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Tuberville Blockade Keeps Top Military Officials from Being Confirmed; New Body Camera Footage of K-9 Attack on Unarmed Black Man; Delta Air Lines Overserved Drunk Passenger Who Allegedly Groped Mother, Teenage Daughter; Supreme Court Debates Ethics Rules for Justices. Aired 3:30-4p ET

Aired July 31, 2023 - 15:30   ET

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

[15:30:00]

BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN HOST: They have a potential challenge for the former president in his third trial. Kristen Holmes, thank you so much -- Brianna.

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN HOST: Republican Senator Tommy Tuberville is still holding fast to his blockade of more than 270 high-level promotions until the Pentagon resends its abortion travel reimbursement policy. President Biden says that Tuberville's protest is threatening the safety of the country.

But Tuberville tweeted, quote, all of these jobs are being done by holds are not affecting national security.

However, the military does face an unprecedented dilemma. Come mid- August, the heads of the Army and Navy are scheduled to retire, and as of now, no one can formally replace them. CNN's Oren Liebermann is with us now from the Pentagon. Worth noting, Oren, Senators are currently in week one of a five-week recess, so explain where things go from here and what is at stake.

OREN LIEBERMANN, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Well, it very much looks like things are about to go in the wrong direction with a long recess coming up for the Senate. That means there won't be any progress on this issue and the holds that Senator Tuberville has put in, a number that as of last week officially tops 300 -- 301 to be exact. And we're waiting for an update on that number. A number that's expected to double to 600 by the end of the year. That remains in place. And the senior military leaders, two stars, three stars and four stars, largely remains paralyzed with these holds. Unable to move into their jobs and that has a cascading effect -- according to DOD officials.

And they number of senior Pentagon officials and military officials have detailed how this affects the military from junior officers having to step in and do jobs for which they are not openly and completely experienced for or have the qualifications for. The questions about whether it affects the retention of junior officers. And we're heard this from, for example, General Charles Q. Brown, who is the nominee chosen to be the next chairman of the joint chiefs. From General Eric who's nominated to be the next Commandant of the Marine Corps. On talking about all talking about how this affects military readiness. How this has the potential to affect retention if this keeps playing out. And all indications right now are that it will continue doing so, and that appear s to be the issue.

The Pentagon has tried to put some pressure on Tuberville. Seeing if it's possible for his Republican colleagues in the Senate to pressure him to give up on these holds and allow these nominations to move forward. But as we saw from that tweet, it's had little effect and Tuberville is not moving from his position.

And that means, Brianna, there's an open question about how long he's going to keep this up. And it looks like quite a while now as even more and more officers are not only on hold but warning of the effects of this.

KEILAR: Yes, he seems very comfortable in his position. And I'm sure the Pentagon is aware of that. Oren Liebermann live for us at the Pentagon, thank you -- Boris.

SANCHEZ: Next on CNN NEWS CENTRAL, a new lawsuit accusing Delta of serving a passenger too much alcohol. The man allegedly went on to grope a mother and her 16-year-old daughter. The details are straight ahead.

[15:35:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

JIM SCIUTTO, CNN HOST: This just in. CNN has obtained new body camera footage of the incident where former Ohio police officer, now former, released a police canine on an unarmed Black man with his hands up. In the new video, former Circleville PD officer Ryan Speakman, who was fired in the wake of the incident, could be heard attempting to justify his actions. But in one of the initial videos released from the incident, you can hear one of the other officers on the scene calling for him not to release the canine.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Do not release the dog with his hands up. Do not release the dog with his hands up. Do not release the dog with his hands up. Don't!

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Here. Here!

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Do not -- do not!

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCIUTTO: In the wake of this, Speakman was fired, but new documents also obtained by CNN show that the department fired him not because he released the canine on an unarmed man but because he talked about the incident with family members and colleagues who were not cleared to hear those details. He then allegedly lied to his police chief about whom exactly he shared those sensitive details with. CNN's Isabel Rosales, she's been looking into this story, the new footage, the documents. I mean, this is remarkable. He was fired but not because he released the dog on an unarmed man even as other colleagues were saying don't release the dog.

ISABEL ROSALES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That is correct, Jim. I went through 50 pages, around 50 pages of newly released documents, including probably the most enlightening part is a report right here from the police chief, Chief Shawn Baer. In it, he describes Ryan Speakman as emotionally distraught, crying, stressed out over this July 4th incident and repeatedly talking about it with colleagues. And in fact, his chief ordered him, it says here, to stop talking about it and had him compile a list of the names of those that he had spoken with, sharing confidential details about that day. And ultimately, that list, these documents show, continued to grow and grow beyond Circleville Police Department employees.

[15:40:00]

Chief Baer wrote in his report, quote, Ryan Speakman disclosing information to everyone as well as his emotional state had potential to impact the investigation.

Because remember that use of force investigation and an internal investigation were going on at the same time. These documents therefore show that the termination was based not on the dog attack, which he was cleared for, Speakman was cleared for, but rather due to violating department policy. Here's what it says.

