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State Funeral Today for Bush; Former Presidents Attend Funeral; Criminal Probe into Election Fraud. Aired 6:30-7a ET

Aired December 05, 2018 - 06:30   ET

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

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[06:31:03] ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN ANCHOR: Well, for the next half an hour, visitors can pay their respect to the scene that you see on your TV screen. That is former President George H.W. Bush at the U.S. Capitol. He is lying in state in the Rotunda there. And you can see all sorts of onlookers and people paying their respect even at this early hour.

Now, just hours from now, President Trump and all living presidents will join the Bush family and world leaders to honor the 41st president at his state funeral.

CNN's Phil Mattingly is live on Capitol Hill with more.

What do we expect, Phil.

PHIL MATTINGLY, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Alisyn.

It's a national day of mourning. The federal government, stock markets are closed. And, as you noted, in just a few hours Washington will bid its final farewell to President George H.W. Bush.

Now, for the next 30 minutes, the Rotunda will remain open for the public to give its final farewell to the president. Around 10:00 a.m., the procession with the Bush family will start over to the National Cathedral. The service should start around 11. And we've been talking about who will eulogize the president. Obviously his son, President George W. Bush, Alan Simpson, former senator, Brian Mulroney, former Canadian prime minister, and presidential historian and biographer Jon Meacham will also do the same.

And you also talked about who will actually be in attendance. Dozens of current or former foreign leaders, dignitaries throughout Washington, but also the president's club. Every living president will be in attendance. One of the interesting elements here, of course, is unlike perhaps past presidents, President Trump does not have a well- established relationship with many of these presidents. Hasn't spoken to President Bill Clinton, hasn't spoken to President Jimmy Carter, hasn't spoken to President Obama, we're told, since the inauguration. Has shared a few phone calls with President George W. Bush and, of course, that visit at the Blair House yesterday.

The president walked -- or came across the street from the White House to meet with the Bush family. Also met at the White House with Laura Bush when she was meeting with the first lady.

Alisyn, I do want to track back. We're going to be talking a lot about what's happening today and what happens tomorrow when the president travels back to Texas. But what happened last night in the Rotunda, we've been talking about the public viewing. Two really kind of organic moments that kind of caught everybody's attention.

The first is President George W. Bush, Jeb Bush, Laura Bush, actually returning, unannounced, to the rotunda, not with any particular motive except for to greet those who had been waiting in line for hours, to shake their hands, to give hugs. At one point President George W. Bush was holding a baby. Kind of almost like a political candidate. But thanking those for coming to pay their respects to the father -- to their father.

And the second one, and that was Senator Bob Dole. Obviously well- known throughout the country, a former presidential candidate, somebody who was previously wounded himself in World War II, has obviously suffered those injuries and is also dealing with issues now in old age, being helped up and giving a final salute to President George H.W. Bush, once a political opponent, then a political ally. I can't think of a more noteworthy picture than that that you're looking at right now.

John.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: World War II Lieutenant Bob Dole saluting World War II Lieutenant George H.W. Bush. Two heroes who gave their lives -- dedicated their lives to service to this country.

Phil Mattingly, great to have you with us. I bumped into Phil at the Capitol yesterday. I was great to see you there. Thanks so much, Phil.

CAMEROTA: That was a really heartwarming moment.

BERMAN: It really was. Look, there's a lifetime of history between Bob Dole and George H.W. Bush, too. They spent as much time as rivals as they did friends. But that was a moment of respect there and reverence. I loved it.

Coming up, we're going to talk much more about this, what we can expect between the living presidents who will be here today to observe this moment in history. Stay with us.

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[06:38:22] BERMAN: In just hours now, President Trump, all former living presidents, world leaders and the Bush family will honor President George H.W. Bush at a state funeral at the Washington Cathedral.

We're back with David Gregory, and now joined by CNN presidential historian Douglas Brinkley, and Frank Sesno, the director of the School of Media and Public Affairs at George Washington University, and former CNN Washington bureau chief.

And, Frank, I want to start with you.

As we see the former presidents there today, we've noted maybe it will be an awkward gathering, but the fact that they are all there together is actually a reflection of George H.W. Bush.

