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New Evidence Unsealed in Jack Smith's January 6 Case Against Trump; National Security Leaders for America Endorse Harris for President; Ex-Olympian Wanted on Murder, Drug Trafficking Charges. Aired 3:30-4p ET

Aired October 18, 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]

ALEX MARQUARDT, CNN HOST: New documents that former President Donald Trump fought to keep secret were actually made public and for the first time today, but many of the 2,000 pages were either blacked out or blanked out leaving just a white page. The documents were released by Special Counsel Jack Smith just 18 days before until the election.

KEILAR: I know we can't fathom 18 days.

MARQUARDT: It's crazy.

KEILAR: Just 18 days and these pages are part of the prosecutor's election subversion case against Trump. The former president has been charged with four crimes stemming from his actions following his 2020 election loss including conspiracy to defraud the United States as well as obstruction. Trump has pleaded not guilty.

We have CNN's Evan Perez with us now and Evan, I know you and your team are digging through these. The redactions may make it a little bit easier considering it's 2,000 pages.

EVAN PEREZ, CNN SENIOR JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: Yes, exactly. I mean look, this is the kind of treatment that we usually see for national security cases, right, where there's like classified information. And so it's a little strange for this much redactions, but I think one of the things that we see is the judge is trying to address the sensitivity. The things that you guys are just raising, which is the fact that this is only 18 days before the presidential election.

Among the things that we see in here, obviously some tweets, we see some of the documents that underpin the whole idea of this -- these fake electoral certificates.

But one of the things that's getting a lot of attention is this interview with a White House aide who was interviewed by the January 6th committee and some of these details have been previously redacted, so we're getting to see a little bit of what this person said in this interview.

And what they're describing is that the former president back in January 6th gets back to the Oval Office and that he's informed that the networks essentially are covering this riot that is unfolding at the Capitol and what he says is this.

He says: I took off Trump's outer coat, got a TV, handed Trump the remote, after which he went to retrieve a Diet Coke for the former president. And one of the things that we learned there is obviously that Donald Trump learns that there's a riot undergoing, happening at the Capitol.

And he wants to sit and watch it and he gets a Diet Coke from the refrigerator there in the kitchen and sits down to watch the coverage of what was happening. That's part of what Jack Smith is trying to try to portray and he wants to, you know, jurors to see that the former president essentially did nothing to try to stop the rioting on that day.

MARQUARDT: As you say normally redactions would be more reserved for you know classified documents cases for example like the classified documents case but have you seen filings like this with so much redacted and as a result how much more did we actually learn from this filing?

PEREZ: Well very little that we didn't already know but one of the things that I think what the judge was trying to address here she says, you know, this question of Donald Trump's there his argument is that these documents should not be put out so close to the election. He's calling it election interference. And she points out in her ruling that if the court had withheld this it could be interpreted itself as election interference because this is information that the public has a right to know. However, you can see that she seems to be trying to address this concern with those redactions.

KEILAR: All right, Evan Perez thank you so much and we'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KEILAR: This week Vice President Harris has made a strong push to win over the votes of conservatives. Earlier this week that included an event with Republicans who back her over former President Donald Trump.

MARQUARDT: And some of the people lining up behind her have included members of the national security establishment including those who work for both Republican and Democratic administrations. And that includes a bipartisan group called National Security Leaders for America. And that group is now endorsing Vice President Kamala Harris and framing this election as quote, a choice between democracy and authoritarianism.

We are joined now by Mandy Patinkin. He's an actor of course who is endorsing Harris and spoke with 15 or more members of this group about why they are also endorsing the Democratic nominee for president. Mandy thank you so much for joining us today.

This conversation that you had got quite heated especially when discussing former President Donald Trump. I want to play a bit from that. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MELISSA BRYANT, FORMER SENIOR ADVISER TO V.A. SECRETARY: He awakened a sleeping beast of such evil in this country that we thought that my family that marched within civil rights movement had eradicated and he brought it right back. When you have protesters for Black Lives Matter, peaceful protesters for Black Lives Matter and he wants to deploy the National Guard to stop people from executing -- exercising their First Amendment right. He does not care.

