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New Day Saturday
Advice Columnist Accuses Trump Of Sexual Assault 23 years Ago; Trump Now Primarily Thinking About Additional Sanctions; Nine Killed In Small Plane Crash In Hawaii; 2020 Hopefuls Gather In South Carolina For Clyburn Fish Fry; Eddie Gallagher Was Targeted For Being "Old School"; Court Sides With Death Row Inmate In Jury Discrimination Case; Missouri Denies Planned Parenthood's Abortion License; Polls: Warren Rising But Biden Tops In Perceived Electability. Aired 7-8a ET
Aired June 22, 2019 - 07:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
[07:00:00] UNIDENTIFIED MALE: President Trump issuing a strong denial; begins accusations he forced himself on. Author and Advice Columnist E. Jean Carroll at a department store in Manhattan more than 20 years ago.
E. JEAN CARROLL, AUTHOR AND ADVICE COLUMNIST: I had a run-in with the president. I fought. It was shocking. It was against my will.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Senior immigration official has confirmed that ICE, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, is set to launch raids in 10 U.S. cities beginning this Sunday. Targeting about 2,000 people.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: New disturbing details emerging on the deteriorating conditions at the border. Babies now taking care of babies.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VICTOR BLACKWELL, CNN ANCHOR: Good new day to you. Top of the hour now, I'm Victor Blackwell.
JESSICA DEAN, CNN ANCHOR: Hi, everyone. I'm Jessica Dean in for Christi Paul.
BLACKWELL: Top stories this morning. President Trump says he's not looking for war, but he says, if it comes to conflict, Iran, will be obliterated.
DEAN: Meantime, President Trump is denying a new accusation of sexual assault after a writer says he attacked her in a dressing room two decades ago.
BLACKWELL: Plus, the senior immigration official says, ICE is set to start rounding up thousands of undocumented immigrants tomorrow. And breaking overnight in Hawaii, nine people are dead after a skydiving plane crashed near Honolulu.
New York Magazine has published allegations from Advice Columnist E. Jean Carroll in which she claims the president sexually assaulted her in the 90s.
DEAN: She makes the accusations in her forthcoming book "What Do We Need Men For?", which also accuses other men of inappropriate behavior. CNN's Jason Carroll filed this report.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JASON CARROLL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: President Trump issuing a strong denial, begins accusations he forced himself on Author and Advice Columnist, E. Jean Carroll, at a department store in Manhattan more than 20 years ago. Carroll praised the allegations in a just published New York Magazine article tied to the publication of her new book: "What Do We Need Men For: A Modest Proposal." In an interview, Friday, with NBC News, Carroll described the incident.
E. CARROLL: I had a run-in with the president in a dressing room in Bergdorf's. I fought. It was shocking. It was against my will.
J. CARROLL: In the article she writes: "The moment the dressing room door is closed, he lunges at me, pushes me against the wall hitting my head quite badly and puts his mouth against my lips. She continues, I am so shocked, I shove him back and start laughing again. He seizes both of my arms and pushes me up against the wall a second time, and as I become aware of how large he is, he holds me against the wall with a shoulder and jams his hand under my coat dress and pulls down my tights."
However, the president says: "I've never met this person in my life," adding, "shame on those who make up false stories of assault to try to get publicity for themselves or to sell a book or carry out some sort of political agenda." He continues, "no pictures, no video, no reports, no sales attendants around. I would like to thank Bergdorf Goodman for confirming they have no video footage of any such incident because it never happened. False accusations diminished the severity of real assault."
Trump then asked for help, saying: "If anyone has information that the Democratic Party is working with Mrs. Carroll or New York Magazine, please notify us as soon as possible. The world should know what's really going on. It's a disgrace and people should pay dearly for such false accusations." Despite Trump saying they never met, Carroll published a picture showing her chatting with Trump during a holiday party in the 1980s.
