Return to Transcripts main page

New Day Sunday

Trump Reverses Course On Using His Golf Resort For G7 Summit; Bannon Blames Aides For White House Chaos; GOP Congressman Open To Impeaching Trump Announces Retirement; Police Fire Water Cannons And Tear Gas As Hong Kong Protesters Turn Violent; Embattled U.K. Prime Minister Forced To Ask E.U. For Brexit Delay; Bernie Sanders Returns To The Campaign Trail After Health Scare; Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez Endorses Bernie Sanders At New York Rally; Esper: U.S. Troops Withdrawing From Syria Headed For Iraq; Still No Deal For Chicago Teachers Union; Football Coach Who Disarmed Student With Loaded Gun Speaks Out. Aired 6-7a ET

Aired October 20, 2019 - 06:00   ET

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

[06:00:31]

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: President Trump will not host next year's G7 at his resort near Miami, Florida after all.

SEN. LISA MURKOWSKI (R-AK): Avoid the perception of any impropriety. Just don't do it.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The latest sign that a U.S. brokered cease-fire could be collapsing.

REP. LINDSEY GRAHAM (R-SC): The president did not give Turkey a green light to invade Syria but he didn't say red either. He gave a yellow light and you don't give yellow lights in the Mid East.

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Let them fight their own wars. I want an election based on that.

SEN. BERNIE SANDERS (D-VT), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I am back.

REP. ALEXANDRIA OCASIO-CORTEZ (D-NY): Bernie Sanders proved that you can run a grassroots campaign and win in an America where we almost thought it was impossible.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

VICTOR BLACKWELL, CNN ANCHOR: Good Sunday morning to you. I'm Victor Blackwell.

AMARA WALKER, CNN ANCHOR: Thanks for being with us. I'm Amara Walker in for Christi Paul.

BLACKWELL: After facing relentless bipartisanship criticism, President Trump has pulled a Saturday night reversal and abruptly cancelled plans to host next year's G7 summit at his Doral resort in Florida.

WALKER: The president was facing accusations of potentially violating the constitution as lawmakers on both sides of the political divide sounded the alarm.

CNN's Kristen Holmes is following the latest. Kristen, what more are you learning about this about-face?

KRISTEN HOLMES, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Amara and Victor.

Well, this is a very rare move for President Trump. When the past has refused to bout (ph) any sort of pressure or criticism and in fact when the acting chief of staff announced Mick Mulvaney announced that this foreign summit was going to be held at Doral, he said that the president expected blow-back and was going to forge ahead anyway, but apparently that is not the case.

I want to pull up these tweets for you here. Bear with me. They are long and will paraphrase some parts of them. But here is what he says.

"I thought I was going something very good for our country by using Trump National Doral, in Miami, for hosting G-7 leaders." He goes on to praise his resort then he says, "I announced that I would be willing to do it at no profit or, if legally permissible, at zero cost."

Then of course he attacks Democrats and the media. Then he says, "We will no longer consider Trump National Doral, Miami as the host site for the G-7 in 2020." We will begin our search for another site, including the possibility of Camp David immediately.

Now a lot to unpack here. I'm going to start with the fact that we know this wasn't just Democrats and the media who is attacking him for this. We have heard from several Republicans. In fact I want to play for you a thought (ph) from Lisa Murkowski.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MURKOWSKI: Why, just why bring on the controversy over it? It -- just avoid the perception of any impropriety. Just don't do it. There's lots of hotels in Florida.

I would like to think that the president didn't have a thing to do with the decision as to whether -- where they're going to have the -- you know, have the conference. If he is getting down in the weeds that much, boy, he has got a lot more -- a lot more time on his hands than I do.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOLMES: So, clearly there an important Republican senator slamming the president essentially for making this choice and she, again, was not the only Republican to do so and to do so on camera and on the record. And I want to know one other thing here which is that this announcement, this particular announcement about Camp David really seems to undermine his acting chief of staff Mick Mulvaney who stood up there and actually slams Camp David, which is where President Trump had held his G7, his foreign summit back in 2012 -- excuse me -- President Obama had held his in 2012.

