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Sen. McConnell's Office Releases Health Update; Alabama Failed To Make 2nd Majority Black District As Ordered; Sheriff: Girl In Serial Killer's Drawing Possibly Identified; Coco Gauff Advances To U.S. Open Semifinals. Aired 2:30-3p ET
Aired September 05, 2023 - 14:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[14:30:00]
BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN HOST: Today, a capitol doctor released an update on McConnell's health.
For that, let's take you to Capitol Hill with CNN's Melanie Zanona.
Melanie, bring us up to speed on what we heard from the medical update and whether we expect to hear from McConnell discussing his health in just a few moments.
MELANIE ZANONA, CNN CAPITOL HILL REPORTER: Yes. So the capitol physician said that McConnell underwent a comprehensive neurology assessment, which included multiple rounds of tests.
Our Manu Raju reported that McConnell saw four different neurologists and physicians concluded that McConnell did not suffer a stroke or a seizure.
I want to read you a key line from his letter to McConnell.
He said, "There is no evidence that you have a seizure disorder or that you experienced a stroke, TIA or movement disorder such as Parkinson's disease. There are no changes recommended in treatment protocols as you continue recovery from your March 2023 fall."
This letter comes on top of another one that McConnell's office released last week saying that he was medically cleared to return to work.
Clearly, his team trying to be more transparent about his health and end all the speculation about his health and his political future.
Of course, he is also trying to put on a front of business as usual and carry on with his normal routine. We are expected to hear from him. He will deliver his weekly remarks here on the Senate floor.
He will also have some leadership meetings later tonight. And then tomorrow, he is going to face the press and reporters once again at his weekly press conference.
And perhaps, most critically, he is going to face his own members for the first time since that freezing episode behind closed doors at their weekly party luncheon.
So I'm sure this topic will come up. We'll see he also addresses it publicly. I'm sure he will be asked about it at the press conference.
But it remains to be seen whether this is going to be enough to really quell the questions and concerns about his health and about his ability to lead -- Boris?
SANCHEZ: We await those remarks on the floor of the Senate in just a few moments.
Melanie Zanona, we know you're watching it closely. Thanks so much.
Brianna?
BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN HOST: A federal court just rejected Alabama's updated congressional map. The Supreme Court had ordered the state to create a second majority black district, and they just didn't. Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[14:36:39]
JIM SCIUTTO, CNN HOST: This is quite a legal story. A federal court has struck down Alabama's latest attempt at a congressional redirecting map.
In fact, the panel of three judges not only rejected that map, but rebuked those behind it for flat-out ignoring what has been ordered by higher courts. The judges, two of whom were appointed by Donald Trump.
So the new map did not create a second majority black district as, we should note, the Supreme Court had ordered earlier this year.
Remember, this battle and ones in other states could determines who controls the House, which, right now, Republicans have under a very thin majority. But a whole host of other legal effects here.
CNN senior Supreme Court analyst, Joan Biskupic, joins us now.
Joan, the Supreme Court already said months ago you have to re-write this map. They refused to do it.
JOAN BISKUPIC, CNN SENIOR SUPREME COURT ANALYST: Yes. The reason these three judges were so angry today because the state of Alabama has defied not only this three-judge panel, which originally ruled that the state had deluded the voting power of blacks in the state, but also it defied the Supreme Court.
This all started about two years ago when Alabama drew a map that a lower court found deluded the black voting power of people in the state. The voters challenged the Supreme Court.
The Supreme Court let that map take effect for the 2022 elections, but then came back in June of this year and said it agreed with that three-judge panel and ordered it to go back and draw a new map.
Well, the state didn't. It still has one black majority district out of seven in a state that is 27 percent black.
And here's what -- let me tell you what --
(CROSSTALK)
SCIUTTO: Please because the language is remarkable.
BISKUPIC: The language is really strong.
"We are deeply troubled the state enacted a map that the state readily admits does not provides the remedy we said federal law requires."
That federal law it's referencing is the 1965 Voting Rights Act.
