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Authorities Investigate Apparent Trump Assassination Attempt; Harris Meets with Teamsters as Union Nears Endorsement; Putin Orders Russia to Boost Army by 180,000 Troops; Meta Bans Russian State Media Over Foreign Interference. Aired 4:30-5a ET
Aired September 17, 2024 - 04:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[04:30:00]
CHRISTINA MACFARLANE, CNN ANCHOR: Paula Hancocks there live from Abu Dhabi. Thanks, Paula.
MAX FOSTER, CNN ANCHOR: There is new information about the suspect in the apparent assassination attempt on Donald Trump, including what authorities believe he was doing in the hours before the incident.
MACFARLANE: And Facebook and Instagram pulled the plug on a Russian state media over claims of trying to interfere in the U.S. election. Those details just ahead.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
MACFARLANE: Hi, welcome back to CNN NEWSROOM. Here are some of the top stories we're following today.
Sean Diddy Combs has been arrested in New York. That's according to his attorney. A federal indictment against the rapper and music producer is expected to be unsealed in the coming hours.
Now this is the first image of the Titan submersible sitting at the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean. It was released by the Coast Guard yesterday at a hearing into the tragedy that killed five explorers last summer. A former OceanGate contractor said he believes the Titan imploded because of a line of glue that was too worn down to withstand the pressure of another deep dive.
Outside Houston, Texas, a natural gas pipeline is on fire after an SUV crashed into it Monday. The fire has damaged houses, melted vehicles, caused power outages and forced people to evacuate. The natural gas fire is expected to burn itself out sometime this morning.
FOSTER: To our top story, we are learning more details about the investigation into the apparent assassination attempt on Donald Trump in Florida. CNN's Paula Reid, following developments for you from West Palm Beach.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Driver, go straight back! PAULA REID, CNN CHIEF LEGAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): New
dramatic footage of the moments Ryan Wesley Routh was taken into custody.
[04:35:00]
Martin County police apprehending the suspect as he fled after an apparent assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump while he was golfing Sunday afternoon.
SHERIFF RIC BRADSHAW, PALM BEACH COUNTY, FLORIDA: The security level at Mar-a-Lago is the highest it can possibly be now.
REID (voice-over): Routh appeared before a federal judge in West Palm Beach, wearing dark prison scrubs, his hands and feet shackled. Routh was charged with two counts, possession of a firearm while convicted felon and possession of a firearm with an obliterated serial number. Investigators believe Routh had been lying in wait nearly 12 hours along the tree line near the golf course.
Newly unsealed court records show Routh's mobile phone was in the vicinity from approximately 1:59 a.m. until 1:31 p.m. Authorities say Secret Service officers clearing the golf course ahead of the former president first noticed the suspect.
RAFAEL BARROS, SECRET SERVICE SPECIAL AGENT IN CHARGE, MIAMI FIELD OFFICE: He noticed that the rifle was pointed out. Our agents engaged.
REID (voice-over): Palm Beach police released photos of the scene showing the gun along with a backpack and GoPro camera mounted on the fence.
BRADSHAW: Fortunately, we were able to locate a witness that came to us and said, hey, I saw the guy running out of the bushes. He jumped into a black Nissan and I took a picture of the vehicle and the tag, which was great.
REID (voice-over): Police were able to quickly get that information out to surrounding areas and track the suspect's SUV in nearby Martin County.
SHERIFF WILLIAM D. SNYDER, MARTIN COUNTY, FLORIDA: He was smart. He was just driving with the flow of traffic. Yes, I think that he may have thought he got away with it.
I was able to get to the scene shortly after the stop and I saw him in the car. His facial affect was very bland. He was not emoting any emotions at all.
REID (voice-over): More details are emerging about Routh's background.
RYAN WESLEY ROUTH, MAN DETAINED IN APPARENT ASSASSINATION ATTEMPT ON TRUMP: Putin is a terrorist and he needs to be ended.
