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Biden: MAGA Extremism Threatens Country's Foundation; Decision to Appoint Special Master Could Come Any Time; Jackson, Mississippi Residents Line Up for Water Distribution; U.N. Nuclear Watchdog Visits Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Plant; Russia Pushes Back Against Possible Oil Price Caps; DOJ Filing Signals Possible Legal Jeopardy for Trump Lawyers. Aired 4-4:30a ET

Aired September 02, 2022 - 04:00   ET

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

[04:00:00]

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 --

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I will not stand by and watch. I will not -- the will of the American people be over turned by wild conspiracy theories and baseless evidence and claims of fraud.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Trump's team saying the Mar-a-Lago search was suspect -- according to reports from the courtroom. And argued a Special Master should pore over materials that the government says included more than 100 documents marked classified.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: What are they doing with our tax dollars? You got to pay a water bill but you can't use the water. That don't make no sense. I've got $100 water bill I just paid and I can't use the water.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MACFARLANE: Hello and welcome, it's Friday, September 2, 9:00 a.m. here in London, 4:00 a.m. in Washington and Philadelphia. Where U.S. President Biden says Donald Trump and his extremist supporters are a threat to the very soul of the nation. He blasted their election conspiracies, assault on civil rights and calls for political violence. Mr. Biden is hoping his fiery tone will help set the agenda for November's midterm elections. CNN's Jeff Zeleny reports.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JEFF ZELENY, CNN CHIEF U.S. NATIONAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: President Biden delivered one of the most forceful speeches of his presidency Thursday night in Philadelphia. Taking direct aim at his predecessor Donald Trump and what he says is the extremism that is coursing through the Republican Party.

BIDEN: MAGA Republicans have made their choice. They embrace anger. They thrive on chaos. They live not in the light of truth but in the shadow of lies. Here in my view is what's true. MAGA Republicans do not respect the Constitution.

ZELENY: This message coming nine weeks before the midterm election season underscores how the president and the White House is trying to reframe the conversation, trying to make this a choice between Republicans and Democrats in the fall campaign.

Now giving this speech in Pennsylvania clearly makes the case that this state is one of the most important, a key governor's race, a Senate race as well as assorted House races. But the president went far beyond that. In a speech about democracy, he said it is incumbent on all Americans to stand up and protect their freedoms.

BIDEN: I'm asking our nation to come together, unite behind the single purpose of defending our democracy regardless of your ideology.

ZELENY: The White House going to great lengths to say this is not a political speech. But no question politics was at the heart of the message from the president. Cleary trying to make the case that Democrats he believes are better stewards of democracy than Republicans.

Jeff Zeleny, CNN, Philadelphia.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MACFARLANE: Well, Republicans have a much different view ahead of the midterms in November. House GOP leader Kevin McCarthy is demanding President Biden apologize for a comment last week comparing MAGA philosophy to semi-fascism. McCarthy says Mr. Biden has chosen to divide, demean and disparage Americans simply because they disagree with his policies.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. KEVIN MCCARTHY (R-CA): In the past two years, Joe Biden has launched an assault on the soul of America. On its people, on its laws, on its most sacred values. He has launched an assault on our democracy.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MACFARLANE: And if Republicans win control of the House of Representatives in November midterm elections, McCarthy is widely expected to become Speaker.

Now a decision could come at any time on whether to appoint a Special Master, a third party to review top-secret documents seized from Donald Trump's home last month. A federal judge declined to make her ruling at the Thursday's hearing but asked the Justice Department what's the harm? We get the latest now from CNN's Sara Murray.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SARA MURRAY, CNN POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT (voice over): No ruling yet, as lawyers for Donald Trump and the Justice Department went head-to- head in court over whether a special master should review documents seized at Mar-a-Lago.

DAVID SCHOEN, REPRESENTED TRUMP FOR SECOND IMPEACHMENT: If the government's case is as they think it is, let's just play it straight. Let a special master come in.

