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Biden Taps Ex-Benghazi Lawyer As WH Counsel Amid Probes; Maui Death Toll Rises To 115, And 850 Are Still Missing; Special Counsel Pushes Back On Request For 2026 Trump Trial. Aired 9:30-10a ET

Aired August 22, 2023 - 09:30   ET

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

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JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: All right, first on CNN, the Biden administration is getting a new White House Council. President Biden has picked Ed Siskel for the job. He helped manage the Obama administration's response to the Benghazi and Solyndra investigations. CNN's Jeremy Diamond is at the White House this morning. And he comes at what could be a pivotal moment for this White House, Jeremy.

JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Yes, no doubt about it, John. I mean, this is going to be a politically charged environment in which he is walking into one in which there are not only these Congressional investigations being led by Republicans, but also some potential legal peril for the President as he faces this ongoing special counsel's investigation into his handling of classified documents following his departure from the vice presidency.

There's also of course the matter of the president's son, Hunter Biden, the fact that the U.S. attorney who has been investigating him has now also been named a special counsel. And all of this is going to in one way or another fall on the plate of the White House counsel. And that man of beginning next month will indeed be Ed Siskel.

Now a person familiar with Siskel selection, told me that his experience in managing the investigations into the Obama White House, with the Benghazi investigation, the Solyndra investigation in 2011 and 2012 that that was a key factor in his selection for this post. And it is viewed as an asset for him.

[09:35:00]

Now the President in his statements he said this quote, for nearly four years in the White House when I was vice president, he helped to the Counsel's Office navigate complex challenges and advance the President's agenda on behalf of the American people. Ed has shown a deep commitment to public service and respect for the law.

Now, I spoke with several of Siskel's former colleagues who say that his wide ranging experience is four years in the White House Counsel's Office including one year as deputy White House Counsel, his time as an attorney at the Justice Department headquarters, his time as a federal prosecutor in Chicago. All of this will make him prepared for this complex interplay between the White House, the Department of Justice, and of course, Congress, as well.

And also Siskel worked for Bob Bauer, who's the President's personal attorney, that's going to be a relationship that matters going forward, particularly as we contemplate the possibility of the current President sitting down with federal investigators in this documents case. We know of course, that there has been close coordination between the White House Counsel's Office and the President's personal attorney.

But there are also some lines to be drawn some areas where the White House Counsel is responsible, other areas where it's the President's personal attorney, and Siskel's former colleagues tell me they believe he's well prepared to handle those boundaries, and to figure out where the lines need to be drawn. John?

BERMAN: All right, Jeremy Diamond for us at the White House. Jeremy, thanks so much. Sara?

SARA SIDNER, CNN ANCHOR: All right now to the devastation in Maui. Two more victims of those deadly wildfires have been identified. But there was a terrible reality, many of the missing may never be found. President Biden addressed the sorrow and loss felt by some of the islands residents.

The President took an aerial tour of Maui and met with fire survivors, first responders and officials on the ground there with about 850 people who are still unaccounted for. The death toll has risen again to 115 and is expected to rise even higher.

Federal officials say they're nearly 90 percent through going through some of the devastated remains there and their focus will soon switch from recovery to rebuilding.

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JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: The country should grieve with you, stands with you, and will do everything possible to help you recover, rebuild and respect culture and traditions when the rebuilding takes place.

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SIDNER: The trip brought President Biden to the scene of the deadliest American wildfire in more than 100 years. Our Bill Weir was there.

BILL WEIR, CNN CHIEF CLIMATE CORRESPONDENT: President and Dr. Biden spent several hours both over Lahaina on the ground here and meeting with both first responders and victims of this tragedy at the big shelter, the War Memorial shelter in central Maui.

And he said the right things in many cases when he came to the microphone to give his statements. He said the thing that a lot of folks I've been hearing from for two weeks have been saying that he wants Maui, the people of Maui to help determine how this place is rebuilt. There was a question as to who will have the most influence and that conversation going forward. Locals here working class Native Hawaiians and multigenerational locals are worried of Disaster Capitalism, people moving in to exploit this and buy up as much land as they can in this paradise and rebuild it for their interests as well. The President says promises that that won't happen. It remains to be seen. There's a lot of forces at play here right now.

