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China-Based Hackers Breach U.S. Government Email Accounts; DOJ: Trump Not Entitled To Immunity In Defamation Lawsuit; California Homeless Population Rises Despite $17B Spent; American Christopher Eubanks' Dream Run Ends At Wimbledon; Ukraine's Elina Svitolina Extends Her Impressive Run At Wimbledon. Aired 2:30-3p ET

Aired July 12, 2023 - 14:30   ET

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

[14:30:00]

CHRIS KREBS, FORMER SENIOR OFFICIAL, DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY: This is where we need to redouble those efforts to support our state and local election officials as the authoritative sources of information around our elections and don't just listen to the random person on Twitter or Threads or wherever.

JIM SCIUTTO, CNN HOST: Yes, or the random candidate on Twitter or Threads or wherever, as we saw in the last cycle.

Chris Krebs, always good to have you on. Hope to keep up the conversation as we get closer.

KREBS: Thank you, Jim.

SCIUTTO: Brianna?

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN HOST: Still to come, the Department of Justice reverses itself on another E. Jean Carroll defamation case against Donald Trump. They now say they don't believe the former president should have immunity. We'll explain why just ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[14:35:12]

KEILAR: New legal trouble for former President Trump. The Justice Department has reversed course. It's now saying that it no longer believes the former president should be entitled to immunity in the initial defamation case brought against him by the author, E. Jean Carroll.

This is a move that will allow the civil lawsuit to move forward to trial in January.

We have CNN senior legal affairs correspondent, Paula Reid, joining us now.

OK, this is a little complicated.

PAULA REID, CNN SENIOR LEGAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: Yes. KEILAR: You're going to take us through this because everyone thinks they know of the defamation case.

REID: Right.

KEILAR: But there's actually more than one. And that's what this has to do with.

REID: Let's go through this chronologically. I think that's the best way to try to understand what's happening here.

Back several years ago, when Trump was in office, E. Jean Carroll alleged he raped her in a department store in the mid '90s. While he was president, he responded to this denying the allegation and saying she, quote, "wasn't his type."

Then she sued him for defamation based on those comments. But the Trump Justice Department and Attorney General Bill Barr said, wait a second, as president he has immunity. He can't be sued for things he says while he's president.

That was controversial. But what was more surprising is when President Biden was elected and we had a new attorney general, a new Justice Department, they agreed. They agreed to uphold this immunity protection.

Now the Biden Justice Department is changing their mind. Some people might say, wait a second, I thought E. Jean Carroll already sued over this, they had a trial earlier --

(CROSSTALK)

KEILAR: Successfully.

REID: A successful trial. And they did, indeed.

In a separate case, E. Jean Carroll used an opportunity in New York that was given to sexual assault survivors to sue their alleged perpetrators, even if the statute of limitations passed.

They opened these windows in a few states. She sued him for the alleged rape in that window, under that opportunity in New York.

She sued him for alleged rape and for alleged defamation. She was largely successful. A jury found earlier this year that he had sexually abused her and awarded her $5 million.

After that happened, the Justice Department looked at that and said, OK, we're no longer going to defend him in this other lawsuit for the comments he made while he was president.

Because in the successful lawsuit, they're talking about things he said after he left office.

So it is complicated. It's several different lawsuits, all stemming from the same alleged incident. But again, the difference is things that he said during the presidency, which the Justice Department said you're protected, now they're saying you're no longer protected.

So this new case, this is going to court in January.

KEILAR: Another case?

REID: Another case, yes.

KEILAR: How many cases?

REID: OK, you mean the cases actually going to trial --

(CROSSTALK)

KEILAR: I don't mean to pop quiz you. My point is --

(CROSSTALK)

REID: I'm good at this. I'm ready for it.

KEILAR: All right, do it because it's hard to keep track of, right?

REID: Yes. Well, in New York alone, we have this trial, this civil trial. We have a potential criminal trial for the Manhattan district attorney for the alleged hush money payments.

We have the open question of when the special counsel case will go to trial. Jack Smith would like to see it in December. That's not going to happen. It's unclear when that's going to trial.

