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Senator Cory Booker Calls on Bob Menendez to Resign; Hunter Biden Sues Rudy Giuliani; Congress Marching Toward Government Shutdown?; President Biden to Join Striking Autoworkers in Michigan. Aired 11-11:30a ET

Aired September 26, 2023 - 11:00   ET

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

[11:00:36]

JOHN BERMAN, CNN HOST: Something no president has ever done before, why President Biden is headed to Michigan.

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN HOST: Shutting the doors at federal agencies, stopping pay to military members. A government shutdown is by definition a failure to govern and a failure to do their job. Lawmakers returned to the Capitol today. Will they get their act together?

SARA SIDNER, CNN HOST: Stealing and manipulating data and committing a total annihilation of digital privacy, the accusations being leveled and a stunning new lawsuit that Hunter Biden filed against Rudy Giuliani.

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

BERMAN: And happening now, for the first time ever, at least the first time anyone can remember, a sitting president is about to join a picket line.

President Biden is on the way to Michigan to join autoworkers on strike. He just boarded Air Force One. And CNN learned the union will gift the president there -- you can see the president leaving on Air Force One. We learned that the union will give the president a red UAW pullover when he walks with them.

The UAW has yet to officially endorse Biden's reelection bid, and Donald Trump will be speaking in Michigan to autoworkers tomorrow night, instead of attending the Republican debate.

CNN's Arlette Saenz is traveling with the president. Vanessa Yurkevich is on the picket line.

Arlette, first to you. What are you expecting?

ARLETTE SAENZ, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, John, President Biden's about to depart any moment to head here to Michigan to offer a show of solidarity with the striking autoworkers, as the pro-union president tries to put his strategy and his message on full display. Now, the White House has still not said exactly where the president

will be. But he will be here in Wayne County walking a picket line marking the first time a sitting president has done so. We expect that he will be joined by the by the UAW president, Shawn Fain, who had extended an invitation to Biden.

But it comes at a time as the UAW has so far withheld from endorsing President Biden in this election, even as some other labor groups have. But the president's mission here on the ground in Michigan is really trying to shore up support among working-class voters. And there will be a remarkable split screen that takes place over the course of the next 24 hours, and not -- as not just Biden is here today.

But former President Donald Trump will also be in the Detroit area to talk to union workers, instead of attending that GOP primary debate. It comes at a time where both men are trying to take their pitch to working-class voters. And in a state like Michigan, that's incredibly important.

If you take a look at the last election, Biden won voters from union households here with 62 percent of the vote compared to former President Donald Trump. So, this is a constituency that both sides are trying to court heading into the 2024 election.

But throughout these negotiations, the White House has walked a very fine line, trying to balance the rights of workers with also concerns about what a strike could potentially mean for economic conditions. Now, the president has said he fully supports these striking workers.

He believes that auto companies should be sharing record profits with these workers. But the White House so far has stayed away from weighing in on the specific demands that the UAW is making. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KARINE JEAN-PIERRE, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: He is standing with the workers. We are not involved in negotiations. That is something for them to decide what is going to work for the parties that are involved. But he is standing with the autoworkers. That's what the president is doing.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SAENZ: So, in just about a few hours here, we expect to see President Biden on the ground and make his case to these union workers, as he is trying to show their his support for them in the all-important battleground state of Michigan heading into that 2024 election.

BERMAN: All right, Arlette, stand by for a second.

Let's go to Vanessa Yurkevich on the picket line.

Vanessa, what are you seeing? VANESSA YURKEVICH, CNN BUSINESS AND POLITICS CORRESPONDENT: Well,

John, despite the fact that the president is landing here in Wayne County, Michigan, in just a few hours, it is business as usual on the picket lines.

We're here in front of us a Stellantis facility. This is one of the 38 new autoworker facilities that were authorized to go on strike on Friday. Now, Ford and General Motors, in response to the president's visit, has said that they want to keep the focus on negotiations.

[11:05:11]

Stellantis, however, saying that the president from day one has called for a fair contract that would help the middle class, and Stellantis saying they believe that is exactly what they have put on the table in front of the union.

I want to bring in Erin Jones. She's a worker at Stellantis, been with the company for 13 years now.

