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New Evidence Links Trump's Legal Team To Georgia County Voting System Breaches; Putting Trump's Legal Troubles In Perspective; Death Toll In Maui Fires Expected Now At 93; Police Raids Kansas Newspaper's Office And Owner's Home; GOP Candidates Working To Win Votes In Iowa; Battle For Control Of The U.S. Congress; Health Officials Warn Of Triple Threat Of Viruses This Fall. Aired 6-7p ET

Aired August 13, 2023 - 18:00   ET

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

[18:00:00]

JESSICA DEAN, CNN HOST: Sources telling CNN investigators there now have e-mails and text messages that directly connect members of Trump's legal team to the breach of a voting system in rural Coffee County.

This new development coming as District Attorney Fani Willis is preparing to present her case to a grand jury. She is expected to seek an indictment of more than a dozen people as early as Tuesday. And that means this week a former U.S. president could be facing criminal charges in four different jurisdictions around the country.

We've got you covered. We're going to begin with CNN's Zachary Cohen on this, who helped break this exclusive reporting.

Zach, this seems quite significant, this evidence linking members of Trump's legal team, to the breach of a voting system there.

ZACHARY COHEN, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Jessica, these text messages really do add to a growing body of evidence that links Donald Trump's legal team to this voting system breach in Coffee County, Georgia, that happened on January 7th, 2021. And more specifically, it links them to this effort to secure a written invitation from a local election official there, essentially allowing them or, in their minds, to be held up as evidence allowing them to enter the election office and copy the voting system in Coffee County, which by all accounts is not legal and no election official is allowed to let outsiders have access to voting systems in counties across the country.

But we know now that Trump's team and Trump's lawyers were trying to convince this local election official in Coffee County to provide a written letter of invitation. And these text messages really do show us how they were involved in the planning, and how -- you know, down from Rudy Giuliani all the way to Sidney Powell, how they were kept in the loop by operatives on the state level as they worked to secure this written letter of invitation, and then ultimately access to the voting system in Coffee County.

Now Coffee County is about 200 miles south of Atlanta, downtown Atlanta, where we are right now. But the Coffee County breach has emerged as one of the focal points of Fani Willis' investigation over the last year and a half. And it's because the sensitive voting data was initially accessed by Trump's lawyers. This could play into charging decisions that are expected to come within possibly the next week.

DEAN: Right. It is a remarkable new detail. And you mentioned possibly in the next week. Walk us through, kind of set the scene for us, the next couple of days where you are, what that might look like.

COHEN: Yes, Jessica, we expect the district attorney here, Fani Willis, to start presenting her case to the grand jury as early as tomorrow. And that is the clear sign because witnesses are supposed to come and testify in front of a grand jury. The clear sign that charges could be coming and they could be coming in the near term. We already know of at least three witnesses who are scheduled to come in on Tuesday.

You know, by all accounts, we could see charges or indictments come as early as Tuesday once that happens but timing does remain up in the air. The grand jury may want more time with the evidence. The prosecutors may want more time to present it. But as of now all eyes on the Fulton County courthouse starting as early as tomorrow and indictment watch starts on Tuesday at the earliest.

DEAN: Yes, no doubt about it. Zachary Cohen for us in Atlanta. Thanks so much for that excellent reporting. We appreciate it.

We want to continue this discussion now with former federal prosecutor Michael Zeldin, host of the podcast "That Said with Michael Zeldin." He also served as a special assistant to Robert Mueller at the Justice Department.

Michael, great to see you. Zach just went over these exclusive new details that he and his colleagues broke about these text messages, these e-mails. Is this a smoking gun for prosecutors?

MICHAEL ZELDIN, FORMER FEDERAL PROSECUTOR: It makes their case much easier. If the Trump defense is, my call to Raffensperger, First Amendment protected. If my calls to Governor Kemp were appropriate under political circumstances, this is an action. This is an illegal action. So you can't argue First Amendment defense to illegal actions. So they can make their case much more action-based and less speech- based, they have a stronger way of proceeding.

DEAN: That's so interesting, and worth reminding everyone, we believe the reporting is that Fani Willis wants to go after conspiracy charges, racketeering charges, not just for Trump, but for his allies as well, essentially tying them together, the so-called RICO cases, which I'm sure you're very familiar with. How does this fit into that, and what will make that unique about how she's put thing case together?

