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GOP Candidates Reacting to Trump Being a Target in January 6 Probe; Las Vegas Police Serve Search Warrant in Tupac Shakur Case; U.S. Solder Who Crossed into North Korea Identified; New Details About U.S. Soldier Detained in North Korea; U.S. Military: Soldier "Willfully" Crossed into N. Korea; Israeli President to Address Congress; The President of Israel Set to Address a Joint Meeting of the House and Senate; Trump Could be Facing Another Indicted Relating to January 6th. Aired 10:30-11a ET

Aired July 19, 2023 - 10:30   ET

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

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[10:30:00]

ALAYNA TREENE, CNN REPORTER: -- around him. And ultimately, tried to defend him. And that's exactly what we're already seeing many Republicans on Capitol Hill do. And we've seen it again with the previous two indictments. They are coming to his defense. They are criticizing Special Counsel Jack Smith and they're labeling these investigations as political.

And I also think that's why you saw Donald Trump try to get ahead of this yesterday by announcing him receiving that target letter on social media. He is trying to control the narrative around this. I also think it is worth noting, Kate, that Donald Trump and his team have been reaching out to lawyers and allies, over the past 24 hours or so, trying to figure out exactly who else might have received a target letter and really try to put together what a criminal case against him might look like. They are very much expecting an indictment to be brought in this grand jury investigation around January 6th, and they want to have all of the tools in their arsenal to try and defend him politically. Kate.

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: Good to see you, Alayna. Thank you very much for that.

And, John, while want surprising that he would be reaching out to Capitol Hill folks for backup, it's still kind of left to be seen in the middle of all of this how dangerous that game is for Republicans on Capitol Hill.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: Look, and that's one group of Republicans, right, the ones on Capitol Hill, he's hoping from back up there. There's another group of Republicans that are running against him --

BOLDUAN: Oh, you mean those guys --

BERMAN: -- to be president --

BOLDUAN: and gals?

BERMAN: -- of the United States. I happen to have a picture of some of them here. Let's look, shall we? There's a smattering of some of the people running for president against Donald Trump. Let's hear what they have had to say about news of this new pending possible indictment.

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NIKKI HALEY, REPUBLICAN PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I mean, the rest of this primary election is going to be -- in reference to Trump, it's going to be about lawsuits, it's going to be about legal fees, it's going to be about judges and it's just going to continue to be a further and further distraction, and that's why I am running is because we need a new generational leader. We can't keep dealing with this drama. We can't keep dealing with the negativity.

VIVEK RAMASWAMY, REPUBLICAN PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I think it sets a dangerous precedent in our country. I say this as someone who is running against President Trump for the presidency in this election, in this GOP primary, I do not want to see my opponents eliminated because of the actions of a corrupt federal administrative police state.

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BERMAN: All right. CNN's Jeff Zeleny is with us. Now, Jeff, you just heard from two candidates right there. Let's hear from a third, Governor Ron DeSantis who is running closest to Donald Trump right now in national state polls. He, of course, spoke exclusively to our Jake Tapper. Listen.

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GOV. RON DESANTIS (R-FL), REPUBLICAN PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I want to focus on looking forward. I don't want to look back. I do not want to see him. I hope he doesn't get charged. I don't think it will be good for the country.

JAKE TAPPER, CNN HOST: Are you saying that if he finds evidence of criminality, he should not charge Donald Trump anyway?

DESANTIS: What I'm saying is, when you're going after somebody on the other side of the political spectrum, if you're stretching statutes to try to criminalize maybe political disagreements, that is wrong. Now, look, this is all speculation.

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BERMAN: All right. Jeff, how about that? A little bit of a dodge there to Jake's terrific direct question.

JEFF ZELENY, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: For sure, and he went on to say that he believes the presidential election should be about the future. He said the word future a handful of times in about a one-minute span. So, clearly, he knows he cannot pivot directly. All of these Republican candidates, really with the exception of Nikki Haley and Chris Christie and Asa Hutchinson, have been sort of having Donald Trump's back here, but the Florida governor there clearly saying that he thinks it's bad for the party, bad for the country to look backward and be talking about what happened four years, and he's says he should look forward.

But the challenge here for all of these candidates, of course, is patience. They don't all have a lot of time. They need to start making some headway and gaining some ground. And Donald Trump has time on his side, but if indictments do come out, the variety of Republicans, I'm talking to really point out the differences between the March indictment, the June indictment and this potential indictment, because this would be about January 6th. This would be about clinging to presidential power.

So, for all the thought of Trump fatigue, and there is Trump fatigue out there, the question is, is there fatigue over these indictments? And that, of course, could help Donald Trump. But, John, we are just going to have to be patient, take a deep breath and watch all this play out and see how the voters ultimately digest it all.

[10:35:00]

BERMAN: You're so well sourced, Jeff, among all the campaigns. What do the opposing campaigns actually think? I mean, we hear pundits on TV often say, the indictments help Donald Trump. Do the campaigns running against him think the same?

