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New Court Filing Shows Type Of Docs Trump Wants To Keep Secret; Biden Arrives For Dinner With World Leaders At The G20; Trump Becomes X Factor In Tight VA Governor's Race; Tucker Carlson Making A Series Based On Lies And Conspiracies; Backlash After WSJ Publishes Trump Falsehood-Filled Letter On "Rigged" Election; Supreme Court Declines To Block Maine Health Care Employee Vaccine Mandate; Sheriff on Alec Baldwin Shooting: There was "Complacency" on the Set. Aired 3-4p ET
Aired October 30, 2021 - 15:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[15:00:25]
JIM ACOSTA, CNN HOST: You are live in the CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Jim Acosta in Washington.
And just moments ago President Biden arriving for dinner with the world leaders at the G20 Summit. There he is with the first lady. This happening in just the last couple of minutes, and of course we're going to stay on top of all of these developments coming out of the summit over the next several hours. So stay with us for all of those developments. We'll bring them to you live as they happen.
In the meantime, though, we start with two big developments on the big lie that Donald Trump definitely will not like. A new court filing that exposes the kinds of documents he wants to keep hidden about January 6th. A new K-File report exposes some of the most direct comments yet of a then Trump lawyer's intent to undermine the 2020 election. First, to the overnight release from the National Archives.
For the first time it detailed the general nature of the records Trump is suing to keep secret regarding the attack on the Capitol. They include files from his top administration officials, Stephen Miller, Kayleigh McEnany, and then White House chief of staff Mark Meadows. Among Meadows' papers are three handwritten notes specifically about the events of January 6th.
CNN's Katelyn Polantz is on this story for us.
Katelyn, tell us more about what the former president does want to be seen by the House Committee investigating January 6th. I mean, these documents I think are critical to getting to the bottom of what happened.
KATELYN POLANTZ, CNN CRIME AND JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: Truly, Jim.
ACOSTA: Yes.
POLANTZ: I mean, we did not know what records had existed in the Trump White House before last night in this court filing. Very late at night, the National Archives puts out a list of more than 700 pages itemized, saying this is what Donald Trump wants to keep secret and they really gave details that we didn't know. There are these handwritten memos or handwritten notes from Chief of Staff Mark Meadows, specifically about January 6th.
There are call logs and switchboard call logs about calls to President Trump to Vice President Mike Pence leading to about January 6th. These are very specific things. White House visitor logs and White House call records, other memos, the daily schedule. All of these sorts of documents are things that the House has been pursuing. And Donald Trump has gone to court to try and say you can't have access to that.
A judge should really give us a court order to stop it being turned over to the House. And right now we are going to be seeing on Thursday a hearing in that case where Donald Trump is going to have to convince a judge that all of this stuff that the National Archives says they have -- that the National Archives shouldn't be able to give them to the House.
ACOSTA: Yes. I can't imagine keeping those items secret from the public. I mean, the public has a right to know what they're up to, you know, in the days leading up to January 6th. And it seems like call logs, notes from the chief of staff. That is just going to go to the heart of all of this.
But let's talk about John Eastman, the attorney who was advising Donald Trump in the months after or in the weeks after he lost the 2020 election, leading up to January 6th. Our K-File unit, Andrew Kaczynski and his team, they've uncovered some audio of what Eastman was saying just before January 6th. Tell us a little bit about that.
POLANTZ: Right. It's not just documents that the House really wants access to. They want to know what was happening between Trump and his advisers both in and outside the White House and around, what they were talking about. And one of those people that is central to this question is John Eastman, this lawyer. He spoke to Steve Bannon four days before January 6th about a proposal he had for Mike Pence not to certify the electoral college vote. Here's what he was saying.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
STEVE BANNON, FORMER TRUMP WHITE HOUSE ADVISER: Are we to assume that this is going to be a climactic battle that's going to take place this week about the very question of the constitutionality of the Electoral Count Act of 1877?
JOHN EASTMAN, TRUMP LAWYER: Well, I think a lot of that depends on the courage and the spine of the individuals involved.
BANNON: When you just said the courage and the spine, are you talking on the other side of the football? Would you be -- that would be a nice way to say a guy named Mike, Vice President Mike Pence?
EASTMAN: Yes.
