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NEW DAY SATURDAY

Iowa Farmers Worry About Trade War, Wary of Aid Package; Mueller Unveils 35 Potential Witnesses in Manafort Trial; Six Women Accuse CBS Chief of Sexual Misconduct; Rick Gates on List of Potential Witnesses in Manfort Trial; Texting Cop Crashes into Bicyclist in Missouri; Experimental Drug Could Slow Alzheimer's Symptoms; Woman Meets Biological Parents 36 Years Later; CNN Discovers Wave of Questionable Adoptions in Chile. Aired 6-7a ET

Aired July 28, 2018 - 06:00   ET

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


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[06:00:00]

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: What you're seeing and what you're reading is not what's happening.

RUDY GIULIANI, PRESIDENT TRUMP'S LAWYER: I expected something like this from Cohen. He's been lying all week, or for two weeks, been lying for years! The man is an honest, honorable lawyer.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Did you tell your father anything about this?

DONALD TRUMP JR., PRESIDENT TRUMP'S SON: No. It was such a nothing, there was nothing to tell.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Let's focus on what the president was aware of, nothing. He was not aware of the meeting.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The corrosive lying and the corrosive distorting and the corrosive lack of telling the truth, it does have an impact.

JEFFREY TOOBIN, CNN CHIEF LEGAL ANALYST: This meeting, if, in fact, he knew about it at the time, shows that all of those statements, every time he said no collusion, is a lie.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This meeting was convened for the purposes of colluding.

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CHRISTI PAUL, CNN ANCHOR: Well, good morning! So glad to have you with us. I'm Christi Paul.

MARTIN SAVIDGE, CNN ANCHOR: And I'm Martin Savidge in for Victor Blackwell. President Trump has again denied knowing anything about his son's 2016 meeting in Trump Tower with campaign officials and several Russians. PAUL: Yes, sources telling CNN his former lawyer, Michael Cohen, now says Trump not only knew about the meeting, he approved it. After tweeting, "Cohen was only changing his story to get out of his own legal trouble, the president moved on to the economy, jobs, and so- called incompetent Democrats," quote. But the Cohen news continues as one of the president's lawyers responds.

Here's CNN political correspondent, Sara Murray.

SARA MURRAY, CNN POLITICAL REPORTER: Martin and Christi, President Trump has denied again and again that he had any advance knowledge of the now infamous 2016 meeting in Trump Tower, but now Michael Cohen has a different story to tell and is apparently willing to tell it to the special counsel.

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MURRAY (voice-over): Michael Cohen now claiming that Donald Trump knew in advance about the June 2016 meeting at Trump Tower, where Russians were expected to offer dirt on Hillary Clinton, sources tell CNN. And sources say Cohen is prepared to tell Special Counsel Robert Mueller just what Candidate Trump knew and when.

REPRESENTATIVE ADAM SCHIFF (D-CA), RANKING MEMBER, HOUSE INTELLIGENCE COMMITTEE: It is quite a bombshell. If it's true and can be corroborated, it would mean that the president was willing personally to accept Russian help during the campaign. So, it effectively brings the issue of collusion or conspiracy right to the president's feet.

MURRAY: Cohen, Trump's former attorney who is currently under criminal investigation in New York, claims he was present when Trump Jr. informed his father and several others of the Russians' offer, sources say. Cohen even alleged Trump gave his nod of approval for the meeting to go forward.

The president, his attorneys, the White House, and others involved in the meeting have repeatedly denied that Trump had any knowledge of it before it took place.

PRESIDENT TRUMP: I just heard there was an e-mail requesting a meeting or something.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Did you know at the time they had the meeting?

PRESIDENT TRUMP: No, I didn't know anything about the meeting. It must have been a very unimportant meeting because I never even heard about it.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is not a situation where the president was involved in this meeting, was not aware of the meeting, did not attend this meeting.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Did he really not know about the meeting until a few days ago?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, that's correct. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Did you tell your father anything about this?

TRUMP JR.: It was such a nothing, there was nothing to tell.

MURRAY: Trump Jr. even testifying under oath before the Senate Judiciary Committee in September that he never told his father about the meeting. When asked, "Did you inform your father about the meeting or the underlying offer prior to the meeting?" Trump Jr. responded, "No, I did not."

