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DNI To Lead Damage Assessment From Mar-a-Lago Docs; Ukraine Accuses Russia Of Continuing To Shell Area Near Nuclear Plant; Aussie Tennis Great, Rennae Stubbs, Discusses Joining Serena Williams' Coaching Team, Novak Djokovic To Miss U.S. Open Over Vaccine Travel Restrictions; New Conservative Group Received $1.6 Billion From Single Donor; Animal Shelters In Crisis As Inflation-Hit Families Give Up Pets. Aired 5-6p ET

Aired August 27, 2022 - 17:00   ET

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

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[17:00:30]

JIM ACOSTA, CNN HOST: You are live in the CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Jim Acosta in Washington.

The Director of National Intelligence will lead a damage assessment to determine if the country's national security has been put at risk. Top lawmakers called for the review after it was revealed that classified documents sat unsecured at Donald Trump's Florida home for months.

The Justice Department yesterday released a redacted version of the affidavit it used to get a search warrant for the former president's Mar-a-Lago resort. In the affidavit, the FBI said it had found 184 classified documents in boxes retrieved from Mar-a-Lago in January including 25 marked "top secret". One particularly disturbing revelation, markings on some documents to indicate that the material is related to human sources or spies.

CNN's Natasha Bertrand joins me now. Natasha, what more are we learning about what the intelligence community is planning to do here in terms of this damage assessment? They are taking this very seriously.

NATASHA BERTRAND, CNN WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: Yes, Jim. So we just learned this afternoon that the Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines, she has written letters to the House Oversight, House Intelligence, and we just learned Senate Intelligence Committees telling them that she, along with the Justice Department, they are conducting a classification review, essentially to see whether these documents are properly classified and have the appropriate markings on them.

And importantly that she is going to launch in conjunction with the entire intel community a review of the risk that these documents pose to the national security of the United States, the fact that they were missing, that they were at Mar-a-Lago, that they were unsecured according to the FBI. What kind of damage has that potentially done to the intelligence

community sources and methods here? Now, obviously this comes at a very interesting moment. She wrote this letter or sent it, I should say, yesterday right when we learned in that FBI affidavit that in these documents there was information according to the FBI about human sources, about real people who are providing information every day to the intelligence community. People whose lives can be put at risk if they are exposed by handling these documents clumsily, to put it lightly.

Andi should note, you know, one of these documents or several of them according to the FBI had markings that include HCS, which is referring to that human source information, and that, according to the ODNI includes exceptionally fragile and unique human intelligence.

So just really gets to the point there of how dangerous it could possibly be to the intelligence community to have this kind of out there, especially in such a high traffic area as Mar-a-Lago where who knows how many people could have had access to it.

Of course, the FBI had said that these documents were not properly stored, ultimately a padlock was placed in the room where these documents were.

But this now is going to be a top priority for the intelligence community trying to see, look, do we need to pull any sources out? Do we need to do any kind of damage mitigation here? That is what they're going to be looking at over the next several months, Jim.

ACOSTA: And I suppose as they're doing this review, they will not be held back by redactions or at least portions of the intelligence community.

BERTRAND: No, that's exactly right. And you know, we had been questioning whether or not the FBI would actually give this information to the intel community because the FBI usually holds close its evidence, of course, in these criminal investigations, but it is important obviously for the IC to know they're dealing with here. And they're going to be able to view the entirety of these documents, Jim.

ACOSTA: All right. That will be very interesting.

All right. Natasha, thank you very much

With me now former Trump White House Press Secretary Stephanie Grisham and former assistant special Watergate prosecutor Nick Akerman.

Nick, in criminal law you have aggravating circumstances, factors that increase the severity of the crime. Is that how the Department of Justice will view any national security fallout in this case? Will prosecutors be closely watching the damage assessment from the DNI, do you think?

