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Safe Drinking Water Crisis in Mississippi; Ukrainian Counteroffensive; Judge to Decide on Special Master in Mar-a-Lago Case. Aired 1-1:30p ET

Aired August 30, 2022 - 13:00   ET

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

[13:00:01]

JOHN KING, CNN HOST: This one of two fund-raisers on Obama's schedule leading up to the midterm elections.

The man who came within seconds of Senator Chuck Schumer during the Capitol riot is going to prison, the Proud Boys recruit Joshua Pruitt sentenced to four-and-a-half years behind bars. You can see Pruitt in a mob chasing police officers. Pruitt pleaded guilty to felony obstruction.

Thanks for your time today.

Ana Cabrera picks up our coverage right now.

ANA CABRERA, CNN HOST: Hello, and thanks for joining us. I'm Ana Cabrera in New York.

Right now, time is running out for the Justice Department to meet its latest deadline related to the search a former President Trump's Florida home. Justice officials have just hours left now to file their response to Trump's request for a special master, or third party, to get involved in processing documents.

The DOJ says it's already done the work. It's filtered out seized materials that could fall under attorney-client privilege. Still, Trump supporters are demanding more transparency, and they argue a special master could provide that. It could also provide a delay in court proceedings.

CNN senior justice correspondent Evan Perez leads us off here.

Evan, this all boils down to one Florida judge and whether she thinks a third party is necessary.

EVAN PEREZ, CNN SENIOR JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: That's right, Ana.

She came in over the weekend and said that she was inclined to grant the former president's request for a special master without actually seeing anything from the Justice Department. So that's what we're going to see today, the Justice Department asking for -- to exceed the page limit that normally applies in this court in Southern Florida. They're asking for about 40 pages. Now, that's longer than the

affidavit that we saw unsealed last Friday. What we expect to see is more description of what's been going on behind the scenes. We know that there's a group of FBI agents who are not involved in the investigation who've been looking specifically at these documents for anything that could be attorney-client privileged.

And they are removing that and dealing with that in a whole separate process that is actually being controlled by a judge, another judge, not the judge who is going to hold this hearing on Thursday. So, after the Justice Department makes its filing today, we expect that the Trump team will be able to respond tomorrow, tomorrow by 8:00 p.m., and then the hearing on Thursday down in Palm Beach, in West Palm Beach, Florida.

And at that point, we will see whether she believes that there needs to be this new third party injected into this to look over the shoulder of the FBI agents, of the prosecutors, Ana, who've been doing this for now three weeks, before the Trump people really got involved here.

CABRERA: OK, well watch for that filing. It could come at any moment now.

Evan Perez, we will check back with you should there be a new development.

PEREZ: Thanks.

CABRERA: Thank you.

Let's discuss with Renato Mariotti. He is a former federal prosecutor who now hosts the "On Topic" podcast

Renato, we're anticipating a robust response, as Evan just told us, from the DOJ. The judge initially set that 20-page limit. The DOJ said that wasn't enough. The judge essentially said, OK, you can have up to 40 pages.

Forty pages, what does that signal to you?

RENATO MARIOTTI, FORMER FEDERAL PROSECUTOR: Well, it tells me that the Justice Department is not just going to lay out what we already know and make its arguments. They could have done that in 20 pages.

I think that they are going to add a lot of detail to make sure that this judge understands why her initial course or her initial inclination was not -- did not make sense, when you consider all the law and the underlying facts and circumstances of this case.

So, I think more new revelations for all of us in the public about what's been going on behind the scenes.

CABRERA: So, if that's the case, if we get new information, what kind of new information might we get? What will you be looking for?

MARIOTTI: So one thing I think will be very interesting is more detail.

Obviously, at a high level, we're not going to learn the secret spy information, but we're going to learn some detail about what exactly was seized. I think that would could be really important to give the judge more context, so she understands why the DOJ acted as they did.

I think we also may see more detail about the run-up to this. There's been a lot of, I would say, misinformation out there regarding how the DOJ handled this, discussion of, well, all the DOJ had to do is ask, and Trump would have given everything over.

That is not consistent with what we have seen and what the -- what is in public knowledge thus far. I think we may get a lot more detail about that, about this padlock they asked to be put on the documents and so on. I think we might learn some more detail about that as well.

CABRERA: Now, we have reported it's not unusual to have a special master involved in consequential cases, situations like this, perhaps.

One could argue having a third party deal with this could bolster public confidence that everything's been done thoughtfully and thoroughly and without any political influence.

Is there any reason that the DOJ wouldn't want a special master?

