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Whistleblower Complaint Detailed; Democratic Presidential Candidates in Iowa Today; U.S. to Send Troops to Saudi Arabia and UAE After Oil Attack; Joe Kennedy III Officially Announces Senate Campaign; Security Preparing for World Leaders to Arrive in NYC; Alien Fans Descend on Area 51 for Event Started As Joke. Aired 12-1p ET

Aired September 21, 2019 - 12:00   ET

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

[12:00:00]

MARTIN SAVIDGE, CNN HOST: Hello, thanks for joining me. I'm Martin Savage in for Fredricka Whitfield. President Trump is defending a controversial phone call with the president of the Unkraine. This is after the conversation which took place at the end of July prompted a whistle-blower complaint to the intelligence community inspector general. A source telling CNN during that call Trump pressed Ukraine's president to investigate Joe Biden's son, Hunter, who once worked for a Ukrainian energy company.

In a tweet today, the president insisted quote, "Nothing was said that was in any way wrong," unquote. Former Vice President Biden is firing back accusing the president of abuse of power. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi calling on the intelligence chief to turn over information on the whistleblower complaint to Congress. CNN's Sarah Westwood is covering the very latest in a complicated story and she joins us now from the White House, good morning.

SARAH WESTWOOD, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Good morning Martin. President Trump defending his conduct this morning describing that conversation with the Ukrainian leader as perfectly fine and routine. But a source tells CNN that in that July 25th phone call President Trump pressed his Ukrainian counterpart to investigate a political rival and that call is now the subject of a controversial whistleblower complaint that's at the center of a standoff between the Trump Administreation and House democrats. House democrats, they are trying to get their hands on this complaint, but the administration is throwing up roadblocks.

Sources tell CNN that the White House counsel's office and the Department of Justice have gotten involved in trtying to keep the details of that complaint secret from the lawmakers who want it. And President Trump this morning in addition to describing the whole situation as a Ukraine witch hunt also has lashed out at the whistleblower accusing him or her of partisanship and also admitting that he doesn't actually know the identity of this person. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO)

TRUMP: I don't know the identity of the whistleblower. I just hear it's a partisan person meaning it comes out from another party. But I don't have any idea but I can say that it was a totally appropriate conversation. It was actually a beautiful conversation.

(END VIDEO)

WESTWOOD: Now the whistleblower filed the complaint about that phone call on August 12th to the intelligence community inspector general. That intel community watchdog was on Capitol Hill this week talking to lawmakers but said he was not authorized to share details of the complaint with the lawmakers but Martin, those members might get some answers this week when Acting Intelligence Chief Joseph Maguire appears before them. He'll have to face questions about this whole situation.

SAVIDGE: So many questions yes. Sarah Westwood, thank you very much for that report. And while the president continues to maintain that his communications with foreign leaders are quote, "always appropriate," Joe Biden is calling for the release of the transcript of the president's call to the Ukrane president. In a statement Biden said in part, "If these reports are true then there truly is no bottom to President Trump's willingness to abuse his power and abase our country.

Today the president continues to push reporters to look into Biden's activities in Ukraine. Here's CNN's Sara Murray with a fact check.

SARA MURRAY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Years after Joe Biden ousted a corrupt Ukrainian prosecutor, he was still touting his accomplishment.

(BEGIN VIDEO)

JOE BIDEN (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I said look, we're leaving in six hours. If the prosecutor is not fired, you're not getting the money. Oh, son of a bitch, got fired.

(END VIDEO)

MURRAY: As Vice President Biden threatened to withhold $1 billion in U.S. aid if the country refused to oust its top prosecutor. By 2015 the Obama Administration, the International Monetary Fund and other western leaders had grown frustrated that the prosecutor, Viktor Shokin, failed to crack down on corruption in Ukraine. After Biden's ultimatum, Shokin was removed in 2016 but this is what has President Trump and allies like Rudy Giuliani all riled up at the same time that Biden was cracking down on that Ukrainian prosecutor ...

(BEGIN VIDEO)

BIDEN: ... be back in Ukraine...

