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Just Five Identified Of 106 Killed In Maui Wildfire; Fulton County D.A. Wants Trump Trial To Begin March 4, 2024; Interview With Gov. Chris Sununu (R-NH): Trump Arraignment And The Republican Presidential Primaries; Former NFL Player Michael Oher Accuses Tuohy Family Of Withholding Millions Of Dollars From Him; Gun In "Rust" Movie Did Not Malfunction And Charges Against Alec Baldwin Could Be Refiled. Aired 3:30-4p ET

Aired August 16, 2023 - 15:30   ET

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

[15:30:00]

BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN HOST: The video you are about to see was taken on another part of the island, in a town further inland the day before the catastrophe. It was shot at a bird sanctuary and after a few seconds you see this bright flash of white light. The video is actually paused. The camera then starts panning around and a few minutes later, you can see flames spotted in the distance and are highlighted here.

At the same time, sensors and a network that monitors the power grid went off. An official who watches the network says that indicates what's known as an arc flash which can spark a fire. Hawaiian Electric released a statement to "The Washington Post" saying, quote:

We know there is speculation about what started the fires, and we, along with others, are working hard to figure out what happened.

Let's take you there now with CNN's Bill Weir who's live for us on Maui. Bill, fires are still burning on the island.

BILL WEIR, CNN CHIEF CLIMATE CORRESPONDENT: You are right, Jim. There are still flareups around Lahaina. That's mostly contained and then in the upcountry fire around the town of Kula. We were there yesterday as helicopters were dropping buckets of water from -- scooped out of swimming pools. We actually met some volunteers putting out hotspots with bottled water in these hyped hard-to-reach gullies and canyons of there.

They tell us now it's about 75 percent contained and it's going to get gusty today, maybe 10-20 mile an hour winds. So there's just one of many things for all of these folks here to worry about. They're going through so much just trying to identify who's truly gone. And the search and recovery teams have gotten some help. There's some -- a mobile morgue has been brought in. Some forensic experts to help them sort through all that ash. But is just heartbreaking and it affects so many people around the island in so many ways.

A lot of people saying tourists should stay away out of respect. But your hearing a lot of other people perspective say, that would mean an economic catastrophe on top of all of this emotional pain right now. So these are complicated times for people of Hawaii.

SANCHEZ: Bill Weir reporting live from Hawaii. Thanks so much for your report -- Jim.

Actually, before we go to Jim, we want to give you an opportunity to help those who have been impacted by these fires. For more information about how you can assist Hawaii wildfire victims, go to CNN.com/impact or text Hawaii to 707070. A lot of folks need help right now and you can make an impact.

JIM SCIUTTO, CNN HOST: Coming up, charges against Alec Baldwin could be refiled following a new forensic report on the deadly "Rust" shooting. We're going to tell you what that report found.

[15:35:00]

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SANCHEZ: March 4th of next year, we just learned that is when the Fulton County district attorney wants Donald Trump's trial to begin in the Georgia election subversion case. That is smack in the middle of the Republican primary calendar. So far, former President Donald Trump mounting legal troubles have not been weighed him down politically. Polling has consistently shown him with a wide lead among Republicans. But could Georgia change that?

Let's bring CNN's senior data reporter, Harry Enten into the conversation. Harry, obviously this latest indictment is in Georgia and the political landscape given everything that happened after the 2020 election for Donald Trump is different there.

HARRY ENTEN, CNN SENIOR DATA REPORTER: Yes, it absolutely is, Boris. You know, I just want to give you an understanding of what's going here in the state of Georgia. Look, this is swing of the Democrats in presidential elections from 2004 to 2020. Look in Georgia, look at that swing towards the Democrats -- a 17 point swing. Compare that what we see nationwide, just a 7 point swing. So Georgia is becoming far more Democratic.

Now look at the 2022 midterm elections. Look, these are the Trump endorsed candidates won this often in 2022 GOP primaries. In Georgia, it was 67 percent. Compare that to nationwide where it was 95 percent. So not only is Georgia moving to the left, it's also far more Trump skeptical through 2022 then the rest of the GOP electorate -- Boris.

SANCHEZ: So, Harry, is there a reason to believe that these Republicans are moving away from Trump in a significant enough margin that it could affect them when it comes to primaries for example?

ENTEN: Yes, so you know, what I am very interested in is the Trump voters who think that -- or the Republican voters who think Trump has committed serious federal crimes. Look at this, among college graduates, it's 27 percent, noncollege graduates it's just 12 percent. Why is this such an important split? Because I want you to get an understanding that the Trump voters with the college degree in 2020 closest Biden won states. Look at this, 35 percent of the Trump voters in Georgia had a college degree. That is a significant higher than a lot of other states. So if there's one place where these indictments could really have an impact among the swing states, Georgia is right at the top of the list with Arizona -- Boris.

SANCHEZ: Some fascinating data, Harry Enten, a pleasure as always my friend -- Jim.

SCIUTTO: We're joined by New Hampshire Governor, Chris Sununu -- a Republican governor.

[15:40:00]

Thanks so much taking the time this afternoon.

