Transcripts For CNNW CNN Newsroom With Poppy Harlow And Jim Sciutto 20181001

Interview Christine Blasey ford, whose senate testimony, of course, transfixed the nation on thursday, nor the former classmate and Drinking Buddy who put out a scathing statement overnight accusing kavanaugh, of quote, a blatant mischaracterization of his drinking at yale. For his part, President Trump is congratulating mexico and canada and himself, too, for wrapping up a crucial deal to replace nafta. He is due to speak live from the rose garden two hours from now. Of course, cnn will bring that to you. But we begin this hour with the Supreme Court news, with cnns ariane de vogue. So ariane, there was a lot of back and forth over the last 24 hours over exactly what restrictions were put on this fbi investigation and what were not . And of course, two different views coming from the white house and from others on the hill. What is the truth here . What are the actual limits and can the fbi push back against those limits . Reporter right, poppy and jim. Here we are. You said, its the first day of the term. Its being totally overshadowed by this confirmation process with Brett Kavanaugh. First of all, the latest, right, is that late last night, rachel mitchell, shes that outside prosecutor, she released her report. She said, look, im not i know that this wasnt a trial last week, its a hearing. But i see things, as a prosecutor, and i have to say i have no reasonable no reasonable prosecutor would bring charges here. She was worried about the fact that there were gaps in her memory and there was no corroboration. But democrats, to your first point here, and supporters of ford, they totally dismiss this report. They say, look, it was onesided, she didnt even question kavanaugh. And they point to whats happening with the fbi. And as you said, the fbi has interviewed now deborah ramirez. Shes one of the people that came forward to say that kavanaugh had acted inappropriately. And heres whats key. She gave the fbi names of other witnesses. And the big question here, jim and poppy, is whether or not the fbi or the white house would allow those witnesses to be contacted. Right. You might say they would want to talk to as many witnesses a as possible. You would think. Ariane, talk to us about where we are for the high court. Such an important body for this entire country and every citizen. You have eight justices now. Its happened before. It happened for 13 months when Merrick Garland wasnt given a hearing, but what are the implications of a court with eight justices. Reporter youre right, poppy. We were here in july and President Trump wanted kavanaugh on this bench. And that is not going to happen now. So we only have eight justices. And what that means is chief Justice John Roberts has to navigate carefully. Hes very careful about some of the cases he takes up. And the cases that are currently on the docket, the justices, the eight, to avoid a potential split, might look for narrow ways to rule. The court does not like it when theres only eight members, because theyre always worried about those four four splits, poppy. Yeah, ariane, thank you. Important reporting in front of the high court this morning. We would like to also read you an entire statement that judge kavanaughs classmate, chad luddington, has given to cnn. He wrote this in reaction to the testimony that he heard from judge kavanaugh in front of congress, that we all heard on thursday. Lets begin here. He writes, i have been contacted by numerous reporters about Brett Kavanaugh and have not wanted to say anything, because i had nothing to contribute about what kind of justice he would be. I knew brett at yale because i was a classmate and a varsity basketball player and brett enjoyed socializing with athletes. Indeed, athletes formed the core of bretts social circle. In recent days, i have become deeply troubled by what has been a blatant mischaracterization by brett himself of his drinking at yale. When i watched brett and his wife being interviewed on fox news on monday and when i watched brett deliver his testimony is under oath to the Senate Judiciary committee on thursday, i cringed. For the fact is, at yale, and i can speak to no other times, brett was a frequent drinker and a heavy drinker. I know because especially in our first few years of college, i often drank with him. On many occasions, i heard brett slur his words and saw him staggering from alcohol consumption, not all of which was beer. When brett got drunk, he was often belligerent and aggressive. On one of the occasions of the last occasions i purposefully socialized with brett, i witnessed him to respond by a semihostile remark not by diffusing the situation, but by throwing the beer in the mans face and starting a sfifight by ending with one of our mutual friends in jail. The statement goes on, i do not believe the behavior of an 18yearold or 21yearold should condemn a person for the rest of their life. I would be a hypocrite to think so. However, i have direct and repeated knowledge about his drinking and his disposition while drunk. And i do believe that bretts actions a s as a 53yearold fl judge matter. If he lied about his