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New Day

Brix, Hahn and Redfield Discussed Resigning as a Group; Best Friend of Missing Resident Speaks with CNN; Federal Marijuana Laws May be Outdated; Christie Vows to Save GOP; Facebook Wins Battle; Jill Biden on Cover of "Vogue"; Trump Supporters Warn of Violence. Aired 8:30-9a ET

Aired June 29, 2021 - 08:30   ET

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

[08:30:00]

YASMEEN ABUTALEB, CO-AUTHOR, "NIGHTMARE SCENARIO": Like Damian said, they were enduring all sorts of abuse, both from the administration and from the public. They had all throughout about quitting at various points. They just thought they maybe couldn't take it anymore. Deborah Brix, at one point, felt sick going into the West Wing every day because she felt like people were conspiring behind her back and that people were leaking -- that she would actually get sick because there was sort of constantly cases of COVID in the White House.

They decided that they would have this pact together where if one of them got fired, because they had all been sort of threatened implicitly or explicitly at various points, the other two would resign in protest. So they were effectively chaining themselves to each other. They made that clear to the then chief of staff, Mark Meadows, and to the vice president's chief of staff, Marc Short, to try to make it clear that, you know, they knew that any single one of them might be disposable, but that it would be catastrophic for the administration to lose three of the top medical advisers just a few months before the election.

ERICA HILL, CNN ANCHOR: You know, there's also this big about how focused -- and I don't think this is a surprise but it really puts it in context, how focused the president and the administration was on what they saw as a public relations crisis as opposed to a public health crisis. And the president really becoming frustrated, the former president, at one point with Dr. Brix and Dr. Fauci and just saying, he's so tired of the negativity, Damian.

DAMIAN PALETTE, CO-AUTHOR, "NIGHTMARE SCENARIO": Right. Yes, that was another scene that was kind of -- we thought was crazy when we heard. It was in July, late July, and the president summoned them up, Brix, Fauci and others, into the Oval Office for a meeting. And he just exploded at them and told Dr. Brix that every time she opens his -- her mouth that he gets depressed. And he told Dr. Fauci that he feels like he spends half his day responding to things that Tony Fauci says, and he's the president of the United States.

I mean I think this just reinforces for us, you know, last year was crazy. We reported on it every day. There was all these twists and turns. It was a really scary year.

But after the election, people really started to confide in us that things were much worse than they seemed. That things were so much more dangerous. That there was this eat or be eaten, you know, attitude inside the White House that really pushed so many people to the brink. And I think that those stories really needed to be told. And that's what Yasmeen and I worked so hard on.

HILL: You know, speaking -- before I let you go, speaking of what happened after the election and how people were talking about things, there's also a moment with Dr. Brix after the election, Yasmeen, and she's very clear that she -- she wants Mike Pence and Donald Trump to speak out because, in her words, those people only listen to you.

What was that conversation about, Yasmeen?

ABUTALEB: This was six days after the election. The -- it had just been called for President Biden. It was -- it was clear that President Trump had lost, although he wouldn't accept it. And Pfizer had just reported its results for the vaccine, showing it was 95 percent effective.

So tensions were running really high. There were a number of advisers who felt that Pfizer had withheld the results intentionally. And Dr. Brix, at that point, felt there was nothing to lose, that the election was over, they had lost, she knew this deadly wave was coming, the winter was the deadliest wave, deaths were starting to approach 3,000 to 4,000 a day and she begged the vice president to tell people to wear masks because, at that point, the president and the vice president really hadn't been sending that message.

And when she said those people only listen to you, she was making very clear that because of their response, the country had really cleaved into two and there were these people, those people, and she wanted it to come from the president and the vice president because she knew half the country just did not listen to what her and Dr. Fauci had to say. And that went ignored. There wasn't a strong message to wear masks. The vice president did call for it a few days later. It didn't come from the president. And when the vice president was initially kind of dismissive of her, she told him, no, you can't ignore me this time, and she really pressed him.

HILL: Yasmeen, Damian, it's a fascinating read, "Nightmare Scenario." Thank you.

PALETTE: Thank you.

