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Judge Says Trump's Right To Free Speech Is "Not Absolute"; Zelenskyy: All Officials In Charge Of Recruitment Offices Dismissed Amid Corruption Scandal; Today Marks 50th Anniversary Of Hip-Hop. Aired 11:30a-12p ET

Aired August 11, 2023 - 11:30   ET

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

[11:30:00]

PAULA REID, CNN SENIOR LEGAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: Legal teams. They're still going through the real nitty-gritty of this protective order. But here, she ultimately gave a win to the Trump defense team in terms of how the rules will be structured, in terms of how sensitive information can be handled here.

But it was a really fascinating scene in that courtroom. To see an experienced judge, it was pretty clear that she was going to be tough on both sides. And she even made a joke at one point that she is keen to move this along quickly.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: You know -- you know, Paula, the timing here is going to be so crucial. When will this trial take place? The prosecution wants it to be January second. That's aggressive.

However, did the judge give any signs that where she may go on August 28 when this -- the trial date is heard before her? I am struck by the fact that she said that being a political candidate is like any other job. I'm not going to treat it differently than any other job. The existence of a political campaign is not going to have a bearing, she says.

REID: Yes.

BERMAN: What did you take from that?

REID: So, two things. The first is your question about timing. She did not give any indication about when this will go to trial. Because the defense attorney, she's still given them a week to weigh in with their suggestion about when this should go to trial. So, it would be premature for her to weigh in on exactly when she thinks this will go to trial.

But there was a joke at one point. One of the attorneys was saying, you know, I want to move this along. And she was like, so do I.

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: Yes.

REID: And then one of the defense attorneys just sort of laughed and held his head in his hands. You know, it's a reminder that everyone knows that the timing, the speed, the pacing here, that is a central theme.

Now, her comments about his status as a candidate, I think that is very significant because she was extremely direct. Now, it's unclear how this will play in the court of public opinion. But her argument here is that her job is to oversee a trial and that the administration of justice for her is paramount.

Now, if the trial -- if Trump's lawyers want to litigate this, definitely a novel issue could make its way all the way to the Supreme Court. That's something they may want to do. I mean, the extent to which you can restrict the speech of a presidential candidate.

BOLDUAN: We will see. I intend to keep politics out of this.

BERMAN: Good luck.

BOLDUAN: Let's -- I'm the app. It's very intriguing. As court still happening, Paula jumped out.

REID: Good luck.

BOLDUAN: Thank you so much, Paula, for jumping out so we could speak more about this, and Katelyn Polantz for her continued great reporting on all this. Clearly, much more to come.

BERMAN: All right. 18 months now into the Russian invasion of Ukraine. And today, a major move by the Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy. Says there is a corruption scandal inside the Ukrainian military recruitment operation, then he gets rid of all the military recruiters. What impact will this have?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[11:37:26]

BERMAN: All right. This morning, a major move from Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. During wartime, he says all officials in charge of Ukraine's military recruitment offices have been dismissed over alleged corruption. Zelenskyy says 112 criminal proceedings are now open against the officials. Among the issues he cited, illicit enrichment, illegally obtained funds, unlawful benefit, and illegal transportation.

With me now is someone who has been working to train Ukrainian troops on the ground and get them the critical equipment they need, Retired Colonel Matt Dimmick. He's a former national security official who now works with an organization called Spirit of America.

Colonel, it's great to see you. And we do have some videos here of your organization training some of the Ukrainian forces. I just want your reaction to this news today. It's an extraordinary headline when the Ukrainian president dismisses the people running military recruitment centers. What's your takeaway?

COL. MATT DIMMICK (RET), U.S. ARMY: Well, it sure is. And it's certainly unwelcome that people are exploiting their positions and their opportunities to line their own pockets in the middle of wartime when the stakes are so high. But I think it also shows that Ukrainians are serious about rooting out corruption at all levels.

They've had cases in the past and recent months where they've done these types of things. And I think it shows that their investigations are robust. And when they see corruption, when they see illegal behavior, that they're going to go after it and they're going to root it out. And I think that should inspire confidence in Americans that they're doing that throughout the entire military and that all of this aid in billions of dollars that we're giving is coming under equal scrutiny.

BERMAN: We have been getting information from the front lines. Our Jim Sciutto has reported some sobering intelligence assessments of this counteroffensive going more slowly than anticipated. In just today, we're getting word from the east here, that the area around Kupyansk up here not far from Kharkiv that the Ukrainians have asked for an evacuation from there. The Russians have actually been advancing once again on this region. How do you explain that?

