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Trump Charged With Retaining Top-Secret Iran Attack Plan; New Charges Files Against Trump, Including Obstruction; 150M Plus In United States Under Heat Alerts Coast to Coast; GOP Candidates Descend On Iowa To Speak At Party Dinner. Aired 10-10:30a ET

Aired July 28, 2023 - 10:00   ET

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

[10:00:00]

RAHEL SOLOMON, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Well, hours from now, Donald Trump will take the same campaign stage as his Republican rivals, as his legal peril takes yet another very serious turn major new charges in his classified documents case. Special Counsel Jack Smith, now alleging to Trump employees Walt Nauta and Carlos de Oliveira tried to delete security camera footage from Florida home at Trump's request.

Prosecutors argue that they de Oliveira told the resorts IT director that quote, the boss wanted the server deleted. The indictment for the first time now revealing a detailed and at times minute by minute timeline of events, including what allegedly happened right after Trump was told that his surveillance video was being subpoenaed.

So according to the indictment, Nauta who was scheduled to travel with Trump's to Illinois the next day, well, he changed his travel schedule and began to make arrangements to go to Palm Beach, Florida instead.

Of course, all of this coming as Trump has been bracing for another possible criminal indictment to drop CNN'S Evan Perez leads us up. Evan, a lot has happened over the last 24 hours to listen.

EVAN PEREZ, CNN SENIOR JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: Absolutely. Yes, absolutely. Over the last 24 hours, we've now learned that the former president and his co-defendants essentially committed new crimes, according to the Justice Department, after the Justice Department asked for surveillance states from Mar-a-Lago.

And so here is what prosecutors allege, according to this new superseding indictment that was unsealed yesterday. They say that the former president and two of his employees, Walt Nauta, who was already charged, and a new defendant, a new co-defendant, his name is Carlos de Oliveira, that they -- and the former president essentially discussed a way to delete that surveillance footage because they knew it showed damning evidence of them moving boxes, perhaps hiding some of the classified documents that the government wanted the former president to return.

Now, really just a part of what the indictment lays out. It says that Mr. De Oliveira asked Trump's of employee for, how many days a server retained footage? The Trump employee responded that he believed there was about approximately 45 days.

De Oliveira said that the boss, again referring to Mr. Trump, wanted the server deleted. He says that Trump -- he told the Trump employee number four, the boss wants the server deleted and asked, what are we going to do? That lays out this new allegation against the former president's three new obstruction related charges against him.

There's also a new charge related to a 32nd classified document that the former president is accused of retaining illegally. That is a document, of course, that has been the subject of a lot of our coverage. It's a document that was -- the discussion for some writers who are working on a biography of Mark Meadows and they met in July of 2021 at Bedminster, the former President's Club in New Jersey.

And during that discussion, the former president is accused of holding up a document that referred to attack plans related to Iran. And so the prosecutors have now added that document as one of the -- as one of the documents that the former president is alleged to have withheld from the government illegally. Rahel?

SOLOMON: Evan, certainly a lot of questions about what the defense strategy will be now that we know that prosecutors, in fact, have that document. But we do know that Trump's defense team is asking to discuss classified information in a location of their choosing.

Help us understand. What exactly are they asking?

PEREZ: Yes. So the former president says that for -- his legal team say that for his convenience, they want to be able to discuss some of the classified documents at his homes or in other locations, of course, that are not cleared to have any kind of classified documents or any discussions of classified documents.

The government, of course, is objecting to that. And they say that the defendant, the former president, of course, it wants to be permitted to discuss classified documents with his -- with his -- with his lawyers at places that are not cleared for classified documents. Of course, the government says that cannot go.

Evan Perez, great to have you. Thank you.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN HOST: All right. With us now, former Trump White House lawyer, Jim Schultz. and former Assistant Special Watergate prosecutor, Nick Akerman.

Nick, let me start with you with that Watergate word here, because when we're talking about allegations of destroying evidence, mutilating, you know, altering, concealing, some crazy words there. It does sort of ring a bell for those who remember Watergate and some of the evidence that went missing there.

[10:05:04]

NICK AKERMAN, FORMER ASSISTANT U.S. ATTORNEY, SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF NEW YORK: Oh, absolutely. This really mirrors exactly what Richard Nixon did to his secretary, Rose Mary Woods, where she deleted 18 minutes of a critical tape that was turned over to our white -- our office. This was one of the Oval Office tapes. And it was famously known as the 18- minute Gap.

Richard Nixon was successful in doing that. According to this indictment, Trump was not successful. They tried, but they couldn't find anybody who knew how to delete the server.

