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President Biden and First Lady Jill Biden Leaving White House to Attend Funeral of Queen Elizabeth II; Mourners Line Up For Hours to View Body of Queen Elizabeth II Lying in State; Republican Governors of Texas, Arizona, and Florida Transporting Migrants to Sanctuary Cites. Aired 10-11a ET

Aired September 17, 2022 - 10:00   ET

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

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[10:00:35]

BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN ANCHOR: Buenos dias. Good morning. It's Saturday, September 17th. I'm Boris Sanchez.

WHITNEY WILD, CNN ANCHOR: And I'm Whitney Wild. You're in the CNN Newsroom. In about 30 minutes President Joe Biden and first lady Jill Biden will board Air Force One and head to London for the state funeral of Queen Elizabeth II. Right now, thousands of people are still lined up outside Westminster Hall waiting for their chance to pay their respects to the late monarch. Officials say the wait is now nearly 17 hours.

SANCHEZ: Seventeen hours. It was actually longer not that long ago. Earlier today King Charles and Prince William took time to personally greet some of the mourners shaking hands and thanking people for waiting in line for so long to honor the queen. All this is happening as CNN learned about a major royal flub. Prince Harry and his wife Meghan, the Duchess of Sussex, were apparently invited to a reception tomorrow at Buckingham Palace by mistake. A royal kerfuffle. We'll have more on that in a moment.

But let's check in with our reporters now. Jasmine Wright is live outside the White House while Anna Stewart is in that massive crowd in London. Jasmine, let's start with you. President Biden among the hundreds of world leaders that are headed to London for Monday's funeral. What are we expecting to see from the first couple while they're in the U.K.?

JASMINE WRIGHT, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Boris, the president and the first lady leave the White House here very soon. I am not sure if you can pick it up in the mics, but right now here on the lawn you can hear the sound of Marine One waiting really to take the president and first lady away. And so they land in the U.K. about 10:00 p.m. tomorrow.

But we know that the real mourning for them does not start until tomorrow, excuse me, tonight at 10:00 p.m., but the real mourning starts tomorrow for them. First, we know that they will pay their respects to her majesty, the queen. And that includes signing the official condolence book in London. Now, we know that after news broke of the queen's passing here, the president went to the British embassy, he signed that condolence book. He said she was a great lady who defined an era. But here he will sign the official condolence book in London, and then he will attend a reception hosted by King Charles.

One thing not on the president's official schedule here, Boris, I have to mention, is that he is expected to meet for the first time in person since she has taken on that role with the prime minister of Britain, Liz Truss. They have shared a phone call, but they have not met one-on-one. So they're expecting that to take place Sunday CNN previously reported. And in that conversation some sticky things like trade could come up. And so on Monday both he and the first lady will attend that state funeral and then head back to D.C. Boris, Whitney?

WILD: Jasmine wright, thank you.

For a follow up, let's go to Anna Stewart who is in that crowd. And Anna, the people in the crowd got a surprise because they saw King Charles and Prince William out there shaking hands. They were not anticipating that.

ANNA STEWART, CNN REPORTER: None of were. It was quite the surprise, I can tell you, seeing messages coming through that the king and the Prince of Wales suddenly decided to greet some of the clouds at the Lambeth Bridge, which is actually near where the queue begins to end. So not here, unfortunately. I am miles away, right where it starts.

Right now the sign behind me says it is a minimum 14 hours. The government tracker, it says 16-and-a-half hours. Unclear just how long it will take. Yesterday though, as Boris was mentioning, 24 hours minimum. So this queue has actually shortened a little bit at least since then. It's a very long time for people to wait. It gets pretty cold at night. The temperatures are certainly dropping. But everyone I've spoken to is only too happy to join the queue. I've met people hours into the queue. They really want to pair their final respects to the queen. They want to be there in person. I think there is definitely a sense that people want to mark this great moment in history.

