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FBI Took Items from Laundrie Home for DNA Matching; Whistleblower Alleges Cover-Up During Trump Administration; Bill Gates is Interviewed about the Audit in Maricopa County; Social Democrat Seeks Next Chancellor of Germany. Aired 9:30-10a ET

Aired September 27, 2021 - 09:30   ET

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

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[09:32:08]

ERICA HILL, CNN ANCHOR: As authorities continue the search for Gabby Petito's fiance, Brian Laundrie, the FBI returned to his family home yesterday. The family's attorney says the FBI too some of Laundrie's personal items for DNA matching. He disappeared nearly two weeks ago following Petito's death. Authorities have increased the reward now to $30,000 for tips leading to his whereabouts.

CNN national correspondent Nadia Romero is in North Port, Florida, for us this morning.

So, Nadia, what is the latest?

NADIA ROMERO, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Erica, that was the most activity we saw all weekend with those two FBI agents who came right here in front of Brian Laundrie's parents' home, gathered those items to later use for DNA matching. But it has been much more of a scaled down approach. Not as much police activity on this street. And not far from here is the Carlton Reserve where the Laundrie parents told investigators their son was going two weeks ago, last Tuesday, and they haven't seen or heard from him since.

But when we were out there, we went -- drove all around, used a drone to look above, and we didn't see a lot of that search activity like we did earlier last week.

Now, we're being told from the FBI that they're doing a more targeted approach. And that really follows what we've seen here on the ground with not having as many people spread out. The FBI, of course, is in control of this investigation with North Port Police assisting in any way that they can.

Now, that's what's happening here in Florida. Just yesterday was a large memorial service for Gabby Petito. Her father and stepfather were a part of the eulogy that was given for people to honor her life. And we saw long lines wrapped around the building, people who waited before the memorial started, to pay their respects to Gabby Petito. Her mother reaching out for the first time on Facebook in about two weeks thanking everyone for their support and just being so grateful, she wrote in her post.

Here today, in Florida, we have at least two people who have come out with bullhorns that are demanding answers of the Laundrie parents, asking them what they know, where their son is, and that has been something that has really woken up this neighborhood this morning by having two people on bullhorns. We've seen more police officers coming out, trying to understand what the disturbance is.

But, of course, even here is asking the same question, what happened to Gabby Petito and where is Brian Laundrie.

Erica.

HILL: Absolutely.

Nadia Romero with the latest for us.

Nadia, thank you.

Jim.

JIM SCIUTTO, CNN ANCHOR: Well, a whistleblower who worked for the Department of Homeland Security under former President Trump is now speaking out, accusing the Trump administration of a campaign to downplay, cover up intelligence that would make the then president look bad, specifically on Russian disinformation.

Brian Murphy says information about Russian election interference intended to help Trump and hurt Joe Biden, as well as the threat of white supremacy, was manipulated to fit a political narrative.

[09:35:01]

Joining me now to discuss is CNN's Alex Marquardt.

I mean this is part of a pattern with the Trump administration. Not just him, but intelligence officials deliberately downplaying the real and present threat from Russian disinformation. I mean it's remarkable to hear someone on the inside detail this.

ALEX MARQUARDT, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Not just on the inside. This guy, Brian Murphy, was in charge of intelligence for the Department of Homeland Security. We heard some of this last year when he filed a whistleblower complaint. But hearing a lot more now because he has just left the Department of Homeland Security. He describe a highly political environment in which he was ordered, he says, by the then acting secretary of Homeland Security, Chad Wolf, and his deputy, Ken Cuccinelli, to change and manipulate intelligence products in order to support the Trump administration's agenda, to support their objectives and their narratives, particularly in three areas, he said, when it comes to white extremism and the threat of white extremists. As you mentioned, what Russia was up to in terms of interfering in the election their disinformation campaign, their support of the president, and what was really happening on the southern border, the U.S./Mexico border. He says that he was ordered to change the 2020 threat assessment by Secretary Chad Wolf and eventually was removed for not being a team player.

And in his removal, he says, that hurt the preparedness in the lead-up to January 6th. Take a listen to what he told CNN earlier today.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BRIAN MURPHY, FORMER ACTING UNDER SECRETARY, DHS OFFICE OF INTELLIGENCE AND ANALYTICS: The organization that I led -- you know, I was removed in July -- everything that we were doing to find violence on social media, regardless of where it was coming from, was shut down a by my predecessor. And, you know, my predecessor strikingly now is on the January 6th committee, and he is the one that shut all of those things down. All of those safeguards we had in place. And I'm pretty confident my team would have found it. I'm positive they would have found it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCIUTTO: Wow.

