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Daily Beast Reports, Gaetz Wingman Wrote in Letter that GOP Congressman Paid for Sex with Minor; FDA Considering Extending Authorization of Vaccines for Teens; U.S. Troop Withdrawal from Afghanistan now Underway. Aired 7-7:30a ET

Aired April 30, 2021 - 07:00   ET

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

[07:00:00]

JOHN BERMAN, CNN NEW DAY: All right. Welcome to our viewers in the United States and all around the world. It's Friday, April 30th, and we begin with explosive new developments overnight in the criminal investigation involving Congressman Matt Gaetz.

The Daily Beast reports an associate of Gaetz, Joel Greenberg, wrote in a letter that the Florida Republican paid for sex with a minor. The letter was drafted after Greenberg reportedly asked Roger Stone for help obtaining a pardon during the final months of President Trump's term in exchange for at least a quarter of a million dollars.

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN NEW DAY: Now, news of this letter is sure to fuel fresh scrutiny of Gaetz. The Justice Department is already investigating him for alleged sex trafficking and prostitution.

Paula Reid is tracking the latest developments here for us. Paula, what do we know?

PAULA REID, CNN SENIOR LEGAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: Good morning. Joel Greenberg reportedly wrote a letter admitting that he and Gaetz paid for sex with multiple women, including a minor who was just 17 at the time.

Now, in an earlier draft of the letter obtained by The Daily Beast, Greenberg claims that he and Gaetz thought one woman was 19 years old but later learned she was actually underage.

Now, CNN has not seen the letter. We can't verify details of The Daily Beast's story, but we've spoken with several women who are involved with these two men and we have reported that Greenberg paid women on behalf of Gaetz after some sexual encounters.

Now, CNN's own Chris Cuomo spoke to Roger Stone last night. Stone says he doesn't recall any letter. He says that he never heard Greenberg implicating Gaetz and that he never tried to get Greenberg a pardon. And Stone The Daily Beast he never asked nor received payments from Greenberg.

KEILAR: And what is Gaetz saying about this latest twist? REID: Well, a spokesman for Congressman Gaetz responded with a statement saying, in part, that Congressman Gaetz has never paid for sex, nor has he had sex with a 17-year-old as an adult. The story does not add anything of substance and certainly no evidence for the wild and false claims about Representative Gaetz. In fact, the story goes in some way to show Gaetz was long out of touch with Mr. Greenberg and has no interest in involving himself in Mr. Greenberg's affairs.

But a reminder, Greenberg is currently in jail. He's facing 33 federal charges, including sex trafficking. And sources tell CNN Greenberg has been cooperating with federal investigators since last year and has shared with them information about encounters he and the congressman had with women who were given cash or gifts in exchange for sex. Greenberg is expected to finalize a plea deal with federal investigators in the coming weeks. Brianna?

KEILAR: Paula, thank you so much for that. I'm not so sure that that statement reflects reality fully, but we certainly appreciate the report and you breaking it all down for us.

Let's talk about this now with our CNN Senior Legal Analyst and former Federal Prosecutor Laura Coates.

Okay. So given what we now know, this latest reporting from The Daily Beast, how concerned should the congressman be, Congressman Gaetz?

LAURA COATES, CNN SENIOR LEGAL ANALYST: Any time you have an associate who's been indicted and has been in investigation, actually speaking and cooperating to give information, particularly if you might be the bigger fish in the relationship, there's cause for concern.

There has not been any charges filed as of yet right now, of course. We don't know if they're even looming. But the idea that someone is willing to put on paper that they witnessed some events, that they were aware of financial transactions, that's pretty big. And if this is corroborated by other people or the women involved, or if the actual prosecutors in this case in the Greenberg can corroborate with other details, that's a very, very damning thing.

BERMAN: How much does it matter that it appears that Joel Greenberg and Roger Stone could be on the Mt. Rushmore of sketchiness, right? I mean, you have two guys that just seemed -- here based on the allegations of Greenberg and based on the convictions against Stone are just so shady.