(END OF VIDEO CLIP) POLANTZ: So, Jim, that was what the K-File uncovered four days before. Also this weekend, there's new reporting from "The Washington Post" that on January 6th itself as the Capitol was being overrun, Eastman was e-mailing a lawyer for Mike Pence, blaming him for the riot, saying he should have done more.
ACOSTA: Just incredible stuff. I mean, it just goes to show you how integral Eastman was to, you know, the scheming that was going on behind the scenes to overturn the election results.
Katelyn Polantz, thanks so much for that update. We appreciate it.
I'm joined now by the former Homeland Security secretary under President George W. Bush, Michael Chertoff.
Mr. Secretary, I think we just heard what is a very unsettling report from Katelyn and our K-File team regarding some of the events leading up to January 6th.
[15:05:07]
What is your read on these documents that Trump is trying to keep hidden from the January 6th investigators? Why would he want to block things like call records and visitor logs? And do you agree, Mr. Secretary, that the public has a right to know about these things?
MICHAEL CHERTOFF, FORMER HOMELAND SECURITY SECRETARY: I do think the public has a right to know, and I do think that this is at the core of the legislative function. To look at whether there are potential vulnerabilities in our electoral process that an authoritarian personality could try to exploit so we can have legislation to repair that. So it's clearly within Congress' power and responsibility to look at this.
I think the vast majority of these documents clearly ought to be turned over. Maybe a few where there's an argument about some kind of a privilege, but I think what Donald Trump is doing here is he's running the clock and he's trying to throw sand into the gears in order to let time pass and he's hoping may well be that if the House changes hands next year, that will pull the plug on the investigation. And this is a technique he used to use in business.
ACOSTA: Right.
CHERTOFF: He just runs the clock with creditors, and then ultimately hopes they go away or someone intervenes.
ACOSTA: He did it as president, too, during the Russia investigation, during the Ukraine investigation. It's always about working the clock. And Steve Bannon seemed to know something was going to happen on January 6th. January 5th he was talking about how all hell was going to break loose. Trump was tweeting that it was going to be wild on January 6th. And yet there was this delayed security response of the administration.
As a former Department of Homeland Security secretary, I mean, you must have some thoughts on this. Could these Trump records that Trump is trying to keep secret, could they provide some insight into this delayed response that really hampered things January 6th?
CHERTOFF: Well, there were a number of very (INAUDIBLE) response, you know, and the lack of preparation and the lack of resourcing, even though there was intelligence information the FBI had that there were groups that were planning some violent acting out. Certainly nobody in the White House made it their business to see that there was extra security which would normally be what would happen.
Back in my day, if there had been any kind of threat like this, the White House would have been on the phone multiple times a day making sure we were prepared. So at the very least, the White House stood by and did nothing. Whether they actually tempted to dampen the response I think, again, this investigation is going to have to find out.
ACOSTA: And this news that John Eastman, one of the architects of Trump's scheming behind the scenes, e-mailed Mike Pence's staff as the Capitol was being breached apparently, according to "The Washington Post," blaming Pence for the attack. Eastman of course was on Bannon's show as we were just talking about a few moments ago, before the attack on the Capitol, talking about how the vice president could overturn these election results.
There appears to have been just tremendous pressure placed on Mike Pence in all of this. As a former Cabinet secretary, what goes through your mind when you hear about all of that?
CHERTOFF: Right. It's way outside my experience or anything I've observed in the United States we had the Trump administration. It's something you would expect in an authoritarian country where you pressure somebody to bend or break the law. In this case, it looks like Eastman stepped out of his role as a lawyer and actually became an actor in this effort, attempting both to publicly and privately goad Pence to do things which he is otherwise admitting were probably not legally sound.
And I think that's a reason why he ought to be called before the committee and he ought to be questioned about why and how he conducted himself.
ACOSTA: And do you think crimes were committed? Do you think that in your view that a coup attempt occurred on January 6th?
CHERTOFF: I think there was an insurrection. I think that it was an attempt to overturn the constitutional government and transfer of power. There are hundreds of people who are already being prosecuted for what they did on that day. The critical question is, were they incited, aided and abetted, or conspired with by people in the administration? That's an open question.
