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Jared Kushner, President Trump's Son-In-Law And Senior Adviser Has Used A Private Email Account; Stunning Public Showdown Between The NFL And President Trump; Gunman Opened Fire On Church Goers Today Who Were Leaving A Service Out Of Tennessee; White House Just Unveiled New Tailored Restrictions On Travelers From Certain Countries As Replacement To The Controversial Travel Ban; Hurricane Maria Will Not Let Up. Aired 7-8p ET

Aired September 24, 2017 - 19:00   ET

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[19:00:21] ANA CABRERA, CNN HOST: 7:00 eastern, 4:00 in the afternoon out west. I'm Ana Cabrera in New York. You are live in the CNN NEWSROOM. So glad you are with us.

We have breaking news we are following here in CNN. We now can confirm Jared Kushner, President Trump's son-in-law and senior adviser has used a private email account to communicate with other White House officials. And who can forget the Trump campaign's unrelenting attacks on Hillary Clinton's email use during the election. More details on this breaking story just ahead.

But first to the stunning public showdown between the NFL and President Trump. At this hour the President is not backing down from his controversial calls for the NFL to punish and even fire players who exercise their first amendment right to kneel during the national anthem as a show of protest of social injustice.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We have great people representing our country, especially our soldiers, our first responders and they should be treated with respect. And when you get on your knee and you don't respect the American flag or the anthem, that's not being treated with respect. I have never said anything about race. This has nothing to do with race or anything else. This has to do with respect for our country and respect for our flag.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CABRERA: Meanwhile, the NFL is making its position on the matter clear, not only does the league call the President's comments divisive but it's standing in solidarity against them. At every single kickoff today in more than a dozen cities, these were the scenes. Players, coaches and even team owners, kneeling or locking arms. This was the falcons-lions game in Detroit, when that opened, owners of both teams took the field and they locked arms with their players. The singer who performed the national anthem, also took a knee and raised his fist in the air. (VIDEO CLIP PLAYING)

CABRERA: In Nashville, at the Titans-Seahawks game both teams stayed in their locker rooms while the anthem played on the field. The anthem singer at this game also taking a knee.

And north of Nashville in Chicago, the Steelers stayed in their locker room during the anthem as well. Only one player, army veteran, Alejandro Villanueva, stood alone on the edge of the field with his hand over his heart.

We are covering every angle and every view on this. We will start with CNN's Boris Sanchez live outside the White House where the President has just spoken out again.

Boris, what is the President saying now?

BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hey, there, Ana.

Yes, the President clearly making this a focus of his Sunday tweeting out about players that are kneeling during the national anthem at NFL games, multiple times his latest tweet coming just about a half an hour ago. He writes quote "sports fans should never condone players that do not stand proud for their national anthem or their country. NFL should change policy."

The President clearly digging in his heels after that Friday speech in Alabama in which he said that NFL owners should fire players that stage this kind of protest. He also spoke to reporters shortly after he arrived at the White House after spending a few days at his resort in Bedminster, New Jersey. Listen to more of what he said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: I think that the flag has to be respected. Our country has to be respected. There's plenty of room to do other things but our country has to be respected. And I have always felt very strongly about that. And, by the way, most people agree with me.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANCHEZ: One more interesting point, Ana, about the sound bite that you played earlier where the President said that he does not believe that this has anything to do with race. That this is strictly about respecting our country. If you recall back in August of last year when Colin Kaepernick first started kneeling during the national anthem and many players started following suit, he made it clear that this was a protest about the way that he felt that police officers treat people in communities of color. So at least to these players it certainly is about race. Now there's at least some dissension from the White House about what these protests signify.

We have to put this in context, though, Ana. It's so important to point out that the President has chosen to reignite this controversy at a very interesting time, not only because of the legislative agenda ahead. Remember, this week Republicans are going to try to pass another repeal and replacement of Obamacare. But there is also the tax rollout. That the President tax reform rollout that the President is scheduled to present later this week. And in foreign policy, tensions with North Korea have never been higher. Let's remember that earlier today air force bomber planes flew north of the demilitarized zone in international waters just off of North Korea.

So much going on. It's certainly curious that the President would choose to focus on this issue at this time, Ana.

[19:05:17] CABRERA: All right. Boris, at the White House. Thank you.

