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Judge to Rule on Spears' Conservatorship; Olympian Says She Was Pepper-Sprayed in Racist Attack; Trump Adviser Bannon Indicted by Federal Grand Jury. Aired 3:30-4p ET

Aired November 12, 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]

JOEY JACKSON, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: We've made the case that this could be self-defense.

VICTOR BLACKWELL, CNN HOST: Joey Jackson, Dan Adams, thank you.

JACKSON: Thank you, Victor.

ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN HOST: OK, now to this. Britney Spears may be finally freed today. A judge will rule whether to end that controversial conservatorship. We are live in Los Angeles next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLACKWELL: Next hour, a judge is expected to rule on Britney Spears' request to terminate her 13-year conservatorship.

CAMEROTA: CNN's Chloe Melas will be inside the courtroom when that happens. Chloe, this is the day, right, that Britney has been waiting for. Will she be there?

CHLOE MELAS, CNN ENTERTAINMENT REPORTER: Yes, hey there Alisyn and Victor. Britney is expected to attend today's court hearing virtually by phone like she has at past hearings. Today could be the most important day of Britney Spears' life.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MELAS (voice over): Britney Spears' 13-year conservatorship may finally come to an end.

[15:35:00]

Today a Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge is expected to rule on the singer's request to end the court ordered arrangement once and for all. The hearing comes just weeks after the singer's father, Jamie Spears was suspended as the conservator of her $60 million estate, a role he has held since 2008. The singer's attorney, Matthew Rosengart, called suspension a proud moment for Britney.

MATHEW ROSENGART, BRITNEY SPEARS' ATTORNEY: It's been a lot of hard work. It's been intense. I'm proud. Britney's proud. MELAS (voice over): This last year has been filled with court

hearings, with the battle for Britney's freedom reaching a tipping point in July when the singer publicly pleaded with the judge Brenda Penny for her conservatorship to end. She made bomb shell claims. She said she has been given lithium against her will.

BLACKWELL: She says she's not allowed to remove her IUD contraceptive from her own body even though she wants to have another child.

MELAS (voice over): And she said she wanted to charge her father with conservatorship abuse. Her father has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing and a lawyer for Jamie Spears said in a statement at the time to CNN that he quote, loves his daughter unwaveringly.

But even if Spears' request and the conservatorship is granted, the battle between her and her father is far from over. The Grammy Award winner's attorney stating in a 110-page petition last month that he plans to depose her father over potentially mishandling her finances as well as seeking discovery related to a "New York Times" report that he allegedly placed recording devices in his daughter's bedroom without her consent.

CNN has not been able to independently verify those claims. An attorney for Jamie Spears has denied the allegations.

But on one front, Jamie Spears appears to be changing his tune. Just last week he filed a report stating that he is no longer seeking the $2 million payout from his daughter to cover his legal and management fees. Stating that quote, he sees no reason why the conservatorship should continue and that quote, Jamie does not make this request subject to a demand for releases or compensation. It is unconditional.

The singer is expected to attend today's hearing virtually and spoke out about the importance of this court decision in a since deleted Instagram post on Monday.

Writing quote, this week is going to be very interesting for me. I haven't prayed for something more in my life.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MELAS (on camera): The hearing starts in about an hour. Hundreds of Britney's fans have mobilized with a rally and performances, speeches and tears, they are waiting for that moment that Britney gets her freedom back.

CAMEROTA: All right, Chloe, come back to us as soon as anything breaks. Thank you.

Now to this story, an American gold medalist attacked, gymnast Suni Lee said she and her friends were targeted using racial slurs and pepper sprayed. That's next.

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[15:40:00] CAMEROTA: Just into CNN, Wisconsin Governor Tony Evers announcing that he will be putting 500 National Guard troops on standby in Kenosha to prepare for a possible verdict in the Kyle Rittenhouse homicide trial next week. Closing arguments begin Monday.

And now to this, just a few months after American gymnast Suni Lee brought home an Olympic gold medal, she says that she was targeted in a racist attack.

