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Superseding Indictment Lays Out Three New Charges against Former President Trump in Documents Case; Donald Trump Hosting Rally in Erie, Pennsylvania; Biden Administration Making Case that U.S. Economy is Strong Under President's Leadership; Parts of U.S. South and Southwest Continue to Experience Extreme Heat. Aired 10-11a ET.

Aired July 29, 2023 - 10:00   ET

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

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[10:00:28]

VICTOR BLACKWELL, CNN ANCHOR: Good Saturday morning to you. It is July 29th. I'm Victor Blackwell.

AMARA WALKER, CNN ANCHOR: And I'm Amara Walker. You're in the CNN Newsroom.

The new charges former President Donald Trump faces in the classified documents investigation don't seem to be changing his campaign strategy. Trump took the stage at a major Republican gathering in Iowa last night as a clear frontrunner for his party's nomination. This was the closest he came to referencing his legal jeopardy.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: They have weaponized the Justice Department and the FBI. And by the way, if I weren't running, I would have nobody coming after me. Or if I was losing by a lot, I would have nobody coming after me.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLACKWELL: The documents case is not the only hurdle ahead for Trump, of course. In Atlanta, barricades are up around the Fulton County Courthouse. Police are beefing up security ahead of a possible indictment in the 2020 election interference investigation. And in Washington, law enforcement agencies are working on a coordinated response should Trump be indicted in the January 6th investigation. Let's bring in CNN national security reporter Zachary Cohen. Zach, explain this superseding indictment, what's in it, and tell us what all this means.

ZACHARY COHEN, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY REPORTER: Yes, good morning, Victor and Amara. This superseding indictment lays out three new charges against former President Donald Trump. Two of those charges relate to alleged efforts to destroy surveillance video at Trump's Mar-a-Lago resort. Prosecutors are claiming that Trump and two Mar-a- Lago employees tried to destroy this video after the grand jury investigating Trump's handling of classified documents said that they wanted it and they wanted to review it as part of that case.

The third charge deals with another count of willful retention of national defense information. You'll remember in the first indictment, Trump faced 31 counts. And now this brings the total to 32 counts. And the document in question here relates to one that was referenced during an audio recording that CNN previously reported. It was in 2021, Trump was in Bedminster along with several individuals in his office. Take a listen to what he said at that time.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: That was interesting because we were talking about it. And he said, he wanted to attack Iran. These are the papers.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He said you did.

TRUMP: This was done by the military and given to me. I think we can probably, right?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I don't know. We'll have to see. Yes, we'll have to try to figure out a --

TRUMP: Declassify it. See, as president, I could have declassified it. Now I can't, you know. But this is still secret.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes. Now we have a problem.

TRUMP: Isn't that interesting? It's so cool.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COHEN: So the time since CNN reported on that audio recording, Trump has effectively denied that a document even exists. He said that it was newspaper clipping or something to that effect. But we now know the document not only exists, but CNN is learning that it was handed over to the National Archives back when Trump returned those 15 boxes earlier this summer. So new developments and new charges for the former president.

WALKER: And in this expanded indictment, Zach, prosecutors also named a third defendant. What can you tell us about him and what it says about his alleged role in the documents?

COHEN: Yes, this third defendant is named Carlos De Oliveira. He's a 56-year-old property manager. That's according to the superseding indictment, which describes him as effectively doing various odd jobs around the resort. He's a normal employee by all accounts. We spoke to several people who know De Oliveira. And they described him as hardworking, as somebody who rose through the ranks at Mar-a-Lago to reach that -- went from a valet all the way to property management. But now prosecutors are alleging that he was an active participant in what they essentially describe as a cover-up in Trump's attempt to destroy these surveillance videos, or alleged attempt to destroy these surveillance videos. So the family of De Oliveira believes that he sort of got trapped in Trump's legal problems. Prosecutors painting a different picture, saying that he was an active participant.

BLACKWELL: Zach, let's switch to the other special counsel investigation into January 6th. What do you know about the potential timing of an indictment, if one comes?