Now, before 2009, all NFL players remained in their locker rooms when the national anthem played. That's right. The NFL tradition of standing for the national anthem didn't eve began until 2009. That's when the pentagon started paying money to pro-sports week, to put on patriotic shows and players were asked to join in these pre-game ceremonies.

Let's talk it over with former NFL player Walter Dunson.

Walter, thanks for spending time with us. I want to ask you what your initial reaction was when President Trump calls for players who kneel to be fired.

WALTER DUNSON, FORMER NFL PLAYER: Well, initially we thought that, you know, none of us agree with the decision that the President made and to say those words. And then to basically, you are talking about the President of the United States telling a citizen of the United States to not exercise their first amendment right. So we were just very disappointed to hear those words. And we just thought that, you know, that this was something really that he is using as a destruction as earlier in regards with North Korea, healthcare legislation and so on.

CABRERA: What are you hearing from current NFL players?

DUNSON: Well, a lot of guys were disappointed that we are where we are right now. A lot of guys do understand the reason why Kaepernick is taking a knee. Al lot of guys also don't think it's in solely a race issue. However, there are some that do think that race is highly involved in this situation as well. We also think that Kaepernick is one of the better quarterback in the NFL currently. And a lot of us fell like he should be playing on someone's team. The reason why is not given a chance, who knows? That is not for us to decide. That is up to the ownership of the NFL teams. But, you know, overall, we do think that Kaepernick should be on someone's team and we felt like that he has given up to continue playing in the NFL.

CABRERA: You know, that is really interesting you bring that up because we have seen a number of NFL owners come out in support of the players. And their comments today including owners of franchises who also have been supporters of the President who donated a lot of money to the President's inaugural committee, like Bob Craft, like Shaheed Kahn (ph) and others and yet are they defending the player do you think or players or do you think they are simply defending their league and their product?

DUNSON: You know, that's a very good question, you know. I will tell you that the NFL brand is a business. It's a business first, you know. And I'm not the one to say who they are defending or whether they are defending the player or whether they are defending the brand or whatever but I will tell you it is definitely a business. And you know, the fans are the ones that really somewhat control, you know, the success of that brand, the business being the brand that is, you know, through their participation and purchases, sponsors of the league and other organizations that are involved and the things that the NFL is doing.

But, you know, overall, the guys are very excited about this opportunity to really continue this -- continue, you know, the protest I guess in support of not only Kaepernick but also in anti-protests I guess against Donald Trump.

CABRERA: Now the NFL has cracked down on players' personal expression plenty of times. You will recall a few years ago Pittsburgh Steelers running back Deangelo Williams was asked the NFL if he could wear pink on his uniform in honor of his mother who died of breast cancer and the NFL said no. So do you think this is different?

DUNSON: You know, I'm not really sure if it's different but I will tell you that, you know, NFL is very particular about the things that you can wear on your uniforms and things like that. There are some penalties and fines for that. But you know, whether the situation is different, I don't know. We will find out moving forward. And I'm just interested in seeing what's going to happen next week because again, it's obvious that all the owners and the entire NFL as a brand would come to the support of its players on this Sunday, the question is what will we do moving forward?

CABRERA: Walter Dunson thanks for being part of the conversation.

DUNSON: Thank you.

CABRERA: Coming up more on our breaking news. We can confirm Jared Kushner, President Trump's son-in-law and senior adviser used a private email account to communicate with other White House officials. More on this next live in the CNN NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[19:13:44] CABRERA: We are following breaking news involving President Trump's son-in-law and senior adviser Jared Kushner. CNN has confirmed Kushner has occasionally used a private email account to communicate with other White House officials. This comes after Trump officials heavily criticized Hillary Clinton's use of a private email server during her time as secretary of state.

And here's the statement we have now from Kushner's lawyer. Fewer than 100 emails from January through August were either sent or returned by Mr. Kushner to colleagues in the White House from his personal email account. These usually were forwarded news articles or political commentary and most often occurred when someone initiated the exchange by sending an email to his personal, rather than his White House address.

Joining us now to discuss, CNN senior political analyst and former advisor to four presidents, David Gergen.