You just heard me say that President Biden landing in a matter of hours. Your feelings about him coming to town?

ERIN JONES, STELLANTIS EMPLOYEE: I think it's a positive thing.

So, hopefully, with him coming into town, the company can see that the government does back us and they can make a change.

YURKEVICH: Do you think it'll help speed up negotiations, or status quo?

JONES: You know, right now, I'm not sure. Stellantis has been putting up a pretty hard fight. So, hopefully, it speeds it up. But I'm really not sure right now.

YURKEVICH: For you, what is the number one thing that you want to see in this new contract between Stellantis and the union?

JONES: One of the number one things is basically the COLA, especially with inflation and how it is right now. That would really help us and our families to continue to progress as middle-class citizens.

YURKEVICH: COLA, cost of living adjustments.

JONES: Yes.

YURKEVICH: Which you have not received in the previous contract?

JONES: No, they haven't received that in over 10 years.

YURKEVICH: Ten years.

JONES: Yes.

YURKEVICH: Thank you so much, Erin Jones. Thank you.

JONES: Thank you.

YURKEVICH: So, people out here awaiting the president's visit. We also know that former President Trump is heading to town tomorrow.

However, according to one of my sources, that is not a UAW-sanctioned event. They did not provide the invitation for President Trump to come here. But, later, we do expect UAW president Shawn Fain to be on the picket lines with President Biden.

And, guys, negotiations continue between the Big Three and the union. We understand from the union that the offer that Ford put on the table is a little more appealing than what General Motors and Stellantis has offered. However, all three automakers saying that they have made record offers in these negotiations, but these folks here on the picket lines, whether or not the president comes, former president comes to town, they're here 24/7 -- John.

BERMAN: Again, remember what we're about to see is something that really no one has ever seen before sitting, a president on a picket line.

Vanessa Yurkevich, thanks to you. Arlette Saenz, thank you as well -- Kate.

BOLDUAN: Next hour, the House of Representatives will reconvene. But the real action is far away from the House floor right now.

Congress is marching toward a government shutdown now four days away. Millions of federal workers, military members, all Americans, frankly, are left to watch and wait to see if Congress will get its act together. As the House seems paralyzed right now over infighting among the Republican majority, the Senate is now starting to make moves to step in.

CNN's Manu Raju on the Hill following all of this for us.

Manu, McCarthy just spoke to reporters. What did he say?

MANU RAJU, CNN SENIOR CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, he was noncommittal about what he would do if, in fact, the Senate is able to pass a bipartisan proposal, which is expected in the days ahead.

Mitch McConnell, the Republican leader, the Democratic leader, Chuck Schumer, are in talks, serious talks at the moment, and are close to finalizing a deal to keep the government open for 45 days. Now, there are still some questions about what other provisions may ride along with it.

There's been a debate about how to deal with funding for Ukraine. That is something that McCarthy says will not pass his House in this go- round. There's some threats on the right in the Senate Republican Conference, Rand Paul, in particular, to drag out the process if Ukraine funding is added in there.

So that is still being discussed behind closed doors, but it is expected that the Senate will come together on some sort of proposal. But then that leaves what happens with the House. All along, Speaker McCarthy has made clear that he is trying to get his own conference in line behind one spending proposal to keep the government open.

But there are a handful of holdouts within his own conference who refuse to go along with his spending demands. McCarthy has tried to move closer to the right-wing, push for deeper spending cuts, push for border security measures. That is still not enough for those holdouts, meaning he does not have the votes, because Democrats don't agree with the cuts that McCarthy has added, so all raising questions about what will happen if, in fact, the Senate is able to pass a bill to keep the government open past Saturday.

What will McCarthy do at that point? When asked about this, he continued to say that the Senate hasn't passed anything yet and he would not commit to taking action any Senate-passed plan. But all -- hanging over all this cake is the threat to McCarthy's speakership.

If he were to move to try to get a bipartisan bill through his chamber, there are serious threats among members on the far right of his conference to push for a vote seeking his ouster. And they believe they have the votes to push them out of the speakership if he does try to pass a bill bipartisan proposal.