And when we look at royal events, whether it's jubilees or royal weddings, or in this case, of course, the impending funeral, people want it to remember it. And I think lots of people feel that gathering together and having a day of it and sort of remembering the queen as a gathering is all a part of that. So people are only too happy. David Beckham was in the queue yesterday, so that is certainly probably going to draw in more crowds. But it will come to an end. Monday morning, 6:30 a.m. Westminster Hall will close. So this is really last chance for people through tonight and tomorrow morning if they really want to pay their respects. Back to you guys.

[10:05:00]

WILD: Anna Stewart, thank you.

Joining us now is Emily Nash. She's the royal editor for "Hello!" magazine. Emily, good morning to you. The next step here is for world leaders to fly to London to pay their respects to the queen, and I'm wondering what you think that says about her impact on them and what they might have learned from her own leadership.

EMILY NASH, ROYAL EDITOR, "HELLO!" MAGAZINE: Good morning. It's a real measure of the esteem in which she was held that people are flying from all corners of the globe to be here and to pay their respects and also to meet with the new king. And this is all about soft diplomacy, which the royal family is so famous for. And it's a real opportunity for them to build on relationships they already have with him moving forward.

WILD: What do you think Americans maybe don't quite understand about the nuance here, about the real affection that people throughout the U.K. have for her? Because the relationship between someone from the U.K. and the monarch is a totally different relationship than what Americans have with their own elected leaders.

NASH: Absolutely. I think the longevity of the queen's reign is key here. She was kind of an elder stateswoman for us. And I think Prince William summed it up best the other day when he said he was learning from the people he had spoken to on walkabouts this week that she was everyone's grandmother. And I think in many ways, that's how people saw her. She was head of state. She was head of nation. She was head of the royal family. But we all felt she was almost our own as well.

WILD: One thing that we will see tomorrow is we'll see Prince Andrew and Prince Harry in military dress. However, both of them have been stripped of their titles, obviously, for vastly different reasons. But I am wondering what the significance that have is.

NASH: We actually saw the Duke of York, Prince Andrew, last night in his uniform vice admiral of the Royal Navy. That was a title he has held on to, an honorary title. And he was given special dispensation to do that as a last farewell to the queen. We are going to see the same from the Duke of Sussex, Prince Harry, this evening.

And I think this is really a personal moment for them. So while they are no longer working royals, they no longer technically have the right to wear these uniforms in their honoree roles as military commanders. But this is about recognizing their affinity with the queen, because not only was she their grandmother and their mother, she was head of the armed forces and the boss, as Prince Harry has famously called her in the past.

WILD: Our Max Foster is reporting that the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, Prince Harry and Meghan have received this invitation to Buckingham Palace. This was a reception for working members of the royal family. As you just mentioned, Prince Harry and Duchess Meghan are not working royals, and Max Foster reports that this was a mistake, this was some kind of oversight. And I'm wondering what you make of that and what you think is going to happen next.

NASH: Well, it's interesting. My understanding is the invitation certainly went out, but the palace is insisting that this reception will be for working members of the royal family only. Unless there is some last-minute change of heart, I don't expect to see them at the event tomorrow. But as we know, lots of things have been changing over the last few days. There are lots of moving parts in this situation and it's one to watch.

WILD: If there is one moment tomorrow, excuse me, Monday at the funeral that you think will be the most impactful, the one thing people should remember, what do you think they should watch for?

NASH: I think we have a sort of forerunner to this event on a much smaller scale, of course, when Prince Philip passed away. But for me the most poignant moment of that was the committal service where the coffin was lowered into the royal vault at St. George's Chapel in Windsor. And that's a very moving moment, with the family around and with the lone piper playing a lament. And you have to just put it in the context of this incredible historic building where so many other monarchs have been laid to rest in a castle that was built 1,000 years ago, and it really is about sealing Queen Elizabeth's place in British history.

WILD: Emily Nash, thank you so much for your insight. We really at least it.

Our coverage continues from London as the world mourns Queen Elizabeth II ahead of her state funeral on Monday. That coverage begins at 5:00 a.m. eastern right here on CNN.

SANCHEZ: The White House is accusing Republican governors of a, quote, cruel political stunt after migrants are flown to Martha's Vineyard. How the Biden administration is planning to fight back even as GOP governors vow to keep sending migrants to so-called sanctuary cities.

