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Menendez And Wife Plead Not Guilty; Bidens' Dog Removed From Whtie House; Rep. Josh Gottheimer (D-NJ) Is Interviewed About The House; New Shot For Infants. Aired 9:30-10a ET

Aired October 05, 2023 - 09:30   ET

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

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[09:31:23]

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: So, new details this morning about an incident involving the now wife of Senator Bob Menendez that has an alleged connection to the bribery case against them. It's a deadly car crash that happened before they were married in 2018 where a pedestrian was killed. The surveillance footage from the crash has been released. A little bit of this is disturbing, so be careful here.

Immediately after the accident, she appears to sit inside her car for about a minute. She did not check on the victim. Police first arrive about four minutes after the pedestrian is hit. And we can see part of her exchange with an officer.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

NADINE MENENDEZ: I didn't do anything wrong.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No, no.

MENENDEZ: I - you know.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Look, I -- I understand. I understand.

Before you go, I just want to confirm that you do not want to give me your phone, correct?

MENENDEZ: Yes.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: OK. And that's your statement that you were driving this way, and the guy came from this way, and he ran into your vehicle.

MENENDEZ: He jumped on my windshield.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: All right, the current indictment against Menendez alleges that this accident left his wife, then girlfriend, without a car, and that two of the co-defendants in the case later offered to buy her an expensive Mercedes convertible as part of a bride. She was never charged in connection with anything with this car accident.

CNN chief law enforcement and intelligence analyst John Miller is here.

And, John, I suppose the issues this morning are questions surrounding those moments after the accident. An officer shows up and say, hey, I got a call from my buddy to come down here. What does that matter?

JOHN MILLER, CNN CHIEF LAW ENFORCEMENT AND INTELLIGENCE ANALYST: So, he's a retired officer from the Hackensack Police Department who comes on the scene and engages with the officer you just saw on the screen and he says I'm retired from, you know, Hackensack PD. But he doesn't ask for any special treatment. What he asks is, is the prosecutor's office going to be involved because there's a fatality here. And the officer says, yes, but as far as we can tell, she's going to be free to go.

She wasn't tested for drugs or alcohol, but in New Jersey, unless there's an outward sign, alcohol on the breath, slurred words, unsteady, you know, gait, that's not normal procedure.

So, you know, the police seem to have done it by the book. The open questions are things we don't know, which is, they issued a subpoena for her phone.

BERMAN: So she said - right there we saw on that video, she did not turn over her phone to them. Initially she gave them her phone but then she took it back.

MILLER: Took it back. That's right.

BERMAN: And that matters why?

MILLER: Well, it matters because what police want to know in, you know, a modern car accident is, what distracted you from the road that you weren't able to stop before hitting this person.

BERMAN: If anything.

MILLER: Were you texting on your phone? Were you looking at an email? Where you, you know, dialing a call? In this case, we don't know if she was on the phone at all. But the subpoena for the phone records would say, what was the phone activity at the time of the accident? Not part of the records that were turned over to us. And that something that we've been calling the Bergen County Prosecutor's Office today, but the Bergen County Prosecutor has some unique phone system where it rings twice and then hangs up. So, we're still working through that this morning.

BERMAN: So - and the reasons it's connected to the bribery cases is because she was without a car and prosecutors allege that she got this car as part of an alleged bribery scheme. But the open questions that remain about the accident itself, which are separate really than the charges against them are, was there some kind of special treatment given to her because of her relationship with Senator Melendez, correct? MILLER: That's right. And the family of the victim, Mr. Coop's (ph)

family, has said, you know, they don't know the answer to some of these questions, either, but they're very concerned that there didn't seem to be any kind of aggressive desire to dig deeper into this case.

[09:35:03]

Now, the county prosecutor and the sheriff's, you know, crime scene people came to the scene. They -- they ran the accident investigation part of this, John. All of the wheels that were supposed to turn that night turned. But there are still some answers in the background about what they found in that investigation that we need to get.

BERMAN: John Miller, thank you for explaining it so well. Appreciate it.

MILLER: Thanks.