I'm not going to prejudge the evidence, but it's critical for the committee as well as the executive branch, the Justice Department, to get to the bottom of all the leads that emanate from what happened on January 6th because this is the most serious assault on our constitutional government in the last 150 years. ACOSTA: Absolutely. And Congressman Adam Kinzinger, as you know, Mr.
Secretary, he's one of two Republicans on this select committee. This week he announced he is not running for re-election. It seems as though instead of the Trump wing being purged from the Republican Party, it's the Republicans trying to hold Trump accountable for this coup attempt being purged. What do you make of that?
[15:10:09]
CHERTOFF: First of all, I think Adam Kinzinger has been an admirable figure in the Republican Party, one of a small number including Liz Cheney. I gather that there's been a redistricting in Illinois and that may have played into his thinking in terms of whether he has a real shot at getting reelected. But whether he runs for the House or some other office, it's critically important for honorable Republicans to stay involved in the political process, and not to simply surrender, even though right now I understand it's a pretty gloomy outlook.
ACOSTA: Yes. And how confident are you, Mr. Secretary, that this country can uphold democratic institutions, hold democratic elections in this country in 2022 and 2024, without violence?
CHERTOFF: Well, I believe we can have the elections and I believe we can conduct them properly. I do think we need to be prepared for the possibility of violence, and as you know, we have a couple of elections at the state level coming up next week. And I think unlike what happened on January 6th, the authorities at the federal, state, and local level will have to be monitoring for any intelligence of violence and be prepared to respond with adequate force to stop it.
The other thing I'm worried about there, Jim, is I'm worried about efforts to overturn the electoral management process and have the legislature being given the power to supersede what the electoral officials' count as the actual vote because that would overturn the fundamental principle of democracy which is people pick their leaders by voting, not by having the legislature overrule the vote and pick their own choice.
ACOSTA: All right, former Homeland Security secretary Michael Chertoff, thanks so much for your time this afternoon. We appreciate it.
CHERTOFF: Thank you, Jim.
ACOSTA: Some very important comments there.
Turning now to Rome where President Biden is wrapping up day one of the first G20 Summit. Already he's secured an early win with an agreement on a global minimum corporate tax. Still on the agenda, though, the thorny issues of the global supply chain slowdown, the climate crisis and Iran's nuclear program.
Let's bring in CNN's Phil Mattingly. He is in Rome.
Phil, it's been busy so far. That's how it goes on these trips. Is the White House happy with how things have played out so far? What would you say?
PHIL MATTINGLY, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: You know, I think they feel like they made progress, at least the administration officials we've spoken to, up to this point. And Jim, you know how this works better than anybody, every single day everything is wonderful, everything is great, we've changed the world, it's often kind of the vibe you get from world leaders at these summits.
It's what's behind the scene, it's what's happening underneath that is incredibly critical. You mentioned the global minimum tax. That's something the White House has been pushing for with Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen for a series of months now. To be able to clinch that, to be able to get it to this point is certainly a big win at the G20. That will be endorsed in the communique at the end.
Another thing that we just learned from administration officials is they have struck a deal with the E.U. on tariffs. Basically those tariffs that were put into place by President Donald Trump. It has been a series point of friction between the E.U. and the U.S. for several years now. Those will now be eased due to that agreement. So we talked to White House officials, that is certainly a significant step forward, a positive step coming out of this.
We'll see how things move in the next couple of days. A lot of bilateral meetings, big meeting as you noted, Jim, on the supply chain tomorrow. One issue that I think we've heard from officials is very important to the president is talking about energy and global energy supply based on what we've seen, and gas prices in the United States.
So to see if there's anything to come out of that would also be an important takeaway, if there is one. But as you know, you kind of have to wait until the end to see exactly what's going to result overall.
ACOSTA: Yes. Intense discussions going on over there in Rome. And I suppose the president is having some intense discussions of his own with folks back home or at least the staff is. We're now learning that the House could vote on those two key Biden agenda bills on Tuesday.
Phil, I am not going to put you on the spot and ask you whether or not that is indeed going to happen and those bills are going to pass on Tuesday. I won't do that. It's late in Rome. But the president wanted to get to Rome with at least one of those bills already passed, that didn't happen. Is this new timeline going to give him a boost? Does it give his team a boost? Do they feel some sense of optimism?