He did serve as empathizer-in-chief after five days of being mostly silent on the issue publicly. But the governor said he was working behind the scenes to assure first responders that the feds had their back on this. He shared the stories were familiar with losing his daughter and wife and wondering if his son have survived a car accident early in his political career. And that's what so many people here are going through now.

The list of the missing according the mayor of Maui was whittled from over 2,000 by the FBI and authorities down to around 850 now, that still seems impossibly high this many days almost two weeks now after the fire broke out. Forensic anthropologists though say historically, seems like this can take months or even years to sort out the missing you can hope there's still some confusion as to who's on that list. But the real heartbreak is to think about the children who were left home that day.

There are parents in this town who lost their kids. There are kids who lost their parents were unclear if the President Biden was able to meet with any of those. We know he did meet with Archie Kalepa historic figure here. Uncle Archie as he's known as a Hall of Fame water man who led a lot of the relief efforts from a sort of a cul-de- sac command post that we went into as well as some of those who have been very active on social media.

Were at the table at least with President Biden for the few hours he was here. But now all eyes are on this place to see how soon they can find the huge number of missing or and make peace with those families and how exactly they will rebuild.

Bill Weir, CNN Maui.

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: Bill thank you so much for that.

[09:40:01]

Also on our radar this hour, Tropical Storm Herald is about to bear down on parts of southern Texas. They're expecting heavy rain big winds and dangerous rip currents to hit the region. The storm could also bring up could bring up to 10 inches of rain in some parts. Forecasters are also warning that this storm system could lead to tornadoes later today.

It's a dramatic mission -- rescue mission that is still underway. We are told in Pakistan two adults and six children are trapped in a chairlift in the country's mountainous region. The kids are taking the chairlift to school which is a common practice in this remote area. But one of the cables snapped. A helicopter has been on the scene now

working to save the group stuck some 900 feet in the air. One passenger on the lift told a Pakistani news outlet that two of the students have been slipping in and out of consciousness as they're waiting to be freed.

American track star Sha'Carri Richardson won the gold medal in the 100 meter race at the World Track and Field championship in Hungary yesterday. Richardson finished the sprint in 10.65 seconds running her personal best in the event and beating the defending world champ.

I wouldn't be jumping around like that she's upset comes two years after she was suspended from the COVID Delayed Tokyo Games for marijuana use. Richardson is considered a favorite now to win and next year's Paris Olympics. 10.65 seconds the amount of time I can run across the studio in heels.

BERMAN: It was an amazing race. She actually came from behind there. We should go check it out if you can. She's so fast.

BOLDUAN: Her conversation afterwards in just about like perseverance and believing yourself. It was nice to hear too.

BERMAN: Absolutely. All right, a new filing for Special Counsel Jack Smith pushing back against Donald Trump's efforts to delay the federal election interference trial until 2026.

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[09:46:10]

BOLDUAN: Special Counsel Jack Smith is pushing back against Donald Trump's request to delay his elections version trial until 2026. The Justice Department is now accusing Trump's legal team in a new filing of exaggerating the amount of work that they have ahead of them to prepare for trial.

Trump's legal team said that they have 11.5 million pages of potential evidence to review even comparing that workload to the height of the Washington monument that stands at 555 feet, if you were curious. CNN's Marshall Cohen is tracking this. Marshall, how is the Justice Department then responding to this?

MARSHALL COHEN, CNN REPORTER: Hey, Kate, they are holding steady despite that comparison to the Washington Monument. They are holding steady with their proposal for the case to go to trial in January of next year. And they say this isn't just what they want. This is what the country deserves. Remember, the -- there is a consideration for the national interest when a former president and possibly future President goes on trial.