And New York Magazine says, they reached out to Carroll's two friends who corroborated what she did disclose about that attack at the time. Trump says, the story is made up and, "should be sold in the fiction section." He was taped during a 2005 "Access Hollywood" interview saying he liked to grab women by their private parts adding, when you're a star, they let you do it. CNN has reached out to Carroll but she has yet to respond. Jason Carroll, CNN, New York.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
DEAN: President Trump is now shifting his attention towards sanctions against Iran after he called off a planned military strike. But he told NBC News while he isn't looking for war, military options aren't off the table.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I'm not looking for war, and if there is, it will be obliteration like you've never seen before. But I'm not looking to do that. But you can't have a nuclear weapon. You want to talk good, otherwise you can have a bad economy for the next three years.
[07:05:11] UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No pre-conditions?
TRUMP: Not as far as I'm concerned, no pre-conditions.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BLACKWELL: As for economic consequences, the Treasury Department has not yet announced any new sanctions against Iran. Joining us with more now on that, Kylie Atwood, CNN National Security Reporter. Kylie, first, the president said that there had already been new sanctions placed on Iran.
KYLIE ATWOOD, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY REPORTER: Well, that's right, when President Trump tweeted out just yesterday morning, some of the details of why he pulled back on those military strikes that had been planned against Iran, he said that new sanctions had been put on Iran. Now, that was not true when he sent the tweet, and that remains untrue today. We have not seen any additional new sanctions from the U.S. on Iran in the last 48 hours.
Now, the treasury department and Secretary Pompeo have come out saying that Iran could face new sanctions if they don't ratify some U.N. treaties, but those new sanctions wouldn't come into place until October. But I am told by two administration officials that we could see new sanctions on Iran, we're likely to see those new sanctions within the next week. So, this is very, very important because it is a notable shift for the Trump administration where they were close to military strikes, now shifting to an economic approach with Iran, back to where they were before these potential military strikes.
The question is, how effective could more sanctions on Iran actually be because there is such a strong sanctions regime that the U.S. has already put on Iran right now, what more could they actually do to make Iran really feel the economic bite that we know they're already feeling?
BLACKWELL: All right, we'll see if the president announces those before he heads out to the G-20. Kylie Atwood for us. Thank you.
DEAN: And joining me now to discuss all of this, we've got Kevin Robillard, a Senior Political Reporter at HuffPost, and CNN Military Analyst and Retired Colonel Cedric Leighton. Good morning to both of you.
KEVIN ROBILLARD, SENIOR POLITICAL REPORTER, HUFFPOST: Good morning.
DEAN: Colonel, I want to start with you. Help us understand how our armed forces and their leadership, are reacting to this situation in Iran -- and kind of the back and forth from the president in the White House.
CEDRIC LEIGHTON, CNN MILITARY ANALYST: Well, Jessica, this is a very interesting issue for the military because, the military provides recommendations on what to do in cases like this. And based on, you know, what we know so far, what has happened is the military provided options for the president to use in the wake of the shoot down of the global hawk drone over the Gulf of Oman.
And when you look at the types of things they could have recommended, you know, obviously a strike was one of the options. But generally, what the military does is it presents options and then gives a recommended course of action. We don't know exactly what the details are in terms of how they -- what particular recommendation they went ahead with, but what we do know is there was a lot of reluctance on the part of military leaders to actually mount a strike against Iran at this particular point in time.
DEAN: That's very interesting. And Kevin, Josh Rogin, one of our political analysts said earlier in our broadcast, he called this all a process mess. We mentioned that the president made that decision to strike and then decided at the last minute not to strike. The colonel talking a little bit about what the military does in these situations, but from the White House standpoint, from the administration's standpoint, what is process they've taken surrounding this decision, and perhaps any decisions forward? What do we know about that?
ROBILLARD: So, it's really not entire clear what the White House process was. Sort of, in the day -- yesterday reporters who covered the White House were still trying to figure out what exactly that process was. The White House did not seem to be particularly helpful in clearing up some of the questions over when exactly some of these decisions were made and how they were made.
One thing that was reported this morning in the New York Times, for instance, is while Trump has said the 150-casualty number that he said he got from a general that ultimately persuaded him to call off the strike didn't actually come from the general but actually from Pentagon lawyers. And there is some speculation that may have been part of an end around some White House officials were making around, Trump's very hawkish National Security Adviser John Bolton.
So, clearly, Trump has never had a typical usual process. He always brings in outside advisers that you wouldn't see a typical president talk to. For instance, he's been talking to Fox News' Tucker Carlson who's been very, very skeptical about getting into a conflict here. So, you know, this hasn't been the standard process but it never is with Donald Trump.
