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CNN This Morning
Trump Team Faces Deadline on Evidence Rules; Ukraine: Woman Detained in Plot to Assassinate Zelenskyy; U.S. Naval Destroyers Track 11 Russian, Chinese Ships Near Alaska; Sweden Knocks U.S. Out of World Cup in Dramatic Shootout. Aired 6-6:30a ET
Aired August 07, 2023 - 06:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
POPPY HARLOW, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning, everyone. We're so glad you're with us. Hope you had a wonderful, restful weekend. I'm so happy to have Victor Blackwell by my side.
[06:00:30]
VICTOR BLACKWELL, CNN ANCHOR: I'm happy to be here.
HARLOW: Good morning.
BLACKWELL: Good morning to you.
HARLOW: We have a lot of news to get to. Let's get started with "Five Things to Know" for this Monday, August 7.
This breaking overnight. At least three people are dead this morning after two helicopters collided mid-air while fighting a fire in California. Details from the scene still coming in at this hour.
BLACKWELL: Also breaking overnight, Ukraine has arrested a woman in connection with a plot to assassinate President Zelenskyy. She was allegedly preparing an air strike on the Southern port region of Mykolaiv while Zelenskyy visited.
Eleven hours and counting. That's how much time Donald Trump has left to respond to the special counsel's legal filing. At the heart of it, what Trump and his legal team can and cannot do with the evidence shared throughout the January 6th case.
HARLOW: Today also marks one of the most significant changes in blood banking history. The Red Cross now dropping those blanket restrictions based on sexual orientation, clearing the way for more gay men to donate blood.
BLACKWELL: And Barbie the billionaire. Just crossed the $1 billion threshold, an historic feat for a solo female director.
CNN THIS MORNING starts right now.
HARLOW: We're going to get to all of that shortly, but this first. Breaking overnight, at least three people have died after two helicopters collided. This happened in Southern California. CalFire officials say the two aircraft were responding to a wildfire
in Riverside County, just East of Los Angeles. One of the choppers landed safely; the other did not.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CHIEF DAVID FULCHER, CALFIRE SOUTHERN REGION: Unfortunately, the second helicopter crashed, and tragically, all three members perished, which included one CalFire division chief, one CalFire air captain, and one contract pilot.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HARLOW: Reminder of just how dangerous that job is and what heroes they are.
The crash marks the first deaths of this year's firefighting season. We are expecting an update a little bit later this morning with more details.
BLACKWELL: This morning, Donald Trump is just hours away from a critical legal deadline in the 2020 election interference case. A federal judge has ordered him to respond to Special Counsel Jack Smith's case for a protective order by 5 p.m.
Smith is trying to block Trump from disclosing evidence and making public comments that could intimidate witnesses.
HARLOW: Also keeping a close eye on Fulton County, Georgia. Take a look there. That is where Trump is facing another potential indictment for trying to overturn the election.
Streets around the courthouse being shut down this morning as the grand jury considers charges.
Let's bring in CNN justice correspondent Jessica Schneider with more.
Good morning, Jess. Let's start with what Victor was talking about and the Trump team's legal maneuvers here, trying to oppose a protective order. What happens?
JESSICA SCHNEIDER, CNN JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: Yes. You know, Poppy and Victor, every step of this case is shaping up to be a fight.
Trump's attorney flooded the airwaves over the weekend, vowing to fight that protective order proposed by the special counsel. Trump's team, as you said, must officially file its opposition later today.
And they've also previewed their coming claims that they want this case moved out of Washington, D.C.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SCHNEIDER (voice-over): Former President Donald Trump and his legal team going on offense this weekend after Trump pleaded not guilty to four charges alleging that he tried to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election.
JOHN LAURO, TRUMP ATTORNEY: The point is that we will not agree to keeping information that's not sensitive from the press.
SCHNEIDER (voice-over): Trump's lawyer says his legal team plans to oppose a protective order requested by prosecutors that would put some restrictions on what Trump and his team can do with evidence shared with them.
Federal prosecutors arguing limits need to be imposed on Trump, citing his previous public statements about witnesses, judges and lawyers in the case.