COHEN: Yes, Victor, we have been watching the grand jury here in D.C. very closely, the one that's convened in that other special counsel investigation really into, obviously, to overturn the 2020 election and January 6th. And so far an indictment has not come down, but sources are telling me that law enforcement officials are still preparing under the belief that an indictment announcement could come at any point within the next week.

[10:05:01]

Now, they have to wait on the official word from the Justice Department and the special counsel's office, but it's clear that in the minds of law enforcement officials, there's nothing to sway them from the fact that this could be coming in the near term.

WALKER: All right, Zachary Cohen, appreciate your reporting this morning. Thank you very much.

Let's bring in former federal prosecutor and defense attorney Shan Wu. Shan, good morning to you. Talk to us about how bad is this for Trump, especially when you compare the initial indictment, which had a lot to do, mostly to do with hiding documents and moving boxes around, and now with this expanded indictment, it alleges an attempt to destroy evidence.

SHAN WU, FORMER FEDERAL PROSECUTOR: I think it's not going to change his legal defense or posturing, but from a standpoint of the strength of the prosecution's case, this does help it a lot. First of all, it adds a substantiative count about retaining that document, the attack plan document. But the obstruction part is particularly helpful for the government because jurors like to hear what the state of mind might be for the defendant, and they rarely hear from the defendant talking about it. So here when they hear he was telling people to delete or destroy the evidence, common sense will tell them that you only try to get rid of evidence that's bad for you, not evidence that tends to exculpate your or is helpful to you. So that really adds to the consciousness of guilt aspect, which is a very powerful tool for the jury.

In addition to that, on that substantiative count, for me looking at it, the really great thing about it for the prosecution is that audio tape we heard that was recorded in Bedminster, jurors love audio tapes. And before they charged this new count about that document, there could have been a fight about whether that tape could come into evidence or not. But prosecutors call this charging the bad conduct, so there could have been an argument it was just bad conduct, they just slimed him up and it shouldn't come in, your honor. Now that they have charged it, it's pretty much a no-brainer for it to come in. I think even Judge Aileen Cannon might have a hard time keeping that evidence out. WALKER: So evidence-wise, this will be helpful to prosecutors, but you

also say that with the new allegations, the new charges that it's a no brainer, your words, that this trial will be delayed well into the election. Why do you say that?

WU: Because, with the addition of a new defendant, that's what causes that additional complication, he will have to get a lawyer, and as we saw in the Walt Nauta case, the second defendant, it took a while. But it legitimately took a while, maybe it was deliberate delay on the part of the Trump team, but it will take a while. Then there's going to be an argument over whether that lawyer needs to get security clearance. They will a argue he does. The prosecution might say he doesn't. That takes time. If he does have to get clearance, that takes time. So every day of potential delay is helpful to the Trump team. And there are legitimate reason for delay here. Because of the classified information issue, that could really be complicated in terms of how you handle that and what comes into evidence. So I think it's quite easy to delay this case.

WALKER: Do you see challenges for the prosecution in proving willful retention and these other charges over the fact that these documents relating to these Iran attack plans that we heard Trump referencing in that infamous audio, they were returned to the National Archives before the subpoena was issued.

WU: For that particular document, that's one of the only better factual defenses for Trump to a argue, I lacked intent because we gave it back. Now, part of the problem for him there of course, is that it's not just the retention. It's also the sharing of it. And on the tape, if they can match those together, he sounds like he's sharing that information. So he has still got a problem there.

The real defense that I see for them primarily is just this notion that he really thought he could handle this stuff. He really mistakenly, perhaps, believed that it was his. That's the only kind of defense I see them mounting in court. The real defense strategy going on, of course, is his campaign. For him at this point, his legal defense and political strategy are one in the same right now as well as is the financing for his criminal defense. It's really greatly enhanced but his campaign fundraising efforts right now. That puts him in a very unusual situation. Most defendants don't have the benefits of that, and they don't have this unique conglomeration of legal and political. So it's a very unusual case.

