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New Day

Tropical Storm Elsa Threatens Florida and Georgia; New Reporting Indicates FBI Infiltrated Group Connected to January 6th Capitol Insurrection; Eric Adams Projected to Win New York City Democratic Mayoral Primary. Aired 8-8:30a ET

Aired July 07, 2021 - 08:00   ET

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

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[08:00:23]

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning to viewers here in the United States and around the world. I am Brianna Keilar along with John Berman. And it is Wednesday, July 7th. At this hour tropical storm Elsa is close to making landfall on the gulf coast of Florida with millions of people in the southeast now bracing for the impact here. The system did weaken slightly overnight, but still it is packing winds above 70 miles per hour, and it is very capable of doing extensive damage still. Tropical storm watches and warnings are stretching now into Georgia and also the Carolinas.

So let's get right to meteorologist Chad Myers to tell us what we're keeping our eye on here, Chad.

CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Brianna, the very latest, the 8:00 advisory is out. Still a 65 mile per hour windstorm just to the west of Cedar Key by about 35 miles or so, but should make landfall here in the next hour or so on the northern part here of Florida. But as we talked to Dr. Ken Graham from the National Hurricane Center yesterday, there is no such thing as only a tropical storm. This storm will produce winds 60 to 65 miles per hour in an area that is saturated from weeks of rain, and some of these trees will fall. Some of these things will come down on houses and power lines and maybe even your car. Winds right now aren't as strong as they will be because the storm is still offshore, but we have some gusts earlier today of around 40 to 45 miles per hour.

The storm will eventually get very close to Savannah and Tybee and just west of Myrtle, and still a 40 mile per hour storm. So this is still going to pack a punch as it rolls over Georgia, as it rolls over South Carolina, and then on up toward Myrtle Beach and Even Hampton Roads. So I know this is offshore and is not gaining strength, but it still will have wind.

The biggest storm surge I've seen all night was about two feet so far. That doesn't mean it won't get higher because those winds are still pushing that water onto the shore. Guys?

BERMAN: Chad Myers, thank you so much for watching that for us.

Let's go now to Derek Van Dam live in Tampa. And Derek, I understand people in your area are urged to stay inside. What's happening now?

DEREK VAN DAM, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Obviously not everybody listening to that order. You can see people driving behind me on Kennedy Boulevard. There's also some people cleaning up some just very minor debris.

Hey, good news, John. Just see this tweet from the Tampa International Airport. They are resuming their operations in about 28 minutes, so you can start to fly in and out of the airport within this location. Now, this Tampa was actually spared the worst of the storm. Right now we're still getting gusty winds between 30 and 40 miles per hour, so nearing tropical storm force. But we know the storm is well to our north and west. The center of tropical storm Elsa, it is approaching the Big Bend, as Chad was just talking about. And overnight conditions here were just on and off again tropical storm force. We had heavy rain and strong gusty winds, but nothing that the city couldn't handle. In fact, we held onto electricity all night at the hotel that we were staying at. Over 13,000 customers in the state of Florida without power at the moment. But really that's across the big bend region near Dixie County.

The threats going forward for this area, spin up tornadoes less and less of a threat in Tampa. However, you get into the inland parts of the Florida peninsula, that's where it can occur. And then we talk about feeder bands as well. Chad didn't cover this, but it's interest because We're tapping into all that moisture from the Gulf of Mexico. So storms will move over the same location for several hours at a time, and that will dump periods of rain that could range from one to two inches an hour per se. So I've already seen some reports of over a foot of rain across just south of Sarasota. So localized flooding a possibility, brief tornadoes. The storm surge threat here, though, has come to an end, thank goodness. John?

BERMAN: Derek Van Dam for us in Tampa. Derek, keep us posted. Thank you.

VAN DAM: Will do.

KEILAR: We have some breaking news. Unsealed court records show that after the attack on the Capitol, the FBI infiltrated a group led by a Capitol riot suspect in northern Virginia, and members of that group talked about surveilling the Capitol, testing homemade bombs, and also seceding from the U.S.

Joining me now, CNN law enforcement correspondent Whitney Wild as well as D.C. Metropolitan Police Officer Michael Fanone who was assaulted by rioters as he tried to protect the capitol on January 6th. This, Whitney, if you can just take us through your reporting here, centers around a Virginia man named Fi Duong. Tell us about him. He was arrested last week.

