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Tenants Sue Trump for Alleged Scheme They Say Raised Their Rents; DOJ Bans White House Liaison from Building after Fishing for Secret Information; Michael Flynn Supports Calls for Martial Law and New Election; What Potential Pardons Tell Investigators in Trump's Cases; Trump Pentagon Nominee Spreads Debunked Conspiracies; Trump Administration Purging Another Pentagon Advisory Board; Nursing Home Responds to Investigation into 32 Deaths at Facility; California Parents Sue State, Feds over Remote Learning. Aired 2:30-3p ET

Aired December 04, 2020 - 14:30   ET

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

[14:30:00]

POLO SANDOVAL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: CNN has reached out to the Trump Organization, actually named in that lawsuit as well, and we're waiting to hear back.

Here's something to look out for. If a New York State Supreme Court judge rules -- at least considers this as a class-action lawsuit, that would potentially add thousands of residents to this civil action going back to 1992.

This would be residents who, at some point, lived in these buildings in and around New York City -- Brianna?

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN HOST: Polo, thank you so much for that.

Just in, a spokeswoman for the Trump family called the lawsuit completely frivolous, saying, quote:

"Not only are the allegations completely unsupported by any evidence, but they relate to events that go back 30 years, yet, were never once raised by anyone at any time, only to be conveniently filed just one month before the 2020 presidential election."

CNN has learned that the White House liaison to the Justice Department has been barred from entering the Justice Department building.

CNN's Jeremy Diamond is covering this from the White House.

This is an unusual story, Jeremy. Tell us what's going on.

JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Yes, this is a highly unusual move, Brianna.

Essentially, the White House's eyes and ears it is Justice Department, Heidi Stirrup, who is serving as the White House liaison to the Justice Department, she's been barred from entering the building.

After -- according to a source familiar with the matter, she attempted to access sensitive information about potential voter fraud cases that the Justice Department was looking at.

This appears to be the latest attempt by the White House, by the president to try to meddle in these questions of voter fraud in the 2020 election to bolster the president's baseless allegations this election, that the results could be changed if, indeed, there was enough voter fraud in this election.

It comes obviously as there's a lot of tension already between the president and the Attorney General Bill Barr.

The president, this week, has declined to say whether he has confidence in his attorney general, saying that that's a question he would like to answer in a matter of weeks.

Barr said this week there is not, at least to date, any evidence of widespread voter fraud that would change the result of the election.

It is notable that this has happened because it comes a couple months after the White House changed the function of these White House liaisons at these different agencies.

For most of the Trump administration, these are people who reported directly to those agencies and were largely responsible for things like coordinating political appointments to those agencies.

But in September, the White House chief of staff, Mark Meadows, alongside a top adviser to the president, Johnny McEntee, they coordinated to have those White House liaisons replaced with new people and have them report directly to the White House, solidifying that position as the eyes and ears of the White House.

Now we see potentially one of these individuals, Heidi Stirrup, was used to get information for the White House about potential voter fraud cases.

It's a remarkable development here -- Brianna?

KEILAR: It certainly is.

Jeremy Diamond, thank you so much for that report, reporting from the White House.

Joining me to discuss, we have Harry Litman. He's a former U.S. attorney, former deputy assistant attorney general.

I mean, Harry, this is incredibly unusual for a liaison to try to access information like this.

HARRY LITMAN, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: It's incredibly unusual, as of 2016. The truth is this supposed barrier has been a very permeable membrane in the Trump years.

What is really noteworthy here is the assertion by Department of Justice career officials of the normal order of not letting political folks, and Heidi Stirrup, an acolyte of Stephen Miller, the big immigration guy, come in. And she was very heavy handed, purported to tell people what jobs they could have, demanded this information.

That's the sort of thing that leaked out to the White House improperly for many years.

And this is a bit the restoration of the normal order, along with Bill Barr saying this week there's nothing to these widespread allegations of fraud.

KEILAR: Harry, I wanted to ask you about Michael Flynn. The president recently pardoned him. And he's wasted no time amplifying conspiracy theories about the election being stolen.

If you look at just this week, he supports a call for martial law to hold a new election.

We should note that Flynn's attorney is Sidney Powell. Sidney Powell was just dropped from the Trump legal team, though she is continuing very much to fight for the cause that allies her with the Trump legal team.

What do you make of Flynn's actions here? How do you read these?

LITMAN: I think the legal term for them, Brianna, is he's nuts. If you read the rhetoric here, basically, it's 1776 again, and we're going to take to the streets, and it will be an armed battle.

It feels to me less the kind of a Democrat/Republican dynamic and more of a sane/insane. This is the sort of rhetoric you hear before mass suicides, or crazy kind of Waco takeovers. It's completely unhinged.