Plus, hurricane watches in Puerto Rico and parts of the Dominican Republic as Tropical Storm Fiona closes in when we expect conditions will change and the potential impacts straight ahead.

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WILD: The roughly 50 migrants who were sent from Texas to Massachusetts by Florida's governor are now at a military base on Cape Cod. The migrants arrived in Martha's Vineyard on two planes arranged by Florida's Republican governor Ron DeSantis.

SANCHEZ: This is all part of a campaign by Republican governors to protest the Biden administration's immigration policies. The White House says the governors are using the migrants as political pawns while Ron DeSantis, the governor of Florida, vows to transport more migrants from the southern border to so-called sanctuary cities.

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GOV. RON DESANTIS, (R) FLORIDA: The legislature gave me $12 million. We are going to spend every penny of that to make sure that we're protecting the people of the state of Florida. And these are just the beginning efforts. We have got an infrastructure in place now. There is going to be a lot more that's happening.

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WILD: CNN's Athena Jones joins us now from New York. New York, Athena, has seen thousands of migrants dropped off by buses. So what is happening there? What's the latest on the ground?

ATHENA JONES, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Whitney. All of these cities are struggling to figure out how to deal with all of these thousands of new arrivals.

[10:15:00]

New York, as you said, has seen nearly 12,000, something like 11,600 new arrivals in recent weeks, 8,500 of these asylum seekers are being housed in the city's shelter system, homeless shelter system, but this is already a shelter system that has been overwhelmed with just trying to serve the needs of folks who are already going through problems and struggles on the streets here in New York. Now you have thousands more coming in.

Mayor Eric Adams has really been complaining loudly about these tactics by these red state governors, like Ron DeSantis, like Greg Abbott, sending these thousands of migrants who, we should be clear, they're not technically undocumented or illegal aliens as we're seeing them called by many on the right. These are people who have come in, they have been processed, they have got the paperwork, and they are going to be awaiting hearings. In some cases, the folks who have been transported thousands of miles away may have a hearing nearby where they entered. So here is what Eric Adams had to say about what he calls a Republican blueprint. Take a listen.

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MAYOR ERIC ADAMS, (D) NEW YORK CITY: For the governor to send immigrants to Martha's Vineyard without any coordination is just creating real, a real crisis. And that is the problem that we shared to our lawmakers in Washington, that this is a blueprint that you are going to see start unfolding.

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JONES: And we certainly have seen this blueprint unfolding over the last several months. It was back in April that this stuff began with Abbott beginning to send busloads to places like Washington, D.C. Now, here in New York there has been a welcome center opened at the American Red Cross headquarters, and so the folks coming -- it will be open during the day. They are being housed in shelters. People can come to this center and get all kinds of help, medical and mental health screen, a comprehensive health assessment, COVID vaccines, all the vaccinations for the children who are going to be entering or hoping to register in New York City schools, legal help and that sort of thing.

And we also know that the city is planning to open several more of these satellite centers to help folks coming in. But they want more help. They want help from the local, state, federal, any kind of help and resources they can get to be able to deal with what they are calling a cruel stunt from these red state governors. Boris, Whitney?

SANCHEZ: Athena Jones reporting from New York, thank you so much.

So President Biden has criticized Republican officials for, quote, playing politics with human beings.

WILD: Lawyers from the Departments of Justice and Homeland Security are separately weighing legal options. Yesterday the White House press secretary accused Governors DeSantis and Abbott of using tactics similar to those used by smugglers in Mexico and Guatemala.

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KARINE JEAN-PIERRE, WHITE HOUSE DEPUTY PRESS SECRETARY: These vulnerable migrants were reportedly misled about where they were headed, told they would be headed to Boston, misled about what they would be provided when they arrived, promised shelter, refuge, benefits, and more. These are the kinds of tactics we see from smugglers in places like Mexico and Guatemala. And for what? A photo op?

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WILD: CNN's Priscilla Alvarez joins us now. Priscilla, the White House officials met yesterday to discuss how to respond to the situation. So what do we know about the efforts so far?

