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GOP Candidate Trying to be South Dakota's First Female Governor; Miami Officer Caught Kicking Handcuffed Black Man; Sikhism: The Most Misunderstood Religion in America; Giuliani Meets with Trump After Media Blitz. Aired 6-7p ET

Aired May 06, 2018 - 18:00   ET

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

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

[18:00:00] BROOKE BALDWIN, CNN ANCHOR: That's why Herren offers free virtual support groups with licensed counselors, something that's helping James Francheck (ph). His daughter, Emma, died from an overdose in 2016.

JAMES FRANCHECK (PH), DAUGHTER DIED OF DRUG OVERDOSE: The support allowed me to get through it and not fall apart. It literally saved my life.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ANNOUNCER: This is CNN Breaking News.

ANA CABRERA, CNN ANCHOR: Top of the hour, you're live in the CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Ana Cabrera, in New York. Thank you for spending part of your weekend with us. And we have breaking news off the top here.

President Trump meeting face-to-face this afternoon with Rudy Giuliani. The newest member of his outside legal team. The two men, two New Yorkers, apparently talked things over at Trump's golf club in Virginia.

This comes just hours after Giuliani made more controversial comments in new interviews. Giuliani was asked today if Trump's personal lawyer Michael Cohen may have paid off other women besides porn star Stormy Daniel and here is how Giuliani responded.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GEORGE STEPHANOPOULOS, ABC'S' "THIS WEEK": You said he -- this is a regular arrangement he had with Michael Cohen. So did Michael Cohen make payments to other women for the president?

RUDY GIULIANI, PRESIDENT TRUMP'S ATTORNEY: I have no knowledge of that. But I would think if it was necessary, yes.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CABRERA: If Giuliani made the rounds today on the Sunday talk shows to try to inject some clarity into the chaos, it may not have been such an effective strategy. Let's get right to CNN's Boris Sanchez at the White House.

Boris, what are you hearing about this meeting between Trump and Giuliani today?

BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Hey there, Ana. Yes, my colleague Dana Bash spoke with Rudy Giuliani shortly after the meeting took place. She's reporting that Rudy Giuliani told her he and the president came to some agreements. First on the president's focus. He wants the president to keep his focus on bigger issues like trade with China, the denuclearization talks with North Korea, the Iran deal. And to let Rudy Giuliani focus on the legal issues.

Further he said they came to an agreement on how they're going to handle the special counsel depending on Robert Mueller's next steps. Dana also asked Giuliani about the president's comments on Friday saying that Rudy Giuliani didn't have all his facts straight when he spoke to FOX News and contradicted some of what the president had previously said about his knowledge of a hush money payment to Stormy Daniels and the reimbursement of Michael Cohen.

Here's what Giuliani said. He said, quote, "Well, I have just been on board a couple of weeks. I haven't been able to read the 1.2 million documents. I'm focused on the law more than the facts right now. A couple of things were fairly easy to dispose of. The whole situation of the $130,000 doesn't require an analysis of the facts because it wasn't intended as a campaign contribution. It was intended as a personal, embarrassing, harassing claim."

However, that still does not answer the question of when the president knew about that payment and if he knew what he was reimbursing Michael Cohen for." I did want to point out something that Rudy Giuliani actually said to a "Washington Post" reporter following that meeting as well. Robert Costa of the "Washington Post" quoting Giuliani as saying that he feels bad for Bobby, talking about Special Counsel Robert Mueller following some comments made by a federal judge on Friday in which a judge essentially said that he believes that Mueller doesn't care as much about the charges against Paul Manafort of financial fraud and a litany of other charges but rather that he's using those charges to squeeze Manafort to get to the president whether that results in an impeachment or an indictment, what have you. Ultimately it may be an indication from Giuliani of what is to come, a more combative stance from the White House and the president's legal team when it comes to the special counsel -- Ana.

CABRERA: And in fact Giuliani did drop some hints on the Trump team's potential strategy for handling Special Counsel Robert Mueller. Take us through it.

SANCHEZ: Yes. Giuliani said that he believes that the founding fathers wanted to essentially inoculate the president from any kind of legal act that would put his oversight of the government in jeopardy. Giuliani essentially said that the president would not have to come ply with a subpoena coming from Robert Mueller. Listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) STEPHANOPOULOS: What happens if Robert Mueller subpoena's the president? Will you comply?

