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CNN International: Former White House Aide Defends Jan 6th Probe Testimony; Calfire Using AI to Spot Fires before they Spread; France to Withdraw Troops from Niger after Coup; Powerball Jackpot at $785M for Monday's Drawing; Usher Set to Headline Super Bowl Halftime Show Next Year. Aired 4:30-5a ET
Aired September 25, 2023 - 04:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[04:30:00]
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BIANCA NOBILO, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome back to CNN "Newsroom", I'm Bianca Nobilo.
MAX FOSTER, CNN ANCHOR: I'm Max Foster, you're just joining us let me bring you up to date with our top stories this hour. Hollywood studios and writers have reached a tentative deal to end the strike paving a path towards ending the historic work stoppage for this frozen production and paralyze much of Hollywood.
The U.S. government is heading for a shutdown later this week unless lawmakers can come to an agreement and pass a spending bill. Right now there are no signs of compromise amongst Republican lawmakers.
NOBILO: A U.S. Democratic Senator is facing growing calls to resign over corruption related charges. Bob Menendez and his wife have been accused of accepting bribes including gold, cash and a luxury vehicle in exchange for the Senator's influence. Members of his own party have acknowledged that the charges are serious and some urging him to step down, CNN's Polo Sandoval reports.
POLO SANDOVAL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: What New Jersey Democratic lawmaker Frank Pallone now becoming one of the latest a call for the resignation of New Jersey Senator Bob Menendez and his statements Pallone wrote that though Menendez is entitled to his day in court, he wrote that is still difficult to see how he can adequately serve given the seriousness of these allegations that came to light last week.
Pallone, now becoming these six out of nine House Democrats from New Jersey to call on Menendez to step down not on that list Rob Menendez which is Menendez, his own son actually represents New Jersey's eighth Congressional District. He wrote that he still has "unwavering confidence" in his father.
However, the list of those who do not certainly continues to grow almost by the day. Here are some more elected officials who spoke out on Sunday calling from Menendez's resignation, including one member of the House of Representatives on the Democratic side who said that she fears that this could potentially affect her chamber as well.
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REP. ALEXANDRIA OCASIO-CORTEZ (D-NY): I do believe that it is in the best interests for Senator Menendez to resign in this moment. As you mentioned, consistency matters. It shouldn't matter whether it's a Republican or a Democrat. The details in this indictment are extremely serious. They involve the nature of not just his but all of our seats in Congress.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You think he should resign?
REP. MIKE TURNER (R-OH): I absolutely think that everyone has been calling for his resignation. I think that the body of allegations are certainly of the kind that it's makes it very difficult for him to do his job.
SEN. MARK KELLY (D-AZ): He stepped down from being chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee. That's a serious step. I think Senator Menendez is going to have to think long and hard about the cloud. That's going to hang over his service in the United States Senate.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SANDOVAL: After his part, Senator Menendez maintains that he will not be stepping down we initially expected to hear from him on Sunday during his annual Hispanic Heritage Month event. However, that was postponed by his office we have reached out to Menendez's representatives to try to find out why that actually happened. Polo Sandoval, CNN, New York.
FOSTER: Former Trump White House Aide Cassidy Hutchinson is defending her bombshell testimony from last year in the probe of the January 6 insurrection. Here's part of what she had to share in a new interview.
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CASSIDY HUTCHINSON, FORMER TRUMP WHITE HOUSE AIDE: What I have to gain by coming forward now it would have been easier for me to continue being complicit and to stay in the comfortable zone of I had some sense of security, a semblance of security.
[04:35:00]
I knew people I can easily reach out to for jobs. I had friends.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Have you talked to either Tony or Bobby since?
HUTCHINSON: I have not talked to many people and Trump -- since the day of my testimony.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
NOBILO: Hutchinson said she was forced into hiding after giving that testimony. She told investigators that Former President Trump was aware of possible violence on January 6, but went ahead with attempts to rile up supporters among other things. One Republican political analyst talked about why Hutchinson's testimony still resonates now.
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MARGARET HOOVER, REPUBLICAN CONSULTANT: I'm really grateful for Cassidy Hutchinson, to have at the time had the courage to come forward and tell the truth, despite all of the dire repercussions. And this security concern is just another example of the kind of repercussions the person with the moral courage to do the right thing had to deal with.