WALKER: Is it unusual that we're seeing this superseding indictment? Why do you think these new allegations, these new charges were not included initially when the indictment first came down?

[10:10:08]

WU: I think they did not yet have the evidence. It could be there is some question with the intelligence community where they were comfortable disclosing that Iran attack issue or not. But it really shows the frenzied pace at which the special counsel is moving. They are still trying to wrap things up even as they are trying to push forward. WALKER: Shan Wu, great to see you, as always. Thank you very much.

BLACKWELL: Let's shift now to the campaign. CNN's Alayna Treene joins us now from Erie, Pennsylvania. So how is the legal part of this impacting the political, how are Republicans running against Trump approaching it?

ALAYNA TREENE, CNN POLITICAL REPORTER: Right, good morning. I'm here in Erie, Pennsylvania, where Donald Trump will be hosting a rally soon this evening. And I think you can expect him to rail against these newest charges during his rally later today. And I will add that Donald Trump is very frustrated by this. He was very caught off guard when they learned of these additional charges on Thursday. And since then, he's been railing against them in public interviews. We heard him give an interview with "Breitbart News" Thursday even. Shortly after learning of these charges.

And he used the same playbook that he's used time and time again when talking about his mounting legal Trump troubles. He railed against the special counsel Jack Smith directly. He called these charges election interference. But he also pointed to how politically they are giving him a boost in the polls. And so I think that's part of why you're going to see him talk about that later today at his rally, because he knows that these charges, his base rallies around them. They get fired up and energized by this even though personally, behind closed doors, Donald Trump is very frustrated and concerned about it.

Now, Donald Trump was also in Iowa last night at the Lincoln Dinner standing alongside many of his other 2024 Republican rivals. And it was interesting. He did not talk about the newest charges during that appearance. And most of his campaign rivals and 2024 did not either. But one did, Will Hurd. He is the Republican who has directly been attacking Donald Trump on the trail. And he did bring it up last night. We have some sound. Let's listen to what they had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

WILL HURD (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: If we elect Donald Trump, we are willingly giving Joe Biden four more years in the White House. And America can't handle that.

ASA HUTCHINSON (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Iowa has an opportunity to say we as a party, we need a new direction for America and for the GOP.

MIKE PENCE (R), FORMER VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We must resist the politics of personality and the siren song of populism unmoored to conservative values, because different times calls for different leadership.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TREENE: So as you can see, a lot of Donald Trump's Republican rivals are not wanting to touch this. They the recognize that by criticizing Donald Trump and the charges that he's facing, they could alienate his base and the voters that they will ultimately need in order to win an election. But Will Hurd, as you heard, is not following that same lead. He is leaning in directly and attacking Donald Trump. And so I think it's really interesting to watch how these different candidates are going to continue messaging regarding the charges that Donald Trump is facing and the other legal challenges that we know are still ahead.

BLACKWELL: Alayna Treene there in Erie, Pennsylvania, ahead of the former president's rally, thank you so much.

President Biden is refining his message to voters, touting his accomplishments on the economy. A round of positive economic news has been a bit of a shot in the arm for the president's reelection hopes.

WALKER: CNN White House reporter Jasmine Wright is live from Rehoboth Beach in Delaware. Jasmine, we are seeing the president leaning heavily into the benefits of this preelection rally cry called "Bidenomics".

JASMINE WRIGHT, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Yes, this's right. President Biden's speech yesterday was all about selling his economic agenda to American voters. It's a part of a larger effort by the White House to try to get voters to more closely associate positive gains in the economy with President Biden and his leadership, what they like to call Bidenomics.

And now they have a few recent data points to fall back on. First of all, higher than expected economic growth in the second quarter, rising consumer sentiment, the lowest inflation rate in the last two years, and obviously that recently averted potential strike with UPS workers that could have had catastrophic outcomes for the economy. So we heard President Biden leaning in all of that yesterday, really revving up his language when it comes to the economy.