HILL: Up next, friends and relatives of the missing doing their best to keep hope alive at the site of a collapsed condo building in Surfside, Florida.

And a bit later, Chris Christie now painting himself as Republican savior.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[08:38:10]

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: For the sixth straight day, rescuers working non-stop, looking for any signs of life under the pile of concrete that was once Champlain Towers South. And the probability of finding survivors does grow dimmer with every passing day. Yet family and friends of the missing, they continue to hold out hope that their loved ones will be one of the miracles pulled out alive from underneath that rubble.

Joining us now is Shelly Angle. Her best friend, Elaine Sabina (ph.), lived on the top floor of Champlain Towers South and is one of the people still unaccounted for.

Thanks so much for being with us, Shelly.

You knew Elaine for decades. You're both flight attendants. But you first met, what, in college when you were both baton twirlers. Just tell me about what kind of friend Elaine has been to you.

SHELLY ANGLE, BEST FRIEND MISSING IN SURFSIDE CONDO COLLAPSE: First of all, thanks for having me.

Elaine, in one word, is irreplaceable. And we have known each other before college. And we were twirlers. She went to U of F. I went to Texas to twirl. And we were judges. And I twirled and she twirled in Florida. And we both became flight attendants and reconnected at U.S. Airways. And we've been friends for over 20 years.

BERMAN: When you saw the news six days ago that this building had collapsed, what went through your head?

ANGLE: Well, first of all, I was in the air, I believe, flying to Portland, Oregon, because I'm currently a flight attendant. I've been a flight attendant for 33 years. And my mother called me -- she lives in Florida -- and said, did you see that a condo had collapsed in Surfside, Florida?

[08:40:08]

And she said, isn't that where Elaine lives? And I said, yes, it is.

So I started connecting the dots. And when I saw the new building next to theirs, the scenario became clearer. And I know her address. I know she lives on the 12th floor. And I realized on my layover there in Portland that that was Elaine's condo.

BERMAN: That must have been really hard.

ANGLE: Yes, it is hard. It's hard to stay composed. Everyone's concerned, not just for my friend, but for everyone, their safety, the glimmer of hope that just maybe somebody survived. But as the days pass --

BERMAN: Listen, I know that you visited here.

ANGLE: Right. BERMAN: Yes, as the days pass, I know it -- it gets harder.

You've been here. You've visited, you know, this home, this tower behind me.

ANGLE: Yes, several times. Right. I've been on that balcony.

BERMAN: What did you notice about the condition of the building? What did you notice about the condition of the building when you were here? And what, if anything, did Elaine say to you about the building?

ANGLE: Well, like most people have said, the first thing that you notice is there's a lot of dampness, especially in the garage. And there was a lot of, like, superficial plaster falling. And I did a girls trip in March, and my friends, we all noticed that it's a glorious place. I mean being on the beach is wonderful. But we also noticed that the building was older and there were a lot of places in the garage, on the ceilings of the balcony, and other places around the building that were very, very evident that there are pieces missing.

And I know Elaine had made mention of that because as a flight attendant, we always tell the cockpit if we see, hear, smell anything. And she's very diligent about reporting things. And that's part of our training. And I know that she had gone downstairs to tell people. I don't know if it was documented. But she had said that being on the top floor, how loud it was, she felt like the roof was going to cave in. She felt there was water seeping through the walls like around the elevator. And she had relayed those concerns to me. But we just thought, you know, it's paradise down there and, you know, it was maybe just a small thing. It was like a facial thing, you know.

BERMAN: Right. And now this is just one of the things that I know that so many people here are reviewing in their own minds, what they saw, what they said, what they noticed.

Shelly Angle, I thank you so much for being with us. Your friendship sounds truly extraordinary and I know whatever happens you are lucky to have had the decades that you had with Elaine.

Thank you for being with us today.

ANGLE: I hope -- I hope that you have -- I hope for you that you have the kind of friendship I have with Elaine.

BERMAN: We should all be as lucky. Thanks so much for being with us, Shelly.

ANGLE: Sure.

