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At Least 20 Tornadoes Reported in South, Threat Continues Today; Oath Keepers Founder Guilty of Sedition in January 6th Attack; Top Trump Advisor Testifies to Grand Jury; U.S. Senate Passes Bill Protecting Same-Sex Marriage & Interracial Marriage; Congress to Act in Preventing 'Crippling' Rail Strike; U.S. Beats Iran, Advances to Next Stage of World Cup; On the Front Lines in Ukraine's Battle for Bakhmut. Aired 6-6:30a ET

Aired November 30, 2022 - 06:00   ET

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

DON LEMON, CNN ANCHOR: Well, it's time for us.

POPPY HARLOW, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning.

[06:00:03]

KAITLAN COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: Once again.

HARLOW: Once again.

LEMON: Here we are. Good morning, everyone. Wednesday, November 30. And we have a lot happening.

As a matter of fact, happening right now, at least 20 tornados have been reported in the South. Alabama facing strong winds and hail.

In Mississippi, a community there grappling with major disruptions. This is a moment -- look at this -- the storm blew a steeple off of the church, the top of a church. We're live on the ground. You're going to see it.

COLLINS: Also this morning, the leader of the Oath Keepers, Stewart Rhodes, and one of his subordinates has been found guilty of seditious conspiracy, over that extensive plot that culminated with the January 6th attack. Their conviction a landmark victory for the White House -- for the Justice Department.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Just making a big run. It's meant for him. (UNINTELLIGIBLE) behind. Pulisic scores!

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: Gooaall!

HARLOW: Listen to Don. That game-winning goal, I should say, sending the U.S. to the knockout rounds against the Netherlands this weekend. But as the World Cup continues on for the United States, will the star

player, Christian Pulisic, who sacrificed his body, be a part of it? He says yes.

COLLINS: That game was awesome.

LEMON: It was awesome. I did do it right? Gooaall! HARLOW: Totally right.

COLLINS: That's why everyone, I was just saying (ph), can't miss it yesterday (ph).

LEMON: I like how they do it. They, like, run out of air. Someone's going to pass out.

But we have -- we're going to have all of that, but we have to begin with this. The South is on high alert right now after a massive storm system spawned at least 20 tornados in several states.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

(WIND BLOWING)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: Look at that. Gusting winds swept debris into the air in Alabama just West of Huntsville, while four people were injured and multiple animals found dead in Louisiana's Caldwell Parish.

That storm washed out this bridge in Mississippi's Monroe County, leaving a truck stranded.

We're going to get straight now to Ryan Young, who is now in Mississippi, standing in front of a church where the steeple was blown off.

Exactly where are you and what happened? How bad is the damage?

RYAN YOUNG, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Don, first of all, we've been driving throughout the night, and the winds have been pretty strong. The rain has been consistent throughout the night.

Now the temperature has dropped, but you said you wanted to see the steeple. We're about 30 minutes away from Columbus, Mississippi. You can see this came off this church.

Of course, it's still dark here. We're an hour behind you. So as you can imagine, we haven't been able to assess all the damage right now.

But this right here shows you how strong some of those winds were, knocking this off the top of the church.

If you look up there, though, we don't see any major roof damage. But this is what people were concerned about, that these storms were to be hitting later on in the night and that people would not have the chance, after hearing the tornado sirens, to get out of the way. Luckily so far, we haven't heard anything about any injuries in this

general area. But as you can see, the damage here, this steeple is pretty massive. I mean, when you walk over to it, you can see how solid it is. This thing was just blown right off.

Emergency crews have cleared this area. We're actually told the firehouse nearby, that was slightly damaged, as well. And there may be a House within a mile away from here that suffered some damage, as well.

So when you think about all this compounding wind late in the season when it comes to tornado season, you can understand why so many people would worry about the damaging effects this could have in this area.

LEMON: Yes. Major storm system rolling through the South. We're going to -- Thank you, Ryan. We'll check back in with you in just a bit.

COLLINS: All right. It was a landmark verdict for the Justice Department in a Washington D.C. courtroom. The founder and leader of the Oath Keepers and one of his top deputies were both found guilty of seditious conspiracy for plotting to keep former President Trump in office.

The jury found three other defendants in the case not guilty of sedition. They also acquitted Rhodes of two separate conspiracy charges.

All five defendants were found guilty of obstructing an official proceeding.