And that's something we really need to think about in our political system as we ratchet up the rhetoric as it's gotten hoarser as we have really made enemies out of our political opponents. This is getting hotter and hotter to a point that this is not sustainable in a representative democracy that operates securely her comments really gave me pause.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
FOSTER: Well, Hutchinson also co-operated with Georgia prosecutors investigating Trump's efforts to overturn the 2020 election. When asked whether she would vote for her Former boss again, she said no because "is dangerous for the country".
NOBILO: Republican Congressman Paul Gosar is echoing Former U.S. President Trump suggesting that outgoing Joint Chiefs Chairman General Mark Milley should be hanged for his suppose disloyalty to Trump. In a bizarre rant published on his government website.
The Arizona Republican accuses General Milley without evidence of conspiring with Democrats to delay law enforcement's response to January 6.
FOSTER: The post is eerily similar to comments made by Trump on truth social just days ago, which said in times gone by the punishment would have been DEATH. However, a CNN military harmless says proposing such a kind of violence against any military member is vile.
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LT. GEN. MARK HERTLING (RETD.), CNN MILITARY ANALYST: This proposed violence by any political figure is disgusting, shows how deeply disturbed both of these individuals are. And both of their rants not just the tweet you showed from Representative Gosar. But his delivered statement to the press was sexist, racist, and vile.
And it just shows the extent to which these kinds of things have become commonplace and not condemned in our divided country.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
FOSTER: California's wildfire season is winding down but the threat seems to grow more ominous every single year. So fire officials are always looking for ways to gain an advantage.
NOBILO: And the latest may come in a network of cameras linked to artificial intelligence. CNN's Stephanie Elam takes a closer look at this remarkable technology.
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STEPHANIE ELAM, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): In California, where wildfires are a constant threat, firefighters want every advantage they can get on a blaze before it becomes an inferno.
SCOTT SLUMPFF, BATTALION CHIEF AT CAL FIRE: While I was asleep in bed, my phone dings.
ELAM (voice-over): Cal Fire Scott Slumpff got that leg up while testing new technology in July when he got a text message with a link to this video of a fire that started in the middle of the night deep in the California wilderness.
SLUMPFF: The dispatch center there was not aware of the fire.
ELAM (voice-over): But something else was artificial intelligence. Cal Fire in partnership with UC San Diego's alert California Program and its network of more than 1000 cameras across the state is using the technology to recognize a fire early on.
STAFF CHIEF PHILLIP SELEAGUE, FIRE INTELLIGENCE OF CAL FIRE: The next morning that fire would have been a fire of significance.
ELAM (voice-over): Instead, firefighters were dispatched immediately knocking the blades down before it did major damage.
SELEAGUE: So the fires that you don't hear about in the news are the greatest success of this.
ELAM (voice-over): These cameras are the new eyes for firefighters. These two position more than 5000 feet above sea level can see across this massive Southern California Valley. And they're really adding precision to the spotting of wildfires compared to more traditional ways like this lookout station where I'm standing.
With this new AI technology, they can often spot wildfires more quickly than the human eye can. Here's how it works. Look at this image. Could you spot a fire? Probably not, but notice that red box on the right side. That's where artificial intelligence has detected a faint column of smoke.
BRIAN NORTON, ALERT CALIFORNIA FIRE LIAISON: There's nothing on that horizon. Then something appears on that horizon that wasn't there before. That could be smoke. The camera will pick that up and go that does not look normal.
SELEAGUE: We have multiple successes of fires at night that had gone undetected.
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They're able to suppress before a nun one phone call had even come into the command centers. ELAM (voice-over): The pilot program works so well that Cal Fire recently expanded it to all 21 of its dispatch centers, where an official will validate the imagery to make sure it is not just dust or clouds.
SELEAGUE: Our goal as an agency is to keep 95 percent of our fires at 10 acres or less. So this tool increases our ability to ensure that we're keeping those fires small.
ELAM (voice-over): And the AI is constantly learning. Each time a human confirms or corrects, what detects. The technology adapts.
ELAM: Do you think that it's making a difference and how you're able to protect the population?
