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CNN This Morning

Congress Leaves for Long Weekend With Just Eight Days Left to Prevent Government Shutdown and No Solution in Sight; Today, Hollywood Studios Will Meet With Striking Writers for Third Day After Marathon Talks Ended With No Deal; CNN Poll Shows Biden Leads Trump by 12 Points in New Hampshire. Aired 6-6:30a ET

Aired September 22, 2023 - 06:00   ET

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

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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: -- which one is a little more lit.

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So, we'll see what happens in the near future.

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ANDY SCHOLES, CNN SPORTS CORRESPONDENT: And, Casey, we'll see if all this mystery, we finally get any answers this Sunday. Maybe Taylor Swift will show up in a Kelsey jersey to his game against the Bears.

CASEY HUNT, CNN ANCHOR: Whenever, you can do Taylor Swift and sports in the same, I mean, it's like golden for television.

All right, Andy Scholes, thanks very much, sir. Have a good weekend.

And thank you all for joining us. Please do have a wonderful weekend. I'm Casey Hunt. CNN This Morning starts right now.

PHIL MATTINGLY, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning, everyone. Poppy is off today. Sarah Sidner is with us.

Let's get things started with five things to know for this Friday, September 22nd.

Eight days, 18 hours until the government shuts down. And instead of working through the weekend to come up with a solution, House Republican lawmakers are heading home. The entire House is heading home.

SARA SIDNER, CNN ANCHOR: All right, migrant crossings on the southern border approaching record levels, with nearly 9,000 people trying to cross in just a single day.

New details this morning about what may have caused a bus carrying a high school marching band to crash. Officials say a front tire failed. Two adults have died. At least five children are now in critical condition. MATTINGLY: And a brand new CNN poll out just moments ago, as President Biden holds a 12-point lead over former President Trump in New Hampshire.

SIDNER: We're watching two strikes. As you know, writers will go back to the negotiating table with the studios today after a marathon session ended without a deal overnight. And the big three automakers brace for strikes against them to expand in just hours.

CNN This Morning starts right now.

I wish we could start with better news, but here we are.

MATTINGLY: Can we start with good news, though? It's Friday. It's Friday. You're hanging out. This is a good thing.

A Happy Friday to everyone unless you're a member of the House Republican Conference because --

SIDNER: Good point.

MATTINGLY: Yikes.

SIDNER: Things are not going well. This morning a government shutdown is looking more likely than ever. Speaker Kevin McCarthy has sent lawmakers home for a long weekend even though there are only eight days left until funding will run out. It comes after another epic failure for McCarthy on the House floor as he continues to struggle with a GOP rebellion.

MATTINGLY: Now, conservative hardliners once again tanked his defense spending bill second time in just three days, making it clear it does not have enough Republican votes to move forward on that bill or to prevent a shutdown all together.

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REP. KEVIN MCCARTHY (R-CA): It's frustrating a sense that I don't understand why anybody votes against bringing the idea and having the debate and then you got all the amendments if you don't like the bill. This is a whole new concept of individuals that just want to burn the whole place down. It doesn't work.

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MATTINGLY: President Biden is blasting House Republicans for leaving Washington at such a critical moment on X, formerly known as Twitter. He writes, quote, last time there was a government shutdown, 800,000 Americans were furloughed or worked without pay, but enjoy your weekend.

CNN Congressional Correspondent Lauren Fox is live for us in Washington. Can you -- I'm sorry, like I'm trying to figure out what the plan is, what the pathway is, what they're doing today, what they may do on Tuesday. Is there an outcome anywhere in sight? LAUREN FOX, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, welcome to the club, Phil. It's what we've all been trying to figure out for the last couple of weeks since lawmakers returned from their August recess. Right now, the plan is, and wait for it, they are going to try to pass 11 individual spending bills in just eight days before a government shutdown, all bills, we should mention, that would be dead on arrival in the United States Senate.