WHITNEY WILD, CNN LAW ENFORCEMENT CORRESPONDENT: I need to do a shout out to my amazing team here, Katelyn Polantz, Hannah Rabinowitz, doing the story for us, staying up late to go through these court records.

[08:05:00] So basically here's the deal. So there's this guy Fi Duong, who FBI agents who were undercover contacted, and they basically investigated him for a series of months. And what they found was he was part of this group of people who were under the guise of a Bible study group. So they were pretending --

KEILAR: It wasn't really a Bible study group.

WILD: Right, although in some meetings the FBI says they talked about the Bible, but really they were talking about how to secede from the United States. They were talking about weapons and training. And this man, Fi Duong, is actually accused of having played a role in the insurrection. FBI agents say that he went into the Capitol, and so now he's facing four charges related to that. But what they found through the course of their investigation, Brianna, is he had this stash of weapons in Alexandria. And so he wanted to test basically, wanted to create and test Molotov cocktails. He was among this group who was discussing surveilling the Capitol, looking for weaknesses, as well as trying to effect a secession from the United States in northern Virginia.

Important to note, though, we did reach out to his attorney. The attorney didn't have a comment. He has not been indicted for any of the crimes, alleged crimes that happened after January 6th, just the ones that happened on January 6th.

KEILAR: It sounds like he fancied himself, according to these court documents, a bit of an operator. I don't want to overstate his abilities when it came to tradecraft, but there seemed to be a lot of -- there was this encrypted element of communications. There was the surveillance. And then when you look back to January 6th, it appears he's trying to dress like Antifa, which he obviously is not.

WILD: He told law enforcement he was this sort of operator in this space. So this had some level of organization, and that actually plays into this greater theme we've been talking about so much here at CNN, which is there were these groups who, apparently according to these court records, are perhaps continuing try to organize and then effect these crimes against the United States. So while this organization is not facing the type of crimes that we saw for like Oath Keepers and the proud Boys, it is a reminder that these ideas and these inclinations are extending beyond January 6th and people are acting on them.

KEILAR: I think that is very much the question. And that really brings me to what I want to ask you about, Mike, which is you have in this case a man who is part of a group who was casing the Capitol even after January 6th. What concerns would that raise for you?

MICHAEL FANONE, D.C. METROPOLITAN POLICE OFFICER: First, I think it shows just, just based on weapons that were recovered from this individual, as well as some of the plots and planning that took place, that there is an organizational factor, and the severity of the individuals who participated in the January 6th insurrection. Obviously, they continue to be inspired by political rhetoric that's being utilized by the former president and his supporters, and it speaks to how dangerous that really is in this country.

KEILAR: It looks like the FBI intercepted an attempt here. We don't know if there are other groups that might be looking at the same thing, maybe looking for vulnerabilities at the Capitol. Now that there is no longer an element of surprise, do you think the capitol police here in D.C., police at the Capitol, are prepared to withstand these kinds of threats?

FANONE: I don't know. I'm not involved in security or any of the upgraded protocols for U.S. Capitol police. I would hope that they would be taking these threats seriously and paying attention.

KEILAR: What does it say -- Whitney has been doing some reporting about how there are many personnel issues. You are aware of this when it comes to D.C. police and also Capitol police. It's a tough job, and they are losing officers, which makes it even tougher for the ones who are remaining. For officers who see this sort of continuing threat, how does this -- how does this affect how you view your job?

FANONE: For me, just what I've seen now is law enforcement has been taking it on the chin for quite some time. And we see -- that is, our community sees the complete lack of support and abandonment now, not just from members of police reform or traditional communities that had issues with law enforcement, but now also members of the Republican Party who traditionally espouse support for law enforcement no longer seem to support our department simply because of the January 6th insurrection.

KEILAR: Mike, if you can stick around for us, we have a lot more to talk about here. I do want to get your reaction to some just released video from the day that you were defending the Capitol and where you were attacked. This includes images of a rioter actually taking your badge and your radio. So we'll talk about that ahead.

[08:10:07]

BERMAN: And coming up on NEW DAY, the projected winner of the Democratic mayoral primary in New York City, Eric Adams standing by to talk to us right now live.

And a haunting new ground-level look at the condo collapse site in Surfside, Florida.