This matters, because this was the first of three seditious conspiracy cases to be heard. It was also seen as a major test of the Justice Department's ability to hold those Capitol rioters accountable.

CNN's Paula Reid is live in Washington this morning. Paula, the outcome of this verdict is huge for the Justice Department. Where do we go from here?

PAULA REID, CNN SENIOR LEGAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: You're right, Kaitlan. This was a big test for the Justice Department. And after three days of deliberations, the jury returned a split verdict.

But it was still a victory for prosecutors, because it was the first time, in a trial related to the Capitol attack, where the jury found that the violence on January 6th was not a spontaneous disruption but the product of an organized conspiracy.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

REID (voice-over): Stewart Rhodes, the leader of the far-right Oath Keepers militia, and one of his subordinates, Kelly Meggs, were convicted of seditious conspiracy Tuesday, the most serious charge brought so far in any of the more than 900 criminal cases stemming from the Capitol attack.

Rhodes, Meggs and three other defendants -- Jessica Watkins, Kenneth Harrelson, and Thomas Caldwell -- were all convicted of obstructing an official proceeding and several other charges.

[06:05:10]

REP. JAMIE RASKIN (D-MD): I think that the character of January 6th is now finally sinking in to the whole country.

REID (voice-over): The Justice Department alleged that the Oath Keepers conspired to forcibly stop the peaceful transfer of power and plotted to attack the U.S. Capitol on January 6th.

The trial, the first of three seditious conspiracy cases, was a major test of the Justice Department's ability to hold January 6th rioters accountable.

The lead prosecutor told the jury in his closing statement that Rhodes and his subordinates "claimed to be saving the Republic, but they fractured it instead."

The evidence presented at trial revealed how Rhodes, a former Army paratrooper with a law degree from Yale, wrote two public letters, urging then-President Trump to invoke the Insurrection Act, which would give the president the power to call up militants to help him remain in power.

STEWART RHODES, OATH KEEPERS LEADER (via phone): If the fight comes, let the fight come. Let Antifa go -- if they go kinetic on us, then we'll go kinetic back on them. I'm willing to sacrifice myself for that. Let the fight start there. OK. That would give President Trump what he needs, frankly. If things go kinetic, good. If they blow bombs up and shoot us, great. Because that brings the president his reason and rationale for dropping the Insurrection Act.

REID (voice-over): Prosecutors said Rhodes placed a quick-reaction force of heavily-armed Oath Keepers at a Comfort Inn in Arlington County, Virginia, ready to rush their weapons to Washington, if needed.

On the day of the insurrection, Rhodes remained outside the Capitol.

EDWARD L. TARPLEY JR., ATTORNEY FOR STEWART RHODES: We presented a case which showed, through evidence and testimony, that Mr. Rhodes did not commit the crime of seditious conspiracy. There was no evidence introduced to indicate that there was a plan.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

REID (on camera): They've also signaled that they intend to file some appeals.

Now, Rhodes and Meggs are the first people in nearly 30 years to be found guilty at trial of seditious conspiracy. It's a rarely-used Civil War charge that can be pretty difficult to prove.

Now, all of these defendants face up to decades in prison. A sentencing date has not been set, but Kaitlan, that usually happens a few months after the verdict. COLLINS: Yes. We'll be watching to see what that looks like. Paula

Reid, thank you for that update.

HARLOW: All right. Now to the latest on the January 6th investigation. Former Trump adviser and speech writer -- you'll remember him -- Stephen Miller testifying before a federal grand jury in Washington. This makes him the first known witness to appear since the Justice Department appointed that special counsel to oversee the criminal investigations involving the former president, since he announced another run for the White House.

Katelyn Polantz joins us from Washington.

So, as I said, first time that there is testimony before this grand jury in D.C. since the special counsel was appointed. There was concern, would the special counsel slow things down, et cetera. Would this indicate no?

KATELYN POLANTZ, CNN SENIOR CRIME AND JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: That -- that's exactly right, Poppy. This is moving along at a pretty steady clip.

We don't know that many names of people who have gone before this grand jury, but this particular grand jury has been hearing lots of things from some really top people around Donald Trump after the election and even on January 6th.

So Miller is one of those people who was inside the White House, talking to the president, including on January 6th, as the speech writer preparing that speech that he gave on the Ellipse to his supporters before they went to the Capitol and rioted.

