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CNN This Morning

Army Soldier Willfully Crossed into North Korea; Horrible Night of Attacks on Odessa; Republican Defend Trump; Trump Receives Target Letter. Aired 6:30-7a ET

Aired July 19, 2023 - 06:30   ET

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

[06:30:00]

PHIL MATTINGLY, CNN ANCHOR: All of these things are connected to some degree. Do you agree that this either both kind of leaves space for the special council, but also almost kind of puts the spurs in to bring his own cases against these same individuals across seven states?

KATIE CHERKASKY, FORMER FEDERAL PROSECUTOR: Well, I think that these actual charges are very discreet in terms of submitting false signatures and certifying something that is actually substantively incorrect. Any criminal defendant is going to look for other people to blame and to say that it was mitigated because they were misinformed or they were misled or given wrong legal advice even. And so certainly that's going to play a part in all of these defenses.

But in the specific state charges, I think you're going to see that they actually signed documentation that asserted incorrect information about their location. And so in terms of actually defending that by saying that you didn't know whether that was lawful or not, I mean that's going to be an uphill battle for them specifically.

And so certainly they will implicate the other people that were involved in that, but those state charges are kind of a standalone set of charges, in my opinion, and it does not limit Jack Smith from proceeding federally against any of these same people also for that matter.

MATTINGLY: Yes, it was reported that he's had individuals in from the seven states. Fake electors have clearly been a focus, as Maggie was discussing as well.

Guys, stay with us.

Next hour, Michigan's highest ranking election official, Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson, will join us. She was interviewed by federal prosecutors in the special council's election interference probe.

ABBY PHILLIP, CNN ANCHOR: And, missiles and explosions lighting up the sky in Odessa, Ukraine, in another night of Russian strikes. We'll take you there live.

MATTINGLY: And new details this morning about the U.S. soldier who crossed into North Korea and is now believed to be in custody. That's coming up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:35:22]

MATTINGLY: Well, new overnight, North Korea launching two more ballistic missiles according to South Korea's joint chiefs of staff. Seoul reported the short-range missiles landed in the waters between the Korean peninsula and Japan. It appears to be a defiant move coming shortly after the U.S. deployed a nuclear armed submarine to South Korea on Tuesday for the first time in decades. Now, the launches come just one week after Pyongyang fired a new ICBM supervised by Kim Jong- un that demonstrated long-range capabilities.

PHILLIP: And also this morning a U.S. soldier is believed to be in North Korean custody for the first time in decades. Officials say that Army Private Travis King crossed into North Korea on Tuesday willfully and without authorization.

CNN's Natasha Bertrand is live for us from the Pentagon with more on this very strange story.

What do we know about this Army private, and why did he do this?

NATASHA BERTRAND, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY REPORTER: Yes, has a lot of officials here scratching their heads, Abby.

So, what we know is that this is someone named Private Travis King. He was a junior enlisted soldier and he was assigned to U.S. Forces Korea. And essentially what appears to have happened here is he was on a tour of the DMZ when he willfully, and without authorization, crossed that demarcation line into North Korea.

Now, the back story here is interesting because our sources tell us that he was actually held in a detention facility in South Korea for 50 days, facing disciplinary action there for assault charges in South Korea. And he was actually set to be sent back to the United States to face further disciplinary action by the military in the form of actually being separated from the Army. But he -- when he went to board his flight, he apparently did not get on the plane. The military officials that were accompanying him could not accompany him as far as the gates and they essentially lost track of him.

He was then able to, at some point, sign up for this tour, went to the DMZ and then crossed that demarcation line, again, voluntarily. There's no sign here yet that he was coerced to do so.

Now, the U.S. military does say that it is working with its North Korean counterparts to try to resolve this situation. But as we know, the U.S. has not had diplomatic communications with the North Koreans really since President Biden took office. They have tried and tried to reach out to them for talks and they have simply not responded. So it remains unclear whether the military to military channels are going any better here.

But we did get a statement, according to ABC, from Travis King's mother, who said, quote, I can't see Travis doing anything like that. She said she last heard from her son a few days ago when he told her he would return soon to his base in Fort Bliss, Texas. And she added that she just, quote, wants him to come home.

Abby.

PHILLIP: First time since 1982, I believe, that something like this has happened.

Natasha Bertrand, thank you very much.

And later on this morning we'll take you near the Korean demilitarized zone. A live report from CNN's Will Ripley on the South Korean side of that border, ahead.

MATTINGLY: Well, also happening overnight, Russia launching an attack on the Ukrainian port city of Odessa.

