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Investigation Into Mar-a-Lago Documents; U.S. Justice Department Opposes Making Affidavit Public; Giuliani a Target in Georgia Election Investigation; Liz Cheney Faces Tough Wyoming Primary Race; FBI Reports Unprecedented Threats Against Agents; Tehran Says Its Close to an Agreement on the Iran Nuclear Deal; China Adds 7 Taiwanese Officials to Sanctions List. Aired 4-4:30a ET

Aired August 16, 2022 - 04:00   ET

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

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CHRISTINA MACFARLANE, CNN ANCHOR: Hello and a warm welcome to our viewers joining us in the United States and all around the world. I'm Christina Macfarlane in for Max Foster here in London. Just ahead --

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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The Justice Department really is trying to hint at the seriousness of this investigation.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Everyone including Donald Trump has the right to be presumed innocent and DOJ should not be in the business of getting out there and making statements before anyone can charge.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: She has fought a valiant fight. Her fight is not over regardless of what happens on Tuesday.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It is literally a vote to help save the Republic.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Here I have a one bedroom and I pay $800 a month.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Americans leaving pricey U.S. cities heading south to work from home in Mexico City.

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MACFARLANE: It's Tuesday, August 16, 9:00 a.m. here in London, 4:00 a.m. in Washington. Where the U.S. Justice Department is making clear just how serious they are about the criminal investigation of Donald Trump and the search of his Florida home. They are now opposing the release of an affidavit used to get the search warrant for the Mar-a- Lago despite growing calls for more information. CNN's Evan Perez has the details now from Washington.

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EVAN PEREZ, CNN SENIOR U.S. JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: The Justice Department says releasing more information about the investigation that led to the search of Donald Trump's Florida home would put the probe and possibly highly classified information at risk. The department made the statement in a court filing opposing efforts by the news media including CNN seeking to get public access to the document investigators provided to the judge in order to get a search warrant approved.

The court filing says, quote: Disclosure of the government's affidavit at this stage would also likely chill future cooperation by witnesses whose assistance may be sought as this investigation progresses, as well as in other high profile investigations.

The filing is the latest indication of the type of highly classified information that was contained in the 20 boxes taken from the Palm Beach estate of the former president. Court documents released last week showed that among the material that the FBI retrieved from Mar-a- Lago were documents labeled TS/SCI, the highest classification reserved for the most sensitive government secrets.

Evan Perez, CNN, Washington.

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MACFARLANE: Well, Democrats and Republicans in Congress are clamoring for more information about the Mar-a-Lago search, but a CNN senior legal analyst says keeping the affidavit private is at least in part to protect Trump's rights.

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ELIE HONIG, CNN SENIOR LEGAL ANALYST: One of the reasons why DOJ does not reveal these affidavits is because you are protecting the rights of the innocent, the presumption of innocence, the rights of people who have not even yet been accused. And just so people understand, we have not seen this document, but it would lay out in detail the probable cause that DOJ used to get in that search warrant. It would layout probable cause that crimes were committed. I don't know that Donald Trump and his supporters would want that to be out there in the public.

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MACFARLANE: But of course, we still don't know exactly what the documents seized by the FBI are about, but a former counter espionage official had this assessment.

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PETER STRZOK, FORMER DEPUTY ASSISTANT DIRECTOR, FBI'S COUNTERINTELLIGENCE DIVISION: At the end of the day, I'm willing to bet these weren't just inadvertent documents laying around the cheeseburger wrappers in the residence that GSA threw in a box. I think that the FBI and DOJ will find a number of documents that either related to Trump's enemies, related to Trump's business interests, related to things that Trump had a very personal interest and reason to want to keep those. And when you combine those things, something that is highly, highly classified along with strong reasons, none of which are appropriate, that Donald Trump would want them, I think that you are approaching the point where it would make sense and be necessary to charge him if the evidence supports it.

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MACFARLANE: Now Donald Trump's legal troubles don't end at the gates to Mar-a-Lago. A source says the federal grand jury investigating the January 6 events has subpoenaed former White House attorney Eric Hershmann.

