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Rep. Don Beyer (D-VA) Discusses President Biden's Role In The Midterm Elections; Water Rescues In Downtown Dallas As Cars Wash Away; Op-Ed: Mysteries Of Mar-A-Lago May Determine Trump's Political Future. Aired 7:30-8a ET

Aired August 22, 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]

HARRY ENTEN, CNN SENIOR DATA REPORTER: This is absolutely almost certain to vote in the midterms -- the polls since July first.

What do we see here? Sixty-eight percent of Republicans say they're absolutely or almost certain to vote in the midterms. Democrats at 62 percent. So this does seem to be consistent with what we're seeing in the primary turnout, which is Republicans are still more like to say they're going to absolutely turn out to vote than Democrats are.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: Any shift in terms of how people are identifying which party?

ENTEN: Yes -- so we haven't really seen that so far. But what we have seen if historically speaking, is if you look at the shift in the party I.D. margin -- this is from all registered voters to actual midterm voters -- and we look when there has, in fact, been a Democrat president like we have right now -- the Republican turnout tends to be higher. It tends to be higher relative to the registered voter turnout than you would expect in midterm elections, which I think basically correlates with what we've seen so far, which is the Republican turnout will probably be higher this midterm election than you'd expect just based upon the registered voter turnout.

BERMAN: A very consistent range there. All those numbers look very similar to each other.

ENTEN: They look very similar. History sometimes is prologue.

BERMAN: Harry Enten, thank you --

ENTEN: Thank you.

BERMAN: -- very much for that.

KAITLAN COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: All right. Joining us now is Democratic Congressman Don Beyer of Virginia. He is the chairman of the Joint Economic Committee and a member of the congressional delegation that just returned from Taiwan on Friday.

I want to get to that in a moment, Congressman, but first, there is a new Washington Post survey that found that more than 60 candidates in the most competitive races across the United States -- some of the ones that Harry was just talking about -- are either not asking President Biden to come to their areas -- their districts -- or avoiding him when he does come.

What kind of role do you want to see President Biden play in the midterm elections?

REP. DON BEYER (D-VA): Well, I think the most important contribution that the president can do is what he's been doing, which is helping pass the big CHIPS and Science bill, helping pass the Inflation Reduction Act -- moving forward with all the infrastructure stuff. Just being a good president that's doing things for the American people, which will ultimately affect his approval ratings. That's the best thing for us to run on.

COLLINS: Well, Cedric Richmond, who I'm sure you know well, who used to work as a White House advisor and is now working for the Democratic National Committee -- he was asked about this idea of some Democrats maybe not thinking it's the best for President Biden to come and to appear with them at political events given those approval ratings that you were just talking about.

But he said, quote, "If they are reluctant, I think it's political malpractice." If you don't want Biden, it's malpractice. Is that something that you agree with?

BEYER: I do. If you just focus on polls that show a low approval rating for president you miss the fact that he's still got the biggest microphone in the country -- the biggest megaphone. That he has done an incredible amount of stuff. I mean, we have done more good government since -- in 2022 since 1965. He's changing the character of the country in a very positive way and I think that's something that can be embraced.

COLLINS: So you think your fellow Democrats should be welcoming President Biden to their areas with open arms?

BEYER: Yes, but I also think that I respect the individual -- initiative individual determination. We've long thought that on a race-by-race basis -- the 36 endangered incumbents we have -- we can win every single one of those. And so often, the national perspective and the national press is let's look at the president's approval rating instead.

But I prefer to look -- in Virginia, we look at Jennifer Wexton, Abigail Spanberger, and Elaine Luria. Say, every one of those can win and will win because they're great candidates and they meet that match-up, with or without the president.

COLLINS: And we know President Biden has appeared at events with people like Abigail Spanberger.

I want to ask you about something else that's been raising some questions for Democrats, which is the idea of boosting these more MAGA candidates in primary races over more moderate Republicans with the ultimate strategy and end game being that the MAGA candidate is easier to beat for a Democrat. But, of course, there is the risk of that backfiring.

And Sean Patrick Maloney, the congressman who is also the chair of the Democratic Congressional Committee, defended this tactic yesterday, saying this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. SEAN PATRICK MALONEY (D-NY): My job is to -- is to win elections for the Democrats, and I take that seriously because the moral imperative is keeping the gavel out of the hands of Kevin McCarthy, who would have overturned the results of the election. Again, this danger didn't start with Mr. Gibbs.

I understand that there are difficult moral questions and philosophical questions about tactics. That's always true in politics -- you better believe it. But here's the deal.

CHUCK TODD, MODERATOR, NBC "MEET THE PRESS": Yes.

