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Rep. Vicente Gonzalez (D-TX) is Interviewed about Texas; FBI Zeroes in on Leaked Intelligence; Russian Soldiers Unhappy with North Korean Troops; DA Recommends Menendez Brothers to be Resentenced. Aired 9:30-10a ET
Aired October 25, 2024 - 09:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[09:30:00]
JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: The votes. That explains how he won.
As I'm slurring here, I do want to show you one visual thing here that's kind of cool. I'm going to circle Maricopa County there. That was 2020. Democrats won Maricopa County in 2020. They won the election in Arizona. Look at 2016. The only thing that's different is they lost Maricopa County. 2012, lost Maricopa County, lost Arizona. 2008, lost Maricopa County, lost Arizona. '24, 2020, I could just keep going back and back and you get the story there. It all comes down to Maricopa County in Arizona. That's where the candidates are going. That's how to get victory there.
And Arizona, incidentally, 11 electoral votes right there. It's kind of Electoral College insurance for Wisconsin, which has ten. If Democrats have problems in the blue wall, they'll need something like Arizona.
Sara.
SARA SIDNER, CNN ANCHOR: All right, thank you, John.
With only 11 days to go, Kamala Harris is bringing a big star to her campaign rally today in Texas. None other than Beyonce. She is there to hammer home her message about the loss of reproductive rights in a state that has a near abortion ban.
On her way to Texas, Kamala Harris dropped a brand-new ad where abortion, front and center.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP (R), FORMER U.S. PRESIDENT AND 2024 PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: For 54 years they were trying to get Roe v. Wade terminated. And I did it.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He did it.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It was pretty devastating.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: His bragging - UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Bragging about the rights that he stole from American women. And Trump is promising to do more.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Whoo.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SIDNER: All right, joining us now, Democratic Congressman Vicente Gonzalez, representing south Texas.
Thank you so much for being here this morning.
I want to talk to you about the - using Texas as a place to talk about abortion rights and reproductive rights. In polling done by the University of Texas at Austin, abortion rights though have consistently been pretty far down the line on the issues that voters think are the most important. The latest polling there finds it's fifth behind the economy, border security and immigration. So, do you think it's a good idea? Why focus on this message in your state if voters are telling you that it is not their top priority?
REP. VICENTE GONZALEZ (D-TX): Well, I think there are a lot of top priorities. But certainly for - for women and young women, this is a very concerning issue. I - and I could tell you just what we're dealing with in south Texas. Just a few (ph) weeks ago, I had a 24- year-old woman who literally was losing the child inside of her. And she couldn't get the care she needed from any doctor or hospital in south Texas, or anywhere across the state. And she was forced to go across the border into Mexico to get the health care she needed to save her life. And I think when Texans hear stories like that, that is when people are appalled.
I can tell you, in south Texas, most of us are Catholic. We're certainly not promoting abortion. But we don't want a national abortion ban with zero exceptions that creates conditions, like what this young lady just suffered here in my district.
SIDNER: Yes, I think the polling does reflect that as well.
Trump says that he is getting angrier and angrier about immigration. And he said that America is, and I'm quoting him here, a dumping ground, a garbage can for the world, referring to migrants, calling human beings garbage. What do you think polling shows - why do you think this is that polling shows he's gained with Latino voters?
GONZALEZ: Well, I don't believe it's the anti-immigrant rhetoric. And I don't quite understand how he's gained.
But I can tell you on the border, I've been one of the most vocal members in the Democratic Party on issues on the border. And we've gotten serious about it. And numbers are way down on the border when you talk about border security. And - and we had a great border bill in the Senate that he - he decided to kill because he was hoping to campaign on it.
Right now, we don't have the surges that I've dealt with in my eight years in Congress on our southern border. It's pretty unremarkable these days. But he was - he was hoping for chaos around this period. And it's not happening. Because that's what he wanted to campaign.