past actions on National Television and more especially while speaking under oath in front of the United States senate, i believe those lies should have consequences. It is truth that is at stake. And i believe that the ability to speak the truth, wieven whent does not reflect well upon himself, is a par a mount  quality we seek in our most powerful judges. I can unequivocally say that denying the possibility that he ever blacked out from drinking and in downplaying the degree and frequency of his drinking, brett has not told the truth. I felt it was my civic duty to tell of my experience while drinking with brett and i offer this statement to the press. I have no desire to speak further publicly and nothing more to say to the press at this time. I will, however, take my information to the fbi. Signed, charles chad luddington. And why did we do that . Its a full statement with a lot of details. We spent a lot of time with him. And to our knowledge at this point, this is not testimony that we are certain that the fbi will consider in its broader investigation. So we felt it was important to share the entire contents of that statement with the public. That account of judge kavanaughs drinking already seeing pushback from one of luddingtons teammates, chris dudley, also a close friend of kavanaugh from yale, says that he is certain that he never saw kavanaugh black out or behave inappropriately with any women. Now, the question becomes, what is the fbi going to do with all of this, right . How many people will they speak to, how many leads will they follow and how much is the white house directing all of that . The president is pushing back against multiple reports that he is working along with White House Council don mcgahn to really limit the scope of the fbis probe here. Lets go to the white house. Abby phillip has more. Look, we heard the president say publicly over the weekend, look, the fbi has in his words, free rein. But then we have a lot of different reporting from people within the white house. What do you know in terms of where the fbi is going to let this fbi probe go . Thats right, poppy. The president is saying here that he thinks the fbi is going to do whatever they want to do. Hes suggesting that because he says he thinks that it could turn out well for kavanaugh. But what our sources are telling us is that the white house isnt just passively waiting for that to happen. Don mcgahn, the white house counc counsel, whos been one of the biggest advocates for kavanaugh inside the white house, has been working with senate republicans, according to our sources, to limit the scope of this probe. In other words, to make sure the probe doesnt go far afield, and in the words of Kellyanne Conway this weekend, doesnt become a fishing expedition. One of the key parts of the limitations were hearing about is about calv kavanaughs drink history. That is not expected to be a part of the problem. And weve been told that at least one of the three accusers that have come forward publicly, julie swetnick, has not been interviewed by the fbi and is not expected to. So there are key ways that the white house is looking to try to narrow this scope so kavanaugh is not subjected to what they consider a fishing expedition that could unearth things that they think could be damaging to him. One persons fishing expedition is a useful investigation for someone in a lifetime position. Abby phillip, thank you very much. With us now, cnn Law Enforcement analyst, josh campbell, and cnn legal analyst, shan wood. Josh, i would like to begin with you due to your long experience at the fbi. Theres been a lot of talk about how important, weighty, or useful this fbi investigation will be. Youve heard republicans say that, listen, all theyre going to do is submit whats called a 302, basically witness statements, and not make any judgment, et cetera, how valuable can that be . And you have democrats saying, listen, a week . Youre not going to learn much. There should be a longer time frame here. But in a week because even james comey has said, the fbi can accomplish a lot. Based on your experience, how valuable is this time theyve been given and the leeway, at least, as far as we know that theyve been given to do this . So there are a lot of questions surrounding this investigation. Ill tell you, you know, i once had a drill instructor tell me that ability is what you do, character is what you are. In this situation, no one is questioning the judges qualifications. Theres no criminal investigation thats looking into illegality. Its simply a question of character. Is this person suitable to sit on the United States Supreme Court . And in this case, the fbis operating as an investigative arm of the white house. The white house is their client. Theyre going back and looking at the past the judges past to determine, is he suitable . Thats a determination to be made by the white house. The question you bring is up a good one, because at the same time, you know, that the white house is saying, were calling in the fbi to dig into this, were giving him quote unquote free rein, were learning thats not consistent with our reporting. There are guardrails being put on