There are no Term Contracts or line activation fees. And you can bring your own device. Oh, and all on the most reliable 5g Mobile Network nationwide. Wireless that works for you. Its not just possible. Its happening. Breaking overnight, a deal to end hollywoods writers strike, and so when will your shows be back on tv . And a shutdown showdown. Congress has five days to avert a Government Shutdown, and with its own job on the line, House SpeakerKevin Mccarthy is struggling to make any progress with his own caucus. And senator bob menendez is making a statement shortly, and members of his own caucus are asking him to resign. We will see what he has to say. Im john berman with sara sidner. Kate bolduan is off today. This is cnn news central. All right, in the next hour, all eyes are going to be on new jersey where the democratic senator bob menendez is going to deliver his first public remarks since he and his wife were indicted on federal bribery charges. We are standing by to bring you the remarks live when it begins. The list of democratic lawmakers and politicians calling on him to resign is getting longer. So when he gets before the cameras, what will he say . We are all over it, and we will begin with sara murray with the latest. Sara . Yeah, john. We are waiting to see the new jersey senator later on this morning and the first time in front of cameras reacting to the charges that he is facing as well as potentially addressing political future, and this is of course coming after Senator Menendez was indicted with corruptionrelated charges and his wife and a handful of new jersey businessmen. According to the indictment, they accepted bribes including cash, gold bars and even a luxury vehicle all designed to Benefit Menendez and his wife and these businessmen as well as the government of egypt. And menendez, while this investigation has been going on, he has been completely defiant in the face of it. Take a listen to what he said to cnn back in april about this investigation. To any new jersey voters watching right now who may have concerns that you are facing scrutiny over corruption, what is your response to them . The response to them is simply that number one, this inquiry is going to end up in absolutely nothing. If anyone looks at my history on egypt they would know that both by denying aid to egypt, and denying armed sales to egypt, and criticizing the human rights record, i am not helpful to anyone as it relates to egypt. Reporter and since the indictment was released he continues the defiance, i am not going anywhere and but according to the senate rules he had to give up the gavel as chairman of the Foreign Relations committee. John and sara . Maybe we have a preview to his own statement as to what he may say today. We will go to capitol hill where lauren fox is today, and are we hearing from anymore democrats that menendez should resign now . Yes, a large and vocal number of democrats who have made that case including representative andy kim who said friday night that he would challenge bob menendez in a democratic primary leading into the 2024 election. Menendez is up for reelection next year. Obviously, that is a very big statement coming from a democrat in the house. You also have a number of the Senate Colleagues who are saying these are very serious allegations. I do believe it is in the best interests for Senator Menendez to resign in this moment, and as you said, consistency matters, and it should not matter if it is a republican or democrat. It is a serious charge. No question about it. In terms of the resignation, that is a decision to be made by Senator Menendez and the people of new jersey. These are serious and shocking charges, bribery, corruption, and i have never seen anything like this. I think that Senator Menendez is going to have to think long and hard about the cloud that is going to be hanging over his service in the United States senate. And lawmakers will return to washington tomorrow, and it is going to be interesting to see how Senator Menendez faces some of the colleagues who are arguing that it is very serious accusations coming from the justice department. Another question of course is if other Senate Colleagues will call on him to step down. Senator John Fetterman of pennsylvania said that despite the fact that everyone should be found innocent until they are found guilty, he said that these are such serious allegations, that he does think that Senator Menendez should step aside. So, we should be clear that we dont know exactly what Senator Menendez is going to say, but in the written Statement Last week, he was defiant, so i want to bring in Attorney El Jotliot Williams he and if you were advising Senator Menendez before he goes out before the cameras, if you were his attorney, what would you tell him to say or not say . Shut your mouth, and do not step in front of the cameras, and look, here is why. The constitution says in effect, and the Miranda Warnings as we have heard on television. You have the right to remain silent, and the next sentence in the warning is that anything that you say can be used against you in a court of law. And every statement a criminal defendant says publicly is potential evidence. And lets unpack some of the things here. Imagine if he were to just, and if he is asked a question about the gold found in his house, and he says, well, that is my gold, and personal property, and it is not unlawful to have it, and this is a truth statement, but he just admitted to something that the prosecutors are attempting to prove. Anything, and