DEAN: Right, and I think that's was a question also, too, I wanted to ask you is who is the president talking to when he's making these decisions? Colonel, again, the military's role and the military advising him, it sounds like he was listening and then listening to lawyers and then going back and forth. Is this disruptive to the military process? [07:10:15] LEIGHTON: As part of the military process, we actually do
have lawyers that look at things like collateral damage and, you know, what's legal to do in a case like this. Is it a violation, for example, of the laws of armed conflict if we did a certain thing? So that's one of the questions that always comes up when we are contemplating military action against a particular country.
But you know, in terms of, it really depends on which lawyers he spoke to whether or not it was disruptive to the process. So, it's possible if this was part of the regular process or that he brought someone else in, maybe even a non-lawyer, to discuss this issue. And if he did that, then it could potentially circumvent the process that's been set up by the constitution and by normal procedures.
DEAN: Yes. And again, getting kind of back at we don't have a lot of these details. It's kind of sketchy at this point exactly how this all played out. Kevin, what comes next for the administration? We know that, as you mentioned, there are some of these hawkish advisers on his team, that there are people he's listening to, Tom Cotton has been very vocal about Iran. How receptive is he to listening to them? Do we get the sense he's getting that kind of pull back and forth or does he have his own opinions on this stuff? Or do we know?
ROBILLARD: I mean, clearly Trump, compared to past presidents -- particularly past Republican presidents, is more of a cautious figure when it comes to engaging in military conflict. Trump has long thought that basically the prior presidents, both Bush and Obama, were too eager to get involved overseas. That said, Trump loves projecting -- of strength and he's very concerned about doing that. Those are, sort of, the two forces that are pulling against him.
And on one side, you have Republicans on both sides; you have people like Tom Cotton, people like Lindsey Graham, people like John Bolton who are, sort of, pulling him toward a more active role. Then you also have a, sort of a generation of often younger Republicans who, like Trump, are more skeptical of armed conflict. That's people like Rand Paul, people like Florida Congressman Matt Gaetz who has been one of the president's most staunch supporters who praised him for saying that he wasn't going to get involved in another, sort of, quagmire in the Middle East.
So, really, there's Republicans on both sides of this and it really splits both the Republican Party, and to a certain extent, the Republican coalition when it comes to voting. And that's one of the many reasons, you know, I think you're going to continue to see, this be a debate within the White House. I don't think we can rule out that, you know, some sort of can kinetic action will happen. Jim (INAUDIBLE), who is the Chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee in the Senate, a Senator from Idaho, he predicted that he does think there would be some type of military action at some point.
DEAN: And to that point, colonel, in your opinion moving forward, do you think that these tensions can be de-escalated with Iran without military action, that these sanctions that we believe are forthcoming could be enough? What do you see moving forward? LEIGHTON: Well, I'd love to be hopeful. I'd love to be able to say
that, you know, everything is going to be diffused, but unfortunately, I don't think that's the case. So, Iranians feel themselves being painted into a corner and they're going to lashing out because they know that if they do something like shooting down a global hawk, they will at least get some kind of a reaction, and they'll also portray themselves as being strong to their own people.
Having said that, you know, there are several offramps that are possible in this particular situation where tensions could be defused. The question then becomes, will Iran be willing to take those offramps and will the United States also be willing to do that? And I don't think that both sides are ready to do that yet.
DEAN: All right. Well, we shall see. Thank you to both of you, Kevin Robillard and Colonel Cedric Leighton for joining us this morning.
LEIGHTON: You bet. Absolutely, Jessica.
ROBILLARD: Good luck.
BLACKWELL: Breaking overnight, nine people have been killed Hawaii after skydiving plane crashed. Now, this was the Dillingham Air Field in Oahu. Witnesses say, the plane hit a fence line before bursting into flames on the runway. Officials have not released the names of any of the victims. Many of them had family at the air field when the crash happened. The FAA is investigating.
DEAN: Still to come this morning, undocumented families brace for a showdown as ICE prepares to raid 10 major cities tomorrow.
