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New Day

DOJ Unveils Photo of Top Secret Files; Texas Spent $12 million Busing Migrants; 25 Years Since Princess Diana's Death; Chokwe Antar Lumumba is Interviewed about Jackson's Water Issues. Aired 8:30-9a ET

Aired August 31, 2022 - 08:30   ET

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


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[08:34:12]

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN ANCHOR: Time now for "5 Things to Know for Your New Day."

This morning, the water in Jackson, Mississippi, is not safe for drinking, for bathing, even for brushing your teeth after the failure of the city's main water treatment plant. President Biden has approved an emergency declaration ordering FEMA to assist with relief efforts.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: The U.S. Army grounding its fleet of Chinook transport helicopters because of engine fires. The cause of the fires, a fuel leak. No injuries or deaths have been reported. Officials say some 400 Chinooks have been temporarily grounded out of, quote, abundance of caution.

KEILAR: Princess Diana is being remembered today in the U.K. and around the world as we're marking 25 years since her tragic death in a car crash in Paris. During her life, the people's princess was a beloved icon, and her legacy of activism and charity endures.

BERMAN: NASA has rescheduled its Artemis 1 mission to the moon for Saturday after scrubbing its first attempted liftoff.

[08:35:04]

The original launch was canceled Monday morning because of trouble getting one of the four engines to cool properly.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

THE MONKEES (singing): Hey, hey, we're The Monkees. You never know where we'll be found. So you better get ready, we may come to your -

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KEILAR: They'll be found suing the FBI, or at least the last surviving member of the rock band The Monkees will be. Micky Dolenz wants the agency to hand over its records about the group after a portion was made public that described subliminal messages used on stage at a 1960s concert. BERMAN: What does "Pleasant Valley Sunday" really mean?

Those are "5 Things to Know for Your New Day." More on these stories all day on CNN and cnn.com. And don't forget to download the "5 Things" podcast every morning.

KEILAR: In a remarkable filing released overnight, the Justice Department says it has evidence that records were likely concealed and removed from a storage room at Mar-a-Lago in order to obstruct the government's investigation. The filing includes this photo. It's really something to behold here. A photo of secret and top secret documents, including highly classified, compartmented information spread out on the floor by the FBI.

Joining us now is CNN security correspondent Josh Campbell to talk about this.

That photo, tell us what you see.

JOSH CAMPBELL, CNN SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: I mean this phrase, a picture is worth a thousand words certainly applies here. We've heard all of, you know, the information from court records about what type of material this is. But actually seeing it there laid out, that's pretty striking.

I mean as we look at this photo, you can see the red there, you see the yellow documents. Those are what are called cover sheets. So, you have classified information. You have to protect that information. So you have that kind of - that cover sheet on top, which is supposed to shield that from people who may not have a need to know.

But what's interesting is, if you look, and it's hard to see from this photo, but, obviously, we've been zooming around, you look at what is potentially behind these documents, particularly the top secret documents. We're talking about human controlled information. Those letters HCS. SI, which refers to the government's signals intelligence capabilities, and TK, which is talent keyhole, a government satellite program. And so, again, these -- that's not to say that those kind of documents are behind this, but that's what those cover sheets would be covering. So, incredibly sensitive information as this document alleged that was filed yesterday.

KEILAR: You can't miss it that this is classified information.

CAMPBELL: Yes.

KEILAR: It's very clear and highly classified at that, some of these.

OK, tell us, at this point in time, because this filing was pretty remarkable, and how extensive it was, what have you gleaned about where the investigation is?

CAMPBELL: Well, this is interesting. I mean this should actually concern the Trump team, not that this isn't concerning of itself, but one particular line I just want to read, it says, the government also developed evidence, which that's a nice lawyerly way of saying someone is providing information to us, that government records were likely concealed and removed from the storage room and that efforts were likely taken to obstruct the government's investigation. That's what we're learning about their case right now.

The call is coming from inside the house, or inside the beach resort, if you will. Some is providing the FBI information about how those documents were actually handled. And what is concerning, I think, for team Trump is that it's not sloppiness. I mean you look at that photo of these classified records, particularly with the cover sheets. You can't say, well, it was the movers or, you know, it was just -- we mishandled this information. What the FBI is alleging, and the Justice Department, is that there were efforts to actually obstruct their ability to gather these sensitive records.

KEILAR: Josh, thank you so much for taking us through that.

CAMPBELL: Any time.

KEILAR: Josh Campbell, we appreciate it.

We do have some new CNN reporting on the price being paid by Texas taxpayers to bus migrants to D.C. and New York.