Now the mayor calls it one of the most horrible nights and the worst attack since the invasion began. No casualties were reported, but a downed Russian missile left several civilians injured.

CNN's Alex Marquardt is live in Odessa.

Alex, I was watching your reporting last night. Scotty McWhinnie's work, our photojournalist, last night as well. What is the latest on a second day of retaliatory attacks?

ALEX MARQUARDT, CNN SENIOR CORRESPONDENT: Well, this was, in the words of the mayor, a fierce battle. And you could see it right there in that clip that Scotty shot. It was just the most incredible display of fire power certainly that we ourselves have seen since the beginning of this war.

It all started around 2:00 a.m. Those air raid sirens going off. And then very quickly, Phil, after that anti-aircraft guns firing into the sky. Large yellow and red tracers, presumably trying to take down the drones that were attacking this city. We saw large yellow glows from blasts. And we heard enormous explosions, we believe, from these missiles that were either being intercepted or landing. Those explosions sending huge shock waves all across this city, rattling buildings across Odessa, causing car alarms all along this street where we are and all across the city to go off.

This attack by Russia, according to Ukrainian authorities, was a combination of both drones and different types of cruise missiles. More than 60 of them all together being fired from land, sea and air.

[06:40:01]

There were about half a dozen people who were hurt. No one killed, as you mentioned. There was significant damage. A lot of it in and around the Port of Odessa. But we've also seen some of that damage to civilian buildings as well.

Now, Russia had said that yesterday that the first night of strikes was a response to that Kerch Bridge attack carried out by Ukraine, but President Zelenskyy saying today that they believe that this - that this is an attack on that grain deal infrastructure. Remember, Phil, Russia pulling out of that critical grain deal on Monday.

MATTINGLY: Yes, two major developments over the course of this week and now we're seeing the aftermath of it.

Another development from a couple weeks ago that is still hanging over everything is the mutiny it failed with Yevgeny Prigozhin, the head of Wagner. The head of Britain's MI6 intelligence agency told CNN new details about Prigozhin following last month's short-lived rebellion. What did it say?

MARQUARDT: Yes, it's still hanging over all this and it's still clearly confusing to western intelligence agencies who are still trying to figure this out. The head of MI6, which is the equivalent of the U.S. CIA, telling CNN that Prigozhin, when he carried out this insurrection on June 24th, that he started the day as a traitor. He finished the day pardoned. And then he was invited to the Kremlin for tea just a few days later. There was that remarkable meeting by Prigozhin and some of his commanders at the Kremlin on June 29th.

But this shows, according to Richard Moore, the head of MI6, that Putin is under pressure, that he did not see this coming. He says that Putin was forced to cut what he called a humiliating deal to save his skin. You'll recall that on June 24th, Phil, we heard that the mutiny was suddenly ending, that a deal had been struck, brokered by the president of Belarus, saying that Wagner would be going to Belarus. We have seen, in the past few days, some of those Wagner troops heading into that country. But clearly now, Phil, according to the head of MI6, Putin is rattled and we believe that he is trying to weaken Prigozhin, while trying to keep those Wagner fighters, inviting them to join the Russian military, because they are still a considerable fighting force.

Phil.

MATTINGLY: All right, Alex Marquardt and team live in Odessa. Great work. Stay safe, my friend.

PHILLIP: And Donald Trump could face a third criminal indictment soon. How the former president's congressional allies and his top 2024 rivals are reacting.

And 27 years later, a new development in the Tupac Shakur murder investigation. We'll have the latest next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:45:52]

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, FORMER U.S. PRESIDENT: We have a man, the only way he can get elected is to weaponize the Justice Department, which he's gone around doing. I didn't know practically what a subpoena was and grand juries and all of this. Now I'm like becoming an expert. I have no choice because we have to. It's a disgrace. If you say something about an election, they want to put you in jail for the rest of your life. We have prosecutors that are evil people. These are evil people. Deranged. I call them deranged.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MATTINGLY: That was former President Donald Trump lacking a little fire there, lashing out at a campaign stop in Iowa after learning he's the target of a federal investigation into efforts to overturn the 2020 election. And new this morning, we're learning more about what was actually in that target letter. Multiple news outlets, including "The Wall Street Journal," say a source familiar with the contents of the letter cited at least three statutes, including deprivation of rights, conspiracy to commit an offense against or defraud the United States, and tampering with a witness.

PHILLIP: But Republican lawmakers are jumping to former President Trump's defense. House Speaker Kevin McCarthy and other members of Congress accuse the Justice Department of acting as a weapon for the Biden - and - Biden Justice Department and the Democrats.