FRANK SESNO, DIRECTOR, SCHOOL OF MEDIA AND PUBLIC AFFAIRS, GEORGE WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY: It is who he was, what he stood for, which was to bring people together across the aisle.

It also is a reflection that there's a lot asked of presidents. You play a lot of different roles. You're consoler in chief, commander in chief, convener in chief, all those things. And this is one of those rare moments around the death of a former president where these different eras come together in the persons of the people who led us through them.

And you will compare and contrast naturally the styles and the experiences of these different people, Bill Clinton, what he had and the scandals that he confronted, Jimmy Carter, the life that he's led since he was president, and George H.W. Bush. I was reflecting and going through some things on how he brought these people together. And looking at the different places, the incredible trajectory he had when he was taking us up to the invasion of Kuwait to push the Iraqis out, because I was with him then, and he travelled the world meeting with so many of the people. And what we saw from Dole yesterday and what you're seeing today, what you're talking about now, is sort of the expression of that, of bringing all these people, whom he knew, we worked with, back together around him one last time.

[06:40:08] CAMEROTA: Doug, normally a sitting president would give the eulogy, but Donald Trump will not do that for a host of reasons. And I thought it was so gracious of Jeb Bush, who, of course, President Trump has gone after and called names, he gave him a pass, basically. He said -- I mean he just -- he was very gracious, I felt. So listen to this. He says, what people want to talk about is, well, why isn't the president giving the eulogy? It's because we have a unique circumstance here -- my brother was president. So I'm sorry.

DOUGLAS BRINKLEY, CNN PRESIDENTIAL HISTORIAN: Well, look, we all know there's no love loss between the Trumps and the Bushs. But in typical Bush 41 fashion, he always was about the institution of the presidency. And so it's only natural that he's going to have Donald Trump there. But if Donald Trump gave a -- was one of the principle eulogists, it could have had a bit of a circus atmosphere to it. So I think it's working out very nicely. He's going to be there. We'll have five presidents there. You know, when Richard Nixon died in 1994, there were five. And, you know, the word Watergate was never mentioned in 1994. I don't think you're going to hear about Willy Horton today. It's just a moment where our country is going to pull behind the World War II legacy of 41, but also what a cold warrior (ph) he was. He fought the Cold War every way he could, from CIA, U.N. and envoy on down.

BERMAN: (INAUDIBLE) is going to be there.

BRINKLEY: Yes. Well, that's very interesting. BERMAN: Which is remarkable, right? I mean that's just so interesting. You're having this moment in history inside this building that spans decades and decades.

You know, David Gregory, I was struck last night, the picture of President Trump and George W. Bush meeting at the Blair House there. The Bush family, I think, has gone out of its way to diffuse this, to take the air out of whatever tension there may have been because they don't want that to be part of today. And I'm hoping, and I'm expecting, that all the living presidents will rise to this occasion when they're there in that pew in the front there.

DAVID GREGORY, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: Oh, I think there's no question that they will. The Bush family, you know, made more than amends with Bill Clinton. George H.W. Bush became so close with the former president in all their work and response to disaster relief.

And I just don't think the Bush family wants any kind of distraction with President Trump. And I think that's really out of deference to their father. I mean George W. Bush is more fiery like his mother. He may -- he may not forget as much. But I think they all wanted to make the most appropriate statement possible.

And I think, you know, for me, what I'll really be looking for is, is focused on George W. Bush because, you know, all of us, when we watch, you know, our public figures, we see a little bit of ourselves in those relationships, father and son, not that I can imagine what it's like to be a president or have a father as a president. But you can understand struggling with your father when you're younger and trying to live up to him and dealing with expectations. And then for George W. Bush, who was president, to have had so much expectation, so much pressure about the father, but still have so much love between them when they went through when he, George W. Bush went through the very difficult moments of his presidency, is something that I think we'll hear a lot about today.

BERMAN: We're going to see the love is what we're going to see today.

GREGORY: Yes.

SESNO: Yes.

BERMAN: Almost more than the history from George W. Bush. But, we'll see.