And the thing that we know Miller has talked about before, because he spoke to the House Select Committee about it, was what Trump wanted to put in the speech and this question of whether Trump was going to mention Mike Pence.

It was one of those things that was in the speech, and then it was out of the speech. Miller was involved in those discussions. And so that's one of the things that this grand jury likely would want to know from him.

And what this represents, with all of these other people that are going into the grand jury, as well. Top Pence advisers, top Trump advisers, Miller now. Those people are all the firewall around Donald Trump's presidency. And clearly, the Justice Department now, with this special counsel, they're chipping away at that. They're trying to get more and more questions very close to Donald Trump.

HARLOW: For sure. And Katelyn, while we have you, what about this, the fact that the South Carolina Supreme Court has ordered Mark Meadows, Trump's former chief of staff, to testify. This is in a separate investigation, right, into Georgia's election meddling -- Georgia doing the election meddling investigation. Do you expect that Meadows will still fight this? POLANTZ: Well, we don't know exactly what's going to play out with

Meadows one on one, when he appears for the grand jury. But there is the Supreme Court in South Carolina saying he has to show up, that his arguments just are manifestly not with merit. That's what the court said.

And so he will now likely show up for that testimony. He could try and decline to answer some questions, but we would just have to see how that goes.

Again, chipping away around Donald Trump, another top adviser in a criminal investigation --

[06:10:05]

HARLOW: Sure.

POLANTZ: -- being ordered to show up.

HARLOW: Absolutely. Katelyn, thanks very much for the reporting.

LEMON: So it is a landmark bipartisan vote, the Senate has passed a bill to protect same-sex and interracial marriages.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Sixty-one. The nays are 36. The bill, as amended, has passed.

SEN. CHUCK SCHUMER (D-NY): -- President, what a great day. What a great day.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: The Respect for Marriage Act is also expected to be passed -- it passed, I should say, by a vote of 61 to 36, with 12 Republicans joining Democrats in support of the legislation, including some very conservative members.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. CYNTHIA LUMMIS (R-WY): For the sake of our nation today and its survival, we do well by taking this step. Not embracing or validating each other's devoutly-held views, but by the simple act of tolerating them. And that, Madam President, explains my vote.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: Democratic Senator Kyrsten Sinema reacted to the vote by saying, "These families are normal. These marriages are normal. And I can't wait for people all across the country to be able to talk to their children and their children's children about the time in America when we made it completely normal for families to be together."

The bill heads next to the House, where it is expected to pass by the end of the year before heading to President Joe Biden's desk. COLLINS: Also, other action on Capitol Hill this morning. As

Democratic and Republican leaders in Congress are preparing to act to pass legislation that would avert a nationwide rail strike. That coming after President Biden called on them to do so after he warned that a strike could deal a devastating blow to the nation's economy.

This is overriding what union workers had wanted to see happen here. It's also frustrated some progressives on Capitol Hill, who say the offer should include paid leave for those rail workers.

CNN's M.J. Lee is live at the White House. M.J., you know, Biden came into office promising to be the most pro-union president in the country's history. I know that's something that is very close to his heart.

So I imagine this was not necessarily the decision he wanted to make here, but what led him to this?

M.J. LEE, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: You know how often the president will describe himself as pro-union. It is a label, as you said he wears proudly.

So this decision to publicly call on Congress to take action to avert the strike and, essentially, force some of his allies in the union to sort of be accepting of something that they're not entirely happy with, that obviously came with some political risk.

And ultimately, it wasn't something that the president wanted to do at the end. He knew that there would be some backlash. You know, you look at some of his public statements, and they've been almost these sort of pained statements, explaining why he had to do what he had to do.

But ultimately, you know, the White House did see this coming a mile away. Our reporting is that by mid-November the White House was making contingency plans for precisely this scenario, the scenario where talks would ultimately fall apart.

And that's when we are told the president picked up the phone and called congressional leaders, called some of his top cabinet officials, and told them, Yes, my public statement is coming. I'm going to call on Congress to act.

COLLINS: It's remarkable. But you know, he's been getting criticism from the rail workers, who did not want to see this. We talked to one of them -- one of them here the other day who said they believed that this was the wrong decision, to actually see Congress pass this legislation.

What else has the White House been hearing from organized labor on this move?