He said it was too small, way too remote saying that nobody liked that place. And now President Trump seems to say, OK, we're going to look at that. This is not the first incident we have seen of President Trump undermining one of his staff members but it certainly is interesting given the fact that was also the same press conference where Mick Mulvaney had to retreat his statements, recant his statements about a quid pro quo in Ukraine.

WALKER: All right. Kristen Holmes, appreciate your reporting. Thank you very much.

BLACKWELL: All right. So, let's dig in on some of these specifics here with CNN political analyst Julian Zelizer, historian and professor at Princeton University. And Siraj Hashmi, commentary writer and editor for "The Washington Examiner." Gentlemen, good morning to you.

JULIAN E. ZELIZER, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: Good morning.

SIRAJ HASHMI, COMMENTARY WRITER AND EDITOR, "WASHINGTON EXAMINER": Good morning.

BLACKWELL: Julian, let me start here with you. An element that Kristen just mentioned. This is acting chief of staff Mick Mulvaney just on Thursday. Watch.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MICK MULVANEY, ACTING WHITE HOUSE CHIEF OF STAFF: Listen, the president --- we know the environment we live in.

[06:05:01]

You all know the environment that we live in. And he knows exactly that he's going to get these questions and exactly get that reaction from a lot of people. And he is simply was saying, OK, that's fine. I'm willing to take that. The same way he takes it when he goes to Trump Mar-a-Lago. The same place when he goes to play at Trump Bedminster. He got over that a long time ago.

We absolutely believe this is the best place to have it. We're going to have it there. And there's going to be folks who will never get over the fact that it's a Trump property. We get that. But we're still going to go there.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLACKWELL: He is willing to take the pressure. He got over that a long time ago. We're still going to go there. Julian, why was this different? The millions of dollars that the U.S. government and foreign governments have paid to the Trump properties, why did the president back down from this?

ZELIZER: Well, it's a reality bites moment. Everything that happens now is happening through the prism of impeachment and so when he does things that he has done before, now he has to consider what does this do to Republicans on the Hill?

And there was push-back from Senate Republicans. They were very outraged about this as a violation of ethics, if not the emoluments clause. And so the president and his team understand that they are in peril and so that is what you're seeing with these kinds of pull- backs.

BLACKWELL: Siraj, Kristen mentioned Camp David. Here is Mick Mulvaney on Camp David on Thursday.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MULVANEY: Put the proper one aside and deal with the perfect place.

I mean, who is here for the last time was in Camp David. Was that the perfect place? In fact, I understand the folks who participated it hated it and thought it was a miserable place to have the G7. It was way too small, it was too -- my understanding is the media didn't like it because you had to drive an hour on a bus to get there either way.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLACKWELL: So, that's the White House on Camp David. And Kristen put it in the framework of is her undermining Mulvaney? I asked a different question. Is the president now saying, you don't want to have it Doral, I'll show you, we'll take it back to Camp David where nobody liked it? Is he trying to make it as miserable as possible now?

HASHMI: That's a good question. I'm not 100 percent sure. It's sort of a reminder why the White House sort of clamped down on having press briefings because you almost expect the statements that the White House puts out to be undermined by the president in a tweet later on.

So, with respect to Trump -- while he -- his message might not be the most tailored and polished, he is, obviously, the most effective communicator that this White House has. And when it comes to something like holding a G7 at Doral versus holding it at Camp David, it might be like cutting off your nose in spite your face in a way to sort of stick it to the Washington establishment and to the White House press corps who actually have to go to this event.

BLACKWELL: Well, the president has bigger issues on his plate. And, Julian, let's turn now to the impeachment inquiry.

The president's frenemy and former chief strategist Steve Bannon told the "New York Post" -- let's put this up. "The problem is that the president needs a team around him and somebody has got to step up and make a play. Trump can't do everything. There is just no coordination with the team."

