Defiance and determined to stay in office. Democratic senator bob menendez says he will be exonerated after hes indicted on Bribery Charges as members from his own party are calling for him to resign. Hes got time, money and options, House SpeakerKevin Mccarthy is ramping up the pressure on hardliners in his own party as the government moves towards a potential shutdown. And we have a tentative deal, the Writers Strike that has Paralyzed Hollywood for months might finally be over. What comes next. Were following the major developing stories and many more, all coming in right here to cnn news central. Hes not going anywhere. A short time ago, democratic senator bob menendez made his first number comments about the federal Bribery Charges hes now facing amid mounting calls from his own party for him to resign, the embattled new jersey senator said this i understand how deeply concerning this can be. However, the allegations leveled against me are just that. Allegations. I recognize this will be the biggest fight yet. But as i have stated throughout this whole process, i firmly believe that when all of the facts are presented, not only will i be exonerated, but i still will be new jerseys senior senator. This is actually the second time hes faced corruptionrelated charges just in the last ten years, the prior federal indictment resulted in a mistrial and his acquittal. Cnns Kara Scannell has been following the story. Kara, Senator Menendez leaned into his record, and of course, you heard him say in his remarks, hell be exonerated. Will that be the case . Reporter yeah, jake, the senator has been charged in a threecount indictment alleging that he was paid hundreds of thousands of dollars in cash and gold bars and in a convertible mercedesbenz that his wife had received, all in exchange for helping three new jersey businessmen in aiding the government of egypt. This is where the senator leaned in today in his first public remarks. He talked about his record on egypt. Saying hes tough on egypt. Taught him on human rights abuses. And held up the military aid referenced in the indictment. He also addressed the hundreds of thousands of dollars in cash that the fbi found stuffed in a Jacket Bearing his name when they searched his home last year. Take a listen. Remember, prosecutors get it wrong sometimes. Sadly, i noseknow that. For 30 years i have withdrawn thousands of dollars in cash from my personal Savings Account which i have kept for emergencies. And because of the history of my family Facing Confiscation in cuba. Now, this may seem oldfashioned, but these were monies drawn from my personal Savings Account, based on the income that i have lawfully der derived over those 30 years. Reporter now, there are growing calls from democrats, and many in new jersey, for him to resign. And the senate saying that he has not lost the confidence of his constituents. He pointed to a number of them in the room today, who he brought in here to support him, and with this Press Conference in a statement in a building in union city, new jersey, this is where he grew up, and where he first started his political career, today in the same place, did doubling down that he is not going anywhere. Jim. So formally, what happens next in this case, in terms of court appearances, his chances to respond . Reporter yes, so, he will appear in federal court in Lower Manhattan on wednesday, along with his wife and those three other codefendants. That is when is the first time he will face these charges in a court of law. Its possible he will be arraigned on those charges. Seeming today hes expecting a plea of not guilty. From there, begins the usual process which could take, likely takes several months to play out. And that is going to intersect with this question will he run for reelection. And hes up this year. Its the first time we saw an indictment and someone still runs for office. Kara scannell, union city, new jersey, thank you. Lets talk with jennifer rogers, and cnn political commentator errol louis. Errol, what stood out to you about the Press Conference that the senator held . A lot of what stood out for me is what he did not talk about. He was very emphatic and said that while it might seem strange to the rest of us, its perfectly normal, at least acceptable, that he would hide 500,000 in his home. He just didnt believe in the banking system. Hes the son of immigrants. You never know what might happen was essentially what he said. What he did not get into, the other people in that caption, including his wife, its not u. S. Versus robert menendez. Its et. Al. He didnt pressure them to go eases on his Business Associates or employees, efforts to maybe swag who he was nominating to become a u. S. Attorney in new jersey. Theres a lot discussed there, including those famous gold bullion, those gold bars that literally have the serial numbers of one of the businessmen alleged to have bribed his family. The payments for the mercedesbenz. He didnt touch on any of that, and he didnt have to, obviously. But i want to hear a whole lot more about that, the general posture of saying im being politically persecuted is one thing. But thats not what is in the indictment. The indictment has specific crimes for which he has to answer to in court and public. He did, jennifer, specifically address the cash saying it came from his personal savings, and over the course of years, based on income that was lawfully derived. So what happens with that . Will he have to prove that . Could that come back to have bite him