SLUMPFF: Yes, absolutely.
ELAM (voice-over): This technology won't replace people, Cal Fire says.
SLUMPFF: Nothing can take the place of the boots on the ground.
ELAM (voice-over): But can help first responders stop fires before they explode.
SLUMPFF: In my opinion, save lives and property.
ELAM (voice-over): Stephanie Elam, CNN, Riverside County, California.
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FOSTER: Coming up, France continues to support Niger's democratically elected President. Weeks after he was deposed in a coup, I will tell you about Paris's next steps in the country ahead.
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NOBILO: The U.S. Defense Secretary is in Africa for the first time in that role discussing regional security with allied nations. Lloyd Austin beginning the trip in Djibouti where he met with troops and spoke with that country's President and the President of Somalia about their fight against terrorist groups like Al Shabaab.
Austin will also visit Kenya on Monday and will focus on building stronger relations with Angola later in the week.
FOSTER: Month after Niger's military overthrew the democratically elected President in a coup. France is announcing that it'll withdraw all its troops from the West African nation. Some 15,000 French troops are stationed in Niger to assisting counterterrorism missions in the region.
[04:45:00]
NOBILO: President Emmanuel Macron says he's also withdrawing the French Ambassador from Niger effective immediately. The country's military junta wrote welcome Frances actions saying imperialist and neo-colonialist forces are no longer welcome on our national territory.
FOSTER: A lot going on Larry Madowo's patch. First take us through what you make of France's latest movements in the complete withdrawal.
LARRY MADOWO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Max, it's been well received in the country. As you can see from the statement from Niger's military junta, they say this is a testament to the will and determination of the Nigerian people. And it's a major win for them because they have frustrated the French Ambassador.
They have said that they were canceling all military co-operation contracts with the French military going back to 1977. And President Emmanuel Macron essentially said they're not interested in fighting terrorists anymore. So essentially, there's no need for French troops to remain on Nigerian soil. Listen to what he said in this interview last night.
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EMMANUEL MACRON, FRENCH PRESIDENT: It will be organized over time in the weeks to come. But it is the end of this co-operation, because we are not here to participate in political life to be hostages in some way to the putschists, but it will be very clear. We already see it today in Mali.
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MADOWO: It's a major blow to French presence in central and West Africa. Again, French troops had to withdraw out of Mali and Burkina Faso after similar coups. And this is the club coup lot is essentially Mali, Burkina Faso, Guinea and Niger have all come together for a military alliance of their own.
So this is happening as the U.S. Secretary of Defense, Lloyd Austin on his first African trip. He has been in Djibouti meeting the President and the Defense Secretary there in Djibouti as well as the President of Somalia, because this is the major launching point for the U.S. counterterrorism operation in neighboring Somalia, where it supports the Somali military there.
And the African Union troops on the ground fighting al-Shabaab that is a main branch of al-Qaeda. Secretary Austin is then expected this afternoon here in Nairobi in Kenya to meet with the leadership here before he heads over to Angola as well on this first trip across the region.
And it's important that he's been in Djibouti meeting with the troops as well, because that's the only U.S. permanent base of the military in Africa. Camp Lemonnier has about 4000 U.S. troops and civilian personnel, another 1000, 3rd Country personnel as they're known.
So it's a really important part of the U.S. military operation, not just the Horn of Africa region, but all across the African continent. And it's important to build these relationships at a time when there is some resistance on the African continent to the presence of Western troops on African soil.
FOSTER: OK, Larry, thank you so much for bringing us now.
NOBILO: Ethnic Armenians living in the breakaway Nagorno-Karabakh region have started arriving in Armenia. The Armenian government says more than 2000 refugees have entered the country so far. Tens of thousands more could follow after Azerbaijan reclaims Nagorno-Karabakh this week.
The area is home to some 120,000 ethnic Armenians who have rejected Azerbaijani rule.
FOSTER: Azerbaijan has said it'll guarantee their rights but experts have repeatedly warned of the risk of ethnic cleansing. The conflict between the two sides has risen on and off for decades now. In this latest bout, Azerbaijan's is short offensive ended with Armenian fighters agreeing to surrender Russia and ally of both countries brokered the ceasefire. Armenia's Prime Minister now says his country's interest's work protected.