(END VIDEO)

MURRAY: ... his son, Hunter Biden, was serving on the board of Barisma Holdings, a Ukrainian natural gas company. Trump's allies claim Biden wanted that Ukrainian prosecutor out because his son's company, Barisma, was under investigation. (BEGIN VIDEO)

RUDY GIULIANI, PRESIDENT TRUMP'S ATTORNEY: I found out this incredible story about Joe Biden that he bribed the president of the Ukraine in order to fire a prosecutor who was investigating his son. That is an astounding scandal.

(END VIDEO)

MURRAY: For a time Barisma was under investigation but at least one former official in the prosecutor's office said the investigation into Barisma had already been shelved by the time Biden threatened to withhold U.S. aid and there's no evidence that either Joe Biden or Hunter Biden did anything wrong, even if the optics aren't that great.

(BEGIN VIDEO)

BIDEN: There's not been one scintilla of evidence that my son ever interfered or I ever ask (inaudible), did I ever get involved in anything other than doing the job I was supposed to do or that he ever contacted anybody in the (inaudible). So I'm proud of him. I just think it's the way these guys play.

MURRAY: Hunter Biden told "The New York Times" earlier this year he never discussed company business or his decision to join the board with his father. He added, "I've had no role once or ever in relation to any investigation of Barisma or any of its officers. Hunter Biden also said he left Barisma's board earlier this year deciding to part ways with the company in a political season where my qualifications and work are being attacked by Rudy Guiliani and his minions for transparent political purposes.

[12:05:00]

Of course, that hasn't stopped Giuliani from digging for dirt.

(BEGIN VIDEO)

RUDY GIULIANI, LAWYER FOR DONALD TRUMP: It's a case that's crying out to be investigated.

(END VIDEO)

MURRAY: Earlier this year, Giuliani planned then cancelled a trip to Ukraine to press officials about Biden-related investigations. He later met with a representative for Ukraine's president to discuss Biden. Meanwhile Ukrainian prosecutor general Yuriy Lutsenko said in an interview in May that he had no proof that Joe Biden or his son did anything wrong. An entity connected to Hunter Biden made millions from its work with Barisma but from my point of view a board member can be paid whatever a company decides. They didn't violate any Ukrainian laws Lutsenko said. Whether Barisma's board members violated U.S. law is not for me to judge. Sara Murray, CNN, Washington.

SAVIDGE: Joining me now to discuss, CNN national security analyst Juliette Kayyem; White House Correspondent for Reuters, Jeff Mason; and, CNN Political Analyst, Seung Min Kim. Seung Min, let me ask you this, Biden is looking to -- he's looking to leverage the allegations into - turn it into a fund raising opportunity and I'm wondering how strategic is that?

SEUNG MIN KIM, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: Well it touches on a lot of things. It's not just Biden doing it, a lot of 2020 democratic candidates have jumped on the new revelations reported by several news outlets, first by "The Washington Post," to really make the case for -- first of all for impeaching President Trump. You saw that most strongly with Senator Elizabeth Warren who reiterated her call following all these news reports. I reiterated her call yesterday for the House of Representatives to act on his impeachment. There is a risk for Biden here. A lot of those stories about his son had come out earlier this year and obviously while there is no evidence of wrongdoing on either person's part - either the former Vice President or his son, (inaudible) inject those stories back in to the ether. Now the former vice president does raise a good point and I think the question that as reporters we'll be continuing to ask the president in the coming days and later next week particulary as he's at the U.N. - the United Nations General Assembly next week in New York whether he would be willing to release the transcripts of those calls if he did nothing wrong.

He has insisted several times that this was a routine conversation. He told us in the Oval Office yesterday that it doesn't matter what he discussed. He has no problem with the contents of the call and so if that's true then, it will be interesting to see how he answers that question.

SAVIDGE: Yes, of course. Jeff, House Intel Chairman Adam Schiff, he's pledging a thorough investigation. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO)

REP. ADAM SCHIFF (D-CA), HOUSE INTEL CHAIRMAN: The Inspector General found these allegations credible but he had only 14 days to investigate them so they deserve a thorough investigation. That's what we're intent on doing and come hell or high water, that's what we're going to do.