ZELENY: Well, so far, they have helped him because they have really strengthened his base. They have, you know, gathered around his core supporters and it's helped him in fundraising. We have seen, really, since the beginning of the year, Donald Trump, there's no question about it, and his rivals would agree reluctantly that he's in a stronger position. But what they say privately is that they see the exhaustion, they see the interest among some Republican voters to turn the page and move beyond Donald Trump. Why? Because of electability, because they believe in a general election, a rematch with Donald Trump and Joe Biden about the 2020 campaign simply is not a winning argument.

So, what they hope, obviously, is that Donald Trump begins to falter. The question is that's not likely to happen on its own organically. So, who is going to sort of make those inroads here? But again, they have to be patient and watch all of this.

And the first debate, of course, on August 23rd would normally be the metric, the place where all this comes together, but we don't know if Donald Trump will show up to that debate or not. So, they do have to run their campaigns and wait and see sort of how the public reacts to these indictments. But of course, they would like them to have a detriment effect to him, but there's no sense that they will, at least at this point.

BERMAN: We have seen some recent polling, including this new poll out of New Hampshire.

ZELENY: Right.

BERMAN: This is a UNH Granite State Poll right now, and Donald Trump is at 37 percent. Ron DeSantis at 23 percent. It's actually a little bit of a closer margin than we've seen in New Hampshire of late. Look at Tim Scott at 8 percent now.

Again, when the campaigns and Republican officials are looking at a poll like this, are they thinking there's a possibility for a Tim Scott to rise up here and maybe be a viable challenge to Donald Trump?

ZELENY: Without question. And one of the other things in this poll inside the numbers, strong favorability ratings for Tim Scott, Republican voters view him in a very positive and favorable light. He also has a bit of backup to the tune of 40 million. Super PACs supporting him announced yesterday that they planned to spend $40 million in television ads alone in Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina, the three early voting states to promote his candidacy. So, that will almost certainly, with the combination of people viewing him favorably, give him a big boost.

But, John, I think you're right. This poll is so fascinating. 37 percent support Donald Trump. Yes, it's better than anyone else, but that means six in 10 Republican voters want to look elsewhere. They want to choose someone else. So, this is not the strength that Donald Trump has nationally necessarily. So, there aren't many state by state polls like this. This is one reason. We know the Republican Party is indeed divided, but 37 percent is not really a good sign for the incumbent, which is essentially what Donald Trump is in this Republican primary.

So again, one more reason we say it all the time, but we have to be patient and watch as this plays out. We do not know if these summer numbers will hold. But 37 percent, that is not a position of strength that Donald Trump would like to be, and at least in that early voting state.

BERMAN: No. Not unless you can keep this many candidates in the race come New Hampshire time, and they're all pulling --

ZELENY: Sure. That helps him.

BERMAN: -- these events, then 37 percent looks a little better. Jeff Zeleny, always great to see you. Thank you very much. Sara.

SARA SIDNER, CNN ANCHOR: Just ahead, we're learning new details about the timeline of what happened leading up to a U.S. soldier crossing over the border into North Korea from South Korea on purpose. Depending on now says, they're trying to secure the release of Army Private Travis King. Details on that ahead.

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BOLDUAN: It has been nearly 27 years since Tupac Shakur was shot and killed in Las Vegas. And now, there are actually new developments in that investigation into his death. Police telling CNN that they've executed a search warrant in -- on Monday in Henderson, Nevada in connection with Shakur's death. CNN's Chloe Melas is following all this. She's joining us now.

Chloe, what more are we learning about this?

CHLOE MELAS, CNN ENTERTAINMENT REPORTER: Kate, it appears that this could be a major break in this unsolved murder. And again, this is one of Hollywood's, you know, biggest unsolved murder mysteries that has captivated his fans and people all over the world for more than two decades, like you said.

So, Kate, the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police confirmed to CNN on Tuesday that they did execute a search warrant at a location in Henderson, Nevada in connection with this ongoing investigation. And this is what they said. They said that they can confirm a search warrant was executed and that they have no further comment at this time, but the search warrant was executed on July 17th. We do not know the location. It has not been disclosed by authorities. We've obviously reached out for further comment on that.

[10:45:00]

But just, you know, to back up here, Kate, you know, this murder of Tupac Shakur took place in 1996 in Las Vegas. He was driving in a car with Suge Knight, very famous record label executive, and a car pulled up right in front of them. People began shooting out of the back of the car and they were never found. And obviously, this is something that has had so many questions. The case has remained ongoing and open all of these years. And fans are really hoping that there will be an arrest, or at least this is one step closer to bringing justice to Tupac family.

BOLDUAN: Yes. I mean, is one of the music industry's, I mean, like most well-known unsolved mysteries. And what that means, now that there's potentially a break in this case, or at least a major development is fascinating. Chloe, thank you very much. John.

BERMAN: All right. New details about a U.S. soldier detained in North Korea, why he may have crossed the border and what they're doing to get him released.

