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Historic U.S. Health Care Strike Could Start Wednesday; New York Attorney General Posts Opening Presentation From Trump Trial; EU Foreign Minister Voice Support For Ukraine In Kyiv; U.S. Supreme Court Begins New Term. Aired 3:30-4p ET

Aired October 02, 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: The stage is set for the largest strike among healthcare workers in U.S. history, 10s of thousands of Kaiser Permanente employees could walk off the job in 48 hours time if union leaders can't hammer out a new contract with the health care giant by Wednesday. The current deal expired on Saturday night. CNN national correspondent Camila Bernal has been tracking the details. So Camila, what are these workers asking for and where do negotiations stand right now?

CAMILA BERNAL, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, look, in terms of negotiations, both sides are at the table, but the clock really is ticking because this strike could start on Wednesday. What I'm hearing from one side when it comes to Kaiser is that they're optimistic that they're making progress, that they've come to agreements on some of the issues here and they've made some proposals to the coalition of unions.

But on the side of the unions you have them saying we are not going to take those proposals. And they're saying they're not going to budge when it comes to the amount of money that they are asking for. They want raises across the board and they do want protections against outsourcings, among other things.

But one of the things that I'm hearing over and over again from Union members, Boris, is that they really feel there's a shortage of workers and they need Kaiser to address this. They say, they're doing the jobs of 2-3 people and they're overwhelmed. They say they're exhausted both physically and mentally -- Boris.

SANCHEZ: And Camila, if they don't have a deal and there's a strike on Wednesday how far reaching are the consequences? What happens?

BERNAL: They're going to be huge. I mean, Kaiser says, look, we're going to keep hospitals open and emergency rooms open, but there likely will be delays. You likely will have to reschedule a lot of these appointments, and it's really not going to be easy for these hospitals.

But when I talk to Union members, what they say is, look, it's worth it because right now it's the patients who are suffering as well. So no matter what, it's the patients that are losing. I spoke to one Union member who told me the consequences are so huge,

even from just her job, that she is extremely concerned. Here's how she described it.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DEBRU CARTHAN, RADIOLOGY TECHNOLOGIST, KAISER PERMANENTE: I do general X-rays where I could be X-raying a hand or a leg, but I also do mammograms. And as -- if you're waiting for mammogram appointments because we are short staffed, that means cancers can be missed. That means certain crucial things that our patients are worried about and myself as a patient too, are worried about. If we can't get you in in a timely manner, things can escalate and become very serious for our patients quickly.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERNAL: And that's why they say it's critical if the two sides don't come to an agreement, the strike will begin Wednesday at 6:00 in the morning and will go through Saturday at 6:00 in the morning -- Boris.

SANCHEZ: A story we know you'll be watching closely. Camila Bernal, thank you so much -- Jessica.

JESSICA DEAN, CNN HOST: All right, this just in we are getting the first look at the New York Attorney General's opening presentation in court this morning. We are seeing new deposition clips. CNN's Brynn Gingrass is on this. So Brynn, let's start first though with what you're hearing from the room because they are back in there for this afternoon session.

BRYNN GINGRAS, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes. Well, right now again, we still have on the stand Donald Bender that is the person who used to be the accountant for Donald Trump and Trump Organization. And my understanding from my colleagues in the courtroom is Donald Trump, the former president is sitting there with his defense attorneys, listening intently as Mr. Bender is giving his testimony.

It has been some intense moments in courts, if you will, guys, there, you know you have to remember, I'll set the scene. We have the Attorney General who's in the front row listening. We have Donald Trump, who's with his defense attorneys. And then we also have Eric Trump, who's a defendant in this case, sitting behind him. And we're told that multiple times when Donald Trump walked in and out of the courtroom, he didn't even acknowledge the New York Attorney General.

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In fact, one of the moments Eric Trump did go over though to the New York Attorney General and shook her hands with both hands. And then it wasn't until the lunch break that Donald Trump gave a little bit of an acknowledgement to the New York Attorney General. So you could just imagine that's sort of the mood in that courtroom with all of these people in play.

But as you guys just mentioned, there is now the New York Attorney General's office has put forward its opening statements for everyone to look at on their website, and it does include some of those video depositions that were taken earlier this year in this case. Little snippets of them to show basically the run around, the denials, they say that the Trump's -- Donald Trump and his sons would have about who was preparing these financial statements. And they asked the question in these opening statements, was -- they were they lying then? Or are they lying now? So this was, you know, a big moment to see all those video depositions of snippets of them throughout those opening statements.

So again, this is something that the New York Attorney General clearly wanted to do. Put that test -- put that opening statement, let the everyone see exactly what their arguments are for this case and those are now public.

DEAN: Right and we're now getting to see more of those. All right, Brynn, thanks so much for that morning.

An historic event. That's how a top Ukrainian official is describing the meeting of European Foreign Ministers in Kyiv. And it comes just a few days after House Republicans blocked aid for Ukraine. We're going to have a live report from Ukraine, stay with us.

