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Venezuela Government Responds to U.S. Seizure of Plane Used by Maduro; Counterfeit Ads of the Eagles Endorsing Harris Pop Up in Philadelphia; Supreme Court Justice Brown Jackson Releases Memoir "Lovely One"; Strange Noise Heard on Boeing Starliner at International Space Station. Aired 3:30-4p ET

Aired September 03, 2024 - 15:30   ET

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

[15:30:00]

BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN HOST: New today, the U.S. says it's weighing a range of options in response to Venezuela's arrest warrant against former presidential candidate Edmundo Gonzalez after the disputed election with incumbent Nicolas Maduro.

National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby says the warrant is, quote: Just another example of Mr. Maduro's efforts to maintain power by force and to refuse to recognize what Mr. -- that Mr. Gonzalez won the most votes.

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN HOST: Kirby also pointed out the ongoing efforts to crack down on Maduro, including seizing that plane in the Dominican Republic that Maduro allegedly acquired through sanctions violations.

Let's go now to CNN's Stefano Pozzebon for the latest on this. Stefano, Venezuela's government now responding to the seizure of the plane. Tell us how.

STEFANO POZZEBON, CNN JOURNALIST: Yes, Brianna. Well, they sent out this statement late last night where they protested the seizure of this plane. They don't use in their language, they don't acknowledge that this plane was owned by the authoritarian president, Nicolas Maduro, as an indictment from the Justice Department reads.

However, they say, and I think it's really important to point it out, Brianna, they say that these actions reveal that no country is safe from these type of actions, which, frankly, is exactly the message that the United States is trying to give, Brianna. Because when they filtered this news yesterday to my colleague, Priscilla Alvarez, the message that the White House is trying to point out, not just to Maduro, but to all the allies and to hold the apparatus that sustained the Maduro's government down in Venezuela is that nobody is safe from sanctions or from coercive action from the United States if they're complicit with what the United States are saying are crimes.

So this statement, frankly, opens the door to exactly the same sort of narrative, Brianna, Boris, that the White House is trying to project, that they are standing squarely with Edmundo Gonzalez, despite his arrest warrant, with the Venezuelan opposition, saying strongly that they believe they won a popular mandate to be the next leaders in the country, regardless of these potential arrests that we are following very closely -- Boris, Brianna.

KEILAR: All right, Stefano, we will continue to follow that with you. Stefano Pozzebon, we appreciate the report.

Coming up, Kamala Harris, the official candidate of the Philadelphia Eagles, hmm? The team is pushing back, as you might expect, calls these posters counterfeit political ads. We'll have details ahead.

[15:35:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KEILAR: The NFL season kicking off this week just as the election season moves into the final stretch. And in a strange twist, we're seeing election misinformation colliding head-on with the sports world.

SANCHEZ: Yes, fake ads are popping up at bus stops around Philadelphia, falsely claiming the Philadelphia Eagles endorsed Kamala Harris for president. The team has yet to endorse anyone.

CNN's Danny Freeman joins us now from the city of brotherly love. Danny, the posters were up for about a day. They're now being removed. There's an ice cream truck apparently near you. Before you tell us what flavor of ice cream you're getting, Danny, what are the Eagles saying about these posters?

DANNY FREEMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, don't worry, Boris. I'll get to the ice cream in a moment. But let's focus on the story for at least a moment here.

So we're talking about the Birds, of course, the most popular sports team arguably in Pennsylvania, caught in this political kerfuffle over the past 24 to 48 hours or so. They're not happy about what happened here. Neither is the city of Philadelphia.

[15:40:02]

But let me explain exactly what went on. So basically, like you said, for the past at least 24 hours or so, there were a number of posters on bus stops just like the one right here since been removed. That basically had an image of Kamala Harris in an Eagles helmet with the caption below it saying the official candidate of the Philadelphia Eagles.

Now, sports teams are not usually known for making political endorsements. And the Eagles were actually very quick to come out yesterday afternoon and say explicitly on Twitter, we are aware counterfeit political ads are being circulated and we're working with our advertising partner to have them removed.

Well, that's exactly what we saw over the course of the day today. It was only a few hours ago where a crew came out here, unscrewed this advertising spot here on this bus stop, took out the poster and replaced it with this lovely young girl right here. Now, we actually got a statement from Intersection Media. That's the

group that's responsible for organizing these bus stops. They agreed with Eagles saying we note that the Eagles and Intersection had nothing to do with the creation or posting of this unauthorized copy. And Intersection staff will be removing the ads as soon as possible.