But they have abandoned that plan for a short-term stopgap measure because there were so many conservatives who are opposed to it and made clear to the speaker that they would never get to yes on a short- term spending bill known as a continuing resolution.

So, what they are doing now is trying to pass these Individual appropriations bills, but we should point out, one of those bills failed on the floor for the second time yesterday. A procedural step went up in flames because there were conservatives who voted down advancing the measure.

So, right now, Kevin McCarthy has a problem because he has a right flank that doesn't seem to be willing to vote for anything. And I asked a number of members yesterday, at this point, is there just a coalition in the House that wants to embarrass House Speaker Kevin McCarthy? And the argument I got from some members is they'll get to guess on something, they have individual issues. But trying to find a way where your conservatives and your moderates can all agree, that's a problem.

Here are two of those members, Matt Gaetz and Lawler, talking about their different views of what's happening right now.

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REP. MATT GAETZ (R-FL): There will not be sufficient Republican votes for a continuing resolution. Now, if we've got some of these moderate Republicans who want to go and join up with the Democrats, they will be signing their own political death warrant and they will be handing it to their executioner.

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REP. MIKE LAWLER (R-NY): I am not going to be party to a shutdown. It does not serve a purpose.

At the end of the day, any final bill is going to be bipartisan. And if somebody doesn't realize that, they're truly clueless.

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FOX: And rank and file members have left Washington, but the House Rules Committee is going to meet today to try to kick off that process of voting on these individual spending bills.

But, again, it is such a last-minute gambit. And given the fact that there are only eight days, it's not likely to go well. Phil? MATTINGLY: Yes. Lauren, look, we're talking about dysfunction. I think to some degree, this country is numb to dysfunction on Capitol Hill over the last decade-plus. This is a very different level of bad when it comes to dysfunction. But it's also coming at a really critical moment.

I was hoping you could step back a little bit and start with this, what President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said last night as he was leaving Washington. Take a listen.

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VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY, UKRAINIAN PRESIDENT: We addressed all Americans, political leaders, members of Congress, and ordinary Americans who have done so many extraordinary things. Thank you, United States. Thank you, America.

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MATTINGLY: And, Lauren, the reason I wanted to play that is Zelenskyy was on Capitol Hill yesterday, went to the White House as well, as well as the Pentagon. This dysfunction, this fight, this interparty warfare inside the Republican conference is bigger than just Congress being bad at its job, which everyone is very used to. This dysfunction lays bare very dramatic, I think, geopolitical consequences to some degree as well.

FOX: Yes, Phil. And I think it's important to remind people back home that while some public support for Ukraine funding has slipped over the last year, you cannot deny that reality, there is still strong bipartisan support likely in the House of Representatives to pass a Ukraine supplemental bill, to try to get them the money that they need. But it is up to one man, House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, to decide to put that on the floor.

And if yesterday was any indication of where he's at, he feels like he has to assuage his right flank right now at every turn. I mean, he didn't even walk Zelenskyy into the meeting in the House of Representatives. That was done by Hakeem Jeffries, the Democratic leader, and just to contrast that with the pictures of Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, Minority Leader Mitch McConnell walking, flanking Zelenskyy as they went into the Senate chamber for their meeting with members of Congress.

So, it just gives you a sense that this is up to Kevin McCarthy, and he is not there yet. I pushed him repeatedly yesterday on if he would commit to putting this money on the floor. He said they got to get their fiscal House in order first, and that there are other priorities to focus on right now. He would not make that commitment because he knows it could mean the end of his speakership if he took that step. Phil?

MATTINGLY: Yes, it's such critical context. Lauren Fox, great reporting, as always, thank you.

SIDNER: All right. This morning, two people are dead, including a toddler, as migrant crossings at the southern border soar to near record levels now. Officials found both bodies in the Rio Grande or Eagle Pass, Texas. They say the three year old boy was swept away by the river's current while traveling with his family. This as U.S. Border Patrol apprehensions have surged to more than 8,600 over the last 24 hours. That is double the daily encounters after Title 42 restrictions were lifted in May.

