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Hurricane Dorian Devastates the Bahamas; House Judiciary Committee to Vote on How to Begin Impeachment Investigation of President Trump; Democratic Presidential Nominees Joe Biden and Cory Booker Speak at Democratic Convention in New Hampshire; House Oversight Committee to Investigate if Military Funneling Money to Airport Near President Trump's Golf Course in Scotland; Activist States It Is Time for U.S. Lawmakers to Move on Gun Control Legislation; Eight-Year-Old Boy Attacked by Mountain Lion. Aired 10- 11a ET

Aired September 07, 2019 - 10:00   ET

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[10:00:27]

CHRISTI PAUL, CNN ANCHOR: We want to with you good morning on this Saturday, September 7th. Take a nice deep breath.

ALEX MARQUARDT, CNN ANCHOR: Exactly.

PAUL: I'm Christi Paul.

MARQUARDT: And I'm Alex Marquardt. You're in the CNN Newsroom. It is wonderful to be back with you.

PAUL: So good to have you hear. Thank you, Alex.

OK, listen, we're going to begin this morning with a glimmer of hope. We all need that, don't we? A glimmer of hope for hundreds of refugees who are fleeing the devastation in the Bahamas right now. More than 1,400 people have just arrived on a cruise ship. You see it there. This is in Florida, and they're trying to just get to safety, a safe haven from the utter destruction hurricane Dorian left with them.

MARQUARDT: The situation for them back home as you can imagine is unimaginable. The United Nations is saying today that 70,000 people are homeless, thousands more are still missing. CNN's Rosa Flores is live near that ship carrying evacuees. Rosa, thanks so much for being there. I imagine that for many on that ship there must be these conflicting emotions of sadness but also immense relief that they've now arrived in Florida.

ROSA FLORES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: You know, Alex, So many emotions. There are bloodshot eyes, people crying, people holding back tears as they arrive here in Florida. Just imagine, once they embarked on that ship, that was the first time they were able to have a warm male, to have a safe roof over their head, to feel that they were coming back to civilization, to a civilization of sorts that they lost once that hurricane hit.

I talked to one woman, her name is Pat Allard (ph), 83 years of age. She's diabetic, and she described just how horrible it was for her to be in her condo on the 11th floor, and then to go down to the second floor, and then to keep moving from one condo to the next to try to stay safe. But here's how she described the horrors in her own words.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I was in a high-rise, 12-floor condo building, and I was on the 11th floor, had to evacuate that, went down to the second floor, and that flooded, and the wall came in on that one. We were in like four different ones.

FLORES: Four different buildings?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No, four different condos, apartments.

FLORES: Oh, apartments within the condo building.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Within the condo as they -- as one went down we'd go to another one. But no lights, no water, no telephone, and we were locked in for like three days, four days. You couldn't get out.

FLORES: And who were you with?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I was by myself, but there was somebody else that condo wasn't safe. They didn't have hurricane shutters. I had hurricane shutters, so they came and slept in mine.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

FLORES: Now Pat Allard (ph) is from Massachusetts, and she says that she actually went to the Bahamas before the hurricane to take care of her condo, and she said that she's not letting go. She's definitely going to go back. And Alex, I've got to tell you, here in Palm Beach County, the county is making a shelter available for individuals who may not have shelter, but they do say that most of the people who arrived today will be staying with family or in hotels. Alex?

MARQUARDT: Rosa Flores, thank you so much. Rosa there with people who have been through so much and are really just at the beginning of what will be a very, very long and difficult journey.

PAUL: Yes, as they try to determine what to do next as with well. Do they go back? Do they stay. There's a lot to be determined.

There is a development, major development, in fact, we want to talk to you about this morning in the standoff between House Democrats and President Trump. CNN has learned the House Judiciary Committee is ready to vote next week on how to begin an impeachment investigation.

