Return to Transcripts main page

CNN News Central

Interview With Rep. Carlos Gimenez (R-FL); Vladimir Putin and Kim Jong-un Set to Meet?; Election Interference Probe Expands; Mark Meadows Pleads Not Guilty in Georgia Case; Pennsylvania Manhunt Continues. Aired 1-1:30p ET

Aired September 05, 2023 - 13:00   ET

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

[13:00:47]

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN HOST: An expanding manhunt and a community on edge. Police widen the search for a convicted killer who busted out of prison. A new sighting suggests he may have gotten farther away than expected. And the potential danger has schools shutting their doors.

JIM SCIUTTO, CNN HOST: A new target for the special counsel, a CNN exclusive: Jack Smith's investigation into efforts to overturn the 2020 election could be getting wider. The new focus includes fund- raising and voting equipment. New indictments could be on the table.

BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN HOST: Plus: overwhelming demand. The maker of a popular weight loss drug tells CNN it could take years, years for them to make enough for everyone who wants it.

We're following these major developing stories and many more all coming in right here to CNN NEWS CENTRAL.

KEILAR: We begin with the urgent manhunt for an escape killer in Pennsylvania.

Police releasing these new images of Danelo Cavalcante. He was spotted on a botanical garden security camera just a few miles from the prison that he escaped from last Thursday. And police are now expanding their search area, as they are scouring the woods about 30 miles west now of Philadelphia.

Two school districts are closed today while all of this is happening. Police have been using a unique tactic, helicopters and patrol cars blasting an audio message from the escapee's mother urging him to surrender.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LT. COL. GEORGE BIVENS, PENNSYLVANIA STATE POLICE: Early this morning, we were notified by security at Longwood Gardens that they had trail camera photos taken on their property which appear to be Cavalcante.

This area is just south of the perimeter. Investigators quickly examined those photos, and we can confirm it is Cavalcante. The photos confirm that Cavalcante has not changed his appearance, but also that he has obtained a backpack, a duffel sling-type pack, and a hooded sweatshirt.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KEILAR: CNN's Danny Freeman is live in Chester County for us.

Danny, tell us what you were learning from police. There have certainly been some reports of burglaries, and the authorities believe that he is responsible for them.

DANNY FREEMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's right, Brianna.

And, really, the police and all the law enforcement agencies who are out here helping in the search are encouraging residents, because of that, to be on high alert, because they believe at this point that Danelo Cavalcante is winging it. They believe that he is desperate, and they believe that he will be looking for any sort of way to get resources, whether it's resorting to burglarizing a house or trying to get items or resources from a vehicle.

But I want to go back to, Brianna, what the big headline of the day is, which is that the Pennsylvania State Police, they say that they are expanding and intensifying their search. And, Brianna, this is six days into this manhunt since Cavalcante escaped from the Chester County prison behind me.

And now we have had six confirmed sightings of him, including that one overnight from the botanical gardens. And I want to describe the gardens a little bit. It's Longwood Gardens. It's a very famous tourist destination here in Chester County. And, Brianna, it's massive. It's 200 acres of winding trails, of meadows, and also of lush gardens.

That's where police have focused their efforts overnight and into this morning. We have seen a number of helicopters flying overhead and a lot of State Troopers blocking off a lot of roads just south of where we are. And it's really not that far. It's about five miles from where we are here at the prison.

So, on the one hand, police say that, yes, he did slip through the perimeter they had earlier. But, on the other hand, he has not gotten that far. But the risk is real.

Take a listen to what one resident in the area said about an encounter he believes he had with the suspect.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RYAN DRUMMOND, PENNSYLVANIA RESIDENT: I woke up my wife. I said: "Hey, I think there might be somebody downstairs. Get on the phone."

What I decided to do was flip the light switch on and off three or four or five times, pause. And then he flipped the light switch from downstairs three or four times, which was the moment of like, oh, my God, this guy is down there. (END VIDEO CLIP)

[13:05:01]

FREEMAN: I mean, just terrifying and truly hard to imagine.

Now the one thing I will note is that the terrain, Brianna, in this area, we have been talking about it throughout the duration of this search. It's very diverse and it's very tricky. There's a lot of woods. There are creeks. There are cornfields.

And police say that means there are a lot of places to hide, but they're still determined to bring this man back in -- Brianna.

KEILAR: I cannot imagine that moment. That is terrifying.

Danny Freeman live for us in Pocopson Township, thank you -- Jim.

SCIUTTO: CNN senior law enforcement analyst Charles Ramsey, of course, led the police departments here in the D.C. area, but also the Philly area.

Thanks so much for joining us.

