tv CNN Newsroom Live CNN September 2, 2022 12:00am-1:00am PDT
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president biden giving a speech about political developments in the republican party. plus, nuclear inspectors are finally allowed a tour of the nuclear facility in ukraine's east. we are little more than two months away from the u.s. midterm elections, and joe biden is determined to give democrats a fighting chance to hold onto u.s. congress. biden delivered a fiery speech in philadelphia, branding donald trump and his allies as extremists who threaten democracy. biden says that he will not stand by while maga forces
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threaten political violence. >> they promote authority and leaders and they promote values that are a threat to our personal rights. to the pursuit of justice. to the rule of law. to the very soul of this country. >> biden said that not all republicans are extremists, and he called on americans to fight to protect democracy. >> reporter: president biden delivered one of the most forceful speeches of his presidency thursday night in philadelphia, taking direct aim at his predecessor, donald trump, and what he says is the extremism that is coursing through the republican party. >> maga republicans have made their choice. they embrace anger. they thrive on chaos. they live not in the light of
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truth, but in the shadow of lies. here, in my view, is what is true. maga republicans do not respect the constitution. >> reporter: this speech coming nine weeks before the midterm election underscore how the president and the white house are trying to reframe the conversation, try to make this a choice between republicans and democrats in the fall campaign. giving this speech in pennsylvania clearly makes the case that this state is one of the most important. a key governor's race, a senate race, as well as assorted house races. but the president went far beyond that. in this speech about democracy, he said that it is incumbent on all americans to stand up and protect their freedoms. >> i am asking all americans to come together and unite behind the single purpose of defending our democracy regardless of your ideology. >> reporter: the white house going to great lengths to say that this is not a political
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speech, but there is no question the politics are at the heart of the matter for the president. he is going to make the case that democrats are the better stewards of democracy than republicans. >> and of course republicans have a very different view. house leader kevin mccarthy called on president biden to issue an apology. he said that biden has decided to demean his fellow americans just because they disagree with policy. here he is. >> in the past two years, joe biden has launched an assault on the soul of america. on its people. on its laws. on its most sacred values. what joe biden doesn't understand is that the soul of america is in the tens of millions of hard-working people. of loving families. of law-abiding citizens.
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whom he vilified for simply wanting a stronger, safer and more prosperous country. let's head to colchester, england where we have a professor of government at the university of essex. take you for being here with us. combat of forceful and political speech there. what do you hear? >> i think that democrats and joe biden need to go on the offensive, clarifying to the american public that the trump- led maga movement is a threat to democracy. trumps movement is the biggest threat to democracy since the civil war. we saw that there was an attempted coup. we are even afraid to prosecute trump because there could be violence on the street. this is how dangerous things have gotten. there are some people that are above the law.
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biden's speech was trying to address americans. that there are are threats to the midterms. biden was careful to mention that not all republicans are extremists. he also tried to focus on some of the positive things that the democrats have been accomplishing. that there have been lower gas prices. that there is -- employment get better and that the country is moving in the right direction. the speech was focused on these two issues, but the most important thing was this urgency to fight for our democracy. >> yeah, so let me ask you about the first point there. the talk about the maga republicans. there has been plenty of righteous indignation from republicans after biden had earlier called trumpism "semi-
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fascism." this sort of has echoes of hillary clinton saying that half of donald trump supporters belong in that "basket of deplorables." it seems like a risky strategy for a man who ran on becoming a unifying force. >> possibly, but the thing is that four years have passed. as i mentioned, the people whom hillary clinton was referring to as deplorables, they actually tried to stage a coup. there was an insurrection. there was a march on the capital. that is the movement that biden is referring to. he is not talking about everyday citizens that are just trying to get by. he is clearly talking about this violent extremist movement that doesn't believe in democratic institutions like
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elections. this is just absolutely unheard of. this movement doesn't believe in the rule of law. he thinks that there are special rules for their leader, their messianic leader donald trump. that is who biden is referring to when he is talking about this extremist movement. by doing so, he is really on the right side of history here. we have a fascist movement that even within their own party they are willing to eviscerate republicans like liz cheney. they are willing to go after their own. this is something that republicans need to look at head-on. we compare it to the nixon era with the watergate scandal. republicans were able to stand up to nixon and say, we have had enough. republicans of this era are not able to do so, and that is really dangerous. >> the timing of the speech, as we have signaled, before the midterms here, president biden has typically refrain from talking too much directly about
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donald trump over his presidency. that wasn't really the case last night. he went after him. he named him. politically is it a good tactic now to make this all about trump rather than some of the other midterm issues like the economy, for instance? >> that's a really good question, but i think that ultimately we have not escaped trump. we are still doing with this ongoing investigation of whether he is stealing documents that could have been a major threat to national security, whether he is obstructing justice. he is constantly in the news. we can't ignore it. i think there were efforts from the democratic party and biden himself to try to move past this. as to try to move forward and focus on things like having affordable drugs and climate change and easing the cost of education. but it is really not possible to talk about the midterms without addressing trump. it is the big elephant in the room.
