Return to Transcripts main page
CNN Newsroom
Abortion Rights Center Stage in U.S. Presidential Race; U.N. Prepares Polio Campaign in Gaza; At Least Seven Killed, 77 Injured in Russian Kharkiv Strike; MD Pleads Guilty in Matt Perry Death; Over 50k Homes Affected by Yemen Flooding, Nearly 100 Killed; Novak Djokovic Ousted in Shock Third Round Upset. Aired 5-6a ET
Aired August 31, 2024 - 05:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[05:00:00]
(MUSIC PLAYING)
ANNA COREN, CNN ANCHOR AND CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Hello and welcome to our viewers in the United States and all around the world.
I'm Anna Coren. Ahead on CNN NEWSROOM, reproductive rights front and center in the race for the White House. Details and the latest about- face by former president Trump. And how Vice President Harris is responding.
Ukraine's defense minister goes to the Pentagon. What Ukraine is asking for as it continues to push into Russian territory while trying to defend its own.
Plus Israel promises a pause in hostilities in Gaza as aid groups call for a mass vaccination effort to prevent the spread of polio.
(MUSIC PLAYING)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (voice-over): Live from Hong Kong, this is CNN NEWSROOM with Anna Coren.
COREN: Well, the battle over abortion rights 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. He is also refusing to commit to vetoing a possible federal ban.
And Democratic nominee Kamala Harris has fired back at Trump with a strong response to his comments on abortion.
The Republican presidential nominee says he will vote no on a constitutional amendment in Florida, his home state, that would allow abortions there after the first six weeks of pregnancy. Well, Florida law currently bans abortions after six weeks.
The amendment will be on the state's ballot in November. It's another reversal for Trump, who has previously said he's against a six-week ban but will now effectively vote for such a ban by voting against the amendment.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: 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)
COREN: To be very clear, as CNN has repeatedly noted, it is illegal in every state to kill a baby after it is born. That would be murder obviously.
Trump has also refused to commit to vetoing a bill that includes a federal abortion ban. His running mate, JD Vance, previously said he thought Trump would veto such a bill.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
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 --
(CROSSTALK)
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.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MANU RAJU, CNN CHIEF CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: 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)
COREN: Kamala Harris is slamming Trump's comments, saying he made his position on abortion very clear.
The Harris campaign is planning a bus tour through battleground states to support reproductive rights. It's scheduled to start Tuesday in Palm Beach, Florida. Campaign officials say the tour will feature elected officials, celebrities and Republicans who support Harris.
Meanwhile, the co-chair of the Harris campaign spoke to CNN about Trump's positions on reproductive rights, including his promise to support free in vitro fertilization treatments.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERT GARCIA, NATIONAL CO-CHAIR, HARRIS-WALZ PRESIDENTIAL CAMPAIGN: Let's be crystal clear.
I mean, the reason that we are having all of this debate about IVF and states are rolling back rights and we're losing, moving backwards as it relates to women's rights and access to their own reproductive health, is because of Donald Trump and the Supreme Court that moved Roe vv Wade backwards and eliminated that right for women.
And so he has bragged openly about how he supports the decision in what the court did. And so it is comical that Donald Trump would talk about women's reproductive health in any way that is serious when it is he who has lauded the Supreme Court for their actions for what is happening right now across the country that is moving us backwards.
His own party has come out strongly against IVF.
[05:05:00]
He has gone -- he's basically going around the country now, trying to play cleanup for a mess that he created and, by the way, has continued to stand by every single day.
Kamala Harris, of course, is going around the country fighting for women's access to abortion and IVF. And that we'll continue to see throughout the campaign. She'll be announcing different policy positions in the weeks ahead.
But what I will say is that there are few people in this country that have stood stronger on issues of reproductive health care than Kamala Harris. And of course, when you look at Tim Walz and his experience, this is a ticket that understands the rights of women that wants to move the country forward and not take us backward.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
COREN: Natasha Lindstaedt is a professor of government at the University of Essex, she joins us now from Colchester, England.