REID (voice-over): He was outspoken on his strong support for Ukraine, encouraging foreigners to fight in the war. He also criticized Trump in his self-published book on geopolitics and has contributed more than $100 to ActBlue, which processes donations to Democrats.
REID: It is expected that additional charges will likely be filed in this case as the investigation continues. Routh will be back in federal court next week for a detention hearing where prosecutors are expected to argue that he should remain detained ahead of a possible trial because he not only presents a flight risk, but also a danger to the community. He will be formally arraigned on September 30th.
Paula Reid, CNN, West Palm Beach, Florida.
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MACFARLANE: Well, despite the apparent assassination attempt, sources say Donald Trump is still planning to attend all of his campaign events this week, including a visit to Michigan later today.
FOSTER: His Democratic rival also has a busy week ahead with stops in Philadelphia, Wisconsin. On Monday, Vice President Kamala Harris attended a roundtable discussion with the International Brotherhood of Teamsters in Washington as she seeks to win over support from the largest union. CNN's Eva McKend has more.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
EVA MCKEND, CNN U.S. NATIONAL POLITICS CORRESPONDENT: Vice President Harris emerged from an all-important meeting with the Teamsters, voicing fresh commitment to a slate of pro-union issues as the group nears an endorsement decision. The Vice President telling Teamsters she's going to continue fighting for union workers like them every day and touted being part of the most pro-union administration in history.
She accused former President Donald Trump of appointing union busters to the National Labor Relations Board, making it harder for workers to organize.
She cast the deciding vote for the Butch Lewis Act in 2021 as part of the American Rescue Plan, which the campaign says saved over a million pensions.
And out on the campaign trail, the Vice President and Democrats routinely pledging to work with Congress to pass the PRO Act, which they say will end union busting.
Now, after holding roundtables with all the presidential candidates, the International Brotherhood of the Teamsters could reach an endorsement decision as soon as Wednesday.
Most major unions have already endorsed the Vice President, including the United Auto Workers and the AFL-CIO.
Eva McKend, CNN, Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
FOSTER: Russian President Vladimir Putin has ordered his military to add 180,000 more troops starting in December. That will bring Russia's troop total to about one and a half million.
MACFARLANE: This is the third time Putin has expanded the military ranks since launching an invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. CNN's Clare Sebastian has been following this. Clare, what's prompted this new call-up?
CLARE SEBASTIAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: So this is not a mobilization, just to be clear, the likes of which we saw, of course, in September 2022, which led to those protests, mass exodus of fighting-age men from Russia. This is contract soldiers, right? But I think it does obviously speak to a level of replacement, according to the latest British and Ukrainian estimates, Russia has lost some 600,000 soldiers in Ukraine.
[04:40:00]
So by doing this, by sort of swelling the ranks of the regular army, they're able to replace them without actually admitting to doing that. And they do have to pay people a lot of money to join up. We know that sign-on bonuses have been doubled to some four and a half thousand dollars. They were equivalent, that happened over the summer.
So it's costing them a lot of money, but unlike Ukraine, which is having real trouble recruiting more soldiers into the army, Russia is still able to do this. Evidence suggests that people are still willing to join up.
So it's all part of this picture that we see at the moment, right? Ukraine, really struggling, it's still, you know, involved in that Kursk offense, if Russia is pushing in the east and it's facing ongoing shortages of equipment as well.
We know that there's now this situation in the U.S. where they have the money to supply Ukraine with new military aid packages, but it just cannot do it and still maintain the readiness of the U.S. military. The stockpiles are dwindling, they cannot produce enough quick enough. So the aid packages have been shrinking and President Zelenskyy has already warned that what has been promised isn't arriving quick enough. Take a listen.