this investigation, parameters, that permit the fbi to only go so far and only look at certain things. Thats within the purview of the white house. They can ask the fbi to follow certain leads, but at the end of the day with this arbitrary oneweek deadline looking into this, i dont think that it is realistic to say that this is a thorough investigation and to put that stamp of approval on it from the fbi, when there are limitations placed on it from the outset. One thing to note, though. There is a bit of precedent here and that is the anita hill investigation which took three days. Now, thats a different investigation, similar in some ways, in that all witnesses were not called in that testimony and they were not called this time around either. But that took three days. At the same time, it was democrat chris coons who asked for this one week, right . So democrats crying foul now, saying its not long enough. It was kooncoons who went to fl and said, lets give it a week and do this. This report that the fbi comes up, not a judgment, but heres what we found in this repoprobe that goes to the white house. Is there any obligation for the white house to turn that over to anyone . To congress . To the Judiciary Committee . To the American People . I think theres a moral obligation for them to do that but do they have to . Not legally, no. In fact, usually in prosecutions, criminal investigations, as josh well knows, theres a big fight over, you know, when you have to turn over the 302. So theyre not under any legal obligation to do that. Its not even a criminal investigation. But i think, you know, one thing people are not understanding, very easy to understand this misunderstanding, background checks are actually, normally, much broader than criminal investigations. Criminal investigations are very tightly focused. The agents and the prosecutor constantly in contact to make sure theyre staying on target. The background check is to find anything possibly derogatory and present that to a potential employer. So here you have a potential employer trying to make sure they dont learn too much, which really kind of distorts the normal purpose. Imagine that in washington. Theres a lot of debate about the substance of this and whats reasonably within the range of this. I know, because ive been asked questions about people i know in their own fbi background checks, about things like this. How did they drink . How much did they drink . What was their behavior like, et cetera . Josh, you spent a lot of time in the fbi. I know that you personally did not do background checks, to my knowledge. But to your knowledge of background checks, give us a sense of what is reasonably within the range, when youre considering people for public office. So its a good question, jim. When new agents come in, typically their first office, were sent to an applicant squad. And that is a particular team that look into history of people who are applying for employment with the fbi or other federal agencies with the fbi serving as that investigative arm. So you kind of learn that process, that this is the scope, this ises wh this is what we look at. Its a question of suitability. Youre not necessarily looking for illegality. And that gives you a wider aperture to really look, what is this person made of . And its not a conclusion that the fbi is looking into for their own interests, that theyre wanting to make sure that theres someone on the Supreme Court thats of suitable character. This is something that the white house does. Every white house appointee that goes to the fbi has that same charge, look at this person, his background or her, and determine if they are suitable. The question surrounding is this oneweek time frame. I have serious issue with this, because it is so arbitrary. In this case, what weve talked about, and we have parameters that are in place, we can only look at certain things, but what happens in the course of an interview when someone provides you new information or someone provides you the names of other potential witnesses. Weve been reporting here at cnn over the weekend that the interview with mr. Ramirez, for example, did yield additional potential witnesses, so the question would be, is the fbi permitted to run that down and look at it . Or is this merely a check the box exercise . Shan, to you, james comey in his oped said a lot of interesting things. One of the most notable is that he clearly thinks that judge kavanaugh perjured himself. He said, they, meaning the fbi, also know that little lies point to bigger lies. They know that obvious lies about the nominee about the meaning of words in a yearbook are a flashing signal to dig deeper. Aside from james comeys opinion of whether or not judge kavanaugh was forthcoming or not, what do you make of what he writes here and following, you know, that indication . Because republican senator jeff flake, a key swing vote said, if it is proven that he wasnt fully honest in that testimony or lied, thats disqualifying for him. What do you make of comeys assertion here . You know, people may think what they want about james comey, but hes clearly a very skilled investigator. And i completely agree