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Grassley Sets Friday Deadline For Christine Blasey Ford; CNN Reality Check: Trump Cabinet Secretary Lies About Census Edit; More Women Claim They Were Drugged And Raped By Surgeon; Puerto Rico Struggles One Year After Hurricane Maria. Aired 7:30-8a ET

Aired September 20, 2018 - 07:30   ET

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[07:30:09] JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: Senate Judiciary Chair Chuck Grassley says Christine Blasey Ford has until 10:00 a.m. tomorrow to let him know if she plans to testify before his committee on Monday.

Blasey's legal team wants to know what is the rush.

Our next guest knows how grueling these hearings can be. Before working at the State Department for the Clinton and Obama administrations, Ambassador Wendy Sherman helped Anita Hill prepare for her testimony during the Clarence Thomas hearings.

She's also the author of the new book "Not for the Faint of Heart: Lessons in Courage, Power, and Persistence."

Ambassador, thanks so much for being with us.

You were with Anita Hill, the weekend before, preparing for her hearings. Let's just start off by asking what was that -- what was that like?

WENDY SHERMAN, FORMER ASSISTANT SECRETARY OF STATE, HELPED ANITA HILL PREPARE TO TESTIFY IN 1991, AUTHOR, "NOT FOR THE FAINT OF HEART": Well, I was actually not part of her legal team. I was a Democratic strategist helping her to navigate the U.S. Congress since none of her team really knew what the Congress was like. And I feel like we're living the same story all over again this time.

Indeed, Professor Hill, at the time, very much wanted her corroborating witnesses to be able to testify. They were denied. She needed support from senators. She got very little.

The Democrats who were chairing at the time thought this was a hearing.

The Republicans thought it was a trial. They put the accuser on trial. They put the accused on the Supreme Court.

And I feel like we're in the same place again.

People do not understand how tough this is for Dr. Blasey -- how tough this was for Anita Hill. And I think the outcome of this will be very bad for the Republicans whichever way this goes because women in America, in particular -- particularly those who have faced sexual assault in this #MeToo time understand how tough this is.

BERMAN: So again, you say Anita Hill was put on trial and convicted. You say you see similarities to now. Given that, why would or should Professor Blasey repeat history?

SHERMAN: Well, indeed, I think it's why Professor Blasey and her lawyers are asking for an FBI background investigation.

This is something the FBI did in the Anita Hill case. It was actually only three days of talking to witnesses and providing that information to the Senate so that there would be more professional questioning. Though I must say ultimately, the questioning was not very professional because the intent of the Republicans on the committee were really to undermine Anita Hill and to, in fact, move forward and confirm Clarence Thomas.

That's what's happening here.

When we hear that Sen. Graham is saying that, in fact, he'll quote- unquote "listen to the lady" but is going to proceed to confirm Judge Kavanaugh, we know that we don't have a fair fight here at all.

BERMAN: And again, it's given that situation that you lay out -- given the way things are, not the way you think they should be -- the way things are is that this happens Chuck Grassley's way on Monday or it doesn't happen at all.

That the only way that Professor Blasey is going to be able to tell her story publicly before the Senate is if she agrees to the terms laid out by Chuck Grassley, apparently approved by Mitch McConnell and the President of the United States.

SHERMAN: Indeed.

BERMAN: Given that -- given that that is the only way she will be able to tell that story in that place, do you think she should?

If she called you and said hey, Ambassador, you've been through this before. You were a political adviser in 1991 -- you saw it then -- what should I do now -- what would you tell her?

SHERMAN: I would tell her to do what's in her heart -- what she feels like she is up to dealing with.

I think it would be a very unfair fight for her to come on Monday to a hearing where there are no corroborating witnesses, no facts have been found.

The Republicans have already stated they're going to confirm Kavanaugh. They're just going to give her this moment to speak but they really don't believe her.

Democrats need to embrace her and I would hope that some of the thoughtful Republicans would embrace her as well. We need to say to women we can hear your voice, not just the guys.

BERMAN: One of the things we've heard on the show so far this morning -- and I was just on Twitter and Lanny Davis -- who does a lot of different things but he told (INAUDIBLE) among others -- basically says that he thinks that Professor Blasey needs to make the hard choice and testify.