MURRAY (voice-over): Trump's team saying the Mar-a-Lago search was suspect, according to reports from the courtroom, and argued a special master should pore over materials that the government says included more than 100 documents marked classified.

[04:05:00]

Trump lawyer Jim Trusty described the battle over whether classified materials were illegally kept in Mar-a-Lago as comparable to a dispute over an overdue library book. And Christopher Kise, the newest member of Trump's legal team, encouraged the judge to appoint a special master to help lower the temperature in the nation. The judge indicating, if she appoints a special master, she may still allow the intelligence community to review the seized documents as part of a damage assessment.

Prosecutors, meantime, arguing the special master was unnecessary and saying Trump's team has offered no evidence there was any disregard for the former president's rights, as the judge asked prosecutors, what's the harm in appointing a special master. Beyond the courtroom, Trump --

DONALD TRUMP, FORMER U.S. PRESIDENT: It's not like this was some sinister plot.

MURRAY (voice-over): -- insisting whatever ended up at Mar-a-Lago was the result of hastily packing up to leave the White House.

TRUMP: You accumulate a lot of stuff over a term and then all of a sudden, you're leaving and stuff gets packed up and sent.

MURRAY (voice-over): Trump's team downplayed the documents found in his Florida home and private club without denying they were classified. Saying, simply put, the notion presidential records would contain sensitive information should have never have been cause for alarm.

Trump's team also taking issue with the extraordinary photo the DOJ revealed this week, showing a tranche of documents with highly classified markings recovered from Trump's office.

ALINA HABBA, DONALD TRUMP'S LAWYER: They give you this appearance that you walk in and there's these top secret documents just strewn about.

MURRAY (voice-over): Inadvertently highlighting the security risk of hoarding documents in an office with heavy foot traffic.

HABBA: That is not the way his office looks. Anybody that knows President Trump's office, he has guests frequently there. MURRAY: Now the judge also said she's considering publicly releasing a more detailed inventory of the materials that were seized during that search in Mar-a-Lago. We are waiting for her final word on that and a number of these issues that cropped up during the hearing. She's expected to issue her ruling in writing. No time timeline for when they ruling and come.

Sara Murray, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MACFARLANE: Now Donald Trump remains cagey as ever over whether he'll run in 2024. But on Thursday he revived a theme from his final days in office, presidential pardons for January 6 rioters. Trump did not make good on it when he was in office, so there's good reason to be skeptical here. But he claims he's supporting some of these same people financially.

Meanwhile we've learned the January 6 Select Committee is interested in speaking with former U.S. House Speaker Newt Gingrich. Members want to hear from him about his role in promoting false claims about the election and what communications he may have had with senior Trump White House officials. The committee is hoping Gingrich will cooperate voluntarily.

Now economists are keeping an eye out for the Labor Department's latest jobs report due out in just a few hours' time and it could have a major impact on U.S. financial markets. The Dow and S&P 500 managed to end their four day losing streak on Thursday. The Nasdaq recovered some losses in a late day rally but still closed lower. Blue chips stocks gained half a percent on the day and the S&P finished up about a third of a percent.

Wall Street's new trading day gets underway in just about 5 1/2 hours' time. And here's a look at where U.S. futures are standing right now. You can see all three indices currently down. Meanwhile, other global markets still waiting on that jobs report. Here is a look at how things are in Europe, which is of course up and running. All three in the green. And a final look at the Asian markets which as you can see are a mixed picture there. Shanghai composite up only by half a percent.

Well, that imminent jobs report for August could provide clues to the direction of the U.S. economy and what the Federal Reserve might do next. On Thursday we learned weekly jobless claims fell to their lowest level since late June. 232,000 Americans filed first time unemployment claims last week. Which is 5,000 fewer than the previous week.

