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Nadler Victorious in Clash of Manhattan Democratic Titans; Key Races Take Shape Ahead of U.S. Midterm Elections; Columbus, Ohio Teachers on Strike as School Year Begins; Charges Dropped Against Officers Involved in Shooting; U.S. Gas Prices Drop 71 Days in a Row. Aired 4:30-5a ET
Aired August 24, 2022 - 04:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[04:30:00]
MAX FOSTER, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome back to CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Max Foster. If you're just joining us, let me bring you up-to-date with our latest top stories.
We are learning that the National Archives found more than 700 pages of classified documents at Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago resort in January. Those details in a letter from an archivist to Trump's legal team.
And in the coming hours President Biden is expected to make a major announcement on student loan forgiveness. The White House may cancel up to $10,000 in student loan debt per borrower under certain conditions.
Now redrawn maps and bitter fights defining features from the latest U.S. primaries, a particularly contentious clash erupted between two long-term Democratic titans in Manhattan, but it's jerry Nadler who will appear on the ballot in November. CNN's Athena Jones has that story for you.
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ATHENA JONES, CNN U.S. NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: 15 term Congressman Jerry Nadler emerged victorious tonight in a hard fought primary that pitted him against Representative Carolyn Maloney, a longtime friend and ally who was elected to Congress the same year he was in 1992. The two were forced to run in the same district after a messy redistricting process combined their Eastside and Westside of Central Park districts.
The race had become somewhat heated and nasty in the final days with Congresswoman Maloney raising questions about Nadler's health and fitness for office. Nadler thanks his supporters, said that Maloney and another challenger Suraj Patel had called to concede, thanking them both. Here's more of what he said in his victory speech inside a man hand restaurant tonight.
REP. JERRY NADLER (D-NY): I'm so proud of tonight's victory and I'm thrilled that we were able to win while remaining committed to our principles of kindness and progressivism.
JONES: Nadler vowed to fight for progressive values, to work to end the scourge of gun violence and to protect abortion rights. Telling the crowd in the end, onward to victory in November. Of course, said that because here in deep blue New York, the winner of this primary is heavily favored to win the general election in November.
Athena Jones, CNN, New York.
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FOSTER: And let's bring in political consultant Javier Lacayo who's with us from New York. Thank you so much for joining us. Interesting, isn't it, that the midterms are usually not so strong for the incumbent party but actually the Democrats performing pretty well considering. Why do you think that is?
JAVIER LACAYO, POLITICAL CONSULTANT: Yes, Max, a couple of things here. As you said, you know, midterm years normally very bad for the party that is in power. But you know, aside from the primary election that we saw last night where Democrats and Republicans were both picking their nominees to go up in the big general election in November, we actually saw a couple of special elections. Particularly a very competitive one in New York where a Democrat beat a Republican by just a couple points in a race that has largely been seen as kind of the bellwether for what could happen in November.
So, what I think you're seeing is a lot of energy on the Democratic side that is bucking the conventional wisdom. We're seeing that the Supreme Court decisions on gun violence, on overturning the right to abortion, has really added some new energy to the left and I think that it could really make some major impacts in November as far as who controls Congress.
FOSTER: We've still got Florida, traditionally a swing state, but the Democrats have been a bit weaker there in recent years. But this is a real opportunity, isn't it, to unseat a major figure in the Republican Party for them.
LACAYO: Absolutely. So, governor DeSantis, the Republican governor in Florida, probably one of the most far right figures really in national American politics right now who has really modeled himself after Trump and is considered to be a major contender for the 2024 presidential nomination. You know, he is going to be facing a former Republican governor turned Democrat in Charlie Crist.
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Like you said, this is traditionally been a big swing state. President Obama won it twice, but really since 2016, it has really eluded Democrats. Even though polling always shows Democrats and Republicans neck and neck in the state, the reality is that Republicans now have a voter registration advantage in the state and with President Trump, you know, sort of making it his second home, has also really re- energized Republicans voters there. So, it'll be interesting to see what happens in Florida. Definitely a
major opportunity for Democrats to dethrone, you know, what could be a major Republican candidate in two years.