[13:05:03]

MARIOTTI: Well, great question.

I mean, ordinarily, Ana, you have a special master in cases involving attorney-client privilege, like the Michael Cohen case, right? They raided his office, his residence and so on. Of course, you're going to get a lot of attorney-client privilege materials there.

Here, what the Justice Department did is, they set up a system where a separate team of lawyers who are not involved in the case did a privilege review. And then any questions were dealt with by the judge who issued the search warrant, who is, of course, a third party. He's a part of the judicial branch of government.

That review is already done. And those attorney-client issues, which are pretty limited, have already been dealt with. The Justice Department here, I think, is probably reacting to the fact that the Trump camp is actually seeking a review regarding executive privilege, which I have to say, Ana, from a legal perspective really doesn't make a lot of sense, because the executive branch is the branch of government that seized all the documents.

So using executive privilege to keep documents away from the executive branch would like -- would be like me telling my clients that they couldn't have their documents back because they're protected by attorney-client privilege, right? It's their privilege to begin with. So it's bizarre.

CABRERA: So do you see it as a delay tactic, or what?

MARIOTTI: Well, I don't think it's going to materially delay the Justice Department investigation.

I have to say, Ana, I have trouble seeing the significant upside for the Trump camp. I actually think what happened was the Trump wanted to go -- quote -- "on the offensive," wanted to file something. And there really wasn't much for them to do. Ordinarily, I would tell clients to cool their jets, and try to actually get information from the prosecution team at this stage and conduct our own investigation behind the scenes.

I think he wanted to file something. And so this was a chance to get a story out there and say something. I really don't see a lot of upside for them. I think this is a waste of everyone's time.

CABRERA: And, of course, this special master would have to look at some extremely sensitive government documents, some of the most sensitive this nation has. How do you pick somebody to do that?

MARIOTTI: You need somebody with clearance. It's probably going to be a former judge. That would be my suspicion. That's what's happened in other cases.

So, it would have to be somebody selected carefully and somebody who has the proper clearances. I think there's a chance to judge may say here, now that this attorney-client privilege issue is out of the way, that there -- and that's already -- the cart is out of the -- the horse is out of the barn, so to speak, with, that she might -- she might reverse course regarding a special master. We will see.

CABRERA: And before I let you go, we also learned today that Trump has added Florida's former Solicitor General Chris Kise to his legal team, as well as a former federal prosecutor, Jim Trusty.

What do you make of these hires?

MARIOTTI: Well, the first hire, I have to say, is a potential sign that Trump finally has somebody who's a quarterback for this case. He's a very competent attorney. I have heard good things about him. So we will -- I guess we will have to see more.

He's not a criminal defense attorney. He's not somebody like Mr. Trusty who has that experience, but he's obviously a skilled attorney. Regarding Mr. Trusty, he does have the background to handle this case, although I will say the decisions this far, Ana, have been pretty questionable on terms of their criminal defense strategy.

And Mr. Trusty himself has made some false statements on television recently. So it remains to be seen what his performance is going to be.

CABRERA: Renato Mariotti, this story is obviously consequential. And I appreciate you being there along every step. Thank you for joining us.

Now to new information the original trove of documents retrieved from Mar-a-Lago back in January. CNN is learning that U.S. intel agencies began a document-by-document review back in may to assess classification levels of those materials.

And CNN's Katie Bo Lillis has the details for us.

Katie Bo, what more can you share?

KATIE BO LILLIS, CNN REPORTER: Ana, so what we have learned is that, beginning in mid-May, when the FBI first gained access to the set of documents that the National Archives recovered from Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago resort in January, it began working with individual intelligence agencies to make sure that they could determine the appropriate classification level for each of these documents.

So, what that looked like in practice is, the FBI would take a document that belonged to, say, the CIA, and they would take it to the agency and they would say, what is this? And the CIA would help them determine the classification level for that document.

Now, there was kind of an added and, let's say, informal bonus to this investigative practice. It allowed these agencies to get kind of an early look at the documents contained in these boxes that belong to them and make an informal and early judgment about whether or not they needed to take any immediate steps to mitigate any potential damage if those documents were to be exposed.

CABRERA: So, how is this, then, different from this new damage assessment that's being done?

LILLIS: Yes, it's an important question, Ana.

It's important to understand that the damage assessment is distinct here. The damage assessment is a broader analytical product that's being carried out by the intelligence community, writ large, right?