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trump has a big impact on the republican party. almost 180 or so of the 200 candidates in the republican primary that he supported won. so i don't think the democrats can go forward without addressing that, but they are also going to have to be emphasizing what they are doing well if they want a chance to actually pull off something big in these midterms. >> before we go, i want to ask you really quickly, republicans, at least we heard kevin mccarthy there in his rebuttal accusing biden of an assault on democracy, does this represent a shift in their characterization of biden from this sort of doddering and incompetent old man to an existential threat to the country? >> i think they are trying to pull out all the stops and come up with whatever they can. i think sometimes they characterize him as a bumbling idiot. sometimes they say he is the
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biggest threat to democracy. that really comes from the more extreme wing of the republican party saying these types of things. we have seen these comes at coming from people like marjorie taylor greene saying that he needs to be impeached and things like that. >> will have to leave it there. thank you so much for your analysis. a decision could come at any time on whether to appoint a special master to review documents sees from former president trump's home. we asked the justice department, what's the harm? we have more from cnn's evan perez. >> the judge indicated that she is willing to consider the request to appoint a special master to review government
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documents, comparing it to returning an overdue library book. the documents include some of the most highly classified national security information, and they were being kept in the storage room and in other spaces that don't meet security requirements. the justice department opposes the appointment of a special master, saying that it is unnecessary and would impede the ongoing investigation. trump's legal team says that appointing somebody else would increase the trust in the investigation and lower the temperature in the nation. the judge said that she was considering granting trump's request while continuing to allow the intelligence community to conduct a damage assessment. evan perez, cnn, washington.
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trump remains cagey on his chances of running for 2024, but he yesterday dangled the offer of pardons. here is what he told conservative radio host wendy bell. >> i am financially supporting people that are incredible. it is very much on my mind. it is a disgrace what they have done to them. if i decide to run, and if i win, i will be looking very, very strongly at pardons. >> meanwhile, we have learned that the house select committee is looking at speaking to former house speaker newt gingrich and what communications he may have had with former white house officials. it is hoped that gingrich will speak voluntarily.
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a former police officer is sentenced to 10 years in prison after assaulting a capitol police officer. webster had pled not guilty, claiming self-defense. shocking images out of argentina following a failed assassination attempt against the country's former president on live television. look. christina fernandez de kirchner
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was nearly shot by a firearm that was unloaded when a man pointed the pistol at her head. >> translator: an attack has been made on our vice president and the piece has been disturbed. >> police have identified the suspect as a brazilian national and say that the gun was loaded with five bullets. it is unclear why the gun did not fire. investigators have made their way to the z zaporizhia nuclear plant, but it is unclear why they can't enter. we will have more on that coming up. what are the three ps?
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just in, aung san suu kyi has been sentenced to multiple years of hard labor. paul, this is a developing story, so what more can you tell us? >> reporter: we have seen the strip feet of months after months where aung san suu kyi has been found guilty. the total she has been sentenced to has been extensive. this is a 72-year-old woman. she has been charged with multiple offenses by the millinery junta who took over
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the government that was led by aung san suu kyi. this was an electoral fraud case for which she was found guilty. she was sentenced to three years and also hard labor. this is the first time that we have heard hard labor. it is not clear whether or not previous cases included that as well, but certainly this will be of concern. the charges against her very. electoral fraud, state secret laws, incitement. critics say that the charges against her are bogus and are made up. her supporters say that it is the military junta trying to make sure that she stays behind bars and stays out of the public eye until they can cement their power in the country. there has been a fair bit of bloody resistance in myanmar
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since the bloody coup back in february of 2021. the military junta claims there will be elections at some point. but many in human rights watch claim that this is a clear attempt by military generals in charge of the moment to keep aung san suu kyi behind bars, as she is extremely popular still within the country . in the elections that took place just months before the military coup, she won in a landslide. there will be round condemnation for yet another conviction and sentence of aung san suu kyi as there has been in the past. >> we will continue to monitor this story and bring you developments as they happen. paula hancock is live in seoul for us. thank you so much. to ukraine now, where inspectors say that they are not going anywhere now that the agency is inside the
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zaporizhzhia nuclear plant. the ieaa chief said that they have plans to stay there. but there are questions as to whether the plant will be demilitarized. >> translator: demilitarization of the station is the goal of ukrainian and international efforts, and it is bad that we have not yet heard the appropriate messages from the ieaa despite the fact that we talked about it with during our meeting in kyiv. it was outlined clearly. demilitarization and full control by our nuclear workers. >> for more, melissa joins us from kyiv. we will start at the powerpoint. melissa, what can you tell us?
