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Dems Sue to Block New GOP-Backed Georgia Election Rules; Harris Campaign Launches Georgia Bus Tour; DOJ and Special Counsel Fight to Revive Classified Docs Case; WH Pressure Meta to Censor COVID Content; Voting Firms and Officials Prepares for November Election; Voting Companies Fight Disinformation; Oasis Announces Reunion Tour; Mariah Carey's Mom and Sister Died on the Same Day. Aired 10:30-11a ET

Aired August 27, 2024 - 10:30   ET

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

[10:30:00]

JIM ACOSTA, CNN ANCHOR: In Georgia, Democrats are suing to block controversial new election rules they say could lead to chaos on election day. Donald Trump has praised those rules and the people who made them, but they've also set off alarm bells in a state at the center of his efforts to overturn the 2020 election. Obviously, a key battleground this time around.

Joining me now is CNN National Politics Writer Fredreka Schouten. and Washington correspondent for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Tia Mitchell.

Tia, great to see you, and Fredreka, nice to see you here in the studio. What does this lawsuit say? Because this pertains to these election rules that we just heard about, these new ones in the last couple of weeks, which have stirred up a lot of controversy.

FREDREKA SCHOUTEN, CNN NATIONAL POLITICS WRITER: They have, absolutely. I mean, one of the rules says that election officials should conduct reasonable inquiry before certifying election results, and another one says that individual county board members, election board members, have the right to, I've written it down, examine all documentation related to the election before certifying, and there is just this feeling that this is going to lead to delays.

So, this lawsuit says, look, throw out those rules, make it clear that certification is mandatory, it is not discretionary, and please do so before the election.

ACOSTA: Yes. And just a reminder to our viewers, I mean, this is in a state where Trump was pressuring the secretary of state, Brad Raffensperger, last time around. Trump gave a shout out to some of the officials on this, who made this change recently, right, Tia? Why is this causing so much controversy down in Georgia?

TIA MITCHELL, WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT, THE ATLANTA JOURNAL- CONSTITUTION: So -- and I want to be clear, it's not just Democrats who are questioning some of the changes that this new kind of overhauled state election board have made. Even Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger has said he's concerned. Governor Kemp is looking into some of these issues. Of course, both of them are Republicans.

But why it's become so controversial is the fact that these are Republican appointees who have been praised by Donald Trump. One of them even attended a Trump rally. And so, this board has been very politicized. And now, they're making changes that a lot of people believe are, you know, feed into the big lie, feed into unfounded questions about the integrity of Georgia's election and could pave the way for, you know, possibly stop the steel efforts based on the outcome of the 2024 election.

So, people are really concerned this could, you know, create some chaos around Georgia's elections and delay possibly indefinitely the certification of the election results.

ACOSTA: Right. And it's important to note, all of this grew out of an election that Trump lost in Georgia. And just recently in the last several days, he acknowledged at a press conference or at an event that, he came up a little short, in the 2020 election. How is this Georgia election board responding to this?

SCHOUTEN: Well, we haven't had an official response to this lawsuit yet. But, as Tia notes, this controversy has been brewing for a while. There have been all these calls for these folks to stop doing this, to remove some of the board members, and they have defended themselves consistently, saying that they only want a trustworthy process, that they want to promote election integrity.

It's going to be interesting to see how this plays out, though, because, the board members recently asked the attorney general, a Republican, to open up an investigation into the 2020 election in Fulton County, and he said no, you can't make me do that, and keep in mind, if you want outside counsel, you need my permission. So, we'll see how this plays out later.

ACOSTA: Well, and this is just adding to all the concerns that have been raised, that election day is not going to just be on one day, that there are going to be these battles over the returns in various different states and counties all over the country, and Georgia just being one of these examples.

And, Tia, I do want to ask you a quick campaign question. The Harris campaign is kicking off their bus tour of the state tomorrow, in a -- part of the state that you might not typically expect to run a whole -- you know, a lot blue, you know, very blue, but they're going to be down in Savannah. Can you tell us about that?

MITCHELL: Yes, they're going to start. They're going to have a bus tour tomorrow in South Georgia and then ending up in Savannah for a rally on Thursday with Vice President Harris, which again is South Georgia. I think they're thinking is, again, we know Georgia is going to be close. Biden carried the state with fewer than 12,000 votes.

[10:35:00]

So, no, South Georgia isn't necessarily going to -- these counties, most of them are going to still be Republican majority counties, Republican leaning counties. But there are Democratic votes to be had in South Georgia. And of course, the Electoral College is based on the popular vote statewide. So, they want to get as many votes as they can.

We also need to remember that rural Georgia is still about 25 percent black. And so, there are Democratic voters in these rural areas. They don't see candidates very often, but this will be a chance for them to do so.

ACOSTA: Yes, and these margins are going to be so tight, it could just be a few thousand votes that determines who wins that critical state. Fredreka Schouten, Tia Mitchell, great to have both of you on, really appreciate it.