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SIDNER: The Pentagon says it's working this morning to get an American soldier out of North Korea and back on U.S. soil, something that hasn't happened in over 40 years. This week, Army Private Travis King crossed the demarcation line. U.S. officials say they believe he did it willfully. In other words, on purpose, and that he is in North Korean custody now.

Today, we are learning more about what preceded the incident. The U.S. private was about to be administratively separated from the army and flown back to the United States because of assault charges in Seoul, that was in October. On July 10th, he was released from custody in South Korea. On Monday, he was supposed to fly back to America, but he went to the airport and never boarded that flight. Then on Tuesday, he went on that fateful tour of the DMZ, a private tour.

We're learning from his mother, she talked to "ABC News," she said, she's shocked and that she just wants her son to come home.

CNNs. Natasha Bertrand is joining us now from the Pentagon. What are we learning about this timeline? What more do we know about what happened leading up to going across that border?

NATASHA BERTRAND, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY REPORTER: Yes, Sara. Well, the army did confirm last night that this is Private Travis King and he was a junior enlisted soldier assigned to U.S. Forces Korea. And essentially, of course, what we know at this point is that he was on a tour of the DMZ and then he crossed that demarcation line into North Korea, willfully and voluntarily, according to the U.S. military.

Now, in terms of what led up to this, it is, it is a very interesting timeline. So, he essentially was facing assault charges from assaults in South Korea back in September and October. And he ended up spending 50 days in a detention facility in South Korea doing hard labor. Then on July 10th, he was ultimately released from that detention facility and he was set to fly back to the U.S. on July 17th, where he was going to be separated from the U.S. army. He was going to fly back to Fort Bliss, and there, he was going to be essentially removed from the U.S. military.

But he went to the airport with U.S. military officials escorting him, but they couldn't actually take him all the way to the gate, and they essentially lost him. He was supposed to board the plane and then he never did. And then, on July 18th, that is when he took that tour of the DMZ. And at some point, during that tour, he ran across that line into North Korea into, of course, the arms of North Korean military.

Now, we have heard from his mother who spoke to "ABC" and said that she doesn't think that Travis would do something like this. And she is very surprised because just a few days ago, she had spoken to him and he said that he was planning to return to Fort Bliss. Now, of course, Sara, she's saying that all she wants is for him to come home.

SIDNER: Can I ask you whether or not the Pentagon has told you or released any information about who they might be talking to or if they have actually had conversations with their North Korean counterparts?

BERTRAND: Yes, Sara. So, we have gotten some conflicting information on this. So, U.S. Forces Korea did release a statement yesterday saying that he -- that the U.S. military had been working with North Korean military officials to try to resolve this situation. However, the senior military commander in charge of the Pacific, he told a forum yesterday that actually they had tried reaching out to the North Koreans, but they have not heard back. And this is not atypical.

The Biden administration has been trying to conduct diplomacy with the North Koreans since they took office, and the North Koreans have simply never responded. So, it appears that while they are trying to work with the North Koreans on this, they are still getting radio silence from them. And it remains unclear, of course, at this point, just where Travis King actually is, what his condition is, and if he will be released anytime soon, Sara.

SIDNER: Natasha, I should mention, we spoke last hour to the former diplomat and long-time negotiator and former governor of New Mexico, Bill Richardson. He says, look, if you're not hearing anything from North Korea, if North Korea isn't making any statement about this at the time, the likelihood is they're interrogating the army private, and it is actually good news at this point. But you are saying that the Pentagon hasn't really been able to get in contact potentially with North Korea. Do we know anything more about the army private and whether or not he potentially tried to defect?

[10:55:00]

BERTRAND: So, the state of mind here is something that officials are really trying to figure out. They're not using the word defect because, of course, they simply don't know what his motivations were for crossing this line. All they really know at this point is that he had been facing these assault charges and, of course, that he was facing further disciplinary action by the U.S. military. He was going to be removed from the army once he returned to Fort Bliss.

So, there is perhaps a sense that he was trying to avoid that, that he was trying to buy time, that he was trying to escape any further disciplinary action. But there are no signs at this point according, again, to the senior commander in the Pacific who spoke publicly about this last night, that he had any sympathies for North Korea or that he was trying to defect, for example, in order to give them secrets, perhaps that he had learned from his time in the U.S. military. No signs of that as of now, Sara. But obviously, officials are still working on this and trying to get more insights.

SIDNER: All right. Natasha Bertrand, thank you so much for all those new details. Appreciate it. Kate.

BOLDUAN: All right. We're looking live right now, this is a look into the halls of Congress minutes from now, mostly bipartisan show of support on Capitol Hill for a key ally. The president of Israel set to address a joint meeting of the house and Senate. We'll bring that to you live when it begins.

Plus, indictment watch, part three. The possible charges that Former President Trump could be facing related to January 6th and his efforts to stay in power after he lost the 2020 election. We'll be right back.

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