(END VIDEO)

SAVIDGE: So Jeff, what will this investigation look like?

JEFF MASON, WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT, REUTERS: Well t hat's a good question. I mean number one it's more fodder for democrats to investigate about President Trump's actions. Of course they have been continuing investigations since the Mueller report. This is different from what the Mueller report was mostly focused on which was the allegations of Russian collusion and then allegations of a cover up. This is about activity that happened as the president was in office and a phone call with a foreign leader. So I think the House will look into that specifically. They'll demand that transcript that Seung Min was just talking about and they will want to speak with the whistleblower and speak with others around President Trump who were part of that call and perhaps they'll look into other things that this whistleblower has raised. We've also reported that it's not just about that call but other items as well.

SAVIDGE: Juliette, I want to show you this timeline then we can talk about it but you can see at the end of August, Trump moved to block aid to Ukraine and then lifted that block in mid September. What do you make of that?

JULIETTE KAYYEM, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY ANALYSTS: I make of it sort of the obvious which is that the president didn't merely threaten to withhold military aid to Ukraine. He actually did. I think that the reporting has been a little sloppy on this fact that he actually withheld it for some period of time until he got pressure from Congress. We don't direct or run foreign policy that way. Congress had authorized the payment to Ukraine, a country under threat from Russia - a country that needed this military money and before that Donald Trump calls the leader of Ukraine and says, "Oh by the way, and you know, I'd be really interested in you investigating my political rival." I think right now what's the core of the story is simply those phone calls. I actually think the whistleblower story is probably going to recede into the backdrop.

I think what did Biden's son story do, is sort of irrelevant to this. And also the story about whether there was a quid pro quo. None of it matters. What matters is did Donald Trump pick up a phone, say something that the Ukrainians understood to mean find something on Biden. It is not an investigation, it is actually find something, make something up. And until we can just sort of focus on that one issue, all of these other stories I think are going to sort of allow the White House to sort of muddy the waters of the core issue that the president used his authority to essentially blackmail the country to undermine our democratic processes. It's as serious as that.

SAVIDGE: Yes, the president is already attempting to sort of muddy the waters. Sueng Min, if this all true, the fact that there was no immediate impeachment of the president following the Mueller report, a signal to Trump that perhaps he can solicit help from foreign governments going into the 2020 campaign without consequence?

KIM: Well first of all I just want to stress, that there are a lot of things that we don't know at this point. Details are coming out. Our sources have told us at "The Washington Post" that it didn't seem to indicate an explicit quid quo pro at this point. But clearly that's one of the questions we're going to continue to investigate and because there is so much unknown at this point, it's a little unclear how congress is going to react at this point. You've seen a lot of democrats were already for impeaching the president, probably get riled up even more and point to this as even more of a case to really formally begin impeachment proceedings.

A lot of republicans because there are so few -or there are a lot that we don't quite know yet are kind of reserving their judgement at this point. We haven't heard from a lot of the major party leaders on Capitol Hill so just Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell but you have a lot of the president's allies just kind of aligning behind the president because the there is - the entire picture is not out there yet.

And then look at Nancy Pelosi's statement yesterday. Now her statement came out a couple of hours before the Biden related revelation was first reported by "The Wall Street Journal." But she did say that, we're going to continue to follow the facts, continue to follow their investigation and that's a lie that I imagine did not please a lot of the people in our base. A lot of the democrats in our party who haven't really been pushing her to really embrace these impeachment proceedings.

SAVIDGE: Jeff, how is Congress to proceed here if the Department of Justice or the White House push back on this investigation? Because you're talking about national intelligence and the quandary of all of this is of course, when you ask someone a question and you need the answer, you can generally get the answer, "we can't tell you that, it's national security."

MASON: Yes, I mean it is a quandary and I suspect and I'm no expert on this but I suspect what they do is they go to court because if the White House and the administration does not produce the documents, the transcript and any other things that the lawmakers are asking for, then that's their recourse is they go to court and they try to get a judge to force them to do that. It does sort of amplify the political tension between Capitol Hill and the White House about taking part or cooperating with them on investigations and on oversight which of course the Democrats have made a key part of their tenure since the democrats took over the house just a year and a half or so ago.

