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Trump Now Says He'll Vote Against A Florida Measure To Expand Abortion Rights After Appearing To Signal He Might Support It; Trump's Controversial Cemetery Visit Aided By GOP House Speaker; Rep. Mikie Sherrill, (D-NJ), Is Interviewed About Trump's Controversial Cemetery Visit Aided By GOP House Speaker; One-On-One With Ukrainian Defense Minister; GA Election Workers Seek Rudy Giuliani's Condos, Luxury Watches And Sports Memorabilia To Enforce Defamation Judgment; Maryland Supreme Court Rules Murder Conviction Of Adnan Syed From "Serial" Podcast Should Be Reinstated. Aired 5-6p ET

Aired August 30, 2024 - 17:00   ET

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

[17:00:00]

DONALD TRUMP, (R) PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: You know, I know Dana. She's always, you know, always nasty. She was so nice to the Democrats. It's much easier to be a Democrat. But we don't agree with their policies, because their policies will destroy our nation.

So we can't do that. We can't do that. But it was a very weak interview from the standpoint of CNN. I think CNN should be ashamed of themselves. If that were me, sure I heard you want the death penalty for drug dealers. Why? Well, you know, I like to end the drug epidemic, if that's OK.

Remember this, and I said it, every drug dealer, on average, kills 500 people. That's not mentioning all of the families that are destroyed forever. They're destroyed forever, and we have to do something about it because we are becoming and we are a drug infested nation. We have to do something. And if you did that meaningfully, you will in one week stop the drug problem.

Nobody is going to be selling drugs, nobody. I don't know if the country is ready for it, but they should. You know, we lost -- they give you fake numbers, their real numbers -- we lost probably 350,000 people last year to drugs, to fentanyl and other drugs. I had to deal with President Xi, who was going to put that on the -- on their ultimate crime list. That's where they give the death penalty.

If they make it in China, they sell it here. He was going to give the death penalty when we had a rigged election. What happened is, when I left, they never picked it up. Biden never picked up. So they never did it.

But they were going to give the death penalty, which is their ultimate punishment. You can't get too much more ultimate than that. They were going to give the death penalty to the fentanyl makers in China if they make it and sell it in here. And they were going to do it because, you know, otherwise, we weren't going to do trades, little things like, we won't trade with you anymore, we won't pay you billions of dollars anymore, so easy, so easy.

But people like Kamala, she let San Francisco die. She destroyed probably the greatest city, maybe one of the greatest cities, but could be. Friend of mine, Bob Casey, used to say years ago, he said San Francisco's the greatest city in America. That was probably '16. So he passed away, great guy.

He passed away, but he used to talk about San Francisco all the time. Today, can't walk into San Francisco. She destroyed it. She destroyed it. She's the one that started it too.

She was the district attorney. Then she destroyed California, along with Gavin Newsom. You know, one of the truly bad governors. But the fake news is doing everything possible, everything they can to help Kamala Harris. You ever notice nobody knows what her last name is?

I go, OK, I'm going to give you the first name, tell me the last name, I say Kamala. They have no idea who the hell she is, but as they find out, you notice, our poll numbers are starting to skyrocket. When they find out that she's a Marxist, when they find out her father, you know, is a Marxist professor, you know that. When they find out that she was the one that destroyed California and San Francisco long time ago, you can't have this.

Look, we have to put our country back into shape. Somebody said, women don't like Donald Trump. I said, I think that's wrong. I think they love me. I love them.

I love them. Speaking of them, North Carolina, these women, this is number 227 rally, and they've been to some other than rallies, 220. They're wealthy as hell. Look at them. They've got nothing but cash. Their husbands are great, but they allow them to go all over the country.

They follow me all over the country. We have Front Row Joes over here. We got the women from North Carolina. Look at them. And no, but they great patriots.

They're great patriots. And you know, I spoke to the husbands one time. I say, how do you put up with this? Your husband's -- your wives are traveling all over the place, do you mind? We trust our wives, sir, we trust them implicitly.

I say, well, you have great wives, let me tell you, but they've traveled. I think it's like 228 something like that. But it is beautiful to have you here. We love to have you here. Always perfectly quaffed.

