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Bob Menendez Vehemently Denies He Took Bribes; Tennessee's First Elected Transgender Official to be Sworn in; U.S. Defense Secretary in Kenya to Bolster Security Partnership; T-Swift Helps Boost T-Kelce's Jersey Sales 400 Percent. Aired 4:30-5a ET

Aired September 26, 2023 - 04:30   ET

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

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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, these are the top stories this hour. Ukraine claims that killed the commander of Russia's Black Sea Fleet on Friday in an attack on Russian annex Crimea, along with 33 other officers and more than 100 service members.

U.S. President Joe Biden is expected in Michigan today. We'll join striking auto workers on the picket line. Meanwhile, a Saturday deadline looms for Congress to avoid a government shutdown.

NOBILO: Indicted U.S. Senator Bob Menendez is vehemently denying that he and his wife took hundreds of thousands of dollars in bribes and his refusing escalating demands that he resigned. Menendez held a news conference Monday in his home state of New Jersey. He said the half million dollars in cash.

Federal investigators uncovered were his savings for emergencies and he said he will be fully exonerated. Menendez and his wife are accused of taking bribes to help three New Jersey businessmen and the Government of Egypt. Peter Welch of Vermont has now become the third U.S. Senate Democrat to demand Menendez stepped down.

New Jersey's Governor also has done so but Menendez says he isn't budging. Federal investigators say Menendez and his wife accepted the cash, gold or luxury convertible payments towards his wife's mortgage, home furnishings and other considerations. They and the three businessmen are due in federal court in Manhattan on Wednesday. A Criminal Defense Attorney tells CNN what prosecutors will have to prove in order to get convictions.

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CAROLINE POLISI, CRIMINAL DEFENSE ATTORNEY: What prosecutors are going to have to show is a quid pro quo. So you know, a thing of value which obviously a Mercedes Benz and gold bars are in exchange for what's known as an official act, or in this case, a breaching of an official act.

And that's what's really, in this indictment I think the government will have no problems getting over that hurdle. They have shown time and time again in many different ways. How Menendez, breached his acts, breached his official duty and used his office to influence others in order to, you know, really benefit, himself and his other co-conspirators.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FOSTER: As CNN's Lauren Fox has more on what Senator Menendez is calling his biggest fight yet.

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LAUREN FOX, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Defiance Senator Bob Menendez vowing not to resign as he faces down federal corruption charges.

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SEN. ROBERT MENENDEZ (D-NJ): I firmly believe that until all the facts are presented not only will I be exonerated, but I still will be the New Jersey's Senior Senator.

FOX (voice-over): Menendez facing a barrage of pressure to step aside, fellow Democratic Senator John Fetterman, tweeting, "He's entitled to the presumption of innocence, but he cannot continue to wield influence over national policy."

REP. ALEXANDRIA OCASIO-CORTEZ (D-NY): The situation is quite unfortunate, but I do believe that it is in the best interests for Senator Menendez to resign in this moment.

FOX (voice-over): They are called Menendez says are premature, as he offers new explanations rebutting the allegations.

POPPY HARLOW, CNN ANCHOR: Any New Jersey voters watching right now who may have concerns that again, you're facing scrutiny over corruption, what is your response to them?

MENENDEZ: The response to that is simply that number one, this inquiry will end up I believe in absolutely nothing.

FOX (voice-over): In an indictment last week, federal prosecutors allege Menendez received hundreds of thousands of dollars in bribes in the form of cash, gold and a luxury vehicle in exchange for the Senator's influence. Prosecutors say some of that evidence included DNA and fingerprints of one of the business context Menendez allegedly accepted bribes from.

MENENDEZ: For 30 years, I have withdrawn thousands of dollars in cash from my personal savings account, which I have kept for emergencies and because of the history of my family facing confiscation in Cuba. Now this may seem old fashioned. But these were moneys drawn from my personal savings account based on the income that I have lawfully derived over those 30 years.

FOX (voice-over): Menendez now faces a Democratic primary challenge from Representative Andy Kim, one of six members of the New Jersey congressional delegation, calling on him to resign.

REP. ANDY KIM (D-NJ): There are a lot of concerns about his integrity. And I think it's important that we do everything we can to restore faith and from the American people in their government. So that's why I'm stepping up to run against it.

