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Joe Walsh is Interviewed about the Republican Politics; North Korea Confirms U.S. Soldier in Country; Michael Oher Files Petition Against Tuohy Family. Aired 9:30-10a ET

Aired August 16, 2023 - 09:30   ET

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

[09:30:00]

ARLETTE SAENZ, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Statement. The White House press secretary also said that Hawaii's governor, Josh Green, advised that he believes the search and recovery efforts will be at a stage by early next week to allow for a presidential visit.

Now, throughout this process the White House has stressed that the president has been on the phones, receiving regular updates from both his FEMA administrator, as well as the state's senators and also the state's governors. But you have heard some frustration on the ground from people experiencing the devastation of these wildfires about the official response. So, this will give the president an opportunity perhaps to hear some of that frustration, to see some of this devastation and the loss of life that so many families are dealing with in this devastating moment.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: Arlette Saenz, at the White House. Arlette, thank you so much for that reporting.

Kate.

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: Coming up for us, a plea deal that Hunter Biden and his legal team thought they had struck with the Justice Department seems to be falling apart at the seams. Why a single signature could be the reason the president's son is heading to trial.

And we are now one week away from the first Republican presidential primary debate and the front runner, Donald Trump, still has not announced if he is going to show up. What his rivals are saying about it now.

We'll be right back.

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[09:35:38]

BOLDUAN: The special counsel investigating Hunter Biden says a deal to resolve a felony gun possession charge was never fully approved without a signature from a probation officer, it has now been deemed invalid. Attorneys for Biden's son, Joe Biden's son, are fighting now, though, to keep that deal in place. Meanwhile, prosecutors now also want to get the separate tax charges

originally filed in Delaware dismissed, instead bringing those charges to Washington, D.C., or California, locations where the alleged crimes occurred. And now that that -- now that the case appears to be heading to trial, Hunter Biden's top lawyer has asked a federal judge to allow him to withdraw from the case because he could now be called as a witness. So, a lot still in flux there, Sara.

SIDNER: All right, now to the 2024 race. The race for the White House. We are exactly one week from the first Republican debate in Milwaukee and Donald Trump may not be there. Trump is among eight presidential hopefuls who meet the polling and donor thresholds to take the stage, but he says he's not going to sign that RNC loyalty pledge that is needed to participate. And, of course, he's facing mounting legal troubles. He's now got a fourth criminal indictment against him. And his rivals are, of course, reacting to that.

Former Republican congressman, and former GOP presidential candidate, Joe Walsh, is joining us now.

Just, really quickly, will it matter if Donald Trump does not take this debate stage at this point?

JOE WALSH (R), FORMER U.S. REPRESENTATIVE: Oh, God, no, not at all. Not one lick, Sara, will it matter if he's there.

SIDNER: All right. I love how you did that so quickly, Joe Walsh. I mean that's so unlike you.

I do want to go to this. We have - we have been watching this, Joe. The most sweeping criminal case turns out against Donald Trump to be out of Georgia. There are 19 defendants, Donald Trump being one of them, and he is saying, I'm going to have this press conference and I'm going to show you all the fraud that happened in Georgia. There's only one person that has really come out strongly against him when it comes to the Republican Party, and that's Governor Kemp, who has said there is no fraud. That did not happen. And that 2024 -- this is really an important election, giving a hint that he's very concerned. He says the future of our country is at stake.

I want to now let you listen to what the candidates who are actually running against Donald Trump in this GOP presidential race have to say about these charges.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GOV. RON DESANTIS (R-FL) AND 2024 PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I think it's an example of this criminalization of politics.

SEN. TIM SCOTT (R-SC) AND 2024 PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: We see the legal system being weaponized against political opponents. That is un- American and unacceptable.

VIVEK RAMASWAMI (R), 2024 PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: The reality is this, these are politicized persecutions through prosecution.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SIDNER: Do any of the responses that you are hearing surprise you?

WALSH: No, Sara, and I apologize for my very brief first answer.

