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New Day

Hutchinson Testimony May Increase Trump's Criminal Exposure; Brittney Griner's Trial Begins In Moscow Courtroom; Dems Ask Pentagon To Protect Service Members' Abortion Access; Louisiana Sgt Rescues 7- Year-Old Girl & Father From Capsized Boat; Woman Accused Of Killing Elite Cyclist Captured In Costa Rica; Emmett Till's Family Calls For Justice After Finding Unserved Arrest Warrant. Aired 7:30-8a ET

Aired July 01, 2022 - 07:30   ET

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

[07:30:00]

ELIE HONIG, CNN SENIOR LEGAL ANALYST: -- of the Oath Keepers and the Proud Boys, most of those charges are still pending. And, of course, the committee sent over for individuals recommended charges for content, for people who blew off subpoenas. DOJ decided to indict two of them. Steve Bannon who actually goes to trial in a few weeks, Peter Navarro did not charge Mark Meadows and Dan Scavino.

Now the committee criticized this. They said that that decision was, quote, puzzling. And Adam Kinzinger went on TV a few nights ago and said that that decision is really undermining the committee. Little bit of tension there.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: So we see the charges in these cases. What else is DOJ doing in addition to the charges we've seen?

HONIG: So Merrick Garland got in front of the country on the one-year anniversary of January 6, and said the Justice Department remains committed to holding all January 6 perpetrators at any level, at any level accountable under the law. He has repeated this like a mantra ever since.

We are starting to see movement in that direction. The fake electors scheme, which are reporting is was coordinated by Rudy Giuliani among the seven states. We now know DOJ has sent dozens of subpoenas relating to that incident.

And just within the last week or so, we know DOJ has executed search warrants on two of the key lawyers behind this, Jeffrey Clark and John Eastman. That tells us DOJ was able to establish that they had probable cause that a crime was committed. That's not proof beyond a reasonable doubt, but that's significant and that was approved by a federal judge.

BERMAN: All right, that's what they're doing. Now, there does seem to be, in some cases, overlap some cases, bizarre non-overlap --

HONIG: Yes.

BERMAN: -- between what the Department of Justice is doing and the January 6th committee is doing.

HONIG: Yes, I want to make this really clear. DOJ has every institutional advantage when it comes to investigating something like this. For example, Merrick Garland has been in office since March of 2021. He had at least a four-month Head Start over the committee, which was not formed until July 1st, 2021. By the way, happy birthday, first birthday to the committee. They grow quick, right?

Also, DOJ has much more powerful subpoenas, grand jury subpoenas. You either comply or you get locked up. We know that's not the case with congressional subpoenas. We've seen people refuse them with basically no consequence. DOJ also can use search warrants, wiretaps, they can use the threat of prison to gain cooperation. The committee has none of those things.

And that's why when Cassidy Hutchinson delivered that powerful testimony the other day, the reporting was from the New York Times and from CNN afterwards, that they were -- that federal prosecutors watched her testimony and were astonished, astonished by what she said. I'm astonished that they're astonished.

There is no excuse for DOJ not having been on to Cassidy Hutchinson as a witness. Many, many months ago, they got taken by surprise. That's their fault. We've heard from other powerful witnesses in front of the committee. We don't know if they've spoken with DOJ. There's no indication they have.

Important to remember, two of these witnesses down in Georgia have spoken to the state level grand jury in Fulton County. We do know that. And John, the calendar is so important here every day that takes away. I know people say it takes time to build these cases. I know I did it for a long time. But every day that passes makes it more difficult.

Important to keep an eye on November 8th, that's the date of the midterms, long standing DOJ policy is, you don't bring a case with any political implications within 60 or 90 days of the midterms. People interpret it differently. But that means if we don't see charges by the middle and end of the summer, we're not looking at charges until end of 2022, early 2023. And that's just the start, they start to try these cases.

BERMAN: And look, what if hypothetically, let me say this --

HONIG: Yes.

BERMAN: -- Donald Trump announced this, he's running for president the day after the midterms?

HONIG: Or even July 4th maybe, who knows.

BERMAN: Or tomorrow. Right.

HONIG: Right. That makes DOJ's job even harder because, look, it's a big enough deal. It's politically fraught enough to bring the first ever charge against a former president. Now imagine if that person is suddenly in the race for the upcoming presidential election in 2024. And the front runner, but one of the two major parties, that makes it even more difficult and that's why timing matters.

It's not a question of impatience or patients. It's a matter of DOJ not undercutting its own ability to bring in and succeed on this case.

BERMAN: Elie Honig, this really does lay things out in a very clear way. I appreciate it.

HONIG: Thanks.