Including for unauthorized and inappropriate intentional release of confidential or protected investigation.

Jim, he also mentioned that new body camera footage. It is the first time that we're seeing up close and personal that dog attack, that deployment from the body camera of Ryan Speakman, the fired officer, and another colleague of his. You can hear what happens during that right after where he tries to justify what it is that occurred and how he's also confused as to why state troopers seemed to be unhappy with him. We're going to show you this video, but first a warning, it is graphic.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Police, canine, you're going to get bit!

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Why are y'all playing (INAUDIBLE).

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Police canine, you're going to get bit. Final chance. You're going to get bit. Here. Here.

(SCREAMING AND YELLING)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Get on the ground!

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Please, please get this off. Get him off, get it off, get it off please!

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I don't know, he seemed pissed off.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I don't know. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He didn't comply. I gave him three commands. I told

him final warning. You don't get on the ground. You're going to get the dog. I barely seen that happen before. He wasn't complying.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ROSALES: And Jim, we also have this report from the man himself, a former officer Ryan Speakman, where he acknowledges in the report that he did hear state troopers give commands right before that dog attack, but he does not address within that report whether he heard them telling him not to release the dog -- Jim.

SCIUTTO: Is there any continuing investigation of the actual decision to release the dog given what we've just seen there?

ROSALES: As far as we can tell, this is a completed thing, the Use of Force Board has concluded that he followed the canine policy, just not the policy of being a police officer. That's why he was fired. And of course, this goes on to the now Jadarrius Rose, what goes on with the charge against him. It's ultimately going to be up to a prosecutor. And they are weighing, his family and himself, are weighing potentially civilly suing the department for this.

SCIUTTO: Which we often see this in cases like this. Isabel Rosales, thanks so much -- Brianna.

KEILAR: Delta Air Lines is facing a federal lawsuit after a male passenger allegedly groped a mother and her teenage daughter on board an international flight last summer. The lawsuit claims that flight attendants overserved alcohol to the passenger and dismissed the woman's concern when she told hem that the man was making her and her daughter feel unsafe. CNN aviation correspondent Pete Muntean is with us now on this. A pretty unbelievable detail from this lawsuit. Walk us through it.

PETE MUNTEAN, CNN AVIATION CORRESPONDENT: You know, it's really interesting because this is something that the airline industry is really concerned about in a big way, passengers being overserved time and time again, and we see these play out in assault incidents not just against flight crews but in this case, according to the federal lawsuit, against the passenger and her 16-year-old daughter.

And so, this suit says -- about a year ago -- July 26th, 2022, they were on this eight-hour flight from JFK to Athens. They were seated in the very back of the plane near the galley, where the flight attendants work. In the middle section of the plane -- it's a wide- body airliner, so there's seats aisle, seats again. So they said that this passenger was so drunk to begin with, and then the flight crew continually served him drinks according to this lawsuit. And in fact, one of the flight attendants, according to this lawsuit, even joked as this passenger ordered a drink that only an alcoholic would order a drink before the flight took off. And so this lawsuit essentially lays out that this passenger was served ten drinks, according to this mom and her daughter, in the course of three hours of the flight.

KEILAR: Ten vodkas over ice among other drinks, he says, right? MUNTEAN: Vodka ice, Yes.

And that they were consistently brushed off by the flight crew. Then things escalated from there. Not only were their words sort of exchanged between this drunk male passenger and the 16-year-old daughter, who was seated in the middle there, but then this lawsuit alleges that this man not only touched her bra strap but also touched her thigh. And so some really serious allegations here.

[15:45:00]

And now Delta Air Lines is the defendant in this suit. The plaintiffs, we don't know their names. They're withheld in this suit. But it really sort of lays out the onus on Delta here to sort of protect these passengers. It's not only in their contract of carriage that they can boot a passenger if they appear to be drunk, but it's also against federal regulations. It's laid out in federal aviation regulation part 121. It says that if a passenger appears drunk, it is on the airline to not serve them, period.

KEILAR: It seems clear in this case, the daughter, the mother, they're making the case, hey, we feel unsafe.

MUNTEAN: Right.

KEILAR: And the daughter is even starting to have panic attack like symptoms because she feels trapped.

MUNTEAN: Yes, and ultimately, they were able to sort of huddle into the galley, but a lot of passengers were sort of paying attention to this. And then one other passenger ultimately came to their rescue and switched seats. And that sort of defused the situation. But the real kicker here is that this man after this flight landed in Athens, we walked free. There was no punishment against him.

KEILAR: Yes, that is pretty unbelievable.

MUNTEAN: No doubt.

KEILAR: All right, Pete, We'll continue to follow this. Thank you so much for the details on that -- Boris.

SANCHEZ: We're getting some new insight into a debate that's unfolding behind the scenes at the Supreme Court over ethics rules. The issue remains front and center after a series of revelations, including justices not disclosing luxury trips, real estate deals, and more. CNN's Bianna Golodryga is in for Jake Tapper on "THE LEAD" today. And Bianna, CNN has learned more about Chief Justice John Roberts, his efforts to get all justices on the same page over these rules. That is proving to be a tough task.

