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Kim Kardashian Pays SEC Fine; New Audio of Trump Interview; Liz Bello-Matthews is Interviewed about Lee County; CNN Identifies Woman that Arrange Migrant Flights. Aired 9:30-10a ET

Aired October 03, 2022 - 09:30   ET

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

[09:30:00]

POPPY HARLOW, CNN ANCHOR: Christine Romans is here with more.

Christine, I thought the - the statement after this was announced this morning from Commissioner Gensler was interesting and notable, sort of, about the bigger picture here.

CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN CHIEF BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: The bigger picture here is about protecting investors, right? And a cryptocurrency or a crypto token, I mean, it's just like a financial investment in terms of, if you're promoting it, you can't just say hash tag ad at the end, which is what Kim Kardashian did on her Instagram posting, but you have to disclose that you are being paid. She was paid $250,000 to promote this particular crypto token. This was last summer. She used Instagram to do that. And she did not disclose to her many, many followers that she actually was being paid to do that.

So, she will pay that money back to the government, disgorgement they call it, and another fine of a million dollars. So, almost $1.3 million in the end. She's going to cooperate with this ongoing investigation. And Gary Gensler this morning saying that she was helpful in this - in this investigation, wanted to get this behind her. And she has agreed not to promote crypto assets for the next three years.

Now, there are some who have said, oh, crypto is the wild west and it isn't regulated and we don't know how celebrities and influencers should behave in regards to crypto. And Gary Gensler, the SEC chief, said, no, this is good old-fashioned securities law.

Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GARY GENSLER, CHAIRPERSON, U.S. SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION: We've brought these types of cases over the decades. But even in the last five years, with regard to crypto, it's really important that the public understand if somebody is touting a crypto security token that are they getting paid and how much are they getting paid.

(END VIDEO CLIP) ROMANS: So, Gary Gensler going on to even publish a video for the SEC, really encouraging investors to remember that just because a celebrity says it's a good investment product does not mean it is, especially if you don't know that person is being paid.

So, this is a new -- kind of a new frontier for the SEC, the crypto arena, and Gary Gensler has said, just even the last couple - a couple weeks ago he told me, you know, this is an arena that they are looking to regulate because it is their job to help investors, protect investors. And crypto is just like -- it's just like the '20s or the '30s, you know, it is something that people are rushing after and they need to be protected.

SCIUTTO: Yes. Well, it's an important point, right, because a lot of retail investors have been involved in this, right, and oftentimes, you know, they can be influenced, and we can all be influenced, right, by what famous folks say about this stuff.

ROMANS: Yes. Yes, it's not a stock. I mean, remember, a company is regulated up and down and left and right. Crypto regulation is essentially nonexistent.

HARLOW: Christine Romans, thank you very much.

ROMANS: You're welcome.

HARLOW: Well, this morning, we have never heard before interviews between former President Trump and "New York Times" reporter Maggie Haberman in which the former president falsely claims that he gave the letters from Kim Jong-un to the National Archives last year.

Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MAGGIE HABERMAN, "THE NEW YORK TIMES": Did you leave the White House with anything in particular? Are there any memento documents you took with you? Anything of note?

DONALD TRUMP, FORMER U.S. PRESIDENT: Nothing of great urgency, no.

HABERMAN: OK.

TRUMP: I have great things, though. You know, the letters - the Kim Jong-un letters, I had many of them.

HABERMAN: You were able to take those with you?

TRUMP: Look at what's happening -

HABERMAN: Wow.

TRUMP: No, I - I think that has the - I think that's in the archives, but -- most of it is in the archives.

HABERMAN: OK. TRUMP: But the Kim Jong-un letters. We have incredible things. I have incredible letters with other leaders.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCIUTTO: CNN's senior crime and justice reporter Katelyn Polantz following all these developments.

Katelyn, obviously (ph) the audio does not comport with the truth.