Natasha, great to see you.
I guess this all demonstrates what a difficult tightrope Donald Trump has to walk when it comes to abortion. On the one hand, he's got the evangelicals dismayed when it seems like he would vote for the referendum in Florida.
But then he backtracks and now risks losing more moderate voters.
Is it possible that he's trying to adopt vagueness as a strategy?
NATASHA LINDSTAEDT, UNIVERSITY OF ESSEX: It's not clear what he's trying to do. I mean he says different things, depending on who the audience is.
Like you mentioned, if he's speaking in front of Christian evangelicals, telling them, don't worry, Christians, you'll never have to vote again, he's clearly touting a pro-life agenda. Now seeing that this isn't politically popular to do, because a majority of Americans support reproductive rights for women.
He's backtracking and trying to find some way of appealing to moderates, knowing that this is an incredibly important issue. But he's all over the place. He's even contradicting his own vice president nominee, JD Vance, on these things.
And then it seems like he's almost off the cuff, coming up with ideas about supporting everyone's right to get IVF and that the government will actually pay for that or insurance will be mandated to pay for it.
So he's struggling to figure out how to play this particular issue. While this is a much more comfortable issue for Kamala Harris to talk about, she's been an proponent of women's reproductive rights for some time now and she moved the flies (ph) talking about this particular topic.
COREN: Well, staying with Trump and Vance, they say that they're in favor of letting states make their own decisions. And that's leading to reproductive health care coming down to whether a woman lives in a red state or a blue state.
But how is that likely to play in those swing states where Trump is losing ground since Harris topped the Democratic ticket?
LINDSTAEDT: So this is again an issue that has really galvanized the Democrats, has gotten them to the polls.
We saw that it was a major issue in the 2022 midterms. We're seeing again another big issue because of the overturning of Roe v. Wade. It's one of the reasons why Kamala Harris is doing so well with women in these swing states for (INAUDIBLE) versus Donald Trump amongst women in swing states is somewhere between 14 to 17 points.
And so she's motivating a base of not only just women but younger voters and anyone who really cares about reproductive rights. Seeing the incredible damage it has had on women living in some of these red states, where their lives have almost been endangered, as the doctors are unable to perform a life-saving abortion.
So we're seeing this as a major issue, amongst other issues, of course, in the campaign in these swing states.
COREN: Turning now to Kamala Harris' sitdown interview with CNN's Dana Bash, how did you rate her performance and did she achieve what she needed to?
LINDSTAEDT: So she did well. But I don't think that she's going to have changed people's mind that much. I know that she was trying to appeal to moderates. But you can see the reactions are already very partisan.
You have Republicans that were critical of the fact that she sat down with Walz and actually changed her mind on some of the issues and Democrats thought that she did really well and clearly answered the questions.
I thought she had to navigate through some difficult questions when she did her identity, on her support or continued support for Biden and his policies and why she changed her mind on some issues, such as fracking.
I mean, do I think she's an eloquent and articulate, well spoken as someone like Elizabeth Warren, isn't answering issues, questions on policy. No, but she's not running against Elizabeth Warren. She's running against Trump.
And his interviews are complete train wrecks. He's all over the place, he's lying or he's saying misogynistic comments.
He's changing his mind and so we have a very different bar and I think what's going to matter more than these interviews, because you can't really see a side by side, is when they're finally face-to-face in the debate on September 10th.
COREN: Sure. That will, of course, be the true test.
[05:10:00]
But was this interview, was it -- was it damaging at all to Harris and Walz?
LINDSTAEDT: No, I don't think it was damaging but I don't think it really moves the meter one way or another. I think it just sort of maintains things where they are.
And that's important -- that's an important thing because she doesn't want to lose momentum. And she's had excellent campaign stops, attracting thousands and thousands of people. She probably wants to keep doing interviews and keep honing her skills and articulating a message.
But she made an attempt to move toward the middle, to appear to meet -- to be moderate. But as I mentioned, I think her best bet is if she can go against Trump directly because there's very different standards, it seems, for what she needs to do an interview versus what he needs to do.