David, I want to remind our viewers what President Trump has said when he was a candidate about Clinton's email use in the past.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: She deleted the emails. She has to go to jail. She doesn't even remember whether or not she was instructed on how to use emails. Were you instructed on how to use -- I can't remember. Hillary Clinton can't keep her emails safe and you know what, folks, she sure as hell can't keep our country safe.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[19:15:12] CABRERA: So David, how does this look for President Trump now that his own son-in-law used private email to talk to White House officials?

DAVID GERGEN, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: Well, it doesn't look smart obviously and it is contradictory. I do think some caution has to be exercised here because we are talking about 100 emails apparently over a several months-time. And according to the reports, early reports, certainly coming from the lawyer for Kushner's lawyer, there's no classified information on there. But so -- I don't think it's in the same category of what we were talking about with Hillary Clinton with thousands and thousands of emails, she was secretary of state.

CABRERA: But she was using a private server.

GERGEN: Using a private server and it was, you know, we don't know how much of a security breach there may have been yet. Even so, you would think that the White House would have been well enough organized that on day one of the presidency having a private email account and talking to others in government would have been cutoff for everybody. It just -- you know, it would have been a lot smarter. It would have spared than this, you know, we have another headache as they go. But I don't think we have should overplay it. But it's one of those things that you say why did I they do that.

I must say, I think a lot of people at home were talking about the NFL much more than Kushner but nonetheless it's an important story.

CABRERA: And we will see where it goes in the coming days. Do you think Kushner is at risk in any way with the President?

GERGEN: I doubt it. There was just a sloppiness as his crew took over because they were inexperienced and, you know, there were a lot of tensions and it was -- it was a messy White House. I think that general Kelly has improved the discipline in the White House and I imagine he'll wipe out these private email accounts pretty damn fast because they are, you know, -- it's -- you could have very well intentioned people who slip up and do something stupid using these email accounts. You are not supposed to do it. All sorts of reason for historians and Presidential records say, all of the rest of you are not supposed to be doing as Obama people were warned not to do this. But some wound up doing it, Kushner wound up doing it. So -- it's, you know, mark it up to wish they hadn't.

CABRERA: All right. Well, let's move on to talk about the big story that is really catching fire today, the NFL coming out now in defiance of the President and his remarks after he had said that players who kneel during the anthem should be fired. Here's the President defending his own comments today.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: We have great people representing our country especially our soldiers, our first responders, and they should be treated with respect and when you get on your knee and you don't respect the American flag or the anthem, that's not being treated with respect. I have never said anything about race. This has nothing to do with race or anything else. This has to do with respect for our country and respect for our flag.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CABRERA: David, can the President get away with that argument that this has nothing to do with race?

GERGEN: No, of course not. But this is so bizarre, it's so outside the normal what any President would do to wonder in the middle and cause this great controversy. It is just -- you have to wonder. This seems so much an invitation to have us divert our eyes away from the big, big story of the day and that is his health care plan is once again coming crashing down and other things. And Tuesday in Georgia or Alabama there's going to be a Senate race that he's gone in and endorsed one of the candidates, his candidate is now behind. He might lose.

You know, it invites the interpretation as this complete and total diversion. He just dropped it out there because he was coming into a tough week. Having said that, of course, this is about race. Over 70 percent of the people who play in the national football league are African-Americans. And they saw what happened in Charlottesville. They saw a President who said that the neo-Nazis who were marching there were some very fine people and here they wake up and the President says, if you kneel in protest for social and racially equity, for social and racial justice. You are an SOB. Think of that contrast. Neo-Nazis are very fine people but if you're kneeling at a game, you're an SOB.

I mean, give me a break and then ordering the NFL to fire these people? That's way outside -- Presidents -- there's sort of a grandiosity about this. That when you are president, you were able to tell everybody how to live and how to run their businesses. We don't elect Presidents for that reason. This is again way outside his lane. And I think -- also it is the very day that he went out and said basically they are losing fans in the NFL because they made the game -- they've taken away -- they put in penalties for hard hits. They have tried to take some of the danger out of the game and he says that's wrong. He wants more brutality. He likes the hard hits.

On that very day, we learned that a man who -- young man Aaron Hernandez of the patriots who committed suicide at 27 was suffering from severe degenerative brain damage, much of it thought due to the hard hits he took in football. You know, you can't make this stuff up. It's very troubling.

[19:20:51] CABRERA: All right. David Gergen, we will have to leave it there. We appreciate your insight. Thank you.

GERGEN: Thank you, Ana. Take care.