GIULIANI: Well, we don't have to. He's the president of the United States. We can assert the same privilege as other presidents had.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANCHEZ: Let's say that legal experts are divided on that. Further, if he would have to comply with a subpoena, Giuliani said that the president would then potentially plead the Fifth Amendment. Listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

STEPHANOPOULOS: Are you confident the president will not take the Fifth in this case?

GIULIANI: Oh, how can I ever be confident of that? When I'm facing a situation with the president and all the other lawyers are, in which every lawyer in America thinks he'd be a fool to testify, I've got a client who wants to testify. Please, don't -- he said it yesterday. And, you know, Jay and I said to ourselves, my goodness, you know, I hope we get a chance to tell him the risk that he's taking.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[18:05:06] SANCHEZ: I did want to quote President Trump in 2016, Ana. He said, "The mob takes the Fifth Amendment. If you're innocent, why are you taking the Fifth Amendment?" Giuliani believes that the special counsel is setting a trap for the president. He's obviously advising him not to go one-on-one with Robert Mueller -- Ana.

CABRERA: Boris Sanchez, we'll see how this plays out in a month and weeks ahead. Thank you.

Let's get straight to a member of Congress about this revelation that Giuliani made that Trump maybe has agreed on a plan with him to deal with Mueller in this investigation, that the president may invoke his Fifth Amendment right or refuse to comply with a subpoena.

Joining us is Democratic Congressman Ted Lieu of California. He's been very critical of the president in both the Russia and the Stormy Daniels cases.

So, Congressman, thanks for being here. First I want to just get your reaction to this news. The president may plead the Fifth.

REP. TED LIEU (D), CALIFORNIA: Thank you, Ana, for your question. As a legal matter the Fifth Amendment protects defendants in a court of law. But as a political matter, the Fifth Amendment does not offer any such protection. In fact it's the opposite. If the president would have plead the Fifth Amendment, the overwhelming majority of Americans would conclude that he has something to hide, that he's guilty of something. Donald Trump is very aware of that. That's why he, himself, has

repeatedly stated he wants to do the interview with Special Counsel Mueller. I hope the interview happens.

CABRERA: So you don't think that he's going to plead the Fifth Amendment. You're pretty confident about that?

LIEU: Like Rudy Giuliani said, it's hard to be confident about anything related to how this president thinks but I think he understands that politically it will be very, very bad if he were to plead the Fifth Amendment because it sends all sorts of signals that he's trying to hide information from the American people.

CABRERA: The very implication of guilt or something. But you'll recall a Hillary Clinton aide pleaded the Fifth. Was Clinton guilty of something?

LIEU: So Hillary Clinton did not plead the Fifth. But when you asked that question of people --

CABRERA: Right. One of her aides did. Her IT person.

LIEU: Right. Yes. In the court of public opinion, I would think that that person had something to hide. Absolutely. And that's why in a court of law we instruct juries not to make that inference. But everyone knows in real life, in the court of public opinion it's natural for us to make that inference because it's usually true that if someone doesn't want to talk, they've got something to hide.

CABRERA: Now if Trump does not agree to an interview, what do you want to see from Robert Mueller? Do you think he would subpoena him?

LIEU: So if Robert Mueller subpoenaed Donald Trump then Donald Trump would have to comply with the subpoena. That was the whole lesson of Watergate, no one is above the law, not even the president. In Nixon versus the United States, the Supreme Court said you have to comply with the subpoena. But Donald Trump could do what every other defendant has a right to do which is to plead the Fifth Amendment. And again that gets into more of a political issue as to how very bad that would look for the president.

CABRERA: As you know that a subpoena could also get tied up in litigation which could drag this investigation on many, many more months.

LIEU: It could. And I think that's something that Donald Trump and his lawyers also want to avoid. Special Counsel Mueller has another option which is he can just continue going on with this investigation and his case without the president testifying. Special counsels and prosecutors routinely go ahead with cases when they don't have the defendant or subject or target testify because they can evidence from other witnesses.

CABRERA: Now the judge overseeing the case against Paul Manafort has been incredibly critical of Mueller. In open court on Friday, he said this, quote, "You don't really care about Mr. Manafort's bank fraud. Prosecution or impeachment of Trump, that's what you're really interested in." He also expressed concern that Mueller was, quote, "unfettered." How do you see this now impacting the special counsel investigation?

