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Trump's Legal Troubles; Hilary Now A Major Category 4 Storm; Hawaii Wildfires. Aired 10-10:30a ET

Aired August 18, 2023 - 10:00   ET

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

[10:00:00]

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JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: Exclusive new reporting and one of Donald Trump's alleged co-conspirators in the plot to overturn the 2020 election, an attorney who has not only said to a plan the so-called fake electoral scheme, but now CNN has identified him on Capitol Hill on January 6, and you will not believe who he was with.

SARA SIDNER, CNN ANCHOR: So many questions still unanswered as crews continue the painstaking search of the rubble from that deadly Hawaiian fires. Where did the fire start? How did it start? Now the island's Emergency Management chief who faced criticism is stepping down.

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: A mistrial in Mississippi. Why the Justice Department is now being called to intervene in an attempted murder case two white men who are accused -- were accused of attempting to murder a black FedEx driver. The video the police department's being accused now of withholding from the case.

I'm Kate Baldwin with Sara Sidner and John Berman. This is CNN News Central.

SIDNER: For the first time since his Georgia grand jury indictment, former President Donald Trump is speaking out. Trump appearing on Fox Business reacting to the charges alleging him of being the head of a criminal enterprise to overturn the 2020 election. Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, FORMER PRESIDENT OF UNITED STATES: You know, we have a tremendous group of people in this country. And I'm not just talking about Republicans. We have them on both sides, and we have a lot of them. And when they watch this witch hunt, this disgusting situation where they do it for publicity, where they do fundraisers based on Yes, she -- In her case, and they're all bad -- but in her case, because I have four of them.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SIDNER: The DA said they're doing it for the betterment of the country. The sweeping indictment against former President Trump and 18 others in Georgia also including details surrounding 30 unindicted and unnamed co-conspirators. CNN has new information of some of them by piecing together details included in that indictment. Among them, Trump political advisor Boris Epstein, former NYPD Commissioner Bernie Kerik and Georgia's Republican Lieutenant Governor Burt Jones.

[10:05:08]

CNN senior crime and justice reporter Katelyn Polantz is following this story. What more are you learning about those unindicted and unnamed co-conspirators?

KATELYN POLANTZ, CNN SENIOR CRIME AND JUSTICE REPORTER: Well, Sara, we aren't able to name several of them now, just based on the public record that is out there on what happened after the election in 2020. These are people who are not charged with crimes, but that doesn't mean that they are excused from having any part in this case. They could be people who might flip if prosecutors wanted them to, if they need them. They could be people who provided valuable information to prosecutors, and we could see them as witnesses at the trial in the future.

But some of them are people who are very close to Donald Trump in his political sphere. And then, there's also one person to really focus on the Lieutenant Governor of Georgia, Burt Jones, who at the time was a state senator in the -- during the election period of 2020. And he also was a fake elector for Donald Trump. He appears to have escaped any issues in this case as of now because Fani Willis, the DA, had sent him a target letter, told him he could be charged in the case. But then a judge ordered her not to investigate him because of a political step that she had taken with a fundraiser related to his election pursuits.

And so, there is an agency that is separate from Fani Willis, the DA in Georgia, who is now vowing to have attorneys appointed or a special prosecutor appointed to work with him. So, Jones is one to watch going forward. Sara?

SIDNER: Katelyn, the prosecutors want the case in DC to go forward by January of next year, but lawyers for Donald Trump are asking for a really long way out to 2026. When would we know what the judge decides on this?

POLANTZ: We'll know by the end of the month, Sara. At least that has been the timeline that's been laid out so far. The Justice Department, they wrote their arguments for what they want, which is a January trial, a trial that would start quite soon from now a pretty aggressive timeline. And they've made really compelling arguments about the public's need to have a resolution in this case, especially in an election year, given that it is about the previous presidential election.

Now, Donald Trump's team does not want that at all. They don't want the trial to happen for almost three years from now, and that is what they said in a court filing last night. But always, Sara, we got to listen to what the judge says.

SIDNER: Yes, we do and so today. Katelyn Polantz, thank you so much for all your great reporting on this. John?

BERMAN: So new this morning, a CNN exclusive on one of the attorneys charged in Georgia for conspiring with Donald Trump to overturn the election. Kenneth Chesebro is one of the alleged architects of the so- called fake electoral plot. But now CNN has identified him on video on January 6 at the US Capitol. And what's more, the videos specifically show Chesebro following conspiracy theorist Alex Jones around the grounds.

With me now, one of the men who pored through this video to find this, CNN KFile senior editor Andrew Kaczynski. This is remarkable reporting, Andrew. What do you find?