CABRERA: You too.

Coming up, the President versus the players, the NFL not alone. Major league baseball player now kneeling during the national anthem.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm kneeling for the people that don't have a voice.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CABRERA: The passionate statement from Oakland a's catcher. Stay with us. You are live in the CNN NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[19:25:44] CABRERA: So a professional baseball player is now part of the protest movement. Catcher Bruce Maxwell, the Oakland athletic kneel for the anthem at two with games this weekend. Here's what he had to say about it.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BRUCE MAXWELL, CATCHER, OAKLAND ATHLETICS: My hand over my heart symbolized the fact that I am and will forever be an American citizen. And I'm more than grateful for being here. But my kneeling is what is getting the attention because I'm kneeling for the people that don't have a voice. And this goes beyond the black community, this goes beyond the Hispanic community because right now we are having an indifference and a racial divide in all types of people.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CABRERA: Let's talk it over. Terrence Moore, sports columnist and commentator. Basil Smikle, the executive director of New York State Democratic Party and CNN political commentator Paris Dennard, a former White House director of black outreach under President George W. Bush are all with us.

Guys, thank you so much.

Paris, I will give you a chance to give you a respond first to those comments we just heard from Maxwell. Do you agree it goes beyond the black and Hispanic communities what's going on through these protests?

PARIS DENNARD, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: You know, I do agree that it goes beyond the black and Hispanic communities because I think this is not a racial issue. I think this is an issue that has to do with how we express ourselves as Americans and how we can do that in a respectful manner that we can say, listen, I have a problem, there's an issue, racial disparities, white nationalism, white supremacy, whatever, is what you want to protest. That is fine.

But the conversation then extends to everybody saying does your protest then become disrespectful to the flag, to national anthem and to the many people who bled and died for our right to do that and that flag that we're both black, Hispanic, white, brown, et cetera. So I think it does go beyond just being a racial issue. It is about how we look at ourselves as our country. What is our culture? What do we stand for? If we no longer put our hand over the heart and stand for the national anthem, what are we doing as a nation?

This is why I believe in American exceptionalism. This is why I appreciate the fact this President is trying to make America great again by bringing us together in a sense that says we are Americans. We should unite around that fact and be proud to be an American and be proud of our flag and be proud of our troops. Be proud of the national anthem.

CABRERA: Basil, go ahead.

BASIL SMIKLE, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, NEW YORK STATE DEMOCRATIC PARTY: Well racism in and of itself is disrespectful to this country and to this flag. And to me, the way in which the President has sought in many respects to divide this country along those racial lines by a lot of the language that he's used, think about the fact that he ran last year saying that the country was not great, but Colin Kaepernick takes a knee and he all of a sudden is not a patriot. Donald Trump became President of the United States. The fact that after Charlottesville, the President didn't find it in himself to differentiate between white nationalist and protesters who were predominantly of color protesting unity and peace.

He couldn't differentiate between the two yes he wants an ESPN anchor fired. Yet he is asking NFL owners to essentially put these men in their place by calling them out and getting these SOBs off the field.

To me there is a clear racial animus that he has woven both in his private life and now as President of the United States. And I think right now the fact that he has been able to galvanize the players, the owners and the NFL commissioner is actually -- it has to tell you something.

There's some unification that's actually happening at least on one side. Terrence, you have called the President's words in Alabama a dog whistle. Here is exactly what the President said.

CABRERA: There are some unification that is actually happening on one side.

Terrence, you have called the president's words in Alabama a dog whistle. Here is exactly what the president said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: Wouldn't you love to see one of these NFL owners when somebody disrespects our flag to say get that son of a (bleep) off the field right now. He's out he's fired! He's fired!

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CABRERA: Terrence, why do you say that is a dog whistle?

TERRENCE MOORE, CNN SPORTS COMMENTATOR: Well, first of all, OK, we are in Alabama doing this. If you are the President of the United States, the other thing to consider is the overwhelming majority of the people, probably 99 percent of the people who are involved in these protests are African-American. So that is not a good picture particularly when you couple that with the other thing that we have seen with this presidency with Charlottesville and beyond.