But that has not gone over well with the White House and they have worked very hard not to give them what they've been asking for.

SAVIDGE: No, it has not gone over well. Juliette, real quick, you get the last word and here's the question, given all these new allegations, how could American voters trust that the 2020 election is not going to be influenced by foreign government?

KAYYEM: They can't, Is mean this is why the quid pro quo issue is irrelevant. I think that - I think that our search for a quid pro quo is irrelevant. Donald Trump and his lawyer Giuliani had explicitly said they asked a foreign nation to look for information about a a political enemy. Full stop. And that can either be impeachable, illegal or none of the above but the idea that that's not already known I think is leading us sort of to miss the core issue which the president is using his powers of Commander in Chief to direct foreign nations to not investigate but to potentially make up information about his political enemies.

I will let the political people decide whether it's impeachable, illegal or whatever else but as a full national security issue, it is denigration and an abdication of his duties to represent the United States.

SAVIDGE: Julliete Kayyem, Jeff Mason, and Sueng Min Kim thank you very much for joining me.

And still to come, the 2020 Democratic hopefuls descending on Iowa trying to galvanize support for caucuses that are still several months away but could some of the campaigns be on their last legs?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[12:15:00]

SAVIDGE: With just 135 days left until the Iowa caucuses, 2020 democrats are descending on the Hawkeye State this weekend. Today, 17 candidates will speak at a the Polk County Democrat Steak Fry. But for at least one candidate time is of the essence. This morning Senator Corey Booker took to twitter to layout what he calls a transparent appeal to voters. Booker issued a plea to donors saying that he needs to raise $1.7 million by the end of the month to remain competitive in the race. CNN correspondent Jessica Dean is in Des Moines this afternoon and Jessica, pretty interesting strategy here, one that the campaign obviously is hoping it's going to drum up some money pretty fast. Is it inspiration or desperation?

JESSICA DEAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, we're going to find out Martin. This is certainly something that Cory Booker is being very vocal about. It's not typical that you hear - listen, when you get all these fundraising emails and that sort of thing - calls for money, they can sometimes come off as ery desperate, it's last minute, if you don't donate, we won't be in this race. This seems to be truly an honest appraisal of this campaign and Corey Booker saying as much on Twitter saying this is an unvarnished look under the hood of their operation and saying there's no courage without vulnerability. That's what he said in his tweet that they indeed do need $1.7 million by the end of the month which is a very large feat to continue going forward. And remember, this is the point in this race where money really does matter.

We're seeing so many of the top tier candidates expanding their operations in early states like Iowa, like New Hampshire, even California, South Carolina, Nevada. You're seeing people expand their teams, put ground games into place, expand their ground games and without money, that's a very hard thing to do and you've seen Corey Booker really struggle in the polls. He hasn't really been able to get out of single digits and so this is what seems like a last ditch appeal to try to remind people that as he said in his tweet that if you want his voice in the campaign going forward, then he's going to need $1.7 million for that viable pathway forward. Martin.

SAVIDGE: All right, CNN's Jessica Dean. Thanks very much for that. And you're looking at live images now of former Vice President Joe Biden as he does a little glad handing and talking folks there in Des Moines as well. And it looks like he's going to talk to reporters so let's listen.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: How do you plan to address single issue voters (inaudible).

JOE BIDEN (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Well I do the same thing. She'd have an open mind about making sure that people have the opportunity to make there are a lot of decent honorable people who have a different view than they do and I think they should have the right to be able to have the access to what the Supreme Court is allowing.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Mr. Vice President, how many times have you ever spoken to your son about his overseas business dealings?

BIDEN: I have never spoken to my son about (inaudible).

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And so how do you know...

BIDEN: Here's what I know. I know Trump deserves to be investigated. He is violating every basic norm of a president. You should be asking him the questions. Why is he on the phone with a foreign leader, trying to intimidate a foreign leader if that's what happened? That appears what happened. You should be looking at Trump. Trump is doing this because he knows I'll beat him like a drum and he's using the abuse of power and every element of the presidency to try to something to smear me. Everybody looked at this and everybody that's looked at it and said there's nothing there. Ask the right questions.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: OK, so you've never spoken to your son...