BLACKWELL: Plus, 2020's crowded field, the Democratic presidential hopefuls are in South Carolina this weekend. They're frying up some fish and courting the state's significant African-American electorates.
[07:14:42] DEAN: Also, we're going to tell you why a man tried for the same murder six times -- will get yet another new trial.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BLACKWELL: 17 minutes after the hour now. Tomorrow Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials will start rounding up undocumented families facing deportation orders. Ten cities and thousands of people are being targeted.
DEAN: The announcement has been met with loud opposition from leaders of these cities. Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti says the city will not help with those arrests, and an internal LAPD memo reminded officers they don't participate in ICE round-ups. And 2020 hopeful, New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio's office said, "the Trump administration's overbroad enforcement serves only to tear immigrant families apart, create an environment of fear and divide us as a nation. That's not how we operate in New York City. We are just days from the first Democratic presidential debates, but most of those 2020 hopefuls are already sharing a stage.
BLACKWELL: Almost two dozen candidates. They were on the stage there last night at the end of South Carolina Representative Jim Clyburn's annual fish fry. And today, they speak at State Party Convention. CNN's Jeff Zeleny joins us now from South Carolina. Jeff, good morning to you. Today's gathering comes as Joe Biden's comment about working with segregationists is still part of the national conversation.
JEFF ZELENY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: good morning, Victor and Jessica. It does come as that. And you can hear some Elizabeth Warren fans up bright and early in Columbia after a late last evening when all 21 Democrats presidential candidates who were here, they were on stage, as you said, for the first time. They were shaking hands with each other, having a lot of private time with each other as well. We did note that Cory Booker and Joe Biden have been engaged in this back and forth all week long. They did have a private conversation once again. But it is that debate that's been hanging over this convention here about Joe Biden's comments from segregationists so long ago.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ZELENY: Joe Biden and his Democratic rivals are descending on South Carolina this weekend, coming face to face after clashing from afar over one of the most divisive eras in nation's history. Leading the way in the 2020 race, the former vice president is unfazed by his comments that touched off a firestorm this week as he held up his work with segregationist senators an example of a forgotten civility in politics.
[07:20:14] JOE BIDEN, FORMER VICE PRESIDENT: There's not a racist bone in my body. I've been involved with civil rights my whole career, period.
ZELENY: Black leaders and voters have rallied to his defense, creating an ear of tension as Biden is poised to cross paths here with Cory Booker, Kamala Harris, Elizabeth Warren and others who have criticized him or called for an apology. James Clyburn, the highest ranking African-American in Congress, not only defended Biden, but said he also work with segregationist like long-time South Carolina Senators Strom Thurman.
SEN. JIM CLYBURN (D-SC): I think it's ridiculous to blame someone for working with people you don't agree with.
ZELENY: You think he was celebrating a racist.
CLYBURN: No, come on. When you celebrate your ability to work with the racist, you celebrate the racist?
ZELENY: The controversy is an awkward backdrop to the State Democratic Convention, which attracting 21 presidential candidates to South Carolina where black voters make up about 60 percent of the Democratic primary electorate.
Is it Joe Biden's to lose? CLYBURN: Yes, absolutely, and he can't lose it. We've had a lot of frontrunners. I often think about President Howard Dean. How does that sound to you?
ZELENY: The respect for Biden runs deep, but voters like Sue Taylor are looking for a new direction.
SUE TAYLOR, VOTER: Right now, Elizabeth Warren looks good to me. She's a dynamic speaker, she has -- she's got a history of performance.
ZELENY: Bernice Scott said Hillary Clinton's loss still stings and she sees an important piece of unfinished business in 2020: sending a woman to the White House. Her choice this time? Harris.
BERNICE SCOTT, VOTER: It's time, she's intelligent, she just happens to be black and a female, and that's a plus.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ZELENY: So, that is the backdrop setting up the State Democratic Convention here. Just as we were speaking, some Joe Biden signage is also coming out -- it appears. So, he is the frontrunner in this race, no question, but frontrunners can also be fleeting. So, this weekend and other campaigning, it's time for him to prove that he is, indeed, the leader in the race. But as of right now, he certainly is. But voters still hear -- want to hear from all of the candidates. Victor and Jessica.