When Trump Jr. was later asked why he didn't share news of the possible meeting, he responded, "because I wouldn't bring him anything that's unsubstantiated before I knew what it was actually about myself."

Last year, Cohen testified before two congressional committees regarding Russian election interference, but a source familiar with Cohen's testimony tells CNN he did not testify that Trump had any advanced knowledge of the Trump Tower meeting. Now the president's attorney, Rudy Giuliani, is attacking Cohen's credibility.

GIULIANI: The man is a liar, a proven liar. There's no way you're going to bring down the president of the United States on the testimony, uncorroborated, of a proven liar. I guarantee you, this guy is a proven liar.

MURRAY: When just a few weeks ago, Giuliani seemed to have plenty of faith in Cohen's truthfulness.

GIULIANI: If he believes this is in his best interests to cooperate, God bless him. He should cooperate. I do not expect that Michael Cohen is going to lie. I think he's going to tell the truth as best he can, given his recollection, and if he does that, we're home-free.

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MURRAY: Now sources say Cohen doesn't necessarily have any corroborating evidence for his version of events, no tapes for instance, so it may end up being his word against the president's. Back to you.

PAUL: All righty. Thank you so much, Sara. Now the president has no public events on his schedule this weekend. He's staying at his golf resort in Bedminster, New Jersey. Sarah Westwood is nearby in Berkeley Heights, New Jersey. What are you hearing this morning, Sarah? Good morning to you.

[06:05:06] SARAH WESTWOOD, CNN WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: Good morning. President Trump is settling in for another weekend here in Bedminster amid those unanswered questions surrounding how much he knew about that now-infamous meeting in Trump Tower between Donald Trump Jr., his son, and a Russian.

Trump departed the White House yesterday without taking questions about claims from his former lawyer, Michael Cohen, that he knew in advance of that meeting, something Trump denied in a tweet early Friday morning.

Now, facing this renewed scrutiny of his campaign's ties to Russia, Trump has been struggling to change the conversation, making remarks yesterday in the Rose Garden about the economy and firing off a series of tweets about Democrats, their positions on immigration, the Senate's inability to confirm some of his nominees.

And of course, this is all happening against the backdrop of an otherwise successful week for the president, relatively speaking, who made progress in trade talks with the European Union and was able to tout strong GDP growth from the second quarter of this year. Those numbers were released on Friday.

But Russia continues to distract from the president's economic agenda. And if that wasn't distraction enough, Washington was set ablaze on Friday by perhaps the coincidence of the year.

Special Counsel Robert Mueller and Donald Trump Jr. seen waiting at the same airport gate at Ronald Reagan National Airport in a photo obtained by "Politico." Now despite the social media frenzy over the picture, a spokesman for Mueller says the two did not interact -- Christi and Martin.

PAUL: All right. Sarah Westwood, good to see you this morning. Thank you.

SAVIDGE: Joining us now to discuss this, Daniel Lippman, reporter and co-author of "The Political Handbook," and Joey Jackson, CNN legal analyst and criminal defense attorney. Good morning to you both.

DANIEL LIPPMAN, REPORTER AND CO-AUTHOR OF PLAYBOOK, "POLITICO": Good morning.

JOEY JACKSON, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: Good morning, Martin.

SAVIDGE: Daniel, let me start with you. The revelation that Cohen is prepared to tell Mueller that Donald Trump knew, or he knew of this meeting in 2016 before it actually happened. That is huge, correct?

LIPPMAN: It is, because it would undermine what Trump has been saying all year, you know, ever since that meeting was revealed in the "Times," and Trump himself dictated the statement on the plane responding to "The New York Times" report in saying this was all about adoption.

And so, this would be a devastating blow, because there might be other -- there are other people in the room who Mueller might be talking to who could corroborate Cohen, and so Trump has to worry about that as well.

SAVIDGE: And then, Joey, of course, this would seem to fit, maybe not the legal definition, but certainly what I would describe as Webster's definition, of collusion. In other words, a man who is running for president of the United States knowingly meeting with representatives of a foreign power to gain some dirt on a campaign opponent. JACKSON: Well, you know, what would be said about that would be, not so fast, Martin. Look, you need a lot more than that. Here's the reality. I'm not sure why anyone would be really surprised about this. I think there are reports that catalog the president's lies to this point, verifiably, 2,100.