ANDREW KACZYNSKI, CNN KFILE SENIOR EDITOR: Yes. What's interesting is he follows Alex Jones for more than an hour as they make their way to the Capitol grounds, including in some restricted areas that were previously barricaded off by police. Now, what's interesting about this, who is Kenneth Chesebro? He's one of those alleged masterminds of that plot to use fake electors to keep Donald Trump in office. He's one of the intellectual leaders of that movement, and who do we see him with but Alex Jones.

Alex Jones was one of those people who was out there fanning the flames of just the most inflammatory rhetoric in the lead up to the January 6 riot now. One expert that we spoke to sort of made this connection here where it sort of shows just this thin line that we see between people like Chesebro who are the people behind the scenes, the intellectual people who are coming up with how they were, you know, so-called illegally going to take the election from Joe Biden, and the people like Alex Jones who are just using that really fanatical rhetoric, which got people to there on January 6.

Now, we first see the pair together about, I want to say, a half mile from the Capitol. They walk up there. Alex Jones gives a speech. Eventually, they make their way to the other side. This was all done using publicly available footage. They walk about halfway up the steps, and we see them together for about over an hour up to maybe an hour and a half.

BERMAN: It really is interesting to see Chesebro right there, and we've highlighted him with the red hat through that filming. You know, just there for it -- no evidence that he went in to the Capitol itself. And what is Chesebro have to say about all of this?

[10:10:06]

KACZYNSKI: So there's no evidence that he went into the Capitol. There's no evidence that he was violent. There's no evidence that Alex Jones was violent or went to the Capitol either. It's interesting because a lot of people that Jones led up those steps actually then did go in to the Capitol.

We reached out to Chesebro personnel. We didn't hear anything back from him. His attorney gave us a statement. They declined to comment on this. But they said that they're going to -- Mr. Chesebro is going to allow the legal process to play out and he declined to issue any public comment at this time.

BERMAN: All right. As I said, very interesting video to see. Great work by you and your team. Andrew Kaczynski, great to see you in person. Kate?

BOLDUAN: And joining us now is CNN senior legal analyst, former federal and state prosecutor Elie Honig and CNN political analyst Seung Min Kim, White House reporter for the Associated Press.

Guys, April 2026, this is the request now, Elie, from Trump's attorneys to when they would like to see the trial on the federal elect -- the 2020 election, the federal trial begin on its face. I wanted to get your take on what you think about the push to 2026. Because quite frankly, the contrast is almost comical between the request from Trump's attorneys and the request from the special counsel asking for January of next year.

ELIE HONIG, CNN SENIOR LEGAL ANALYST: Yes, Kate. And I think both sides are far off base in their requests. 2026 is sort of, obviously way too far out there. It's hard to even conceive of 2026. I think that's a vast overreach by Donald Trump's team. But on the other side of the coin, asking for trial to start in January of 2024, as DOJ has done, is also not just unrealistic, but really gets close to infringing on Donald Trump's right to prepare for a trial.

He's the one who has a constitutional interest here. He's the one who's liberty at stake. And I think his lawyers, in their submission, make a powerful argument that we cannot even physically get through the 11 million documents that we are in the process of being given by DOJ between now and January.

And they don't have to just sort of read through those documents. They have to analyze them they have to prepare their own defense, they have to file motions. So I think both of these dates are really out of bounds. And I think it's going to be up to the judge to find the middle ground. Of course, the big question is will that middle ground be before or after the 2024 election.

BOLDUAN: Which is obviously critical. That is the -- I think maybe that is the question, both legally and politically. And in this moment, I mean, some in -- in terms of the political impact of a 2026 start date, if that would happen, which is Elie says seems to be an unlikely situation, but what do you think that means?

SEUNG MIN KIM, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: Well, I think like Elie said, that 2026 date is not realistic and doesn't seem like it's going to happen. But what's unavoidable is that throughout Donald Trump's four separate indictments. There are so many separate court proceedings, hearings, updates, that are going to be sprinkled in throughout the Republican primary calendar. And his legal troubles are going to be so difficult to avoid. They already are so difficult to avoid as the primary calendar progresses, and as people start voting in early states early next year.

But you do see, I mean, even with these Georgia charges, and even as these -- his criminal -- the criminal accusations against Donald Trump become more and more serious. The reaction among his challengers in the Republican primary hasn't really changed. You can kind of put them into people who are defending him. You can put them in a bucket of people who are saying this is why he cannot be our nominee.

Mike Pence has been a little bit unusual because of his own personal role in the race. And that just shows you where Republican base voters are. They don't believe these charges and they don't think -- they think they're politically motivated. They're still supporting Trump here.