BERMAN: Sara.

SARA SIDNER, CNN ANCHOR: All right, from the White House to the doghouse. Commander, the Biden's German shepherd, has been removed from the D.C. grounds. The first canine has had more biting incidents than previously reported and sources say it is creating a dangerous work environment for White House staff. Even the Secret Service warning agents to avoid certain areas to try to get out of the way and not have an interaction with Commander.

CNN producer Betsy Klein has been following this story for us.

Betsy, with all the things going on, this seems small but, still, if people were afraid to do their jobs in the White House, it's a problem.

BETSY KLEIN, CNN WHITE HOUSE PRODUCER: Certainly it's significant. And we had reported back this summer that there had been 10 documented incidents of Commander biting Secret Service personnel. And there was an 11th incident last week. And in the course of my reporting, talking to sources here at the White House, it became clear that there are actually dozens of incidents involving not just Secret Service agents but also members of the executive residence staff, other White House staffers.

And the injuries have ranged really in severity. One person was treated at a hospital. Other people have seen the White House medical unit here. And some of them have not been treated or documented. So, a real number is really impossible to come by.

But, you know, there have been those safety concerns from people who work here. And, you know, Secret Service had to start using different entrances and exits here at the White House to avoid the dog and where the dog was. And it became a problem that the White House could no longer ignore.

And as we were asking these questions about safety concerns here at the White House, we learned late last night that the Bidens have actually made the difficult decision that Commander, for the time being, is no longer here at the White House. The first lady's communications director told CNN, Commander is not presently on the White House campus while next steps are evaluated.

Now, we have to remember that Commander to the Bidens is a family member. This dog travels with the president when he's in Delaware, or at Camp David. And it's going to be really interesting to see what happens next here.

SIDNER: It will be. But when you see some of these pictures of Commander, he's such a cute puppy, but it's hard to imagine all this. But if it's a safety concern, they've got to do what they've got to do to keep people safe.

Thank you so much, Betsy Klein.

There's that picture that makes you think he's just as innocent as ever.

Thank you so much.

Kate.

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: Coming up for us, the search is on for the next speaker of the House. Can Republicans find calm among the chaos and come together and agree on their next leader and prove that they can come out of this mess and lead? We've got more on that.

Plus, classes are canceled this week after the mass shooting on the campus of Morgan State University. Now police are asking for help, putting out video that they hope leads them to the suspects.

We'll be back.

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[09:42:35]

BOLDUAN: House Republicans have proven that they can fight. Can they now come back from this House speaker mess and prove that they can lead? Next week kicks off the next phase of this moment in history when the people who want to take over the job as House speaker will formally be making their pitch to fellow Republicans. House Majority Leader Steve Scalice and Congressman Jim Jordan, they have both thrown their hats into the ring.

Here's Jim Jordan, just this morning, making some of his first appeals.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. JIM JORDAN (R-OH): Somebody has to bring our team together. Because if we don't come together, we're not going to get done what the American people know needs to be done, what's good for our nation. Somebody has to do it. I think I'm equipped to do it. That's why I'm running. Steve's an American hero, but, again, I think I'm better - better equipped to unite the conference, bring the conservatives along that I'm close to with the moderates.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BOLDUAN: Key to his pitch there, unity, at least amongst Republicans, and also getting done what he says the American people want done.

In a divided Congress, with a Democratic president, that also requires compromise. One of the most well-known groups on The Hill trying to find bipartisan consensus and compromise is the Problem Solvers Caucus.

Joining us now is the co-chair of that caucus, Democratic Congressman Josh Gottheimer of New Jersey.

Congressman, thanks for coming in.

REP. JOSH GOTTHEIMER (D-NJ): Hi, Kate.

BOLDUAN: You have made clear that you are not going to weigh in on which Republicans should be speaker or not. But do you think this is going to get worked out next week? I mean how uncertain is the future here?

GOTTHEIMER: Well, you know, I'm not invited to that family dinner. That's the Republican caucus. They decide who they want as their leader, as the majority in the House. That's the tradition. So, you know, I think it's going to be tough, but they'll keep working to get it done.