DIMMICK: Sure. You know that the frontline is 600 miles long. The Russians have their main efforts. The Ukrainians have their main efforts. And up in you -- Kupyansk, you're seeing, that's a Ukrainian secondary effort. So, an economy of force effort of -- you know, that they'll certainly do what they can to keep the Russians from advancing.

But that's not their primary focus. And if the Russians do advance clawback a little bit of territory, Ukrainians will be sure to reclaim that at some point were targeted. But they are really focused on the South and trying to get that breakthrough.

And that's where the majority of their forces have to go. And that's where they've got to focus their efforts. And they'll deal with the secondary front as it comes up.

[11:40:08]

BERMAN: Now, we've got some pictures here of some of the drones that you've helped provide to the Ukrainian forces here. What is it that the troops on the frontlines need the most right now?

DIMMICK: Sure. They need a lot of vital equipment. And, you know, we all know governments are providing vast amounts of aid to the Ukrainians to support frontline troops. But we also know that that aid is not optimized for every circumstance, and there are huge gaps to fill.

So, Spirit of America, we're uniting with Americans to help provide some of that critical material. And to date, we've been able to contribute about $31 million or more of equipment and over several hundred tons of vital aid, of which those drones constitute a number of those pieces of equipment. And we're getting that to the frontline troops where they can really benefit those forces and help them unlock the potential going forward. BERMAN: You know, Colonel, I've heard you speak on one of the difficulties for the Ukrainian troops as they try to advance forward. I have a map up here of what's called the southern front. And this is where the Ukrainians have been able to make some gains, but very hard- won gains. I've heard you talk about the minefields. Just how big these Russian minefields are that Ukrainians are trying to get through? How much of an obstacle has it been?

DIMMICK: Those minefields are incredibly dense and incredibly dangerous, and they're covered by Russian artillery. They're very difficult to clear. And it's painstaking, dangerous, and bloody work and that's what's you know keeping this counteroffensive slow. And it's not that the Ukrainians are stopped in their tracks. It just takes a little bit of time to do that judiciously and to save the lives of their soldiers while they're doing it.

BERMAN: Colonel Matt Dimmick, great to have you on with us. Please come back to CNN NEWS CENTRAL. Really appreciate it.

DIMMICK: All right. Thank you.

BERMAN: Kate?

BOLDUAN: Coming up for us. The pandemic was devastating for the restaurant industry. Is it forever changed? Famed chef and Food Network Star Bobby Flay joins us to talk about his deep dive into that very question. We'll be back.

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[11:45:35]

BERMAN: So, one would think that the James Beard award-winning chef with a pizza voted best in America would have had the ingredients to keep his business booming, even during the COVID lockdown. But Phoenix Pizzas Chef Chris Bianco says there was no handbook on how to keep restaurants afloat during the pandemic.

BOLDUAN: This week, on "THE WHOLE STORY WITH ANDERSON COOPER," Food Network Star, chef, and restauranteur Bobby Flay, he visited Bianco's newest pizzeria in LA to see how the chef navigated at all. Watch.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CHRIS BIANCO, CHEF: Come check up on the bar.

BOBBY FLAY, CHEF, FOOD NETWORK STAR, RESTAURATEUR (voiceover): Like so many in the restaurant industry.

BIANCO: We lose thousands of dollars a day.

FLAY (voiceover): Chris Bianco was blindsided by the totality of the pandemic.

BIANCO: Many of our restaurants around the country are closed and many of us might not reopen. FLAY: When you look at big moments like that, how do you face it? What do you do?

BIANCO: It was so not in our playbook.

FLAY (voiceover): The guy who had started his pizza joint in the back of a grocery store in 1988 had by now expanded to four restaurants in Phoenix, Arizona.

BIANCO: There we go.

FLAY: Oh. Look at that.

BIANCO: We get a good shot there because we have to bring it out. But there it is.

FLAY: The first time I showed up at your place, the maitre d was telling people like showed up. It's four hours. Now, I know you're used to this but that's a remarkable thing to have on a constant basis. People in the -- waiting in line for hours for years and years and years of your pizza. All of a sudden pandemic hits, what do you guys do?

BIANCO: It was like a movie that we've never could imagine in this country. It was something that I didn't have a strategy.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BOLDUAN: And nobody did either. The one the only, the Bobby Flay. How'd you get in the building? Just kidding. Joins us now.

FLAY (on camera): Snuck in.

BOLDUAN: All right, let's talk about this. Bianco was not alone. Every chef across the country.

FLAY: Yes.

