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Auto Workers Strike Expands Amid Lengthy Impasse; Senator Bernie Sanders Faces Federal Conspiracy Charges; President Biden Announces New Office For Gun Prevention; Senator Bob Menendez Indicted For Alleged Corruption; United Auto Workers Strike Impacting General Motors And Stellantis; Migrants Overwhelming Southern Border; CNN Poll Shows Biden Leading Trump In New Hampshire. Aired 2-2:30p ET
Aired September 22, 2023 - 14:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
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BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN ANCHOR: The auto workers strike expanding as new leaked text messages from a union leader reveal they are ready for this impasse to last for months. We have details on that and where the negotiations stand right now.
JIM SCIUTTO, CNN ANCHOR: And a Mercedes convertible, gold bars, half a million dollars in cash. That is what prosecutors say Democratic Senator Bernie Sanders and his wife received in bribes. Details on the federal conspiracy charges he is now facing just ahead. And with more than 500 mass shootings so far this year alone in this country, President Biden is announcing a new office for gun prevention at the White House. We are following these major developing stories and many more all coming in right here to CNN News Central.
Now to the just stunning indictment of New Jersey Democratic Senator Bob Menendez. Prosecutors say that he leveraged his power and influence as a veteran member of Congress and as chair of the powerful Senate Foreign Relations Committee to benefit among others, the Egyptian government. All this allegedly in exchange for hundreds of thousands of dollars in cash, gold, other gifts linked to three New Jersey businessmen also named in this indictment. Prosecutors laid out their charges earlier today.
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Ddamian Williams, US ATTORNEY FOR THE SOUTHERN DISRICT OF NY: There are things that Senator Menendez says he can do for his constituents and things that he says he cannot do for his constituents. He put it all on his Senate website. So for instance, it says he cannot compel an agency to act in someone's favor. It says he cannot influence matters involving a private business. It says he cannot get involved in criminal matters or cases, period. But we allege that behind the scenes, Senator Menendez was doing those things for certain people, the people who were bribing him and his wife.
(END VIDEO CLIP) SCIUTTO: CNN Kara Scannell joins us now with more. And Karras, you know it's not the first time he's been investigated. He had previous charges a number of years ago and ended in a hung jury. In that case, these are remarkable charges, bold, brazen. How is the Senator responding?
KARA SCANNELL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yeah, Jim, I mean, this is the second time that Senator Menendez is facing a criminal indictment in 10 years. Now he has come out defiant against these charges. He's saying that the excesses of these prosecutors is apparent. They have misrepresented the normal work of a congressional office. On top of that, not content with making false claims against me, they've attacked my wife for the longstanding friendship she had before she and I even met. Now what he's responding to are these charges in this three count indictment where prosecutors say that Menendez and his wife violated three different laws.
One of them is conspiracy to commit bribery, another conspiracy to commit honest services fraud, and another of a conspiracy to commit extortion under color of official office. Now these charges carry a maximum of 20 years in prison if he were convicted. And these allegations all stem from this investigation that has looked at conduct from Menendez and his wife dating back to 2018. And FBI agents executed a search warrant on Menendez's home and a safe deposit box. And that's where they found the nearly $500,000 in cash that were stuffed in envelopes and put in a jacket bearing the Senator's name.
They also found multiple gold bars as well as the Mercedes Benz. That was one of the bribes that Menendez and his wife received to help these three businessmen in New Jersey, including some of the activity here is alleged that Menendez had used his office, used his position as the chairman of the Senate Finance Committee to help Egypt. That's one of the allegations. The other that he had then tried to influence two criminal investigations, one involving one of the defendants and another the associate of another one of those defendants.Now prosecutors say their investigation is continuing and Menendez and the others are due in court next Wednesday. Jim.
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SCIUTTO: Quite a set of charges. Kara Scannell, thanks so much. Boris.
SANCHEZ: So, the clock struck noon and the workers streamed out. A couple of hours ago, members of the United Auto Workers Union walked out of dozens of facilities owned by General Motors and Jeep maker Stellantis. UAW says those two automakers failed to show enough progress in negotiating a new contract. Ford, on the other hand, they're not going to see the strike spread to any more of their facilities because union leaders say real progress has been made toward a deal with that automaker.
As of two hours ago, the UAW strike expanded to 38 parts and distribution centers owned by GM and Stellantis. And this is going to be felt pretty widely. They're scattered across 20 states and the walkout could impact repairs at dealerships. Now, a short time ago, GM called the union's escalation quote, unnecessary. So let's get the latest from CNN's Vanessa Yurkevich, who's been tracking the details. Vanessa, bring us up to speed.