COREN: That has always been the case. Natasha Lindstaedt great to see you. Thanks for your insights.
LINDSTAEDT: OK. Thanks for having me.
(MUSIC PLAYING)
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 travel to the hospital.
The Israeli military said Friday that it has killed 20 people it says were terrorist 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. The Israel Defense Forces said it eliminated more than 250 of what it called terrorists and destroyed a 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 it 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. CNN's Nic Robertson is following developments from Jerusalem.
Nic, how are they going to achieve this?
NIC ROBERTSON, CNN SENIOR DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: By this time tomorrow, Anna, they should actually be in the first day, in the first phase of the vaccination campaign.
And the way they're going to do this is they're breaking into three different areas. They'll do the center of Gaza, then the south and the north. They'll have three days in each of those locations.
And during those day, each of those days, there will be a pause for about seven or eight hours in the fighting. But if you look at the metrics, they have to get through about 640,000 children, do vaccinate 90 percent of them, at least.
And if you run the math, then you're looking at really maybe as many as 10,000 children an hour need to get vaccinated. Now the U.N. has got in place its medical centers, its clinics and it's also going to have mobile clinics, maybe as many as 2,000 of those with 3,000 workers.
And some of those mobile vaccination locations may be just setting up in some of these sort of tented areas where many of the displaced people are. But it's going to be a huge challenge because they don't know exactly how many people they need to get to. It's never been done before.
It's a monumental task, which is what Sam Rose, a very senior U.N. official in Gaza, who is overseeing this vaccination program, told me. And he also told me, when I talked to him about the stakes, about just how high they are, this is what he said.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
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?
SAM ROSE, DIRECTOR OF PLANNING, UNRWA: 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.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTSON: It's almost a sort of act of faith that they're beginning this tomorrow because this is a two-phase program. They need to give a second round of shots, that all those children again in four weeks' time.
And when I was speaking with Sam Rose, I was asking him, do you have guarantees yet from Hamas, from the Israeli official authorities, that you can get these humanitarian pauses again?
[05:15:02]
And he said, look, we're just so grateful to have got these pauses. Essentially, they're going to have to deal with that in four weeks' time and hope that the same environment persists.
He said, because if you don't do that second round of vaccination, everything they'll do over the coming week or so will just be wasted effort, that children have to get two doses four weeks apart.
COREN: A herculean effort, Nic. And if only those pauses were permanent. Nic Robertson joining us from Jerusalem. As always, good to see you. Thank you.
Russian missiles rained down Ukraine's second largest city and a residential building takes a direct hit with deadly consequences. That story ahead.
Plus Ukraine tries to love U.S. officials to get a go-ahead for strikes deeper inside Russia.
(MUSIC PLAYING)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(MUSIC PLAYING)
COREN: Ukraine is taking more missile fire from Russia as it lobbies for more leeway to strike back with U.S. made weapons.
[05:20:00]
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
COREN (voice-over): Officials say Russia targeted the city of Kharkiv on Friday, killing at least seven people and leaving 77 others injured.
While that happened, as Ukraine presses ahead with its incursion inside Russia, claiming it advanced by more than a mile in the Kursk region.
Meanwhile, Ukraine's defense minister was in the U.S. on Friday, meeting with his U.S. counterpart, Lloyd Austin. Ukraine wants a go- ahead from Washington to conduct strikes deeper inside Russia with U.S. weapons. The Pentagon has indicated it's not keen on the idea but Ukraine's defense minister told CNN, he's still made his case.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
RUSTEM UMEROV, UKRAINIAN DEFENSE MINISTER: We've provided the situation on the battlefield. We have explained the needs. We have explained what kind of capabilities we need to protect the citizens against a Russian terror that the Russians are causing us. So I hope we were heard.