In Maine, an important state because they do not adhere to the winner takes all when it comes to electoral vote in terms of who wins the popular vote. So it's a state that we could see President Biden going back to again and again as we get closer to 2024. So not only did President Biden talk about the economy yesterday and about an executive order he recently signed prioritizing manufacturing, but we also saw him take a swipe at Republicans as new impeachment inquiry language takes a foothold on Capitol Hill. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

[10:15:12]

JOE BIDEN (D), PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Earlier this week, "The Washington Post" suggested Republicans may have to find something else to criticize me for now that inflation is coming down. Maybe they will decide to impeach me because it's coming down. I don't know. I love that one. Anyway, that's another story.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WRIGHT: So there obviously a bullish President Biden talking about the economy there, taking a swipe at Republicans. But there are some warning signs ahead. We know in October, student repayment starts back for student borrowers, the first time since the pandemic, meaning that those borrowers who were putting money in the economy might take that out to pay for their student loans. Also as well is a recent surge in gas prices, something that a White House official told CNN that the White House is watching very, very closely.

But I think one really precise way to sum up this moment that the White House is in was actually given to us by Congressman Steny Hoyer, a Democrat in Maryland. He said it's not victory lap time, but it is continuing education time. As the White House continues to try to show American voters exactly what positive things that they are doing for them as the presidential campaign marches towards 2024. Victor and Amara?

BLACKWELL: Jasmine Wright in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware, thank you.

Extreme temperatures that have been baking the country for weeks now will stick around this weekend. Stifling heat is stretching from California to Massachusetts, 100 million Americans are under heat alerts right now, and we have learned that the death toll from this heatwave has risen. A 53-year-old woman in Peoria, Illinois, has died after her power was turned off and left her without A.C.

WALKER: The prolonged heat in Phoenix has the coroner's office bringing 10 additional coolers as they prepare for an influx in heat- related deaths. It's so hot there that people are getting burns from the pavement and sidewalks.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The pavement and rocks and asphalt and sidewalks can get to be 170 to 180 degrees Fahrenheit. That's just a little bit below the boiling point of water. And we're seeing people who are falling down, can't get up, and getting really bad burns.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WALKER: In the northeast, people will have to wait until tomorrow for some relief. And that is where we find CNN's Athena Jones. She is live for us in New York. Hello, Athena. I'm glad you're wearing a sleeveless top, something light. Officials have been stressing to people just how dangerous this extreme heat can be. What are they saying?

ATHENA JONES, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Amara, that's exactly right. We know that extreme heat kills more people than any other weather-related disaster. And so you're hearing from New York Mayor Eric Adams telling people to take precautions, to make sure they're staying out of the heat at the hottest times of day. The National Weather Service has declared a heat advisory until 8:00 p.m. covering southern Connecticut, northeastern New Jersey, and southeast New York which covers all of New York City. And that's why you're finding people coming to spots like this. This is Washington Square Park. You can see there's a fountain where you can cool off, get close to it when it gets too hot. There's shade, there are trees. This is the opposite of the heat island we've been talking about so

much this week where in urban areas, the asphalt, the buildings, the development, the lack of trees that can make it 10 degrees warmer than in the rest of the city. So this is where folks, this is the kind of place folks should be coming to cool off as the temperature ramps.

I can tell you guys, it was hotter this time yesterday, but just a few minutes ago, I was like, it's not so bad. The humidity is what makes it worse, what makes it begin to feel a lot warmer. It's going to creep into the low 90s here today. But with the heat index, with the humidity, it's going to feel much warmer. And that's why the city has opened cooling centers all over the city in every borough, practically in every neighborhood. And, of course, the mayor and other officials advising folks to stay inside as much as possible, to reduce their energy usage. That's coming from Con Edison, to make sure that there's enough power to go around. We don't want a blackout when the temperatures at night is only getting down into maybe the low 70s or the upper 70s with the humidity. It's not a lot of chance to cool off. And those are some of the precautions that officials are telling folks around here to heed.

