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Abortion Rights Center Stage in U.S. Presidential Race; Ukraine Forces Push Deeper into Russia; IDF Says Ground Ops Complete in Parts of Gaza; U.N. Prepares Polio Campaign in Gaza; Vance Waffles on Abortion; NHL Star and Brother Killed by Drunk Driver; Maryland Court Reinstates Adnan Syed's Murder Conviction; Airports Brace for Labor Day. Aired 4-5a ET
Aired August 31, 2024 - 04:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
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ANNA COREN, CNN ANCHOR AND CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Hello and welcome to all of our viewers watching in the United States, Canada and around the world. I'm Anna Coren live from Hong Kong.
Ahead on CNN NEWSROOM reproductive rights are again front and center in the race for the White House. Details on the latest about-face by former president Trump and how Vice President Kamala Harris is responding.
Another high-stakes meeting between the U.S. and Ukraine in Washington. The urgent appeal Kyiv is making to the Biden administration.
And a tragic loss in world of sports. Family, teammates and fans mourning the shocking death of a star hockey player and his brother.
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE (voice-over): Live from Hong Kong, this is CNN NEWSROOM with Anna Coren.
COREN: The abortion rights debate is taking center stage in the U.S. presidential race. Republican nominee Donald Trump appears to have changed his stance on Florida's six-week abortion ban. And he's refusing to commit to vetoing a possible federal ban.
On Friday he told supporters in Pennsylvania that he wants Americans to get in vitro fertilization treatments at no cost.
Meanwhile, Kamala Harris has fired back at Trump with a strong response to his comments on abortion. And her campaign announced a bus tour through battleground states to support reproductive rights.
We start our coverage with Trump saying he'll vote no on a Florida constitutional amendment that would allow abortions after the first six weeks of pregnancy. Florida law currently bans abortions after six weeks. The amendment will be on the ballot there in November. It's another
reversal for Trump, who has previously said he is against a six-week ban. CNN's Steve Contorno has more.
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STEVE CONTORNO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Former president Donald Trump on Friday, saying for the first time that he intends to vote against a referendum that would expand abortion access in his home state of Florida.
Trump's remarks come just 24 hours after he was asked the same question and his answer ignited a firestorm among anti-abortion activists who were concerned that he might actually vote for the referendum.
Well, Trump, on Friday, sought to clarify those remarks.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MANU RAJU, CNN SENIOR CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: ... yes or no on Amendment Four in Florida?
TRUMP: So I think six weeks, you need more time than six weeks. I've disagreed with that right from the early primaries when I heard about it. I disagreed with it.
At the same time, the Democrats are radical, because the nine months is just a ridiculous situation, where you can do an abortion in the ninth month. And some of the states like Minnesota and other states have it, where you could actually execute the baby after birth.
And all of that stuff is unacceptable. So I'll be voting no for that reason.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CONTORNO: I should note that there are no states where a child can be aborted after they are born.
Trump on Friday also seemed to back away a previous assertion that he would veto federal abortion legislation if it reaches his desk, something his running mate, JD Vance, had said just a few days prior.
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KRISTEN WELKER, NBC HOST: if such a piece of legislation landed on Donald Trump's desk, would he veto it?
J.D. VANCE (R-OH), VICE PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I think he'd be very clear he would not support it. I mean --
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WELKER: But would he veto it?
VANCE: -- yes, I mean, if you're not supporting it as a President of the United States --
WELKER: He would veto a federal abortion ban?
VANCE: I think he would. He said that explicitly that he would.
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RAJU: Would you veto a federal abortion ban?
TRUMP: I'm not going to have to think about it because it's working out so well right now. The states are doing it. It's a states' issue.
RAJU: I'm only asking that because JD Vance said that he would veto an abortion ban if it was sent to your desk.
TRUMP: Well, what's happening is you're never going to have to do it because it's being done by the states.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CONTORNO: In response to Trump's latest remarks, Vice President Harris put out a statement, where she said, she would, quote, "proudly sign a new law that would expand abortion access in the United States" -- Steve Contorno, CNN, Washington, D.C.
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COREN: Well, more now on how Harris is slamming Trump's comments on abortion.
She released this statement, quote, "Donald Trump just made his position on abortion very clear. He will vote to uphold an abortion ban so extreme it applies before many women even know they are pregnant.
"And understand he is not done. As a part of Donald Trump's Project 2025 agenda, he and his allies would limit access to birth control, threaten access to fertility treatments and ban abortion nationwide, with or without Congress.
[04:05:03]
"The choice in this election is clear."
