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Trump Rejects Meeting; Third Accuser Comes Forward; Kavanaugh's Years at Yale. Aired 6:30-7:00a ET

Aired September 27, 2018 - 06:30   ET

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

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[06:34:12] JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: So it is time for "CNN Money Now."

And if you listened to the president's news conference yesterday, almost no entity was singled out for more ire than, wait for it, Canada. Yes, Canada. President Trump says he rejected a meeting with Canada's prime minister, Justin Trudeau, as a new trade pact without Canada is looking more likely.

Our chief business correspondent Christine Romans joins us now with the blame Canada moment.

Romans.

CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN CHIEF BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Yes, you know, call this a modern day low, John, in U.S./Canada relations.

Trump is so unhappy with trade talks, he claims he rejected a one-on- one with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.

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DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Because his tariffs are too high and he doesn't seem to want to move. And I've told him, forget about it. And, frankly, we're thinking about just taxing cars coming in from Canada. That's the mother lode. That's the big one. We're very unhappy with the negotiations and the negotiating style of Canada.

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[06:35:04] ROMANS: A spokesman for Trudeau says no meeting was requested. But this is not the first time Trump has threated the Canadian cars. Autos were a central part of the deal he made between the U.S. and Mexico last month. The White House wants Canada to accept the terms of that deal by this weekend. If not, the U.S. threatens to move on without Canada.

A big sticking point here, U.S. access to Canada's dairy market. This, by the way, is a very small part of U.S./Canada trade, but Trump is infuriated that Canada charges an average 249 percent tariff above a certain quota to protect Canadian farmers. That's not uncommon. The U.S. had similar protections for American tobacco and peanuts. Ironically, the U.S. and Canada already did have an agreement to lower those dairy tariffs, John. It was part of TPP, which President Trump rejected his first week in office.

Alisyn.

ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN ANCHOR: OK, Christine, thank you very much.

So, a third woman came forward yesterday alleging that Brett Kavanaugh attended parties where women, including herself, were drugged and gang raped.

Next, Michael Avenatti, the lawyer for that woman, joins us live.

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[06:40:08] CAMEROTA: In just hours, we will hear directly for the first time from Christine Blasey Ford, who accuses Judge Brett Kavanaugh of sexual assault three decades ago.

Now, yesterday, a third woman came forward. Her name is Julie Swetnick. And she has made very disturbing claims against Brett Kavanaugh. In a sworn statement, Swetnick says Kavanaugh attended parties where young women were drugged and gang raped, including herself.

Joining us now is Michael Avenatti, Swetnick's lawyer.

Michael, thank you so much for being here with us this morning.

MICHAEL AVENATTI, ATTORNEY FOR JULIE SWETNICK: Good morning.

CAMEROTA: Michael, the claims that your client makes are draw dropping. And some of them really, frankly, scream credulity. They -- they don't make sense to me. So can we just go through them and have you try to explain them to us.

OK, she says that she attended well over ten house parties where Brett Kavanaugh and his friend, Mark Judge, were. And at those parties, she witnessed incredibly drunken behavior and really disturbing conduct. Here are some of the things she says she saw.

Kavanaugh pressing his body against women without their consent, grinding his body against girls, attempting to expose body parts of girls, maybe his own, making crude sexual comments, being a mean drunk, spiking the punch at these house parties in order to make women incapacitated. And then this, a line of young men outside of a bedroom where there was a young woman inside and in preparation for some sort of gang rape, as she says. How is any of this possible? How is it possible that if she saw any of these things she would continue to go to house parties like this?

AVENATTI: Well, first of all, my client is 100 percent credible. Anybody that has seen my track record over the last seven months knows that I don't traffic in rumor and nonsense. These claims have been fully vetted. We are encouraging the FBI to immediately get involved and sit down with my client for an interview. We want Mark Judge interviewed. We want Brett Kavanaugh interviewed. We want everyone interviewed, Alisyn. And, also, she's offered this morning -- actually before this morning, days ago, we offered to have her testify under oath before the committee and --

CAMEROTA: And what did they say?

AVENATTI: Well, the committee refuses to allow her to testify under oath and they refuse to allow the FBI to get involved. Brett Kavanaugh and the committee do not want the truth known to the American public.

Now, as it relates to these claims --

CAMEROTA: Yes.

AVENATTI: Yes, they are very, very serious allegations. There's no question about it. And she understands the seriousness of these allegations. She stands behind them. There are corroborating witnesses that are going to come --

CAMEROTA: Yes, I want to get to that.

AVENATTI: Well, let me -- let me finish.

CAMEROTA: Yes.

AVENATTI: There's cooperating -- they are corroborating witnesses that are going to come forward that are going to attest to much of this conduct to support the allegations in this declaration. But this is the beginning stage, Alisyn. This is not the end. She's made these allegations. She's prepared to stand behind them. There needs to be an investigation. That's why we have investigations.

CAMEROTA: But just to my question, why would she ever go back? Why did she go to ten of those house parties?

AVENATTI: Well, first of all, to be clear, spiking the punch wasn't necessarily unusual. It's the purpose behind spiking the punch and some of the other --

CAMEROTA: Yes, but the other stuff. It --

AVENATTI: I know, but let me -- I know, but let me finish, OK? Let me finish.