with his take that there are lots of flashing lights in the judges testimony. The positions hes taken are very questionable as to credibility. And were already seeing the public disclose, lots of people questioning his statements about drinking. And again, its not whether he actually drank or not, its whether he is credible and telling the truth about that. And i agree with joshs concern over the limit on time in the investigation. I cowrote an editorial with senator coons in which we called for certain type of terms and conditions to look for in the hearings. And lets keep in mind, that was a political compromise that he and senator flake had to make. They wanted to have a pause. And now its important that if that pause develops other leads that need to be pursued, that they not just stick to this oneweek timeline like its completely set in stone. Thank you both, josh campbell, and shan wu. And the fact that coons and flake did what they did together, and sat down together for that 60 minutes interview, on different sides if coons doesnt want kavanaugh, flake does, yet they sat together. They did. Rare in todays washington, no question. Although, we should note that flake is an outgoing republican senator and he said, it would not have been possible if i were still running for election. Which is stunning that there is no Political Capital in compromise anymore. All right. A lot ahead for us this hour. A race to find survivors buried in the rubble in indonesia. At least 844 are dead this morning after that earthquake in tsunami devastated the island of sualesi. And nafta out and a new trade deal in. What does it mean for you . Thats aide thahead. And one year later, america remembers the victims in the Las Vegas Shooting massacre. And where does that push to ban bump stocks . Is it going to happen . As you can clearly see, the updates you made to your plan strengthened your retirement score. So, that goal youve been saving for, you can do it. We can do this . We can do this. At fidelity, our online planning tools are clear and straightforward so you can plan for retirement while saving for the things you want to do today. Nana, lets do this aye aye, captain and as you go through life whoo tryin to reach your goal and as you go through life when we switched our auto and home insurance. With liberty, we could afford a real babysitter instead of your brother. Hey oh, thats my robe. Is it . When you switch to Liberty Mutual, you could save 782 on auto and home insurance. And still get great coverage for you and your family. Call for a free quote today. You could save 782. Liberty mutual insurance. Liberty. Liberty. Liberty. Liberty. Senator flake, youve announced that youre not running for reelection, and i wonder, could you have done this if you were running for reelection . No. No . Not a chance zp. Not a chance. No. No. Because politics has become too sharp, too partisan . Yeah, theres no value to reaching across the aisle. Theres no currency for that anymore, theres no incentive. Wow. No incentive. I mean, its a remarkable statement today. Lets talk about it now. Joining us, we have molly ball and matt lewis. Good morning to you guys. I mean, matt, to you, hearing that from a conservative or from a liberal, just that blatant honesty, theres no Political Capital anymore, in any form of compromise. Whats your read . Well, i mean, i would separate the two things. I think that jeff flake is maybe a little bit naive if he thinks that this week is going to satisfy or appease the people on the left who want to take down Brett Kavanaugh. But going specifically to what he said, look, i agree. I wrote a book two or three years ago about how this system is broken. And there are perverse incentives on both sides of the aisle that drive people farther to the left and farther to the right. And if you try to work across the aisle in any capacity, you will be primaried and probably beaten in a general election. Geez. Yeah. Or in a primary. In a primary. And listen, thats not entirely new. I mean, weve seen that for a number of years. But saying it seems new. Hearing it the way we did from flake. To say it in such concrete terms, literally no incentive to compromise. I would not have done this if i were running again. Its the definition of politics, compromise is actually necessary. Molly, senators were faced with a difficult decision last week or would have been faced had they gone to the vote. Now they have this fbi investigation. But the fact is, theyre still going to be faced with a difficult decision, because the fbi is not going to pronounce final word on kavanaughs suitability to sit on the Supreme Court. You have a whole host of issues. What has the fbi investigation done to make that an easier, perhaps more difficult decision for moderate republicans and red state democrats, or are they in the same political pickle that they would have been without this . I think they do feel that it has made their lives a little bit easier. Look, i think most democrats and most republicans had already made up their minds before this allegation came along and havent had them really changed by it. However, for that small group in the middle of moderate