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Hollywood Writers and Studios Reach Tentative Deal; Menendez to Deliver First Remarks Since Charges; John Bresnahan is Interviewed about Bob Menendez; Five Days till Possible Shutdown; Hutchinson Defends Herself in Interview. Aired 9-9:30a ET

Aired September 25, 2023 - 09:00   ET

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

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[09:00:14]

SARA SIDNER, CNN ANCHOR: Major developments out of Hollywood. A tentative deal between writers and studios. This could soon end a strike that's put productions on hold for nearly five months now. Does this mean actors might make a deal next?

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: Five days left until a government shutdown. Could there also just be five days left in Kevin McCarthy's speakership? Hanging in the balance, not just his job, but the jobs and salaries of thousands of workers.

SIDNER: And the calls are coming from inside the House and the Senate now. A growing number of Democrats say Senator Bob Menendez needs to step down after being charged with bribery. The senator is set to speak out this morning for the first time since the indictment came down.

I'm Sara Sidner, with John Berman. Kate Bolduan is off. This is CNN NEWS CENTRAL.

They have a deal, but it's tentative. After 146 days on strike, the Writers Guild of America has agreed to terms with major studios, but the deal is not quite put to bed yet. If they can finalize it, popular TV shows and films could soon be returning. For months now most of Hollywood has been shut down as the writers union and another union representing actors have been striking.

But, more than 11,000 writers may get the green light to return to work as soon as tomorrow. That is if the tentative deal is ratified by union members. Still, the actors union, SAG-AFTRA, remains on the picket line and it represents more than 160,000 actors. And economists say the combination of the two strikes has left a $5 billion impact on the nation's economy.

CNN's Camila Bernal is in Los Angeles for us.

Can you give us some sense of the deal that has been made tentatively between the writers and the studios? CAMILA BERNAL, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, they have not

released any details, Sara. So everybody is just sort of holding their breath, waiting to see the exact details, what these two sides agreed on. But I talked to a lot of the writers and what they were telling me is, look, they knew our demands, they knew what we wanted in terms of wages, in terms of streaming and residuals, and also in terms of artificial intelligence. So, a lot of the writers that I talked to told me we're confident in those WGA negotiators.

And, keep in mind, sources did tell CNN that that last sticking point was artificial intelligence. It's not easy to deal with something that we don't really know, we don't understand a lot of it and don't know what's going to be developed in the future. So that took some time. And a lot of the writers have also told me, look, we're ready to go back to work, but the union is telling them, not yet. They are being told, look, we have to work through some of the technicalities. They're working through the language of the contract.

Then there are leadership votes. Those are expected to happen tomorrow. After that happens, then the deal is going to be made public and we'll be able to see exactly what they negotiated. The writers will be able to ask questions and eventually vote to ratify this deal.

But again we're waiting for the actors as well. So, even if this deal does go through and the writers ratify it, we're waiting for SAG- AFTRA. And a lot of people seem to think that maybe this will encourage them or essentially speed up their process, but we have to wait and see because a lot of these productions are likely not going to go back to normal until the actors also come to an agreement with the studios. So, really there's a sigh of relief here, but we're still waiting because we do not know what's going to happen with the actors, Sara.

SIDNER: That is still - that still remains to be seen. The actors still striking. About 160,000 of them are part of that union.

I do want to quickly ask you about the writers here. Does this mean that we will not see them in the streets striking while this deal is being hashed out?

BERNAL: Well, this is a really good question because what the WGA is actually telling them is, go out to the streets, but only the SAG- AFTRA picket lines. So, what they're being told is, we no longer have any picket lines for WGA, but there are still the actors who are out there. So, the writers are being told, go out on the street, but only to support the actors.

So, really this is just a big family. Everybody works with each other here. This has been a very difficult five months for everybody in the industry. And, yes, there is some hope in the horizon, but again they're supporting the actors and hoping that that deal also comes to a resolution soon, Sara.

SIDNER: Camila Bernal, thank you so much for that update.

BERNAL: Thank you. SIDNER: John.

BERMAN: All right, we are standing by for the first public remarks from Democratic Senator Bob Menendez since his corruption indictment.

[09:05:04]

His office just announced that he will deliver a statement a little bit later this morning. We will, of course, bring that to you live. And these words come as more and more politicians from his own party call on him to resign.

CNN's Sara Murray is with us now.

This will be a big moment for Senator Menendez.