BERMAN: So CNN live in Moscow this morning following the very latest in WNBA star Brittney Griner's first trial hearing. And first on CNN, how Democratic lawmakers are working to protect service members' abortion access.

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN ANCHOR: Plus the woman accused of killing an elite cyclist and what investigators say may have been a violent act of romantic jealousy has now been captured, where she was found after 43 days on the run.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[17:38:55]

BERMAN: So happening now, WNBA star Brittney Griner in a Moscow courtroom for the beginning of her trial. Griner has been detained in Russia since February accused of smuggling drugs in her luggage. We want to get right to CNN's Frederik Pleitgen who was live outside the courtroom for us. Fred give us the latest now.

FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: John, yes, and again, we have to point out to our viewers that we're not being allowed inside the courtroom, but we do have sources inside the courtroom and I do have an update for you on what's actually been going on there. It say that Brittney Griner has been in trial now I'd say about an hour and a half since this hearing began. They said there's going to be two witnesses that are being called today. They're done with the first witness.

There was then a break and now apparently the second witness is being questioned. And we know that there are representatives from the U.S. Embassy in there, there's also two members of the presser and then all those other members have been asked to get out of the courtroom as the second witness is being questioned.

There's one other detail that I have because we know that Brittney Griner faces up to 10 years in prison for bringing narcotics into the country. And they've specified what exactly they're talking about. They're talking about vaping cartridges that contain cannabis oil. I just want to read to you the amount of hash they say that they found because they said that it was two cartridges which contained 0.252 grams and one containing 0.45 grams of hash oil, totaling 0.72 grams of hash oil that they found on Brittney Griner, they alleged, as she entered the country.

[07:40:18]

Again, they say that there is not a verdict expected today. There's going to be other trial days. Unclear how many that is going to be. But again, she faces up to 10 years in prison for that and obviously has been in custody for over four months already, John.

BERMAN: All right. This continues at this very moment. Frederik Pleitgen for us in Moscow, watching and following the developments. Please again, keep us posted, Fred. Great to have you there.

KEILAR: First on CNN Senate Democrats are urging Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin to ensure abortion access is protected from members of the military. CNN's Lauren Fox is live for us on Capitol Hill with more. Lauren, where does this stand?

LAUREN FOX, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, this is really a symptom just a week after the Supreme Court decision overturning Roe v. Wade. This patchwork of different state laws is creating a scenario where Senate Democrats are deeply concerned about what this means for military members' access to abortion care they may want or need to access if they live in a state where that care is severely restricted or downright outlawed at this point.

And one of the things that armed service Democrats are asking is that Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin outlined a specific policy for the Pentagon that would give assurances that service members who need access to abortion care or want access to that care can travel out of state and get time off. They also want to make sure that the privacy of those individuals is protected, and that there's no retaliation, if someone decides that they want to access that care.

There's also concerns that this is complicated, that getting access to these kinds of medical procedures can be difficult for people to navigate quickly changing state laws. So they want to create a liaison program, someone who would be tasked at the Pentagon with helping women figure out where they can go to access abortion care if they want or need to access it.

And one of the concerns from Senate Democrats is that this is going to lead to a drawback and recruitment of women who they say, you know, may not want to join the military. In a statement and this letter to Lloyd Austin, they say, "The untenable situation violates the trust service members placed in the armed forces when they swear an oath to defend the Constitution in this country. It further threatens recruitment and retention, as service members will undoubtedly elect to leave the military, rather than run the risk of being assigned to a duty station where they and their family will be denied fundamental rights."

And I think it's important for viewers to remember, military service members are stationed in places where they may not choose to live, but they may be asked to live in a state like Texas or Oklahoma or Arizona, places where abortions may either be severely restricted or in the process of being severely restricted. And the concern from Senate Democrats is that this is going to have an effect on recruitment of important military personnel that they may need. Brianna?

KEILAR: Yes, that's where some of the biggest bases are. Lauren Fox, thank you so much. Really appreciate the report.

BERMAN: Louisiana law enforcement officer had just seconds to spare when he got the call. This seven-year-old girl was trapped underwater, underneath a capsized boat. CNN's Omar Jimenez has the story of this incredible second chance at life.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

OMAR JIMENEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Every second counted, as a boat evening quickly became an emergency.

SGT. STEPHEN RHODES, LOUISIANA DEPARTMENT OF WILDLIFE AND FISHERIES: They never anticipated those waves acting away that they were.

JIMENEZ (voice-over): Sergeant Stephen Rhodes was writing a citation for illegal shrimping on the beach in Grand Isle, Louisiana in early May, when a boat crashed in front of them.

A big wave came, says Dario Toledo, rocking the boat, and then eventually throwing them from it. Only Jackie, his seven-year-old daughter wasn't found. She was trapped under the capsized boat with her life jacket on.