FOSTER: And what have we learned in these elections about the possibility of President Trump becoming president again?
LACAYO: Well, what I think we saw particularly on the Republican side were that lot of endorsed candidates, you know, won not just last night but really have been winning in primary elections over the last couple months. As we famously saw a couple weeks ago Liz Cheney the Republican Congresswoman who has, you know, really been the one to hold the Trump administration's feet to the fire when it comes to January 6, and seeking for accountability, lost pretty handily her Republican primary.
So clearly Republican voters are not shying away from Trump. I think everything we're seeing indicate that's has a pretty good shot at the nomination should he run again. However, what I do think we are seeing is an energized Democratic Party particularly around the decision on abortion that is going to put up a real fight even in a cycle that is not supposed to be very good for Democrats.
FOSTER: OK, Javier Lacayo thank you very much indeed for your perspective on those key elections that we've been seeing in the U.S.
Still to come, two men accused of conspiring to kidnap Michigan's governor found guilty by a jury. We'll have more on the alleged plot.
Plus, more than two years after the police shooting ever Rashard Brooks, charges have been dropped against the officers involved. Reaction from the Brooks' family attorneys when we return.
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We're heartbroken. Confused.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He should not be dead.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
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FOSTER: The first day of the new school year begins in just a few hours in Columbus, Ohio even as thousands of teachers remain on strike over what they describe as dilapidated classroom conditions. Though in a hopeful move the federal mediator is calling for both sides, the teachers union in the Columbus Board of Education to resume bargaining in the coming hours. CNN's Lucy Kafanov has the details.
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UNKNOWN (voice-over): What do we want?
CROWD: A contract!
UNKNOWN (voice-over): What do we want?
CROWD: Now!
LUCY KAFANOV, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): As students across the nation head back to class, teachers in Ohio's largest district are marking themselves absent, hitting the picket lines for the first time in nearly 50 years.
KAFANOV: The teachers union has been negotiating with the school board for months. Class was supposed to begin on Wednesday. But for now, there is still no agreement in sight.
JENNIFER ADAIR, PRESIDENT, COLUMBUS CITY SCHOOLS: School does start on Wednesday, which means our children will be online learning. We know that this is absolutely not ideal.
KAFANOV (voice-over): The school board president calling the decision to strike disappointing.
ADAIR: The board has demonstrated that it has worked hard to try to come to a resolution with CEA. And at this point, we are where we are because CEA did not determine it wanted to be a collaborative partner at the negotiation table.
KAFANOV (voice-over): But union leaders say they were left with no choice.
REGINA FUENTES, SPOKESPERSON, COLUMBUS EDUCATION ASSOCIATION: We have just reached a point where, you know, the conditions in the Columbus City schools are just not acceptable. COVID really kind of burned out a lot of teachers, and we are afraid that if we don't put this out in the forefront now, that we will just continue to break down our teachers and lose public education altogether.
KAFANOV (voice-over): Their demands? Smaller classes, functional heating and air conditioning, and a well-rounded curriculum that includes art, music and physical education.
For now, classes are being taught online by substitute teachers. But some parents say their kids won't be logging on.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Push, push, push.
KAFANOV (voice-over): For Kelly Freeman's (ph) son, Arthur, that means missing his first day in kindergarten.
KELLY FREEMAN, COLUMBUS PARENT: We're going to be keeping him home. We're not going to cross the picket line, virtual or not.
KAFANOV (voice-over): Others worry about how their kids will handle the challenge of learning from home.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (INAUDIBLE) that he wasn't going to have that interaction with his classroom. CHILDREN: One, you, I love you!
KAFANOV (voice-over): Some are now seeking educational alternatives like charter schools.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: So, we have parents calling literally every second of the day right now. Do you all have wait list? How soon can we get our, you know, our children in?
KAFANOV (voice-over): While students just want life to get back to normal.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE CHILD: And we can just go back to the regular school year.
KAFANOV (voice-over): Schools across the U.S. are scrambling to fill vacancies brought on by a shortage of some 300,000 teachers. The Education Secretary this week acknowledging that teachers should be paid more.