They're always perfectly quaffed, right? They're beautiful. A great woman -- great women, and we appreciate that being here. We appreciate you guys being here. You were here on Butler.

[17:05:01]

They were there in Butler. I remember they were standing there in the -- Front Row Joes. You know what, they get here, like three days early. They wait around for three days, four days. They probably got to know some of my guys by now, I would think.

They don't have to be quite so anxious. They're going to be -- but they've done a great job. And then we have Mr. Wall (ph), Irving (ph) Wall. Would you please stand up? Irving Wall.

He is a great guy and he was there for Butler, too, wasn't he? He was there. I saw him there. But he's been to many shows. How many shows have you been?

IRVING WALL (PH): I lost track.

TRUMP: He's lost track. I agree. I agree, but I appreciate it. We appreciate it. The whole place appreciates, it's ultimately there.

Their patriot is not about me. These are incredible patriots. These ladies are incredible patriots. So, I just want to thank you. Incredibly.

But to show you how bad the fake news is, some of the Gold Star Families, you probably read these over the last couple of days. And you know, a lot of people say, sir, don't hit down, don't hit down --

ALEX MARQUARDT, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: You've been listening to Donald Trump at rally in Pennsylvania, the former president there speaking with supporters shortly after saying that he will be voting to keep Florida's six week abortion ban in place. Now, this comes just a day after he suggested that he oppose the six week ban. Let's bring in CNN's Jason Carroll, he's there at Trump rally in Johnstown, Pennsylvania. Also with us is CNN fact checker, Daniel Dale.

So, Jason, walk us through what Trump said yesterday, and now what he in the campaign are saying today.

JASON CARROLL, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, as you recall it was yesterday when the subject matter was brought up in an interview. Trump seem to suggest that he was not satisfied, not happy with the six week time frame on that six week abortion ban that's in place. Saying that it simply too restrictive. But he left the door open, he wasn't specific in terms of, would he support overturning it? Would he give anymore specifics in terms of timing?

Just a short while ago, he gave an interview to Fox News where he once and for all was very clear in terms of where he stands. Take a listen to what he had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Are you voting yes or no on Amendment Four in Florida?

TRUMP: So, I think six weeks you need more time, six weeks. I disagreed with that right from the early primaries when I heard about it. I disagreed with it. At the same time, the Democrats are radical because the nine months is just a ridiculous situation where you can do an abortion in the ninth month. And you know, some of the states like Minnesota and other states have it where you can actually execute the baby after birth.

And all of that stuff is unacceptable. So I'll be voting no for that reason.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CARROLL: So a couple of thing there. He says he will be voting no for that reason. But you have to do a little bit of fact checking here. Once again we should just make it very clear, it is illegal in every state in the nation to kill a baby after it's born. I mean, something like that should go without saying, but we have to keep repeating it because the former president keeps repeating that false claim.

But again, at least now we have some clarity in terms of where Trump stands on the six week abortion ban in the state of Florida. He is now saying he does not support it and he would vote no. back to you.

MARQUARDT: Yes. And both clarification and fact check there. And for more fact checking, let's bring in Daniel Dale.

So, Daniel, what have you heard in this different sets of remarks by Trump?

DANIEL DALE, CNN SENIOR REPORTER: He just keeps telling the same lies over and over, Alex. And not only this post-birth execution nonsense that we just heard a very good fact check of, but he also claim that 2020 election was rigged. We've been hearing that since 2020, it remains a lie. He claimed that he signed an old law in 2020 that gave an automatic 10-year prison sentence to anyone who did so much as touch a monument during protest, he did not sign any new law or an (inaudible) on that subject. Didn't sign anything.

He issued an executive order calling on the DOJ to inforce existing law, so nothing new. He repeated his nonsense about Venezuela and the Congo emptying prisons to allow criminals to come here as migrants. There is no proof for that in either case in both the Democratic Republic of Congo and the neighboring Republic of Congo had told me it is completely false.

He said that the numbers of people we lost to drugs are fake and is probably 350,000 per year. The official number is about 110,000 last year. And while expert has told me, there is likely some under count, there is no reasonable way to get as high as 300,000, the figure he used to use, let alone the 350,000 he used today. One expert told me this is a, quote, "made up number." Alex.