Trump will not show up at the debate. Trump's a coward, but he's not afraid of Chris Christie. He just wants to and has to be the story.

Look, there's no anti-Trump lane in this Republican Party. I wish the - the world would wake up to this. All of these challengers, Sara, that he's got, from the beginning they've never really challenged him. DeSantis, Pence, Haley, Scott, none of them have gone after or condemned Trump. Why? Because if you condemn Donald Trump, you are done as a Republican. Period. So, what they've all done, Sara, is they've kind of hugged him and bowed to him and embraced him and echoed his deep state, he's a victim, they're coming after me bull crap, because that's the only lane.

And, Sara, what they're hoping for is that a jail cell or a heart attack will take Trump out. But that's -- that's their only play. They know they can't beat him.

SIDNER: I do want to ask you about Tim Scott because there are Republicans and some Democrats who said that they were actually a little bit surprised to hear how he worded his response to Donald Trump's fourth indictment. What did you see when you heard what Tim Scott said?

WALSH: Sara, it broke my heart.

[09:40:02]

I'm not surprised. I know Tim well. I served in Congress with Tim. Tim decided a while ago, like almost every Republican, to surrender to Trump. But Tim's a good man, Sara. And it -- every time I hear him say something that I know he doesn't believe, it still breaks my heart because it just shows how gone my former party is. I don't expect better from DeSantis or Haley or any of these other candidates, but Tim Scott knows better.

So, for him, Sara, to continue to say things he doesn't believe about Donald Trump, and Tim Scott knows what Trump has done is wrong. Tim Scott, Sara, knows Donald Trump has committed crimes. For a guy like Tim Scott not to be able to say that should tell all of us that this is Trump's party and it's not coming back.

SIDNER: It's not the Republican Party that you were a part of. I know you've said that many times before.

Joe Walsh, thank you so much for your insight today.

John.

WALSH: Thanks.

BERMAN: For the first time, North Korea confirms it has U.S. Soldier Travis King, and claims he intentionally fled there seeking refuge from the U.S. Army.

And could actor Alec Baldwin face charges again for the deadly "Rust" shooting? Those charges were dropped. What a new forensic report found.

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[09:45:56]

BOLDUAN: On our radar this hour, a three-year-long manhunt in Utah is now over as a man accused of selling fake Covid-19 cures is now under arrest. Sixty-three-year-old Gordon Petersen, that you see clearly hawking something in that picture, has been on the run since 2020. The Utah state attorney's office says that he was selling fake products online claiming that they destroy the virus using vibrations. Petersen is also accused of falsely claiming to have two Ph.D.'s, falsely claiming also to be an anti-aging medical doctor.

A highway in North Carolina has reopened after a 32-car pileup Tuesday. Parts of I-40 West near Durham, it was shut down, this is after severe weather led to the crash. Police say the storms also downed trees and power lines and closed other roads in the area. Durham authorities say that a 78-year-old woman was killed after a tree fell and struck her SUV in all of this.

A new twist following the shooting on the "Rust" film set. Charges against actor Alec Baldwin could be refiled. This is because a new forensic report shows that the gun would only fire if the trigger of that gun, which was used in the incident, was pulled. The report was filed as part of a defense motion on behalf of the set's armorer, Hannah Gutierrez-Reed, who has been charged and is facing charges in this case. Baldwin was also originally charged, you'll remember, with involuntary manslaughter, but those charges were dropped earlier this year after prosecutors cited evidence that the gun had been modified. Baldwin has consistently said he did not pull the trigger.

John.

BERMAN: This morning, for the first time, North Korea is publicly confirming that U.S. Private Travis King is there. State media claims he was seeking refuge because he was angry about what he calls -- this is what they claim -- that he was angry about mistreatment and discrimination in the U.S. Army. The soldier sprinted across the border last month.

CNN's Paula Hancocks, live across the border in Seoul.

Paula, what are you learning?

PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, John, it's important to start this off with the fact, as you say, they claim. This is from the North Korean state-run media, KCNA. This is not coming directly from Travis King himself. But what Pyongyang is saying is that the reason that Travis King, they claim, went across the border was so that he could seek refuge in North Korea or in a third country. Now, in this article they say the soldier felt, quote, "harbored ill

feeling against inhuman maltreatment and racial discrimination within the U.S. Army." Now, a U.S. defense official has said that they can't verify the alleged comments from Travis King, but their priority remains to be making sure that they can get him home quickly and safely.

Now, we have also heard from the mother of Travis King, through a statement from the spokesperson, since this has come out from North Korea. And this is reading, "Mrs. Gates is aware of today's report from KCNA. DPRK authorities are responsible for Travis' well-being and she continues to appeal to them to treat him humanly. She's a mom worried about her son and would be grateful for a phone call from him."

Now, of course, this is a very worrying time for the family. What we didn't see in this article, though, was any indication about the condition of Travis King or even his whereabouts. It's worth pointing out as well that this was an article in KCNA, which means its read by the outside world. It's not read inside North Korea. And as far as we know at this point they are completely unaware within the country that this has even happened.

Now, this did happen a month ago. It's the first time we have heard anything about Travis King. So, certainly that at least will give some hope.

John.

BERMAN: Yes, but I'm sure the family would like to know so much more than that.

Paula Hancocks, thank you so much for your reporting on this.

Sara.

SIDNER: All right, the family at the center of the movie "The Blind Side" is calling accusations by former NFL star Michael Oher outlandish and hurtful, but Oher says he was never adopted but tricked into a conservatorship while the family kept all the proceeds from a blockbuster film about his life.

[09:50:07]

More on that ahead.

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SIDNER: All right, this morning, the family at the center of the controversy over the movie "The Blind Side" is pushing back against accusations they took advantage of the young man that they took in. That young man became NFL star Michael Oher, whose life story was eventually portrayed in the Oscar-winning movie. Now he is claiming Sean and Leigh Anne Tuohy lied about adopting him and kept millions of dollars of proceeds from him. An attorney for the Tuohy family calls those accusations outlandish, hurtful and absurd. Oher has now filed a petition to end the Tuohys' conservatorship of him.

CNN's Brynn Gingras is following all of this for us.

What else is the family saying after these accusations by Michael Oher?

BRYNN GINGRAS, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Sara, I mean we saw each other yesterday and we were talking about how there had to be more to the story. Well, according to the family, there's a lot more.

[09:54:59]

They released a very lengthy, almost one page statement to the news organizations basically saying that Michael Oher is the one who's been blackmailing them for multiple times prior to this lawsuit being filed, claiming that he said he would plant a negative story in the press if the Tuohy family did not give him $15 million.

Now, listen, his lawyers are not responding to that claim. It's unclear if it's even true. But I do want to read to you part of the statement that the Tuohy family has been saying. And it says, anyone with a modicum of common sense can see that the outlandish claims made by Michael Oher about the Tuohy family are hurtful and absurd. The idea that the Tuohys have ever sought to profit off of Mr. Oher is not only offensive, it is transparently ridiculous.

And again in this statement they say that, again, he's tried to do this multiple times, that this is just a ploy to promote his book that is currently out right now. And they said if he wants to be released from his conservatorship, that they would be willing to do so.

One thing to point out, though. They do finally acknowledge, Sara that there was a conservatorship, right. We were talking about that yesterday. Were they adoptive parents or was there a conservatorship. They do address that here, but not in full. There's still a lot of questions about what that conservatorship means. For one, are they still making money off of Michael Oher? Those are all questions that we're continuing to ask at this moment, Sara.

SIDNER: Brynn Gingras, thank you so much. I appreciate it. There is so much to learn about this story and a lot of people are quite interested in it because it was an inspiring movie and an inspiring story.

All right, Kate.

BOLDUAN: Coming up still for us, Donald Trump is up against the clock now in Georgia with a nine-day deadline to surrender. What we're learning about how it could all go down when he is booked.

We'll be back.

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