And there were others who said that she owes it as a -- owes a public duty to do so now if she's said this before.

Do you feel like the choice is that simple?

SHERMAN: I don't think the choice is that simple. Having undergone a sexual assault, as she has told us she has, it is very traumatic to relive these events. I think the choice is hers.

Certainly, I'd like to hear her voice publicly, but I'd like to hear her voice publicly in a fair fight, not one that is set up to really dismiss her even before the hearing begins. So this is a very tough choice.

I'm going to put my confidence in Dr. Blasey to do what is best for her. Professor Blasey -- Dr. Blasey needs to do what feels right to her in the end because this is her story, this is her life.

[07:35:05] She's already under death threats. She's living apart from her two sons because she wants to keep them safe.

What are we doing to women who come forward when we put them in this kind of a crucible?

BERMAN: You know, and it's interesting and she also faces the reality that even if she does come forward and tell this story it's possible, even likely, that Judge Kavanaugh will be confirmed to sit on the Supreme Court.

SHERMAN: Indeed, because the chairman of the committee -- the Republicans have already told us in Sen. Graham's comments that they're going to proceed forward. That they're just creating an opportunity for her to speak but they've already made up their minds.

So this is a set-up. I understand why she is reluctant to walk into that set-up. And at the end of the day, I want to respect her choice and the choice of all women who have faced such a difficult circumstance.

BERMAN: One question on North Korea because obviously --

SHERMAN: Sure.

BERMAN: -- you've worked so hard in foreign affairs over the years, too.

When you see the leaders of North Korea and South Korea meeting for a third time with a successful summit -- in the sense that they met and they keep on talking, and they keep taking small steps toward peace between those two countries -- do you see things moving forward on the Korean Peninsula?

SHERMAN: I think the jury's out on that.

Indeed, I think we've heard that Sec. Pompeo is now going to proceed forward with diplomacy. Steve Biegun, a special envoy, is going to meet counterparts in Vienna.

I think the administration was looking for an opening. They got a slight opening in this summit between the South and the North, with the north saying that they would get rid of their missile launch site with international inspectors there to see that they, in fact, have done it.

That they would consider dismantling Yongbyon if the United States takes unspecified actions. I think the actions the North is looking for are quite more than we should be willing to do and I'm very concerned that the maximum pressure sanctions are going to be relieved by this summit.

And we're really all about carrots and very few sticks, and I think this is a strategy that needs both.

BERMAN: Ambassador Wendy Sherman, thanks for being with us this morning. I appreciate it.

SHERMAN: Thank you.

ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN ANCHOR: All right, John.

Coming up, we have a big story that you should know about but probably do not. A Trump cabinet secretary caught in a lie before Congress.

So we have the stunning new documents in our "Reality Check."

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[07:41:04] CAMEROTA: OK. Is the Trump administration trying to twist the U.S. census to their political advantage, and did a Trump cabinet secretary lie to Congress about it?

John Avlon joins us with the answers in today's "Reality Check" -- John.

JOHN AVLON, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: That's right, Ali.

Look, we know Americans have a short attention span when it comes to political scandals that don't involve sex.

But new evidence that a cabinet secretary lied to Congress to give Republicans an edge in redistricting while trying to undercount undocumented immigrants in the census -- well, that should get your attention. And that's what newly revealed documents show Commerce Sec. Wilbur Ross was trying to pull off under pressure from anti- immigration activists working with the White House. And when the Trump administration proposed adding a question about citizenship in the 2020 census, the controversy was a swift as it was predictable.

Now, the constitutionally-mandated census is supposed to count everyone who lives in our country, regardless of their status. But critics said Trump's goal was to undercount non-citizens. After all, the Trump administration has a clear record of taking hardline positions against undocumented immigrants and their children.

Not so, said team Trump. They insisted that the question was being added back to the census for the first time since 1950 because the Justice Department needed it to help enforce the 1965 Voting Rights Act.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

WILBUR ROSS, SECRETARY, U.S. DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE: The Department of Justice, as you know, initiated the request for inclusion of the citizenship question. Because it is from the Department of Justice, we are taking it very seriously.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

AVLON: But now we know that the Justice Department not only didn't initiate the request, it didn't want the citizenship question at all.