MARQUARDT: Now, Wolf denies these allegations that he was, you know, that he ordered Murphy to change any of this. Murphy has been accused of spying on journalists, disseminating reports about journalists during the Portland riots last year. He says that was not the intention and that everything that he put out was, in fact, open sourced. So he's not free of controversy either, Jim. But this -- these are really stunning comments from the former head of intelligence.

SCIUTTO: Yes.

MARQUARDT: Who I -- he described the environment over there as, like walking in a hall of mirrors on a slanted floor all twisted and turned upside down.

SCIUTTO: Yes. I mean remarkable to say that it had a direct effect on the response of January 6th because tools were removed that could have monitored the violent communications among the insurrectionists.

MARQUARDT: That's right.

SCIUTTO: Alex Marquardt, thanks very much.

Erica.

HILL: Still ahead, some Republicans still standing with President Trump's big lie about the 2020 election and even trying to push it further. Now at least one may lose her job over it. We're going to speak with the Maricopa County supervisor, next.

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[09:42:23]

HILL: The unnecessary audit of Arizona's presidential election vote now over, but there seems to be no end in sight for the lies and manipulations that fueled it. That audit reached the obvious conclusion, President Biden won the election, won the state of Arizona. There was no fraud. But that has not stopped many Republicans who conducted that so-called audit from trying to cast doubt on thousands of ballots. The originator of the big lie himself still won't let it go.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, FORMER U.S. PRESIDENT: Every reporter, it's like -- it's like -- it's just total misinformation. Well, they're totally unfounded. Everything's unfounded. Big lie. Not correct. Well, Trump has no reason to say this. I mean we've got piles and piles of information, affidavits by the thousands and thousands. It's a disgrace.

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HILL: Perhaps the real disgrace is continuing to push this big lie.

Joining me now to talk about the audit, what it means for elections going forward, the Republican supervisor of Maricopa County in Arizona, Bill Gates.

Good to have you back with us. You told my colleague Erin Burnett on Friday night, quote, I believe this should be the beginning of the end of the big lie. We know that it's not for the former president. Congressman Paul Gosar, who's been really outspoken, sort of on the fringe of the fringe of this big lie, seems to think actually it might just be the beginning.

I just want to play something he had to say. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. PAUL GOSAR (R-AZ): Well, it was a good start because we now know that fraud was at there.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.

GOSAR: And --

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They made their case very well, I think.

GOSAR: Yes. Yes. And the -- and the thing about it is, is that they weren't given the tools to make a full disclosure.

My suggestion was, is that we actually have some hearings and look over this batch and set a new election for Biden and Trump before the end of the year.

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HILL: A new election. That is not going to happen, obviously. The question for you, and I know you've been dealing with so much both publicly and privately in terms of the fallout from 2020. Where does this go now? Where does it go from here? BILL GATES (R), MARICOPA COUNTY SUPERVISOR: Well, Erica, thanks for

having me.

And, that's right, that is what I've said is, it is my hope that this is the beginning of the end of the big lie. Clearly the former president doesn't agree with that, but I'm very encouraged to see that our governor, Doug Ducey, said on Friday, after the audit report was released, that the 2020 election is done. It's time to move on.

And I think that is the key when conservative Republican leaders like Doug Ducey start to stand up and say, it's time for this to be over because then I think the rank and file will start to listen to those leaders and say, you know what, maybe it is time to move on because it is my position, as a conservative Republican, that we have a great case to make against the Democratic Party in 2022.

[09:45:15]

But we're not doing that. We're continuing talk about 2020.

HILL: To your point about hearing from Governor Ducey, there are also calls in your state for the head of the Republican Party to resign. So, the chair, she said -- Kelli Ward said over the weekend, there should be a full canvass of not only Maricopa County, she said the whole state of Arizona. She listed a number of other states. Do you think she should resign and what do you think the chances are?

GATES: Yes. Actually, I publicly called for her resignation on Friday, along with my colleague, Supervisor Clint Hickman (ph). It's time for her to step aside. Her obsession with this big lie, her obsession with this audit is hurting the party, it's hurting our chances in 2022. You know, we've got to make -- we've got big elections here in Arizona. Statewide elections, U.S. Senate, governor. We cannot be dragged down with these conspiracy theories.

How likely do I think it is? Well, probably not too likely. But it's time for the Republican elected officials, like myself, to stand up and say, enough is enough.

