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Trump Boosts Campaign Donations by Utilizing Legal Issues; As Trump May be Charged with Crimes, Grand Jury in DC Convenes to Look into Election Interference; New Black History Standards Approved by Florida Officials; Development of Slaves' "Personal Benefit" Skills Must be Mentioned Under New Florida Standards; Critical Cancer Research Halted Due to Drug Shortages; Los Angeles Store Sold Winning $1.08 Billion Powerball Ticket. Aired 10:30-11a ET

Aired July 20, 2023 - 10:30   ET

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

[10:30:00]

RAHEL SOLOMON, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: All right. Kate. And still ahead for us, Former President Donald Trump uses his mounting legal troubles to fir up rally his base and boost his campaign cash. We'll be right back.

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SOLOMON: Welcome back, Donald Trump has, once again, leveraged his legal troubles to rally his base and boost fundraising.

[10:35:00]

He asked supporters for donations just hours after announcing that he is a target of a criminal investigation into efforts to overturn the 2020 election. According to disclosures from the Federal Election Commission, Trump saw major spikes in campaign donations after his previous two indictments this year.

Joining us now to discuss, CNN's Jeff Zeleny, and CNN Political Commentator and Former Lieutenant Governor of Georgia Geoff Duncan. Welcome to you both, Jeffs. Jeff Zeleny, let me start with you. So, how much, as far as you know, is Trump raising off of this indictment news?

JEFF ZELENY, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: Well, look, they are certainly trying to raise money this week. We've seen in multiple requests, almost by the hour, particularly yesterday, the former president trying to rally his base and look for support. We won't know exactly how successful these fundraising efforts have been until after the next fundraising period when candidates are required to report their numbers to the FEC.

But we do have a glimpse into how it worked earlier this year. And if you look at the March indictment, when he first was indicted in New York, before that, our analysis shows that he was getting about an average of about -- some $80,000 a day or so in donations after it spiked to about $4 million in the days around the endorsement. And that is certainly significant. So, the reason for this is, he's simply asking for money. He's simply in the news a lot. He's trying to weaponize this indictment to gain political favor out of it. So, certainly it was successful previously. We have no reason to believe it will not be again this time.

SOLOMON: Certainly successful, financially. Lieutenant Governor, I want to bring you into the conversation, does it translate politically? I mean, does the fundraising efforts necessarily translate into more votes?

GEOFF DUNCAN (R), CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR AND FORMER GEORGIA LT. GOVERNOR: The least of Donald Trump's problems are money, right? I just don't really think that's going to be an issue as he navigates this process of trying to run for president again. And this is starting to get serious. Love him or hate him, this is getting really, really serious. And we're quickly accelerating past political fodder.

I mean, this indictment looks like it's imminent. And then you've got a Fulton County indictment that looks like that's imminent in the next few weeks. And this creates a math problem for him, right? We can go through all this gyrations and act like he can win the presidency again, but he can't, right? The middle is done with him. The middle in 2016 gave him a shot, and walked away from it and is never coming back.

SOLOMON: Jeff Zeleny, I want to bring you back into the conversation, how are other GOP candidates responding? I mean, with the exception of perhaps, Chris Christie, Asa Hutchinson who have been critical, the other candidates haven't always been. I mean, we haven't seen really critical takes. Is it different this time?

ZELENY: A little. There's a little more nuance, I think. And we've heard of Florida Governor Ron DeSantis saying, look, this race needs to be about the future. If Republicans are still trying to fight the last war, the war over 2020, over January 6th, that is not about the future.

But by and large, Republican candidates have rallied to the former president's defense. Why is that? Because they think that that's the only political lane. They believe that in a Republican primary contest, it is dangerous to speak out against him.

So, now, basically speaking about the weaponization of the Justice Department has become an unspoken party platform. Many candidates are talking about it. But Nikki Haley also is leading the way saying, enough of this drama. This is why if Republicans are going to win the general election, as Geoff was just saying there, they need to appeal to moderate and independent voters here.

So, as for now, they've, sort of, boxed themselves in. They have made the decision, the rival candidates to not speak critically of this. But I think we should point out, each one of these potential indictments are different. And the one that is coming down the pike now is about January 6th, something much more seared into people's minds, and classified documents, or the New York case which is, you know, the -- sort of, confusing to be frank. This is a very different matter here. So, we have be patient, and wait and see what the charges are, if any, give voters a sense to digest them, and see how it plays out and affects the process.