Our partners should understand that we are protecting our land, we are 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.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COREN: Ukrainians have gone one step further with that lobbying effort in the U.S. As Fred Pleitgen reports, they have pitched specific Russian targets they would like to take out.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: For these top level Ukrainian officials who have traveled to the U.S. the meetings that they're having are absolutely key, especially the one with Ukraine's Defense Minister Rustem Umarov and the U.S. secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin.
The Ukrainians are saying, essentially they want to present the U.S. with a list of targets inside Russia that they want permission from the U.S. to be able to hit with some of the weapons that the United States has given to the Ukrainians.
Now, of course, the U.S. has given the Ukrainians some weapons that can travel a considerable distance but so far the Ukrainians are only allowed to use those weapons to strike Ukrainian territory that is occupied by the Russians and some territories very close to the border between Ukraine and Russia.
The Ukrainians clearly want to open that up. They believe that is key to their effort to try and stop Russia's advances in certain places but also for their own troops to be able to advance further into Russian territory.
Right now, we have a situation here in Ukraine where the Ukrainian military is still advancing further into Russian territory in the Kursk Region.
There have been some gains that the Ukrainians say that they have made overnight. On the one hand, it's also still remarkable that the Ukrainians are able to advance even more than three weeks into the beginning of that incursion into Russian territory.
On the other hand, the Ukrainians are having serious problems in the east of Ukraine, in the eastern front, as they call it, especially in the region around the key town of Pokrovsk. The Russians in that area are not making huge gains but they're definitely making steady gains.
And the Ukrainians say the biggest problem that they have down in that area is that their forces are simply outmanned.
The Ukrainian general command has said that they want to beef up their forces in that area to try and at least spot stop the Russians and maybe even push them back -- Fred Pleitgen, CNN, Kyiv.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
COREN: For more analysis now, we're joined by Maria Avdeeva, a security expert and research director at the European Expert Association. She's speaking with us via Skype from Dnipro, Ukraine.
Maria, lovely to see you.
This latest attack in Kharkiv, tell us, what are you learning?
MARIA AVDEEVA, EUROPEAN EXPERT ASSOCIATION: This was a terrible attack, one of the many virtual Russia put on Kharkiv during the spring months and in summer and six residents of the residential building were killed and one body was just recently recovered, totally burned out.
One of the residents was a 18-year-old girl, Nika. She was a prominent artist and well-known in the city. So the city is mourning for her loss and for her loss of other people killed in this attack.
And around 100 civilians were injured, including 20 children, because the Russia attacked during the daytime. It was a lively area with many buildings around. And in the yard there was a playground. So this is another terrorist attack, a war crime committed by Russia in daytime, specifically to do as much casualties among civilians as possible.
COREN: Now we just reported on this very crucial meeting in Washington, D.C., no doubt that Ukrainian defense minister is appealing for the use of U.S. weapons so that they can strike Russia and prevent these sorts of attacks and others like it.
[05:25:00]
Lloyd Austin, we heard from him. He said that the United States stands with Ukraine.
But do you think he was receptive to this appeal?
AVDEEVA: Well, Ukraine is asking for months for this ban to be lifted an actually the price Ukraine pays is the death of its children and other civilians that are killed by Russian strikes on Ukrainian territory.
Because what is happened in a Russian planes take off from inside Russia and they launch these deadly glide bombs, having five kilos, 500 kilograms of explosions, toward Ukrainian cities.
And Ukraine is not able to hit this airbases and airfields from where the planes take off because it's -- we have a ban of using longer range weapons to hit further than the nearby regions around Kharkiv.
And this, if it's lift -- if this ban will be lifted, if Ukraine will be allowed to do this, this will mean that Ukraine will be able to diminish Russian capabilities of using fighter jets and generally destroying the fighter jets, because Russia's ability to produce them are limited.
And Ukraine is doing already what we can, using the longer-range drones for deep strikes into Russia. But of course, this is not enough. And if we would be able to use Western supplied weapons, then the situation might be changed drastically to defend Ukrainian cities.
COREN: Maria, let's talk about the Kursk incursion.