Quote, "Justice staff did not want to raise the citizenship question given the difficulties Justice was encountering in the press at the time (the whole Comey affair)."

That's what Commerce official Earl Comstock wrote in a memo to Ross, revealed as part of a lawsuit against the Trump administration.

But that didn't stop Ross, who documents show was being pressured by anti-immigration hardliner Kris Kobach, who is currently running for governor of Kansas. You might remember him from hits such as Trump's short-lived Election Integrity Commission which tried to defend Trump's baseless claim that millions voted illegally in 2016.

But the reasons were explicitly partisan. As Kobach explained in an e-mail, without the citizenship question, quote, "Aliens who do not actually reside in the United States are still counted for representation in Congress."

Remember, this is how the census is supposed to work. So the citizenship question was designed to depress responses, benefiting Republicans in congressional redistricting while depriving more populist Democratic districts of millions in federal funding for constituents.

But, Ross needed a cover story and the DOJ eventually folded, formally requesting the change to the census under what we now know is a phony rationale.

It's clear that this is part of a larger effort to reduce the immigrant population, from the record number of children in detention centers with nearly 1,500 kids now unaccounted for, to the State Department slashing the number of refugees allowed into our country to a new low.

The difference is we have the documents to prove it this time and a court case to keep the administration honest.

And that's your "Reality Check."

CAMEROTA: Thank you very much, John -- fascinating stuff.

BERMAN: And it's interesting that one of the things that the president because he's such a big figure in there -- so many big questions about him is that the lower-level alleged malfeasance at the agency that might be big news otherwise doesn't get covered. This is an example of that.

CAMEROTA: That's why we have John Avlon.

BERMAN: All right.

Six more women claim they were victims of a California surgeon who allegedly teamed up with his girlfriend to drug and rape them. This morning, prosecutors fear there could be hundreds of victims.

CNN's Sara Sidner live in Los Angeles with the latest on this. What an awful story, Sara.

SARA SIDNER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: This story is stunningly awful. We're talking about Dr. Grant William Robicheaux and his girlfriend, Cerissa Riley.

Police are saying that the two of them raped, drugged -- and when I'm talking about drugs it's like the girlfriend, they said, would show up at bars. She would engage with women. They would drug them with date-rape drugs and then bring them back to their hotel. And, as you know, that drug sort of renders women unconscious or unable to fight back in any way.

[07:45:08] Also, they're saying that there could be some anesthesia that was used on some of these women.

And what's extremely disturbing is yesterday they started with two victims. Now, they're up to at least a half-dozen victims and authorities believe there are many, many more.

Why? Because much of this was caught on camera on his own phone. A thousand or more videos and pictures, according to prosecutors, they have found on some of their devices, and so they're going through that.

How did he end up getting caught and being investigated by police? Basically, police say there was a woman who did become conscious, started screaming in the apartment in 2016, and they started investigating this.

Now, I do want to mention that Dr. Robicheaux was on reality T.V. on a dating program.

He called himself "In Good Hands" online. Now he is in the hands of the authorities, as his girlfriend is as well.

But police are putting this out there because they say they believe there are more victims and they want them to feel comfortable to come forward.

CAMEROTA: Oh my gosh, Sara. This is sickening.

SIDNER: Yes.

CAMEROTA: Let's hope that anyone who does have experience can call their local authorities and come forward.

Thank you very much.

Now, to this. New York Congressman Chris Collins is actively campaigning for reelection even though he is under indictment on insider trading charges. The Republican tweeting, quote, "The stakes are too high to allow the radical left to take control of this seat in Congress."

Last month, Collins suspended his campaign while the GOP searched for a way to replace him as a candidate.

He was the first member of Congress to endorse President Trump.

Collins calls the securities and wire fraud charges against him quote "meritless."

BERMAN: All right, a very similar story here.

A 12-foot alligator proving to be no match for this grandmother from Texas. Judy Cochran says she's been hunting the 580-pound monster for three years because she suspects it ate one of her miniature horses.

CAMEROTA: They can't do that.

BERMAN: Cochran managed to kill -- you can't eat a miniature horse.

CAMEROTA: No.