NICK AKERMAN, FORMER ASSISTANT SPECIAL WATERGATE PROSECUTOR: Oh, absolutely. I mean, that's a big issue here. In fact, I think the prosecutors will be investigating some of the same things. I mean, for example, they're looking at the videos that were on the storage area. They're going to want to see who moved things in and out, when they did it in relation to requests that they made. I'm sure they're going to be fingerprinting every one of those documents to try and determine whether anybody else had access to them and who had access to them.

[17:04:50]

AKERMAN: So in some ways, these two investigations are going to dovetail. But keep in mind, the grand jury investigation is covered by secrecy under what's known as Rule 6-e.

So for anything to be provided from the grand jury from testimony that's provided in the grand jury, they're going to have to get a special order from a court in order to provide that information to the intelligence committee.

ACOSTA: And Stephanie, as I was reading through some of this redacted material yesterday, I was remembering what you said a week ago that Mar-a-Lago is not exactly the kind of place where you store classified top secret documents.

You know, it's not hard to imagine that after this assessment Trump's allies in Congress will come out and try to downplay the national security implications here and try to discredit what the head of the intelligence community says.

But I mean talk about that. I mean, it seems pretty clear that the DNI is essentially agreeing with what you were saying a week ago.

STEPHANIE GRISHAM, FORMER WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: Yes, that's right, Jim. You know, it is the president's home six months out of the year, but it is also a club, a resort. And it is a resort that puts its members very first.

And as I've talked about before, you know, the guests of the members can come in with very, very little vetting. They cater to their members which they have the right to do. But there are people in and out of there constantly who are not necessarily vetted.

So that's something to think about. And you know, I know there's a padlock put on the door, but how easy could it be to cut a padlock? It seems laughable to me. And you know, I've been racking my brains to try to explain to people why this is important to them.

I think that's what's -- you know, everybody wants to know how does this affect me bottom line. And I've been really disappointed to see a lot of my Republican colleagues already downplaying it saying, oh, they only found documents.

I'm not sure what they were expecting. But right now at this very second there are people in our country and around this world who are protecting us. They are under cover and they're protecting us. Whether they're working for an intelligence agency or the military, they're in dangerous situations all the time protecting us from things that we have no idea about.

And the fact that there were documents there that could blow these people's cover, it should worry people because it puts your families at risk. And so I think that's something for people to really try to understand.

It's not just some documents that were thrown in a box. These are people's lives, and these are the lives of people's families.

ACOSTA: Right. And Nick, looking at this from a prosecutor's perspective, what stands outs to you in the affidavit in the case that the Department of Justice seems to be building right now?

AKERMAN: Well, I think what really stands out to me is the obstruction piece of this. I mean, the concealment that's listed in that affidavit, I mean, that is what really triggered this search warrant in the first place because they had evidence that they were being lied to, that they were being played, and that Donald Trump and some others were basically concealing these documents, which leads to the big question why would they even want these documents in the first place, which of course, brings up this issue of what happened to these documents, who had access to them, and were any of our real major secrets blown because of the way this material was handled.

I think from a prosecutor's standpoint, it's that obstruction piece that really is important here.

ACOSTA: And Stephanie, we've seen a number of responses from Trump revealing some of his thinking over the past several days, and some of these "Truth" posts, as they're called in an Orwellian sort of way, I guess. I mean they reveal what appears to be a good deal of concern on his part. Do you think Trump is freaking out over this?

GRISHAM: I think he's got to be concerned. I don't know how he's not. I mean, the man is under investigation six, seven, eight ways, different investigations, and now, you know, people have gone into his home and removed actual evidence.

I think the fact that he keeps changing his messaging to me as somebody who worked for him for so long, that is very telling. A lot of times with Donald Trump, he will go to a message and stick to it and double down, triple down, even if it's absolutely the wrong message.

This time the message keeps changing, whether it's -- they planted evidence or they shouldn't have gone in. I had no notice. I wasn't even given a chance.

Or most recently, it's been, you know, release everything. Be transparent, and so they released this affidavit that's completely setting precedent that I'm not sure will be good in the future for future cases or the president or future presidents, excuse me, and now that's not enough either.

