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Proud Boy Member Sentenced to 55 Months in Prison; Artemis Mission Delayed; Recession Fears; Damage Assessment Under Way Over Mar-a-Lago Classified Documents. Aired 2-2:30p ET

Aired August 29, 2022 - 14:00   ET

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

[14:00:48]

VICTOR BLACKWELL, CNN HOST: Hello. I'm Victor Blackwell. Welcome to CNN NEWSROOM.

ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN HOST: And I'm Alisyn Camerota.

We will have to wait a little longer for the highly anticipated moon launch. NASA just offered more info as to why today's Artemis 1 mission was postponed. Basically, there was an engine malfunction. Artemis 1 is the first in a series of missions that would return humans to the moon for the first time since 1972.

BLACKWELL: It was scheduled for liftoff today, but the launch team discovered a bleed in one of the rocket's four engines.

CNN space and defense correspondent Kristin Fisher joins us live from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

All right, so, explain more of what happened here. And then what happens next?

KRISTIN FISHER, CNN SPACE AND DEFENSE CORRESPONDENT: Yes, so, Victor, essentially, we all thought that this was an engine issue.

What we learned during the press conference, the first post-scrub press conference that just wrapped up, is that NASA officials believe that it's not so much an engine issue. The primary culprit was an issue with the cooling system that cools that particular engine, engine number three.

They have got to get that engine to the right temperature before liftoff, because they don't want that super cold propellant, the liquid hydrogen and the liquid oxygen, to shock the system. So it seems to be that that is where the biggest problem was. They are troubleshooting it now.

Another problem that we really only learned about during this press conference -- obviously, we knew that the weather was an issue around midnight today, when there were some lightning strikes. But we got a more detailed assessment of the fact that it was also an issue as we got closer to that window. They say, at the beginning of the window, there were issues. It would have been a no go because of rain. You can't launch this rocket directly through any precipitation. And, at the end of the window, it would have been a no go due to lightning, so really just a confluence of factors that made this launch a no go, a scrub today.

And so now, Victor and Alisyn, the big question becomes, well, what next? When does NASA try again? And we got a very NASA answer, in terms of when this next attempt is going to be. They say there is -- quote -- "a non-zero chance" that we're going to try to go on Friday.

So, essentially, that means Friday is still in play. But they just aren't ready to make a determination yet. They talked about how exhausted the launch team is. I mean, the media, we all got here at 2:00 a.m. That's a long day, in and of itself. But these guys got here, they started work on the console around 10:00 p.m. last night, and have been working very grueling, intense hours ever since.

So they want to give them some time to rest, recharge, assess the situation with some fresh eyes. And then, tomorrow evening, they're likely going to make a determination about whether or not they're going to give it another go on Friday, Victor and Alisyn.

CAMEROTA: And then we will know if there's a not non-zero chance.

(LAUGHTER)

BLACKWELL: Non-zero, that is not reassuring.

CAMEROTA: Yes, but thank you for -- a nonzero chance.

(CROSSTALK)

FISHER: You like that?

CAMEROTA: Yes, I do. That is good NASA-speak.

Kristin Fisher, thank you very much.

BLACKWELL: All right, sources say that Donald Trump's lawyers still want that neutral third party to go through the documents the FBI took from his home in Florida.

Today, the Justice Department said that its own filter team has done that job already. In a new court filing, the Justice Department revealed its privileged review team, separate from the investigators, identified some material that may fall under attorney-client privilege.

CAMEROTA: The DOJ also confirmed that it and other intelligence officials are conducting an assessment to figure out how much damage was caused from the classified documents and top secret documents being improperly stored inside Trump's home.

The national -- the director of national intelligence, Avril Haines, alerted Congress to all of this on Friday. We have seen CNN's Kara Scannell here with us, also Josh Campbell.

So, Kara, what more are you learning?

KARA SCANNELL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, so we learned that the Justice Department prior to this update to the court today is saying that they have completed their review of these materials, and there's a limited set of them that could contain some material that would be covered by attorney-client privilege.