BIANNA GOLODRYGA, CNN SENIOR GLOBAL AFFAIRS ANALYST: Yes, Boris, and this reporting comes to us from Joan Biskupic with her insightful reporting revealing that Chief Justice John Roberts, as you noted, has been seeking unanimity among the nine justices when it comes to these ethics' standards. This is an issue that Congress has been pushing aggressively. We know the current Supreme Court are the only members of the federal judiciary not covered by these standards.

And this goes back to the controversial statements that we saw last week from Justice Samuel Alito to the editorial board in pages after a four-hour interview with the "Wall Street Journal," where he said that voluntarily follows -- that he voluntarily follows disclosure statutes that apply to lower-court judges.

But this is what really stood out to people in raised eyebrows. He went on to say that Congress did not create the Supreme Court, and I know this is a controversial view, but I'm willing to say it. No provision in the Constitution gives them the authority to regulate the Supreme Court, period.

Now Alito went on in this for hour interview to characterize a number of the justices. And here's how he described Chief Justice John Roberts. He said that he volunteers -- he said that John Roberts puts a high premium on consensus, that he rarely dissents. And this speaks to the reporting Joan is bringing us as to what Chief Justice John Roberts is hoping to achieve here. And thus far it doesn't look like he's getting there. But we're going to have Joan on for more details on this important reporting.

SANCHEZ: And you can look forward to more of that reporting at 4:00 p.m. on "THE LEAD" with Jake Tapper. My friend, Bianna Golodryga, in the chair for Jake today. Thanks Bianna.

KEILAR: Paul Reubens best known for his role as Pee-Wee Herman has died. What we are learning about his six-year private health struggle.

[15:50:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KEILAR: Hollywood is saying good-bye to Paul Reubens, the actor best known for playing Pee-Wee Herman.

According to the announcement, quote, paul bravely and privately fought cancer for years with his trademark tenacity and wit. He was 70 years old.

CNN's Chloe Melas is joining us now on this story. Chloe, tributes pouring in. What are you hearing?

CHLOE MELAS, CNN ENTERTAINMENT REPORTER: Yes, so I mean, there are so many tributes, Brianna, but I have one for you that I wanted to read from Natasha Leon.

She writes: Love you so much, Paul. One and all time. Thank you for my career, and your forever friendship all of these years and for teaching us what a true original is. And # Paul Reubens #peeweeherman. You know, something I told you earlier, Brianna, that really touched me was that Paul Reubens, a.k.a. Pee-Wee Herman, he had prepared a statement for his fans because he had been battling cancer for the last six years. And you don't really see that when a statement is released around the death of a celebrity. You rarely see something coming out that had been prepared by the star. And in it he writes: Please accept my apology for not going public

with what I've been facing these last six years.

And I think that that is just really touching because he acknowledges the fact that this comes as a surprise to so many people that he was privately battling cancer for last several years and he was a very private person. So many people are mourning his loss today and the impact that he made on children's programming.

KEILAR: Yes, they certainly are. Chloe, thank you for that. And we will be right back.

[15:55:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SCIUTTO: So, you've sort of heard of the prank ding-dong ditch, neighborhood kids ringing door bells, running before someone answers the door. These guys did that. I was far to well behaved. Well a teenager in Minnesota is now going viral on TikTok for changing the game up. But not for the reason you may think. Have a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JACKSON PERALES (ph): You matter, right? There's always going to be somebody that cares about you and you're a good person, no matter what people say, you matter.

(DOORBELL RINGS)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KEILAR: So that -- I know, right, that's 13-year-old Jackson Perales (ph). He said that he and his friends they were goofing around when he decided to switch things up and say something nice for change. As for the homeowner who received that message, well she happens to be a mental health professional for college students.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ASHLEY MANN, BRAINARD, MN RESIDENT: This young kid came up to my random door bell to just say, hey, like you matter. Like just wanting to spread kindness and, you know, positivity and it just made me feel like I should do the same thing.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANCHEZ: Such an uplifting message. The woman posted the video on her TikTok.

[16:00:00]

His message has now been seen 5.1 million times.

SCIUTTO: That's so nice. I wish that is the way social media really was. Instead you get a lot of awful comments. SANCHEZ: Brianna you wanted to share something with us.

KEILAR: I did something bad when I was little. It wasn't nice like that kid.

SANCHEZ: What did you do?

KEILAR: I filled my grandparents' -- the gas tank of their camper van up with sand. We were playing gas station. We didn't have any gas.

SANCHEZ: You're poor grandparents.

KEILAR: Yes, it delayed their trip.

SCIUTTO: Gently surprised.

SANCHEZ: I hope the statute of limitations has passed.

KEILAR: I was little. I think it has. I think it has -- I hope.

SCIUTTO: We'll call her grandparents up. "THE LEAD" with Jake Tapper starts right now.