Turning the page to Special Counsel Jack Smith and the Department of Justice. They are fighting to revive the classified documents case against Former President Donald Trump. Judge Aileen Cannon abruptly tossed out that case last month, claiming Smith's appointment was unconstitutional. But the Department of Justice is hitting back, calling her decision, quote, without merit.

CNN Legal Analyst Joey Jackson joins me now. Joey, you know, a lot of folks have thought that perhaps this case is just -- it's just going to go by the wayside now because of Judge Cannon's decision, but the Justice Department is going to try this, Jack Smith is going to try this approach. What do you think?

JOEY JACKSON, CNN LEGAL ANALYST AND CRIMINAL DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Yes, Jim. Good morning to you. I think that they should. And I think that certainly it has merit, meaning the arguments that they're making in their brief. I think the overall concern, though, is notwithstanding the logistical and very powerful arguments they make is whether or not it survives in the 11th Circuit or when it gets up to the Supreme Court of the United States, what they'll do with it.

I'll remind everyone that we know that Clarence Thomas, I'm not sure how he got there, but in waxing poetic about the immunity case in July, he happened to write a concurrence, which talked about the special counsel's appointment not being proper and not being supported by legislative statutory authority. And so, guess what? Canon happened to have a decision in front of her. She was making that mirrors what Justice Thomas was saying.

And so, we could get into the legality, certainly, I look forward to, of what Jack Smith said. I think they're very powerful. The concern, though, is you can no longer, I think, Jim, these days talk, about the law itself without talking about the politics that's hovering over it, and that's the ultimate concern.

ACOSTA: Yes. And apparently, this was filed at the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals in Atlanta. What does that tell us about what we may see come next?

JACKSON: I mean, look, the reality is, is that I think that you'll see no matter what happens in appeal, I think, again, it's well grounded in statutory authority. Jack Smith is arguing that there are four statutes federally that really allow for the appointment of the special counsel and went through chapter and verse as to why they would be appropriate and what these statutes are and what they mean.

The Department of Justice has a right to appoint people, to staff people, and to otherwise do their job. From historical perspective, I think that Jack Smith goes through chapter and verse 150 some odd years of history talking about really Theodore Roosevelt in 1900 and Truman in 1945 and all of the other special counsels. And then, of course, talking about how it would lead to a parade of horribles in terms of the special counsels we have now.

But what it tells us in the 11th Circuit is certainly it will be appealed. I think there'll be no matter what the decision is, that is of the 11th Circuit, what they make, it could -- you could see three judges evaluated, make a decision. You could see an application for an in-bank review. What that means, Jim, is the entirety of the 11th Circuit hears it.

But again, I'll go back to what I started with, I think it goes back to the Supreme Court of the United States, and I don't know that there's much public confidence in them to make decisions predicated upon the merits. Instead, I think people view the court as somewhat political, particularly given the fact that it's six to three conservative versus liberal.

ACOSTA: And just quickly, I mean, what are the chances we'll see this go to trial before the election? Almost none, I suppose, right?

JACKSON: No, there is none at all. So, that's a foreclosed possibility, Jim. And the reason for that is, as I noted, no matter what the decision, it will be appealed, right, to the circuit court. While it's being appealed to the circuit court, then it will be appealed to the Supreme Court. So, they'll have to make a determination. So, we're ways away from that.

ACOSTA: All right. Joey Jackson, good to see you. Thanks so much.

JACKSON: Always.

ACOSTA: All right. And the White House is responding to Mark Zuckerberg's new claim that his teams at Meta were, quote, pressured to censor content about COVID back in 2021. The White House responding in a statement saying the Biden administration has encouraged responsible actions to protect public health and safety. We should note in a letter to the House Judiciary Committee, Mark Zuckerberg said in part, and put this up on screen, I believe the government pressure was wrong, and I regret that we were not more outspoken about it. I feel strongly that we should not compromise our content standards due to pressure from any administration in either direction, and we're ready to push back if something like this happens again.

[10:40:00]

Of course, Meta has come under a lot of criticism for allowing disinformation to spread on its various sites. We'll stay on top of that. Keep you any -- keep you posted with any updates. In the meantime, coming up, scarred by 2020, how voting companies and election officials are preparing as November approaches. That's next.

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ACOSTA: Presidential election is 10 weeks from today, and voting companies along with election officials are getting ready for November of 2024. And with November of 2020 and the smears, lies and conspiracy theories that followed, that election weighing heavily on their minds. Officials are ramping up security, cracking down on ways to fight disinformation. CNN's Marshall Cohen is here with his latest reporting.

[10:45:00]

Marshall, I mean, these voting companies, they're obviously feeling a lot of pressure right now.

MARSHALL COHEN, CNN REPORTER: Oh, they're feeling the heat and they've had to change everything this time around because of the traumas and the just avalanche of disinformation from last time around when Donald Trump and his allies falsely accused the voting companies and election officials of rigging the election.

So, they're trying to be proactive this year. They don't want to repeat of 2020. And they are fighting the disinformation head on. We've talked many times about those massive defamation lawsuits that they've brought against Fox News and other Trump allies, those could make for a big payday, but they're also hoping that there will be some deterrence there. Maybe, hopefully, discouraging some of these bad actors and say, you know what, if you lie this time around, you might have a big price to pay.