And the other thing too is he has been tweeting all day. And we got the tweet today when he is basically saying that this is a great thing that the Pittsburgh penguins are coming to the White House, what a great team and there's no - exactly. There's no secret that the overwhelming majority of the national hockey league is white. So you contrast that against what's going on with the NFL, his attacks against Steph Curry and Golden State Warriors. It's just not a pretty picture.

But I want to add one more thing that should not be overlooked. It is not a coincidence that the breaking news of the hour is about Jared Kushner and him using his personal email account for official business. This is another way for Donald Trump to distract his attention -- or everybody's attention attempt to from his personal dealings to something else. And what better way to do that than to attack a $14 billion business like the NFL or to attack a guy like Steph Curry who's got the largest selling amount of jerseys in the NBA, so it's all put together here at a distraction.

[19:31:11] CABRERA: Basil, our Democrats at risk of coming out across as unpatriotic by protesting the President's comments?

SMIKLE: You know, something that the deputy chair Keith Ellison has said many times is the Democratic Party is the party of socio and economic justice. And what is interesting is that the two being able to support and promote that is not somehow exclusive from being inclusive of other communities and races and being patriotic.

Just because you want to see equality in a more egalitarian policies, it doesn't mean you are unpatriotic. You can be both. You know, I always said MohammaAli fought against and protested against the Vietnam War. He became a national hero. We're all in the process in the interest of trying to make this nation better, but you can't do that by saying protesters don't have a right to do what's in our -- what's in our first amendment right to do.

CABRERA: Paris, why isn't the President praising the fact that this is a country in which a person like Colin Kaepernick have the right to protest in this fashion and that's what makes this country great?

DENNARD: I don't know. That's a good question for one of the reporters to ask him. But I think on the same token talking about Mohammed Ali, this is the same person who came back to a Republican White House and received the highest honor on behalf of the country from a Republican President George W. Bush who proudly put that around his neck.

The question is, would that happen today? Would an athlete come and let the President of the United States put a medal honoring them? That is what the whole issue with Steph Curry was about. The idea that President Trump was attacking him is actually false. What happened was Steph Curry actually was saying things about not wanting to come because of the President and the President ponded so it's important for us to keep that in mind. We're at a crazy juncture in our nation where coming to the White House to be honored by the President of the United States who is the President of all people is somehow something that should not be cherished.

Athletes know something about being the team players, team sport, stability. And when you lose a game you still stand up, you walk over and you shake the person's hand who's your opponent. Even if they beat you, you still shake your hand and stay good job, good job. This is what we need to look at, what we are telling our children. We should be reminding our children, to be good citizens of this great country which you can grow up --

CABRERA: But it doesn't mean following in line, Paris.

DENNARD: No. It's not saying falling in line. And listen, I will say this again. The players have a right to protest, but when you do so in a manner that is so disrespectful to a large amount of the American people, you lose sight of what you're protesting about.

This protest the last 48 hours has nothing to do with the original issues that Colin Kaepernick was talking about. This is a protest against the politics of President Donald J. Trump, not the issues that may be valid to a lot of people that Colin Kaepernick was talking about and that's the issue.

CABRERA: Terrence, I'll give you will the last word because I know (INAUDIBLE).

MOORE: Yes. The problem with what was just said is that now is not just the players which is great. Now you have got the owners involved. It's just been reported that seven of the 32 NFL owners were at least a million dollars or more donors to the Donald Trump campaign.

Two of those owners, one of the owners that was a big owner, Robert Kraft is the most powerful owner in the National Football League. He came out today and attacked Donald Trump. He's on the side of the players in this regard.

The other thing that's getting overlooked is that there are three teams in the national football league that refused to come out of the locker room for the national anthem. One of which were the Pittsburgh Steelers. Now I mention that because the Roomies have be asked pro- NFL as anybody you could possibly name. So now, when you got seize like that, when you got these owners who are joining these players, OK, it goes beyond just a bunch of players that are disgruntled and trying to disrespect the flag, this becomes a different ballgame so to speak. No pun intended.

[19:35:17] CABRERA: Gentlemen, thank you all for that thoughtful conversation. I really appreciate it.

Coming up, we are following other news. Out of Tennessee where a gunman opened fire on church goers today who were leaving a service there. How this violent attack played out and the man police are calling a hero.

Stay with us. You are live in the CNN NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[19:39:41] CABRERA: Police are calling a 22-year-old usher who confronted a gunman inside the small church near Nashville this afternoon a hero. The violence broke out when the gunman shot and killed the woman in the church parking lot and then went into the back of the church and started shooting there before the usher stopped him. Now this attack left at least seven people wounded including that brave young usher.