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BERMAN: Developing overnight, CNN projects that Brooklyn Borough president and former police captain Eric Adams will win the Democratic primary race for New York City mayor. Tuesday's rank choice vote count, which included nearly 126 absentee ballots, shows Adams leading by about one point in the final round.

And joining me now is the apparent Democratic nominee, Eric Adams. Congratulations. Thank you so much for being with us this morning. What, if anything, have you heard from your opponents overnight?

ERIC ADAMS, (D) NEW YORK CITY MAYORAL CANDIDATE: Thank you so much as well for allowing me. And I've heard from a number of the former candidates, and they were extremely gracious. And we're all focused on how do we recover our city. And I thank them for calling and giving me the well wishes.

BERMAN: Have you heard directly from Kathryn Garcia?

ADAMS: Not yet. I am told she's going to do a press conference this morning, and I'm sure that in the next few days we'll hear more from her.

[08:15:00]

But it's extremely exciting right now that, you know, just an everyday blue collar worker, I like to say, is going to potentially become the mayor of the city of New York.

BERMAN: What does it tell you, what does your apparent victory in the Democratic primary tell you about New York City?

ADAMS: Well, it's a real message, I believe, for the entire country. New York is a microcosm of what's taking place in big cities all across America, and federal government will hand down rules and policies and laws, but in reality, it is in the cities. The cities are going to determine the success of this country and we need to come up with a clear urban agenda.

And I'm looking forward in the next few months to speak with some of the current mayors and former mayors to talk about how do we make sure we move our country forward. And I think the Democratic Party in particular, they're ready for real change for everyday working class Americans.

BERMAN: Okay. So talk about the Democratic Party. How would you define the Democratic Party this morning after your apparent victory, nationwide?

ADAMS: Well, I think finding its voice and really not being a divided party, and understanding that we don't have to point the fingers at each other because we have philosophical differences and disagreements. In fact, we all want to get to the same destiny.

We want safe streets. That's the prerequisite to prosperity, public safety. We want our children educated. And we want to make sure we can have adequate health care and affordable housing.

But we have reached a point where we are allowing the dialogue to get in the way of moving us in the right direction, and I'm hoping that what happened here in New York City, people are going to see the cross-section of everyday working class New Yorkers came together and brought me to potentially become the mayor of the city.

BERMAN: You say we have to speak in the same voice. Progressive activist Toure, who I don't know if you know, but he is a progressive activist here in New York City, this is what he wrote after your victory became apparent. He said: If you marched in NYC for police violence and this year voted for Eric Adams to be mayor, I don't understand you. Cops cannot get us to the real police reform we need.

What do you say to that?

ADAMS: I say that when he did so on the subway, he does not want to be pushed to the subway tracks. And he doesn't want to be slashed. He does not want his son to be like young 10-year-old Justin who was shot and killed in Rockaway by gun violence.

I say to him and others that if black lives really matter, then it means we won't have senseless gang violence in New York, Chicago, Atlanta. I say that it's time for us to stop believing that we should have the right tweets, we should have the right safe streets, and that is what I'm going to extend an olive branch to him.

Not only was I a law enforcement officer, I was beat and abused by police officers, but I went inside and I pushed for reform and change. And so, I know there are those who feel as though this is not the moment that we should come together, but I don't believe that, and countless number of New Yorkers and Americans have proved just the opposite. It is time for us to come together.

BERMAN: During the counting process, you sued the Board of Elections after they miss counted about 135,000 ballots that were test ballots. Are you going to keep up with this lawsuit now that you're the apparent winner?

ADAMS: No, and we -- the lawsuit was to really safeguard the paper and the documents so that we won't have any shenanigans, I would like to say. But it's clear that it was my team that identified that the board of election had more votes than actual voters that came into the polling places. And once we found out that, we wanted to make sure we would safeguard those ballots and I really take my hat off to an amazing team that put together an amazing campaign, that spoke to everyday New Yorkers.

And we're going to move this city forward. This city is like many of our cities in America. We're ready to finally look after working class people. And I'm going to be the mayor to symbolize that, partner with the other mayors across this country.

BERMAN: Well, you're, for now, the apparent Democratic nominee, the election itself will come much later.

Eric Adams, again, congratulations apparently to you. Thank you so much for joining us.

ADAMS: Thank you. Take care.

BERMAN: All right. Just ahead, harrowing officers under attack outside the U.S. Capitol on January 6. And one of those officers with us live.