And in the filing, attached a Truth Social post of Trump's, where he warns, "If you go after me, I'm coming after you!"
Trump rebuking the concerns of federal prosecutors, continuing to lash out on social media at the case and the judge over the weekend, claiming he cannot get a fair trial in Washington, D.C.
Trump writes that he plans to ask Judge Tanya Chutkan, who is presiding over the case, to recuse herself and further claiming he will also request a change of venue for the trial. One of Trump's rivals for the Republican nomination for president disagrees.
CHRIS CHRISTIE (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I believe jurors can be fair. I believe in the American people. And I believe in the fact that jurors will listen fairly and impartially.
SCHNEIDER (voice-over): Despite his legal troubles mounting, Trump hit the campaign trail this weekend, visiting South Carolina, where he again criticized his latest indictment, and Special Counsel Jack Smith.
[06:05:07]
DONALD TRUMP, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: He's a deranged human being. You take a look at that face, you say, that guy is a sick man. There's something wrong with him.
SCHNEIDER (voice-over): A Trump campaign adviser tells CNN Trump has no plans to change his rhetoric.
The former president also took aim at his former vice president, Mike Pence, disputing the claims in the indictment that he pressured him to reject the election results.
Trump's attorney John Lauro says that Trump was merely asking the vice president to act.
LAURO: What President Trump did not do is direct Vice President Pence to do anything. He asked him, in an aspirational way. Asking is covered by the First Amendment.
SCHNEIDER (voice-over): Pence confirming the claims in the indictment and says he has no plans to testify but will, quote, "comply with the law."
MIKE PENCE, FORMER VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Frankly, the day before January 6th, if memory serves, they -- they came back, his lawyers did, and said, We want you to reject votes outright. This -- they were asking me to overturn the election. I had no right to overturn the election. And I know we did our duty that day.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SCHNEIDER (on camera): So we are expecting a flurry of court fights, court filings before the next court date in this 2020 election case. That next court date is August 28.
Now, as for Trump's claims that he'll try to get this case moved out of D.C., Poppy and Victor, about three dozen January 6th defendants have already tried to move venue; and no judge, even those appointed by Donald Trump, have ever agreed.
So it will be a steep legal fight for the former president if he does try to get the judge recused or venue moved -- guys.
HARLOW: Interesting one of his lawyers said last week West Virginia as a suggestion.
BLACKWELL: Yes. I wonder why?
All right. Let's bring in now CNN senior legal analyst and former assistant U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York, Elie Honig; and CNN senior political analyst and anchor, John Avlon. Gentlemen, welcome to the table.
Elie, let me start with you with the deadline straight ahead. The decision or the response requested from the Trump attorneys on this request from the special counsel to not allow Trump to keep copies of it.
Would it be rare -- this is his case -- to keep him from holding any of the evidence that's handed over to attorneys?
ELIE HONIG, CNN SENIOR LEGAL ANALYST: It is fairly rare to have what we call a protective order put into any case.
Now, to be clear, protective order governs what Donald Trump can do and say publicly about the evidence that he receives. It does not limit in any way his ability to use evidence in his own defense at trial.
But here, what's happened is the special counsel has said, in light of things Donald Trump has said, including some of the social media posts Jessica just talked about, there need to be restrictions on what he can do and say publicly about this evidence.
And ordinarily, if you have a situation like this, which is fairly rare, you get together, defense and prosecution, and you work it out. The judge has urged them to do that. They're not going to do that, I'll predict.
And so Donald Trump's team is going to put in a brief today by 5 p.m., saying we should not be restricted in any way. We have free speech rights.
You do have a right to criticize your prosecutor. You have a right to prosecute the judge, but there's a line that can be crossed when you get into tampering.
And so I predict, I believe Donald Trump is going to say there should be no restrictions. And then the judge will have to decide how much restriction do I put on this.
HARLOW: It's really interesting what Bill Barr has been saying in the last few weeks. First of all, his fascinating interview with Kaitlan, and then over the weekend, him saying he thinks this is a legitimate case and that he, of course, he'd be willing to testify. And both notable things.
But John Avlon, you make the point that, you know, more Republican presidential candidates are speaking out in a more candid way. Although, maybe it's just a little word choice change for DeSantis. But that it shows more courage, you believe, to say what's true.