Now, listen, Boris and Brianna, the question is why are we talking about this? Because let's be honest, this is a relatively small example of the misinformation that frankly we've become accustomed to seeing in this election season. But the reality is that Philadelphia is only going to be the center of more and more perhaps chaos as we go forward towards that November election.

And the other thing that we want to note here is that, listen, these types of let's call it guerrilla marketing or ad takeovers, it's pretty common here in Philadelphia and other urban centers like New York. But the city, the Eagles, and even the Harris campaign, noting that this is not at all part of what normal electioneering or normal campaigning really is about.

But, again, we're keeping an eye on these sorts of things because even if one person thinks, oh, man, this sports team may be endorsing a candidate, it could sway one person.

But, again, you can see that the ad company here really took quick steps to get these posters down and replaced. So I think this is not the first or rather this will not be the last example of some strange things that we may happen to see crop up here in Philadelphia. But we'll be here catching it when it does.

And in the meantime, I'll probably go get some ice cream on this beautiful day out here -- Boris and Brianna.

SANCHEZ: Put us down for an orange crush. Brianna, what do you want?

KEILAR: I would like one of those SpongeBob SquarePants popsicles, Danny.

SANCHEZ: Yes. I should change my order. Two of those, Danny Freeman. Thank you so much. Live in Philadelphia.

FREEMAN: You got it.

KEILAR: Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson, the first Black woman to serve on the Supreme Court, sharing her story in her own words about her rapid ascent to the highest court in the land.

SANCHEZ: Her new memoir, Lovely One, comes out today. CNN chief Supreme Court analyst Joan Biskupic joins us now live. Joan, other justices have written books recently. Talk to us about this one. What makes it different?

JOAN BISKUPIC, CNN CHIEF SUPREME COURT ANALYST: Sure. It's good to see you. And I think you should have ordered a third one for me, by the way.

Anyway, you're right. It seems like every couple of months some justice has a book out. But this is different.

First of all, in terms of its speed, Justice Jackson has been on the bench only two years. And she pretty quickly after she earned her appointment, she signed this contract. So the speed is one thing.

But the other thing is just how intimate it is. She just really shows the day to day nitty gritty of her life and her striving to get to the court. And it's all, of course, against the backdrop of the fact that she was this historic first Black woman on the Supreme Court and all that it took to get there.

At one point, she writes: Only one generation after my mother and father had experienced the spirit crushing effects of racial segregation and housing, schooling and transportation while growing up in Florida, their daughter was standing on the threshold of history, the embodiment of our ancestors dreams.

You just really see throughout, Boris and Brianna, just the drive and her belief in herself to get to where she got.

KEILAR: Yes, and what are some of the other highlights, Joan?

BISKUPIC: Sure, you know, I have to say that most people who make this the Supreme Court act like, you know, oh, I'm so lucky. I never really thought I would become a justice of the Supreme Court.

This is a young woman who thought of it beginning at age 12. She happened to read in a magazine about a woman by the name of Constance Baker Motley, who was America's first Black woman appointed to any federal judicial post. And that woman happened to have the same birthday as Ketanji Brown Jackson, September 14th.

So she took it to heart, put the magazine under her pillow in her home down in Florida and thought, you know, I can do this. And throughout this whole book, you're so aware of her drive and her striving. She was the daughter of two educators.

[15:45:00]

She was an only child until age nine. So she really had her parents attention. And her mother used to say to her, do not give in to your doubts. Do not let them deter you. And they didn't.

You know, she gets into Harvard. She's a star in debate in high school. And then she gets to college and then law school.

But then comes really the reality of a two career family and raising children. She and her husband, Patrick Jackson, who is a physician who she met at Harvard. You know, they both have these high powered careers and they're juggling just even when it's just themselves with her as a lawyer and him as a doctor.

But then they have these two children and one of them has special needs. Turns out that she's autistic. And I have to say, Brianna and Boris, a real compelling core to part of the story is just how she came to accept her daughter's special needs and to solve that problem. When she herself was so can do and thought, all you have to do is put your mind to it and you can overcome anything. And she realized, no, that's not always the way. So it's a, as I say, a very intimate story. Not about the Supreme Court, but nonetheless, very, very compelling and well told.

SANCHEZ: Yes, it sounds like an inspiring read, a proud product. We should note the Supreme Court justice of Miami-Dade County Public Schools. Look forward to reading it. Joan Biskupic --

BISKUPIC: A lot on that, Boris. Just a lot (INAUDIBLE).

KEILAR: That's great.

SANCHEZ: Still to come. This is not the plot of a sci-fi horror movie. There are strange noises inside Boeing Starliner capsule. NASA says they found the source this coming just days before that capsule is set to return to Earth without its crew. We'll be right back.