This is a president who is now on his fifth communications director in about a thousand days. The naysayers have long gone. Reconcile this assessment from Bannon with what we know about this president's ability to stay on the script, follow choreography. You choose your analogy.

ZELIZER: Well, the president doesn't stay on script and until now that is actually his method and his advisers have been happy with that, distract, create chaos, try to control the narrative of the media through saying what he wants, tweeting what he wants. But now he's in a very different position and I think someone like Steve Bannon who is very savvy and understands the president, understands that when you are in this moment as a president, you need a team.

You need a team to coordinate what the responses are. You need a team to coordinate what the legal responses and political responses are. And the president doesn't have that.

And so his tweets, so his statements, so the miscommunications that happen on a daily basis, each one puts him in more peril and I think Bannon is sending a warning to his former friend or frenemy.

BLACKWELL: Siraj, let me come to you with this. Bannon also says in this interview that -- quote -- "The fake news and witch hunt stuff is not working."

The Quinnipiac poll of the last couple of weeks show there is no change in the number of people, the percentage who believe that this inquiry is legitimate. From week to week 51 percent believe it is. Forty-three percent believe it's a political witch hunt.

Is that essentially good news for the president, considering all that we have learned over in the last couple of weeks?

HASHMI: Regardless of where this impeachment inquiry moves, you're going to have two Americas that believe that it's legitimate and one that believes that it's not. And with respect to this idea that the president of the United States used his office to withhold aid to Ukraine in exchange for investigating Joe Biden and his son Hunter for sitting on the board of a Burisma Holdings.

[06:10:13]

You know, these are things where, yes, there is a transcript but there is still some people who believe that there was not a smoking gun and that is probably the issue.

Now if you want to talk about his comments that he made in front of everyone about investigating Biden through China, that's probably a little bit more damming because he just said it out in the open. But, again, it's one of those things where he may -- he could be just spoofing, he could be ripping off the cuff. We don't actually know because we don't know what the full intent of what the president of the United States is. BLACKWELL: All right. Let me come to you for this last one, Julian. Republican Congressman Francis Rooney, on Friday he is the first House Republican to say that he is considering supporting articles of impeachment. On Saturday he becomes, I believe, the 19th House Republican to say that he won't be running for another term. This would be his third.

I'm not going to ask you for a surprise because we know that the loudest critics of the president often have the coat on and looking for the car keys and heading out the door. But what does this happening in such quick succession do for the president's support in the House? Does it solidify that support on one day you're considering that this is something wrong that should deserve impeachment, the next one you decide you don't want to stay?

ZELIZER: It totally solidifies his support within the Republican Party and it sends the same message that if you are a critic of the president, if you are an open critic of the president there's no room for you in the congressional caucuses of Capitol Hill. And until now at least the president has been able to preserve that.

So a moment like this is a reminder to all of the other House Republicans, don't come out in favor of impeachment, don't come out in favor -- against the president, and similarly with the Senate Republicans. And that is what the president is depending on more than anything else, more than how his base perceives the story. He is really just in need of solidifying that support on the Hill.

BLACKWELL: All right. We will see if it sticks together. Julian Zelizer, Siraj Hashmi, thank you both.

ZELIZER: Thank you.

HASHMI: Thank you.

WALKER: All right. So, this week is set to see another round of major closed-door testimony in the impeachment inquiry. On Tuesday, acting U.S. ambassador to Ukraine Bill Taylor is set to answer questions. Taylor was named a key figure following the release of his text messages where he called it crazy to withhold security assistance for help with a political campaign.

Then on Wednesday, acting assistant secretary of the European and Eurasian Affairs, Philip Reeker is expected to testify. He reportedly had concerns about far right conspiracies being spread about the former U.S. ambassador to the Ukraine.

We are also expecting Michael Duffey to answer questions on Wednesday. He is the associate director for national security programs in the Office of Management and Budget. Now "The Wall Street Journal" reports that Duffey was allegedly given authority by the White House to keep aid to Ukraine on hold.