BLACKWELL: We have many months until those first few votes. I got have to ask you, I mean, this world-famous fish fry, Jeff, how was the fish?
ZELENY: I have to tell you, it is whiting, fried whiting. And Victor, the lines were so long for that fish, people were waiting in line for about two hours or so. But the hot sauce, the white bread, and fried whiting, always good. It's his annual, at least every presidential candidates every four years he has it here. Quite a show last night here, Victor.
BLACKWELL: It sounds like he did it right. You got the white bread at the bottom with that grease --
(CROSSTALK)
BLACKWELL: All right, Jeff Zeleny --
DEAN: Thanks, Jeff.
BLACKWELL: In South Carolina, thanks so much. All right, coming up, the attorney for Navy SEAL accused of murder says he was targeted by other SEALs because he was old school.
[07:23:15] DEAN: Plus, seven bikers are dead after they collided head on with a pickup truck in New Hampshire.
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[07:27:06] DEAN: Breaking overnight, a horrifying accident in New Hampshire. Seven bikers are dead after colliding with a pick-up truck there. Police have not released their identities, but an eyewitness told CNN-affiliate WMUR she saw, "motorcycles dumped all over the road."
BLACKWELL: New Hampshire Governor Chris Sununu tweeted last night: "Our prayers and thoughts are with the victims, their families, and first responders who answered the call. State Officials are on the scene and assisting as the situation develops.
So, there's this stunning court room twist. This Navy SEAL medic says he, not the defendant, Chief Special Warfare Operator Eddie Gallagher, killed an ISIS fighter in Iraq in 2017.
DEAN: And now Gallagher's attorney says he's been the target of younger SEALs who want to get rid of him. CNN's Dan Simon has details.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DAN SIMON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: As a decorated Navy SEAL, Eddie Gallagher, was tasked with freedom around the world. But now it's his own freedom at stake. The 40-year-old platoon chief is on trial for the murder of a captures alleged ISIS fighter while serving in Mosul, Iraq in 2017. Fellow SEALs testified they witnessed Gallagher plunge a knife into the neck of the prisoner -- a teenager.
But in a stunning twist, one witness, SEAL Medic Cory Scott testified that he ultimately killed the ISIS fighter, not Gallagher. "I suffocated him," Scott said. "I held my thumb over his trach tube until he asphyxiated. I knew he was going to die anyway and wanted to save him from waking up to whatever would have happened to him." Adding that he'd seen Iraqi forces torture their prisoners.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The best defense for Chief Gallagher is the truth. And today, the truth started to come out.
SIMON: Gallagher's lawyer says the admission proves his client is no murderer. He says, those testifying against him are driven by personal animosity.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is a small of SEALs that wanted to get rid of their chief and they went through -- they went through to try and find a way to do that.
SIMON: Despite the setback, prosecutor say they won't drop the murder charges. You can stand up there and you can lie about how you killed the ISIS prisoner so Chief Gallagher does not have to go to jail. Scott's response, he's got a wife and family: "I don't think he should spend his life in prison."
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Well, I mean, we've been patiently waiting for the truth to come out. SIMON: Gallagher's wife, Andrea, and his children have been present
in the courtroom, listening to what has been graphic and disturbing testimony.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We don't hide our children from the realities of facing evil in other countries, and I'm not at all going to shield them from the fact that their father is a hero and that he's innocent of this.
SIMON: A conviction could land Gallagher in prison for life. But if that were to happen, President Trump has hinted at a pardon.
TRUMP: We teach them how to be great fighters, and then when they fight, sometimes they get really treated very unfairly.
[07:30:00] SIMON: Gallagher is also accused of shooting an elderly man, two women, and at a crowd of civilians. As well as posing with the corpse of a teenager he allegedly killed.
The military jury of seven will ultimately decide his fate. Dan Simon, CNN, San Diego.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
DEAN: Thanks to you. And joining me now, Janet Johnson, criminal defense attorney. Janet, thanks so much for being with us this morning.
I want to talk more about this Gallagher case, which is really has this incredibly stunning twist. The prosecution's own witness getting up there and confessing on the stand, or at least, appearing to, how rare is that, and what does that mean for the prosecution now?