Officials list the busiest sectors as Del Rio, El Paso, the Rio Grande Valley and Tucson, each has faced more than 1,000 encounters in a day.

Now, the mayor of Eagle Pass, Texas, is expressing his frustration that the Biden administration has yet to offer any help.

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MAYOR ROLANDO SALINAS, EAGLE PASS, TEXAS: Nobody has bothered to call me, anyone in the city staff saying, hey, this is the federal government. We know what you're going through. We're worried about you. This is our plan of action, nothing. We're here abandoned. We're on the border. We're asking for help. This is unacceptable. Please just enforce the laws that are on the books.

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SIDNER: Mayor Rolando Salinas declared a state of emergency this week as migrant crossings are overwhelming federal resources and the community's only shelter.

MATTINGLY: Also knew overnight, we are learning new details about that horrific high school bus accident in New York. Two adults were killed and at least 40 teens were injured after a bus full of students on their way to band camp tumbled down a 50 foot ravine about 75 miles north of New York City. New York Governor Kathy Hochul expressed her grief at a briefing near the crash site.

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GOV. KATHY HOCHUL (D-NY): But there's a lot of families that need some love tonight and we extend that from 20 million New Yorkers who all know how much we cherish our children, our adults, our band leaders and life will be a little bit emptier without them. So, let's keep them in our prayers.

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MATTINGLY: That bus was one of six headed from Long Island to a band camp event in Pennsylvania. New York State Police and the NTSB are still investigating. But officials say a faulty front tire may have contributed to the crash. We will have a live report from the scene next hour.

SIDNER: Right. New developments this morning in the strikes that are bringing two big American industries to a halt today, Hollywood studio executives will meet with striking writers for a third straight day after marathon talks ended without a deal overnight. A source tells CNN progress, though, was made.

And the United Auto Workers strike, we could see more employees walking off the job in just hours from now. The head of the union says more strikes against General Motors, Ford and Stellantis could start at noon unless serious progress is made in those negotiations.

We're covering both strikes this morning. CNN's Vanessa Yurkevich is standing by with the latest on the auto workers talks. But, first, we're going to go to Camila Bernal, who is in Los Angeles. Can you give us a sense of where the talks are right now in the writers' strike?

CAMILA BERNAL, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Hey, Sara. Well, yes, progress was made, but we still don't have a deal. So, we need more time. That's why you're going to see the four heads of these studios at the negotiating table again. That is the leaders of Warner Brothers/Discovery, our parent company, NBC Universal, Netflix and Disney. And they will go back today to try to come to an agreement.

I've talked to writers who tell me that they are encouraged by seeing these leaders at the table. They're essentially just holding their breath and just patiently waiting to see if they're able to come to an agreement today.

But one writer I talked to told me, look, I understand that it's going to take time because these are difficult issues here. They're fighting for their wages, specifically residuals when it comes to streaming. And they're very focused on artificial intelligence as well. What they're saying is that it's people, the writers, that need to write these scripts and not the machines.

And so what WGA is saying is that they're going to come together. They're asking as many members as possible to go out to the picket lines today. And they're encouraged but they're also a bit skeptical. They're waiting to see exactly what happens.

Here is one of the strike leaders in what she had to say.

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ADRIAN DEV, STRIKE CAPTAIN, SAG/AFTRA: I think we've gotten our hopes up so many times, especially the writers. I think it's hard to say until a deal is actually set and done. I think it's a great sign, but until a contract is set and done, it's hard to say.

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BERNAL: And the reality is that people want to go back to work. It has been very difficult for a lot of these union members without work. In general, we're talking about more than $5 billion in terms of the economic impact of this strike. It is people who are struggling to pay their rent, struggling to put foot on the table. And so it has been difficult. And they do want an agreement, but we'll have to wait and see what happens at the negotiating table today, Sara.