SOLOMON: Hey, Jim, let me bring you into this conversation. What do you think it's like right now on Trump's defense team? I mean, as we understand that they were not expecting this. And so what do you think the sort of the mood is like today?

JAMES SCHULTZ, FORMER TRUMP WHITE HOUSE LAWYER: Look, I think the most significant piece coming out of this is that 32nd document that they discovered, right? And how they got it, we're not sure how the government obtained that document.

But the -- but what is important about that document is they didn't have it before. And it wasn't part of the prior indictment. And why that's significant is now they probably have folks who they've been able to question with that document and say, is this the document that, you know, that he was speaking of with the -- relating to Iran, in that -- in that discussion that was laid out in the first indictment.

That's a real problem for Donald Trump's defense team at this point in time, because without that document, you know, he had the -- he had the defense that there was just papers or newspaper clippings and things like that. Now that they have that document, and if witnesses can corroborate it, it's a big problem.

SOLOMON: Jim, let me ask you to that point, because we have heard Trump say, I didn't have the document, it wasn't actually a document. I was shuffling around papers. How much does that complicate things for his defense team that -- I mean, he's out publicly talking about it?

SCHULTZ: Well, I mean, no different than saying, look, you could desk the -- he could declassify all these documents by waving a magic wand. I mean, it's just another chip in each one of the defense's that he's out there positing in a public way. And it knocks them down every time and it creates problems for them both from a public perspective, but also when they have to go in to defend the case in court.

BERMAN: You know, the thing is lying to the American people.

SOLOMON: That's one thing, fair.

BERMAN: That's not a crime.

SOLOMON: Fair.

BERMAN: But you're right. I mean, the more you say things that aren't true in public, particularly after you've been charged with a crime, it can ultimately, you know, I think have impact on the case like that. You know, Nick, you talk about trying to destroy the evidence, and you suggest that Trump failed. But this does get to a mindset here, and some have suggested a consciousness of guilt, or at least a consciousness if something was going wrong here, how could that play into the larger case?

AKERMAN: Well, into the larger case, which is really the obstruction of justice. Trump would have never been charged with any crime, but for the fact that he first obstructed the initial grand jury subpoena that asked for all of the classified documents.

Now, we've got him obstructing another grand jury subpoena that asked for the tape recordings of the surveillance camera photos.

So, what you've got here is a continuing an obstruction that involves, now, two other people Nauta and De Oliveira, and asking that this stuff be destroyed. I mean, this goes to consciousness of guilt. It ties in with his whole effort to keep the government from obtaining these documents. And now ties into the government not being -- trying to keep the government from obtaining critical evidence of his guilt. I mean, that couldn't be more powerful evidence.

When you put the whole thing together, you've got proof not only beyond a reasonable doubt, but beyond any doubt, and there's really no defense to it. Even though the statements are all made by employees, not made by Trump himself. The circumstantial proof that you put up before with the timing shows that all this happened after Trump was notified of the subpoena.

But the fact of the matter is, all these e-mails, all these conversations, go into evidence against Donald Trump as statements in furtherance of the conspiracy to obstruct.

SOLOMON: Nick, let me ask, and I don't want you to speculate here. But when you read the superseding indictment and you -- we hear about employee number four, who sort of at the center of this saying, who was asked to delete the surveillance video and says, I don't really think I have the right to, when you read about Trump employee number four, what do you think, as a prosecutor?

AKERMAN: Well, as a prosecutor, I immediately realized that employee number four had to be put into the grand jury, that all of the testimony that is -- or the statements that were made that are set out in paragraph 84 of the superseding indictment. All of those statements have to be elicited from employee number four in the grand jury.

[10:10:09]

The government would never put that into an indictment without having locked it in solid. And that's what happens here. So they've got a witness who actually testify to this conversation.

BERMAN: Testified to the conversation with De Oliveira. But, Jim, to that point, and Nick's absolutely right, that this evidence in these conversations are admissible because of the conspiracy aspect of it. But just in terms of the witness you would most want to have at a trial, it isn't clear that they have someone who would testify, Donald Trump told me X. How much does that create a challenge for prosecutors here?

SCHULTZ: Look, that's this -- that's all fodder for cross examination by the defense, right? What beef that this person may have -- may have had with Donald Trump or the other folks? How solid was his testimony? They're going to be able to ask questions of this witness at trial. And that's going to be on the defense counsel to try to poke holes in that.

Again, I think -- I think you're right, and that it becomes very difficult to do that. If you have an unbiased person, kind of loyal person that's worked there a long time that's trustworthy. It becomes very difficult to impugn that testimony. But we don't know what we don't know.

