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Walt Nauta, Trump Aide, Entered Not-Guilty Plea; John King Talks 2024 Election with Iowa Voters; Trump Declines to Sign RNC- Required Loyalty Pledge; CNN Granted Exclusive Access to NY Refugee Center. Aired 10:30-11a ET
Aired August 10, 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]
ELIE HONIG, CNN SENIOR LEGAL ANALYST, FORMER ASSISTANT U.S. ATTORNEY, SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF NY, AND FORMER FEDERAL AND NEW JERSEY STATE PROSECUTOR: Interesting. I wonder if it could have been another problem with the other attorneys. You do need an attorney who's admitted --
KATE BOLDUAN, CNN NEWS CENTRAL CO-ANCHOR: There's a lot of attorneys who's -- that have been --
HONIG: Yes.
BOLDUAN: Yes.
HONIG: I mean, we had hiccups with these --
BOLDUAN: But this is the second time in.
HONIG: That's what I was going to say, we had hiccups in the initial days, a day or two, 48 hours after the indictment. And here we are several weeks out.
JOHN BERMAN, CNN NEWS CENTRAL CO-ANCHOR: Am I wrong in thinking that every time we get a headline or a little bit of news blurb, like, such and such is postponed in the courtroom there. A cheer goes up --
HONIG: Yes, sir.
BERMAN: -- from Trump legal headquarters?
HONIG: Yes, sir. Every little day, every little week makes a difference because they're on a very tight timeframe here. And if that May 2024 date we were talking about, that gets pushed another few weeks or months, you're going to be into his own where they're going to have to move it --
BOLDUAN: But does it happen at the same time as Trump's situation what -- let's stay right here in this for just a second, with the classified documents. Do -- what they're facing, does it happen at the time with what Trump is facing?
HONIG: So, that's a great question. This is what lawyers call severance. Meaning, are these -- now, three defendants, are they ultimately going to be tried together or separately? That's an issue the parties are going to have to argue and the judge will decide. Now, normally --
BOLDUAN: The judge decides it.
HONIG: Yes, the judge decides it.
BOLDUAN: OK.
HONIG: The judge has very broad latitude. Normally, prosecutors want to charge everyone together. You want to show the jury the whole conspiracy all at once. It's more efficient. You don't want whoever gets tried second to have the benefit of having your witnesses testify the first time. In this case though, it might be wise if prosecutors really are intent on trying Donald Trump to ask to actually split him off from the other two.
BERMAN: All right. Let's shift to Georgia if we can right now. Because CNN got this bit of reporting yesterday, which is pretty interesting, which is that Fani Willis is going to try to get indictments for at least a dozen people there.
HONIG: Yes.
BERMAN: Who?
HONIG: That's a great question.
BOLDUAN: Is that a lot?
HONIG: That is a lot --
BOLDUAN: OK.
HONIG: -- for a case like this. I mean, you will --
BOLDUAN: Start at the beginning.
HONIG: -- you will see cases involving 2025 defendants if you're talking about a large drug trafficking organization or something like that. But in a case like this, a corruption case, a case that involves the functioning of our government, that's a remarkable high number. As to who, I wouldn't -- I think I could speculate that it would be to, sort of, buckets. One will be the national figures, the people we know about. Some of the people perhaps, look, Donald Trump was charged by jack Smith. He names six co-conspirators. We could see quite a bit of overlap.
I suspect Fani Willis is focused on local people. People in Fulton County, in Georgia, who may have fallen, really, kind of the beneath Jack Smith's radar. He can't worry about every state and local official. He would have an impossible task. So, I think we're going to see a combination.
BOLDUAN: Talk about that overlap that could be happening between Jack Smith's 2020 investigation, which did cover Georgia and other states and what we could be seeing with Fani Willis. Does that create tension?
HONIG: Yes.
BOLDUAN: What is it?
HONIG: Really --
BOLDUAN: What happens here?
HONIG: -- really important points here. First of all, there's no legal bar on Fani Willis and Jack Smith, one a county prosecutor, one a federal prosecutor charging the same person even with essentially the same conduct. So, let's take Donald Trump because we know he's been charged by Jack Smith. It seems quite likely he will be on Fani Willis' defendant list. That's not double jeopardy for Donald Trump. You can be charged for essentially the same conduct by the federal authorities and by local authorities. Some people may say it's unfair. And DOJ policy says we like to avoid that because we don't feel the need to pile on, but this is going to be Fani Willis' charge.