BLACKWELL: Lee told PopSugar that she was pepper sprayed while in Los Angeles for her appearance on Dancing with the Stars.

Now you'll recall that attacks against Asian Americans rose dramatically during the pandemic. And here to discuss is Yerin Kim, a PopSugar associate editor of trending and viral features.

Yerin, thanks for being with us. This is terrible. Explain what happened here.

YERIN KIM, ASSOCIATE EDITOR, TRENDING AND VIRAL FEATURES, POPSUGAR: Yes, hi, thank you for having me. I'm excited to be here. I think, you know, as I mentioned in the interview, I'd spoke to Suni about a month ago on October 5th and she had told me that about a week prior, she found herself facing a racist attack while she was waiting for an Uber after a night out with her girlfriends who were all of Asian descent.

They were kind of startled by this group speeding by in a car and they were yelling, you know, awful racist slurs and insisting them to go back to where they came from. And one passenger, Suni told me sprayed her arm with pepper spray as the car sped off.

So really awful, terrible story and she kind of, you know, talked about how it happened so fast, and there was kind of nothing she could do to control or do anything about the situation. So, that's kind of what happened, and you know, she opened about it and I'm really grateful that she spoke up and I think inspired so many Asian Americans resonated with that.

CAMEROTA: And what she told you for the article was I was so mad but there was nothing I could do. I didn't do anything to them, and having the reputation, it's so hard because I didn't want to do anything that could get me into trouble. I just let it happen. And so, we can all imagine how helpless you feel after something like that. Do you know if they went to the police or tried to alert the authorities?

KIM: Yes, I mean, what I can confirm is just what's in the story. I think that it just happened really quickly, and she didn't do or say anything in the moment. She called her coach after. That's all -- I can't really speak for what, you know, went on in that moment. But that's all I can confirm.

BLACKWELL: Now, this happened in October. Was she reluctant to tell this story?

KIM: I think I don't say she was reluctant. You know, she's very composed, mature for her age, and, you know, I had brought up the recent rise in anti-Asian hate crimes and just, you know, everything that had been going on in the world this past year and a half. And she had told me that this incident happened to her a week prior, and she was still kind of shaken by it. But I think, you know, I think she recognizes as she told me in the interview that, you know, speaking up is really important, and is empowering for other people to hear.

CAMEROTA: I mean one of the incredible things is, you know, people drive by in a car, they yell racist garbage. They pepper spray you, and you don't know you're doing that to an Olympic gold medalist. You know, someone who has represented the United States in such a proud way internationally. Sometimes these things stick with us. Have you spoken to her again after she told you this incident?

KIM: No, we haven't reached out to her about additional reporting. But I agree, I think that, you know, it really demonstrates that no one is immune to these kinds of attacks, you know, regardless of fame or accomplishments.

15:45:00]

BLACKWELL: Yes. Yerin Kim, thank you so much for being with us, and sharing the reporting. Thanks for your time.

KIM: Thanks for having me.

BLACKWELL: All right, more than two months after the U.S. pulled out of Afghanistan, Secretary of State Tony Blinken says all U.S. citizens in Afghanistan who currently want to leave have had an opportunity to do so.

CAMEROTA: And on Sunday night, tune for an all-new episode of "This Is Life" with Lisa Ling. For thousands of LGBTQ people in the 1950s, the Lavender Scare was a government initiative that cost jobs and ruined lives. Lisa Ling speaks to those who lived through it, and those fighting to make sure it doesn't happen again. So, this airs this Sunday, 10:00 p.m., right here on CNN.

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CAMEROTA: We have very big breaking news right now, and that is that Steve Bannon, close Donald Trump ally, has just been indicted we're told, by a Federal grand jury.

As you know, the Department of Justice and the Attorney General Merrick Garland had taken three weeks debating what to do about the contempt charge for Steve Bannon because he defied a subpoena from the committee that's investigating January 6th. And we are just getting this news that he has now been indicted.