any time he contradicts a prior statement that he has made, prosecutors can use it against him. Speaking publicly as a defendant is fraught with peril, and his attorneys should just advice him to keep his mouth shut. Elliot williams with strong advice this morning. Thank you, sara murray and lauren fox. Okay. We are keeping it going. Okay. Looking at the pictures of the gold bars and something that stood out to me and it has to do with egypt and the noshow job for his wife. The accusation is that she got this car that you can see there, a mercedes convertible as a gift for something, but also for a job in which she did not have to show up. Can you give us a sense from capitol hill there what people are saying, and are you hearing from the people about whether or not he can still be a politician, whether he can still do his job with all of the things hanging over his head . I will start with lauren fox. Yeah, i mean, he obviously had to step aside given the senate rules and the fact that if you are under indictment, you can not be the chairman of a committee, and obviously, he was the chairman of the powerful senate Foreign Relations committee, and this is why so many of his colleagues, sara, they are saying that these are such serious allegation, because he not only was a senator with power on the floor to vote on these matters, but he was a chairman who had a lot of jurisdiction over approving arms deals, over approving the transfer of weapons to various countries, and this is why so many members think that it is going beyond what they are comfortable with in terms of him continuing to serve in that ro role. Well yelliot williams, we ex this to be more of a political statement more than anything else notwithstanding your advice, but what possible explanation could a defendant have for 500,000 in cash in jacket that says senator bob menendez, and how do you try to get out of that . Well, okay, a few things. He does not have to give an explanation at all, and just question the evidence that the prosecutors put forward and say it is not reliable. I think that best out here is by being an elected official, and saying that particularly after the Supreme Court narrowed the decision of bribery a few years ago, that you are criminalizing a kind of transaction among politicians and their constituents that happens all of time. To that end, john, there is a much cleaner case against mrs. Menendez based on the allegations in the indictment. She is the one who is second virtually all of the incriminating text messages, and she is very closely linked to him, but she is the conduit of the other defendants and the senator. So i think that if you are his attorneys, you are number one going to separate yourself from the wife and come up with a legal strategy to concentrate on that you are a elected official, and sadly, pin it on the wife who is the more culpable defendant here. And he is innocent until Proven Guilty and he has beat a charge not exactly like what we are seeing here, but a bribery charge. He was charged back in 2015 and he beat the charge by 2017, and we will see what happens here, and we are waiting to hear from him very, very soon. Lauren fox, thank you to you, and elliot williams. John . So it does appear that there is an end to the hollywood writer strike. The writers have struck a deal with the studios and the strike has lasted 146 days so far, and they have announced a tentative agreement with the studio heads. More than 11,000 writer might get the green light to return to work very, very soon. It has to be ratified by the union members. And we have Camila Bernal in los angeles with the latest. John, it is something that every writer i have talked about is excited about to see a tentative deal. One of the writer said i am ready to go back to making magic and telling stories, but the union says that you have to wait, you cannot go back to work. They are working through the fine print and dotting every i. So they are working through legal part of the contract and after that is done, we expect a vote happening as early as tomorrow, and that is a leadership vote. After the leadership vote, then some of the details will be made public to us, and the writers and they will ask questions to see whether they like the deal or not, and then they will have to vote to ratify the deal. After it is ratified, if that is the case, you will likely to see the people beginning to work, and likely to start to see the daytime television, and the talk shows and the late night shows back on the air. But the question is what happens to the rest of the tv this year and really movies next summer . Actors have to come to an agreement with the studios as well. They are also on strike, and the question here is how long will it take the actors to come to the table with the studios . It could be a while, and so maybe the production is not going back to normal in hollywood any time soon unfortunately, and it has been very difficult for the last five months for entire industry. It is a domino effect, with so many people impacted by the strike. There is a glimmer of hope, and we have to see what happens with the actors. Camila bernal, progress at a minimum, and keep us posted there. Sara . We will speak with democratic congresswoman Haley Stevens about the stalemate over a government funding bill. And there is brandnew polling that we will breakdown. And signing an Emergency Declaration in new orleans as increase of saltwater in the Mississippi River is threatening Drinking Water, and how officials are working to stop a