What we need to keep a clear eye on is that we've got 39 days until the government shuts down and -- if we don't work something out. And, to me, that's critically important, as it was this past weekend when we worked out a bipartisan deal and make sure we take care of our veterans and active duty and seniors and children. A lot of priorities on the line for our country. And that's what we need to make sure we're focusing on as well.

BOLDUAN: So, clearly in your mind, one of the most immediate concerns, and what is one of the things that's held up here, is government funding and avoiding another government shutdown.

Jim Jordan also told Manu Raju that the most pressing issue on Americans minds is not Ukraine aid, that it is the border and crime on the streets is how he put it to Manu.

[09:45:00]

If a goal is -- or maybe not a goal, but if a requirement in the reality is bipartisan consensus to get any forward motion on anything, is this an either or proposition, Ukraine aid or border security, Ukraine aid or keeping the government open?

GOTTHEIMER: It's a false choice. We live in the greatest country in the world. We need to make sure that we can do both. And, you know, in terms of supporting Ukraine, it's key to America's national security and protecting us in our fight against our key adversaries, the government in China, Iran, Russia. You can't just let Putin have his way across Ukraine.

It will affect us globally in our national security. So, we need to do both. And, you know, and I believe we can as a country. But the key is now, sitting down at the table in a bipartisan way and working together. We've got a divided government, as you pointed out, Kate, right? We've got Republicans in control of the House and Democrats in the Senate and the White House.

So we're going to have to, as we did in the debt ceiling deal, as we did this past weekend on the government shutdown, we're going to have to work together and find a way forward. So, as soon as we can do that, the better.

BOLDUAN: This is a Republican conference problem in terms of who -- choosing the speaker at this point. But Republicans are blaming Democrats for not trying to help bring stability to the insanity, if you will. That's my way of describing it.

I want to play for you what Republican Marc Molinaro, what he told me yesterday on this show, where he was responding to Chuck Schumer talking about that they should stop pandering to the hard right.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. MARC MOLINARO (R-NY): I mean, truly, Democrats could have joined with reasonable Republicans like myself do not undermine Congress and to oust the speaker. Remember, I think the senator referred to Republicans kicking out the speaker.

Well, no, eight members used a tool that should be used very carefully. They used it, I think, very callously. And instead of being lectured to by the senator, it would have been helpful, I think, for Democrats to respect the institution and not engage in an effort to undo the Republican leadership.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BOLDUAN: Congressman, what do you say to that?

GOTTHEIMER: Yes, well, first of all, Marc's a good man. He's in the Problem Solvers Caucus. And we've got a lot of good colleagues there and, you know, we're always trying to find a way forward.

You know, in this case, very difficult because, one, it's a - as I said, it's a - they worked that out in their family. They picked their speaker. I didn't ask them to vote for Nancy Pelosi. You know, we tried to work something out and Kevin McCarthy, you know, made a decision. It's his choice. He said, I think, quote, "I'm not going to sell my soul to Democrats" is that he said. And that was his decision. So, we tried to work together.

Now the key, of course, is, how do we find a way forward for the institution. And I think there's a lot of opportunity here to help change the rules in the House, to stop this one person being able to actually vacate the chair. It's something that we had in prior congresses. It's something that I worked a lot on, the Problem Solvers did, to make it a majority - to make that decision if they want to vacate the chair. I think we should go back to that. And I think the -- I'm hoping we work on a bipartisan deal there to encourage also more bipartisan governing and allowing for that so more of the Democrats' priorities to come to the floor for a vote.

You know, those are the kind of changes we need to make, encouraging more bipartisan governing, stopping extremists from being able to shut the institution down, and work together. And I'm very eager to do that. And I know the Problem Solvers Caucus, I'm hopeful, will be part of that solution. I mean we're talking to a lot of my Republican colleagues over the last days and, you know, they're - with a lot of people who really care deeply about the institution, and I know that's what we're going to continue to focus on.

BOLDUAN: Bipartisanship, can it be found once again on Capitol Hill under a speaker Jim Jordan? Bipartisanship, can it be found once again on Capitol Hill under a speaker Steve Scalise? We may soon find out.