republicans and moderate democrats who have been on the fence, this investigation was a way of allowing them to feel that they did their Due Diligence. And i do think theyre all sort of planning ahead for, if nothing comes of it, it will make it i think it will make them feel better about a yes vote, to be able to say to their voters and indeed to themselves, we did our Due Diligence, we ran down these leads, we didnt plow through this allegation. But thats kind of the answer there, right . Isnt it . In a way, the fbi investigation is cover for is it cover, matt lewis . For folks who are on the fence, whether red state democrats or moderate republicans . I think that you may be right. That may be their calculus, you know, people like jeff flake and Lisa Murkowski and senator collins. They may be thinking, were going to check this box and do Due Diligence. I think that they are very naive. I dont know if Brett Kavanaugh is innocent or guilty. I have no idea about that. But i do know that both sides are playing politics and democrats want to delay. And democrats were saying, like, chris coons was saying, just give us a week. It seems thats not radical, you know . It was a threeday fbi investigation for clarence thomas. Its not just democrats, matt, to be fair, because republicans signed on at least a small number signed on. I know that the democrats delay is a talking point. And i agree, jeff flake said, well do a week. My point is, its not going to satisfy anybody. Its going to prolong the agony, certainly, thats tearing this country apart. But democrats are not going to say, okay, the fbi found nothing. I guess ill vote for Brett Kavanaugh. No. Its going to be, why wasnt this two weeks . How come the scope isnt being, you know lets talk about his the drinking, the fact that he used to be blitzed in college. Like, lets make that an issue. Youre not going to appease either side by granting these concessions. Maybe, ten years from now, we can look back and say, hey, at least we took did the Due Diligence to do the investigation. Molly, matt is making the assertion that someone, a candidates drinking habits are not germane here. But given the nature of the allegation s against judge kavanaugh, are they not not only germane, but perhaps particularly relevant . I think you are going to hear a lot of people making that argument. I dont know if it will be per sw sw persuasive to the senators who have called for this investigation and those that are still on the fence. I think they are focused on the allegations at issue, particularly, the allegation made by dr. Blasey ford, seeing if, you know, there are a concrete number of potential witnesses, potential leads that could be run down here and i think that was the focus of this call for an investigation, to just not leave that potential ed on the table. There are these side issues, there are other accusers. We dont know the extent to which the fbi will be allowed to look into some of that stuff. But i do think that the senato s s in the middle here are focused principally on that main allegation. Molly ball, matt lewis, thanks very much this morning. Thanks, guys. Thank you. Hundreds are in mass graves now, this after a devastating earthquake and tsunami in indonesia. Officials now worry the worst may still be yet to come. Onmillionth order. R. There goes our first big order. 44, 45, 46. How many of these did they order . Ooh, thats hot. You know, we could sell these. Nah. We dont bake. Opportunity. What we deliver by delivering. Come fly with me, lets fly, lets fly away. With new, more secure numbers. But con artists, they never change. Theyll always try to steal your medical identity. So, what can you do . Guard your card, just like a credit card. Dont give your medicare number over the phone or email. And remember, medicare never calls unless youve asked them to. To find more ways to guard your card, go to medicare. Gov fraud. Dont let your guard down. Youll make my morning, buty the price ruin my day. Ou . Complicated relationship with milk . Pour on the lactaid, 100 real milk, just without that annoying lactose. Mmm, thats good. Welcome back. Happening today, las vegas marks one year since a gunman opened fire on thousands of people at a Country Music festival, killing 58. Soon, there will be a sunrise ceremony that will include 58 seconds of silence to remember those victims. And marquises will go dark tonight to remember the moment that shooting started. The Las Vegas Shooting was the largest shooting in modern american history. Hundreds injured in the gunfire and the resulting panic. One way the shooter was able to increase the bloodshed by using what are known as bump stocks. A bump stock attaches to an automatic rifle at the stock. That is a rifle that requires a trigger pull for each shot to transform the weapon into something of the equivalent of an automatic rifle. That is moving your finger to fire the shots much more quickly, almost like a machine gun. In the aftermath of the shooting, President Trump and other republicans called for waning them. In fact, in march this year, President Trump tweeted, quote, the Obama Administration legalized bump stocks, bad idea. As i promised, today