KATELYN POLANTZ, CNN SENIOR CRIME AND JUSTICE REPORTER: That's exactly right. So, Maggie Haberman sat down with Donald Trump three times for her book, interviewed him. There are these tapes of the interviews. And in this particular one, one year ago, September of 2021, she was asking him what she says was on a lark. She just brought up the letters that she knew he was proud of, these letters that Trump had with Kim Jong-un, the dictator of North Korea. And whenever he responded, he clearly has a loose relationship with the facts there on different fronts, one of them he says that The Archives had these letters. At that point in time they absolutely did not. The Archives was in touch with representatives of Donald Trump trying to get them back, specifically trying to get these letters, the Kim Jong-un letters, back into the hands of the federal government.

Also, Trump says that there was nothing of great urgency there. That also was not the case. When the boxes of letters were given to Mar-a- Lago, there were 15 boxes that the National Archives received in January of this year that included the Kim Jong-un letters. At that time, they were so concerning to The Archives that The Archives had to call in the Justice Department, realizing that there were documents with classified markings on there. And that has launched a criminal investigation that is still encircling Donald Trump and those around him, what exactly was being kept at Mar-a-Lago. So, really an enlightening quote there.

[09:35:02]

And also, over the weekend, one thing I should point out is the National Archives still has concerns about the handling of records during the Trump presidency. They told the House Oversight Committee this weekend that they believe that there still were electronic communications from the Trump White House that they do not have access to, including from aides, electronic communications specifically, aides like Peter Navarro, who the Justice Department is suing in court trying to get back more records from the Trump White House into the hands of the federal government.

HARLOW: Katelyn, at the same time you have this trial beginning, the seditious conspiracy trial, for five Oath Keepers, five members and, of course, the leader as well for their alleged role in planning the January 6th attacks on the Capitol. That trial now underway this morning. And you have opening statements.

Maggie Haberman, for her book, also talked with former President Trump about that day. What can you share with us? POLANTZ: Right. Well, Maggie Haberman is asking Donald Trump in one of

these interviews, one of the most pressing questions of any investigation around January 6th. You mentioned that the Oath Keepers are going to trial on seditious conspiracy.

We know that there are questions, though, about what was happening not just on the Capitol but on the White House, or in the White House. And specifically the House Select Committee and potentially other investigators have wanted to know what happened in those 2.5 hours where Donald Trump was doing nothing. We know from many of the fact- finding missions that investigators have done so far that he was watching television in the dining room in the White House. He had Fox News on for that time and was not taking any leadership stance. And yet this is what he told Maggie Haberman whenever she asked about it.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HABERMAN: But what were you doing when - when -- how did you find out that - that there were people storming the Capitol?

TRUMP: I had heard that afterwards. And, actually, on the late side. I was - I was having meetings. I was also with Mark Meadows and others. I was not watching television. I didn't have the television on.

HABERMAN: You weren't. OK.

TRUMP: I didn't usually have that -- the television on. I'd have it on if there was something. I then later turned it on, and I saw what was happening.

I also had confidence that the Capitol, who didn't want these 10,000 people --

HABERMAN: The Capitol Police you mean? OK.

TRUMP: That they'd be able to control this thing. And you don't realize that, you know, they - they did lose.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

POLANTZ: So, clearly a fib from Donald Trump whenever he is asked by a journalist not under oath there.

Jim and Poppy.

SCIUTTO: Yes. He also seemed to be implying there, that it was the Capitol Police's fault for losing control, right, despite the fact that they were greatly outnumbered.

Katelyn Polantz, thanks so much.

HARLOW: Maggie's book, we should note, "Confidence Man," with all that new reporting comes out tomorrow.

Coming up, an unprecedented search for survivors after Hurricane Ian leveled parts of Florida. Now some are questioning how evacuations in one county were handled and when they came.

More on that ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[09:42:46]

HARLOW: All right, welcome back.

