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Plane Crashes in Brazil Just Minutes From Landing, Kills 62 on Board; U.S. Stocks Wrap Up a Wild Week on Wall Street; Trump Campaign Attacks Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz's Military Record; J.D. Vance's Former Marine Officer in Charge Speaks About His Service; Judge Grants Special Counsel Jack Smith's Request to Delay Trump's Election Interference Case. Aired 3:30-4p ET

Aired August 09, 2024 - 15:30   ET

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

[15:30:00]

TOM FOREMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: And I want you to notice this is a painful thing to look at a time like this. But it's a real thing.

There doesn't appear to be any forward thrust of this aircraft at all. You just see it falling out of the sky that way. And it's circling around. It's also kind of falling very much like a leaf as if there is nothing happening except the falling motion.

One of the possibilities here that I think they're going to have to look at is what happened a year ago in Nepal. In Nepal there was an accident of a similar aircraft same make. This is a French Italian aircraft that came along in the 1980s. Similar make plane had a crash in Nepal. And what they determined afterward is that the control for the flaps which you must use to land is right next to the control that would feather the blades on a turboprop like this.

When we say feather the blades you know you can see the blades sometimes are angled very much toward you. But at some configurations of flight they want them very flat like this. That's what they want to do. But you don't want that at this moment because that gives you very little forward thrust.

In Nepal what they found is that somebody reached for they believe the flap control and pulled the wrong one. And it feathered the blades and they lost thrust.

Now does that explain it? We don't know. You mentioned that minute and a half time there in that time. What flight control is showing is that this plane lost -- it was about 17,000 feet. The landing area here is about a half mile up. So put it 2,500 feet something like that. It lost altitude for about 10 seconds pretty rapidly. Then it went back up for about eight seconds.

It stayed there for about eight seconds and then came all the way down. Is that is that consistent with what one would expect in a situation like this? If there were the feathering of the blades. I don't know. You need an aviation expert for that. But certainly it's one thing they have to look at here because this plane was seemingly doing fine up until the moment it was not. BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN HOST: All right. Tom Foreman thank you for taking us through that. We do appreciate it. So sad -- Jessica

JESSICA DEAN, CNN HOST: We are also keeping a close eye on Wall Street after what was a fairly wild week for stocks. The Dow slumped by more than a thousand points on Monday after that weak jobs report. But stocks have since roared back making up most of their losses.

CNN's Julia Chatterley is here with us now. And Julia I know you've been monitoring this all very closely. What is the takeaway from this week?

JULIA CHATTERLEY, CNN ANCHOR AND CORRESPONDENT: Good question. Keep calm and carry on. If you're lucky enough to own a 401k and you are brave enough I think quite frankly to hold my hang on in there this week then you've been rewarded.

What's remarkable about the volatility that we've seen. We're actually going to end the week very close to where we began before that payrolls report hit on Friday. In fact for the S&P 500 this week we're going to end up more than three and a half percent. It's actually mind boggling.

If I look at the markets now I just want to say, shh, don't disturb anything because I do feel like we're snoozing into the weekend. It doesn't surprise me to see a pause after a day like yesterday where we had a best day for the stock market since 2022.

Remember Monday was the worst day since 2022. Just take a look at tech stocks because I've been reminding people to watch these AI names. I can show you the performance that they're going to have on the weekend for some of these. It's absolutely enormous. I think we'll be able to show you that. That was what I was just mentioning about the full circle.

But the tech stocks have had an absolutely blinding week a positive week. That makes me vaguely nervous that there's still volatility here to come. A case of perhaps keep calm and strap in as well as carry on -- Jessica.

DEAN: Good advice. Julia Chatterley thanks so much for that. We truly do appreciate it.

Up next we're going to turn to the race for president where military service is now a line of attack. A retired Marine who served with Senator J.D. Vance will join us next.

[15:35:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KEILAR: Informed observers connected to politics or the military -- myself included -- have noted that the Trump campaign is swift boating Tim Walz. Attacks on J.D. Vance's service are also offensive.

J.D. Vance served honorably in Iraq a combat zone where anything can happen and frequently does. As he said in his book he was quote, lucky to escape any real fighting. That doesn't make his service less than, lucky, he says. And luck is often what makes the difference in a combat zone or even a training mission that today is not your day.

In a country where so few shoulder the burden, military service should not be a liability. It should be an asset.

And despite our recent years as a country at war many service members haven't seen combat. That doesn't make them or their service less admirable or less necessary. Nor does retiring from the National Guard after 24 years.

These kinds of attacks from the left or the right diminish the service of so many others who have served honorably. Who sacrifice time away from family, who put themselves in harm's way. Because the military is made largely of J.D. Vance's and Tim Walz's.

There are two veterans on these presidential tickets, two enlisted veterans at that. They have unique insight into what America's men and women in the armed forces and their families have been through and need. And shouldn't that be the focus?