Now Rudy Giuliani comes out, Michael Cohen, he's going to tell the truth, he's always told the truth! Now all of a sudden, Martin, he's a serial liar, it's outrageous, you can't believe him!

So, the point of the matter is one could conclude prior to Michael Cohen saying anything about this that there was knowledge by the president as to the meeting occurring. The political ramifications, as I see, of this are nothing.

Trump continues to have vast support amongst Republicans and people who support him, and the legal ramifications I think will be even less. It's not going to establish in and of itself that there's any collusion at all. He'll continue to deny it.

There's no corroboration as we know as of yet in terms of what Michael Cohen said. In terms of Don Jr., Martin, there won't be a referral by the Senate to the Department of Justice. If there is, there's going to be a pardon by the president if he's prosecuted.

And so, it's just more fun and games and a circus where the legal ramifications will be zero as to the president and as to his principals and lying to the American people will be continued, and again, and next week there will be some other lie we're talking about without anything happening to the president of any legal consequence.

SAVIDGE: Daniel, Jay Goldberg, President Donald Trump's friend and former lawyer, says that Giuliani weakened his case against Michael Cohen by this back and forth over whether Cohen could tell federal prosecutors the truth. Do you think it's true?

LIPPMAN: I think when you act like Rudy Giuliani and building up the credibility of a potential witness a few weeks ago and saying, you know, he is an honorable lawyer who will cooperate, if he wants to, and then when he starts to cooperate, you tear him down, that is just a 180 that is hard to explain.

[06:10:02] And so, it seems like Rudy Giuliani did not think through the ramifications of doing that. And we should also remember that Donald Trump Jr. made a call right before the meeting and right after that Trump Tower Russia meeting, to a blocked and unknown number.

And we know from other reporting that the residence at Trump Tower where Trump lives uses a blocked phone number, and Trump was in Trump Tower that day. He was not campaigning. And so, you would expect that someone like Donald Trump Jr., who said in an e-mail, if you have dirt on Russia, I love it. The circumstantial evidence is building up a little bit.

SAVIDGE: Joey, let me ask you this, what is Michael Cohen up to? Is he trying to get a pardon from the president, in other words, give a glimpse of some of what he can reveal, or is he trying to make his case with Mueller about why he would be a good witness and maybe have a reduced sentence, if it came to that?

JACKSON: You know, Martin, it's a great question in terms of the strategic point of view. I don't buy into the fact that he's looking for a pardon at this point. I think that the ship has sailed in terms of that in his mind.

I think that there's a very public divorce going on as it relates to Michael Cohen, who would take a bullet for the president, who seems to be firing a lot of bullets at the president at this point.

So, I think the angle, as he mentioned in his interview, is hey, it's about my family, it's about my country. I have information. It's going to -- clearly, the president doesn't have my back. I'm thinking he's saying that in his mind -- so I have to go fend for my family and state that I have information for myself.

I have knowledge that could be useful for prosecutors. I'm going to cut the best deal possible I can, and if that means cooperation with the prosecutors to get that deal, that's exactly what I'm going to do. President be darned. That's my point of view.

SAVIDGE: Daniel, you've got the last 30 seconds. This was otherwise a pretty good week for the president, certainly economically, it ended well on Friday, and yet, this dark cloud is hanging over his head, and that dark cloud is Cohen and the investigation.

LIPPMAN: I feel like that's every week in Washington where there is some progress on domestic issues and then the Russia bear just continues. And I think we should, in terms of your earlier question to joey, I think Cohen is waiting to see what exact charges he gets, potential charges, and then he will have a way to negotiate that cooperate deal. I don't think they presented him a bill of charges yet.

SAVIDGE: So, you don't think he's gone one way or another yet?

LIPPMAN: I think they're sifting through all the evidence that, you know, the million pages of documents. So, they haven't concluded, I think, exactly what he is liable for.

SAVIDGE: All right. Daniel Lippman --

JACKSON: He's ascribing to the philosophy, Martin, of each person for himself and God for us all. That's my point of view.

SAVIDGE: Joey, thanks for the philosophy. Daniel Lippman as well, thank you both for joining us.

PAUL: There is a family in Northern California this morning calling hospitals and shelters looking for two children and their great grandmother who have been missing since their home was destroyed by a wildfire. The challenges ahead for the firefighters working to gain the upper hand on getting control of this fire and finding those people. SAVIDGE: Plus, as we were just talking about there, the economy had a real strong increase. Is it going to last, and what's behind it?