This morning, Florida's governor, Ron DeSantis, is defending decisions made by officials in Lee County. That is where more than half of the deaths from Hurricane Ian occurred. Those officials are facing criticism for issuing evacuation orders one day later than neighboring counties. The death toll in Lee County is now 42. There are fears that number will increase.

Listen to what Governor Ron DeSantis told our colleague Nadia Romero.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

NADIA ROMERO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Is that one of the things you'll be reviewing once we get out of the aftermath, people get their power back on, looking at those evacuation orders? Because even Lee County, if they would have followed their own evacuation orders, from what we've reviewed, they should have had that mandatory evacuation order sooner.

GOV. RON DESANTIS (R-FL): Well, but, you know, the issue, though, is also that there were a lot - you know, they informed people and most people did not want to do it. I mean that's just - that's just the reality. So, you know, you're in a situation, are you going to grab somebody out of their home that doesn't want to? I don't think that's the appropriate use of government. I mean, I think that that takes it a little too far.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARLOW: Let me bring in Liz Bello-Matthews on the phone. She is the spokesperson for the city of Fort Myers, which, of course, is in Lee County.

Liz, good morning and thank you.

LIZ BELLO-MATTHEWS, SPOKESPERSON FOR FORT MYERS, FLORIDA (via telephone): Good morning. Thank you.

HARLOW: Do you believe more lives could have been saved if Lee County had ordered evacuations sooner?

BELLO-MATTHEWS: Well, I think Lee County ordered the evacuation when they thought that it was necessary. The city of Fort Myers, we went ahead and we asked our residents, especially those living in zone a, which is the coastal and low laying areas, to please voluntarily evacuate. We started doing that in -- on Friday.

HARLOW: Just so I understand how it works, is the county the only body that can issue a mandatory evacuation, because clearly you saw a need for evacuation to ask residents in zone a to leave voluntarily. But do you have the power to mandate it?

BELLO-MATTHEWS: So, each municipality is self-sufficient and does have the authority to completely govern within its boundaries. However, you know, we are collaborative. You know, we do seek the county's leadership and their assistance, you know, when it comes to, you know, some big level information that perhaps we are not equipped within the city to have access to.

HARLOW: Yes.

BELLO-MATTHEWS: So, in this case, we did follow the county's -- I suppose the county's leadership when it came to that.

[09:45:03]

We do think that they had the best of intentions, and they believe that they were doing it at the moment when it was necessary.

HARLOW: Yes.

BELLO-MATTHEWS: They didn't want to, you know, issue an evacuation if the hurricane was not supposed to really impact our area. And we did believe that it was going to impact the Tampa area, not us. So, this is something that did happen sort of last minute.

However, because we do know within the city of Fort Myers that we do have areas that are coastal and low laying, we wanted to be preemptive and just issue that voluntary evacuation just in case.

HARLOW: Yes. I hear you and I think we all -- everyone believes that they had the best of intentions. That is for sure. However, assessing it now there is the question about what lesson can be learned for future hurricanes that could potentially save lives because you say, you know, the hurricane changed direction last minute and it certainly did shift. But "The New York Times" was reporting that modeling on Monday showed that some areas along Fort Myers Beach were more likely than not to see a 6 percent surge -- 6 foot surge, I should say, and the emergency management plan for Lee County, their own plan, says that a 10 percent chance of 6 feet or more of water, quote, would indicate the need for hurricane evacuations.

BELLO-MATTHEWS: Right.

HARLOW: So, I wonder if you think protocol should change given those facts?

BELLO-MATTHEWS: Well, I think that what happens in every single emergency is that, you know, we - we learn. We learn lessons. This area had never really been hit by such a strong hurricane. Some of us who are from the southern portion of the state, Miami-Dade County, Miami Beach, city of Miami, we're used to these types of situations. And so we -- you know, we tend to prepare extensively for them.

I think that the southwest Florida area, you know, being that they had not really been hit by something like this, you know, they didn't necessarily think that it was coming. And so they made decisions based on the data that they had and the data did change very quickly.