And I should mention it's not just New York. We mentioned the whole northeast. Boston and Philadelphia had heat emergencies in effect so they can provide more resources to people, including cooling centers. Philadelphia is ramping up its outreach to the homeless. And we know that in Providence, Rhode Island, pools are staying open for extended hours all to give folks a way to cool off. As for me, I have a very low tech way of cooling to add a little bit extra wind when the wind is not breezing through here.

[10:20:05]

WALKER: I think I have to buy you one of those portable fans that I carry with me on these hot days. That's too much labor for you, Athena.

JONES: Very necessary.

(LAUGHTER)

WALKER: It is, though. Thank you so much. Try your best to stay cool. Thank you.

So there is finally some relief from the heat for people in midwestern cities like Chicago. Today temperatures are forecast to only reach about 80 degrees.

BLACKWELL: CNN Meteorologist Britley Ritz is with us now. So good news for Chicago, but what about the rest of the people, especially in the southwest?

(LAUGHTER)

BRITLEY RITZ, CNN METEOROLOGIST: The southwest is just brutally hot. And you know she was mentioning the humidity levels. When the dew points are lower it's not as humid, and that's what it allows for Phoenix to get so much warmer. Phoenix is topping out at 115 degrees again today, which is about 10 degrees above normal. Speaking of, 29 consecutive days where they have been 110 plus, and we're adding to that again today with a forecast high of 115. Much of the country well above normal. If not, right about where we should be. Chicago at 80 thanks to the cold front. Eventually that cold front is going to slide down through the Ohio Valley and into the southeast cooling us down, too.

But for now, Atlanta, 95, same for us in D.C., 95 degrees. And when we factor in the dew points, Athena was talking about the humidity, when we get 70 plus, that measurement of moisture near the surface, the dew point factored in with 95 degrees, D.C., it feels like 103. And then we wind up breaking records, not just for afternoon highs, but record warm lows where we're dropping only into the 80s and in some cases in the 90s across the southwest.

So we do just need to make sure we're taking care of ourselves, frequent breaks, drinking plenty of water. And with the humidity, I'd say no more than 10 minutes outside in that kind of heat. Excessive heat warnings from Phoenix to St. Louis back into D.C. We have heat advisories and excessive heat watches all across the Florida panhandle as well. Victor, Amara?

BLACKWELL: Stay inside if you can. Stay inside. Britley Ritz, thanks so much.

Coming up, an unarmed semitruck driver is attacked by a police canine after being pulled over and surrendering. Now he's talking to CNN about that terrifying ordeal.

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[10:26:19]

WALKER: An Ohio man told CNN that he did not want to die in the hands of police after he was attacked by a police canine.

Jadarrius Rose was unarmed and on his knees when his hands in the air when an officer released the dog. The officer has since been fired and Rose is considering a lawsuit. CNN correspondent Isabel Rosales is covering this story for us. We have now seen this video. Bring us up to speed. What Jadarrius Rose saying?

ISABEL ROSALES, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Amara, Victor, good morning to you. So Jadarrius Rose from Memphis, he is now represented by famed civil rights attorney Ben Crump. Rose faces a failure to comply charge, which is a felony. Ultimately, it's going to be up to the prosecutor whether that charge will continue forward.

So let me bring you back to speed, July 4th when this all happened, to give you a better understanding why an officer was fired and why Rose faces such a serious charge. So this all started on the road. Jadarrius Rose is a truck driver. A motor carrier enforcement inspector notices that he is missing a mudflap. So he turns on his lights, he turns on his sirens to stop Rose, but Rose fails to stop. We know that from this three-county pursuit, he calls his mother, who tells him, hey, stop the truck if you haven't done anything wrong.

