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Israel Launches Military Operation in West Bank; New January 6 Video of Nancy Pelosi Revealed; Trump Faces Questions Over Incident at Arlington National Cemetery. Aired 11-11:30a ET

Aired August 28, 2024 - 11:00   ET

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

[11:01:12]

JIM ACOSTA, CNN HOST: Good morning. You're live in the CNN NEWS CENTRAL. I'm Jim Acosta in Washington.

We begin this morning with special counsel Jack Smith not backing down and bringing a retooled January 6 case against former President Donald Trump in a new indictment. Federal prosecutors made some tweaks after the Supreme Court's controversial ruling giving former presidents -- Donald Trump immunity from prosecution for official actions he took while in office.

But all four of the felony charges remain accusing Trump of attempting to defraud the government by obstructing the certification of the 2020 election and trying to strip voters of their rights, Trump calling Smith's action -- quote -- "an act of desperation and ridiculous" and he's demanding that the case be immediately dismissed.

The new indictment underscores the immense personal significance of a Trump victory come this November. If he returns to the White House, he would have the authority to shut down this case and another federal case, the classified documents case against him.

Let's bring in CNN's Alayna Treene.

Alayna, what comes next with this indictment? And how is the Trump campaign responding?

ALAYNA TREENE, CNN POLITICAL REPORTER: Well, look, the Trump campaign is responding exactly the way that you would expect them to.

Donald Trump had sent a series of posts on this last night, including into this morning, calling this a hoax, saying that this is election interference. He noted that early voting starts in just 10 days, I believe, on September 6.

And so that's what they're saying about this, that Jack Smith and his team are using this as a way to interfere in the upcoming election, all the things we have heard him say repeatedly.

Look, what comes next, I mean, I think there's a lot that still needs to be sorted out with this. And I think it's clear that Jack Smith's team is not backing down. Just because of that Supreme Court ruling does not mean that the indictment went away. They are arguing that many of those things that he did were not official acts, including having Mike Pence try pushing him to not certify those election results on January 6 of 2021.

And so I think we're kind of back to where we were before with how the Trump campaign is responding. They're fund-raising off of this. I think you could have expected that, given that they have been successful in those efforts in the past.

But this is going to continue to be a key line of attack for them. And it is something that we have seen has worked, at least with his base of voters. It's unclear how this will actually play with some of the more modern, independent-leaning voters that they're crucially targeting right now.

ACOSTA: Yes.

And, Alayna, something else we have been talking about this morning, there are accusations of a physical altercation at Arlington National Cemetery during Trump's visit on Monday involving some campaign staff or perhaps one staff member. What can you tell us?

TREENE: Yes, this is -- it's still unclear exactly what had happened. I think what is clear is that both the cemetery, as well as Trump's campaign, say that there was some sort of incident that happened.

And I'm told it was happening -- it was not during the wreath-laying ceremony, but when Donald Trump actually went to lay flowers at a burial site for some of the fallen soldiers who were killed during the Abbey Gate attack during the troop withdrawal from Afghanistan.

Now, I'm going to read for you some of the back-and-forth from both sides. So Donald Trump's team has been circulating this letter that some members of those families have been sharing.

It said -- quote -- "We had given our approval for President Trump's official videographer and photographer to attend the event, ensuring these sacred moments of remembrance were respectfully captured and so we can cherish these memories forever."

And, again, this is from some of the family members of some of those soldiers who were killed. Now, the cemetery -- and I think there's a difference here. Just because the families may have said that they had given their blessing does not mean that the cemetery did.

And there is a federal law that prohibits political campaign or election-related activities within the Army national military cemeteries from engaging in some of this activity.

According to a statement from the cemetery obtained by CNN, they wrote that it had "reinforced and widely shared this law and its prohibitions with all participants, which includes photographers, content creators or any other persons attending, for purposes or in direct support of a partisan political candidate's campaign."

[11:05:12] OK, so I actually talked the -- I just got off the phone with a Trump adviser about some of this. I think there's a lot of he said/she said going on. It's very unclear. We do know that the Arlington National Cemetery has filed an incident report.

We have to see how that will get resolved. But I mean, obviously, this is a very sensitive moment. It was a solemn moment. Did the Trump campaign perhaps overstep in what they were doing? I think we have to wait and see what happens when this report is filed.

ACOSTA: Well, if the rule says you can't bring your campaign videographer with, you can't do it. I mean, that's just the rule.

All right, Alayna Treene, thank you very much.

Joining me now, Republican strategist, Matt Gorman, CNN political commentator Jamal Simmons, and CNN legal analyst Norm Eisen. I should note Norm is outside counsel for the Democracy Defenders PAC.

But, Norm, let's jump right into this. This is a superseding indictment. It replaces the old indictment. A different grand jury was used in this new indictment. What can you tell us? There are some differences here, but the thrust of the case is basically the same.