So how are Trump's statements playing with voters? Well, CNN asked Democratic and Republican analysts.
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KAREN FINNEY, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: We've seen this movie before. In 2016, we saw Donald Trump try to do the same thing and try to say different things in different venues. Let his campaign then try to quote-unquote "correct it" so that basically everybody gets to hear a little bit of what they wanted here.
And so I think the most important thing and what women voters know -- and we've seen this time and time again when the opportunity has gone to the voters and they've gone to the polls, they vote for reproductive freedom.
And so what's most important is to remind voters that Donald Trump is the person who put in place the justices that overturned Roe v. Wade. He brags about it. He's very proud of that fact.
And he actually has a record, when he was president, of undermining women's health, for starters, by saying he wanted to overturn the Affordable Care Act.
TIM PAWLENTY, FORMER GOVERNOR OF MINNESOTA: He has been all over the map throughout his career on the abortion issue. Republicans know that, in swing states with persuadable voters, a disproportionate number of those voters are women, especially suburban women.
And being overly harsh or restrictive on abortion hurts them from a political standpoint. So he's trying to scramble. He's tried to duck, bob and weave. And he's saying, you know, as much as he can on both sides of it to keep everybody happy.
And that's a tough place to be.
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COREN: These states will have abortion rights on the ballot when voters select the next U.S. president in November. They include the swing states of Nevada and Arizona. We will have more on what both Trump and Vance are saying about reproductive rights a little later in the show.
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COREN: Ukraine is conducting a campaign of its own in the U.S. The country's defense minister is taking the case to strike deeper into Russia directly to Washington. Oren Liebermann reports.
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OREN LIEBERMANN, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Ukraine made it clear that their goals from these high level meetings in the U.S. with Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, national security adviser Jake Sullivan and others was to try to convince the Biden administration to ease restrictions on long-range strikes using U.S. weapons.
According to a Ukrainian lawmaker, they came here with a list of high priority targets, primarily airfields, from which devastating glide bombs have been launched from aircraft.
That was the goal of Rustem Umerov meeting with Lloyd Austin as well as meeting with Jake Sullivan and others to try to get the administration to change its policy. So far, U.S. weapons are only allowed to be used in occupied Ukraine -- occupied, of course, by Russian forces.
But also just across the border as Russia has tried to mount its own offensive to take more territory from Ukraine. The U.S. hasn't eased the restriction on long-range strikes and, at least for now, it doesn't look like the U.S. is going to.
But clearly the Ukraine still believes there is a chance here if they make their argument with enough of a point here and show the U.S. the targets they want to hit. Here was the defense minister speaking with CNN.
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RUSTEM UMEROV, UKRAINIAN DEFENSE MINISTER: We are in consultation phase and we hope it will be allowed because, as we said, that our partners should understand that we are protecting our land. We're protecting people against the violation of Russian Federation, who is launching the missiles toward the cities, toward the civilian objects.
And that's why we want to protect them, to hit the legitimate military targets.
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LIEBERMANN: At least for now, the U.S. sees the focus of these meetings somewhat differently, looking at a bit of the bigger picture, instead of focusing on whether and how to use long-range ATACMS.
The U.S. is focusing on the need for air defenses, diverting air defense assets from other countries, to make sure Ukraine is higher on that priority list. That remains a critical question for the U.S.
And the U.S. is also trying to get a better sense of what the goal is with Ukraine's Kursk operation, especially as Russia is grinding forward in Eastern Ukraine. These are the sorts of questions the U.S. is trying to get a better sense of as it looks at the greater needs and the bigger picture of the war.
Now it's also worth noting that the Ukrainian defense minister Umerov, said the firing of Ukrainian air force chief, just days after the crash of one of its brand new F-16 fighter jets and the death of one of its most high-profile pilots, he says those two events are not related.
But it is under investigation, that crash that killed one of Ukraine's most well-known fighter pilots. So that remains an open question, what happened there, especially since the F-16s have only been operational for a matter of weeks -- Oren Liebermann, CNN, in the Pentagon.
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COREN: Back on the battlefield, Ukraine says it's pressing ahead with its cross-border offensive into Russia. Kyiv said on Friday its forces had advanced up to two more kilometers or little over a mile in the past 24 hours.
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Ukraine claims it now controls about 100 settlements in Russia's Kursk region. But Moscow is striking back, hitting the city of Kharkiv with a massive missile attack on Friday.
Officials there say at least seven people were killed and 77 others injured. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy says the strike would not have happened if Ukraine had more of a free hand to strike deeper into Russia.