CNN congressional correspondent Lauren Fox is with us now.

So, Lauren, this is more or less what we've come to expect from Republicans on Capitol Hill.

LAUREN FOX, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Abby, this news broke yesterday when House Republicans were actually having a weekly conference meeting behind closed doors. Meaning that they may not have had all the nuances of what exactly was part of this target letter. And yet, when they emerged from that meeting, they were so quick to defend former President Donald Trump.

Meanwhile, this is just a latest split screen between House Republicans and House Democrats and how they're perceiving the reality of a situation.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. DEBBIE WASSERMAN SCHULTZ (D-FL): There's little doubt that former President Trump was very specifically and granularly involved in trying to overturn the results of the legitimate presidential election that he lost.

REP. DAN GOLDMAN (D-NY): And this appears to be the culmination of it. And I expect Donald Trump to be indicted in the near future.

REP. MARJORIE TAYLOR GREENE (R-GA): Yes, it's absolute bull (EXPLETIVE DELETED). Yes, that's my reaction.

REP. KEVIN MCCARTHY (R-CA): President Trump went up in the polls and was actually surpassing President Biden for re-election. So, what do they do now? Weaponize government.

REP. JIM JORDAN (R-OH): One more ridiculous thing from the Justice Department. This is as wrong as it gets.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FOX: And Republicans are vowing to use the power of the appropriations process to try to hold back some funding to the Justice Department, whether it be for a new FBI headquarters or whether it be to the special counsel's office investigating these matters into former President Donald Trump.

But we should note that there really is a split screen between how House Republican leadership is dealing with this and how Senate Republican leadership is dealing with this. I tried to ask Mitch McConnell yesterday in the halls specifically about this issue. He did not respond to that question. It's not abnormal that he doesn't talk in the hallways. But we should also note, he does not respond to questions about former President Donald Trump's legal woes.

You also had John Thune, whose the Republican whip, acknowledging the fact that this continues to be a distraction for the Republican Party.

Abby and Phil.

PHILLIP: Well, you said it, if there is one thing Mitch McConnell knows how to do, it is ignore questions about Donald Trump.

MATTINGLY: In fact, we've all been there. We've all been there in the hallways near Ohio Clock. He just kind of walks right by.

PHILLIP: All right, Lauren, valiant effort on your part. Thank you very much.

Let's bring back now Geoff Duncan and Maggie Haberman.

Maggie, I want to start with you because I wonder, you have a piece today about the reaction among Republicans in "The New York Times." Are we being naive to wonder when Republicans, either on Capitol Hill or on the campaign trail, will start saying something different about these charges as they pile up against former President Trump?

MAGGIE HABERMAN, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: Well, I don't know, Abby, how many indictments this is going to be tested through, but we're now on the potential third one and there could be a fourth before the end of the summer, assuming that this one does go to a third. And we have not seen any difference in what we are hearing from Republicans. There are very small number of Trump's rivals in the presidential primary who are willing to very openly call him out.

[06:50:06]

Chris Christie, Asa Hutchinson, you have Ron DeSantis tying himself in knots around this. And you really saw a great example of it yesterday where the mildest criticism that he issued of Trump in saying Trump could have done more and should have done more on January 6th, and what he appeared to be referring to was to try to stop the violence that was taking place at the Capitol, was then jumped on by his own campaign who criticized people amplifying it, criticized Trump's advisers who were amplifying it, saying his words are being taken out of context.

So, I think it reflects, Abby, the dynamics in the Republican primary, which is that a number of Republican voters don't want to hear criticism of Trump, do want to hear Republicans defend him, do want to echo what Trump has basically instructed these Republicans to say. And unless folks are willing to take him on directly, and we will see what happens on a debate stage next month, depending on whether Trump shows up and depending on who makes that debate stage, but we will see what happens in terms of whether people are willing to directly take this on and say more forcefully if they disagree with these indictments. Right now, it's very hard to see what the dynamic is that changes things, and that only benefits Trump.

MATTINGLY: The Twitter back and forth between the DeSantis team and Trump's folks, quoting, there's like inception level. Slightly perplexing yesterday to some degree.

Jeff, I want to ask you, you know, Maggie's mentioned that Jake Tapper sat down with Ron DeSantis yesterday. And his answer on this issue specifically kind of demonstrates his effort to kind of walk a line here.

Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JAKE TAPPER, CNN ANCHOR: If Jack Smith has evidence of criminality, should Donald Trump be held accountable?