MALONEY: We are more likely to win that seat.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COLLINS: Congressman, are you on board with this -- with this tactic?

BEYER: No, I am not. I've been pretty clear that I thought that was the wrong thing for us to do. I think there may be competing moral imperatives. Yes, we want to keep the House. We don't want Kevin McCarthy to be speaker.

But on the other hand, we've been making this strong case for a couple of years that we need to defend and protect our democracy and that we don't need people trying to overthrow elections and make false claims about voter fraud. So when we weigh in into a Republican primary, I think it sends the exact wrong message about the kind of democracy that we want.

[07:35:16]

COLLINS: Good questions there. I do have two more questions for you on separate topics about these House races.

But one, I want to ask you about the search of Mar-a-Lago because, of course, the big deadline that the Justice Department is facing this week is when it comes to whether or not what these proposals for redactions to the affidavit behind the search of Trump's home are going to look like.

Do you support the Justice Department releasing quite a full version of this affidavit if they can't release all of it, or what do you think that should look like?

BEYER: Well, I prefer all of it but I also recognize that they don't want to provide a road map to Trump's attorneys. So as much as can be legitimately released, even with some redactions -- I think that's good for the American public. I will always want more transparency rather than less.

COLLINS: Yes.

And I also, of course, want to ask about your trip to Taiwan. This is something that followed House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's visit, which the Chinese were very unhappy about. Obviously, we've seen their reaction ever since then, conducting these drills -- these flyovers -- something that you hear from administration officials is actually kind of the more intense reaction from China that they were expecting in response to this visit.

After your visit, how concerned are you about China making a move against the self-governing island?

BEYER: Well, I think we've been very concerned about that for a number of years, and especially since the buildup in the Chinese military. Why are they doing that? It's been really clear that one of Xi's greatest priorities is to seize back the people of Taiwan and the island of Taiwan.

I think -- you know, our trip was planned before the speaker's, but I was really glad that we went because we showed the people of Taiwan that America's committed to this status quo. They're our eighth- largest trading partner.

The president's already announced the Indo-Pacific economic framework, which will very much include Taiwan. Our U.S. trade representative Katherine Tai has already reached out to begin trade negotiations with Taiwan.

We want -- we don't want a cold war or a hot war with China, and maybe one of the ways that we best deter that is by showing them that we are strongly committed to the people of Taiwan. And hopefully, that will deter any action by China in the short and the long run.

COLLINS: Yes. We know that's been a big concern for the White House as well.

Congressman Beyer, thank you so much for joining us this morning.

BEYER: Thank you very much. Have a good day.

BERMAN: So, new video just into CNN shows some pretty scary flooding overnight in downtown Dallas. Look at that. Dozens of drivers forced to stop along the highway. They watched cars float down this fast- moving river of debris there. Some drivers there had to be rescued -- not surprising based on what we're seeing there -- wow.

Let's get right to CNN meteorologist Chad Myers with the latest on this -- Chad.

CHAD MYERS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: John, they picked up in Dallas a summer's worth of rain in eight hours -- three inches in one hour in some spots -- and it is still raining right now. Flash flood warnings are in effect for Dallas and also down even

toward Ellis County. It is still raining in some of these areas that have already picked up between six and eight inches of rain overnight -- just in the past six to eight hours. And we're still going to see some more rainfall.

Here is what's already fallen. Everywhere that you see orange, you're between four and six. A little bit less than that in the yellow and the blue. But more rainfall is still on the way today. Flash flood watches are still in effect. Obviously, the warnings are in effect but watches for a much wider area because a lot more rain is still to come today.

Move you ahead to this afternoon and then to tomorrow, and then as we go we finally push it away by tomorrow afternoon. But the damage is done in so many areas. There's so much water on the -- on the roads right now, on the ground right now. You don't need to be outside or in the Dallas-Fort Worth area, for sure, until that water recedes.

Here is what's still to come, John. Everywhere that you see orange or red, four to six more. And there's even some spots here --

BERMAN: Wow.

MYERS: -- in parts of Mississippi that could pick up a foot of additional rainfall from what we've already had so far, John.

BERMAN: Four to six more -- dangerous.

All right, Chad Myers. Thank you very much.

COLLINS: It's the worst Monday commute ever.

BERMAN: Yes.

So, from engaged twice to now married twice. The details of Jennifer Lopez and Ben Affleck's second wedding.

COLLINS: And the "GAME OF THRONES" spinoff, "HOUSE OF THE DRAGON," premiered last night. Did it live up to fans' expectations? John Berman stayed up late to watch, so we will let you know about this one fan.

BERMAN: It's reporting.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

Clip from HBO's "HOUSE OF THE DRAGON."

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL)

[07:44:05]

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) JENNIFER LOPEZ, SINGER-ACTRESS: Singing "First Love."