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>> this was one of the long- standing demands from kyiv. it has long accused russian forces of using the zaporizhzhia powerplant as a military base and launching attacks from there. the idea is that by the ieaa's very presence , calm will be restored. overnight, that appears to have been the case. before they could even get there, kim, there was a lot more shelling and violence around the plant, even more than there had been before. the shelling began at dawn around the zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant. the worst that the town has seen since it was occupied in march, according to its mayor. briefed on the situation but undeterred, ieaa inspectors decided to head through the front line nonetheless. >> we are moving now. >> the 14-strong team's offer
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itself the artillery and mortar fire that led to the shutting down of one of the plants last two functioning reactors. after an hours long delay on its way, the ieaa inspectors arrived. a glimpse, at last, into a plant that has been occupied by russian forces for months. >> it is obvious that the plant and the physical integrity of the plant has been violated several times. this is something that cannot continue to happen. >> reporter: which is why he said that members of his team had stayed behind to answer questions and to dig deeper. in the plant, workers say that it has been nearly impossible for them to do their jobs. >> translator: feel like hostages. we can't carry phones, flash drives, or memory cards. god forbid, if you look at a soldier the wrong way, you can be thrown into the basement. >> i was with them throughout
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the day. of course they are in a difficult situation, but they have an incredible degree of professionalism. i see them come and moving on. >> reporter: the plan, he said, is for the ieaa to establish a permanent presence at the plant and to make good on his word to its workers, which is that the u.n. nuclear watchdog is here to stay. we have an initial report that the team of inspectors is staying and assessing how damage the plant is, kim. >> melissa, we heard that russia and ukraine had suffered some significant losses in the south, also developments in the east. what the latest? >> the ukrainian military is claiming that there has been very little advanced by russian forces in the east of the
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country, and that is also something that we have heard on western intelligence services in the past few days. resources had to be diverted from the eastern front for the russian forces to try and protect their southern positions in the south of the country. as far as the counteroffensive goes, we are hearing also, according to ukrainian armed forces, that it is making progress. they are fairly tight-lipped broadly, but they are saying that they are continuing to take on their ammunition depots, their logistical points, and their crossings over the dnipro river. they expect to have more positive news to share shortly. chem. >> melissa live in kyiv. we appreciate it. the tussle match between federal authorities and donald trump's lawyers continuing, and we will see if a judge decides to appoint a special master.
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former president donald trump and his followers as a very threat to the soul of the nation. president biden said that some are even fanning the flames of political violence. here he is. >> i will not stand by and watch! i will not! the will of the american people being turned over by violent conspiracy theories and allegations of fraud. i will not watch elections in this country being stolen by people who simply refuse to accept that they lost! i will not stand by and watch the most fundamental freedom in this country, the freedom to vote and have your vote counted be taken from you, the american people. my duty to level with you, to tell you the truth, no matter how difficult -- >> biden says that not all americans are extremists. he calls on americans to unite to protect and defend democracy. a decision could come at any time on whether to appoint
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a special master to review documents seized from trump's home last month. we asked the justice department, what is the harm? they said that it is unnecessary and would impede the investigation. meanwhile, donald trump said that the dispute over the documents was akin to a dispute over an overdue library book. earlier i spoke to cnn legal analyst martin over this case, and she said that this is not a case that would happen for anyone else. it is important to listen. >> it is important to note that but for being donald trump, this is a no-brainer. this would never have happened. if this were you or me or any other citizen, the issue of a special master, it would not have gotten this far.
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donald trump is not entitled to a special master. he refused to accept that when he left the white house, the documents in the white house were no longer accessible to him. these are not his private records, and he continues to act as if they are. and, kim, to equate not properly handling government records to failing to return a library book? it goes to show how donald trump and his team are not taking this matter seriously and giving it the weight that it deserves. >> you have outlined some of the arguments against getting the master, but as the judge says there, what is the harm, really? >> the harm starts with entitlement! there is no legal basis for him to have a special master appointed. the department of justice has already gone through the documents. the documents have already been
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reviewed! there is a risk. the doj pointed out that there is still an assessment being made by the department of defense as to what access may have been put at risk as a result of these documents not being returned. just because there is -- donald trump is saying there is no harm, or the judge is asking the question, doesn't give him the legal right to these documents. >> in the meantime, all of the statements that donald trump has been making, for instance on social media, how damaging have they been to his case? it seems as if he sort of keeps further incriminating himself. >> he is incriminating himself, and as you know, kim, his stories continue to evolve. they are inconsistent. they change daily. the clip you just played said, well, when you are packing up goods and leaving the white house, documents and up in boxes. after the raid he was saying the documents were planted at his private residence. we heard him say that yes, the
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documents were there, and i've magically declassified all of them before i left the white house. it is hard to know which of the stories he is actually sticking to her, but it doesn't matter. the reality is that he removed classified and highly sensitive documents from the white house that did not belong to him. he has no legal basis for having them. then he lied and his team refused to return the documents after 18 months of negotiations by the national archives. even when the fbi went to visit the property, we know that there was this affidavit that was submitted by his attorneys saying that a thorough search of all records have been made, and that all records were being made or had been turned over to the government. and we find out that as a result of this rate, there are over 100 documents, more documents found during the raid them were turned over voluntarily by his team. we are seeing petulance and we have seen complete
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fabrications. >> that was analyst martin speaking to us a short time ago. election equipment is supposed to be under lock and key, so how did an uber driver manage to buy a voting machine on ebay? stay with us. insurance, you may qualify to sell your policy. don't cancel or let your policy lapse without finding out what it's worth. visit coventrydirect.com to find out if your policy qualifies. or call the number on your screen. coventry direct, redefining insurance.