DOJ says that their filter team has already begun the process to go through that and to address any potential conflicts. So, they have laid out pre usually what this process entails. And, again, it's the filter team, not the investigative team, that they would take any possible disputes over attorney-client privilege to the judge.

[14:05:08]

They said, in some instances, they just will turn it over to the investigative team, or they might turn it over to Trump's lawyers, ask them if they want to claim that there was some kind of privilege here and, if there's still a dispute, bring it back to the judge to have them review.

Of course, this is because Trump's lawyers want this special master. The judge initially said that she was inclined to possibly give them to them. We got this first public update from DOJ today, but they're also going to be filing another document under seal that will say everything that they have got and the filtering process that they have done so far.

This is all getting teed up for the hearing on Thursday, where the judge will ultimately hear arguments in person and possibly decide then whether or not to put a special master in place or decide that the process that's been under way for the past three weeks is sufficient.

BLACKWELL: Josh Campbell, let me come to you. You have worked in the national security arena, and when the director of national intelligence says that they're going to or they are starting this damage assessment of the documents found at Mar-a-Lago, what's that look like?

JOSH CAMPBELL, CNN SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Well, we know that there is this ongoing Justice Department criminal investigation into those documents being at the former president's residence.

But this is now a separate review. The director of national intelligence, she oversees the 18 federal government intelligence agency components. They are now launching a damage assessment to determine whether U.S. national security was indeed harmed by these documents being in this location where they were not certified to be.

You think about this type of material, it's typically in a government facility that is highly protected. A lot of these documents can only go in certain types of rooms that are permitted for highly classified information storage. And so they're trying to determine whether or not there was indeed some type of what they call leakage in the government that could have actually harmed U.S. national security.

In this letter that was obtained by our colleague Jeremy Herb, the DNI told Congress -- I will read part of it -- that: "The Justice Department and the Office of the Director of National Intelligence are working together to facilitate a classification review of relevant material, including those recovered during the search. ODNI will also lead an intelligence community assessment of the potential risk to national security that would result from the disclosure of the relevant documents."

So, two things. They're trying to figure out what was in these documents. We know, based on a lot of the classification material that was in the FBI court records that were made public, we're talking about information regarding human sources. We're talking about information pertaining to signals intelligence collection by the U.S. intelligence community, so highly classified information.

They want to determine what's there, and obviously make that determination if this actually was -- fell into the hands of someone who wasn't authorized to have this information, what potential damage could -- national security exists?

BLACKWELL: All right, Josh Campbell, Kara Scannell, thank you both.

CAMPBELL: Thanks.

BLACKWELL: Juliette Kayyem is a CNN national security analyst and a former assistant secretary in the Homeland Security Department.

Renato Mariotti is a former federal prosecutor.

Welcome to you both.

Renato, let me start with you and this privileged review team that the DOJ says has already done the work that a special master would do. We're three weeks out now from the search. Does this make the special master less useful, necessary here, or likely that it will be approved?

RENATO MARIOTTI, FORMER FEDERAL PROSECUTOR: Ordinarily, what I would say is that this special master is essentially moot.

The review is already completed. The intelligence community at the -- in the executive branch already has all the documents in question. So there's nothing left to do.

I think, to the extent to which you can make sense at all on the strategy on the Trump team side, they may still be pushing this idea of executive privilege. Usually, a special master relates to attorney- client privilege. They had a fairly bizarre request that the special master review this for executive privilege, which is bizarre for a lot of reasons, primarily because the entity that is seizing these documents is the executive branch. So, having executive privilege keeping documents from the executive

branch is very odd, to put it mildly. So the judge could try to reach on that issue. But I have trouble seeing a way in which this achieves anything concretely for the Trump team.

CAMEROTA: Juliette Kayyem, I want to get to the top secret documents and who might have gotten their eyes or hands on them.