SIDNER: Yes. And people should know it's having a huge impact, not just Hollywood, but in places like New York and Atlanta. There's a lot of places and all the surrounding businesses, like catering that need their work to begin.

Thank you so much, Camila. Phil?

MATTINGLY: Well, Sara, from one major labor dispute to another, the auto worker strike, Vanessa Yurkevich is just joining me now. And, Vanessa, you've been on the ground there for several days. You've been talking to your sources. You've been talking to folks that are on the picket line right now. There's a new offer on the table. There's a deadline that everybody's looking at right now in a few hours. Where do things stand?

VANESSA YURKEVICH, CNN BUSINESS AND POLITICS CORRESPONDENT: Yes. It's a new deadline, essentially. We know that at least Stellantis and General Motors have offered two new deals to the union. We know that all three automakers met with the union at the main bargaining tables.

However, we have not heard about a lot of progress. We even got a statement from General Motors who said that they believe, no matter what they put on the table, that the union was going to strike anyways. So, not looking good.

But at 10:00 A.M., we will hear from UAW President Shawn Fain, who will announce possible targeted strikes at other plants around the country, could be one automaker, could be multiple automakers.

Right now, there are less than 13,000 members on strike. But Shawn Fain has an arsenal of 145,000 members that he could send out at any time.

And we know that there's a ripple effect from this, right? When you send out striking workers, the big three have announced that they've had to lay off other workers because those jobs no longer become part of the supply chain. So, General Motors idling 2,000 workers, Ford, 600 workers, and Stellantis, 68 people laid off immediately with 300 more to come.

So, as these targeted strikes increase, you're going to see these ripple effects of layoffs continue to happen. These numbers will grow if there's more targeted strikes.

MATTINGLY: And it's been strategic, and they've intentionally tried to keep things quiet. We will get more information in just a couple of hours. You've been on the ground. You've been talking to people. You know what's actually happening.

Vanessa, great reporting, thank you.

SIDNER: All right.

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New this morning, some good poll numbers for President Biden. Brand new CNN polling shows how he's doing in New Hampshire and how he matches up against potential opponents. That is coming up next. MATTINGLY: And Ukraine's President Zelenskyy gets a mixed reception during his visit to Washington. What that means for that funding fight that lies ahead.

Stay with us.

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SIDNER: May your day be peaceful and calm. Look at that beautiful shot of the sunrise at 6:18 over New York. It can't get more glorious.

Now to the bad news. No, I'm just kidding. No, we'll try to keep a light.

MATTINGLY: I like that energy, though. I like that. It's a beautiful, beautiful shot, and there's still a lot of mess out there, and we're going to get into it. But focus on the beautiful shots.

SIDNER: But first, this is just into CNN, brand new poll out on President Biden's re-election chances in New Hampshire. It shows Biden with a 12-point advantage over Donald Trump in a hypothetical rematch. 52 to 40 are the numbers there. That's a much wider margin than the national polls, which have shown the two are neck and neck in the race.

Let's get straight to CNN Political Director David Chalian. First of all, I know you're going to go through this poll for us. What does President Biden support among independents a very important group in that state?

DAVID CHALIAN, CNN POLITICAL DIRECTOR: It's a good question, also chances of my day being peaceful and calm are zero. But I do want to point out, you noted that Biden versus Trump matchup there, and you're right to note, he does have a bigger lead than he does nationally.

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He actually bests every single Republican we tested him against, which is good news for Joe Biden. Only Donald Trump does he does he actually get above 50 percent, Sara.

You noted the party breakdown in the results. So, take a look here. Among Democrats, one of the reasons why Joe Biden is doing so well against Donald Trump, he's got near universal support of his own kind, 94 percent of Democrats are with Trump.