BERMAN: Coming up, more on our breaking news. CNN has obtained a recent warning letter about the building's rapid deterioration.

HILL: And, up next, the conservative Supreme Court justice is suggesting America's marijuana laws are outdated.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[08:48:03]

HILL: Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, one of the most conservative on the court, saying in a recent statement that the federal prohibition of marijuana may no longer be necessary.

For more on this we're joined now by CNN chief legal analyst Jeffrey Toobin.

So I was asking you during the break, is there anything I should read into this? Is there more to it? You say, no, it's exactly what Clarence Thomas says it is.

JEFFREY TOOBIN, CNN CHIEF LEGAL ANALYST: And I think he's making a point that lots of people are making at this point, that the system of marijuana regulation in this country is completely absurd. It remains illegal, clearly illegal under federal law, to possess, distribute, grow marijuana. Virtually every state now allows it in some greater or lesser way.

The federal government has said informally to the states, we are not going to prosecute anyone as long as you meet certain conditions about keeping organized crime out, letting -- and keeping it away from children. But the laws are explicitly contradictory and at some point they're going to need to be harmonized. The question is will the courts force them to do it? And I think that's what Thomas was suggesting. Or the smarter thing, the more rational thing would be for Congress to do it, but Congress doesn't appear to be in any hurry to do it.

HILL: (INAUDIBLE), yes, they're not really working as well together these days.

TOOBIN: That's right.

HILL: So we'll leave that one alone.

TOOBIN: OK.

HILL: Moving on to topic number two.

TOOBIN: Yes.

HILL: Chris Christie is the latest one-time Donald Trump supporter who has now got a publishing deal and a new book and coming out and saying, you know, there was a lot of bad lying that happened here, some of which Chris Christie pushed. And he is now going to save the Republican Party.

TOOBIN: Well, you know, this is the quest that the Republican Party is on now, how to define itself in the post-Trump era. And the question is, you know, how -- how far can you get away from Donald Trump and still appeal to a party that loves him? And, you know, the candidates are defining themselves as like 100 percent pro-Trump, 80 percent pro- Trump. [08:50:03]

It seems like, you know, Christie is trying to move away from 100 percent. But you can be sure the Democrats are going to remind everyone that Chris Christie was involved in debate preparation. You know, the poor guy got COVID because he was indulging in the same craziness of not wearing masks in public events that the president was displaying.

So, you know, this is -- you know, parties out of power always try to define themselves in new ways. And we'll see how Christie does with his book.

HILL: We'll see. We'll see if this has anything to do, too, with his own bid perhaps in 2024.

Lastly, so, a federal court dismissed a case that was brought by the FTC against Facebook. This is a really big deal.

TOOBIN: It's a really big deal. And the most important way you can tell it's a big deal is that Facebook's stock, which is pretty high to start with, went up 5 percent after the case was dismissed. The question is, you know, under anti-trust law, can you limit the power, the scope, the size of Facebook and all the other, you know, big tech companies, Amazon, Microsoft, Apple? And this court said no.

It's only a federal district court. It's the first court to address this.

But, you know, ever since the 1980s, when Ronald Regan was president, antitrust law has gotten weaker and weaker. And the question now is, you know, under current law is there anything that the administration can do? And President Biden and his appointees to the FTC, and to the Justice Department, have suggested they want to be more aggressive. Or, under Congressman David Cicilline, who runs the anti-trust subcommittee in the House of Representatives, can they change the laws to make it more -- to make it easier to break up these companies?

The short answer is, none of that has happened yet. So Facebook and all these other companies are looking good for the world domination, which they -- which they continue to do.

HILL: They're sort of well on their way already. Yes.

TOOBIN: Right. I mean so that's why the stock went up because the tools the federal government has at this point appear to be inadequate.

HILL: Jeff Toobin, appreciate it. Thank you.

TOOBIN: (INAUDIBLE).

HILL: Just in this morning, First Lady Dr. Jill Biden will be on the cover of "Vogue" for their August issue. That hits stands July 20th. Biden's future article is written by Jonathan Van Meter, who joined her on the road for an in-depth look into her new life as first lady. Joining me now is CNN contributor Kate Andersen Brower, who's the

author of "First Women: The Grace and Power of America's Modern First Ladies."