PRISCILLA ALVAREZ, CNN REPORTER: For months the Biden administration been grappling with increasing number of migrants at the U.S.-Mexico border. And yesterday they did meet to talk about support along the border and funding. A White House official told us that this was a meeting that was previously planned, but it of course comes during a time when Republican governors have elevated their attacks against the Biden administration, most recently this week with Florida Governor Ron DeSantis claiming credit for two charter flights that arrived in Martha's Vineyard with some 50 migrants.

This is something that Texas Governor Greg Abbott and Arizona Governor Doug Ducey have been doing for a few months now. And just to break it down a little bit in numbers. These two governors have been sending buses to the cities of D.C. and Texas, to New York City and Chicago as well. And so as of Thursday what we know is that over 8,000 migrants have been sent to D.C. on some 190 buses, New York City, over 2,500 on some 45 buses, and then Chicago over 600 on 10 buses. Arizona, as I mentioned, is only sending buses carrying migrants to D.C. and they've sent 50 buses with some 1,800 people on it. And then of course Florida this week sending, or claiming credit to send migrants to Martha's Vineyard, and that was 50.

Now, as you mentioned there, the lawyers with the Department of Homeland Security and the Justice Department are considering and discussing litigation options, but this has been something going on for months now, and it has received criticism from both the Department of Homeland Security, which says that the biggest part and the biggest problem of this is the lack of coordination with the cities that are receiving these migrants.

[10:20:04]

And as you heard from Athena, that is difficult for the cities to contend with. So this is an ongoing issue that the Biden administration has been grappling with as it also tries to wrestle with the number of migrants that are arriving at the U.S.-Mexico border. Boris and Whitney?

SANCHEZ: And Priscilla, what happens to these migrants who have been shuffled around the country?

ALVAREZ: Now, migrants can move out of the country once they are released from government custody. And so it is likely that they would have moved anyway to some of these different cities. They don't often stay on the U.S.-Mexico border once released. And so once they move about, they will go through their immigration proceedings, and that is where an immigration judge will decide whether or not they can remain in the United States. Boris?

SANCHEZ: Priscilla Alvarez reporting live from Miami, Florida, thank you so much.

Let's dig deeper now with Republican Congresswoman Victoria Spartz. She is currently serving on the House Judiciary Committee and Subcommittee on Immigration and Citizenship. Congresswoman, we are grateful you are sharing part of your weekend with us. Just quickly, I want to get your response to what you are seeing unfold in places like Martha's Vineyard.

REP. VICTORIA SPARTZ (R-IN): Well, let me tell you, I actually went to the Texas border three times last year, and the situation is very dangerous and it's a very serious situation. And I'll be honest with you, Democrats are playing politics with people's lives. And these poor people become hostages to cartels. They have been sold in slavery. And it's pretty bad. And I think cartels are making a lot of money to open up our border. It's a very serious situation.

So when we're talking about crisis, it is a serious crisis. It's a national security crisis. And I hope we stop playing politics and look at it on a bipartisan basis. I asked my colleagues to actually let's just work about that. Let's just find a solution to our illegal immigration, but also secure this border, because this is bad for the people, the poor people that come into this country and desperate people. It's bad for our country. It's bad for everyone, and no one is wanting to do it, and it's unfortunate. So I am glad at least we are talking about it, and, hopefully, we continue doing that.

SANCHEZ: Congresswoman, I want to play some sound for you from Rachel Self. She is an immigration attorney that's representing some of the folks that were sent to Martha's Vineyard. Listen to this.

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RACHEL SELF, BOSTON IMMIGRATION ATTORNEY: They were lied to again and again, and fraudulently induced to board the planes. They were told there was a surprise present for them, and that there would be jobs and housing waiting for them when they arrived. This was, obviously, a sadistic lie. Not only did those responsible for this stunt know that there was no housing and no employment awaiting the migrants, they also very intentionally chose not to call ahead.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANCHEZ: Congresswoman, it sounds like some migrants were lied to about where they were going when they were put on planes headed to that island. You and I have something in common. You were born in the former USSR. You are an immigrant. And just like I did when I was a child, you came to this country fleeing totalitarianism Marxism. These Venezuelan migrants are trying to get away from a similar kind of oppression. Do you think the way they are being treated is appropriate? Is this how you would have liked to be treated when you came to the United States?