What are these redactions, you know, covering up. And really, they just want to see what the redactions are because they want to see who's talking to them, and they want to see exactly what the DOJ has so they can start crafting messages against it.

[17:09:52]

GRISHAM: All that to say, yes, I think he is nervous. This isn't like him to change his message so often. He's much better at PR than that. I know that sounds silly, but usually when he just triples down on anything no matter how bonkers or false it is, he gets away with it.

ACOSTA: Right, and he has been all over the place on this.

And Nick, I mean -- but he hasn't explained why he had the documents. And Nick, Trump's attorneys submitted a filing last night further explaining their request that an independent special master review these materials recovered by the FBI. Do you think the judge will actually do that? Why comply with that request?

AKERMAN: There's no good reason to comply with that request. Basically it's based on the predicate that the special master would review privileged documents.

First of all, anything that is covered by executive privilege is not something that he can assert. He's lost that battle in the Supreme Court. He's been there. He's done it, and he's lost.

The only other item that could possibly be privileged here is attorney/client privilege, and what he relies on in his papers quite amazingly are the situations where his two lawyers, Rudy Giuliani and Michael Cohen had special masters appointed for them when there was searches of their home and office.

The fact of the matter is when you're dealing with a lawyer who has lots of clients and clearly attorney/client privileged information, that is a totally different situation.

And what is really missing from these papers, it is so blatant and so glaring, is that there is not one iota of proof there was anything in any of these boxes that was covered by an attorney/client privilege.

The proper way to do this if it really existed was for Donald Trump to submit a declaration or an affidavit pointing out that there are certain communications in there that were between him and his attorneys. He's failed to do that.

I mean, if I were the judge, I would just dismiss this out of hand.

ACOSTA: And Stephanie, another thing that you know about when it comes to Donald Trump is how he likes to get to the bottom of leaks and one of the things that I noticed in this affidavit that was released yesterday, even with all of those redactions is that it mentions lots of witnesses who are integral to this investigation.

I have to think that Trump is, you know, going a little mad right now trying to figure out who these leakers are, who these witnesses might be.

GRISHAM: I completely agree with you. I've said that definitely from the start. Something I found interesting about the affidavit mentioning witnesses. Before, you know, I thought it was one or two, and obviously two could be the witnesses. But I thought it was just somebody close to him, which I still believe it is because of some of the details that the FBI and the DOJ had when they went to Mar-a-Lago.

But now a concern I have is, you know, if there are more than one, if there are plural witnesses, he's got such a small group around him, I'm wondering if he has taken things out of those boxes and shown them around and perhaps some of the people he has shown these things to have spoken up.

That will be incredibly damning if that's the case. But the fact that there may be, you know, more than one witness, more than two witnesses makes me just wonder if it's a bigger circle, again, people he has shown things to. Because his circle right now is maybe ten people.

ACOSTA: All right. Stephanie Grisham, Nick Akerman, thank you very much. We appreciate it.

And a first on CNN, Utah Senate candidate Evan McMullin is accusing a driver of running his car off the road and then pointing a gun at him and his wife. And the suspect has been charged in that case. McMullin, who is an Independent running to unseat Republican Senator Mike Lee says this happened on the way home from a campaign event back in April.

The defendant was indicted in April on misdemeanor charges of making a threat with a dangerous weapon and disorderly conduct. He has pleaded not guilty in the case and the case could be headed to a trial soon.

Last hour we talked to Evan McMullin about this, and he told me more about this harrowing experience.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

EVAN MCMULLIN, UTAH SENATORIAL CANDIDATE: There's an individual that is being charged with threatening my wife and I with a weapon and aggressively pursuing us with his car. This is an incident that happened back in April.

It is going to trial at the moment, and you know, look, it's something that I, you know, experienced serving overseas in the Middle East and other places like that, incidents like these.

But this individual put the life of my wife at risk, and I'm going to do everything I can to protect her and my family and to hold this individual accountable. And that's why he's being charged.