VANESSA YURKEVICH, CNN BUSINESS AND POLITICS CORRESPONDENT: Yeah, so you have 5,600 UAW workers from GM and Stellantis that have just head out on the picket lines, joining the nearly 13000 from all three automakers that have been striking since about eight days ago when this strike was called. UAW President Sean Fain saying that GM and Stellantis need a strong push in order to come up with a contract that meets their demands.
As you mentioned, though, Ford, on the other hand, UAW president saying that they have made real progress with the company. Some of what we've heard from Sean Fain is that Ford has offered cost of living wage increases again. They are offering better profit sharing and they are also transitioning their temporary workers to full time workers in just 90 days. Now, this will have an economic impact, no doubt. We're going to see this impacting dealerships who are trying to get parts from these two companies.
And this is also going to impact consumers who are looking to take their vehicles into these dealerships to get parts they need to get their parts, to get their cars fixed. One thing we didn't hear about, Boris, though, wages. We know that the last public offer from these companies was 20 percent. Union has been demanding 40 percent. Haven't heard any updates on that from the big three or the union today. Boris.
SANCHEZ: We look forward to getting more details on that soon. Vanessa, thank you so much. I want to bring in a guest who's been on the picket lines. Meoshee Edwards joins us now. She's worked for General Motors for some 26 years. She's an alternate committee person for UAW Local 22 in Detroit. She goes by Mimi. So, Mimi, thank you so much for being with us. First off, your reaction to the strike expanding this afternoon to dozens more plants.
MEOSHEE "MIMI" EDWARDS, ELECTRICAL LAUNCH TEAM MEMBER (GM): Thank you so much for having me an opportunity to speak about this. We weren't expecting this, but we see that it's a big move and we now see that there's very serious. I appreciate their offer and I just wish that General Motors and Stellantis.
SANCHEZ: Mimi, I do want to ask you specifically about Ford because they weren't included in this expanded strike. We've learned the latest progress that Ford has offered includes reinstating cost of living adjustments, income security for up to two years with health care. Also, greater benefits to temporary employees. In your mind, would that be enough to get Ford across the finish line with the UAW?
EDWARDS: Absolutely. People don't realize how hard it is to work directly across from someone who makes half of what you make and they may work even harder. So, I can appreciate that. The cost of living and I will tell you with my 26 years experience, I never thought that that would come back. So, for them to do that, yeah, that speaks volumes and I think that that would be enough to get them across the finish line. SANCHEZ: Mimi, meantime GM says it put a fifth record-breaking offer
on the table. It accused UAW leadership of wanting to extend the strike. I see you laughing. What's your response?
EDWARDS: We think that what they offered is a joke. I don't think that it's enough and I stand behind our president, Mr. Fain. I stand behind him 100 percent. If we keep giving concessions, they'll never stop. So, you know, it's a joke. Try harder.
SANCHEZ: Mimi Edwards, thank you so much for sharing some of your time with us. Keep us posted on what you're hearing. We'd love to have you back on sometime.
EDWARDS: Thank you. I'd gladly come back. Thank you guys for allowing me to voice my opinion. Thank you.
SANCHEZ: Of course. Thanks so much. Jim.
SCIUTTO: Now to scenes of desperation on both sides of the southern border. A new surge of migrants is arriving, has overwhelmed some border towns and they're now pleading for help our cameras captured people Navigating those crossings with toddlers and small children trying to find their way wiggle their way through barbed wire this happened in Eagle Pass, Texas Which is in a state of emergency over this new influx of asylum seekers.
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A home security Official said Wednesday into Thursday there were some 8,600 arrests made along the southwest portion of the border. Last May at the end of title 42 which dated from the pandemic pandemic about 3,500 arrests took place So as you can see they're well more than doubling CNN senior national correspondent Ed Lavendero -- Ed lavendera. He is still there in Eagle Pass You're hearing Ed about people dying this week trying to reach the U.S., tell us in what numbers and also why this particular time? Is there a reason why it's surging now?
ED LAVANDERA, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well the the timing of all of this is difficult because to really kind of get a full grasp on because in the month since title 42 ended back in May they had really slowed down dramatically compared to what we have been seeing in the months earlier this year and all of a sudden in recent days and weeks that has escalated quickly.
What we hear from migrants is that the sense of desperation and exhaustion with waiting on the Mexican side of the border for appointments to be able to request asylum so that could be part of all of this. And obviously there's also a great deal of forces at play in terms of human. Theres the cartel and the human smuggling operations that they run and how they move people around so that is obviously a factor that federal authorities have been attributing to as well. And you mentioned off the top about how this has been a deadly week on this river that river might look pretty peaceful, but the currents in that river are very, very strong. Two people swept away while they were attempting to cross the river this week here in the Eagle Pass area.