SPARTZ: Well, I'll tell you something. I feel sorry for those people, because the first time they get lied when the cartels in the countries from the northern triangle are lying to them, and we are allowed to have bad policy on the border. They are taken advantage by the cartels. I am actually going to meet with the Ambassador of Guatemala this week. We need to deal with the situation. These people are becoming hostages. They are becoming enslaved and sold to very, very dangerous organizations that take control our border. They are controlling our border. So these people are pawns, by the way, with our policy, the border created opportunities for them to take advantage of this poor people. And I feel sorry for them, but we cannot open that border.

SANCHEZ: Congresswoman, I don't disagree with you -- respectfully, Congresswoman, I don't disagree with you at all about the cartels taking advantage of migrants. It is well-documented. I am wondering what you think of what these Republican governors have done to these migrants once they have arrived in the United States. They apparently were misled and put on planes and buses not knowing where they were going, told they were going to be held by a humanitarian organization that does not exist. Is that how you would have about wanted to be treated when you arrived in the United States as an immigrant?

SPARTZ: I came in legally, and I actually came and paid for my ticket and followed the rules, and I came to the United States, actually it was a long way to be able to follow those rules. So I think we need to find legal ways for people to come here because when you create perverse incentives to come illegally, people will be abused by the system.

[10:25:02]

And I think that is what we are creating right now. We're creating incentives for these poor people to be taken advantage of. So we need to find a good way to legally for people to immigrate to our country better, because it benefits the country. We are a country of immigrants, but we're also a country of law and order. We cannot have lawlessness. And I think that is time we have to have discussion. But I'm glad at

least we're talking about this issues, because we have a hard time raising awareness. And I think at least my Democrat colleagues are start talking about it, and at least the Democrat mayor of New York is talking about it's a crisis, because it has been a crisis for a while in the state of Texas. And no one wants to look at that. And it is a humanitarian crisis. It is a national security crisis.

And I hope we can have a productive conversation, not a political one, because we have human lives, we have people at stake, we have a Border Patrol, we have a lot of bad people can cross the border. So this is a very dangerous situation, and I think it's not time for politics and we need to find some solutions.

SANCHEZ: Congresswoman, I have not heard you give a judgment on whether you think these Republican governors like Ron DeSantis and Greg Abbott and Doug Ducey are treating these migrants appropriately. Do you agree with the tactic that they are using?

SPARTZ: You have to look into that. I wasn't there, so I don't know exactly what is happening there. So I am not going to make some comments on something. I wasn't there. So I think people are going to look into that. But I will tell you one thing, raising awareness about this issue by these governors, I applaud them for doing that, because we need to raise awareness. We need to make sure that we as a Congress are dealing with this situation, and how it's treated, how it's not treated. I think we have to look into detail. We have enough people to look into that. So I don't want to comment something that I only heard from other people. So that's all politics.

SANCHEZ: Sure, there will likely be an investigation into what these immigrants were promised. But specifically, what these governors have acknowledged, Ron DeSantis acknowledged that he had these migrants get on a plane to Martha's Vineyard. He joked about it. He laughed about it when he was talking to reporters. It's well documented what they are doing. Do you agree with the tactic? Do you agree with what they are doing with these migrants?

SPARTZ: Well, I think it's going to be just a problem of southern states. The other states need to understand, but also don't understand such a thing sanctuary cities. The federal government should have a policy that applies to all the states. There are states red, there are federal responsibility, and immigration policy is controlled at the federal level. So I don't think cities should be able to circumvent federal laws and provide illegal people to be able to stay in the country.

I think there are a lot of problems happen with that, and I think we have to start a discussion on that. But I think what was happening right now, and we are talking about the issue, it's very important, and other states needs to understand it's not just problem of Texas, of Florida or Arizona or California. It's a problem all of us. We don't have borders from other states. Other states need to understand that this is a real problem, real people.