COATES: Well, Mt. Rushmore sketch is very, very wide these days at this point in time, if that's criteria. But the idea here that you have got these figures who already loomed very large in the idea of criminal indictments, that the prosecutors already have them in their sights, there's already had to be a pardon for at least one person as well, this does not bode well for the relationship with you associates.

However, in and of itself, it's not an indictment, per se, of Matt Gaetz, but if this was a letter that was written in part, as you understand, to give some context, to provide a pardon for Greenberg, and in that, you're saying, hey, I have other information, that's a hell of a carrot to dangle in front of a former president or, in fact, somebody who has a very close tie with somebody who could have, at one point, given pardoning power.

And understand this is a closed universe of facts. This happened at the time or earlier -- not this year but before that. And so it would have been a time when the timeline actually lines up. Why would you go to this person who has an elbow-rubbing relationship with President Trump, what's happening here?

[07;05:04]

KEILAR: Rudy Giuliani, let's talk about him, because actually was on Fox last night for the first time since federal agents raided his office and his apartment, and here's what he said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RUDY GIULIANI, TRUMP'S FORMER PERSONAL LAWYER: The evidence is exculpatory. They prove that the president and I are all innocent. They are the ones who are committing -- it's like a projection. They're committing the crimes.

The search warrant is purportedly based on one single failure to file for representing a Ukrainian national or official that I've never represented.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KEILAR: I'm wondering what kind of favors Giuliani is doing himself by making an appearance like this. What did you think about what he said?

COATES: Silence is probably best after a federal raid on your home, when you don't really know specifically what they put in that affidavit to say, here's what we're looking for. Now, he believes it's this one particular charge, but they could go on a longer path and come across other information that could lead them down a different route that might not be a rabbit hole here.

And the idea of saying it's exculpatory, well, with all due respect it's exculpatory when the prosecutor says it is. Unless you actually know what you're being investigated for, they have the electronic devices. Whatever it was on those devices could lead to a treasure trove of information, not only about Giuliani but others.

It could also exculpate him. That is also true. But the presumption that says there's nothing here, judges do not hand out fishing licenses. They hand out warrants. Why? Because you've already given them the some basis and evidentiary foundation to say there's a probable cause to believe that a crime was committed and here is where we'll find it in this person's home.

That is not something that a judge takes lightly, and they shouldn't, particularly when you know the political optics and you know who his former client was.

BERMAN: And, look, I'll say it again, the last person we should be listening to for legal analysis on Rudy Giuliani is Rudy Giuliani.

Major development overnight, Laura, which is the Florida legislature passed new laws on voting restrictions. And in Florida, there are two things that are important here. Number one, this is the first swing state that voted for Donald Trump that has passed restrictions. But the other thing is that Florida was a state that Republicans and Democrats, everyone pointed to as the bastion of admirable voting laws. They did it right.

You know, President Trump said that when he voted early by mail in Florida. They did it right. But now, they're still changing the laws, they're limiting drop boxes, making it be so you have to apply for an absentee ballot or submit for one every election as opposed to being on a list to get these absentee ballots. So once Democrats started voting by mail more, which happened first in this election, now they're trying to reverse some of these laws.

COATES: Well, I mean, the notion of a solution to a problem. They said themselves it was the gold standard. And now they're saying, we want to get ahead of the curve in case there are problems in the future. Well, you really can't have it both ways. It couldn't be a free and fair election and a gold standard and at the same time require such proactive measures to reverse what has never been proven. There's been allegations of widespread fraud. There has never been proof.

And don't take my word for it. Former Attorney General William Barr said they found no evidence of it. They've also tried to do investigation in this way.

And so the idea of suggesting that it's getting ahead of the curve to being proactive when you're aware of the reasons why this has been prompted, you've got perhaps to placate those who are believing President Trump's statements about the big lie and then you have these notions about Democrats who have voted in droves.

But remember who has been the great beneficiary in a place like Florida, vote by mail, Republicans. So is this a self-licking wound that's on the horizon here and why would you do it? And, again, it's all going to be about thinking, well, it wasn't the pandemic that drove people to vote this way, or was it the idea they wanted to participate fully, as should be guaranteed in a free and fair democracy.