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COREN: For more, we're joined by Malcolm Davis, a senior analyst at the Australian Strategic Policy Institute. He's speaking with us live from Canberra.
Malcolm, as always, good to see you. Let's start with that appeal by Ukraine and its thinking on that.
Given the ability to strike wherever it wanted with whatever it had, what could it accomplish?
And what would be the priorities?
MALCOLM DAVIS, SENIOR ANALYST, AUSTRALIAN STRATEGIC POLICY INSTITUTE: Well, that is the U.S. constraints that are currently imposed on Ukraine.
Effectively force it to fight with one hand tied behind its back in the sense that they can't strike deep into Russia and attack key air bases from which those Russian air force aircraft are launching glide bombs.
So by removing those constraints, it gives Ukraine much more ability to deny the Russians the ability to launch those weapons. Those glide bombs only have a limited range, not greater than the range of the ATACMs missiles that the Ukrainians have.
So if you remove the constraints, certainly their glide bomb threat goes away. And that relieves a great deal of pressure on Ukrainian military and the Ukrainian people.
COREN: Malcolm, let's move to that fatal crash of the F-16. The very next day, President Zelenskyy fired his air force chief.
What are you learning?
DAVIS: My understanding from looking at informed analysis online is that it was a friendly fire incident. Essentially the F-16 that Moonfish was flying was targeted and shot down by a Ukrainian Patriot battery.
There's discussion about whether that was the cause or whether it was some other cause. But the very fact that the Ukrainian air force chief was sacked by Zelenskyy does suggest that it wasn't a Russian attack on the F-16 and it wasn't a technical fault. It was some sort of friendly fire incident.
So I think that Zelenskyy clearly is concerned about this and I think that the key lesson coming out of this is that Ukrainians need to have better coordination across the battle space between air and ground units to deconflict operations so that this sort of friendly fire incident doesn't happen again in the future.
COREN: Well, as we know, Ukraine has been crying out for F-16s. A handful have arrived; more are to come but it has only just enough pilots to fly them. And then this star pilot, Moonfish, he tragically was killed. This must be a huge blow to the country if, in fact, it was caused by friendly fire.
DAVIS: It would be a huge blow.
But I think we need to make clear that, in war, you do take losses, including losses of your top people, your top pilots and so forth. And it's just the nature of war, unfortunately. It imposes death and misery and pain.
And unfortunately, we've lost this very famous and very skilled pilot, which is a blow to the Ukrainians. But that wouldn't stop them from fighting, because they know they have to keep on fighting. If they don't, it's not just one pilot they lose, it's an entire country.
COREN: Malcolm, let's now turn to the Kursk incursion.
Obviously an initial shot in the arm for Ukraine. However, it perhaps hasn't had the desired effect of relieving pressure on the eastern front, in particular, Pokrovsk. Russia, it now seems, has accelerated its pursuit of this town. It's now within 10 kilometers. And we know that this is a vital logistical hub for Ukrainian troops.
DAVIS: Exactly. So if they, if the Russians do take Pokrovsk, it does create real problems for the Ukrainians in supporting and reinforcing their forces in that area. There's another key town, Kramatorsk, just to the north, which the Russians would then seek to grab because that is logistically important.
And between those two, the Russians would then be able to really put pressure on the Ukrainians in that eastern part of the country near the Donbas region of Donetsk.
They potentially could then make more rapid advances if Western military aid is not flowing sufficiently or if U.S. imposed constraints on the ability to use U.S. supplied weapons against Russia, deep into Russia and not lift it.
Then that places the Ukrainians in a very difficult situation. They have to pull back, surrender more ground to the Russians. And the Russians get much closer to Kyiv and Russian cities like Dnipro.
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COREN: Malcolm Davis, as always, great to get your perspective. Thanks so much for joining us.
DAVIS: Thank you.
COREN: In less than 24 hours, the U.N. is set to roll out a major public health campaign in Gaza. We will have details on the ambitious plan to vaccinate children against a resurgent polio virus -- next.
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COREN: Palestinian officials in the occupied West Bank are demanding a humanitarian pause amid ongoing Israeli military operations.
The local governor of Jenin says residents need to be able to get food, water and medicine and traveled to the hospital. The Israeli military said Friday that it has killed 20 people it says were terrorists and arrested 17 suspects as part of its operations in the West Bank.
Israel says it has completed ground operations in parts of southern Gaza and it's allowing residents to return to their homes. However, many Palestinians are finding their homes destroyed and their neighborhoods in ruins.