One of the victims is a three-year-old boy. So, that is obviously one of the concerns and what is striking is that this morning, as we've seen smaller groups of migrants moving here, you can watch over here on this area. And this is the path that many of the migrants have taken throughout the week as they cross there's a little -- a little island in the middle of the river there. There was actually some state law enforcement Officials on airboats monitoring the people as they were they were crossing downstream from them. Presumably for the very reason why some of it could be as some of these people as they try to cross holding hands and staying together, have been swept away in all of this.
But you know that the mayor here in Eagle Pass says they're concerned about even though it's slow today What is coming in fact the mayor says that there are 50 to 60 thousand people in Southern Mexico, and they're trying to brace for where they might go next, Jim.
SCIUTTO: Ed Lavandera, good to have you there. Thanks so much, Boris.
SANCHEZ: We have some brand new CNN polling to share with you today and for the first time in a while, it's good news for President Biden. Plus the Office of Gun Violence Prevention, this hour where the president is going to announce the creation of the first office at the White House whose sole focus will be curbing gun violence. We're gonna bring you those live remarks from the White House. And CNN obtaining the 9-1-1 call from the pilot that was ejected From that missing F-35 fighter jet you're gonna want to listen.
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UNKNOWN: I'm the pilot. We need to get rescue rolling. I'm not sure where the airplane is. It would have crash-landed somewhere. I ejected.
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SCIUTTO: New Hampshire is, of course, the first in the nation when it comes to presidential primaries. And now it is one of the first polls to show a potential Biden-Trump 2020 rematch that is not a dead heat. A new CNN poll in the Granite State has President Biden with a 12- point lead for 52% to 40% over Donald Trump, well outside the margin of error for this poll. Let's dig into these numbers a little bit with Republican strategist Doug Heye, Democratic strategist Maria Cardona. Maria, it's interesting. You look at the national polls, shows a dead heat often. Of course, national polls, that's not how we do our races.
MARIA CARDONA, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: That's right.
SCIUTTO: We do them state by state.
CARDONA: Exactly. SCIUTTO: This is a swing state that shows a very large lead for Biden, very similar to his win in 2020. Is that giving Democrats confidence?
CARDONA; Well, sure, this is something that we love. But I will say of this poll, the same thing I say of polls that you just mentioned, the ones that have Joe Biden and Donald Trump neck and neck, and even ones that have Donald Trump maybe one point ahead, which is that the campaign needs to and will run as if Joe Biden is 10 points behind. That's the only way we will win.
That is the only way the campaign is going to continue to be focused on investments and getting our message out, their message out, to what they have done for American families on the economy, on the recovery, on reproductive rights, on everything. And I think what matters most, Jim, in terms of what really looks at what's happening, are the special elections that have happened. And there was just one in New Hampshire where Democrats flipped a seat that Trump won in 2016 and in 2020.
SCIUTTO: Yeah, there's been a string of those special election wins for Democrats.
CARDONA: Exactly.
SCIUTTO: If you break down the numbers a little bit more, Doug Heye, the one weakness you see is that Biden is losing independence here. He leads Trump by a large margin among Democrats. I think he gets 94% of Democrats. Trump gets about 79%. I mean, both high, but you really got to run the board for your base here. What does that tell you? Is that a worrisome sign, in your view, a worrying sign for Biden?
DOUG HEYE, REPUBLICAN STRATEGIST: It should be. Look, this is a good poll for Biden. Obviously, it's in an important swing state. It's more than a year out, which means it's not set in stone, obviously.
It's good and welcome news. But there still are some incumbent weaknesses that Biden has as a candidate that even with this lead, which I don't think anybody expects this would be the margin on Election Day in New Hampshire, speaks to where Biden is and why independents are still they're dissatisfied with the direction of the country. And that translates into Biden.
SCIUTTO: You mentioned dissatisfaction. So let's show the dissatisfaction ratings for all the Republican candidates in this race. And goodness, folks aren't happy if we put those numbers up on the board. I mean, bottom line is that voters by large margins, with the exception of just a couple candidates, just aren't satisfied.
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I mean, Tim Scott comes out the best there. And again, you've got to read these in reverse, right? A high number is bad because that means you're dissatisfied. Scott is the only one below 50% dissatisfied. What does that tell you, Doug Heye, for the chances of unseating Trump? HEYE: Well, first, it says that there's not much enthusiasm behind
anybody. I think any candidate, whether you're Biden or one of the Republicans, starts at that Tim Scott number of 48%. But ultimately, these numbers and then what we see in this poll for New Hampshire should give Republicans who are running against Trump permission to go after him. --
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SCIUTTO: Just now --
HEYE: But what we've seen is still a real hesitancy.