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COLLINS: Here comes the bride again. Jennifer Lopez and Ben Affleck tying the knot over the weekend again, this time surrounded by family, friends, and fellow celebrities in Georgia where the couple said I do -- after the couple said I do for the first time last month in a chapel in Las Vegas.

BERMAN: They're just getting married in swing states.

Lemonade thieves. Chipotle is on to you. The fast-food chain released a candle that looks like a water cup and smells like lemonade. The candle pokes fun at customers' habit of filling a free water cup with lemonade instead. The candle sells for $28.00 on the company's merchandise website.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

Clip from HBO's "HOUSE OF THE DRAGON."

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[07:45:05]

COLLINS: That's a clip from the long-awaited prequel to "GAME OF THRONES." It premiered last night on HBO. "HOUSE OF THE DRAGON" takes place 200 years before the original show and the spinoff promises to have all of the lure of the original series, plus an extended CGI dragon budget.

HBO is owned by Warner Bros. Discovery, as is CNN.

BERMAN: All right, joining us now to discuss, cultural commentator C.J. Farley. He is the author of "Zero O:Clock" and formerly a music critic for Time Magazine.

C.J., I did important reporting last night for this segment. I stayed up to watch "HOUSE OF THE DRAGON" so that I was fully prepared for this. What do you think?

C.J. FARLEY, CULTURAL COMMENTATOR, AUTHOR, "ZERO O:CLOCK", FORMER MUSIC CRITIC, TIME MAGAZINE (via Skype): Well, I think there should be a multipart investigative series, so at least 10 parts, I think, to get to the bottom of "HOUSE OF THE DRAGON."

You know, I loved it. It's everything you loved about "GAME OF THRONES" but with more dragons. I think the key thing is can this cast live up to the great cast of the original "GAME OF THRONES" because everybody loved "GAME OF THRONES?" Remember, it had Peter Dinklage, and Lena Headey, and Maisie Williams, and Jason Momoa. Just all these great people that went on to fame and fortune elsewhere. The cast, so far, seems like they're on it.

And I'm just loving it -- loving it. It's time to go back. It's been 11 years since George R.R. Martin wrote a book in the "Song of Ice and Fire" series. Three years since "GAME OF THRONES" ended. So, this is like comfort food. I'm ready to see dragons again.

COLLINS: It's hard to believe it's been three years --

BERMAN: I know.

COLLINS: -- since that last episode.

But last night as you were watching, C.J., what stood out to you? Did anything surprise you or catch you off guard?

FARLEY: Yes. You know, one thing that really stood out to me is the fact that this is really a close-up of one particular family -- the Targaryen family. They are ruling the Westeros with dragons.

Of course, "GAME OF THRONES" was about a bunch of different houses, a bunch of different families. A bunch of different storylines all come together telling you this epic narrative.

So, you get a -- still get -- you're still back in Westeros -- you're still back in "GAME OF THRONES" world but it takes a slightly different view from the perspective of one family, and that really worked for me. It's good to be back in this world, but it's good to have a slightly different take on what that world is about.

BERMAN: A pretty messed up family, C.J. I mean, I think they have a lot of work that they could do to work through some of their issues.

You know, you talk about a different -- it's a different time in Westeros when we're watching this, obviously, but it's also a different time on, like, our actual planet earth here. And I wonder if the way you're watching it now is changed.

FARLEY: You know, I think whenever something's a prequel or a sequel you're going to be comparing it to what came before. And so, I think that's going to affect the way people see this show.

I think now, also, there's more talk about inclusion and diversity when it comes to T.V. shows. And "GAMES OF THRONES" -- the original one -- it did come under some criticism. Why are some of the main characters of color playing slaves and pirates and not elevated to more in the main cast? This show offers sort of a corrective up to that. We do see more people of color in speaking roles, in main roles and that's great to see.

The one quibble I would -- I would have, though, is they've got up their dread game, though. Some of those dread wigs -- dreadlock wigs weren't quite working for me. I still loved to see the characters. Let's work on those wigs.

COLLINS: Yes, a lot of questions about the hair choices and the wigs' quality, clearly. So we will make sure that they're aware of that.

I do have a question for you though about the show. There was some criticism that people felt like maybe they needed more time to get into it.

Do you think given it is this prequel and it is set 200 years before the last one, that maybe people need to give it a second episode or a second take before they can fully get immersed into the new show?

FARLEY: Yes, I think that's the way it works when you're telling a big, epic story. You need some time to make this develop.

You know, there's some people out there who are storytellers. They give you a movie or two or a T.V. series. There are other people who are world builders. They kind of -- they can build these worlds that you can live in, that you can explore.