MARQUARDT: That's right. This would lay the ground rules for conducting these impeachment hearings, which are different from typical Congressional hearings. CNN senior Washington correspondent Joe Johns joins us now from the White House. Joe, Congress is coming back next week after the summer recess that was about six weeks long, and it seems given their schedule next week that Democrats aren't wasting any time?

[10:05:00]

JOE JOHNS, CNN SENIOR WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT: Well, they don't have a lot of time when you think about it, because the end of the year is fast approaching on the Congressional legislative calendar, and they have to deal with this or not, which has been the big question, pretty much over the last several months here in Washington, D.C.

So what we understand, according to the reporting from my colleague Manu Raju up on Capitol Hill is that as early as Wednesday the House Judiciary Committee is going to start looking at a resolution laying down the ground rules for an impeachment inquiry. A lot of people say, well, haven't they been doing that for a while? Some may say yes, but it hasn't been formalized, and some of those rules, Manu report, are things like hearings, how to handle hearings, how to handle witnesses. There's some discussion, apparently, of allowing staff counsel to question witnesses, which doesn't always happen on Capitol Hill, and also handling of grand jury information, which is supposed to be secret but can be disclosed to Congress under certain circumstances like this.

So the bottom line, of course, on Capitol Hill is, assuming they vote on this and go through with it on Wednesday, among other things, the fact of the matter is the courts will now be able to understand that Congress has on the record rules for an impeachment inquiry into whether to put together articles of impeachment against President Trump, which is very much an open idea right now. Alex and Christi, back to you.

MARQUARDT: Joe Johns there on the north lawn of the White House, thanks very much.

PAUL: Thanks, Joe.

We want to get some perspective from former regional director for the 2012 Obama campaign and CEO of Paramount Consultant Group Tharon Johnson, and Brian Robinson, a Republican strategist and president of Robinson Republic P.R. Thank you, gentlemen, for being here.

THARON JOHNSON, FORMER SOUTHERN REGIONAL DIRECTOR, OBAMA 2012: Good to be here.

PAUL: Listen, Speaker Pelosi is still not on board with this. She has apparently not changed her stance. Is there some danger in moving this process forward, Tharon?

JOHNSON: No, I think a lot of folks who voted for this new Democratic Congress, many Democrats and some Republicans that really wanted to see, OK, if you're going go forward with impeaching the president, let's see the facts and let's see the evidence. And so the House Judiciary Committee chairman had to move on this. They're coming back from recess now. Speaker Pelosi has been very, very careful in her wording, because she

understands that if you produce this evidence, and even if there is impeachable evidence that comes back to say that this president should be impeached, she knows it's still going to be a big battle in the Senate, and we know it fires up the Republican base.

But I just truly believe that at a time where we just see the behavior of this president, corruption, indictments coming down and all these allegations, cutting military spending without authorization, all these things that are coming up, I do think that the Democrats have got to make a compelling case to the American people why this president should be impeached.

PAUL: Brian, speak to that. Is that the fear, you think, for Pelosi, knowing that it won't get through the Senate, knowing that it would fire up the president's base as we really get into this 2020 election season?

BRIAN ROBINSON, REPUBLICAN STRATEGIST: Nancy Pelosi said on a conference call with the Democratic Conference last month, the public isn't there yet. And by God, she's right. Americans don't want this. They have investigation fatigue. We've had nearly three years of nonstop investigations of this president and accusations by the House Democrats, and we are 14 months away from an election. This is a case of conflicting political incentives. Individual Democrats have overwhelmingly Democratic constituencies, and those constituencies have bloodlust for the president. They just want to take him down. That's all their care about. They don't want to hear any reason.

Pelosi has a difficult constituency, the entire nation. Her interest is maintaining the House majority and having a Democrat that can take on Trump in November of next year. So she's seeing the big picture. These Democrats who are clawing all over themselves to attack Trump, they're looking out for their own hides. They're not seeing the bigger picture.