LIEU: So the judge made some critical comments about some of the charges that the special counsel put against Paul Manafort. But other charges he did not say that to. So Paul Manafort still in deep trouble regardless of whether or not some of these charges may not be able to go forward as part of the special counsel.

But there's nothing saying that if the special counsel's office sees crime that has happened that they can't refer it to another office to continue doing another prosecution. The same way with what's going on with the Stormy Daniels case. It's the U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York that's doing the investigation. In this case, the special counsel could just refer those charges to Virginia to do bank fraud.

CABRERA: Let me pivot to another topic because earlier this week Giuliani said North Korea was going to release three American detainees. He said it was going to happen today. They still haven't been released. You are on the Foreign Affairs Committee as well. Do you have any idea what's going on?

LIEU: I do not. We're going back to session this week. I expect to get a briefing on the North Korean hostage situation. I do know that of the three hostages one was taken under the Obama administration. Two were taken under the Trump administration. And there was no basis for North Korea to take any of these hostages.

[18:10:03] They were either teaching or doing business. Nothing nefarious about what they were doing. So North Korea needs to release them because there's no basis for holding them.

CABRERA: I want to quickly ask you as well about your colleague, Congressman Tony Cardenas. A colleague from California. Also a Democrat. House minority leader Nancy Pelosi is calling for an ethics investigation into the allegations that Cardenas sexually assaulted a minor more than a decade ago. Do you think Cardenas should resign?

LIEU: I don't know any more other than what I read in the newspaper. I support Nancy Pelosi's call for a House ethics investigation and at this point I'm going to withhold judgment until we see more facts come out.

CABRERA: Now Al Franken and John Conyers you'll recall resigned before the investigations were complete. So what's different here?

LIEU: In John Conyers' case there were multiple accusers that came forward. And ultimately it was John Conyers' decision to resign. And in Al Franken's case, it was Al Franken's decision to resign. And there was actual documentary evidence. We don't have any other facts right now regarding Tony Cardenas.

CABRERA: All right. Thank you so much, Congressman Ted Lieu for coming on. Nice to see you. LIEU: Thank you, Ana.

CABRERA: Coming up -- actually we have some breaking news I want to get to. President Trump's nominee for CIA director Gina Haspel tried to withdraw her nomination as recently as Friday. And this follows concerns raised over her role in the agency's interrogation program. Trump named Haspel to take over for Mike Pompeo of course who just left to become secretary of State. Haspel is the first woman tapped to head the CIA.

And CNN's senior diplomatic correspondent Michelle Kosinski is joining us now.

Michelle, how did this go down?

MICHELLE KOSINSKI, CNN SENIOR DIPLOMATIC CORRESPONDENT: Yes, well, these questions are nothing new. We've known about them for some time. Questions over her support of those advanced -- enhanced interrogation techniques which many people called torture during the period of time after the 9/11 attacks. She oversaw the secret U.S. detention center in Thailand and so on.

But here's what happened on Friday. Got to the point and we know a couple of things were going on. First of all, she participated in a practice session leading up to her hearing which is supposed to be on Wednesday. We also know that she met with people from the White House. So at some point on Friday, things got to the point over the situation, over the questions surrounding her long tenure at the CIA, that she offered to withdraw her nomination.

And then we know that later in the day, two White House people, including White House spokesperson Sarah Sanders, met with her to talk about this. And they talked for a long time and finally it ended up that she is OK with continuing. But the "Washington Post" first reported this. And they reported that she had concerns over how this questioning would go down during her hearing as well as questions over how the CIA's reputation would survive that questioning.

The White House now has put out a statement on all this saying, "Acting Director Gina Haspel is a highly qualified nominee, who's dedicated over three decades of service to her country. Her nomination will not be derailed by partisan critics who side with the ACLU over the CIA on how to keep the American people safe."

That's an interesting thing to say considering that the president himself has at times assailed the U.S. intelligence community. But also keep in mind, when you look at that statement the White House isn't denying any of this either. So she, herself, has concerns over the kinds of questions she's going to be asked by lawmakers during this session on Wednesday. And now we see it got to the point that she said, you know, if this isn't going to go well, I am willing to walk away from this nomination -- Ana.

CABRERA: But at this point it sounds like everything is still moving forward for Wednesday, right? KOSINSKI: Yes, it does. And in fact the CIA has also put out a

statement backing up her credentials and saying that when the American people sees the real Gina Haspel on Wednesday they'll understand why so many people respect her even if they don't agree with these techniques and with policies in the past while she was serving.