PAUL: Don't text and drive! Isn't that what all police tell us? Look what happened when an officer in Missouri didn't follow his own rules.

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[06:17:50]

SAVIDGE: Two young children and their great grandmother are missing as fire crews battle a rapidly expanding wildfire in Northern California.

PAUL: The Carr fire we're talking about in Shasta County has devoured nearly 50,000 acres, destroyed hundreds of homes and businesses thus far. Two firefighters died trying to stop the flames from spreading, but this morning, the fire is only 5 percent contained.

CNN's Paul Vercammen is joining us live. I look at what's behind you, Paul, and it's so striking when you think about the families that have to come back and see what used to be their home. You talked to the family that owns what is behind you. What did you learn?

PAUL VERCAMMEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Christi, Martin, as you can see over my shoulder the remnants of a house. This fire, the Carr fire, tore through West Redding, this neighborhood of stately homes, and it reduced many of them to rubble.

As you pointed out earlier, 500 homes destroyed, another 75 homes damaged in the Carr fire. And what they're trying to do is prevent more of this from happening. This morning, we understand now off in the distance to the west, the small town of Igo has been evacuated, and that's because firefighters don't want to risk another scene like this.

Now, as for this family, we talked to the son who had grown up here, a young man. He was thrilled that his parents got out alive. He also is searching around for the family cat. There seems to be one thing green left on this property, and that's a bush back there, and they were thrilled when they found the cat inside.

But also, some soul-crushing moments. Can you imagine coming back to your childhood home and seeing what's left of it, knowing that some of the memories, mementos and all of that are gone?

With a fire that moves fast like this, it's not like a hurricane where there might be a three-day build-up and someone's fairly certain that it's going to hit it such and such a time. it just came roaring out of the hill sides here.

They believed it was caused by the mechanical failure of a vehicle. Some going so far as to say perhaps a tire blow out on a mobile causing some kind of spark. They'll reveal more later as is the way with California fire here. [06:20:07] We will hear more in a few hours when they update those numbers. That doesn't mean that the fire is not burning, if you're saying, well, that's sticking at let's say 48,000 acres burned. They'll have more information in just a little while here -- Christi, Martin.

PAUL: All righty. Hey, Paul, thank you so much. We appreciate it. It's just so hard to think of those families trying to go back and seeing that, and there's so many still in danger, so we're going to keep our eyes on these fires this morning as we see what's happening there and any news for this great grandmother and these two children.

SAVIDGE: Hopefully, the news will be better.

PAUL: We hope so, certainly.

PAUL: Meanwhile, President Trump says that he proves the economy is doing great. We're talking about the new numbers that have come out, the GDP. But economists say, hold on a second, not so fast, there's more to it, and we'll tell you what that is, coming up next.

PAUL: Also, President Trump's trade war with China is really hitting farmers. We're going to tell you how farmers in Iowa are reacting.

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[06:25:54]

PAUL: Rise and shine! It's Saturday, and you do not want to miss the weekend. I'm Christi Paul.

SAVIDGE: And I'm Martin Savidge in for Victor Blackwell.

PAUL: So, 4.1 percent, the number everybody's talking about. Really strong economic growth number for the U.S., the strongest in four years for the GDP, in fact, and it fulfills one of President Trump's big campaign promises.

SAVIDGE: But what does it really tell us, though, about what's going on with the U.S. economy, and where do we go from here? Cristina Alesci has details on all of that for us.

CRISTINA ALESCI, CNN MONEY BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Martin, Christi, the reading on economic growth is very strong, no doubt about that, but there are some important details that highlight what's really going on with the economy. Top line, it grew 4.1 percent, and that is the strongest increase since 2014.

President Trump wasted no time taking credit for this, holding a press conference to tout the numbers, but this is only one report, and his predecessors have hit even higher marks. Under President Obama, for example, the economy hit 5 percent growth in a quarter.

For Presidents Bush and Clinton, there were quarterly growth rates of 6 percent and 7 percent. The big question right now -- can the U.S. generate a relatively high number for the year? The president said on Friday he thinks 4 percent is sustainable. And if he's right and the strong growth continues through the remainder of the year, then it could mark a high point for the Trump administration.

