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Trump Is A Target Of Jan. Six Special Counsel's Criminal Probe; Today: First Hearing In Trump Classified Case; Pentagon Official: U.S. Soldier Who Crossed Into N. Korea Had Been Facing Disciplinary Action By U.S. Military. Aired 11:30a-12p ET

Aired July 18, 2023 - 11:30   ET

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

[11:30:00]

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SARA SIDNER, CNN ANCHOR: All right. We want to bring you up to speed on the breaking news that we've been talking about this morning. CNN has confirmed former President Trump has received a target letter from the special counsel, Jack Smith, relating to the investigation into the January six insurrection and efforts to overturn the 2020 election.

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: We now know that Donald Trump received the letter on Sunday. His team received the letter on Sunday. But he clearly chose today to announce it publicly. A pivotal day in the -- in his classified documents case as it's heading before the judge overseeing it for the first time in a courtroom in Florida.

CNN's Kaitlan Collins is here with us for more on this. So, you've got Florida and now you've got DC as we now have confirmed this target letter -- that Donald Trump got this target letter. What more are you learning about how they learned about it, and what's happening now behind the scenes?

KAITLAN COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: It is interesting that it took until Tuesday for him to publicly reveal this. I mean, it would -- there were a few days the last time he was indicted. Whenever he got the target letter, initially the days before his indictment in the document's case. And then he posted that too.

And now we're seeing the same pattern play out where they got this on Sunday night, Trump claims he was with his family. They had just been at the big you know conservative conference over the weekend where he was talking about his indictments and how popular they make him. And then on Sunday night, his attorneys including Todd Blanche, who was the attorney that you saw going into the courthouse in Miami, he has taken the lead on the document's investigation.

It's not clear if he's the lead on the January six investigation. But he and others got this letter. And essentially what it is, is a warning that an indictment could be coming that charges could be coming.

But it's also an invitation to come and testify before the grand jury. And Trump claims that they gave him four days to go and do so. Now, it's very unlikely that Trump is going to go and testify, obviously.

SIDNER: Right.

COLLINS: That's not something that any attorneys would typically recommend. But I am told that they have not formally responded to this letter yet. So, it remains to be seen when they do so. And obviously, the question is how soon could an indictment come after this if there is going to be an indictment?

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: What is history tell us? In this case, the last -- the last time Donald Trump was indicted on a federal case, there was a little bit of a gap between the target letter and the indictment.

COLLINS: Yes, a few -- about a few days though. And of course, remember, we found out again from online when he posted it. We had reported that he had gotten the target letter he posted that he was indicted. So, he essentially is the one who's telegraphing this and letting everyone know, not typically how it would work with a defendant making that known.

I think the question also is if there are charges here, what are they going to be and who else is also getting a target letter? So far, we have not heard of anyone.

SIDNER: Right.

COLLINS: But we know they're looking at a whole roster of attorneys.

SIDNER: Roster of people.

BERMAN: Hey, Kaitlan, I've never received a target letter. I'm happy to say.

COLLINS: Oh, good.

BERMAN: Was there anything in the language itself, which indicates anything more than hey, this is the January six case?

COLLINS: We don't know a lot about the language. Obviously, a lot of people have not seen this letter. It's a very close hold.

I mean, Todd Blanche is a very serious attorney so are the others who are handling this, so it remains to be seen. You know, Todd Blanche is not someone who has a lot of bravado. The only time we've seen him speak was when he came out after the indictment here in New York, just to keep them all straight for us.

SIDNER: Yes.

COLLINS: And so that remains to be seen what exactly the language here that -- because that's going to be key. This is so much broader than the documents investigation. There are a litany of charges that this could be.

BOLDUAN: Right. SIDNER: Right. That one was actually incredibly simple if you think about exactly what they're going after.

COLLINS: Yes.

SIDNER: This one. We don't know. It could be huge. I do want to ask you -- and very broad. I do want to ask you about whether or not Donald Trump's team was caught off guard and what they're doing today if they were kind of surprised about this coming down this way.