BERMAN: Cochran managed to kill the alligator with a single shot.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JUDY COCHRAN, MAYOR, LIVINGSTON, TEXAS, SHOT 580-POUND ALLIGATOR: One shot in the head and he just went under. Typically, they'll do what they call a death roll and just roll over and over and over. Well, this one didn't.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: Because she shot it with one shot. There was no death roll there. Cochran says because of her county's hunting season she only had 20 days to get the job done. Her message for anyone who doubted her is "don't mess with Nana."

Now, I want to give credit where credit is due here. We only became alerted to this story because John Avlon, who reads headlines like this, noticed this headline in "The Dallas Morning News" -- "Texas Grandma Kills 12-Foot Gator. Says She's Finally Avenged Her Miniature Horse."

CAMEROTA: OK, there are so many lessons here, John. Number one, do not eat someone's miniature horse. That's what I take away from this.

BERMAN: No.

CAMEROTA: That's not cool. And, I mean, this is -- this was Moby Dick for her. She was going to hunt down that one gator and find him, regardless of how long it took.

BERMAN: This was Moby Dick for her, said of Nana.

CAMEROTA: All right. You can feel free to tweet John on that one.

In the meantime, it's been one year since Hurricane Maria made landfall on Puerto Rico, so how has the island recovered? What is life like there today?

We get a live report for you, next.

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[07:52:53] CAMEROTA: One year ago today Hurricane Maria devastated Puerto Rico. The island is still struggling to recover from it despite nearly 3,000 people dying. President Trump hails his administration's response as a great success and continues to cast doubt on that death toll.

CNN's Leyla Santiago was on the ground for Hurricane Maria and has reported on the devastation ever since. She's part of a new CNN special report.

Leyla, great to have you here in studio with us --

LEYLA SANTIAGO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Thank you for having me.

CAMEROTA: -- because so many people do want to know what the status of Puerto Rico is today.

SANTIAGO: Right. In the last year, I have been there for 177 days. That's six months when you do the math.

And so we went back just in the last few weeks to really get a better idea of what has changed and, maybe more importantly, what hasn't.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) SANTIAGO (voice-over): Clarissa Ramos has to do this. Every time it rains, neighbors in Utuado fill holes in the road to make what little Maria left passable -- even if narrowly.

CLARISSA RAMOS, HURRICANE MARIA SURVIVOR: This is the little road that we've got. We just put dirt here.

SANTIAGO: After Maria, Puerto Rico says only two percent of the island's roads were passable because of debris and landslides. But, of course, for Clarissa, Hurricane Maria took away much more than a road. The storm stole her way of life.

SANTIAGO (on camera): You can't talk about Maria without shedding a tear. Why?

C. RAMOS: It's my first time I lived through something like that.

SANTIAGO (voice-over): It would take nine months for hundreds of families here to have power restored, 11 months for the entire power grid, and some communities are still on generators.

Ricardo Ramos was the CEO of Puerto Rico's Power Authority (PREPA) when Maria struck the island.

RICARDO RAMOS, FORMER CEO, PUERTO RICO ELECTRIC POWER AUTHORITY: The storm was just too big.

SANTIAGO (on camera): You knew what was coming. I mean, I remember specifically you said our system is too weak to handle this. Why wasn't PREPA more prepared if it knew how vulnerable the system was?

[07:55:00] R. RAMOS: You don't fix in one day, you don't fix in one week. It takes 10 years to fix the vulnerabilities that the PREPA system has.

SANTIAGO (voice-over): Now in charge of PREPA, Jose Ortiz.

JOSE ORTIZ, CEO, PUERTO RICO ELECTRIC POWER AUTHORITY: It's going to take four to five months more to stabilize the system.

SANTIAGO: And if a storm comes tomorrow he says they're ready.

SANTIAGO (on camera): There are 32 contracts in place to bring people in. Why didn't Puerto Rico do that for Maria?

ORTIZ: They did too late.

SANTIAGO (voice-over): Too late for people like Natalio Rodriguez. His generator ran out of diesel in the middle of the night. The breathing machine he used shut down. He died.

MIRIAM RODRIGUEZ, HUSBAND DIED IN AFTERMATH OF HURRICANE MARIA: If we had electricity -- normal electricity at that time, he would be alive.

