Transcripts For CNNW CNN Newsroom With Poppy Harlow And Jim Sciutto 20190916

But waiting for further guidance from the saudi kingdom on what they want the u. S. To do next. Lets begin in detroit with the latest on the strike against gm. Tens of thousands of workers, business and politics reporter vanessa is there. What are Union Workers demanding and will they get it . Well, that is the Million Dollar question. Theyve been here striking since midnight. Almost 50,000 across the country, 31 factories in nine different states. If you take a look just behind me, at this plant here in detroit, this line has been really happening since about midnight. Now gm is saying that they have offered a very fair and strong contract, but the uaw saying it does not go far enough. They Want Better Health benefits, they want more protected rights for temporary workers and also want better starting salaries for their workers. Now we spoke to one woman earlier this morning who talked about what it was like to work in a gm plant and also why she is out here striking today. Blood, sweat and tears. You bleed. You cry. You get upset and frustrated. You get wrote up, you get put out. We work hard for these cars. We do this so that you guys can have a quality product. If the company is profitable, we want to share in those profits. Reporter and now the two sides are meeting again at 10 00 a. M. , you hear the support coming from the Fire Department here, the two sides will meet at 10 00 a. M. Today. We know they are pretty far apart. The Vice President of the union telling us that gm has only met 2 of their demands, so theres clearly a long way to go, but the people out here behind me say they will be here as long as it takes until they feel like they get a fair deal. Jim and poppy . Vanessa, theyve got this strike fund that they pay into, i think 750 million, so theyre getting paid while theyre striking, which means this thing could go on longer. Lets talk about the political implications. I think its interesting you have politicians on both sides seeming to support the union here. Youve got the president s tweet, joe biden and his comments. I mean they seem to have a little bit more political weight behind them now than even a few years ago. Thats for sure. The president tweeting about this last night asking the two to come together for a deal. We know that the president has been very prounion, calling out gm, putting pressure on them to make deals. Also 2020 candidates, joe biden, elizabeth warren, Kamala Harris coming out in support of the union. The union will play a Critical Role in the 2020 election. The candidates getting out in front of it. The people behind me feel that support and the Union Leaders know that support is there and they feel a little bit of leverage now going into that meeting with gm at 10 00 a. M. Poppy and jim . The president concerned about the effects on the 2020 election as well, what a stoppage might mean. Thanks very much. New this morning, the drugmaker accused of helping to fuel the nations Opioid Epidemic through its sale of the painkiller oxycontin has now filed for bankruptcy. This is part of the settlement with Purdue Pharma of more than 2,000 lawsuits filed by many cities and states across the country. Jean casarez is with us now. Can you walk us through what this bankruptcy would mean and also does it protect the family from more prosecution . Very good question. Thats an excellent question. Well, this was filed late last night shortly before midnight and now everything changes because it goes into the Bankruptcy Court. There will be a plan of reorganization, and the last i heard from the settlement that was going on, the Purdue Family personally was guaranteeing 3 billion of their own money and that they would then sell Purdue Pharma, plus 30 to 40 of their international businesses. 90 of all of those proceeds will go to communities around this country. 10 to the sackler family. They are currently developing a drug that will be given nationwide to those that are addicted to opioids and they say they will take no moneys from this, it will be worth 4 terr. They are not citing any responsibility to the opioid crisis. That is a part of this, that i understand is standard. But the question is all of the suits that have been brought against the family, in particular, what will happen to those . I understand that a channel injunction is very important to the family, and what that means is that all of the personal suits will go into Bankruptcy Court and it will be up to a judge if they in the future are personally responsible for any of these moneys or if it will become part of the bankruptcy action in general. Another big question, poppy and jim, is that will they continue to sell opioids at all . Now, on the one side it would benefit the creditors, but the test before the judge is, will it benefit creditors and also morally is this the right thing to do at this point . Its really fascinating and as you mentioned in there, no, you know, acceptance of accountability or responsibility for the crisis. Thats always the case in so many of these settlement suits, you put a financial figure on it, theres no accountability. Yeah. Is that justice . Jean, youve been doing a great job on this story from the opioid trial in oklahoma to this, please keep us posted. Thank you very much. Thank you. This morning the president is downplaying the impact of this weekends attack on that saudi oil facilities, multiple, after hinting at a military retaliation with the words he chose. The president now says the u. S. Wont feel the Economic Impact from that drop in oil supply. Cnns joe johns is live at the white