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Rest of Surfside Condo Building Demolished as Storm Looms; Trump Appears to Admit Facts of Case against His Company, CFO; Howard Student Responds to Phylicia Rashad Defending Cosby. Aired 7-7:30a ET

Aired July 05, 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]

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN NEW DAY: Tropical Storm Elsa here rapidly approaching the areas, and so engineers fear that the remaining structure was unstable and it was potentially dangerous.

JOHN AVLON, CNN NEW DAY: Search and rescue operations will start up again once the site is declared safe. The demolition is expected to give search teams new access to portions of the debris pile that they haven't been able to reach. Nobody has been found alive since immediately after the collapse. 24 confirmed deaths with 121 people still unaccounted for.

Natasha Chen joins us live from Surfside, Florida, with more. Natasha?

NATASHA CHEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, John, that space behind us, the sky between the buildings there, that is where Champlain Tower South used to be as of last night. About 10:30 P.M., that's when they took down the remaining part of the structure. It was up until that point really unsafe for the people searching and rescuing on site. They were actually not able to reach the area closest to the remaining part of the structure. And so now that the building has come down, that will be easier for them to do that.

Here is the mayor of Surfside talking about how this timeline of trying to get this demolition done before this coming storm might have been a lucky thing.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MAYOR CHARLES BURKETT, SURFSIDE FLORIDA: It appears as though the approaching storm may have been a blessing in disguise for us in that it initiated the demolition discussion. That discussion has accomplished several things. It's eliminated a looming threat, a dangerous threat for our rescue workers. It will potentially open up probably a third of the pile so we can all -- you know, so the teams can focus not just on two-thirds of the pile but on the whole thing.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHEN: The mayor and other officials at that press conference wanted to reassure the public that searchers had done multiple sweeps and used technology, like thermal imaging, to search for anyone's pets. They did not find any animals in the remaining structure before the demolition happened.

During that time, the people living in the vicinity had to stay indoors. They were told to keep all windows and doors shut to kind of keep that dust cloud and debris from entering their homes. And now, as soon as engineers clear, the search and rescue can continue as 121 people, their families, are waiting for news on those folks who were unaccounted for right now, 24 people confirmed dead. John and Brianna?

AVLON: Thank you, Natasha.

KEILAR: Former President Trump at a rally this weekend appearing to acknowledge the merits of the case against the Trump Organization and its chief financial officer while denying that these are actually crimes. Trump told the crowd that every company has, quote, fringe benefits and he mocked New York prosecutors for pursuing these charges.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, FORMER U.S. PRESIDENT: They go after good, hard-working people for not paying taxes on a company car, company car. You didn't pay tax on the car or a company apartment. You used an apartment because you need an apartment because you have to travel too far where your house is and didn't pay tax, or education for your grandchildren. I don't even know. Do you have to -- does anybody know the answer to that stuff?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KEILAR: Let's talk about this with CNN Legal Analyst Norm Eisen. He served as a special counsel to the House Judiciary Committee during former President Trump's first impeachment trial.

I wonder, Norm, what you think hearing that self-own from the former president.

NORMA EISEN, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: Well, Brianna, thanks for having me back on the program. It does add to the quantum of evidence in the existing case, a very serious tax fraud case. Trump's lawyers and others try to poo-poo it as mere fringe benefits but we know these are serious cases. People go to jail, as Leon a Helmsley did in her tax fraud case, but it also adds to the evidence of the president's own culpability, his growing risk. This case is not just pointed at Weisselberg, not just pointed at the Trump Organization but also at the man whose name is on that company.

KEILAR: He says in those remarks at that rally, does anyone know? He's talking about does anyone know about, I guess, these rules when it comes to, quote unquote, fringe benefits. But there's something in that indictment that may be contradicts what he' saying there and that is this separate ledger.

EISEN: Yes. Brianna, the most interesting part of the indictment against Mr. Weisselberg and the Trump companies is in paragraph 19, where the indictment talks about -- it's incredible, actually. It is like something out of a Martin Scorsese movie. [07:05:01]

The Trump Organization internally tracked and treated many of these fringe benefits as part of Weisselberg's authorized annual compensation so they wouldn't pay him too much, it says in the indictment.

However, the corporate defendants falsified other compensation records. So, in essence, they're pleading two sets of books and, of course, we know that that is an important part of the larger case that prosecutors are attempting to develop against Trump himself. Two sets of books on taxes, two sets of books for banks, two sets for insurance companies, so we see they're building a pattern that they then want to roll out and use against Trump, if they can.

