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CNN This Morning
Trump And 18 Others Charged In 41-Count Georgia Indictment; 99 Confirmed Dead In Maui Wildfires; Only 25 Percent Of Area Searched; DA: Trump And 18 Co-Defendants Must Surrender By August 25; Ex-NFL Star Michael Oher Says "Blind Side" Family Never Adopted Him. Aired 7:30-8a ET
Aired August 15, 2023 - 07:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[07:30:00]
SCOTT JENNINGS, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: I mean, this is crazy. I mean, unprecedented. And we're not going to have a resolution to it before we cast our ballots.
ELIE HONIG, CNN SENIOR LEGAL ANALYST: I mean, this was going to be --
JENNINGS: To me --
HONIG: Yes.
JENNINGS: I think, the average person, how do you expect me to vote on this election when you've got these political allegations laying out there against one of the two candidates?
BAKARI SELLERS, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: You don't vote for the one that's indicted.
JENNINGS: Yes.
POPPY HARLOW, CNN ANCHOR: Can you talk, Elie, about how this trial is going to be different --
JENNINGS: I mean --
HARLOW: -- because it's going to be in front of these cameras?
HONIG: Yes. I mean, so the federal cases, which are very likely to go first, and I think it's increasingly clear that Judge Chutkan is going to schedule that January 6 trial before the election, maybe even the Mar-a-Lago trial. The federal courts don't allow cameras in.
Now, I've been on the soapbox that they have to change that. We have to see this. But in all likelihood, they're not going to change. It's their own rule. They make their own rules. They've never changed it. And so, people likely aren't going to -- likely, aren't going to actually see that trial.
And I do wonder, if and when a verdict comes down, will that change anything politically? Would a conviction change anything in the Republican base? We know, I think that a hung jury are not guilty verdict.
HARLOW: And a conviction with a mandatory minimum would.
(CROSSTALK)
SELLERS: Also, let's also say this. I mean, Fani -- and I just wanted to make sure I got this out there for the viewers. But Fani has also done this before. I mean, she's taken on YFN. She's taken on YSL. And to your point, the reason this is going to take so long is because we're watching Young Thug's trial go on right now, and they're still in jury selection.
It's been seven, eight months.
HARLOW: It's going to be the longest --
SELLERS: It's going to be the longest --
HARLOW: -- trial we had.
SELLERS: -- criminal trial like, in the history of Georgia. So --
HARLOW: Yes.
SELLERS: -- this is going to be a long time.
JENNINGS: To answer your question --
HARLOW: Yes.
JENNINGS: -- there is a cohort of Republicans who will not vote for a convicted felon. Even if today you're like, you know, he might beat this. This all might be made up by but when he -- if he is convicted, I'm telling you, there is a cohort of voters, lots of Republicans who won't do it.
You see it in some of the polling. I'm just telling you, people are not going to want to walk in there and associate their franchise with a convicted felon. So to put him up as the general election nominee carrying a felony conviction in any jurisdiction would be almost certain political death in the election.
PHIL MATTINGLY, CNN ANCHOR: It seems like a point perhaps that somebody running against him in a primary would want to make after an indictment.
SELLERS: Stop asking them to be courageous, Phil.
HARLOW: Wow. We'll leave it at that. We're going to get back to all of this.
MATTINGLY: For the record that wasn't directed at Scott.
HARLOW: I know.
MATTINGLY: It's never directed at Scott. Everybody's always like, it goes after Scott Jennings. And I'm like, no, no, no, he's just explaining what's actually happening.
HARLOW: I know you were making that point in jest.
SELLERS: Nobody else got the rap in their ear. Just me.
HARLOW: But I think we're beyond the reef, but I think it's a really good point, Bakari. You were saying it in jest, but it's actually so true.
SELLERS: If I were sitting here and I was advising Nikki Haley or Tim Scott or somebody else with a monochrome of talent, I believe they have talent, I would say, look, today is make a break time. I mean, sink or swim. Do we stand for something? Do we show that we're courageous or not?
And the fact is, you're not going to win this nomination without doing something different. Being Trump light? That's not working.
JENNINGS: Well, that's a good point. What you're currently doing isn't working. You could try something else. I mean, I am dubious that it would work, but for most of the people you just mentioned --
SELLERS: Yes.
JENNINGS: -- there --
SELLERS: I mean, you've been at 4 percent since January.
MATTINGLY: Did you rip your ear out because you were tired of them yelling?