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NIKOL PASHINYAN, ARMENIAN PRIME MINISTER: Azerbaijan's attacks on Armenia in the last years clearly show that the external security structures Armenia as a part of are not affected from the perspective of Armenia security and state interests.
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FOSTER: Officials say at least 200 people are killed and 400 others wounded in Azerbaijan's military operation.
NOBILO: Serbia is denying any involvement in a deadly clash between police and ethnic Serb government in Northern Kosovo. The violence started when police saw two trucks creating a blockade near a bridge. They attempted to intervene and a gun battle broke out.
It moved to a monastery where the attackers barricaded themselves. At the end of the standoff one police officer and three attackers were dead.
The candle light vigil was held on Sunday night in honor of the slain officer ethnic Albanians form the vast majority in Kosovo. And Serbs in the northern part of the country had never accepted Kosovo's declaration of independence, which was in 2008.
NOBILO: Princess Taylor Swift adds fuel to the fire of romantic speculation of debt appearing in the family suite of an NFL player that she may or may not be dating. That is coming up ahead for you.
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[04:50:00]
FOSTER: Stories in the spotlight this hour there is another chance to grab the very lucky Powerball tickets the jackpot is now $785 million often on one Saturdays draw.
NOBILO: The next drawing is tonight. If someone matches all five numbers, plus, the Powerball that person could choose to take the whole jackpot in payments over several years, or take a lump sum of an estimated $367 million.
FOSTER: That was the lump sum.
NOBILO: As the curtain comes down on one of the greatest women's soccer careers in history, Megan Rapinoe and her last game with the U.S. Women's National Team as a winner. The squad defeated South Africa in 2-0 in a friendly match Sunday in Chicago. Rapinoe got a standing ovation as she left the field.
The 38 year old has won the golden boots, golden ball and Ballon d'Or during her career. Her last regular season league game takes place in Seattle on October 6.
FOSTER: What a career! The NFL and Apple Music announced Sunday that Grammy winning musician Usher will headline the Super Bowl halftime show next year. In that the statement Usher said being a Super Bowl headliner was on his bucket list and called the honor of a lifetime.
Usher was part of the show during the 2011 Super Bowl but this will be his first time as the main performer Super Bowl 58 or take place in Las Vegas on Sunday February 11 2024.
[04:55:00]
Also in the NFL, the Miami Dolphins ramped up the offense on Sunday scoring 70 points in a win over the Denver Broncos. They are the 13th to reach that number just two points shy of the record total scored by Washington in 1966. Losing Coach Sean Payton wasn't in a mood to dwell on it though.
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SEAN PAYTON, DENVER BRONCOS HEAD COACH: I know that you said it's embarrassing, but this is kind of a historic game.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: How more?
PAYTON: It is a third time the team has scored 70 points over seven -- .
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What's the question? I just finished telling -- next question.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
FOSTER: Definitely not dwelling on it.
NOBILO: And finally, next story, Kansas City tight end Travis Kelce had a very special guest in his family suite for Sunday's game. It was pop superstar Taylor Swift as you can see there. The singer wore a red and white team jacket and appeared to be seated next to Kelce's mother Donna.
Rumors have been swirling for a few weeks that the two are now an item but neither has confirmed any romantic link.
FOSTER: I mean, they put the question, you know, the coverage of that story.
NOBILO: Yes.
FOSTER: But I think if people are really into it, she's you know, she understands media objects better than anyone.
NOBILO: Exactly and also in America. She's the biggest music superstar and he's a huge sports.
FOSTER: Yes.
NOBILO: So they'd be quite feel American.
FOSTER: Well, isn't it people like hope it you know, they want it to be true, but of that.
NOBILO: Yes, exactly. But as you pointed out, they both would understand optics and the rumors would swell.
FOSTER: Yes.
NOBILO: After that happened.
FOSTER: As we just proved.
NOBILO: Yes. So we're feeding into that, you're welcome.
FOSTER: Joining us here on CNN "Newsroom". I'm Max Foster.
NOBILO: And I'm Bianca Nobilo. "Early Start" is up next right here on CNN and we'll see you tomorrow.
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