[11:35:04]

COLLINS: Well, they've had a few days to digest it. He is going to Iowa. I should note. He's a -- he's a campaign event there and then he's doing a town hall with Sean Hannity --

BOLDUAN: Which is rising and not surprising that he's still going to Iowa after this.

SIDNER: I mean, if this -- if his you know post on his social media site is any indication we're probably going to hear about this case on --

COLLINS: Yes. When I called someone for comment to get -- to confirm some details that we were reporting. They were like, just read what he posted. I mean, it's not just this there's another sheet, which is also kind of -- it's kind of framing a defense.

SIDNER: Yes.

COLLINS: He is saying that he had the right to protest the election. He is very clearly concerned that he is going to be facing charges in this and over the fact of the steps that he took around January six.

SIDNER: Right.

COLLINS: I mean we know what they've been investigating. That crazy chaotic Oval Office meeting. I do think that his team was caught off guard by this in the sense that they thought maybe there could be a target letter for their client coming. I don't think they thought it was going to happen in the month of July. I think they thought there was more timing here.

But we have seen they've been bringing in the closest people to him, Jared Kushner, and Hope Hicks. Those are people who are not there to offer a lot on Sidney Powell or Rudy Giuliani. They're there to offer on Trump's mind.

SIDNER: Yes, it's a -- it's a small inner circle. Can I just ask you, are there phone calls going back and forth where -- are they trying to get more attorneys? Do you have any ideas from your sources?

COLLINS: It -- he's still trying to get an attorney in the documents investigation. It has been six weeks since remember, he abruptly got rid of the two attorneys who are handling the documents case.

SIDNER: Right.

COLLINS: John Rowley and Jim Trusty.

SIDNER: Jim Trusty.

COLLINS: They were also handling the January six case. they were helping out with that. So essentially, the attorneys who are working on this, even if they do bring in a new one for January six, they're not really well-versed.

That doesn't mean that they can't get up to speed. Obviously, that's pretty typical. But they're not someone who's been working on this case for months like these other attorneys had been before they abruptly left the team.

SIDNER: Maybe they'll get a phone call. You never know after this.

BOLDUAN: Thanks for --

SIDNER: Kaitlan Collins.

BOLDUAN: Thanks for coming in, Kaitlan. All right. We've got clearly much more to cover on this. Donald Trump receiving a target letter regarding the special counsel's investigation into January six and efforts to overturn the election. This also comes on a critical day for the other special counsel investigation and charges that Donald Trump is facing related to his handling of classified documents -- the classified documents case in Florida. We've got much more on that ahead.

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[11:41:37]

SIDNER: While former President Donald Trump just revealed he's now a target of the special counsel's January six probe, he has more immediate legal concerns. In just a few hours now, an important moment in the classified documents case against Donald Trump and his aide Walt Nauta at a hearing in Florida. The judge in the case could decide today when that criminal trial will start.

BOLDUAN: Now the Justice Department has asked for a mid-December start for this trial. Donald Trump's legal team, though has pushed for an indefinite delay.

BERMAN: A very busy, Paula Reid, is outside the court in Fort Pierce in Florida. Paula, you've been working your sources on the breaking news today having to do with Donald Trump being a target of the January six investigation.

PAULA REID, CNN SENIOR LEGAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: Yes.

BERMAN: At the same time, you're in a position to cover this crucial hearing later today. What is it?

REID: Yes. This is already an incredibly significant hearing because this is the first time that special counsel prosecutors and former President Trump's lawyers will appear before Judge Aileen Cannon. She is the judge that is going to oversee this case through a possible trial.

And now we, of course, have the news that the former president has received a target letter informing him that he will likely face additional charges in the special counsel's other probe. Now we'll be watching very closely today. Of course, we have a lot of questions for the former president's lawyers.

Trump is not expected to be here today, but his legal team will be. We have lots of questions about that target letter for them. But the judge has also informed them that she has some questions -- important questions that will likely have a lot of overlap between this case and any possible case in the January six probe.

We know the judge has told both sides to come ready to discuss a possible trial date. Now, that has been a real sticking point so far because the special counsel has made it clear. Jack Smith says he wants a speedy trial here.