And the water crisis in Jackson, Mississippi is far from over. But things may be moving now in the right direction. City officials say that they've installed a new pump and have made significant gains on restoring water pressure to residents and water distribution stations are up and running. CNN's Ryan Young has the latest from Jackson.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) RYAN YOUNG, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, a lot of questions about how the water was going to be distributed over the last few days. It looks like it got a lot better since the National Guard has moved into place. You look over here, you can see how they set it up. You've got two lines and it keeps flowing. So, people are waiting in line literally less than ten minutes to get the water.

It's a different situation than we've seen over the last few days as people would wait in the line for hours in extreme heat. The other good news here is we know a new pump has been installed and right now we're being told they are worried about the ph level balance of the water, so people still, obviously, have to boil that water.

The other good part that we figured out is the mayor and the governor have started working together to try it to balance out these issues when it comes to the water that's flowing to the city. Businesses have been particularly hit hard, some have had to close, some are struggling to keep employees through all of this.

[04:10:00]

We talked to several businesses on just about how they plan to move forward over the next few days.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It has been really hectic, frustrating, costly.

ANDY NESENSON, GENERAL MANAGER, THE IRON HORSE GRILL: It certainly had a negative impact on our business. I mean, from guest confidence that are walking in and trying to, you know, make sure that can you come to Jackson and have a great meal. We are very independent driven. So, we don't have a lot of tourism here. So, a lot of the locals are just deciding to stay at home. And it's a real challenge because many of our employees -- we have 90 employees, many of whom are bartenders and servers that rely on tips.

And so, without guests, they don't have gratuities or tips. And so, it's really having a negative impact on them. And so, how do you convince these people to, hey look, it's going to be OK. Give us more time. The challenge is this has been going on since July 29th.

YOUNG: Yes, that last manager worked at the Iron Horse Grill and he said some people are canceling events because they are worried about the water quality. They are spending thousands of dollars to make sure the doors stay open and when you think about it, they have 90 plus employees.

So, this is having a rippling effect all throughout the community. Football season is getting ready to start. A lot of people are interested in coming to town for those games. And when you think about the impact of this, it's going to be felt for months with companies and businesses that have been still struggling after COVID.

Ryan Young, CNN, Jackson, Mississippi.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MACFARLANE: For more information about how you can help with the Jackson water crisis, go to CNN.com/impact.

Now we want to show you some shocking images out of Argentina of a failed assassination attempt against the country's vice president on live television. Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner was greeting supporters outside her home late Thursday when a man pointed a gun directly at her face -- as you can see there -- and pulled the trigger. For some reason the gun did not fire and the vice president was unharmed. The suspect was quickly taken into custody. Argentina's president addressed the nation soon afterwards to condemn the attack.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ALBERTO FERNANDEZ, ARGENTINIAN PRESIDENT (through translator): This is an incident of extreme institutional and human severity. An attack has been made on our vice president and social peace has been disturbed.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MACFARLANE: Police have identified the suspect as a Brazilian national and said the weapon was loaded with five bullets. They say it's not clear why the gun did not fire.

Now international inspectors make their way to Ukraine's Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant. But now the big question is how long can they stay? We'll have a live report from Kyiv.

Plus, Moscow warns that there'll be consequences if G7 countries go through with a proposal to cap the price of Russian oil. More on that next.

[04:15:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MACFARLANE: Ukraine says its forces are inflicting significant losses on Russian troops in the south. Military officials say Russian targets across the Kherson region have been taking fire. They include troops, command centers, warehouses and key bridges.

But in the east officials say Ukrainian troops have kept Russians at bay for weeks despite all their attempts to advance. The latest attempts came on Thursday, but Ukraine says Russians failed again.

The U.N.'s nuclear watchdog says it's not going anywhere now that the inspectors are inside Ukraine's Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant. Officials from the International Atomic Energy Agency reached the plant on Thursday for the first time since the war began. The IAEA chief later said his agency is there to stay. At this point it's still an open question as to whether the agency will have a permanent presence at the facility. President Zelenskyy says Russian troops should be out of the plant all together.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY, UKRAINIAN PRESIDENT (through translator): Demilitarization of the territory of the station is the goal of Ukrainian and international efforts. And it is bad that we have not yet heard the appropriate messages from the IAEA despite the fact that we talked about it with Mr. Grossi during our meeting in Kyiv. It was the key, the key security point of our agreements. It was outlined clearly. Demilitarization and full control by our nuclear workers.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MACFARLANE: For more, Melissa Bell joins us now live from Kyiv. And Melissa, we heard President Zelenskyy there calling again for demilitarization of the plant. What more do we know about what the inspectors found there yesterday?