Back on the beach, some good Samaritans transported roads via ATV to his boat, and the race against time was on.

RHODES: I came to the back end of the boat where their boat was sitting right there and went in feet first.

JIMENEZ (voice-over): Using his feet to feel around and what was essentially darkness until he felt something soft.

RHODES: I came up and brought her with me. Her eyes were fixed and open. And there's just a look to people when their heart rate is stop. It's kind of like a slight haze to the eyes.

JIMENEZ (voice-over): Rhodes put her on the back deck of the boat and started what would be two run rounds of CPR.

[07:45:02]

RHODES: When I finished that second round of breath, I saw the vision correct itself, that haziness that we talked about evaporated.

JIMENEZ (voice-over): He went for a pulse, and got a heartbeat.

(on-camera): And then finally, you feel that breath come on?

RHODES: It's like being cold all night long and then seeing the sun come up and feeling the warmth.

JIMENEZ (voice-over): Seven-year-old Jacqueline Toledo survived after what Sergeant Rhodes estimates was at least 15 minutes in the water after the initial crash. She was airlifted to the hospital. We sat with her but she didn't say a word. Her dad says she doesn't remember anything more than being beneath the boat, and then waking up.

Everyone was scared, crying, he says. We asked if he thought he was going to lose her.

As excruciating minutes passed by, and she still wasn't found. Sergeant Rhodes says he still hasn't seen Jackie since this happened so we showed him a picture.

RHODES: That's awesome. Enjoying the summer, right?

JIMENEZ (on-camera): Yes. Yes.

RHODES: Alive and enjoying the summer, like every little kid should.

JIMENEZ (on-camera): I remember seeing a couple of people saying like, oh, you know, like, she's got to do something great with her life. And that's absolutely not how I look at it. That's like, she's here and she has a chance at life. That's what matters.

(voice-over): A chance that was almost taken with the crash of a wave.

Omar Jimenez, CNN, Grand Isle, Louisiana.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KEILAR: The stars aligned. Amazing.

BERMAN: I know. I know just that girl what she went through.

KEILAR: The family of Emmett Till with a new plea for justice after the discovery of a decade's old unserved arrest warrant in connection to his killing. Sara Sidner is going to join us next with that interview.

BERMAN: And an amazing baseball story, just amazing. A once touted pitcher who never met the expectations of some would not let himself be counted out.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[07:51:30]

KEILAR: 43 days after fleeing the U.S., a woman accused of fatally shooting elite cyclist Anna Moriah Wilson has been captured. 34-year- old Kaitlin Armstrong was discovered Wednesday at a hostel in Costa Rica. She is now in custody.

CNN's Jean Casarez has been tracking developments and she joins us now. So long she had been on the run. Tell us how she was found.

JEAN CASAREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Absolutely. It is an amazing story. You know, when Wilson's body was found in Austin, Texas where she was staying, there were multiple gunshot wounds and a car that authorities say was similar to the one Armstrong had was seen shortly before the murder. Now the U.S. Marshals and the Texas Fugitive Task Force they were able to track Armstrong's action.

Several days after the murder, she sold her car, got $12,000 cash, went from Austin International Airport to Houston to LaGuardia right here in New York. They thought she went to Newark but they could not find a ticket out. I want you to listen to U.S. Deputy Marshal Brandon Filla.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BRANDON FILLA, DEPUTY U.S. MARSHAL: We learned that Kaitlin Armstrong did also change her physical appearance. She shortened her hair to about shoulder length. She dyed it dark brown. I can tell you based upon speaking with those individuals there, they said she looked very exhausted. Physically, like our main objective here of getting Kaitlin Armstrong into custody has been achieved.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CASAREZ: Now the U.S. Marshals Office says the reason they could not find a flight from Newark to Costa Rica was because she had used a falsified passport. Now, what would be the motive here? Well, authorities, the U.S. Marshals Office is saying that there was a romantic triangle that Armstrong who was just captured in Costa Rica had a boyfriend, Colin Strickland. They broke up at the end of last year. He started dating the elite cyclist Wilson.

They broke up, they got back together again, he and Armstrong. But on the day of Wilson's murder, he admitted to authorities that he had gone out swimming with her, then they went to dinner. He dropped her off at the apartment he was staying, he left. A short time after that, she was found murdered. Brianna?

KEILAR: Jean Casarez, thank you so much for that update.

BERMAN: What a story. This one too. This morning, the family of Emmett Till is calling for justice nearly 70 years after the murder of the 14-year-old helped spur the civil rights movement in this country. His family has recently discovered an unserved arrest warrant for his accuser who is still alive today.

CNN's Sara Sidner joins us now. What's the family now want from this?