climate disaster. That is all ahead. This morning the time is running out for congress to avert a Government Shutdown, and in five days some Government Workers will be furloughed and others have to work without pay. House speaker Kevin Mccarthy has not been able to get the republicans to work without a plan, and his job is very much on the line. President biden is warning that the consequences could be dire. Cnns Arlette Saenz is at the white house, and for now, the white house is a spectator, but expected to be a vocal spectator, arlette. Yes, we are seeing the white house taking a hands off approach when it is getting involved with the negotiations going on in capitol hill, but what you will see the white house doing is to stepping up the warnings about the impact of the potential Government Shutdown and billing it as an extreme shutdown that would be caused at the hands of the House Republicans. You have seen the white house with this wait and see approach, and watching the chaos playing out in the caucus of the House Of Representatives in the house, and this ideology espoused by some in the congress. And while some say they should stick to the Budget Agreement they agreed to in the Bipartisan Agreement Last May in the house, but it is coming at a precarious time when they are a week away to the shutdown, and the President Biden himself has warned what that impact could be. Take a listen. Lets be clear. If the government shuts down, that means that members of congress, and members of the u. S. Military will have to continue to work, and not get paid. It could impact everything from food safety to Cancer Research to head start programs for the children. And funding government is one of the basic responsibilities of congress, and it is time for the republicans to start doing the job america elected them to do. Now, the president has refrained from getting involved in the negotiations, but what you will see is the cabinet officials appearing to highlight some of the Programs Impact bade Government Shutdown. Today, the agriculture secretary tom vilsack will talk about the impact on Food Programs and loan assistance programs for farmers, but ultimately what the white house is hoping is if the potential shutdown is that if it were to happen, it could be placed, the feet is placed on the hands of the House Republicans, because they have not reached a consensus there to get a bill passed over to the senate. Thank you, arlette. Keep us posted there. All right. Democrat congresswoman Haley Stevens is joining us, and a member of the problemsolvers caucus. Thank you for being here. I wanted to talk to you about where we are with this shutdown. And the republicans are looking at Spending Bills that the senate wont sign, and so at this point, should americans simply expect that there is going to be a shutdown . I dont want to encourage a shutdown, and i believe it can be avoided particularly if we adhere to a plan to pass a continuing resolution, 30 days, 45 days, and this is something that the speaker of the house even said that hed be interested in doing. We all know that a shutdown is just economic damage. It is economic collateral. We have working families relying on day care assistance that is going to expire, and we have Food Security issues. We have the running of the airports and the hard men and women who make it work for so many americans, and i dont want to see those people furloughed, and so if we can do the continuing resolution, and buy some time, and stop with the perfunctory actions of the individual Spending Bills, and come back, but it is wasting time when we need to be delivering for the american people. You mentioned House Speaker mike mccarthy, and he might be open to extending it for a month or so, and if he comes up with a compromise that democrats can get behind, would you get behind keeping him and helping him stay as the speaker . Well, i am not making any promises right now, and i want to see what a deal would look like, and see how that addresses the needs of my constituents. I am here in Southeastern Michigan and we have a uaw strike going on right now. I remember the last partial Government Shutdown, and standing with federal workers as they were not receiving paychecks, and seeing the gas cards being handed out, and sitting with unionized workers, and it is just so disastrous. We know it does not yield the results that the republicans are looking for. And 11 billion is what the last shutdown cost, and billion with a b and with the high Interest Rates coming out of the covid19 shutdown era, we cant go there. Congresswoman stevens, i wanted to push you on that, because you said that you dont want to make any decisions now which is understanding, because you want to get something push through, but you may be open to keeping mccarthy and the speakership if you can come up with a deal that can keep the government funded for the people . Am i correct in saying that . My party leader is Hakeem Jeffries, and that is a conversation that i will have with the democratic caucus, and leadership, and evaluate what a deal looks like. I think that frankly, mr. Mccarthy is a weak speaker right now, and the republicans are blocking republican legislation from Going Forward if it is around spending or gas stoves. This is how this term in congress has worked. When democrats were in charge, we were passing a c. H. I. P. S act, and lowered the cost of prescription drugs, and get the act together for american people. And certainly, there is compromise at the table, but i will respect the leadershi