Kate, always good to see you.

So this is -- this is a big deal not just because we're seeing a first lady on the cover, but because we haven't seen a first lady on the cover since we last saw Michelle Obama. Melania Trump never made it.

KATE ANDERSEN BROWER, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: That's right.

HILL: And that is a bit of a point of contention.

BROWER: That's right. I mean Anna Wintour told CNN that she wasn't going to give Melania a cover. She said she was going to take a stand. So I'm sure this is upsetting to the former first lady to see. You have Dr. Biden wearing an Oscar de la Renta dress, photographed by Annie Leibovitz, who also photographed Laura Bush and Michelle Obama and Hillary Clinton. So it's really notable that Melania Trump wasn't given a cover. And at the time she was -- her spokeswoman said, you know, this shows the bias of the fashion industry. And you had a lot of designers like Tom Ford come out and say they wouldn't dress Melania. So I think this is kind of a return to some sort of normalcy that we're seeing and it's legitimacy for the first lady to be on the cover of "Vogue."

HILL: You know, it's interesting, too, I thought that they -- on the cover, right, a first lady for all of us. I mean, that's clearly the message that they're also hoping to send.

BROWER: That's right. And inside, you know, the piece talks about Dr. Biden, kind of how fun loving she is, and it also talks about some of the struggles that the Bidens have had, you know, trying to find time to spend with each other. And, you know, she famously would go on the observatory lawn when the Bidens would have these parties for the press and she would bring a water gun out and spritz her husband. And she, I think, in the story they're trying to drive the point home, as you say, that she's really like, you know, your mom or your friend, that she's easy to talk to and much more accessible than Melania Trump ever was.

HILL: It is interesting, out on July 20th.

Kate Andersen Brower, thank you.

BROWER: Thank you.

HILL: Former President Trump pushing the big lie that the election was stolen and now hinting falsely that he will be reinstated as president. As CNN's Donie O'Sullivan shows us, some of his supporters believe it.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DONIE O'SULLIVAN, CNN REPORTER: This is Trump's sort of first, big, major rally since he lost.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He didn't lose. He didn't lose. I know he didn't lose.

O'SULLIVAN: Your shirt here says Trump won.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes, he did.

O'SULLIVAN: Is this about 2016?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's about all of them, and 2020, and the next one.

O'SULLIVAN: But he lost in 2020, right?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No. No.

O'SULLIVAN: Do you think what happened on the 6th of January was a sort of stain on his presidency?

[08:55:03]

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This is all staged. I truly believe that.

O'SULLIVAN (voice over): Conspiracy theories about the election and the insurrection are par for the course at Trump rallies. But now another false notion is circulating among some Trump supporters that Trump could be reinstated as president later this summer.

O'SULLIVAN (on camera): What are you hoping to hear from Trump today?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I hope to hear he's coming back.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.

O'SULLIVAN: Coming back in 2024?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Sooner.

RON, TRUMP SUPPORTER: He's coming back soon and you guys are going down.

O'SULLIVAN (voice over): Trump has been falsely suggesting that the sham Republican audits in Arizona could lead to the election being overturned.

DONALD TRUMP, FORMER U.S. PRESIDENT: Stay tuned for Arizona. We need two states. It's going to be a very interesting time. How do you govern when you lost? How do you govern when you lost?

O'SULLIVAN (on camera): Do you think the election's going to be overturned in some way?

RON: Oh, absolutely.

O'SULLIVAN: There's no constitutional -- RON: The military already knows it was a fraud. He won by over 80 percent.

O'SULLIVAN: Ron, you genuinely believe that he's going to --

RON: He's coming back.

O'SULLIVAN: That he could come back as soon as --

RON: Before -- before the middle of August.

O'SULLIVAN: And what if that doesn't happen?

RON: Huh?

O'SULLIVAN: What if that doesn't happen?

RON: We're going to be in a civil war because the militia will be taking over.