Obviously, it was an initial shot in the arm for Ukraine. However, it hasn't had the desired effect of relieving pressure on the eastern front; in particular, Pokrovsk, which I know you have visited recently. This is a vital logistical hub for Ukrainian troops.
Has the aim of the Kursk incursion failed?
AVDEEVA: Well, at the moment the -- Russia is not redeploying the troops for prompt Pokrovsk direction because basically this is their primary goal. And Russia is steadily advancing to the city.
Now like being less than 10 kilometers away. And you would hear the artillery war fire very close to the city itself. But the -- what Kursk incursion has changed is that it distracts some of Russian efforts over there.
And also it boosted the morale of Ukrainian military. And if Ukraine will, for example, put this in troops around Pokrovsk, it still is not one-to-one ratio. Still, Ukraine is, Ukrainian army is outmanned and outgunned. So Ukraine is doing everything possible to defend Pokrovsk.
But when the enemy has more strength than you do, you do not attempt just directly. You try to find ways of how to attack from the side so that your troops will not be destroyed immediately by, for example, Russian caps (ph) as they did this around Avdiivka.
So Pokrovsk is evacuating the city. The city is getting more and more deserted and people are bracing for what Russian offensive might bring them.
COREN: Maria Avdeeva, we're going to have to leave it there but we thank you for your time and for joining us from Dnipro in Ukraine.
AVDEEVA: Thank you, Anna.
COREN: New information about when the election subversion case against Donald Trump could go to trial. We'll explain what's in the new filing from the special counsel and Trump's attorneys just ahead.
And one of the doctors accused of supplying ketamine to Matthew Perry was in court in Los Angeles. We'll find out what happened when we come back.
(MUSIC PLAYING)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[05:30:00]
(MUSIC PLAYING)
COREN: Welcome back.
In the U.S. presidential race, Kamala Harris is blasting her rival's latest stance on abortion as she prepares for a battleground bus tour that will focus on reproductive rights.
Donald Trump now says he will vote against a Florida constitutional amendment that would allow abortions after the first six weeks of pregnancy. Trump has previously said he's against a six-week ban but, by opposing the amendment, he's effectively supporting Florida's existing ban.
In Pennsylvania Friday, he promised that his administration would help Americans grow their families.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: If I'm elected this November, for the first time ever, your government will pay for or require insurance companies to pay for all costs associated with IVF fertility treatment.
We want more babies to be born in America. we want more babies. We need them.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COREN: CNN asked Trump's running mate, JD Vance, about the issue.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
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: Well, 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 a 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.
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, scheduled to be sentenced on September 18th. The sentence could include prison time or probation. 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.
[05:35:00]
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
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: Police investigating the disappearance of an elderly couple at a California nudist resort say they found human remains beneath the home of a neighbor. The coroner's office is working to identify the bodies.
But it's believed they may be Daniel and Stephanie Menard. The couple went missing last week from their home at Olive Dell Ranch, which bills itself as Southern California's favorite nudist resort for families and couples. Redlands police demolished part of the suspect's house to get to him
during a standoff. They say that's when they discovered the remains under his mobile home in what was described as a concrete bunker.
Brazil is now blocking people from accessing these social media platform known as X. It comes after a supreme court justice's ruling to suspend the social media giant in the country. X owner Elon Musk is slamming the move. Details now from CNN's Julia Vargas Jones.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JULIA VARGAS JONES, CNN PRODUCER: A feud between a billionaire and a supreme court justice, what could go wrong?
Well, now 200 million people in Brazil are no longer able to access X. Not only that but those who try to, the court say, will be hit with a fine of almost $10,000 a day if they tried to access the site via a VPN.
All providers in the country are now blocking the website from mobiles and other devices. Now Elon Musk took that to X and said that the oppressive regime in Brazil is so afraid of the people learning the truth that they will bankrupt anyone who tries the oppressive regime.
He's talking about is the supreme court specifically, supreme court justice Alexandre de Moraes. He has been the lead in an investigation that's been sweeping Brazil over misinformation and hate speech online that the court says might have the intent to undermine democracy.