MIGUEL CARDONA, U.S. EDUCATION SECRETARY: In the last 25 years, when you adjust for inflation, teachers have made only $29 more than they did 25 years ago. We need to do better there.
KAFANOV (voice-over): Educators report low morale and burnout exacerbated by the pandemic, meager pay, crowded classrooms, concerns about a growing number of school shootings, and changing guidance on what they're allowed to teach.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We need to actually start investing in our schools. Teachers of America are crucial to the development of our society. And we really need to put that focus back on the teachers and the students because they're the ones who are going to be the citizens of tomorrow.
KAFANOV (voice-over): For now, these instructors say that the best lesson that they can teach is to strike.
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FOSTER: Texas is amongst the states dealing with a shortage of teachers and that's forcing at least five school districts to switch to a four day school week. The superintendent for the DeKalb Independent School District says middle school and high school students will actually be gaining more time in classroom this way though. 75 percent of students in that school district said they favor the idea of a four day week as well.
Now, to men could face life in prison after being convicted of a plot to kidnap the Michigan's Democratic governor in 2020. A federal grand jury found Adam Fox and Barry Croft guilty of conspiring to kidnap the governor and use weapons of mass destruction. Their arrests happened at the height of tensions in the early days of the pandemic when Whitmer faced backlash over COVID restrictions in her state.
[04:45:00] Prosecutors say Fox and Croft had practiced detonating explosions at a so-called shoot house and that the two had an ultimate goal of, quote, to set off a second American Civil War an second American Revolution.
In Atlanta a special prosecutor is dropping charges against two police officers involved in the shooting of Rayshard Brooks. Brooks a 27- year-old black man was shot and killed during an incident with police in 2020. Prosecutors say there was a struggle and Brooks took a taser from one of the officers and fired it at the other officer whilst fleeing. The officer then shot Brooks twice killing him. The special prosecutor says the officers acted within the law and were justified in their use of force. But attorneys for the Brooks family say that they're disappointed.
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L. CHRIS STEWART, ATTORNEY FOR RAYSHARD BROOKS ESTATE: We're heartbroken. Confused.
JUSTIN MILLER, ATTORNEY FOR RAYSHARD BROOKS ESTATE: He should not be dead. I spoke to his wife today. His wife and she was in tears. She could barely talk to me.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
FOSTER: CNN's Nick Valencia has more now from Atlanta and a warning some of the video is disturbing to watch.
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NICK VALENCIA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It was at the scene where just over two years ago Rashard Brooks died after an encounter with the Atlanta Police Department. One of those officers shooting and killing Brooks. And you can see behind me here, there's really not much left of the Wendy's. It was burned down shortly after the incident and really all that is left is an empty parking lot.
But it's from this site where special prosecutors say they got multiple angles from multiple sources that gave them a, quote, true and complete review of the incident. Bringing them to the conclusion that the charges against the two officers involved in Brooks death should be dismissed.
Pete Skandalakis said that no crimes were committed and the officers were justified in their use of force. Skandalakis was the appointed to this case by the Attorney General here in the state of Georgia after the first District Attorney Paul Howard lost his reelection bid. In fact, it was Howard who campaigned on these charges.
Fani Willis, the current district attorney, was recused from the case paving the way for Skandalakis. Who during his presentation underscore that under Georgia law a taser is considered a deadly weapon. Skandalakis went on to say that he does not believe race played a part. He did though acknowledge that the family was considerably heartbroken about what happened. At a press conference shortly after the announcement, that's exactly
what the attorney for the family said, that the family was heartbroken and hard to understand why this decision was made, but that they will continue to pursue their case through civil means.
Nick Valencia, CNN, Atlanta.
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FOSTER: Authorities claim that after Gary Busey asked police to talk victims out of pursuing claims after he allegedly groped them. That's according to documents filed in a New Jersey court. Three women reported being sexually assaulted by the actor during a Monster Mania convention earlier this month. Busey denied the allegations to TMZ on Monday saying he was not inappropriate at all. A law firm for the convention told CNN that it was assisting authorities in their investigation.