It's good to see you. Thanks for coming in, Congressman.

GOTTHEIMER: Thanks. Thanks for having me. Really appreciate it. Common sense, Kate, that's all we've got to push for. Common sense here. No extremism.

BOLDUAN: Yes, I don't - yes. Again, I don't know why you went to Capitol Hill to find common sense sometimes, but still hope springs eternal.

Thank you so much. Goodbye. Cut his mic.

John.

BERMAN: That's where he went wrong.

All right, a respiratory virus that can be dangerous for babies is on the rise. A new shot could help keep infants out of the hospital, but some parents might not be able to get it.

And the glorious return of the greatest of all time. Simone Biles pulls off this record-breaking stunt you just have to see.

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[09:53:20]

SIDNER: Baltimore Police have revealed a new video in connection with the shooting on the Morgan State University campus. Now, in the video, there, you can see four people walking into that video. Police say they want to help identify the people in that video, and they'd like the public's help. But they're not saying exactly why. That shooting on Tuesday left five people hurt and prompted the school to cancel classes for the rest of the week. Homecoming activities are also canceled or postponed as police search for suspects in the shooting.

This afternoon, a memorial is getting underway in California for the late Senator Dianne Feinstein. She was the longest serving female senator in Congress. The service is at San Francisco's city hall. Significant for Feinstein because it is where she once served as a county supervisor and then the mayor after her colleague Harvey Milk was assassinated, which propelled her life-long fight to get gun control legislation in place. Her memorial service was supposed to be open to the public, but late last night the city reversed course citing security concerns. Senator Feinstein passed away last week at the age of 90.

And Simone Biles has done it again. Her latest win has helped the U.S. team set a new record, clinching its seventh consecutive World Championship title. The team was led by Biles, who is now at 20, yes, count them, 20 gold medals. Quite an impressive return after a two- year hiatus. On Sunday she became the first woman to land the Yurchenko double pike vault. Historically that has only been done by men. She is amazing.

John.

BERMAN: I still don't know how you do that. I mean it's was like more twists and spins than I think are physically possible.

[09:55:03]

SIDNER: It's - it is -- it does not seem possible, but it does for Simone Biles, because she's great.

BERMAN: Anything is possible for her.

OK, this morning, the CDC is urging insurance companies to cover the cost of a new lifesaving shot for infants. Cases of a respiratory virus that could be dangerous for babies called RSV, they are rising, especially in the south. This just approved brand new drug could mean many fewer babies end up in the hospital with RSV. The shot, though, is expensive.

CNN's Meg Tirrell has the very latest on this for us.

Lay this situation out for us, Meg.

MEG TIRRELL, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, John, I mean, people are really excited that this protection is now available for babies against RSV. That is a very serious respiratory infection, respiratory syncytial virus is it's full name. And, you know, we all get it. And typically, it isn't that bad. But for young babies and also for older folks it can be very severe. For kids under five it puts up to 80,000 of them in the hospital every season and leads to as many as 300 deaths.

And so this new shot was just approved over the summer by the FDA and then universally recommended by the CDC for all infants under eight months of age to protect them against the worst effects of RSV. It showed in trials that it could reduce the risk of hospitalization for babies by 80 percent.

And so a lot of public health advocates are so excited that this is now getting out there. The problem, though, is that it costs almost $500 a dose. And though insurance coverage, the manufacturer tells us, is in place, there is still some kinks getting worked out. And so what we're hearing from people in the medical community is that some doctor's offices and hospitals do not yet want to stock this because they're worried they may not get reimbursed for it. So, parents may have some trouble finding it, John. And that, doctors tell us, would be heartbreaking.

BERMAN: Yes, that would be. People have got to figure this out so these kids can get it to put parents, their minds at ease.

Meg Tirrell, thank you very much.

Kate.

BOLDUAN: Coming up for us, the House has no speaker, but Jim Jordan has big weekend plans. The new reporting on his strategy now after announcing he's running to take over the gavel.

We'll be back.

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