[17:14:50]

ACOSTA: And we should note the attorney for the other motorist says he disputes your version of events. He has pleaded not guilty in this case. But what do you hope to see happen as a result of this case?

MCMULLIN: Well, he's being charged because he, you know, threatened us with his weapon, and I correctly identified and described that weapon. And his own wife informed police officers that he did indeed have that weapon. So that's why he's being charged.

And he can claim that he didn't do it, but I think, you know, the facts are, you know, the facts do not support his claims.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ACOSTA: And you can read more about this story on our Web site, cnn.com.

Coming up Ukraine says Russia is continuing attacks around Europe's largest nuclear power plant after it was knocked off the power grid this week. So has a nuclear disaster been avoid. And what would that look like? We'll speak to a Chernobyl first responder next.

You're live in the CNN NEWSROOM.

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[17:19:56]

ACOSTA: Officials in Ukraine are accusing Russia of continuing to shell the territory around Europe's largest nuclear power plant raising the fear of a possible nuclear disaster. The latest attacks come one day after the plant was finally reconnected to the country's power grid. The facility was completely knocked off the power grid Thursday for the first time in its history after fires damaged a key power line.

CNN's Sam Kiley has more.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SAM KILEY, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Ukraine's biggest nuclear power plant is making history that no one wants to read. Its six reactors are the first ever to have fallen into enemy hands and the first to have the main power source for their cooling systems cut during combat.

They're also the first to have triggered the emergency cooling system to avoid a melt down and a radioactive disaster because of war.

VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY, UKRAINIAN PRESIDENT (through translator): If the diesel generators hadn't turned on, if the automation and our staff on the plant had not reacted after the blackout, then we would already be forced to overcome the consequences of a radiation accident.

KILEY: It's only source of main line electricity from government-held territory was cut, the government here says, by Russian shelling. Russia captured the plant in March and has been using it as an artillery fire base for a month. It's been hitting civilian towns west across the Dnipro River.

Civilians have been fleeing Enerhodar, the town closest to the plant in fear of war and the radioactive disaster brought on by it. Russian troops, they said, were ill disciplined and dangerous. UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translator): We tried to keep away from

them because it was scary. They walked around with machine guns and who knows what they could do. At night they would get drunk, shoot-in the air. People were scared.

KILEY: The power to cool the systems was restored yesterday, and the reactors eventually reconnected to the Ukrainian grid on Friday, supplying up to a fifth of the country's electricity.

But Kyiv fears that Russia may cut power to its cooling system again as part of the alleged plan to steal its output, and that would risk a melt down.

The Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant is only about 20 miles from where I'm standing. There's a powerful easterly blowing at the moment. If there was a disaster there, radioactive material would be carried into the sun and into Europe.

International demands that Russia removes its forces from the plant and allow nuclear inspectors in are increasingly strident. And in Ukraine nuclear decontamination drills are just another part of war.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ACOSTA: And joining us now is Dr. Alla Shapiro. She was a first responder for the Chernobyl nuclear disaster back in 1986. She's also the author of "Doctor On Call, Chernobyl Responder, Jewish Refugee, Radiation Expert" and she has spent 19 years working as a medical officer with the counterterrorism and emergency coordination staff at the FDA.

Dr. Shapiro, great having you with us. We appreciate it so much.

You know, people keep saying the situation in Ukraine could very well become another Chernobyl. What do you think? Do you think that that's true? Is it possible?

DR. ALLA SHAPIRO, FIRST RESPONDER AT CHERNOBYL: Thank you very much for having me.

I think that the fear of danger is real and there is a possibility of exacerbating any of the nuclear projected disaster with the current situation in Ukraine. And we were not comforted that the safety of the Zaporizhzhia station is much better than in Ukraine, the Chernobyl nuclear power station, which had lots of flaws in its design. However, even safety measure or safety system would be irrelevant unfortunately if the war is the time when the disaster could occur.