HILL: And we -- and we have been hearing that from you, that you need Republican elected officials to stand up. That's countered with, look, what we're seeing from a Republican elected official in the state of Texas, the governor, launching some audits there as he just announced late last week.

When you look at how all of this is playing out, you're talking about the need for Republicans to come together, what happens to the Republican Party at this point if you can't get rid of the big lie?

GATES: Well, I'm very concerned about that. I think it's going to hurt our electoral chances in 2022, which should be fabulous. The Democrats are leaning from the left. They continue to push farther and farther to the left. There is a hunger, a desire in this country for leaders who are conservatives but not following conspiracy theories. I mean I hear it every day. People say it to me, including other elected officials, but they haven't been willing to speak up publicly. This now is the time. After all this, even the Cyber Ninjas came up

with a count that was very similar to what our good elections officials found. In fact, they found that Joe Biden got even more votes than we had found. So that's what we ought to be talking about. That's the reality. That's objective.

Instead, we have Republican leaders, including the head of the RNC. I was shocked to see her calling for further audits and pushing back on Maricopa County Republicans. I mean it's unbelievable. And that's not the direction that we need to be moving.

The good thing is, it's not too late. Let's continue to be focused on fact. That's what we've done at Maricopa County. And that's what the best -- the rest of the Republican Party needs to do, facts and rule of law.

HILL: So -- we're big fans of facts here at CNN, as you know.

Real quickly, before we let you go, this is not just about a handful of states. This is not just about the Arizona audit. There are significant questions about the future of U.S. democracy here. Are you concerned that we are witnessing the decline and the erosion of U.S. democracy?

GATES: Yes. No, I am. And I've written on this topic. This is not a Republican/Democrat right/left issue. This is about our democracy. And, sadly, never in our history have our institutions been attacked so much. I'm very concerned that 2022, for the Republicans, is just going to be attacking elections officials. And that's going to be the path forward. If we do that, we will continue to tear at the foundations of this democracy. It's time to accept the result, move forward, make a great case and try and win in 2022 on the facts an great arguments.

HILL: Bill Gates, appreciate your time. Thank you.

GATES: Thank you.

HILL: We'll be right back.

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[09:53:38]

HILL: Germany is bracing for a period of political uncertainty after the social democrats narrowly won the country's general election, defeating outgoing Chancellor Angela Merkel's party.

SCIUTTO: The question now is who will succeed Merkel as negotiations begin to form a coalition government to put in place a new German government arrangement.

CNN senior international correspondent Frederik Pleitgen is in Berlin.

Fred, coalition talks could take months and it looks like the greens (ph) will have a big power-sharing role here. FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes. Yes,

you're absolutely right, Jim, the greens (ph) are going to basically the king makers here in Germany as both Angela Merkel's conservatives, of course now with someone new at the helm, and in the social democrats vying to see who's going to have the next chancellor.

Now, the social Democrats, as you guys mentioned, they narrowly eked out the most votes here in this election. Angela Merkel's party, by the way, massive losses, a disastrous showing for them, historically low votes that they got. But the social democrats have a gentleman named Olof Scholz and he said this morning he wants to become chancellor, he wants to form a coalition.

And I was able to actually ask him this morning, you know, what would that mean for international politics, because Angela Merkel was such a big leader on the international stage for 16 years, was a big partner to the U.S., would that continue under Olaf Scholz and also would he stand by the U.S. as the U.S. challenges China.

Here's what he had to say.

[09:55:00]

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

OLAF SCHOLZ, SOCIAL DEMOCRATIC PARTY CANDIDATE: You can rely on the continuity in this question. It is important that we understand both sides as democracies and that we see that in the word it becomes more dangerous. It is important that we work together even if we do have conflicts in one or the other question.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PLEITGEN: Olaf Scholz there saying he believes that democracies should work together, a very soft-spoken man, of course. And then you have Angela Merkel's party, which came in second place. Again, I was at their party headquarters last night. It was really a bad mood that was around there. Nevertheless, they believe that possibly they could also form a coalition again with the greens (ph), possibly also with the liberal party as well.

It looks as though right now in the driver's seat you have the gentleman that you saw on screen right there, Olof Scholz, and, you know, I have to say, at the end, I saw Angela Merkel yesterday. It really wasn't the way that she wanted to leave the political stage by having a bad result like that. It was a bit sad to see her yesterday.

SCIUTTO: Well, end of an era there too. I mean she's ruled for far longer than a decade. Fred Pleitgen, thanks so much.

Well, it is a make-or-break week for president's legislative agenda that could have serious implication for nation's economy, next year's midterms and beyond. All of what's at stake, next.

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