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Biden Speaks at DNC as Dems, GOP Sharpen Midterm Message; Biden Touts Economic Agenda Amid Inflation, Stock Slide; CNN Exclusive: Trump Lawyers Waging Secret Court Fight to Block 1/6 Testimony; Special Master to Trump Team: Prove FBI Planted Docs; Special Master Dearie Hires Retired Judge to Assist in Review; WAPO: Prosecutors Recommend Not Charging Rep. Matt Gaetz in Sex Trafficking Case. Aired 1:30-2p ET
Aired September 23, 2022 - 13:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[13:30:00]
JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: They said, time and again, that the first chance they get, they'll repeal Inflation Reduction Act.
Here is what else Republicans are -- in terms of their fiscal recklessness. Donald Trump and the Republicans had no problem, had no problem enacting, in his four years, a $2 trillion tax cut that overwhelmingly benefited the top 1 percent.
And they didn't pay for a penny of it. And it massively increased the federal deficit.
Meanwhile, you know, we always say the Democrats are the big spenders? We brought down the deficit.
(CHEERING)
(APPLAUSE)
ANA CABRERA, CNN HOST: That is President Biden speaking to the DNC, using this friendly venue for a pointed, political speech.
He laid out some policy wins and messaging we can expect to hear probably from Democrats in the closing weeks of the midterm campaign. Many of the messages will be echoed I'm sure with 46 days to go until the midterms.
Let's break it down with CNN chief political analyst, Gloria Borger. Also with us, CNN political analyst and White House correspondent for "PBS Newshour," Laura Barron-Lopez.
Thank you, ladies.
Gloria, President Biden has been accelerating his political activity in recent weeks. What stood out to you about the speech today?
GLORIA BORGER, CNN CHIEF POLITICAL ANALYST: Well, first of all, I think, as you point out, it is going to be the campaign for the next 46 days.
What he is talking about is a Republican Party that he believes is frightening. What he is trying to say is here is the choice.
Usually, midterm elections are about the incumbent and he is trying to turn that on its head.
And say, no, no, this is about a choice between Democrats and Republicans who want to take away your freedom as the Supreme Court did with the Dobbs decision reversing Roe. And he really emphasized that.
He also, what was interesting to me, was he went out of his way to say not all Republicans are MAGA Republicans. Because we know he used the term Neo-Fascist and got a lot of criticism for that.
So what he is trying to do is say, look, you moderate Republicans, and Independent voters, take a look at the Democratic Party and what we've done for you.
And we're not going to touch your Social Security and we're going to reduce your prescription drug costs, etcetera, etcetera.
So he talked about what he has accomplished versus what he is saying the Republican Party will do if they get majorities.
CABRERA: He did say not all Republicans are MAGA Republicans.
BORGER: Yes.
CABRERA: But then he went on to say MAGA Republicans are ruling the Republican Party right now.
BORGER: Exactly. Exactly.
CABRERA: We have seen President Biden's approval rating ticking up recently. CNN's poll of polls has him at 43 percent approval right now. That's the highest since March. And the House generic ballot now has Democrats with a three-point lead over the GOP.
Laura, what are the lessons learned for the Democratic Party? What is behind their momentum?
LAURA BARRON-LOPEZ, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: They're really fighting history right now at this point.
To something Gloria said, Democrats are hopeful the Dobbs decision and the fact a number of voters, the base is animated, we're seeing higher registration among women in key states.
They are hoping that could potentially defy the odds, particularly in the Senate. In the House, a lot of Democrats I talked to aren't exactly hopeful, and Democrats in the White House aren't exactly hopeful they can hold onto the Senate.
Because, again, that would be really in defiance of history. The last time the party in power in the White House gained seats in the House when it was a midterm election was in 1998 when Bill Clinton was president.
A lot of Democrats aren't really expecting to keep the House, even though the numbers are starting to look better for them.
CABRERA: Gloria, there's still speculation about whether President Biden will run for re-election in 2024.
And a new Marquette Law School poll out yesterday find nearly three in four Americans do not want Biden to run again. On the other side, plenty of Republicans, of course, don't want Trump to run again.
Could 2024 be a battle between two candidates neither side is fully behind?
BORGER: Yes, it could. I think on, "60 Minutes," last Sunday, Joe Biden, you could see the cement cracking with him saying, you know, it is my intention to run. But, you know, he made the case that it wasn't definitive.