This includes the Big Lie of Brazil, that the election was stolen, that there were fraud, fraudulent voting happening along those lines in the elections all the way back to 2019. This rhetoric has been escalating.
And this is the government's attempt to tame it. Now Musk has basically refused to comply with some of the orders of the court to terminate some accounts on X. He said that he will not give into this kind of censorship.
He called the supreme court dictators and said that he will stand by allowing people to say what they want on his platform. Now he's also been hit at this point with this closure after removing all of the representation of X in the country.
Now no company can actually operate in Brazil without representation this is why we got to the place that we did. Now another company led by Musk might also be affected in this. That's Starlink. That provides internet service for many remote regions in Brazil, up to 250,000 users.
And they could also be affected as the assets of that company become frozen. Musk says he will continue to operate in the country and will now give the services for free -- Julia Vargas Jones, CNN, New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COREN: Days of deadly flooding are taking a heavy toll in Yemen.
How it could make things even worse in a nation where many are already struggling to feed themselves, next on CNN.
(MUSIC PLAYING)
[05:40:00]
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(MUSIC PLAYING)
COREN: Deadly flooding is bringing new anguish to the country of Yemen. The United Nations says at least 97 people have been killed over the past month, with more than 56,000 homes affected by flooding.
That devastation is making things even more difficult for the roughly 4.5 million people in Yemen who have already been displaced from their homes. The U.N. estimates 85 percent of families that have experienced displacement are unable to meet their daily food requirements and are in urgent need of humanitarian aid.
Japan is dealing with torrential rainfall from what is now tropical depression Shanshan. Authorities urged millions of people to evacuate as it made landfall as a typhoon on Thursday. The storm is now slowly drifting across the country this weekend.
(WEATHER REPORT)
[05:45:00]
COREN: After days of delays, SpaceX's Cook says, Falcon Nine rocket has been cleared to fly again. That puts the spacecraft back on track for two high-profile missions. The company is set to launch a mission called Polaris Dawn, which will carry a crew of civilian space travelers to direct first ever commercial spacewalk.
Polaris has been delayed twice already because of technical issues and by bad weather. And as soon as late September, SpaceX is expected to take two NASA astronauts to the International Space Station on Crew Nine.
Well, that mission is expected to then bring home Boeing Starliner test crew sometime after the first of the year. Their planned return delayed for months because of technical issues.
Well, technology allows us to stay connected to our jobs through emails, texts and phone calls all the time. But workers in Australia now have the right to disconnect from work during the off hours.
It's a new rule that allows employees to refuse to answer calls or respond to texts and emails from their bosses unless it's an emergency. CNN's Kristie Lu Stout has the details.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) KRISTIE LU STOUT, CNN ANCHOR AND CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): For all of Australia's beauty and relaxed reputation, it might be hard to imagine that many people here feel overworked. But according to some lawmakers, Australians are working an average of six weeks unpaid overtime every year.
And so the government has stepped in to protect people's right to disconnect.
As of Monday, people won't have to answer out-of-hours calls, texts or emails.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I think it's actually really important that we have laws like this. We spend so much of our time connected to our phones, connected to our emails all day. And I think that it's really hard to switch off as it is.
STOUT (voice-over): Around the world ill-defined job expectations and constant connectivity has allowed our jobs to encroach on our private worlds. The gray areas remain. There may be times the boss still requires an answer but workers can now defend their right to disconnect in court if they want to.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We are professionals, we're well-paid, we are expected to deliver and we feel we have to deliver 24 hours a day if we have to. So the phone is always on, the computer is always on and I'm working.
STOUT (voice-over): Australians likely won't forget work entirely after they leave the office. But more people may feel like they don't have to be always on, meaning more time to enjoy what is already a fortunate place to be -- Kristie Lu Stout, CNN.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COREN: Stay with CNN. We'll be right back.