MARQUARDT: Yes, Donald Trump bringing reproductive rights right back to the center of this campaign. Daniel Dale, Jason Carroll, thank you so much for joining me this evening.

[17:10:05]

Let's get more on this with our political experts.

Priscilla Alvarez, I want to start with you. This is a pretty remarkable turnaround from yesterday. The one thing he said that was the same both yesterday and today is that you need more time, basically, more than six weeks for this abortion ban, but today, making it clear that he would vote against overturning it.

PRISCILLA ALVAREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I mean, this tells you everything you need to know about how high of an issue this is for voters going into November, and it is also going to be used by the Harris campaign, which I have been following. In fact, the Vice President at the beginning of this year started a reproductive rights tour. I was at her first stop, and this was a notable moment at the time, because it's been a galvanizing issue for Democrats, and they were assigning it to her to essentially be the voice on it. In Arizona, she had a rally there, and she called it the Trump abortion ban. She coined that term, and that was it. After that they used it repeatedly.

And it's these types of moments that they seize on to remind voters about what they say is Trump essentially allowing for these abortion bans for being in this position in the first place because of the Supreme Court and the overturning of Roe v Wade. So, the campaign doing more of this soon with a reproductive rights bus store with at least 50 stops, so clearly a big issue.

MARQUARDT: Yes, where they will certainly continue to hammer him on this.

Josh Dawsey, I want to go to you. You obviously follow the former president and his campaign very closely. How much do you think this back and forth over this specific Florida amendment shows that the former president is really having a tough time here trying to navigate this new era of post roe politics that he really helped create.

JOSH DAWSEY, POLITICAL INVESTIGATIONS REPORTER, "THE WASHINGTON POST": Yes, he's having a tough time with this one, because when he instituted the -- well, it could be left up to the state. Trump saw that as a way to basically not have to take a position himself. Some of his advisors are pushing him to do 15 week ban, a 16 week national ban, he didn't want to take a position to himself. But because Florida is a state where he lives and he votes, this six week ban now he has take position on it. And when Florida did the six week ban on the campaign trail when Ron DeSantis was running for president, Trump immediately thought it was a huge mistake from DeSantis.

He told folks, I don't get why he's doing it. What is he -- what is he doing there? That's not going to be popular. That was his first original thing. And he criticized that ban because he wanted to go after DeSantis.

DeSantis he viewed as his political opponent, right? And he said, I don't think this ban makes sense. Then you saw the pro-life community come back pretty fiercely, deeply concerned that he was taking on a bill that would limit abortions and parties, something they want to do very much. So really, for the last year or so, you've seen Trump vacillate on this issue, meeting with various groups, meeting with various activists, trying to do a more place where he doesn't have to support, things like (inaudible) today. MARQUARDT: And Charlie Dent, in terms of his difficulties in walking this line, when you hear Trump saying that he will now vote to keep the six week Florida abortion ban in place, is that a recognition by the former president that he was facing significant blowback from the right flank?

CHARLIE DENT, (R) FORMER U.S. REPRESENTATIVE: Absolutely. Look, Donald Trump, you know, has unfixed policy positions, and they shift constantly and no more on the issue of abortion. And I think the GOP recognizes that it is in an unsustainable position on the abortion issue that they need to moderate. So I think Trump is correct by trying to moderate the position of the party.

The problem that he has, of course, is that he's like the proverbial arsonist trying to extinguish the abortion fire he helped start, and so he doesn't have a lot of credibility on this issue. I was one of the last pro-choice Republican members of the House Republican conference in Washington, and I would sounding this alarm for some time that the party was not in a good place, that these positions, the six week bans and other sorts of policies were very unpopular and were damaging the GOP and certainly widening a gender gap, particularly with women. So, I think the party's in a bad spot, and Trump is trying to fix it, but he is simply the wrong messenger on this issue.

So in the pro-life community, I think they've miscalculated terribly. They cut a deal with a very transactional man, Donald Trump, and now they're shocked. They're shocked that he is now is somehow coming back to a pro-choice position, not only on this six week bill, but he's also endorsed or he's not going to do anything to try to stop the movement of abortion drugs across state lines. And so they're unhappy with him. But they're finding out, though, that right to life movement is that many Republican voters don't have that strongly held up position on this issue, at least for these types of extreme policies.