The office of the national -- the director for the -- of national intelligence announced on Friday that they were going to be conducting this damage assessment that was going to look at the potential harm that could occur if any of the material in these boxes were to be made public, which, again, it's important to understand that, at this point, we don't know whether or not any of these documents were exposed due to their handling while they were at Mar-a-Lago.

[13:10:28]

That's distinct from what's been happening up until now, which has been part of the FBI investigation, this kind of document-by-document classification review that, nevertheless, incidentally did allow intelligence agencies to take a look at some of the documents that belonged to them to allow them to determine, was there a risk to any of our sensitive sources and methods?

CABRERA: OK, Katie Bo Lillis, thanks for breaking that down for us.

There's also key development in the January 6 probe. A man House investigators say would be a crucial witness,Secret Service Assistant Director Tony Ornato, is leaving the agency. This comes just two months after that explosive testimony from ex-White House aide Cassidy Hutchinson.

She said Ornato told her that Trump was irate after learning his security detail would not take him to the Capitol on January 6.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CASSIDY HUTCHINSON, FORMER AIDE TO MARK MEADOWS: The president reached up towards the front of the vehicle to grab at the steering wheel. Mr. Engel grabbed his arm, said: "Sir, you need to take your hand off the steering wheel. We're going back to the West Wing. We're not going to the Capitol."

Mr. Trump then used his free hand to lunge towards Bobby Engel. And Mr -- when Mr. Ornato had recounted this story to me, he had motioned towards his clavicles.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CABRERA: Ornato's Secret Service career has spanned more than 25 years, protecting five presidents. He tells CNN in a statement that he has long planned to retire. The January 6 Committee has expressed a desire to speak with him. It's not clear when or if he will.

The counteroffensive is on, and Ukraine is claiming some early wins, as President Zelenskyy vows to chase Russian troops out of the country. We're live in Kyiv.

Plus, struggling to keep the power on; 20 million American households are behind on their utility bills. And there's one major culprit.

And they're accused of invading the homes of pro athletes and other celebrities, like Mariah Carey. Details on dozens of alleged gang members now indicted in Atlanta.

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[13:16:56]

CABRERA: The first grain shipment from Ukraine to Africa since the Russian invasion began has finally arrived; 23,000 metric tons of grain docked in Djibouti just a few hours ago. This is a huge deal; 20 million people in that region face starvation and the worst drought in decades.

Meanwhile, inside Ukraine, more shelling is being recorded near Europe's largest nuclear plant. Kyiv and Moscow are blaming each other for the attacks. The U.N.'s nuclear watchdog has a team on the way to inspect it. It's already arrived there in Kyiv.

And we have these new images showing just how urgent their mission is. Strikes hit the plant just a few hundred feet from one of the reactors, leaving behind these holes there in the roof.

CNN's Melissa Bell is in Kyiv for us.

Melissa, President Zelenskyy just met with the head of the IAEA. That's the International Atomic Energy Agency. What can you tell us about that meeting and the team's plan?

MELISSA BELL, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, this was a meeting, Ana, that had simply not been planned, that was organized at the last minute, because of the difficulties in getting to the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant.

As you say, there have been accusations from both sides of who is responsible for that shelling that's caused that damage that you speak of, but it is that very fighting, shelling around the plant that has made that inspection so crucial that is also apparently making it very difficult, with President Zelenskyy speaking during that meeting with the head of the IAEA mission, Rafael Grossi, about the fact that it was now necessary, as Ukraine has been calling for, for some time, to make this a demilitarized area.

The Ukrainian position -- and this is backed by American intelligence -- is that Russia has been using this plant as a military base. You just showed that picture of the damage that had been done to the roof. You can also see armored vehicles there. And what Ukraine has said today is that it is military exercises around that plant and shelling of the very corridors that the inspector of would have used that are now the issue.

And, of course, given that damage, time is of the essence, the inspectors hoping to get to Zaporizhzhia nonetheless, Ana.

CABRERA: And fill us in. What is the status of that counteroffensive we have been hearing about in the south?

BELL: Well, there's been a great deal of hope amongst any Ukrainians we speak to here in Kyiv today on day two of that counteroffensive.

Now, in some ways, access to those front lines is difficult, any news tightly kept. But we have been hearing from Ukrainian military spokespeople about the progress being made, not just some of the villages that were retaken yesterday.

But, today, they say they have managed to really prevent the crossing of the Dnieper River. And that is important because that is how Russia is resupplying with men and equipment its positions on the right side of the bank around Kherson.

Now Ukraine is hoping to be able to take back that area. It is extremely important on -- from the point of view of the morale of this country. It is one of the only -- it is the only regional capital that has been taken by Russia in six months and remains in its hands. It is of huge strategic importance to both sides.