And then Jadarrius gets on the phone with 911, telling the dispatcher that he is afraid. He doesn't understand why police officers are pursuing him. We do eventually see him bring the truck to a stop right here. He has his hands up. And then we hear a state trooper not only giving him commands, but also a Circleville police officer saying, hey, do not release that dog on him while he has his hands up. And despite those repeated warnings, and we don't know if that state trooper was heard, Officer Ryan Speakman releases the dog. Watch.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Do not release the dog with his hands up. Do not release the dog with his hands up. Do not release the dog with his hands up. Get the dog off of him.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You just let a dog bite him.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: All you had to do was come to me.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I was coming. All the guns were pointing at me. How do you expect me to respect you when you've got a gun pointed at me. There's like 20 of you all.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: All you had to do was stop.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I did stop.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROSALES: And here it is straight from Jadarrius Rose's mouth why he didn't stop that truck.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JADARRIUS ROSE, ATTACKED BY POLICE DOG: It was scary. I didn't know what to do. I was confused the reason why they had guns out. When I was on the phone with 911 still and she was telling me just to listen to what they were saying and follow their instructions. And I did that. And I was walking towards the state trooper because he was telling me to come to him. But I still was kind of like feel that they would shoot me, because in that moment, I had a lot of guns pointed at me. And it's like, I don't know if they are going to shoot me. So I tried to everybody that had guns out and focus on the guy that was talking to me.

And then the two police officers from Circleville came. And I was confused why they were trying to get me to do something different than what the state troopers already told me to do. So I just stopped in the middle because I didn't know what was going to happen. And I was afraid that something would happen, and it did happen.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROSALES: And Circleville police put out a statement defending the training of their canine teams, saying this, that a use of force review board found, quote, "The department's policy for the use of canines was followed in the apprehension and the arrest."

[10:30:07]

Still, the police department terminated Officer Ryan Speakman, also saying in part, quote, "Officer Speakman did not meet the standards and expectations that we hold for our police officers." And of course, a police union, Amara and Victor, have filed an official grievance with the police department, demanding that this officer get his job back, saying that he was fired without just cause.

BLACKWELL: Still a lot of questions there. Isabel Rosales, thank you so much.

Still ahead, 2024 Republicans are walking a political tight rope when it comes to the allegations facing former President Trump, some of them are. We'll discuss how presidential hopefuls are handling this issue.

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[10:35:00]

WALKER: Former President Trump is charging ahead with his 2024 campaign despite his mounting legal troubles.

Trump ignored the new charges against him in a major GOP even in Iowa last night. And while at least one of Trump's rivals took direct aim at him, others mostly ignored the new superseding indictment. Joining us now is Geoff Duncan, CNN political commentator, former lieutenant governor of Georgia. Geoff, good to see you. I want to start with former congressman, current candidate for the GOP nomination, Will Hurd and the framework he placed around the Trump candidacy for president that garnered some boos. Let's play it.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

WILL HURD (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Donald Trump is not running for president to make America great again. Donald Trump is not running for president to represent the people that voted for him in 2016 and 2020. Donald Trump is running to stay out of prison. And if we elect --

(BOOS)

HURD: I know, I know, I know.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLACKWELL: So we hear that from Hurd, we heard similar from Chris Christie. Asa Hutchinson wasn't as full-throated last night. What do you make of this, I guess, sub-primary of those who are the most aggressive in their criticism of Trump, and what it gets any of them?

GEOFF DUNCAN, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: The truth is sometimes hard to hear, and obviously it was hard for them to hear that. But this whole legal peril situation plays into Trump's game, right. He's confused Republicans all over the country to think chaos, loud, angry voices is actually conservatism. And it's not. And these legal perils give him the fodder to walk through his daily talking points to make it look like he's being mistreated and misaligned and all these accusations. But what Hurd is saying is, quite honestly, true. He's literally probably fighting for his freedom at this point, in his mind.

WALKER: I want to get your take from your conversations with people on the ground, as a Republican yourself talking to voters in recent months. What do you think people want to hear from these candidates who are battling to be the Trump alternative? Do you think they want to hear them take on Trump directly?