JANET JOHNSON, CRIMINAL DEFENSE ATTORNEY, JACKSONVILLE, FLORIDA: It's the kind of thing people think happens because it happens on T.V., but it almost never happens in a real court. Because the prosecution would know what their witness is going to say. The twist here is that he was granted immunity by the judge so that he couldn't say, look, I'm not going to testify because I could incriminate myself.
So, he got on the stand, given immunity, and so, what he said can't be used against him, he can't be prosecuted. And he told the prosecutor, look, you never asked me if it was the stabbing that killed him, you just assumed that it was.
It is, it's a bombshell, but he is still facing those other charges. So, it doesn't get him off necessarily.
DEAN: And what happens next for that medic who then appeared to confess? Is he -- I know you said he was granted immunity, but what does that mean? Can he still be prosecuted in some way, shape or form?
JOHNSON: Well, it's a great question because he just confessed to a murder. Potentially, he did try to explain why he did it. You know, the words that he said on the stand, those can't be used against him. He was given immunity for his words. But, if there are other witnesses who can -- you basically corroborate what he said, he could be prosecuted with that other evidence.
The interesting thing in this trial is the other witnesses did not corroborate what he said. They said that he -- they saw Scott giving him aid, but that they believed that it was Gallagher, who committed the murder. So, he may never be prosecuted unless they can prove that he was lying on the stand.
DEAN: And Gallagher's team has claimed prosecutorial misconduct. Does this whole scenario, this twist, add fuel to that fire?
JOHNSON: Well, you heard what his lawyer was saying, which is, you know, this is all a setup. Everyone is trying to get rid of him. You know, and I guess the prosecutors are included in the, everyone. The judge did appear to agree with some of their accusations because they let Gallagher out of jail. They did say that there was some information that they thought that the prosecution were withholding.
If it turns out that the prosecutors knew that Scott was taking the blame for this murder, then I think there will be some issues and he might get a new trial if he's convicted. But, on the other hand, there is other evidence. There's a picture of Gallagher with the body and him tweeting or texting to a friend, "I used my hunting knife." I mean, some of these other charges are going to be hard for him to get around. He did commit an aggravated assault. He stabbed this young man. So, the prosecutors don't look great, but on the other hand, there is evidence against Gallagher.
DEAN: All right, so more to come on this. Janet Johnson, thanks for being with us this morning.
JOHNSON: Thank you.
BLACKWELL: The Supreme Court says a man in Mississippi should get a new trial in a murder case. Was name is Curtis Flowers. He's been tried six times for the same murder. The justices felt his conviction was tainted because prosecutors rejected potential black jurors.
Justice Brett Kavanaugh, wrote, "The State's relentless, determined effort to rid the jury of black individuals strongly suggests that the state wanted to try Flowers before a jury with a few black jurors as possible, and ideally before an all-white jury."
Flowers was convicted for the 1996 murder of four people at a furniture store in Winona, Mississippi.
Now, to Missouri, where the state could be without abortion clinic. They're the only state in the country. Why the state's Health Department rejected the clinic's license?
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[07:37:31] BLACKWELL: Missouri is a step closer to losing the states only clinic that provides abortions. Now, the judge chose not to renew Planned Parenthood's license to perform abortions citing safety concerns.
DEAN: But the women's health clinic is not giving up. CNN's Ryan Young has more.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
RYAN YOUNG, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: So, the state of Missouri has decided to deny a permit moving forward for the Planned Parenthood here in St. Louis. But not to forget that it's the only abortion clinic for the entire state. But because of the (INAUDIBLE) said injunction place by the judge, the clinic can remain open and, of course, advocates for that Planned Parenthood, believe this is the victory for women across the state.
M'EVIE MEAD, DIRECTOR, PLANNED PARENTHOOD ADVOCATES OF MISSOURI: Today is a victory for women and the people of Missouri to access their full range of reproductive health care including safe legal abortion in their state.
So, Missouri is on the precipice of becoming the first state to eliminate access through up to abortion through the weaponization of the regulatory process. And the court has stepped in and put an injunction on the state's action of attempting to deny the license for political reasons.
YOUNG: Now, that advocate went on to tell us that some of the doctors who work at the facility felt like some of the procedures they were being forced to perform were not right. In fact, the second pelvic exam they thought was too invasive for women to go through. So, that's something they stood up against.