MATTINGLY: You know, look, I think the interesting element of what we saw transpire last week, at the end of last week when they missed another deadline, when they had to -- when the president went up to Capitol Hill and the speaker made clear that they wanted a vote and they didn't get one because they wanted it before they came on this trip. Even though that was absolutely not how either leader wanted things to end, they certainly made progress.
And I think this, the decision by Democratic leaders to push very hard to have something done by Tuesday underscores that progress. And I think that's something that I've heard from senior administration officials over the course of the last 48 hours, is setting a $1.75 trillion top line, having a framework, knowing the elements gets them right up to the cusp of an agreement.
[15:15:07]
Will they get the votes? Covered Congress long enough not to predict that, Jim, but I think certainly officials feel like they are moving in the right direction at a crucial moment.
ACOSTA: All right. Phil Mattingly, our senior White House correspondent there in the great city of Rome. Thanks so much. We appreciate it.
Coming up, he is not on the ballot but both top candidates in the Virginia governor's race are talking about one guy, of course Donald Trump, as they make their final pitches. We'll explain why next.
You're live in the CNN NEWSROOM.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ACOSTA: Crunch time in Virginia. The campaign getting national attention, the race for governor remains in a dead heat this Saturday afternoon with time running out. And now both Democrat Terry McAuliffe and Republican Glenn Youngkin are doing some tap dancing when it comes to the one man overshadowing this contest, of course former president Donald Trump.
CNN's Eva McKend is in Manassas Park, Virginia, where Youngkin tried to get out the vote today but we begin with Arlette Saenz in Portsmouth, Virginia, where McAuliffe is campaigning at this hour.
[15:20:11]
Arlette, some interesting comments from Terry McAuliffe. He appears to be changing strategies when it comes to Trump? What's going on? Tell us about it.
ARLETTE SAENZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Jim, for months, Terry McAuliffe and top Democrats have tried to tie former president Donald Trump directly to the GOP candidate Glenn Youngkin. McAuliffe today was speaking to reporters, once again saying that he believes that Trump is unpopular with Virginians, but also saying that this race is not about the former president. Take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TERRY MCAULIFFE (D), VIRGINIA GOVERNOR CANDIDATE: You know, it's just killing Trump that he's not here obviously. He's in the race, obviously he's endorsed Youngkin seven different times. But, you know, I think Trump is trying to play whichever happens, He's going to, you know, Trump is always going to claim credit for himself no matter whatever happens. I mean, Trump is very unpopular here in the state, everybody knows it. And, you know, that's probably why Youngkin doesn't want him. DAN MERICA, CNN NATIONAL POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: Would it help your
campaign? Would it have helped your campaign? I know you told him before the primary you would paid for his jet fuel to get him here. But would it have helped your campaign?
MCAULIFFE: I'd love to have him come in, but, you know, Dan, this isn't about Trump.
(END OF VIDEO CLIP)
SAENZ: Now one big question for Democrats after former President Trump left office is what campaigning, what turnout would be like in that post-Trump era as the former president was such a motivating factor for many Democrats in previous elections. After this election on Tuesday, Democrats might get an answer to that question. Now in just a short while, Terry McAuliffe is set to be campaigning here in Portsmouth, Virginia.
He will be joined by Senator Tim Kaine as well as Congressman Jim Clyburn, something that McAuliffe has really been doing in these closing days of the election is leaning into some of these national figures to come and campaign with him on the grounds. Now, the McAuliffe campaign is hoping that early voter turnout will lean in their direction, and to that point there has been over a million Virginians who have had their early votes cast heading into this tight election on Tuesday.
ACOSTA: And Eva, you're following the Youngkin campaign. A lot of Republicans would be thrilled to be on the stage with Trump so close to election day, not so much in Virginia. And it sounds like Youngkin won't even get on the phone with him publicly? What's happening?
EVA MCKEND, CNN NATIONAL POLITICS CORRESPONDENT: No, Jim, he has no plans to participate with the former president in that tele-rally on Monday. He has long distanced himself from Trump but engaged Trump supporters. And Youngkin supporters here telling me they are perfectly fine with that strategy. One supporter even describing Youngkin to me as an independent guy.
That was his perception of Youngkin, not sort of the far-right figure that Democrats have tried to portray Youngkin as. So ultimately his supporters here telling me they just want a Republican to win in this state, something that hasn't happened for a dozen years, and if it takes Youngkin to do that, even if he is not tying himself to Trump, they are comfortable with that.