CNN's Polo Sandoval has been following the story all afternoon.

And Polo, we just learned that now the FBI and the U.S. attorney's office there has opened a civil rights investigation.

[19:40:09] POLO SANDOVAL, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: This is a tragic case but it's also puzzling went to, Ana, especially as federal investigators tried to search for answers. Sunday service was just wrapping up when the sound of gunshots basically shattered the peace here. And now a woman is dead. A gunman is behind bars and federal authorities are now joining in on this investigation.

Let me tell you what we know what authorities have said that a 25- year-old man by the name of Emanuel Sampson allegedly arrived at the church armed here outside of Nashville armed with two pistols and then shot and killed a woman in the parking lot. This 12-year-old suspect then allegedly went inside here then allegedly we went inside the church when he was confronted by a 22-year-old usher. The man's named Robert Engle. Engle apparently tried to confront this individual, stopping him after he injured an additional six individuals and that is when Engle reportedly went out to his vehicle, he's licensed to carry a firearm, went back inside and confronted the gunman again.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

STEVE ANDERSON, NASHVILLE POLICE DEPARTMENT: What I would say about Mr. Robert Engle, the usher, he physically engaged the shooter and during the struggle the shooter was shot. At this time we don't know exactly how that happened, whether he shot himself or whether the gun discharged during the struggle. Mr. Engle sustained serious injuries himself and he's the hero. He's the person that stopped this madness and so we're very, very grateful to him.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANDOVAL: Mr. Engle is among six people who are currently recovering in the hospital, six people who were injured inside that sanctuary. Ana, we are told they are all going to pull through, all are going to be OK.

As for the suspect, he is currently behind bars expected to face murder and attempted murder charges. Again, what we know at this point he is a 25-year-old who lived in a nearby county and he had attended service at that mass before about two years ago according to authorities, so there's a lot that we know but there's also a lot that we still aren't clear on.

CABRERA: Including the motive obviously. Do you know anything about the one woman who was killed?

SANDOVAL: Not at this point. There have been several reports that have been circulating unconfirmed reports. We are still trying to get a hold of that right now but investigators do say she was in her 30s and shot and killed in that parking lot. Obviously once she is identified, that could also hold a key or at least more evidence suggesting whether or not the two knew each other, both the victim and the suspect.

CABRERA: All right. Polo Sandoval thank you very much for that report.

Now the Trump administration just unveiled some new travel restrictions. We will have those details next.

You are live in the CNN NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[19:27:05] CABRERA: ANNOUNCER: This is CNN breaking news.

CABRERA: Breaking news tonight, the White House just unveiled new tailored restrictions on travelers from certain countries as replacement to the controversial travel ban.

Joining us now CNN justice reporter Laura Jarett.

And Laura, we are we're just learning the details of these new restrictions. Tell us.

LAURA JARETT, CNN JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: Travel ban 3.0 coming here tonight. The Trump administration unveiling new travel restrictions on certain foreign nationals from eight countries. The list is Chad, Iran, Libya, North Korea, Somali, Syria, Venezuelan and Yemen. And this will be a replacement to a central portion of that controversial travel ban which actually expired earlier today in which you will remember the President signed the first week in office it had several stops and starts along the way with federal courts blocking it but these new restrictions now coming into play. They vary by country and they include a phased in approach. So most of the new limitations you will see will not go into effect until mid-next month, October 18th. Senior administration officially telling us.

Now, for the last three months the Trump administration has been in the process of what it called a worldwide review looking at how foreign nationals are judged by their countries, seeing what the risk is for each and now the process has been whittled down to these eight countries, Ana. And now the so-called bonified relationship exception that you remember the Supreme Court put into play late July, that still holds but only until October. So if you have a bonified relationship, like a grandparent for instance, or student. You can still come into the country until October 18th, but of after that date, these new restrictions will begin. I should also mention that people who have validly issued visas or who have green cards will still be able into the country. So you won't see the same sort of broad pandemonium that that we saw in back January at the airports. We're also told that the justice department will be filing a brief later tonight in that Supreme Court case as Ana the Supreme Court is set to hear the merits of the travel ban, the legality of the travel ban some time October 10th.