JENNINGS: I thought if I took it out, I wouldn't be able to hear you. I still --
(CROSSTALK)
MATTINGLY: All right, we're about to (INAUDIBLE).
HARLOW: We'll have you guys back.
MATTINGLY: Thanks, guys. Appreciate it.
HARLOW: We'll going to get this in a moment. But we still want to keep our focus --
MATTINGLY: Yes.
HARLOW: -- and the spotlight on the devastation in Hawaii. We now know this morning there are 99 deaths so far from this wildfire. Officials there warned the number could double in the next few days. We've got a report from Lahaina on how they're just coping with this disaster.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Please, we need help. We need help. We need the next step. This is just the first inning. This is the first inning of what we facing.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[07:37:13]
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CHIEF JOHN PELLETIER, MAUI POLICE: It's not just ash on your clothing when you take it off, it's our loved ones. That's the reverence.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MATTINGLY: That was the Maui Police chief talking about crews searching for loved ones in the wreckage left behind by the devastating wildfires there. Overnight, he told reporters they've searched about 25 percent of the scorched area. Local officials say 99 people have died in the fires, and the governor is warning that number could double in the coming days.
CNN Chief Climate Correspondent Bill Weir reports from Maui on how people there are coming together to try and help their neighbors.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CHARLIE FLECK, MAUI RESIDENT: Me and Brittany will lead the front. We got right behind us. Just stay close.
BILL WEIR, CNN CHIEF CLIMATE CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): When Charlie and Brittany Fleck saw pictures of the devastation on Lahaina, the couple from Maui knew they had to do something.
C. FLECK: Come, come. We need to give you cash. We got cash.
BRITTANY FLECK, MAUI RESIDENT: You need some money?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes. Thank you.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes, we need ices right now.
C. FLECK: OK.
B. FLECK: I think there's a big ice truck.
C. FLECK: We got help on the way.
WEIR (voice-over): So they put out a plea on Facebook. And when thousands of dollars began rolling in, they began handing it out.
C. FLECK: Hey.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Thank you so much.
C. FLECK: We're coming for you.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Thank you.
C. FLECK: Aloha.
WEIR (voice-over): But that didn't seem like enough, so they organized a caravan and sweet talked their way past red tape and checkpoints. And when they finally saw what Lahaina looks like for the first time, they wept.
But just on the edge of the burn scars, we find an inspiring example of Hawaiian togetherness.
ARCHIE KALEPA, HALL OF FAME WATERMAN: Towel for your neck.
WEIR (on-camera): Cold towel, OK. That is Aloha hospitality.
KALEPA: Yes.
WEIR (on-camera): Thank you.
KALEPA: There you go, man. Right there over your neck. Keep you nice and cool.
WEIR (voice-over): Archie Kalepa is a hall of fame surfer and lifeguard with Maui roots that go back nine generations.
(on-camera): This is your actual house here or?
KALEPA: Yes, this is my actual home. And we was really lucky because our neighbors, they were here fighting the fire right at this corner. And the fire department said, this is our last stand. We're going to hold the line right here.
WEIR (voice-over): While there's so much frustration over the official response so far, he says authorities deserve some understanding, given the size of the disaster.
KALEPA: This right here is a crime scene. And so what people don't understand is the government has to do due diligence before they start moving in.
WEIR (on-camera): So it's a humanitarian response in the middle of a working crime scene.
KALEPA: Exactly.
WEIR (voice-over): But at another relief pod on a beach nearby, frustration has turned to anger.
ALIKA PENEKU, VOLUNTEER: You know, everybody's like, oh, you know, they don't come and help, they don't come and help. Anyway (INAUDIBLE), nobody came for help for us. You know what I mean?
[07:40:07]
We rely on people like you guys that get compassion like we do. You know what I mean? That willing to help us because, please, we need help. We need help. We need the next step. This is just the first inning. This is the first inning of what we're facing.
KALEPA: Tourism is our number one source of income. I would hope that our representatives, our politicians, our government would ask the people from here, when can we open? They should not be telling us, oh, we want to open six months from now. The truth of the matter is, when you look at the overall devastation, we are not going to be ready to allow people to see what we're living through in six months.
WEIR (voice-over): Bill Weir, CNN, Maui.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HARLOW: We promise to keep bringing you reports and updates out of Hawaii throughout all of this.