Now, still ahead this hour after record high prices earlier this summer, gas in the U.S. has been getting cheaper now for weeks. Details on the record drop when we return.
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FOSTER: Just hours away from the opening bell on Wall Street. Here's a look at how the U.S. stock futures are faring. The Dow looking down very slightly, the others up slightly. But not much change expected today. The Dow and S&P 500 closed down whilst the Nasdaq was flat. This was the day's trading yesterday. Investors face new data from S&P Global which showed further slowdowns in manufacturing and the service sector.
High prices and mortgage rates are taking a toll on the U.S. housing market. New home sales fell sharply, more than 12 percent in July, and nearly 30 percent compared to more than a year ago. The average interest rate for a 30 year fixed rate mortgage was more than 5 percent for all of July having risen more than 2 percentage points since January.
Meanwhile the U.S. national average for a gallon of regular gasoline has now dropped for 71 days in a row after hitting a record high back in June. CNN's Matt Egan explains the trend.
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MATT EGAN, CNN REPORTER: Hey, Max. Drivers finally have something to smile about. A historic drop in gas prices. The national average for regular gas is down 70 days in a row. That is the second longest streak of falling gas prices on record going back to 2005. Now at $3.89 a gallon, gas prices aren't cheap, but they have fallen by more than a dollar from record highs set just two months ago. And you actually have 15 states where the average is $3.60 or below, that includes Iowa, Florida and Texas. Now, this is great news for families who are dealing with sticker
shock at restaurants, grocery stores, and at shopping centers. Now, as far as why this is happening, there's a lot of different factors that play here and not all of them are positive. First of all, $5 gas back in mid-June, that approved to be a breaking point. Some people they decided to just drive less and that was a painful experience for many, but it did help balance out the market.
And at the same time, there's all these recession fears and worries about China's economy. And there's concerns that an economic slowdown will further dent demand for fuel and so that has lowered oil prices. The supply situation actually looks better than feared. Despite concerns that Russia's oil exports would collapse, Russian oil continues to flow overseas -- for now at least. And the White House has released and unprecedented amount of emergency oil from the national stockpile. That has helped here too.
Now I know everyone is wondering how low gas prices will go. But we need to keep an eye on what is happening in the oil market. Because after U.S. oil prices collapsed last week to the lowest level since late January, oil prices have climbed sharply in recent days on hints that OPEC and its allies could actually reverse course and start cutting production. And that of course would be a big deal.
[04:55:00]
And if oil prices keep rising, Max, we could see the streak of falling gas prices end.
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FOSTER: Now the University of Alabama head coach Nick Saban is once again the highest paid coach in college football. He signed a contract extension that will pay him at least $93 million over the next eight years. That puts his annual compensation just ahead of Georgia's Kirby Smart who also signed a new deal in the offseason. The 70-year-old Saban has led the Crimson Tide to six national championships.
Now to basketball, where the Brooklyn Nets say Kevin Durant will remain with the team. The all-star forward had requested a trade just a few months ago now. But the Nets general manager says both sides have agreed to move forward in hopes of bringing a championship to Brooklyn. The 33-year-old Durant averaged almost 30 points a game last season, but the Nets were swept in the first round of the playoffs by the Boston Celtics.
Instagram is internally testing a new feature taken straight from playbook of another popular social media app, BeReal. Dubbed the "IG Candid Challenges," users are alerted at random to take unfiltered pictures with both cameras on their phone of what they're currently doing. Their secret Instagram is taken to reskimming of other apps to stay relevant creating (INAUDIBLE) and answer to the rival app TikTok.
And we've been telling you about global drought recently and the hidden treasures they've revealed. And now we can add this to the list. In Texas dinosaur tracks thought to be more than 100 million years old are on display after a river dried up. Experts say the footprints could have been left by an Acrocanthosaurus believed to weigh close to seven tons.
Thanks for joining me here on CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Max Foster in London. "EARLY START" with Christine Romans and Omar Jimenez is next.
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