The judge still has to make a decision moving for it to see if this clinic will stay open. Ryan Young, CNN, St. Louis, Missouri.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
DEAN: And still to come this morning. Senator Elizabeth Warren is making moves in the crowded 2020 Democratic field, rising in recent national polls. What's fueling her momentum? We'll discuss that next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[07:43:22] BLACKWELL: -- minutes -- 17 minutes until the top of the hour this morning, and nearly all of the 2020 Democratic candidates for president, they made the pitch to voters at Congressman Jim Clyburn's annual Fish Fry in South Carolina actually, it's every presidential cycles. So, every four years. But it's still a big deal, worlds famous, he calls it. Senator Elizabeth Warren was there and she pumped up the crowd with her campaign's policy pitches.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. ELIZABETH WARREN (D-MA), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: We got a government that works great. It works fabulously, it works terrifically for the rich and the powerful. I'm running for president because I want a government that works for the rest of us. We need a big structural change in this country in this economy. And big structural change starts with big ideas.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BLACKWELL: And that energy is resonating with some voters live, look, here at some Elizabeth Warren supporters outside of the convention center in Columbia, South Carolina. The state Democratic Party's convention is today, and she'll be speaking there.
Now, we've seen Warren rise to a statistical tie in some polls for second place with Senator Bernie Sanders in recent national polling. Let's talk about this rise with contributor for The New York Times Magazine and senior editor for Slate, Emily Bazelon. Did I get it right Emily?
EMILY BAZELON, STAFF WRITER, THE NEW YORK TIMES MAGAZINE: Yes, that was great.
BLACKWELL: Excellent, excellent. Thanks so much for being with us this morning. First, let's talk about the change in the poll. Let's put up the Monmouth numbers because we've seen a significant rise for Senator Warren in the Monmouth poll just since April where she was -- I mean, this is a 14-point deficit there. She trailed Sanders, and now she is just point ahead statistically in a tie with him. What's driving that growth?
[07:45:12] BAZELON: Well, I think that Warren would argue that her approach of, I have a plan for that of talking about policy proposals, in a way that's very consistent with her career. And that really tries to get across this idea of big structural change that she wants the kind of government that is not captured by special interest, by corporate lobbyists. She wants a government that is going to do more for the middle-class. That is really her pitch and it seems to be resonating with the progressive wing of the Democratic Party.
BLACKWELL: Now, the Democrats, including Senator Warren there in South Carolina this weekend, making their pitch to African-American voters primarily. The majority of the Democratic electorate there is African-American.
Senator -- rather Vice President Biden, he is leading among non-white voters, but Senator Warren really has some policy prescriptions aside from criminal justice specifically focused on non-white voters. How is that resonating with, with black voters?
BAZELON: Well, I don't think we know yet whether black voters are going to support Warren in large numbers. Black voters in past elections have been very practical. So, when Barack Obama was running against Hillary Clinton, they supported Hillary Clinton until they really thought Obama could win.
So, if Warren can show support from other groups, then I think black voters will have a lot to take a look at. You know, some of Warren's policies like giving special funds for first-time home buyers if they're for communities that were suffered from redlining, that was the -- when federal agencies used to mark up neighborhoods and make it harder for black families to get loans based on where they lived. Those kinds of policies could be really appealing.
BLACKWELL: So, you write in this piece for New York Times Magazine about some political shifts over her career. We hear a lot about the ideological changes of Joe Biden over the last 50 years in public life. But, now, part of that's because he's the front-runner but she is been an Independent, she's been a Republican, she's been -- I mean, now she is a Democrat. There is an evolution over the decades.
BAZELON: Yes, that's true. So, Warren grew up in red state Oklahoma, and then, she lived in Texas in her early 20s and 30s. And in Philadelphia in the 80s and 90s, she was registered as a Republican. You know, she taught finance law in law school that tends to be a more conservative field. And she would say that it was studying bankruptcy that changed her political identity and really made her a political person.
She found that families who were going bankrupt were doing so because of things like job losses and medical bills, not because they were on crazy spending sprees. And that really, I think, changed her outlook about class and the government.