NORMAN EISEN, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: That's right, Jim.

The Supreme Court established a test. And whatever you think of the Supreme Court's decision, which has been widely criticized for going too far and taking too long, there's now a distinction. Official conduct, Donald Trump can't be prosecuted. Unofficial conduct, personal conduct, campaign conduct, he can be.

And what special counsel Jack Smith has done with this superseding indictment, a replacement indictment, is strip out anything that might be arguably official. For example, Donald Trump talks to his Department of Justice. Look, there's an argument. A president talking to DOJ, that's official. All of that is out of the original indictment.

The -- out of 45 pages, there's now 36 left, so nine pages cut, 130 paragraphs of allegations, 106 left. But what remains is this scheme, tell lies to get fake electoral certificates and use those to pressure Mike Pence to recognize that the loser of the election was actually the winner.

That guts of it is all political. It remains.

ACOSTA: I do want to shift gears, go to you, Matt, on this incident at Arlington National Cemetery and get your response. We just heard Alayna talking about that. What is your reaction to that?

MATT GORMAN, FORMER NRCC COMMUNICATIONS DIRECTOR: Yes, this is just unfortunate kind of all the way around, right? It seems like Alayna said it was some sort of he said/she said. I did see that letter.

And then Lucas O'Hara, who's one of the -- somebody who was with the Trump campaign that day, a veteran, also spoke in support. Steven Cheung, who's a Trump adviser, also tweeted out some guidance he got from Arlington National Cemetery.

Look, this is a he said/she said. It's unclear what happened. We will probably never know the actual details of this thing. But I will say this. Look, it was a somber moment that, unfortunately, hopefully, is not marred by this.

And I also do, in a political sense...

(CROSSTALK)

ACOSTA: Matt, but shouldn't you follow the rules if you go to Arlington? If the rules say you can't do a campaign-related activity, it's Arlington National Cemetery. I don't understand this he said/she said stuff.

I mean, if Arlington tells you can't bring your videographer to a grave site, you comply. I don't know -- how is this -- I don't understand how that's -- how you can -- there's wiggle room there.

GORMAN: Well, as I just said, the Trump adviser tweeted out the guidance he got. So, again, again, we don't know the facts here. We can extrapolate out.

But, again, I think what I would expect to see is the Trump campaign using Afghanistan as an issue in the campaign and the withdrawal of that. That was when you really saw Joe Biden's poll numbers almost permanently go down in August of 2021.

ACOSTA: Yes.

Jamal, what's your response? What do you think?

JAMAL SIMMONS, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: You know, it's sad. That's my response. It's sad that we had a president of the United States, commander in chief, somebody who was -- we entrusted with the full faith and confidence in American people to execute the laws and to protect us and keep us safe and to lead our troops.

And he's somebody who has just shown that he doesn't have that high of regard for troops. And I got to tell you, when it comes down to it, I take John Kelly's word over this than Donald Trump from the incident at the previous cemetery, where Donald Trump was shown to say that he just didn't understand why people would make that kind of sacrifice.

We heard him say himself that he thinks that the medal for the civilians is better than the medal for the troops. I just think that it's just a sad day that we're even considering this man being commander in chief again. It just seems like this is disqualifying.

ACOSTA: I do want to button up the January 6 conversation. One of the things we brought up earlier, Norm, with respect to this new retooled Jack Smith case is that -- and this dovetails out of what Jamal was saying -- if Donald Trump is elected in November, if he becomes president again, the January 6 case goes out the window, essentially, right?

[11:10:11]

The classified documents case goes out the window. Those cases are essentially gone come January 6, 2025?

EISEN: That's right, Jim, because those are federal cases, and the president has two powers. It's like a one-two punch that can knock those cases out.

He can simply order the Department of Justice to dismiss them, and he can try to pardon himself. But this explains why Donald Trump and his allies are in such a rage this morning. Jack Smith, with a new superseding indictment, less than 70 days away from the election, has reminded everybody Donald Trump is alleged to have engaged in very serious 2020 election interference.

Will he do it again in 2024? He's been convicted of it, 34 counts of election interference and cover-up in Manhattan court in 2016, paying hush money to hide information from voters. And now Smith has reminded us this election is a referendum. Will Donald Trump be held accountable or not? So, very important move.

ACOSTA: Yes.

And, Jamal, Vice President Harris, Governor Walz, they're going to sit down with CNN tomorrow for their first interview. What do you think she needs to say? What does she need to get across, in your mind, tomorrow night?

(CROSSTALK)

SIMMONS: Yes, the vice president's headed down to Georgia, which is a place I know pretty well, went to college there, worked for Senator Cleland when he was there.