SOLOMON: All right. Lieutenant Governor, I want to give you the last word here because I know you are very passionate about this. I mean, how do you think GOP candidates should be responding to this? I mean, we're not at the general, obviously, we're not at that stage yet, and so we are sort of dealing with the primary. I mean, how do you wish they are responding -- they should be responding to this?

DUNCAN: Yes, to quote Wayne Gretzky, "We need to skate where the puck is going," right? That's how we're going to be successful here. I know it's a short-term sugar high to try to beat Donald Trump light, but I think it's a huge self-inflicted error that we're making, right? We need to be clear voiced with saying, you know, who cares about Donald Trump? He lost to Joe Biden. He lost the middle. He lost the Senate.

Just look at Georgia. Look at what Brian Kemp did to win. He beat David Perdue by 52 points. Donald Trump's best-friend, he beat by 52 points and then ran the tables on Stacey Abrams because he didn't focus on Donald Trump. He focused on his conservative record and the policies that matter. I think that's what a majority of Americans want. They want an excuse to not have to vote for Donald Trump.

SOLOMON: Lieutenant Governor, great to have you. Jeff Zeleny, great to have you as well.

Kate.

BOLDUAN: Coming up for us, another education overhaul in Florida. We'll look at the new set of standards being put in place for teaching black history in public schools there. Changes that have education and civil rights advocates outraged. We'll be back.

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SOLOMON: Welcome back. A new set of standards for teaching black history in Florida schools has education and civil rights advocates outraged. It is the latest in the state's ongoing debate over African American history in the classroom. So, under the new guidance approved by the Board of Education, Wednesday, middle school students are taught how slaves developed skills which in some instances could be applied for their personal benefit.

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I want to bring in CNN's National Correspondent Athena Jones here with more. So, Athena, tells us what other changes did the department approve?

ATHENA JONES, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, first of all, that one is a pretty big one. We're talking about people whose labor was stolen for generations. They were never compensated. There are several other issues that opponent have with this new -- these new standards. They say, they're concerning. They do a disservice to students.

Among these new standards, I think we can put them up on the screen. Teachers are not required to teach elementary and middle school students American history past Reconstruction. So, if you're in elementary school or middle school, you're not necessarily learning about --

SOLOMON: No civil rights. No --

JONES: -- civil rights.

SOLOMON: OK.

JONES: The civil rights movement or Jim Crow. They also say that instruction for middle schoolers has to include how slaves developed skill in which some instances could be applied for their personal benefit, as we just noted.

SOLOMON: But what would that look like?

JONES: Exactly. It seems to suggest they're learning a trade and they could then maybe make money and make a living off of. But of course, as I just stated, this was stolen labor, uncompensated labor. The new standards also omit the fact that the Florida legislature in 1957 passed a resolution opposing the Brown V. Board of Education ruling, that's the landmark Supreme Court ruling that made public education -- made segregation in public education illegal.

They also say that when you're teaching -- this is in high school now, teaching the Ocoee Massacre, that you have to include acts of violence perpetrated by African Americans. Now, this is really, really important. The Ocoee Massacre in 1920, it's been called the deadliest U.S. election day in history. A man tried -- a black man tried to vote, he was turned away, and later mobs of armed white people attacked blacks in the town of Ocoee. These rules apply to other massacres as well. The Tulsa Massacre, the Atlanta Race Riot, among others.

And the problem here is that talking about violence perpetrated by black people when we're actually talking about massacres that involved violent armed mobs killing -- of white people killing black citizens. So, they're giving students a muddled sense of history in the State of Florida.

SOLOMON: Can you explain to us what the purported objective is. I mean, why? Why are these proposed changes being suggested?

JONES: Well, part of this is certainly the Florida Education Association, that's the largest union, they said the largest union in the southeast representing some 150,000 members, they say that this is all because of the Stop WOKE Act that Governor Ron DeSantis signed into law. He's had a big campaign against what he calls WOKE ideology, and that bill makes it illegal to teach children that they are inherently privileged or oppressed as a result of their race, or their sex, or gender. And so, this is kind of, all part of that. The state believes that these new standards are in line with what their goals are. But, of course, critics say they aren't. Critics, among them, the president and CEO of the NAACP Derrick Johnson who says, it's imperative that we understand that the horrors of slavery and Jim Crow were a violation of human rights and represent the darkest period in American history. And so, not highlighting this idea that slaves earn skills that then benefited them.