[17:15:05]

MARQUARDT: Meghan Hays, let me bring you in. So Trump has been purposely vague, trying to play both sides, trying to really straddle this line for quite some time now. Now he's quite firm that he's going to try to keep this six week ban in place in terms of least of the Florida amendment. Pick up where Priscilla left off in terms of how you expect the Harris campaign to seize on this?

MEGHAN HAYS, DNC CONVENTION CONSULTANT: Well, he's firm today, so we'll see what he says tomorrow, because it's different than what he said yesterday. So, I think that he's trying to muddy the waters and he's trying to create chaos. But I think what the Harris campaign is doing is they're picking up and they're going -- this issue is very important to women, and it's very important to these independent women in these battleground states where this election is going to be decided. And they are playing it smart, and they always have. This is a super popular issue, and it polls really high.

The Harris campaign is leading in the polls by 20 points with women. That -- those are the people who are going to decide this election. When you're talking 10,000 votes in these states, that's a major pickup. And then if he's going to isolate his base, and he's going to maybe people won't turn out. So every vote matters in these battleground states, and so they are capitalizing on an issue that's extremely important to Democrats.

And it's not just women, it's also men who live with these -- who have moms and sisters and daughters. So he's just -- his -- when he's trying to muddy the waters and continue to go back and forth, it doesn't do anything but help Democrats and help the Harris campaign.

MARQUARDT: And it's not just we have to remember about abortion, it's about a range of reproductive rights. We've been talking a lot about IVF as well. Trump making new comments to Fox News about his latest proposal to make IVF treatments free. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You had a huge announcement yesterday on IVF. What is your message to pro-lifers who are concerned about the federal government providing this service to women for free?

TRUMP: I think when the -- when we look at IVF, and I've been an early proponent of IVF, very early on, and we're going to government's going to pay for IVF when people need the treatment, when they want the treatment, when they want to go in with the fertilization, government's going to get totally involved, and they're going to help people. We want to have babies. We want to have lots of beautiful babies in this country, and we're going to do it. And that was received very, very well yesterday. Very well.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MARQUARDT: Josh Dawsey, how much backlash is Trump facing over his stance on IVF as well?

DAWSEY: He's facing some. I mean, you see some conservative commentators like Eric Erickson today coming out and saying it's going to hurt him in the election. I guess his campaign's calculation is that most of these people are still going to vote for him and they're not going to vote for the Democrat. I think what the concerning part some of his campaign advisors fear is just having depressed turnout, right? Having some of these folks who are pro-life activists who say, we're not going to come to the polls because of this, in some states, a small number of him.

I guess theoretically it could matter, but the calculation on a lot of these topics for him seems to be with, when it comes to the pro-life community, look, I gave you guys, I overturned Roe v. Wade, I got the judges in place, I gave you guys what you want, now I've got to try to win an election, and I think you guys are going to give me the latitude to make some positions that were -- are not exactly what I said in the first term to try and win, right? And I think that's what he's doing here. And I guess the calculation is, will there be -- will he pay any price for it?

MARQUARDT: Yes, this has been certainly one of the hottest button issues in this campaign, and that is not going to change anytime soon. Thanks to you all for your thoughts, your perspective this evening.

Coming up, what House Speaker Mike Johnson did to help Donald Trump getting to Arlington National Cemetery for an appearance, which prompted a significant rebuke by the U.S. Army.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[17:22:37]

MARQUARDT: Tonight we're learning more about Donald Trump's controversial visit to Arlington National Cemetery and the powerful Republicans who helped get him access for his appearance there with Gold Star families. CNN Sunlen Serfaty is here with the details. She's been tracking the story.

So, Sunlen, what can you tell us about the role that House Speaker Mike Johnson played in this?

SUNLEN SERFATY, CNN WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT: Well, we now know, Alex, that Speaker Johnson did intervene on some level to help Donald Trump and his team get into Arlington National Cemetery, which is, of course, the center of this controversy, which is now on day five. Now we know that Speaker Johnson was first alerted to this incident when he was contacted by Mike McCaul, who is the chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee. And McCaul was alerted to this by families of a marine that was killed and in the Abbey Gate bombing and the families, according to McCaul, they told him, "Look, we are having trouble, Arlington National Cemetery is giving us a hard time," that's the quote on coordinating this event with Trump. Now McCaul, in a statement today, issued quote, "Speaker Johnson and his team acted quickly and were able to get the situation resolved. But something like this should never have happened.