SCIUTTO: I mean, just now.
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HEYE: Well, I mean, it should have happened long before.
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SCIUTTO: Right.
HEYE: When your opponent gets indicted in politics, you use that against them and you certainly don't reinforce their messaging, which is what we've seen. But with the debate next week, we see more opportunity for Republicans to go after Trump as if he's an actual opponent, --
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SCIUTTO: RIGHT.
HEYE: -- something most of them have been hesitant to do.
SCIUTTO: There was something else that came out of this from The New York Times, that the DNC is no longer polling a Biden to DeSantis matchup. Interesting. They're really getting him to sharpen his Trump, his anti-Trump message here. Have they basically decided he's going to be the opponent here?
CARDONA: Well, yeah, because if you look at what's going on with a dissent, his campaign, it's kind of nonexistent. Ever since he announced, I think the day he announced was his high point. And every day since then has been a downward spiral. Everything that he has put out there is completely opposite of what the majority of the American people want.
So it's been kind of a head scratcher because I know so many Republicans had their hearts set on him being the one to be able to knock Trump out. That has certainly not happened. And even you see some other candidates rising up above the Santas as being possibly the ones that at this point, I think it's way too late.
SCIUTTO: Right. Well, question for you, though, Doug, the one advantage of DeSantis has is that no one's actually voted yet. (LAUGHTER)
Right. I mean, you've still got some time. You could surprise in one of those early from your point of view. And of course, you talk to a lot of folks in the party, donors, et cetera. Have they given up on the DeSantis?
HEYE: By and large, yes. But they're still waiting and see what happens. The second debate will be very instructive. It wasn't a great night for the Santas campaign, even though they would tell you privately he did amazing. They always say that. But if he has if he has a breakout moment in this debate, which he can and uses these numbers to demonstrate as he started his messaging, I'm a winner and Donald Trump isn't. He has an opportunity. Then we have to see if it'll be successful.
SCIUTTO: Yeah. Campaign spokesman. They're kind of like your mom. You know, no matter how you do in the game, he did a great job. He did a great job. He did a great job.
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CARDONAL: And Trumps not there.
SCIUTTO: Yeah. Right.
CARDONA: But you know, he's not going to be there. So you're not even going to compare him to the person you're supposed to want to be.
SCIUTTO: Right. And we'll see if they sharpen their message against him in the next round. Doug Heye, Maria Cardona. Thanks so much for us.
SANCHEZ: A bus carrying 40 students tumbled down a ravine. Two people were killed, dozens injured. Officials are on site right now trying to figure out what happened. We're going to take you there live. Plus, new details emerging about the crash of an F-35 fighter jet. It remains, it's remains I should say, discovered in South Carolina after its pilot ejected. You see some of the damage there. CNN obtained the 911 calls from that day when the pilot knocked on a homeowner's door. You're going to listen to that when we come back.
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SANCHEZ: New York State investigators think a single faulty tire may have led to a high school band bus crash yesterday in New York. The band director and a chaperone were killed. According to the latest update, five injured students are now in critical condition and the Farmingdale High School community is in shock and mourning. The bus was just 40 minutes from a band camp in Greeley, Pennsylvania when it plummeted down a ravine. CNN's Omar Jimenez is not far from the New York State Police Station where the wreckage was taken. So Omar, the governor credited first responders with getting to the scene quickly enough to save lives.
OMAR JIMENEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yeah, I mean, getting into this scene to begin with, it was down 50 feet off the side of the highway, presented the first hurdle for these first responders but it didn't stop them from going down and doing what they needed to do. You -- We are right next to where the wreckage of the bus was taken. You can see it just behind me here, the wreck of it.
The NTSB is on scene and you can actually see some investigators, the tops of their heads, they've been going through this bus, taking out certain pieces, taking pictures of it, likely trying to push through to get to some sort of conclusion as to what may have caused this crash. We know preliminarily from state police, they believe it was an issue with the front tire that may have been a contributing factor to this particular crash. This was a bus, one of six buses, that was on its way from Farmingdale High School on Long Island, outside New York City, on its way to Pennsylvania for a band camp and it was Thursday afternoon that this bus then careened off the side of the interstate. Forty-four people on board in total, 40 children, high school students, four adults. Take a listen to what one state trooper told us. He was among the first responders that got there to the scene.
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JASON LEWIS, NEW YORK STATE POLICE: All I saw was a horrific scene. I gloved up, went down the hill, I see the bus, the bus rolled over numerous times. I see the children, I couldn't even figure out how many at the time. They were crying, they were asking for their parents.
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