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Soon: Police To Give Update On Gilgo Beach Murders Case; U.S. Job Market Continues Cool Down, Adds 187K Jobs In July; Russian Media: Putin Critic Navalny Sentenced To 19 Years. Aired 10-10:30p ET

Aired August 04, 2023 - 10:00   ET

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

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KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: Donald Trump's legal team now preparing to head back to court later this month. The many legal defenses and deflections that they are already testing out in public.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: A dramatic attack on a Russian port. Overnight video shows the moment an unmanned drone is seriously damaged a Russian warship.

BOLDUAN: Plus authorities investigating the Gilgo Beach killings set to give an update this hour. We're going to bring that to you live when it happens. Sarah is off. I'm Kate Bolduan with John Berman. And this is CNN NEWS CENTRAL.

BERMAN: A new month of job growth extending employment strength in the U.S. economy. 187,000 jobs were added in July and the unemployment rate ticked down to 3.5 percent. Now the 187,000 jobs added were lower than what economists were expecting. Joined now by Acting Labor Secretary Julie Su.

Ms. Madam Secretary, thank you for being with us. Economists had expected more jobs added. What do you think of that?

JULIE SU, ACTING LABOR SECRETARY: Well, this is the stable, steady growth that the President predicted a year ago, we were hopeful that we would go from the record breaking numbers of jobs created on a monthly basis when we were coming out of the pandemic. And we've now had over 13.4 million jobs created since the President came into office. This is the fastest job growth ever.

You know, 10 years ago in 2008, it took 10 years to get that kind of recovery. And so now we are transitioning into the stable and steady growth that is going to be a characteristic of a strong economy.

BERMAN: Why don't you think it's meeting expectations, though?

SU: Well, I think that it is. I mean, basically what the President has said and part of his economic plan, right, Bidenomics is about making sure that we're creating an economy from the middle out and the bottom up, meaning we leave no one behind, we focus on creating good jobs in all communities, we keep the unemployment rate low, so the unemployment rate has been less than 4 percent now, for a year and a half. That's the longest stretch since the 1960s.

All while labor force participation rate remains at all-time highs. So all of those things together are signs of or characteristics of a strong and stable growth, which is really what we want. Many people said earlier on, it was too hot, is there going to be a soft landing. And these numbers are consistent with what that soft landing will look like.

BERMAN: I'm going to look at this from a different perspective, the glass half full perspective, which you are promoting right there. There's been many, many, many months of consistent job growth, you know, jobs, jobs, jobs added every month, and the economy is still growing and inflation is coming down. all of these in a vacuum you would think would be very positive signs that the American people would be feeling in would be thrilled about.

Yet, in our brand new CNN poll, 51 percent of Americans say the economy is getting worse. 20 percent saying better. How do you explain that?

SU: Yes, I mean, Americans have been through a lot, right? It's been -- it's been -- it's been a hard several years. We got through a global pandemic, people experienced, you know, loss, and -- and, you know, destabilization but when I travel around the country, I actually see people feeling very optimistic and that is reflected these numbers.

It's reflected in people coming back to labor market at record rates, it's reflected in women coming back to labor market, it's reflected even in the numbers of this past month. We're seeing more non- resident, non-residential construction so people -- we're building things, we're building factories that are going to help power this you know industrial policy of bringing more advanced manufacturing to the United States.

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We're seeing growth in health care jobs, we're seeing just life return to normal. We saw growth in personal services. So people are getting their hair cut, they're going to the nail salon. Those are areas in which we're seeing growth. And as I talk to Americans across the country, and as these numbers reflect, there's a sense that this -- that when you build an economy in which everyone gets included, that that's going to be, it's going to be different this time.

And that's going to be an important characteristics of what Bidenomics delivers for the American people.

BERMAN: Different subject. If I'm not mistaken, you did go out to the West Coast to help mediate the port strike that was taking place there, some time ago. Well, there's another strike that's hitting Hollywood not to mention New York and other places where they make scripted television and movies. I'm talking about the writers' strike and the actors' strike. Why aren't you involved there?

SU: Right, so another characteristic of this economy is this tight labor market, right? We have more jobs. And that has created a situation where working people have the ability to make different choices, to leave jobs that don't provide them with the wages, the security, right? The health benefits, the retirement that they want, and need and deserve. That's also increased Union's bargaining power.

And we're seeing that, as you mentioned, right at the ports, where the parties came together over 13 months and negotiated a tentative agreement. We saw that with UPS and Teamsters, right? That, you know, many people were worried about how that would land, and those parties reach a tentative agreement as well. That also means that some workers are going to strike if they're not getting what they need at the bargaining table.