He doesn't think I'm a human being. He ran away from, he had bone spurs, he never went to war. My entire family has served. My entire family. But he thinks we're suckers, he thinks we're losers and he probably doesn't even think I'm a human being. That's the kind of man that was in that office before. We cannot let him back in.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MARQUARDT: Mandy at least a lot in that part was about Trump. In talking to these people do you believe that these leaders in the national security space seem to be more in favor of Kamala Harris or opposed to Donald Trump?

MANDY PATINKIN, ACTOR, ENDORSING KAMALA HARRIS: Both. They are absolutely in favor of Kamala Harris. They couldn't be more articulate in saying things about how equipped she is to run this country and be the United States's ambassador to the world and bring us into a national security safety zone both here and abroad.

At the same time really just with tears in their eyes and a passion where they only could not sit down and control themselves, many of them, most of them, about the dangers they felt of having this man back in the White House for another four years. They thought it would be devastating to the security for the United States of America and the security of our country and the security for other countries abroad and they couldn't have been more emphatic about it. These are people who are not used to going out of their comfort zone to protect the commander-in-chief whether they are in power or where -- and whether these people are in power.

Most of these people, I think all of them, were retired at this point. There were over 700 that came out with this letter a few weeks ago. I think that number is up to 741 now and another 250 of them just joined.

Many of them Republicans, also some Democrats, but mostly Republicans really going out on the line with their friends and just feeling that this is absolutely a desperate moment for their country. Most of them have voted Republican most of their lives and they are voting for Kamala Harris.

KEILAR: And tell us Mandy about your involvement in this. I mean you are someone who people know well. They certainly know your body of work which at times has very much had a nexus with American foreign policy albeit in a fictional manner although I think familiar some of the threads to people from Washington DC watching. What is it that made you want to get involved in this discussion?

PATINKIN: Well yes, I did play the fictional version of many of these people in a television show called Homeland. What made me want to get involved in this discussion is being an American, is having a granddaughter who's nine weeks old, a grandson who's two and a half years old, wanting this country to be a safe place, not coming toward fascism, in fascism of the hands and mouth and imagination that's been so distorted by this gentleman named Donald Trump. It's a terror for my grandchildren's future lives and I cannot sit by and do nothing.

[15:45:00]

So it has ignited me to do everything I can. We went to the Democratic National Convention to try to meet people, my son Gideon and myself, and to bring attention and focus to different people's voices on our social media platforms and these people came up to us.

There were several in the hall and a guy came up, a young guy who is part of the CIA now, and so he couldn't say his name, but he said, can you meet some of these gentlemen? We got a TV studio there, we interviewed them, and my son Gideon and I, our mouths just dropped open. We couldn't believe the things they were telling us.

And then we went down to meet them in their homes, they invited us into their homes. It was just an extraordinary four days. We were driving constantly, I just, we never stopped.

We went to the point where my back went out and it was worth it. You can screw up my back for the United States of America.

MARQUARDT: Mandy, you touched on it just a moment ago, how rare it is for people in the national security sphere to express their partisan views. And of course, these are people who are retired, but is the hope among the people you spoke with that they will go back -- that national security will go back into a bipartisan sphere, arena, if you will? Or do they think that the paradigm has changed?

PATINKIN: I made some very close friends during Homeland, people who were the heads of the highest security systems in our country. One of them in particular is a very dear friend of mine, and he certainly is not voting for Donald Trump. And he is very, very concerned of the state and the polarity of our country.

And he, like I, wish more than anything that we have at least, at the very least, a two party situation in our country where people can reach across the aisle, like in the old days, and speak civilly to each other and represent the parental body of the nation's dinner table to teach the children, which is all of us, how to speak and be kind and respectful and listen to each other.

And there is nothing more than I know all of them wish is to hold on to their Republican identity, most of these people, but not at the stake of democracy and the country and fascism that they believe this man will turn this country back 200 years or more. And they -- it is it is a moment of crisis in their opinion. That is why they've stepped out of their comfort zone. You know, what did I just say? I said 900 strong over 900 strong at this moment. And these are the top leaders of the military, all areas of the military. It is extraordinary to watch them weep in front of you grown men and women with their passion for this country. It is extraordinary.