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VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY, UKRAINIAN PRESIDENT: I will not speak openly now about the number of systems we have received, thank you so much again, but the number of air defense systems that have not yet been delivered is significant. This is what was agreed upon and this is what was, what has not been fully implemented. The world has enough air defense systems to ensure that Russian terror does not have results and I urge you to be more active in this was with us on air defense.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SEBASTIAN: So he -- that was just a couple of weeks ago, September 6th -- he continues his diplomatic push for more weapons and in particular for those lifting of restrictions on using long-range missiles inside Russia. We expect that to continue with the UNGA meeting next week. FOSTER: I want to ask you about this ban of Russian state media, one of the channels, right, on Meta platforms. That's a pretty dramatic move.
SEBASTIAN: Yes, this is RT and affiliated channels, used to be called Russia Today, has been in the spotlight a lot recently. Meta now saying that it's banning them all with, you know, millions plus followers for, quote, foreign interference activity. They're worried, of course, that they're using the platform to conduct essentially covert information operations on behalf of the Russian government. And it comes, of course, as we've seen this intensifying crackdown from the U.S.
Not only as it relates to election interference, we saw charges, of course, level against two RT employees using a sort of front company in the U.S. they're accused of to try and influence the elections, but also they're very worried about their global operations trying to sort of influence political situations around the world.
And U.S. intelligence now believes, of course, that the Russian government has embedded an intelligence unit within RT, so it's functioning obviously now as much more than a media outlet. And this is sort of brought Meta, I think, to this real nuclear option, banning them entirely from the platforms.
MACFARLANE: Potentially important move ahead of the U.S. elections, isn't it? Clare Sebastian, thank you.
Now, Germany has placed temporary restrictions on all of its land borders, giving Berlin the power to reject anyone coming into the country.
FOSTER: Germany is part of the Schengen border free zone, but it's allowed to put temporary controls in place. The interior minister is calling the move a tough stance against irregular migration. She says it's meant to protect German citizens from cross-border crime and Islamist terrorism.
MACFARLANE: Well, Chancellor Olaf Scholz's government is facing pressure from far-right groups to crack down on migration and asylum seekers. But Germany's European neighbors aren't happy with the new restrictions, and neither are human rights groups.
FOSTER: Immigration was at the top of the agenda as the British Prime Minister Keir Starmer and Italian Prime Minister Giorgio Meloni met in Rome. Starmer, who leads a center-left coalition, says his talks with the right-wing Meloni will help the U.K. tackle the problem of migrants arriving on small boats.
MACFARLANE: Well, he says the two countries share a common challenge in irregular migration and will collaborate and cooperate to stop it.
FOSTER: Amazon workers will start the year with a new policy. The demand being made by the CEO just ahead.
MACFARLANE: And a high-interest story. U.S. investors hope for a big rate cut at Wednesday's Federal Reserve meeting. Wall Street's big reaction is up next.
[04:45:00]
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
FOSTER: A mayoral debate in Brazil turned ugly on Sunday with one candidate sending another to the hospital for treatment. Video shows Jose Luiz Datena swinging a chair at his counterpart, Pablo Marcal, on live TV. Datena was expelled from the debate but said his opponent had brought up dismissed sexual harassment allegations and that he doesn't regret his actions.
Marcal, who injured his chest and wrist, has compared it to July's assassination attempt on Donald Trump and vows to take legal action.
MACFARLANE: A London court has given former BBC news presenter Huw Edwards a suspended sentence for having indecent images of children. That's according to PA Media.
FOSTER: Edwards, who once was the BBC's highest paid journalist, pleaded guilty in July to possessing 41 indecent images of children. The suspended sentence comes with requirements.
MACFARLANE: Including the completion of a sex offender treatment program and 25 rehabilitation sessions. The court heard that the man who sent Edwards the images is a convicted pedophile.
FOSTER: It's very much blown up in the newspapers and on social because we've obviously had the situation where lots of people have been to prison recently after those riots for posting social media posts and now you've got a high profile presenter who was caught with extreme child pornography and is avoided prison and they're seeing a two system operation here.
MACFARLANE: And this was a man who had a standing in society in the U.K. I mean, he was the one that announced the death of the Queen, you know, so people feel very much like this is justice has not been done here.