Mar-a-Lago is notoriously sloppy in terms of security. We all -- I mean, there's wedding parties. There's restaurant guests. We all remember, in 2019, there was a Chinese national who had five different cell phones on her and nine different thumb drives, one equipped with malware, and she made it into Mar-a-Lago.

So they have a problem with security.

JULIETTE KAYYEM, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY ANALYST: Right.

CAMEROTA: How -- where does the DNI begin? How does the DNI figure out who might have gotten their hands...

KAYYEM: Yes.

CAMEROTA: ... or even eyes on these top secret -- the country's top secrets?

KAYYEM: Right.

So, there's going to be separate parts to this review. Also, we should be clear that this has probably been ongoing. We certainly know, as early as January, the U.S. government learned that the information was not protected out for whatever reason. It does not matter what Trump's motivation is. It does not matter what the legal arguments are.

[14:10:13]

At this stage, you have unprotected, classified, highly sensitive information, whose expose -- just pure exposure, right, it doesn't matter who sees it, may cause a vulnerability in terms of human spies, human assets, programs, intelligence -- signal intelligence programs.

So that review likely started in January when they realized they had a big problem. Now what they're going to do is, they're going to, as they said in the letter, work with DOJ to determine both, what is the substance of those documents, and then what does their disclosure, if we can determine who they were disclosed to mean, for the continuation of that person as a human asset, or that program as a -- say, a signal intelligence program?

And that's the most important thing here. Whatever Trump's lawyers are saying, whatever lawyers are saying in court does not matter for this review. What matters is, we have present United States national security concerns. This is the Biden administration's problem. This has nothing to do with Trump and all of his whatever -- either it's recklessness or careless disregard or whatever he's doing with those documents. This has to do with our present capabilities. And that is what the

ODNI needs to get a handle on for our own capabilities and then, secondly, to assure our allies, who share a lot of information with us through bilateral arrangements, through something called Five Eyes, through a whole bunch of arrangements, that they have confidence that their programs and assets were not compromised either.

This is a big headache for the Biden administration, regardless of the legal claims being made by the former president.

BLACKWELL: Renato, let's turn to a decision that came out of Georgia today that the governor, Brian Kemp, who has attempted to quash the subpoena to appear before the special grand jury investigating Trump's attempts to overturn the 2020 election results there, that he will have to appear before the grand jury, but only after the November election.

Up to this point, we have not heard the election invoked in many of these cases. Some of the people who are attempting to quash these subpoenas aren't on the ballot in November. But what do you think of that reference and that justification to push off the appearance?

MARIOTTI: Well, I think that's -- it's a way to accommodate, obviously, the potential prejudice to the governor, Mr. Kemp, as well as trying to deal with the potential burden that that would place on him.

You could imagine you don't want a situation where local prosecutors can deluge a candidate with subpoenas in the run-up to an election in order to pull them away from campaign events. So I think that's a reasonable accommodation. I don't really expect that to slow down the Georgia investigation in any way.

I would expect any charges there to come out after the election in any event. I think that would be the wise and prudent course for any prosecutor. So I don't see it slowing anything down.

CAMEROTA: Juliette, I want to go back to the top secret documents for a minute with you, because of what Lindsey Graham -- Senator Lindsey Graham said this weekend.

KAYYEM: Yes.

CAMEROTA: We all remember how much Donald Trump did not like the thought of classified information being out of...

KAYYEM: Yes.

CAMEROTA: ... getting into bad hands when it involved Hillary Clinton. He thought that she should be locked up in prison.

And then Senator Graham said something that sounded like a threat about what possible violence could happen if Donald Trump is at all prosecuted for being so sloppy with classified docs.

KAYYEM: Yes. Yes. CAMEROTA: So, here's what he said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. LINDSEY GRAHAM (R-SC): If there's a prosecution of Donald Trump for mishandling classified information, after the Clinton debacle, which you presided over and did a hell of a good job, there will be riots in the streets.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CAMEROTA: I'm sure that that's true, what he's saying, given the foaming-at-the-mouth crowd mob that we saw on January 6.