SARA SIDNER, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Justice is the only word that they will use. And they say, look, we don't want revenge but we want the wheels of justice to turn. It has taken them years to find this document that other investigators over all these 67 years never found. It is an incredible moment when you consider how long this has taken and how they found it.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DEBORAH WATTS, CO-FOUNDER, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, EMMETT TILL LEGACY FOUNDATION: I believe we were led by our angels, led by the spirit of Mamie Till Mobley and Emmett Till.

SIDNER (voice-over): For 67 years, the family of Emmett Till say they have been seeking justice, not just for the 1955 murder of the 14- year-old black boy whose tortured and disfigured body helped spark the civil rights movement but for what led up to that murder, his kidnapping. The family believes one suspect is a woman who is still alive.

[07:55:09]

D. WATTS: I mean we thought of things like citizen's arrest, I'm just going to tell you. We thought of things like, well, can we find a warrant and presented to her? If the authorities aren't going to do this, what can we do?

SIDNER (voice-over): Till's cousins, Deborah and Teri Watts decided to go searching for the warrant. One authorities over the decades, never found in their investigations.

TERI WATTS, MN DIRECTOR, EMMETT TILL LEGACY FOUNDATION: There were cobwebs across all of the boxes, dead bugs, dust. We had to get chairs to even search on different levels of the -- for the documents. We did have gloves and masks as well. But we were definitely determined to find it no matter what. We pushed through.

SIDNER (voice-over): Two men were acquitted of Till's murder by an all-white jury, though they later admitted to the killing in an interview with Look magazine. The case against M. Roy Bryant, who now goes by Carolyn Bryant Donham was never tried. We reached out to Donham and have not heard back.

D. WATTS: We think this is evidence, this is new evidence that no one had ever searched for. And we were able to find it. It was unbelievable. It was overwhelming. We all cried. We were in also a state of shock. Speechless in some instances.

T. WATTS: Wow. The moment was very, very, very overwhelming. I had to look at the warrant several times just to make sure that it was real, that it actually read Mrs. Roy Bryant on it.

SIDNER (voice-over): Though she was never arrested or tried, in 2007 after the Till case was reopened, Bryant's case was brought in front of a Mississippi grand jury. That grand jury did not indict her majority.

(on-camera): A majority black grand jury did convene in Greenwood, Mississippi and they declined to indict Carolyn Bryant Donham. What do you make of that?

D. WATTS: We're not sure why they declined to indict her because there was enough evidence there to indict her. The investigation had been done.

SIDNER (voice-over): The Watts say their whole lives they have lived with Mamie Till Mobley is haunting cries for justice. And the images that horrified a nation of their cousin, Emmett Till's body lying disfigured in an open casket. It was a scene his mother insisted showing the world to expose what racist hate truly looks like. T. WATTS: We did take the torch from Mamie. We insure to her that we will continue the fight before she passed away. And so for me, I definitely want to see it through. But it has been a tremendous amount of trauma. I still feel like the weight is on our shoulders. We found the new evidence. And so we just want justice served.

D. WATTS: We are doing this without hate, malice, or vengeance against Carolyn Bryant. We just want justice served. Justice has been denied for 67 years. And it needs to be served.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SIDNER: And just to give you an idea of how long it took them to find that in the basement of this old courthouse in Mississippi, less than two hours. John and Brianna?

KEILAR: Less than two hours.

SIDNER: Less than two hours.

KEILAR: That is nothing.

SIDNER: Yes.

BERMAN: I have to say the journey and the perseverance of this family is remarkable.

SIDNER: Yes.

BERMAN: So much time has now passed. They want justice. Is it even possible?

SIDNER: Possible, maybe not probable. We asked some legal minds about whether or not a warrant that's that old 67 years old, can be served. And it's an open warrant. So the answer is yes. It can be served and they have talked to the prosecutor in that county and asked that it be served and asked that it be given to the sheriff's department and that the wheels of justice turn.

What I find really interesting as you heard her say there, this isn't about vengeance, this isn't about revenge, this isn't about hatred towards the woman who they believe was involved in this, but it is about finally getting someone -- no one has paid for this crime. And to have her still alive in their mind, they just want to see justice go forward. And they want to hopefully get some sense of we've done this for Mamie Till, we've done this for her. We finally answered her prayer.

BERMAN: Truth is truth. Sara Sidner, terrific reporting. Thank you so much for being with us.

New Day continues right now.

KEILAR: Hello, I'm Brianna Keilar alongside John Berman on this New Day. New accusations of witness tampering in the January 6 investigation amid reports that Trump allies are footing the legal bill. The trial of American basketball star Brittney Griner underway right now in Russia as her wife speaks exclusively with CNN. Her message to President Biden this morning.

BERMAN: America is about to hit the road and the skies for a busy Fourth of July weekend.