(MUSIC PLAYING)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[05:50:00]
(MUSIC PLAYING)
COREN: Another night, another stunning upset at the U.S. Open. Novak Djokovic eliminated in the third round. "CNN SPORT's" anchor Coy Wire joins us now with how it happened.
Coy, certainly has not been the grand slam that his fans will but hoping for.
COY WIRE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, a day after Olympic silver medalist Carlos Alcaraz went down in one of the biggest upsets in tennis history, the gold medalist going down too. For the first time since 2017, Novak Djokovic will leave a year
without a major title to his name. And, Anna, he has one of your fellow Aussies, to thank; 25-year-old Alexei Popyrin had never made it the past the third round at any slam.
But he goes off against the GOAT, winning the first two sets, 6-4. Joker took the third but, watch this, tied at 2 in the fourth, look at the fully extended ridiculous shot Popyrin perfect.
He starts hyping up the crowd. Everyone can feel an upset now. And here it is. Djokovic going long on his shot, upset complete. Popyrin takes down Goliath. He said this was the moment he'd been waiting for.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ALEXEI POPYRIN, WORLD NUMBER 28 TENNIS PLAYER: It's unbelievable because I've been in the third round about 15 times my career. I haven't been able to get past to the fourth round.
And to be able to do it against the greatest of all time, to get into the fourth round is unbelievable. Yes, it's a great feeling.
NOVAK DJOKOVIC, WORLD NUMBER 1 TENNIS PLAYER: I try to, you know, try my best.
I mean, I didn't have any physical issues. I just felt out of gas. And you could see that with the way I played just from the very beginning, from the first match. I just didn't find myself at all in this court. And it's all I can say, you know. Life moves on.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WIRE: Also moving on, Frances Tiafoe, he'd been meeting Popyrin in the last 16 and Tiafoe is someone who's been there aplenty. He rallied from down a set twice against Ben Shelton before putting his fellow American away in a five-set marathon.
Tiafoe reaches a second week in New York for a fifth year in a row. And now the door seems to be open for him to make the final.
Coco Gauff and Irena Sabalenka on a collision course for a potential rematch in the women's semis, defending champ Gauff rallying to take down Elina Svitolina after dropping the first set.
Last year's runner-up Sabalenka, also rallying against Ekaterina Alexandrova to reach the fourth round.
Meanwhile, Scottie Scheffler watched his seven shot lead at the Tour championship slip a bit. The world number one making six birdies on Friday, carded a five under 66.
[05:55:00]
But the problem was Collin Morikawa and Xander Schauffele played like their pants were on fire. Morikawa making nine birdies. Xander hit seven of them, didn't drop a shot all day. Look out, Scottie, they're coming. Scheffler's lead now, just four
with the $25 million prize on the line.
Budding sports rivalry, Caitlin Clark in Indiana, Angel Reese in Chicago, most expensive WNBA ticket of the season last night. Average at 385 bucks. But this one, all Clark, dropping a career high 31 points, making more history. First player in WNBA history with a 30 plus point 12 assist games, five 3 pointers, some from way downtown, Anna.
The Fever started the season 1-8. But are now over 500. Currently the sixth seed for the playoffs. Clark has Chicago sounding like a home game at a 100-81 win.
And L.A. Dodgers superstar Shohei Ohtani is going, going, gone, second inning against the Diamondbacks, still in his 43rd bag of the season. Then in the 8th, Ohtani, no need to sprint here, hitting his 43rd homer of the season.
Dodgers win 10-9 as Ohtani slugs and steals his way ever closer to becoming the first player in league history to ever register a 50-50 season. Anna, no other player has ever even had 43 stolen bases and 43 home runs. So he is just on an absolute tear.
COREN: Amazing. And I can hear some screams happening in the control room. Someone's very excited about what has just taken place.
Coy Wire, you have a great Labor Day weekend. As always, a pleasure to see you.
Well, that wraps up this hour of CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Anna Coren in Hong Kong. Thank you so much for your company. For those of you in North America, "CNN THIS MORNING" is next. For international viewers, "AFRICAN VOICES."