Two depositions are scheduled for Thursday. Laura Cooper, the deputy assistant secretary of defense, and Alexander Vindman, the National Security Council director of European Affairs, his responsibility would include Ukraine.

Then we are expecting Suriya Jayanti, a foreign service officer stationed in Kiev to sit down with the committees on Friday. And her role she focused on Ukraine's energy sector including the country's state-owned gas companies.

And, finally, Timothy Morrison, a top Russia adviser with the National Security Council scheduled to appear on Friday. Morrison succeeded top Trump aide Fiona Hill at the National Security Council.

BLACKWELL: Still to come, Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders draws a huge crowd in New York for a big endorsement announcement.

WALKER: Plus, an Oregon coach hailed a hero for disarming a student with a loaded gun, talks about what happened that day.

BLACKWELL: Also, an instant classic in baseball's playoffs the World Series is set after one of the best endings you will see. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:18:05]

BLACKWELL: Breaking news now. This is Hong Kong. This is the 20th straight weekend of pro democracy demonstrations. We've got these pictures. They are just coming in to us.

WALKER: Yes. Huge crowds held an unauthorized march through one of the city's biggest tourist districts. In the past few hours we have seen an escalation in violence.

Protesters have been setting up barricades, vandalizing a subway stations, and setting fires in the streets forcing police to fire water cannons and tear gas to try to keep the situation under control.

We will key our eye in the situation to bring you any more developments as they come in.

In the meantime, a major setback for Prime Minister Boris Johnson Brexit plan. The intent was to leave the European Union at the end of the month but after the Brexit deal went nowhere in parliament yesterday Johnson was legally required to ask Brussels for a three- month extension.

BLACKWELL: So, he submitted that request and then immediately disowned it. He called the delay a bad idea that would be deeply corrosive. Now the whole ordeal leaves E.U. leaders confused. The E.U. says they'll try to sort it out over the next couple of days.

Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders is back on the campaign trail. This is about three weeks after he suffered a heart attack.

WALKER: Yes. Thousands packed the New York City event Saturday to see Senator Sanders officially receive a major endorsement from New York Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.

CNN's Ryan Nobles was there for the announcement.

RYAN NOBLES, CNN WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT: Victor and Amara, it had been more than two weeks since Bernie Sanders had last held a campaign rally so he wanted to make his return to the campaign trail a big splash and he did it with the help of one of the biggest stars in Democratic politics.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

NOBLES (voice-over): Bernie Sanders wanted to make one thing very clear.

SANDERS: To put it bluntly, I am back.

NOBLES: Sanders, a little more than two weeks after suffering a heart attack, returned to the campaign trail in dramatic fashion, packing a park in Queens with level of energy and enthusiasm designed to show that despite the health scare he isn't going anywhere.

[06:20:13]

SANDERS: I am happy to report to you that I am more than ready to assume the office of president of the United States.

NOBLES: Adding reinforcement to this new stage of his campaign --

OCASIO-CORTEZ: Holy cow.

NOBLES: -- progressive rising star, Alexandria Ocasio- Cortez. She formally endorsed Sanders and made the case that it is the Sanders' brand of politics that will beat Donald Trump.

OCASIO-CORTEZ: No one wanted to question this system. And in 2016, he fundamentally changed politics in America.

NOBLES: Prior to his heart attack, the Sanders campaign was stuck in neutral, struggling to keep up with front-runners Elizabeth Warren and Joe Biden. But far ahead of lower tier candidates unable to muster double digit support.

His heart attack threatened to draw new questions about his age and fitness for office. But his supporters crowded shoulder to shoulder in Queens said they weren't worried by it.

DANTE FRANKLIN, NEW YORK VOTER: Just he's OK. That's the last thing I'm thinking about. He's strong enough here. Yes. He'll be around here at least another 30 years.

NOBLES: Sanders is now working to solidify support from the progressive left, in addition to locking up Ocasio-Cortez Sanders also picked up the endorsement of Congresswoman Ilhan Omar and will appear later this month with Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib, three of the four members of the Squad, a diverse group of freshmen female members of Congress with growing influence in the Democratic Party. OCASIO-CORTEZ: I'm in the United States Congress now and that's a long, long way from being a sexually harassed waitress in downtown Manhattan one year ago. However, in this new historic freshman congressional class, in overwhelming amounts of them, now reject corporate PAC money. That's thanks to Bernie.