But in terms of that, is there any way to tell which is more dangerous, the sloppy top secret documents being in boxes at Mar-a- Lago or Hillary Clinton's e-mails? '

KAYYEM: I think -- yes, I mean, I think just in terms of the classification status and the amount of information at this stage that we know that Donald Trump was responsible for, and let's just be clear here, then ignored months of request to get the documents.

So I hate even making a comparison between Hillary Clinton's giving the documents and saying, yes, I was sent e-mails that were on a private server vs. Trump. But we just have to constantly make clear he gave up some documents months ago, but held on to these. Like, so it's -- just none of it makes sense, except for determining what his motivation was for keeping these documents.

[14:15:04]

So, the comparison is not accurate. And Graham is clearly signaling the incitement that Donald Trump, his hero at this stage -- I don't know what the relationship is, but his golf partner -- that these two are -- by invoking the potential of violence, they are signaling to a very small portion of Trump supporters -- and I want to be clear here, very, very small portion -- that this is what they want.

Now -- and it's clear, there's no evidence that there's going to be riots in the street. When the raid happened, to remind people who get nervous about the stuff, about two dozen people showed up at Mar-a- Lago. And so they're trying to scare people into believing that we can't move forward because the consequence will be violence.

But what they're doing in the process is clearly making it sort of obvious at this stage that all Trump has is violence or the threat of violence now. That's all he has. That's what he's doing online now, people who don't follow him anymore. That's all he has.

And that is a way in which I hope this hold that he has begins to get weaker, right? Ideologies don't end in a single blow, but they either get stronger or they get weaker. And part of what we're seeing is Trump's sort of embrace of violence now, pure violence, not even hinting of it anymore, as a way to isolate him from those who can no longer sort of pretend like there's some other narrative behind Trump anymore.

It's not a great time. I'm not happy about it, but I don't think all the metrics are bad. And I think people should begin to recognize this is how ideologies break loose. And that's good too.

CAMEROTA: Renato Mariotti, Juliette Kayyem, thank you both.

KAYYEM: Thank you.

BLACKWELL: Ukraine launches a long-awaited counteroffensive against Russian forces in the southern region of the country. CNN has new details,.

CAMEROTA: Plus, stocks staging a comeback, after spending much of the day in the red.

(CROSSTALK)

CAMEROTA: Well, I don't know that that's a comeback right there. Investors are still worried that the Fed is not done hiking interest rates.

And even your pumpkin spice latte vendor is feeling the price spike. We have more on that ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[14:21:45]

BLACKWELL: A Proud Boy member who police say came nearly face to face with Senator Chuck Schumer on January 6 was sentenced today to 55 months in prison.

This is Joshua Pruitt inside the Capitol that day. A Capitol Police officer who was escorting the Democratic senator out of the Capitol says that he felt like Pruitt was chasing them.

CNN's Whitney Wild is live for us in Washington with more.

So, Whitney, did the judge have anything to say about this today?

WHITNEY WILD, CNN LAW ENFORCEMENT CORRESPONDENT: Absolutely.

His words were pointed. And he said this during the sentencing to Joshua Pruitt: "You were at the forefront of that mob," adding that the mob's actions and Pruitt's actions that day "snapped our previously unbroken tradition of the peaceful transition of power."

Prosecutors have said, as you mentioned, it was a very close call. They said again that he came nearly face to face with Senator Chuck Schumer, that this was such a difficult situation for his detail that the protective detail actually told prosecutors that they had to change their evacuation plan on the fly when they saw Pruitt in the building. He was just four or five seconds from the senator.

And instead of exiting through an elevator, as they had planned to do, Schumer and his detail ran down a ramp and shut some double doors behind them. Prosecutors said that Pruitt was a Proud Boys recruit. And during the sentencing hearing, prosecutors told the judge that, to join the Proud Boys, Pruitt would have basically done anything it took.

