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Arraignment for Mar-a-Lago Property Manager; Target Letter Received by Mar-a-Lago Employee; Georgia Election Probe Update; Caroline Polisi is Interviewed about the Mar-a-Lago Cases; Missile Strike in Ukraine; War Returning to Russia. Aired 9-9:30a ET

Aired July 31, 2023 - 09:00   ET

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

[09:00:37]

SARA SIDNER, CNN ANCHOR: A low-profile Trump employee entangled in Trump's high-profile criminal case. This morning, former President Trump's newest co-defendant, a Mar-a-Lago property manager, will be arraigned in the criminal classified documents case. CNN is live in Miami with details.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: We are ready to go. Georgia officials wrapping up an investigation into Donald Trump's efforts to overturn the election results there. Charges could come any day.

SIDNER: And at least four people are dead and dozens more injured after Russia launched a pair of missiles into central Ukraine.

Kate Bolduan is off. I'm Sara Sidner, with John Berman. This is CNN NEWS CENTRAL.

Happening this morning, a Mar-a-Lago property manager accused of trying to delete security footage from the Trump resort in the classified documents case will be arraigned in a Miami court. Carlos De Oliveira is the third person indicted in this case. After investigators subpoenaed the Mar-a-Lago security video last year, De Oliveira allegedly told the resort's IT director that the boss wanted the server deleted. That is according to the indictment.

De Oliveira is described as someone outside of the former president's inner circle and several people tell CNN that he's not someone who is known by Trump's close confidants. CNN spoke to one of De Oliveira's family members and they say he likely didn't realize the consequences of what Trump was telling him to do and was probably just being loyal to his boss.

CNN correspondent Randi Kaye is for us there in Miami.

What do we know about the charges against De Oliveira there?

RANDI KAYE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Sara.

Good morning, Sara. We are learning much more about the charges against him. We know that he's accused of being part of this plot to try and delete security camera footage from the Mar-a-Lago club that would allegedly include asking this IT worker how long the video stays on the server according to the indictment and telling him, as you said, that the boss wants the server deleted.

The charges against him are pretty serious. He's facing conspiracy to obstruct justice. One charge for that. Also a charge of making false statements and two counts of concealing or destroying an object. So, he will be appearing here in court shortly.

At the center, though, of these new allegations, it's worth noting, is yet another Mar-a-Lago club employee. An IT worker by the name of Yuscil Taveras. We understand that he is the person who Carlos De Oliveira was speaking with when he was asking about how to delete this video from the server. Sources telling CNN that some of the new allegations against Trump and his aide, Walt Nauta, as well as Carlos De Oliveira, are coming from information at least in part that this IT worker, Yucil Taveras, had given during a conversation with the FBI.

We can tell you, though, that Taveras has not been charged but -- and it's unclear how much he is cooperating. But, apparently, some of that information is coming from him.

Sara.

SIDNER: Can you give us some sense of what might happen this morning with De Oliveira?

KAYE: De Oliveira is going to be appearing in court with his attorney that we know of right now who is John Irving. He's a Washington, D.C.- based attorney. It's unclear if he's actually going to be arraigned or if he's just going to make an appearance because he does need a Florida-barred lawyer, a Florida-based lawyer who practices law here in order to have his full arraignment. So, if he doesn't have a Florida lawyer, it doesn't appear as there is one at least right now on the docket, then his case could be delayed, which, of course, could have a real impact on when Donald Trump could go to trial in this case and how that will work and if that will happen before election day, Sara.

SIDNER: Randi Kaye, always good to see you. Thank you so much for that.

John.

BERMAN: Yes, a big day. We're watching it very closely. We're looking to see his face among other things this morning when he walks in.

SIDNER: Yes.

BERMAN: Now, Randi brought up the case of employee number four, right, which sheds some light on how the special counsel is building its case. It turns out the special counsel's office sent a target letter to Yucil Tavares back in June. He oversees Mar-a-Lago's surveillance cameras. He did receive that target letter and he did testify before the grand jury. And he talked about the exchange with Carlos De Oliveira about scrubbing security surveillance from the server.

[09:05:07]

It is notable that while he was told he was a target, he has not been charged.

CNN's Evan Perez following this for us.