ZELDIN: Under the Georgia RICO statute, which is really conspiracy plus, it allows you to bring in related criminal actions into one sort of overarching conspiracy theory, let's the jury hear a story, on day one, this is what happened, all the way through the conclusion of this story. And these disparate acts by all these different actors woven together in this RICO conspiracy charge, allows for that story telling.

And that's what you want as prosecutor. We always say as a prosecutor, you write your closing statement first and then build the evidence to let you say that. That's what she's doing here.

[18:05:01]

DEAN: OK. And with your experience, help people understand, Zach was just saying this grand jury will meet tomorrow. And we know that the two witnesses have been called for Tuesday. What is that going to look like? It's closed doors, we know that. They don't go in with legal counsel, the witnesses, it's just ordinary citizens that sit on this grand jury. But beyond that, fill in the details for us. What does that look like in that room?

ZELDIN: So it looks sometimes like a classroom. You've got these people sitting on chairs, 23 people that have sworn an oath to defend the Constitution, you know, behave in an orderly way. You have a prosecutor who brings in a witness, the witness is sworn, and they tell their story. In this case, because you have a special grand jury for eight months, hearing 75 pieces of evidence by these people, there will be a summary of that. So like the greatest hits will be presented by the case agent.

Then these additional witnesses, and they'll all talk. The prosecutors get to ask the questions. The grand jury gets to ask questions. And then at the end when the evidence is fully presented, the prosecutors will say here are the charges that we think should be appropriate. Vote on them. And you need a majority of the 23 grand jurors to bring an indictment, a true bill they call it, meaning truly a crime, probable cause is the standard. It goes to a judge. Then assigned to the court calendar and off it goes.

DEAN: And off we go. And worth noting, it sounds like that you only need the majority of the 23, although unless you could get all of them, to get that indictment. How do you think this timeline will play out? This is both extraordinary and ordinary, right? It is how the justice system works, but in extraordinary circumstances.

ZELDIN: Exactly. The grand jury in Fulton County, Georgia, meets twice a week. In this case, Monday and Tuesday. Monday, you'll probably get the greatest hits, the summary and all that stuff. Then on Tuesday, we have at least two live witnesses. And then if they go in the early morning, and that's the end of the evidentiary presentation, the prosecutors will probably have this indictment, if there's going to be one, already written. They present it to the grand jury and say, we're thinking about bringing this charge this time, what do you guys think? How do you guys want to vote? And then they vote.

Remember also that there was this special grand jury that heard from 75 witnesses. They made a recommendation about criminal charges. And so they already have a sense of how 23 others viewed the evidence. And so they'll pick and choose the strongest cases. You're right, if one was 12 people versus 23 people, they'll pick the 23 people.

DEAN: And before I let you go, last question is just about where this is happening. This is a state, not a federal case.

ZELDIN: Right.

DEAN: It's in Georgia where they would allow it to likely be televised. What is important to keep in mind about the differences with this case versus the federal case?

ZELDIN: Well, fundamentally, there can be no pardon in this case. A federal case, the president can issue a pardon. In this case, it's the governor. If you're convicted in Georgia, you cannot apply for a pardon until after five years from the end of your, you know, sentence. And so that's a big difference. And then television makes a very big difference. We saw the failure of television in the O.J. Simpson case with Judge Ito controlling nothing in that courtroom.

And that's going to make a big difference on how the lawyers behave and how perception of the audience is. Because you really want to convince not just the 12 jurors, yes, of course, you want a guilty verdict, but you want to talk to America, that this is a righteous prosecution, and so you want your evidence to be strong enough to convince people that this was appropriate, this was not a political witch hunt.

DEAN: Right. That this was warranted. All right, Michael Zeldin, thank you so much for being here, for that analysis. We appreciate it.

And Donald Trump not the first president to be impeached, but what about indicted? How his legal troubles compare to those of past presidents. That's next.

Plus, the wildfires on Maui are now the deadliest that country has seen in more than 100 years. How traumatized survivors face the challenge now of rebuilding their homes and their lives. We'll take you there.