JOHN AVLON, CNN ANCHOR/SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: I think you're starting to see the aperture open for Republican candidates to feel free to speak frankly about Donald Trump and his attempts to overturn the election.
Mike Pence had been muted previously. He's not anymore. He understands that his best chance of getting a nomination on the debate stage is by speaking candidly and forcefully about Trump's request for him to overturn the election.
Ron DeSantis, I think there's some donor pressure for him to moderate. But him saying that, look, the election wasn't stolen. He sort of tiptoed around that.
The problem in the Republican field has been tiptoeing --
HARLOW: Also, he said unsustainable, that what Trump is doing is unsustainable.
AVLON: Which has the added advantage of being true. But you're finally starting to see people have the courage of their convictions a little bit on the margins. Because he's been very successful at intimidating people into not calling out what is, frankly, something if you're a constitutional conservative, this should be easy to call out. Not a tough call.
BLACKWELL: So, we saw on social media Donald Trump says that he's going to call for change of venue. You mentioned that already. D.C. to West Virginia potentially.
AVLON: Yes.
BLACKWELL: But also for the judge, Chutkan, to recuse herself here. What do you think about that?
I mean, bombast aside, if you look at the convictions, or the sentencing of the January 6th defendants, a -- an attorney for the president would say, we'd like a different judge. But is there any case for it?
[06:10:02]
HONIG: Both of these motions are DOA. They have no chance of succeeding. He's, of course, going to try to get out of D.C.
And by the way, Victor, you raised -- I wonder why? He got 5 -- Donald Trump got 5.4 percent of the vote in D.C.; 68 percent of the vote in West Virginia. It is very difficult to get a case moved, venue-wise. DOJ can agree. They're not going to agree. Otherwise you have to show a judge you cannot get a fair trial in the venue you've been charged.
But we have procedures for that. We have jury selection procedures. We have -- judges will instruct jurors, you know, to put aside your political beliefs, decide on the facts.
Regarding this judge, I think we have to set the record straight here. She's an Obama nominee. That does not make her inherently biased against Donald Trump, any more than the fact that Judge Cannon, on the other case in Florida, is biased in his favor because she's a Trump nominee.
She was approved, Judge Chutkan, 95 to zero in the USA. She's a former public defender. She understands the rights of a criminal defendant in federal court.
And yes, Victor, you're right. She has handed out sentences that have been tough on January 6th offenders. That does not mean that she's incapable of handling this case. In my view, both of these judges, I think, are deserving of respect and not conflicted out.
HARLOW: I'm super interested by what John Lauro, Trump's lawyer, said on CBS "Face the Nation" about Mike Pence and how they view him as critical to their case. Not against their case, to their case. Here it is.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LAURO: Mike Pence will be one of our best witnesses at trial. Based on what Vice President Pence will say, the government will never be able to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that President Trump had corrupt or criminal intent. And that's what this case is about.
GEORGE STEPHANOPOULOS, HOST, ABC'S "THIS WEEK": What Mike Pence has said all this week is that what President Trump did was wrong, and he knew it was wrong. And he was pressing him to do something that was wrong. It was also pretty clear --
LAURO: He never said it was criminal.
STEPHANOPOULOS: He said it was wrong. LAURO: Never said it was criminal.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HARLOW: So that was on ABC. He also said on CBS, Elie, that Mike Pence will be, quote, "the best witness" for them. How do you see that? Do you see that?
HONIG: I'm having a hard time seeing that. But get ready for this. I mean, this is what will happen in the run-up to trial and at trial. You'll hear one witness, and one side will say, look how great this is for us. The other side will, Look how great this is for us.
I mean, Mike Pence strikes me, based on what we know already, as a very powerful prosecution witness. Right? We know from the indictment -- and they refer in the indictment to certain things that Mike Pence has already told them about his conversations with Trump, including the famous or infamous quote, "You're too honest" is what Trump said to him when he resisted.
So I like Mike Pence if I'm a prosecutor. They may have some idea how they're going to cross-examine him as a defendant, but he didn't explain in that clip, and I don't see it.
