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New Jan. 6 Video Reveals Rep. Nancy Pelosi's (D-CA) Anger at Trump After Capitol Attack; Harris and Gov. Tim Walz (D-MN) to Sit Down With CNN for First Joint Interview Tomorrow; At Least Three Student Players Dead After Incidents on Field. Aired 7-7:30a ET

Aired August 28, 2024 - 07:00   ET

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

[07:00:00]

SARA SIDNER, CNN ANCHOR: He's got to pay a price. Breaking overnight the new video of January 6th obtained by CNN, Nancy Pelosi voicing her intense anger at Donald Trump as the Capitol attack unfolded and her focus on pushing to impeach him a second time.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: An altercation at Arlington National Cemetery, new details about a clash between members of Donald Trump's campaign team and a cemetery official during a visit this week. Was the Trump team taking pictures where it should not be?

Vice President Kamala Harris and Governor Tim Walz kick off a bus tour through a key battleground state after agreeing to do their first sit- down interview right here on CNN.

Kate Bolduan is out today. I'm John Berman with Sarah Sidner, our flagship morning show, CNN News Central, starts now.

SIDNER: Breaking overnight, brand new footage from January 6th of Nancy Pelosi, her reactions as the insurrection was unfolding and her mission the morning after, to make sure Donald Trump would, quote, pay the price. But, first, I want to play for you a never before seen moment with her daughter who filmed it all. Pelosi describing how she felt when that day was finally over.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You're done with Donald Trump. How does it feel?

REP. NANCY PELOSI (D-CA): I feel sick what he did to the Capitol and to the country today. He's got to pay a price for that.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SIDNER: You'll remember so many members of Congress, including Nancy Pelosi, had to be whisked out of there to safety. Pelosi, the next morning, in a candid call with staffers, then worked on a speech to address the nation. Her focus then solely on Donald Trump.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) PELOSI: Let me just say this. I think our focus has to be on the president. Let's not divert ourselves.

I've never liked Sund. I think he should have been gone a long time ago.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Ma'am, the press is very focused on this. Schumer just -- Schumer -- just now a Politico breaking news alert that Schumer is going to fire the Senate Sergeant at Arms.

PELOSI: I don't even know who that is.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's immaterial. The heads are rolling is what we're saying.

PELOSI: Well, I don't want to have it on a par with the insurrection and the impeachment and the rest of that. If they ask, I will respond. But I'm not doing it on a par, because it's a diversionary tactic.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Understood.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SIDNER: CNN's Sunlen Serfaty is joining us now. What more are we seeing in this video? You really get the sense of fear and urgency and frustration and pain after what happened on January 6th, that day.

SUNLEN SERFATY, CNN WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT: Yes, that's absolutely right, Sara. This video really does a good job of capturing the emotion, the chaos and the real time reaction of many lawmakers, including Speaker of the House -- then-Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, as the capitol was under attack.

And one of the most striking moments, I thought, was this video where she's rushed through the halls of Congress. You see her walking click quickly, escorted by her security staff. She's also accompanied by senior staff there and she's lamenting, oh, where's the National Guard? Why weren't we more prepared for this level of violence as it is unfolding around her in the Capitol? And you can just sense her anger and her frustration. Here she is speaking to her chief of staff.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PELOSI: We have responsibility, Terri. We did not have any accountability for what was going on there, and we should have. This is ridiculous.

Why weren't the National Guard there to begin with?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: They thought that they had sufficient resources.

PELOSI: No. It's not a question if -- they don't know. They clearly didn't know, and I take responsibility for not having them just prepare for more. Because it's stupid that we should be in a situation like this because they thought they had what? They thought these people would act civilized? [07:05:00]

They thought these people gave a damn?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SERFATY: And that video clip ends with her saying, shame on us.

Now, other parts of the video shows the days after the attack on January 7th, there's a picture of her -- excuse me, video of her in her office, convening a meeting with her team. And you can clearly see on this clip here, Sara. She's in her office there, and over her fireplace, there is a shattered mirror, other debris in her office, of course, when the rioters came into her office during those attacks, so, again, showing how the then speaker is operating after this violence that took place at the Capitol.

SIDNER: Yes. I mean, I remember seeing some videos of her that her daughter was take happen to be taking that day. Why are we just seeing this video now?

SERFATY: That's a good question. So, this video was released by HBO and it belongs to Alexandria Pelosi, who is a filmmaker following her that day. Her daughter was with her the days leading up to and after they attack. We have seen some video of that documentary, but this is additional video that was unaired that was turned over by HBO to the House Committee on Administration. They requested that this video, they are now a Republican-led committee, and they are looking into more of what the January 6th committee found. They are trying to attempt to undermine what the committee found, that's why we're seeing this now nearly 50 new minutes of video.