PAUL: So you talk about investigation fatigue, but let's talk about the House Oversight Committee, because guess what they are doing. They are looking into whether the military is funneling money to a struggling airport near the president's golf course in Scotland. And House Democrats claim that this struggling airport has seen an uptick in funds and in activity, that there have been some $11 million of defense records showing that much has been paid in fuel to the airport. There are all kinds of things going on there.

So when you talk about investigation fatigue, there may be -- there may be something here. We have a president who in New York right before he took office pledged 19 actions he would take to get himself away and out of his businesses. He was pledging it to his sons. He said I will have nothing to do with this. I will wall this off. There are records that show that may not be the case. To that you say what?

[10:00:00]

ROBINSON: To that I say we've had three years of being told there may be something there. And his supporters, President Trump's supporters are just tired of it, because in their view, this is actually a pretty widely held Republican view, that there's just one accusation after another, that he has beaten most of them back, even if there's some details in there that aren't explainable, his people are feeling like he has been under constant, constant attack from these investigations, and at the end of the day, there's no there there. There may be here. Who knows? We haven't heard from the Defense Department. We haven't heard from the White House. We don't know what the other side is. And $11 million spent on fuel, there still would have been money spent on fuel even if it was at an Air Force Base.

PAUL: OK, we're sorry. Go ahead.

MARQUARDT: We're going to take a quick break here. The former vice president Joe Biden --

PAUL: Actually, I think we're going to go to Joe Biden. He's speaking in New Hampshire. Let's listen.

JOE BIDEN, (D) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: It's wrong, and it will change in my administration.

(APPLAUSE)

BIDEN: Ladies and gentlemen, we have to guarantee, and we can, it's within our power, guarantee every single solitary American that health care is a right and not a privilege. I will build on the Affordable Care Act, which covered more than 20 million people never covered before, who never had it before, 100 million people with preexisting conditions now covered. We'll go further. We'll provide a public option making sure that everyone, everyone, if they don't like the plan they have, can choose a public option. And anyone, anyone who can't afford it will automatically be enrolled, anyone qualifying for Medicaid.

Ladies and gentlemen, we have to make sure people have access, access to addiction and mental health services, and affordable prescription drugs, which I do provide for.

And it's time, it's time we remake the American education system. The fact of the matter is Republicans say they care about education. My dad used to say, don't tell me what you value. Show me your budget, I'll tell you what you value. They clearly do not value education.

I would triple the amount of money we spend on Title One, increasing, that, in distressed districts from $15 billion to $45 billion a year. It would provide raises for teachers, making sure every child in America, three, four, and five-year-old can go to pre-k, preschool, and real school, increasing the prospects of success dramatically, making sure, making sure that education is available beyond high school. Every single person in the country who wants to go on to a trade school, wants to go on and get a certificate or community college, it should be free, and we can afford it. We can afford it now.

(APPLAUSE) BIDEN: Folks, the greatest crisis of our time is climate change. We must begin to get this under control. Ladies and gentlemen, I am immediately calling for a $400 billion increase in funding for alternatives. The new science and technology that will bring us down to zero, net zero emissions by 2050.

(APPLAUSE)

BIDEN: And I'll immediately rejoin the Paris Climate Accord, which our administration put together, because the rest of the world is accountable for 85 percent of the problem, and we need to lead them, and there's no leadership now.

(APPLAUSE)

MARQUARDT: Tharon, you're hearing the former vice president there, he's one of a number of candidates speaking up in New Hampshire today. How important is this event for Democrats to speak to those voters up there who take that first in the nation primary responsibility very seriously?

JOHNSON: I'm just happy to see the former vice president, as we like to call him, uncle Joe, really fired up. A lot of folks are waiting to see that fire in the belly from him. And he talked about two things that are very important in New Hampshire, but particularly Democratic voters. He talked a lot about health care. He also talked about climate change.