[14:35:02]

And to me, it raises the question of, is this a new development, or was the man who was supposed to be our national security adviser always prone to these real flights of fancy.

This is not mere dissent. This is out there. Hallucinations, it seems to me.

KEILAR: We, also, Harry, now know that the president is considering pardons, possibly pardoning family members, possibly pardoning even himself.

What do you think is going on behind closed doors at the Southern District of New York right now as these potential pardons are being discussed?

LITMAN: I think the Southern District of New York think it has to gird to possibly let investigations go.

But I think, down the street, at the Manhattan district attorney, they're preparing cases against Trump and possibly family members.

And I think, given the law there, they'll be all the more likely to bring it because they passed a law in New York -- it could be the Donald Trump law -- that says, if the pardons happen, it would not bar a suit from New York.

So it's almost like a stick in the hornet's nest if he does that.

Whether the self-pardon or pardons of family would fly, I've indicated they're improper.

But the question is would the department challenge them, go to court and try to get a holding. I think that part is unlikely.

So if a pardon happens, all eyes turn to the Manhattan district attorney, Cyrus Vance Jr.

KEILAR: He definitely has a pathway.

Harry, thank you so much. It's great to see you.

Next, some disturbing details coming out about the president's nominee for a top Pentagon post. What CNN uncovered when we reviewed his social media and media appearances.

Also, moments from now, President-Elect Biden will be speaking live about the economy as the pandemic worsens. Will he take questions? Stay with us to see.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[14:41:01]

KEILAR: CNN has learned that Trump as nominees has a history of spreading debunked conspiracy theories and degrading top military and intelligence officials.

Scott O'Grady, a Trump loyalist, was nominated to be assistant secretary of defense for international security affairs at the Pentagon. That nomination was sent to the Senate on Monday.

CNN's Pentagon reporter, Ryan Browne, is joining us now.

Ryan, what more can you tell you about O'Grady? And what are the odds he'll be confirmed when we have just 47 days to go in the president's presidency?

RYAN BROWNE, CNN PENTAGON REPORTER: That's right, Brianna. That's a key point you made.

There isn't much time left in Trump's presidency. It's hard to imagine that there could be a confirmation vote installing O'Grady at the senior Pentagon post.

That being said, our CNN's "KFILE" team has discovered a series of retweets and other statements by O'Grady that have propagated some pretty outlandish and fringe conspiracy theories.

Accusing opponents of President Trump of attempting a coup, retweeting a proposal by retired General Mike Flynn to institute some kind of martial law to rerun the election.

It things that someone, who had already been named -- he had done a lot of this while he had already been named for this top Pentagon post, which oversees the Middle East and Africa.

So, again, he was consistently pushing these conspiracy theories, despite being under consideration for this senior post.

As you said, unlikely he's going to be installed in this position, given the short timeframe.

But it shows it's just the latest of officials that the Trump administration has attempted to put at senior positions within the Pentagon or seen as arch political loyalists.

Now, O'Grady was a member of Trump's election team. He chaired Veterans for Trump. He's a former fighter pilot who was shot down behind enemy lines during the Balkans intervention.

But he has also been propagating these theories despite being nominated for this senior position.

KEILAR: Ryan, tell us about the story that you've been tracking about the Trump administration purging another Pentagon advisory board.

BROWNE: That's right. This has been a series of steps for the Trump administration in this lame-duck period where they've been sacking senior Pentagon leaders.

We saw the secretary of defense was fired. We've seen several senior policy officials and intelligence officials have been fired and replaced with loyalists.

There are these two advisory boards. First, it was the Policy Board, with members like Henry Kissinger, were kicked off it. And some folks were perceived, seen as being more loyal to President Trump were placed on it.

And now yet another board, the Defense Business Board, we're learning several members were pushed off of it.

In their stead, people like Corey Lewandowski, David Bossie, people who are much political partisans, considered very loyal to Trump, being place in these advisory positions, which is supposed to help the Pentagon navigate things in the business world and innovation.

So we're seeing this kind of last-minute change during this lame-duck presidency -- Brianna?

KEILAR: Ryan, thank you so much. Ryan Browne at the Pentagon.

Next, I will speak to one of the parents now suing the state of California and the federal government over remote learning. Why they believe it's putting minority students at a disadvantage.

[14:44:14] Plus, President-Elect Joe Biden is speaking live as the pandemic in the U.S. spirals out of control. Stay with us for that.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KEILAR: On our show yesterday, we brought attention to an investigation by the "Tampa Bay Times" into 32 death at a single nursing home back in April and May of this year.

These are the faces of some of the people who died at a facility called Freedom Square in Seminole, Florida.

And the paper, in conjunction with PBS "Frontline," interviewed dozens of family members who lost loved ones, as well as former and current employees, who said they felt that proper protocols weren't followed and communication about the outbreak was lacking.

