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White House Responds to Tension Between Biden and Harris Staffs; White House Defends VP Harris Amid Leaks About Dysfunction in Her Office; Trump CFO Weisselberg Indicted on 15 Tax Related Charges; Track Star Suspended from Olympic Team Testing Positive in Drug Test. Aired 3:30-4p ET

Aired July 02, 2021 - 15:30   ET

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

[15:30:00]

MARGARET TALEV, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: These complaints are pretty widespread. The exist both inside the administration, inside the White House and also inside Democratic circles and in Congress.

But because the criticisms are anonymous it's very difficult for Harris or for the White House to figure out precisely how to respond to them. And I would say the criticisms kind of fall into two buckets. One is the idea that there's a tense work environment concerns about Harris's chief of staff Tina Flournoy, whether she keeps others at too much of distance and doesn't allow enough communication that would help the vice president.

The second concern really goes to 2024 and it's much more about or perhaps 2028 and it's much more about the idea of whether the vice president has the political instincts, the political chops to be the party standard bearer if for some reason President Biden decided not to run again although his staff say they expect him to.

So why does any of this any matter, or what does it add up to? I will say that the fact that the White House chief of staff and a top senior adviser both came out on the record last night to make these very definitive statements of support for the vice president and calling it a whisper campaign mean to sabotage her.

What that tells me is that short of President Biden himself coming out and giving a full throated defense, it signals that's what he wants to do. It signals whether or not there are in fact problems and whether or not Biden and his advisers are concerned about some of these problems that they do not rise to the level where he wants to embarrass her. And where what he wants is for everybody to quit their griping and get back to work.

And what we've heard from supporters of the vice president is like, look, we're six months in. We have been operating under pandemic and President Biden is handed Harris some of the most difficult assignments in government, right. Whether it's fix the migrant problem or you know deal with women in the work force going back after the pandemic. All these other variety of issues.

So what they are saying this is really unfair. What some of her backers say is this is shaded by gender and racial concerns. And as a reporter trying to cover this, you're trying to balance all of this to try to understand how much -- it matters how much is real and how much is a political campaign. But in the end, this is a pervasive topic of discussion in Democratic circles and around the White House right now.

ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN HOST: Well, I mean that's what I'm trying to get at. Has she made significant stumbles that are noteworthy or is this unfair criticism?

TALEV: Yes, I do think that's part of the $64,000 question. But like look, politics is perception. There are many donors in Democratic Party who support Kamala Harris. There are many activists and work-a- day members who support Kamala Harris.

But the truth of the matter is, there also are these fault lines both inside the administration and inside Democratic politics. She has her fans. She has her detractors and not very vice president starts office in the opening months with this much kind of messiness and buzz.

So I think it is a perception problem at a minimum and how much of this is a bigger problem? I think we have to wait and see as time goes on as some of these issues continue to unfold and as she is dispatched to be the president's voice. Whether it is, you know, in Guatemala or whether it is on network television interviews or whether it's responding to the pandemic.

But it's politics. So the perception does matter and your ability to bring your enemies into the circle and turn them into allies it's one of the crucial tests of every politician and right now the spotlight's on her.

CAMEROTA: Margaret Talev, thanks for explaining all this to us. We will continue to read your reporting.

TALEV: Thanks, Alisyn.

CAMEROTA: Still ahead, the investigation into the Trump Organization continues. Are the charges against the company's CFO the end or the beginning?

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[15:35:00]

CAMEROTA: The indictment of the Trump Organization's CFO could just be the beginning. New York Attorney General Letitia James says the investigation into the former president's company will continue. On Thursday, the CFO Allen Weisselberg was indicted on 15 charges related to an alleged 15-year tax scheme. The indictment also alleges that illegal activity involved other unnamed executives or employees.

Weisselberg and the Trump Organization pleaded not guilty to all of the charges. Here now to discuss, we have CNN legal analyst and former federal

prosecutor Elliot Williams. Elliot, great to see you.

ELLIOT WILLIAMS, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: Hey Alisyn.

CAMEROTA: Let's start with the Trump's Organization's defense and basically what they say, last night Eric Trump -- the son of the former president -- went on TV and said something to the effect of fringe benefits, big deal.

And then yesterday, the Trump Organization attorneys went to the microphone and they said that this is a political prosecution. Because they say Letitia James, the Attorney General, even when running for her post had said that she would get Donald Trump and they claim that she doesn't like him or his politics. So do either of those defenses hold legal water?

WILLIAMS: No, OK, look, fringe benefits are no big deal.