BERMAN: And, remembering Princess Diana, 25 years after her death.

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[08:42:39]

BERMAN: New CNN reporting that Texas spent more than $12 million busing migrants to Washington and New York, a process orchestrated by Texas Governor Greg Abbott earlier this year.

CNN's Polo Sandoval joins us now with the numbers.

Polo.

POLO SANDOVAL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hey, John, we're going to get right back to that $12 million number in just a moment, but first some really important context here.

Many of these asylum seekers, after they're apprehended at the border, they turn themselves in, often. And then after they're released from federal custody, it's usually up to them to pay their way as they travel throughout the country as they wait for the ultimate outcome of their asylum proceedings.

Well, for the last four months or so, Governor Greg Abbott, in Texas, has been offering many of these migrants a free ride from the U.S./Mexico border down in Texas all the way up to blue cities like New York and also Washington, D.C.

So, in response to my question to state officials about how much the state of Texas has actually spent as part of this controversial border busing program, this is the number that they responded with yesterday, close to $12.7 million. And it's important to point out that this number does not include the buses that we've seen arrive here in the big apple for the last three weeks.

I've been there at Port Authority to actually see these buses with dozens of these families. But when you do the math, that just breaks down to roughly $1,300 or so per migrant. And it really doesn't make any financial sense.

I checked just this morning, the cost of a Greyhound ride from Eagle Pass, Texas, to New York, just under $300. If you want to fly from the southern border here to New York, that will be about $600. I fly that segment all the time.

So, some important questions here that Governor Abbott needs to answer about whether or not this makes financial sense. We've reached out to his office. Currently waiting to hear back.

But this certainly does, again, not only raise several questions, but Governor Abbott has maintained that the whole point of this is to bring some relief to border communities that have been overwhelmed by these numbers. But it's also important to point out, in the conversations that I've had from -- with NGOs along that southern border, that basically help these migrants be on their way, they say that very few of them actually choose to remain in the border region. It is their plan, after they're released from federal custody, to basically buy a plane ticket or a bus ticket to cities throughout the country as they wait for their ultimate asylum proceedings, John.

And we should also mention that the state of Arizona, they've actively been busing migrants as well to cities of Washington and also here to New York. We're currently going through some of the numbers, at least trying to get those numbers as well, to see how -- what they have been spending compares to what Texas has been spending for what critics argue has been really just political theater.

[08:45:09]

Back to you, John.

BERMAN: Polo Sandoval, important context, thank you so much.

SANDOVAL: Thank you.

KEILAR: So today marks 25 years since the death of Princess Diana. The news of her fatal car crash in Paris stunned the world. During her life, the Princess of Wales was a beloved icon, and her legacy certainly endures.

CNN's Jim Bittermann is in Paris with more.

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JIM BITTERMANN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: I guess the most striking thing for me, having been in exactly the same spot 25 years ago, is how little has changed since then. People are still drawn to this spot in great numbers, sometimes a lot smaller than today, but, in fact, there's always activity around this spot. People laying wreaths, laying messages, that sort of thing, and journalists coming here as well. And the amazing thing is that this is not anything to do with - the flame here has nothing to do with Princess Diana. In fact, it was a flame that was erected years before the crash by "The International Herald Tribune." And it is a replica of the - of the torch on the Statue of Liberty.

But, because it is almost over the exact spot where the crash occurred, you can see the traffic and the tunnel back here that is going through, the same tunnel where Princess Diana's crash occurred, because it's there and people are still drawn to this site.

And another thing that hasn't changed in 25 years, and that is the explanation for why this accident occurred. The explanation has not changed despite the fact that there have been two major investigations, both in the U.K. and in France, in the course of the last 25 years, costing millions of dollars, and both of those investigations confirmed what has been the theory from the very beginning, and that is that the chauffeur, Henri Paul, was drunk and was traveling at too high of a speed through the tunnel. A number of accident investigations say another thing, and that is that if Princess Diana had been wearing her seat belt, she might have survived the accident.

Jim Bittermann, CNN, Paris.

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KEILAR: And we thank Jim for that.

I just think, 25 years, I can't believe it's passed, but I imagine it's a tough day for her family and for her sons. And I just hope they're comforted by her legacy, which was using her station in life to lift up other people and to, you know, destigmatize things that there were such a stigma around.

BERMAN: And Jim Bittermann, he was saying he was there 25 years ago. Jim is actually in this new Diana documentary. You can see clips of his reporting from 25 years ago, standing right where he was. Twenty- five years ago I was writing for Peter Jennings. It was vacation. Everyone was like off. Not just off, like way off. And I remember getting paged, because people used to have actual pagers, should go read the history books to find out what they were, and everyone got paged that something big was going on. And I just remember everyone being just so shocked by what they learned.