Listen, you know that Iowa and New Hampshire are going to be two pivotal states for the Democratic nominee. I think the Biden campaign wants to do very, very well in Iowa. I'm sure they're doing everything they can to win it. But whoever come out of that primary in Iowa, he or she, the battle then continues in New Hampshire. So what you're seeing with this event today, you've got Warren and Bernie Sanders coming up next, they're trying to really rile up their base and really turn out their voters. And so I think New Hampshire is going to play an important role to determine who the next Democratic nominee is going to be.

PAUL: Brian, what are you smiling about?

ROBINSON: I think Joe Biden is probably the strongest candidate for the Democrats, and his numbers aren't growing. And that's bad news for him. He's got an artificially high lead because of name I.D. and residual good feeling toward the Obama administration amongst Democrats. He's not expanding on it. All the news you hear on him isn't good.

PAUL: There are polls that show he would beat President Trump.

ROBINSON: The fire in the belly that Tharon talks about, usually when he's fired up, he's saying things that aren't accurate.

(LAUGHTER)

JOHNSON: You don't want him too fired up. But I think you're right, Christi, where you were going. Republicans know this and Brian knows this.

[10:15:02]

He's talked to many of his Republican friends on a national level. We know that there's about 36 states that if Joe Biden is the nominee, that he would not only beat Donald Trump, he will compete in a better way than we saw that Hillary Clinton did in 2016. I think what you see from Joe Biden today is that he's going back to the issues where he has a plan. He talked a lot about his health care plan and climate change. Look, if he's going to become the nominee, I think he's going to have to have this combination of fire in the belly. But we've got to have a little less of the gaffes. But that's one of the things we as Democrats, we love about uncle Joe, because he's authentic, and what you see is what you get with him.

PAUL: All right, Tharon Johnson and Brian Robinson, always appreciate the two of you.

JOHNSON: Thank you.

MARQUARDT: Great conversation.

Our coverage of the New Hampshire Democratic Convention will continue. Businessman Andrew Yang is going to be taking the stage this afternoon. But in just a few minutes, he'll be speaking with us. So stay tuned.

PAUL: And some of the newest pictures coming in from the Bahamas for you here. It is becoming more clear the U.S. Coast Guard is there conducting search and rescue missions right now. We have a live report for you from Nassau next.

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MARQUARDT: This morning the United Nations is saying that it believes hurricane Dorian has left at least 70,000 people homeless in the Bahamas and Abaco and the Grand Bahama. The official death toll is at 43. But that number is expected to rise as thousands are still missing.

[10:20:00]

PAUL: There are officials bringing in more body bags we know, and they say they're still trying to recover bodies from some of those hardest hit areas.

MARQUARDT: Our Victor Blackwell has been reporting from there for the past few days. He is in Nassau and joins us live now. Victor, what's the latest?

VICTOR BLACKWELL, CNN ANCHOR, NEW DAY WEEKEND: Alex, search and rescue and evacuation, those are the priorities. Let me show you the new video. This is just a few minutes ago. USAID, the disaster relief team, 57 people, four dogs, and choppers full of supplies, they loaded up and they will be flying over taking that 45-minute chopper flight to Abaco to start the work of search and rescue. We know from the charge d'affaires from the U.S. here in the Bahamas, Stephanie Bowers that the teams will be walking through the Keys for their search and rescue effort. In just an hour and a half or so, we're going to hear from the administrator in Miami announce the breadth of the support from the U.S.

And of course, those who have survived this storm who are on the island of Abaco, and they want to come to Nassau where there is some safety and comfort, that is the urgency as well for the U.S. Coast Guard. I went over yesterday to take a look at everything that is there. We landed at Marsh Harbour Airport, and there was a family of four that was going to evacuate, the Moreau (ph) family, but the chopper on which they were assigned, or assigned to, they could not all four fit. So we took 14-year-old Malik Moreau (ph) on with us, also now 22-year-old Kenly Victor (ph). Today is his 22nd birthday. As we took off, Kenly (ph) got his first look at the breadth of the disaster. He just saw what was around him at that point. There's no television, there's no Internet access. And he just shook his head the whole time as he looked out the window while he was on the flight.