Take a listen to my colleague Dana Bash earlier today, she caught up with Youngkin.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DANA BASH, CNN CHIEF POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: Former president is doing a tele-rally on Monday. Will you attend? And do you welcome him to Virginia?
GLENN YOUNGKIN (R), VIRGINIA GOVERNOR CANDIDATE: Well, so I haven't been involved in that, the teams are talking I'm sure. I've been out --
BASH: You would like to have him? Would you like to be there?
YOUNGKIN: I'll answer you in a second. I have been out campaigning, I am not going to be engaged in the tele-town hall. But we have more people helping us than you can possibly believe. This is about unity.
(END OF VIDEO CLIP)
MCKEND: So his supporters are also telling me that they are energized on sort of routine Republican issues like lowering taxes and that they just want to see new leadership in the state -- Jim.
ACOSTA: Yes, Youngkin just doesn't sound that into the idea of Donald Trump campaigning in Virginia to say the least.
All right, Arlette, Eva, thanks so much for those reports. We appreciate it.
Coming up, the big lie is alive and well in Tucker Carlson's world. How he's trying to whitewash January 6th and the dangerous implications next.
You're live in the CNN NEWSROOM.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[15:28:46]
ACOSTA: It might be Tucker Carl's most dangerous moment yet. FOX News' right-wing host is taking his assault on democracy to terrifying new heights in a brand-new series promising to tell the truth he says about January 6th. Actually it appears to be nothing but a war on the truth. But we want to play the entire preview clip because we feel it's necessary for you to see just how dangerous it's promising to be.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The domestic war on terror is here. It's coming after --
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Half of the country.
TUCKER CARLSON, FOX NEWS HOST: The helicopters have left Afghanistan and now they've landed here at home.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And the left is hunting the right. Sticking them in Guantanamo Bay for American citizens, leaving them there to rot.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We are dealing with an insurgency in the United States.
JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Terrorism from white supremacy is the most lethal threat in the homeland.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I've been told that I'm a white nationalist. Me. CARLSON: They began to fight a new enemy in a new war on terror.
BIDEN: Not al Qaeda. White supremacists.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: False flags have happened in this country.
(SINGING)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: One of which may have been January 6th.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
[15:30:14]
ACOSTA: May have been doing a lot of work there.
This is how Tucker Carlson responded to backlash from all sides of the political spectrum.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CARLSON: By the way, apparently, someone on another channel decided to fact-check the documentary on January 6th. Our documentary hasn't aired yet but they hate it already.
All the more reason to watch it. They're lying, as you'll find out Monday.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ACOSTA: Joining us now is CNN chief media correspondent, Brian Stelter.
Brian, it's almost painful to get the words out talking through this segment because it is so painful to watch what he is doing.
Tell us about the reaction so far. What are you picking up on?
BRIAN STELTER, CNN CHIEF MEDIA CORRESPONDENT & CNN ANCHOR: Well, it's striking that some members of Congress, some Republican members of Congress, Liz Cheney, Adam Kinzinger, spoke out when they saw the trailer.
Tucker Carlson is laughing at the fact-checking going on.
But really it is narrative-checking. Look at the images, the crazed images being shown.
Kinzinger saying anyone working at FOX should speak out. It's disgusting.
Geraldo Rivera, at FOX, did speak out but that's about it. Nobody else at FOX.
Overnight, Jim, an interesting thing happened. FOX News spokespeople tried to clarify to reporters that this is not for the television network. This documentary series is not for TV.
It is for streaming. It will be streaming online if you have a subscription to watch.
I guess some people thought FOX is trying to distance itself from Tucker. They're trying to say, hey, we are not airing this crazy stuff. It is only on the Internet.
But actually, Jim, they're doing something else. They're trying to get people to sign up. They're trying to get people to pay.
They're trying to recruit new subscribers --
ACOSTA: Right.
STELTER: -- to the streaming service by promoting Tucker's image.
Look at the images in that special, Guantanamo, heavy weaponry.
Decades ago, Richard Hoffstetter (ph) wrote about the paranoid style of American politics. You see it today with Tucker Carlson.