MELISSA BELL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, we're going to get more in a detailed report that will be published after the several more days that the five inspectors that stayed behind will spend inside the plant. Of course, this is really where the real work begins because they will have a chance as we heard from Rafael Grossi, the head of the mission, yesterday after he spent just four hours inside the plant.

But seeing he said what the four or five key things that he needed to, they will be able he explained to ask deeper questions, to dig deeper, to try and find out exactly more about the damage and what needs to be done in order that the plant can function in a safer way.

Because you sensed when he spoke his sense -- his determination, Christina, that it was time that this violence and the shelling that we've seen around the plant stop. He could into the continue, he said. And I think that's the point. Not only will there be the detailed report about exactly what damage has been done, but the idea than that the IAEA will have a permanent presence there. The idea that by having that U.N. neutral presence inside the plant, it should allow ease for a little more clarity, a little more transparency and perhaps a little more peace and quiet around the plant itself. Something he said that was now desperately urgent.

MACFARLANE: Yes, we will watch very closely for that report. Melissa Bell from Kyiv, thanks for now, Melissa.

Well meanwhile, Russia is turning up the pressure on the countries that may try to cap the price of its oil exports. Finance ministers from G7 countries are expected to meet today to discuss imposing price limits on Russian oil. The White House says the price caps would cut Russian revenues and reduce the global oil prices . But Russia is already pushing back saying the move would be costly.

[04:20:00]

For more Fred Pleitgen is joining us live from Moscow. So, Fred, just explain to us what Russia is threatening do here.

FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, I think costly is exactly the right word that the Russians certainly are using. And this comes in the form of a Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak who said that, look, if the G7 nations or if any nations decide to impose some sort of price cap on Russian oil and petroleum products, the Russians are simply going to stop providing oil and petroleum products to those countries or companies that work in those countries or companies that support such a cap on Russian oil and oil prices.

Now the Russians are also -- they went even further. They said that all of this would ruin the market, as they put it. It's quite interesting because as the G7 discusses this, the U.S. overnight said that they believe that this is something that could bring down international oil prices and at the same time also something that could hurt Vladimir Putin and the effort of course that the Russians are undertaking right now with their invasion in Ukraine.

There are however some internationally who believe that this could backfire, that this could lead the prices to go higher. And also, one of the big issues that you have is ever since a lot of sanctions have been placed on Russia internationally and also European countries have bought less Russian oil, the U.S. is buying no Russian oil basically. That other countries are jumping in. China and India first and foremost are buying a lot more oil and petroleum products from the Russians, a lot of that is being rerouted. Now a price cap of course would do more than just to try to bring down the price, it would also involve insurance for uses for shipments basically all of which go around the world.

However, one of the things that the Russians have said, is that first of all they believe that they are weathering some of the economic things that the West is trying to do to them. A lot better than many people had thought. And Vladimir Putin himself at the St. Petersburg Economic Forum not too long ago, he said he believes that Russia is simply too big to be isolated internationally. And of course, especially if you look at energy product, if you look at oil, if you look at gas, those are things that obviously worldwide are in extremely high demand right now -- Christina.

MACFARLANE: Yes, and we will wait to see what response if any there is from G7 leaders later today. Fred Pleitgen, thanks very much. Fred there from Moscow.