But the former president's lawyers have said they think it's too soon to even put a date on the calendar. They have a lot of questions that they want to litigate. And their strategy is to try to delay this case until after the 2024 election.

Now, if the former president is also charged in Washington, it will be likely that we'll also see them adopt a similar strategy in that case. But another one of the big questions that is faced by the former president down here in Florida is who exactly is going to represent him. He is currently represented by Chris Kise and Todd Blanche, two very -- two very experienced defense attorneys.

But he's been looking to add additional members to his team and he's not had a lot of luck finding people to join the team down here. He'll also likely need additional lawyers up in DC. So, I think there's going to be a lot of questions for the defense team here today in addition to the critical issues they're here to discuss. Obviously, this target letter is now top of mind.

SIDNER: Paula Reid, thank you so much for all the reporting there outside of the court where we expect there to be a hearing in a couple of hours. All right, much more on the former president's legal perils just ahead. But first, we're also following breaking news out of North Korea this morning. What we're learning about the American soldier now detained after crossing the border?

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[11:47:11]

BOLDUAN: The other major headlines that we're following this hour. CNN is learning more about the American soldier now detained in North Korea. A U.S. defense official says the soldier was facing disciplinary action by the U.S. military before he crossed the demarcation line into North Korea. BERMAN: Yes. The official says he was about to be sent back to the United States. We're told he was not in uniform at the time, and it was on some kind of you know a tour.

SIDNER: CNN's Marc Stewart, Natasha Bertrand, and Kylie Atwood are joining us now. Natasha, I want to begin with you. So, we've learned that the soldier was assigned to the U.S. Forces Korea. What else do we know about him and this discipline that he was facing? (INAUDIBLE)

NATASHA BERTRAND, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY REPORTER: Well, not a lot, Sara. Essentially what we're learning at this point is that he was a junior enlisted soldier and he was assigned to U.S. Forces Korea. And he was taking a tour of the Joint Security Area in the DMZ, at which point he appears to have crossed over that demarcation line into North Korea voluntarily.

And I'll just read you a statement that we got from U.S. Forces Korea, which says that a U.S. service member on a JSA, Joint Security Area orientation tour willfully and without authorization crossed the military demarcation line into the Democratic People's Republic of Korea. Now, the U.S. military does at this point believe that he is still in North Korean custody. And interestingly, the military says that they are in touch with the Korean People's Army. That's the North Korean military counterparts to try to resolve this issue.

But what we're learning is that this soldier was apparently facing disciplinary action by the U.S. military and he was actually set to be sent back to the United States at -- before he actually went on this tour and ended up crossing that demarcation line again, apparently, voluntarily and willfully. So, Pentagon officials, officials across the administration are trying to gather more information on why exactly he crossed that line. But obviously, this new information about the potential disciplinary action he was facing adds a new dimension to all of this, guys.

BOLDUAN: It definitely adds a new wrinkle. Natasha, thank you, Marc, what are the -- one question when we were learning about this this morning is if he had crossed over accidentally, what are the chances of crossing over accidentally into North Korea there?

MARC STEWART, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Kate, I think a lot of people may be surprised to know that there are public tours. That Americans visiting South Korea can actually tour the DMZ and this Joint Security Area. I have done so. And I will tell you there is no question where these boundaries are located.

It is very delineated, these territorial boundaries, that line of demarcation is very clear. And oftentimes there are a lot of military personnel often with you when you go on these tours. So, there's no -- there's no question exactly the location of all of this.

[11:50:04]

This is an area that is patrolled or maintained if you will by United Nations forces, which in many cases are American soldiers. And then on the other side of this territorial line, you have North Koreans. Natasha Bertrand brought up the point that discussions are now taking place between these forces and North Korea.

It is interesting to note that there's actually a phone line that has been established -- that was established historically, where United Nations forces could call up and reach out to North Korean forces. It is not clear if that's the channel that's being used here. But that's a historical protocol that has been in place.

Finally, again, this is not an area where you can accidentally wander. There are a lot of military personnel. Military personnel who are not armed. And in case someone does decide to venture over, United Nations forces have strict orders not to intervene. There's really nothing that they can do.