the department of justice will issue the rule banning bump stocks with a mandated comment period. We will ban all devices that turn legal weapons into illegal machine guns. The president then instructed the atf to explore and propose such a rule. But thats taken so long. Were a year later. First, the atf sought comments and received tens of thousands of them, many of them from gun owners who were outraged by the prospect. One of those comments, well just mention here, said the following. When the Second Amendment says the right to bear and keep arms shall not be infringed, any limitation of the right for lawabiding citizens should be treated as unconstitutional. Now, one year later, to the day, the Administration May be nearing taking action. The department of justice announced just on friday that it will propose such a rule and send it to the office of management budget for review. Thats the way this thing works. I should note that there are no available nationwide figures on sales of bump stocks since the massacre, but last years sellers at stores in several stores around the country told cnn that sales had taken off. People expecting this rule to pass and trying to buy the bump stocks up in advance. So, its been a year later, poppy. That rule proposal officially went on friday, but it still may take another 90 days for the omb to study it. This is the slow progress of these kind of things, even on something that had the support of the president , a republican president , and Many Republican lawmakers. It was bipartisan, but then, wheres the progress . And still so few answers on what motivated this gunman, 58 people dead, so many wounded. Thank you for the facts. And on what would seem to be a Pretty Simple gun control measure in the wake of a shooting like this. But even Something Like that takes more than a year. It could have made a world of difference. Thank you. Appreciate it. Also, we are watching what is happening in indonesia, because right now, rescuers on the indonesian island of sulawesi are digging through destroyed homes, huge piles of debris. They are looking frantically for any possible survivors after the massive earthquake and devast e devastating tsunami on friday. At least 844 people are dead in the city of palu, alone, with the death toll expected to rise much higher. Many of the victims have been buried in these look at that these are the mass graves that they are burying these victims in, trying to prevent the spread of disease and also look at this. Chilling video this is the moment if you missed this before, this is the moment where that tsunami wave up to 10 feet high slams into the coast of palu. Matt rivers is there at an outdoor clinic that is treating the wounded. Matt, what can you tell us about, a, the wounded and also the search still for survivors. Reporter well, jim and poppy, i can tell you that this outdoor clinic isnt usually an outdoor clinic. This is usually a parking lot, because right to my right, you cant site, thats a hospital, but the people being treated in this nowoutdoor clinic cant go outside because of the threat of aftershocks, that the building might collapse. Right behind me, thats the pharmacy. Thats where i saw people get shots earlier. Thats where i saw someone get a dozen stitches in his head. Its all being done out here. And those people after theyre treated, they end up in a place like this. This is a temporary tent, essentially, thats been put up, rains a lot in southeast asia, and look at the patients back there. These are people that have severe injuries. Theyre lying on the floor, theyre lying on mattress pads this thick. The lucky ones have beds. And its just terrible conditions. But it shows you that this place is poor. They did not have the infrastructure, not only to stand up to an earthquake, let alone a tsunami on top of that. And as weird as it sounds, guys, these people are the lucky ones. Because 150 meters to my right, and its gruesome, but we should point it out, theres 130 bodies in a parking lot outside of the emergency room, because the morgues here have been overwhelmed and authorities had nowhere else to put those people. So you take all of that, on top of the fact that rescue efforts are continuing. Five minutes drive away from here, we know that theres rescue efforts going on right now, trying to get people out from under their homes. Whether theyre successful or not remains to be seen. Access to these communities is very difficult. Landslides have blocked roads. So no matter which aspect of this whole situation you want to talk about, theyre all bad. And unfortunately, its difficult to get here, so it doesnt seem Like International aid is on its way anytime soon. The other thing we noted is that those buoys they put out at sea to give fair warning of coming tsunamis, after 2004 when they had the devastating one, they were not working. More than 20, right . Yeah, for years, they werent working. Matt rivers, thank for being there. Please keep us posted. The president can take another promise off. There is a new trade deal. Its a big deal this morning with canada, mexico, and the United States. What does it mean for you at home . Is it good for u. S. Business . Well explain, next. 