CABRERA: All right. Michelle Kosinski, thank you for that update.

Up next, CNN is learning new details about Senator John McCain's health and plans he's making for after he's gone. I'll talk with the man who is close to McCain during his 2008 presidential campaign.

You're live in the CNN NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[18:18:34] CABRERA: Senator John McCain battling brain cancer and holding court with friends and family at his Arizona ranch. Sources telling CNN McCain is now planning his own funeral and he doesn't want President Trump to be invited.

Last hour I spoke with CNN political analyst and "New York Times" national political correspondent Jonathan Martin about what McCain is telling his friends.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JONATHAN MARTIN, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: He is using a new book and a new documentary which were out this month to kind of unburden himself of a few things. I think the most notable piece of news is the fact that he is now openly saying that he had wished he picked Joe Liebermann to be his running mate in 2008. And as someone who covered that race, I can tell you, that was a fierce debate internally in their campaign.

And, you know, that in any other news environment would be I think a huge story given the fact he picked Sarah Palin, and we all know what kind of a story that became. But of course, we are not in a typical news environment. We are in the Trump era.

CABRERA: Yes.

MARTIN: And so for a big story out of this weekend is the fact that as we reported in the paper today, Senator McCain and his family have indicated that they don't want, as of right now, President Trump to come to his funeral services. And always of course hope that that day is long way from today, but there are of course plans in place and those plans include Vice President Pence as of right now, but they do not include President Trump.

[18:20:06] And this shouldn't come as a huge surprise to viewers who kind of know that they have clashed, that President Trump has never apologized or even issued any kind of regret for his comments about Senator McCain's POW status that he made, saying that Senator McCain is not a hero because he was captured. So, you know, not a huge surprise, but it sort of does speak to where

we are when the sitting president is not wanted at the funeral someday of probably the most prominent member of Congress today.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CABRERA: Editor-at-large for the "Weekly Standard," Bill Kristol is joining us now. Bill served as a foreign policy adviser for John McCain during his 2008 presidential campaign.

So, Bill, you obviously know the senator well. This is so tough with talk of funeral details already being worked out. What are you hearing about how he's doing?

BILL KRISTOL, EDITOR-AT-LARGE, WEEKLY STANDARD: Well, he's a fighter and he said he's fighting. And he's mentally in good shape and having -- people I've talked to visited him say he's very -- you know, he has opinions as he always has had. He's curious about the inside of Washington and elsewhere. Very much on top of things. And so that's great that he's able to do that.

You know, I was thinking about it just before the show and talking to Jonathan Martin you had on last hour. I've been in Washington I guess 30 plus years. I have a little involvement with politics. I think the three senators who may be the giants of the last 30, 40 years for me at least, Bob Dole, who is alive and well at age 94, I think. Very impressive leader of the Senate who's one type. John McCain, a real, you know, maverick, a fighter. Kind of went his own way, sometimes crossed the party. Very different from Dole but similar in certain ways, too.

And Pat Monahan, who I've worked for when I was much younger and I was a Democrat briefly, in a campaign and who is more of an intellectual you might say. But all -- what did they have in common? I was thinking about it. I mean, all three loved this country. They served this country in the military and continued to serve it. And for them, I mean, it really was country first. That was McCain's slogan in 2008. But I think it's really true of all three of them and for many other men and women obviously in Washington as well. It's something we tend to forget or think it's almost impossible in this hyper partisan era.

CABRERA: This day and age. Yes.

KRISTOL: And also the Trump era, honestly.

CABRERA: What is your take on two former rivals, Presidents Barack Obama and George W. Bush apparently tapped to do the eulogies at Senator McCain's funeral when that time comes? Why do you think they were chosen?

KRISTOL: Well, I guess John McCain has a sense of irony and they both beat him. And I think he thinks the country would -- and I agree with this, I voted for him in the primary in 2000 against Bush, and in 2008 in the primary and the general election. He probably thinks the country might have been better off if he had been president instead of either of them. But he also respected them. He respects the honor -- the office of the presidency. Obviously part of his general attachment to American institutions and to American history and to American patriotism that I'm sure, you know, no one likes to think about his own funeral I'm sure, but to the degree that he has to think about it the notion that two -- our two most recent presidents, one a Republican, one a Democrat, whom he jousted with in primaries and in general elections will be coming to pay their respects.