SARA MURRAY, CNN POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, it's going to be a very interesting day for the senator. Obviously, as you said, this is the first time we're going to see him making comments in public since he and his wife were indicted on bribery charges, a corruption-related charges. Again, second time in ten years Menendez has faced these corruption-related charges. The last time there was a mistrial. He was acquitted by a judge on a number of charges and the Justice Department declined to retry him on a number of others. Now they are back at this.

And Menendez has just been defiant throughout all of this. I want you to take a listen to him talking back in April about this investigation and how convinced he was it was going to lead nowhere.

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POPPY HARLOW, CNN ANCHOR: To any New Jersey voters watching right now who may have concerns that, again, you're facing scrutiny over corruption, what is your response to them?

SEN. BOB MENENDEZ (D-NJ): The response to that is simply that, number one, this inquiry will end up, I believe, in absolutely nothing.

And if anyone looks at my history on Egypt, they would know that by both denying aid to Egypt, denying arms sales to Egypt, criticizing its human rights record, I'm not in a position to be helpful to anyone as it relates to Egypt.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MURRAY: Now, since he has been indicted, he has said, I am not going anywhere. You know, he has been insistent that he is not stepping down even though he has had to step aside from his role as chair of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. So, we're looking to see -- this is someone who's up for re-election next year -- if he addresses his political future in these remarks later today.

And, John, as you pointed out, we are hearing more - more Democrats come out and call for Senator Menendez to step down, to step aside. Not necessarily a drum beat of all of his Senate colleagues, but we have heard from Pennsylvania Senator John Fetterman saying he should step down. We've heard from the New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy saying he should resign. As well as a couple other members of Congress. So, we'll see if this drum beat continues to grow.

But there has been a certain amount of deference I would say as far as his Senate colleagues when it comes to his political future, John.

BERMAN: All right, Sara Murray, watching this alongside us. Thank you very much.

With us now, John Bresnahan, co-founder of "Punchbowl News."

Thank you for being with us.

You wrote about Senator Menendez in your newsletter this morning. He's delivering this statement in a little while. We'll take it live. What's the most complicated thing he could say for national Democrats, John?

JOHN BRESNAHAN, CO-FOUNDER, "PUNCHBOWL NEWS": Well, you know, he could run for re-election. That would be a big problem for them.

New Jersey has legislative elections in -- on November 7th. I mean, New Jersey -- I was talking to one of the New Jersey Democrats last night and they're like, gosh, we really hope he doesn't - he announces he's not running again. If he runs again, he becomes an issue in every race.

You've seen a couple races, Senate races, where the candidates, Democratic candidates, have called on him to resign. In California you have Adam Schiff and Katie Porter, two Democratic candidates. They both called on him to resign. Elissa Slotkin in Michigan, another House member running for the Senate, she's called on Menendez to resign. He is, as Sara Murray said, defiant though. We expect something at 11:30. You know, it's - we'll have to see when he's done.

I covered the 2015 indictment up to -- leading up to that, and his trial and everything. He was very defiant all the way through that. So, you know, it's in his character to dig in and push back as much as he can.

BERMAN: I just want to follow up on this, again, because people may be speculating, oh, Senator Menendez is going to come up with a statement this morning. Is he going to resign? I think the expectation is, no, not only not going to resign, but the concern, as you say, is actually go further and say, not only am I not resigning, but I'm running for re-election.

Why is it that maybe some of these national Democrats, particularly New Jersey Democrats, don't have sway with him?

BRESNAHAN: You know, Menendez has his power bases in Union City, North Jersey. He's -- he came out of that. He was very -- he grew up very humble origins. He's the son of Cuban immigrants. He has -- for a long time he called himself the top Latino in Congress and was senior Latino member in Congress. That's not quite true right now. But he argues that he's being persecuted because of his Latino heritage. This is why he's been indicted more than once. The only senator in U.S. history who has been indicted -- criminally indicted more than once.

But we had Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez say, you know, I'm a Latina, and this is not true.

[09:10:03]

You know, she called on him to resign. You know, these charges are serious.

Look, I mean, Menendez -- the allegations -- if you read the indictment, they're -- they're absolutely bonkers. He was, you know, gold - he was getting gold bullion and he and his wife are getting gold bars from people who are trying to bribe them. He's got $480,000 in cash.

The stunning thing is, back when he gave that interview that you guys ran a clip on, his home had been raided in June 2022. They knew this was coming for more than a year. So, this is just - you know, this is shocking that, you know, he kept acting like nothing was happening in this whole case the whole time, that he knew he was - you know, he -- the feds had been in his home and seized all this money.

So, it's just -- you know, it's par for the course for Menendez to be, you know, back at you, but, you know, I just can't believe that he'll just - you know, he's just going to -- that every other Democrat is just going to go along with this.