KEILAR: Yes. J.W. Verret, who we had on, obviously, former part of the transition team, was saying that that two sets of books, that he would use that as an example in a fraud class. I thought that was very interesting.

I do, while I have you here, want to ask you about another story that we're following, and that is the Trump personally tried to reach out to Arizona election officials following his narrow loss in November. And according to the Arizona Republic, Trump along with close allies, like Rudy Giuliani and Arizona GOP Chair Kelli Ward, actually tried to pressure election officials in Maricopa County.

Let's listen to a voice mail that Giuliani left for Republican Maricopa County Supervisor Bill Gates previously obtained by CNN.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RUDY GIULIANI, TRUMP'S FORMER PERSONAL LAWYER (voice over): Bill, it's Rudy Giuliani, President Trump's lawyer. If you get a chance, would you please give me a call? I have a few things I like to talk over with you. Maybe we can get this thing fixed up.

I really think it's a shame that Republicans sort of were both in this kind of situation. And I think there may be a nice way to resolve this for everybody.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KEILAR: What do you think about that?

EISEN: Well, Brianna, at the State's United Democracy Center, bipartisan, which I co-chair with former GOP Governor Christine Todd Whitman, we've tracked very closely these efforts around the country. And it reminds me of the Georgia case, which we know is under investigation by Georgia Fulton County D.A. Fani Willis.

And those words by Giuliani, the authorized representative, the attorney of Donald Trump, suggesting that they can get it fixed up, that there's a nice resolution, I think it raises serious issues under Arizona law just as the Georgia Trump's request that they find 11,000 some odd votes, just one more than he needed to win, raises serious questions under Georgia law.

So the story of attack on our democracy, the attack on our voting by Trump and those around him is still unfolding.

KEILAR: I'm just blown away that he left a voice mail. It's unbelievable. Norm, great to see you. Thank you so much.

EISEN: Thanks, Brianna.

AVLON: All right. At his second campaign-style rally since leaving office, former President Trump also said this about disinformation.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: They said today -- I heard and there's a word, disinformation. It's called -- if you say it enough and keep saying it, just keep saying it, they'll start to believe you. We can't let that happen.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

AVLON: What a concept. Joining us now CNN Political Commentator extraordinaire S.E. Cupp.

S.E. CUPP, CNN POLITICIAL COMMENTATOR: Good morning.

AVLON: Good morning. I hope you had a happy Independence Day, by the way.

CUPP: I did. I did.

AVLON: Excellent. All right, so just carry on the Sunday, those comments about disinfo, does he know he's looking in a mirror?

CUPP: Right.

AVLON: What's your take on it?

CUPP: Well, yes. Obviously, that's ironic. He's the disinformer. But, listen, I'm not laughing at that. I think that's real ominous and real scary. He has still got an audience. It's increasingly dwindling, I think. It's getting smaller but it is potent. And to watch him play the greatest hits at this rally again and see a lot of people sort of rejoicing at it and taking it in, taking all the new disinformation in, that scares me.

You know, that's a group of people that I think make us all less safe, less safe with lies, less safe from extremism and political violence, less safe from disinformation, that, to me, was a warning.

AVLON: Well, what blew my mind was the way he was just discovering disinformation.

CUPP: Have you heard of this word? There's a word for it, John.

AVLON: And if you repeat it enough, people believe it. How about that? CUPP: Yes. That's what he did. Obviously, he's aware of it, sure.

AVLON: But your point about violence, there's another riff he repeated about Ashli Babbitt. And this is something that's been going on right-wing circles and now the ex-president amplify it, I think, is kind of sinister. Let's take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: And, by the way, who shot Ashli Babbitt? Who shot Ashli Babbitt? Who? Who shot Ashli Babbitt?

[07:10:00]

We all saw the hand. We saw the gun.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

AVLON: And, of course, the DOJ ruled the officer acted in self- defense, that's obvious for those watching the clip. But what's your take on why this rift is being repeated by ex-President Trump?

CUPP: Well, listen, this is not new, see Seth Rich. This president will exploit anything, anything, even the tragic death of his own supporter, to promote himself. It's horrific. It's grotesque. It's not at all surprising.

AVLON: What do you think is behind it though?

CUPP: Well, again, it's -- I think to a point, Trumpism, the head space, let's just see how far I can go. What can I convince my supporters of? And in service of my own self promotion, to make me look better, aggrieved, injured like the victim. He is the victim in this scenario, which is mind-boggling, boggling.

AVLON: I think that's the synaptic button that's being hit by this inquiry.

All right, switching topics, you ready?

CUPP: I don't know.