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His testimony has been played frequently during the House Select Committee's hearings and he's repeatedly talked about his efforts to push back against bogus election fraud claims by Trump and his allies.

In the meantime, prosecutors in Georgia notified Trump's former attorney Rudy Giuliani that he is a target in their investigation. They are looking at efforts by the ex-president and his associates to overturn the state's 2020 presidential election results. Giuliani's attorney says if they want to play hard ball, we know how to play hard ball. And Giuliani himself had this response.

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RUDY GIULIANI, FORMER ATTORNEY TO DONALD TRUMP: It's just a further desecration of the 6th Amendment. I was his lawyer of record in that case. The statements that I made are either attorney/client privileged because they were between me and him, or they were being made on his behalf in order to defend him. When you start turning around lawyers in to defendants when they are defending their clients, we're starting to live in a fascist state.

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MACFARLANE: And more now from CNN political correspondent Sara Murray.

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SARA MURRAY, CNN POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: Prosecutors investigating whether Donald Trump and his allies committed any crimes in Georgia in their efforts to overturn the 2020 election have informed Rudy Giuliani as of Monday that he is now a target in their investigation. Now, this a pretty stunning development. He is the person closest to former president Donald Trump that we have learned is a target in any of these investigations.

Now, we already knew that Giuliani had been under scrutiny by these prosecutors and they wanted him to appear before the special grand jury and give testimony on Wednesday. Giuliani's attorney Bob Costello says he's still going to appear before the special grand jury but it is unclear exactly what information he's willing to provide. Costello said that if prosecutors think Giuliani is going to answer any questions about his conversations with his former client, Donald Trump, they must be delusional.

Now Rudy Giuliani appeared in Georgia multiple times in the wake of the 2020 elections. He even appeared before lawmakers there spreading conspiracy theories about the election results. Of course, we'll wait to see if he answers any questions about that in his Wednesday appearance. Back to you.

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MACFARLANE: And stick around, because we have a lot more of Trump's legal troubles to tell you about, including where things are at with Trump's Organization's financial problems.

All right, it's primary day in Alaska and Wyoming, and these votes will be the latest test of former U.S. president's Donald Trump hold on the Republican Party. He's been slamming Alaska Senator Lisa Murkowski who supported his second impeachment and is backing her opponent, Kelly Tshibaka. He's also endorsing former vice president nominee Sarah Palin whose try to mount a political comeback in Alaska.

But Trump's biggest target is Wyoming Representative Liz Cheney who is the vice chair of the January 6 committee. He's been promoting her opponent Harriet Hageman who holds a commanding lead right now. Another Republican on that committee is speaking out in defense of Cheney.

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REP. ADAM KINZINGER (R-IL): The party's in a bad place. Look, we are standing up against evil. Liz Cheney is standing up against evil. She has fought a valiant fight, her fight is not over regardless of what happens on Tuesday. And I think tit says a lot about the party if she loses. I think it says a lot about the party that were quick to say defund the FBI and support a guy like Donald Trump.

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MACFARLANE: Well, Cheney has been calling on Democrats to switch parties and vote for her. Many have loudly praised her role in holding Trump accountable for the insurrection at the U.S. Capitol, but some Wyoming Republicans say she's moving too far away from the party.

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MYRNA BURGESS, REGISTERED REPUBLICAN VOTING AGAINST CHENEY: While she has been a very conservative vote in the legislature, she just seems to be swinging a little bit more toward the left. But even before that, in the last couple of years, it just does not feel like she really represents the state anymore.

You take for example the gun vote. That is not pro Wyoming, she's not representing her constituents anymore. When you start voting against guns and the Second Amendment, that becomes answer issue for a very large number of Wyoming voters.

PAT LAUBER, DEMOCRATIC VOTER WHO CHANGE PARTIES TO VOTE FOR CHENEY: It's literally a vote to help save the Republic. I see her as a person of courage and integrity who has told the truth that Donald Trump lost the election and yet tried with lies and manipulation to stay in office anyway. (END VIDEOTAPE)

MACFARLANE: But Cheney is behind in the polls. The University of Wyoming survey found at least 60 percent of likely voters plan to vote for her opponent. CNN's Jeff Zeleny picks up the story.