if that is not the case . Oh, it sure do, brianna, hes begging the government to do an unexplained wealth analysis to put up there what he makes as a senator, what investments bring in, the property, et cetera. And then explain how he has that kind of cash just sitting around the house, errol is right, if it were just the cash and didnt have the Treasure Trove of Text Messages and emails and mercedesbenz and kthe noshow job and theres a lot of evidence here vastly than the first time around. This is a very different and more dangerous case. Talk about this for sure, why is more dangerous . Why is there more evidence . Why is he in more peril than last time . Well, they worked really hard to collect evidence here, they had, i think, a wiretap on the Text Messages of menendezs wife. That just gave the whole scheme. She was talking to the other defendants what it was they wanted menendez to do. And his influence. Talking what about he was going to get. And cover. Up stuff. They bought the mercedesbenz effectively. As soon as they got a visit from authorities, and nknew they wer under investigation, they tried to paper it back. And without the money, with the Person Bribing Menendez the last time was actually a close friend of his, a preexisting relationship. Which i think the jury kind of confused whats he doing for himself because of the friendship or the bribes. This time around, theres no such thing. Its truly transactions. Errol, lets talk about the politics of this because we have someone, you know, through his wife and through an intermediary, shared sensitive, nonpublic information about the u. S. Embassy in cairo with an Egyptian Government official. This is very serious business. He was, temporarily stepped down as the chairman of the Senate Foreign relations committee. Politically, how do democrats, aside from Senator Fetterman who has called for him to resign, how do they kind of hold their fire at this point in time . When you have someone who is still in a position to do harm in this role in the senate . Yeah. Well, listen, putting aside the n senate, right there in new jersey, the democratic governor of new jersey has called for him to step down. This is a world away from the last time Senator Menendez was in ethical trouble when the democratic establishment essentially lined up behind him and supported him. Hes asking them, that was really a big part of todays Press Conference, hes asking them to withhold judgment, hang in there in more of the facts are known and not just sort of throw him overboard. But as your question suggests that poses political peril for the rest of the party, both In Washington and in new jersey. And its not clear theyre going to endure that kind of danger. The notion look, the big part against republicans up to and including the race for president is about ethics, its about having a government that is above board, not taking eing fo bribes. This flies in the face of that, hes a very inconvenient democrat right now. There are a number of democrats who have called for him to resign. But the senate is a different story and there are a lot of People Holding his fire in his party there. Errol and jennifer, its so great to have both of you take us through. Thank you. Jim. House speaker Kevin Mccarthy is again pushing back on members of his own party, warning house hardliners that shutting down the federal government in five days will be a big mistake. It comes as were learning now details about the white houses strategy this week to Ramp Up Pressure on House Republicans behind all of this, President Biden and top aides plan to repeatedly hammer home whats at stake for millions of americans. And emphasize that a handful of republican hardliners would be entirely to blame. Heres transportation secretary B Pete Buttigieg on todays state of the union. American people dont want to shut down. From what i can tell, the senate is ready to go, House Republicans need to come to their senses and keep the government running. Cnns Melanie Zanona is on capitol hill, following the latest shutdown threat. So, i feel like ive asked you this question, not just in the last three days, but in previous cycles, are they getting any closer to the point where they have the votes . Reporter jim, they are nowhere closer to avoiding a Government Shutdown but closer to that looming deadline on september 30th. Right now s, Speaker Mccarthy h been passed as many bills, and the hope is that will build goodwill with republicans and theyll rally around a shortterm conservative plan to keep the government open. But there are a couple of hurdles with that plan. First of all, its unclear whether the republicans either have the support to pass either longterm or shortterm Spending Bills. Second of all, if they do, those bills are dead on arrival in the senate. And you no you have former President Trump calling on ultimately the federal government to shut down if they dont get everything they want. And now Kevin Mccarthy trying to Ramp Up Pressure on his own members to fall in line. Take a listen. Well, you have to keep the government open, people want to keep the government, a week away, why would they want to stop page the troops or Border Agents or the coast guard . I dont understand how that makes you stronger . Or a point youre trying for make. Weve got a border thats wide open today. Its getting worse each month under joe biden. Weve got now Border Agents we saw this morning, why would you want to the stop paying those individuals. I couldnt understand somebody that