SIDNER: The video is very, very interesting, but it's very telling about how people felt who had to be whisked out of the Capitol there.

Sunlen Serfaty, thank you so much. I appreciate it. John?

BERMAN: All right, this morning, new details about the new superseding indictment in the federal election interference case against Donald Trump. Special Counsel Jack Smith needed to tweak it after the Supreme Court ruling that granted presidents broad criminal immunity.

CNN Senior Crime and Justice Reporter Katelyn Polantz is with us now. Some pretty notable differences in here.

KATELYN POLANTZ, CNN SENIOR CRIME AND JUSTICE REPORTER: Yes, John, it's a much shorter indictment now against Donald Trump, the same four charges, but the Justice Department had to rewrite a lot of things, take things out, especially because the Supreme Court said you can't take a former president to trial criminally for things he was doing while he was wearing that hat of the presidency.

And so what they did in this superseding indictment, so a rewritten indictment, they went back to the grand jury and federal court in Washington, so the case against Donald Trump can continue on, moving toward trial. They took a bunch of things out, specifically things where Donald Trump was directing or speaking with the Justice Department, his top aides, his chief of staff, Mark Meadows, when he was getting briefings about the fact there was no election fraud that was widespread that would have overturned the election.

When he was being told that by federal officials, intel figures in his administration, none of that can go to trial before the jury, and so all of that is removed. It's now focused on Donald Trump as a candidate and that, the things he was doing after the election in that role.

BERMAN: So, what now, Katelyn?

POLANTZ: Well, John, there are going to be a number of arguments ahead of us and a lot of what is had ahead of us looks to be something that still is in this language of the allegations against Donald Trump everything about Vice President Mike Pence. In this version, the Justice Department is saying that Mike Pence, in a lot of these conversations with Trump, his running mate, he was the president of the Senate, so not part of the administration. And so that is something that is very likely going to have to be considered at length by multiple courts, not just the trial judge coming up, John, Tanya Chutkan, but also the appeals courts. Does this part stay in the indictment? Do we hear more from Pence even as a witness in the proceedings in coming weeks?

We're going to get a little bit more information about how that all is going to play out very likely by the end of this week and then into next week when there is a hearing scheduled in this case.

BERMAN: And I'm sure we will cover that extensively. Thank you, as always, for sharing your reporting and your insight, Katelyn Polantz.

All right, this morning, Kamala Harris and Tim Walz kicking off a bus tour through a key battleground state where they will also sit down for their first joint interview of the campaign with CNN's Dana Bash.

New details this morning of a potential physical altercation that took place during Donald Trump's visit to Arlington National Cemetery. This is hallowed ground. Were they taking photos where they should not be?

And new reporting on a series of football-related deaths, at least three school-aged boys have now died this month after incidents on the field.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[07:10:00]

SIDNER: Tomorrow, Democratic Presidential Nominee Kamala Harris and her running mate, Tim Walz, sit down for their first interview right here on CNN with our own Dana Bash. It will happen after the two kick off their bus tour of battleground Georgia later today. It will be Harris' first in-depth sit down interview since launching her campaign 37 days ago. Journalists have been calling for this for weeks, while Republicans have been harshly criticizing her for not doing it sooner. CNN's Eva McKend is joining us now. What are we learning about these interview plans since, you know, it's here with Dana Bash?

EVA MCKEND, CNN NATIONAL POLITICS CORRESPONDENT: Yes. Sara, 9:00 P.M. Thursday is the big event. And it occurs as the candidates embark on a bus tour through the battleground state of Georgia.

[07:15:02]

The conversation will present the vice president's first chance to explain her positions on various domestic and foreign policy issues during the campaign, so a chance to really lean into concrete policy.

She'll also have the opportunity, Sara, if she chooses to explain how some of her positions now may differ from President Biden.

SIDNER: What else do we know about the campaign's strategy in Georgia. Obviously, Georgia is the state that had 11,700 some odd votes that Biden won to win the state. So, what do we know about their strategy there?

MCKEND: The bus tour is going to include a mix of rural and urban stops. They're expected to focus on kitchen table issues, following a whole slew of economy-related ads this week. And then it will conclude with a big rally in Savannah on Thursday. The goal is to drive down the margins by which Republicans win in some of these rural counties, even if they don't win those counties outright.

And the bus tour also offers them an opportunity to introduce Governor Walz to rural voters, see how he plays in these communities. They'll lean into his upbringing in rural America, his military background, and his days as a football coach as a way to relate to some of those voters in South Georgia.