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The Israel Defense Forces said it eliminated more than 250 of what it called terrorists and destroyed so-called terrorist infrastructure.
Meanwhile an Israeli strike on a humanitarian convoy in Gaza killed four transport workers on Thursday. The convoy set out from Kerem Shalom crossing for a hospital in Rafah.
The aid group, American Near East Refugee Aid, says there was confusion over the travel plans and the four victims decided to ride in the lead vehicle but had not been cleared by Israeli authorities.
The IDF says it attacked the lead car because the men inside appeared to be armed, a breach of the agreed plan.
The U.N. and world health officials are gearing up for a polio vaccination campaign in Gaza, a major undertaking that hinges on pauses in the fighting. More than 1 million doses of the vaccine have already been delivered and hundreds of thousands more are on the way. The goal is to inoculate more than 640,000 of Gaza's children.
Israel and Hamas are expected to pause fighting for several hours daily, beginning on Sunday, to allow the vaccinations. CNN's Nic Robertson is following developments from Jerusalem.
Nic, logistically, this is a Herculean task in incredibly dangerous conditions.
NIC ROBERTSON, CNN SENIOR DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: It's very difficult. It's never been done before. I mean, just look at the math of the situation here.
So you're going to have this operation done in three phases. They'll do the center of Gaza first, then the south of Gaza, then the north of Gaza. They'll have three days on each phase and, each day, there'll be a pause of about seven to eight hours.
So if you run the math, you really looking at these vaccinations, they need to get to about 10,000 children an hour.
I spoke with Sam Rose, one of the U.N. officials overseeing this. He described this as a monumental task.
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SAM ROSE, DIRECTOR OF PLANNING, UNRWA: We've never gone through anything like this. Gaza has never gone through anything like this. There are few parallels in recent history anywhere where we've seen such a large scale and a rapid destruction of infrastructure, of homes, mass movement of people.
So this is, yes, it's, it's unprecedented, what we'll do.
ROBERTSON: You're going to be tested to the max.
What's at stake if you don't manage to get to all the children you need to get to?
ROSE: I mean, what's at stake is the spread of polio. And right now, we know of one case, one confirmed case. We don't know if there are more. We've not had the ability to check. But if the disease spreads, it will be catastrophic.
ROBERTSON: Can it break out of the region?
ROSE: Who knows how far it can spread?
There's a probability that it could spread beyond the borders of Gaza indeed.
ROBERTSON: There has to be a second phase in four weeks' time.
It was so hard to get these temporary pauses now.
I mean, what guarantees are there that you're going to be able to get to that second round of doses?
And what's at stake if you don't?
ROSE: Yes, if we're not able to administer a second course of vaccines then the first phase will have been in vain. And the risk of the disease spreading will increase in the avoidable will be become the inevitable.
ROBERTSON: And you need to get to 90 percent of those 640,000 children to get a success rate that you're going to be happy with.
How do you, on a day, keep track of who you've gotten, who you haven't gotten, how many more numbers to go?
ROSE: Absolutely.
I mean, this is difficult for a couple of reasons. One is simply that the scale of it and the pace at which it has to be completed.
The other complication that we have, particularly in relation to this 90 percent coverage rate, is precisely the number of children that we have and the number of people that we have in each area.
People have moved around. We have official deaths that have been recorded. But we also know there are thousands upon thousands of people, including children, stuck under the rubble. So it'd be -- it will be difficult from that perspective as well.
ROBERTSON: Give me your gut check on it, how you feel. This, you're in the countdown to it now, how you feel about it.
ROSE: The relief that we feel that the go-ahead, in terms of the pauses, has -- that's been given, that the agreement was reached. I think that would have been such a blow in terms of what it means for faith, basic faith in humanity.
There's an element of nervousness but there's also an element of urgency.
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ROBERTSON: Yes, that urgency, he told me, because really they should have been doing this weeks ago. And we should really reflect on what these pauses actually mean for the people living under the bombardment.
We know overnight last night from Palestinian health officials in the center of Gaza and Nuseirat camp, there was another Israeli strike that, according to local health officials, killed four people in a family there.
[04:25:03]
These pauses mean that, for just a few hours, for just a couple of days in just part of Gaza, people will be at a step out on the street, be able to look in the skies and, in theory, not see any planes coming in for strikes, to be able to feel that they can almost sort of breathe air.
And talking to aid officials as we have been over the many months and recent weeks, that level of desperation in Gaza just for this all to end, for people to have that sense of safety and security, they're going to get it.
But unfortunately for them, it's going to be for such a brief period of time.