NOBLES: A force that brings with it energy that helps Sanders draw what his campaign said was the biggest crowd so far and inspired supporters like Peter Modavis.

PETER MODAVIS, BERNIE SANDERS SUPPORTER: It seems AOC saw Bernie almost on his deathbed and still thought he was the best candidate for president.

NOBLES: And the promise Sanders made to those supporters? He is in this race to win.

SANDERS: There is no doubt in my mind that not only will we win this election but together we will transform this country. Thank you all very much.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

NOBLES: And hoping to keep the momentum going for this reinvigorated campaign Sanders will now head to Iowa later this week. The caucus is there just a little more than 100 days away. And Sanders will also keep the momentum going with a hefty war chest. He has more than $30 million cash on hand -- Victor and Amara.

BLACKWELL: Ryan Nobles for us there. Ryan, thank you.

The president has been saying all week that the troops are coming home. The troops are coming home. Well, the defense secretary says those troops that are being pulled out of Syria are going to Iraq.

Now, let's talk about the cease-fire in Syria. This appears to be failing. We will have the latest from the Turkey-Syria border next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:27:14]

WALKER: U.S. defense secretary Mark Esper says many of the U.S. troops pulling out of Syria will head to Iraq. These images show some of those U.S. military vehicles on the move. Their new mission will be to help defend Iraq and counter ISIS.

BLACKWELL: Esper also told reporters overnight that the cease-fire between Turkey and Kurdish forces in Syria generally seems to be holding despite a report from Turkish officials that one of their soldiers was killed in an attack. Now this is happening as House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is in Jordan with a bipartisan delegation of lawmakers to talk about the Syrian crisis with the king of Jordan.

Let's talk about all this with CNN Military Analyst, Colonel Cedric Leighton and CNN's Jomana Karadsheh who is near the Turkey-Syria border.

Jomana, let me start with you. This characterization from Secretary Esper that the pause or the cease-fire generally seems to be holding. Reconcile that with what you're seeing on the ground and the report from Turkish officials and the Kurds.

JOMANA KARADSHEH, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Victor, let's set the scene for you here. Right behind us is this Turkish border down town and behind it in the distance that's the town of Ras al-Ain, that Syrian town where much of the fighting during the Turkish incursion and the operation was focused.

And, you know, since the declaration of that pause in fighting since the announcement, you don't see or hear that kind of intense fighting that our team here witnessed during the operation. Yes, we have heard the crackling of gunfire from time to time here but it's really intermittent and it's nothing compared to what was going on in past.

Look, we have covered so many cease-fires in Syria and they are always very fragile and the guns rarely fall silent during these cease-fires. And it's very difficult to really know what is going on, who is breaching this cease-fire. You've got both sides, the Syrian Kurds and Turkey accusing each other of violations.

Turkey today saying up until this morning, there were 20 violations they say and one soldier was killed. You've got the Syrian Kurds on the other hand calling on the United States to push Turkey to abide by the terms of this agreement. But I think what we heard from the secretary of defense overall the cease-fire does seem to be holding.

We're not seeing the kinds of violations that would indicate that we are -- we are about to see the collapse of this cease-fire, but something very important, Victor, to keep in mind is that it's not just about the pause in fighting. The pause in fighting is supposed to be that time period where the Syrian Kurdish fighters withdraw from all areas. We haven't seen evidence of that happening yet and the warning from President Erdogan here is that once they hit that deadline on Tuesday evening if they have not withdrawn by that point this operation is going to resume and it's going to be more aggressive.

[06:30:08]

WALKER: Yes. Again, that is the big concern, what happens on Tuesday once the ceasefire ends and Turkey starts to move in on this area.