KEILAR: We'll see if they are solving a problem that doesn't exists or actually causing a problem for themselves. Laura Coates, thank you so much.

BERMAN: Great to see you in person.

So, this morning, we have learned that when considering for teens, the FDA will be able to skip the lengthy advisory process they had when they first authorizing the vaccine for adults. This is about authorizing vaccines for kid 12 to 15 years old. They're going to be able to skip part of the process here.

Pfizer has already apply for emergency use authorization for its coronavirus vaccine for teens and we're going to find out much more hopefully soon about this.

Joining us now is CNN Chief Medical Correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta. Sanjay, what does this mean, basically, and how soon could we see vaccines for that age group?

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, I don't think I'm exaggerating when I say it could be any day now, John. It was three weeks ago when they applied for this amendment to the authorization, as you point out.

[07:10:00]

This is not a new authorization. They're essentially saying there is an authorization that already exists for this vaccine. We want to amend it to basically lower the age range,16 now, and we want to take it down to 12.

And so the entire FDA Advisory Committee does not have to meet. They don't have to go through that same process that we watched a few times and it could happen really at any time now.

We've looked at some of the trial results. I talked to some of the investigators. The data looks really promising. In fact, the antibody response that was being generated in these 12 to 15-year-olds was actually more robust than people who were older, 16 and older. And so there was really no illness in the vaccinated group versus the placebo group, and there were no significant side effects or safety concerns.

So all the check boxes seem to be there, we'll just have to see. And, again, the FDA -- I think we'll just all of a sudden hear from the FDA, this is now the case, it is now authorized for 12- to 15-year- olds.

KEILAR: There's a new survey, Sanjay, that shows there's evidence that schools can be -- that they can be a source of coronavirus spread, but not always. So what do we need to know about this?

GUPTA: Yes. This was really an interesting study. So, basically, it said in places where you had in-person school learning, household members were 38 percent more likely to report symptoms of COVID, not necessarily have been diagnosed but symptoms of COVID.

But what the study was really showing was that each progressive mitigation measure within those schools significantly decreased the likelihood of out-of-school spread. So, if you had masks and physical distancing, which they counted as three feet, all the things that we've been talking about, then, essentially, you got to the point where there was no difference between in-person kids and at-home spread. It didn't seem to increase at all.

And even within the schools, something that we learned before, and this study sort of confirms it, is that the biggest source within schools wasn't necessarily the classrooms but it was extracurricular activities, like sports and things.

So, the bottom line was you can, you know, open these schools safely, as we've talked about, even without vaccinations, although vaccinations would be really helpful, and not be a source of community spread.

BERMAN: A little good news/bad news. The good news, once again, Sanjay, the cases continue to drop in the United States and the daily death rate continues drop in the United States, lowest levels we've seen in months and months on deaths. Cases still have a long way to go, but it's nice to see it going down.

We're also seeing though a new CNN polling on the issue of vaccine hesitancy, and 26 percent of adults say they will not try to get a COVID vaccine. Actually, I mean, is this lower than what we've seen in the past? 71 percent have gotten or will try. That seems to be a relatively decent number.

GUPTA: Yes. In fact, not that long ago, it was closer to 61 percent with 17 percent sort of sitting on the fence, you know, that moveable middle. So some of the moveable middle has moved and is more willing to get the vaccine.

You know, you still have a significant amount of vaccines hesitancy, and that's a concern. There's a few things to sort of keep in mind. First of all, this herd or community immunity is a little bit of a -- it's a moving target. It's sort of based on how contagious the virus is. So, for measles, for example, super contagious, you need to get to 90 percent immunity to get that herd immunity.

With this, if you have more contagious strains, you can see it kind of moves the goalposts in terms of what we need. Why do you get more contagious strains, because not enough people are vaccinated. So it ends up being this sort of loop.