And few days ago as we're aware, there was a power outages and also there is other thing that could affect the release of radioactive nucleis, and they will spread out around Ukraine and possibly to Possibly to Europe.

ACOSTA: And people and there are a lot of younger viewers out there who have no experience whatsoever, you know, remembering what happened in Chernobyl, watching it on the news, and so on Take us back to 1986, and can you describe what you saw on the ground, what it was like being a first responder at Chernobyl? We're looking at some images from the disaster. What was it like?

[17:24:50]

DR. SHAPIRO: Well, the disaster hit after midnight on April 26th, and the life in Kyiv, Ukraine which is 80 miles from Chernobyl was business as usual. Nobody told us anything. We found out officially from Gorbachev who made the announcement ten days after.

And the statement was that the worst is behind us and this was not true because the worst was just in front of us.

Although the rumors spread faster than radiation, and I became a first responder after three or four days after the disaster occurred.

And I was a field team leader who was sent to the most contaminated areas in Ukraine for almost two years. And when I was back, I was working at the largest pediatric children's clinic in Kyiv, and we accepted and treated and evaluated patients who were evacuated from the (INAUDIBLE) and other surrounding areas.

ACOSTA: And have you suffered any health effects? Or I guess you know people who have obviously.

DR. SHAPIRO: Well, I did not take care of those who had acute radiation syndrome. They were adults, and most of them were flown to Moscow to hospital number six where they received the intensive care. Some of the operators from the power station were admitted to the adult hospitals, but because there was such a -- not enough internal medicine doctors, pediatricians including myself were sent to adult hospital, but those patients did not have acute radiation syndrome.

ACOSTA: But it's a nightmare -- it's a nightmare situation for people who are affected by this.

DR. SHAPIRO: Absolutely. As one of the team members in clinic, my colleagues and I spent three days not leaving the premise of the hospital because of the flow of the patients. We spent three days and nights and our family members brought us food and clothes to change and we were just there all the time.

ACOSTA: Yes. And it's hard to know exactly, Dr. Shapiro, but could you give us an idea how big of a radius would be impacted if Zaporizhzhia were to go into situation like we saw at Chernobyl?

DR. SHAPIRO: Yes, it is absolutely impossible to make any predictions. It depends what could be hit during the missile or artillery or bomb, and also it strictly depends what part of the reactor unit will be affected or malfunction or destroyed.

ACOSTA: It would depend on the damage, the scope of the --

DR. SHAPIRO: The damage -- yes, definitely. And there will be another hazard that although very imperfect at Chernobyl, the irradiation (ph) of population from the contaminated area was possible. It happened, sometimes there were long hours of waiting outside for the buses to come, but the route was -- the route existed (ph).

In the case -- in case of the war if this happened, it probably won't be possible to have any action because nobody will go along the evacuation route if there was a shelling -- if there is a shelling or bomb.

ACOSTA: Right.

DR. SHAPIRO: So -- and also there will a lack of supply, people were just stuck there without food or water and medications.

ACOSTA: Yes.

Well, Alla Shapiro -- Dr. Alla Shapiro, thank you very much. Let's hope the Russians are listening to this and are heeding these warnings. We certainly don't want to see history repeat itself.

Thank you very much for your expertise.

DR. SHAPIRO: Thank you.

ACOSTA: Thanks for you time.

Coming up, the world of tennis is preparing for what could be Serena Williams' final tournament before retirement. So will she or won't she put down the racket? We'll speak to one of her coaches next.

You're live in the CNN NEWSROOM.

[17:29:42]

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[17:34:08]

ACOSTA: The U.S. Open kicks off in two days and the tennis world is bracing for what may be Serena Williams' final tournament before retiring.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

COCO GAUFF, U.S. PROFESSIONAL TENNIS PLAYER: Before I was born, there wasn't many. And before Serena came along, there was not really an icon of the sport that looked like me.

And so growing up I never thought that I was different because, you know, the number-one player in the world was somebody who looked like me. So I think that's the biggest thing that I can take from what I've learned from Serena.