BOLDUAN: Elie, I want to play for you what Bill Barr, Trump's former attorney general. He said kind of about all of this yesterday. He thinks the federal cases against Donald Trump are responsible and focused, and important in his view. He speaks very differently about the charges against Donald Trump coming from New York and the case in Georgia. Listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BILL BARR, FORMER TRUMP ATTORNEY GENERAL: I'm not happy with the Georgia case. I think it's much too sweeping, much too broad, excessive case that is, you know, make it look like people are piling on and being excessive to Trump, and feed the narrative that he's being victimized here. And I also think there's merit in the point that this is a case I don't think going to be triable before the election.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BOLDUAN: Elie, how many Trump trials do you think will happen before the election?

HONIG: Well, keeping in mind that I wrote a book very critical of Bill Barr, I happen to agree with him here. I think it's very unlikely that this Georgia case gets to trial before the election. If we just look at the way things are handled in Georgia, there's another racketeering case happening in Georgia right now they are on their seventh month of choosing a jury. That's how slow things move in Georgia.

[10:15:10]

Given the astonishing breadth and scope of Fani Willis' charges, there is just no way this trial gets start and completed by the 2024 election. If I had to put an over under on how many trials we will see before the 2024 election, I think I played like the Vegas odds makers here and I put it at 1.5. I think we are likely to see at least one of the cases. I think Judge Chutkan has made clear she intends to try the federal January 6 case before the election, and I think it's 50/50 whether we also see the Mar-a-Lago case. But I do agree with former Attorney General Barr that those are the two most important cases that should go first.

BOLDUAN: All right. It's good to see you, guys. Thank you. Sara?

SIDNER: Unusual and dangerous wet weather. A major category 4 hurricane now has parts of drought stricken California bracing for that rare threat that has not been seen in the state for decades. Plus, fake account, real person. A registered Florida Republican was shocked to find out that her pictures were the face of an ultra liberal Twitter profile. Well meet her ahead. Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Are you Erica Marsh?

COURTNEY BALLESTEROS, REGISTERED FLORIDA REPUBLICAN: No.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: But that's your face.

BALLESTEROS: Seems to be.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

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BERMAN: All right. This morning talk about a rare, unwelcome, dangerous occurrence. You're looking at live pictures and that square over there of Cabo, San Lucas. That is the beginnings of a very powerful storm, 145 mile per hour winds heading right at California. Now, it could weaken before landfall but forecasters still expect dangerous flash flooding. Death Valley which sees an average of about two inches of rain a year, this storm which is called Hilary could double that in one day.

Bulldozers have been moving sand on beaches as this could become the first tropical storm to hit California, Southern California, in 84 years. It just doesn't get hit with storms like this.

So let's get right to meteorologist Derek Van Dam to get a sense of where the storm is, the timing and where exactly it's going, Derek.

DEREK VAN DAM, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Yes. John, I liked that you showed some of the pictures coming out of Cabo, San Lucas. Because you can see Cabo on our weather map and here's the location of Hurricane Hilary. This is roughly 300 miles away. So we're starting to see an expanding Winfield, some of the outer rain bands from the storm already impacting this major tourist destination.

That's in the Southern California Baja Peninsula, right? Where is the storm headed from here? Let's take it further into the future. Official forecast track, we're waiting for that, 11:00 am Eastern Standard Time update from the National Hurricane Center. One thing is for sure, we do have a weakening storm in this forecast. And as it approaches Southern California, it will likely be a tropical storm.

So let's time it out. If you're in San Diego, perhaps Los Angeles, Ventura County, for instance, these areas susceptible with gusty winds by Sunday evening that could gusts over 50 miles per hour, especially in southern sections of California. So we want to keep an eye on that. The higher elevations could gust to perhaps 60-70 miles per hour across the mountainous regions of Southern California, but it's going to interact with cooler ocean water, so this will help weaken the storm as it approaches the southwest. But as is typical with tropical systems, the influx of moisture will bring heavy rainfall to this area. So we're concerned about the flash flood potential. And this really highlights it, John, the National Weather Service saying -- actually the Weather Prediction Center saying that they have never issued this high level of risk of flash flooding for some of the eastern facing slopes of the mountains in Southern California. So a potentially a year's worth of rain in just a couple of days.

BERMAN: Yes. Again, and for the hurricane snobs out there who say, oh, it's just a tropical storm that's going to hit this area. Tropical storms don't hit this area. This is very, very rare, which is why people need to pay attention --

VAN DAM: Good point.

BERMAN: -- because the amount of rain they're going to get very quickly is just not something they usually deal with. Derek Van Dam, thank you for keeping us posted on this. Sara?