FOX (voice-over): Democratic leader Dick Durbin stopped short of calling for resignation.

SEN. DICK DURBIN (D-IL): This is a very serious charge. There's no question about it in terms of resignation. It's a decision we made by Senator Menendez and the people of New Jersey.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

FOSTER: Lauren Fox reporting for us there. Now four whistleblowers are asking the Texas Supreme Court to send their lawsuit against the State's Attorney General to court and be tried before a jury.

NOBILO: And Paxton has already gone through an impeachment trial. But the Republican controlled Texas Senate voted to acquit him. Paxton is accused of abusing his office to benefit a friend and donor.

FOSTER: One of the whistleblowers is a Former Deputy Attorney General who said although political pressure may have thought it justice we will continue our fight. Tennessee's first elected transgender lawmaker will be sworn into office next week, Navy veteran Olivia Hill won one of the four open at large seats on Nashville's Metro Council during a run off earlier this month.

Hill's historic victory comes at a time when Tennessee State lawmakers have passed several laws targeting the transgender community in the States including banning gender affirming care for minors.

NOBILO: California's Governor Gavin Newsom has signed into law a bill requiring schools to provide gender neutral bathrooms by July 2026. Under the new law, each school district County Office of Education and charter school would be required to have at least one gender neutral bathroom on school sites.

State Senator Josh Newman who sponsored the law says it was only fair that everybody has access to a restroom without fear of outing bullying or stigmatization.

FOSTER: The Writers Guild of America secured a tentative agreement with top Hollywood studios that will most likely end months of picketing. Details of the agreement are expected to be released later today. Union leaders called the three year proposal exceptional saying it addresses key concerns.

NOBILO: Some critics warn it's too early for viewers to celebrate though as higher costs for streamers might just make their way down to consumers sag after the actors Union. It also remains on strike meaning Hollywood will be closed for a little longer still.

FOSTER: A little more atmospheric river event is forecast from Northern California through to the Pacific Northwest and this is better to bring much needed brain for parts of the state as well. CNN's Chad Myers has the details.

CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Couple of big stories out there today. We still have rain across the Pacific Northwest, just giving a little bit of relief for the dreadful drought that they've been having out there for the past weeks on end, more rainfall to come, although it takes a break today.

It certainly comes back again on Wednesday with the low pressure itself bringing in the rainfall will take all the rain we can get it does look like in spots two to three inches will be possible maybe even more than that in the higher elevations. Hey, it rained in Houston yesterday, first time in a very long time that they got widespread rainfall rain across parts of Florida as well.

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More rain coming down today for Florida and even with some of the flooding that we had in South Florida yesterday, I think most of that heavy rainfall now moves a little bit farther to the north on up toward Cinnamon beach in the areas up there from Daytona all the way up to northern parts of Florida near Jacksonville have to watch out for that.

Temperatures pretty mild here. Houston 91 you should be 89. That's pretty close to where we should be. Cool across the Northeast with fall colors now coming out temperatures here in the 60s and then for the rest of the country still very, very hot out in Phoenix height today of still 106.

NOBILO: More than 75,000 health care workers could go on strike for three days next month, if the Union doesn't reach a deal with Kaiser Permanente. Their contract expires on Saturday and this walkout could affect hundreds of Kaiser Locations in California and the Pacific Northwest as well as in Washington, D.C. and Virginia.

FOSTER: Union members are concerned about chronic staffing shortages. Kaiser says it's hired more than 50,000 new people since last year and plans to hire more.

NOBILO: According to a new U.S. survey approximately 7 percent of adults and 1 percent of kids have suffered from long COVID. The survey found that nearly 80 million adults and nearly 1 million children have had non-COVID.

FOSTER: Richard Quest we saw that those numbers seem high but they are lower than earliest studies found the Biden Administration is focusing on addressing and supporting people who suffer from the condition. They're launching a new research department you clinical trials and grants to expand care.

NOBILO: Coming up the U.S. Defense Chief is on a tour of African nations hoping to boost relations with security partners in the region. We'll tell you what he's accomplished and what he's hoping to do next.