When you have Border Patrol overwhelmed, when you have local communities in Texas have influx of an enormous amount of people, it's a problem. So it is a problem for Martha's Vineyard. It is a problem for Texas. And I think the Martha's Vineyard need to understand these people come with big numbers and they don't have resources to deal with that, too. And we cannot just make it a problem on one state because the state is really overwhelmed right now. It's a huge problem for the state of Texas. And as an Indiana representative, I feel I have to help my other states, too. It is my duty because ultimately, we are a union of states. And if the federal government drops the ball on issues, we have a responsibility to help each other to secure our country.

SANCHEZ: Congresswoman, we are going to set the issue of immigration to the side because we want to ask you about Ukraine. As I noted earlier, you were born in the former USSR in Ukraine. You were there just a short time ago, and you recently wrote a letter to Secretary of State Antony Blinken asking for the United States to promptly rebuild the diplomatic mission in Ukraine. Why is this the right time?

SPARTZ: Well, I think it is a very important time because we're spending billions of dollars of American money and we want to be successful in that. It is a very strategic problem. It is a very big problem in Europe, and I think this is something that is -- this aggression and war has ripple effects throughout the whole world. And if we don't deescalate the situation and bring international order back, we will have more and more problems. You see what is happening with famine, with inflation, with energy.

And it's really not just a problem of Ukraine. It's a huge problem for all of us. So we need to lead. And we cannot be in the country without having a very good, strong diplomatic mission, because we haven't had an ambassador for a while. Then we completely pulled out. I think we have a very good ambassador now.

[10:30:00]

She has a very good team. And actually, it shows already some results that we start leading in managing what's happening there. It's extremely important that when we give money to the other countries, we actually manage and lead. I will give you an example. We give money to the norther triangle, to countries like that, we also need to manage and lead. And especially in countries like Ukraine where we don't have established democratic institutions. It's a very fragile and young democracy with a lot of infiltration by Russians, a lot of political interests, a lot of corruption and everything else.

But the army and military, the general that leads that army, he is a real hero that will bring in people who is not buying new weapons, but they fight in a big army. These are real heroes. These are people that want freedoms. And when you have -- you came from Cuba, and you know how hard to get freedoms back and how many people are suffering still there. But when you have people bottom up willing to fight and die for freedoms, with our leadership helping these people that money and weapons given directly to these people and have a good mission over there, will be successful and the whole world will be successful.

SANCHEZ: Congresswoman Victoria Spartz, we appreciate you taking time for us this weekend. He we hope you come back to talk Ukraine, immigration, and other issues. Thanks.

SPARTZ: Thank you. Thank you for having me.

WILD: Puerto Rico is already feeling the outer bands of Tropical Storm Fiona. This as people on the island now bracing for strong winds, heavy rains. We will track all of that next.

Plus, live pictures out of Washington, President Biden leaving to attend the queen's funeral. More on that just ahead.

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[10:36:08]

WILD: Hurricane watches are up in Puerto Rico and parts of the Dominican Republic as Tropical Storm Fiona closes in.

SANCHEZ: Let's take you to the CNN Weather Center and CNN meteorologist Allison Chinchar. Allison, what are you seeing in the forecast this morning?

ALLISON CHINCHAR, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Right. So the latest update shows Tropical Storm Fiona with winds at 60 miles an hour sustained, that means consistent winds. And then they are gusting up around that 70 mile per hour range. We are really starting to see a lot of those outer bands begin to push a little bit farther west, yes, even into areas of the U.S. Virgin Islands as well as Puerto Rico. But a lot of the heavy stuff is still focused a little bit farther off to the east.

But the forward track of this takes it west at about 13 miles an hour. We do anticipate this storm is expected to strengthen in the next 24 to 36 hours. That's why you actually have hurricane watches out for Puerto Rico and portions of the U.S. Virgin Islands, even though it is not actually a hurricane at this moment. It's because the forecast calls for that strengthening to take place.

Here's a look at the forecast track. Again, you can see it makes its way just along the southern edge of Puerto Rico, then before moving to Hispaniola. By that point we do anticipate this will be a category one hurricane, and then it continues to make more of that right turn towards the north, steering it away from the U.S. mainland.