BLACKWELL: In what world is Mike Pence a good defense witness?
AVLON: In a reality distortion field world.
BLACKWELL: OK.
AVLON: This is bluster. This is bluster. Mike Pence made it very clear, you know, this was -- we know this was a full court press by Donald Trump. This wasn't polite asking: Hey, would you mind overturning the election for me? This was really a, you know, you've got to do this and a clear pattern of it.
So, look, I think we've seen from Trump and his lawyers very often a pattern of bluster, trying to, you know, replicate, I think, the candidate's attitudes. And I think this falls under this category.
BLACKWELL: All right. Elie, John, thank you.
HARLOW: Breaking this morning, Ukraine's security service says it foiled a plot to assassinate president Volodymyr Zelenskyy. What we're learning about the woman arrested.
BLACKWELL: And Russian and Chinese warships spotted near Alaska. How the U.S. military responded.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[06:16:57]
BLACKWELL: Breaking overnight, the Ukrainian security service says it has detained a Russian woman in connection to a plot to assassinate President Zelenskyy. CNN's Nick Paton Walsh is live in Southern Ukraine. Nick, what are you
learning about this plot and the detention?
NICK PATON WALSH, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Yes, look, I mean, little is known, particularly how far advanced this was. But what Ukrainian security service is saying is they've detained a Russian informant who appears to have been trying to collect information about the visit of Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Ukraine's president, to Mykolaiv, that key port city in the South in recent weeks.
Now, some of the messages that they've released, that they say are between her and the people she was corresponding with suggest perhaps she could take pictures, provide a bit more information about the time and place of this visit.
She has said -- she's not named, and it's not clear if she's Russian or just a Russian informant. She's said to be a military store worker, someone who worked, essentially, in an outdoor shop in Charkiv (ph). That's a peninsula right down towards Crimea on the Southern coast.
So a key reminder here, I think, from the Ukrainian security services that there is constantly a threat against Volodymyr Zelenskyy's life. We know he takes inordinate precautions in trying to keep himself in Kyiv. But at the same time, too, does go to a lot of frontline destinations over the past months to corral troops in those places.
And the Ukrainian security services, too, very active in the media over the past week or so, claiming responsibility for the attacks on the cargo ship carrying oil; the assault amphibious ship on the port of Novorossiysk; and indeed, too, the bridge to Crimea, as well.
Overnight, though, Victor, we'd been hearing of yet more strikes inside of Ukraine. One dead in Kherson from shelling.
But also too, suggestion from Russian officials that Ukrainian drones have tried to get towards Moscow, as well. This nightly exchange between both sides persisting, certainly, and a sign of the growing tension and impact on civilian life here in Ukraine as the Southern counteroffensive picks up pace -- Victor.
BLACKWELL: Nick Paton Walsh for us in Southern Ukraine, thank you.
HARLOW: The U.S. military is deploying four of its naval destroyers to monitor 11 Russian and Chinese ships that are, quote, "patrolling" in the waters near Alaska.
Alaskan lawmakers say those vessels were operating last week near the Aleutian Islands, but a Chinese official says they were just conducting joint maritime patrols in the relevant waters off the Pacific.
Natasha Bertrand is tracking it all, live from the nation's capital, from Washington. How significant is this? Is this a threat or is this normal? NATASHA BERTRAND, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Well, U.S.
Northern Command, they are kind of downplaying this. They are saying that they monitored the situation. They sent planes and ships to track the movements of these Russian and Chinese vessels.
And that ultimately, they did not pose a threat to the U.S. or Canada, and those vessels stayed in international waters.
But the U.S. senators from Alaska, Republican Senator Dan Sullivan and Lisa Murkowski, they are issuing statements that are a bit more alarmist.
They say that they believe that this shows that Vladimir Putin and Xi Jinping, the presidents of China and Russia, that they are -- that they believe that they are, you know, able to operate essentially with impunity in the area.
[06:20:13]
And they say that they have received several classified briefings about the transit of these vessels near the Aleutian Islands over the last several days.