[13:20:05]

And it is incredibly important for Ukraine, now that it has announced this counteroffensive and launched it, that it should succeed. We have also been learning this afternoon that the United States has been helping Ukraine very specifically to arm it for this particular counteroffensive, Ana.

CABRERA: We know Russian President Vladimir Putin sees things a little bit differently.

Melissa Bell, thank you.

So let's go to Moscow and hear the other side of this war.

CNN senior international correspondent Fred Pleitgen is there.

Fred, how is the Kremlin responding to this Ukrainian push to retake territory in the south?

FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, the Russians are saying, Ana, that the Ukrainians are failing.

They do acknowledge that a counteroffensive is going on that was launched by the Ukrainians. It took the Russians actually a pretty long time to actually acknowledge that their forces were under pressure, but they're saying that their forces are actually holding up and have made some pretty big casualties on the Ukrainians as well.

In fact, the Russian Defense Ministry came out earlier today and spoke of over 1,000 Ukrainians who had either been killed or wounded in that attack, which the Russians again say is not making very much headway, or at least that the Russians are standing their ground.

They were also speaking of around 50 tanks destroyed, also armored vehicles destroyed and infantry fighting vehicles destroyed as well. So the Russians clearly are saying that they are standing their ground.

There was also one official in that local area who was installed by Moscow who said that Kherson, which is sort of the main city out there, and really the main place that the Ukrainians want to win back, that that was not in danger of being taken by the Ukrainians, that the Russians are well-entrenched there. despite the fact that the Russians do acknowledge they are taking some pretty heavy hits from the Ukrainians.

There's one town sort of on the front line there where the Russians are saying that's being heavily shelled by the Ukrainians. They say there's no gas, water or electricity there. And, of course, you have what Melissa was talking about, the fact that the Russians are having some serious resupply issues with the fact that a lot of the bridges over the Dnipro River, which is extremely wide at that place -- there's a big river pass in there -- that that's obviously something that's also hampering things for them as well.

Nevertheless, the Russians are saying that they are holding ground and that they're going to continue to do that, so obviously trying to negate what the Ukrainians are saying.

CABRERA: Could be a pivotal point right now in this invasion.

Frederik Pleitgen, thank you for that reporting.

In Pakistan, new satellite images reveal massive swathes of land, including entire villages, covered by floodwaters. Pakistan's climate change minister says at least one-third of that country is underwater now after an unprecedented amount of rainfall. Officials say more than 1,000 people have died since monsoon season began in June, and at least 33 million more have been impacted.

This morning, the U.S. announced it planned to send $30 million in humanitarian aid.

You can go to CNN.com/Impact to find out how you can help Pakistan's flood victims.

Meantime, a deepening crisis in flood-ravaged Jackson, Mississippi. Tens of thousands of people there are without water. And even if they do have it, the governor says don't drink it. More on this state of emergency just ahead.

And Serena Williams kicks off what could be the final tournament of her storied tennis career with a win. You can hear that rowdy crowd of 24,000 on hand last night at the U.S. Open to watch, to cheer her on.

Up next, Williams faces number two seed Anett Kontaveit of Estonia on Wednesday. And the two have never faced off before, but Kontaveit says she was rooting for Serena to win. And while she says she will fight for every point, she's ready and she's really going to enjoy the atmosphere playing against the greatest player of all time, the GOAT.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[13:28:40]

CABRERA: A crisis right now in Jackson, Mississippi, and a warning for people who live there: Do not drink the water.

The state's capital and most populated city is under a water emergency after its main treatment facility failed. Authorities are scrambling now to get safe drinking water to 180,000 residents. Beyond the lack of drinking water, the governor says there's not even enough water pressure for fighting fires or even flushing toilets.

Just moments ago, the governor said the state will help fund water system repairs, but the city will have to pay half.

CNN's Isabel Rosales joins us now live from Ridgeland, Mississippi, near Jackson.

Isabel, what do we know in terms of what caused this system to fail? And how are people coping?

ISABEL ROSALES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Ana, the governor was alerted last week that pumps at its main water treatment facility were damaged.

Then came all of that record rainfall and the flooding of the Pearl River, and that was the last straw. Now, Jackson has an aged legacy water system, water infrastructure that the mayor recognizes has been in long need of repair and updating. But he says that the city just cannot afford that. They have a price tag on that would be in $1 billion. They say that they do not have the money for that, all of this resulting in a real emergency for the residents here in Jackson. You mentioned that officials have been.