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Andrew McCabe is Interviewed about his IRS Audit; Boris Johnson to Resign; Rick Albin is Interviewed about the Michigan Gubernatorial Candidate; Mystery Monument Bombed. Aired 6:30-7a ET

Aired July 07, 2022 - 06:30   ET

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

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[06:30:06]

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN ANCHOR: The most intensive, random audit, the specific type that they do, that the IRS does, it only happens to about one in 30,000 tax returns. So, what are the chances that not one, but two people who former President Trump considered foes would be targeted? "The New York Times" reports that both former FBI Director James Comey and former Deputy Director Andrew McCabe were subjected to this invasive audit. It actually is something that costs the person who gets it a lot of money, even if they did nothing wrong.

Joining us now is one of those two people, CNN's senior law enforcement analyst and former deputy director of the FBI, Andrew McCabe. He's also the author of "The Threat: How the FBI Protects America in the Age of Terror and Trump."

Andy, I know you've seen this. The IRS is saying it's ludicrous and untrue to suggest that senior IRS officials somehow targeted specific individuals for national research program audits. That's what this is called.

What do you say to that?

ANDREW MCCABE, CNN SENIOR LAW ENFORCEMENT ANALYST: Well, Brianna, I mean, it's clearly not ludicrous. We're talking about a coincidence that really is almost impossible statistically. I think it raises some very interesting questions about the IRS and about how they're administering this program.

And, you know, look, to be clear, like, I'm not suggesting that any high powered or high-level official at the IRS specifically did anything wrong. I'm simply saying that Americans need to be able to have trust and faith that the institutions they rely on are conducting their business in a fair and impartial manner. And there's an indication here that that might not be happening, I think it's appropriate for the IRS to do the responsible thing and look into it, determine whether or not something, you know, went awry in this program.

So, it's absolutely not ludicrous. It's responsible to look into it. And I look forward to the outcome of their inquiry. JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: Andy, what were you thinking when you got

this letter that you were being audited? Did you know that Comey had gone through the same thing? What did you and your wife think?

MCCABE: You know, nobody likes to get a letter from the IRS saying they're being audited. But that was really my only reaction. I had no idea that Jim Comey had been subjected to the same audit. I didn't know that until the reporter who wrote this story contacted me kind of out of the blue.

We got the letter, I think, in October of 2021. And so the letter says on -- you know, on its face, it says, you've been randomly selected for this research program that's designed to, you know, give the IRS information about how people are meeting their tax obligations. So, I just took it at face value and assumed that it was actually random. It wasn't until I found out about Jim Comey's audit that I started wondering that, like, this - this can't possibly be random that the both of us were selected.

KEILAR: The timing's very curious. In the case of Comey, it -- he was told in 2019 it was going to be his 2017 tax return. And 2017 he had a big book deal. 2019 it turned out that Bill Barr, you know, wasn't going to pursue what Trump wanted him to.

Similarly, you had just been able to breathe a sigh of relief because your personnel record had been cleansed, your pension had been reinstated.

But my question to you is, this was 2021, right, when you found out that your 2019 tax return was going to be audited. Joe Biden is now in the White House. It's no longer the Trump administration. So, what questions does that raise to you about if you think people are pulling the strings, I mean, do you think that there was some Trump appointee residual in the IRS who might have been doing something?

MCCABE: I think it's absolutely possible, Brianna. I think, look, a lot of people stick around after the change of administrations, particularly in a place like the IRS. The occurrence of this one in 30,000 event, twice, to the same people who were basically targeted in the same way by the former president, and continue to be targeted to this day I'll add, is - it's just -- it defies belief.

And so is there -- is it possible that there's someone in the IRS who has an ability to influence this supposedly random process to go after people that they have some sort of an issue with? Yes, I think that's possible. I think that's what the IRS needs to find out by conducting a fair and thorough investigation.

KEILAR: Andy, thank you for being with us. More to come on this story for sure, so we'll be following it.

MCCABE: All right. Thanks, guys.

KEILAR: A mysterious monument in Georgia, the subject of conspiracy theories about satanism, is destroyed in a bomb attack. We'll have the latest on the manhunt for whoever's behind this. BERMAN: And the breaking news this morning. The British prime

minister, Boris Johnson, is resigning. Live pictures from 10 Downing Street. We are waiting for a statement from Johnson.

[06:35:00]

There are a lot of unanswered questions. Our live coverage continues.

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BERMAN: All right, the breaking news.

You are looking at live pictures of 10 Downing Street in London. We are waiting for a statement from Boris Johnson anytime. He is resigning as British prime minister after a raft of scandals.

His government has essentially imploded. More than 50 officials resigning over just the last 48 hours. And now there are serious questions about what happens next.

CNN's Bianca Nobilo in London for us this morning live.

And this is just -- what a moment.

BIANCA NOBILO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It's a staggering turn of events. A staggering 24, 48 hours. This is a prime minister who looked set to cling on with all of his might, but he faced an unrelenting and unprecedented mutiny from inside his cabinet and his own MPs, resigning in any way, shape or form to try and put pressure on him, to get that message across, prime minister, you cannot continue, you do not have the confidence of your government, your party, and, according to all polls, the country.