This is a presidential race for commander in chief. And so often that candidate or their running mate has never personally served even as they vie to make decisions about sending people into dangerous situations.

[15:40:00]

The fact that this year they do matters to a lot of people. It matters to me. In a family where we're raising two boys who idolize their dad's military service. Two boys who are significantly more likely to serve because their dad did. And if they choose that path it matters to have someone at the table who knows what that sacrifice means.

And joining us now is retired Marine Corps public affairs officer Major Shawn Haney. She was J.D. Vance's officer in charge while he was in the Marines. Major thank you so much for being with us. We do appreciate it. And can you just tell us a little bit about your experience serving with Vance and the kind of Marine that he was.

MAJ. SHAWN HANEY (RET.), MARINE CORPS PUBLIC AFFAIRS OFFICER: Yes and thank you for having me. It's my honor to be able to talk about my Marine all of my Marines honestly but specifically here J.D. Vance.

Yes he was one of my Marines at the Marine Corps Air Station Cherry Point in North Carolina. And it is my honor to be able to talk about his service.

KEILAR: And what kind of Marine was he?

HANEY: J.D. was, you know, just one of the -- he was such a smart Marine. I got to know him right away right before he deployed. And it was just great to be able to talk with him. He was well read. He worked with the other Marines very well. We bonded a little bit over college football. So it was just my job was to get to know them prior to deployment. Some of my Marines were deploying some weren't. And it was just important to me that we had some camaraderie and that we understood each individual's mission.

KEILAR: And would it be fair to say that you don't see eye to eye politically with him.

HANEY: I wouldn't say that as a blanket statement. There are specific things that he and I have talked about that I do not agree with his a lot of his current politics. That is true. And I'm on the record as saying that. Which is why I fought long and hard and I felt it very important for me to speak about J.D. the Marine. And I'm very happy to be able to talk about his service and any other conversations that happen between me and him. I'm absolutely keeping those private.

KEILAR: Yes, I think it's really interesting because you are making a separation between politics or some policies that you may not agree with and service. Can you explain why you made the decision to do that or why that's important to you?

HANEY: Absolutely. First of all I 100 percent I'm proud of J.D. and everything that he's accomplished. He joined the Marine Corps. It's not easy. Not that many people do it. And I got to know him very well. I consider him to be a little brother. I am very honored that he describes me as a mentor. I just looked at it as leadership.

I saw all of the traits that he had. I saw that he had leadership abilities. He had just the ability to work well above his rank. And I tapped into that. Like I needed him to do a job. And I called upon him to do a job and he did it well. So and we have remained friends all through these years because of that camaraderie that we, you know, we established in the Marine Corps.

I've been able to, you know, meet his family meet his wife. And so it's just that's so important to me because I've also seen other people speaking negatively. And it's just he is one of my Marines. And that's a phrase that has a lot of meaning. We take Semper Fidelis very seriously.

KEILAR: You certainly do in the Marine Corps. I wonder what you think as you've seen service attacks in this race.

What do you think of J.D. Vance's attacks on Tim Walz? The biggest one seeming to be that he bailed on a deployment to Iraq and abandoned his men in the National Guard in doing so even though the evidence does not appear to support that.

HANEY: Well and as you pointed out I don't know Tim Walz personally. So I can't speak specifically to his service record. I can go by, you know, reports. I know you had a friend of mine as well, Dana had on recently. And so I was really seeing that his reporting.

So based on reporting. And at the end of the day here's what I say and I say this across the board. Service is service. If you raised your hand to volunteer to serve your country in whatever capacity, enlisted officer, reserve active, four years, 24 years, wherever you were stationed. If you answered that call and did it honorably that's enough. I want every veteran and these two veterans as well to stand on their record.

[15:45:00]

Now that being said, one of my jobs in the Marine Corps was also doing service verifications often for people running for offices or in offices. And I would say just make sure that you stand on your record whatever that is.

And I told J.D. that. Like I would be the very first one if I thought he was even doing a little bit of embellishment or exaggeration and he is not. I would be the first one to tell him and I would be able to tell you that as well. So I would sort of encourage the other side to do the same thing.

KEILAR: Yes, so let me ask you about that. Because Tim Walz has said that he carried weapons of war into war, he did not. What do you think about that? What do you think he needs to do about that?

HANEY: Well, I would tell any veteran -- and I did, I have in the past. I've said, you know, if there's something that you need to correct, correct that record because it does matter to the veteran audience.

A small misstatement if that's the case here which reporting indicates it is, then just correct the record. And that would carry so much weight for the veteran community. It's something small in words but big in communication. Right. So and again, I don't know him. I know what his record has reported to be. I can speak more confidently on J.D.'s. And I've also seen the criticism.