COREN: Nic Robertson, joining us from Jerusalem, we appreciate your reporting. Thank you.
Well, Brazil is now blocking people from accessing the social media platform known as X. It comes after a supreme court justice's ruling to suspend the social media giant in the country. Users trying to access the side are receiving error messages. X's
owner, Elon Musk, is slamming the decision, saying the judge is destroying free speech.
The ruling comes after the company failed to name a legal representative there, despite being given a 24 hour deadline. Brazilian law requires representation for foreign firms so they can be notified of legal cases against them.
Take a look at this frightening scene a surveillance camera captured the moment the roof of a church collapsed. It happened in a coastal city in Brazil on Friday. Authorities say two people were killed and at least 17 others were injured.
Officials say they will search the rubble but they don't believe there are any more victims. The church was being used for food distribution at the time of the collapse.
Like presidential candidate Donald Trump, the Republican running mate has a history of changing positions on abortion rights. Hear JD Vance, in his own words, ahead on CNN NEWSROOM.
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COREN: Welcome back to our viewers in the United States, Canada and around the world. I'm Anna Coren. This is CNN NEWSROOM.
Donald Trump and Kamala Harris are highlighting the differences in their positions on abortion rights. Donald Trump says he will vote no on a Florida constitutional amendment that would allow abortions in that state after the first six weeks of pregnancy.
It's another reversal for Trump, who has previously said he's against a six-week ban and will now effectively vote for such a ban by voting against the amendment.
Meanwhile, he told supporters that he wants Americans to get in vitro fertilization treatments at no cost. But he did not specify how they would be paid for. CNN asked Trump's running mate, JD Vance, about the issue.
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JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: Is it fair to say the details on IVF haven't been worked out yet, how either the government insurers would be forced to pay it work?
SEN. J.D. VANCE (R-OH), VICE PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Well, John, of course, all details get worked out in the legislative process and we're not in the legislative process because we haven't won yet. But I think that President Trump again just believes that we want women to have access to these fertility treatments.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COREN: The Harris campaign says its planning a bus tour through battleground states to support reproductive rights. It's scheduled to start this coming Tuesday in Palm Beach in Trump's home state of Florida.
Campaign officials say the two will feature elected officials, celebrities and Republicans who support Harris.
Earlier, I spoke with Richard Johnson, a lecturer in U.S. politics at Queen Mary University of London. I asked him if Trump is seizing on the IVF issue, hoping to appease women voters, who were put off by his abortion stance.
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RICHARD JOHNSON, QUEEN MARY UNIVERSITY: The Republican Party is meant to be the party of families. Certainly that was his message. Once upon a time was it was the party of family values.
And to be seen as a party that would restrict those reproduction options has been an uncomfortable place for the public.
And that's why I think Trump has now come out and basically made this really bold gesture of an unfunded, as it seems to be at the moment, commitment that the federal government would either pay for or require insurance companies to provide IVF to anyone who wanted it, which is a very expensive procedure.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COREN: Trump's running mate, JD Vance, has a history of changing positions on abortion rights. Our Randi Kaye researched his statements.
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RANDI KAYE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): In 2021 when JD Vance was running to become a Republican Senator of Ohio, he defended the Texas abortion law.
When asked during an interview whether abortion law should also include exceptions for rape and incest, Vance said this.
VANCE: Two wrongs don't make a right. It's not whether a woman should be forced to bring a child to term. It's whether a child should be allowed to live even though the circumstances of that child's birth are somehow inconvenient or a problem to the society.
KAYE (voice-over): Those comments sparking criticism from supporters of abortion rights.
That same year, Vance compared abortion to slavery. VANCE: There's something comparable between abortion and slavery in that while the people who obviously suffer the most are those subjected to it. I think it has this morally distorting effect on the entire society.
KAYE (voice-over): The following year, in 2022
VANCE: I am pro-life. I've always been pro-life.
KAYE (voice-over): During a debate in the Ohio Senate race, Vance said this about exceptions.
VANCE: I have always believed in reasonable exceptions.
KAYE (voice-over): In that same 2022 debate, Vance also said he was totally fine with establishing some minimum national standard to restrict abortion at a certain number of weeks.
How many?
He didn't say.
By January 2022, Vance, still a senate candidate, affirmed his support for a national abortion ban. Listen to what he said on a podcast.
VANCE: I certainly would like abortion to be illegal nationally.
KAYE (voice-over): Vance also told the podcasters he was sympathetic to the idea that a national abortion ban was necessary to stop women from traveling across states to obtain an abortion.