Our Jessica Schneider is standing by. Jessica, what have you learned?

JESSICA SCHNEIDER, CNN JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: Well, Alisyn, we were actually inside the courtroom. I was with two of our producers and reporters, Hannah Rabinowitz and Zach Cohen when the two Assistant U.S. attorneys for the District of Columbia presented this grand jury indictment to the Magistrate Judge Merriweather here and that judge took in the indictment and also said that she would be signing an arrest warrant.

Now what happened inside the courtroom was Steve Bannon was referred to just with his initials. This was referred to as an indictment against S.B. because of grand jury secrecy rules, they cannot say his name in open court. But we have, in fact, learned that this indictment is against Steve Bannon.

Now our producer Hannah Rabinowitz has actually been coming here to the courthouse for weeks ever since the House referred that criminal contempt charge to the Justice Department. And she's noticed that the grand jury has been meeting periodically.

And it was today that we actually saw an FBI agent around the area of the grand jury courtroom. We saw the FBI agent go into the courtroom where presumably the grand jury then heard from that FBI agent.

It was only shortly thereafter probably less than an hour that we saw the Assistant U.S. Attorney Molly Gaston along with other prosecutors walk out of the grand jury room and two courtrooms down to the magistrate judge's courtroom. That's when they presented this grand jury indictment. The foreperson of the grand jury was also inside the courtroom and then it was presented to the magistrate judge here.

So, what happens next? Well, we know that the arrest warrant has, in fact, or will be soon signed by the magistrate judge. That indicates that perhaps Steve Bannon will be soon arrested on this indictment.

We have not yet learned the specifics of the indictment. We know it was referred from the House of Representatives for criminal contempt. We presume that this might be what the indictment is for, criminal contempt, but we are still waiting for that.

But again, we saw this all unfold in just the last few hours. We understand the grand jury has been meeting for at least a few days, but today was the final day when they handed down this indictment against Steve Bannon. It was presented to the magistrate judge. The judge got the indictment. Has or will sign an arrest warrant for Steve Bannon.

Of course, this is something that has kept Washington, D.C., abuzz for several weeks here. Many people wondering what was taking the Justice Department so long?

We saw the Attorney General asked about it when he was before Congress, when he was in press conferences. The only thing he would say all along here is that prosecutors would follow the facts and the law to make their decision.

This, obviously, a politically charged decision. Something that the Attorney General has tried to stay away from, politically charged matters but he had no choice here and turns out this did end up going to a grand jury and today returning that indictment for Steve Bannon. We'll see what happens from here if Steve Bannon is arrested. We know that the arrest warrant will be or has been signed by this judge.

But big, big news here in Washington, something that people have been waiting for, anticipating and wondering, and really, this might clear the way. This might send the signal to other Trump officials, Trump allies who have been defying these subpoenas.

We saw just this week Mark Meadows. We'll see what the committee does now that this indictment, Alisyn and Victor, has, in fact, been handed down, along with an arrest warrant -- guys.

BLACKWELL: Major development. Jessica Schneider laying everything out there. Of course, there had been these other witnesses who have been wondering what would happen with and anything to Steve Bannon for not showing up.

Let's go now to CNN's Evan Perez at the Justice Department. Evan, you've been following for the last three weeks. What's been going on behind the scenes as we've gotten now to this moment. Explain.

EVAN PEREZ, CNN SENIOR JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Victor, look. I think to get to this point the Justice Department had to get around a number of issues internally.

[15:55:00]

And that includes decades of legal guidance that has come from this department, which says that essentially people who were the President's advisers and that includes, by the way, people who are outside of the government like Steve Bannon. Steve Bannon has -- wasn't at the time of January 6th was not serving in the White House, but, according to him and according to the former President, he was essentially acting as an adviser to former President Trump.

For decades the Justice Department has held that those people do not have to provide testimony to Congress unless they are given a waiver of executive privilege. And of course, the former President has been claiming that he still has that ability. So, the Justice Department had to go through, guys, for the last three weeks. They've been going through trying to come up with a legal justification, a legal reasoning of why and how to do this.