So I think that there are questions now being raised about whether Biden -- and I think a lot has to do with whether Donald Trump decides to run and what happens in the midterm elections.
But if -- it could potentially, of course, be a race between Joe Biden and Donald Trump.
[13:35:01]
Look, if Donald Trump decides to run, there's going to be a large field of candidates opposing him and that would probably help his chances, quite frankly.
And so, yes, it could be a re-run that most of the public doesn't want.
CABRERA: Gloria Borger and Laura Barron-Lopez, ladies, thank you so much for joining us.
BORGER: Sure.
CABRERA: We just heard President Biden highlight some of his economic wins, making some more promises, should his party stay in control.
But his glass-half-full outlook does contrast with mounting fears of a downturn playing out on Wall Street right now, where you can see the market continued to slide down 605 points right now.
CNN's Matt Egan joins us live at the New York Stock Exchange.
Matt, what specifically is driving the markets down today?
MATT EGAN, CNN REPORTER: Well, Ana, this is all about high inflation and the Federal Reserve's war on inflation. Essentially investors are worried the Fed is going to overdo it. Remember, these drastic interest rate hikes from the Fed are designed
to slow the economy. Markets are worried the Fed is going to slow the economy right into a recession, either accidentally or on purpose because that's what's required to get inflation under control.
These recession fears are playing out on Wall Street today. The Dow down 620 points, up 2 percent as we speak.
Earlier today, the Dow hit its lowest point of the entire year and is flirting with closing in a bear market for the first time since March 2020. A bear market is a 20 percent decline from previous highs.
Even some optimists are throwing in the towel. Goldman Sachs today sharply cutting its outlook for the U.S. stock market because of these concerns about the Fed and high inflation.
One of the worries here is the Fed is moving so quickly, even though it takes time, it takes months for the full impact of the interest rate hikes to be felt in the economy.
Bank of America put out this great report summing this up. They said:
"The Fed is hiking at the fastest pace in recent memory with maximum uncertainty on the macro-outlook. To us, this seems like driving at 75 miles per hour but not knowing which way the road will turn. An accident seems inevitable."
Let's hope not -- Ana?
CABRERA: OK. Matt Egan, thank you. Obviously, the stock market doesn't capture the full strength of the economy but it is one more measure and sign of how investors and businesses feel about things right now.
Appreciate it.
We have new, exclusive reporting on the DOJ's criminal investigation into January 6th. Trump's lawyers are waging a high-stakes secret court fight in an attempt to block key testimony and access to documents. Details just ahead.
Plus, the special master is not messing around. Trump's pick to sift through the Mar-a-Lago documents issuing a new challenge to Trump's legal team asking them to back up in writing Trump's claims that the FBI planted evidence.
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[13:42:27]
CABRERA: We have exclusive reporting now. A high-stakes twist in the Justice Department's January 6th investigation. Today, a secret court fight being waged by former President Trump's legal team is now public.
Their goal? Prevent a federal grand jury from seeing documents and hearing some testimony. CNN's Katelyn Polantz helped break this exclusive report.
Katelyn, what have you learned?
KATELYN POLANTZ, CNN SENIOR CRIME & JUSTICE REPORTER: Ana, we are at a turning point in this January 6th criminal investigation being conducted out of this Washington, D.C., federal courthouse.
Evan Perez, Zack Cohen and I were able to confirm that, yesterday, when three lawyers representing Donald Trump exited the courthouse, they were there for a secret proceeding.
That they are opposite the Justice Department prosecutors, and they are trying to argue that there should be information kept from the federal grand jury investigating Donald Trump and others, potentially, after the election and also January 6th, that things should be kept from the grand jury.
Because Donald Trump wants to claim various privileges, executive privilege, confidentiality around the presidency, as well as trying to keep secret communications he may have had with attorneys advising him, talking to him.
This is the first time that we know that lawyers for Trump are matched up in court before a judge on this issue related to January 6th. And the implications here, Ana, are potentially quite great.
I mean, with this, if the Trump team were to lose this battle, it could really tear down the entire firewall that Donald Trump has tried to erect around his presidency.
And specifically, what people were telling him on January 6th, leading up to that day, what advice he was getting, and what decisions he was making, what he was saying to them.
For the Justice Department, if they are able to get past this privilege argument, then that could be pivotal for their investigation, what they can learn.