So, employee number four, some pretty intriguing questions surrounding him, Evan.

EVAN PEREZ, CNN SENIOR JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: That's right, John. Look, we're beginning another week of waiting for -- to see whether the former president has yet another indictment, another federal indictment. This, of course, in his efforts to remain in power after the 2020 election. But we're learning more about the most recent indictment, the one that was superseded recently, with these new details about Yucil Taveras.

Now, he is, as you pointed out, identified as employee number four. And what's key here is that prosecutors sent him a target letter, which was a warning essentially that he's about to be charged. And it is after that -- and this, of course, came after the former president was first indicted. So it's after that, that we know Yucil Tavares went in and gave information that we know is now part of that key paragraph that you - that we've been citing. This is the one where he talks to De Oliveira. De Oliveira asking him how much time is saved on the server. These surveillance videos. And him basically responding that, you know, he didn't really have the authority to do that.

So, we don't know whether we can call Tavaras a cooperator here at this point, but we do know that certainly what he said to prosecutors ended up being part of that key paragraph that you see there.

The former president, of course, finally responding to some of this over the weekend with some very angry posts on social media, on his platform there. He says that these security tapes were not deleted. And he also points out that he never told anyone to delete them. He says this is prosecutorial fiction, misconduct and, of course, election interference. This is what we've heard more recently from the former president in his own defense, John.

BERMAN: So, Evan, let's talk about the timeline in the January 6th investigation, about whether an indictment could be coming there. Really it could happen any day. Previously the grand jury there meets Tuesdays and Thursdays.

PEREZ: Right.

BERMAN: So, we'll be keeping our eyes out tomorrow.

But at the same time, we heard from Bernie Kerik's attorneys. Bernie Kerik, the former NYPD police commissioner who worked closely with Rudy Giuliani, that he's still scheduled to speak with prosecutors potentially days from now. How does that work into the timeline of a, you know, pending indictment?

PEREZ: Yes, look, I mean, part of what we've been kind of wrestling with -- we're trying to figure out -- we know that the former president was now told more than two weeks ago that he was a target of this investigation and that that was an indication that he certainly could be charged very soon. But the fact that Bernie Kerik, who is an important witness, he has information that was only recently turned over -- as a matter of fact last weekend was when his lawyers turned over information that prosecutors had been looking to get, again, looking at what Kerik's role was with Rudy Giuliani, trying to help the former president come up with these fraud -- proof of fraud -- of course which -- which there was none.

And so we know that he's going to meet with prosecutors in the coming days. We don't know whether this means this indictment is put off for a little while longer or whether they already have what they need and Bernie Kerik's more about other people that could also face charges, John.

BERMAN: Very interesting questions and possibilities there.

Evan Perez, keep us posted. Don't go far over these next few days. Appreciate it.

PEREZ: Sure.

BERMAN: Sara.

SIDNER: All right, now to Georgia where we heard these words, our work is accomplished and we're ready to go. Those words are from the Fulton County DA in Georgia about her team's investigation into Donald Trump's alleged efforts to overturn the 2020 election in that state. Security has been ramped up at the courthouse ahead of the impending announcement about a possible indictment. The DA says that decision is coming within weeks.

CNN's Sara Murray joins us now.

Can you give us a sense of what other security precautions are being taken after you did this really great documentary on how we got here.

SARA MURRAY, CNN POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, thank you for that.

Look, we've already seen some barricades going up around the Fulton County Courthouse. And I suspect that in the upcoming days and weeks we're going to see a much harder security perimeter here.

Today is also the first day that Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis has instructed much of her staff to begin working from home. She set out a number of days for them to do so between now and the end of August, days where the grand jury would normally be meeting. And she's also asked judges who convene trials, convene hearings at this courthouse behind me to consider canceling those or holding those virtually later on in this month. All part of her effort to sort of lock things down around the perimeter and have as few people as possible working out of these buildings when there is a potential announcement about indictments, Sara.

[09:10:10] SIDNER: All right. Just to be clear, those sirens behind you have nothing to do with this as we understand it.

I do want to ask you just quickly, Sara, about how this is going to work going forward and when you expect there might be some announcement of a potential indictment.