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REP. LIZ CHENEY (R-WY): We have to set aside partisan differences and understand that there's something much bigger at stake here.

JEFF ZELENY, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): On the eve of the Wyoming primary, Liz Cheney is in an uphill fight to hold her congressional seat, even as she begins eyeing the next steps in a bigger battle ahead.

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CHENEY: Many people will come up to me and say I never voted for you before, but I'm going to do it this time. And I say great, and let's keep that going.

ZELENY (voice-over): A Republican from one of the state's most storied political families, Cheney has become a pariah in her own party, and she's turning to Democrats and independents for last minute lifeline.

ANNETTE LANGLEY, WYOMING VOTER: I never thought I'd vote for Cheney, but she has earned my respect.

ZELENY (voice-over): Annette Langley says she is a proud Democrat, but she stood in line for nearly an hour today to change parties and vote Republican.

LANGLEY: She might not win, but she needs as much support as possible for doing what she's doing.

ZELENY (voice-over): The odds are long, considering how former President Donald Trump's shadow looms large in Wyoming where the state's rolling summer beauty has been punctuated by a scorching political campaign between Cheney and Harriet Hageman.

HARRIET HAGEMAN (R-WY) CONGRESSIONAL CANDIDATE: We're fed up with Liz Cheney.

ZELENY (voice-over): If the crossover vote doesn't save Cheney, her admirers hope it could help avoid an embarrassing blowout, the Trump would revel in.

DONALD TRUMP, FORMER PRESIDENT OF UNITED STATES: Liz, you're fired. Get out of here.

ZELENY (voice-over): Mike Sullivan is a former Democratic governor of Wyoming who served three decades ago.

MIKE SULLIVAN (D) FORMER WYOMING GOVERNOR: Wyoming, always a trailblazer. ZELENY (voice-over): He planted a Cheney sign in his front yard to send a message for democracy and the rule of law.

SULLIVAN: Without regard to her politics, she has reflected herself as a leader. I think history will prove and she -- her the legacy that she leaves will be a very impressive and important one.

ZELENY (voice-over): Joe McGinley, a former GOP County Chairman in Casper said he believes some Republicans are afraid to admit their support for Cheney, fearing the wrath from Trump and his loyalists.

JOE MCGINLEY, CHENEY SUPPORTER: There's a lot of people out there that are supporting Representative Cheney that are just afraid to speak up unfortunately.

ZELENY (voice-over): The outcome of Tuesday's primary will make clear whether such a hidden Cheney vote exists, or if Republicans reward her for not changing her positions in the face of a brutal campaign.

CHENEY: I will never violate my oath of office. And if you're looking for somebody who will then you need to vote for somebody else on this stage, because I won't.

ZELENY (voice-over): These days, Cheney is hard to find outside of friendly audiences at house parties, which aides attribute to rising threats of violence. She told CNN last month she was well aware of the headwinds facing her.

CHENEY: I don't intend to lose. But some things are more important than any individual office or political campaign.

ZELENY: Perhaps it's less a question of whether Congresswoman Cheney wins on Tuesday than what she will do if she loses. Now of course, she does keep her position on the January 6 Special Committee investigating the Capitol attacks for the next several months. She also retains her Congressional seat until early January. But her aides tell me that she is planning a longer term battle against her ultimate quest, that's keeping Donald Trump out of White House.

Jeff Zeleny, CNN, Jackson, Wyoming.

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MACFARLANE: Well meanwhile, the White House is planning to play off the recent string of accomplishments that could give Democrats momentum ahead of the November midterms. Today President Biden will sign a landmark legislation that his administration calls a big win for the American people. The so-called "Inflation Reduction Act" is the largest climate investment in U.S. history with nearly $370 billion devoted to fighting climate change. It will also help lower Medicare and other health care costs and the administration says that it will make the largest corporations pay their fair share of taxes.