Plus, a police raid on a newspaper in Kansas. Was it a criminal investigation or an act of retribution?

You're in the CNN NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[18:13:23]

DEAN: America now looking at unchartered territory. A twice impeached president possibly facing a fourth criminal indictment. For the first time in our nation's history, a year's long criminal probe could result in state level charges against a former president for election interference.

And joining me now to bring us some historical context to all of this is CNN political analyst Julian Zelizer. He's also a professor and historian at Princeton University. And Julian, you're the perfect person to talk to about this because

you can help put this all into context for us. We often get in the habit of saying unprecedented and unchartered territory, but this really is unlike anything we've really seen. What do you make of this potential fourth indictment?

JULIAN ZELIZER, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: Well, look, with the facts themselves, this is unprecedented. The indictment of a former president, three, looks like four indictments, and also he happens to be the frontrunner running against the incumbent president. You add all that up, it's not something we have seen before, and it should weigh heavily on the nation.

And then there's just the substance, both in Georgia and the last federal indictment. We're talking about allegations that the sitting president refused to allow for the peaceful transfer of power after having lost. And I think we can't lose sight of that. The issue itself gets to the core of our democracy.

DEAN: Right. These foundational layers of our democracy. Last time Trump was indicted in that federal case, accusing him of election interference, you called it the most consequential indictment brought against him. Where would you place this Georgia probe? Would it hold the same significance for you as the federal case?

[18:15:06]

ZELIZER: It would. It's not federal versus state, again, so much as the content of the indictment. Both are connected. What we're learning today is some of the detail about additional action that was taken during these very difficult, fragile months to undercut the electoral process. And so I think both combined in some ways only amplify just how serious the charges are, and how important it is to resolve this, because left unresolved, this leaves our democratic process up in the air in many ways, and so I think that's why this legal process is so vital.

DEAN: And you know, sometimes people will say, well, you know, America has been through tough times before. Democracy has faced tough times before, and it certainly has. But to your point, this really gets at the foundational principles upon which our country is built. Do you think this is more than simply a stress test for this democracy?

ZELIZER: Oh, absolutely. This is about setting precedent. And one precedent was set in December and January of 2020 and 2021. Now is a precedent that undid guard rails, it undid traditions that have been around since President Washington in terms of the loser accepting the loss. And so now we look, what's the next precedent? Impeachment didn't really resolve this. Partisanship in some ways overwhelmed the ability to bring resolution.

And so now we're looking to see, what does this nation say? First, it has to find out the facts and we have to reach a conclusion. But if the wrongdoing was done, what do we do about it? What does the government do about it? Do we allow this to be acceptable? And that is extraordinarily important for all of us. DEAN: And if you look back in history, if we go back when President

Gerald Ford preemptively pardoned Nixon for any crimes he might have committed in the Watergate scandal, President Ford argued it was to avoid bringing any more trauma and let the nation heal. That was his argument for doing so, and there are now some who say that the prosecution of Trump only is further dividing the country.

Looking back at President Ford's decision, do you think that argument is applicable here or is this just fundamentally different?

ZELIZER: Well, I think many people don't think Ford was right. He chose healing over accountability. He didn't achieve healing. We became more divided. And many people were left frustrated that accountability was not achieved with Richard Nixon. And so I think that's the lesson for today. We need to prioritize accountability to understand what happened, and if wrongdoing took place, to respond to it. The pardon didn't work, and I think it would be even more calamitous right now for that to happen.

DEAN: Yes. And just before we let you go, in these last few seconds we have, the country has been through a lot in the last several years, that's like the understatement of the year. But how do you think it begins to heal? And what role does accountability for the former president play there? And what role might end a new presidential term for him to play if he were to win again?

ZELIZER: Well, I think this process is actually part of the healing. It's not part of the divisiveness. We're trying to respond to what happened. So I think this is step one. If, you know, he is found to have done wrongdoing, he's re-elected, I think it would be very destabilizing to the nation. So the process we're doing right now is the process that needs to take place. It's not politicizing, it's actually trying to move us in a different direction.

DEAN: Yes. Julian Zelizer, thank you so much for your analysis, for kind of giving us that context. We really appreciate it.

ZELIZER: Thanks for having me.