It's all a part of the process that the President believes in. And I do that is, you know, collective bargaining. Parties coming together, resolving issues, building strength and resilience in their industries for the long term. And some of that will include the ability of workers to strike.

Acting Labor Secretary Julie Su, thank you very much. Kate.

BOLDUAN: Well, Donald Trump is headed to Alabama to hit the campaign trail today. Sources tell CNN though, that Trump was irked and "pissed off" after his court appearance yesterday. Right now his attorneys are preparing for the next steps in his whole process to fight the federal criminal charges stemming from his alleged effort to remain in power.

A judge has scheduled the next hearing for August 28. At that point a trial dates expected to be set. The timing here really is wild. His next court appearance will be just five days after the first Republican presidential primary debate, underscoring the historic nature of this case. CNN's Katelyn Polantz is here. She's got much more on this. Katelyn, walk us through what is next for Donald Trump here.

KATELYN POLANTZ, CNN SENIOR CRIME AND JUSTICE REPORTER: Well Kate, that August 28 date is not just a date circled on the calendar. It is the date that Donald Trump's lawyers and prosecutors in this case are going to be going before Judge Tanya Chutkan for the first time, and there is a lot of reason to watch how Judge Chutkan handles this case.

She's a very tough judge. She moves pretty fast. She's familiar with Trump as a litigant before. She has had a Donald Trump case before her before on the civil side related to the House inquiry and documents he wanted to hold back. And she is already sending a message through this court hearing yesterday that she's going to be ready to set a trial date whenever that hearing happens on August 28.

And so right now we're looking to see exactly how the arguments might shape up in the coming days. There are some filings do before then. How fast the initial parts of this case move. But here's what Donald Trump's lawyer, John Lauro was saying yesterday on Fox, it's some sentiments he also had to say in court itself.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) JOHN LAURO, ATTORNEY FOR DONALD TRUMP: They're attacking other parts of the constitution, because they want to take President Trump to trial in a few months. They want to deny him his sixth amendment rights to counsel, to give me and my co-counsel Todd Blanche and opportunity to prepare.

They want to deny President Trump his due process rights, to look at documents, to get witnesses, to use our subpoena power. They want to deny all of him those rights in a rush to judgment for one political purpose, and that's to uphold the Biden Administration.

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POLANTZ: So the Justice Department, they do want this case to move fast. They said as much in court as well, yesterday. But they have also said that there is a way to do this case where they can hand over evidence starting very soon. They're ready to go. And the judge yesterday, the magistrate judge in the case where Donald Trump was before her, she said to him directly this case, this court is going to make sure we have a fair trial.

Trump says he wants an appeal. He's saying on social media he wants things to go to the Supreme Court. That's not exactly how it works either. You can't snap your fingers and get appeals to take things off course. Kate?

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BOLDUAN: Katelyn Polantz, thank you so much. Joining us now for more on this is CNN Senior Legal Analyst Elie Honig, and Olivia Troye, Former Adviser to then Vice President Mike Pence. Elie, let's start with what Katelyn was talking about. And what we heard there from John Lauro. And I guess kind of the some of the strategy that they're laying out in this political prosecution, as they call it, saying that the Special Counsel's team is trying to deny Trump, all of these rights as they push -- as they push this trial forward. What do you think of what he said?

ELIE HONIG, FORMER FEDERAL AND STATE PROSECUTOR: I reject the claim that this is politically motivated. There's, first of all, there's no evidence of that. We appointed a Special Counsel. And there's just no reason to blanket accused prosecutors of political bias. He does have an important point though when we talk about any defendant, Sixth Amendment right to due process, and to prepare for trial.

And I know there's a great appetite, certainly with prosecutors, with much of the public to make sure Donald Trump gets tried before the election, and there may well be a genuine opportunity to get one, maybe two of these what will soon be four trials in but we also have to be really careful. We collectively, including the judiciary, not to just rush this thing to trial on a frantic schedule, because of the approaching election.

And by the way, the reason we're in this conundrum, in part is because DOJ took so long. Merrick Garland, there's no way around this. He wasted a year and a half before he appointed Jack Smith, Jack Smith got his job done very quickly. But because of that lost year and a half, that's why we're having to deal with this in an election year. So there is some legitimacy to that part of the argument.

BOLDUAN: Oh, Elie, I also want to play something else that John Lauro said last night. He was asked to respond to some of what former Attorney General Bill Barr, what he said in terms of that free speech doesn't give you the right to engage in a fraudulent conspiracy.

HONIG: Sure.

BOLDUAN: Here's what Lauro said.