AVLON: All right, all right, all right. Matthew McConaughey Posted a July 4th message online, saying America is just going through puberty, folks. Let's take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MATTHEW MCCONAUGHEY, ACTOR: Happy birthday, America. Yes, indeed. As we celebrate our independence today, as we celebrate our birth as a nation, a day that kick-started a revolution to gain our sovereignty, let's admit that this last year's trip around the sun was also another head scratcher.

But let's also remember that we are babies, you know, as a country. We're basically going through puberty in comparison to other country's timeline.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

AVLON: First of all, he owes you royalties for the glasses. Second of all, the not so subtle American flag behind him, is this the kind of wisdom --

CUPP: He's running.

AVLON: But is there a point to which we can write off some of our difficulties in society as to growing pains? I'm not sure who he is comparing us to, by the way, because we're the longest lasting democracy.

CUPP: I don't know what he's talking about.

AVLON: Decipher for us.

CUPP: I think he meant adolescence, right? Not puberty.

AVLON: That was the civil war.

CUPP: Yes, I don't know. I don't know what puberty was like for you, John. It was terrifying for me. And --

AVLON: And apparently for Mr. McConaughey.

CUPP: All the changes. But puberty or adolescence generally indicates that you're evolving toward something more mature. I don't see the same parallels here in this country. I don't see us evolving to maturity. I see us really sort of going backwards a little bit in our evolution.

So, I don't know what he's talking about. Is that his charm? Maybe.

AVLON: That's the open-endedness charm of if you don't understand, it must be something profound.

All right, there are signs though that actually some things may be moving in the right direction. New polls showing that 47 percent of Americans think the country is on the right track while 49 percent think it's on the wrong track. So the reason that's significant is those numbers are a sea change from where they were in January. What is your read?

CUPP: Well, I don't -- I'm not -- that does not make me feel good. I think that I want that 47 percent number to be higher. I'm not surprised it's sort of hanging precariously on a razor's edge there.

Look, this country has big problems. I have spent all of 2020 saying these problems don't go away just because we get Trump out. I did a whole series on CNN called What Comes Next to talk about all the things we'd have to address when someone new is in there, economic issues, crime, there's lots of stuff going on.

I think the worst and most dangerous though are the culture wars and they are raging. They are not being quelled by the fact that Joe Biden, a much more calming, saner presence in the White House, is there. They are being stoked and fomented. And I think the culture wars are the most ominous, dangerous force driving our country a drift. They are pitting Americans against American. They're tearing communities and families apart. They're responsible for disinformation and lies and the corruption of science and fact and truth. If we can't figure that out, I fear we're really going to be a very, very dark place.

AVLON: You think we can call truce in the culture wars?

CUPP: The incentives right now are not. The incentives are to double and triple down on the culture wars, and that's scary.

AVLON: All right. Well, listen, S.E. Cupp, thank you very much. As always, it is great to have you on set right here today.

CUPP: Thank you.

AVLON: Tropical Storm Elsa surging towards Florida, threatening to disrupt search and rescue efforts in Surfside. When will it make landfall?

KEILAR: Plus, President Biden weighing in on Sha'Carri Richardson's suspension and stunning new details about Britney Spears conservatorship battle. Why she called 911 the day before her emotional testimony in court.

[07:15:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

AVLON: This morning, Tropical Storm Elsa is working its way towards Florida, expected to bring heavy rain, damaging winds and potentially dangerous storm surge.

Joining us now, Ken Graham, the director of the National Hurricane Center. So, Ken, we just learned that search and rescue operations have resumed in Surfside. What is the impact of this storm surge potentially on that effort?

KEN GRAHAM, DIRECTOR, NOAA NATIONAL HURRICANE CENTER: Yes, we're really looking at some of the outer rain bands probably not much in the way of storm surge for that area, but we're really going to be looking at the next few days is the storm starts to get across Cuba and get closer, start getting into day Tuesday, some of those outer rain bands, that's what we'll have to look at. Most of those impacts will be in Southwest Florida, but a system like this one, Elsa, that's not well-structured, it really spreads outs. So, some of the rain bands could be hundreds of miles away from the center.

AVLON: How significant do you think this is? I mean, it's a tropical storm, many of the folks hear that and they sort of say, well, it's not hurricane strength when it hits the United States.

[07:20:04] But this is something folks should be keeping an eye out for especially this early in the season, correct?

GRAHAM: Absolutely, John. And we have a saying there's no such thing as just a tropical storm because it really is about those impacts. Even if it's not fully structured, look at the rainfall. Some areas getting four to six inches of rainfall, and there is actually some storm surge for the west coast of Florida where you can see two to four feet of storm surge anywhere from Bonita Beach up to the Suwannee River, including Tampa Bay. So just because it's a tropical storm, it doesn't mean you're not going to get big impacts.