I think that it's going to be challenging, which is part of the reason why going younger and younger ends up being maybe an effective strategy in terms of getting to enough people vaccinated. If you have 12- to 15-year-olds, that's now 85 percent of the country in total. That's the percentage that that represents. If you get enough of that population, perhaps you get there.

They're also trialing now in children as young as five years old. You may need to go that young in order to get that.

So you see the issue here. And it's important especially over the summer that we get there so that we don't have these resurgences potentially in the fall.

KEILAR: We've always known, Sanjay, that the official case number is the floor of the actual range of people who have been infected, and the CDC released some new estimates of how many people have gotten coronavirus. Tell us what they're saying.

GUPTA: Yes. This is really important. So we have always known that, you know, we're not testing enough. We're still not testing enough. The official number, you know, you can see on the side of the screen there, around 32 million. But take a look now at what they project the actual numbers are. This is based on doing antibody screening in various areas. They think it's closer to 114 million, so close to three-and-a-half, four times the actual number, which is a significant number, you know, roughly a third of the country.

[07:15:07]

So what does this mean? Well, part of this sort of builds on the conversation we were having about herd immunity, you do get some immunity if you've been naturally infected and that will probably help us get toward herd immunity. What we don't know is how many of those people have also been vaccinated, how many have been double counted. It's not all of them. But there's a significant percentage that probably have both vaccinated and previously been infected.

Also the idea of what kind of protection do you get from the natural infection versus the vaccine? I think there's good data now to suggest that even if you have been infected in the past, you should still get the vaccine. The vaccine protection is stronger. It probably lasts longer and probably gives you more protection from these variants that we're talking about.

So, many more people have been infected probably than we've realized. They still need to get vaccinated.

KEILAR: Three to four times. That's pretty amazing. Sanjay, thank you so much, great to see you this morning.

As the U.S. begins the withdrawal of troops from Afghanistan, we are back now with Sergeant Beau Wise. Sergeant, we were talking about, really, your reflections on the war coming to an end. You did, of course, lose your two older brothers in this war, and it was actually an Al Qaeda suicide that killed your brother, Jeremy and Host (ph).

There were two Al Qaeda operatives who have told CNN through intermediaries that, quote, war against the U.S. will be continuing on all other fronts unless they are expelled from the rest of the Islamic world. What concerns do you have about what might unfold when you hear that and what that might mean for American service members?

SGT. BEAU WISE, U.S. MARINE CORPS VETERAN, LOST TWO BROTHERS IN AFGHANISTAN: Well, I mean the concern with everything that's going on, you know, knowing now that everything that we know about Al Qaeda and Taliban working together, it hasn't stopped. So there's a lot of pause, hesitation, concern for myself and I'm sure many, many, if not, all service members. We'll just keep our prayers and concerns with our troops down range and hopefully get this done as safely as possible.

KEILAR: Beau, when you look at the number of how many people in the U.S. actually serve in the military, it's tiny. It's a very small percentage. Active duty is less than 1 percent. It's really a fraction of 1 percent at a given time.

Your family is a family that has paid a dear cost but that just -- I mean, you had three or four siblings and you all signed up in the military. I read one story about how your mom was wondering why you didn't follow in your dad's footsteps to go into medicine, and you all end up in different branches. So, I mean, you know your family is disproportionately bearing this burden.

Do you think that the war would have ended sooner if more Americans served or if more Americans were engaged?

WISE: Gosh, that's hard to say. Perhaps not. I mean, you know, when you get in that debate, where I think that's kind of like the draft debate, if people are forced, it's not going to be as perhaps as effective as a volunteer service community.

But most of the places I've been -- I've been stationed at opposite ends of the country, and I think the majority of the country is pretty supportive. It's just keeping everybody focused, 20 years of staying engaged, you know.

KEILAR: Yes, no, definitely. Sergeant Beau Wise, thank you so much for being with us. Thank you for your family's sacrifice. Thank you for your service.

WISE: Thank you. Thank you for having me.

BERMAN: Important discussion to be having there.

KEILAR: It is. I mean, this is a family that, you know, they know the cost of this war, and I was wondering what his reflections were on it as someone who knows that and as someone who has served personally. And it's really important to hear it.