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DEAN: An historic show of solidarity in Ukraine today. Former ministers of the European Union moving their meeting to Kyiv to signal they're solidly behind Ukraine. And it's happening just after the U.S. lawmakers passed a short-term spending bill that did not include Ukraine aid. CNN's Fred Pleitgen is joining us now from Ukraine. And Fred, what's the reaction on the ground to all of these developments?

FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, I would say the Ukrainians are extremely concerned about that bill in Congress. And the fact that that Ukraine aid was not inside that. It was quite interesting because the Ukrainian Foreign Minister on the sidelines of that meeting, the Ukrainians themselves said was historic with the Foreign Ministers of the EU nations there in Kyiv. He says that he hopes that would happen there was just an incident and that funding for Ukraine would continue.

Obviously, it is something that is key for them. And it's also the case we were able to speak to the national security adviser here of Ukraine. And he said, look, in the end, the United States needs to decide whether it wants to be on the side of Ukraine as it defends against (INAUDIBLE) military aid to Ukraine.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

OLEKSIY DANILOV, UKRAINIAN NATIONAL SECURITY ADVISOR (through translator): We need to see whether the United States is responsible for democracy in the world, whether it remains a country that supports democracy or whether it is a country that will stand by and watch as authoritarian state sees more and more territory. (END VIDEO CLIP)

PLEITGEN: That was the national security adviser of Ukraine, speaking there. And that's something we've heard from Ukrainian officials that in the past as well. That they say that right now for them, it's obviously very important to keep the aid to Ukraine going. They believe that this was an outlier event, but certainly they do also see, Jessica, some of the things that are going on in the U.S. with some of the poll numbers. Suggesting that the population in the U.S. also right now the majority of people are skeptical of further aid to Ukraine.

The Ukrainians also believe it doesn't necessarily reflect what's going on in the battlefield. They believe that right now they have the upper hand. In large part thanks to weapons from the United States, and they certainly believe that if the aid continues that they have a pretty good shot at pushing the Russians back Jessica.

DEAN: Right, and more to come on Capitol Hill on that. All right, Fred Pleitgen for us though, right now live in eastern Ukraine. Thanks so much -- Boris.

SANCHEZ: So France is battling a really icky outbreak -- bedbugs. The blood sucking insects have swept through Paris. They've been spotted at places like movie theaters, on public transportation, too. It comes as the French capital is preparing to host next year's Summer Olympics. CNN's Melissa Bell has the details.

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MELISSA BELL, CNN PARIS CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): A nasty commute and not just for the passengers you can see. French officials say that bedbugs have infested Paris's transport networks and the wider city. The race is now on to exterminate the bugs with less than a year to go until the Olympics.

From metros to high-speed trains, videos have shown them taking over some cinemas and even Charles de Gaulle Airport, which is making for an itchy situation, as France prepares to host the rest of the world next summer. French officials are preparing to take measures to contain the scourge, with transport operators gathering this week to try to find ways of getting rid of the pests.

But that's not enough for some, who say the thought of sitting on a bus or a train next to the uninvited seatmates makes their skin crawl.

LAURA MMADI, TRAIN PASSENGER (through translator): That really traumatized me. I'll keep my luggage closed to prevent them from getting to my home. Also, I'm not from here, so once I get home, I'll have to wash all my clothes.

LUC VILLETTE, TRAIN PASSENGER (through translator): I mean, the fact that we can actually see them means there are a lot of them. And in addition, they're being seen in the day when they usually come out at night, so there is a big problem somewhere. BELL (voice-over): Paris deputy mayor Emmanuel Gregoire says that no one is safe from the problem, because the bugs can be picked up anywhere.

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A recent government report estimated that about one in 10 French households had had bedbug infestations between 2017 and last year. There's some fumigation companies say business is higher than usual and more urgent.

SACHA KRIEF, PEST CONTROL STORE MANAGER (through translator): We've had customers calling us up crying, desperate for a solution. And it's very, very costly when you have to throw away all of your bedding, when you have to undergo works in your apartment. And so, you get into a sort of a paranoia.

BELL (voice-over): And whilst bedbugs may be a growing nuisance in Paris, health experts say that they're not considered dangerous, causing merely itching and rashes. And their numbers are increasing, not just in the French capital but around the world, as people travel more, and the bugs become more resistant to pesticides.

An irritating problem, but not one, say French officials, that should pose a threat to the upcoming Olympics. Their plan, to stop the bedbugs biting as soon as they can.

Melissa Bell, CNN, Paris.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SANCHEZ: Melissa Bell, thank you so much for that. Just ahead, Supreme Court justices are back on the bench. What they will and won't be taking on this term.

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[15:50:35]

SANCHEZ: The headlines we're watching for this hour.

The fraud trial of crypto Trader Sam Bankman-Fried begins tomorrow with jury selection. He's pleaded not guilty to seven counts of fraud and conspiracy in connection with the collapse of his crypto trading platform FTX. Federal prosecutors said that Bankman-Fried stole billions of dollars from customers for his personal use and defrauded investors and what they describe as one of the biggest frauds in U.S. history. If he's convicted, he could spend the rest of his life in prison.