MURRAY: That's right. I mean I still think we are looking at, in the next couple of weeks, probably not in the next couple of days. There's a hearing in this case where Trump's team is trying to get Fani Willis disqualified from the case, trying to get a bunch of the evidence thrown out. That's on August 10th. I would be surprised if she does indictments before then. But our local affiliate caught up with her over the weekend -- I think we have some sound from that -- where she was very clear that even though her moves may annoy some people, that her investigation is ready to go.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

FANI WILLIS, DISTRICT ATTORNEY FOR FULTON COUNTY, GEORGIA: Some people may not be happy with the decisions that I was making. And sometimes when people are unhappy they act in a way that could create harm.

The work is accomplished. I mean we've been working for two and a half years. And we're ready to go.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MURRAY: So, she's aware there may be some blow back, but clearly it's full speed ahead in the next couple of weeks. We'll see what she has to announce, Sara.

SIDNER: Sara Murray outside that court there in Atlanta. Appreciate it.

John.

BERMAN: All right, with us now, federal and white-collar criminal defense attorney Caroline Polisi.

Counselor, I want to go back to what's happening in Florida today in the next few minutes where Carlos De Oliveira is going to show up for his arraignment.

We learned over the weekend that employee number four was this man Yucil Tavaras, who ran the security footage. He got a target letter in June, talked with prosecutors, has not been charged. So, target letter, yet no charges. What can we glean from that?

CAROLINE POLISI, FEDERAL AND WHITE-COLLAR CRIMINAL DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Yes, well, it's pretty obvious, while it hasn't officially been confirmed yet, it does appear that Tavaras is cooperating, we're not sure if it's a capital c, but it appears that he's cooperating with Jack Smith and his team. As you've said, he got that target letter. However -- I mean it's not -- the government could supersede again and certainly add him. But I think it's interesting they referred to him as employee number four in the superseding indictment. Not typically -- if there's a co-conspirator, they would refer to him as such.

BERMAN: You say cooperating.

POLISI: Yes.

BERMAN: Unclear whether it's with a capital c.

POLISI: Right.

BERMAN: So, what are the different forms of cooperation?

POLISI: Right. Well, you know, a real cooperation agreement would indicate -- I mean, there are all sorts of procedures that go along with that, but basically it would include some sort of reduced sentence for Tavares. Now, it does appear, as you note, that the only way that, you know, prosecutors could have received this information is from Tavares.

You know, there's this bombshell information, seems like it's out of a mob movie, where De Oliveira is telling Tavares to essentially delete the security camera footage. Now, in a -- he says it's coming straight from the boss. We don't have, you know, a firsthand account of that conversation between Donald Trump and De Oliveira. So, you know, the implication could be that the government's putting the squeeze on really to get somebody else to flip.

BERMAN: One other data point is that Tavares switched lawyers.

POLISI: Yes.

BERMAN: Now, it's unclear who is paying for his lawyer now, but the lawyer he did have also represented Walt Nauta.

POLISI: Yes.

BERMAN: Who is a co-defendant in this case. So, what does it tell us that he had to sort of deconflict there?

POLISI: Yes. Well, there was a conflict, obviously. And, you know, a lot of people are making a big deal out of the fact that, you know, the Trump PAC (ph) is paying for so many of, you know, the Trump affiliates - you know, the Trump affiliates that have been indicted in these various cases. It's not, you know, necessarily a legal conflict for - you know, it happens all the time that employers pay for their employees' defense. You know, it's just notable that it seems to be the case that when, you know, a Trump lawyer is advising one of these affiliates, they tend not to flip. They tend to, you know, then be indicted.

BERMAN: Yes.

POLISI: Notable that Tavares, you know, switched attorneys and thereafter it appears that he began cooperating. BERMAN: That's a good point. It happened after that. At a minimum it

shows that his interests and Walt Nauta's interests don't necessarily align.

POLISI: Correct. Correct.

BERMAN: Because if there were no conflict there, the same lawyer could represent them.

POLISI: Correct. Absolutely.

BERMAN: Today, Carlos De Oliveira shows up for this arraignment. Anything unusual that could happen today? Are you looking for any twists and turns or is this mostly procedural?