GOV. CHRIS SUNUNU, (R) NEW HAMPSHIRE: You bet.

SCIUTTO: A lot to run by you. Just a bit of news we were reporting a few moments ago. A proposed March 4th trial date in Georgia, in Fulton County, Georgia, that is soon by some measures, right? But it's still well into the political calendar for Republicans, when the lead candidate might very well have come close to locking up the nomination by then. And I wonder -- John Bolton told me just last hour that he thinks conviction would be a deciding issue for Republican voters. More so than an indictment, if a convention were to happen. Are these trials moving too slowly?

SUNUNU: Great question -- yes, for the average person -- for the average American right now, they have these four indictments against a former president that's very serious stuff and maybe we'll get to it next year. So the average American goes, what the heck is going on here? Isn't this serious enough to move a little more aggressively?

Now again, to have this -- at least the first of these trials potentially to get right in the smack of the primary. That's just going to, you know, put gasoline on the flames of the drama of Donald Trump. It's going to build sympathy and it's just going to prevent us from doing what we need to be doing as Republicans.

Which is, we talk about the future of the party. How to secure the border. How to be physically discipline. Every conversation we have is going to about that guy and that makes it very, very difficult for any of these other candidates to get some oxygen, to get some news. even now, right? We're sitting here only talking about Trump. Any time these other candidates go on TV they're really only even asked about Trump. It's got to be incredibly frustrating.

And for a Republican who just wants to win, I just want to win a 24 man. It's really, really hard to see the path there, when all the media, all the attention, all the drama is revolving around that. And it does not look like it's going away any time soon.

SCIUTTO: You said last night that you think there are too many candidates -- too many Republican candidates in the race right now. In effect splitting the non-Trump vote among Republican primary voters. Is there any movement, is there any discussion after the first, well debate say, or maybe as you get closer to the primaries, that the candidates that aren't making it get together and say we're out and we're going to back X challenger to Trump. Is there genuine discussion of that?

SUNUNU: Yes, but not amongst the candidates themselves. So I think there will be three or four candidates at least that don't make the first debate, they're gone, right? I think there'll be voices that say, OK, as we get into November, if you're in those low single digits, you got to go. And it won't be them in a back room figuring it out themselves. It'll be 100 Republican voices across the country saying, we have to narrow this down to maybe five or six candidates by Iowa. Maybe three -- even three or four by New Hampshire. Because in a one-on-one race that's where Trump loses.

And they'll be a lot of pressure -- not the powers that be but maybe some of the voices, the donor base, some of the more influential folks out there that say, hey, we have to narrow this thing down. Because Republicans want to move America forward. Republicans want to provide solutions for America. Donald Trump wants to just protect Donald Trump. And that's not a Republic value.

And I think most of the candidates get that, but they've give it their best shot for the next six months. But then the hard decision is saying, OK, we gave it our best shot, the responsible thing is to get out of the race.

SCIUTTO: It has been more than 2 1/2 years since January 6th, as you know. Well over 2 1/2 years since the election that Donald Trump lost. And since he's been repeating the same lies. And Republicans like yourself who oppose Trump as the nominee have said, somewhat hopefully, that the party is going to move on or has to move on. Has to focus on the future. We have to find a better candidate. We have to find a winning candidate. We have to find a candidate who is not facing four separate criminal trials, and yet he remains the frontrunner. I just wonder given that long timeline and that experience and all the evidence to the contrary, has it become wishful thinking that anyone but Donald Trump is the nominee for the GOP?

SUNUNU: No, no, it really hasn't. Look, we haven't even had a debate yet, right? So a lot of these candidates -- the ones that are moving quite aggressively, Ramaswamy, Tim Scott, even Doug Burgum into the race, Suarez, some of these newer candidates haven't really been able to even introduce themselves to America.

If they get on that debate stage, you're going to have that opportunity. And show not just where they are in policy, but where they are an inspiration, on leadership, on charisma and things that people want to get excited about when they vote for somebody for president.

So we still have six months, a long six months to go. I think it's going to be quite a roller coaster. Huge opportunity. But again to your point, if we're saying Donald Trump's name in every single story, 500 times and not getting any airtime -- or maybe they're not taking advantage of potential airtime. That could be on them. But when every story revolves around Donald Trump, don't be surprised that he's leading in the polls, you know, by such a huge amount. He's getting all the press and all the attention. And he loves it. He knows it.

[15:45:00]

You know, and that's his path, you know, in terms of not getting the nomination, his goal -- his ultimate goal is if he gets the nomination here, his ultimate goal is to somehow into a position where he's pardoning himself, or he somehow, you know, mitigates his legal trouble. And that's going to be a challenge.

Democrats are going to have a challenge on their side. I mean, Joe Biden ain't knocking it out of the park last time I checked. And whether it's a health issue, whether it the Hunter Biden stuff, I think there's still a variety of different opportunities for the Democrats to either move him along or he moves himself along by the convention of next year.

So a long way to go and I'm still betting that neither of these guys are ultimately on the ballot in 24.