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: .... Impeached for this.

BIDEN: Depending on what the house finds. It could be impeachment. I'm not making that judgment now. The House should investigate it. The House should investigate this. This appears to be an overwhelming abuse of power. To get on the phone with a foreign leader who is looking for help from the United States and ask about me an implied things if that is what happened. That appears to be what happened. We know that's what Giuliani did. This is outrageous. You have never seen anything like it...

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Mr. Vice President, you said before you entered the race that one of your concerns was about your family being brought into this race. Are you comfortable running a campaign in which ....

BIDEN: I know I - I know what I'm up against. I know what I'm up against - a serial abuser. That's what this guy is. He abuses power everywhere he can and sees any - he sees any threat to his staying in power, he'll do whatever he has to do but this crosses the line. This crossed the line.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Sir, what are you calling the president to do?

BIDEN: I'm calling on the president to release the transcript of the call, let everybody hear what it is, let the House see it and see what he did. That's what I'm calling on.

All right, thank you.

SAVIDGE: And there you have the former Vice President speaking out. They're not mincing any words, saying that this appears to be an overwhelming abuse of power on the part of the President of the United states as he was generally referencing to dig up dirt against him.

I am joined now by Troy Price. He is chairman of the Iowa Democratic Party. And Troy, let me ask you this. Iowans have voted for President Obama

twice. President Trump won Iowa by double digits but during last year's midterms, democrats flipped two seats in the house so do you think that trend is going to continue in 2020?

TROY PRICE, IOWA DEMOCRATIC PARTY CHAIRMAN: Well I - first of all it's great to talk to you Martin. And I will say that as you can see today, and you can probably hear, there's a lot of enthusiasm out here and I can tell you the tide has turned here in this state. We have been very fired up by our candidates. They've had a chance to go out and see these candidates and hear from these candidates. We're going to do that again today and you know the president's popularity here in this state has just been dropping like a rock. He -you know the ethanol waivers that he's given, the trade war that he unilaterally started that has stared that has hurt our farmers and world communities. People are frustrated here and people are looking for new leadership that's going to move our country in a better direction and someone here today will be that person.

SAVIDGE: You're right. We can hear the enthusiasm there. There is a lot of noise that you're dealing with but it just shows you that people are really energized there. So what is the top thing that Iowawans want the candidates to address this afternoon?

PRICE: Well people want to hear who's got the best vision to be honest with you. They're looking for someone to lead our country forward. I mean there's a lot of issues that Iowans care about. I hear a lot about healthcare. You hear a lot about who is going to support our rural communities and create jobs in all corners of our state in every community in our state. You hear a lot about education. You hear a lot about the environment. I mean just, for the third time this year western Iowa is being flooded.

So there's a lot of issues that Iowans care about but really what Iowans are looking for is who's got the vision and who's got the temperament to take on the president next year. And so events like this and this Polk County Steak Fry are opportunities for Iowans to be able to hear the candidates and see them up close. And so it's just a great day and I'm really excited to be here today and amongst 12,000 democrats.

SAVIDGE: All right, I want to bring in Jeff Mason. And Jeff, you know, I want to understand exactly here on what exactly have you made of the talk that you heard coming out of Joe Biden there?

MASON: Well a couple different things. I mean number one, he bristled at the question about whether or not he'd spoken with his son about his dealings abroad. That is a legitimate question.

SAVIDGE: Yes.

MASON: And so that's - I was interested in how he reacted to that. Clearly he wants to talk more about how President Trump has handled this and he has a lot to say about that too and understandably so but questions about the extent to which he was informed or in touch with his son about that period are certainly legitimate ones that reporters should continue asking.

As far as the direction now for Presisdent Trump and how this candidate, the leading Democratic candidate, Joe Biden will handle it. Look, I mean he's calling on the president to release that transcript. Something that house lawmakers want to see as well. He'd like to see transparency and what exactly President Trump did say in that call. And he is -he's going sort of a step further by also saying if this happens to be true then this is more than anything President Trump has done so far in terms of I think what the Vice President is suggesting is corrupt.