[15:50:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KEILAR: Welcome back to CNN NEWS CENTRAL. These are some of the headlines that we're watching this hour.

At least 12 people died after a migrant boat capsized in the English Channel near northern France today. Officials say emergency crews rescued 65 people, several of them in critical condition and needing urgent medical care. Search and rescue operations still underway at this point. Deadly incidents like this one have happened on a number of occasions in the channel.

Just last year, six people died when a boat carrying dozens of migrants capsized.

SANCHEZ: Back in the United States, the San Francisco 49ers announcing rookie wide receiver Ricky Pearsall will miss at least the first four games of the 2024 season as he recovers from being shot in the chest over the weekend. Pearsall was released from the hospital on Sunday after he was shot during an attempted robbery in broad daylight in San Francisco. Officials say the 17-year-old suspect accused of shooting him is in custody. A decision on possible charges is expected soon.

And today, 87-year-old Pope Francis is on a marathon 12-day visit to four countries in Southeast Asia and the South Pacific. This is the longest trip of his papacy despite recent health problems. The pontiff arrived in Indonesia today, the world's largest Muslim-majority country. He's also visiting Papua New Guinea and Singapore.

There are ominous sounds in outer space. Listen for yourself.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

(Noise coming from Boeing Starliner)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANCHEZ: That is the noise that astronauts heard coming from inside the troubled Boeing Starliner that's docked at the International Space Station.

KEILAR: Astronaut Butch Wilmore radioed mission control so that they could hear it. And now NASA says the pulsating sound has stopped. We have CNN space and defense correspondent Kristin Fisher with us. OK, what is that sound?

KRISTIN FISHER, CNN SPACE AND DEFENSE CORRESPONDENT: I mean, this is one where you kind of have to give the conspiracy theorists a little nod and be like, I mean, it did sound kind of spooky, like a spooky alien submarine or something coming for the space station. And this is not just any spacecraft, right? This is Boeing's Starliner, which is set to head back to Earth without its crew later this week.

I mean, listen to that. But NASA says they have found the problem. And it's a pretty it's not all that exciting, not as exciting as an alien submarine.

They say: The feedback from the speaker was the result of an audio configuration between the space station and Starliner. The space station audio system is complex, allowing multiple spacecraft and modules to be interconnected. And it is common to experience noise and feedback.

So to translate problem solved, guys, nothing to worry about.

SANCHEZ: Yes, to translate for conspiracy folks, there's an alien on the Starliner. And that's why they're sending it back without the crew. Right?

FISHER: Right, because it could it could eat the crew, right. I'm completely kidding.

KEILAR: Completely kidding.

SANCHEZ: But it is coming back this week.

FISHER: It is. So Starliner coming back without its crew because of those hydrogen leaks, because of the issues with the thrusters. And the moment to watch is really going to be very late at night on Friday when we find out if those thrusters are able to configure the spacecraft in the right position and get it through reentering the Earth's atmosphere and make sure that that spacecraft doesn't burn up.

And so, of course, Boeing watching this to see if, you know, they were right that they could have got Butch and Suni home safely. And NASA, of course, wanting to see how that spacecraft fares. So Friday night, despite the alien noises.

KEILAR: The feedback, I mean, it's not --

FISHER: Audio configuration, guys, an audio configuration.

KEILAR: We have audio configuration sometimes that we hear. They're louder and much more unpleasant. Kristin Fisher, thank you.

SANCHEZ: The voices in our head. Kristin Fisher, thank you so much.

[15:55:00]

KEILAR: All right. Still to come, the king of hot dog eating, Joey Chestnut beating his archrival, shattering his own world record. We have this next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SANCHEZ: The goat of glizzy gobbling breaking his own world record, Joey Chestnut, downing 83 hot dogs and buns in 10 minutes, beating out long-time rival Takeru Kobayashi's 66 hot dogs.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Right now, it looks to be the same. They're going to push hard in the end. Let's take it to Nikki Garcia. She is in Joey Chestnut's camp right now. Nikki.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: 3, 2, 1. You got this! You got it!

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[16:00:00]

KEILAR: So sweaty. This was at a Netflix showdown in Vegas billed as unfinished beef between these two. Chestnut won $100,000.

I first read $100. I'm like, that's not worth it.

OK, $100,000 in prize money, a hot dog-shaped trophy, and a WWE design championship title belt.

Competitors, they were not allowed to dunk or pour water on their dogs, separate the beef franks from their buns. There were penalties for excess crumbs and regurgitation, as there should be, Boris.

SANCHEZ: Watching that makes me want a hot dog real bad.

"THE LEAD" with Jake Tapper starts right now.

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