FOSTER: Plus, we'll tell you why this member of the Philippine Coast Guard is using a knife to fend off Chinese claims in the South China Sea?

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FOSTER: U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin is in Kenya affirming the U.S. military presence in Africa and shoring up relations with leaders in that region. Austin met with Kenya's President and Defense Chief and is now visiting U.S. troops you'll head to Angola, next.

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NOBILO: Austin's tour comes after France announced its withdrawing its forces from Niger. Months after the country's democratically elected leader were overthrown in a coup.

FOSTER: Larry Madowo joins us from Nairobi, obviously Kenya one of the keys allies really in the fight against al-Shabaab?

LARRY MADOWO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It is one of the key allies in the region because al-Shabaab has targeted that Kenya previously attacking and carrying out big attacks at a mall, at a school, at a university, at a hotel complex. And this is why Secretary Austin went to Djibouti, which is a key ally in Northeastern Africa hosts, the U.S. has only permanent base in Africa.

And then here in Kenya meeting with President Ruto and the Defense Secretary here a short while ago, he's been in Monday along Kenya's border with Somalia and the Kenyan Coast meeting with U.S. troops who are based there, they carry out some drone and surveillance operations in Somalia supporting Somali troops supporting the African Union joint troops in Somalia as well.

This is halfway through Secretary Austin's three day, three nation tour of Africa. He's on to Angola next. It's important for him to be here in person to look to us as allies in the eyes and make sure that they're still aligned, that the U.S. has strategic objectives, much with the domestic priorities here, especially when you consider this anti-Western sentiment blowing in parts of the continent.

There is, for instance, in Niger after the military takeover there, the French announced that they are withdrawing the troops there because a country President Emmanuel Macron. The military junta is no longer interested in fighting terrorism, which is why there were about 1500 French troops there.

The U.S. still has troops there and Secretary Austin says there's no intention at this point to remove them. They're constantly reviewing their position there. He talks on the big picture about how the U.S. approaches its defense co-operation agreements on the continent.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) LLOYD AUSTIN, U.S. DEFENSE SECRETARY: Our approach across the continent has always been a combination of defense capability, development and also diplomacy. And I think that's the right combination to ensure that you create lasting effects. But again, we've seen a lot of progress is not always a straight line.

There'll be challenges and in setbacks from time to time, but a lot of progress in the last year.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MADOWO: He was reporting to Somalia there in the back. There have been some setbacks recent terror attacks, but Secretary Austin also mentioned that the Somali government and Somali military have acquired more territory the last year in the past five years combined.

But the bigger backdrop for his trip, his first trip to Africa here is a growing Russian influence militarily on the continent. The Russian mercenary group, the Wagner group operates in many parts of the continent. The Chinese are moving in as well. So the U.S. has to make sure is front and center of this discussion, Max, Bianca.

FOSTER: OK, Larry in Kenya. Thank you so much for bringing us that.

NOBILO: The Philippines says it has removed a floating barrier installed by China in a contested part of the South China Sea. The Philippine Coast Guard use knives to cut ropes holding this barrier in place. Its government says it poses a hazard to navigation.

FOSTER: Parts of the South China Sea have been in dispute for many years as nations in the region have conflicting claims to islands and reefs until recently, and nervous they taunt has existed.

NOBILO: Steven Jiang joins us now from Beijing. Steven, this is a deeply volatile region. What impact is this event likely to have on relations between China and the Philippines?

STEVEN JIANG, CNN BEIJING BUREAU CHIEF: Well, Bianca, the Chinese actually have just responded to this latest and rather unusual move by the Philippines with a Foreign Ministry official a warning the Philippines not to provoke incidents and create troubles. Now this is not surprising given Beijing actually claimed sovereignty over almost the entirety of the South China Sea.

That's 1.3 million square miles we are talking about, even though that's been rejected by an international tribunal and not recognized by the U.S. government. But nonetheless, what China has been able to do that none of the other claimants has been able to in the past few years is through massive land reclamation and construction.

They have turned previously uninhabited reefs and islands into manmade islands equipped with sophisticated radars and air strips that is really the basis why they were increasingly able to project military power in this region. Now in the past few weeks and months, we have seen an uptick of publicized incidents between Beijing and other claimants. Especially the Philippines we have seen the Chinese Coast Guard for example, use water cannons and what Philippine officials describe as dangerous maneuvers to chase and drive away Philippine boats. But from the Beijing's perspective, of course, the only thing that's changed recently is the government in Manila.