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Find out if your doctor is part of the Humana Network and get your free decision guide. Discover how an allinone Medicare Advantage plan from humana could save you money. There is no obligation and the book is free. Youll make my morning, buty the price ruin my day. Ou . Complicated relationship with milk . Pour on the lactaid, 100 real milk, just without that annoying lactose. Mmm, thats good. This morning, the president can claim victory after latenight negotiations result in a new deal to replace the nafta. The president will speak in a little over an hour from the rose garden on the new trade agreement called the United States mexico canada agreement. No longer nafta. More than a year to have negotiations between canada and the u. S. Almost fell apart last week, as we were approaching this sort of somewhat fictitious deadline, but a deadline. Sources say a call from top Staff Members and Prime Minister Justin Trudeaus office to the president s adviser skpoand soninlaw, jared kushner, is what really pushed things over the edge here. Christine romans joins us this morning. I was shocked seeing these headlines. They did it. It happened. What does it actually mean for people at home . How different is this from nafta . And is it better for americans, better for u. S. Businesses . The line from negotiators is this is going to be good for middle classes, it will raise wages. This is what they say officially, it will strengthen the middle class, create well, goodpaying jobs and opportunities for nearly the half a Million People that call north america home. Clearly, you wanted canada in a north american trade agreement. Thats really what people are so optimistic about this morning. Heres whats in it, poppy and jim. U. S. Access to canadas dairy market. The president was adamant about this. He despises the supply chain, the supply supports that are in canada and he wanted to help American Dairy farmers in wisconsin and new york. It preserves a way to settle disputes. Thats something the canadians wa wanted, so a win for the canadians. Its supposed to be for higher wages and better labor standards for autos. So cars imported dutyfree in these three countries need 75 north american content. And thats an increase. And wages, right . Two fifths of any car that is duty free sold in these three countries must have wages of 16 an hour or higher. That is seen as a benefit for specifically for american factories and auto workers, in particular. So those are sort of the nuts and bolts in there. Its called usmca. Trump hates nafta. And it can die after 16 years. If they dont renegotiate this, the whole thing just goes away. The president promised throughout the campaign and since then a massive renegotiation, art of the deal comes to International Trade negotiations. Big picture, is this a massive renegotiation . I would call this a modernization of nafta. And i would say there are elements throughout here that look just like tpp. Some of this, thats another transpacific partnership, that was an important trade deal that this president pulled out of. That didnt happen. That our friends are all in. So some of these look like the dairy, for example. Youre hearing folks north of the border and canada saying that the tpp sounds an awful lot like wed already agreed to. But the white house and Administration Officials are insisting, this is a good deal for American Workers and a good deal for american farmers. Is it a controlaltdelete on nafta . No, its a modernization. All right, appreciate it. Hey, new dads, listen up. What would you think not only if you got paternity leave, but if you were forced to take it . Its a controversial, bold argument being made on the pages of the wall street journal this morning. The author will join us next. 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Maybe, the case for mandatory paternity leave is making leaves thanks to a new editorial by jennifer whitman. Shes also the author of a new book, thats what she said what men need to know and women need to tell them about working together. Joy work, why mandatory in. Well, lets think about the context of where we are. We have been talking about inequality at work, how do we solve it . We have been talking about it for decades. The equal pay act was passed in 1963, more than 50 years ago. And were still not there. Were still not there. With me too, with my book, i have been traveling around, talking with companies who are all saying, yeah, we want to get there. But theres so much talk and so little action. And so i found this one company, and by the way, we have gone backwards in many ways even since me too erupted a year ago. If you look at the percentage of female ceos, its declined. The World Economic forum which tracks gender equality has found it has widened for the First Time Since they started tracking it. Bl why does making dad take tyke off off fix that . I found one company and others thinking about it who said one of the problems we have is that women take Maternity Leave, and theyre penalized for it. Men increasingly are being offered paternity leave, but theyre not