Once we landed here, I spoke with 14-year-old Malik (ph) about what happened during the storm and what he lost. Here's what he told me.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The apartments was, the roofs all gone. All of us had to sleep in one room. There was a pile of us, and we couldn't find no food to eat. My dog's dead, some clothes I lost, mostly everything I lost.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLACKWELL: We heard from the prime minister here, Dr. Minnis, that Nassau cannot possibly absorb the estimated 70,000 people from Grand Bahama and Abaco who are now homeless, so we know that some are now in Florida after that cruise ship docked there this morning, but still figuring out what to do after this massive storm, the major question. And as we saw with Malik (ph), there's still the psychological element for especially the children. The Red Cross, International Red Cross is here trying to help with both the immediate triage needs but also those deeper, longer lasting psychological scars that have been suffered. A lot of work to do, Alex and Christi.

PAUL: No doubt. Victor Blackwell, thank you so much, Victor.

MARQUARDT: Those will indeed be deep scars. And we know that as many of you listen to Victor, as you see these pictures, you're asking yourself how can you help? This is one way to find out. To get those answers in order to help with those relief efforts in the Bahamas and here in the U.S., you can go to our website, CNN.com/Impact.

Now, in the wake of three recent mass shootings in just the last few weeks, some of America's largest retailers are standing up for gun safety, but the big question, will Congress do anything when they get back to Washington next week? We'll be discussing that coming up next. PAUL: And have you heard about the Yang Gang? What's that all about?

Presidential hopeful Andrew Yang is going to be with us from Manchester, New Hampshire, to explain, next.

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[10:27:48]

PAUL: It's 27 minutes past the hour, and guess what's happening this morning. The New Hampshire Democratic State Convention happening right now, in fact. All day presidential hopefuls are going to be making their case to voters there. Former Vice President Joe Biden just finished speaking, you saw some of that here, talking about universal health care, funding the American education system, fighting climate change, taking a shot at President Trump as well.

MARQUARDT: It is a big day for those presidential hopefuls. Earlier today we spoke with one of them, Colorado Senator Michael Bennet. We asked him about the House vote next week on a possible impeachment plan for President Donald Trump. He says the Democrats are headed in the right direction, but have to be careful.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. MICHAEL BENNET, (D-CO) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I think they should go ahead with the process and see where it leads. We've got to make sure we don't get out in front of the American people on this. In Watergate, there was a big effort to bring the American people along. We need to make sure we're bringing them along, too, so that we don't inadvertently create a situation where Donald Trump is running for reelection based on an acquittal that Mitch McConnell has given him in the Senate. And the way to avoid that is to make sure people understand the facts and know what's going on.

The second thing I'd say is it's critical important for Democrats both for our presidential nominee and for our candidates for the Senate to be able to win purple states, even some red states in this election if we're going to take a majority in the Senate and if Donald Trump's going to be a one-term president.

And that means we also as this is going on need to be expressing an agenda to the American people that unifies people across the country and gives us a chance not just to consolidate and galvanize the Democratic base but to win back some of the 9 million people who voted twice for Barack Obama and once for Donald Trump.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PAUL: Michael Bennet there. But guess who's taking the stage at the moment, we have Cory Booker. Let's listen in.

SEN. CORY BOOKER, (D-NJ) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: -- make a Jersey boy feel at home right here.

(APPLAUSE)

BOOKER: So, look, it was 50 years ago that my parents tried to move to another new state, that one was New Jersey.

(APPLAUSE)

[10:30:05]

BOOKER: And they encountered horrible racism. Every time they would show up to try and buy a house in the places with the best public schools, a real estate agent would greet them and see that we were a black family and say, no, I'm sorry, this house is already sold. You can't move into this home.

