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Co-Defendants Of Former President Trump In Georgia Election Interference Case Face Financial Struggles; August Job Report: Strong Job Growth, But Increased Unemployment Rate; Another Proud Boys Member Sentenced For January 6th Capitol Attack; President Biden Seeks $4 Billion Extra For FEMA Due To Ongoing Natural Disasters; Ethan Nordean, Proud Boys Leader, Undergoing Sentencing For Seditious Conspiracy Tied To The Capitol Attack. Aired 2-2:30p ET

Aired September 01, 2023 - 14:00   ET

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

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ALEX MARQUARDT, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: A cash crunch that could have major implications. Former President Donald Trump's co-defendants in the Georgia interference election case are struggling to pay their legal bills. How that could impact the trial, as we learn now, it will be televised.

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN ANCHOR: And the jobs keep coming. The August jobs report coming in better than expected. So why did the unemployment rate just go up? What the numbers mean for you. And proud boys behind bars. Another top member of the right-wing extremist group sentenced to years in prison for his role in the January 6th attacks. And another one will learn his fate just moments from now. We are following these major developing stories and many more, all coming in right here to CNN NEWS CENTRAL.

MARQUARDT: And there are new developments in the election subversion case in Georgia. We're awaiting a key ruling on Mark Meadows, who is Trump's former White House chief of staff. Meadows is asking to have his charges moved from Georgia state court to federal court. Meanwhile, we have learned that Trump's trial will both be seen online and on television, assuming that it does stay on the air. The presiding judge there saying that all hearings and trials will be live streamed and can also be televised. And that does apply to Trump's 18 co-defendants as well.

Today, one of those co-defendants entered a not guilty plea. Attorney Kenneth Chesebro was the architect of the Trump campaign's fake elector plot. And some of Trump's co-defendants in this case are now turning to public fundraising to help cover their mounting legal costs. CNN's Kristen Holmes joins us now with more on that. So, Kristen, is there no sign that the former president is offering any financial help to his co-defendants?

KRISTEN HOLMES, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: In Georgia, not right now. So, here's what we know. We know that former President Trump, through his Save America Leadership Pack, has taken care of the legal bills for a number of his defendants and other cases, co-defendants, as well as for aides, advisors, employees, both previous and current. So much to the fact that they've spent more than $40 million since 2021 just on legal bills alone. However, when it comes to Georgia, we're not seeing that, which means that these other defendants, co-defendants, are having to turn to more creative ways to raise money because these are going to be extraordinary legal fees. At least that is what they believe.

Now, we are told that there are at least four of these co-defendants that are currently doing crowdfunding. They are Jenna Ellis, John Eastman, another lawyer, Jeffrey Clark, who is the former DOJ official, as well as Cathy Latham, who is one of the fake electors there in Georgia. We also know that when it comes to Rudy Giuliani, his son has started a pack in order to help him with those legal bills. Now, Donald Trump is actually helping Giuliani in some sense, not giving him money, but he is hosting a fundraiser, $100,000 per person, at his Bedminster Golf Resort next week.

MARQUARDT: But if this drags on, and it is going to drag on, isn't this a dangerous legal tactic for Trump? Meaning that as those bills get bigger and bigger, isn't the likelihood that some of these people could flip against Trump growing?

HOLMES: That's always a possibility. Now, let's talk about someone like Jenna Ellis, for example. She has been outwardly critical of Donald Trump, publicly critical. I mean, I spoke to one person close to Trump who said even if he was paying for legal bills, I don't think that she would be top of the list. So, there's already some of that going on. We also know that some of these defendants haven't spoken to Trump in quite some time. Another reason to possibly be concerned. However, when I talk to Trump folks, they don't believe that this is going to be an issue.

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They also say that while there has been some grumbling among these Georgia co-defendants, none of them have actually reached out directly to Trump or his team to try to play the legal bills. They also say that they can try to have these Georgia co-defendants put in a formal request through the legal defence fund if they want actual help with these legal bills.

And I know we reported on this earlier in July, this was formed, and this legal defence fund was essentially because Save America PAC was bleeding out money. They need this money to raise this money to help with those aides and advisors' bills. But still, again, not clear how much is in there now and if Georgia defendants actually did request, if there's any money there. There's also really questions as to whether or not, you know, they will actually ask for help or if you said maybe turn the tables here.

MARQUARDT: And it's still such early days. We don't even know how this is going to play out. None of these trials have even started. So, there is a lot that still needs to be decided. Those legal bills are going to keep growing. Kristen Holmes, terrific reporting. Thank you very much. Brianna.

KEILAR: So, in this Georgia case, we are still looking toward this decision to televise all the court proceedings. We're awaiting a key ruling on Mark Meadows, Trump's former White House chief of staff. Meadows is asking to have his charges moved from state to federal court. I want to begin now with CNN's Zach Cohen on this story. So, Zach, how impactful this ruling might be, not just for Meadows, but for other co-defendants like Trump?