Gold Star families have already suffered enough now." Now, notably, we do not know the extent of House Speaker Johnson intervened, who he called, who he spoke to, what sort of directive he said. But all this, of course, underscores the extreme sensitivities around the politics of Arlington National Cemetery, the fact that you are not allowed to campaign. They are not allowed to host political events there. And it was very notable that yesterday, when the army came out with that very rare, very stern statement where they defended their staffer and they reiterated their policies, we heard -- we saw on Twitter, Chris LaCivita, the Trump campaign spokesman, really doubled down.

He's saying, reposting this hoping to trigger the hacks at SEC army. It was video from the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, and not from controversial section 60, though.

MARQUARDT: Yes, unclear why they think picking a fight with the army and raising this all about Arlington National Cemetery is actually going to do them any favors. But anyway, Sunlen Serfaty, thanks so much for that reporting.

Joining me now is a member of the House Armed Services Committee, Representative Mikie Sherrill, Democrat of New Jersey. Congresswoman, thank you so much for joining me. You just heard what Sunlen reported. Do you think it was appropriate for Speaker Johnson to intervene in this matter? And do you think that concerns about this event at Arlington are being overly political? Do you think that that's warranted?

[17:25:13]

REP. MIKIE SHERRILL (D-NJ), ARMED SERVICES COMMITTEE: You know, the whole point of this is that we try to honor our war dead in a nonpartisan, nonpolitical way. This is, and should never be about politics, it should be about the honor that families deserve, the respect those soldiers deserve. And so, for veterans across the country to see that Donald Trump is using Arlington Cemetery and the graves there as some sort of TikTok campaign video is highly offensive. The fact that his team and LaCivita seem to think that there are hacks in our military just goes along with all of their messaging, denigrating military members, denigrating service members. He's certainly unfit to be the commander in chief.

And you know, you just keep seeing new lows with Donald Trump, and it's difficult to come on again and again and again to shows like this to talk about how horrible his conduct is with respect to our military and our veterans, and really get a sense that then he just continues to try to cloak himself in the flag, to cloak himself and surround himself with veterans when he disparages them, when he disparages this country again and again and again.

MARQUARDT: So, why do you think this ceremony was different? Because we understand from the Pentagon there are 1000s of ceremonies that are conducted at Arlington National Cemetery every year.

SHERRILL: Because he used it as a campaign event. Because he was in front of these graves with a big thumbs up, you know, in front of them trying to, I think, make a point on the anniversary of Abbey Gate when people died there at the graves of people who died there, and trying to then make a video, a campaign video, trying to politicize the deaths of U.S. soldiers. I think that's a real line in the sand for people. It certainly is for me, it's against federal law and it's really immoral, which is the whole point of this. He's somebody who's never served to actually faked bone spurs to get out of service in Vietnam, who's denigrated service members as suckers and losers. But I think even more broadly than serving in our military, he simply doesn't understand public service at all.

I don't think this is a man who would ever do something that doesn't benefit himself, and certainly does not understand the gravity with which many of us take the sacrifices that our veterans have sometimes made for their country.

MARQUARDT: I want to ask you about something that the former president said today. He announced that he's going to be voting against an amendment in Florida to overturn Florida's six week abortion ban. It's the first time that he's revealed how he's going to be voting on that. What's your reaction? SHERRILL: Well, of course, I mean, this is the person that built the court that overturned roe. Why would we think he would ever be supportive of women's reproductive health? He has single handedly worked to take down whole apparatus that provided women freedom and bodily autonomy across this nation. He's single handedly responsible for millions of women who now are at in real danger because of having no access to decent reproductive health care. We see in places like Texas, with over 140,000 service members, women have almost the worst reproductive outcomes in the nation, 49th in the nation.

We have people serving there who have no access now. So of course, he would be voting against women. That's what he does continuously. I don't think anyone should be surprised by that.