Another company that's not as well known, but it's actually a bigger voting technology company called ES&S, I've learned from several sources there that they actually forced all of their employees to submit their social media for a background check. The company wanted to scrub to make sure that no one had any publicly available political posts that could be weaponized later on, if things go poorly after the election.

Also, Jim, this company actually had a training session for its employees last year before Thanksgiving. Here's what you do when your friends and family pester you about the 2020 election and pepper you with false claims and conspiracy theories. So, that's the disinformation front.

But also, there are real security threats. Just yesterday, the Justice Department announced charges against a man in Colorado who allegedly threatened to kill election workers in that state. These companies and the election officials that I spoke to said that they are boosting spending on physical security, not just cyber security, but physical security to make sure that their employees are safe.

Also, one company that I spoke to said that they are providing panic buttons, wearable panic buttons, like a life alert to election officials in five states so that they can wear them on a lanyard --

ACOSTA: Panic buttons?

COHEN: -- while they're doing their job just in case anybody tries anything crazy or freaks out at the polls, they press the button and it calls 911.

ACOSTA: Wow.

COHEN: So, we've really descended deep. and the whole. But a lot of people, Jim, are hoping that with these proactive measures it will be a lot safer and more straightforward this time around.

ACOSTA: It almost sounds like a bank teller, you know, pushing the button at the bank if somebody trying to rob the bank.

COHEN: Yes.

ACOSTA: That is really stunning stuff. All right. Marshall Cohen, very important reporting. Thank you very much. All right. Coming up, today is going to be the day that they're going to throw it back to you. I should have sung that line. No more, maybe it's probably not. Actually, that was a wise choice. More on the long-awaited Oasis reunion. That's next.

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ACOSTA: The wondering is over. Today is probably a day that Oasis fans thought they'd never see. After a 15-year hiatus, the British rock band announced a reunion tour set for next year. The group posted a slew of concert dates and six words, this is it, this is happening. CNN's Lisa Respers France joins us.

You know, Lisa, we've heard it's been legendary, the insults, the infighting, the bad blood between these brothers, Noel and Liam Gallagher. I guess they've decided don't look back in anger, and they're going to go out and do this tour. What do you think? Is this over? Is this actually going to happen?

LISA RESPERS FRANCE, CNN ENTERTAINMENT REPORTER: I'm amazed. I'm stunned because the Gallagher brothers have pretty much been the Cain and Abel of British pop rock. So, the fact that it appears that they have put their differences aside to go on this tour 15 years after they had a notorious falling out is amazing everyone.

But it's actually happening. The band even put up a statement on their website to let everybody know that, yes, it is happening, though, they said it will not be televised. You're going to have to actually come to the show. And I think we may have a little bit of that statement there. They said the guns have fallen silent. The stars have aligned. The great wait is over. Come see. It will not be televised.

And that's important because it has literally felt like a war between the brothers ever since they formed back in the '90s. They had a fight that was turned into a 14-minute single of them just arguing back and forth. It charted on the British charts because people have been deeply invested in the battle between the brothers. But now, Jim, it looks like the battle may actually be over. I mean, this is amazing.

ACOSTA: Yes. It really is. And I mean, I, you know, listen to Oasis over and over again. I can't believe that the CD was still working, in my six-disc CD changer back in the '90s. I think we used it as a beer coaster at one point or another, but, I mean, all of those classics, "Champagne Supernova, "Don't Look Back in Anger." I mean, there's so many -- you could play them at any karaoke and you'll get a lot of people my age singing along. But it's exciting stuff.

FRANCE: Yes.

ACOSTA: I also want to ask you, Lisa, there's some really sad news about Mariah Carey. What can you tell us about that?

FRANCE: Yes, Mariah Carey has let us know that she lost both her mother and her sister on the same day, which is, I mean, so incredible, ironic, and sad. We don't know exactly what happened with her sister and her mother, how they died, but we do have Mariah Carey's statement that she released in which she shared the very tragic news that not only did her mom pass away, but also her sister.

[10:55:00]

She said, my heart is broken, that I've lost my mother this past weekend. Sadly, in a tragic turn of events, my sister lost her life on the same day. And now, Mariah Carey said she felt blessed that she was able to spend the last week of her mother's life with her before she passed, and that while she appreciates everyone's love and support, she's asking for respect of her privacy during this time.

She had a very complicated relationship with both her mother, Patricia, who was an opera singer and a vocal coach herself. And she also was estranged from her sister. So, it's very sad. But it's -- you know, it's also very difficult to find out that they both are no longer with us.

ACOSTA: I'm sure Mariah's fans are sending her lots of love today. We appreciate it very much. Lisa Respers France, thanks as always.

And coming up in our next hour, Donald Trump's former fixer torn turned a fierce Trump critic, Michael Cohen. He joins us. I caught up with him at the DNC. We'll resume our discussion about the former president's outstanding legal issues and how they could impact the election. Also, this discussion about whether or not Trump is actually going to debate in a couple of weeks. Michael has some thoughts on that coming up.

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