[06:40:01]

So, we're expecting to hear from Johnson in the next few hours where he will give his resignation speech.

But there are many questions swirling over what happens next. This is a man that we know wanted to stay in power as long as humanly possible. So, in a situation like this, typically he would stay on as a de facto caretaker prime minister while the leadership contest to find his replacement ensues. But there's concern that I'm hearing from MPs this morning that he feels that he wants to push a policy agenda in the interim. He will definitely want to try and secure and regain any form of legacy that he possibly can because the last year of his has been so deeply marred in scandal and his reputation so damaged, John.

KEILAR: Is he protected, Bianca, from having survived this other vote of no confidence? How does that work?

NOBILO: OK. So, the British constitution and the conservative party rules are somewhat flexible. So, in ordinary times, having faced a vote of no confidence, he would be immune from another vote of no confidence for one year. But looking at history, whether it's Theresa May or the conservative party leaders before her, once a leader faces that blow to their authority, to their legitimacy as leader, they never last very long.

This is a very expedited exit that we're seeing for Boris Johnson. But because his party was so frustrated with him, and increasingly so as he looked set to dig in and become even more defiant, to think that after he'd had 40 resignations from within his government, last night the - the -- Number 10's office was saying that the prime minister was buoyant, that he was ready for a fight against his own party simply to stay.

So, confronted with that, there were parallel tracks to try and put pressure on him to leave. One was from within the cabinet, which is a traditional way that we see prime ministers ousted. That's the closest people to him that work with him day in and day out, essentially tapping him on the shoulder saying, sir, this is not a good look. This isn't good for the country. You don't have the support. You need to step down. And they persuaded him to resign. That was happening yesterday with cabinet ministers descending on Downing Street in droves, trying to convince him of that. But his response last night was to sack some of the people who were doing that.

On the other hand, we had his back benchers, so not the cabinet, not the powerful members of the government, but the rank and file MPs, if you like, saying that if you don't resign, prime minister, we look set to change the rules so we can have a confidence vote in you again within the year. So those parallel tracks were dove tailing to put increased pressure on him.

But yet he still looked set to try and stay until this morning when we had his chancellor, just appointed a day and a half ago, speaking out, publishing a letter saying that he privately told the prime minister that he simply couldn't continue and that he must go now. Faced with that cascade of resignations, and those he has to work most closely with for government to function saying you have to go, the resignation was then inevitable. And we'll be hearing the prime minister's statement to the nation and the legacy that I'm sure he's keen to hype up and draw everyone's attention to, such as delivering Brexit. We'll be hearing that in the next few hours.

BERMAN: Yes, we know he is resigning. We are waiting for that official statement. The question is, when is now exactly? Is now October? That will be yet a new controversy if Johnson intends to try to stick around for another three months.

Bianca Nobilo, keep us posted. We hear the sounds behind you. It's something of a circus there this morning. Appreciate your report.

KEILAR: Three months notice? You give two weeks or three months, that's the question, right?

BERMAN: When your government kicks you out and resigns en masse, I don't think they're saying, we're leaving so you can stick around for another three months. So this -

KEILAR: Maybe it's time for a vacation perhaps. BERMAN: This will be a fascinating day.

A manhunt is underway this morning after a mysterious and controversial monument in Georgia is blown up.

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RYAN KELLEY (R), MICHIGAN GOVERNOR CANDIDATE: You know, January 6th, yes, I was in Washington, D.C., on January 6th.

That was a First Amendment activity by a majority of --

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KEILAR: Just hours after last night's debate, Ryan Kelley, who is vying for the Republican nomination for Michigan governor, to challenge Gretchen Whitmer, the Democratic governor there, facing a judge for his actions on January 6th.

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RYAN KELLEY (R), MICHIGAN GOVERNOR CANDIDATE: You know, January 6th, yes, I was in Washington, D.C., on January 6th.

That was a First Amendment activity by a majority of those people, myself included. We were there protesting the government because we don't like the results of the 2020 election. The process of how it happened. And we have that First amendment right. And that's what 99 percent of the people were there for that day. And, yes, I support President Trump.

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KEILAR: That was Republican candidate for Michigan governor, Ryan Kelley, appearing on the debate stage.

Today, less than 24 hours later, he is set to appear in a Washington, D.C. courtroom facing charges for his role in the January 6th Capitol attack.

Joining us now is political reporter at WOOD-TV, Rick Albin. He moderated Michigan's Republican gubernatorial primary debate last night.

Rick, good morning to you. Thanks for being with us.

And, you know, you'd think that being arrested for insurrection- related actions might be politically disqualifying or certainly damaging, but has it actually helped him?

RICK ALBIN, MODERATED DEBATE, WOOD-TV POLITICAL REPORTER: Oh, I think there's no question that from a name I.D. standpoint that this activity has certainly put him in a position to lead in some polls, including the one that we had - that -- commissioned, that went into the field 24 hours after his arrest.