Meantime, Fani Willis, the DA in Fulton County, Georgia, giving former President Trump and the other 18 allies charged until noon next Friday to surrender to authorities. What the process and the arraignment could look like, that's ahead.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[07:45:11]
HARLOW: Welcome back to our special live coverage. Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis says former President Trump and his 18 co-defendants must surrender by noon next Friday, that's August 25. The sheriff there stating earlier this month that his office had been planning for this day. Listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SHERIFF PATRICK LABAT, FULTON COUNTRY, GEORGIA: And so we planned for months to really understand the day to day, really coverage of what this looks like. And so we put a lot of resources in place. Our goal is to stay focused. And I've said this before, we're ready.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HARLOW: With us now, CNN Chief Law Enforcement and Intelligence Analyst John Miller is at the table, along with our Senior Legal Analyst, Elie Honig. Great to have you, guys. Welcome, John. What's this going to look like? All 19 don't have to go together, obviously, right?
JOHN MILLER, CNN CHIEF LAW ENFORCEMENT AND INTELLIGENCE ANALYST: No, I mean, they've been given until Friday, so until Friday doesn't mean they all have to show up on Friday, next Friday, so they can come in in groups as individuals. It'll be interesting to see how they do it.
But the security has been set up for a long time. We saw the barricades go up a while ago. We've heard the sheriff talk about the threats to the District Attorney. Racist threats, threats against her life, the threats against him. This isn't something they started thinking about in the last two weeks.
When the New York indictment came, Fulton County had people up here with the NYPD watching what that process looked like --
HARLOW: Right.
MILLER: -- in terms of security crowds. When Miami happened, shorter trip, they sent people down there watching. They've talked to the D.C. metro people. They've been studying the physical security dynamics. They have their threat fusion cell. They're tracking calls for crowds where they see them.
They've looked at the numbers of people that showed up in other places. So the sheriff has done a lot of Patrick Labat, a lot of prep here.
MATTINGLY: Can I ask you about something he said a week or two ago, maybe it was a couple of weeks ago when he was asked. You know, this might seem small or somewhat trivial, but president hasn't had -- former president hasn't had mugshots. There haven't been handcuffs. There haven't been any of that. Take a listen to what he said about the process.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LABAT: Unless someone tells me differently, we are following our normal practices. And so it doesn't matter your status. We have mugshots ready for you.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MATTINGLY: Do you think that's true? And I'm not saying he's wrong, but the Secret Service has a role here. The Secret Service plays a huge role here. They've been working with them or at least consulting with them leading up to this moment. What's happening behind the scenes on that?
MILLER: So that's going to be a discussion. Mugshots are mugshots. But when the Secret Service has a protectee and they're very used to dealing with the local law enforcement on the ground, if they ask for the sake of security that, you know, he's not going to get away. And we would prefer not to have him handcuffed because think of the logic.
If we have to grab him and rush him out of somewhere, you know, it's very hard to run when you're rear cuffed, which would be the procedure. They might prevail on that. The sheriff being cooperative. On the other hand, you know, the signal the sheriff is sending is nobody's special here. The law is the law. We're going to use our regular process so we don't have to overthink this.
I think the Secret Service factor may actually be something that changes that. But you have other people, for instance, Rudolph Giuliani, the former mayor of New York, U.S. attorney who have never worn handcuffs and never pictured themselves that way, that will go through the normal process because there's no Secret Service connection involved there.
HARLOW: Who just in such a sort of turn of irony also prosecuted people under RICO statutes. MILLER: It's jarring pioneered it.
HARLOW: Yes, really, pioneer --
HONIG: Even as John said it, I'm thinking of the guy whose picture was on the wall of the office I worked at.
HARLOW: That's right/
HONIG: And he's going to be through this, but you're right.
HARLOW: Sara Murray brilliantly asked Fani Willis last night in this presser, are you going to try them all together, all 19? Her answer was one word, it was yes. Do tyou think there's a constitutional issue with that?
HONIG: My answer is one word, no.
HARLOW: Why?
HONIG: So three reasons. One --
MILLER: Practical.
HONIG: One, practical. I mean, you would have to rent out Atlanta Fulton County Stadium. I mean, and it's not just 19 defendants. Each defendant has multiple lawyers, paralegals. You could have 100 people in the well, there's no courtroom that can hold that.
The second thing is the trial would take forever because every time a witness testifies, every defendant has the opportunity to cross examine that person, 19 potentially cross examinations. But finally, there's a constitutional problem. The U.S. Supreme Court has said if you get to a point where you're trying too many people at once, that starts to infringe on their rights because there could be spillover prejudice. It gets to be too much for a jury.
The court has said once you get into double digits, you're on shaky ground. 19 -- if she were to try 19 people together, it would be reversed.