DEAN: Deadly wildfires in Hawaii leaving thousands displaced from their homes. We're going to be live on Maui surveying the damage with survivors.

You're in the CNN NEWSROOM.

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[18:23:40]

DEAN: New tonight, a plane taking part in an air show has crashed near an apartment complex in Michigan. You can see the plane in this video. And you see puffs of smoke, something then separates from the main body. The two people inside the plane ejected before the crash. They weren't injured. We're told no one on the ground was hurt. According to the FAA, that plane is a MIG-23. It was part of the Defender Over Michigan air show in Ypsilanti. Two people are dead in North Carolina after a plane crash into a lake

this morning. That plane hitting a power line. It then knocked out electricity to thousands of people near Lake Hickory. Officials say power has been restored for most of the customers in that area, but no word yet on what caused the crash.

Let's take you now to Hawaii, where the state's emergency response is set to undergo a comprehensive review after its siren system, the largest in the world, did not activate during these deadly wildfires. As of this hour, the death toll sits at 93 with thousands of residents displaced, nothing left.

We have learned President Biden has been regularly briefed on the situation throughout the weekend while he's been in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware.

CNN's Mike Valerio is live on Maui for us.

And, Mike, I know you've been there now for a while. What are you seeing today?

[18:25:02]

MIKE VALERIO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Jessica, we're glad to report that today is certainly night and day in terms of getting into the disaster zone. Right now we're at Waihe'e, 24 hours ago we're at Maalaea, and that was right by the ocean and it was just organized chaos. We took timelapse video 24 hours ago where you can see a mile- long line of families, relief workers trying to get in.

There was a lot of confusion yesterday, Jessica, about who could get in where. This right here, a few yards away, this is the main only checkpoint getting into the disaster zone. This is alleviating some confusion. And you can see no backup.

Now earlier today, we spoke with a woman named Susan. She was telling us what it is like to go into the disaster zone, come out, and some unfortunate things that she is seeing once she's inside. Listen to what she told us.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SUSAN SLOBODNJAK, LAHAINA RESIDENT: We did not know anything that was going on really in Lahaina. We just couldn't get out of our house. We had no running water, no electricity, no nothing. And we got stuck there and I had no idea what was going on just two miles down the road. We had no information.

My cousin's over there right now taking care of everything but we can't -- we don't have any like good running water or anything. I don't -- so, yes, it's -- and I went back to go get two generators and 25 gallons of gas to come back over and I waited in line for four and a half hours thinking that I could get through, and a fight started when I was there.

(END VIDEO CLIP) VALERIO: Can you believe that? Fight started. She's reporting looting. So that's why we're seeing everything right here. Police officers from Maui PD making sure that everybody who goes in is a resident of inside the disaster zone. They don't want anybody going in and out who could be looting, who could be tourists.

Now we actually have a map showing you, Jessica, a better idea of the somewhat perilous is not exactly the word that I want to use, but it's a little dicey on this road, which narrows into one lane of traffic. It's like if you're moving counterclockwise now in a very organized fashion around western Maui. We're about 2:00 on the clock face, and then the epicenter of the disaster that's 9:00. So it's certainly a much better situation today as people are hoping to see what has survived beyond this point -- Jessica.

DEAN: Yes, so many people probably very anxious to get back in there and see if anything remains. Mike Valerio for us on Maui, thanks so much for that update.

And for more information on how you can help those Hawaii wildfire victims, you can go to CNN.com/impact. You can also text the word Hawaii to 707070 to donate.

We go now to Kansas, where the small town of Marion is reeling over a story that's turned into a major debate over First amendment rights. On Friday, the town's police raided the home and office of the owner of the local newspaper, and he alleges it's all in connection to a local business owner his paper was investigating.

CNN's Polo Sandoval has details now for us.

And, Polo, we know that the newspaper owner has called this raid chilling. What more can you tell us about this?

POLO SANDOVAL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: So, Jessica, we know that there's at least one press freedom group that maintains that the raid that happened on Friday, targeting the "Marion County Record," it's about 60 miles north of Wichita, not only violates federal law they say, but also the First Amendment.