BERMAN: Every day, I think we are learning that more and more. Jim Schultz, Nick Akerman, thank you both for being with us. Really appreciate it.

SOLOMON: Reminds me of that expression, the more you know, the more you realize you don't know.

BERMAN: That's it.

SOLOMON: Right? Well, coming up, we will have much more, of course, on the new charges facing former president Trump throughout the morning.

Coming up, we will examine their magnitude and if there's anything that can move the needle with some Republican voters.

Plus, Trump and a dozen other 2024 GOP hopefuls descend on Iowa, all in the same room tonight, making their case for the presidency. But how will they approach Trump's legal troubles with him right there?

And heat just refusing to let up relentless, more than 150 million Americans facing just scorching temperatures across the country. Now the Northeast facing one of the hottest days yet.

BERMAN: And the northeast is scorching.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[10:15:41]

BERMAN: The rookie police officer who was shot in the head while responding to the mass shooting in Louisville is getting ready to be released from the hospital. Nickolas Wilt has been in the hospital since that day in April. He had just graduated from police academy 11 days before the shooting at the Old National Bank. The shooting left five people dead. Wilt was one of the first officers on the scene. He ran toward the gunfire.

The Emmy Awards have been delayed for the first time in more than two decades because of the writers and actors strike. Variety is reporting that vendors for the events have been told the ceremony will not air. The show was scheduled to be on September 18th. The spokesperson for the Television Academy has declined to comment on this.

A founding member of the Eagles has passed away, Randy Meisner, he was a bassist and vocalist. He was phenomenal. You will recognize his voice from the smash hit Take it to the Limit. Just listen.

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BERMAN: They want me to start talking, but I just want to keep listening. It's such a wonderful voice. He was such a wonderful musician. Randy Meisner was 77 years old. Rahel?

SOLOMON: All right, John, thank you. Well, the heat in Arizona is so oppressive that even the cacti are dying. In Phoenix, they have already recorded 15 total days above 115 degrees this year. That heat now expanding to the northeast leaving over 150 million people under alerts from coast to coast.

And today will likely be the hottest day in the region as some cities are expected to feel heat index of 105 degrees.

I'm going to bring in CNN's Miguel Marquez and Danny Freeman. They both join us live. Miguel, let's start with you in the New York -- in New York. How are New Yorkers handling this? What are you seeing this morning?

MIGUEL MARQUEZ, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: So far so good, but it is heating up and it's going to get a lot hotter from here. I've left myself out here baking so you can get a little that -- that's -- the sweatiness, but it's not quite scorching yet.

I wish. We're in Washington Square Park. They're clearing out -- they're cleaning out the fountain here, which will get going later. And I guarantee you, it will be packed. But it is an absolutely stunning day at the moment.

But that heat index in New York can hit as high as 110. That's the mixture of humidity and heat at the same time. It is going to be hot. The city has set up cooling centers throughout the city that people can get you.

When you look at the specific people say, oh, it's hot in New York. Not a big deal. It's July nearly August. That happens. Yes, that is true. But when you look at the big picture, the fact that it's been such a hot July, not only here, but around the country when you look at our long, weird, wet spring, and you look at that very mild winter we had, and you pile that on year after year. And then when you look at the big picture and you see how weather is changing everywhere, it is very clear something is happening.

The U.N. Secretary General saying yesterday that we're no longer in global warming. We're in global boiling. Back to you.

SOLOMON: Yes, that quote caught my attention too, Miguel. I like long weird wet spring. That's a great way to put it.

Let me bring in Danny Freeman. Danny, in the City of Brotherly Love, a city that I know very well and also love very much. It's my hometown. So how are Philadelphians handling this hate?

[10:20:06]

DANNY FREEMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Listen, Rahel, I will say that I've been trying to avoid getting as sweaty as Miguel said that he has been out there. I've been trying to stay in the shade, trying to stay in the car in AC as much as I can.

And that's what everyone is recommending Philadelphians do here as well, just because with every hour, with really with every minute, Rahel, it has been getting hotter. We were out here earlier in the morning, and it actually felt kind of nice, it was in the high 70s, the low 80s, well, now, we're in the high 80s in terms of the actual temperature, but that feels like is already in the 90s.

And again here in Philadelphia, it's going to get that feels like temperature up to almost till 109 degrees. That's in Philadelphia. We're not talking in the desert, we're not talking -- it's in Philadelphia going to be feeling like 109 degrees. So that's why we're in that heat health emergency here in the city and also in the surrounding areas.