ZACHARY COHEN, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY AND JUSTICE REPORTER: Yeah, Brianna, this decision is definitely important to other defendants in addition to Mark Meadows. And the most obvious candidates are the handful who have already asked the court to also move their case to federal court. There's people like former DOJ official Jeffrey Clark. But you know, the first thing we're going to look for in this ruling is if the judge, you know, directly explains how his decision should impact the other defendants in this case. You know, absent of that, though, I think Mark Meadows has probably the strongest case to get his case moved to federal court among the 18 co-defendants, anybody not named Donald Trump, who probably has the strongest argument of all of them.

So, Donald Trump hasn't formally asked to move his case. He's probably watching to see what happens with Mark Meadows. But we do expect at some point he will try to do that. And like I said, he has the strongest case among all the defendants in this in this case to move his as well.

And the reason that Mark Meadows and others want to move their cases to federal court is because they hope they can get it dismissed under federal law. Now, that remains to be seen. Even if it gets moved, that's a whole other thing getting it dismissed. But you know, you sort of see why they want to take that step.

KEILAR: All right, Zach, thank you so much. I want to bring in CNN senior media reporter Oliver Darcy. Oliver, barring a shocking reversal here, Trump's three other cases are not going to be televised. So how significant is this?

OLIVER DARCY, CNN SENIOR MEDIA REPORTER: It's a big deal that this Georgia case is set to be televised. It's a huge win for court transparency advocates. They've been wanting these trials to be televised. And that's because they're going to go down in the history books. These are going to be some very significant trials. And it makes sense that the public should be allowed to watch them, to see prosecutors present the evidence against Donald Trump. It's also going to help, I think, stem the flow of misinformation coming from these trials.

You know, misinformation, conspiracy theories, they thrive in the vacuum of information. And so, by allowing the public to see these things, by allowing newsrooms to have access to videos so they can quickly fact check, debunk falsehoods that emit from the court, I think that's going to help in those efforts. Now, of course, you will see some people weaponize some of the video. Some of these clips will be taken out of context. But allowing the people to see the full picture will help paint a more accurate picture of what's happening in those courtrooms, Brianna.

KEILAR: Yeah, certainly will. Oliver Darcy, thank you so much. Alex?

MARQUARDT: President Joe Biden is celebrating last month's jobs report that came out today. It shows that the U.S. economy added 187,000 jobs last month. That is slightly more than expected, but it is still a slowdown from the enormous growth that we've seen over the past two years. The unemployment rate actually increased by 0.3 percent. And of course, this is all happening as the Federal Reserve is trying to bring down inflation. CNN business and politics correspondent Vanessa Jurkevich joins me now. So, Vanessa, what more do these numbers tell us?

VANESSA JURKEVICH, CNN BUSINESS AND POLITICS CORRESPONDENT: This is a good report, Alex. 187,000 jobs added in the month of August. And if you look at June and July, those numbers were actually revised down by 100,000. So even a softer labour market in those two months than we had expected, and we have seen.

But the unemployment rate, as you mentioned, ticking up to 3.8 percent. That is because there is greater labour force participation. More people in the job market looking for jobs right now. And here are the sectors that saw the greatest gains last month. You have health care, leisure and hospitality, construction all adding tens of thousands of jobs.

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And then on the flip side, the industries that lost jobs are industries we have been talking about in the news. You have trucking losing 37,000 jobs. That's because one major trucking company here, Yellow Corporation, went under and they laid off 30,000 people. So those numbers showing up in this report. And if you've been following the actors and the writers who have been on strike for the past couple of weeks, you see those numbers, that ripple effect affected right there, motion picture and sound recording, a loss of 17,000 jobs. And also, economists have been looking at wages. They wanted to see whether or not wages increase in the month of August, because when wages go up, we have more money to spend. And that ultimately fuels inflation.

But what we saw last month was actually wages cooling. So Alex, not great for people's pocketbooks or wallets, but good for the Fed's fight on inflation. And the Fed is going to be meeting later this month in September. They have one more report that they're going to be looking at. That's the CPI report. That's what consumers pay. They'll be taking that. They'll be looking at this report that just came out today, putting it all together and trying to decide, do they pause raising interest rates or do they keep their fight against inflation going? It's a very delicate dance. It's a difficult balance to strike. But as you know, Alex, they want to hit that soft landing. Some economists saying that they are right on the way to get there. But it's up to the Fed whether or not we can see more interest rate hikes this year or wait until next year, Alex.

MARQUARDT: Yeah, everyone will be watching that very closely. It is a pivotal moment. Vanessa Yurkevich in New York. Thank you very much, Brianna.