POLISI: This is absolutely a procedural sort of hearing today. You know, he will -- if he can find local counsel, which, you know, it's unclear if he will be able to, just, he'll enter the plea of not guilty. Thereafter, the case will move forward.

I do think it's interesting that the government supersede is now adding these defendants. It could impact the trial date, which is now set for May, obviously, 2024. You know, the addition of these additional defendants could potentially kick that back.

[09:15:02]

BERMAN: Will we learn that today potentially?

POLISI: No, absolutely not. But, you know, it just - it's interesting that the government didn't tell the judge that they planned to supersede when they were, you know, jockeying back and forth for their trial date.

BERMAN: Caroline Polisi, great to see you. Thank you so much.

POLISI: Thanks.

BERMAN: Sara.

SIDNER: All right, how are the recent developments in the cases against Donald Trump affecting his campaign? We take a look at a new poll. The results show Trump pulling far ahead of his rivals.

Plus, more drone attacks in Moscow.

(VIDEO CLIP)

SIDNER: Dramatic video there. Ukrainian President Zelenskyy's vow to take the fight across the border and why Russia says it may be forced to use a nuclear weapon.

Also, a judge has blocked an Arkansas law targeting librarians and book sellers that would have made it a crime for them to provide certain books and materials to minors. All those stories ahead.

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[09:20:08]

BERMAN: New this morning, a pair of Russian missiles destroyed an apartment and school buildings in Kryvyi Rih, which is the hometown of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. At least four people were killed, dozens more were injured. City officials warn that those numbers may grow as they continue to go through the rubble. The attack, as you can see, left gaping holes in some of the buildings there.

CNN's Nick Paton Walsh is in the Ukrainian city of Zaporizhzhia this morning.

Nick, what's the latest?

NICK PATON WALSH, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Yes, it's a startling, frankly, attack given the number of injured here, north of 50. And, of course, this being Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy's hometown. Relatively far from the new front lines. It used to be closer when the Russians held more territory. And it is a sprawling industrial base, but one that was rocked by these repeated strikes. A neighbor of one of the residential blocks that was hit describing how her husband was knocked to the floor just by the shock wave and she was so glad her child was in the bathroom and, therefore, safer in that closed space.

Another woman working at one of the universities, the laboratory of which appears to have been hit, it was empty, but another sign, frankly, that Russia is, it seems, happy to hit entirely civilian targets, or indeed potentially focusing on them itself.

Now, we should point out, this is something that happens very frequently. A death toll like four, which we understand is two men, a 45-year-old woman and her 10-year-old daughter, that is relatively high, but the injured of 50 suggest we may be seeing a larger casualty toll as they begin, as you say, to go through the rubble here.

But as Russia seems to be struggling on the front lines here with Ukraine's counteroffensive and indeed potentially psychologically shaken by the drone strikes that Ukraine hasn't claimed but were likely behind that hit the Russian capital, an upscale area, Moscow City it's called, a kind of wannabe Wall Street almost, glass towers there damaged, nobody hurt, that the bid by Moscow seems to be to make some sort of retaliatory strike again against Ukraine's civilian population.

Here, though, is what that brief moment of panic in Moscow looked like.

(VIDEO CLIP)

WALSH: So clearly there panic certainly amongst the population. Those living in elite areas of Moscow who must have thought the war was something being fought by Russia's poor very far away and seeing those drones that have hit expensive suburbs of Moscow that have seemed to hit the Kremlin as well. Again reminding Russians that this is a war increasingly coming home.

That's the point Volodymyr Zelenskyy made himself yesterday, saying that the war was gradually returning to Russia's territory. So, a stark psychological impact, but the damage paling into insignificance, frankly, by that done daily against Ukrainian civilians by Russian barrages.

John.

BERMAN: All right, Nick Paton Walsh, great to see you. Keep us posted, Nick. Thank you.

Sara.

SIDNER: Joining us now is CNN military analyst and retired U.S. Army General Wesley Clark.

Thank you, General, for being here today.

I do want to ask you about Zelenskyy saying, look, we're bringing the fight to Russia. You saw that really dramatic video there of an explosion in the suburbs there. How do you think Ukraine's allies are going to see this?