It is moving beyond description and of all walks and lives and religion and color and ages. It was it was just one of the most moving experiences of my life to see such patriotism, you know, and their articulation, which we've all heard. You know, everybody's, you know, saying things about the disrespect for the military that this man has in closing up the fascists and dictators that he has his inability to accept elections and the decent and proper transfer of power.

And the list goes on and on and on. And they can't take it. They have defended their lives. They have lost their friends lives. They have led American soldiers, you know, for the sake of the lives of every human being in this country. And they beg you to get out and vote. Do not waste your vote. Young people for the first time to vote, get out and register. Less than 20 percent have done that. That could turn every election up and down the ballot on in this country.

KEILAR: Mandy Patinkin, thank you so much for being with us. We appreciate it.

PATINKIN: Thank you. Vote, please.

KEILAR: And still ahead, a former Olympian is now on the run, wanted for murder and allegedly moving tons of cocaine across the U.S.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MARQUARDT: Right now the FBI is searching for a former Olympian accused of running a billion dollar transnational drug ring. Even more disturbing, officials say that the group used contract killers to take out anyone who got in their way.

KEILAR: We're talking about former snowboarder Ryan Wedding. He competed for Canada in the Salt Lake City Winter Olympics back in 2002.

CNN's Polo Sandoval is on this story and Polo authorities say that Wedding is linked to the Sinaloa cartel. What are you learning?

POLO SANDOVAL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: So Alex and Brianna, I've had a chance to read those federal charges against Wedding and in those documents he's often referred to as "El Jefe" or the boss. That's because federal investigators are alleging that he was the head of a massive cocaine smuggling and distribution operation. One that really stretched from Colombia all the way to Canada and everywhere in between.

Prosecutors alleging that the so-called Wedding drug trafficking organization would often smuggle these large quantities of cocaine from Mexico into the United States, often storing them at stash houses throughout Los Angeles and then eventually putting them on semi trucks to make their way over to Canada and other parts of the U.S.

Investigators also want to get their hands on him not just for these drug charges but also he's wanted for murder. At least two of them last year were federal authorities alleging that Wedding ordered the killing of two people in retaliation for a missing drug load and then in May of this year when he is believed to have ordered the killing of one person to settle a drug debt.

I want you to hear more from federal prosecutors as they share a little bit more about this so-called Wedding drug trafficking organization.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MARTIN ESTRADA, U.S. ATTORNEY FOR THE CENTRAL DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA: This group was ruthless and violent. They would use contract killers to assassinate anyone who they -- who they saw as an obstacle to their operation.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[15:55:00]

SANDOVAL: And of course, what's absolutely remarkable here is before becoming the so-called or at least this alleged drug lord, Wedding was representing Canada in the 2002 Salt Lake City Winter Olympics. Wedding, a Canadian citizen, the last country of residence was Mexico.

He also spent some time behind prison after being convicted of cocaine distribution back in 2010. It is believed that after he was released then he once again took up trafficking under the protection of the infamous, the notorious Sinaloa drug cartel in Mexico.

And I'll leave you with this, the head of the DA in Los Angeles wrote of Wedding: He was the Olympian snowboarder who went from navigating slopes to contouring a life of incessant crimes and now he's a federally wanted fugitive -- guys.

KEILAR: Wow, unbelievable details there. Polo Sandoval thank you and we'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MARQUARDT: OK, this could be your worst Thanksgiving nightmare. You're in charge of the turkey, but you forgot to thaw it out. Well, not anymore.

Butterball is introducing what it's calling an effortless turkey, which requires, get this, no thawing.

[16:00:00]

KEILAR: Now the country's largest turkey producer says all you have to do, you just unwrap it, you put it in the oven. Butterball says a specially formulated brine keeps the meat from drying out during the roughly five hour long roasting process. The innovative new turkey even cuts down on the stress and mess of reaching into that business end of the bird to take out the neck and giblets or giblets. If I've heard some, some call it, you could say it's awesome.

So is Jake Tapper and "THE LEAD," which starts right now.