SOLOMON: Athena Jones, great to have you. Thank you.

Kate.

BOLDUAN: Thanks, guys.

A nationwide shortage of cancer drugs is not only impacting patient, as we've been discussing, but it is also now hurting cancer research as well. CNN's Jacqueline Howard has new details on this. She's joining us now. Jacqueline, we have been reporting, you've been reporting on the ongoing shortage of cancer drugs. But what does that now have to do and what is the impact on research?

JACQUELINE HOWARD, CNN HEALTH REPORTER: Yes, Kate. You know, what's happening now, we know that there are three ways that current commonly used drugs are still needed in cancer research. Number one, scientists often will compare them against new and novel treatments, or number two, scientists might study them in conjunction with a new treatment under development, or sometimes scientists still study current drugs to see what other ways that drug could be applied to treat other types of cancer.

And we know from the National Cancer Institute, it says, at least 174 of its own trials may be affected by the current shortage. And separately, anecdotally, we're hearing of other trials that either had to shut down or some that were scheduled to start this summer. That couldn't start because they can't get enough medications for their studies. So, that's how these shortages, sadly not only impacting patients, but it now appears to be a concern for research, too, Kate.

BOLDUAN: Yes. Absolutely. Thank so much, Jacqueline.

HOWARD: Yes.

BOLDUAN: Rahel.

SOLOMON: All right. Kate. Coming up for us, a single Powerball ticket is the key to big money this morning. We'll take you to the store where a ticket worth more than a billion -- that's a lot of zeroes, a billion dollars. That ticket was sold, we'll tell you, coming up next.

[10:50:00]

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BOLDUAN: This morning, someone in California is waking up to a whole new reality. A reality in which they have just won a $1.08 billion jackpot in last night's drawing. CNN's Stephanie Elam is where the winning ticket was sold. She joins us now. Stephanie, do they have any clue yet who it is?

STEPHANIE ELAM, CNN CORRESPONDENT: No, I wonder if the person who bought it has any clue. Because I can tell you, Kate, that the store owner got out here already, he opened up the store shop, and he didn't know that his shop had won, had sold the winning ticket until he saw all the news out here and people told him.

[10:55:00]

So, think about that, he didn't even realize. He even just showing up for work. But this is the spot, Las Palmitas, we are in downtown Los Angeles, we're in the garment district. This very unassuming street, and what we do know is that one ticket hit all six numbers. And in case someone is waking up here in California and forgot what those numbers are, let me just tell you. They are seven, 10, 11, 13, 24, and the Powerball 24. So, they hit all six numbers.

And you're right, that's over a billion dollars, but if they were to go ahead and take the cash value, that'd be over $558 million. Now, this person or maybe this group of people purchased -- the owner of the store, he's owned it for seven years, he's got four children. He says that there are some people that come here every week and buy hundreds of dollars-worth of tickets.

So, maybe it was one of those people or maybe just one person who came in and bought one ticket. We don't know. But what I can tell you about this one location, they will walk away, the store owner will walk away with $1 million just because they sold the ticket here, Kate. Not a bad day here in California for sure.

BOLDUAN: Not a bad day, but that is a tough way to wake up and get to work for that store owner. He's like, what did I do? There's all these dude's cameras around. Oh, wait. I just got a million dollars.

ELAM: Anyways, it's still dark outside. So, yes, it was like, what's happening?

BOLDUAN: Oh, Steph, I love you. Thank you so much. All right. We'll see who it is and when they come forward.

Rahel.

SOLOMON: I personally I hope it's someone who has bought hundreds of tickets. At this point, they have earned it. Not someone who just bought one ticket and struck it, a billion dollars.

BOLDUAN: Yes. I don't know. Yes, I'm just -- I'm excited for them. Let's see.

SOLOMON: Whoever it is. All right. Kate.

All right. Still to come for us, a federal grand jury could vote as soon as today to indict Former President Trump for his efforts to overturn the 2020 election. More on what we can expect inside the courthouse, just ahead.

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