FOSTER: Yes, although the judge stuck to the rules, you know, and the sentencing requirements. But --
MACFARLANE: You feel the rules need to be looked at when it comes to this kind of case, don't you?
FOSTER: Wall Street's recovery from an early September sell-off hasn't cooled just yet, with the Dow gaining 228 points on Monday to close at a record high.
MACFARLANE: It comes ahead of Wednesday's long-awaited meeting of the Federal Reserve, which is why they expected to cut interest rates for the first time since the pandemic four years ago.
FOSTER: Investors believe a half point rate cut is looking more likely instead of the quarter point many had expected. But any cut will be a major milestone in the central bank's long fight to bring down inflation.
Amazon's ordering its corporate employees to return to the office five days a week. It's a major change to its pandemic era policy, which had allowed them to work from home for at least two days a week.
MACFARLANE: I was going to say don't get any ideas, CNN, but then I am in five days a week.
Some employees are not too happy citing these policies -- these policy changes when they staged a walkout at the company's Seattle headquarters last year. But Amazon's CEO says more time in office will give its thousands of employees more opportunities to collaborate and connect with one another.
[04:50:02]
The new policy goes into effect in January.
FOSTER: It has been a while since the pandemic, to be fair.
MACFARLANE: I know, but it just seems so brutal, doesn't it?
FOSTER: Imagine walking from one continent to another on a cable 500 feet above the sea level. That's the sort of thing Chrissy would do, and I certainly wouldn't. This man did it. That video just ahead.
FOSTER: It's kind of cool, yes.
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MACFARLANE: Welcome back. Lawyers for American gymnast Jordan Chiles have filed an appeal to Switzerland's Supreme Court to overturn a decision that stripped Chiles of a bronze medal at the Paris Olympics. Now, it happened after the Romanian gymnastics team challenged a decision by the Court of Arbitration for Sport to revise Chiles' final score in the floor exercise.
FOSTER: Attorneys for Chiles argue that her right to be heard was violated with one asking: ... will everyone stand by whilst an Olympic athlete who's done only the right thing is stripped of a medal because of fundamental unfairness in an ad hoc arbitration process? The answer to that question should be no.
CNN has reached out to the Court of Arbitration for Sport for comment on that one.
[04:55:00]
MACFARLANE: Now, an Estonian man completed a daredevil stunt on Sunday. A cross-continental caper, you might say. Let's have a look at it.
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Woo!
(END VIDEO CLIP)
FOSTER: It took Jaan Roose 47 minutes to walk a slackline set up against the legs of Istanbul's Bosphorus Bridge. The walk was about half a mile and took him from Asia to Europe.
MACFARLANE: I'm heading to Istanbul.
FOSTER: He's got a rope on him.
MACFARLANE: Maybe I could give it a go.
FOSTER: Give it a go.
FOSTER: This actually, though, is 500 feet above sea level. Roose says traffic below and planes and helicopters above were a distraction at times -- I can understand that. And when his arms cramped, he says he rested and admired the old city beneath him. Honestly, rather him than me.
FOSTER: I thought you'd like that sort of thing.
MACFARLANE: No. There's a limit, I think.
And finally, a finally story for you.
FOSTER: Yes, China's mid-autumn festival being celebrated by everyone, including zoo animals. In honor of the annual holiday, animals at least two zoos are enjoying special treats in the shape of mooncakes, a baked good eaten during the festival.
MACFARLANE: Zoo workers say the mooncakes are made keeping in mind each animal's dietary needs, with ingredients ranging from fruits and vegetables to nuts and steamed cornbread. How lovely. It may not be the real thing, but the animals do seem to enjoy it. And who wouldn't?
FOSTER: Looks fun.
MACFARLANE: Certainly a nice, cuddly story for us to end the show on.
Thank you for joining us. I'm Christina Macfarlane.
FOSTER: I'm Max Foster. CNN "THIS MORNING" is up next.
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