DUNCAN: Well, there's certainly chaos on the battlefield, as I keep mentioning, right. Republicans don't know which was is up. Donald Trump has disoriented us. The candidates, in my upon opinion, the early candidates like Ron DeSantis and others try to be Donald Trump light. That was a mistake. Our party has the opportunity to really step up. Statistically speaking, we have the best opportunity to win the White House maybe ever in our party's history because of how poorly Joe Biden is polling right now. But we're missing the opportunity. We continue to talk about the wrong things.

And I think Americans are going to wake up and start to really be concerned about the economy. They're going to be worried about the border and the negative effects. They're going to be worried about international chaos. These are real situations where I think is we need once in a generation leader to step up to almost take the charge for a GOP 2.0 that I often talked about, where we lead with our policies. We use empathy not to pick on the other side, but to understand the other side, and use a tone that encourages. I call it my pet project.

BLACKWELL: Do you think that once in a generation leader is in the race yet?

DUNCAN: I hope so. There's certainly some that -- Chris Christie is doing his part in taking it right to Donald Trump. And Hurd and others are really trying to be articulate. But we need somebody that has got the whole package, and hopefully one of those are able to step up. They should be unanimous in rebuking anything Donald Trump has to do and say. He's hijacked our Republican Party. And this may be funny to say, but I was making this analogy last night. Nominating Donald Trump for the Republican Party is a lot like peeing in your pants. It's going to feel good for a couple seconds, but then you wake up and realize the realities of what you just did. We're going to get beat in the general because we picked the wrong candidate. We couldn't get out of our own way.

WALKER: That's a catchy analogy, Geoff. Besides the new charges that Trump is facing in the documents case, there is this ongoing investigation into what happened in Georgia during the 2020 election. That's the focus of this week's new episode of "The Whole Story with Anderson Cooper." I just wanted to ask you, in your role as lieutenant governor, did you feel pressure from Trump and his allies regarding overturning the election? DUNCAN: Yes, absolutely, immense pressure. And it came in all kinds of

different forms and passions. Donald Trump was as granular with his efforts to try to overturn that election as anybody. I think what you're going to find out is this Fani Willis Fulton County indictment looks to be imminent. I think there's two things that are going to be very, very surprising is, one, how coordinated the effort really was between fake electors and trying to get special sessions, and all of this really shaped back to the Oval Office. And the second is going to be how loose and reckless they were in trying to get all this together. There was just a bunch of duct-taped together operations that were really taking on the law. And I think that's going to come back to roost for those folks that were bad actors.

[10:40:05]

WALKER: Geoff Duncan, great to see you and have you, as always. Thank you very much.

And an all new episode of "The Whole Story with Anderson Coooper" airs tomorrow at 8:00 p.m. right here on CNN. We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLACKWELL: Cities across the U.S. are under excessive heat warnings. Extreme heat has gripped communities from California to Florida since June. Phoenix is in its fourth week in a row of high temperatures over 110 degrees, smashing a previous record of 18 days. In response, a lot of cities have opened cooling stations or given away air conditioners and fans to help people cope with the heat, but those measures are very short-term fixes for what is likely a long-term problem, and of course, that's climate change.

Joining me now V. Kelly Turner, associate professor of urban planning and geography at UCLA. Kelly, thank you for being with us.

[10:45:00]

And I want to talk about the cities specifically, because you have got the dense buildings, dense cities, high populations. How is heat mitigated in these cities, because the buildings are not going to get shorter or smaller, people are not going to spread out? What can cities do?

V. KELLY TURNER, ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR, URBAN PLANNING AND GEOGRAPHY, UCLA: Yes, well, one of the things that cities can do is they can reflect the sun's energy. And that's what's being done with things like cool roofs and cool surfaces. But another way that cities can make things cooler for people that live there is by providing lots of shade. Shade is one of the most effective ways to cool people when they are outside and it's hot. So a person standing in the shade can feel 20 to 40 degrees Celsius cooler than someone standing in the sun just a few feet away.