There are growing questions over the death of a Russian oil executive. State media reports Ravil Maganov fell out of a Moscow hospital window. Maganov was the chairman of Russia's second biggest oil and gas company Lukoil, which he said passed away following -- which he said he passed away following a severe illness. Lukoil did not mention a fall. The gas giant made headlines in March when it spoke out against the Russian's war in Ukraine calling it for it to end as quickly as possible. State media citing a law enforcement source says Maganov died from an a parent suicide.

The Kremlin says the Russian president will not attend the funeral of Mikhail Gorbachev claiming it was a work schedule that wouldn't allow it. Despite the apparent snub, Vladimir Putin did pay respects on Thursday laying flowers by the former Soviet leader's coffin. In recent years Gorbachev has grown more critical of President Putin, who in turn blamed him for the demise of the USSR. The public farewell ceremony for Gorbachev will be held on Saturday the with a funeral later that day. And lawyers who signed sworn statements that no more classified

materials were at Donald Trump's home have been put on notice by the Justice Department that they could be in legal trouble if they knew those statements were false. We have those details ahead.

Plus, for the first time since July, a new tropical storm has formed in the Atlantic. Derek, will it make landfall?

DEREK VAN DAM, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Yes, here it is, Christina, churning across the north Atlantic well away from land as we speak, but the big question is whether or not this will become the Atlantic 2022 first named hurricane of the season. We're waiting for that 5:00 a.m. update. Plus following the heatwave out West. We'll highlight it all these coming up after the break.

[04:25:00]

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MACFARLANE: Welcome back to CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Christina Macfarlane. If you're just joining us, let me bring you up-to-date with our top stories this hour.

In a rare primetime address, U.S. President Joe Biden warned that American values and democracy itself were under attack by extremists loyal to his predecessor Donald Trump. The speech was an attempt to set the stage for the upcoming midterm elections as the battle for the soul of the country.

Plus, a U.S. federal judge is expected to rule soon on whether documents seized from Donald Trump's home should be reviewed by a third party called a special master. Mr. Trump's lawyers requested that the independent review, the hearing ended without a decision from the bench. Justice Department says giving classified material to a special master would harm national security and jeopardize its investigation.

With two months before FBI agents descended on Mar-a-Lago, two of Trump's lawyers had assured the government that all documents had been returned. But those were sworn statements and the fact that the FBI ended up seizing much more sensitive material could now put those lawyers in serious legal jeopardy. CNN's Brian Todd explains.

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BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Potential legal trouble for two of Donald Trump's trusted lawyers in the Mar-a-Lago document case.

JEFFREY JACOBOVITZ, CRIMINAL DEFENSE ATTORNEY: They could be charged with false statements to the government and they can be charged with obstruction.

TODD (voice-over): That refers to Trump attorneys Christina Bobb and Evan Corcoran and questions over whether one or both of them misled investigators about sensitive documents at Mar-a-Lago. Two sources familiar with the matter tells CNN Bobb signed a letter on June 3rd at Mar-a-Lago claiming all materials requested in a subpoena had already been handed over to the Justice Department. But this week in a court filing, the Justice Department said, quote, classified documents remained at the premises, notwithstanding the sworn certification made to the government on June 3rd.

"The New York Times" reports that Evan Corcoran also met with a justice official at Mar-a-Lago on June 3rd.

JENNIFER RODGERS, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: Well, it's pretty bad as far as their legal jeopardy and for their continuing to represent the former president.

TODD (voice-over): A couple of months after Christina Bobb signed that letter, FBI agents searched Mar-a-Lago. They found over a hundred more classified documents. But a key passage in Bobb's June 3rd letter when she claimed all the documents had already been turned over said, quote, the above statements are true and correct to the best of my knowledge. What if Bobb and/or Evan Corcoran didn't know classified documents remained at Mar-a-Lago?

TODD: Is that an out for them?

JACOBOVITZ: Well, that's an interesting question because that makes them both a witness. And that's their best scenario to be witnesses and cooperate with the government. Because then they could say, we didn't have the intent to deceive anybody. This is what we were told.

TODD (voice-over): But in its filing this week, the Justice Department said that during that June meeting at Mar-a-Lago.