And he's just got the great advice of somebody named Quentin Fulks, who's a deputy campaign manager who ran Senator Raphael Warnock's campaign down there. And so what they're trying to do when they get down to Georgia, which is important, is they're trying to shave some of the margins in these rural counties that they're campaigning in, right?

So 25 percent of these rural counties are African-American. So you think about Atlanta and Atlanta suburbs being the place where you campaign, but they're going to try to just tweak up those margins in some of those rural counties. So she's going to do an interview at the same time.

And this interview with Governor Walz, which will happen in Georgia, which is an incredibly important state for them, will set some context. One of the things we have been talking about for the course of the last week is, you don't just do an interview just to do an interview when you're on a campaign. You do it because you have got something to say. You're trying to advance something that you want people to pay

attention to. And I think they want people to pay attention to Georgia and to what they're trying to do in these rural counties, not just in Georgia, but in places like North Carolina, where 17 counties that Joe Biden won by more than 35 percent of the vote, they have got to get those margins up.

ACOSTA: Yes.

SIMMONS: And they want to show people in those rural counties that they're paying attention to them, they're important to them, and that they need them to support the Harris/Walz ticket.

ACOSTA: Yes, Matt, what do you think of that campaign tactic that the Harris/Walz campaign is laying out here? They want to go to some of these rural counties, and you and I both know that that has been solid Trump country for the last several years.

Harris/Walz trying to cut into that. What do you think?

GORMAN: Yes. No, look, there's an old Springsteen lyric about poking a dead dog with a stick to see if it runs. And I think when Kamala and Tim took over the ticket from Joe Biden, you saw them kind of poking at certain things and seeing if it was really closed off to all Democrats or closed off to just Joe Biden.

For instance, maybe Georgia or North Carolina was only closed off to Joe Biden, as we're seeing some more competitive polls now, immigration going on offense. That might be closed off to more Democrats writ large. I think it's a little bit of testing phase right now and it makes sense to do from a purely political perspective.

ACOSTA: All right, Norm Eisen, Matt Gaetz, Jamal Simmons, thanks very much, guys. Really appreciate it. Thanks for the discussion.

SIMMONS: Thank you.

ACOSTA: All right. And don't miss Dana Bash's exclusive interview with Vice President Kamala Harris and Governor Tim Walz and their first joint sit-down interview with the media as the Democratic nominees. That is tomorrow night at 9:00 p.m. only on CNN.

And still ahead this hour, a new behind-the-scenes look at the aftermath of January 6. CNN has obtained video of Nancy Pelosi's real- time reactions, blaming the president and asking why the National Guard wasn't more prepared.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. NANCY PELOSI (D-CA): Because it's stupid that we should be a situation like this, because they thought they had what? They thought these people would act civilized? They thought these people gave a damn?

(END VIDEO CLIP) (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[11:19:06]

ACOSTA: Quote -- "a domestic enemy in the White House" -- end quote, that outrage from then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi as she lashed out at then-President Donald Trump in the midst of the January 6 attacks.

Newly released footage obtained by CNN shows Pelosi as she was evacuated that day and how she and her colleagues later tried to regain control of the Capitol and certify the results of the 2020 election.

CNN's Sunlen Serfaty us now.

Sunlen, this is part of a 2022 documentary filmed by Pelosi's daughter Alexandra. She does a lot of documentaries, but not one that gets this personal, and there's some very dramatic moments here.

SUNLEN SERFATY, CNN WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT: There certainly are, Jim.

And we are notably seeing this new video because the House Committee on Administration, they pushed for HBO, which is where the documentary first aired, they pushed for them to release the video. And HBO notably is owned by Warner Bros., which is the parent company of CNN.

And they released nearly 50 new minutes of video that the committee over in the House of Representatives received just this week.

[11:20:04]

And I want to play one specific clip. This is actually from the morning after January 6, so on January 7. And we see Speaker Pelosi in her office. And she's meeting with staffers.

And one of her staffers suggests maybe potentially calling for the resignation of the Capitol Police chief, Steven Sund. It is then when Pelosi interrupts him and says, no, no, no, let's keep the focus on President Trump.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PELOSI: Let me just say this. I think our focus has to be on the president. Let's not differ ourselves. I have never liked Sund. I think he should have been gone a long time ago.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Ma'am, the press is very focused on this. Schumer just -- Schumer -- just now a Politico breaking news alert that Schumer is going to fire the Senate sergeant at arms.

(CROSSTALK)

PELOSI: I don't even know who that is. Yes.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: But it's immaterial? The heads are rolling is what we're saying. So...

PELOSI: Well, I don't want to have it on a par with the insurrection and the impeachment and the rest of that. If they ask, I will respond.

But I'm not doing it on a par, because it's a diversionary tactic.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Understood. understood.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SERFATY: So there you see her the morning after kind of talking to staffers about what their messaging would be. And in other parts of the video, as we talked about, it's just remarkable seeing her rush through these back quarters of the Capitol, rushed out of the building into her SUV, just remarkable behind-the-scenes footage from that day.