So she witnessed a lot of this conduct as it relates to what was going on in these back bedrooms. She did not understand at the time the magnitude of what was transpiring in those back bedrooms until she was ultimately gang raped and drugged, as she details in the declaration.

So, you know, a lot of this would be substantiated if there was an investigation, which is what we want. We're not -- we are not laying out all of the facts and all the evidence right now. That's not our obligation.

CAMEROTA: She said -- AVENATTI: We are raising -- we are raising a complaint detailed enough for an investigation. We want an investigation. This woman wants to take a polygraph examination and has agreed to do so if Brett Kavanaugh will do so. This is a search for the truth and we don't understand why Brett Kavanaugh and the committee is hiding evidence and facts and they don't want the truth to be known.

CAMEROTA: Your client says that she told two other people shortly after that gang rape that she has outlined. Have you spoken to those people?

AVENATTI: I'm not going to get into the details of who I've spoken to or not, Alisyn. But here's what I am going to say. This woman was fully vetted. I have spoken to a number of corroborating witnesses relating to what my client has stated. She is believable. She's 100 percent credible.

And here's the other thing I'm going to say. The idea that all of these women now that have come forward against Brett Kavanaugh, that they all somehow conspired and agreed to derail this nomination is ludicrous. Many of these women never -- never met each other before. All of these women cannot be lying, Alisyn. This man does not belong on the U.S. Supreme Court until a full investigation.

[06:45:10] CAMEROTA: About your client having been fully vetted, I just want to ask you about some of the things because she has a complicated legal past. So let me just go through some of these with you. According to "The Wall Street Journal," in 1993, there was a criminal harassment complaint filed with state prosecutors against a podiatrist and his wife. She alleged there were repeated upsetting phone calls. March 2001, a restraining order was filed against your client by a former boyfriend. Roughly a decade ago, she was involved with her former employer over a sexual harassment complaint that she filed. And she was represented at that time by the same law firm that represents now Christine Blasey Ford. Is there any connection between that law firm and you having found this client?

AVENATTI: No, absolutely not. I didn't go out and find this woman. And I'm tired of people suggesting that somehow I went out and solicited this client or any other client. I don't go out and solicit clients. Clients come to me. In the last six months, over 3,000 people have contacted me for legal representation after having witnessed the job that I've done on behalf of Stormy Daniels.

And let me also address some of these issues in her past. These are irrelevant, completely irrelevant, to whether this woman is telling the truth about these allegations. It's an attempt to assassinate her character and it's about attacking a sexual abuse victim, which I find to be disgusting. None of this would ever make its way into a court of law were we determining whether this woman was telling the truth.

And, again, let's determine whether she's telling the truth. Let's have an FBI investigation. I don't understand why the Republicans on the committee and Donald Trump and Brett Kavanaugh don't want the truth known. CAMEROTA: Look, like you, we're in the business of more information is

better. And so it's not about character assassination, it's about, you know, painting a full picture. The guy who she was dating, her ex- boyfriend, gave this statement to "Politico" who says, right after I broke up with her, she was threatening my family, threatening my wife, threatening to do harm to my baby at that time. I know a lot about her. She's not credible at all. Not at all.

And does that give you any pause, Michael?

AVENATTI: No, it gives me no pause at all. I know the history behind this man. He's an absolute fraudster. He took her resume, got a job using her qualifications, was found out about it, was fired from that job, committed fraud against a number of other people unbeknownst to her. You know, it's not unusual to have an ex-boyfriend or ex- girlfriend say bad things about you, Alisyn. I mean that's the best the far right can drum up is some ex-boyfriend who claims she's not credible? I mean that's not what this is about. This woman's prepared to take a polygraph exam. She is a sexual assault victim. And we need to stop attacking sexual assault victims and white men need to stop passing judgement on sexual assault victims until all of the facts are known. This is disgusting by Chuck Grassley and others to go after this woman.

CAMEROTA: Michael, I just want to end on this note, that Brett Kavanaugh has denied everything that Julie Swetnick has said. He has said -- I'll quote him, I think it's absurd, outrageous, a joke, a farce, the twilight zone. He says that he never -- oh, he says he never met you. I don't -- sorry, that's -- I'm quoting from the transcript now, he says he's never met you, but I don't know about your client.

Michael, we really appreciate you coming on and giving us more details of this story. Obviously we'll be watching closely what happens today and beyond. Thank you.

AVENATTI: Have a good morning.

CAMEROTA: You, too.

John.

BERMAN: Look, it's so interesting. It's hard to separate, I think, the politics surrounding Michael Avenatti with the claims being made. Julie Swetnick signed an affidavit but we still don't know who these witnesses are. You know, we know so much more about the cases of Debbie Ramirez and Christine Blasey Ford.

CAMEROTA: True. I mean he -- yes, you're right, it sounds like he's -- Michael says he has vetted her. So we'll see what comes forward next.

BERMAN: That's all we have from him on that.

CAMEROTA: It is.