BLACKWELL: So what are we talking, canopies, long-term tree planting, what does this shade project look like? TURNER: Yes, so cities typically think about providing shade in terms

of trees, but shade can be cast by almost anything that blocks the sun. So shade is really effective because it protects the body from the main factor that determines how hot a person is feeling, and that's the sun's shortwave radiation. So it's an essential preventive measure for heat risk, and it's not really an emergency planning one. So we all know that cities are cooler when we have shade, but we're not really planning for it. So in the future, that's something that cities are going to need to do is intentionally think about what does shade infrastructure look like. And without doing that, we get what we have today, which is most of the city is in what we would call a shade desert. So that means that people don't have enough shade to keep them safe where they live, work, and play.

BLACKWELL: So there is this new study, 41 million Americans live in urban areas where the heat island effect has raised local temperatures by eight degrees or more. And there's a greater impact on lower income areas in these cities. What's a plausible approach to at least lessening the disparity?

TURNER: The first thing that we need to do is recognize that there are some people that are exceptionally heat vulnerable, and in conditions like we're experiencing right now in much of the south and the southwest, there's really no way to get people safely cool outside. And so folks are going to need greater access to things like air- conditioning and cooling indoors, whether that's in their homes or whether that's in places like emergency relief centers, cooling centers.

But then we can also do things long range to change the way we plan and build cities. And that means thinking about not having spread out kind of asphalt dominant systems where there's little opportunity for shade and the lots of opportunity for surfaces to heat up and cause that late afternoon, evening time heat island effect.

BLACKWELL: So last weekend, Kelly, I had my first interview with a heat director. I had never heard of the position before I spoke with the heat director in Phoenix. And of all the cities we've covered, Phoenix certainly needs one, 30 days now above 110. Are these new positions keeping up with the need? Are they keeping pace with what we're seeing as we're moving to this proverbial global warming to global boiling era?

TURNER: Yes, well, the chief heat officer position is something that's brand new, and it's something that not every city is going to be able to implement, quite, frankly, or have the resources to invest in. But one thing to keep in mind is that heat governance is really in its infancy. And there's a lot of work to do. So the other day when President Biden announced this suite of heat measures that the federal government is trying to take, those are just a start of the conversation. And we need to keep having the conversation. So there's a lot of great legislation at the federal level right now that could help communities better prepare and coordinate. For instance, right now, the Extreme Heat Emergency Act, which would allow heat to be included as a national, be declared as a disaster, but also things like the Living Schoolyards Act, which would enable communities and support communities in efforts to bring schoolyards to keep children safe when it's hot at school.

BLACKWELL: V. Kelly Turner, thank you so much. We are living now in a changing environment, and we need these chief heat officers, and to think about heat in the future. Thank you for helping us understand it.

WALKER: All right, well, if the ground is shaking, don't worry. It could just be Taylor Swift and thousands of her superfans. Details on how her Seattle concert is making seismic history.

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[10:54:17]

WALKER: Here we are again. The Mega Millions jackpot soaring to $1.05 billion, the fourth largest prize in the lottery's history. But ticketholders in four states won at least $1 million each on Friday. The next drawing is on Tuesday.

BLACKWELL: Just over a week ago, the Powerball was at a little more than $1 billion, but of course, as you know, someone won that jackpot.

So what happens when 70,000 Swifties all dance to Taylor Swift's live performance of "Shake It Off" all at once? It is called, I'm told -- you can't wait to hear me say this. I can see it on your face.

WALKER: I'm waiting. I'm waiting.

BLACKWELL: It's called a "Swift Quake."

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[10:55:16]

WALKER: Yes, when fans dance in unison to the popular song at last weekend's concert in downtown Seattle, the ground shook. It shook so hard that a nearby seismometer which monitors earthquake activity registered as the equivalent of a 2.3 magnitude earthquake. Seismologists say a combination of the music from the concert's sound system and all 70,000 Taylor Swift fans dancing in sync produced the ground vibrations. I'm sure you will create a bigger earthquake at the Beyonce concert with all of the fans.

BLACKWELL: Can't wait. Can't wait.

(LAUGHTER)

WALKER: Thank you for watching.

BLACKWELL: There's much more ahead in the next hour of CNN Newsroom. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)