KEILAR: Between the deadly fires in Maui and Louisiana and Hurricane Idalia hitting several states in the south, FEMA funding is falling short, and President Biden is asking for billions more. We'll have more on that next. Plus, we're following sentencing hearings for two members of the far-right Proud Boys group for their roles in the January 6th insurrection. And later, a federal judge blocked Arkansas social media age verification law before it went into effect. We're going to speak to -- a psychologist about the dangers that these platforms have when it comes to children. You're watching CNN NEWS CENTRAL. We'll be right back.

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KEILAR: A massive manhunt underway for a convicted murderer who escaped from a prison outside of Philadelphia. The convict was sentenced to life in prison for the brutal murder of his ex-girlfriend in front of her two small children. Authorities say he is extremely dangerous and he's desperate to evade police. CNN's Danny Freeman is in Westchester, Pennsylvania, where police are holding a press conference with new details. Danny, what are we expecting to learn?

DANNY FREEMAN, CNN CORESPONDENT: Well, Brianna, that press conference right now is ongoing just a few minutes down the road from where we are outside of the prison here in Chester County. We actually did learn a little bit of new information in the past few minutes. I'm gonna tell you that right now, but the main headline is that this person, Danelo Cavalcante, still has not been captured. But here's what we do know.

The main prosecutor, the district attorney in Chester County believes that this suspect, this inmate who escaped, is still in the general area of Chester County. At this point, they believe that there's no evidence that anyone is trying to help him. And they do believe that he is hiding somewhere locally and is alone. Though the prosecutor, the main DA, said that they do believe Cavalcante may be trying to head south at this time. So that's the latest update we have here. This search that is spanning multiple agencies in Chester County for this inmate who escaped here, still at large at this point.

Take a listen to what the US, -- one representative from the US Marshals told us in this press conference just moments ago.

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UNKNOWN: We have no reason to believe Mr. Cavalcante has left the area. However, if he does, the US Marshals Service has a long arm to touch anyone in this country or its territories, and we plan to do so. We will stop at nothing until we bring him back into custody and support our state and local partners. I also reiterate what Captain Wagner said about being vigilant, about checking your property, check your neighbour's property. It's Labor Day weekend coming up. People are going out of town. If you have neighbours that are out of town, make sure their property's secure, make sure they're not missing anything, vehicles, modes of transportation, bicycles, anything that could assist our fugitive of getting out of the area.

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FREEMAN: And remember, Breonna, law enforcement officials here are considering him extremely dangerous because he was just convicted of first-degree murder two weeks ago, just last week, sentenced to life without the possibility of parole. Again, officials urging everyone in this area around the Chester County Prison to be on high alert, especially over this holiday weekend, Brianna.

KEILAR: Yeah, very good point there. Danny Freeman, thank you. Alex.

MARQUARDT: President Joe Biden will be traveling to Florida tomorrow to visit his family. He's also going to survey the deadly devastation from Hurricane Idalia. His visit follows a request that he's sending to Congress today, asking lawmakers to approve an extra $4 billion for FEMA's disaster -- relief fund. Federal officials say that the fund is dangerously low and needs replenishing after a series of brutal, record-breaking natural disasters all across the country. Today's ask is in addition to the one that was made just last month for $12 billion. Here to discuss is former FEMA administrator Craig Fugate. Mr. Fugate, thank you so much for joining us. How critical is it for Congress to now approve this funding request?

CRAIG FUGATE, FEMA ADMINISTRATOR: Well, between now and October 1st, I got a couple things. This funding request and the continuing resolution, which would also impact FEMA. Right now, FEMA still has enough money to respond to these disasters. What is happening is they're not able to do any of the permanent repair work.

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So, if it hasn't started, it can't start. And as we continue to see more disasters, it's gonna put communities behind in the recovery efforts.

MARQUARDT: And of course, September is one of the busiest months of the hurricane season. There's a lot more that could be coming down the pike in the coming weeks. So, is that $4 billion enough? What would that cover?

FUGATE: Well, again, FEMA's gone to what they call immediate needs funding. So primarily focused on the response cost of states calling out National Guard, federal assistance, the debris pickup, and to help the families and individuals that are impacted in these storms. So, FEMA's focusing on that. They're not doing any of the permanent repair work in these disasters. They've stopped that. And so, until they get more money, they'll continue to focus on just those immediate needs until they get additional dollars.

MARQUARDT: We do know that in the disaster relief fund currently, there's $3.4 billion. And without this additional funding, what challenges do you think FEMA is gonna be facing? How does the agency prioritize the assistance that they decide to carry out?

FUGATE: Well, they just did. They're not doing permanent work. They're just doing the immediate. We faced this in 2011. We actually had the disaster relief fund down to less than $300 million when Hurricane Irene hit. And so, we were really getting down to just life-saving efforts. The response cost and the immediate needs of keeping people alive. And again, we were up against the October 1st lapse of funding deadline. Once we got a continuing resolution, we got refunded for the disasters and we were able to keep going.