CAMEROTA: And, Frank, as John can tell you, I love body language and we're going to have a lot of it. We're going to have a lot of it. I can't help -- I mean, obviously, of course, this is about Bush 41 today, but I can't help watching -- or what -- when I will watch what the body language will be between President Obama and Michelle Obama and Donald Trump and Bill Clinton and Donald Trump and all of that. I mean that's just going to be there, you know, whether we like it or not today. There -- of course there is tension because of what these past three years have been like.

SESNO: I'd be surprised, though, if we see too much of that. I mean I think the focus is going to be so much on that family and that casket and that man and what he stood for. I think it will be fascinating to watch Donald Trump and see what he does because he's so unconventional and it's entirely possible.

But those other presidents have been through this before. They've been, as I mentioned, the grievers in chief. And they also create -- there's a very special club that happens among the former presidents when they get out. They have all been through this incredibly intense 24/7 nonstop experience.

CAMEROTA: Crucible, yes.

SESNO: Right, crucible. And so to come and to remember someone like this -- and it's more poignant because of where our politics are now. It's absolutely more poignant. We are grieving not only the passage of a man, but the passage of a time.

BERMAN: Jimmy Carter, I bet, will be put in the middle. Here's betting that Jimmy Carter is somehow Switzerland in the pew there. We'll wait and see if that happens.

GREGORY: Although you know Trump wants to be part of this club. He wants to be embraced. So that will --

BERMAN: I know. They may change the membership rules by the time he gets there. That's -- look, here's what I want to do. If we can put the picture up of Bob Dole again, because I want to see this one more time. And we'll have this picture up as we go to break.

Thank you all for this discussion.

[06:45:00] CNN's special coverage of President George H.W. Bush's state funeral begins at 9:00 a.m. with Wolf Blitzer, Jake Tapper and Anderson Cooper.

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CAMEROTA: OK, now to this important story.

There are allegations of election fraud in this North Carolina congressional race and they have now led to a criminal investigation. One of the examples of what went wrong, or what's weird, some voters there claim that volunteers offered to turn in absentee ballots on their behalf. That raised questions about the 905 vote advantage that the Republican, Mark Harris, has on Democratic Challenger Dan McCready.

BERMAN: It is worth noting, President Trump and Republicans repeatedly alleged that election fraud, or voter fraud, in their words, is rampant without any evidence. But now amid allegations of this election fraud, the president and Republicans, they're silent.

CNN's senior investigative correspondent Drew Griffin live in Raleigh with the very latest.

Drew. DREW GRIFFIN, CNN SENIOR INVESTIGATIVE CORRESPONDENT: Guys, and we're learning, it's not just this election, but this criminal investigation is looking back at elections in 2016, all involving this one North Carolina congressional district 9 and voter application absentee ballots.

[06:50:15] (BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

GRIFFIN (voice over): Emma Shipman is this story in a nutshell. She had no intention of voting until a woman showed up at her door.

GRIFFIN (on camera): But do you remember requesting an absentee ballot?

EMMA SHIPMAN, TAR HEEL, NORTH CAROLINA: Uh-uh. Uh-uh.

GRIFFIN: So you don't know how that absentee ballot showed up?

SHIPMAN: I don't. I really don't.

GRIFFIN (voice over): Shipman is now at the center of a vote fraud investigation in Bladen County, North Carolina. She's one of several voters coming forward to talk about a group of people showing up at door steps, offering to help fill out absentee ballots and taking the ballots away with no idea what happened.

And, no, Emma Shipman doesn't even know who she voted for.

GRIFFIN (on camera): But when you picked -- when the names were picked, you want this guy or that guy, this gal or that guy, was that you picking them?

SHIPMAN: Uh-uh. Uh-uh.

GRIFFIN: So you don't know what happened with your vote or your ballot?

SHIPMAN: No. No, no. I don't know what happened.

GRIFFIN (voice over): It turns out Shipman was targeted by a small group of loosely connected people, most with some criminal records, and all tied together by a Republican operative in this rural county, a convicted felon, convicted of insurance fraud, who was also connected to questionable absentee ballot activity in another election, McCray Dallas.

GRIFFIN (on camera): McCray Dallas, this is Drew Griffin with CNN, trying to call you on every phone I can find for you.