I'll take you back to Eric Meyer, he's the co-owner of the publication. He tells CNN that the Marion County Police Department raided both his home and his publication's office last week. He adds police officers seized computers, cell phones and other materials that are part of this investigation. Meyer suggests that this was all partly triggered by a story that he published last week mentioning Kari Newell, the owner of a local coffee shop.

Meyer explains that he and his colleagues received a tip about Newell allegedly driving without a valid driver's license. But rather than publish the story based on that tip, immediately Meyer says that he consulted with an attorney. They then notified local law enforcements that the newspaper, "The Record," had received possible sensitive information about a source. Meyer says that police then notified Newell. What followed was the issuing of a search warrant alleging violations

of identity theft and also authorized the seizure of any documents pertaining to Newell. CNN has spoken to Newell. She says that she was, quote, "flabbergasted" when she learned about the raid and denied knowing that it was even in the works. Meyer, for his part, claims that law enforcement did not provide any explanation about the reason for the search, and only handed him a copy of the warrant. So he's going to be exploring legal options he said.

We should mention that during the search of Meyer's home, we're told that his 98-year-old mother was in the home at the time. She's actually the co-owner of "The Record."

[18:30:02]

However, Meyer confirmed for CNN that she actually died this weekend and he believes that it was caused by stress that was brought on by last week's raid, as she was present, though we should also mention the cause of death has not yet been confirmed.

The Marion County police chief told CNN that he is confident that the judicial system that's being questioned will be, quote, "vindicated in the long run." We have also reached out to the Marion County magistrate who actually signed that search warrant, Jessica. So it's certainly a complex, really complicated story to follow, but albeit a very important one as this small Kansas town is now smackdab in the middle of a fight that's related to the First Amendment.

DEAN: Yes, a big debate over the fight of the First Amendment indeed. All right. Polo Sandoval for us, thanks so much.

Well, listen, the Republican candidates for president are working the crowds at the Iowa State Fair this weekend from riding bumper cars to flipping burgers. One even rapped. But will it get them votes?

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GOV. RON DESANTIS (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I haven't had anything yet today. They tell me you've got to be careful about being photographed eating some of this stuff.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

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[18:35:14]

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DESANTIS: And then he stops and he says, daddy, is this heaven? I said no, son, it's Iowa.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

DEAN: Republican presidential candidates have been courting voters and some media coverage at the Iowa State Fair this weekend. Frontrunner Donald Trump arrived for a few hours to steal the show as well on Saturday. The former president swamped with cheering crowds there and some questions about his mounting legal troubles.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: President Trump, did you intend to overturn the 2020 election?

DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: You know the answer to that.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Mr. Trump, will you comply with the protective order from the judge?

TRUMP: So (INAUDIBLE).

(END VIDEO CLIP)

DEAN: Again, most of those questions coming from the media. The big question now with just 10 days to the first debate, can any candidate escape from the former president's growing shadow?

We're going to discuss now Brianne Pfannenstiel. She's the chief politics reporter at Iowa's "Des Moines Register." It's great to have you on. I know you were at the fair Friday and Saturday. You have watched all of these candidates. You've been talking to voters. Just first, give us your impression from the weekend and who you thought made the biggest impression.

BRIANNE PFANNENSTIEL, CHIEF POLITICS REPORTER, THE DES MOINES REGISTER: Yes, so the Iowa state fair is a really great chance for these candidates to interact with Iowans. They come from every corner of the state into Des Moines, so you'll just have a good time. And so it's a chance for them to really shake hands and to have kind of informal conversations with voters.

But of course, people like Donald Trump come in and really steal the show, you know, in a way this is all about optics. And he really kind of took the chance to show his dominance. The campaign brought in a lot of volunteers, a lot of Trump supporters, and had them very well organized.

And you know they were kind of trolling Ron DeSantis as the Florida governor that moved through the Fairgrounds on Saturday. Donald Trump flew his private jet over the Fairgrounds in an effort to kind of gin up some attention. Ron DeSantis was flipping at the Iowa pork producer's tent as the JetBlue flew over, and so a big round of cheers went up.

So, really, Donald Trump came in and really tried to command a lot of attention throughout the day. Folks like Ron DeSantis, Nikki Haley, Mike Pence, they were all traveling through the State Fairgrounds, you know, shaking hands and doing the kinds of things that you see at the state fair, doing the kinds of things that people say can really move the needle here, but it was Donald Trump's show.