To you, Cedric Leighton, we heard as we're mentioning the secretary of defense, Mark Esper, he is reiterating the plan that the U.S. troops withdrawing from Syria will be repositioned to Western Iraq. That' stands in contrast to what Trump has said about this withdrawal. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: It's time to bring them home. It's time to bring them home. We have done our job. We have defeated everyone that we were supposed to defeat.

MARK ESPER, SECRETARY OF DEFENSE: The current game plan is for those forces to reposition into Western Iraq.

REPORTER: What was it?

ESPER: Yes, the ones coming out, right, that original 1,000.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WALKER: So, Cedric Leighton, what do you think of this plan? I mean, again, if the U.S. troops -- they are not going home. They are being sent to Iraq. What do you think of this strategy especially considering it's this U.S. withdrawal that's leading escaped ISIS fighters back to Iraq?

CEDRIC LEIGHTON, CNN MILITARY ANALYST: Well, Amara, I think there's a real problem with this. Obviously, the president's promise to bring the troops home, the last time I checked, Iraq was definitely not home. So this is -- it flies in the face of that.

The other thing we are looking at strategically, from a military perspective, I have to say I'm -- you know, in an odd way, we will leave. I guess that's maybe the wrong word to use. But it's good that they are at least in the region to potentially do some things should they be called upon to intercede somewhere in Northeastern Syria.

But I think that's a real problem in a bit of a stretch. It's going to be a lot harder for them to get back into Northeastern Syria and it's also going to be hard for them to do some things that would otherwise or would be able to do in Syria to stay there.

So this is clearly some odd political maneuver at the expense of military strategy and I think we have to be very careful going forward, but we're certainly not meeting promises here.

WALKER: All right. We're going to have to leave it there. Jomana Karadsheh and Colonel Cedric Leighton, thank you both.

BLACKWELL: A massive teacher strike happening in Chicago. What will it take to end this impasse? We will talk live with Chicago Teachers Union vice president.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:35:00]

WALKER: Students hope to return to school tomorrow but it's still uncertain as Chicago teachers and school staff strike. About 25,000 educators are on the picket lines. They are demanding better wages, more nurses, and counselors, and smaller class sizes. The strike is affecting about 300,000 children. The city's mayor says it's doing its part to make a deal but union leaders are resistant. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MAYOR LORI LIGHTFOOT (D-CHICAGO, IL): I think we have put on the table -- excuse me -- a structure both on compensation, around class sizes, around staffing and a number of other supports that have the outlines and the framework for a deal but we can't bargain by ourselves.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WALKER: So here is what the city is offering, a 16 percent raise, $1 million to hire more teaching assistants to reduce class size and $400,000 annually to hire nurses, social workers and counselors. And this raise and the new staffing is supposed to happen over five years, we should mention.

Joining me now is Stacy Davis Gates, the vice president of the Chicago Teachers Union. I appreciate you us, Stacy, on this morning.

Obviously, you don't think this offer goes far enough. Why is that?

STACY DAVIS GATES, VICE PRESIDENT, CHICAGO TEACHERS UNION: Well, for one, thank you for having me this morning. We have 30,000 counselors, social workers, nurses, elementary and high school teachers fighting for the school Chicago students deserve. That is something that we have led in the city for the last ten years. We've been at the negotiating table for the last ten months.

Meanwhile, on the south side of Chicago, we have 40 students in the kindergarten classrooms, 40 students in three separate third grade classrooms at Beasley Elementary School on the south side of Chicago. These are things that this contract has to ameliorate. We are looking for something that provides transformation, a seismic change and business as usual here in Chicago.

WALKER: So the offer on the table right now does not offer the changes that you want? I mean, the city has been offering a pay rise, 16 percent over the next few years and they are promising to add more support staff as the Teachers Union is demanding.

GATES: The south side and the west side of Chicago are littered with broken promises. What we are looking for are enforceable class size limits that enable our educators to offer our most vulnerable students get the best type of education.

Listen, all over this country, parents have been asking for smaller class sizes, well-resourced classrooms. And in Chicago, we feel like we should be able to have that. That is why you see 30,000 people fighting, fighting very hard for what they deserve.