MARQUARDT: All right, we have to leave it there. Congresswoman Mikie Sherrill, thanks so much for joining us.

SHERRILL: Thanks.

MARQUARDT: And up next, as Russia ramps up its attacks on Ukraine, killing multiple people, including a child on a playground, Ukrainian officials are in Washington here pleading for looser restrictions on U.S. weapons. We'll be discussing that with Ukraine's defense minister, Rustem Umerov. He's standing by to join me here in the Situation Room. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[17:33:32]

MARQUARDT: Turning now to the war in Ukraine. It has been a critically important week for the country, with top officials, including the defense minister, traveling here to Washington and pleading for permission to strike Russian territory with long range American made weapons.

It all comes as Putin's forces are stepping up their assault, launching one of the largest series of aerial attacks since we have seen the beginning of this war. Ukrainian Defense Minister Rustem Umerov is joining me now. Minister Umerov, thank you so much for joining us on -- on a very busy day. You were at the Pentagon and the White House today. We understand that you presented them with a list of targets that you grant -- Ukraine wants to hit inside of Russia with these U.S. made weapons that have been given to Ukraine. Do you think that you were successful at convincing the administration to loosen those restrictions?

RUSTEM UMEROV, UKRAINIAN DEFENSE MINISTER: We provided the situation on the battlefield. We have explained the needs. We have explained what kind of capabilities we need to protect the citizens against that Russian terror that Russians are causing us. So I hope we were heard.

MARQUARDT: And that includes, I imagine, going after targets inside of Russia, correct?

UMEROV: Yes, we explained that it's a legitimate military targets, that's logistic hubs, airfields. So we've explained our logic behind of our request.

MARQUARDT: The question at issue, as far as I understand it, is permission for the Ukrainians to use the longest range missile that the U.S. has given to Ukraine, which is called an ATACMS, it goes 200 miles or 300 kilometers, and you have been petitioning the administration to be allowed to use that inside of Russia. Are they going to now allow you to do that?

[17:35:11]

UMEROV: We hope we are in consultation phase. And we hope it will be allowed because, as we said, that our partners should understand that we are protecting our land. We're protecting people against the violation of Russian Federation, who is launching the missiles to -- towards the cities, towards the civilian objects, and that's why we want to protect them, to hit the legitimate military targets.

MARQUARDT: So the Biden administration is still considering this request.

UMEROV: Yes. They are analyzing.

MARQUARDT: And the argument that we hear from U.S. officials is that Russia has moved many of their high value targets, their assets, beyond the range of the -- the ATACMS, those missiles that I mentioned, and the U.S. is still afraid of escalation by Vladimir Putin, not to mention the fact that the U.S. also believes they don't have a large enough supply of these missiles.

In the meantime, President Zelenskyy, we've heard say that there is no rational reason to limit Ukraine's defense. So what do you make of those American arguments?

UMEROV: So let's say that for the last year, they launched 10,000 missiles to our civilian objects. They hit people. They hit civilians. They launched 15,000 UAVs against us. So we want to stop this terror against our cities. They are 10 years in fight with us, two and a half years of full scale invasion, and we want to stop it. What is escalation means? So we want to protect people. They're killing our citizens. That's why we want to deter them. We want to stop them.

We don't want allow their aviation to come closer to our borders to bomb the cities. That's a legitimate target. That's why we're focusing to protection of our citizens.

MARQUARDT: What about the argument that Russia has indeed moved back their assets? So even if the U.S. gave you that permission, you would not be able to reach them.

UMEROV: We are showing that the airfields that they're using to hit our cities are within the range of deep strikes. So that's why we are showing the targets where we are going to hit.

MARQUARDT: Today, we heard that the President has fired the Air Force Commander. How much of that dismissal was in response to the crash of the F-16 fighter jet earlier this week? UMEROV: I would probably say this is a rotation, but it is unfortunate. We've launched an investigation. We're analyzing what has happened. We also opened this file to our partners, so they are also analyzing this and investigating along with us.

MARQUARDT: Are there any indications of what may have happened? Did Russia shoot this jet down? Or are there any indications, perhaps, of friendly fire?

UMEROV: I don't want to make any assumptions, because there is a investigation. All the parties are involved. And we will be waiting and closely watching it, because it's headed by our inspector general office. So hope to find out soon.