[15:40:00]

You just got to pay taxes on them. And that's the thing -- like he left out that important clause at the end of it, which is that when an employer pays $1.7 million in income -- that's what the indictment indicates with respect to Allen Weisselberg -- you have to pay taxes on that income. And when you don't you've broken the law. And the tax law.

And so, yes, everybody gets fringe benefits, they get parking spots, they get all kinds of other things, gym memberships, but you pay taxes on many, if not all of those things.

Now on the political point, prosecutors are elected officials but they take an oath to uphold the law. And when an individual has broken the law as is clearly the case -- or pardon me -- there are allegations that have been demonstrated in the indictment, you move forward with those. But the idea that merely because someone is politically elected that they can't bring a fair or righteous charge, it's just nonsense.

CAMEROTA: What about in the indictment where it referred to other employees, why haven't they been indicted?

WILLIAMS: Well you know, every time prosecutors bring an indictment, Alisyn, they are free to supersede it down the road and either add individuals to the indictment or add additional charges. Now there's any number of reasons why they may not. Number one, people might be cooperating. We don't know that. Number two, they may still be bringing evidence, but number three they may just not have provable cases against those people.

It's a reality of prosecution that even when sometimes prosecutors believe that people might do something and even have evidence, they don't think they can win it in front of the jury. Any one of those options could be equally possible.

CAMEROTA: So is there any way to know if this is nearing the end or just the beginning?

WILLIAMS: No, I don't think there's a way to know. I mean I think you'll know when there are convictions either of Allen Weisselberg or anybody else who is subsequently charged. But I just don't think there's way to know when the end might be coming. There's a lot of speculation about it.

But you know we should stop the exercise in public generally in thinking that because Donald Trump or Eric Trump or whoever else hasn't been charged that this isn't a serious offense. This is an individual who's committed a major -- again, alleged to have committed a major tax crime that will not sit well with jurors. When you have millionaires and allegations of not paying taxes. Juries just don't respond well to that. And it's a major company and it's a sophisticated defendant. And so even if no other charges come out of this, it's still a serious point for the Trump Organization.

CAMEROTA: Elliot Williams, thank you.

WILLIAMS: Of course, Alisyn, thanks.

CAMEROTA: OK, up next, a star U.S. sprinter is suspended putting her Olympic future in limbo today. The debate over her marijuana use. Next.

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CAMEROTA: Olympic hopeful Sha'Carri Richardson is apologizing today after testing positive for marijuana. The U.S. track and field star was set to compete at the Tokyo Olympics in just weeks but has been suspended from the Olympic team for one month leaving her Olympic hopes in limbo. This morning Richardson had this message for her fans.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SHA'CARRI RICHARDSON, SUSPENDED U.S. TRACK & FIELD STAR: I would like to say to my fans and my family, and my sponsorship, to haters too, I apologize as much as I'm disappointed. I know that I don't represent myself, I represent a community that has shown me great support, great love, and to y'all, I failed y'all, which I apologize for the fact that I didn't know how to control my emotions or deal with my emotions during that time.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CAMEROTA: With us now is Sports Illustrated writer Chris Chavez. So Chris, let's start with a little bit more of the back story here.

Richardson said that the reason she used marijuana was because she found out from a reporter, that day, that her biological mother had passed away and then she had this deeply emotional response that she was trying to cope with. So bottom line, will she still be able to compete in the Olympics later this month or not? CHRIS CHAVEZ, SPORTS ILLUSTRATED WRITER: Yes, it's a really

unfortunate story for the sport of track and field given that we're carrying all this momentum off of amazing performances at the Olympic trials. And all of a sudden, one of the biggest stars for the U.S. is in limbo. There's still a chance actually because the suspension is only going to run for one month and she accepted it this morning from the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency which gives her a chance still.

She's out of the 100 which is her marquee event and the event that she's a gold medal contender for, but she could still possibly run in the 4 by 100 meter relay. And that all depends on USA Track and Field and USOPC on whether or not they're going to add her to the team.

CAMEROTA: And what do we think is going to happen? Here is an interesting wrinkle. Marijuana is legal in Oregon where she was tested? So why is it a banned substance?

CHAVEZ: Right, so it's a banned according to the World Anti-Doping Agency. So, yes, it's legal in Oregon and more than half a dozen states but this is the rules of the sport not necessarily like the state or even the country.

So WADA set this rule a couple years back, they added it and they said that athletes who smoke cannabis potentially endanger themselves and others because of increased risk taking, slower reaction times and just possible poor decision making.