WALKER: So let me ask you this. I mean, what is your message to the students who will likely be missing school again come Monday? What other prospects or what is the outlook for a deal and the timeline? I mean, how far apart are both sides?

GATES: Well, I'll tell you what I'm telling my three children. I have a kindergartner, a third grader and fifth grader. And I'm telling my son that we're fighting for the librarian that's no longer in your school. I'm telling my daughters that they deserve a nurse Monday through Friday in their school community. And that is what the adults are doing right now. We hope to have something that represents the best for our children.

[06:40:03]

WALKER: And we should mention the mayor, Lori Lightfoot, was also saying that there is just not enough money in the budget to add to this offer.

We're going to leave it there. Stacy Davis Gates, I appreciate your time, best of luck to you.

GATES: Thank you.

BLACKWELL: Still to come, the newest employee on the San Francisco 49ers payroll, well, softer than you might expect. Carolyn Manno is here.

CAROLYN MANNO, CNN SPORTS CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Victor. 4934's newest MVP, only 12 inches tall, weighs about 30 pounds, but she's got a lot of heart. After the break, we'll introduce you to Zoe, a puppy making history in the NFL for all the right reasons.

WALKER: But first, here is a preview of this week's episode of Declassified.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Mladic and Karadzic applied the same standard that Hitler did in World War II, and we could not just stand by and allow them to get away with it.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: With Srebrenica, it was so horrendous that the United States went to the NATO allies and said we can't allow this anymore. This was the Clinton administration saying, we have been in office two and a half years, it's horrible, it's continuing. No more.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: President Clinton made the decision, I am not going to be president of the United States and stand by and allow that to happen. And it was, at that point, as chief of staff, where I realized if the United States doesn't lead this effort, it's not going to happen.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It was suspected some of these people, like Karadzic, would be indicted because they had done criminal things but President Clinton understood that before we could bring them to justice, what you really needed to do was get a peace plan and stop the killing.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WALKER: "Declassified: The Untold Stories of American Spies," airs tonight at 11:00 P.M. Eastern only on CNN. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:45:00]

BLACKWELL: The Houston Astros punched their ticket to the world series in one of the most dramatic finishes I'm told, I didn't see it, that they have ever seen.

WALKER: Carolyn Manno is in New York this morning and, boy, what a way to move on.

MANNO: Good morning, Victor and Amara. It's okay, victor, I got you covered.

BLACKWELL: Thank you. Thank you.

MANNO: It was an instant classic for you this Sunday morning, agonizing lows followed by the highest of all highs, all ending in a trip to the World Series, of course, far from a sure thing for Houston fans who were buzzing in the top of the ninth. The Astros up 4-2 with a runner on with D.J. LeMahieu stepped up to the plate and delivered deep to right field, a two-run shot, and as you can see, just inches over the outstretched arm of George Springer. And just like that, the game is tied.

Houston, do we have a problem? Not when you have Jose Altuvem the Astros' pint-sized superstar. He's been in Houston from thick and thin, crushing the pitch deep the left field, a walk-off home run for the ALCS MVP. Madness at Minute Maid Park, Altuve sending the Astros back to the fall classic.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CARLOS CORREA, HOUSTON ASTROS SHORTSTOP: I can't remember anything. I blacked out, honestly. I couldn't believe that he sat on a slider 2-1 count and hit it out like that. The man is unreal.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MANNO: This is the Astros' second World Series in three. They face the nationals who are playing in their first. Game one is right back in Houston on Tuesday night.

In the meantime, a scary moment in college football during the Oklahoma game after coming onto the field for a touchdown celebration, the team's mascot, a frontier wagon known as the Sooner Schooner, taking a tight turn, flipping over. Thankfully no humans or horses were hurt. Still a rattling moment for everybody involved.