SAVIDGE: And Jeff, there is perhaps a danger for the former Vice President here and of course people are going to ask questions that perhaps he hadn't anticipated would be part of the backlash.

MASON: I mean surely he did anticipate or should have anticipated that by getting into the race, his family would be scrutinized. And Hunter Biden's rule in Ukraine and abroad would certainly be scrutinized. Now he couldn't have necessarily anticipated what happened in this call and there are pros and cons politically for him here. Certainly one of the cons is what we're discussing about him having to answer questions about his family.

But a potential political pro is that it does give him fodder to criticize the president and it does give him perhaps a kind of moral high ground in terms of saying, "Look, this is the president doing something very overtly political. If it turns out to be true in his role as president, doing it from the White House and speaking to a foreign leader.

SAVIDGE: Yes, a lot of finger pointing there. Jeff Mason and Troy Price who joined us from Iowa, thank you both very much. Still to come, the U.S. is beefing up the sanctions on Iran and now the Pentagon sending troops to help out Saudi Arabia and the UAE after an attack on Saudi oil facilities which it blames on Tehran. We'll explain what those troops will be doing.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[12:32:43]

MARTIN SAVIDGE, CNN ANCHOR: The U.S. is sending more troops to Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates following the attack on Saudi Arabia's key oil production facility. The White House is blaming Iran for that attack, a charge which Iran denies.

This comes after President Trump imposed new sanctions on Iran central bank and its global investment fund. Iran's foreign minister in a tweet called the sanctions an act of desperation by the U.S. He has also said that Iran has no desire for war.

I want to bring in now Colonel Cedric Leighton, he is part of the U.S. Special Operations Command, he was deputy director for the training at the NSA and is a CNN military analyst.

It's good to see you, sir. COL. CEDRIC LEIGHTON, CNN MILITARY ANALYST: Good to see you too, Martin.

SAVIDGE: So let me ask you a basic question. What are the U.S. forces going to be doing there in Saudi Arabia?

LEIGHTON: So the new deployment is supposed to be centered on missed defense and air defense. So what we're talking about are patriot missile batteries, that's probably the most common form of deployment that we'll see. And it is something we've done really for the past few decades. Whenever we've tensions rise in the Middle East, we've always deployed patriot missile batteries and similar air defense tools to the region.

SAVIDGE: We do. And I'm wondering if you're fighting drones and you're fighting cruise missiles are patriots the way to go.

LEIGHTON: Not necessarily and there's -- therein lies the problem. What you're dealing with here is, you know, really drones that have a very little -- what's called a radar cross-section. So radar has a very difficult time to see them. And then you also have the fact that these drones can fly at very low altitudes. That also limits the ability of radar and other sensors to pick them up. And it's -- you know, in addition to the patriot missile batteries and their associated radar systems, what you really need is a lot of really good intelligence to be able to find the types of deployments that the Iranians, for example, could be engaging in before they launch drones or cruise missiles or anything else towards Saudi Arabia or any of our other partners in the Middle East.

SAVIDGE: Real quick in about 15 seconds, is Saudi Arabia capable of striking back in retaliation to Iran or does the U.S. have to help them in order to do it?

LEIGHTON: The U.S. has to help them. Saudi Arabia is not capable on its own of striking Iran or doing anything like that. They need substantial help to do that.

SAVIDGE: All right, Colonel Cedric Leighton, good to see you. Thank you very much, sir.

[12:35:02] LEIGHTON: You bet, Martin, any time.

SAVIDGE: Coming up, there could soon be another Kennedy in the Senate. Congressman Joe Kennedy announces a primary bid against an established Democratic senator. What's going on? Hear his message, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SAVIDGE: You may have seen this, Massachusetts Congressman Joe Kennedy has made it official. He is making a run for a Senate seat. He says that President Trump has, quote, forced a reckoning in America. Kennedy who is the grandson of Robert F. Kennedy will be taking on an established Democrat, incumbent Senator Ed Markey in a primary fight. Athena Jones was at that announcement this morning. And Athena, why is Kennedy choosing to take on Markey now?