GOV. RON DESANTIS (R-FL), 2024 PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: So, here's the problem, this country is going down the road of criminalizing political differences. And I think that's wrong. Alvin Bragg stretched the statute in Manhattan to be able to try to target Donald Trump. Most people, even people on the left, acknowledge, if that wasn't Trump, that case would not have likely been brought against a normal civilian.

And so you have a situation where the Department of Justice, FBI have been weaponized against people they don't like. And the number one example of that happened to be against Donald Trump with the Russia collusion. That was not legitimate investigation. That was being done to try to drive Trump out of office.

And so what I've said, as president, my job is to restore a single standard of justice, to end weaponization of these agencies. We're going to have a new FBI director on day one. We're going to have big changes at the Department of Justice.

Americans across the political spectrum need to have confidence that what is going on is based on the rule of law, not based on what political tribe you're in.

And then the second thing I would say is, this country needs to have a debate about the country's future. If I'm the nominee, we'll be able to focus on President Biden's failures, and I'll be able to articulate a positive vision for the future. I don't think it serves us good to have a presidential election

focused on what happened four years ago in January. And so, I want to focus on looking forward. I don't want to look back. I do not want to see him. I hope he doesn't get charged. I don't think it will be good for the country. But at the same time, I've got to focus on looking forward. And that's what we're going to do.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MATTINGLY: Just to be clear, Jake's question was, if Jack Smith has evidence of criminality, should Donald Trump be held accountable. It was a hell of an answer to that. What does it tell you?

GEOFF DUNCAN, CNN POLITICAL CONTRIBUTOR: With all due respect, that was the worst answer I've ever heard for that question. It's very simple, I don't care -

MATTINGLY: Don't - don't - don't hold back.

DUNCAN: I don't care about Donald Trump's legal future. That's his problem. He had his chance and he screwed up. He lost to Joe Biden. If I'm - if I'm Ron DeSantis, I champion the fact I'm a conservative governor. I've got a strong, robust economy in Florida. I got Covid right. I talk about the things that I can do for the country. I talk about immigration reform. I talk about opportunities to support Ukraine. I talk about education and school choice and the things that helped him win, take Florida from purple to bright red.

That's a bad answer. And it should be a lesson to other Republicans that we need to turn the page, right? I mean we start on second base with policies. Republicans, I believe, in the current environment we're in, and the weak nature of Joe Biden and his administration puts Republicans in -- on second base with policy. But yet we never hear about it, right? Certainly we don't hear about it from Donald Trump. We don't hear about it from the candidates, or at least the majority of the candidates. That's our best - that's our best foot forward is our policies.

MATTINGLY: But does the base - I mean he's talking to primary voters.

DUNCAN: The base -- we've got to steer the base in the right direction. They're confused. There's chaos on the battlefield. Donald Trump has poured battery acid in the water. There's infighting. You know, we - we are now confusing loud and crazy for conservative, right?

I'm a conservative because I believe in the policies. I believe it's the best way for public safety, national security, taxation, orders, all of that. That's why I'm a Republican. That's why I'm a conservative.

But so many people are confused. I think Donald Trump - look, I'm optimistic, my wife says I think the glass is overflowing.

[06:55:02] I'm optimistic in that I think Americans and Republicans are going to wake up and realize that Donald Trump's support's a mile wide and an inch deep. They want an excuse to not vote for him. And these indictments are not helping. There's nobody in the middle that's waking up saying, I'm going to vote for Donald Trump. He got indicted again.

MATTINGLY: (INAUDIBLE).

PHILLIP: Well, we'll find out what happens.

Ron DeSantis will probably have another opportunity to take a stab at that answer.

Maggie Haberman and Geoff, thank you both very much.

We'll have much more on these latest developments and all of these investigations after a very quick break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MATTINGLY: This was some remarkable thing you may have missed yesterday. Twenty-seven years later, police in Las Vegas have executed a search warrant in the Tupac Shakur murder case. Now, the rapper was shot and killed on the Las Vegas Strip back in 1996. He was in the car with Death Row Records CEO Suge Knight. Authorities believe Tupac was the target. But the murder has remained unsolved all these years. Police say they executed the latest search warrant at a location in Henderson, Nevada, but they're not saying anything else at the moment.

PHILLIP: And here's another Las Vegas story for you. At least one person got sick inside of a Delta plane that was stuck on the tarmac there in triple digit heat. The temperature outside was 111 degrees. And there was no air-conditioning in the cabin. A passenger tells us what happened next.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KRISTA GARVIN, PASSENGER: It was just like chaos at this point.

[07:00:00]

There was a woman walking up the aisle. She looked like she was about to just pass out. They ended up putting an oxygen mask on her.

People had thrown up. People had fainted.