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LAURO: Laughable, absolutely laughable. What's the fraud? Tell me what the fraud is. What's the fraudulent speech? Donald Trump, President Trump was out in the open, petitioning the state legislatures, petitioning the courts, there was nothing fraudulent going on. This is absolutely protected First Amendment speech. For Mr. Barr to say that is a complete and utter and utter ignorance of what the basic law is with respect to freedom of speech.

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BOLDUAN: Step away from the PR element of it, if you will. This gets to -- what he's getting at is something what we started discussing, which is the boundaries of kind of First Amendment protections. What's the prosecution going to need to prove because Lauro doesn't seem to think that they can.

HONIG: So there's an important boundary here between speech and conduct, and that sort of separates what's lawful and protected and what's unlawful here. Their argument, John Lauro's argument is going to be all Donald Trump was doing was engaging in very aggressive, maybe overbearing political speech. He was petitioning government aggressively, but none of it crossed that line into conduct.

Prosecutors though are going to say, Oh, you bet it did. They're going to point first of all, to the fake electoral scheme. They're going to say, Donald Trump and his team rounded up individuals, human beings, had them pretend they were electors, have them signed forms, mailed those forms. This is conduct now, mailing things into the archives to the Senate. And they're going to argue that this conduct crossed the line from mere speech into actual conduct.

That's what they're going to argue makes it criminal.

BOLDUAN: Olivia, let me bring you in on this because your former boss, Mike Pence, he could really become central in this case. I mean, I was just speaking, last hour with Pence's former Chief of Staff, Marc Short about all of this and how he's become so central, as we saw in the indictment. If he does remain such a central piece of the case that could be made against Donald Trump. What do you think it means for Mike Pence?

OLIVIA TROYE, FORMER ADVISER TO VP MIKE PENCE: Look, I've believed that Mike Pence has been the key witness in this entire situation. And you know, in terms of the indictment for Trump, you this is about the obstruction of the transfer, the peaceful transfer of power, right?

That's what it comes down to. It comes down to the intimidation of others, it comes down to using false claims to defraud the American people and to thwart their will. And Mike Pence was at the center of that where Trump was bullying him and intimidating him.

So I think, you know, I think it's important for Mike Pence to be honest with the American people as we go forward. I think they need to his -- he and his team -- look, I watched that interview with Marc Short. I was very frustrated watching that interview with Marc Short, because it's not that hard to say Joe Biden won the election.

It's not that hard to just say we are going to let the process play out with the Department of Justice instead of undermining the department by trying to go along with the spin of oh, let's focus on Hunter Biden, let's make this about something else. The whataboutism needs to stop it because ultimately you're just playing into what led to the situation to begin with.

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What led to that violence on January 6. And so I think that is going to matter, when it comes to Mike Pence. I also think it's going to matter when it comes to his political future. You know, he's seeking that GOP nomination. If he -- if he wants to gain the public trust back again, I'm not talking about the MAGA, loyal Trumpism supporters that are unwavering. They're never going to come back to him. They see him as a traitor.

I'm talking about the rest of the moderate Republicans, and other independence and American people who are watching his demeanor and who believed that he showed courage on January 6, but who are also wondering, where has he been for the past few years, his voice can be powerful in this, you finally saw a glimpse of that earlier this week.

I think he now has the indictment, which is sort of a security blanket for him, the political top cover that he's been looking for. And I think hopefully, he will stay down that course.

BOLDUAN: One thing on that Marc Short, Short interview, just to clarify, and I know you know, this is Marc, Marc Short, not questioning the legitimacy of Joe Biden's win, even though there was a lot of back and forth about the bias that they do believe that they see in the Justice Department.

Elie, I want to one final thing, because we were just talking about this last hour. There is this new reporting that Trump wants to use the trial to try to re-litigate -- first of all, we're talking about Olivia, re-litigate the 2020 election, as and whether there was fraud. As a defense, is that going to -- how does that work?

HONIG: So judges like to give defendants appropriately very broad latitude to defend themselves in court. But judges also can draw boundaries. And the question the judge will ask is, is this legally relevant to anything? And is there any factual basis for this?

And so the way I would expect this Judge, Judge Chutkan to handle this, if Trump's lawyers come in and say, Judge, we need all this time because we have to investigate all seven states is to say you have to give me attorney for Donald Trump what we call a proffer, meaning in your capacity as an officer of the court, you have to submit to me why you have a good faith basis, in fact, to go out and investigate and argue that this election was stolen.

I don't think they're going to be able to do that because there is no such factor. So I think that's a way that the judge can shut it down and also protect her record for appeal.

BOLDUAN: Super interesting. Elie, thank you. Olivia, it's great to see you. Thank you so much. John?

BERMAN: All right, thanks so much. So today the grand jury is set to meet in Fulton County, Georgia. They are investigating Trump's effort to overturn the election there. CNN has learned that officials in Atlanta will close the road in front of the courthouse on Monday in anticipation of a decision by the Grand Jury soon. How long they'll have that road closed for? Unclear.

Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis says that Trump's latest indictment will not impact her case.

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FANI WILLIS, FULTON COUNTY, GA DISTRCIT ATTORNEY: That I took an oath and that the oath requires that I follow the law. That if someone broke the law in Fulton County, Georgia, that I have a duty to prosecute and that's exactly what I plan to do.

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BERMAN: All right, again, the grand jury meeting today. The road in front of the courthouse closed on Monday. We will be watching it very closely. Kate?

BOLDUAN: Coming up for us Russian -- Russian opposition figure Alexey Navalny gets another 19 years in prison. This just came in, in a move that so many outside Russia says is very clearly politically motivated by the Kremlin to silence one of his fiercest critics. Excuse me. Florida court effectively banning another advance placement course. But the state is blaming the College Board for pulling the class. More on that controversy.

And they call themselves The Goon Squad. The new details about six former law enforcement officers who pleaded guilty to torturing two black men in Mississippi as those two men speak out.

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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Just as what did you know what did it all boil down to? I'm just like, you know whether they with a uniform or not.

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BERMAN: All right this just into CNN. Alexey Navalny, the imprisoned Russian opposition leader has been sentenced to 19 years in prison following his latest trial. This is according to Russian state media. Navalny was already in prison serving sentences totaling 11 years when he was charged with, quote, the creation of an extremist community.

Navalny called the charges absurd and said he was preparing for what he called a Stalinist verdict. CNN's Nic Robertson joins us now. We see these 19 years piled on top of the 11 already, there, just you can see what dissidents are up against in Russia, Nic?

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: And this was a point of Navalny's tweet earlier today before this verdict was handed down where he said look, you know, just if you can essentially if you're a supporter, then think about us, show some support for us and other political prisoners. And think about this, why such a huge sentence. He said, it's not to intimidate me, it's to intimidate you.

And this is the point that Navalny is even taking this case against him to try to again, push his platform and put and remind people what Putin is trying to do here, which is silence any kind of dissent. Remember, President Putin tried to poison Navalny with a deadly nerve agent Novichok, just three years ago, silence him forever.

And I think that's what we're getting out of this courtroom hearing as Navalny says absolutely these charges are bogus. Charges are promoting terrorism, funding extremism, rehabilitating Nazism. Bogus, he says. It is designed to send him away for a long time to a place where he cannot speak and cannot challenge President Putin. He's going to be sent to a special regime colony. We already knew that he was having harsh treatment being, kept awake at night, a lot of solitary confinement.

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He believed that he was being given, you know coughs and colds and diseases while he was in jail, he'd lost weight. Another 19 years apparently added to the nine that he's already serving. Putin intends him to be away for a long time, but this is a test of will and test of nerves of Navalny here.

BERMAN: It is really chilling to see Navalny is literally giving away his life or decades of it to make a stand in the fight for speech and human rights. Nic, separately from that, obviously talking about the war in Ukraine. Ukraine says it was able to strike a Russian port with this unmanned sea drone overnight and we have video purporting to be of the incident.

What are you learning about this? ROBERTSON: Yes, we're learning that this sea drone has targeted at a longer range than any previous Ukrainian sea drone that we're aware of. A massive Russian target, this huge warship. We understand that there were about 1000 pounds of explosives in this -- in this marine drone. You can see the video of it here, moving in on that massive warship.

Now the Russians are saying that they repelled it. They clearly weren't prepared for it because the ship has been hit at port such a long way from Ukraine. But the video this week was seen this morning appears to show the same ship being towed into port but listing heavily, taking on a lot of water.

So it does appear that the massive explosion that happened there has ripped a huge hole but below the waterline there in that very important navy ship for Russia and remembering that it was a year ago or so that the Ukrainians were able to take out the Moskva, one of the prize warships in Russia's fleet.

The Ukrainians as well in perpetrating this attack apparently used a number of drones, aerial drones rather than the sea drones to draw the Russians' attention away from what was happening here. So a real sneak attack, but reality is the Russians are going to get dialed in to what the Ukrainians are capable of and create defenses for it.

But a major embarrassment for Putin and the Russians right here.

BERMAN: Yes. You see that last video of that giant warship listing like that below the waterline in so many places. That's remarkable. Nic Robertson, thank you as always. Kate?

BOLDUAN: Coming up for us, a Ron DeSantis appointee facing some trouble over comments made while teaching a seminar. This is new K- file reporting revealing false claims that white people were also slaves in America. His words. Also this and we're standing by for an update from authorities on the Gilgo Beach killings. We're going to bring those to live once it begins. We'll be back.

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