But what my parents really encountered, though, wasn't just hate and bigotry. They encountered love, people that understood that patriotism is love of country, but you can't love your country unless you love your fellow countrymen and women.

(APPLAUSE)

BOOKER: They encountered people that knew that in this nation love is not just a sentiment. It's not sentimentality. Love says that if your children don't have a great public school, my children are lesser off. They knew that injustice anywhere was a threat to justice everywhere. So this community of activists, grassroots activists like those in this room, mostly white folks in that New Jersey suburban community said we are going to set up a sting operation, a conspiracy of love, and they actually got a white couple volunteering to follow my parents. When my parents were told the house was sold, they would leave and the white couple would come out and find out the truth that the house was still for sale.

I grew up in New Jersey because a white couple put a bid on a house for my parents. The bid was accepted, papers were drawn up, and on the day of the closing instead of the white couple showing up, my father did and a lawyer.

(APPLAUSE)

BOOKER: Let me tell you right now, my parents raised me to know the truth of this nation. We have always had bigotry and hatred and divisive leaders that have risen up all throughout time, but they told me to have faith in us and in who we are, because when we stand together and work together, no matter how much people try to drag us down, we will rise.

PAUL: Cory Booker there, who's earned 27 new endorsements and has the lead in New Hampshire with 80 key backers there, including two state senators, 11 state representatives, the mayor of Concord, and dozens of Democratic activists.

MARQUARDT: That's a big day for someone like him. He's in the middle of the pack, and he needs to have a breakout moment, as do folks like Beto O'Rourke and Andrew Yang who have been at the bottom of the pack. The polls have been fairly steady, and so on a day like today at a big event like today in New Hampshire, they really have to seize the moment. PAUL: They have the ability to have a moment. They're all going to

take the stage, each of them individually for that seven to 10 minutes. So we'll be monitoring this, and we'll bring you the latest as another candidate comes up on stage.

But Congress is returning to Washington this week, and this is something a lot of people have been waiting for because they want action on gun control. The question is, will Congress give it to them? Shannon Watts from Moms Demand Action is with us next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[10:37:17]

PAUL: It's 37 minutes past the hour, and Congress is due back in session next week after six weeks, and the main topic of conversation is expected to be gun control. Of course, there have been these three recent mass shootings in El Paso and Odessa, Texas, and Dayton, Ohio. And the question is, are those shootings and the voters' demands that lawmakers do something going to motivate Congress to take some sort of action?

My next guest says it's time for lawmakers to do something to try to stop gun violence. We've got Shannon Watts with us. She's founder of Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America. Shannon, thank you so much for being with us. I know that after several corporations announced that they were asking customers not to openly carry weapons in their stores recently, you tweeted out and you said this. "These decisions by CVS, Wegmans, Kroger, Schnucks, and Walgreens this week demonstrate that not only is standing up for gun safety the right thing to do, it's no longer controversial. I hope Senate Majority Leader is watching and will be inspired to stand up for our safety as well."

That was your tweet, but if you could sit down with Leader McConnell, what would you say to him face-to-face?

SHARON WATTS, FOUNDER, MOMS DEMAND ACTION FOR GUN SENSE IN AMERICA: Well, first of all, this is about saving Americans' lives. That's something hopefully we can all agree on that, 100 Americans shouldn't die every day from gun violence in this country.

The second thing I would say is that for too long, too many lawmakers have been beholden to the gun lobby. But the NRA is weaker than they've ever been, financially, reputationally, and the gun violence prevention mover is stronger than it has ever been. So siding with 90 percent of Americans, 80 percent of gun owners, 74 percent of NRA member, and supporting background checks on every gun sale and a strong red flag law will actually secure the futures of lawmakers. It is no longer a risky proposition.

PAUL: So I understand that you know these aren't going to be quick solutions, obviously. What is your hope when Congress meets this week to at least get the ball rolling?