And just a bit later, we're going to be talking to someone from Savannah who governs that state as a representative. We will ask him a bunch of questions.

Eva McKend, I got to say, I love the style, the glasses, the earrings, the hair, the dress, very cute this morning. Thank you for joining us. I appreciate it.

And you can watch Vice President Kamala Harris and Governor Tim Walz interview with Dana Bash tomorrow night, as you heard from Eva, at 9:00 Eastern right here on CNN.

All right, ahead, an incident at Arlington. What Donald Trump's team is saying this morning after allegations of a physical altercation there.

And tragedy on the field, a 13-year-old has died after being injured during football practice.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[07:20:00] BERMAN: This morning, a family in West Virginia is mourning the death of an eighth grader after a collision during football practice. The father of 13-year-old Cohen Craddock tells CNN his son died from an injury that caused his brain to swell. Cohen is at least the third student football player to die this month after incidents on the field.

CNN's Brynn Gingras here with the latest. What are you learning, Brynn?

BRYNN GINGRAS, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Mr. Personality is what his dad called him. Cohen Craddock, like you said, eighth grader, just started school. He was at football practice and had some sort of collision with another player on the field, basically fell to the ground, hit his head, and then it just sort of spiraled from there, went into brain swelling, and then he passed away over the weekend.

Like you said, this is the third incident that we've had just with this last month. There was one, really, the same day that this happened to Cohen, there was a high school quarterback. His name was Caden Tellier. He was playing his season opener in Alabama, also had some sort of head collision and also passed away. Earlier than that, there was an incident also in Alabama that had to do with some possible medical emergency, maybe heat exhaustion, not quite clear just yet.

But this just, of course, something we do see, as we just were talking about this time of year, when football practice starts getting picked up, football games, and it's tragic. But I do want you to hear more about Cohen from his father, who was so nicely talking to many of our stations.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RYAN CRADDOCK, LOST SON FROM FOOTBALL INJURY: I can't stress enough for the parents to poverty, children, a kid had a heart of gold, loved to make other people happy. He liked to, you know, joke.

You're in disbelief. You wish it was a bad dream that you could wake up from. It's agony inside that I just -- I can't put words to it. It's terrible.

I want to take the loss of my boy to maybe try to protect these other guys. I don't want anybody else to experience this.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GINGRAS: Yes, that father, as you heard just now, tried to move forward and basically warn parents about the dangers of football. And this is something, obviously, as you know, John, with the NFL, this is something that they've been tackling, been criticized for, for so long.

Now they're having the guardian caps. We've actually saw a few players there. I think there were people that played the preseason first game. There are some mixed emotions. Those are those big padded caps that go on the helmets, mandated for the preseason optional, certainly for some of these players, some of them taking a little bit of heat. But you know what? They're like, I don't care. I'm going to I'm going to protect myself, because, certainly, this is not something to joke about.

BERMAN: Yes, even all the precautions that you do take. And I kid kids taking when they play football now, you know, can't protect against everything.

GINGRAS: Yes.

BERMAN: Brynn Gingras, thank you so much for that.

New reports of a verbal and physical altercation at Arlington National Cemetery during Donald Trump's visit, and that a second Trump term could be a death knell for the criminal cases against him. But what happens if he loses the election?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[07:25:00]

BERMAN: All right. This morning, we have new details on the superseding indictment in the federal election interference case against Donald Trump. Special Counsel Jack Smith pared down the initial filing after the Supreme Court ruling that granted presidents broad criminal immunity, a ruling that Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson says has her concerned.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JUSTICE KETANJI BROWN JACKSON, U.S. SUPREME COURT: I was concerned about a system that appeared to provide immunity for one individual under one set of circumstances when we have a criminal justice system that had ordinarily treated everyone the same.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: That interview with CBS News. And to be fair, as Ellie Honig, who you're looking at right now, notes, she said a lot more in the actual dissent than she did on T.V.

ELIE HONIG, CNN SENIOR LEGAL ANALYST: Yes, pretty mild compared to what she actually wrote.

BERMAN: And CNN Senior Legal Analyst Elie Honig is here.

Let's just very quickly, because this happened yesterday and you've talked about it fairly extensively, go over the big differences between the superseding indictment and the original indictment. There's stuff that's just not there now.

HONIG: Yes. So, to give people a sense of scope here, the original indictment was 45 pages, the new indictment is 36 pages, and I would say about that, a third or so, of the allegations have been taken out, most importantly Donald Trump's interactions with DOJ. He tried to get the Justice Department to sort of support his bogus claims of election fraud.

[07:30:00]

That's been removed from the indictment, as have several of Donald Trump's talks with his White House advisers.

Basically what Jack Smith is trying to do is conform the indictment to.