DEAN: Yes, yes, and meantime they're doing these more traditional forms of campaigning at the fair. And we also learned that former President Trump is likely looking at this fourth criminal indictment over the next few days. And we saw in the clips the press asking him a lot about that.

Certainly you're in Iowa full time. I have dipped in and out a few times over the last several months. And the voters there will talk about Trump, but they don't seem to talk, when I talk to them, a lot about the indictments than the actual legal problems. But what impression are you getting when you're talking to voters when it comes to Trump and his legal issues?

PFANNENSTIEL: That's right. I think these legal issues for the people who already support Trump, they're just really kind of entrenching that support even more. For those who were already skeptical of Donald Trump, you know, it's interesting, you meet people and you say, you know, I'm over Donald Trump, I'm kind of over the drama. And as a reporter, you'll follow up and say, you know, are you tired of hearing about his legal troubles? Is that a concern for you?

And actually that's not what they're talking about. They see this as being very partisan, and so their issues come from other things. You know, they're tired of, you know, Donald Trump's you know, being quite antagonistic. They see him as a bully. Sometimes they're tired of the distraction. But really they see these indictments as being quite partisan. And so it's interesting to talk to Republicans across the board to see that this is really maybe not having all that much of an effect on the way that they see the former president.

DEAN: Sure. Yes. And the former president's appearance yesterday was pretty brief compared, you mentioned it, to some of the other candidates who were there for hours and hours. We know that Iowans expect retail politics. They hike to shake people's hands. They want to talk to them. Ron DeSantis is now making a big effort to go to all 99 counties and do these smaller events where he's one on one with people.

Other candidates doing, you know, what they can to meet with people on a one-on-one basis and really get that Facetime in. Do you see anyone starting to move the needle at all, and do you get the sense that voters are open to that?

PFANNENSTIEL: I think voters are incredibly open to this. Of course, Donald Trump supporters, there's a core group of supporters that are just never going to leave his side. But I think there is a pretty big group of Iowa Republicans who want to hear from alternatives, they want to see someone who can persuade them to, you know, move their vote from Donald Trump.

[18:40:02]

You know, a lot of Iowa Republicans have voted for Donald Trump twice. But they'll tell us in conversation that they're ready for someone new. They just want someone to show that they deserve that, that they can, you know, carry their vote and do the things that they want to see. So they're looking at Ron DeSantis, they're looking at people like Tim Scott who's headed to the fair later next week. They're looking at Nikki Haley. You know, they like Vivek Ramaswamy who is at the state fair this week.

And so I think they're really looking for someone who can convince them that it's worth it to change their vote and to move on. We do hear from a lot of Iowa Republicans who are ready to move on from Donald Trump. So it's a question of whether someone like Ron DeSantis can really coalesce that support into a meaningful bloc.

DEAN: Right. If he can convert those people from we're interested to we'll caucus for you.

All right. Much more to come. We just have a few months left. Thanks so much for being with us. We appreciate it.

PFANNENSTIEL: Thank you.

DEAN: And Democrats are hoping to retake control of the House of Representatives in the 2024 elections. And a key battleground in all of that is the state of New York.

CNN's Manu Raju went there and explains.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MANU RAJU, CNN CHIEF CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It was a stunner last year giving the GOP a razor thin House majority. Six Republicans winning in the blue New York suburbs. Now they're the most in danger. So when President Biden recently called vulnerable freshman Mike Lawler --

JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: The kind of Republican I'm used to dealing with, but he's not one of these MAGA Republicans.

RAJU: Democrats like Mondaire Jones seeking to unseat Lawler were furious.

MONDAIRE JONES (D), CANDIDATE FOR CONGRESS: People were horrified when they heard what Joe Biden had to say.

RAJU (on-camera): So did Biden get it wrong?

JONES: Biden not only got it wrong, but I think it was just factually like absurd.

RAJU (voice-over): Lawler is one of 18 Republicans in districts Biden carried in 2020 whose fates will determine the next majority.

REP. MIKE LAWLER (R-NY): I ran to represent this district.

RAJU: Lawler says he's appealing to moderates.