LEE: Yes. There's no question that the president and the White House, they have been getting plenty of criticism. You know, some saying that he had blown it. You know that the paid leave, sick policy, that has been a real sticking point in all of this. But I do want to offer just a little bit of nuance and context that I

think is important, too. You know, dozens of unions were involved in these negotiations. And ultimately, four of them ended up rejecting this agreement that was agreed to earlier this year.

So there were plenty of rank-and-file members that were happy with it. You know, one labor strategist I talked to, they said this is hardly Biden sticking it to the unions. They said this is not President Reagan and PATCO. This is obviously the 1980s situation, where he ended up firing thousands of air traffic controllers that were on strike.

So yes, there is some nuance and context here, and certainly, some political risk, too.

COLLINS: Yes. And also just looking at the economic consequences that could happen with this strike.

M.J. Lee, thank you.

HARLOW: All right. Did you see it yesterday? It was the moment American soccer fans have been waiting for since 2014. Watch.

(BEGIN VIDEO

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (UNINTELLIGIBLE). Austin McKay just making a big run. It's meant for him. (UNINTELLIGIBLE) stuck in behind. Pulisic scores!

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARLOW: There's the moment when the U.S. beat Iran in the World Cup yesterday to advance to the knockout round, thanks to that goal by Christian Pulisic.

But as a result of the game-winning goal, he suffered a pelvic contusion. He had to go to the hospital. He said he'll be fine, that he'll play in the U.S. match on Saturday against Netherlands.

[06:15:03]

Fans across not only the United States celebrated the goal and the win. It got the president excited. Look at this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: The United States beat Iran 1-nothing. U.S. one, Iran zero.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARLOW: And as for the team, they had an impromptu celebration of their own back at the hotel. You can see Pulisic embracing some of his teammates. Perhaps a good sign of his chances for playing on Saturday.

There were even, I should note, celebrations in Iran after the U.S. win, where many came to see their own national team as a symbol of the regime, who have faced protests over human rights abuses and the treatment of women for months.

So joining us now, former U.S. Men's National Team player and FOX Sports match analyst for the World Cup, Cobi Jones.

Cobi, great to have you. What did you make of the moment? What does this mean for the team?

COBI JONES, FORMER U.S. MEN'S NATIONAL TEAM PLAYER: First off, thank you for having me. I think this is an extremely important moment for U.S. soccer, for this team. You know, getting through the group stage is probably the base of what you expect from the United States, but they've done that. And they get to move forward.

And now it's almost -- I can tell you from personal experience, it's a sense of relief for the players. So this is the time where they can go into that -- almost that second tournament vibe, and then try to push forward and have even more success.

COLLINS: Can you just talk, though, about Christian's role here in this? Because he attacked this game head on. He has been responsible for two of the goals that they've scored here. He was an assist on one goal. Obviously, he scored in this game yesterday. It was -- it was just amazing to watch.

And it came at a price to him, obviously, because he's been injured. Talk about his role, though, and what that meant to -- to securing this victory.

JONES: Yes. I mean, I don't think we can overstate the role that Christian Pulisic plays within the U.S. National Team.

He's a leader. He's the one that sets the example for everybody else on that team. And he's the player that was -- you know, in the last qualifying cycle, he was on the field when the U.S. did not qualify and go to the World Cup. So you can -- he has it in his heart, that pain from before.

So he's -- he's setting himself as the role model, as the hard worker for this team, and he's the one that has stepped up. As you said, he's -- he's pushed it, you know, beyond anything else. He's willing to sacrifice himself.

And that sends a message to all the other players. If your -- if your leader is willing to do that, you know, what are you going to do? So he's the one that's really setting the tone for the United States going forward and getting ready for this next game against the Netherlands.

LEMON: If you're following this online, especially on social media, it's blowing up when you watch -- when you watch the players consoling each other.

HARLOW: Yes. LEMON: You see the American and the Iranian players and what have you. It's -- it's amazing. These guys put so much into this, and you have on top of that, not just wanting to win, but the geopolitical part of it, as well. Can you speak to that?

JONES: Yes. I mean, there is a geopolitical aspect of this. We all know about -- know everything that's going on between the U.S., Iran, within Iran, within the U.S., and the various issues.

But when it -- when it comes down to it, we're talking about young men on the field competing for their countries. And I think we saw it with the Iranian player, Saeid Ezatolahi, when after the game, how he was devastated on the field.