ATHENA JONES, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Hi Martin. Well, he addressed that in his announcement video. Part of what he said was, this isn't the time for waiting, for sitting on the sidelines or for playing by rules that don't work anymore.

[12:40:00] Here's more of what he had to say here on East Boston at that announcement this morning. Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. JOE KENNEDY (D-MA): I hope you that will join me, for every single day, to prove that the way you fight back against the politics of (INAUDIBLE), against the politics of division, against the politics of doubt, what we can do as a country, is to bring every voice in, and to lift every voice up.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

JONES: And as you mentioned, Ed Markey is an established politician. He's been in Congress since 1976 which is longer than Congressman Kennedy has been alive. And so, here you have a fight between two political powerhouses, one the experienced politician, the other, Kennedy, in a town that has a real love for Kennedys. In fact, he had made his announcement here in East Boston because he said this is where steps away from here in 1948, his father's family first arrived from Ireland.

And, you know, talking to folks in the crows, there is a lot of excitement to have Kennedy in the race once again. And if you look at the most recent poll from Boston -- from the Boston Globe and Suffolk University, this was conducted just after Labor Day, already Congressman Kennedy is far ahead of the pack, far ahead even of Ed Markey in a head-to-head match-up, 14 points ahead. And when you look at the rest of the field, there is several challengers to Senator Markey. Kennedy is still out ahead by about nine points according to that poll.

So very clear that that name, that Kennedy name is going to help him quite a bit.

Martin?

SAVIDGE: Athena, though, give me the logic here. I mean, you have a Democratic, they want to expand the number of seats they got in the Senate, and yet here you've got two Democrats that are going to be battling over a seat that Democrats already hold.

JONES: That's right, and you have some establishment Democrats, folks like minority leader in the Senate Chuck Schumer, Maryland Senator Ben Cardin who were saying, look, I support Markey, I don't know why Joe is getting in this race. I hope he gets out, I don't want to see an intraparty fight. But his argument is, look, I have new ideas, I have a new approach. I asked him -- you know, this is not -- he says this is not going to be a generational fight even though you're talking about a 38-year-old against a 78-year-old.

Congressman Kennedy says it's about more than that. It's about big ideas, ideas for big structural changes. He supports things like term limits for Supreme Court justices, abolishing the Electoral College, ending the filibuster, and one big differentiating point he says between him and Senator Markey is that he is disavowing corporate PAC money.

Martin?

SAVIDGE: All right, that explains it. Athena Jones in Boston, thank you very much. Good to see you.

Still to come, the U.N. General Assembly starts this week. Leaders from all over the world, they're going to be in New York. Meaning, an increased risk for threats. How New York is preparing to keep everyone safe?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[12:46:46] SAVIDGE: If you live in New York City, you are already keenly aware of this fact. Nearly 200 world leaders next week will be there for the 74th session of the United Nations General Assembly. And with so many powerful figures coming together in one place, you could bet authorities are ramping up security.

I'm joined now by Jonathan Wackrow, he is a former Secret Service agent under President Obama who coordinated security for the United Nations General Assembly five times.

Good to see you, Jonathan.

JONATHAN WACKROW, CNN LAW ENFORCEMENT ANALYST: Nice to see you, Martin.

SAVIDGE: How big of an undertaking it is to have all of these world leaders in one place?

WACKROW: Well, it's a significant undertaking, Martin. And to that point, the Department of Homeland Security has designated the U.N. General Assembly as a national special security event or NSSE. That designation alone allows for a full spectrum of resources to be provided by the federal government to execute on a security mission. It also allows for the United States Secret Service to be appointed as the lead coordinating agency for this event.

However, it's important to note that the Secret Service can't execute on this mission by themselves. They have key stakeholders such as the FBI, other DHS components, and the NYPD that all work collaboratively together to develop a security plan. That planning process starts almost one year ago. And what they look at is they look at the impact to the city and how they're going to execute on mitigating threats on land, in the waterways, and on the air.

Challenging the security process is finding the right balance where you have all of these heads of states that are coming into New York City while maintaining the regular course of order for policing a large city such as New York. So there is a balance here, and it's a significant challenge for federal, state, and local stakeholders to execute.