But right now, economists are predicting slower growth for the second half of the year, in part because of some one-time factors that boosted growth in the second quarter, like a boom in exports, which surged 9 percent, some of that driven by orders for things like soybeans before the tariffs took effect.

That will likely cool off next quarter. Business investment was also a bright spot. Many executives I talked to are feeling good right now because of tax cuts and reduced regulation but concerns over trade and geopolitics could threaten that optimism.

Consumer spending and government spending increased as well. Bottom line, these numbers are robust and will certainly be a talking point for Republicans heading into midterms, but it's not a guarantee the rest of the year will be as strong, especially with the ongoing trade negotiations -- Martin, Christi.

SAVIDGE: All right. Laid it out very well for us. Thank you.

President Trump is offering farmers a $12 billion package in the form of farm aid to try to help them out of the trade war with China as it impacts their business.

PAUL: But farmers in Iowa apparently have some mixed feelings about it. CNN's Scott McLean spoke to some of them -- Scott.

SCOTT MCLEAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Martin, Christ, President Trump was in Iowa this week to promote a new White House workforce development initiative, but perhaps the workers who were listening most intently were farmers, because President Trump is leading a new trade war against China that's putting American farmers on the front line, whether they like it or not.

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MCLEAN (voice-over): Iowa is known for its field of dreams, but these days it isn't here. Corn and soybean prices have been stubbornly low for years, and now it seems Washington has made things worse. President Trump's hardline approach has sparked an escalating trade war with China, prompting a 25 percent tariff on American soybeans, which sent prices to a 10-year low.

CLARK PORTER, FARMER: This is just an open-ended conflict, and who knows where it's going to end.

MCLEAN: Iowans overwhelmingly voted for President Trump, but Clark Porter, whose family has farmed here for over a century, wasn't one of them.

(on camera): You saw this coming from a mile away.

PORTER: Yes.

MCLEAN (voice-over): This week, the White House announced a $12 billion assistance plan to help farmers like Porter.

(on camera): How does it feel, though, to be essentially taking government assistance?

PORTER: It's absolutely -- it was absolutely unnecessary. I don't think that we should have even gotten into this position.

MCLEAN (voice-over): He's not alone. The president of the Iowa Farmers Union called Trump's approach extremely reckless, and Kim Reynolds, the Republican governor up for re-election, warned that nobody wins in a trade war. This week, she politely pushed the president to make a deal and fast.

GOVERNOR KIM REYNOLDS (R), IOWA: We need to get things done sooner, rather than later --

SCOTT MCLEAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Politely pushed the president to make a deal and fast.

REYNOLDS: We need to get things done sooner rather than later, so that was my message.

MCLEAN: Things are getting done, but with Europe. After a brief trade spat, Trump touted his deal to make a deal on free trade with the bloc.

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: But we just opened up Europe for you farmers. You're not going to be too angry with Trump, I can tell you, because --

MCLEAN: A deal with Europe is far from finished, neither is the trade war with China. But for all of the president's trade war skeptics in Iowa, he still has plenty of believers, like David Danker and his son, Hunter, who farm corn and soybeans.

DAVID DANKER, FARMER: I think this should have been done a long time ago.

HUNTER DANDER, FARMER: It will hurt for a short term, but in the long run, I think it will work out better for everybody.

MCLEAN: How do you think this ends?

DANKER: China gets hungry and calls the U.S. and wants to, hopefully, get some more soybeans.

MCLEAN: Can you envision a scenario where America doesn't win?

DANKER: I think us not winning would be probably us going back to the way it was before the tariffs and the trade war.

MCLEAN: The good news is that many Iowa farmers say they're expecting a pretty healthy harvest this year, but with higher production volume usually also comes lower prices. That $12 billion federal aid package, it will help in the short term, but farmers may need even more cash if this trade battle doesn't end soon. Martin, Christi.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CHRISTI PAUL, CO-HOST, NEW DAY SATURDAY: All right, Scott, thank you so much.

So, listen, prosecutors are releasing their list of potential witnesses in the Paul Manafort trial, that's set to begin next week. We're going to talk about who's on the list and what we can expect from what's coming this week.

MARTIN SAVIDGE, CO-HOST, NEW DAY SATURDAY: Plus, "Cbs" is investigating reports that chief executive Les Moonves sexually harassed several women. Details behind those allegations coming right up.