would want to do that. Reporter of course, one way out of this mess is for Kevin Mccarthy to work with democrats. Over in the senate, Chuck Schumer has already taken steps to try to advance their own shortterm Spending Bill that would include Something Like ukraine aid and disaster funding. And Kevin Mccarthy has not yet committed to putting a bill like that on the floor. But if he did, jim, he could face a rightwing rebellion and face an immediate vote to try to remove him as speaker. So for Kevin Mccarthy it may ultimately come down to a choice between keeping the government over or keeping his speakers gavel. Its a great point. Brianna. After 146 days writers and members of the hold union have reached a tentative deal. The strike over Tv Production and movies appears to be over. Will of the actors make a deal next . Plus, Southeastern Border Cities pleading for help as they tell us the number of Mig Migrantings remain high. For and who doesnt like a good sample, one brought back by an asteroid and the good glues about the earth solar system. Coming soon, hollywood writers back at work. In fact, the 11000 plus members of the Writers Guild could get the green light to return to their jobs, after they reached a tentative deal over the weekend. And guild writers call it exceptional. There was a reception caught by the los angeles times. If you didnt make that out, theyre chanting thank you nedcom which is short for negotiating committee. This would end the second longest strike ever, 145 days. That has cost the industry an estimated 5 billion. Cnns Camila Bernal is in long los angeles. Give us the details of this tentative deal. Reporter so, brianna, so far theyve not been made public. Every writer i talked to said, look, we trust our committee and the wga. They believe theyre getting what they asked for including higher wages and guarantees for streams. And a. I. , and not knowing whats coming in the future, according to sources that spoke to cnn, that was actually the final sticking point, Artificial Intelligence. So, we know theres some sort of progress on that end. What happens here is theyre going to have to figure out what the language is going to look like. Thats what the wga is saying, theyre dotting every single i. And after they do that, then, theres going to be likely a vote tomorrow by the leadership. And then after that, it then gets made public. And were all able to see exactly whats in this contract. I want to read part of the statement from the wga, heres what theyre saying what we have won in this contract, most particularly everything that weve gained since may 2nd is due to the willingness of this membership to exercise its power, to demonstrate its solidarity. To walk side by side and endure the pain of the last 146 days. It really has not been easy for the industry, for many here in hollywood and beyond. Its just been tough over the last 146 days. So people are just so thankful and so excited to see this happen. One of the writers i talked to told me im ready to go back to making magic, to making stories. Thats kind of the thing youre hearing in hollywood today, brianna. What about the actors, the Screen Actors Guild has been on strike, 165,000 members. Theyve been on strike here. Yeah, thats what makes it harder to go back to normal even if there is a deal made by the wga, the actors are still on strike that means a lot of people are really not able to go back to work. The wga telling its members go out and telling its members to support the picket lines for s. A. G. Aftra, waiting to see whats in the deal, but saying theyre going to fight for their demands and the things theyre looking for. So its going to be a tough negotiation on that end as well but many do believe that this deal with the writers will likely encourage or speed up the deal with sagaftra, well see what happens, but for a lot of people in the industry, it means waiting even longer to go back to work. Camilla, thank you very much, jim. Josh rhett from atlanta is a member of the actors union sagaftra. Thank you. Good to be on. The writers and actors have issues that theyve been striking on. One is for better compensation from streaming. Another on technology, your image getting stolen used in a thousand different places. Or a. I. Taking over the jobs of writers. Based on what you know, granted theres a lot that you dont know, but based on the deal that they have struck, does it seem like the producers have largely met your demands, or willing to . Well, as i dont speak officially for sagaftra, but obviously, as a member, i will say that the feeling amongst us, the members, is that this is a good sign. I feel like its something that weve been waiting for, obviously, while weve been supporting the wga, this seems like, okay, maybe at this point, we can go back to that Negotiating Table and figure out something thats going to work for everybody. Because we all want to work. Thats all anyone wants to do. We just want to be fairly paid and to work. You can tell us how, just so folks at home understand it, because terms like a. I. Get thrown around, about everything you talk about these days. But can you explain how a. I. Technology has impacted your Work Compensation and your colleagues . Whats the real worry here . I think one of the biggest worries is, especially with background actors, this was mentioned during negotiations in the past, its scanning our likeness and then reusing it in perpetuity which obviously means forever. And being paid once. And that is something that seems complete