Now, understand that every media outlet in the state covered that event and so his name I.D. was greatly elevated, in my opinion. And I think that had an impact on the polls.

And if I can, just for background, we've had this very unsettled Republican field of candidates. At one time there were ten candidates that appeared to be qualified for the ballot. Five of them were disqualified because of signature problems and two of those would be considered a couple of the front-runners.

[06:50:07]

So, the field that's left is really trying to gain traction and to get name I.D., and kind of against type I think that helped Mr. Kelley, at least in the polling, at least in the early going.

KEILAR: Yes, signature problems on their nominating petitions. This is a race that certainly has not been without drama.

What is Kelley potentially facing here criminally?

ALBIN: Well, as I'm not an attorney, these are misdemeanors that he's charged with. And they come with some hefty fines. But I don't really know what other ramifications there may be.

But the real crux of this, I think, is that whatever their determination is, if he's found innocent, if he's found guilty, whatever else might happen, it's not going to happen, at least I wouldn't think it would happen, before the August election. So, that creates kind of an interesting circumstance.

KEILAR: How does -- does he kind of relish this? I mean how -- how does he feel about having to come to Washington and having to be in court? Is this because it is something that helps with his name I.D.? Is he fine with this?

ALBIN: Yes, I - I couldn't speak for how he views this. I believe, and please forgive me if I'm wrong about this, I believe that he's actually going to do a video arraignment today. So, physically, it would have been a little difficult to get from our debate stage to D.C. by this morning.

KEILAR: Sure.

ALBIN: So -- but nonetheless, I mean, he's making this federal appearance. And I think there are two issues here. One is, what does it do for name I.D. in this early going, keeping in mind that because of the unsettled field here, most of our polling, either the ones that we have commissioned or the ones that others have, show between 45 and 50 percent of the people who say that they're going to vote in the Republican primary have not decided on which candidate they will vote.

And so as the information gets more and more clear to people, actually as people begin to focus on this election, it will be interesting to see what impact this has. I should point out one other thing is, we have early, no reason absentee voting. So, ballots are already out there and have been for a couple of weeks. People are already voting. So, what impact did that have on early voters. And the percentage of people that use absentee in our state is quite high since this was implemented for the first time back in 2020, it was voted on in 2018.

So, a lot of people are voting absentee. So, what impact does that have as this scenario changes going forward? It's impossible to know right now.

KEILAR: Well, you have a very interesting race on your hands to cover there, Rick.

Rick Albin, with WOOD-TV, thanks or being with us.

ALBIN: My pleasure. Thank you.

KEILAR: America's Stonehenge blown up. Authorities now searching for the culprits behind it.

BERMAN: And we are live at 10 Downing Street where the British prime minister, Boris Johnson, is expected to make a live statement. He is resigning as prime minister. But there are still so many questions about what happens next.

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[06:57:28]

BERMAN: This morning, authorities are searching for suspects who blew up a monument in rural Georgia. The Georgia Guidestones, built in 1980, are a series of granite slabs also called by some America's Stonehenge.

CNN's Nick Valencia is live in Elberton, Georgia.

Nick, there's a lot going on here.

NICK VALENCIA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: There's a lot of mystery surrounding what happened and also who put these Guidestones up. These Georgia Guidestones, as you mentioned, were first put up in 1980 and they've been the subject not only of tourist attraction, but also intense amount of conspiracy theories.

And it was on Tuesday morning that GBI investigators say unknown individuals arrived at this site around 4:00 in the morning and detonated an explosive device which destroyed one of the monuments' four pillars. Now, surveillance video captured not only the blast but also a gray sedan with a moon roof leaving this site. No one was injured in the blast. And authorities have since demolished the rest of the pillars because of safety concerns here. It's still unknown who was responsible.

But this site has drawn criticism from a wide number of individuals and groups throughout the years because of the mystery, not only of who paid for them, but also who might have authored the inscriptions written in eight different languages on these granite slabs. The inscriptions seem to advocate for population control, harmony with nature, as well as internationalism. They appear to be instruction for conservation of mankind.

This morning, GBI is asking for help in trying to figure out who's responsible for the bombing.

John.

BERMAN: All right, Nick, keep us posted. Unusual to say the least.

NEW DAY continues right now.

ANNOUNCER: This is CNN breaking news.

KEILAR: Good morning to our viewers here in the U.S. and around the world. It is Thursday, July 7th. And it is a busy day. I'm Brianna Keilar, with John Berman this morning.

And we're beginning with breaking news from the U.K., where Boris Johnson, the prime minister who seemed to have nine lives perhaps has spent them all. He is resigning after a mutiny in his party.

You're looking here at live pictures of 10 Downing Street where Johnson is expected to make a statement just minutes from now.

Here in just the last 48 hours, there has been a mass exodus from Johnson's government. Nearly 60 ministers and aides quitting. Facing a full-scale government implosion, Johnson has decided to step down.

BERMAN: But when and how? Even the exit under a shadow of controversy is controversial. There are reports that Johnson wants to stay on as a caretaker prime minister until October.

[07:00:05]

Is that tenable with so many officials calling for him to go now?