house. Joe johns, the president said locked and loaded and the white house is saying locked and loaded does not mean anything military . Right. Yeah. Its a tale of 24 hours. You look at what the president said last fight, it was pretty clear that locked and loaded referred to getting verification from saudi arabia about who did this and then Going Forward after consultation with them, but this morning, apparently the white house backing off from that just a little bit. Mark short, the chief of staff for the Vice President out here in the driveway a few minutes ago, i asked him if locked and loaded meant imminent retaliation and what he said, and ill quote here, locked and loaded is a broad term and talks about the realities that were all far safe around more secure domestically with Energy Independence and thats sort of goes right along with what the president tweeted this morning about the United States now being a net energy producer, in other words a country that produces more energy and provides it to other countries. A very different message this morning from the white house on this issue. The president also indicating in his view that americans essentially dont have anything to worry about with this latest development in saudi arabia. Nonetheless, the president has authorized a release of petroleum from the Strategic Petroleum reserve if necessary. Back to you. It will be the second time the president backed off military action, after the shoot down of the u. S. Drone, the president doing so minutes before that took place. Thanks very much. We have seen the twitter diplomacy play out all weekend from President Trump. Cnn International Diplomatic editor Nic Robertson is in riyadh, saudi arabia. Nic, is it your sense that the saudi regime and the u. S. Government are on the same page here in terms of, one, responsibility for this attack, but also how to respond to it from the u. S. And saudi side . Jim, i think the reason that weve heard so little from the saudis is this is a huge issue, deeply complex, not only, you know, who did it and precisely where did the attack come from and if you were to send a deterrent response where would you send that too, but the recognition that this is potentially a footstep of a precipes to escalate a war in the region at the moment. Thats part of the reason were not hearing from the saudis pointing the finger at iran. Mohamed bin salman, the crown prince here, said this was a terrorist aggression and the country is willing and able to respond, but havent pointed a finger of blame. One other clue for me in particular, looking at the headlines of one of the National Newspapers here which will undoubtedly follow the lead of the government, the banner headline is, u. N. , the United Nations is worried about the responsibility of an escalation of tensions of violence in the region. It doesnt say that saudi arabia is angry about whats happened and is going to seek some kind of revenge. So i think that tempering the message as they try to grapple with the complexity and sophistication and problems of the position theyre in and what they face, and at the moment, i would have to guess what were hearing from the white house today, locked and loaded is not military, maybe so much as diplomatic. That seems to be kind of where the saudis are at. Hard to imagine there wont be some kind of response. Think of all the times diplomats have used the phrase locked and loaded before negotiations. Right. Before you go, were also hearing again from the Houthi Rebels this morning, doubling down on their threats against saudi saying their strikes can, quote, reach whenever they want, theres a long history here between the two, of course. What are you hearing on the ground there in terms of what theyre expecting . You know, the saudis are in no doubt at all that the houthis are prepared to fire huge scudsized missiles, huge missiles, all the way from yemen here to riyadh. Theyve had some fired at the airports, some have been shot down and some have hit targets inside saudi. The saudis are in no doubt and no doubt some of the missiles have been made by iran. The u. N. Has come to the same conclusion. I think what were hearing from the houthis is essentially a doubling down on their rhetoric. They claim ten drones and actually 19 site were hit. What theyre saying is, i get at the moment the houthis message is messaging by proxy for somebody else. The messaging by proxy from whoever perpetrated these attacks is saying if you do something we can respond to other site. There are a huge number of vulnerabilities across this country and other places in the middle east. No one expected these kind of thing. Thats why these facilities sit out in the desert, under satellites, everyone can see what is there. Its not a mystery. Not a mystery at all and certainly complicates what aramco does if they file the biggest ipo in the world and what this means for global oil supply. Thank you very much. Still to come, some democrats, 2020 candidates, calling this morning for Supreme Court Justice Brett kavanaugh to be impeached after the New York Times story details new allegations against him. Well discuss that. Betto orourke and Pete Buttigieg get into a public disagreement on guns as democrats meet with trump to work out a possible plan. A lot of daylight there between the sides. Former vp joe biden says hate is on the rise in america. The 2020 frontrunner gave an impassioned speech in birmingham on the anniversary of the Church Bombings there. How biden connects that moment to recent Mass Shootings in this country. dramatic orchestra performance comes in lots of flavors. Theres the ampedup, overtuned, feedingfrenzyof sheetmetalkind. And then theres performance that just leaves you feeling better as a result. Thats the kind lincolns about. Yes hey sean hey dan at first slice pizza lovers everywhere meet o, thats good frozen pizza one third of our classic crust is made with cauliflower but thats not stopping anyone o, thats good great customizes your caru wheninsurance, tual so you only pay for what you need. Wow. Thanks, zoltar. How can i ever repay you . 