taking it. Because theyre afraid that its going to hurt their careers, and in fact, some men who want to take paternity leave and whose Companies Offer it, report that they get that kind of wink from their supervisors, yeah, you dont really want to do that. This happened to my friend who works on one of the biggest banks on wall street. He only took a week off to be with their new baby even though the bank gives four months. The top bosses wanted him and want the dads to take it. Its the direct manager who shook his head and said sure, you can take it, no, you cant. Thats exactly what is happening, and in fact, the pew did a survey of men and found the average paternity leave is one week. Even for companies where they offer months. The feedback that youve gotten. I mean, obviously, its bold. Its controversial. I dont know, frankly, you know i struggled with my Maternity Leave a bit and how much i should take. It was difficult for me. I was encouraged to take it. I dont feel it affected my career. But i struggled with it. I dont know if i would want someone telling me i have to take it. The mandatory piece is controversial, and the idea about it being mandatory. Frankly, it should be voluntary. We need to get to a spot where it is voluntary. Where men and women equally take time off without a stigma. The mandatory piece, which a Company Called human eyes has established, its, yes, its bold. Its controversial. But at the same time, as the ceo there said, you know, were trying to get to where its voluntary, but we havent gotten there yet. And yes, the response has been on both sides, shall we say you said wall street journal readers hated it. Theres a lot of comments on the site there. I love wall street journal readers. I worked at the wall street journal for two decades. Yeah, its interesting to see some of the comments there. What are your more conservative friends telling you . On the other side, there are people who are yes, all in, we must have this. A lot of support for that. I did get a note from a conservative commentator who is a very good friend who said, joann, i love you. But youre totalitarian. I can tell you, and you know this from my experience, my husband took three months off when we just had our son, who is 8 months old now. I could not be where i am today professionally or as happy as i am or have as full a life if he did not take that time and bear half the work at home because it translates to the rest of your life and raising your children. Thats exactly right, and in fact, i heard from many women and men who said exactly that. Exactly that. And its true that, you know, even today, i mean, there is a documented its called the motherhood penalty that when women have a child, their earnings decline for each child by 4 . Whereas men, theres a fatherhood bonus and they earn more when they have children. So we really just need to get to a point where we really can have true equality. I would encourage everyone to read it, debate it. We have a lot ahead. No question. As the fbi investigated accusations against Brett Kavanaugh, former classmates of the Supreme Court pick are speaking out but were hearing very different stories. All right, as the consequential Midterm Election approach approaches, we want to hear from you. Enough of us for a moment. We want to hear from you about why youre going to the polls and why youre going to vote and what you hope will happen. Were excited about this segment. We have been working on it for a while. We want to hear from a variety of voices from all over the country, all ends of the political spectrum. Were going to air those answers every day from now in a new segment that we call why i vote. Of course, as we come up to that crucial Midterm Election, and heres what voters are telling us today. Im going to vote because thats the only way that my vote, my voice gets heard and the things i think are important. Without that, even if what i vote for doesnt pass, at least i got my word out. What i want is to see the kids are with families, with their parents and not separated and left at detention centers, not knowing where theyre going to go and when theyre going to go back home. Definitely womens rights, definitely planned parenthood kind of issues. Im really kind of trying to get on the backs of that kind of stuff. I think its been unheard for a lot of years here. So im going to try to support that more. To change some of these policies, to move and shake things up and make sure that we as a people have a voice for change. Will you be voting in november . Particularly if its the first time youre voting . Please post a video to instagram telling you what is motivating you. Use this hashtag, why i vote cnn for a chance to be featured on our show and on cnns instagram feed. Youll see it every day here. This is about your voice. Let us know what you think. All right, good morning,ane. Top of the hour. Im poppy harlow. Im jim sciutto. Right now, eight members of the Supreme Court are coming together to hear the first case for a new Supreme Court term. Member number nine still in flux as a brandnew controversy rages over a reopened fbi investigation into the nominee, judge Brett Kavanaugh