He was going to try to join this group, irrespective of the consequences of his actions. He was that committed. During the Capitol attack, Pruitt was one of the first of this mob to enter several areas of the Capitol. He destroyed a large sign in the building. He threw it across the room. Prosecutors said that was meant to stir up the mob inside.

Again, 55 months in prison for Joshua Pruitt, so a pretty important day in court, as we begin to see more of these types of cases actually end up in the sentencing phase -- back to you.

BLACKWELL: Whitney Wild, thank you very much.

Wall Street is keeping investors on edge right now after Friday's 1,000-point loss of the Dow, about 100 points down now.

CAMEROTA: Investors appear to be worried that the Fed will keep raising interest rates to try to tame inflation.

CNN business correspondent Rahel Solomon is here.

So, Rahel, people are worried that we're going into recession. Is that what's happening here?

RAHEL SOLOMON, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Absolutely, in a word, yes.

I mean, let's think about what Chairman Powell said on Friday. He said that the Central Bank will be raising rates higher for longer as it tries to tackle inflation, even knowing some of the concerns and risks that that pose.

Now, if you're at home wondering, feels like they have been raising rates all year, they have. They have raised rates four times, but from a very low level of practically zero percent. But there are three meetings ahead for the rest of the year, including that big September meeting, where many are now starting to feel, after that meeting on Friday, but it's looking more likely that we could see another 75 basis points, or three-quarters-of-a-percent.

Guys, that would be the third time in a row that we have seen a supersized rate hike like that. And the concern being felt among investors and economists around the world and some politicians as well is that, every time the Federal Reserve has to raise rates in this supersized manner, it increases the likelihood of a policy misstep, or, as some, like Elizabeth Warren, the senator, said, also raises the risk of a recession.

[14:25:00]

Take a listen. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. ELIZABETH WARREN (D-MA): Do you know what's worse than high prices and a strong economy? It's high prices and millions of people out of work. I'm very worried that the Fed is going to tip this economy into recession.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SOLOMON: And Chairman Powell acknowledged that those concerns of joblessness, right, I mean, as they raise rates, that we might start to see people lose their jobs, that people are going to be dealing with higher interest rates, but said that those are the unfortunate costs of fighting inflation and that, by not fighting inflation, now, it increases the pain and the future of inflation just sticking around for much longer.

BLACKWELL: Speaking of the pain of inflation...

CAMEROTA: Yes.

BLACKWELL: ... it's come for groceries, come for clothes, cars, and now the pumpkin spice latte?

(LAUGHTER)

SOLOMON: I know. I know.

I come bearing some good news and some bad news.

BLACKWELL: OK.

SOLOMON: The good news is, for some, at least, that the pumpkin spice latte from Starbucks returns tomorrow. The bad news is, it'll cost you a little bit more.

So, Starbucks saying that it will cost about 4 percent more compared to last year. So, to put that in perspective, it's going to cost you on average about $5.45 to $5.95.

The question is, guys, is it too soon?

CAMEROTA: Yes.

BLACKWELL: A pumpkin...

(CROSSTALK)

SOLOMON: Six dollars for a latte, that's another question altogether. But is it too soon?

(CROSSTALK)

CAMEROTA: Before Labor Day, pumpkin spice? No, it's like -- it's like how you have to retire your white pants after that. No.

BLACKWELL: The return to school, pumpkin spice lattes should be after Labor Day.

CAMEROTA: Absolutely.

SOLOMON: And should not cost $6. But that's a different question altogether.

And Chairman Powell is doing his best to try to get to that.

BLACKWELL: Nothing is safe.

SOLOMON: At all.

BLACKWELL: Rahel, thank you.

CAMEROTA: Thanks, Rahel.

BLACKWELL: A volleyball match between Duke and Brigham Young University turned ugly after one Duke player was heckled with racist slurs. We will tell you how BYU handled it and how the player's family is reacting. That's ahead.

CAMEROTA: And two pilots getting into a brawl mid-flight while people were on the plane, this happened on an Air France flight.

We have all the details.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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