First, I wonder. He's taking cover now in the botanical gardens there. Given police resources, is it just a matter of time before they can catch someone like this in an area that size?

CHARLES RAMSEY, CNN LAW ENFORCEMENT ANALYST: I think it is.

I mean, this is difficult to reign, as the reporter mentioned. You have got woods. You have got open fields. You have got a lot of area to cover and a lot of places where an individual like that could hide.

Clearly, he is now burglarizing places, getting access to a backpack, probably some food, maybe a knife or two, and, lord knows, maybe even a firearm. We don't know. But he's desperate. And he needs money, he needs food, he needs transportation, and he will do anything he can in order to do that.

SCIUTTO: You mentioned that desperation.

This episode inside this home, as we just heard in the story there, the homeowner describing he hears a sound downstairs, he flicks the lights, and then it was his impression that the intruder downstairs was signaling back up, flicking the lights that he was there.

What does that indicate to you? Does that indicate that he wanted to take what he needed, in effect, from the house, not threaten the homeowners? How do you take that?

RAMSEY: Well, I mean, that's unusual. That might have been a signal to: Stay upstairs. I am downstairs.

I don't know. But the bottom line is, that was a close encounter, and thank God no one got hurt. They closed the schools, for example, because they're concerned. It's not so much about the buildings themselves, the schools. It's the area around there that the kids come from, because kids walk to school. They stand on the side of the road to wait for a bus.

You don't want to expose children at a time like this. This guy is desperate. He's also very, very dangerous. He continues to be dangerous. So they're doing everything they possibly can. People need to be very vigilant. The good news is, though, that he hasn't gotten that far away from the prison.

So they have still got a realistic chance of catching this guy before he gets too far away.

SCIUTTO: Yes, it's good. It's a good point there.

Chief Ramsey, you know the area well. Thanks so much for joining us.

RAMSEY: Thank you.

SCIUTTO: Boris.

SANCHEZ: Today, another batch of not guilty pleas filed in the Georgia election interference case.

Former Trump Chief of Staff Mark Meadows and five other co-defendants deciding to waive, skip tomorrow's arraignment. Remember, Meadows filed this plea on state charges as he tries to get them moved to federal court.

He's now waiting on a judge's ruling on that, which could come at any moment.

CNN's Sara Murray is here with more on this.

So, Sara, this means 18 of the 19 co-defendants have filed pleas.

SARA MURRAY, CNN POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: That's right.

So we saw from Mark Meadows a not guilty plea. Not surprising, right? He wants the whole case against him dismissed. He's trying to get that done in federal court. We're waiting for the judge to decide if Meadows has met the bar and essentially arguing everything he did was part of his role as White House chief of staff.

So, we're waiting for the federal judge to weigh in on that. He's joined today in entering his not guilty pleas by people like Jeffrey Clark, who is a former Justice Department official, and John Eastman, a former pro-Trump attorney. The only not guilty plea we have not seen at this point is Misty Hampton so far.

I would be surprised if she's the only person who decides to show up in person tomorrow.

SANCHEZ: Right.

MURRAY: We still could see her plea come through in the court system today.

SANCHEZ: Yes.

And, notably, you mentioned John Eastman. He's actually filed, as others, to sever his case from the rest of the other co-defendants.

MURRAY: That's right. He has basically said, through his attorney, that, obviously, we're not going to be prepared to go to trial in six weeks. That's the sort of speedy trial timeline. That's when Ken Chesebro is going to be going to trial, October of 2023.

And he's making it clear he doesn't want any part of these speedy trial guidelines. They don't want to go to trial in October 2023. And now it's going to be up to this state court judge once we get all these pleas in for all these 19 co-defendants to decide how he wants to organize all of these folks.

SANCHEZ: A lot to organize, so many moving parts.

Sara Murray, we appreciate you walking us through it -- Jim -- or, rather, Brianna.

KEILAR: All right, now to a CNN exclusive: The special counsel probe into 2020 election interference has expanded in scope, even though former President Trump has already been charged and his trial date is set.

CNN has learned investigators are now looking into post-election fund- raising and voting system breaches and how the former may have paid for the latter.

[13:10:01]

Sources say prosecutors are asking about former Trump lawyer Sidney Powell, who, by the way, is a co-defendant in the Georgia election case.

We have CNN's Paula Reid, who broke this story for us.

So, Paula, it sounds like the special counsel is in the follow-the- money stage of this part of the probe.

PAULA REID, CNN SENIOR LEGAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: That's exactly right, because the indictment that the special counsel filed on January 6, it focused solely on former President Trump.