Here is what the state has just said, just put out about an hour ago. And this is the attorney general, Steve Marshall.
"While we are disappointed in today's decision, we strongly believe the legislature's map complies with the Voting Rights Act and the recent decision of the U.S. Supreme Court.
"We intend to promptly seek review from the Supreme Court to ensure that the state can use its lawful congressional district's map in 2024 and beyond."
You know what the lower court has done here? It said we don't trust you to draw another map. It says, by September 25th, a special master better have drawn a whole new map.
(CROSSTALK)
BISKUPIC: But in the meantime, now we know what the state is trying to do, try get to the Supreme Court.
SCIUTTO: This is already under a watered down, you might say, 1965 Voting Rights Act. But even under that version, they said this doesn't pass muster here.
What is the likelihood if he does appeal, this is the Supreme Court, they send it back again?
BISKUPIC: I think, Jim, that the Supreme Court is done with this and is going to, once again, affirm the three-judge panel. This is a panel with two Donald Trump appointees --
SCIUTTO: Yes.
BISKUPIC: -- and one Bill Clinton appointee. I think Alabama is really testing its luck.
Now Alabama thinks that that was a shaky five-vote majority. That's its idea. You could tell Alabama thought, give us one more crack at the Supreme Court. We're going to prevail here. I don't think so. I think the Supreme Court, in my -- we haven't seen any briefs yet of what the arguments will be. I think the Supreme Court will stick to where it was in June of last year.
[14:40:03]
SCIUTTO: Fascinating case.
BISKUPIC: Yes.
SCIUTTO: Joan Biskupic, thanks so much.
Boris?
SANCHEZ: Still to come on CNN NEWS CENTRAL, law enforcement officials say they made a possible identification of a woman seen in drawings by the BTK serial killer. More on that.
And new tips police say they're getting when we come back. Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
KEILAR: A big break in a cold case and the clue is coming from the imprisoned serial killer as BTK, which stands for "bind, torture, kill."
CNN was the first to obtain this drawing by the murderer, whose name is Dennis Rader. It shows a girl in a green dress tied up in a barn. Now the sheriff in Oklahoma says he may be close to identifying who she is.
[14:45:04]
And investigators are getting major help in the case from the killer's daughter who pleaded guilty -- the daughter of the killer, who pleaded guilty to 10 murders dating back to the 1970s.
We have CNN's Jean Casarez who broke these details.
Jean, disturbing pictures, women who look scared, quite frankly, including this one. Who do they think that this girl is?
JEAN CASAREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, they're not releasing that information at all.
But, Brianna, Dennis Rader's journal, which is many, many pages -- and it has never been released to the public, law enforcement has kept it all this time since he confessed in 2005 to 10 murders, and he is now serving 10 life terms.
But the Osage county sheriff wanted to solve unsolved crimes in his area. He believed Dennis Rader could have played that role. So he obtained that journal.
And we began talking, and he released exclusively to CNN these pictures of these girls in barns. As you can see, they are bound.
We released it Friday night on Anderson Cooper's show, an extensive visual piece over the weekend. And over the weekend, they got many calls, many tips.
And they do now believe that they are able to identify the girl that is, as you can see, in green. No more information at this time. It will be a busy week for them.
But they believe these are real victims because of the detail in the faces. Just like you said, Brianna, because of the clothing and the color of the clothing.
And they also believe there are ornate aspects to these barns, and they are asking anyone in the Oklahoma/Kansas state line area, look at the barns you have. Maybe the barns have been torn down.
Now Kerri Rawson, she is the daughter of Dennis Rader, BTK. She has stepped forward currently to Osage County, Oklahoma, to volunteer her services because she knew her father better than anyone.
Listen to what she has said to me.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KERRI RAWSON, DAUGHTER OF DENNIS RADER: We're very concerned that those were drawn in real life. We believe he has several more missing and murdered. There are at least nine cases that have been reopened across three states.