If you want to understand what the Alt Right is thinking, those images, imagining a group of Americans, half the country is being attacked by the government, there's a new War on Terror? That's the paranoid style in American politics today.
ACOSTA: No question about it. I'm going to talk about it more in the 4:00 hour. But I think it is important you're here, Brian, going through some of this.
One of the chief questions in all of this is, how does the media deal with these lies?
If FOX viewers are watching this on FOX or FOX Nation, or whatever they're calling it, are those viewers, are those streaming viewers going to hear fact-checking, going to hear folks like us saying this is not what it is cracked up to be.
STELTER: Well, not firsthand. We know we're one American in two very different media realities.
ACOSTA: Yes.
STELTER: At some point, you have to hope, whether you're a CNN fan, FOX fan or a whatever fan, you have to ask yourself, are the images you're seeing on the screen, do they reflecting your actual reality when you step outside your living room?
When you go outside, FOX fan, do you feel like there's a War on Terror? Do you feel you're about to be hauled away to Gitmo? Do you feel like the black helicopters are coming for you?
At some point, you have to hope the average viewer, no matter the ideology, looks out at reality and asks if what they're seeing on the TV comports that reality. Hopefully, that's the ultimate fact-check -- Jim?
ACOSTA: I think the worst part of this would be to not fact-check it, not attempt to debunk it, just to let it lie.
That's always been the conundrum in dealing with the Trump era. Why are you putting this on TV? Why are you talking about his tweets? If we don't debunk it and we're don't fact-check it, I think we are doing more of a disservice.
Let me ask you about Bill Maher.
Last night, he had an interesting moment -- you may have tweeted this out -- with former White House press secretary, Sean Spicer, who was asked if Trump won or lost the election. And Spicer answered the question in the only way Spicer can.
Let's watch.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEAN SPICER, FORMER WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: No.
BILL MAHER, HOST, "REAL TIME WITH BILL MAHER": Did Trump win or lose the election?
SPICER: I don't know.
MAHER: Well, there you go.
(CROSSTALK)
MAHER: Because the world does.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ACOSTA: What do you think, Brian?
STELTER: That is -- look, you and I knew Sean Spicer before he joined the White House. Remember Sean Spicer, the reality-based Republican Party press secretary?
ACOSTA: Right.
STELTER: He knew the truth. He knew the truth about Trump. He told reporters what Trump really was.
ACOSTA: He did.
(CROSSTALK)
STELTER: He's reaching new lows. Because he has a low-rated show on "Newsmax." He wants to haul in an audience and sell a new book.
I mean, that's the Spicer you knew at the White House. But I want you to remember he wasn't always this way. ACOSTA: It is so depressing. I feel bad for him sometimes but I know
I'm not supposed to feel bad.
[15:34:59]
You know, he started his stint as press secretary, delivering one of the biggest lies off all times about Trump's inauguration crowd size. He still can't tell people the truth. It is very sad.
Let me ask you about something else. This is also highly depressing. This is not an uplifting segment, Brian.
(CROSSTALK)
ACOSTA: "The Wall Street Journal" is getting backlash for publishing this letter to the editor full of lies from Trump about the election, the Big Lie.
I guess Trump is so diminished as a public figure that he is sending random letters to the editor now? Is that what he is doing? I don't know.
STELTER: Yes, he is.
ACOSTA: But "The Wall Street Journal" just published this garbage?
STELTER: Much to the disappointment of the reporters at the paper, who were messaging me, saying, why do we have no standards, only on the opinion side of the house? The news side has standards. The opinion side does not. That's been a source of real frustration.
But to "The Journal's" credit, they ran letters following up, letters responding to Trump.
Let me show you one of them. Let's end on a different note instead of a depressing note.
Here's what a reader of "The Journal" said:
"What Trump fails to understand is his claims of election fraud undermine our democracy, are seditious, and have turned off thinking Republicans and Independent voters."
This woman saying, "I will never vote for him again. Even if he manages to get nominated in 2024, he can't win a general election."
You hear from other readers of "The Journal" trying to push back on claims, on the bull that Trump was spreading. And that gives me, Jim, a little bit of hope.
ACOSTA: Absolutely. Maybe next time, if you get an email in the inbox, a letter from the editor from Donald Trump, hit delete. It's very simple, just hit delete. That's all you have to do.