Of course, history in the past legal precedent has not been on former presidents' sides with this -- Ana?
CABRERA: Katelyn Polantz, thank you for that reporting.
Let's bring in former federal prosecutor now, Renato Mariotti. He has, obviously, some experience.
And I am just wondering, in this case, trying to prevent some witnesses from sharing information, done in secrecy because of the grand jury rules, Katelyn just sort of laid out the stakes. How do you see it?
RENATO MARIOTTI, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: Well, you know, Katelyn mentioned a moment ago, Ana, that there's some precedent not favorable to the former president. I'd say that is an understatement.
[13:45:01]
There's a case directly on point. Former President Bill Clinton, you know, received very candid advice from his then-White House counsel and other White House attorneys during the Whitewater investigation.
Then special counsel or independent counsel, Kenneth Starr, tried to obtain that testimony via grand jury subpoena. Brett Kavanaugh was one of the attorneys working for him and arguing the matter. And they sought the testimony of Bruce Lindsay, deputy White House counsel.
The United States Court of Appeals over the District of Columbia made it very clear that, because Bruce Lindsay in that circumstance was a government attorney giving advice to President Clinton in that capacity, that the grand jury need for that testimony trumped any potential privilege.
Whether attorney-client privilege or executive privilege, that former President Clinton, could. And I think that is exactly the situation here, right on point.
CABRERA: Even if this is where it is headed, this could slow things down right? How much could it hinder the DOJ's investigation?
MARIOTTI: I do think it is going to slow things down, Ana. Obviously, this is a quiet period right before the election. DOJ is not going to be taking overt steps.
But we've seen signs that this investigation of fake electors, investigation of potentially some of the January 6th matters are proceeding aggressively.
And I do think that, you know, at least for some weeks there's going to be litigation over this. However, like I said, that case will I think be the controlling precedent given that this is happening in D.C.
CABRERA: OK, Renato, stay right there.
Because the clock is ticking for Donald Trump and his legal team as the special master reviewing the documents seized from Mar-a-Lago is really cutting to the chase.
He gave Trump's team until next Friday, a week from today, to back up their claims in writing that the FBI planted evidence in their search. That, of course, is a conspiracy theory Trump and his allies have been pushing without any proof as recently as a couple days ago.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: The problem that you have is, they go into rooms, they won't let anybody near them. They wouldn't even let them in the same building. Did they drop anything into those piles or did they do it later? There's no chain of custody here with them.
UNIDENTIFIED NEWS CORRESPONDENT: Wouldn't that be on videotape potentially?
TRUMP: No, I don't think so. I mean they're in a room.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CABRERA: And Renato Mariotti is back with us.
Renato, he special master, Judge Raymond Dearie, is someone the Trump team recommended and now he is basically calling their bluff.
And it's worth noting this is the second tough challenge he has issued to the Trump team, the first being, showing proof any documents were declassified.
Do you think they're regretting their demand for a special master?
MARIOTTI: I think that's an understatement, Ana. I really don't understand what the Trump team was hoping to gain here. The end game is not very good for them.
Maybe there's some delay they hoped that they were going to obtain. But as we can see, I think the viewers at home can see, it has been a pretty minimal delay.
And I think they need to be looking for an off ramp. I would be trying to figure out some way, if I was representing the former president, to try to narrow these special master proceedings to do as little damage as possible and have an off ramp where I could declare victory and move on
CABRERA: I want to highlight part of Judge Dearie's order demanding, quote, "a list of any specific items set forth in the detailed property inventory that plaintiff asserts were not seized from the premises," end quote.
It's direct. It's no nonsense. Do you get the sense that he sees it as his duty now to kind of restore the public image of the Justice Department after Trump has tried so hard to undermine public trust?
MARIOTTI: Yes, I think Judge Dearie is doing his job here, Ana. He is trying to dig into the facts.
And I have to say, what's weird here is that the Trump team is sort of, before even there's been a decision about charging the former president, they are wanting to litigate all these issues. So he is forcing him to take positions.
I have to tell you, now that I'm in private practice, I represent folks who are under investigation, and the last thing I want to do is take firm positions before I've seen all the evidence.
That is really now where they're putting themselves in position to do. I think they have to just essentially throw up their hands and not take these positions because, frankly, they're boxing themselves in.