Beyond the, sort of, technical aspect of it, there could be tension. First of all, trial dates, there's only so many trial dates to go around. We're now going to have four indictments. Here's the other thing, if somebody has cooperated with Jack Smith's team, and Fani Willis goes and indicts that person, that's what we call blowing up the cooperator. That's going to be a big problem for Jack Smith, in particular.
BOLDUAN: Come on, you can consider that.
HONIG: Yes.
BERMAN: You got to listen to his podcast. I mean, seriously, you learn so much --
BOLDUAN: You know, I like for him to surprise me on --
BERMAN: It's on -- I have learned so much about the law and prosecution from Elie Honig. And every time we speak, like, just right now. I mean, blowing up the cooperator, blowing up the witness. Elie Honig, thank you very much.
HONIG: Thanks, guys. Appreciate it.
BOLDUAN: Thanks, buddy.
BERMAN: CNN's John King going all over the map to meet voters. First stop is Iowa. What voters there are looking for a candidate and where they stand on the current front-runners.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PRISCILLA FORSYTH, ATTORNEY AND IOWA REPUBLICAN VOTER: I think we need to get rid of Biden. I think we need to get rid of Trump. I think we need to move on.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[10:35:00]
BERMAN: This morning, Republican presidential candidates are heading to Iowa for the state fair, which means butter sculptures galore, for real. They're also preparing for the first debate, at least some are. Donald Trump says, he has no plans to sign the loyalty pledge required by the RNC to appear. Ron DeSantis And Vivek Ramaswamy, they have both committed to back the eventual Republican nominee. So, our John King went to Iowa to speak with voters and to see the campaign through their eyes.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOHN KING, CNN "INSIDE POLITICS" ANCHOR (voiceover): Business is booming. Midwest Solar's workload now running at 15 to 20 installations a month.
CHRIS MUDD, CEO MIDWEST SOLAR AND IOWA REPUBLICAN VOTER: We lost money the first year we were in business, and we're going to make money in our second.
It's a small system, 10 panels.
KING (voiceover): Chris Mudd is the CEO, and says, give President Biden some credit.
C. MUDD: Absolutely. You know, there are a lot of grants available to business owners. The tax credit --
KING (voiceover): But Mudd is a lifelong Iowa Republican, would prefer that tax credit money be spent on a border wall and hopes for a Donald Trump come back.
C. MUDD: Do I think that Donald Trump's perfect? No, I think he's -- do I -- I don't -- personally, I'm not a big fan of who he is and what he does and how lives.
[10:40:00]
But I think the decisions and the things that he did for our country were good.
KING (voiceover): The Mudd family is living both the American dream and the American divide. A business Jim Mudd Sr. started in his basement 42 years ago, now employs 80 people. Clients, coast to coast.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm a lot older than you.
KING (voiceover): Dad and three sons are Republicans and Trump supporters. Two daughters are Democrats.
KING: They could still come to Thanksgiving dinner?
C. MUDD: They still come. We still love them.
KING (voiceover): We visited as Trump was indicted by a second time by the special counsel.
C. MUDD: Why are they attacking him so hard? Why are they going after this guy so hard? Does everybody really believe that everything that happened was exactly the way that the government is laying it out today? I don't.
KING (voiceover): The friends and family around the table don't watch and don't trust CNN. There is reverence for Ronald Reagan here. But listen.
C. MUDD: The trust is gone.
KING (voiceover): Reagan's optimism, replaced by Trump's grievances.
ROB MUDD, IOWA REPUBLICAN VOTER: We got to find our own way to take care of ourselves.
KING (voiceover): Reagan's disdain of big government, replaced by Trump's distrust of just about everything.
JIM MUDD SR. IOWA REPUBLICAN VOTER: I think he thinks he stole it from him.
KING (voiceover): Still questions about the 2020 election.
J. MUDD: And I -- and a lot of people agree with him.
KING (voiceover): Criticism of the Trump prosecutions.
J. MUDD: But nothing about that deal is the American way. I don't think.
KING (voiceover): And this.