KEILAR: And just weeks after visiting the Holocaust Museum, Marjorie Taylor Greene comparing the president's vaccination strategy to Nazi efforts.

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[08:18:50]

KEILAR: The FBI releasing new body camera video of rioters attacking police outside of the Capitol during the insurrection six months ago.

Let's watch.

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KEILAR: This from the perspective of the officers trying to protect the Capitol. The FBI is looking here for tips as they try to identify all of the attackers, and the Justice Department as well releasing surveillance video of rioters trying to breach the Senate chambers. You can see them struggling with police in the upper part of the screen there.

One rioter is seen squaring off with his fists up, taunting a Capitol police officer in a hallway. And also released, a frame-by-frame break down of the moment the prosecutors say one rioter stole D.C. Metropolitan Police Officer Michael Fanone's badge and his radio.

[08:25:03]

This is video that was used in court against riot suspect Thomas Sibick.

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KEILAR: Officer Fanone was beaten with a flag pole. He was tased repeatedly, including at the base of his skull, and he later suffered a heart attack as well as traumatic brain injury and is dealing with the after effects of the trauma of that day.

D.C. Metropolitan Police Officer Michael Fanone with us now.

Mike, what do you think about this video? How does it feel to watch this? We see your badge being stolen, your radio stolen like they're souvenirs or something.

FANONE: I mean, I think I want to -- like sometimes I watch it, I get very emotional. Seeing it now, I mean, I guess I've seen it so many times that I've just kind of disconnected myself from, you know, from those moments.

KEILAR: You were talking about this in the commercial break. I asked you, you know, is this -- is it hard for you to watch, does it re- traumatize you? And you said that actually it was seeing the video from that kind of third-party perspective the first time that was really the thing that stunned you the most. And now you see things over and over, and it's sort of a different experience. It's not as bad as the first time that you saw it.

FANONE: Yeah, I mean, I think that's part of the job of law enforcement. You know, we encounter traumatic events on a daily basis. I've got 20 years of law enforcement, of compartmentalizing events. Maybe not this extreme, but, you know, definitely traumatic events which prepared me.

What's been most difficult for me is, you know, post-January 6, seeing people downplay or just lie about the events of that day. Especially for, you know, political purposes or for their own personal gain.

KEILAR: Does that make it worse for you? I mean, you have some healing to do. We can see now from these videos from the point of view of the police officers and from yourself what you were dealing with. It's horrific.

Does it make it harder to deal with when you have members of Congress just outright denying these experiences?

FANONE: It does. Actually, I was talking to my doctor about it the other day. And I was asking, am I re-traumatizing myself by continuing to speak out? And he kind of put the question to me that, would you be more traumatized if you didn't speak out? So, yeah, I don't know.

KEILAR: What -- would you be more, would you be more traumatized if you were silent in the face of people denying the severity of what happened?

FANONE: Yes. I mean, in a short answer, yes. I remember how outraged I was when I saw Representative Clyde and some of his co-worker or his colleagues make statements regarding January 6th as being an insignificant day.

And then I also remember experiencing the pain of other police officers that were there who reached out to me who were, you know, saddened, infuriated and just, you know, beside themselves with disbelief.

KEILAR: There is this effort led by Democrats on the house side to have a select committee look into what happened on January 6, and we have now learned that the House Minority Leader, Kevin McCarthy who you spent time talking with, he said he does plan to name some Republicans including Trump loyalist to that select committee.

What is your reaction to that news, especially in light of the discussions you've had with him?

FANONE: You know, I'm not surprised by that. You know, it's unfortunate that we couldn't have gotten the bipartisan commission to investigate, but this is the vehicle that we have and I think that we need to hold those responsible for the January 6 insurrection accountable. I mean, it's clear to me that, you know, this violent political rhetoric, which continues to this day, unfortunately.

And in my lifetime I've seen, you know, it responsible for the attempted assassination of, you know, a member of Congress, Steve Scalise. I saw police officers murdered by individuals inspired by angry political rhetoric. I've seen, you know, members of the Asian- American community, black and brown individuals, you know, assaulted, murdered because of angry political rhetoric.

And then I experienced firsthand an insurrection inspired by the, you know, head of our executive branch, the president at the time, Donald Trump, and his coworkers.

[08:30:00]