SANTIAGO: Nearly a year after the hurricane, Puerto Rico changed its official death toll, jumping from 64 to 2,975 -- a number President Trump takes issue with, tweeting, "Three thousand people did not die in the two hurricanes that hit Puerto Rico."

The change in death toll came months after CNN's investigation revealed the death toll was likely nine times what the government of Puerto Rico was reporting. The latest death statistics are showing reasons for yet another concern.

This is Puerto Rico's 24-hour suicide hotline.

Twenty minutes after our arrival the call comes in. A mother of two struggling with anxiety. She tells the operator Tropical Storm Isaac is moving too close.

SANTIAGO (on camera, translating): So he says in one 8-hour shift he will take a call like that 30-40 times.

SANTIAGO (voice-over): Callers reaching out for help with the trauma that lingers. Loss of a job, loss of a loved one, loss of a roof over their heads.

Luz Colon is one of at least 45,000 still depending on tarps in Puerto Rico.

SANTIAGO (on camera): So we're in her room and I hear thunder. (Foreign language spoken).

LUZ COLON, HURRICANE MARIA SURVIVOR: (Foreign language spoken).

SANTIAGO: It's tough because she thinks about what could be coming.

SANTIAGO (voice-over): We last saw Luz in the days after Maria. One year later, she acknowledges progress but says she and the island have a long way to go.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BERMAN: Oh, terrific reporting. And, Leyla, you've been on this so much over the last year and I think it's had such a huge impact.

What's it been like to go back and talk to some of these people who have been so affected by this?

SANTIAGO: Well, I mean, you just saw Luz -- and to go back to her a year later -- I mean, I remember last year she said all I want is a dry bed. She is still sleeping on the same bed that was soaked from Maria.

You go back and many people will acknowledge progress. Tourism is kind of getting back to normal in San Juan. But you go 20 minutes out of San Juan and it's a completely different island, still.

CAMEROTA: And look, we remember you being there during the hurricane.

SANTIAGO: I know.

CAMEROTA: I mean, how it was -- I mean, frankly, it was scary --

SANTIAGO: Right. This was the pass.

CAMEROTA: -- to watch. Yes, that was -- I mean, and you guys are in the safe part. Obviously, we take precautions to be safe but that was how battered you were being.

And so -- I mean, what do people there think when they hear about what a great success it's all been, from here.

SANTIAGO: I think a lot of people today are going to be looking at video like we just showed. We're sort of reflecting on what happened.

And when I see that video, as a Puerto Rican, I think about that as the moment that changed my island. The moment that changed my family's life.

And so when you hear someone question that pain -- somehow question how far we've come or have not come, there's a lot of pain associated with that. A lot of questions as to why anyone would even think to question that.

BERMAN: Leyla Santiago, thank you, again. Thank you so much for the work you've done. You're getting answers and you are getting results.

SANTIAGO: Thank you, guys.

BERMAN: And be sure to watch the CNN special report "STORM OF CONTROVERSY: WHAT REALLY HAPPENED IN PUERTO RICO." That's tomorrow at 10:00 p.m.

CAMEROTA: OK, we're following a lot of news so let's get right to it.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JEFFREY TOOBIN, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: If she refuses to testify on Monday, Kavanaugh is getting confirmed.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: She is being threatened, not to mention she is not getting a fair deal.

SEN. SUSAN COLLINS (R), MAINE: It's not fair to Judge Kavanaugh for her not to come forward.

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: If she shows up and makes a credible showing, we'll have to make a decision.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I don't think the FBI would hesitate, if directed by the White House, to reopen its background investigation.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This is a P.R. stunt and the Republicans are not buying it anymore.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There's been a serious allegation. There needs to be due process within the Senate.

SEN. KIRSTEN GILLIBRAND (D), NEW YORK: I stand with her. She is being bullied by this committee. It's outrageous. (END VIDEO CLIP)

ANNOUNCER: This is NEW DAY with Alisyn Camerota and John Berman.

BERMAN: Good morning and welcome to your NEW DAY.

It's Thursday, September 20th, 8:00 in the east, which means that according to Republican Sen. Chuck Grassley, Professor Christine Blasey Ford has exactly 26 hours to decide whether she will testify about the alleged assault involving Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh.

Twenty-six hours to decide whether she wants to tell her story of being pinned to a bed --