And that's why it's on the banned substance list. It's been there for a couple of years but it does definitely feel a little bit outdated given that there's been so much legislation that's passed.

[15:50:00]

And you know, the suspension for a positive test for marijuana, the maximum is only two years as opposed to getting four or five or eight years sometimes for more serious performance enhancing drugs. So yes, this one's a little bit different.

CAMEROTA: How is marijuana a performance enhancing drug? I mean, you know, this is the drug that gives you the munchies and makes you sleep on the sofa. How is it enhancing her performance?

CHAVEZ: The studies that the World Anti-Doping Agency has done, I guess they kind of lean on the side that, yes, maybe it makes you more focused, makes you a little bit more relaxed. But at the same time, yes, it definitely does slow you down.

So there's the pros and the cons to it. And it's interesting because marijuana, you are allowed to have a certain amount in your system in competition. But that limit is 150 nanograms per milliliter. And you can take it just outside of competition. But this time around it might've been a little bit too close for Sha'Carri's positive test.

CAMEROTA: I've seen some other players or former players basically say that it's time for the Olympics to get with the times. You know that other sports organizations have changed some of the doping rules around this. So, do we think that there is a push for that? And what does this mean for when she's off suspension, you know, four weeks from now?

CHAVEZ: The pro for her is that she's young. She's only 21 years old, there's probably a couple more Olympics in her future. So this is just a bump in the road. And there's still the chance that she could be in Tokyo on that relay team.

As for the rule itself, I'm sure there is all this public outcry will, you know, make some noise and definitely hopefully make a little bit more of a change. But they've definitely taken a closer look at the rules regarding some of these substances that are considered more substances of abuse as opposed to performance-enhancing drugs.

CAMEROTA: Now really interesting. Chris Chavez, thank you, thanks so much.

CHAVEZ: Thank you.

CAMEROTA: OK. Still ahead, two pilots are forced to make a scary landing in the water off the coast of Hawaii. We have new audio from the moment they realized that they would not be able to make it to the airport. Next.

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[15:55:00]

CAMEROTA: For months, U.S. officials have been focused on getting Americans vaccinated against COVID-19. But it looks like the U.S. will fall short of President Biden's July 4th goal.

Still, a lot of progress has been made, in part, due to the efforts of people like 2012 CNN Hero Jake Wood. His organization Team Rubicon normally responds to natural disasters like earthquakes and floods. But since COVID hit his group of military veterans has risen to the occasion volunteering once again to help their country in this hour of need.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JAKE WOOD, CNN HERO: When COVID first broke out, we immediately pivoted our organization to get our volunteers doing work like supporting food banks, delivering groceries directly to people's doorsteps, setting up COVID testing sites. And then most recently supporting millions of vaccinations across the country in all 50 states.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Can I get your appointment time and last name?

WOOD: Over the course of the last six months, we've supported hundreds of sites across the country doing the simple things like site setup and tear-down, patient registration, optimizing patient flow to help ensure that their doctors can put shots in arms. So that they can just focus on what they do best. It's been a modern-day medical wartime effort to get doses into the

arms of Americans. And so we were really proud we've been able to support nearly 2 million doses across the country.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CAMEROTA: To find out more about Team Rubicon's work and to nominate someone you think should be a CNN Hero, go to CNNheroes.com.

Now to this story, two cargo pilots are recovering after crash landing into waters off the coast of Hawaii. State aviation officials say a Transair jet was traveling from Honolulu to Oahu early this morning. The pilots reported one of the engines on the Boeing 737 gave out and a second engine was also about to fail. They repeatedly told air traffic controllers to prepare for them to crash land because they could not maintain altitude and were losing speed.

(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)

CREW: We've lost number one engine and we're coming straight to the airport. We're going to need the fire department if you can, we're going to lose the other engine too. It's running very hot. And our speed is -- we're pretty low on the speed is, um, we're pretty low on speed. It doesn't look good out here. You might want to the let the Coast Guard as well.

AIR TRAFFIC CONTROLLER: And do you have the airport in sight?

CREW: Negative.

AIR TRAFFIC: Low altitude alert, low altitude alert, are you able to climb at all?

CREW: No, negative.

(END AUDIO CLIP)

CAMEROTA: Wow. A Coast Guard spokesperson tells CNN that both pilots were rescued by helicopters about two miles offshore. The NTSB is sending a team of investigators.

We have a quick programming note for you as we head into the holiday weekend. Be sure to join us for a star-studded evening of music and fireworks celebrating Independence Day. The fun begins on July 4th at 7:00 p.m. only on CNN. And The Lead starts right now.

END