And I just want to read you a statement from Republican Senator -- Senator Dan Sullivan, who said that "The incursion by these 11 Chinese and Russian warships [that were] operating together off the coast of Alaska is yet another reminder that we have entered a new era of authoritarian aggression led by the dictators in Beijing and Moscow."
Now notably, as you mentioned, Poppy, the Chinese embassy did send a statement to CNN, and they acknowledged that there were joint naval patrols being carried out in the Northern Pacific.
And they said, though, that these were not targeted at any third party and that they did not have anything to do, these patrols, with the current situation, of course, of tensions between the U.S., China and Russia.
But ultimately look, these vessels did stay in international waters. The U.S. sent some Navy destroyers to monitor them. And ultimately, you know, they're reaffirming, the U.S. is, the ability of these ships to operate freely in international Waters, just as the U.S. frequently does off the coast of Russia and China.
HARLOW: Natasha, thank you for the update.
A tearful end for the U.S. Women's National Soccer Team and one of its biggest stars after being knocked out of the World Cup.
Plus this --
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
(CHEERING)
(END VIDEO CLIP) BLACKWELL: Biles is back. Simone Biles has won her first competitive gymnastics event after a two-year break.
HARLOW: So good.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[06:26:28]
BLACKWELL: Just minutes ago, England took out Nigeria in the round of 16 of the Women's World Cup in a second-consecutive day of games decided by penalty kicks. The English team will head to the quarterfinals and play the winner of the match between Colombia and Jamaica. That match happening tomorrow night at 4 a.m.
Also this --
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Did it go in? Waiting on a signal. Wow. Sweden wins.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HARLOW: A devastating loss, knocking the U.S. women's national soccer team out of the World Cup. Sweden beat the Americans in the dramatic 5-4 shootout yesterday. That final penalty kick crossing the goal line by just millimeters.
The U.S. team came into the tournament as the favorite, taking aim at their third World Cup title in a row and their fourth overall. After the match, their coach praised them for putting up a good fight.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
VLATKO ANDONOVSKI, HEAD COACH, U.S. WOMEN'S NATIONAL SOCCER TEAM: Very proud of them and devastated for them that they would have to go out in the -- the way we did. I thought we deserved a lot more. We deserved to win this game.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HARLOW: Let's bring in Julie Foudy. She's a two-time FIFA Women's World Cup champion, two-time Olympic gold medalist, and TNT soccer analyst.
Julie, I am sorry. It must be so painful, especially for you, having had all the experiences you had for this team. You know, the coach talked about saying they deserved to win this game. Did they?
JULIE FOUDY, TNT SOCCER ANALYST: They did finally play a better game, so that -- that brought some reassurance. But you know, overall, this just wasn't the performance the United States had hoped for.
I mean, we saw in four games only four goals scored by the United States. They really struggled all tournament. This performance against Sweden in this round of 16 game definitely
was a better game. But still, they couldn't score. They couldn't finish their penalty kicks in the end.
And it's what's really plagued this United States all tournament, is -- is this inability to have any cohesion, to come together at the right times. And ultimately, to score goals. And so in the end, couldn't score the penalty kicks either.
BLACKWELL: Julie, I can't say that I've always been the biggest soccer fan, but you really didn't have to be to be engrossed in this match. I mean, when it came down to penalty kicks, and the winning kick is just over the line by a couple of millimeters, it's heart-stopping.
I wonder, you've got into a bit of this. Is this structural for the team or just a run of a few bad performances? Do they need to make some big changes?
FOUDY: It's -- Yes. It's a great question. It requires us to sit down over dinner and have a glass of wine, probably, to discuss, because it -- I do think that what we've seen in this tournament -- and it's really encouraging, actually.
For a long time we kept saying the world is catching up to the United States. We've had incredible dominance, thanks in large part to Title IX.
But what you're seeing now, in this World Cup, in particular, I mean, Nigeria just took England to penalty kicks. And England had to win in that fifth penalty kick.
The world has caught up. And you're seeing these teams, three out of four African teams got through. Jamaica got through. Colombia got through, so South America doing better.
So you're seeing, really, a rise globally of the game. And so, this is a situation where I think people expect the United States, because of all our past dominance, to continue to dominate. And I just think that's unrealistic.
[06:30:00]