Brian Stelter, thanks so much. We appreciate it.
STELTER: Thank you.
ACOSTA: Make sure to watch Brian's show, "RELIABLE SOURCES." It's always a great program with terrific insights into the media industry and politics. That's tomorrow at 11:00 a.m. Eastern, right here on CNN.
Still to come, the Supreme Court is weighing in on whether states can mandate that health care employees get a COVID vaccine. What the high court said, next.
You're live in the CNN NEWSROOM.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[15:41:43]
ACOSTA: The Supreme Court is siding with science, denying a request to block a vaccine mandate for certain health care workers in the state of Maine.
CNN's Ariane de Vogue joins me now on the court decision.
Ariane, the court's move is the latest instance where the justices have turned away requests to halt a vaccine mandate. This is not the first time. This is very interesting.
ARIANE DE VOGUE, CNN SUPREME COURT REPORTER: Right. So the court has signed off on mandates. They allowed one for Indiana University, New York school teachers, and they also allowed this one for Maine on Friday.
But what was different here is there was a strong dissent from three of the conservatives on the court.
Basically, to tell you a little about the mandate, it required health care employees to be vaccinated. And there was an exception if you had medical objection, but no exception for religious exceptions.
A handful of these unvaccinated health care workers said, look, we object to the way the vaccines were developed because of distant links to fetal cell lines.
Even though the Vatican signed off on it, they had religious objections.
So they went to the Supreme Court, asked to block it and they lost.
Justice Neil Gorsuch, joined by Alito, Thomas, three of the strongest conservatives on the court, said, look, you allowed a mandate for one reason -- sorry -- an exemption for one reason but not for religion and that's wrong.
Here's what they said:
"Where many other states adopted religious exemptions, Maine charted a different course." "Their health care workers served on the frontlines of a pandemic for the last 18 months are now being fired and their practices shuttered for adhering to constitutionally protected religious beliefs. Their plight is worthy of our attention."
That is only three of the conservatives in dissent there.
That could really gain steam because there's reason to believe Justice Kavanaugh and Barrett, if more challenges come to the court, may begin to agree with that line of thinking.
And timing is critical. Not only are we seeing more mandates being put into effect as this goes on, but we're seeing more legal challenges.
So the court, three justices have sent up a flare. If you're going to have these mandates, make sure there's a religious exemption.
We'll see if it gathers steam in the coming weeks and months as it plays out.
ACOSTA: You have a busy calendar ahead. We'll let you move to the next case.
All right, Ariane de Vogue, thanks so much.
DE VOGUE: Thank you.
ACOSTA: We appreciate it. An important case.
Here with me now is CNN senior legal analyst, Elie Honig.
Elie, what are the Supreme Court telling us about on policing these state and local vaccine mandates? They appear to be allowing them despite objections from hardline conservatives on the court.
ELIE HONIG, CNN SENIOR LEGAL ANALYST: Jim, we are seeing some real consistency, as Arian just noted.
This is the third time the Supreme Court declined to interfere with or put an emergency halt on state or local vaccine mandate. Indiana University and New York City schools being the other ones.
This is long-standing Supreme Court precedent. It goes back over 100 years where the Supreme Court said, generally speaking, states are going to have broad authority to impose vaccine mandates and we're not getting involved in that.
The Supreme Court has been consistent in that holding over the last several months.
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As Ariane said, we will likely see more and more of the complaints and cases making it to the court. Thus far, they have been fairly consistent.
ACOSTA: Definitely.
And I want to ask you about the fatal shooting on set of "Rust" involving actor, Alec Baldwin. We understand there's footage of Baldwin that may be released later this afternoon. We'll keep you posted on that.
The sheriff said this week that there was complacency on the set. That was the word used, "complacency." Is that the same as criminal negligence do you think, Elie?
HONIG: It was an interesting word choice there by the sheriff.
Complacency is not a legal term. It can be, not necessarily, but can be the same as criminal negligence, which is what you need to charge somebody with involuntary manslaughter.
Here's an example. Complacency means laziness, sloppiness. I can run a scenario where that could be criminal negligence.
Let's say you ran a daycare, you had exposed outlets with sparks coming out of the wire. You didn't do anything, a kid got hurt. That would be complacency that also would be criminal negligence.