GEN. WESLEY CLARK (RET.), CNN MILITARY ANALYST: Well, I think Ukraine's allies will see it as both inevitable and worrisome. Inevitable because for political reasons at home President Zelenskyy has to bring that -- some of that fight back to Russian soil. But also it's worrisome because when the conflict expands like this, decades of experience shows this bombing is not going to take the Russian people's support away from Putin, bringing an end to the war closer. If anything, it hardens resistance, just as the Ukrainians have strengthened their resistance as a result of the Russian attacks on civilian populous.

So, it's an indicator of the continuation of the struggle in the war that is liable to continue for some time.

SIDNER: I do want to ask you about something that Russian official says Dmitry Medvedev said that Russia might be forced to use nuclear weapons. We have heard inklings of this before, but this is a pretty stark realization for him to say this sort of out loud.

What are the chances that they might actually do that with the counteroffensive going the way it is from Ukraine?

CLARK: I think the chances are very low. You can never say the chances are zero. But this is hybrid warfare. And so the statement that Medvedev gives is not -- it has multiple purposes. It's so deter the allies from further strengthening Ukraine's counteroffensive.

[09:25:02]

It's to scare the global south into supporting pressure and putting pressure on Ukraine to end the fight. It's to scare the American people into telling President Biden, oh, my goodness, stop this, it's going to go -- it's going to escalate. And, of course, it might have some impact on actual decision-making in the White House. We don't know. But it's hybrid warfare. And those kinds of statements are information war, they're designed to influence the action on the ground and influence any movement toward a peace conference or a negotiated settlement.

SIDNER: All right, well, that is a little bit more settling. Whenever I hear the word "nuclear weapons" and the use of them is terrifying, considering what they can do.

I do want to ask you about what's happening with the Saudis. They're holding a peace summit, trying to find a solution to this war. What do you make of what's taken place so far?

CLARK: Well, the announcement, of course, the peace conference is supposed to take place in the next week or so. I'm being told that this was an effort -- actually may have been suggested by Russia to sources in the Ukrainian government as a way of putting pressure on the Ukrainian military through their civilian government to stop the war.

President Zelenskyy has said he's not going to stop, can't negotiate until all the territory is returned. This is a ten-part peace plan. The global south has rejected that as recently as a meeting in Copenhagen last month. And so this new meeting in Saudi that's going to come where Russia won't be there, but Ukraine and the U.S. will be, the odds are that this is going to end up not reinforcing Ukraine's determination to get its territory back, but rather it's going to be turned against the United States for providing the material necessary to continue the conflict and put pressure on Ukraine to accept a negotiated settlement that doesn't include the return of Crimea and the other disputed territories.

Now, maybe some in the Ukrainian government want this. My sources in Ukraine tell me absolutely not, they're determined to fight and get their territory back. President Zelenskyy is in this and he's saying he wants those territories back. So, I think this is a really dicey situation for the United States and for Ukraine.

SIDNER: Yes, I think Zelenskyy has made very, very clear that there is no way he's going to get into peace talks unless Russia leaves all of the territories that are Ukrainian soil.

Thank you so much, General Wesley Clark. I appreciate your analysis on that.

John.

BERMAN: An Arkansas judge has blocked a controversial book banning law from taking effect tomorrow. The measure would make it a misdemeanor for libraries and book stores to provide what they call harmful material to minors. Violators would have been subject to up to a year in jail or a $2,500 fine.

In Idaho, the so-called doomsday mom faces sentencing today. Lori Vallow Daybell could get life in prison for the murders of her two youngest children. She was convicted in May of killing her seven-year- old son and sixteen-year-old daughter and conspiracy in the murder of her husband's first wife.

And the city of San Francisco has filed a complaint against Twitter. The complaint says Twitter installed a flashing x sign on top of its headquarters building without a permit. Last week owner Elon Musk rebranded Twitter, replacing the iconic bird logo with an x. Authorities say they have visited the headquarters twice regarding the sign and they were denied access to it each time.

Sara.

SIDNER: All right, ahead, Vice President Kamala Harris is hitting the campaign trail and she is on the attack. The presidential candidate she's going after as the center piece of Biden's rapid response team.

Also, an American nurse and her child have been kidnapped in Haiti. We'll get the latest on what's being done to get them back safely in a country that has been ravaged by violence for months.

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