CABRERA: That's the initial travel ban. It sounds like they are not letting that go necessarily even though they have this new order that is out. And it's noteworthy that these are some new countries too that are going to be undergoing the restriction restrictions, Laura. Do you suspect we are going to see more challenges to this particular order given the specificity in this one?

JARETT: Well, it's hard to tell. Right now you see we've added North Korea, so obviously not a Muslim majority nation there in the same way that the original six were. But they are -- they do vary by country so they are a little bit more narrowly tailored at one administration official said in a call with reporters earlier tonight. They are tailored but thought. So you may still see some challenges though to depend on exactly how they came up with this list, exactly how the administration decided that these specific countries were the one to target.

[19:50:18] CABRERA: All right. Laura Jarrett, thank you very much for that report.

Meantime, hurricane Maria will not let up. It is still turning off the coast of the U.S. mainland now. And tropical storm warnings are up tonight along the entire North Carolina coast. Parts of the southern-most Virginia coast also impacted here. So where is this now category two storm heading after causing so much destruction in the Caribbean?

Our meteorologist Julie Martin is joining us from Atlanta.

Julie, should folks in North Carolina be concerned with Maria off the coast now?

JULIE MARTIN, CNN METEOROLOGIST: I think it's OK to be concerned. Particularly along the North Carolina outer banks. Now Maria will not make a direct hit there, but the impacts are likely to be felt.

Right now, a solid category two storm near winds are at 105 miles per hour. It is moving straight north at around nine miles per hour. Expected to edge its way closer and closer to the coastline by about Wednesday.

Here's where it is as a category one, 85 mile per hour winds sitting off the coast of cape (INAUDIBLE). Now, mind you, the hurricane-force winds extend about 60 miles from the center. So that's going to be enough to certainly bring up the wave action, some rain and certainly some rough weather there along the Carolinas.

So taking a look at those tropical storm watches now up from surf city, north Carolina, to the Virginia border, that means tropical storm conditions are expected. Now that would be winds at least 39 miles per hour or higher. So, again, gusty conditions and particularly a very rough surf. And that's going to be a real danger for a lot of folks here across the eastern United States. Because, it's not just going to be in North Carolina where those rip currents are going to be a factor, but across a large section of the east coast is all of that water continues to pile on shore. Creating those channels and with the weather as it has been exceptionally warm, a lot of people wanting to get in the water this time of year. Already a number of rescues taking place, Ana.

CABRERA: All right. Good morning there. Thank you very much, Julie Martin for that updated information.

Now let's talk about this new CNN film "Legion of Brothers." It tells the story of the U.S. Special Force that went into Afghanistan right after 9/11. Now they fought with the Afghan northern alliance to drive the Taliban and Al-Qaeda out of power with minimal coalition casualties. But despite this early victory, the U.S. remains mired in this lengthy war in Afghanistan. And despite this early victory, the U.S. remains mired in this lengthy war in Afghanistan. Here's the clip from the film.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The only person that walked into the country, I mean, you had the weight of the nation on your shoulders. You know, we, we were America's response to the most catastrophic terrorist attack on U.S. soil, ever. And for a lot of us, you know, we felt that we had a responsibility to the people that died to set in stage that you just don't do that to America. And not pay a price. It was about, not retribution, but it was about justice.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What's that saying? About who will go, send me. You know. Sir? Who will go and who shall I send? Send me. Send me. Because I'm the dude that wants to make somebody pay for killing my brothers and sisters.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CABRERA: Let's discuss. Peter Bergen, he is a CNN national security analyst and producer of the film is with us. And also with us is Scott Neil who is a former army master sergeant and also a green beret. Excuse me.

Scott, first tell us why the title, "legion of brothers."

MATER SGT. SCOTT NEIL, FORMER U.S. ARMY GREEN BARET: Well first of all, this Special Forces group which was the first in. It's called the legion, sort of our nickname. And legion of brothers, this really what it was. I was on a team for 17 years, and if you look at a lot of those relationships, they've extended to today.

CABRERA: And when you were first deployed to Afghanistan, did you believe the conflict would be over pretty quickly?

NEIL: We didn't know what to believe. Our orders were very open. They were basically the kill and capture Al Qaeda to dislodge the Taliban for power and low and behold less than 100 green berets and the CIA counterparts basically overtook the country and did exactly what that mission was, but yet we're here today.