MARQUARDT: But the dismissal of the Air Force commander that was connected to this or not?

UMEROV: This is two separate issues. But as I said, it happens during the war. But at this stage, I would not connect them.

MARQUARDT: You are also making headway inside of Russia with this very impressive Kursk operation every single day, we understand. But at the same time, do you believe that that incursion into Kursk has failed to pull away Russian resources to defend that Russian territory? Because at the same time, we're seeing Russia make significant advances in eastern Ukraine.

UMEROV: When they started full scale invasion, they had 127,000 troops. At the moment, there are 555,000 troops in the temporary occupied territories and northeast. So the Kursk we wanted -- we didn't allow them to have a buffer zone, that's why, because they were fighting -- they were hitting our cities in the Northeast, and that's why we created a buffer zone. Their air -- air strikes has been moved away, and that's why we saved more people, because every month there was 3,500 aerial bombs shelled to our cities.

MARQUARDT: So you're calling that a buffer zone. Meanwhile, we're hearing President Zelenskyy talking about presenting what he calls a victory plan to the United States, and this victory plan includes, we're told, forcing Russia to end the war in a diplomatic way. Do you see that territory that you've taken as a possible way to exchange territory that the Russians have taken inside Ukraine to be part of that diplomatic proposal?

UMEROV: I think we're focused on capabilities that we would like to have, instead of taking somebody's territory. So we are focused to increase our capabilities to withstand, to repel the Russians from the temporary occupied territories.

[17:40:13]

MARQUARDT: Looking ahead, you're the -- you're the head of the Defense Ministry, you have to plan ahead. Zelenskyy said that he will also present this plan to the former President Donald Trump, who, of course, has a very good chance of -- of winning in November. How are you planning to fight for victory beyond November, when you may have a U.S. administration that is much less supportive of Ukraine's war efforts?

UMEROV: Well, we fight for the independence, for the sovereignty. We are a democratic nation. Our people were withstanding the enemy for the first six months without any armor, without any equipment. And we've addressed this to civilized society, saying that we are part of this civilized society. So we have where -- we have a capability and capacity to withstand our democracy, and we need assistance from U.S. Why? Because us is a role model of democracy. It's a country that represents every world.

MARQUARDT: And the debate over how much the U.S. should support Ukraine is certainly a fierce one during this presidential campaign. Ukrainian Defense Minister Rustem Umerov, thank you so much for coming on with me. Welcome to Washington.

UMEROV: Thank you for inviting.

MARQUARDT: Thank you.

UMEROV: Thank you.

MARQUARDT: The two Georgia election workers who were defamed by Rudy Giuliani are now asking a court to make the former mayor of New York hand over his Mercedes Benz and three New York Yankees World Series rings, that's coming up.

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[17:45:49]

MARQUARDT: Two former Georgia election workers who won a massive $146 million defamation judgment against Mayor Rudy Giuliani are now asking for a laundry list of luxury items owned by the former New York Mayor in an effort to collect on that staggering debt that they're owed. CNN senior justice correspondent Evan Perez is here. So Evan, what are the lawyers for these two workers, Ruby Freeman and Shaye moss asking for?

EVAN PEREZ, CNN SENIOR JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: Well, they're asking for the judgment that has already been entered for that to be enforced, Alex. And they've got a list of things that they believe that they could try to seize that Giuliani owns as part of his assets. I mean, we're talking about $146 million, this doesn't come nearly close to that. But, you know, it's good start.

For instance, he's got a -- a Manhattan condo that is worth about $6 million that they believe they can try to seize. They get -- they have a $3.5 million property in Palm Beach. He's got luxury watches. He's got a Mercedes Benz. He's also got three New York Yankees World Series rings. You know, in some corners, Phil Mattingly might pay 30 grand for one of these, I don't know. He's a big Yankees fan.

But, you know, so those are the types of things that they believe they are entitled to try to seize because he has been the -- the court has ruled, a jury has ruled that he defamed them because of his conduct in 2020. Now he is still appealing all of these things. And so he believes he should not have to turn any of this over while those appeals are pending. That's not how usually this works, though.

MARQUARDT: How likely is it that they actually eventually get that stuff?