WATTS: They should follow the lead of all of these companies that have gone ahead and protected their customers in the wake of the fact that we don't have lawmakers protecting their constituents. That is the sad reality in America. It is time for our members of Congress, specifically the Senate, to step up and do what so many lawmakers have done in state houses across this country. In 2018, 20 states passed stronger gun laws, nine were signed by Republican governors. And those are lifesaving laws like a background check on every gun sale, a strong red flag law. The Senate should do the exact same thing, and the American people are demanding it. If they think they can slow- walk this, they're wrong.

PAUL: Speaking of action, there are certainly schools that are taking action. I want to read through some things that they're doing.

[10:40:01]

Parents are buying bullet resistant backpacks. The fact that they're even being made speaks volumes. Schools have been putting in place things such as bullet proof glass and doors. There's a high school in Shelbyville, Indiana, that, quote, "redesigned at the behest of the State Sheriff's Association, has teachers wearing panic buttons and motion detectors and smoke cannons in the hallways." There's another district in Indiana that is building a school, quote, "with limited sightlines, wing wall protrusions for students to hide behind, and an all seeing reception desk the architect calls an educational entry panopticon."

When you hear this, what is your concern for the children who are going to school in these environments?

WATTS: First of all, there's no data that shows these lockdown drills are effective for children in active shooter situations. There is data that shows they cause depression and anxiety. And we recommend that children don't go through them.

But despite that, the issue here is that all lawmakers are asking children to stand up to gunman because they do not have the courage to stand up to the gun lobby. And that has to be fixed. And that means if you do the right thing, we will have your back, but if you do the wrong thing, we will have your job. And that should be the message the Senate hears before they come back next week.

PAUL: Shannon, what specifically is your group doing right now?

WATTS: Well, in addition to working to get companies to stop dangerous practices like open carry, we're working this at the legislative level. There's a very important election coming up in November in Virginia. Every seat in the general assembly is up in the NRA's backyard, so we will be playing in that election. But also preparing for 2020, and we will hold every lawmaker accountable who does not act in the wake of these horrific mass shooting tragedies, but the gun violence that kills 100 Americans every day. The status quo is no longer acceptable. Companies are recognizing that. It's time for the Senate to get on board.

PAUL: Shannon Watts, we appreciate you being here with us. Thank you. WATTS: Thank you.

PAUL: And when we come back, we are live from New Hampshire, Democratic Party Convention going on right now. It's basically speed- dating, in a sense --

MARQUARDT: It really is.

PAUL: -- for the candidates, because they get up on stage, they speak for seven to 10 minutes, and then they're out. But that's how much time they have to sell themselves.

MARQUARDT: Yes, at this point in the campaign that's exactly what it is, just trying to meet as many voters as possible.

And, as it turns out, hump day is actually Saturday if you're Joe Biden. A lighter moment from the campaign trail to share with you. That's next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[10:46:36]

MARQUARDT: When it comes to Joe Biden, slipups are the name of the game sometimes, and there was another one just moments ago by the former vice president this morning up in New Hampshire.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOE BIDEN, (D) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Limit it to four years, I believe history will look back on this presidency as an aberrant moment in time. But if Donald Hump -- Donald Trump is reelected --

(LAUGHTER)

BIDEN: Freudian slip. If Donald Trump is reelected, he will forever and fundamentally alter the character of this nation.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PAUL: See, now he's laughing there. He's almost -- he kept going. It's almost as though he couldn't look up when he called him Donald Hump instead of Donald Trump.

MARQUARDT: He was going to keep going. This was so clearly scripted. His head was down, he was looking at the script, and he wanted to keep on going. I've been sitting here writing "Trump" see if there's any way it can actually look like an "h." But this is one of those gaffes that we're so quick to jump on the gaffes, and they are many and numerous, but I think this is the kind that is endearing to the people he's talking to.

PAUL: It is, because it could happen to anybody. He called it himself, a Freudian slip. And yes, in the past couple of weeks, he's facing backlash for several gaffes. In a recent interview, though, he argued that the verbal missteps that we've seen from him, they aren't substantive, this certainly being one of those, it is not substantive.