We're looking at several more. I'm not at liberty to discuss complete numbers right now. I don't think anybody has a concept of whole numbers.
There is 200 of these drawings. We're trying to sort out, are these actual crime scenes, are they actually missing victims.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CASAREZ: We also want to talk, just a second, Cynthia Dawson Kenny. She is separate and distinct from the barn drawing. She is out of Oklahoma. She went missing in 1976, a high school cheerleader.
Shortly after she went missing, an anonymous male caller said, "You will find her body in a barn." They went to one barn. They didn't find it. It's been unsolved for years. Her family, Brianna, they are still alive and still wondering.
And that's why the focus is on Dennis Rader. Not for him but for the families that have never gotten closure.
KEILAR: Yes. So many people with questions about their loved ones.
Jean Casarez, thank you for that report.
Boris? SANCHEZ: Now to some of the other headlines we're watching this
afternoon.
Some schools in the northeast set to begin their first day back today are closed or dismissing students early as extreme heat bakes the region.
Some areas around Baltimore and Washington could reach around 100 degrees for the first time in several years. And the near record- breaking temperatures are set to linger for the rest of the week.
Right now, more than 50 million people are under heat alerts across much of the central and eastern U.S.
Meantime, overseas, Hong Kong's high court ordered the city's government to set up a new framework to legally recognize the rights of same-sex couples.
It is a partial victory for LGBTQ activists because it stops short of their demands for full marriage equality.
Hong Kong does not allow or grant same-sex marriage or unions. Even though homosexuality has been decriminalized in the city since 1991. The government now has two years to comply with the court's ruling.
And in Europe, a 22-year-old German tourist has been detained in Italy for allegedly damaging a 16th century statue of Neptune.
You're watching the incident caught on security footage. If you can make it out, investigators say the man climbed over a barrier and stood on the statue to pose for pictures taken by friends.
When he tried to get down, a piece of marble broke off the statue. Officials are now saying the man will face charges. A bone headed move there.
Jim?
SCIUTTO: Good lord.
[14:49:49]
Well, American tennis star, Coco Gauff, is crushing it at the U.S. Open, cementing her spot now in the semifinals. We will have the latest on her run just ahead.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SCIUTTO: At the U.S. Open, Coco Gauff continues her magical run towards a possible major title.
CNN "WORLD SPORT" anchor, Patrick Snell, joins us now.
Patrick, quite a win in the quarters. Who is up next in the semis?
PATRICK SNELL, CNN HOST: Coco Gauff doing America proud, no question. Jim. We all know she's a fan favorite.
Now she's done something no American teen has done since the great Serena Williams, and that was 22 years ago, and that's advancing to the U.S. Open semis.
[14:55:02]
Gauff was a finalist last year in Paris at the French Open, taking on Yelena Ostapenko who knocked out a world number-one opponent in the round of 16. And this one, I have to say, it was really over before it started.
The world number six didn't lose a game in the opener before wrapping it all up, 6-0, 6-2 and victory in just an hour and eight minutes. Gauff seems to have really gone on, having won 16 of her last 17 matches.
And for the first time since 2005, for the first time, three American men have made the quarterfinals. Taylor Fritz is on court as we speak at this hour. A daunting task of trying to get to a grand slam semifinal for the first time.
Why? Because he's up against the 23-times grand champ, Novak Djokovic. Fritz has never beaten Novak Djokovic. And he's zero and seven. And he's struggling already, now, Jim, having lost the open at 6-1.
For the first time at any major since 1968, we'll see two black American men in the quarters. The unseated Francis Tiafoe and the unseated Ben Shelton will play each other for on another busy, busy day at the U.S. Open -- Jim?
SCIUTTO: Yes, lots of young guns coming up. Great matches to watch.
Patrick Snell, thank you so much.
Boris?
SANCHEZ: Authorities in Pennsylvania are expanding their search for a convicted killer who broke out of prison last week. The latest on the manhunt, the recent sightings, and the community nervous about a killer or the loose. Straight ahead on CNN NEWS CENTRAL.
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