CABRERA: Another interesting move here, the special master called for a retired federal judge, someone who has a top-secret security clearance, to assist in this review. What does that tell you?
MARIOTTI: It seems to me that he doesn't want this to be delayed or take extra time. So he wants to make sure he has the capacity to handle all the potential issues that the Trump teams wants him to review.
[13:50:02]
I think he's taking them at their word that they want to go through every single document and determine privileges for every single document.
It's going to cost them. It's on their dime, not the government's. I think he wants to make sure he has the outlets to do this quickly.
CABRERA: In fact, the special master suggested this retired judge that he wants to assist him get paid $500 an hour, paid by Trump's team, which was agreed upon based on Judge Cannon's order when she assigned a special master to this case.
A quick question on process, Renato. Once a batch of documents is reviewed, is that batch then released to the Justice Department, or is everything going to be released all together once the review is complete?
MARIOTTI: The Justice Department currently, Ana, can be using the documents for whatever purpose it wants to. It's got a --
(CROSSTALK)
CABRERA: The classified documents, right?
MARIOTTI: The classified documents. But the unclassified documents, once the judge rules on particular documents, then the Justice Department can review those.
CABRERA: OK, so it could get turned over pretty quickly as they go through.
Thank you, Renato Mariotti. Good to have you here. Happy Friday.
MARIOTTI: Thank you, Ana.
CABRERA: There's a new major development in the sex tracking investigation of Florida Congressman Matt Gaetz. According to "The Washington Post," federal prosecutors are recommending against charging the Republican lawmaker and Trump ally.
CNN's Jessica Schneider joins us now.
Jessica, walk us through this.
JESSICA SCHNEIDER, CNN JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Ana, this recommendation against charging Congressman Gaetz is really coming because prosecutors believe a conviction is unlikely, in part, because of the credibility of two witnesses in the investigation is in question.
That's the reporting from "The Washington Post." And of course, our team has reported extensively on this investigation that began in 2020. It was into possible violations of federal sex trafficking laws and focused on an alleged involvement with a 17-year-old girl years ago.
We know that a grand jury was convened, jurors heard testimony from associates of Gaetz.
But "The Post" is reporting that of two witnesses, likely that would be needed for conviction, is a then-17-year-old at the center of this case and also a former friend of Gaetz, Joel Greenberg.
And the fact that they are not credible enough witnesses for prosecutors to bank this case on.
"The Post" is couching this here, saying this recommendation from investigators not to charge, it was made to senior leadership at DOJ who -- they'll make a final decision on this. Of course, new evidence could merge here.
Our team has talked to Gaetz' lawyer and they've said they've not been given an official word on this. But right now, it looks like the congressman will not be charged, according to "The Post" -- Ana?
CABRERA: Thanks for that update, Jessica Schneider.
A bombshell announcement only weeks before the Boston Celtics' first game. The head coach will sit out the entire 2022-23 NBA season. The organization suspended him for a violation of team policy.
While the circumstances of the suspension are still unclear, ESPN, "The Athletic" and "The Boston Globe" all report that he had a consensual relationship with a female member of the team's staff.
He apologized for his actions in a statement saying he was "sorry for putting the team in a difficult position" and he "accepts the team's decision."
A close call caught on camera. Your heart may stop for just a moment watching this video. This young girl narrowly avoids being struck while crossing the street.
This is in San Mateo, California. You see the driver of that SUV ripped right by. The scooter comes out from under her in that marked crosswalk. Thankfully, the girl is OK.
The driver, a teenager, did turn around and talked to authorities. The teenager says they're making immediate improvements, such as reducing speeds in that area and increasing police presence. Any parent, I think, had their heart stop there.
OK. It's Friday. Wouldn't it be nice to have the day off, a three-day weekend? Actually, a four-day workweek may be closer to becoming a reality. We have an update from the companies in the U.K. that have been
testing out this idea. And halfway through their six-month experiment, 46 percent say their business productivity has maintained around the same level, 34 percent report that it has actually improved slightly.
And 15 percent say it has improved significantly, 86 percent say they would be extremely likely or likely to keep the program once this trial is completed. So take that to the boss.
That does it for me today. Thanks for joining us. I hope you enjoy your weekend. I'll see you on Monday, same time and place. Until then, find me on Twitter, @AnaCabrera. Happy Friday.
[13:54:58]
The news continues with Alisyn and Victor right after this.
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