding he used the platform to push his negative agenda, which the family does not agree with.

BRIGGS: Roger Federer's out at the U.S. Open, beaten in the round of 16 beaten by an unseated Aussie, John Millman. The second seated (ph) Federer definitely off his game, double faulting 10 times, failing to convert on a trio of set points. Won't get any easier now for John Millman. His next opponent, the number six seed (ph) and 13-time major champ, Novak Djokovic in the quarters. It has been a hot tournament there at the Open and that heat issue will continue today.

It is wicked humid --

(CROSSTALK)

ROMANS: Yes. Yes. It sure is. All right, that's for us. Thanks for joining us. I'm Christine Romans.

BRIGGS: I'm Dave Briggs. NEW DAY starts right now. See you tomorrow.