LAWLER: I don't look at it as a vulnerability. I've won twice in 2-1 Democratic districts. When the president came to Westchester, and he said on stage, I'm the type of Republican he could work with.

RAJU: But Lawler's opponents are seizing on his votes in the conservative dominated House. Like when the New York freshman voted to rescind a Pentagon policy reimbursing personnel traveling for abortions.

LIZ GEREGHTY (D), CANDIDATE FOR CONGRESS: So he's totally fine with women in the military fighting for his freedom, but he won't even protect their rights.

RAJU: Lawler defends his vote.

LAWLER: Using taxpayer funds to pay for travel related to abortion services, we don't do that.

RAJU: Lawler could soon be in another difficult spot. If the House tries to begin an impeachment inquiry into Biden.

LAWLER: I think for me, with respect to impeachment, we're not there yet.

RAJU: Another complication, the prospect that Donald Trump could be atop the ticket as he faces criminal charges.

JONES: Mike Lawler cannot run away from Donald Trump. And this is a district that hates Donald Trump.

RAJU (on-camera): Do you think that Trump deserves to be in jail?

JONES; I think Trump deserves to be in prison, but you know what, let's leave that up to the juries to decide.

RAJU (voice-over): Lawler is critical of Trump's actions after he lost in 2020.

LAWLER: I think Donald Trump's conduct post-election was wrong. It was wrong.

RAJU: But not saying if he'd back Trump as the nominee.

(On-camera): Would you support Trump if he's the nominee?

LAWLER: Look, at the end of the day, the Republican primary voters are going to choose who the nominee is. I want the party to move in a different direction.

RAJU (voice-over): Though he has his limits.

LAWLER: If he's convicted, he should not be running for public office, period.

RAJU: Lawler says Jones, who used to represent a more liberal New York district, is out of step.

LAWLER: You're not a pragmatist, you're a political hack.

RAJU: Jones' primary opponent Liz Gereghty says this.

GEREGHTY: He's taking positions that I think are going to cause him problems in a general election.

JONES: Of course we need to end mass incarceration.

RAJU: Among them, discussing defunding the police in 2020. Something he is now walking back.

JONES: I understood those words, which are very, in retrospect, poor choices of words.

RAJU: Many voters here are still up for grabs.

WALTER SEVASTIAN, UNDECIDED VOTER: Nobody has won my vote yet, you know.

RAJU (on-camera): Now in a sign of just how important districts like this one is for the fight for control of the House, Speaker Kevin McCarthy's super PAC released a memo just this week detailing what it is calling the Blue State Projects, saying the House will be won or lost in Democratic strongholds like this one, and McCarthy himself plans to travel to New York later this month.

Manu Raju, CNN, Piermont, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

DEAN: New concerns tonight about what could be a COVID resurgence. What you need to know to keep yourself and your family safe.

Plus, what is it really like in the post-pandemic restaurant world? "Food Network's" Bobby Flay joining 'THE WHOLE STORY WITH ANDERSON COOPER" to see how the industry is adapting. Don't miss the new episode, it's tonight at 8:00 p.m. Eastern only on CNN.

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[18:49:26]

DEAN: Well, get ready for a fall and winter with at least three health threats potentially coming at you at once. Sounds fun, right. This triple threat being posed by the flu, COVID-19 and the respiratory virus known as RSV. Health officials across the country are bracing for a rise in these illnesses beginning this fall and they're urging everyone who's eligible for a vaccine to get one.

Let's discuss now with the dean of Yale School of Public Health, Dr. Megan Ranney.

Dr. Ranney, great to see you. I know it's hot in August right now. But this is just not that far away. What are the indications this could be not a great fall and winter for those three illnesses?

[18:50:05]

MEGAN RANNEY, DEAN, YALE SCHOOL OF PUBLIC HEALTH: Well, Jessica, thank you for having me on tonight. Every winter we see rises in flu and RSV and for the past few years we've of course seen rises in COVID. There is no reason to think that we wouldn't experience a surge in all three respiratory illnesses this fall and winter. Just as we have in the past. What makes this different as you mentioned is that we now also have tools to prevent all three.

We have the flu shot, which has been around for a while. We have the COVID vaccine, and are about to be getting a new booster which is great news for folks and most importantly for the first time ever we now have a tool to prevent RSV which you'll remember was filling our emergency departments and hospitals last fall.