It really means -- they speak for the country. Right? I mean, everyone in the country basically voted for either Bush or Obama. So if you have both of them there speaking about a senator who never quite made the presidency. There have been several great senators in American history. When you think about it, you study this in school. Right? Daniel Webster and Henry Clay, these giants in the 19th century who never became president.

I think John McCain will go down in the history books as also a giant of the Senate who didn't make the presidency but made huge contributions in so many ways including in his books incidentally.

CABRERA: Right.

KRISTOL: Which you really must read.

CABRERA: But when you talk about the president's -- these former presidents being there and representing the vast majority of this country because they represent different parties and obviously went on to become presidents, yet the current president apparently is not going to be invited. Is John McCain trying to send a message with that, do you think?

KRISTOL: Yes. That's also just his preference assuming the reporting is correct. I -- look, I think he respects Barack Obama and George W. Bush in a way perhaps he doesn't quite respect Donald Trump. Donald Trump as president, and I am sure John McCain respects the office and he's behaved that way incidentally in the Senate for the last year plus while Donald Trump is president.

But I think he thinks that Donald Trump is a demagogue and it's all about him and he's also really appealed to some of the less noble impulses of the American people in a way that I don't think he would say that either Barack Obama or George W. Bush consistently did or did most of the time. So yes, I think he's sending a bit of a signal there.

CABRERA: McCain has been a critical vote for the Senate given the tight balance of power. The president just this week was again commenting on how that health care vote went down. Let's listen to what the president said this week just a couple of days ago at his NRA convention speech.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

[18:25:06] DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Had it beat except for one vote. You remember that beautiful night. It was defeated but one vote changed. It changed. (END VIDEO CLIP)

CABRERA: So that was yesterday actually at that round table. The round table on tax reform bill. But basically the balance of power in the Senate we realize is very much intertwined with John McCain's future, isn't it?

KRISTOL: Yes, it is. And obviously with the elections in November. I mean, it's amazing that Donald Trump can't just let that go. The truth is most Republicans I've talked to who are intelligent think it's just as well that bill went down. If that bill had passed you would have all kinds of unpredictable affects on health premiums this year and the Republicans would have -- I don't think he's to be blamed for it. Now they didn't really fix Obamacare which from my point of view also is sort of unfortunate for the country but they really can't be blamed for the problems.

So probably John McCain did his party a favor by voting against sending that bill to conference. But either way that's not why he did it. And look, I think he really looked at it and thought this was a bad piece of legislation and most serious people agree that it was cobbled together. It was not a serious replacement proposal. It was going to go to conference and they were going to work it out there allegedly. I don't think John McCain trusted that. And so he came and flew back and voted against it.

He's been a maverick as he likes to call himself all of his political career and this was a -- this was an act along those lines. I think what he'll be remembered for obviously in the Senate is his foreign policy leadership which is really extraordinary back in the Cold War years and then very much in the '90s. That's when I really became close to him when he was a strong advocate for intervention in the Balkans, ahead of Bill Clinton, against a lot of Republicans. He supported Bill Clinton across party lines there and encouraged him to do more. And that worked out pretty well actually. Got rid of Milosevic and stopped ethnic cleansing.

Obviously a very strong supporter of the war in Iraq and other efforts after 9/11 and those will be debated a long time. But to his credit, for me this was so crucial because I was a strong supporter of that war, too. Right away McCain saw we didn't have enough troops. It wasn't being run well and he was willing to be critical of his own president, president of his party, George W. Bush, and of Don Rumsfeld. By September of 2003, we supported him in the "Weekly Standard." That took a lot of courage. It was an awful lot then that --

(CROSSTALK)

CABRERA: He's acted with conviction, no doubt about it. A passion and an unwavering dedication to serving this country. The reporting from the "New York Times" that he still on these hours-plus long conference calls with his aide, staying connected to Washington as he continues his own personal health battle in Arizona.

Bill Kristol, thank you so much for joining us. KRISTOL: Thanks, Ana.

CABRERA: Coming up, one Republican lawmaker calling it quits and she has some tough words for President Trump on her way out.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Stop with the name calling. Do you look at the White House? Because --

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Absolutely.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CABRERA: But first this week's "Before the Bell" here is CNN's chief business correspondent Christine Romans -- Christine.

CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN CHIEF BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Ana. When are wages going to move higher? That's a key question following the April jobs report. Unemployment fell below 4 percent for the first time since 2000. The economy added 164,000 net new jobs but wages still plotting along at a 2.6 percent annual increase.

When you see this tight of a labor market with workers in demand and employers hungry to hire people, usually wages start rising. That's what main street wants to see but Wall Street, not so much. Investors are worried that higher wages eventually will signal inflation and inflation could cause a Federal Reserve to raise interest rates more aggressively to keep the economy from overheating.

Interest rate jitters have already pressured the stock market. Last week stocks were volatile after the Federal Reserve said inflation is moving higher. This week inflation fears could be the focus again. Data on both consumer and producer prices are due.

In New York, I'm Christine Romans.

[18:30:00] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ANA CABRERA, CNN ANCHOR: Former first lady Michelle Obama says she is still reflecting on the outcome of the 2016 presidential election, particularly what it means for women in this country.

She spoke this weekend at the United States of Women Summit in Los Angeles. She didn't mention Trump by name, but she had a lot to say about the campaign that put him in office.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MICHELLE OBAMA, FORMER FIRST LADY OF THE UNITED STATES: In light of this last election, I'm concerned about us as women and how we think about ourselves and about each other and what's really going on. I mean, I think more about, what is going on in our heads where we let that happen, you know?

(APPLAUSE) OBAMA: So I do wonder, what are young girls dreaming about if we're still there where when the most qualified person running was a woman and look what we did instead? I mean, that says something about where we are.

You know, I think we've gotten -- so many of us have gotten ourselves at the table, but we're still too grateful to be at the table to really shake it up, you know.

(APPLAUSE)

OBAMA: I think we're -- and that's not a criticism because, for so many, just getting to the table was so hard, right? And so you're just holding on, just trying to -- but now we have to take some risks.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[18:35:08] CABRERA: Take some risks, she says. So let's head to South Dakota where one risk-taking woman is trying to become the state's first female governor. CNN's Kyung Lah has her story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KYUNG LAH, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Five-thirty a.m., a single digit dawn in South Dakota. Congresswoman Kristi Noem's daily ritual and her path to make history, running to be the first woman governor of South Dakota.

LAH (on camera): The one thing that Washington is known for is the smoky bar.

REP. KRISTI NOEM (R), SOUTH DAKOTA: Yes, absolutely.

LAH (on camera): The late night drinks. For you, that just doesn't work.

NOEM: Well, for me, I'm married. It's not a good testimony for me to be sitting in a bar late at night when my family is all the way across the country. I started thinking out of the box, how can I get to have interaction with other members?

And for me, it was the gym. We exercise together, but we also talk about legislation.

His name is Danny. How are you doing, huh?

LAH (voice-over): Breaking the norm. Hardly new for the conservative congresswoman. Born, raised, and still rancher on the 6,000-acre family plot.

NOEM: We have had cattle and horses and raised our family here. So we'll always be here.

LAH (voice-over): Noem made the leap to State lawmaker. Then in 2010, defeated a popular incumbent to go to Congress. Despite her success, this is what she heard as she announced her historical run for governor.

NOEM: I had a few people tell me that maybe I didn't have the right body parts to be a governor. So, you know, there's just --

LAH (on camera): Really?

NOEM: Yes, but, you know, it's a small minority of folks that we just have to change their perspective. And I said, you know, that's unfortunate but we're going to win.

(APPLAUSE)

NOEM: You all have come alongside me over and over and over again.

So how are you doing?

LAH (voice-over): Noem is as uncommon here as she is in Washington. Republican women make up about 10 percent of Congress. The unprecedented surge of women running for office this year has been almost completely among Democrats.

REP. ILEANA ROS-LEHTINEN (R), FLORIDA: It is sad. It's depressing and the numbers are getting worse.

LAH (voice-over): Republican Congresswoman Ileana Ros-Lehtinen has represented South Florida for nearly three decades.

ROS-LEHTINEN: Look at that.

LAH (voice-over): She says gender diversity is an afterthought for House leadership. She is retiring this year, leaving with this ominous message for her party.

ROS-LEHTINEN: Just stop with the name-calling. It turns women off.

LAH (on camera): Do you look at the White House? It does a lot --

ROS-LEHTINEN: Absolutely. The rhetoric coming out of White House is a recruiting tool for liberal women to come out and counter that. And as long as we are a party that's seen as homogeneous, not heterogeneous, a party that doesn't invite minorities and women, we're not going to be a welcoming party for the future.