AVLON: And given the storm surge and the rain we're seeing, as it impacts Florida in particular, we've all learned that it's not bedrock but limestone, how much of these sort of tropical storms can affect flooding inland where folks might not have been used it to in the past?

GRAHAM: It really can. Because if you think about the size of the storm going back to the satellite and looking at the rainfall forecast, I mean, think about the keys where you can get two to four inches of rain but look all the way to Tallahassee and even looking further northward into Georgia and the Carolinas, you can still get several inches of rain.

Now, tropical rain, John, is so efficient. It comes down quickly and it adds up real fast. And that could cause some flash flooding. So, urging to everybody to pay attention when the weather forecast offices are issuing those flash flood warnings, be ready to act.

AVLON: For sure. Ken graham, thank you for all you do. Thanks for joining us on New Day.

Coming up, former Cosby co-star Phylicia Rashad apologizing for her support for Bill Cosby's release from prison. So, how are her latest comments landing at her alma matter?

KEILAR: And track superstar Sha'Carri Richardson barred from the Olympic Games. Is there a double standard when it comes to using marijuana?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[07:25:00]

KEILAR: Former Cosby show co-star Phylicia Rashad has apologized for comments that she made celebrating Bill Cosby's release from prison. Last week after his sex assault conviction was overturned, she tweeted, finally, a terrible wrong is being righted, a miscarriage of justice is corrected, along with a photo of Cosby.

And that comment sparked backlash from many people, including at Howard University, where Rashad was recently named dean of the school of fine arts, saying that her words lack sensitivity towards survives of sexual assault. And on Friday, Rashad, under pressure, apologized to the school's students and parents. Let's talk now with Bria Scott. She is a Howard University student who says that Phylicia Rashad's tweet was irresponsible. Bria, thank you so much for joining us today. I think we're all very curious to know what students at Howard are thinking. What are you thinking? What did you think initially when you saw her tweet, the one with the picture of Bill Cosby?

BRIA SCOTT, HOWARD UNIVERSITY SENIOR: Yes, absolutely. And thank you so much for having me this morning. I absolutely think it lacked irresponsibility. I mean, it was irresponsible. It lacked a lot of empathy. And I can see where -- as with her personal relationship with Bill Cosby, where her words could have been coming from, but I believe that, overall, in her position she has to think about her students first. As a dean entering of school of fine arts, she has to think about how her words, her actions will affect her students and even how the lack of trustworthiness may come into play when she actually begins her role in August.

KEILAR: So, how are her words affecting students? What are the discussions that you are hearing around her tweet?

SCOTT: A lot of my peers, students, classmates feel that it leads to a lack of trustworthiness, like I said. Because if you have those people you feel like you cannot run to, you cannot talk to, that will make you feel safe and make you feel heard, then it can make you feel like you don't know who you are. You don't know who you are in this position.

And with a lot of freshman coming into Howard University in August, it can open up a lot of feelings of they don't feel safe, they don't feel comfortable in the place that they're in and they don't feel like they can run to their dean and tell people, okay, this is what happened to me, or if they're ready to move forward, it may make you feel like you're taking ten steps back from the place that you already are in.

I can see a personal relationship, but sometimes it makes our students and even people that are victims of sexual assault feel like can you see the fine line between having a personal relationship and doing the right thing?

KEILAR: You've said that she needs to regain the trust of students. What if she can't?

SCOTT: I'm not sure how she moves forward from that position. And I think that that's a decision for Dean Rashad to make. How do I move forward if I cannot regain the trust of my students? I don't think that means stepping down. I don't think that means Howard terminating her as the dean, but I think that she's going to take those necessary steps.

Just like you said, the apology that was prompted after she made that statement, I don't know that that gains the trust of her students as she moves forward. Because then it seems as though it was reactionary rather than taking the stance because she truly apologized for her actions. So I'm not sure. But I think that there are steps she can take to gain that trustworthiness, holding forums, not just keeping administration and administration holding her accountable and her taking those classes from them but holding actual forums for the students to come forward and say, this is the problem I had, this is how you can fix it and this is how you will actually help me move forward and be more safe, feel more safe, comfortable and trust you more as an administrator.

KEILAR: Bria, thank you for being with us this morning. We'll certainly be watching, as you said, she is coming to the school a little later this summer. Bria scott, thank you.

[07:30:00]

SCOTT: Thank you.

KEILAR: Chicago's holiday weekend was marred by violence. So is the crime really going down like the mayor says?