BOLDUAN: Every restauranteur across the country were hit with the most unbelievable circumstances with the pandemic. What did you find? What how -- what -- how did they navigate this?

FLAY: I think everybody navigated differently. And I think there was no -- as he said, there was no playbook for this.

BOLDUAN: Yes.

FLAY: And nobody knew what to do. I was one of them. I mean, I closed a bunch of restaurants on basically the first day that they told us to shut down.

And -- but a lot of people pivoted. I mean, you heard -- you hear the word pivot a lot when it comes to the pandemic and restaurants. And it's continued even though the pandemic has subsided. A lot of these guys like Chris Bianco -- by the way, the pizza is better than they even look. BOLDUAN: Seriously?

(CROSSTALK)

FLAY: Yes, that's spectacular, OK? But that said, like people like Chris, he -- you know, he had his restaurants serving a bunch of pizza, but then he started you know a bread business.

He started canning his own tomatoes you know so that he had ancillary businesses besides the restaurant. Because the restaurant business was such an unknown at that moment. Yes, there was takeout. Yes, there was delivery.

BOLDUAN: Right.

FLAY: Some restaurants like this woman that I visited in Louisville, Kentucky, you'll see in the piece, she opened a corner market out of her restaurant. She was serving frozen burritos and tortilla -- you know, homemade tortilla chips because she had all of the ingredients, and she needed income and people didn't know where to get food. So, you know, everybody was pivoting in one way or the other.

BERMAN: What about now? I mean, are you back? Is the restaurant industry back?

FLAY: Well, we're not back completely. I think it's a slow process. And the restaurant business in general is always challenging without something like a pandemic. So add that to it, it just doesn't you know -- you know, kick back into -- you know into where we were.

BOLDUAN: Your newest show --

FLAY: Yes.

BOLDUAN: -- of your many shows --

FLAY: Now, you haven't been on this show yet.

BOLDUAN: I -- and I was -- that actually, was the question. When is my invite?

FLAY: Yes, exactly.

BOLDUAN: So, Triple Threat is premiering its second season.

FLAY: Yes.

BOLDUAN: One -- this is one chef taking on three culinary stars. I have been able to see you -- one chef take on just you.

FLAY: Right.

BOLDUAN: Which makes me wonder why would anyone want to subject themselves to this.

FLAY: Well, bragging rights always because chefs have egos as we know, and then this $25,000 that I have in a bag. So, if they beat --

BERMAN: Right here? Because I'll take it.

FLAY: Yes, right. Right over here. But you have three world-class chefs. I assembled these three sorts of house chefs, Brooke Williamson, Tiffany Derry, Michael Voltaggio. They are killers in the kitchen.

But we also bring in some amazing chefs that can take them on. And you know what? They don't win all the time.

BOLDUAN: It's so fun.

FLAY: Yes.

BOLDUAN: OK, can we just see this?

FLAY: Yes.

BOLDUAN: And be sure to tune in to an all-new episode of "THE WHOLE STORE WITH ANDERSON COOPER." One whole story, one whole hour airs Sunday, 8:00 p.m. Eastern and Pacific. Only on CNN.

[11:50:09]

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(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: I don't want to talk about that. I want to let that keep playing.

BOLDUAN: I know. I was like, there's nothing more to say.

BERMAN: All right, Happy Birthday, Hip-Hop. It turns 50 today, which I now see is actually pretty young. On this day, a party in the South Bronx marked the beginning of the whole thing of hip-hop.

[11:55:05]

BOLDUAN: This building, we will show you here. This is the building where the tarp -- party took place.

BERMAN: The building on the right. It's on the right there.

BOLDUAN: The only building in the -- (INAUDIBLE)

BERMAN: Well, I don't know. You can hardly see the building. There's the building. All right.

BOLDUAN: -- where the party took place. And it has become so much more than just a genre. It's a cultural revolution. Today at Yankee Stadium, there will be a star-studded celebration including Run- D.M.C., Snoop Dogg, Ice Cube, and DJ Kool Herc. BERMAN: Actually, I have a friend who I was going to hang out with tonight who told me he had to cancel the kids. He was going to go to Yankee Stadium for this party.

BERMAN: A statement about your cool factor because clearly --

BERMAN: The news there was I have a friend. That was the actual--

BOLDUAN: Oh, I'm sorry. I'm sorry.

BERMAN: That was the actual headline there.

BOLDUAN: I took that the wrong way -- I took that the wrong way.

BERMAN: All right. Thank you all for joining us. This has been CNN NEWS CENTRAL. "INSIDE POLITICS" is up next.

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