You asked about independents. Interestingly, Joe Biden is losing independence in this poll to Donald Trump by six percentage points. But because he's got near universal support with Democrats and because Donald Trump is performing at 79 percent support among his own Republicans, this overwhelms the independent deficit that Biden has and is what is putting Biden ahead of Trump in this key state.

Take a look here at positives and negatives. These are both candidates that these New Hampshire voters are not going to feel great about if either one of them gets re-elected 56 percent say they will have a negative feeling if Joe Biden is elected president. 62 percent more would have a negative feeling if Donald Trump is elected president.

And when you look at their overall favorable/unfavorable these are unpopular guys. Joe Biden in New Hampshire is at 35 percent favorable, 53 percent unfavorable. Donald Trump, though, performs worse. He's down at 30 percent favorable, 62 percent unfavorable. So, you see net negative for Joe Biden is 18 points, net negative for Donald Trump is 32 points.

Overall approval rating in New Hampshire, Joe Biden at 46 percent. That is higher than we see nationally. He's hovering around 39, 40 percent nationally. So, he is performing better overall New Hampshire, which means New Hampshire may fall off sort of a true battleground state and maybe be one of those leaning blue states on the map as we get into the Electoral College math.

MATTINGLY: You know, David, if you look at some of the state-level special elections in New Hampshire, the numbers probably shouldn't be that surprising. Democrats have flipped a few seats, have overperformed in these special elections. But I've been told for the last several months that because of the new calendar on primaries, because of what the DNC did last year, or a couple months ago, I guess, that New Hampshire is going to be very, very angry and this was going to hurt President Biden. Is it true here?

CHALIAN: Well, clearly, that's not showing up among Democrats, Phil. Take a look at our brand new poll numbers among likely Democratic primary voters in New Hampshire. Joe Biden is running away with it. He's at 78 percent support. Robert Kennedy is at 9 percent. Marianne Williamson is at 6 percent.

To your point, though, about Biden and his team at the DNC changing the rules and wanting South Carolina to go first and leapfrog New Hampshire, we asked folks, well, if that's the case, and Biden is not on the ballot, what would you do? And still 69 percent of New Hampshire primary voting Democrats say they would write in Joe Biden on the ballot. So, that does not seem to be hurting him in the in the Granite State, Phil.

MATTINGLY: That's really interesting. David Chalian, as always, my friend, thank you.

CHALIAN: Thanks, guys.

Let's bring in Bloomberg Washington Correspondent Annmarie Hordern and CNN Political Commentator and Political Anchor for Spectrum News Errol Louis.

Annmarie, I want to start with you. There has been so much that has come out in terms of numbers on the national level, which it's 14, 15 months out, it's early, we can all say that, where Democrats have been kind of freaking out, be kind about it. These numbers, they're not amazing. But New Hampshire is always a state the Republicans think they've got a shot in. 12 points, that's big.

ANNMARIE HORDERN, WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT, BLOOMBERG: Yes, it is big. And also when you look at the likes of your latest CNN poll about the Republican GOP primary, you have people like Nikki Haley now starting to come up in New Hampshire. And there's another CNN poll that showed that she would be a challenger that can actually beat President Biden in a general election.

She is someone who the Biden camp and the Trump camp are quite concerned about. Her polls as risen since the debate. She brought in a lot of money post that debate performance. We'll see how she does next week. But that is concerning in a place like New Hampshire for Democrats.

SIDNER: Speaking of Nikki Haley, she is gaining momentum, as you just heard Annmarie say. And I wanted to take a look at this. She is set to deliver this big economic speech later on today that people will be paying attention to.

And let's take a listen to how she sort of laid into Congress that she went after Congress over the looming government shutdown, which a lot of Americans see as just complete ineptness on the part of Congress. Here's what she said.

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NIKKI HALEY, REPUBLICAN PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: They have got to start working. You hear all of this about closing down, you know, shutting down government. They don't get to decide that. Their job is to keep government open. Their job is to cut spending. Their job is to get it done. Get in the room and figure it out. But do not play games with the American people or the taxpayers.