SIDNER: John, we've been looking at the pictures, just to let people know, these are actually the exhibits in the indictment where you're seeing those gold bars, you're seeing the cash, you're seeing stuff that was stuffed into some of his jackets there. There was also a car in question.

BERMAN: A Mercedes convertible.

SIDNER: A Mercedes convertible. John had to point that out.

I do want to ask you about an interesting twist here, John. New York Representative George Santos, the serial liar, has said something that is true, you are innocent until proven guilty in this country. But he's also said, look, let's go ahead and let him stay in office. He should not resign. Is this the guy you want backing you?

BRESNAHAN: I don't know if you want George Santos, who's under criminal indictment himself, being the one to vouch for.

Listen, it is -- it is accurate. It's very accurate. And, again, Menendez had been indicted on bribery - on bribery charges before. And the case went to the trial -- jury and, you know, it kind of fell -- it went to trial. It fell apart. And the Justice Department withdrew its charges.

In that case it was interesting because Menendez was able to raise millions of dollars. He argued that the Obama administration was targeting him because he was - he was against the Iran nuclear accord, which the -- President Obama had negotiated at that point. And this time he doesn't really have that argument. It's the Biden administration. It's completely different set of people other than Vice President Biden.

But what's fascinating, you talked about the Egyptian angle, is that he - they are very serious allegations here that he was giving information on U.S. personnel in the embassy through his wife to Egyptian officials while they were negotiating with the United States. I think that's a bridge too far for a lot of folks. This is not the allegation that we saw in 2015. This is, you know, you're involved allegedly with a foreign power passing information to them. I mean I think that's a completely different type of charge and I think that's very serious for a lot of members of Congress.

SIDNER: Yes. A lot of the charges are extremely serious. And I think that the Egyptian charge, the charge involving an Egyptian businessman, is probably the most serious in many people's eyes.

John Bresnahan, thank you so much. You know your stuff and I know you're going to be covering this for us for quite some time, as well as "Punchbowl News." Appreciate you.

BERMAN: So, House Speaker Kevin McCarthy says some of his own members want to burn the place down. One Republican says they're about to eat an "s" sandwich. Rhymes with "rich," by the way. Just five days until the government shutdown. What is Kevin McCarthy's new plan to keep the government open and maybe save his job.

Former White House aide Cassidy Hutchinson speaking out for the first time since she testified to the January 6th committee. Her response to critics and what she would like to see in the 2024 race.

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[09:18:00]

BERMAN: (INAUDIBLE) to rally behind any funding deal. McCarthy is trapped by Republican hardliners who want major spending cuts and are threatening his job if he tries to reach across the aisle. This is what Republican Congressman Tim Burchett told Dana Bash.

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DANA BASH, CNN ANCHOR: If Speaker McCarthy ultimately allows a deal to pass with Democratic votes, would you support ousting him from the speaker's chair?

REP. TIM BURCHETT (R-TN): That would be something I would look strongly at.

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BERMAN: CNN's Lauren Fox is on Capitol Hill this morning.

All right, Lauren, I know that everyone is off today, it is Yom Kippur, but there are still some people working from home. What's the plan here?

LAUREN FOX, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, right now there isn't a clear plan to avoid a shutdown. Instead, what you have is Republicans trying to make sure that the right flank of their party may get comfortable with some kind of spending deal. But the way that they're trying to do it essentially is have votes on individual spending bills, these are one-year spending bills, to fund agencies like the Department of Defense, Homeland Security, State and Agriculture. But those bills would not avoid a government shutdown. However, they are pieces of legislation that hardliners have asked the speaker to put on the floor.

The reason they're going ahead with this strategy is they are hoping, as they build trust with those hardliners, that they can convince them to rally around a short-term bill to fund the government for a couple of weeks. But again, that would be a Republican-only bill in the House of Representatives. Another option that likely would be dead on arrival in the Senate and, therefore, would not avoid a government shutdown.

Right now House Speaker Kevin McCarthy is likely staring down two options, one of which would involve the Senate passing their own spending bill, a short-term bill, to avoid a shutdown that would be negotiated between Minority Leader Mitch McConnell and Majority Leader Chuck Schumer. He would have to make the decision to put it on the floor of the House.

[09:20:00]

But as you heard there from Tim Burchett, if he makes that decision to work with Democrats, to try to pass this out of the House to avoid the shutdown, he likely could face the end of his speakership. So, if he didn't want to take that option, he would then potentially let the government shut down by not putting anything on the floor of the House.