She didn't dominate one generation. She didn't dominate two generations. She dominated for three-plus generations and I don't think anybody else did that.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ACOSTA: Coco Gauff is just one of the many pros praising Serena Williams' influence amid talk of retirement.

Williams had fans giddy with excitement this week all because of this woman, Aussie tennis great and six-time grand slam doubles winner, Rennae Stubbs. She's joined Williams' coaching team for what may be her last push for an elusive, record-equaling 24th grand slam title.

[17:35:06]

And Rennae Stubbs joins me now.

Rennae, great to see you.

I just saw you the other day at the City Open here in Washington, D.C.

And I mean I can't think of anything that makes me feel older than talking about Serena Williams' retirement. But she will go down as perhaps the greatest of all time.

Have you spoken to Serena about what comes after retirement?

RENNAE STUBBS, COACHING SERENA WILLIAMS FOR U.S. OPEN & AUSTRALIAN PROFESSIONAL TENNIS PLAYER: No, that is definitely not a conversation that we've had. I think that's already taken care of itself, I mean, to be quite honest.

She wants another baby. So that will certainly take up a lot of time. And then, of course, she's got Serena Ventures. She's got her businesses. I think that's already sort of taken care of.

My job or my hope this week is just to make sure she has a great U.S. Open.

ACOSTA: And we all know how incredible Serena is, but she's going into this tournament unseeded and ranked 608th in the world if I have that right.

Do you think she can pull this off, another grand slam title?

STUBBS: I mean, look, never say never when it comes to Serena Williams. When anyone has ever doubted her, she's usually proved them wrong.

But the reality is she hasn't played a lot of matches. She had a terrible injury last year at Wimbledon and she was able to play the U.S. Open last year.

She hasn't played much tennis at all even in the latter part of this year when she made her comeback at Wimbledon.

So we're being realistic. The most important thing is to have her be healthy and happy and get through that first round and get the love and adulation of fans of the people on Monday night. Once she gets through the first round, then we'll start thinking about

the next round. And maybe we'll have that fantastic thought of maybe winning the tournament.

But the most important thing for Serena is the first round.

ACOSTA: We're all going to be on the edge of our seats watching this.

Earlier this month, Serena wrote this essay in "Vogue" magazine.

It says, in part, "If I were a guy, I wouldn't be writing this because I'd be out there playing and winning while my wife was doing the physical labor work expanding our family. Maybe I'd be more of a Tom Brady if I had that opportunity."

And she added, "But I'm turning 41 this month and something's got to give."

Rennae, there are many women in this country who face that same reality of having to make these career choices because they want to have children. That's obviously very different from retiring because you feel like it's the end of the world.

What do you think about what Serena had to say?

STUBBS: I think it's fantastic. I actually think it's really real, very honest, and it's true.

And you know, Serena, the great thing about Serena, she's always been somebody that's spoken up, has been very truthful and honest with difficult moments in her life or difficult moments in society.

And it's a true statement. If she was not, you know, a woman wanting to have more of a family, she wouldn't have lost two years of her career after she won the Australian Open, which was the 23rd title grand slam title that she won.

So you think about what she could have achieved as far as the grand slam title, you know, to climb to the record could have been if she hadn't gotten pregnant.

But I can tell you right now she would not have given back Olympia, you know, for one or two extra -- she would give away all her grand slams for her daughter. That's where her focus lies now.

ACOSTA: Absolutely, and any parent can totally understand that.

Today, Rennae, the USTA announced the doubles wild cards for the U.S. Open with Serena and Venus Williams accepting a wild card to enter into the women's doubles draw together.

Serena and Venus have won 14 grand slam doubles titles together as well as three Olympic gold medals. This also is going to be tennis history in front of us.

STUBBS: Yes, it's huge news, obviously. I knew about this a few days ago, so it wasn't a surprise to me when they got the wild card.