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And I will tell you, if they shut down, and we're going to take it a step further, if they don't balance the budget, they don't get paid.

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SIDNER: There you go. I think there might be a lot of people that actually completely agree with that statement. This is your number one job, is to keep the government going.

ERROL LOUIS, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: That's exactly right. I mean, when they have to start limiting hours and access to the Washington Monument and the Statue of Liberty, it really enrages Americans.

Nikki Haley, what you just showed, is an example of somebody who, if you ask me, is the best raw political talent in that Republican field. I mean, if anybody is going to challenge Donald Trump, she is figuring out how to do it and the polling is starting to reflect it.

You just saw an example. Why? You can always at least get the attention of voters on the Republican side and, frankly, the Democratic side too, if you say, I'm going to run against that inept Washington establishment.

That is exactly how she is positioning herself is a smaller field than in 2016. She has laid out her case and her scenario, which is that a lot of the candidates go away after the bell rings in 115 days with the Iowa caucuses. And that by the time they get to her sweet spot, her state, South Carolina, in the Republican contest, she's going to expect to be one on one running against the Washington establishment in the form of the former president, Donald Trump. That's her scenario.

We're not sure it's going to happen, but she is very skilled at sort of making the case that Washington has got to perform. And to the extent that they don't, we need to change. She wants to be that change.

MATTINGLY: So, to that point, that's her scenario. How likely is that scenario? And I ask because you make a great point about what New Hampshire was showing for Trump in terms of there's clear weakness there, or at least an opening. There has been some disputes over policy this week and Nikki Haley herself has started to draw a pretty clear contrast. Take a listen.

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HALEY: My thought or be that he was the right president at the right time. He broke things that needed to be broken. He listened and brought in a group of people who felt unheard, like where I grew up, rural South Carolina.

He was thin-skinned and easily distracted.

He didn't do anything on fiscal policy and really spent a lot of money and we're all paying the price for it.

He used to be good on foreign policy and now he has started to walk it back and get weak in the days when it comes to Ukraine.

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MATTINGLY: You know, one of the most confusing things of this entire primary has been, I'm sorry, when are you guys going to attack the guy who's up by 40 points. That is a pretty expansive and sharp attack delivered in a kind of town hall setting.

HORDERN: Yes, and you're seeing that from a lot of these primary candidates, and I think it's because they are honing in on policy, not Trump personally, although she did say there that he gets easily distracted.

But I think this fiscal part is really interesting because she was one of the few in the debate stage to come out and say, this isn't just a Biden problem that we're going after in terms of fiscal responsibility, which Republicans want tout, but she attacked the Trump administration, which added $8 trillion to the national debt. And just this week, we surpassed $33 trillion, a record. And I think she'll hone in on that.

But I think you're seeing this a lot from candidates, because whether it's abortion, whether it's fiscal responsibility, whether how Trump characterizes Putin's invasion of Ukraine, this unnerves a lot of them. But if they focus on policy, it seems like they're more comfortable going after the former president.

LOUIS: Well, you got to love that jab. It's like something the teacher sends home about your second grader, easily distracted. Well, there's a problem here with Donald. But you do have to sort of bring that up, because the tenor and the tone of his presentation, which is one of his great strengths, is partly why he's up by so many points, and you're going to have to talk about it if you want to get anywhere in this room.

MATTINGLY: I like Teacher Errol voice. Donald, it's easily destroyed. Thanks, guys. We appreciate you coming in.

SIDNER: All right, new reporting from ProPublica this morning on Supreme Court Justice Thomas and his ties to the billionaire Koch Brothers. One of the reporters who broke this story will bring us the details, next.

MATTINGLY: And new overnight, how former Trump lawyer Rudy Giuliani is falling deeper and deeper into legal debt. We'll have that.

Stay with us.

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