The growth for GOP women in elected office is at the local level and at the state capitals.

LAH (on camera): Why this year is a record number of women saying that they can run in government?

NOEM: You know, I think it's all about not missing an opportunity. Timing is everything in politics.

LAH (voice-over): Congresswoman Noem's time may be now. She is regarded as the front-runner, pledging to govern with the innovation of a national lawmaker and the transparency of a local farmer.

LAH (on camera): This is about a million miles away from D.C.

(LAUGHTER)

NOEM: It is, so far. This is as -- I live two totally different lives, that is very true.

LAH (on camera): You prefer a tractor to an airplane?

NOEM: I do. You have control over your own destiny.

LAH (voice-over): A path she hopes to forge at home.

Kyung Lah, CNN, Castlewood, South Dakota.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CABRERA: Up next, video surfaces of a Miami police officer kicking a man in the head -- in his head as he was handcuffed and lying on the ground. You'll see it next, live in the CNN NEWSROOM.

[18:38:51] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CABRERA: Shocking new cell phone video of an alleged incident of police brutality in Florida. This video was recorded by a witness. It shows a Miami officer kicking a Black man in the head while he is being handcuffed by another officer. And now, police and the State Attorney's Office are investigating.

CNN's Rosa Flores reports.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ROSA FLORES, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): This cell phone video is difficult to watch. A Black man is on his stomach getting handcuffed by Miami police when Officer Mario Figueroa runs into frame.

The video appears to show the officer kicking 31-year-old David Suazo in the head. Then drops to the ground and puts him in a headlock.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It was unnecessary because he wasn't resisting or anything.

FLORES (voice-over): You'd never know Suazo was apparently kicked and head locked from reading the police report, which says Suazo was driving an alleged stolen vehicle then crashed it when he tried to evade police before fleeing on foot.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You didn't have to do all that, buddy.

FLORES (voice-over): It was the shocked woman behind the camera who messaged police about the police.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: That man should get fired. He was not a football for you to just kick him the way you did.

FLORES (voice-over): The Miami Police Chief, swift to take action, tweeting the video depicts a clear violation of policy. The officer has been relieved of duty.

And the State Attorney saying she was shocked, appalled, and opening an investigation.

Suazo has been charged with grand theft auto, fleeing police, and other charges.

FLORES (on camera): Figueroa is suspended with pay pending the investigation. Our phone calls to him and to the police union were not returned.

[18:45:02] The Public Defender's Office who represents Suazo returned our phone calls but said that they do not comment on pending litigation.

Rosa Flores, CNN, Miami.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CABRERA: In tonight's new episode of "UNITED SHADES OF AMERICA," host W. Kamau Bell takes us to the heart of one of the most misunderstood religions in America.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

W. KAMAU BELL, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Knowledge of most other religions in America are somewhere between kind of understood to gleefully misunderstood.

[18:50:00] (CHANTING)

BELL (voice-over): And then there are Sikhs. Also known as Sikhs, but more and more wanting to be called Sikhs.

Yes, even their name was misunderstood.

So let's see what happens when I show people on the street a picture of a Sikh.

BELL (on camera): Do you have any idea what religion this guy might be?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I think --

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Muslim?

BELL (on camera): That's a good guess. A lot of people say Muslim.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Satan cult?

(LAUGHTER)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, because it has --

BELL (on camera): I thought you were going to say something else.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.

BELL (on camera): Satan.

BELL (voice-over): Did he just say Satan? Is that even a religion?

So little is understood about the Sikh religion that many people assume that they are members of other religions. And with a look like this, guess which religion is most popular for people to associate them with.

WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: Sikhs have been targeted now repeatedly.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Well, the man responsible for shooting a Sikh man in his driveway is still on the run.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This month's attack on two Sikh men, shot while walking along a street in Elk Grove.

HALA GORANI, CNN ANCHOR: The gunman allegedly told the victim to go back to your country.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: A crime of hate.

BELL (voice-over): Since 9/11, anti-Muslim hate crimes, which shouldn't happen in the first place, have more and more been committed against Sikhs.

Yes, in America, we can't even get our hate straight.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CABRERA: W. Kamau Bell is joining us live now from Oakland, California.