O'SULLIVAN (voice over): Among Trump supporters at his rally in Ohio Saturday --

O'SULLIVAN (on camera): Do you have a second to chat to us? We always want to talk to a Proud Boy.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No.

O'SULLIVAN (voice over): A man wearing a Proud Boys t-shirt and a self-described member of the Three Percenter's militia group, some people believe to be associated with the group, were charged for their alleged involvement in the insurrection.

O'SULLIVAN (on camera): Do you think that what happened on the 6th of January was a bit of a stain on his -- all the violence -- that it was a stain on his presidency or --

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No, I don't. I don't think so. I was there.

O'SULLIVAN: Were you up at the Capitol?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, we was there.

O'SULLIVAN: Yes.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes. Didn't go in. Didn't do none of that stuff. I don't believe in tearing up the Capitol.

O'SULLIVAN: And you're a three percenter?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.

O'SULLIVAN: Some of your guys have been caught up in a conspiracy, right, charged by the FBI.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: As far as I know, they're -- some of them are being held and a lot of them are just being questioned.

O'SULLIVAN: But you think your guys who went inside shouldn't have gone inside or what?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, I don't think anybody should have went inside. But, you know, when you're worked up in that moment and, you know, the adrenaline's pumping, I mean, it just -- it just happens.

O'SULLIVAN: Are you worried that we could see more violence?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes. I honestly believe it's coming.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HILL: So he said he believes the violence is coming.

Donie O'Sullivan with me now.

So that man who is the Three Percenter said he believes the violence is coming.

Ron, I think, was the other man who you spoke with who said there's going to be a civil war. The militia's getting ready if Trump is not reinstated in August.

These are not fringe things that we're hearing. You hear a lot of this because you're spending a lot of time out there.

O'SULLIVAN: Yes. A lot of trump supporters we met, you know, weren't totally convinced on this idea that he could be reinstated. And some of them were looking more towards 2024.

But as you saw there for those people that do believe, have bought into the idea that, frankly, Trump has been pushing that he could be reinstated this summer, it's very, very, very real for them. And I will say, something that was quite chilling, particularly hearing that man when he talked about -- when I said to him, you know, if this doesn't happen, what happens? And he said, civil war, that's almost precisely what I heard on January 4th, two days before the insurrection. We were in Georgia at that Trump rally on the eve of the Senate runoffs there and everybody was so pumped up for January 6th.

Pete (ph.), I asked a man, what happens if, you know, Biden is inaugurated? And the guy used similar words like that. He said there would be a civil war.

So it's difficult sometimes to figure out, you know, if this is hyperbole or rhetoric, or people really mean it. But clearly, as we saw on January 6th, some of these people mean it.

HILL: And the other thing I think that's difficult to figure out, and something that law enforcement, you know, is trying to tackle is, just how wide spread, right, is this net of people, this network of people who may be taking this seriously and who may see that as a call to do something violent. O'SULLIVAN: Precisely. And you know what's different -- you know, that

was conspiracy theories that the inauguration would happen, that marshal law would be declared, that Trump would come back on March 4th.

The thing that's different about Arizona is that, you know, with neither of those instances, Trump didn't really engage, you know? He wasn't out there suggesting he might come back on March 4th. But he is quite actively pushing this idea that, you know, watch Arizona, wait and see, sort of suggesting that's the first domino to fall. And that creates, I think, a really dangerous potential situation in this country.

HILL: Is there anything at this point that surprises you?

O'SULLIVAN: We've heard a lot, but I will just -- I will say one thing I think points to the power of the social media and of the sort of right wing ecosystem of media is that, you know, oftentimes before I go to these rallies, all it takes is a quick scroll through Facebook to see what is the trending frankly misinformation or talking points from the right wing space that day. And sometimes you'll hear it back verbatim from people on the ground.

HILL: Wow.

O'SULLIVAN: So people really, really are taking a lot of their cues from social media.

HILL: It's something.

[09:00:00]

Thank you, as always.

O'SULLIVAN: Thanks.

HILL: Great to see you. And in person.

O'SULLIVAN: Yes.

HILL: Which is a really lovely treat.

Donie, thank you.

And CNN's coverage continues right now.