We're also awaiting news out of Fulton County, Georgia, and then the other special counsel investigation. And those are just really the top ones. There's other outstanding legal issues, too.

But no doubt, it is a lawyer's full-employment act that the former president is running here.

KEILAR: He has a lot going on as he is running to be president again.

REID: He does, both civil and criminal.

KEILAR: All right, Paula Reid, thank you for taking us through that so clearly. We appreciate it.

Jim?

SCIUTTO: Well, Hollywood actors are just hours away from joining writers on the picket line. The latest on those negotiations just ahead. What it means for your favorite series.

[14:38:49]

Also ahead, California spent billions on trying to end or help the state's homeless crisis. Why the problem has somehow gotten even worse.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) [14:43:22]

SCIUTTO: California is spending billions of dollars to try to reduce homelessness there. But over the past few years, the homeless population has grown. In fact, California is adding more homeless people every year than any state in the country.

CNN's Nick Watt has -- takes a look and has more on the ongoing search for solutions.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

NICK WATT, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): $17.5 billion, that's what California spent fighting homelessness over the past four years. At the same time, the homeless population of the state grew by around a third.

JASON ELLIOTT, SENIOR ADVISER ON HOMELESSNESS TO GOV. NEWSOM: The problem would be so much worse absent these interventions, and that's not what people want to hear. I get it. We get it.

WATT: Here's some reductive back-of-the-envelope math. With $17.5 billion, in theory, the state could have just paid the rent for every unhoused person in all four years.

ELLIOTT: It is reductive. And can I say why with respect, perhaps that would work for me, because I don't have significant behavioral health challenges.

WATT: My reductive math did leave maybe $3 billion for mental health and other services. But even if the state did just offer to pay the rent, there just aren't enough affordable houses to go around.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Where are we supposed to go? I mean, this is what poverty looks like.

WATT: Dr. Margot Kushel was just commissioned to find out who is homeless in California and why, in the hope her data might fine tune the state's response. Her survey has busted some myths.

Myth number one, most homeless people don't want a home. Not true. Participants overwhelmingly wanted permanent housing.

Take Daniel and his disabled son who live on L.A.'s Skid Road.

[14:45:02]

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You would take it if they offered you housing?

DANIEL, HOMELESS MAN: Yes, I would. Yes, we would, together. Yes. I'm his father and we need it.

WATT: Myth number two, many homeless people here aren't from California. Therefore, the state owes them nothing.

DR. MARGOT KUSHEL, DIRECTOR, UCSF CENTER FOR VULNERABLE POPULATIONS: Nine out of 10 people lost their stable housing here. These are Californians. We have to create the housing for all Californians.

WATT: There is a state plan to build 2.5 million more homes by 2030. A million among them must be affordable. But when it comes to housing, zoning is ultimately down to local government.

ELLIOTT: We've got communities in this state that are refusing to build low-income housing because they say it's all just rapists and child molesters. So that's the dynamic that we're facing.

WATT: Past two or three years, the state, they say, has built 13,500 affordable housing units. Baby steps.

Christina Smith just moved into one after five years on the street.

CHRISTINA SMITH, FORMERLY UNHOUSED: I thought it was fake. I'm sorry. Until they gave me the keys, and then I was like, this is real. You don't believe it after a while.

WATT: Now to the why. Why do so many Californians become homeless?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Even when we did have a job and we tried to look for housing out here, it was like impossible.

WATT: Rent is too high because housing supply is too low. And many who fall into homelessness say it's really not by much.

KUSHEL: One of the surprising things was how optimistic people were that relatively small amounts of money would have prevented their homelessness. For a lot of them, that $300 to $500 a month would do the trick.

WATT: But bigger picture, longer term --

ELLIOTT: At the end of the day, if we want to truly solve homelessness in America, we need to build more housing. That starts with us.

WATT (on camera): This is, they say, a problem decades in the making. At fault, well, politicians of every stripe. And they say it will not be a quick fix.

But at least the governor here is now focusing on this issue, spending money, thinking differently. They're overhauling the entire mental health provisions in this state. But California says they also need more federal money.

At the end of the day, advocates and the unhoused people say stop just throwing so much money at this, actually think a bit more about how to spend that money effectively.