[11:10:00]

So he is left with very little room to maneuver to keep the speakership, to keep the government open. So, how either of these play out in the coming days remains an open question at this very tense time on Capitol Hill, as negotiations continue to play out, Kate.

BOLDUAN: Absolutely.

And we can definitely expect several more twists and turns before the -- well, before we're up against -- hard up against that deadline this weekend.

It's good to see you, Manu -- Sara.

SIDNER: Joining us to discuss, Washington bureau chief for "The Boston Globe" Jackie Kucinich.

Thank you so much for being here this morning. I know you were up bright and early.

I'm going to get to the shutdown in just a minute. But I do want to talk about this moment that's happening, where a sitting president is going to a picket line, something that we have never seen before. He is going to stand with autoworkers. The Big Three automakers are looking at this and seeing exactly where the president stands literally.

Why now?

JACKIE KUCINICH, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: Well, I mean, I think he -- I think he feels like he needs to. Initially, remember, he was going to send to members of the administration to help with this, the acting labor secretary among them. And they decided not to go to Detroit. They stayed back in D.C. And Biden being the labor -- fashions himself as the labor president, felt like he needed to go there.

And, for sure, this has to do with the fact that he needs the union support in order to be reelected. Let's remember he did win people -- the union-supporting or union-identified households, but Trump has been able to siphon off some of that support.

So this is definitely a place where he needs to shore that up. But you have to say, this is -- while he does have this long record with unions, the union members that our reporters spoke to in Mansfield, Massachusetts, noted that this push for electric vehicles is something that has really made them very nervous, and they're afraid to be left behind.

So he's really going -- he and other Democrats, frankly, will need to square that with these striking workers.

SIDNER: Yes, this is a very good point, because that is one of the sticking points.

I do want to ask you about this historically. When you look at this, historian Doug Brinkley has said that -- this to "The Wall Street Journal." I thought it was really interesting. "It's a windfall for Biden if the strike gets settled in the next month or so. But if it drags on, this could be bad news for him, because a photo of Biden on a picket line will be used by Republicans to say he is responsible for a recession."

How do you see this playing out?

KUCINICH: Yes, I mean, it's high risk, high reward.

How this plays out, we will have to see. I mean, the UAW has been very enthusiastic about him coming. They were tweeting about the historic nature of this. While they have not endorsed him, they are certainly welcoming him. And that is not the case with the former president. There's a bit of an arm's length, and the president of the union there said that they're not going to endorse him.

So, really, it remains to be seen how this will work out. But, Sara, as the historian pointed out, this could be very good for Joe Biden, should this get resolved in a timely manner.

SIDNER: Yes, I like how you put it, high risk, high reward.

All right, let's now go to the shutdown. The House Republicans continue to bicker amongst themselves as they try to get anything through the House. But the Senate now has a plan. How do you see this playing out? Because some of it is kind of surprising. The Senate leadership has been very clear that they support funding for Ukraine. This bill may have no or little funding for Ukraine, but they're just trying to get something passed. Where do you see that going?

KUCINICH: Well, and the question is, is whether there will be appetite to pass funding for Ukraine in November, which is where this bill would get us.

It's hard to say. I mean, if the government's going to be funded, they're going to need Democratic votes, because these measures that are being pushed through the House, if they even can pass their own Republican Conference, are dead on arrival in both the Senate and, more importantly, in the White House.

So, really, this ends with Democrats and Republicans voting on something together. What that something is, I think, remains to be seen and how long it will keep the government funded, be it 45 days or maybe not kicking the can down the road so close.

SIDNER: Yes.

I want to let you listen to something from a conservative radio commentator, who looked at this from the perspective of what happens with Mike (sic) McCarthy and how the public sees this.

(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)

REP. FRENCH HILL (R-AR): You're putting a guy like Mike Lawler you just talked about in Westchester County, suburban New York, in trouble. He's in a he's in a Biden-plus 13 district, but he's an excellent representative who knows every aspect of his district. He's doing a fine job representing them. They voted for him.

He wants to be reelected. But this is the kind of tough situation that you're putting one of those swing seats in California and New York into trouble, and we just can't have that.

(END AUDIO CLIP)

SIDNER: His argument is that the GOP will get blamed for this.