ACOSTA: Absolutely. All right. And there's some of it right there. And we were showing some images earlier that showed her talking to her staff.

And you can see the shattered mirror in her office, remnants of some of the damage that was left behind by those attackers on the Capitol.

Sunlen Serfaty, thank you very much for that excellent report. We appreciate it.

New this morning, Israel has carried out raids and airstrikes in the occupied West Bank. Israel's military says the raid targeted the threat of deadly attacks and accuses Iran of arming and funding terrorists in the West Bank. Palestinian health officials say at least nine people have been killed.

Video obtained by CNN shows bulldozers tearing up a road. You can see it right there. Hamas is accusing Israel of deliberately destroying infrastructure and is calling for an escalation on -- of all forms of confrontation, as they're putting it.

Let's take a closer look now with Barak Ravid. He's a CNN political and global affairs analyst. He's also the politics and foreign policy reporter for Axios.

Barak, lay this out for us, if you can. What are we seeing right now? Is this an escalation that we could see on the rise in the coming days?

BARAK RAVID, CNN POLITICAL AND GLOBAL AFFAIRS ANALYST: Well, one of the things that was sort of on the sidelines in the last 10 months since October 7 is the situation in the West Bank.

We were focused on Gaza, for obvious reasons, on Iran, on Lebanon, on the Houthis in Yemen. But in the West Bank over the last 10 months, there's been a gradual escalation every day more and more and more with, on the one hand, Israeli military operations in an increasing pace, on the other hand, more and more attacks by Palestinian militants and also a dramatic increase in violence by extremist settlers against Palestinian civilians. And when you put all of that together with the fact that the IDF is

mostly in Gaza or on the border with Lebanon, so you have less forces in the area, you see that this is another arena where the escalation is brewing. And I think that in the last few days, we saw an eruption, but it was not out of the blue.

It was something that's been building for several months now.

ACOSTA: And these clashes, as you said, they have become more common in the West Bank since what's been taking place in Gaza got started 11 months ago.

And, today, there are condemnations from the Palestinian Authority, Hamas, Islamic Jihad. It sounds as though we have the makings of something that could really get out of control.

RAVID: No doubt.

And the West Bank is a whole different ball game. You have in the West Bank another, at least, at least, just from the Palestinian Authority, something like 40,000 people who have weapons and are part of the Palestinian security forces.

And the Israeli defense establishment has been warning the Israeli government, Netanyahu and his ministers, for months, as recently as last week with the head of the Shin Bet security agency, sending a letter to Netanyahu, telling him that some of the government's policies are pushing the West Bank into an explosion, an explosion that, as the Shin Bet director says, will be a disaster and a catastrophe for Israel.

So in many, many ways, all of Israel's security chiefs are warning the government of what might happen in the West Bank, what is already happening in the West Bank. But, at least at the moment, the government policy, we have to say, is such that contributes to this escalation.

[11:25:10]

ACOSTA: And so, Barak, what does this do to the cease-fire talks in the Israel-Hamas war? They're in Doha today. Is that right? Where do you see things standing at this point?

RAVID: Well, the talks continue in Doha today, or resume in Doha after earlier this week they had meetings in Cairo.

And President Biden's top Middle East adviser, Brett McGurk, is there. He saw the Qatari prime minister yesterday. We heard this morning CIA Deputy Director David Cohen saying that, at the end of the day, Israel has showed seriousness in the negotiations and the decision is on Yahya Sinwar, Hamas' leader in Gaza.

And I think that the Biden administration is not giving up on this issue, but I hear more and more voices that say that it might not be possible to get this deal before the presidential election. And then the situation afterwards can look very, very different. ACOSTA: Very unpredictable at that point, no question about it.

And, Barak, you have some new reporting on the hostage rescue that we saw yesterday from that Hamas tunnel in Southern Gaza. What can you tell us?

RAVID: Well, so, first, there's also an updated reporting.

The IDF overnight recovered the body of an IDF soldier who was killed and his body was kidnapped on October 7 by Hamas. His body was recovered from a tunnel in the area of the city of Khan Yunis. And this is after yesterday we had a more -- let's say, a more successful operation that a live hostage was brought back and was rescued.

So, now another dead hostage. This brings the number of hostages left in Gaza to 107. But it also shows that, every day that passes, you discover more and more hostages are not alive. And this raises the question, how much time do those hostages have left, those who are still alive, that every day that passes increases the danger for their lives.

ACOSTA: Barak Ravid, thank you very much. We appreciate it.

RAVID: Thank you.

ACOSTA: Officials in swing states are preparing for election interference from Trump allies if he doesn't win in November.

I will speak to the top election official for Arizona still prosecuting issues in that state from 2020.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)