Also, Canadian wildfires are still burning, and that smoky haze from the fires has reappeared over New York City. This is what it looked like on Sunday, as the smoke shrouded the sun. Smoke from the fires is expected to blanket parts of the northeast between New York and Massachusetts, though the air quality is expected to stay in the good to moderate range. And in honor of President Jimmy Carter's 99th birthday, 99 immigrants

spent the day becoming Americans. The group took the U.S. citizens oath in a naturalization ceremony Sunday at the Carter Center in Atlanta.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ULANDA SUTHERLAND, NEW U.S. CITIZEN: It's just amazing how God works in mysterious ways that I am one of the candidates that has been selected for President Carter's 99th birthday. It is a wonderful place. It's a place of freedom. It's a place of opportunities, especially if you have children.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANCHEZ: The ceremony happens once a year at the center, but Sunday's event took on special meaning for that group, which represented 45 countries -- Jessica.

DEAN: Amazing. The Supreme Court began its new term today in the upcoming docket is already filled with some pretty major cases involving free speech and regulating social media, racial gerrymandering, and gun rights and instances of domestic abuse. CNN justice correspondent Jessica Schneider is here with more on the cases coming before the courts. So map it out for us. What do we expect?

JESSICA SCHNEIDER, CNN JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: Yes, you know, we've already seen this Supreme Court over ruling precedent in past years, whether it's on abortion or last term affirmative action, this term is going to be really interesting because we're going to see how much farther the conservative LED court is willing to push some of these issues. Some really consequential issues at that.

So we do have an upcoming case that will be heard next month on gun rights. This is about a lower court that struck down a federal law that restricted whether people under domestic violence restraining orders, whether they could have guns. The federal law said they couldn't. The lower court actually struck that down, saying it was in violation of the Second Amendment. So that will be one to watch next month.

Also, if states can force social media platforms to actually host content as opposed to being able to restrict it. So that will be a big case as well.

We'll have a trio of cases as well about federal agencies and whether they can continue to wield significant power in making consequential decisions. This conservative court has actually had some backlash against federal agencies, so we'll see if they take it even a step farther.

So there is a lot to come on this docket. And so far, you know, only a handful of cases are lined up for this term. So we're expecting even more cases that we don't yet know about to be added to the Supreme Court's term. And all of this, Jess, as we're seeing approval ratings at historic

lows for the Supreme Court. The Gallup poll just did another poll just before the start of the Supreme Court term, and we're seeing that number continue to hover right about 41 percent of approval, a significant number of disapprovals, 58 percent. So this court faces a big uphill battle just in winning the public's approval at this point.

DEAN: Right, and to that end they've had a lot of questions about ethics swirling around this court. How are they going to deal with that, or do they plan to deal with that?

SCHNEIDER: Well, we've heard the justices speak out actually in recent weeks. Justice Kavanaugh saying that he hopes that there's some sort of reform that comes out soon.

Justice Elena Kagan just spoke about two weeks ago, saying she wants the Supreme Court to adapt a version of what the lower courts subscribe to.

But you're right, we have seen numerous reports, a cascade of reports over the summer, most in particular about Justice Clarence Thomas. Some of the private jet rides that he received from Harlan Crowe in particular, who's a wealthy donor to conservative causes.

And then we've also seen the stories about Justice Alito, some of the luxury travel that he's received from outside groups with -- that also promote conservative causes.

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And even questions about Justice Sonia Sotomayor. There was an AP report talking about how some of her staff pushed some of the facilities that she was speaking at, public universities, libraries, to actually purchase her books.

So there is no formal ethics code for the Supreme Court justices. We'll see if one takes shape, but there's been, you know, a seemingly some resistance to it. We'll see what happens when something.

DEAN: That so surprised me when I learned that they didn't have an ethics code and yet the lower courts do. So we'll see if they do anything. All right, Jessica Schneider, thanks so much.

And coming up. What do you have to do to win a Nobel Prize for medicine? We'll tell you.

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SANCHEZ: This year's Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine was nearly two decades in the making, and it helped prevent 10s of millions of deaths from COVID-19.

DEAN: It is an incredible story. Scientists Katalin Kariko and Drew Weissman were awarded the prize for their research on messenger RNA vaccines, which they first published back in 2005. Their work didn't get a lot of attention back then but laid the foundation for the vaccines that helped turn the tide on the pandemic. And we all know mRNA vaccines now.

SANCHEZ: Yes, they it came in handy. All that research, right in the midst of a global pandemic. Hungarian American biochemist, Kariko and Weissman, who's an American physician, are both professors at the University of Pennsylvania. The executive vice president of UPenn School of Medicine, says the pairs work has, quote, changed the world. And indeed it has.

DEAN: It certainly has.

SANCHEZ: Jessica, thanks for being with us today. Hope you get more time with us.

DEAN: I'd love to.

SANCHEZ: Yes. Thank you so much for joining us. "THE LEAD" with Jake. Tapper starts right now.