[06:35:00] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PAUL: New allegations of sexual harassment, this time against "Cbs" president and CEO Les Moonves.

SAVIDGE: Six women told "The New Yorker" that Moonves sexually harassed and intimidated them decades ago. Dozens of others also came out about his abuse as well as other executives' inappropriate behavior at the company.

PAUL: Cnn hasn't independently confirmed these allegations, but Cnn correspondent Dylan Byers is following the story for us.

DYLAN BYERS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Guys, it's been likened to a nuclear bomb ripping through Hollywood. Six women now accuse "Cbs" Chairman and Chief Executive Leslie Moonves of sexual misconduct.

The allegations laid out in a new story from "The New Yorker" by journalist Ronan Farrow. The allegations go back decades and they all follow a similar pattern.

These women say that Moonves invited them into his office at one point and forced himself upon them. When they rebuffed his advances, these women say that he used his position of power to effectively harm their careers.

One allegation coming from the actress Illeana Douglas, she says that she was fired from a "Cbs" project because she did not agree to Moonves' advances. Now, both Moonves and "Cbs" itself are casting doubt on the nature of "The New Yorker" story, but Moonves does acknowledge that he made some advances decades ago that may have made women feel uncomfortable.

I want to read you a portion of his statement. He says, "I recognize there were times decades ago when I may have made some women uncomfortable by making advances. Those were mistakes, and I regret them immensely. But I always understood and respected and abided by the principle that no means no, and I have never misused my position to harm or hinder anyone's career."

"Cbs" trying to cast even more doubt on the story, saying "Cbs" is very mindful of all workplace issues and takes each report of misconduct very seriously. We do not believe, however, that the picture of our company created in "The New Yorker" represents a larger organization that does its best to treat its tens of thousands of employees with dignity and respect."

Now, the "Cbs" board of directors, even before this story came out and were aware of the allegations said that they would be looking into the charges, they would take every allegation seriously, and that they would come back and respond once they had had a chance to review all of the details.

That is a response we will likely not get until next week. Meanwhile, Moonves' own wife, Julie Chen is standing by him, calling him a good man and a caring father, and an inspiring corporate leader. Guys, back to you.

PAUL: All right, Dylan, thank you so much. Now, the situation at "Cbs", it is a bit different from some of the other high-profile scandals we've talked about, because as Dylan pointed out, Moonves' wife Julie Chen works for the network, she's the host of two popular shows.

Cnn legal analyst and Criminal Defense Attorney Joey Jackson with us here now. Joey, good to see you this morning. So, first of all, in this climate of me too, can "Cbs" survive if they keep Moonves?

JOEY JACKSON, CRIMINAL DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Good morning to you, Christi.

PAUL: Good morning.

JACKSON: You know, the answer is it always depends, right? Because any legal case turns upon its facts, and the reality is going to be a few things. Number one, you're going to look for the details, and there are some allegations which are, you know, pretty detailed concerning what if anything that he's done in his past.

Details are important because it goes to the clarity of the issue and exactly what he's alleged to have done. After you get through the details in the investigation, you look for corroboration, right?

What's the support out there with regard to these allegations and when they happened and who else knows about them. And so, that's going to be very important. And then thereafter, you look to the motivation, so, if any of the witnesses who are coming forward against them to determine what their credibility is.

[06:40:00] And so, at the end of the day, Christi, I think when this investigation is done by the board, in the event that these allegations are credible, that they're corroborated, you know, there's a good chance that he may have to move on.

But we have to wait and see what it turns up. The other thing, very briefly, Christi, is that look, you know, we're living in, as you mentioned, a day in age of me too, and the network has to make a political calculation, really, for people and viewers of whether it's worth sticking with him based on what he's done or whether it's worth parting ways just on the public relations issue involved in the allegations themselves.

PAUL: Yes, very good point to make. All right, let's switch gears here, Joey, because the Paul Manafort trial is beginning on Monday. And we know the prosecutors released 35 potential witness names, and on that witness list, one stood out -- Rick Gates.

JACKSON: Rick Gates.

PAUL: Manafort's former business partner and deputy by the way, on the Trump campaign. What struck you about this list, first of all, and specifically what kind of a risk might Rick Gates be, not just to Manafort, but to President Trump possibly?