For many Americans financial relief from Washington can't come fast enough. The majority say they're worried about being able to pay for housing. Nearly 60 percent of renters say their rent increased during the past year and home builder confidence hit a two year low because of high interest rates, supply chain problems and record home prices.

The travel industry is also feeling the pressure, American Airlines is slashing 31,000 flights from its schedule in November. United Airlines and Delta have been eliminating flights too this year. Airlines have been struggling with flight cancellations and delays as they face staff shortages, severe weather and air traffic control delays.

All right, still ahead on CNN NEWSROOM, the FBI and its agents under threats after the search of Donald Trump's Florida home. What they are doing to keep their people safe.

And how the semiconductor business is taking center stage as U.S. lawmakers visit Taiwan amid growing tensions with China. We have a live report ahead.

And later, is predicted more than 100 million Americans will live under extreme heat conditions in the decades to come. Details on an alarming study ahead.

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MACFARLANE: Welcome back. The U.S. Justice Department has unsealed charges against a Pennsylvania man who threatened to kill FBI agents as they searched Donald Trump's Florida home. It's just the latest in a disturbing trend. CNN's Jessica Schneider has the details.

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JESSICA SCHNEIDER, CNN JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT : The threats against FBI employees have intensified in the past week ever since the search warrant was executed at Trump's Mar-a-Lago home in Florida last Monday night. Our team is now told that the FBI is investigating what they are calling an unprecedented number of threats against FBI employees. And that includes threats against two of the special agents who are listed on those court records released on Friday, as being involved in the Mar-a-Lago search.

Now the agent's names were blacked out in the official copy released from the court, but their names were blacked out in the leaked copies that was put out by the conservative media outlets earlier in the day on Friday.

Plus, we've learned that the FBI has noticed an uptick in what is called doxing. That's where people online publicly post the personal information of FBI employees who could then be targeted by people across the country. And we've even seen threats against the judge in Florida who approved this warrant. You know, his contact information was taken offline by the court so his personal information was no longer out there.

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So, a very heightened threat environment, so much so that the FBI headquarters in Washington is now surrounded by a fence, something we've seen at other government institutions over the past few years like the Supreme Court or the U.S. Capitol building. Now surrounding the FBI headquarters. And the FBI Director Christopher Wray, he is speaking out. He issued a statement to employees saying their safety and security is his biggest concern and the FBI now also urging the public to speak out if they see any threats.

Jessica Schneider, CNN, Washington.

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MACFARLANE: Now Iran says it's close to resuming its nuclear deal with the U.S. and other world powers. According to state run media Iran's team has delivered a response to the latest EU proposal. Iran's foreign minister says Tehran is at the point of agreement if the U.S. is realistic and flexible. The original 2015 deal was meant to keep Iran from developing nuclear weapons for ten years but then President Donald Trump pulled the U.S. out of the agreement and hit Iran with new sanctions in 2018.

CNN's Fred Pleitgen has covered Iran extensively and joins us live now from Moscow. Fred these are promising signs, but clearly Iran still has reservations here. Do we know what those are?

FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: They certainly do and the Iranians have said none are unsolvable. And I've just spoken with some folks close to the negotiations and they've said that they believe that all of this can be done very quickly. They want some minor changes they say to the text that was put forward by the European Union.

On the one hand they say that a probe that was done by the International Atomic Energy Agency where the board of directors of the IAEA reprimanded Iran for allegedly not being able to explain some traces of nuclear activity that they say was at undisclosed sites, that that probe simply needs to go away. The Iranians believe that bringing that up is unfair and that that probe needs to be closed.

Now the Iranians also -- and I think this is really important when it comes the United States -- they also want guarantees that there's going to be real sanctions relief, that the sanctions relief that is put forward if the deal can comes back into full force, that is if the U.S. joins it -- because of course we always have to keep in mind, Christina, that the United States is the country that is currently outside of the deal -- that there's nothing to impede companies from doing business with the Iran, countries from doing business with Iran, that the sanctions relief that they get will be real.

And then of course there's also the fact that the Iranians are saying that because the U.S. left the deal when the Trump administration went into office -- or after the Trump administration came into office -- that they want guarantees that the U.S. at least will pay a price if it decides to exit the Iran nuclear agreement once again.