KING: If you think the United States should be supporting Ukraine in the fight against Putin, raise your hand. Nobody.
R. MUDD: You don't have to be that smart to put the -- connect the dots, right? And so -- our -- is the war to cover up sins committed so you could cover your tracks? There's too much money that's been thrown over there.
KING: You think all the NATO countries would do what Biden told them to do because he's trying to cover up some Hunter Biden business deal by --
R. MUDD: I do -- it all depends on how Zelenskyy and how much dirt he has on Biden to keep the money coming.
KING: That's out there.
R. MUDD: No, because it might be you, right?
C. MUDD: OK. Well, how do you trust when you know the government has shutdown Facebook and shutdown Twitter and told them to not show certain news stories?
KING (voiceover): A few days here makes it clear Trump's grip is very strong, but roughly half of the party wants to move on. And they see their first in the nation vote has the best chance to derail him. The growth around Des Moines is stunning, and the suburbs are Trump's kryptonite.
JACLYN TAYLOR, CONSTRUCTION PROJECT MANAGER AND IOWA REPUBLICAN VOTER: I don't appreciate the negativity.
KING (voiceover): Jocelyn Taylor is a single mother who manages construction projects. Tom Scott intrigues her. Nikki Haley, too.
TAYLOR: I'm a little concerned about it.
KING (voiceover): Sometimes, Ron DeSantis.
TAYLOR: There's just a lot of -- around him. Is that a technical term?
KING: Yes. All right.
KING (voiceover): Betsy Sarcone, also a single mom, says DeSantis is her current favorite but he hasn't closed the sale. She is done with Trump's GOP.
BETSY SARCONE, REAL ESTATE AGENT AND IOWA REPUBLICAN VOTER: I see the party as a party of personal responsibility. And for this man to still be on the national stage, representing the Republican Party is very troubling to me.
KING (voiceover): Sarcone and Taylor live a few miles apart but don't know each other. Both voted for Trump twice after supporting someone else in the 2016 caucuses. Both want someone new this time. Both think shop now, but in the end, rally friends around one Trump alternative.
SARCONE: I think the moderates need to band together.
TAYLOR: It's --it was kind of, like, no-brainer, right?
KING (voiceover): Sioux City is 200 miles from the Des Moines suburbs. Trump is much stronger here.
KING: Did you caucus in 2016?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I did.
KING: For who?
FORSYTH: I caucused for Trump.
KING: Why? FORSYTH: Well, he does have charisma, I mean, whether you like him or not. He does. I liked his policies.
KING (voiceover): Attorney Priscilla Forsyth is a Democrat turned Trump voter. But she thinks he should have honored the 2020 election results.
FORSYTH: I think we need to get rid of Biden. I think we need to get rid of Trump. I think we need to move on.
KING (voiceover): Forsyth and friend Lisa McGaffey (ph) are Sioux City Explorers fans. McGaffey though not scouting a new candidate.
KING: Do you think Donald Trump is an honest and trustworthy person?
LISA MCGAFFEY (PH), IOWA REPUBLICAN VOTER: Yes. Yes.
KING (voiceover): This is warm-up season, five months until Iowa votes. Five months until Republicans divided over Trump make a defining choice. John King, CNN, Sioux City, Iowa.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BERMAN: I like how John King sneaking in a baseball game there while reporting on the ground in Iowa.
Kate.
BOLDUAN: Exactly. Great stuff from John.
Coming up still for us. New York City's mayor pleading with federal officials to help with the huge influx of migrants. Now, CNN gets rare access inside one of the city's nearly 200 shelters and solely at housing the asylum seekers. We'll be back.
[10:45:00]
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BOLDUAN: Right now, a team from the Department of Homeland Security is in New York City as the city continues to grapple and struggle with an ongoing migrant emergency. The visit comes just hours after Mayor Eric Adams renewed his call for federal help to come in.
[10:50:00]
Mayor Adams estimates that the current surge of asylum seekers is going to cost New York City over $12 billion over the next three years. CNN's Polo Sandoval gained access to one of the 200 locations in the city that have been designated to house these migrants. Here's what he saw.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
POLO SANDOVAL, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voiceover): Next to New York JFK's air cargo terminals, you'll find a building that normally serves as a postal facility. But because of New York City's ever-worsening migrant crisis, it now serves as a temporary home for some 750 male asylum seekers. The space typically dedicated to sorting mail during the holiday is now a massive dormitory. The parking lot, bathroom, and showers. The loading dock, a makeshift prayer room.