JACKSON: Sure, you know, big picture, Christi. These federal cases are very difficult to overcome. You face multiple counts, in this instance in Virginia, he's facing 18 counts and you know, in D.C., thereafter, there are seven counts.

Why is that significant? Because all you need is one, right? And so we could talk about the witness list as a whole with 35 people, we can talk about Rick Gates. And right there, I mean, is the jury going to disbelieve everything, and he'll -- you know -- if the jury says, you know what? You're not guilty of 17 things, Christi, but you did one thing, you've got a big problem.

And so when you look at Rick Gates, Rick Gates is a person who can tell you, you know what? What was done, when it was done, and how it was done. And so right there I think you have problems.

And then you add to that other witnesses on the list that are talking about his dealings in Ukraine, about how they dealt with banks, about people that he purchased goods from and the luxury lifestyle he led and taxes that were not reported and you know, jury start to think, it's a really nice way to live, I don't live that way, problems in paradise, guilty.

And so, I think he faces many problems, certainly innocent until proven guilty. We live in a system of due process, a jury will make those conclusions. But as a person who tries federal cases, they're very difficult to overcome based upon documentary evidence and strength of witnesses.

PAUL: OK, real quickly, can -- is there any -- you mentioned the DC case -- is there any chance that what happens in this case can somehow circle back and affect the DC case?

JACKSON: You know, each case stands alone and each case --

PAUL: OK --

JACKSON: Stands on its own merits and as a result of that, the merits of DC will be heard when it's heard, Virginia, we'll get to next week. But if there's a conviction as it relates to Virginia, I mean, DC is simply a formality.

PAUL: All right, Joey Jackson, always appreciate your expertise, sir --

JACKSON: Thank you --

PAUL: Thank you, Christi.

SAVIDGE: All right, how about some good news? Scientists say that they are cautiously optimistic, but they may have found a drug to slow down Alzheimer's.

PAUL: And look at this video, a car crashed into a bicyclist because the driver was texting. Notice anything about this case, though? The driver was a police officer. We're going to show you more of this. stay close.

[06:45:00] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PAUL: Forty seven minutes past the hour right now, and OK, texting while driving. Authorities always say do not do it, but -- yes, a police officer in Missouri was looking at his phone and hit a stationary bicyclist.

SAVIDGE: You can see the exact moment of the crash. It's taken on the cyclist's GoPro he had on his helmet. Fortunately, he was not hurt, but here is the exchange right after the accident.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I wasn't texting, I was looking at my phone.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Either way --

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, I know, it was my bad.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Why are you doing that in a turn?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I wasn't paying attention.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PAUL: So, the officer's been suspended until the investigation is complete, but you know, saying right there.

SAVIDGE: And got some explaining to do. Meanwhile, a new drug could help slow the effects of Alzheimer's. It is still very much in the early phases, but experts are excited, nonetheless.

PAUL: Yes, it's called Ban 2408, and it's in early trials. It reduced the number of clusters on a patient's brain by 70 percent in these trials --

SAVIDGE: Sounds good.

PAUL: Our chief medical correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta gives us a look here.

SANJAY GUPTA, NEUROSURGEON: Christi and Martin, I mean, look, we're talking about something that some have referred to as the holy grail when it comes to the world of neuroscience, when it comes to the world of new drug development.

But I just want to stay at the outset, this is a very early sort of development now with this new medication, Ban 2401. This is a phase 2 trial. There are still many more steps before this could ever come to market, but here is what got everyone so excited.

Take a look at the list here. They found that this medication could reduce the amount of plaque in the brain by 70 percent. It's those plaques that people believe are associated with Alzheimer's disease.

It could also prevent new plaques from forming, and then the bottom point there, I think perhaps the most important, reduce these sort of rate of cognitive decline by 30 percent.

And so you know, as compared to a sugar pill or placebo. Again, this is early, this was in patients who received the highest dose of this medication, about 161 patients, they were followed over 18 months.

And that these are the sorts of results that they saw. Part of the reason this is so exciting, I think, even though it's early, is because we have not had good track record when it comes to developing Alzheimer's drugs.

There's been some 400 trials, most of them have failed. There's only been three new medications approved over the last 14 years, and none of them really are anything near a cure, and they may halt the progression of Alzheimer's for a period of time, and that's it.