PEREZ: They have a good chance of getting some of this stuff. It's been of this stuff, especially, you know, obviously they're asking a judge, and the judge so far has not been very -- has not been lenient with Giuliani's claims to -- to hold off on all of these things. You remember he tried to claim bankruptcy to try to stop this.

MARQUARDT: Yes, they're really coming after him.

PEREZ: Yes.

MARQUARDT: Evan Perez, thanks very much. We'll be right back.

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[17:51:49]

MARQUARDT: The legal saga around Adnan Syed just took another turn. Syed, whose murder case was featured in the Serial podcast, will have to fight for his freedom again after Maryland's highest court said his conviction was improperly vacated. Brian Todd is on this story for us. So Brian, update our viewers.

BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Another crazy twist in a dramatic case, Alex. Adnan Syed now has to get back into court while procedural hearings determine whether he will maintain his freedom.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

TODD (voice-over): Another controversial twist in a quarter century old murder case that's had many of them. Today, the Maryland Supreme Court ruled that the murder conviction of 43-year-old Adnan Syed should be reinstated. The court citing procedural errors in the way Syed's conviction was vacated in 2022.

JOEY JACKSON, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: Everything about this case is unusual, compounded now with this last development.

TODD (voice-over): The Maryland Supreme Court ruled that the rights of the family of the murder victim, Hae Min Lee, were violated because the court says Lee's brother received inadequate notice of a hearing in 2022 when prosecutors were moving to vacate Syed's conviction. The brother's lawyers argued he wasn't given enough notice to travel from California to Maryland to appear at the hearing in person. Instead, the brother could only speak at the hearing over Zoom.

JACKSON: I think prosecutors had a duty to keep the family actively involved and at least notified. Had they simply waited a week, we wouldn't be here having this conversation.

TODD (voice-over): Syed was convicted of murder, kidnapping, false imprisonment and robbery in the 1999 death of Hae Min Lee, his high school girlfriend. He spent over 23 years behind bars. But there were serious questions over his guilt from the start.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Adnan Syed story has captivated millions since the 2014 launch of the podcast, Serial.

TODD (voice-over): Serial, the hugely popular podcast hosted by Sarah Koenig, question Syed's conviction and drew widespread attention to the case.

SARAH KOENIG, HOST, "SERIAL" PODCAST: Something's not doesn't make sense here in this case, and I don't know where the problem is. And so it really is just me trying to figure that out.

TODD (voice-over): A court later ruled that prosecutors failed to disclose evidence that could have helped his case, including information on other suspects. And in 2022 his conviction was vacated. Syed dramatically released from prison. But last year, more court proceedings began on that question of whether the victim's family had been given enough time to appear at that hearing to vacate the conviction.

ADNAN SYED, MURDER CONVICTION VACATED IN 2022: You know, we respect how much Hae's family has suffered, because we know how much our family has suffered, and not just trying to prove that I'm innocent and to make it back home to my family, but to find justice for Hae and her family.

TODD (voice-over): Now the process restarts, more hearings on whether the conviction should be thrown out. Syed will remain free while the case plays out.

JACKSON: I think you're going to see, number one, him remain at Liberty. Number two, the case dismissed again on the merits. Number three, the family entitled of the victim to their due really respect and sensitivity and participation.

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TODD (on camera): Adnan Syed's attorney has issued a statement saying that they could not disagree more with the Maryland Supreme Court's decision today to reinstate his conviction. The attorney says they respect the court's decision, but she maintains that Syed is innocent. The attorney for the family of victim, Hae Min Lee, issued a statement saying they were pleased with the court's ruling today that if there is evidence to support overturning his conviction, the family would go along with it. But he also said the public has not seen evidence that would warrant overturning that conviction. Alex?

[17:55:20]

MARQUARDT: Brian Todd, thanks very much for that report.

Coming up, Donald Trump appears to shift his position on abortion again. Now, saying he'll vote against a bill in his home state of Florida that would expand reproductive rights. Stay with us. You're in the Situation Room.

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[17:59:59]

MARQUARDT: Happening now, breaking news, Donald Trump is pulling back from his criticism of Florida's six-week abortion ban, now saying he would vote against a Florida measure that could overturn it.