How do you see it?

[11:15:03]

KUCINICH: Those -- McCarthy trying to balance the moderates, the ones who made his majority with the hard-liners who are currently blocking any progress, is sort of the tale of his speakership.

But as Manu pointed out, you cannot look at anything Kevin McCarthy is doing without thinking about those 15 speaker votes and the deals he made with the most conservative members of his conference, who he's trying to mollify right now.

But those moderate members, those are the ones that are more likely to come together with Democrats to get this done, because they don't want to see the government shut down.

SIDNER: We will see. We have only four days left. I think midnight on Saturday or just before midnight on Saturday is the deadline.

Jackie Kucinich, thank you so much for coming on. Appreciate you.

KUCINICH: Tick, tick, tick.

(LAUGHTER)

SIDNER: John.

KUCINICH: Thanks.

BERMAN: Yes, indeed, tick, tick, tick.

All right, this morning, we learned that Hunter Biden is suing Rudy Giuliani and his former lawyer for what he calls a -- quote -- "total annihilation" of his digital privacy. This is really the latest move of Hunter Biden going on offense, as he faces new criminal charges.

CNN's Paula Reid all over this story.

Paula, talk about the lawsuit. What's in it really and why?

PAULA REID, CNN SENIOR LEGAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: Well, John, here, Hunter and his attorneys are suing Rudy Giuliani and his longtime former lawyer Rob Costello, accusing them of hacking Hunter's personal data and then disseminating it, in violation of state and federal privacy laws.

Now, both Giuliani and Costello have been actively involved in publicizing data that is said to have come from Hunter Biden's laptop. Now, in this lawsuit, they do not concede that the laptop belongs to Hunter Biden, but they do admit that some of the data on that laptop belonged to him.

Rob Costello is said to have received the data from this laptop after it was left at a Delaware repair shop, and especially ahead of the last election, Giuliani helped him publicize that. Now, Hunter's lawyers call this, as you just quoted, a total annihilation of Hunter's digital privacy, but this is all part of a much more aggressive strategy that Hunter and his attorneys have adopted since earlier this year.

But when they first decided to punch back at his detractors, to become more litigious, it looked like the long-running criminal investigation to the president's son was dying down and it would likely resolve with a plea deal.

But we now know that plea deal has fallen apart. Hunter Biden now faces a criminal case in Delaware, but it does not appear that he is backing off of this strategy. One lawyer on Hunter's team told me earlier today -- quote -- "Everyone involved in stealing and manipulating Hunter's data should be hearing footsteps right about now."

Of course, this lawsuit comes as Giuliani also facing criminal charges in Fulton County, Georgia, and facing millions of dollars in legal debt, including over a million dollars that he owes to Rob Costello, someone who's worked with him for years representing him in cases and working alongside him and trying to publicize this data from Hunter Biden.

The two men are currently in court. Costello has sued Giuliani for over a million dollars that he owes him, so a real lawyer full employment act over here, John.

BERMAN: Yes, it's a real interesting twist to this new lawsuit, Hunter Biden suing Rudy Giuliani and Robert Costello, Robert Costello, his firm also suing Rudy Giuliani to get paid there.

You really do need a spreadsheet or a flowchart here, Paula. Thank you.

REID: I have one.

(LAUGHTER)

BERMAN: Yes, I'm actually -- no doubt. Paula Reid, thank you very much. Send it to me in an attachment.

All right, Kate.

BOLDUAN: It is free version of like the enemy of my enemy is my friend or some kind of triangulation.

BERMAN: The enemy of my enemy is my lawyer? I don't know.

(CROSSTALK)

(LAUGHTER)

BOLDUAN: Yes, there you go. I think we have answered the question.

Coming up for us: Trump's smudged bronzer, his chief of staff's clothes smelling like a bonfire and quotes like this one: "We killed Herman Cain" -- some of the bold claims of what was really going on in the Trump White House coming from Cassidy Hutchinson, the new book that has Mark Meadows now speaking out against his former close aide. That is next.

Plus, Texas officials are warning that they do not have the capacity to care for this latest surge of migrants that are being seen coming across the border, so what migrants are telling CNN about their journey to America now.