SIDNER: All right. Our camera operator, Mike Monaco (ph), showing you the latest of what it looks like in Lahaina in Maui there. The devastation is so extensive. This morning a team with the ATF is in Hawaii joining the investigation into the cause of the deadly fires.

The death toll remains at 111 but only a handful of those people have been publicly identified. And with more than a thousand possible missing people, the FBI is asking the families to start providing DNA samples. Crews are going inch by inch painstakingly through the damaged and destroyed buildings trying to find remains.

Maui's county mayor says about 45% of the impacted area has been searched. With so many deaths and so much destruction, residents want answers about the response, and CNN is learning Hawaii's Water Management Agency may have delayed giving permission to use extra water to fight those deadly flames.

And now, it's Emergency Management chief has just resigned. He faced criticism after Maui's early warning sirens remain silent as the fire spread extremely quickly. CNN Randi Kaye has a story for us.

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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: So many of us residents felt like we had absolutely no warning.

RANDI KAYE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (VOICE-OVER): Hawaii has one of the largest public safety outdoor siren warning systems in the world, sirens that were silent as wildfires raged. Question is, why? First it was this.

HERMAN ANDAYA, MAUI EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT AGENCY ADMINISTRATOR: It would not have saved those people in the mountain side.

[10:25:00]

REPORTER: Do you regret not sounding the sirens?

ANDAYA: I do not. The sirens, as I mentioned earlier, is used primarily for tsunamis.

KAYE (VOICE-OVER): That's what the head of Maui's Emergency Management Agency said Wednesday before suddenly resigning a day later. But even before that press conference ended, his reason had changed. This time suggesting the sirens weren't used because people wouldn't have been able to hear the warning.

ANDAYA: It's an outdoor siren. So a lot of people who are indoors, air conditioning on, whatever the case may be, they're not going to hear the siren. Plus, the winds were very gusty and everything, I heard it was very loud, so they wouldn't have heard the sirens.

KAYE (VOICE-OVER): Same story with Hawaii's governor. First, this.

JOSH GREEN, HAWAII' GOVERNOR: Sirens were typically used for tsunamis or hurricanes. To my knowledge, at least I never experienced them in use for fires.

KAYE (VOICE-OVER): Then minutes later, another explanation. This time the governor suggested at least some of the sirens were broken.

GREEN: The sirens were essentially immobilized, we believe, we believe, by the extreme heat that came through. Some were broken and we're investigating that.

KAYE (VOICE-OVER): Yet, that doesn't all track with the county's own webpage, mauisirens.com, which clearly states how the siren system is capable of alerting residents to multiple disasters, including wildfires.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Emergency alert.

KAYE (VOICE-OVER): And we also found this explainer about the sirens uses on Hawaii's Emergency Management Agency's webpage.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We also use sirens for hurricanes, brush fires, flooding, lava, hazmat conditions, or even a terrorist event.

KAYE (VOICE-OVER): This map, also from the county's page, shows where the warning sirens are located. According to this state, there are about 400 sirens statewide, including 80 on Maui. And in the historic town of Lahaina, where more than 100 people were killed in the flames, there are five sirens, five sirens that were not used to warn those in grave danger.

Instead, officials say they chose to send alerts by text message to cell phones, as well as alerts on landlines and through TV and radio.

ANDAYA: It is our practice to use the most effective means to convey an emergency message to the public during wildland fire.

KAYE (VOICE-OVER): While that may have worked in some cases, the wildfire moves so swiftly. It knocked out power and cell service. So how were residents supposed to receive those warnings?

MIKE CIOCHINO, WILDFIRE SURVIVOR: There's no warning at all. There's not a siren, not a phone alert, not -- nothing, not a call.

KAYE: And Hawaii has had problems with its alert system in the past. In 2018, cell phone alert was mistakenly sent warning residents of an incoming missile attack. Obviously that was a false alarm. But this has really been going on for decades. Back in 1960, after a tsunami hit the area of Hilo, Hawaii, residents didn't even know what the warning siren meant. They didn't know what to do. So they ran up towards the ocean instead of into the mountainside area for safety, and 61 people died. Sara?

SIDNER: And it can't be said enough. This is the deadliest wildfire in US history in 100 years. Thank you to our Randi Kaye there in Hawaii. Kate?

BOLDUAN: Coming up for us. Take a sledgehammer to Vivek Ramaswamy, come to the defense of Donald Trump in absentia. That's coming from a debate memo intended for Ron DeSantis revealed by the New York Times. What it means now is the candidates are days away from the big debate stage. We'll be back.

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