MARQUARDT: Right, exactly. And so the last big one that he got in trouble for was the miss-telling of a war story. That obviously has profound consequences. He was criticized for not backing down. That's a whole other debate. But for something like this, it's clear it wasn't malicious. He wasn't making fun of the president.

PAUL: And you heard the crowd laugh. It's one of those things you had to address. You couldn't just let that one go.

MARQUARDT: He tried to barrel through, but he was caught.

PAUL: He owned it. And that's what some people love about him, he's just going to own it.

MARQUARDT: Exactly.

PAUL: We're looking at the stage right now, we're waiting for Mayor Pete Buttigieg is scheduled to take the stage next. When that happens, we will bring it to you. We're back in just a moment.

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[10:52:20]

PAUL: It's 52 minutes past the hour, and while most students have been heading back to school, there's a hidden population of kids who find themselves on the brink of homelessness. This week's CNN Hero is bringing those teenagers out of those shadows. We're talking about 1.3 million kids who sleep on the streets or couch surf every night in the United States. These are unaccompanied youth. They're teenagers who have made the tough decision to leave unstable homes, and they're forced to navigate the world on their own. Vicki Sokolik is not only giving them a safe house to live in, but she's giving them love, belonging, and a chance at a brighter future.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

VICKI SOKOLIK, CNN HERO: There's a lot of shame that goes with being a homeless unaccompanied youth. They hide what's actually going on with them. And so they really become this very invisible population. Most people don't even know these kids exist.

The transformation of these kids is monumental. They come in so broken, and I'm just one person telling them I'm going to help them. They become softer. It's just great that they can be happy and they're able to be kids again.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PAUL: To see one young woman's journey from living without electricity for a year to training to become a lawyer, and to find out more about CNN's Hero Vicki Sokolik, go to CNNHeroes.com.

MARQUARDT: So many great stories on that site.

PAUL: They're amazing.

MARQUARDT: Switching gears a bit, an American Airlines mechanic who is accused of trying to sabotage a plane says that he did it to get overtime pay. I can think of better ways, perhaps. Investigators say that he tried to disable the system that reports the speed of the plane and other critical data. He reportedly was upset over a contract dispute between union workers and the airlines, so he tampered with the plane using superglue so that he could work more hours, gumming up the works, if you will. Now, thankfully pilots in Miami noticed the problem right before the plane took off. That happened back in July.

PAUL: Thankfully for those pilots figuring it out because we could have been reporting on something much worse had they not been so adroit at what they do.

MARQUARDT: Right.

PAUL: Listen, the man claims he didn't want to hurt anybody at the end of the day.

MARQUARDT: That is an important note.

PAUL: That is an important note.

MARQUARDT: It was a little shortsighted.

PAUL: Very much so.

I want to introduce you to this eight-year-old boy. He's from Colorado. He's recovering because he was attacked by a mountain lion. And he wants you to know they're nothing to be messed with.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

[10:55:00]

PIKE CARLSON, ATTACKED BY A MOUNTAIN LION: I just see this mountain lion jump on it, and then it kind of pounces onto me, and we kind of roll down the hill to a tree, and it tries to push me under the tree. I pick up a stick trying to jab it in the eye, but then the stick breaks.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PAUL: His dad says when he found his son, that mountain lion was lying on top of him. His son's head was in its mouth. Pike Carlson has undergone two surgeries has more than 60 staples in his head and had to have his eyeball reattached. But you see him there talking, he's OK. We're grateful for that.

MARQUARDT: One lucky kid.

That's all for us, there's much more on CNN Newsroom with Fredricka Whitfield. That's all coming up.

PAUL: Take care, and thank you for being here.

MARQUARDT: Thanks so much for having me.

PAUL: Any time. We'll see you next time.

MARQUARDT: Bye-bye.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[11:00:00]