The point is prosecutors have to identify a specific act that somebody took on the set or specific failure. It is not enough to say, well, the set itself was lazily run or sloppily run.
You'll have to say this person with a duty to do this thing failed to do that thing. That will determine whether we see criminal charges here.
ACOSTA: One of the key factual determinations that have to be made on this investigation, would you say?
HONIG: As we get more information, facts are coming into focus.
An important moment this week was when lawyers for the armorer, Ms. Gutierrez, said she didn't know how a live round got in the gun. To me, that didn't help her that much.
In fact, that begs the big question, which is, did she inspect the gun? If she didn't even inspect it, based on experts we heard throughout the week?
That's an armorer's job to make sure the guns are properly handled and are not loaded with live ammo.
If she did inspect the gun, did she just miss that live round?
Either way, she's got a real problem when it comes to negligence. It will be up to the prosecutor to decide whether it crosses into criminal negligence.
ACOSTA: All right, Elie Honig, we'll see how the case develops.
We appreciate it as always. Thank you. HONIG: Thanks, Jim.
ACOSTA: Coming up, an update on Queen Elizabeth's health. That's coming up next.
You're live in the CNN NEWSROOM.
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ACOSTA: The global climate summit about to begin in Scotland won't have a notable guest in attendance, Britain's Queen Elizabeth.
Doctors are ordering the 95-year-old queen to rest for at least another two weeks and told her no official visits. Details about her condition are being closely guarded.
A quick program note. The new episode of the CNN original series "DIANA" explores the book, "The Accusations and the Breakdown of a Royal Marriage." Make sure to tune in tomorrow night at 9:00 here on CNN.
Here at CNN, we're proud to salute our "CNN Heroes" every day, people who have committed their lives to making the world a better and safer place.
This week, we announced the top-10 "CNN Heroes" of 2021.
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ANDERSON COOPER, CNN HOST (voice-over): I'm Anderson Cooper.
This year, we celebrate a milestone, the 50th anniversary of "CNN Heroes." For a decade and a half, we've had the honor of introducing you to extraordinary, everyday people who are changing the world.
And at a time when we need kindness and courage more than ever, we're thrilled to announce this year's top-10 "CNN Heroes."
From Philadelphia, pediatric surgeon, Dr. Ala Stanford, saw COVID-19 ravaging communities of color so she built trust and brought testing and vaccinations to more than 75,000 people.
From San Francisco, David Flink is building understanding and confidence using his journey with ADHD and Dyslexia to help kids with learning differences across America thrive.
In New York City, Hector Guadeloupe uses fitness training to help formerly incarcerated men and women, like himself, get family sustaining jobs and build careers.
From Colombia, Jennifer Colpas brings eco-friendly energy, safe water and sanitation to struggling Colombians living in remote areas.
Lynda Doughty, of Pittsburgh, Maine, monitors 25,000 miles of coastline providing lifesaving support and medical care to thousands of marine animals.
From Bali, Indonesia, exchanging plastic rise for rice. Restaurant owner, Made Janur Yasa, has sent tons of plastic for recycling and provided food to thousands of families during the pandemic.
And in Simi Valley, California, Michele Neff Hernandez has turned her profound grief into sustaining support for the widowed.
Dr. Patricia Gordon walked away from her Beverly Hills private practice to save women from around the world dying of preventable and treatable cervical cancer.
On L.A.'s Skid Row, Shirley Raines brings dignity and respect to thousands of homeless people every week, rain or shine.
And in Nigeria, Zannah Mustapha educates orphan children from both sides of a violent extremist conflict, providing support to more than 2,000 boys and girls a year.
Congratulations to the top-10 "CNN Heroes" of 2021.
Now it's time for you to choose who inspires you the most. Who should be named "CNN Hero of the Year" and receive $100,000 to continue their great work?
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Go to CNNheroes.com right now to vote. And be sure to watch the 15th Annual "CNN Heroes All-Star Tribute" as we announce the "Hero of the Year" and celebrate all of this year's honorees, live, Sunday, December 12th.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ACOSTA: And you can go to CNNheroes.com and vote 10 times a day every day for the heroes that inspire you the most.
And we'll be right back.
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ACOSTA: You are live in the CNN NEWSROOM.