It was narrowly tailored and designed so that they could bring it to trial possibly before the 2024 election. But it specifically mentions co-conspirators. And our colleague Zach Cohen and I have done some reporting to look at whether any of those co-conspirators could be charged.

And what we have learned is that, in recent weeks, investigators have been asking a lot of questions about one of those co-conspirators especially, and that is Sidney Powell, the Trump-aligned lawyer who helped push a lot of those bogus claims of voter fraud and who worked to try to overturn the outcome of the election.

Now, they have focused their questions on three specific things. First of all, they have asked if these witnesses ever saw any evidence of the false claims that Powell was making, these conspiracy theories she was pushing. They were also really interested in her nonprofit, Defending the Republic.

Now, this is a group that was fund-raising off of these lies, and they were particularly interested in what that group did with its money, including the third thing, these efforts to get forensic experts to breach voting systems.

And we know that, according to an invoice obtained by CNN, that Defending the Republic did pay for forensic experts who were able to breach voting systems in four states won by now President Biden.

Now, it's unclear if Powell or anyone else will be charged, but this really changes our understanding of exactly where this investigation is. We thought maybe they were going to go really narrow on January 6 and let the state down in Georgia do a more broad criminal prosecution, which included Powell and others.

But, according to this reporting, that may not be how this turns out.

KEILAR: Yes, or Michigan, where they're looking at what people have done. There have been some indictments there.

I think this is so important, because people forget a lot of times that this happened, and it's so key. So, if you have the special counsel looking into this, does that change the timeline of this probe at all?

REID: So, we know that the grand jury the special counsel has been using, that expires on September 15. Now, it can be extended.

But, look, this investigation clearly is continuing. We know they have spoken to a lot of the key players, but there are still some witnesses, like those they have spoken with in the past six weeks, that are still significant, if you really want to make sure you turn over every rock and every stone. And that is their mission here.

And the special counsel has said in his few public remarks that this investigation is ongoing. Now, if they were to add additional charges, it could potentially impact the timeline of the former president's trial. Brianna, we know they are keen, the prosecutors really want to bring that trial before a jury well before the 2024 election.

KEILAR: Yes, we will see if they're able to pull that off.

Paula Reid, thank you so much -- Jim.

SCIUTTO: We are waiting to hear from the White House after first lady Jill Biden's positive test for COVID. We're monitoring those remarks. We will bring you a live update.

Plus, one accused of war crimes, the other known to be a brutal dictator. Now U.S. officials are learning that Vladimir Putin and Kim Jong-un could be getting together for a key meeting. What they may be planning -- just ahead.

And a new update on the health of Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell just hours before he is set to take the Senate floor for the first time since his latest freezing episode.

We will bring you the latest. Stay with CNN NEWS CENTRAL.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[13:17:45]

SCIUTTO: Today, U.S. officials are sounding the alarm, warning that North Korean leader Kim Jong-un may soon travel to Russia to meet with the Russian leader Vladimir Putin, and that the two countries are -- quote -- "actively advancing a potential arms deal."

It comes as the U.S. and its allies have become increasingly concerned about a growing alliance between the two countries. According to the National Security Council, Russia's defense minister, Sergei Shoigu, visited North Korea himself in July to try to convince Pyongyang to sell artillery ammunition to Moscow.

This follows word from the White House late last year that North Korea has delivered infantry rockets and missiles into Russia specifically for use by Wagner forces.

CNN national security correspondent Kylie Atwood is at the State Department.

I wonder, what's the State Department view of this? Is this a view that Russia needs North Korea's military help right now in Ukraine?

KYLIE ATWOOD, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: That's precisely the view, Jim.

I think U.S. officials are saying that this demonstrates, really, Russia's weakness, that they are having to go to North Korea once again for military equipment that can be used on the battlefield in Ukraine.

And we should note, as you were saying there, there have been a number of efforts that have been unfolding over the last few months here that could lead to this potential meeting, this potential engagement between President Putin and Kim Jong-un from North Korea that's expected to take place in Russia.

First of all, we saw the Russian defense minister visit North Korea. That was just in July, according to the NSC. That was an effort on his behalf to try and convince North Korea to sell them munitions, ammunitions to be used on the battlefield.

Then we also saw another delegation of Russian officials that followed up that trip and also went to North Korea. And according to the NSC, there have also been letters that have been exchanged in recent months between President Putin and Kim Jong-un talking about building on their bilateral relationship.

So all of these events appear to be building towards potentially be this meeting between the two leaders. We don't know exactly when this is going to take place. Adrienne Watson, the NSC spokesperson, said that U.S. officials believe that Kim Jong-un is expecting for a leader-level meeting.