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The president chose the words locked and loaded after an attack on the Saudi Arabian oil field, but this morning the white house says thats not necessarily a military reference. Okay. President trump said this morning, we will help our allies. That is referring to possible military action . Joining us mike rogers, former Republican House Intelligence Committee chairman. Always good to have you on, chairman rojjers. Thanks for having me. Its interesting the president seemed to raise military action in a tweet as he often does, pulls back, and when you put that in the context of the president having pulled back on a military response to iran shoot down of a drone some weeks ago, where the president pulled back minutes before that attack, whats your read of that and where does that put the threat or credibility of a threat of a military response to this attack . Yeah. Any time Something Like this happens the military will have some contingency plans already in place that says if theres an attack, you know, maybe not specifically to this particular refinement facility, but there are targets that we can hit in iran and heres what this gives a good peek about whats happening in the middle east. It doesnt get a lot of attention. There is a fullon cyber war, the iranians all across the middle east are doing really ugly cyber malicious attacks. The saudis are trying to do the same. The fight in yemen is a little bit more brutal i think than people realize, and that is completely a proxy war with iran going after the saudis. So i think that the good news to me is that theyve all tempered a little bit to say okay, lets do the forensics, who did it, how did they pull it off and what are our options . Everything from diplomatic and i hope at the last of the list is military. It was last month the military adviser to irans Supreme Leader said outright yes, proxy wars are instruments and tools for us to increasingly use against the United States. Do you believe that that is what we just saw play out here, especially given your note on the precision of this attack and the intelligence that would take and the capability . Yeah. So the capability to strike as efficiently as they did with such precision, this was not the houthis in the northern part of yemen who are waging kind of an insurgency campaign, that was not them clearly, and by the way the equipment thats being found is a little different than what the houthis have been using which tells you it was a little more sophisticated and likely came from the shia militias in iraq which are proxy forces for iran. They are definitely using their proxy forces to the fullest. Remember hezbollah, proxy force for iran, actions in syria, so they have been disrupted in the middle east of late and i think this was a pretty serious attempt. With the precision, the targeting, the ability to get those drones on target to do their mission, shows you how much theyve gained, they being the iranians, in their ability to strike and i think thats why youre going to have to have an International Look at what are our options to try to contain the really a statesponsored terrorism being supported by iran in the middle east. It strikes me, chairman rogers, that iran knows the president s sensitive spot here, right, because you drive up oil prices that has an economic effect, this is a president very focused as we head into 2020 on the strength of the economy, and if the strategy in terms of pushing back against u. S. Sanctions is partly driven by that, taking a page even out of chinas book, china is targeting, for instance, agricultural sales from swing states, right, with a clear political intent there in terms of responding to u. S. Pressure. Is that how theyre seeing this . Is there a little bit of, i dont know, political interference by another name . Completely. And they understand heres what they also understand, if you listen to their language, they understand that the president is quick to the tweet where maybe he ought to think about it before he fires something off. Theyre going to try to use that to their advantage in these negotiations. Clearly. Think about within the last six months, only Something Like 100,000 barrels a day of oil that was produced and sold out of iran. Thats crushing to them. That is really having an impact on their economy. So what do you do when youre impacting their economy and they have a way to target, you know, the United States, given where its diplomatic facing position is around the world, you go after the oil refineries. This was clearly a political message and they followed up by saying if this thing get hormuz. Weve seen the iranians seize a few oil ships going through there. They have the ability to shut the strait of hormuz, 20 of the worlds oil. You can see where this is getting ugly in a hurry and were hoping theres at least the start of an International Diplomatic movement here to try to contain this thing. Not to say that iranians shouldnt pay a price for their activities, i think they should, what that looks like is going to be really important. Mike rogers, so good to have you on this, given all of your history with this and your experience. Thank you so much. Mr. Chairman, we appreciate it. Ahead Supreme Court Justice Brett kavanaugh facing more and more calls for impeachment. 