SCIUTTO: By the way, to your point, there hasn't been a primary yet so we'll watch to see how they turn out. Governor Sununu, always good to have you on.

SUNUNU: You bet, thank you buddy.

SCIUTTO: Boris.

SANCHEZ: Next on CNN NEWS CENTRAL, the Touhy is responding to allegations their heartwarming story of adoption, the very one that inspired the film "The Blindside" was just a huge lie.

Plus, why a new forensics report could prompt prosecutors to refile charges against Alec Baldwin for his role in the deadly "Rust" movie set shooting. We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:50:48]

SANCHEZ: The Tuohy family is responding to Michael Oher's lawsuit claiming they withheld millions of dollars from him. Remember, Oher was the inspiration for the movie "The Blind Side." A movie about a wealthy white family that rescued a Black teenager from poverty, who later became an NFL player.

CNN's Brynn Gingras has been following this story and joins us now with more. Brynn, Oher says the whole thing was a lie. So what is the family saying in response?

BRYNN GINGRAS, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, a lot of allegations, Boris, and that lawsuit that was filed by Michael Oher, and a lengthy response from the Touhy family that we received. In part they actually say that this is all part of a shakedown that Oher has tried against their family multiple times, according to their claims. And the latest time they said he asked to be paid $15 million or he would go public with a story about them. Now again, a lengthy statement, I want to read part of it to you from

their attorney. It says:

Anyone with a modicum of common sense can see that the outlandish claims made by Michael Oher about the Touhy family are hurtful and absurd. The idea that the Tuohys have sought to profit off Mr. Oher is not only offensive, it is transparently ridiculous.

They go in to this saying, that basically he's just trying to drum up attention if his book that was just released this week. No comments yet from Michael about these claims, about being shaken down or about the book tour, publication and publicity.

But certainly it's turning ugly, Boris. And I want to also mention it's turning ugly for the actors who played the parts like Sandra Bullock. There's online hate that she's been receiving just in regards to what is happening with this family. So much so that her co-star Quinton Aaron, who played Michael Oher, had to come to her defense. So again, we're going to have to see how this one plays out in court, but it's not looking good so far as this sort of drama plays out in real life.

SANCHEZ: Yes, as though the actors had anything to do with what unfolded. Brynn Gingras, never count on the internet to be rational. Thank you so much -- Jim.

SCIUTTO: Actor Alec Baldwin could face refiled charges in the shooting death that happened on the set of his film "Rust." According to a new forensics report filed in court, the trigger on the gun held by Baldwin, had to have been pulled, not resulting from a malfunction. The report states:

Although Alex Goldman repeatedly denies pulling the trigger, given the tests, findings and observations reported here, the trigger had to be pulled or depressed sufficiently -- or retracted hammer of the evidence revolve.

Cinematographer Halyna Hutchins was killed in the accident. Baldwin was charged initially. Those charges were later dismissed. CNN's Josh Campbell, he is following the latest update here. So Josh, explain how a report like this could change the charges -- bring them back in effect. And then what happens now?

JOSH CAMPBELL, CNN SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Well, Jim, this goes back to what prosecutors told the court in June. If they hold to what they told the court, charges against Alec Baldwin just increased significantly. Because we all know that the actor was previously charged with involuntary manslaughter. That charge was dismissed.

I was told by a law enforcement source that's because the gun that was used in that shooting was discovered to have been modified. I'll read you what prosecutors told the court earlier in dismissing those charges. They wrote that:

The charges against Alec Baldwin were dismissed without prejudice because of possible malfunction of the gun. If it is determined that the gun did not malfunction, charges against Mr. Baldwin will proceed.

Now this is important, because that report that you reference, that was commissioned by prosecutors. This group of forensic examiners looked at that gun, which was previously examined by the FBI. They found that it could not have gone off without Alec Baldwin pulling that trigger. So we're waiting to see whether prosecutors will actually indeed move forward and recharging Alec Baldwin. We know course, for his part, he has claimed his innocence. He has said that he never pulled that trigger. We are waiting for a statement from his team regarding this latest report that's out now. It's something that we will certainly be watching to see if prosecutors make good on what they said in June. That they will bring charges if it turns out that gone did not function -- Jim.

SCIUTTO: Josh Campbell in L.A. thanks so much. And we'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:59:28]

SANCHEZ: Moments ago, President Biden celebrated a birthday of sorts at the White House. He hailed the one-year mark since his landmark Inflation Reduction Act was passed. This of course, comes at a time when Americans are facing sticker shock from the gas pump to the grocery store. But we are seeing some positive signs. And the president is very confident.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: When the middle class does well, all kidding aside, everybody does well. Everybody. The poor have a ladder up. The middle class have a good shot and the wealthy do very well.

[16:00:00]

"The Financial Times" and "The Wall Street Journal" initially called my plan Bidenomics. I'm not sure they meant it in a totally complementary way at the time, but guess what? It's working.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCIUTTO: It seems like he's owning the Bidenomics title now. Of course we'll continue to follow that. All developments in the Trump investigations as well. "THE LEAD" with Jake Tapper starts now.