BERMAN: All right, Brett Kavanaugh's behavior at Yale has come under intense scrutiny. So what was he like in college? Former classmates paint two very different pictures. That's next.

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[06:53:21] BERMAN: Supreme Court Nominee Brett Kavanaugh's years at Yale under scrutiny after one of the allegations of sexual misconduct against him. Deborah Ramirez accuses him of thrusting his gentiles in her face at a drunken party and causing her to touch it as she pushed him away. Kavanaugh denies the accusation.

Our Miguel Marquez spoke to people who knew Kavanaugh in college. He has much more.

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MIGUEL MARQUEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): At Yale University, a partially remembered alleged incident 35 years old.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Will be the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth --

MARQUEZ: Now front and center in the high-powered fight over a crucial pick for the highest court in the land.

SEN. KAMALA HARRIS (D), CALIFORNIA: Yes or no.

BRETT KAVANAUGH, SUPREME COURT NOMINEE: Well, is there a person you're talking about.

HARRIS: I'm asking you a very direct question, yes or no?

MARQUEZ: The claim at an alcohol-fueled party in 1983 or 1984, Brett Kavanaugh exposed himself in a very aggressive way to Debbie Ramirez when both were freshman and both were drunk.

KAVANAUGH: I never did any such thing. Never did any such thing. The other people alleged to be there don't recall any such thing. If such a thing had happened, it would have been the talk of campus.

MARQUEZ: The claim has added a layer of worry, angst and protest for many on the political left over a nominee and his nominating process.

AKHIL REED AMAR, YALE LAW PROFESSOR: Brett Kavanaugh is the best candidate on the horizon.

MARQUEZ: Yale Law Professor Akhil Reed Amar, a self-described liberal Democrat, testified on Kavanaugh's behalf and wrote an editorial in "The New York Times" supporting his appointment based on the legal strength of Judge Kavanaugh's written decisions.

[06:55:02] AMAR: As a constitutional scholar, read what Judge Kavanaugh, as a judge, has written, and I thought that this overall work product placed him at the very top of all sitting federal Republican judges.

MARQUEZ: He now has second thoughts. AMAR: I have second thoughts because a second issue has arisen, and

it's an issue about which, frankly, I don't have the facts. I don't think any American yet has the facts.

MARQUEZ: Amar wants to hear what Judge Kavanaugh's accusers have to say and judge for himself if he thinks the claims are credible and should bar Kavanaugh from sitting on the Supreme Court.

In a statement James Roach, Kavanaugh's freshman roommate, remembers him as a normally reserved but a notably heavy drinker. Roach, a close friend of Debbie Ramirez, says he has no knowledge of the incident she describes, but that Kavanaugh could become aggressive and belligerent when he was very drunk.

HAILEY FUCHS, "YALE DAILY NEWS": When he was at Yale as an undergrad, he joined a fraternity known as Delta Kappa Epsilon.

MARQUEZ: Hailey Fuchs and Britt O'Daly reported deeply on Judge Kavanaugh's time at Yale.

BRITT O'DALY, "YALE DAILY NEWS": This was a fraternity that heavily, heavily drew from the athlete scene at Yale, right? So Brett Kavanaugh is this guy, he liked to play a little bit of basketball besides wrote about sports for the "Yale Daily News," was a big fan of that crowd.

MARQUEZ: One picture appearing in the "Yale Daily News" during those years of DKE members, but not Kavanaugh, raising a flag made from female student undergarments, it indicates the sort of fraternal hijinks. Some say misogynistic activities, carried out by members of DKE during Judge Kavanaugh's time in the fraternity.

FUCHS: It was sort of a lot of hijinks and a lot of kind of like debauchery and like rowdiness that was very characteristic of DKE.

MARQUEZ: CNN contacted dozens of Judge Kavanaugh's classmates. Of those that did respond, many describe DKE as a hard partying fraternity. Most had positive memories of Kavanaugh, but not all. One woman called him an aggressive, obnoxious drunk, saying his fraternity was misogynistic. One classmate who was in the same secret society, Truth and Courage, as Kavanaugh, says they drank but never saw him in a state where he wasn't in control. A female classmate who knew Kavanaugh well found the allegations shocking, saying she remembers Kavanaugh as an extremely intelligent and extremely nice and sensitive man.

BRETT KAVANAUGH, SUPREME COURT NOMINEE: I'm just asking for a fair process where I can be heard and defend my integrity and defend my family's integrity.

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MARQUEZ: Now the big question is, will Deborah Ramirez be allowed a chance to testify before the Senate committee. Her lawyers have sent a letter to them saying she will cooperate. She says that they've heard back from Republican staffers on the committee saying they want more evidence. Their point, the only evidence I have is my recollections and they don't seem to want to hear that. All of that while the Senate seems to have this tentative vote already scheduled for tomorrow morning on Judge Kavanaugh. So it looks like, at this point, she will not be testifying.

Alisyn.

CAMEROTA: I don't know how they would get evidence from years ago of what she claims, but -- I mean other than her word.

Miguel, thank you very much.

So, we are just three hours away from the historic hearing on Capitol Hill. Some very big developments at the top of the hour.

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