Kamau, why is the Sikh religion so misunderstood here in America, even starting with how to pronounce the name? I have to admit I thought it was Sikh all along as well.

BELL: Yes, as we saw, even Wolf Blitzer thought it was Sikh. But hopefully, that's one thing we can change with this episode.

I think we just only had so much room in our heads as Americans for religions outside of, like, the major ones. So we think of Christianity, Judaism, we -- and we brought Muslim into our heads.

But then, because that has sort of a similar Middle Eastern feel for some reason, even though it comes from South Asia, we sort of lumped it in, especially with the -- we associate turbans and beards with Islam.

CABRERA: How did you come up with the idea to explore this in this episode? I understand the community members reached out to you, right? BELL: Yes, specifically one community member. I was live tweeting

another episode, which I'll be live tweeting this one tonight, and Harpreet Singh, who is one of the co-founders of the Sikh Coalition -- which was founded after 9/11 to sort of educate people about Sikhs because, after 9/11, hate crimes went up against Muslims.

And many Sikhs were misidentified as Muslims. Not that hate crime should be targeted to anybody, but the first hate crime that ended up in somebody's death was a Sikh man who was misidentified as a Muslim.

CABRERA: So help explain it to us. What is the Sikh religion really about?

(LAUGHTER)

BELL: I'll try to explain it in 30 seconds. It's really a religion of equality and charity. And they also have a thing where they go warrior-saint and -- saint and soldier where they believe you should be a person of spirituality but you also have to defend the weak.

So there is a thing where if you see someone in a turban and you need help, you can ask a Sikh for help and their religion obligates them to help them.

CABRERA: You mentioned the turban. That is obviously so prominent, a visible symbol of the Sikh religion. What is the religious significance behind it?

BELL: It's because they -- the turban is really just a way for them to feel like they are -- kingly people, is the way I would say it. Like, they are -- each one of them is their own personal king or queen, so the turban is a way to remind them of that.

CABRERA: So interesting. I'm looking forward to your episode. I love seeing the clip and how you bring a sense of just kind of everyday person to the streets there when you're going back and forth. And you laugh out, talking to the guy who said Satan?

I mean, you're right, this is such a misunderstood religion. We don't know enough about it, but you're going to help educate all of us tonight in your episode.

Thank you, W. Kamau Bell. Good to see you.

BELL: Thank you.

CABRERA: Be sure to tune in. The all-new episode of "UNITED SHADES OF AMERICA" airs tonight at 10:00 p.m. Eastern here on CNN.

[18:53:53] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CABRERA: She had dreams of walking across the stage, receiving her diploma in social work. But two weeks ago, DeEbony Groves' life was cut short when a gunman walked into the Waffle House where she was eating and sprayed the restaurant with bullets. Last night, in Nashville, her mother walked in her place across the

stage to accept her daughter's diploma from Belmont University. The school announced it is renaming a social work scholarship in DeEbony's honor so that her legacy will live on.

And CNN's Van Jones sat down with James Shaw, Jr. He is the young man who wrestled the rifle away from the Waffle House shooter and asked him what he wants to see from President Trump.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JAMES SHAW, JR., TOOK RIFLE FROM WAFFLE HOUSE GUNMAN: I would ask him to look into mental health issues more. Mental illness and public health issues. See if we can do some more about that.

It's just -- it's several different things that come to mind when -- when I think about the Waffle House, you know, incident. It just wasn't just him shooting. It was things that led up to that.

So if we can stop that on the forehand, then we can stop him, you know, even getting to the Waffle House and that problem starting.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CABRERA: Van Jones also asked him if a career in politics could lie ahead. His response? We'll see what the future holds.

You are live in the CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Ana Cabrera in New York. Thanks for going with me.

Tonight, the tornado that is Rudy Giuliani, part attorney, part chaos maker. The newest member of Trump's legal team meets with the President after barreling through another media appearance with head- spinning comments on the Stormy Daniels scandal and the Special Counsel probe.

And yet, Giuliani told CNN just a short time ago the President feels like things are moving in the right direction.

First, here is Giuliani on whether the President lied about the hush money payment to a porn star.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

[19:00:00] RUDY GIULIANI, ATTORNEY FOR PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: I don't know when the President learned about it. He could have learned about it after or not connected the whole thing at that time.

The reality is those are not facts that worry me as a lawyer. Those don't amount to anything, what was said to the press. That's political.