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Hes saying the allegations are lies and also saying that the Justice Department should rescue kavanaugh, i should note that is not the job of the Justice Department, meantime the times put out an editors note saying one of the female victims in their original story declined to talk to the times and note her friends say she does not recall that incident. We should mention cnn is not reporting any details of this claim because we have not independently corroborated it. With us to talk about it lynn sweet, Washington Bureau chief of the Chicago Sun Times and ana strauss, politics reporter for politico. Lynn, there has been quite an outcry from a number of people, including 2020 democratic hopefuls, among them corey booker, julian castro, all calling for the impeachment of kavanaugh here but the history is important. You have one Supreme Court justice who has been impeached and acquitted by the senate. What is the political calculation that they have to make here . In short for the democratic president ial candidates theres no loss in calling for impeachment because they dont have to do anything to make it happen or not happen. The ball is in the court of the house judiciary committee, which already is consumed with trying to figure out what to do with the impeachment investigation of president donald trump. Ironically, by the way, the only judge who was actually impeached and removed from office is now a member of congress, elsie hastings, from florida. To get back to 2020, the political price is easy. No penalty for calling for impeachment. Should be noted that at least twice this morning, President Trump is calling on the Justice Department to investigate things as if he can order them around as a personal investigative force. He also asked that president obama be investigated, so we should take note too in his response to kavanaugh, also reveals a not normal, not correct way of using the Justice Department. Yeah. To lynns point, daniel strauss, this is not the first time that the president has called on the Justice Department to investigate a political opponent and theres some evidence that the Justice Department has heeded hose calls at times. Whats the significance . I mean, look, this shows that once again President Trump kind of views the department of justice as the white houses or his own personal legal arm, and thats not the dojs job. This is a continuation of that. This is a lot like what he would urge Jeff Sessions to do with the russia investigation. I think for both republicans and democrats, theres a nolose sort of situation here. On the one hand, as lynn said, the 2020 Democratic Candidates theres really no downside for calling for kavanaughs impeachment and for trump and republicans, who really galvanized around Supreme Court appointments, this is yet another opportunity for them to rally behind kavanaugh. Yeah. Easiest thing to do in washington is call for something with no consequences. There you go. I think, lynn, its not surprising to see the president this outspoken on it taking to twitter on it, because the Supreme Court was a big reason for and a big part of revving up his base for his win in 2016 and getting so many appointments, both the Supreme Court but also the federal judges, you know, is something the president is going to tout and tout very loudly as he continues his run for 2020. Thats so correct. That is one of his bedrock achievements, indisputable, and he bragged about it again in a tweet this morning. Its an often its an often cited accomplishment from the president of some hundred plus, maybe 150, judges, more in the pipeline, confirming judges is just about the only thing that the senate is able to do now, and the judges under the Supreme Court, the appellate and u. S. District court judges, in some ways are almost as important as the Supreme Court justices because they are lifetime appointments. Those people will endure and rule for decades after President Trump leaves office. And daniel, theres a reason the president tweets about that often, right, because that is perhaps the most concrete takeaway from his presidency, is it not . Yeah. Look, i mean the Supreme Court justices and judicial appointments are really what rallied evangelicals around to President Trump during the 2016 campaign. He knows that is a key group he needs to secure and really maintain his popularity among republicans. It is really an accomplishment on his part. Hes moved hes confirmed more judges than president obama and he takes great pride in that. Its something that even moderate republicans or republicans who really wouldnt like President Trump otherwise, see as valuable in his presidency. Lynn sweet, daniel strauss, good to have both of you. Thank you. Could the attack on a Saudi Arabian oil facility draw the United States further into a growing conflict in the middle east, perhaps even military action . We will speak to a member of the House Foreign Affairs committee about the dangers of all of this coming up next. I dont keep track of regrets. And i dont add up the years. But what i do count on. Is boost® delicious boost® high protein nutritional drink has 20 grams of protein, along with 26 essential vitamins and minerals. Boost® high protein. Be up for life. Doprevagen is the number oneild mempharmacistrecommendeding . Memory support brand. You can find it in the vitamin aisle in stores everywhere. Prevagen. Healthier brain. Better life. Todays Senior Living communities have never been better, with amazing amenities like movie theaters, exercise rooms and swimming pools, public cafes, bars and bistros even pet care services. And theres never been an easier way to get great advice. 