Nearly two years later, he backed away from some of his hardline comments.
VANCE: We have to accept that people do not want blanket abortion bans. They just don't like -- we have to provide exceptions for the life of the mother, for rape and so forth. That is just a basic necessity.
KAYE (voice-over): Now Vance's rhetoric on abortion sounds much more in line with his running mate, Donald Trump, who has calling but for restrictions to be left to the states.
VANCE: What I said during my own campaign is that the gross majority of abortion policy is going to be made at the state level. KAYE (voice-over): And earlier this month, Vance told NBC News, he and Trump will not ban abortion nationwide.
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WELKER: Can you commit, Senator, sitting right here with me today, that if you and Donald Trump are elected, that you will not impose a federal ban on abortion?
VANCE: I can absolutely commit that.
KAYE (voice-over): Vance has still been emphasizing his own personal stance against abortion rights.
VANCE: I am pro-life. I want to save as many babies as possible.
KAYE (voice-over): And making it clear that any future policy about reproductive rights is still up for debate.
VANCE: We actually have to have an important conversation in this country about what our abortion policy should be
KAYE (voice-over): Randi Kaye, CNN, Palm Beach County, Florida.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COREN: A spokesperson for Vance responded to Randi's piece, saying, in part, "Throughout his campaign for U.S. Senate and during his time in office, Senator Vance has consistently made clear that he supports reasonable exceptions for rape, incest and life of the mother," end quote.
The Vance campaign says there are no statements in the public record that show or prove he said otherwise.
The statement goes on to say, "Senator Vance has also stated repeatedly that he agrees with president Trump on abortion policy being set at the state level, not the federal level. Like president Trump, he agrees that we need to find common ground on this issue.
"As a senator, he has not supported any legislation which would impose a federal abortion ban."
It appears the new election subversion case against Donald Trump will not go before a judge before November's election. Special counsel Jack Smith and Trump's lawyers filed a status report with the Washington, D.C., court on Friday.
It shows that Trump's legal team is at odds with Smith over how the case should proceed. Smith is not offering firm dates for the next phase of the case. Trump's team is recommending a schedule that could stretch into early next year and possibly even later.
The new superseding indictment came this week. Smith says it's designed to comply with the Supreme Court's earlier ruling on presidential immunity. Trump's lawyers say it does not do that.
Well, Trump is, again, asking the judge in his hush money conviction to delay sentencing. His lawyers have asked that the case be moved to federal court and they're asking Judge Juan Merchan to hold off on any substantive motions until after the request plays out.
Trump was convicted on 34 felony counts in the case. He's scheduled to be sentenced on September 18th. The sentence could include prison time or probation.
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COREN (voice-over): Major indexes ended up closing higher for the month, despite a large selloff in early August. The S&P is seeing its fourth straight month of gains. The Dow Jones industrials hit a new record after climbing 228 points.
And the Nasdaq, which experienced heightened volatility this month, also made gains on Friday. More good news on the economy. New data was released Friday, showing the Fed's preferred inflation gauge doing better than expected last month. It held at 2.5 percent.
This comes weeks before a long-awaited interest rate cut is expected. Meanwhile consumers felt slightly better about the state of the economy in August than initially reported.
According to the University of Michigan's survey of consumers, it's 36 percent higher than the all-time historic low reading in June 2022, when inflation topped 9 percent.
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COREN: A murder conviction made famous by the "Serial" podcast has now been reinstated. Details on his ongoing legal saga when we come back.
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COREN: An alleged drunk driver has been arrested and charged in the death of National Hockey League player Johnny Gaudreau and his brother, Matthew. His wife, we have learned, is expecting a child. The brothers were out cycling when they were hit by an SUV. CNN's Polo Sandoval has more.
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POLO SANDOVAL, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Hockey star Johnny Gaudreau and his younger brother, Matthew, killed by an alleged drunk driver Thursday night on the eve of their sister's wedding, where they were set to be groomsmen.
State police confirm the siblings were bike riding and southern New Jersey when they were hit by an SUV.
Sean Higgins is the 43-year-old alleged drunk driver. He was charged with two counts of death by auto police records showing that he admitted to drinking five to six beers before the accident and failed field sobriety test.
Gaudreau, who earned the nickname Johnny Hockey was drafted by the Calgary Flames in 2011 -- signed with the Columbus Blue Jackets in 2022, where he tallied a dozen goals and nearly 50 assists the last season alone. Johnny played the game with great joy, read a statement from his team. The impact he had on our organization and our sport was profound but pales in comparison to the indelible impression he made on everyone who knew him.