He also wanted to campaign on inflation. What did inflation do? It's down from 8.9 (ph) in 2001 (ph) to 2.4 last month. And we continue to move in the right direction. So, I think a lot of the expectations that President Trump had to campaign on, a lot of the issues that he was hoping would be viable issues have - have fizzled out.
And there's a lot of excitement in - in Texas and across the country. And a lot of excitement to have a woman and a woman of color on the top of the ticket. And I'm glad she's in Texas, and we welcome her.
SIDNER: There's been a lot of discussion around immigration and you, like yourself said, you are representing a border area that shares a border with Mexico. And Kamala Harris, on more than one occasion, denounced Trump's border wall. In this 2017 tweet that we're going to show you here, she called the border wall a stupid use of money, and said that she would block any funding for it. But in 2023 agreed to that bipartisan bill that Trump tanked that left a chunk of money to continue building a border wall.
What are you hearing for voters about what they believe she will do? Are they concerned in seeing sort of this flip-flop?
[09:35:03]
GONZALEZ: Well, I think what voters want is common sense policies.
I live on the border. A border wall hasn't really stopped migration from coming. We need better policy. We need to change our - if we're - if we're serious about slowing surges, we need to change your asylum laws. We need to talk about policies that will be impactful in other countries that will discourage people that want to come to our - to come to our southern border. We need to keep investing in places like Central America to create conditions that create jobs for people to stay in their native country. It's policies like that, that stop surges on our southern border.
Even places where I have border walls, people, migrants, are coming to that section of - of the river and they - they go and look for a camera and they wave at the camera and tell Border Patrol we're here, come and get us. So, they still get to come in and come into the United States and have a - have a court hearing who knows when. And it's all because of bad policies. And until - and until we get together in a bipartisan way, this is not going to be fixed.
Let me tell you, immigration and border security is not an American or democratic problem. It's an American problem that requires real bipartisan solutions. And it requires both parties to get together, regardless of who's in charge in the House and the Senate or the administration, and come up with common sense policies. What - what we hear now on the campaign trail is just campaign rhetoric, which is really discouraging for places like my district where the border is not a campaign topic. It's a place where we live and work and a place that we want secured and a place that we want to be a pleasurable place to live. And that requires good policies.
And I hoping my friends on the other side of the aisle will sit with us this next session and hammer out some policies that we agree on and get them - get them through, get them on the floor, get them passed and get them to the president's desk.
SIDNER: All right, Congressman Vicente Gonzalez, thank you so much, there from south Texas for us.
Kate.
KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: New this morning, sources tell CNN the FBI believes it's zeroed in on a government office linked to leaked intelligence documents. These are the top-secret documents that were posted revealing Israel's preparations for a possible retaliatory attack against Iran.
CNN's Katie Bo Lillis has much more reporting on this. She's joining us now.
Katie Bo, what have you learned?
KATIE BO LILLIS, CNN REPORTER: Yes, so, Kate, the FBI has been really focused on trying to identify where these documents were printed. Remember, investigators had this one really big clue right from the get-go. At least one of these two documents appears to have been printed potentially as part of an official briefing book for a senior official and then scanned in black and white and ultimately shared on a social media platform last week.
That was important because the Pentagon actually tracks when employees print classified information. And in fact, it's kind of escalated the internal surveillance that it does on this front as part of kind of a general tightening of security measures after a 21-year-old air national guardsman, Jack Teixeira, last year shared reams of stolen classified information on an online platform, Discord, last year. What my colleague Evan Perez and I are now able to report is that the FBI has really zeroed in on the government office where it believes that these documents were printed.
Now, these two documents would have had wide distribution across the U.S. government. There would have been lots of people who would have had access to them. But according to our sources, the number of people who likely printed them, probably very, very small. So, that's been a really important jumping off point for investigators.
U.S. officials have been really alarmed by these leaks, not so much because of the substance of what these documents contain. After all, Israel has said publicly that it intends to retaliate against Iran. And these documents largely described those preparations. But just the fact that this has become public at such a sensitive moment in U.S./Israeli relations has been really alarming. And we've now seen the top Republican and the top Democrat from the Senate Intelligence Committee just yesterday firing off a letter to FBI Director Chris Wray insisting that he, quote, "act swiftly in the investigation and take immediate action to hold each individual involved fully accountable."