And the U.S. players, you know, Sargent and various others, came up and actually consoled him. Because there's an understanding that, yes, on the outside, there's so many things going on, but it is a -- a dedication to the game. It's a spirit of -- of sportsmanship that happens on the field between all the players, and they leave everything else behind. And it's all about that game and a feeling for the opponent, who isn't going on.

LEMON: Cobi Jones, are -- can -- are you out also screaming, "Gooaall," as well?

JONES: Yes. I think I'm doing a little bit better than that, though, but yes.

LEMON: Whoa! Whoa! We won't -- we won't, you know, give people your rendition to wake them up this morning. Not unless you want to. Thank you, though.

COLLINS: Thank you so much.

LEMON: Thank you. I appreciate it.

So authorities in China are cracking down on protesters, but that's not stopping people from taking to the streets.

Plus this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: All right. Well, you can hear the incoming rounds. The incoming rounds from Russian artillery fire are really intensive here.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COLLINS: We've got a CNN exclusive for you this morning. That's our Matthew Chance. He is on the ground in Ukraine as a missile hit a building nearby. We'll go live there, ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:24:20] (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CHANCE: All right. Well, you can hear the incoming rounds. The incoming rounds from Russian artillery fire are really intensive here.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: That was CNN's Matthew Chance on the front lines of Ukraine's battle for Bakhmut. After months of relentless missile attacks, Ukrainian troops continue to hold on as both sides have had minimal -- made minimal gains here.

Let's go straight to CNN's Matthew Chance now. He's live in Dnipro, Ukraine, a CNN exclusive look. Matthew, I mean, this is still going on after months and months and months, and it doesn't seem to be relenting.

CHANCE: Yes. It is still going on, the whole conflict. And of course, in that area of Bakhmut, the Russians are trying to surround the town. It's been described by the Ukrainian soldiers that we spoke to as the hardest part of the front line, with constant artillery shelling and close-quarter fighting taking a terrible toll.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CHANCE (voice-over): The brutal fight for Bakhmut, where Ukrainian troops are battling Russia's onslaught.

These exclusive images are from the soldiers themselves. Their commanders tell us dozens of lives are now being sacrificed here every day.

The road into town is heavy with thick smoke and danger. Explosions ahead force us to pull over before another slams into a building close by.

CHANCE: All right. Well, you can hear the incoming rounds. The incoming rounds from Russian artillery fire are really intensive here as we have entered the outskirts of Bakhmut, which is certainly, from everything we're seeing, everything we've been told, is now the most fiercely-contested patch of ground in the entire Russia/Ukrainian conflict.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Quickly, quickly.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Quickly, quickly.

CHANCE: OK. Let's go.

CHANCE (voice-over): So fierce we made a rapid exit, leaving the relentless barrage behind.

(SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE) Much of this battle is fought avoiding the artillery threat, in underground bunkers like these, where local Ukrainian commanders like Pavlo (ph) can respond to Russian attacks.

"They're assaulting our positions from early morning till night," he tells me. "But the real problem is we are heavily outnumbered," he says.

But the innovative use of low-cost tech is helping to bridge that gap. In another frontline bunker, we saw how commercially-available drones are giving Ukraine an edge.

CHANCE: Wow. That's incredible. We've just seen an artillery strike in this position that the Ukrainian drone operators have identified as being full of Russians. You can see Russian soldiers, as we look at them live now, running for cover as Ukrainian artillery pounds their positions.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is our position.

CHANCE (voice-over): But battery commanders at the front line, like Tuman (ph), tell me they're now running low on ammunition rounds. That even guns sent from the United States are breaking under such constant strain.

They need more of both, they say, if this battle for Bakhmut is ever to be won.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CHANCE (on camera): Of course, the high casualties that they've been suffering on the Ukrainian side, it's reflected on the other side, as well. Remember, the Russians are plowing resources and manpower into the battle for Bakhmut. They're making some territorial gains, but at a very high cost -- Don.

LEMON: Matthew Chance from Dnipro, Ukraine. Thank you very much. Appreciate that.

HARLOW: Well, next, a clash of worlds (ph). China using force to crush protests, but demonstrators keep breaking -- demonstrations keep breaking out across the country.

COLLINS: Also, an urgent warning this morning from authorities as lava is pouring out of this volcano in Hawaii.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:30:00]