SIDNER: Wow.

BERMAN: And, Kylie Atwood, let's go to you at the State Department to sort of tie this all up based on Natasha's new reporting, that this was a soldier facing discipline. What's the posture of the State Department toward what's happening right now?

KYLIE ATWOOD, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Well, listen. Given that this is a soldier who was actively serving in the U.S. forces South Korea, which we should note, there's about 28,000 soldiers who served in those forces based in South Korea. The State Department is really pointing to the Pentagon right now and allowing them to take the lead in terms of sharing with us information about how this incident evolved.

But I think it's also important to note that you know this soldier on this tour presumably wasn't with you know a group of other Americans -- a group of other American soldiers. And so, therefore, the U.S. is going to be heavily reliant on the UN Command in this area, which tries to preserve the stability in the area between North and South Korea. These tours happen to show folks that what there is there, is some sort of stability, even though there's this tension between North Korea and South Korea.

It's also important to note that before today before this incident occurred, there weren't any Americans that we knew of who were detained in North Korea. There was, of course, Otto Warmbier, who was released by the North Koreans in 2017. And then there were three other Americans who were detained by North Korea and released in 2018.

And then, of course, we saw the Trump administration really engage you know with North Korea between President Trump and Kim Jong-un with those series of summits that we saw. That has not been the situation during the Biden administration. There hasn't been regular diplomatic contact between the U.S. and the North Koreans right now.

So. in terms of the contact that's occurring at this moment in time, as Natasha was saying, it is the Pentagon that is taking the lead. And of course, we're working to learn if there are other avenues that the U.S. is also reaching out to North Korea trying to use potentially you know its allies, South Korea, potentially China, and also, of course, you know, U.S. diplomats. BOLDUAN: Kylie, when -- is it clear to you? Are you getting a sense of as the Pentagon is taking the lead right now, if this becomes a State Department problem, or when it becomes when the State Department starts stepping in to try to assist it to get the soldier back?

ATWOOD: Yes. Well, the State Department would step in if this becomes a case of an American who is wrongfully detained by North Korea. And we can't make that assessment definitively right now. But based on the information that we have gathered, the fact that the Pentagon is saying that this soldier willfully crossed over this demarcation line, it appears that you know it would be well within North Korea's capability to detain someone who has crossed over without getting any authorization to.

So, that wouldn't as far as we can tell right now, amount to a situation where it would be an American who was wrongfully detained, who did absolutely nothing wrong to be detained by the North Korean side. But when it comes to these matters, of course, you know U.S. diplomats are always trying to figure out ways to care for Americans abroad. That is the actual, you know, reason that there are consular officers here at the State Department. But exactly how involved they get really the situation itself will dictate that.

SIDNER: Natasha, I want to go to you. At our last count five, Americans have been detained in North Korea since 2015. And if you look at the charges that they have faced by the North Koreans, most of them are hostile acts, which means a year or more of prison time when you look at how long they were there. One of them was espionage. That was three years.

And the one that was charged with illegally entering North Korea stayed for a month. But none of them were soldiers. What could that mean in this case for him?

[11:55:06]

BERTRAND: You know, that's a really great question, Sara. And we just -- we just don't know at this point. It's such kind of a bizarre situation where this U.S. Army soldier appeared to cross willfully and involuntarily into North Korea.

The Pentagon has been -- they've been in touch with North Korean counterparts, according to that statement we got from U.S. Forces Korea. But it remains to be seen whether or not there are going to be different kinds of you know regulations or rules or laws applied to him because he is a U.S. Army soldier. I should note we are expecting to hear from Secretary Austin and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Mark Milley in a presser later today, so maybe we'll get more info then.

BERMAN: All right. Natasha Bertrand, Kylie Atwood, Marc Stewart, thank you all for being with us on that front, the breaking news out of North Korea where this U.S. soldier is in custody. Obviously, much more breaking news here in the United States for Donald Trump has now received a target letter. He is a target in the special counsel's investigation surrounding January six. This is a major development with all kinds of major implications.

That's all for us today. This has been CNN NEWS CENTRAL. "INSIDE POLITICS" is up next.

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