Just going to point out that I saw yesterday where you talked about combat correspondent and that's important to me as well. And that's not just about J.D. Vance. That's about all of my Marines but not just Marines, all combat correspondents, public affairs Marines, combat camera Marines, graphic artists, all of those Marines and other service members whose job it is to go where the action is wherever that is and to tell the story. And those people there's a hall in our public affairs school called Defense Information School of 130 heroes that served in that capacity who did not make it out of a combat zone. So that's important to me as well.

That's why I'm here today to represent my Marine J.D. Vance, represent his service. Probably try to send a message to all veterans, stand on your record. It's enough. But also defend those of us whose job it is to tell that Marine Corps story and to go wherever that story is.

KEILAR: And I'm really glad that you make that distinction major because these are combat zones. These are dangerous places for everyone who is serving in them. Major Shawn Haney thank you so much for speaking with us. We really appreciate it.

HANEY: Thank you for the opportunity.

KEILAR: And we'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

DEAN: The judge overseeing former President Trump's federal election interference case has just granted Special Counsel Jack Smith's request to delay the timetable. A hearing now set for September 5th. Now this delay is directly tied to last month's Supreme Court ruling that granted Trump substantial immunity from prosecution.

John E. Jones III joins me now. He's a former chief judge of the U.S. Middle District Court of Pennsylvania and is currently the president of Dickinson College. Great to have you here with us. Thank you so much. If you can, first Judge, help us --

JOHN E. JONES III, FORMER FEDERAL JUDGE: Thank you, Jessica.

DEAN: Yes, it's great to have you. Just help us understand Jack Smith's reasoning for requesting this delay because it appears like they truly are trying to sort through what this Supreme Court immunity ruling means.

JONES: Well, that's exactly right, Jessica. And there's been some speculation that there's a disconnect between Jack Smith and main justice. And I don't think that's the case at all.

One of the things that I'm sure that Jack Smith is considering, given the Supreme Court decision on immunity, is whether to move to dismiss various portions of the indictment. Because the Supreme Court made it clear that there are certain parts that are clearly covered by immunity and out of bounds. And that's a threshold matter that is going to take some time. So to sort through that in and of itself, that's going to take time.

The second is, what do you want Judge Chutkan to do? Do you want her to rule on the immunity claims on the briefs or do you want her to have an evidentiary hearing? And they're going to have to puzzle through that as well.

DEAN: Yes, there's a lot to kind of -- to sort through and unpack. And it is interesting to see this contrast, seeming contrast, of Judge Chutkan, who seemed ready to move forward pretty quickly when she got this case back last week. She was trying to move it along and now has granted this request from Jack Smith.

JONES: Well, I think judges typically, Jessica, will honor a concurred request. In other words, not surprisingly, Trump's lawyers agreed to the request. And it's going to take some time, not just to decide as a threshold matter whether they want to dismiss some counts, but on the question of an evidentiary hearing, how do you conduct that?

And that's an interesting exercise in and of itself. You usually don't see that in a criminal proceeding. But that would be Judge Chutkan taking a look at pieces of what the government's case is to put them in context. I have to say, as a former trial judge, that the Supreme Court's decision is less than helpful. It leaves to Judge Chutkan, you know, she kind of, it's like combining a saltshaker with a bunch of sand and saying, you know, we want you to pick the sand gravels out of the salt.

[15:55:00]

It's a monumentally tough call to decide what's covered, what's plausibly immune, and what's not. So it's going to take some time. He recognizes that Jack Smith does.

Obviously, Trump likes the delay. But you've got to be careful what you wish for, because an evidentiary hearing could disclose some of the damaging testimony that the government would intend to present at trial.

DEAN: Yes, all right. A good, important context there. Thank you so much. Judge John E. Jones, we really appreciate it.

JONES: Thank you, Jessica. Good to be with you.

DEAN: You too. We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

DEAN: We're getting some brand-new video from northern Pennsylvania, where the National Guard has now been called in to help with flash flooding there. You are looking at Harrison Valley. It's right there on the border with New York State.

[16:00:00]

KEILAR: Pennsylvania emergency management officials say helicopter and boat rescues are ongoing. Just look at those pictures there. There are some reports of people who are trapped inside of their homes.

And what you're looking at, all of this, is caused by remnants of Tropical Storm Debby. Debby is like the storm that just will not get out of town.

DEAN: Will not go away. Has overstayed her welcome.

KEILAR: She's on a road trip through all these cities, and it is just wreaking havoc everywhere.

DEAN: Absolutely. We even had tornado warnings here this morning, and the winds, and it's just making its way kind of the eastern seaboard, I believe, as the meteorologists call it.

KEILAR: Yes.

DEAN: All right, well, thanks for having me this week.

KEILAR: It's great that you're here. "THE LEAD" with Jake Tapper starts now.