KEILAR: Yes, stunned. I remember that feeling too.

I had a pager as well once, and I was also stunned.

So, the National Guard is being called to Mississippi now. There are tens of thousands of people who are waking up again with no clean running water. So, we're going to be speaking to Jackson's mayor, next.

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[08:51:48] KEILAR: Residents in Jackson, Mississippi, are entering their third day under a state of emergency as the capital city grapples with a dire water crisis. Thousands of homes and businesses have little or no running water. The National Guard has even been deployed to assist. But, yesterday, residents could be seen waiting in lines more than a mile long just for one case of bottled water.

Joining us now with the latest, we have the mayor of Jackson, Mayor Lumumba, to tell us what's happening.

Sir, can you give us a sense of when this water situation may be resolved, and if you're going to have enough bottled water today, because I know that they ran out yesterday.

MAYOR CHOKWE ANTAR LUMUMBA (D), JACKSON, MISSISSIPPI: Well, first and foremost, thank you for giving me an opportunity to lift up the challenges here in Jackson.

We believe, and are optimistic, that we can see water restored to our residents within this week. But there is a huge mountain to climb in order to achieve that end. But they are working persistently to restore the pressure, to refill the tanks across the city.

We had significant gains yesterday and, true to form, for a very fragile system, that we always say is in a state of emergency, there was some regression last night. And so crews are working. You have both city crews and the state that are on the ground working to restore water and to bring in additional equipment to help achieve that end.

There is also additional distribution of water, not only continuing to be provided, and I want to be clear that our constituent services division has been providing water to residents for the better part of a month due to the fact that we were under a boil water notice, even before the events of the flood led to pressure issues across the city.

And so the city will not only continue its efforts, but MEMA (ph) is joining in the effort to provide water tanks or tanker trucks across the city to help provide non-potable water and potable water to our residents.

KEILAR: Where -

LUMUMBA: We want to thank the many volunteers that have also given in to that effort.

KEILAR: Mayor, where does the fault lie for this getting to this point?

LUMUMBA: Well, this is the accumulation of years and years of accumulated problems, challenges that we have been lifting up for the better part of, you know, three to four years. You know, I've been saying that it's not a matter of if our system would fail, but when our system would fail. I can remember as far back as 1988, when my family moved to Jackson, and the problems that we had with our water system at that time. And so it's been an underinvestment into the system. And I think that

there's, you know, there's, you know, a little bit to be shared across the board through leadership on every level. And so we have to have a unified front that we're going to work together and make sure that these challenges are met.

You know, we've been going it alone. We've been investing every dollar we have, not only, you know, as recently as an $8 million pipe - one pipe alone to better serve south Jackson, which, you know, not only has the challenge of being the furthest away from the water treatment facility, but to have insufficient size pumps - I'm sorry, pipes, I should say, to actually serve them and utilizing our system.

[08:55:16]

KEILAR: Sir -

LUMUMBA: We've been investing everywhere we could.

KEILAR: Sir, I'm sorry to interrupt you, but we have limited time here and you mentioned regressions last night. What were the regressions?

LUMUMBA: It is my understanding, and I have been unable to get a full report because I have not been able to make it down to the plant as of yet, but it is my understanding that they saw something in what is called the jar report that, you know, was troubled with the - the water quality coming out of one of the pumps. And so they had to slow the output because they had to make certain that they could accommodate or make the proper chemical change to address what they were seeing.

KEILAR: Mayor, we really appreciate you being with us this morning. And we're seeing these challenges that you're going through there in Jackson and the Jackson area, and we'll keep our eye on it. Thank you.

LUMUMBA: Thank you.

KEILAR: So, next, an update on the little leaguer who suffered a critical head injury after falling from a bunkbed. "The Good Stuff" is next.

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BERMAN: Time now for "The Good Stuff."

Easton Oliverson, the little leaguer who fell from his bunkbed in Pennsylvania and needed emergency brain surgery, finally made it back home to Utah yesterday.

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EASTON OLIVERSON, LITTLE LEAGUER: Hi, everyone. This is Easton. Thank you for all of your prayers. Please keep praying for me as I continue to get better.

[09:00:02] I know that prayers and blessings have worked and the Heavenly Father is blessing me.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: He sounds great. And, oh, that smile.

The family says while Easton has made remarkable steps toward recovery, he still has a long road ahead of him.

We know he's going to make it.

CNN's coverage continues right now.