Now they are very close to an agreement. They say -- they say that the wording, that there are changes that the Iranians want at least from their side, are minimal. They believe it is something that the U.S. can agree to. But of course, we've known from the stages of the negotiations to try and fully revive the deal that all of this is extremely complicated and that there are of course sides involved that simply don't trust each other.

The European Union now says it's studying the changes that Iran wants, the comments that Iran has made. Of course, the United States is going to have to weigh in as well and see if all of that works for them. The Iranians certainly do believe that something can be achieved or that an agreement could be achieved as soon as sometime this week. But also of course they always caution that none of this is set in stone and none of this is for certain. But certainly, right now there does seem to be a good deal of optimism in Tehran that this deal can be revived -- Christina.

MACFARLANE: Yes, we will wait to see what their response is -- as you say there. Fred Pleitgen live from Moscow, thanks very much, Fred.

Now state run media in China is reporting seven officials in Taiwan have been sanctioned for supporting independence for the self- governing island. A statement says pro-independence activities became more egregious after U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's visit to Taiwan earlier this month. This as another five person U.S. Congressional delegation visits Taipei after Pelosi's controversial trip.

Now CNN's Kristie Lu Stout joins me now live from Hong Kong. And Kristie, China continuing to act angrily here to both of these trips. What do we know about the latest sanctions against Taiwanese officials, what they relate to?

KRISTIE LU STOUT, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, China says that the seven Taiwan officials are being sanctioned for promote Taiwan independence. Among these officials include Taiwan's representative to the United States. We know that Taiwan ministry of foreign affairs has responded to the sanctions saying that Taiwan does not accept threats or intimidation.

Taiwan's foreign ministry is also responding to the latest round of military drills by China. On Monday China launched a new set of military exercises to protest this current visit, the latest visit of this U.S. delegation of Congressional lawmakers, and Taiwan basically condemned the use of military drills.

But we've also learned more details about this visit that was led by the U.S. Senator Ed Markey. He met with the Taiwan president.

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He and his fellow U.S. lawmakers also met with other top officials, but they also met with representatives of TSMC -- this is Taiwan's top chip maker. On the agenda, to talk about ways to expand economic cooperation between Taiwan and the United States, including further investments in semiconductors and how to improve the semiconductor industry.

I want to bring up a tweet that Senator Markey sent earlier today. Of the nature of this visit he said this, quote, I'm honored to have met with tie with a Taiwanese officials, like President Tsai and Foreign Minister Wu, as well as TSMC. The United States must continue to support Taiwan's meaningful participation in the international community.

Now it is very significant that this group of American lawmakers met with TSMC -- this is the world's largest contract chip maker -- they produce 90 percent of the world's most advanced computer chips. And the timing is of note because earlier this month you had the U.S. President Joe Biden sign the Chips Act to basically boost the competitiveness of American semiconductors. And Taiwan has been playing a role in that. In fact, Taiwan's TSMC has already pledged well over $10 billion to help make a new chip fab in the U.S. state of Arizona. So, it'll interesting to see if this latest visit will pave the way for more investments in semiconductors.

On that note, there's a new statement out by the Taiwanese president about semiconductors and how it relates to Taiwan Strait stability. Let's bring up this statement for you. It has published on President Tsai's official website today.

She said: The Taiwan Strait is the main route connecting the East China Sea and the South China Sea therefore the peace and stability of the Taiwan Strait is critical to the stability of the global hi-tech product supply chain.

Again, China's reacted strongly to the latest U.S. Congressional visit and we continue to monitor for any additional Chinese military activity today. Back to you -- Christina.

MACFARLANE: All right, Kristie, interesting to see what this is potentially really about. Kristie Lu Stout there live from Hong Kong, thank you.

Well still ahead, Donald Trump is facing mounting legal troubles on multiple fronts. We'll break down some of the problems that could be in store for the former U.S. President.

Plus, what we're learning about a reported strike on a Russian backed mercenary group in Ukraine. That's next.

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