We asked for a response from the facility, and they did send us one today. So, we want to share it with you, in part.

It says, "At the onset of this crisis, Freedom Square, like others across the nation, struggled to gain access to and maintain adequate levels of personnel and personal protective equipment."

"We remained vigilant in tracking and implementing additional infectious disease protocols as revised guidance from experts became available."

"Our staff continued to work around the clock to do whatever they believed was necessary to protect our community."

"We have continually evolved our practices through the pandemic based on new knowledge and information."

"It is impossible to quantify the pain and sadness that our community has experienced as a result of the lives lost to this disease."

[14:49:59]

"We continue to send our heartfelt condolences to the loved ones of those affected. And we vow to continue to do all in our power to combat this disease while being open and transparent in our communication."

Several parents and advocacy groups in California are suing the state and the federal government over the quality of remote learning in their communities.

They claim kids being out of the classroom is putting poor black and Latino students at a disadvantage because they don't have the digital tools or the support they need to succeed.

The suit claims, quote, "The state's abdication of responsibility and insufficient response to the challenges of remote learning have denied plaintiffs the basic educational equality guaranteed to them by the California constitution." It comes as the state experiences a record surge of new cases.

California is one of three states with more than one million recorded coronavirus infections.

Parts of the state are just days away from a mandatory regional stay- at-home order.

Lakisha Young is one of the plaintiffs in the suit. She is a mother of three.

She is the cofounder and executive director of Oakland Reach, which is a parent-run group that advocates for high-quality schools in underserved communities.

And she said the local community groups have had to step in to provide the support that she believes is missing from the state.

Lakisha, thanks so much for coming on to talk with us about what is going on in the schools in your area.

Can you just tell us a little bit more about why you filed this lawsuit and what your students?

LAKISHA YOUNG, LAWSUIT PLAINTIFF & COFOUNDER AND EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, OAKLAND REACH: So, Brianna, yes. Thank you for having me.

So, we filed this lawsuit because we are holding the state of California accountable for just not serving our students well.

I also want to note that this is a preexisting condition. So prior to COVID, black and brown students, especially low-income students, were being underserved in California. And the remote learning conditions have just deepened that gap.

So part of that is to hold the state of California accountable.

The other part of that is that we had to step into the gap as a parent group. I'm a mom.

The others had to step into the gap to create a virtual hub, which we just started two months after COVID to really provide our kids with the type of instruction that they needed.

So what we would like to see is, we would like to see solutions and models like ours scaled across California and even the country to support more students in families like ours.

KEILAR: You are doing it on a small scale.

Can you speak just specifically to, when you see disproportionately communities of color being impacted when it comes to education, I mean, what are you talking about in very real terms?

YOUNG: That's a great question. In terms of our families being disproportionately impacted, it's really that -- you know, as I'm sitting here thinking about it, I'm just channeling so many stories of our families across Oakland and what they've shared.

I think so many of the issues that we've seen, Brianna, really comes from the mamas and grandmamas of Oakland Reach. They attended schools in Oakland and those schools did not serve them well, right?

And we've had mothers and grandmothers who graduated from high school not being able to read. If you graduate from high school not being able to read, and then you become a parent, that gets passed down.

KEILAR: OK, I'm so sorry. We've actually had a problem here with our connection being terminated.

This is an incredibly important story. We're going to try to get Lakisha Young. We're running out of time today. We'll try to get her back on if we can on Monday.

I want to thank you so much for that, Lakisha.

There was a response to this lawsuit that was sent to the "L.A. Times" from California's governor, Governor Gavin Newsom's office.

It said this, quote, "Throughout the pandemic, this administration has taken important actions to protect student learning while also taking necessary steps to protect public health. We will defend our position in court."

Obviously, we're going to try to continue this very important conversation.

[14:54:17]

Moments from now, though, President-Elect Joe Biden will be stepping to the podium to talk about the economy as the fallout from the pandemic worsens. We will be watching to see if he takes any questions. Stand by.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BROOKE BALDWIN, CNN HOST: Hi, there. I'm Brooke Baldwin. It is Friday afternoon. Thank you so much for being with me.

President-Elect Joe Biden will be speaking in moments about the final unemployment report that we're getting here of 2020. And we'll bring that to you live the second we see him step behind that podium.

But today, the jobs numbers, they are much lower than we expected. and 245,000 jobs were added in the month of November. That is half of what economic experts were predicting. The worsening pandemic undoubtedly a factor here.

The U.S. continues to shatter its own infection records. Another 2,800 American deaths were reported yesterday, a 9/11-size death toll day after day.

[14:59:56] And I will say again, these are not just numbers. They are mothers, fathers, brothers, sisters, grandparents, and friends, loved ones lost to this brutal virus.

More than 100,000 Americans are hospitalized. More than 2,700 new cases were reported yesterday.