But despite the success in the rank, the true passion appeared to be off the ice, as a loving husband and proud father of two babies, the youngest born this year and carries dad's name.
Matthew followed in his brother's footsteps, playing side-by-side with Johnny in Boston College. Coaches there described the brothers as full of joy for the sport.
JERRY YORK, FORMER HEAD COACH, BOSTON COLLEGE MEN'S HOCKEY: If you ask us the name of our favorite players, you know, they've got to be -- both boys are going to be among them.
SANDOVAL: An uncle of the Gaudreau brothers releasing the statement saying: Last night, we lost two husbands, two fathers, two sons but truly two amazing humans -- Polo Sandoval, CNN, New York.
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COREN: On Friday night, baseball's Philadelphia Phillies held a moment of silence for the brothers before their game against the Atlanta Braves.
Other teams in Major League Baseball, including the Cincinnati Reds, Cleveland Guardians and the New York Yankees, also took time to pay their respects.
Well, the murder conviction of Adnan Syed, which was made famous by the podcast, "Serial," and was vacated two years ago, has been reinstated on procedural grounds.
Maryland's supreme court decision upheld a previous appeals court ruling. CNN's Brian Todd has the details of this ongoing legal saga.
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BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Another controversial twist in a quarter century old murder case that's had many of them. Today, the Maryland Supreme Court ruled that the murder conviction of 43-year-old Adnan Syed should be reinstated. The court citing procedural errors in the way Syed's conviction was vacated in 2022.
JOEY JACKSON, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: Everything about this case is unusual, compounded now with this last development.
TODD (voice-over): The Maryland Supreme Court ruled that the rights of the family of the murder victim, Hae Min Lee, were violated because the court says Lee's brother received inadequate notice of a hearing in 2022 when prosecutors were moving to vacate Syed's conviction.
[04:45:08] The brother's lawyers argued he wasn't given enough notice to travel from California to Maryland to appear at the hearing in person. Instead, the brother could only speak at the hearing over Zoom.
JACKSON: I think prosecutors had a duty to keep the family actively involved and at least notified. Had they simply waited a week, we wouldn't be here having this conversation.
TODD (voice-over): Syed was convicted of murder, kidnapping, false imprisonment and robbery in the 1999 death of Hae Min Lee, his high school girlfriend. He spent over 23 years behind bars. But there were serious questions over his guilt from the start.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Adnan Syed's story has captivated millions since the 2014 launch of the podcast, "Serial."
TODD (voice-over): "Serial," the hugely popular podcast hosted by Sarah Koenig, question Syed's conviction and drew widespread attention to the case.
SARAH KOENIG, HOST, "SERIAL" PODCAST: Something's not doesn't make sense here in this case and I don't know where the problem is. And so it really is just me trying to figure that out.
TODD (voice-over): A court later ruled that prosecutors failed to disclose evidence that could have helped his case, including information on other suspects. And in 2022 his conviction was vacated.
Syed dramatically released from prison. But last year, more court proceedings began on that question of whether the victim's family had been given enough time to appear at that hearing to vacate the conviction.
ADNAN SYED, ALLEGED MURDERER: You know, we respect how much Hae's family has suffered, because we know how much our family has suffered and not just trying to prove that I'm innocent and to make it back home to my family but to find justice for Hae and her family.
TODD (voice-over): Now the process restarts, more hearings on whether the conviction should be thrown out. Syed will remain free while the case plays out.
JACKSON: I think you're going to see, number one, him remain at Liberty. Number two, the case dismissed again on the merits. Number three, the family entitled of the victim to their due really respect and sensitivity and participation.
TODD: Adnan Syed's attorney has issued a statement, saying that they could not disagree more with the Maryland Supreme Court's decision today to reinstate his conviction.
The attorney says they will respect the decision but she maintains that Syed is innocent. The attorney for the family of victim, Hae Min Lee, issued a statement, saying they were pleased with the court's decision, that if there is evidence to support overturning his conviction, the family would go along with it. But he also said the public has not seen evidence that would warrant
overturning that conviction -- Brian Todd, CNN, Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COREN: Police in Texas are mourning the loss of an officer they say was executed by a gunman. Dallas Police say the 30-year-old suspect struck up a conversation with Officer Darron Burks as he sat in his squad car.
The suspect recorded the talk with his cell phone before pulling out a gun and opening fire on the officer. Burks died a short time later. Two other officers were wounded when the suspect opened fire on them after they responded to the scene.