[06:50:00] If this pans out in phase 3 trials, which can still take several years, this could be a big development. So we've got some 5 million people in the country with Alzheimer's. The number is expected to triple over the next 30 years, so a lot of people paying attention to this. Christi, Martin?

PAUL: All right, hey, Sanjay, thank you so much. Listen, she was kidnapped as an infant, but get this, 36 years later, Cnn is there as this woman is reunited with her biological mother, you do not want to miss this one.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PAUL: We're edging towards the 7 O'clock hour here, but they're called Children of Silence, these babies that were stolen from their parents in Chile during a dictatorship in the '70s and '80s, and then they were sold to adoption agencies in the U.S. [06:55:00] SAVIDGE: And now these babies are, of course, all grown

up, and they're looking for the families who say they never wanted to give them up. Cnn's Rafael Romo followed one woman as she went back to meet her biological parents for the very first time in this exclusive report.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

RAFAEL ROMO, CNN SENIOR LATIN AMERICAN AFFAIRS EDITOR (voice-over): There were no words, only tears of joy. It's the hug that Sylvia Rafrisco(ph) wishes she could have given her daughter 36 years ago.

ALISA CLARE COHEN, ADOPTED AS A CHILD: I've been waiting my whole life to find my mother.

ROMO: Alisa Clare Cohen grew up in the United States with her adopted parents. Cohen says they were always forthcoming about her adoption and the country she came from.

COHEN: In the story that I was told was that my family had essentially never meant to keep me.

ROMO: But she says she always wondered if she had truly been abandoned as her adoption documents state. She contacted Chilean authorities in February to ask for help in finding her biological parents.

She got the answer she was hoping for. Her biological parents were still alive and very eager to meet her. Her biological mother says she never intended to give her up for adoption.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No, (SPEAKING IN FOREIGN LANGUAGE).

ROMO: Cordova(ph) says she had a very difficult labor and nearly died.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (SPEAKING IN FOREIGN LANGUAGE)

ROMO: During that time, she, her husband, and other members of the family asked employees at the state-run hospital about their daughter, but they never saw her again.

Chile was living under the military dictatorship of Augusto Pinochet, and Cordova(ph) and her family feared that asking too many questions would put them in danger.

COHEN: With the politics at the time and adoption not being regulated until years after I was adopted, and even looking at the social worker who processed my adoption, there are a lot of things, elements of it that were just incomplete and inconsistent with what I was told.

ROMO: Chilean government officials today say there were so many questionable adoptions back then that authorities now have a name for babies like Alisa.

(on camera): They're called Children of Silence, they're babies who were taken away from their biological parents in the '70s and '80s, in many cases without their consent or knowledge, and given to adoptive parents.

Those children are now in their 30s and 40s and are asking questions about their origins and about a secret that was kept from them for four decades.

(voice-over): Cnn has documented several cases of adoptions like these, including that of Travis Tolliver(ph), who was also raised by American adoptive parents and didn't meet his biological mother until he was 41 years old.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I always wanted, you know, I wasn't given up willingly like, you know, I thought for all these years. So that makes my heart feel wonderful.

ROMO: In 2015, Chilean authorities named a special prosecutor to begin investigating a list of these so-called irregular adoptions, a list that is reported to include nearly 600 families. Constanza Del Rio(ph) has an organization that helps families find each other and has an even larger list.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We have 3,000 people that are looking for them. These are adopted people and families are looking for these babies that were now -- they were stolen from them.

ROMO: She says during those decades, there were entire mafias stealing babies from impoverished families to profit from their sale while the Pinochet government looked the other way or simply ignored victims.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Who's responsible for this? Doctors, midwives and social assistants that were looking for poor people to steal their kids, because we need to understand that these kids were sold.

This is not for good -- this wasn't for a good thing. They were a mafia selling babies to the -- outside Chile.

ROMO: There will always be unanswered questions. The hospital where Alisa Clare Cohen was born no longer exists, and the same goes for the adoption agency. For now, it doesn't matter.

How do you feel right now?

COHEN: Happy, very happy.

ROMO: Her adoptive parents passed away a few years ago, so she says her Chilean family and an adopted sister are all she's got.

COHEN: My mom, this is my family. You know, I think it's just -- it's -- you always want to know where you came from.

ROMO: Neither one of them speaks the other's language, but the love between a mother and her child, they say --