Now, with that said, I do still want to caution it will still get close enough that we're likely going to have a threat for rip currents and some pretty high surf along the east coast of Florida. In the short term, however, the main concern is going to be all the heavy rain across Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands.

SANCHEZ: A lot to watch for. Allison Chinchar, thank you so much.

So the Department of Justice is making a late night appeal to allow the criminal investigation into those classified documents found at former President Donald Trump's home in Mar-a-Lago to continue. A closer look at the legal challenges straight ahead.

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SANCHEZ: The U.S. Justice Department is asking that parts of an order related to documents seized from former President Trump's home be put on hold.

WILD: The request filed last night asks the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals to exclude classified documents from a special master's assessment, and they are also asking the appeals court it allow them to continue their criminal investigation. CNN's Annie Grayer joins us now. So Annie, just explain what happened yesterday at this Friday night filing and what happens next.

ANNIE GRAYER, CNN REPORTER: Let's just take a step back here. What we are talking about is some of the most classified, sensitive government documents that the FBI found when it searched Donald Trump's home in Mar-a-Lago. And at issue here is who can view them and what can happen with the investigation. The Department of Justice has currently been unable to resume its criminal investigation into these classified documents, and it wants to be able to resume that investigation. They say that any further pause on their investigation is a threat to national security because of how sensitive these documents are.

And the judge who has put a pause on the DOJ from being able to review these documents has also said that a third party known as a special master and Donald Trump's team can view these documents and giving that special master and his team to November 30th to be able to do that. And DOJ last night said that the special master and Donald Trump's team should not be able to view these documents because they are classified, and said that these documents belong to the Department of Justice. and Donald Trump and his team shouldn't be able to view them because they could potentially be witnesses to some of the crimes that DOJ wants to continue to investigate. So this is with the appeals court now. We are expecting a ruling from the appeals court soon. And this really could go all the way up to the Supreme Court.

WILD: And this is one of the arguments the Justice Department has made is that stopping this criminal probe, it is an impact to national security because they think the criminal probe and the intelligence review, which the judge is allowing to continue, are inextricably linked. So that's really where the harm comes in. And the DOJ feeling passionately about that.

GRAYER: Absolutely. And this is a legal back and forth that we should expect to see a lot more on.

WILD: Absolutely. Annie Grayer, thanks for explaining all of that to us.

All right, stocks fell Friday after an ominous morning from the CEO of FedEx about the state of the global economy. CNN's Alison Kosik reports.

ALISON KOSIK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Whitney and Boris. FedEx's CEO was pretty direct about where he thinks the economy is going. In a CNBC interview, where he actually blindsided investors, he gave a pretty ominous warning that he thinks the slowdown in his business shows we're on a path towards a worldwide recession, and FedEx believes things will only get worse as we head towards the end of the year.

In a pre-earnings announcement, FedEx said it missed revenue targets by a half-billion dollar. Research analysts Ken Hoexter with Bank of America told me that FedEx's announcement shows that the U.S. economy is decelerating and is just one more example of the drumbeat getting louder about where the economy is headed.

[10:45:04]

Hoexter says other companies over the past few months have noticed a slowdown in the economy, too, like Walmart and Target indicating they have too much inventory and Amazon closing warehouses because they overbuilt. So FedEx is just another canary in the coal mine. It's announcement caused shares of FedEx to tank more than 20 percent, also causing a frenzy in the broader market because FedEx is seen as a barometer for the bigger economy. And the thinking is, if it's doing poorly, then what does that mean for the economy as a whole?

Which brings me to a fun fact for the weekend. Former Federal Reserve Chair Alan Greenspan himself used to think of FedEx as an economic bellwether as well, similar to how he saw men's underwear sales as a key economic predictor. Sales of men's underwear are usually static, and if sales drop, well, it shows a pullback in spending of men's underwear. It's just one of the many strange ways experts try to predict booms and busts. Back to you, Whitney and Boris.

SANCHEZ: The men's underwear indicator. I guess it's a thing. Alison Kosik, thanks so much.