Kate.
BOLDUAN: And that FBI investigation continues very clearly.
Great to see you, Katie Bo. Thank you very much for your reporting.
John.
BERMAN: All right, here's a quote, "what the f to do with them." Newly released audio revealing that Russian troops are less than thrilled about North Korean soldiers joining their ranks.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[09:43:44]
BOLDUAN: Russian troops raising alarm over North Korean soldiers joining their ranks. This is what's being revealed just now from leaked intercepts obtained by Ukraine. Ukraine just released the audio they say was taken this week.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): He's standing there talking to this (EXPLETIVE DELETED) about the K Battalion.
He was just talking about the K Battalion. I asked, who gets the weapons, the ammo for them? We did get (EXPLETIVE DELETED) rations. And from what I hear, the (EXPLETIVE DELETED) brigade gets it. And he's like, what the (EXPLETIVE DELETED) brigade? You receive everything.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BOLDUAN: CNN's Marc Stewart is tracking this one for us.
And, Marc, you're now getting new reaction from North Korea about this.
MARC STEWART, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: It has been a very busy Friday evening, Kate. We are getting some reaction from North Korea. It's coming to us from state media. A statement was released by the government. It is not necessarily denying nor confirming the presence of North Korean troops into Russia for this deployment into Ukraine, but it does go on to say that if this is indeed true, its legal, its following international law, international protocol.
[09:45:04]
So, that is the - the very vague response we are getting from North Korea.
We are also hearing from Vladimir Putin himself, from the Kremlin. He is acknowledging that Russia is in contact with North Korea, but the rest of his response has been very murky. He made some comments following a global conference that was actually held in Russia. It just wrapped up late Thursday. Let's listen to Vladimir Putin.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
VLADIMIR PUTIN, RUSSIAN PRESIDENT (through translator): As for our relations with the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, as you know, our strategic partnership treaty was ratified only today. There is Article Four, and Russia never doubted that the DPRK is serious about Russian cooperation.
But what we will do, and how we will do it, is our business.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
STEWART: We have a satellite image. And of course, this is getting the attention of governments from around the world. To give you some timing and context to all of this, it was earlier this week when we saw a number of world leaders, including Russia, China and Iran, all meet in Russia for a conference. And among the big themes that was talked about there was creating a new world order, an alternative of sorts to counter the United States and many of the alliances created with its allies.
And perhaps this is one of those signs. Kate, it's those individual relationships with these nations that is very concerning, of course, to the United States, as well as NATO.
BOLDUAN: Yes.
Marc, it's great to see you. Thanks for the reporting.
Sara.
SIDNER: Thank you, Kate.
Nearly 30 years after they were convicted of murdering their parents, could Erik and Lyle Menendez soon be released. Why the L.A. County DA says it is time for a judge to reconsider their sentence.
And a programming note for you. This weekend CNN's comedy quiz show, "Have I Got News For You" welcomes former Congressman Adam Kinzinger, and a "Daily Show" reunion with comedian Larry Wilmore and host Roy Wood Junior, plus team captains Amber Ruffin and Michael Ian Black. Watch a new episode tomorrow night at 9:00 p.m. on CNN.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[09:51:53]
SIDNER: Happening today, the Los Angeles district attorney is set to ask a judge to reconsider the life sentences without the possibility of parole for Erik and Lyle Menendez. The brothers have spent decades in prison after being convicted of killing their parents in 1989. And Netflix documentary and Ryan Murphy series has brought renewed attention to their case. There's also new evidence that centers around the brothers' claim that their father abused them - sexually abused them for years before the murder. CNN's Elizabeth Wagmeister is joining us - me now.
Elizabeth, there's someone else that stepped forward as well with these allegations of sexual abuse. What can you tell us?