And the San Francisco 49ers are employing a creative new idea to help players who are struggling. Zoe is a one-year-old Frenchie who is now proudly serving as the team's emotional support dog, a first for the NFL. Defensive lineman Solomon Thomas came up with the idea while grieving the loss of his sister. And Zoe has been comforting the team ever since.

As far as we can tell, she is not the biggest football fan but she love balloons and that is just fine with the team.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SOLOMON THOMAS, SAN FRANCISCO 49ERS DEFENSIVE LINEMAN: When I'm in the mood or anything, I just like to go and play with her. It kind of erases my mind I couldn't (INAUDIBLE) about, like, wow, this is a little dog, got to go have some fun and relax and immensely refreshed.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MANNO: Zoe will be happily waiting for the 9ers when they get back home from their game in Washington today.

And I should say, Victor and Amara, the team is undefeated. They might have a teeny, pint-sizes the good luck charm there in San Francisco.

BLACKWELL: I love Frenchies. I've wanted a Frenchie for like the seven years. I just don't have a schedule, but I'd love to have one.

WALKER: It's so cute. Carolyn Manno, thanks so much.

BLACKWELL: Thank you.

WALKER: Well, a football coach jumps into action after a student brings a loaded gun to school.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KEANON LOWE, FOOTBALL COACH AND SECURITY GUARD, PARKROSE HIGH: I feel like I was put in that room, in that very moment for a reason to protect those kids.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WALKER: Hear how he managed to convince the student to give him the gun.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:50:00]

WALKER: More than 8 million tons of plastic end up in the world's oceans every year.

BLACKWELL: And this week's CNN hero is trying to solve that problem.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

AFROZ SHAH, CNN HERO: The whole beach was like carpet of plastic. For the first time in my life, I didn't want to go in the water because the garbage was like 5 1/2 feet. This problem of pollution is created by us.

And with this in my mind, I started to clean the beach. And I told myself it would be difficult for a single man to do it, so I said, why not take this personal journey to others.

If this huge ocean is in a problem, we'll have to rise up in huge numbers. When you have a complicated problem, sometimes solutions are simple.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WALKER: There it is.

BLACKWELL: To see the story, go to cnnheroes.com.

WALKER: In Oregon, school security cameras captured the moment a high school football coach disarmed a student who had brought a shotgun to school. The coach talks about what led to his quick thinking in that moment.

CNN's Polo Sandoval has more.

[06:55:01]

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

POLO SANDOVAL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Angel Granados Diaz walked into his Northeast Portland, Oregon, campus back in May armed with a shotgun and loaded with a single shell. This newly released surveillance video shows us what happened next. That's campus coach and security guard Keanon Lowe encounrtering Diaz at the entrance to a classroom. He grabs the gun with one hand and reaches for the crisis-stricken 19- year-old with the other. What follows was a consoling hug and a conversation, allowing police time to respond and take control.

Coach Lowe has kept a relatively low profile for the last five months only discussing that moment publicly a few times, including this interview with GMA after it happened.

LOW: I feel like I was put in that room in that very moment for a reason to protect those kids.

If I end up getting the gun from him and getting the gun with my right hand and holding off with my left hand and calling for a teacher to grab the gun from me.

SANDOVAL: The surveillance video confirms accounts from witnesses and likely reassures parents who would fear the worst on that summer day.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: By the grace of God, nobody was hurt in this one. So I'm very thankful for that.

SANDOVAL: Earlier this month, Diaz pleaded guilty to unlawful possession of a firearm and was sentenced to three years probation. As part of the deal, he'll get mental health and substance abuse treatment.

In statement, the deputy district attorney confirmed Diaz never intended to hurt anyone other than himself. The D.A.'s office also determined the weapon did not fire when Diaz pulled the trigger, and giving the consoling coach time to act.

Polo Sandoval, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WALKER: It's just such an incredible story.

BLACKWELL: Yes.

WALKER: He had the instinct to run towards danger and then to hug him.

BLACKWELL: Yes. We should also say that security experts and police say that the right thing to do is to run, hide, escape, if you can. But, obviously, this worked out in this case.

Stay with us. More news coming up after the break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[07:00:00]