And in just the last couple of hours, even more Democratic senators have stepped up to publicly call for New Jersey Senator Democratic Senator Bob Menendez to resign, this after he has been charged with bribery. And just being told by the control room the latest in saying that he should resign, New Jersey Senator Cory Booker.

We will be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) [11:24:14]

BERMAN: All right, we do have breaking news, a new Democratic senator just moments ago calling on New Jersey Senator Bob Menendez to resign. And this isn't just any senator.

This is his fellow New Jersey Democrat Cory Booker. Everybody had been watching Cory Booker to see what he would do here. Would he speak out? He actually was -- was a character witness from Menendez in his last trial.

This time around, Cory Booker, we believe, is now the eighth Democratic senator to step forward and say that Bob Menendez should step down.

Let's go right to Lauren Fox on Capitol Hill.

Of all the people who could come forward and say something, maybe aside from President Biden, this could be one of the most important, Laura.

[11:25:00]

LAUREN FOX, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, this is a very significant statement, and it's a lengthy statement from Senator Cory Booker, who has had a close personal and political relationship with Senator Bob Menendez over the last decade.

And I do want to read you the last graph of this statement, because he talks a lot about their relationship and sort of the past that they have shared together.

But, in this last graph, he says -- quote -- "Stepping down is not an admission of guilt, but an acknowledgement that holding public office often demands tremendous sacrifices, at great personal cost. Senator Menendez has made these sacrifices in the past to serve. And in this case, he must do so again. I believe stepping down is best for those Senator Menendez has spent his life serving."

And, as you noted, this is a significant statement from a fellow New Jersey politician. There are a number of House Democrats from New Jersey, who have also called on Senator Menendez to resign. But in the last hour, we have gotten a flood of statements from other Democrats calling on Senator Menendez to step aside.

And we should note that lawmakers are coming back to Washington today. They're trying to avert a government shutdown. Obviously, this is not the conversation that a lot of Democrats want to be having with reporters in the halls.

It's also notable that there are a number of vulnerable Democrats running for reelection who were swift in coming out with statements saying that they thought that Senator Menendez should resign, including Senator Sherrod Brown, who released his statement last night, Senator Jon Tester, another vulnerable Democrat running for reelection in 2024, Senator Jacky Rosen, Senator Bob Casey, Senator Tammy Baldwin.

We have also heard from Senator Martin Heinrich, Senator Peter Welch, Senator John Fetterman, all calling for Senator Menendez to step aside. Except that we will be pushing Democrats when they get back to the Capitol today as to whether or not more believe that he should step aside, but, obviously, this statement from Senator Booker very significant, John.

BERMAN: Yes, Lauren, I'm just going to walk over here.

Again, Senator Tester Baldwin, Brown, to an extent, Casey, Rosen, all in tough seats, you can see why they would step forward here, Cory Booker not so much, but a colleague who has worked with Bob Menendez for years and years in New Jersey, I said maybe the most influential Democrat in this case, besides President Biden who could come forward.

But there is also Chuck Schumer. There is the Senate majority leader and Dick Durbin, the Senate whip. They too have not called yet on Bob Menendez to resign. As more and more Democratic senators step forward, including those in tough seats, does it put pressure on Schumer to come forward?

FOX: Well, you can expect that reporters are going to be pressing the majority leader as to what he thinks should happen here with Senator Menendez.

As I noted, Democrats and Republicans in the Senate are trying to avoid a government shutdown. This is clearly going to become a distraction. And so, obviously, Senator Schumer is going to be pushed repeatedly. And, as you noted, Senator Dick Durbin, the leading Democratic whip, he also will be pressed.

He said on Sunday, that he did not think that it was his role to say if Senator Menendez should resign, that that's a personal decision, stopping short, of course. But does that pressure start to intensify now that you have so many rank-and-file Democrats coming out saying that they think Menendez should step aside?

I think that's certainly a question and something we're going to be watching very closely, John.

BERMAN: Yes, after Cory Booker came out just moments ago, I would say watch the next few hours. That will tell you just about everything.

Lauren Fox, great to see you. Thank you very much.

We have a lot going on. We're going to take a quick break. More breaking news just ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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