And that's the argument from the prosecutors. They have also accused the Trump team of basically cherry picking the data, cherry picking the numbers, as they were arguing to stretch out this case, delay the case and they want to have the trial go in 2026, which is really far in the future. For their part, prosecutors have also made it clear that they're keeping up with their discovery obligations. They've turned over millions of documents, including materials from the January 6th Committee and materials from the U.S. Secret Service. So as far as the Special Counsel is concerned, they say they're ready to go and that Trump's team should be ready as well for January. But of course, Kate as we always say it will be up to the judge to decide.

BOLDUAN: That's exactly right. How is this trial and what's being discussed here? How does this stack up and fit into the calendar considering the other cases that are now facing Trump?

COHEN: It's a jam packed calendar. It's almost incomprehensible. But if you look at the dates that have been either scheduled by a judge or proposed by the prosecutors, there are six trials coming up for the former president, four criminal trials. Two civil trials starting later this fall with the New York Attorney General civil suit against Trump and his kids alleging fraud in the business sector, then as we've been talking about, in January of next year, the proposed start date for the Federal Election subversion trial, the defamation case, the second round of defamation trial with E. Jean Carroll, the writer and columnist.

Then in March, Fani Willis that's when she wants to take the Georgia case to trial. That's very ambitious, and most experts don't think it will happen that quickly. Also, in March, the scheduled start of the New York State hush money criminal trial, the state charges which of course Kate was the very first indictment that Trump was hit with. It feels like a lifetime ago.

And then the last one that's on the books as of now is the Mar-a-Lago trial over the classified documents. So a legal trial, a legal schedule and a political schedule, it's going to be a wild 2024.

BOLDUAN: Yes. Sure is it's good to see a march. Thank you. Sara?

[09:49:28]

SIDNER: All right, you are looking at me and not live pictures yet of the Fulton County Jail, but we're going to get those free in just a minute. That is because the very first person of Donald Trump's codefendants has turned themselves in and is currently being booked into jail. We are watching for all the new developments. Stay with us.

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SIDNER: Minutes from now the federal judge will consider whether the state of Texas should be required to remove controversial buoys on the U.S.-Mexico border. The Justice Department sued Texas over the buoys back in July. It says the floating barriers in the Rio Grande River violate federal law and could impact relations with Mexico as well as pose environmental risks. CNN's Rosa Flores has the details for us.

ROSA FLORES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Sara the fight over the controversial border buoys will be happening today here in Austin, Texas. And the federal courthouse that you see behind me that's where an injunction hearing will be happening today. Here's the backstory though. The State of Texas in early July deployed these border buoys in the Rio Grande near Eagle Pass Texas.

Shortly thereafter, the U.S. Department of Justice filed a lawsuit against the state of Texas claiming that these buoys had been deployed unlawfully without permits. Well, today, the U.S. Department of Justice will be asking a federal judge to force the state of Texas to remove these border buoys within 10 days of this requested order.

Through court documents we've learned that the state of Texas plans to argue and is expected to argue that the Rio Grande is not a navigable waterway and that these buoys are not a structure. Now the U.S. DOJ according to court documents as well as expected to argue that the Rio Grande is a waterway, that it is a U.S. waterway and that it is the international boundary between the United States and Mexico, which is the U.S. is largest foreign trade partner.

[09:55:22]

Now, further the U.S. DOJ alleges that based on a survey that used GPS technology that the state of Texas actually deployed, the majority of these border buoys in Mexican territory and the U.S. Department of Justice will also argue that that is impacting damaging their relationship with Mexico now yesterday, Governor Greg Abbott, during a press conference admitted that the state of Texas is moving those border buoys closer to the U.S. side of the river.

Now back to this injunction hearing. At this point, it is unclear if this judge will rule from the bench or if he will take more time to make his decision. Sara?

SIDNER: Our thanks to our Rosa Flores who is there for us in Austin. John?

BERMAN: All right, moments ago the first of Donald Trump's co- defendants went to jail. He's already been released. We've got new details on the full 19 co-defendants when they may or may not show up. And also new details on Donald Trump's bail deal. Can he restrain himself on social media and what happens if he doesn't?

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