MARQUARDT: So, what recommendations do you have for the long-term? I mean, the hurricane season really does have three more months to go, really just starting to get active. We saw all the devastation from Hurricane Idalia across four states. Do you think it's time to rethink how FEMA operates in the face of climate change disasters?

FUGATE: Well, I think on the funding side, we're gonna have to rethink that because primarily we've always worked under what I call the insurance model, that most people had homeowner's insurance, most businesses had insurance, and governments insured their buildings. As that has changed and it's harder to get insurance, it's not affordable, more and more of the cost of these disasters is being shifted to the federal taxpayer.

So, you know, when you talk about FEMA's money, it's our money, it's the federal taxpayer. And as we see less insurance availability or insurance that's not affordable, it's putting more pressure on the federal budget to make up these losses.

MARQUARDT: How about how FEMA and the victims of these disasters work together? What role do you think that these impacted communities should play in their own recovery and rebuilding after a major disaster?

FUGATE: Well, I think first we gotta understand that Congress didn't design FEMA to make communities whole after disasters. There's a lot of things that will need funds for HUD, housing and urban development grants, federal aid highway, Army Corps of Engineers. So, when you talk about FEMA, in many cases, we're talking about multiple federal agencies, including USDA for the agricultural losses. So those need to be reviewed.

But on the other hand, what we do know, and I think the reason you could look at some of these damages and they're not as bad as they could have been was building codes. So newer construction did very well. That's one of the things we sell local governments, Taylor County, after the 1993 winter storm that caused massive flooding here, upgraded their building codes. So, we know that where and how we build can change these outcomes. That's the other part where local governments and state governments can do a lot to build resiliency to climate change is increasing and strengthening their building codes.

MARQUARDT: Yeah, it really needs to be a whole of government approach, both at the federal and the state level. Former FEMA administrator, Craig Fugate, thank you very much. Brianna.

FUGATE: Thank you.

KEILAR: Right now in Washington, DC, a member of the far right group, the Proud Boys, who helped plot and organize the January 6th Capitol attack is facing a federal judge to learn his fate. Prosecutors are seeking a 27-year prison sentence for Ethan Nordean after he and three other Proud Boys were convicted of seditious conspiracy and other charges related to the attack. And last hour, a fifth member, Dominic Pezzola, you see him here using a police shield to break a window at the Capitol, was just sentenced to 10 years in prison. CNN Justice Correspondent Jessica Schneider is joining us now. Let's start with Ethan Nordean because his sentencing hearing is underway right now. What is he convicted of doing?

JESSICA SHCNIEDER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yeah, he's convicted, Brianna, of seditious conspiracy like these other Proud Boys were seeing at sentencing. He actually led the Seattle chapter of the Proud Boys, and he's been convicted of plotting January 6th and the attack on the Capitol, but also encouraging the violence. Now, his lawyers have asked for a much lighter sentence than the prosecutor's 27 years.

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And it's quite possible, as we're just going into this sentencing right now, that we may hear from Nourdine. He may speak. Other members of his family may speak. It's interesting. He did submit a statement to the court where he basically shifted the blame, as a lot of these defendants have been, to Trump. And he said that Trump left his group bloodied on the battlefield.

So, he has pointed that finger. We'll see what he does during the sentencing. But he too could get a very hefty sentence. We just saw a few hours ago a 10-year sentence. We've seen 17 years. So, it's quite possible he could get a very hefty sentence in the next hour or so.

KEILAR: Yeah, they feel like he was the general and that he abandoned them. Of course, that also works to their advantage in court. They're trying to get lesser time. There was this bizarre moment in the courtroom as Dominic Pezzola was sentenced to 10 years. Tell us what happened.

SHCNIEDER: Yeah, this just happened in the past few hours. Dominic Pezzola, also a member of the Proud Boys, sentenced to 10 years. And as he was leaving the courtroom, our reporters who were in the court, they say that he raised up his fist and he said, Trump won. Now, this was after Judge Timothy Kelly had already left the courtroom. But what's especially interesting about that is that he would do that. But apparently, he thought nothing, -- he thought he had nothing to lose because he'd already been sentenced to the 10 years.

But previously, when he stood before the judge, he said, I am a changed and humble man. And the judge said, I do believe you turned a corner. But despite all that, after the judge left the courtroom and after the sentencing, he did insist that Trump won sort of in an act of defiance. So, you know, a lot of conflicting narratives around these Proud Boy members. Yeah, never mind, maybe is what he also could have shouted there. Jessica Schneider, thank you for that. Alex.

MARQUARDT: Next on CNN NEWS CENTRAL, Ohio police have released the body camera footage of the shooting of a pregnant woman after she was accused of shoplifting. We'll have more on that just ahead.

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