[13:20:04]

"The New York Times" is reporting that this could happen as soon as this month in Vladivostok, which is in the far east in Russia. That is a place where Kim Jong-un has actually traveled by train in the past. Now, when it comes to this potential new arms agreement, this is a two-way street, right?

North Korea is going to be -- is asked to give munitions, ammunitions, multiple types of ammunitions to Russia, also potentially raw materials for their defense industrial complex. And then, also, North Korea is potentially going to be getting things from Russia, advanced technology, I'm told, for things such as advanced satellites and nuclear-powered submarines.

So, U.S. officials are concerned, really, about what both ends of this agreement could result in -- Jim.

SCIUTTO: Not unlike Russia reaching out to Iran for help and what Iran demands in return.

Kylie Atwood at the State Department, thanks very much -- Brianna.

KEILAR: Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell is set to deliver a speech on the Senate floor, the first time that he is facing his colleagues since freezing publicly for the second time in two months.

We have just received an update, pretty detailed, on McConnell's health. We're going to bring that to you.

And the first lady testing positive for COVID again, President Biden so far testing negative. We are awaiting the White House press briefing for more.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[13:26:05]

SANCHEZ: We are watching the White House press briefing for any updates on the first lady's health.

Karine Jean-Pierre, the press secretary, from the podium saying that first lady Jill Biden tested positive for COVID-19 last night. She's experiencing mild symptoms, so she has remained in Delaware, where the first couple spent the weekend.

As for President Biden, he returned to the White House. He's tested negative for COVID both yesterday and today. He has shown no symptoms. Of course, he is going to be attending a medal ceremony at the White House in the East Room later today honoring Lieutenant Larry Taylor, who Karine Jean-Pierre was just speaking about.

The president will be masking during that ceremony. She's continuing to offer advice to Americans over COVID-19, which has seen a recent resurgence, a small one, but albeit a resurgence, here in the United States. We're going to keep monitoring the conversation from the White House.

But, first, another major development in Russia's war on Ukraine. The Cuban government says it's uncovered a human trafficking network that's tricking Cubans into fighting for Russia in Ukraine. The Cuban Foreign Ministry says it is now working to -- quote -- "neutralize and dismantle" the trafficking network, though. No arrests have been reported.

We want to discuss this and more with Congressman Carlos Gimenez, a Republican from Florida. He serves on the House Armed Services and Homeland Security committees.

Congressman, thanks so much for being with us today.

So, this would not be the first time, as you well know, that Cubans have been recruited to fight at the behest of the Kremlin. But did the response from the Cuban government here condemning this surprise you?

REP. CARLOS GIMENEZ (R-FL): Well, yes, a little bit, because it's first time I have ever heard such a thing.

But I'm a little bit cynical about it, because there's also reports that the Cuban government actually signed some kind of deal with the Russian government to send Cuban soldiers over to Russia to fight in Ukraine. And just like they did with -- are they doing with their doctors, they're going to pocket about 80 percent to 90 percent of the money, it's like $2,000 a month per soldier, so that it helps the Cuban government.

And so, yes, I'm a little bit cynical about the announcement. It is the first of its kind, though, I have ever heard of it, but I sincerely doubt that they're sincere.

SANCHEZ: So you doubt that there might be an opening for the United States to exploit what seems like a disagreement between the Kremlin and Havana?

GIMENEZ: I don't think the U.S. is going to have any space there to drive a wedge between the Kremlin and Havana at this point.

Again, I'm very skeptical about the announcement, knowing that I have also heard reports that the Cuban government actually signed a deal with the Russian government to provide soldiers for Ukraine. I'm trying -- we're trying to get verification if Cuban soldiers are already at the front line in Ukraine.

SANCHEZ: So, on the question of Russia's desperation, as many experts would read this situation, recruiting Cubans to fight in Ukraine, the National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby described this planned meeting, this reported planned meeting between Vladimir Putin and Kim Jong-un as a sign of weakness on Russia's part.

What does that tell you about where Russia stands and its strategy in Ukraine?

GIMENEZ: Well, I think, obviously, that their strategy was to win the war in the first 48 hours to a week.

And now we're well into the second year of this conflict, and it appears that they're losing ground as we speak to the Ukrainian soldiers and Ukrainian armed forces. And so it's not going well for Russia.

And so they're going to need all the help from their allies, China, North Korea, Iran, and now Cuba. And so it doesn't surprise me that the Russians are looking all over the place to try to find personnel to fight the war. I mean, they have issues now with the Wagner Group not being there, or they're trying to incorporate that into the Russian army. Maybe that's not going too well.