CABRERA: Peter, after all of these years, the war in Afghanistan does rage on, do you believe this is a war, the U.S. and Afghanistan can win?

PETER BERGEN, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY ANALYST: Well win is kind of a broad term, but, certainly trying to stabilize the Afghan government, reversing the Taliban advances which have been pretty swift in the last year or two.

You know, we are still in South Korea more than half a century after the end of the Korean War. South Korea at the end of the Korean War is one of the poorest countries in the world, now it's one of the richest. And that's under an American national security umbrella. There's a lot that's gone wrong in Afghanistan, but there's a lot that's gone right. I think the Trump administration's actually taking the right approach saying we're not going to withdraw any time soon. Weir going to make sure that the afghan army and police can sustain themselves.

[19:50:37] CABRERA: Scott, I know in this film, one of the missions that's highlighted is right after 9/11 that actually were some of the first casualties, and it came about because of friendly fire. Tell us a little bit about that.

NEIL: Well, in any war in history, there's kind of this fog of war. And it's really the battle of the unknown. And what you'll see in a documentary is really the effects are on the team today and they are reflecting backwards. And at the time it was really unknown whether the Taliban had done a counterattack or exactly what happened. The soldiers on the ground, they just, you know, saw the explosion and reacted to it, and it took, you know, a couple hours really to sort out what really happened. And it's still studied today why those events happened.

CABRERA: And you talk about the psychological or the emotional toll you and other members of your unit went through. Help us to understand the impact. NEIL: Well, the impact is very frank and honest conversation. We

have spent so long at war now, you know, almost 16 years. A lot of us went on to Iraq and many tours in there and back to Afghanistan. Some of us became contractors and others, you know, we have lost along the way.

So of course, you know, we really, it's the first time we have gotten together since our retirements or since we left service and really just had a conversation of what we went through and what it's done to our families as well.

CABRERA: Peter, what would the American public be surprised to know about the role of Special Forces in the U.S. war on terror?

BERGEN: Well, I think Scott says in the film is, you know, you should go into a VFW and somebody might have one tour or two or three tours, and the Special Forces, you know, after doing five or seven or ten tours. And that's a lot of strain not only on the soldiers, but their families. Special operation command has put in place nor predictable deployments, but, you know, we're looking at a long war that doesn't seem to have much of an ending. And the people who are largely conducting that long war are Special Forces.

So I think the film highlights the valor, but also, you know, suggests that there are certain costs that the American public should be aware of.

CABRERA: Scott, you and your team members waited 15 years to fully tell your story through this film. Why did you decide to do it now? What do you hope it will accomplish?

NEIL: Well, the Green Beret model is the quiet professionals. And we have this understanding once you're active duty or once you're in service and doing missions that you really, you know, don't open up and once we all retired and Peter Bergen and Trish that and Greg, you know, came to us with this proposal, you know. I thought it was time amongst all of us that we got together and with the right format just let us open up and tell the stories, you know, as we see them. And I thought the film and the documentary came out great.

CABRERA: Scott, how do you feel about what's happening in Afghanistan today?

NEIL: A lot of emotions. A lot of blood and treasure's been spilt over the ground that I have watched reports saying it's regained by the Taliban. And I don't think we're losing. I think we're a little bit lost and I just had conversations with some of the other Green Berets going back once again in this latest round of surges to fight over the same ground we have all fought over for 15, 16 years.

CABRERA: Well, Scott, Neil, thank you for your service and thank you for being here. Peter Bergen, thank you as always, also for being here.

And do not miss this portrait of heroism and sacrifice on and off the battlefields of Afghanistan. The CNN film "legion of brothers" premieres tonight at 9:00 eastern right here on CNN.

Another programming note, don't forget tomorrow night is a big night on CNN. Senator Amy Klobuchar will join Senator Bernie Sanders as they debate Senator Lindsey Graham and Senator Bill Cassidy on your health care. CNN town hall event, that's at 9:00 eastern on Monday night.

And coming up next, Will Ripley takes an exclusive journey to North Korea. See places you have never seen before, secret stayed inside North Korea airs next.

Thank you for being here this weekend. I'm Ana Cabrera in New York. I hope you have a fantastic start to the week. Finish strong tonight. Good night.