BLACKWELL: You know, you write about this exchange ahead with an economist about Senator Warren, also, Senator Sanders. And let's put it up on the screen guys. You say that or this economist says that "There is a concerted effort to equate Warren with Bernie, to make her seem more radical. Of a Wall Street and its allies are more afraid of her than Bernie because when she says she'll change the rules, she is the one who knows how to do it."
Did you find that to be true beyond this economist at the University of Chicago? And that she would know how to do this, the indications there.
BAZELON: Well, the evidence that Warren knows how the government works really comes from her time overseeing the $700 billion fund for the bailout during the Obama administration. She had this very aggressive questioning of Tim Geithner, who was then the Treasury secretary.
And then, she's the person who came up with the idea for the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and persuaded Congress to create a new agency that was going to do for -- you know, bad defective loans what the government does for like defective toys. In other words, try to be a kind of watchdog for consumers.
Those are the kinds of like pulling the levers of the government and put a sort of picking up the hood of a federal agency and figuring out how it works. That's her evidence that she's the one who is best positioned to do that.
BLACKWELL: There is also a pretty interesting reference in another write. This from The New Yorker, were she referenced Steve Bannon, the president's former chief strategist in which she said to this interviewer -- paraphrasing here, Steve Bannon. "If the Democrats are talking about what's happening in the lives of working people, they're talking about the economics of America, they're going to win."
First, interesting that she references Steve Bannon of all people. But she has taken the president on directly on Twitter for things aside from the economy, how is she planning to strike that balance?
BAZELON: Well, I think that the argument that Steve Bannon or others would make is that it's important to run against Trump on policy. That you don't want this race to become a spectacle because Trump is so good at that kind of fight. And that Warren is better off sticking to her proposals for middle-class families, really keeping the focus on what Trump has or hasn't done for working-class white voters. He made a lot of promises to them, are they really benefiting economically.
[07:50:23] BLACKWELL: All right, Emily Bazelon, fascinating profile there at The New York Times Magazine. Thanks so much for being with us this morning.
BAZELON: Thanks for having me.
BLACKWELL: Jessica?
DEAN: Still ahead, a Mega Millions winner just found out he's got a split his jackpot with his ex-wife.
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ANNOUNCER: "FOOD AS FUEL", brought to you by the deliciously healthy snack that's fun to crack. Wonderful Pistachios. Get cracking
[07:55:03] DEAN: What you drink during the day can make a difference in how you sleep at night. CNN health writer Jacqueline Howard shows us how in today's "FOOD IS FUEL".
JACQUELINE HOWARD, CNN FEATURE WRITER, HEALTH AND WELLNESS: Getting enough sleep or better quality sleep may begin with what you sip during the day.
The first step is stay hydrated. An Oxford study found a link between sleep deprivation and inadequate hydration. For women, experts recommend you drink about 11 cups of water each day, and a little more than 15 cups for men.
Experts recommend before you head to bed, though, try avoiding caffeine. That includes caffeinated coffees, teas, and sodas. And although a nightcap may be tempting, it may contribute to poor quality sleep. According to the Journal of Neuroscience, drinking alcohol casually or chronically may interfere with adenosine levels, a chemical in the brain that helps you sleep.
Instead, try sipping warm milk or better yet milk mixed with some honey which one nutritional studies suggest as an effective and affordable way to improve your sleep. But overall, it's recommended to watch your liquids close to bedtime so you won't have to make too many trips to the restroom while falling asleep.
BLACKWELL: So, drink a lot of water but not too much.
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DEAN: But not right before asleep -- before bed.
BLACKWELL: Then, don't have a drink put some honey in your milk, and then, all right.
DEAN: Did you take notes on that?
BLACKWELL: You got it?
DEAN: OK.
BLACKWELL: All right.
DEAN: A Michigan man just found out he has to share his $38 million jackpot with his ex-wife. Richards Zelasko was in the middle of divorcing his wife when he won the Mega Millions in 2013.
BLACKWELL: I'm sure this man wants a drink. A judge has ruled the winning ticket counted as a marshal asset. As for an appeal, the lawyer for Zelasko says he's considering his options.
A lawmaker has strong words for President Trump following his recent actions with Iran.
DEAN: You're going to hear what she had to say on the next hour of NEW DAY. It starts right after this break.
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