Again, for decades, this department has held that, you know, you don't even have to show up, actually, to Congress because you are a close adviser, a quote/unquote, close adviser to a president.

Of course, we know that some of this is still in legal dispute. We know that the Appeals Court is about to hear from the former President and the House Committee about this idea that former President Trump claims he still has executive privilege.

Even though President Biden, who is the current office holder has said that he is waiving that privilege. Thorny legal questions that are still at work here to be worked out -- guys.

CAMEROTA: OK, stand by if you would, Evan. We want to go back to Jessica. I know that you now have news about what he's charged with. Jessica, what have you learned?

SCHNEIDER: Right. So, the Justice Department is actually just issued a news release confirming that Steve Bannon was just indicted by Federal grand jury on two counts of contempt of Congress. They say stemming from his failure to comply with that subpoena from the House Select Committee. I'll just read a little bit from this statement.

It says, Bannon, 67 years old, charged with one contempt count involving his refusal to appear for a deposition and another involving his refusal to provide documents despite the subpoena from the House Select Committee.

There are saying that an arraignment date has not yet been set here at district court. And then Merrick Garland issued a statement as part of this release from the Department of Justice.

He says, since my first day in office, I have promised Justice Department employees that together we would show the American people by word and deed that the department adheres to the rule of law, follows the facts and the law and pursues equal justice under the law.

And Alisyn and Victor, that's exactly what we've been hearing from the Attorney General all along. Today the department now has this indictment on two counts against Steve Bannon.

BLACKWELL: Jessica Schneider, thank you for the reporting. Let's go now to senior legal analyst Elie Honig. Elie, your reaction to the breaking news. These two counts of contempt of Congress in this indictment against Steve Bannon?

ELIE HONIG, CNN SENIOR LEGAL ANALYST: Well, Victor, this is a huge deal. This is enormously significant.

Start with the fact that the Justice Department has not charged anyone with criminal contempt of Congress in 38 years, since 1983.

Second, you to go to the fact that this is going to be so significant for Congress' oversight power, for the authority and the power of the January 6th Committee to meaningfully enforce its subpoenas.

If Merrick Garland had decided not to charge Steve Bannon, it would have just been game on for anybody who wanted to defy the subpoenas. Now the message sent here is, if you defy the subpoenas, there will be consequences. You can be charged with a crime and DOJ has backed that up right now.

CAMEROTA: Elie, a couple more things. I'm holding the indictment right now in my hand of these two counts of contempt of Congress and it just spells out what their rationale was for charging him.

On October 7, 2021, by 10:00 a.m. -- the deadline -- Bannon did not appear before the Select Committee. Did not produce documents and communications. Did not provide a log of withheld records. Did not request an extension of time and did not certify that he had conducted a diligent search for those records. Instead, that evening, at 5:05, seven hours after Bannon had defaulted

on the production's deadline, Bannon through is attorney transmitted a letter and it basically goes on to say that President Trump had told him -- had told him not to do that.

So, there it is in a nutshell, exactly what the Attorney General and -- well, I guess the court, the Federal grand jury believes is worthy of charges.

HONIG: Yes, Alisyn. So, what they are doing is that is the definition of defiance. Of what it means to defy a subpoena. And they're framing the issue around this issue of executive privilege.

I think they are prepared to go into court. They understand they're going to have to show that this is not a legitimate invocation of executive privilege and I think when you look at the law, I believe it's very likely DOJ succeeds on that argument. I don't think there's any legitimate argument here that Steve Bannon or Donald Trump has that this is a case where executive privilege should apply. But that's going to become a battleground in the criminal case now against Steve Bannon as well.

BLACKWELL: And Elie, the few seconds we have left. A game changer for these other subpoenaed witnesses?

HONIG: I guarantee you Mark Meadows has taken notice of this. Stephen Miller, Michael Flynn, Kayleigh McEnany, all the other people who have been subpoenaed on down the line who are Trump loyalists.

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