Now they have a new President, who in Beijing's words is doing the U.S. bidding to instigate tensions. They're also not happy the Philippines and now bringing international media to witness some of those encounters. But underlying all of that is the concern that the Chinese military is now going to abandon their manmade islands.

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So how does anyone including the U.S. to stop and change Chinese behavior absent of a war, Bianca.

NOBILO: Steven Jiang, thank you so much.

FOSTER: Pop Princess Taylor Swift still in the news she can move some merchandise as well sales a Travis Kelce's jersey saw big time after the big after the world saw her game in Kansas City on Sunday, more on that just ahead.

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NOBILO: Hollywood is remembering longtime actor David McCallum. The Scottish born actor got his big break in the 1960s for his Emmy nominated role as Illya Kuryakin in The Man from U-N-C-L-E but he is perhaps best known now for his role as Chief Medical Examiner Donald Ducky Mallard in the CBS series NCIS.

McCallum's family said he died of natural causes at a New York City Hospital. David McCallum was 90 years old.

FOSTER: Oscar winning actress Sophia Loren is recovering from surgery after a falling in her home in Geneva, in Switzerland. Her agent says Loren suffered several fractures to her hip and thigh-bones. The 89 year old was scheduled to inaugurate a new location of the Sophia Loren restaurant chain in Italy today.

The company says Loren's surgery was successful and she'll be back very soon.

NOBILO: Now turning to some stories that are in the spotlight. The developers behind ChatGPT have announced a new feature for it. You'll soon be able to talk to it and it will answer you. You could ask ChatGPT to tell your kids a bedtime story. You're lazy, absent parent -- or settle a dinner table bet which will really take the fun out of it.

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FOSTER: The new toy talking feature will be available to paying customers for its part Amazon says Alexa is getting smarter. It's adding generative AI to the home assistant, no word on what will happen if the two systems start talking to each other while you're asleep. I mean, there has to be a limit.

I mean, I do believe there's a limit to AI as I do not think it's going to take over because, you know, a fundamental part of parenting is to have a point of reading a bedtime story. Is that you're connecting with your kid as well as helping with their literacy, and cannot sort of --

NOBILO: But it also -- is a shortcut. Obviously, people need to entertain their children. And you see that with iPads and other electronic devices as well and you can understand why? But it is quite unsettling all of this I must say.

FOSTER: But there's do you not think at some point we want to reconnect with, you know, can't go through your whole day just interacting with robots.

NOBILO: No, intuitively, we need that face to face time with other years.

FOSTER: Yes.

NOBILO: So that's not the way that society seems to be going.

FOSTER: In the NFL, the Philadelphia Eagles have defeated the Tampa Bay Buccaneers 25-11. Jalen Hurts threw for a touchdown to help his team remain unbeaten. This is the Eagles best start to a season in more than 30 years.

NOBILO: Meantime, a strong defensive display set up for the Cincinnati Bengals first win of the season. Joe Burrow shook off a calf injury to throw a season high 259 yards as the Bengals beat the Los Angeles Rams in 19-16. Taylor Swift surprise attendance at Sunday's Chiefs game also brought an unexpected surge in sales of tight end Travis Kelce's jersey, maybe not that.

FOSTER: Tight end is exactly a brand or is that fit?

NOBILO: That's the name of his position in the NFL.

FOSTER: Oh, yes, I knew that actually. That will get you big thumbs up from the pop singer. A 400 percent spike is not too shabby and made it a top five selling NFL jersey.

NOBILO: She showed up in his family's suite at Arrowhead Stadium on Sunday sitting next to Travis's mum. The appearance came up two weeks of speculation that she and Kelce are dating though it's still not Instagram official.

FOSTER: Apparently the photographer that spotted them is doing incredibly well.

NOBILO: Oh I -- yes.

FOSTER: -- sell out those pictures. Thanks for joining us here on CNN "Newsroom". I'm Max Foster.

NOBILO: And I'm Bianca Nobilo. "Early Start" is next right here on CNN.

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