SAVIDGE: All right, let me ask you this.

WACKROW: Sure.

SAVIDGE: Obviously, these world leaders have their own security teams, and some of them come along with them. And not all off these nations are necessarily friendly with the United States. How well do the U.S. security teams interact and coordinate with them?

WACKROW: Listen, the United States Secret Service agents that -- as well as the State Department, DSS agents that are interfacing with their foreign counterparts almost become -- they have a dual mission. They are law enforcement officers but they're diplomats at the exact same time. So they have to find a balance on how do we put forth our comprehensive security plan that's threat-based, we have to understand what the threat environment looks like here in New York, as well as a balance against what foreign counterparts, what their procedures are.

So, it does make it a very difficult time in terms of coordinating. You have, you know, cultural differences, you have language differences. But listen, the Secret Service and the State Department, you know, execute on this mission every single layer, they do a fantastic job. And I think to that point, time and time again, what we have seen is that security does not impede what the diplomats are doing. They're coming here to execute on their global goals and security is just an overlay to, you know, provide that security, you know, holistic security structure.

[12:50:03] SAVIDGE: I know they're all pros and I wish everyone a very, very safe week there in New York. Thank you very much, Jonathan Wackrow.

WACKROW: Thanks, Martin.

SAVIDGE: Up next, that viral Facebook campaign to storm Area 51, well, it became reality sort of. Hear just how many people showed up to the mysterious Air Force facility.

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SAVIDGE: The aliens may not be coming but extraterrestrial enthusiasts and true believers are descending on Area 51 in the Nevada desert. We sent CNN's Nick Watt there to check on them.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

NICK WATT, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Picture the kind of people you think would come to an event like this, you're right, they're all here. Dancing by night, chilling by day. Aluminum foil hats and conspiracy theories, they were geared.

KIM CURTIS, ATTENDING AREA 51 FESTIVAL: I think there is something in there.

DAN GRAVES, ATTENDING AREA 51 FESTIVAL: They might have some parts or whatever from, who knows, a collision. I don't know what. That if there's aliens, they're children of God. How do you like that one? And so set them free.

WATT (on camera): Are you like an Area 51 conspiracy theorist or you're just a good time guy?

CADE CABRAL, ATTENDING AREA 51 FESTIVAL: I'm just a good time guy.

WATT (voice-over): There's a low rent burning (INAUDIBLE). Two local counties had declared states of emergency preparing for a base invasion and making sure this didn't turn into a fire festival 2.0 (INAUDIBLE) for thousands.

[12:55:12] Temperatures in the 60s, not the 90s have helped but it's cold at night for those campers.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: My old bones, I was dying. Oh my God.

WATT (voice-over): Visitors here from as far as Manitoba and Missouri and maybe the beyond. Who am I to say? Oh, and Italy.

ADRIAN MILONE, FESTIVAL GOER FROM ITALY: Everybody was hyped, everybody was ready. I think they were expecting a little bit more violence if I'm going to be honest.

WATT (voice-over): Paramedics and police are here just in case and the Las Vegas PD SWAT van is on standby nearby.

Remember, the original idea was to storm Area 51 to see what's in there. They dialed back on that, still, a few hundred have showed up at the gates to the base at 3 a.m. last two mornings, just a few arrests, one for indecent exposure, nothing too dire. The Air Force has warned it's very dangerous to trespass.

Mary Ramirez is drinking wine, it's just lunchtime.

(on camera) Yes, I mean, even you think storming the base is a bad idea.

MARY RAMIREZ, ATTENDING AREA 51 FESTIVAL: I do.

WATT (on camera): So maybe the attendance wasn't quite what they hoped for but this was organized very last minute. The two main organizers also fell out so there was a competing event in Las Vegas. And, you know, if people have a good time, if there's not too much breaking the law, who knows? Maybe it'll become an annual event, alien stuff.

Nick Watt, CNN, Rachel, Nevada.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SAVIDGE: Trust no one, deny everything, the X-Files. Still ahead, former vice president Joe Biden saying that just moments ago that President Trump deserves to be investigated over the phone call to the Ukrainian president. His fiery comments coming up after this short break.

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