BERMAN: High cost, to say the least.

KEILAR: Right.

BERMAN: A political activist allegedly shouting White Power at a city council candidate who happens to be Asian-American. The fallout, ahead.

KEILAR: And families of police violence victims meeting with lawmakers, this includes Republican Senator Tim Scott. Hear what happened.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[07:20:00]

BERMAN: Just one day after President Biden highlighted the urgency for police reform in his primetime address, families of police violence victims, including George Floyd's, had a round of meetings with Democratic and Republican lawmakers.

Joining me now, the attorney for the Floyd family, Benjamin Crump. Counselor, thanks so much for being with us.

Look, every lawmaker you hear from, and I had a chance to speak to Congresswoman Karen Bass a few nights ago, who was intimately involved in these negotiations, says they think they're close. They think they're close to a bipartisan agreement on police reform.

You've had a chance to meet behind closed doors with Democrats and Republicans. How close do you think they really are?

BENJAMIN CRUMP, ATTORNEY FOR GEORGE FLOYD FAMILY: Well, John, we're extremely optimistic. I was with the families of George Floyd, his brother, Philonise, Dr. Tiffany Crutcher, the sister of Terrence Crutcher killed in Tulsa Oklahoma by a policewoman, the sister of Botham Jean, the sister -- she was -- her brother was killed by a policewoman in Dallas, Texas, and Gwen Carr, the mother of Eric Garner.

[07:25:00]

And we met with Senator Schumer, the majority leader. We met with Senator Tim Scott, Senator Lindsey Graham for over an hour. We talked a lot about the pain they suffered. We talked a lot about how they want to prevent this from happening again to other families. They don't want to see another George Floyd. It was very emotional.

And I appreciate Senator Scott and Senator Graham really listening intently and telling them they are going to find a way to get meaningful legislation because these families are part of a fraternity that nobody wants to be part of, John, where they lose their loved ones to police by excessive force. And, unfortunately, it is growing at an alarming rate in living color in the black community.

BERMAN: Meaningful bipartisan legislation, which would be rarer on many different fronts. I wonder if you have a sense of what the remaining obstacles are.

CRUMP: Well, you know, Senator Scott and Senator Graham are negotiating and working with Senator Cory Booker and Congresswoman Karen Bass from the House of Representatives. And they all believe they can thread the needle and be able to get what many people in America say is long overdue and that is reform to change the cogent behavior of policing in America, especially as it relates to marginalized minorities, but also work with police executives to say this makes sense. Because what we have here right now is so inequitable to marginalized minorities, especially black families.

I hope that legislation will be able to allow me to close down my police brutality division in my law firm because I am tired of seeing unarmed black people killed by the police.

BERMAN: You said you met with Senator Tim Scott of South Carolina. He, of course, the other night, said that he does not think the U.S. is a racist country. This is how President Biden responded to that. Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He said among other things, America isn't racist. Is it?

JOE BIDEN, U.S. PRESIDENT: No, I don't think the American people are racist, but I think after 400 years, African-Americans have been left in a position where they are so far behind the eight ball in terms of education, health, in terms of opportunity.

I think the overhang from all of the Jim Crow and before that slavery have had a cost, and we have to deal with it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: Your view on what the president said.

CRUMP: Well, John, my view on what the president said and what Senator Tim Scott said is simply this. I think we all have lived experiences that color our perspective. I believe that there's systematic racism in America that permeates in every part of society that oppresses marginalized minorities, especially African-Americans. And we have to admit that because if we never admit that there's a problem, then we can never get to a solution.

And we want a better America for all of our children where we can give them equal opportunity at life and liberty and the pursuit of happiness. And we have to admit it that many of our children do not have equal opportunity at that American dream as we live today in 2021.

BERMAN: Benjamin Crump, as always, thank you for joining us this morning.

CRUMP: Thank you.

KEILAR: CNN's Clarissa Ward, who has been to war zones and disaster areas, says she has never seen anything like this. The COVID horror across India is hitting a new record. We're going to take you there live.

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