[07:50:02]
MATTINGLY: So what's the strategy to saying yes last night, then?
HONIG: I think it's bluster. I think she just said, I'm ready. Look -- and I don't mean that in a negative way. I was always trained. You're just we're ready. We'll take everyone on at once. Let's do this. I'll try them tomorrow. That's how good prosecutors talk, and I think that's all she was doing.
HARLOW: OK. Fascinating, guys. Thank you very much.
MATTINGLY: Thanks, guys.
HARLOW: John Miller, Elie, I appreciate it. So what could former president Trump's defense look like in this case? We're to ask one of his former lawyers who defended him at a second impeachment trial. That's ahead.
MATTINGLY: And next, retired NFL star Michael Oher, who was the inspiration behind the movie and the book, "The Blind Side", claims it was all a lie. The allegations he's making against Sean and Leigh Anne Tuohy, next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
MATTINGLY: Michael Oher, the retired NFL star and inspiration behind the academy award winning film "The Blind Side", alleges it was all lie. Oher states in a new petition that Sean and Sean and Leigh Anne Tuohy him they were going to adopt him, but never did. Oher says they instead filed a conservatorship that made millions for them and their children.
CNN's Brynn Gingras has the story.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Bring back a lot of good memories.
BRYNN GINGRAS, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Michael oher, first, he was a homeless kid who experienced poverty.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The goal was to feed him.
GINGRAS (voice-over): But later, Oher became an American football star whose life story inspired the best-selling book and film, "The Blind Side", earning a best picture nomination in 2009 and the academy award for Sandra Bullock as best actress.
But now Oher's life story has taken a different turn. In a Tennessee court, the former football player has filed a petition to end Sean and Leigh Anne Tuohy's conservatorship over him.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He became part of our lives.
GINGRAS (voice-over): Right after he turned 18, Oher moved in with the Tuohy's. In a lawsuit, Oher claims the Tuohy's told him they were going to adopt him, but instead filed conservatorship which kept millions of dollars from him. The former NFL player is asking the Tuohy's, quote, "Show cause for failure to meet their required duties to to provide regular accountings or to act in his best interest".
[07:55:14]
According to the court petition, Oher claims they gave him legal papers he thought were necessary for the adoption. What he signed, however, and unknown to Oher until after February 2023, were not adoption papers. Instead, the petition says, the papers appointed Sean and Leigh Anne Tuohy as his conservators with, quote, "Total control over Michael Oher's ability to negotiate for or enter any contract, despite the fact he was over 18 years of age and had no diagnosed physical or psychological disabilities"
Oher claims the Tuohys falsely advised him that the adoption would have to be called a conservatorship since he was over 18. But according to the petition, in 2006, the Tuohys representing themselves as the adoptive parents, negotiated contracts for the movie "The Blind Side".
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: OK, big smile, Tuohy family.
GINGRAS (voice-over): The movie has reportedly grossed more than $330 million. The petition also states that another contract from April 2007 gave away Oher's name likeness voiced to the movie studio, quote, "Without any payment whatsoever". Oher claims he, quote, "At no time ever willingly or knowingly" signed such a document.
The petition is asking the Tuohys to provide a sworn accounting of the money belonging to Oher that he says should have been paid to him. But Sean Tuohy told a Tennessee newspaper that his family is devastated. "It's upsetting to think we would make money off any of our children, but we're going to love Michael at 37, just like we loved him at 16".
(END VIDEOTAPE)
GINGRAS: Now, we are expecting to hear more from the Tuohys today. In a statement, Sean Tuohy did say to the local newspaper in Tennessee that, you know, this was part of the, you know, they were considered boosters, right, for Ole Miss. They went to Ole Miss, their alumni, they contribute a lot of money to there. That's where he wanted to go to school.
So this was all part of that legal process. Of course, that is not what Michael Oher is saying. He just wants to be away from this family, according to what this lawsuit is essentially saying. So we'll have to see what happens. There is more, it does feel, to this story.
We know Michael Oher does have a book that has come out, so we'll stay on top of this one.
MATTINGLY: Yes, please do. It's a fascinating story. It definitely feels like more to come, for sure.
Brynn Gingras, thank you.
HARLOW: Rudy Giuliani, one of the 19 people indicted for his role in trying to subvert the 2020 election in Georgia. Coming up, we will be joined by Jen Jordan, who heard Giuliani's election lies firsthand when she was a Georgia state senator. It's her first interview since she testified before that Fulton County grand jury yesterday.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[08:00:00]