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I think we should engage in professional diplomacy, go back to a mindset that will guarantee us some kind of a diplomatic and peaceful solution. Youre on the Foreign Affairs committee. We have heard what iran has said, and military advisors to the Supreme Leader about an increasing proxy war in this. Do you believe the Houthi Rebels in yemen could have carried out something with this presigs without iran . Absolutely not. We know this is a highly sophisticated attack that came from the northwest, leading us to believe that iran was involved in it. We have very strong sanctions on iran, im supportive of that, but we should not be involved in this disaster in yemen wait. We should not be involved at all . Given the humanitarian i supported the war powers act submitted by representative that tells us we should not be poking our nose in every conflict around the world. This leads to a situation such as the one were facing today. I think we should go back to high powered diplomacy, the likes of which helped us get out of conflicts of this nature in the past, rather than the twitter rhetoric thats often irresponsibility. It strikes me that iran is poking the president where they believe it will have effect, which is on oil prices that has an economic effect, we talked about this in the earlier segment, china is on the trade war, theyre going to be voting in an election coming up, does that weaken the u. S. Position here as these countries i think the sanctions against iran are working. I think that theyre hurting in their central like main street economy. I think were doing the right thing. We should strengthen them and we should have sanctions if they use antiballistic missiles, sell armaments what do you do if iran retaliates, which seems to be what they may be doing here, should the u. S. Retaliate with military actions . I dont think. I think we should go to the table. I think its irresponsible for the president to be handling diplomacy through this twitter apparatus approach that he has in the middle of the night. I think we have people that are very qualified to go to the table and hammer out an agreement with iran. Thats the road to peace. Okay. So lets switch gears and talk about guns. Because there is an increasing divide within the Democratic Party about the way forward on Gun Legislation in this country and we know the hardline that nancy pelosi and Chuck Schumer took with the president on the phone over the weekend on universal background checks, nothing less, but then you have beto orourke saying in the debate on thursday were going to take away your ar15s, your ak47s, chris coons on this show said look, thats going to be played at Second Amendment rallies to scare people to believe the democrats are going to take your guns and listen to this exchange yesterday with jake tapper and Pete Buttigieg. Did beto orourke Say Something thats playing into the hands of republicans . Yes. Look, right now, we have an amazing moment on our hands. We have agreement among the American People for not just universal background checks, but we have a majority in favor of red flag laws, high capacity mik magazines, this is a Golden Moment to finally do something. Who is right . They believe beto went too far, beto orourke shot back and said no way . I think mayor pete is wrong in this one. I support background checks. I think thats a low hanging fruit. I think 80 of the American People support background checks. But i think the vast majority of the American People also dont see how someone should be Walking Around with an ak47 at a mall. I think thats also a piece of legislation that we have the majority of the American People supporting. Walking away from an assault weapons ban i think is wrong theyre talking about mandatory buybacks . I agree with beto. I think we should not be playing this very conservative approach with regards to weapons ban with background checks, with the the whole array of bills on way to be passed and supported by the American People. First its background checks. I think 80 plus percent of the American People support it. I think next is an assault weapons ban. Majority of nra members and republicans support it, but the president you need his support to move forward. Mitch mcconnell has said so much after parkland, the president talked about it and backed off. In this case, cnns reporting that he may be backing off again. Is the president going to and this is his m. O. , right. When theres a crisis and horrendous killing, he says he will support background checks and then he weasels out of it. I think its wrong and i think it will hurt him down the campaign trail and i think the American People, frankly, really upset that these horrendous killings happen almost every weekend. Thank you so much. Congressman. Great to have you. Thank you for having me. Appreciate your time very much this morning. Africanamericans key to keeping joe biden on top of the polls in the democratic primary right now. That support, though, a target for his rivals. How does the frontrunner hold on to a key voting block . dramatic orchestra performance comes in lots of flavors. Theres the ampedup, overtuned, feedingfrenzyof sheetmetalkind. And then theres performance that just leaves you feeling better as a result. Thats the kind lincolns about. Should always be working harder. Thats why your cash automatically goes into a Money Market Fund when you open a new