ELIZABETH WAGMEISTER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's right.
So, Jose Menendez was a big Hollywood executive. He was the head of RCA Records in the '80s. And RCA was the label behind the boy band Menudo.
A former member from Menudo also claims that he was sexually abused by Jose Menendez. That is one of the new pieces of evidence that was reviewed by the district attorney that led them to recommending re- sentencing.
I spoke to the journalist who first uncovered this new claim.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ROY ROSSELLO, BAND MEMBER, MENUDO: That's the man here that raped me. This guy. That's the pedophile.
WAGMEISTER (voice over): Roy Roselle, a former member of the boy band Menudo, alleging that he too was raped in the mid-80s by Jose Menendez, then a top executive for RCA Records, infamously shot dead by his sons.
ROSSELLO (through translator): I was in terrible plain for a week. I could barely stand the pain. I couldn't even move.
WAGMEISTER (voice over): This account, first revealed last year in a Peacock documentary, is part of the evidence the Menendez brothers included in their petition to have their case re-examined.
ROBERT RAND, CO-EXECUTIVE PRODUCER, "MENENDEZ PLUS MENUDO: BOYS BETRAYED": The 1990s have caught up with the truth.
WAGMEISTER (voice over): Journalist Robert Rand is a co-executive producer of "Menendez Plus Menudo: Boys Betrayed." He uncovered Rossello's chilling account.
RAND: No other young man has ever come forward and said that he was raped by Jose Menendez. We believe that there might be other victims out there. And we are hoping that they'll contact us.
WAGMEISTER (voice over): His documentary is one of several Hollywood projects about the Menendez case release since 2023, along with both a Netflix documentary and a splashy drama from mega producer Ryan Murphy.
Earlier this week, Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascon, up for re-election, told CNN the publicity and renewed interest caused him to expedite his decision on the Menendez case.
GEORGE GASCON, LOS ANGELES COUNTY DISTRICT ATTORNEY: Given the public attention to this case, I've decided to try to come up with a decision earlier.
ESTER REYES, DIRECTOR, "MENENDEZ PLUS MENUDO: BOYS BETRAYED": It is satisfying to know that, for example, our documentary was cited as evidenced in the boys habeas petition.
WAGMEISTER (voice over): Esther Reyes directed the Peacock doc and tells CNN Roy Rossello will testify if the court demands.
REYES: He's an incredibly credible witness. I interviewed him for hours. He's very consistent.
WAGMEISTER (voice over): Not everyone thinks the Menendez brothers, who admit to the murders, should go free.
[09:55:03]
But celebrities like Rosie O'Donnell and Kim Kardashian have led Hollywood's push for a renewed understanding of sexual abuse survivors today.
Doc like "Surviving R. Kelly" and "The Jinx" had real impact on the courts. Now, another Hollywood production aims to tip the scales of justice.
RAND: Some of the Melendez supporters are saying, well, where was Roy Rossello 30 years ago when the brothers were on trial. But you have to understand that some people are so ashamed of being abuse survivors, they take that secret to their graves.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WAGMEISTER: Now, Roy Rossello's allegation, obviously, bolsters those similar allegations coming from Erik and Lyle Menendez. This is one new piece of evidence that was considered by the DA.
The other piece of evidence was a letter that the district attorney's office says was written by Erik the year before he murdered his parents. And they say that that letter proves that he was suffering from this sexual abuse.
SIDNER: All right, Elizabeth Wagmeister, I know this is going to court today. Expected to go to court today. Thank you very much for that update on the story. Appreciate that.
BERMAN: Just one of the big things happening today and the next few days.
That's all for us. Have a great weekend, everybody.
SIDNER: Yay.
BERMAN: This has been CNN NEWS CENTRAL. I'm John Berman, with Kate Bolduan and Sara Sidner. Make good choices.
BOLDUAN: What?
BERMAN: Make good choice.
SIDNER: As if you will, but anyhow.
BOLDUAN: Like John does.
BERMAN: Like -
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