I do think -- and I'm completely sure of this -- that they are, you know, extremely cognitive of, you know, all the things that could be done differently. And I think they're more than willing to make those adjustments to their processes so that, you know, we can always improve, you know, in every single incident.

Within the city of Fort Myers, we are absolutely doing that. You know, as we are going through this experience, we're actually taking notes and updating our manual so that we can make decisions perhaps in different ways in the future, you know, obviously for the safety of our residents and ourselves as well.

HARLOW: Liz Bello-Matthews, thank you very much. We know how busy you are around the clock and I really appreciate you calling in. And good luck to you and to everyone there.

BELLO-MATTHEWS: Thank you so much. Thank you.

HARLOW: Of course.

Jim.

SCIUTTO: Coming up next, CNN has identified the woman who allegedly helped fly migrants from Texas to Martha's Vineyard. What we're learning now about those flights just ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[09:52:37]

SCIUTTO: New reporting. CNN has now identified the woman accused of helping arrange those flights of migrants from Texas all the way to Martha's Vineyard.

HARLOW: Her name is Perla Huerta. "The New York Times" reports that she is a former Army counterintelligence officer.

Our Ed Lavandera joins us now with more on this.

What can you tell us about not only her background, how she came to be a part of this. There are many more questions even, Ed, about, you know, whether the way that this was funded and the authority under which it was done was legal.

ED LAVANDERA, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Right. You know, there's so many questions still swirling around this flight that took about 50 Venezuelan migrants from San Antonio several weeks ago to Martha's Vineyard. This was a flight that was carried out without the knowledge, really, of state officials here in Texas at the behest of Florida Governor Ron DeSantis.

But as you mentioned, we've been able to identify the -- what we believe is the main person on the ground there who was recruiting migrants to get on these flights to Martha's Vineyard. It's a woman by the name of Perla Huerta, as you mentioned. She served more than 20 years in the U.S. Army, was discharged back in August and reached the level of master sergeant. She's served in a counter intelligence unit serving in Iraq and Afghanistan. We understand, according to various people that we've spoken to, that the migrants were aware of this military background.

In fact, we spoke with one migrant who was crucial in the role of helping recruit migrants to get on that flight. And this migrant told us several weeks ago that she -- he was lured by Perla with the offers of clothing, food and a place to stay in exchange for helping recruit other migrants and to gain the trust of other migrants to get on those flights to Florida - to Martha's Vineyard.

Now, we understand that Perla is still kind of a mysterious figure at this point. We have made attempts for the last several weeks to reach her. Our phone calls to her have gone unanswered. We've knocked on her door on her home. We've tried this for weeks without any result in being able to get in touch with her.

And remember, also, Jim and Poppy, that there is a criminal investigation underway with the San Antonio Sheriff's Department that is trying to gather more information as to exactly how these flights came together. And they say there's a possibility of human trafficking criminal charges that could be filed in all of this.

[09:55:03]

HARLOW: Wow.

LAVANDERA: Jim and Poppy.

HARLOW: So, many more threads, much more to come, it sounds like.

SCIUTTO: Yes.

HARLOW: Ed Lavandera, thank you, though, for that update.

Well, next hour, the Supreme Court will begin hearing its first oral arguments of this new term. And for the first time an African American female justice will sit on that bench. Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson will take her place on the bench next hour.

SCIUTTO: They're taking up a lot of big decisions this term. And it comes at a time when public trust in the judiciary has plunged. A record 58 percent of Americans disapprove of the job the Supreme Court is doing now.

This term the court is slated to take up cases on the Clean Water Act, affirmative actions, you'll want to watch that, voting rights and LGBTQ rights.

HARLOW: Our top story, though, this morning, the death and the destruction from Hurricane Ian. An urgent search and rescue mission to save people who may still be trapped continues. Our live coverage also continues next. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)