Then there are masters of the universe like George R.R. Martin, who are creating these epic, epic tales that can be franchised. That can be a series here. And he's already planning other possible spinoffs of "GAME OF THRONES."

He wants this to be like the MCU (the Marvel Cinematic Universe) or "STAR WARS" where there are multiple T.V. shows, multiple movies. There are lunch boxes. There's other things going on.

This is a big, big story so it does take some time to get into, but that's what makes it so rewarding because it's so detailed, just like J.R.R. Tolkien, just like "STAR WARS." It's a lot to get into.

[07:50:01]

BERMAN: Yes, there was a lot there for fans of the first franchise, for sure.

C.J. Farley, thank you for making it worth staying up way past my bedtime to watch last night -- appreciate it.

FARLEY: Thank you.

BERMAN: So, we have new reporting from The New York Times. What it is revealing about the final days inside the Trump White House.

COLLINS: Also new this morning, Prince William and his family are set to make a big, but really small move. We'll tell you where they're headed.

(COMMERCIAL)

BERMAN: In a new essay for The New York Times, our next guest writes, quote, "Donald Trump loves to attack the deep state. In the last year of his presidency, he aimed to slay that mythical beast. He places loyalists in powerful posts atop the intelligence community and the Pentagon, seeking to rifle through their top-secret files in search of evidence that the deep state spied on his 2016 campaign, then framed him for his dealing with Russia and Ukraine, acts for which he was investigated and impeached."

[07:55:22] Joining us now is the author of The New York Times op-ed, "The Mysteries of Mar-a-Lago," Tim Weiner. He is a former national security correspondent for The New York Times, and the author of "Enemies: A History of the FBI." Tim great to see you this morning.

You write this isn't some paper chase by the FBI or some collection of documents. What's so important here?

TIM WEINER, FORMER NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT, THE NEW YORK TIMES, AUTHOR, "ENEMIES: A HISTORY OF THE FBI" (via Webex by Cisco): This case -- the mystery of the (INAUDIBLE) papers at Mar-a-Lago presents the former president with the greatest legal peril he has ever faced.

This is an espionage case. It's being pursued under the espionage statutes, which make it illegal to possess government documents that you have no authority to keep. The president seems to believe -- I'm sorry, the former president seems to believe he is still the president, but he's not, and he has no power to possess these documents.

This presents him with a great legal challenge and it's going to intensify in the coming days.

BERMAN: And, of course, his allies have called for the release of information surrounding the search -- the affidavit -- and he, on his social media campaign, has called for the same.

What is it that you think that he thinks that this information will show?

WEINER: I think that in the last chaotic days of the Trump administration, Donald Trump was desperate for documents that he thought would somehow absolve him of the offenses for which he was impeached and criminally investigated.

I think that he believes that there is some smoking gun in the classified archives of the government that will somehow cleanse him and allow him to run again. That will provide him with political leverage.

Whether these documents are, in fact, helpful to the president or not is immaterial. He has no right to have them. They are the property of the American people; not a twice-impeached former president.

BERMAN: And you talk about what he did prior to leaving office and who he put in certain places. Why is that important here?

WEINER: That's right. In the last year of his administration, President Trump put unqualified loyalists at the very top of the intelligence community and the Pentagon. And he wanted them to rifle through the classified files in search of documents, which he believed would somehow cleanse him of the stain of his impeachments and of the counterintelligence investigation the FBI launched six full years ago against Donald Trump and his inner circle. These documents may or may not be what he was looking for. In other words, he wanted his own set of secret files that he thought would be political ammunition, and I believe that's what's in those boxes.

BERMAN: I mean, the bottom line is we just don't know what's in the boxes at this point. All we know is how the documents were labeled and the broad areas in which they pertained to, which may be the actual only legal question here.

Tim Weiner, we appreciate you being with us this morning. Thank you so much for your insight.

WEINER: You bet. Thank you.

BERMAN: And NEW DAY continues right now.

All right, a violent arrest in Arkansas caught on camera.

I'm John Berman. Brianna is off. CNN chief White House correspondent Kaitlan Collins is here this morning.

Again, we're trying to report this out but there's still so much unknown about the events surrounding this video. What you do see appears to show two deputies and a police officer punching a suspect in the head and kneeing him in the side and back several times.

COLLINS: And after that, the man was eventually taken to jail and is now facing several charges, including second-degree battery and resisting arrest. All three officers seen in that video, meantime, have been taken off duty and are now under investigation.

Let's get to CNN's Omar Jimenez. Omar, obviously, a lot still unknown about this, but what do we know at this point?

OMAR JIMENEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, at this point, when you watch that video, it's ugly for lack of a better term.

[08:00:00]