The city also here has opened up a number of cooling centers. Folks recommending people get to your local libraries, their schools open as well if you don't have air conditioning in your home. And, of course, the lesson that people are trying to impart here still keep hydrated, as we've been saying all throughout this morning and all throughout this heatwave that we've experienced.

Because really it started yesterday in Philadelphia. It's going to continue into tomorrow night. Now, I want to point out, Rahel, the Philadelphia Inquirer, they said that it's been a little over 10 years since the city of Philadelphia itself has hit 100 degrees. We may not actually hit that mark today, which would be a good thing.

But just to demonstrate it. I filled up my CNN water bottle earlier today just with ice. It is not cold water. It is getting warm and warmer and warmer by every minute. But I'll be drinking it and then I'll be hydrated. That's a good thing.

SOLOMON: (inaudible) water.

FREEMAN: Rahel, back to you.

SOLOMON: All right, Danny. We'll let you get back inside and cool off. Thank you.

So, John, earlier you said it's a scorcher, because you're from Massachusetts.

BERMAN: Yes.

SOLOMON: And Philly, where I'm from, we would say that John is hot.

BERMAN: I have T-shirts that say Jawn, J-A-W-N.

SOLOMON: Yes.

BERMAN: And my family loves that saying.

SOLOMON: (inaudible) is hot, yes.

BERMAN: That -- Ok. You just made -- you made my day.

SOLOMON: You're welcome.

BERMAN: Thank you. Tonight, the Republican candidates will be on the same stage. For the first time, Ron DeSantis and Donald Trump will be at the same event. This comes as new charges have been filed against the former president.

And in Ukraine, has the Ukrainian counteroffensive achieved some new important success? Where and how they might be breaking through?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[10:25:09]

SOLOMON: Welcome back. Thirteen Republican presidential candidates are heading to the early primary state of Iowa today to speak at a GOP fundraiser. And that includes frontrunner, Donald Trump and rival, Ron DeSantis. It is Trump's first campaign event since being charged with three new felony charges in the classified documents probe.

As for DeSantis, well, he's debuting up revamped campaign as he tries to gain some ground on Trump's major lead in the polls.

CNN's Jessica Dean on the trail in Iowa this morning. So, Jessica, what can we expect?

JESSICA DEAN, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Rahel, we're really seeing this example that we've seen play out as this GOP primary has kind of unfold before us, where former President Trump and his legal issues just slammed right into the 2024 race. And that's what's happening tonight.

So we have all of these candidates. So many of them that will be appearing on the stage really pitching themselves to voters here in this critical first state of Iowa.

And we had recent polling from Fox Business that showed former president Trump at 46 percent and everybody else very far behind him. Ron DeSantis coming in at 16 percent. He was in second place. And that really helps underscore just the hold that the former president has on this primary, and the challenge for all of these other contenders who are really hoping to break through with voters here. And so they come to events like this, hoping that this will be that moment.

And then former president Trump blows in and really sucks all of the oxygen out in the room. Now, the candidates, the other candidates we'll tell you, listen, that doesn't matter. We're focused on us and we really haven't seen any of them, aside from Chris Christie and ASA Hutchinson really directly go after the former president.

Instead, we've seen them kind of talking around it in a way. We saw former -- or Governor Ron DeSantis on the campaign trail. Yesterday, he's on the campaign trail. Again, today here in Iowa on a tour -- on a bus tour of rural Iowa.

And the most direct he would come at former president Trump was really when he was asked about it by reporters. He doesn't do it on the stump because he is kind of trying to thread that needle. These are people that I talked to, voters I talked to who supported the former president in the last two elections.

So he's trying to convert them to support him. He's making the argument about electability that he's a person that can draw in independent voters like he did in Florida. The question is whether voters are buying that or not.

So, Rahel, it's quite a scene that we're going to see tonight, as all of these contenders descend here on Iowa at this -- in this critical state at a critical moment where we're just about six months out from the Iowa caucuses. Rahel?

SOLOMON: Certainly a lot to watch. Jessica Dean live for us there in Iowa. Thank you, Jessica.

BERMAN: I mean, quite a scene. I mean, to happen on this date with everything else going on. And for this to be the first time that Trump is at the same event as the other candidates particularly Ron DeSantis.

SOLOMON: Quite a thing. Yes.

BERMAN: All right. With us now, Republican strategist and former RNC communications director, Doug Heye. Who also, if I'm not mistaken, ran comms for the caucuses in 2012. So you know --

DOUG HEYE, REPUBLICAN STRATEGIST: Yes.

BERMAN: -- Iowa, right? So talk to us about the phenomenon of all these things converging at the same time. There's this big candidate event tonight.