Again, House leaders are trying to implore their members to get to yes on a short-term option. hoping that if they had a Republican passed bill out of the House they could work with the Senate to find a compromise. But so far they have not been successful in their pleas. And the latest one came on Saturday in a conference-wide call.

John.

BERMAN: Yes, at this point, most roads still seem to lead to a shutdown. We are watching, though.

Lauren Fox, keep us posted. Thank you.

Sara.

SIDNER: All right, here is what would happen if the government does shut down. Nearly 4 million federal employees would immediately feel the impact. Some are deemed essential and will be forced to keep working. Others will be furloughed. But none of them will see a paycheck until a funding deal is made. The largest federal employee union with over 750,000 Americans

includes health care professionals, law enforcement, park rangers, TSA agents and Social Security workers. And they, on average, earn between $55,000 to $65,000 a year, some of them much less, which led the union's president to make this urgent message to lawmakers. Quote, "most of our members live paycheck to paycheck and cannot afford to miss one payday. That's why we are calling on Congress to do its job."

As for Americans who don't work for the government, a shutdown can bring some major travel disruptions, for example. Public health risks as the EPA rolls back inspections at hazard waste sites and drinking water facilities. Low income Americans could see impacts to their food and housing aid and museums and national parks could close down until there is a bill and it is funded.

John.

BERMAN: Yes, it has an impact on lives and the budget to be sure.

So, former Trump White House aide Cassidy Hutchinson, who delivered bombshell testimony to the January 6th congressional investigators, is now defending herself in her first television interview since that testimony.

Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CASSIDY HUTCHINSON, FORMER TRUMP WHITE HOUSE AIDE: What would I have to gain by coming forward? You know, it would have been easier for me to continue being complicit and to stay in the comfortable zone of, I had some sense of security, a semblance of security. I knew people that I could easily reach out to for jobs.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: Now, in her testimony last year, Hutchinson said that Trump was aware of the potential violence on January 6th but still went ahead with his attempt to rile up supporters.

CNN's Katelyn Polantz is with us now.

This is the first time we are hearing at length from Cassidy Hutchinson. I should note, she speaks to Jake Tapper tomorrow. What's your takeaway there?

KATELYN POLANTZ, CNN SENIOR CRIME AND JUSTICE REPORTER: Well, John, she's being quite reflective on this decision that she made first when she had gone into the committee she had lawyers paid for by Donald Trump and she said she didn't -- she didn't recall much at all about what she witnessed at the end of the Trump administration. And then, in her own mind, she believed that she did recall. She remembered episodes and so she got a new lawyer and testified.

And now she's reflecting not only on what that consequence was for her, she is saying in this - this new interview with CBS that she was fearing for her safety after she did the interview -- or did the public testimony with the House committee. But also she's being a little bit more forthcoming about why she changed her testimony and why she can be trusted that what she said was true to the best of her recollection. Here's a little bit more from that CBS "This Morning" interview yesterday.

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CASSIDY HUTCHINSON, FORMER TRUMP WHITE HOUSE AIDE: I felt torn a lot of the time because I knew what I knew and I wanted to come forward with what I knew, but at the same time I didn't want to feel like I was betraying them.

I heard the door click open and I turned around and I looked at my attorney and I said, I can't do this. And I started to walk. And he gently pushed my shoulders and he said, you can do this, and then we walked out.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

POLANTZ: So, John, we're now hearing what she's saying in her book. We're going to be hearing more from her in the coming days. We have that testimony under oath. But then there's another part about Cassidy Hutchinson as someone who can speak about the Trump administration and what happened on January 6th that is really interesting. And we don't know exactly what she said or how useful it is. That's because CBS has reported, and we have as well, that she's testified to criminal investigators, spoken to them about what she witnessed. And we do know that she's part of this Fulton County case against Donald Trump in Georgia, as well as the federal case against Donald Trump in Washington, D.C. How crucial a witness she is there, what she said to them, if that's useful in the case against Trump still remains to be seen.

John.

BERMAN: And, again, I do want to point out, we'll get much more from Cassidy Hutchinson tomorrow right here on CNN.

[09:25:04]

Jake Tapper will speak with her.

Katelyn Polantz, thank you very much.

Sara.

SIDNER: All right, dueling polls. One poll shows a dead heat. Another shows Donald Trump ahead of Joe Biden. But everything seems to point to an incredibly tight presidential race in 2024.

And, Mexico says it will deport migrants from its border cities as part of an effort to curb the rise of migrant crossings into the United States. We have details on the new agreement just ahead.

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SIDNER: Senate Democrats are weighing in this morning on President Biden's poor polling numbers and they're telling CNN they are concerned.