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>> the ebay seller is ian hudson, and uber driver in ohio. >> this voting machine was one of thousands used in the election. >> reporter: but how did an uber driver in ohio get his hands on a dominion voting machine? he saw a listing for it online. >> i got to looking at the pictures, and one of the pictures i saw on the bottom of the screen, it said dominion voting. so on a whim i bid on it, and i was the only bidder, and i wanted the auction. >> i am really surprised about this. eight dollars. he made a good profit. >> reporter: it turns out that someone dropped this machine off at a goodwill in northern
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michigan. who this person was remains a mystery, but the goodwill put the machine up for auction on the website. >> it is shocking that only when we started asking doesn't belong somewhere? only then did they realize it was stolen. >> reporter: "they" being the election office. >> we notified law enforcement. >> it raises questions of chain of custody and how these machines are secured. >> typically between elections clerks have the responsibility of securing all equipment and protecting it from illegal attempts to access it by unauthorized individuals. >> reporter: michigan is one of several states where authorities are probing false
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claims by those who say that the elections were stolen. >> what you really have as individuals who don't seem to understand the technicality of the election process or election security trying to gain access to machines to keep the misinformation alive. >> reporter: what do you say to the voter who is skeptical? who says, well, they lost a voting machine? >> we test for accuracy. we never see any evidence of challenges or wrongdoing or lack of security in the process. >> reporter: now the police are trying to figure out how this voting machine got to this goodwill in cadillac, michigan. they tell us that they process thousands of items in northern michigan. it is unclear if goodwill even
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knew that it was a voting machine when they put it on the website. it kind of looks like just a big monitor or big screen. just as a reminder, you never know what you will find at a goodwill or on an ebay. donie o'sullivan, cadillac, michigan. the director of the u.s. center for disease control signed off on the pfizer covid- 19 booster on thursday. this comes after it was voted to update the boosters earlier this week. it is the first time that updated vaccines have received emergency youth authorization in the u.s. it targets the omicron ba.4 and ba.5 variants. serena williams suffered a setback in her swansong at the
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front of a sellout crowd, serena stood beside her sister venus, herself a two-time champ. they have three gold medals together. this was their first match in years. nuskova and hredecka won, but they left the court together likely for the last time as two of the most transformational figures the sport has ever known. serena has made it clear that she is transitioning away from
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the game, but her older sister venus's career in question. she is a seven ask grand slam champ. as for serena, we will be seeing her again friday night under the bright lights in new york facing australia's tomjanovic in the third round. the potential match would be in the quarterfinals. no matter what happens, serena, 27 years of dominance is simply amazing and an incredible run. all right, now to the men's competition. rafael nadal is moving on to the third round after knocking off from italy.
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the spaniard suffered a freak injury after hitting himself in the face with his record. medics treated his bloodied nose. he moves on to phase france on saturday. >> thank you so much for watching. i am kim brunhuber, have a wonderful day. cnn newsroom continues with christina mcfarland up next. it's time for the biggest sale of the year, on the sleep number 360® smart bed. why choose proven quality sleep from sleep number? because proven quality sleep is vital to our health and wellness, only the sleep number 36360® smart bed keeps you cool, then senses and effortrtlessly adjusts for your best t sleep. and tells you exactly how well you slept. your sleepiq® score. our smamart sleepers gt
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hello and a warm welcome to our viewers joining us in the united states and all around the world. i'm christina macfarlane in for max foster here in london. just ahead -- >> i will not stand by and watch. the will of the american people will beover turned by wild conspiracy theories an base les claims of fraud. >> trump's team argued a special master should pore over materials that included over 100 documents marked classified. >> what are they doing with our bill? you don't to pay but you can't
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