But they are 14-0 when they have reached the final of a grand slam, which is unbelievable. And sadly, one of those was against me in the 2009 Wimbledon championships, which she reminds me about all the time. But they're unstoppable when they play a lot of tennis.

I think it's so great that Serena is going to come in, obviously, playing with Venus and exit her career playing with Venus. It's a fabulous thing. I can't wait for -- the crowd are going to be going absolutely crazy for them.

And it's a wonderful opportunity to see one of the greatest doubles teams of all time as well, not only because it's just Serena and Venus, but what a great story.

ACOSTA: Absolutely.

And I have to ask you about this because, I mean, this just came up in the news in the last day or so.

Men's legend, Novak Djokovic, won't be able to play in the U.S. Open because he's unwilling to get a COVID vaccine. This has been a long odyssey for Novak Djokovic because of this issue.

What do you make of this decision with the U.S. Open? Is it time to start cutting him some slack? What do you think?

[17:39:59]

STUBBS: I mean, I'm so torn about this situation. Obviously, it's the law of the land. It's not anything to do with the U.S. Open.

Novak could not enter the country because of the rules of entering the United States as a foreigner. So that's the law of the laud. Until they change it, there's nothing that we -- the U.S. Open could do about having them in the tournament.

On the other hand, America's full of COVID. So it's not like really Novak coming into the country is going to be any kind of a problem.

But I guess you can't set a precedent just because he's the number one, you know, player. He's not technically the number one ranked player in the world, but everybody knows he's one of the best, if not the best player in the world.

So it's unfortunate that we don't have him in the U.S. Open. And I think it's a sad state of affairs for the U.S. Open not to have him.

But sadly, the CDC rules are the CDC rules, and the U.S. Open could not do anything about that.

ACOSTA: Yes, well, it's going to be a great U.S. Open anyway.

Rennee Stubbs, thank you so much. Hope to see you out on the court one of these days. Please go easy on me.

Thanks for coming on. We appreciate it.

STUBBS: You're welcome, Jim. Thanks.

ACOSTA: All right, we'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[17:45:12]

ACOSTA: Now to a CNN investigation. One billionaire's previously secret political donation, the largest ever in U.S. history, to a political nonprofit could help reshape the United States of America for decades.

CNN's Drew Griffin investigated where this money came from and fears that it could be used, at least in part, to fund efforts that undermine American elections.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DREW GRIFFIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): This IRS document obtained by CNN is evidence of the largest anonymous dark-money political donation ever reported, $1.6 billion. It is, according to experts, a staggering amount.

ROBERT MAGUIRE, RESEARCH DIRECTOR, CREW: I am just stunned. We are talking about income that is many multiples larger than the largest dark-money groups ever found.

GRIFFIN: And it's going to a new organization called Marble Freedom Trust. While you have probably never heard of it or the man in charge of it, the whole country is familiar with his work.

His name is Leonard Leo, a devout Catholic known as Donald Trump's Supreme Court whisperer.

LEONARD LEO, CO-CHAIRMAN, FEDERALIST SOCIETY: There are lots of really smart people, Margaret, who can serve on the U.S. Supreme Court. Dozens and dozens. But you need people who have courage.

GRIFFIN: Leo helped usher in the most conservative Supreme Court in decades.

Along with helping block Merrick Garland from the court, he and his colleagues at the Federalist Society are given credit for the confirmations of Neil Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh, and Amy Coney Barrett.

MAGUIRE: It was Leo who was in the driver's seat of those nominations. Leo is the person who can raise the money and has the background to put in place judges who will build a conservative judicial infrastructure around the country.

GRIFFIN: Leonard Leo now has an unprecedented amount of cash to spend on whatever political projects he likes.

And while the donation was meant to be kept secret, name and address withheld on the IRS form, CNN has confirmed the source is 90-year-old businessman and philanthropist, Barre Seid.

Who donated the stock of his entire company, the Tripp Lite Company of Chicago, to Marble Freedom Trust, which turned around and sold it for $1.6 billion.

CNN has attempted to reach Mr. Seid without response.