So we're fewer than two months out from the midterm elections and there is one candidate shifting tactics. Why the Trump-backed Republican Senate candidate in Arizona is switching up his message. We'll be right back.

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[10:50:51]

WILD: Democratic Senator Mark Kelly is facing a tough re-election campaign in conservative leaning Arizona.

SANCHEZ: Yes, but his Republican challenger Blake Masters who won the support of Donald Trump is having some trouble of his own After the GOP's super PAC Senate leadership fund cut $8 million in his planned ad spending. Now masters is dialing back his rhetoric and making edits to his website in an effort to win over Arizona voters. CNN's Kyung Lah has more.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Please join me in welcoming Blake Masters.

(APPLAUSE) KYUNG LAH, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Arizona Republican Senate nominee Blake Masters pledges he is paving a path for the new political right.

BLAKE MASTERS, (R) RUNNING FOR U.S. SENATE IN ARIZONA: Who is ready to beat Mark Kelly?

(APPLAUSE)

LAH: But first, Masters needs Arizona voters like Jon Cain to get behind him.

JON CAIN, REGISTERED REPUBLICAN: If he doesn't turn his head around, he is going to lose the election.

LAH: Are you concerned about him?

CAIN: Absolutely. He runs an ad on TV and then at the end it says, independent for Arizona. I said, what?

LAH: It's the general election pivot, trying to appeal to independents who make up roughly a third of registered voters in Arizona.

MASTERS: They have made a whole party out of just dividing people.

LAH: In this speech, Masters focuses on the border, inflation, and crime.

MASTERS: Republicans have a plan to make our families safe again, to make this country prosperous again, and to make everybody free again. Does that sound extreme it you?

LAH: But the edgy rhetoric and imagery that marked his primary was missing. The primary candidate who doubted the 2020 election results --

MASTERS: I think Trump won in 2020.

LAH: -- and downplayed the January 6th insurrection --

MASTERS: It wasn't a coup. It wasn't an insurrection. This was trespassing.

LAH: -- didn't mention Donald Trump in this room.

MASTERS: I am pro-life and I'm proud to be pro-life. I will never run away from that.

(APPLAUSE)

MASTERS: Thank you.

LAH: But he has altered his campaign website, scrubbing strict anti- abortion language, and he's backed off from this primary position.

MASTERS: Maybe we should privatize Social Security, private retirement accounts. Get the government out of it.

LAH: To this in the general election.

MASTERS: I don't want to privatize it. They, you know, that was probably a misstatement by me.

I'm saying the same stuff I said in the primary. The Democrats have failed. They have delivered nothing but chaos and pain. We are pushing back. We have got a beautiful America first agenda. I was proud to campaign on that for more than a year, and that's exactly what I'm campaigning on now.

LAH: So you're saying the message is exactly the same as it was before the primary?

MASTERS: Asked and answered.

LAH: The Senate leadership fund, the super PAC to help elect Republicans, canceled $8 million in planned ad spending to boost Masters this month.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Blake Masters, too dangerous for Arizona.

LAH: At the same time as incumbent Democratic Senator Mark Kelly and allies are pouring millions into ads using Masters' words against him.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We can't trust Blake Masters with our retirement.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You're incredible Senator Mark Kelly!

LAH: Kelly, one the Senate's most endangered incumbents, has 20 times the amount of cash on hand compared to Masters and vows to continue calling out the contrast between the candidates.

SEN. MARK KELLY (D-AZ): I think it's important that Arizonans know what each of us stand for. And I think that's pretty clear.

I think all elections are about choices. And they are pretty obvious choices.

(APPLAUSE)

(END VIDEO TAPE)

WILD: That was CNN's Kyung Lah reporting.

Thank you, guys, so much for joining us, spending part of your Saturday here at CNN.

SANCHEZ: Appreciate you tagging in, Whitney. Hope you enjoy the rest of your weekend. Thanks for joining us.

And thank you for joining us. Don't go anywhere because it's about to get a lot more enjoyable when Fredricka Whitfield picks up the next hour of the CNN Newsroom. Take care.

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