ZACH ISCOL, COMMISSIONER, NEW YORK CITY EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT: Initially, a lot of folks coming here were from Venezuela. We know, and a lot of these places have 12, 14, 15 different languages spoken. We have a lot of people from parts of Africa, Central and South America. Some people from Eastern Europe, Asia as well.
SANDOVAL (voiceover): Zach Iscol is New York City's emergency management commissioner.
ISCOL: Every day, we have about 500 people for -- 300 to 500 people that we're looking for room for. Looking for place for. We can't open up sites fast enough.
So, as you can see this is sort of the layout here.
SANDOVAL (voiceover): He offered CNN this rare look inside one of the city's nearly 200 sites currently being used to house about 60,000 migrants and counting.
ISCOL: We modeled this after the emergency storm shelters we've set- up for coastal storms. Those are designed just to house people for, generally, 48 to 72 hours. We now have folks that are staying in these facilities for much longer, upwards of, you know, a month, a month and a half.
SANDOVAL (voiceover): Iscol admits the facility is not ideal for long term housing, but with the options running out, residents are making do. Some skip the laundry mat and air dry their clothes. Then there's this makeshift barber shop on the main floor. Only room for one client at a time.
But none of this is sustainable, according to Iscol and his fellow city officials. Finding migrant families private shelter space is a whole other challenge. Yet the city's primary intake center in Manhattan, we met Zoryelis Mistaje where she waits to be assigned long-term housing for her family.
We don't know where they'll place us, says the Venezuelan mother.
Like many of the nearly 100,000 asylum seekers who have arrived in New York since last spring, the only guarantee is uncertainty.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SANDOVAL (on camera): And that uncertainty continues to linger here in Midtown Manhattan at the Rosevelt Hotel, which is often that first stop for most asylum seekers after they arrive here in New York. A team with the Department of Homeland Security, Kate, they are on the ground right now. They're assessing the entire system. It will be their job, according to a DHS official, to then report back to Washington with what kind of resources to provide -- additional resources to provide to New York City. Commissioner Iscol, who you just heard from, Kate, a little while ago said, he is hopeful that will be a positive step for New York City. Kate.
BOLDUAN: We'll soon -- we will soon see. Polo, thank you.
John.
BERMAN: All right. Today is the first day of school for some Florida counties. And because of a new state law, some schools now say if students want to use a nickname, parents have to sign off first.
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[10:55:00]
BOLDUAN: "On Our Radar" right now, a Utah man who allegedly threatened President Biden, he is dead today. The -- shot and killed by the FBI a source says that he pulled a gun on FBI SWAT agents as they were trying to serve a search warrant. Craig Robertson is his name. He was facing federal charges over those threats against President Biden and other public figures. And he's been under investigation for months for his violent public threats.
In Ecuador, a presidential candidate was assassinated in broad daylight. Fernando Villavicencio, pardon me, was shot and killed as he was living a campaign event. He was surrounded by a crowd of people. All of this was caught on video. Ecuador's current president has blamed the killing on organized crime and declared a national state of emergency. The election is just days away.
At least two Florida school districts now require parents to authorize school staff to use nicknames for their children. This is after a -- that requires their sign off. This is after a new law went into effect requiring that schools have parental consent for any deviation from a student's legal name.
For instance, if a student's legal name is Jonathan -- which is not John Berman's legal name, parents would have to be -- have signed consent for teachers in Orange and Seminole County in order to refer to them as John. And if a student identifies as trans -- as a transgender girl and uses the name Jen, the teacher may comply though they are not required to use the preferred pronouns. Continuing to confuse -- to continue -- the law continuing to confusing cause a lot of disruption in Florida.
John.
BERMAN: That's exactly right. So many teachers asking for guidance.
BOLDUAN: Yes.
BERMAN: How do we obey the law here?
So, we're getting new devastating images from Maui. And there are concerns the death toll from the fires there could rise.
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[11:00:00]