Nick Watt, CNN, Los Angeles.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KEILAR: American tennis sensation Christopher Eubanks' incredible run at Wimbledon is now over. How he went from Tennis Channel commentator to unexpected quarter finalist, next. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[14:52:14]

KEILAR: There's been no shortage of surprises at Wimbledon this year. And at the top of that list is American Christopher Eubanks. Although his dream run has just come to an end, his journey was anything but ordinary.

Not long ago, Eubanks had plenty of doubts about his professional tennis career, even taking a job as a commentator for the Tennis Channel while he continued pursuing playing.

But this week, a phenomenal trip to the Wimbledon quarterfinals for this Atlanta native.

I want to bring in Mats Wilander, who is joining us from Wimbledon, to talk more about this. He's a former world number-one professional tennis player and a EuroSport tennis commentator.

Mats, Eubanks' final match game really came down to the wire. This was tough.

MATS WILANDER, EUROSPORT TENNIS COMMENTATOR: This was very tough. He, at one point, was four points away from being in the semifinals at Wimbledon because he was up two sets to one.

Got in a tie breaker and the score was 3-3 in that tie breaker. And then in the fifth set, he ran out of steam. But I mean, there's no shame.

Being number three in the world and he's a great player and that's what he does. But Christopher Eubanks is the most inspirational story we've had at Wimbledon for many, many, many years.

KEILAR: What do you think is next for him with so many people who will be curious about the answer to that question?

WILANDER: Yes, so next for him, he will be ranked, we think, 31 in the world. And that's a really key number. Because 32 players are seeded at the U.S. Open.

When you're seeded at the U.S. Open, that means you're not running into the Novak Djokovics in the first two rounds. You secure to play somebody who ranked lower than you. That's the first milestone.

Then he'll start having to deal with a little bit of pressure when it comes to the American hard-court swing, which happens literally a couple weeks after Wimbledon.

The most important thing for me is his attitude. He's playing tennis with a smile on his face. He just broke the record for the most winners hit at Wimbledon ever. Andre Agassi had it. Now he has the record at Wimbledon.

So the inspiration is what he stands for. And he's a great guy and he loves tennis. And you can see it. It came out of him during this fourth night.

KEILAR: Let's talk about the comeback power of a new mom. The Ukrainian player, Elina Vitolina, who gave birth to her daughter in October, she returned to play in April and now finds herself in the semifinals at Wimbledon.

To get there, she actually knocked off the number-one seed in the tournament. And she said she not only plays for her daughter now, but that she plays for her native Ukraine.

I want to listen to some of what she said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ELINA SVITOLINA, UKRAINIAN TENNIS PLAYER: War made me stronger and also made me like mentally stronger. And I don't take difficult situations as like a disaster, you know? Because you know, there are worse things in life.

[14:55:10]

I think having a child and war made me a different person. And I look at things differently.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KEILAR: Mats, her presence is so meaningful on so many levels.

WILANDER: It is unbelievably meaningful, obviously, coming back, having just had a daughter. That's very meaningful.

The situation back home in Ukraine is incredibly meaningful for her and all the tennis players here at Wimbledon for sure.

And she's now entered a mindset that a lot of great grand-slam champions already had before they had a kid or before they had some other problems.

So I think she's now realized that losing is OK. We're OK with losing. I'm not afraid of winning. And I'm going to give it absolutely all. If I lose, I have other things in life that's important.

And that's the mountain of Novak Djokovic and Serena Williams and all these players. They were not afraid of losing. And Elina Svitolina, she is not afraid of losing. She will give it her all in the semis.

KEILAR: Yes. I love talking to you about these inspirational people, Mats. It is great to have you out on this big day at Wimbledon.

Thank you so much.

WILANDER: Thank you.

KEILAR: Jim?

WILANDER: Thank you, Brianna. SCIUTTO: A big win for Ukraine at Wimbledon. And a big win in Vilnius. President Biden has wrapped up the NATO summit on a high note by declaring the alliance stronger than ever.

Ukraine did not get exactly what it wanted but it did get assurances going forward. What's next for the president as he now heads to new NATO member, Finland?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)