His donation will leave behind a dark-money political legacy that could last decades.

Already, Marble Freedom Trust has given more than $200 million to other causes, including $40 million to Donor's Trust, which has doled out millions to conservative causes.

In a statement to CNN, Leonard Leo said, "It's high time for the conservative movement to be among the ranks of George Soros and other left-wing philanthropists going toe to toe in the fight to defend our Constitution and its ideals."

(on camera): And it also apparently is tax free, according to the tax experts we consulted. It appears that this entire transaction, from donating to selling a company, $1.6 billion, was done without paying tax.

Drew Griffin, CNN, Atlanta.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ACOSTA: Coming up, imagine being forced to give up your pet because the cost of living is just too high. For some, that is the reality. And it's overwhelming animal shelters. That story next.

You're live in the CNN NEWSROOM.

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[17:52:54]

ACOSTA: A Virginia rescue dog is going from rags to royalty. Prince Harry and Meghan have adopted a 7-year-old beagle named Momma Mia. She's one of thousands of beagles saved from a breeding facility in Virginia that's been shut down for animal welfare violations and puppy deaths.

Momma Mia and her eight puppies were taken to a shelter. And when Meghan spotted her, a rescue official said it was love at first sight. The people at Freedom Project says Harry and Meghan wanted an older dog because they're so often overlooked. What a beautiful animal.

As more and more households grapple with inflation, sometimes they're forced to make difficult decisions, including about their pets.

Isabel Rosales has the story.

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ISABEL ROSALES, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): This animal shelter in Atlanta, Georgia, is beyond capacity this summer.

Heather Friedman has never seen her shelter this packed.

HEATHER FRIEDMAN, CHIEF MARKETING OFFICER, LIFELINE ANIMAL PROJECT: Right now, we have over 375 animals in a shelter that was built in the '70s to hold just 80 dogs and cats.

ROSALES: It's not just here. Go into almost any shelter or rescue across the country and it's a similar story.

Sheltered Animals Count, a national database for animal shelters and rescues, reports that the number of animals entering the shelter has stayed about the same nationally. But the number of them leaving the shelter, including the adoptions, is down significantly.

FRIEDMAN: This year, we've seen a 20 percent decrease in adoptions and also a 36 percent decrease in rescue partners being able to pull dogs and cats from our crowded shelter into other areas of the country.

ROSALES: Lifeline's leadership say the big reasons behind the dip, inflation and the rising cost of living.

AUDREY SHOEMAKER, SHELTER DIRECTOR, FULTON COUNTY ANIMALS SERVICES: Housing is one of the number one reasons why people say they have to give up their pet. Oftentimes, they come to us not wanting to do that.

We've actually seen quite a few people who have come up and mentioned that their rent has creased increased. And it might be that they're in their rental and they have until next month to make another decision or they'll be in dire straits financially.

ROSALES: For the 12-month period ending in July, the cost for a one or two-bedroom place in Atlanta was up more than 15 percent and nationally up over 30 percent, severely limiting where some people can afford to live.

[17:55:03]

But it's not just affordability that keeps people from being able to adopt. Properties that have breed or size restrictions can create more problems.

KELSEY GILMORE-FUTERAL, LEGISLATIVE ATTORNEY, BEST FRIENDS ANIMAL SOCIETY: It might require the family to purchase additional insurance. They might require additional licensing or fencing around the property. Maybe even prohibitions on living in certain places.

I mean, the family has two choices. They can either find somewhere else to live with their dog, which is very hard in this current economy in the housing market, or they end up having to rehome their dog. And that usually means that it ends up at a shelter.

ROSALES: Rosales, reporting. (END VIDEOTAPE)

ACOSTA: Oh, my goodness. I'm going to hug my rescue beagle, Duke, right now.

That's the news. Reporting from Washington, I'm Jim Acosta. I'll see you back here tomorrow at 4:00 p.m. Eastern.

Pamela Brown takes over the CNN NEWSROOM live after a quick break.

Have a good night, everybody.

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