GRIFFIN (voice over): Dallas appears to be in hiding. He worked for the campaign of Republican Congressional Candidate Mark Harris, who won by just 905 votes. Harris' campaign admits the State Board of Elections is asking for documents for its investigation, and emphasized that if McCray Dallas broke the law, the campaign was not aware of any illegal conduct in connection with the Ninth District race. The campaign intends to cooperate fully with the investigation. As for the McCray Dallas operation, here is what Democrats allege. Dallas's ex-wife, relatives and friends fanned out across Bladen County registering people to vote, requesting absentee ballots for them. Then later signed the ballots themselves as witnesses, a handful of people signing more than 100 ballots.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: She seemed local because she left -- left me a sandwich from a local sandwich shop.

GRIFFIN: Lacey Alison (ph) also wasn't planning to vote until a woman showed up with an application.

GRIFFIN (on camera): So you filled out an application for an absentee ballot?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No, she filled it out. She said she was going to bring it back for me to sign. I never saw her again.

GRIFFIN (voice over): Alison, it turns out, had the woman's number. She's the daughter of one of McCray Dallas' ex-wives, Lisa Britt (ph), who has signed 42 of the suspected ballots.

GRIFFIN (on camera): Hi, Lisa.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Uh-huh.

GRIFFIN: This is Drew Griffin with CNN. I'm recording this call.

I want to ask you about these absentee ballots. Can you tell us what's going on here?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I have no comment (INAUDIBLE). Thank you.

GRIFFIN (voice over): Another woman, Ginger Eason (ph), who signed 30 ballots told CNN affiliate WSOC that Dallas paid her between $75 and $100 to harvest ballots and she handed them into Dallas.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: All I can say is I don't know nothing what happened after I dropped them off. Look --

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: So you don't know with certainty whether they were sent to the election's office?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No. No, I don't.

GRIFFIN: Besides the multiple witnesses signatures, there are also 1,600 absentee ballots that were never returned in Bladen and a neighboring county. A number so high officials say that's suspicious too.

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GRIFFIN: And, guys, regardless of how the criminal investigation turns out, the board of elections here in Raleigh, the state board of elections, has a decision to make, they need to either certify this election and put the Republican in Congress, or have a do over election, which is possible.

There's a new wrinkle overnight. Steny Hoyer, the incoming majority leader of the Democrats in the U.S. House says, if there's any problems or questions about the validity of this vote down here, they are not going to seat Republican Mark Harris in the new Congress.

John. Alisyn.

CAMEROTA: Oh, my gosh, Drew, we're so glad that you're staying on all of these wrinkles for us. This is such an important case. Thank you.

BERMAN: This is just so rampant.

All right, the special counsel's sentencing filing for Michael Flynn, it reveals interesting, new clues. What does it tell us about how close Robert Mueller is to wrapping up the Russia investigation?

CAMEROTA: But, first, it's that time of the year when we honor some of the best that humanity has to offer. CNN Heroes, join Anderson Cooper and Kelly Ripa as they announce the 2018 CNN Hero of the Year live this Sunday at 8:00 p.m. Eastern. John and I will also be there if that's of any interest.

[06:55:08] BERMAN: Yes, you want to look at the audience shots.

CAMEROTA: But we'll be moving on.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We're humans helping humans, and they need our help.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We are truly giving the gift of mobility.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They're the best the world has to offer.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We're building something that matters a lot more than we do.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They're heroes today and every day.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This is nice. (INAUDIBLE).

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (INAUDIBLE) skills how to program. It's all about solving problems.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We serve anybody who has ever raised their hand to defend our Constitution.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: My vision was to have a home where women could find safety and find themselves.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Our first goal was just to create this hospital- based intervention.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I wart each and every one of them to feel special. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Join Anderson Cooper and Kelly Ripa live as they

name the 2018 CNN Hero of the Year.

ANDERSON COOPER, HOST, "CNN HEROES: AN ALL-STAR TRIBUTE": Here once again celebrating the best of humanity.

KELLY RIPA, HOST, "CNN HEROES: AN ALL-STAR TRIBUTE": Don't we need this tonight more than ever?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: "CNN Heroes: An All-Star Tribute," Sunday at 8:00 Eastern.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

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