account. Just another reminder of the value youll find at fidelity. Open an account today. Former Vice President biden and current democratic frontrunner of course looking to build on the already strong support of africanamerican voters. The key voting bloc could prove firewall for his campaign. Despite the popularity within the Africanamerican Community he is still facing questions, criticism over recent statements and answers in the debate, for example. And his past record, of course, on race issues. Of course, South Carolina, a key part of all of this. For the president. And i think its important to note generationally the divide, too, within the Africanamerican Community. Reporter yeah. Poppy and jim, South Carolina is very important to joe bidens strategies and yesterday we saw him in birmingham, alabama, delivering a speech at the 16th Street Baptist Church on the anniversary of the bombing that killed four young girls, 56 years ago. Trips to states like alabama and South Carolina are all part of his effort to court black voters which make up a key component of his constituency and is helping fuel his current frontrunner status. Hate is on the rise again. Were at a defining moment again in american history. Reporter joe biden speaking from the pulpit of 16th Street Baptist Church in birmingham. 56 years after a bombing by the kkk killed four young girls. Addy may, cynthia carroll, denise, their murders lay bare the lie that a child could be free in america while oppressions long shadow darkened our cities and ruled our countryside. Reporter the former Vice President drawing a direct line between that attack and modernday hatefilled moss kerrs like the shootings in el paso and charleston. This violence does not live in the past. We have not relegated racism to the pages of history. Reporter the supertuesday trip comes as hes courting the black vote which is critical in the path to the democratic nomination. Nearly five months after entering the 2020 race, biden is still leading the democratic field. Fueled largely by his consistent support from black voters. My mind made up from the beginning. Joe biden. Reporter a recent cnn poll found 42 of democratic black voters back biden, nearly four times than the closest rivals. I watched my buddy barack stand up. Reporter for many, the service beside president obama is a strong credential. First black president is president obama and he chose him, president obama chose him for a reason. He had to choose him because he was a good man and h others thi the rest of the democratic field deserves a look, too. While i think Vice President bid biden is an amazing public servant, i dont think that should make him the automatic nominee. Reporter bidens history has come under scrutiny in the 2020 race, from his opposition to School Bussing to his role in crafting the 1994 crime bill. This answer at last weeks debate after he was asked about the legacy of slavery drawing some criticism. We bring social workers into homes and parents to help them deal with how to raise their children. It is not they dont want help. They dont know quite what to do. Reporter for some those issues arent impacting the Decision Just yet. He is making me feel like he knows you. We know he really cant but he feels you feel good. Im like everyone else. We are looking. But i will tell you that i think that biden in general election that he will probably be one of the more stronger candidates that could take on the Trump Administration and actually win. Were interested in winning, not just running. Reporter now, here in South Carolina, black voters make up 61 of the democratic primary electorate and joe biden has been coming to the state for years, building longtime relationships with voters here. The question Going Forward, though, is can biden turn those relationships with black voters into actual support at the ballot box . Its a big question. Youve been talking and great reporting there, too, to a number of people in the Africanamerican Community and important to point out this is not a monolith. You dont have all of them in support of one candidate or not and generationally there is a big breakdown in terms of a divide over those that support biden and those that dont. Reporter yeah. Thats right f. You look at the poll that we released last week, it found that the majority of his support among black voters comes from older voters, voters over the age of 50 support him by 53 compared to voters under the age of 50 which back biden at 30 . I have talked to a lot of older voters here in the state who said they like to go with someone they know and they know the Vice President. Hes been coming to this state for decades. When he previously ran for president and also that service alongside president obama cannot be underestimated. But of course, there are questions and some criticism about bidens handling of race related issues in the paths. Well see if that impacts the support at all among this community. Great to have you on the campaign trail. Thank you. 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All right. Good morning, everyone. Top of the hour. Im poppy harlow. Im jim shut to. Theyre trying to work out a deal after nearly 50,000 workers walked off the jobs this morning starting a strike that could cost millions and very quickly. 31 factories, nearly 2 dozen other gm facilities halted this morning. It is the largest strike by any union against any American Business since the last uaw strike that was in 2007. Our business and politics reporter vanessa joins us again this hour live from detroit. I mean, this is intense and it is significant that these workers have all come together