For little kids, we have a shot that gives them some antibodies to protect them from the disease, and for older folks, age 60 plus, we now have a first time ever vaccine. This is great news and if Americans avail themselves of these shots, we could potentially stave off an overflowing emergency department and an overflowing hospital. So I have a little bit of fingers crossed as we head into this fall.

DEAN: Yes. And it is amazing to have something to do for RSV. I know for so long it was kind of, like, well, you know, what are you going to do? But now to have these vaccines seems very big. We know there is a new COVID strain that health officials are warning about. Why is it such a concern and do we know yet if the booster shot will be able to protect against it?

RANNEY: Yes. My son said to me today, mom, COVID is back? So, I want to be clear, yes, COVID is still here, right. It has never gone away. But this is not the same as the summer surge that we saw last year or the year before or the year before that. This is a variant of interest, not a variant of concern. We are seeing a small increase in cases, hospitalizations and deaths but nothing like what we saw in prior years.

To me this is really that signal that as we head into the fall, we could be heading for worse. So, the takeaways for my son as well as for folks watching is if you're in a crowded place right now and particularly if you're high risk, wear a mask. Because we are seeing increased spread of this new variant.

If you have symptoms, if you feel like you've got the flu, stay home, please. Don't get other people sick and make sure you test, and particularly if you're in one of those higher risk groups and you test, know that you can ask for Paxlovid. It still works wonderfully for this new variant.

Now you mentioned the booster, we are really excited about it. Everything suggests that it is going to work well against the variants that are floating out there right now. So when it becomes available, again, I urge folks to get it, particularly people who are age 60 plus, who are immunocompromised, pregnant or otherwise high risk for bad COVID outcomes.

DEAN: Right. And I want to talk a little bit about some other data and this is incredibly serious. It's a record high number of suicide deaths that we saw in the U.S. last year. And we really saw this rise in suicides beginning in 2021 after two years of decline.

I'm curious if you think this can be connected to COVID and the isolation that we saw during the pandemic, or do you think this is something independent?

RANNEY: No, Jessica, we've unfortunately been seeing increases in suicide deaths in the United States for about 15 years now. We have a slight decrease in 2019 and 2020 but it was only a very small decrease. So although this is likely connected to the mental health problem that all of us are experiencing in our families and our communities, it is actually a continuation of a trend that pre-dates COVID by over a decade.

One of the saddest things about this increase in suicide deaths is actually the greatest increase in suicide deaths is firearm suicides or gun suicides. Those have made up more than half of suicide deaths for a very long time and we've seen that percentage increase in this latest year. And so for folks that are watching, I urge you that if you have a friend or a family member who is feeling depressed or going through a moment of stress, to make sure that they're connected to help, to know that you care about them.

And if they own or have access to a firearm, make sure that they can't access it until they're feeling better. That can be the best thing that you can do to save someone's life.

DEAN: All right. Dr. Megan Ranney, thanks so much for that information and those tips. We sure do appreciate it.

RANNEY: Thank you.

DEAN: And just a note to anyone struggling or who knows someone who may need help, there is a new lifeline available. All you have to do is dial 988. That's all you have to do. The lifeline is open 24 hours a day, seven days a week. It is there for you if you need it.

For many people living in remote areas of Ghana in West Africa, accessing medical care could mean walking several hours to a hospital or even struggling to afford payment if they can get there.

[18:55:06]

This week's CNN Hero saw his grandmother and aunt struggle and die from preventable diseases. And now Osei Boateng has dedicated his life to improving access to health care.

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OSEI BOATENG, 2023 CNN HERO: We've been to communities where they haven't seen a doctor before, literally. They haven't been to the hospital before. We've designed the environment like a clinic. Depending on the person's condition, if the doctor needs additional labs work done, we have some point of care labs that we do in the van. We have medications and so it is like a one-stop shop for people.

Up to date we've served about 4,000 people. So imagine if we had two or three vans. Our vision is to really expand. Words cannot describe the feeling that you get providing care for someone who otherwise wouldn't be alive if your mobile health van wasn't there.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

DEAN: And to see Osei's full story, you can go to CNNHeroes.com.

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