One of two doctors charged with conspiring to distribute ketamine to actor Matthew Perry pleaded guilty in federal court Friday. Perry died because of the acute effects of ketamine and subsequent drowning last year at his home after taking the drug. CNN's Nick Watt reports from Los Angeles.
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NICK WATT, CNN ANCHOR AND NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Dr. Mark Chavez is, according to his lawyer, full of remorse and really eager to do whatever he can to make the best of a terrible situation, which ended, of course, with Matthew Perry, the much beloved "Friends" actor, dead due to ketamine.
He died in his hot tub at his home here in Los Angeles. Now Chavez certainly appears to be doing all that he can to cooperate. He was asked to submit his passport, to surrender his passport today. He had it in his back pocket.
Now I asked Chavez's lawyer, is he willing, is he going to testify in court against the other people who've been in charged in Perry's death?
He would not answer that question. But Chavez is planning to put a guilty plea in. He waived his right to a grand jury indictment. It certainly appears he is cooperating.
What he is alleged to have done, this other doctor, Salvador Plasencia, allegedly called Chavez -- they were friends -- and said, listen, let's get some ketamine. We've got Matthew Perry. He wants the drug.
And Plasencia said, "I wonder how much this moron will pay?"
What allegedly happened is Chavez, Dr. Chavez, bought the drug from a wholesaler by falsifying documents, paid 12 bucks a vial for it and the pair of them charged Matthew Perry $2,000 a vial for the drug.
Now that other doctor, Salvador Plasencia, and a woman called the Ketamine Queen, who was a street-level dealer allegedly, who was also supplying Perry, they are due in court next week -- Nick Watt, CNN, Los Angeles.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COREN: Well, get ready for a busy Labor Day weekend if you plan to travel. But there's some good news for your watch (ph) just ahead.
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COREN: If you're hitting the road this Labor Day weekend, expect to see some lower prices at the pump. GasBuddy is projecting the national average will be $3.27 a gallon. That's the lowest Labor Day price since 2021 and $0.50 cheaper than last year.
Over the holiday weekend, GasBuddy says Americans are expected to spend about $750 million less on gas than they did in 2023.
It's also expected to be a busy weekend at airports across the country but many are hoping that new technology will help speed things up. CNN's Pete Muntean is at Reagan National Airport in Washington.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
PETE MUNTEAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Friday will be a huge day for the Labor Day weekend rush when it is all said and done. The TSA was anticipating screening 2.8 million people at airports nationwide on Friday.
They say that number will probably be closer to 2.9 million people, just shy of the all-time air travel record set back on July 7th of about 3 million people. In fact, here at Reagan National Airport alone, they're anticipating screening about 40,000 people.
That number bigger than we have seen.
[04:55:00]
Even considering the numbers before the pandemic. One thing that you will see that is different at airports nationwide is more facial recognition technology.
The TSA has rolled that out at about 80 airports nationwide. You bring your ID, you scan it and a computer screen with a camera on it matches your photo live to the photo on your ID.
The TSA says folks should be aware of that and you can opt out if you want to. The other big storyline here is the weather and that could really throw a wrench into people's plans. It did on Thursday.
About a third of all flights out of Reagan National Airport here delayed, along with Philadelphia International Airport. About the same numbers there. One in five flights canceled just down the road at Washington Dulles International Airport.
So we are were not out of the woods yet and the TSA is anticipating Monday will be another huge day for travel, with so many people just trying to fit in one final trip of the summer -- Pete Muntean, CNN, Reagan National Airport.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COREN: Well, there's been a massive upset at the U.S. Open tennis tournament. World number two and defending champion Novak Djokovic is out of the tournament, after losing to 28 seed Australian Alexei Popyrin.
Well, some consider Djokovic to be the greatest tennis player of all time but he hasn't won any of this year's grand slam events. This was Djokovic's earliest exit in a major this year and Popyrin's win is the biggest of his career.
The 25-year old previously lost all three of the matches he played against Djokovic.
Good luck to my fellow Aussie.
WNBA fans witnessed a battle of the top two rookie stars Friday night as Caitlin Clark and the Indiana Fever took an Angel Reese and the Chicago Sky. Clark scored a career-high 31 points and became the first rookie in league history to score at least 30 points and 10 assists in a single game.
She needs just six more points to break the franchise record for most points scored by a rookie.
Well meanwhile, Reese finished with 10 points and 11 rebounds for her 23rd double-double of the season, a new rookie record for the WNBA. Indiana defeated Chicago 100-81.
Well, thanks so much for your company. I'm Anna Coren. I'll be back with more CNN NEWSROOM in just a moment.
