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Special Master Hearing Ends With No Ruling From Judge; Now, Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) Remarks Ahead Of Biden Speech On Threat To Democracy; Serena Williams Advances To Third Round At U.S. Open In Thrilling Win. Aired 6-7p ET

Aired September 01, 2022 - 18:00   ET

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

[18:00:00]

PAMELA BROWN, CNN ANCHOR: Well, good evening to everyone. You're looking at live pictures we're showing here of Kevin McCarthy standing by to hear from him, the House minority leader. We're going to bring that to you when it happens.

But, first, we begin our coverage this hour with new developments in the Mar-a-Lago probe. A federal judge hearing from both sides in court today but declining to issue a ruling on Donald Trump's request for a special master, at least for now.

CNN's Sara Murray has our report.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SARA MURRAY, CNN POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT (voice over): No ruling yet, as lawyers for Donald Trump and the Justice Department went head-to- head in court today over whether a special master should review documents seized at Mar-a-Lago.

DAVID SCHOEN, REPRESENTED TRUMP FOR SECOND IMPEACHMENT: If the government's case is as they think it is, let's just play it straight. Let a special master come in.

MURRAY: Trump's team saying the Mar-a-Lago search was suspect, according to reports from the courtroom, and argued a special master should pore over materials that the government says included more than 100 documents marked classified.

Trump lawyer Jim Trusty described the battle over whether classified materials were illegally kept in Mar-a-Lago as comparable to a dispute over an overdue library book. And Christopher Kise, the newest member of Trump's legal team, encouraged the judge to appoint a special master to help lower the temperature in the nation. The judge indicating, if she appoints a special master, she may still allow the intelligence community to review the seized documents as part of a damage assessment.

Prosecutors, meantime, arguing the special master was unnecessary and saying Trump's team has offered no evidence there was any disregard for the former president's rights, as the judge asked prosecutors, what's the harm in appointing a special master. Beyond the courtroom, Trump --

DONALD TRUMP, FORMER U.S. PRESIDENT: It's not like this was some sinister plot.

MURRAY: -- insisting whatever happened at Mar-a-Lago was the result of hastily packing up to leave the White House.

TRUMP: You accumulate a lot of stuff over a term and then all of a sudden you're leaving and stuff gets packed up and sent.

MURRAY: Trump's team downplayed the documents found in his Florida home and private club without denying they were classified. Saying, simply put, the notion presidential records would contain sensitive information should have never have been cause for alarm.

Trump's team also taking issue with the extraordinary photo the DOJ revealed this week, showing a tranche of documents with highly classified markings recovered from Trump's office.

ALINA HABBA, DONALD TRUMP'S LAWYER: They give you this appearance that you walk in and there's these top secret documents just strewn about.

MURRAY: Inadvertently highlighting the security risk of hoarding documents in an office with heavy foot traffic.

HABBA: That is not the way his office looks. Anybody that knows President Trump's office, he has guests frequently there.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MURRAY (on camera): Now, the judge also said she is considering making public a more detailed list of what was seized at Mar-a-Lago, but, of course, that is not set in stone. We are still waiting for this judge to issue any of her rulings in writing. Pam?

BROWN: All right. Sara Murray, stand by.

Let's also bring in CNN Legal Analyst Elliot Williams and CNN Contributor John Dean, the former Nixon White House counsel.

Elliot, first to you. How do you think this judge will weigh these arguments for and against a special master that Sara laid out, and when could we see her ruling?

WILLIAMS: See, this is what happens. It's almost the problem with federal judges. You just don't know. She could, frankly, have issued a ruling from the bench today. I've seen judges do that where they already had it written and just start reading when the lawyers stop talking. It could be days or weeks. It's just up to when the judge decides.

Now, look, what she could do is grant one. She suggested that she was inclined to do so, but also limit what that special master could look at, only looking at, say, attorney/client privilege documents, only having the special master only oversee things that were seized from the office as opposed to other places. But it's just hard to tell right now. She has very broad latitude in what she does.

BROWN: John Dean, what goes through your mind hearing a Trump lawyer compare these classified documents to an overdue library book?

JOHN DEAN, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: I actually chuckled when I first heard that because they're very different. These contain our nation's most treasured secrets. These are the jewels of the intelligence community that the president gets. So, we don't know precisely which jewels he has because that has not been revealed, but we know they're incredibly important documents. They're from human sources. They're from electronic sources. And they're our best kept secrets. So, these are not library books.

BROWN: Yes. And we saw some of the coverings for some of them with the highest classification marking.

So, Elliot, wondering what you make out of the argument from Trump's lawyers, one of the lawyers, that an independent special master would help build trust in this investigation and lower the temperature?

WILLIAMS: I think from the perspective -- if it's a special master that's handpicked by the former president's team, then, certainly, of course. It's hard to see how more trust could be sort of an aspect of this based on the fact that the Justice Department has been far more transparent really than they are in virtually any other case, by laying out their arguments quite publicly, which typically doesn't happen.

[18:05:09]

BROWN: Okay.

WILLIAMS: So, it's just hard to tell.

BROWN: All right. Got to end there because House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, he is beginning his remarks in Pennsylvania, where he's expected to attack President Biden ahead of his prime time speech on threats to democracy.

REP. KEVIN MCCARTHY (R-CA): I met with over a hundred Republican candidates and members and thousands of their constituents. So, tonight, I want to share with you what I heard from Americans across this country.

What is clear to me and clear to you is that Washington and the White House aren't listening. They just don't get it. You have never been more worried, more alarmed, by the direction of our country, yet they tell you everything is fine. You worry that your children will have less opportunity than you did, yet they tell you things are looking up. You fear that America is becoming poorer, less safe, less respected and less free by the day, yet they tell you the border is safe and America is secure.

The White House says inflation is transitory, deficits don't matter and the spike in crime is just a bump in the road, yet you know that doesn't add up. That's where we're different. I don't dismiss your fears. I share them. And I, along with every Republican running for Congress this year, share your unwavering conviction that we must change direction in Washington before it is too late.

The American experiment and the good people who believe in it have not said their last word. The electorate court of liberty still sparks in our hearts. The spirit of the pilgrims, the patriots and the pioneers still inspire our souls. Our best days are ahead of us, not behind us. Our nation can flourish again. And under a new historic Republican majority, it will.

For the past two years have been a time of trial for Americans everywhere. Never in modern times has an administration promised more and delivered less and they have no one to blame but themselves. In the past two years, Joe Biden has launched an assault on the soul of America, on its people, on its laws, on its most sacred values. He has launched an assault on our democracy. His policies have severely wounded America's soul, diminished America's spirit and betrayed America's trust.

For the past 19 months, Democrats have had total control in Washington. They control the House. They control the Senate. They control the White House. They have all the levers of power. So, let me ask you this. How have they done? Democrats control every committee in Congress responsible for our nation's safety, our prosperity, our education and our government oversight.

They're in charge of every federal agency responsible for our law enforcement, for drug enforcement, for our homeland security, for our border security. They're responsible for our food supply, our energy supply, our public health, our public education, our federal spending, our federal borrowing and even our foreign affairs. So, let me ask you again, how have they done? Are you better off? What is two years of one-party Democrat rule in Washington given us?

Now, let me state the obvious. Our economy is now in a recession. Here are the facts. Fact, our supply chains are collapsing. Our transportation system is completely dysfunctional. Air travel has never been more unpredictable. Fact, families go to the grocery store to find empty shelves.

[18:10:03]

Necessities, like baby formula, have been impossible to find, which means many children can't get the nutrition that they need. If you can find what you need at the store, it costs more, a lot more. Food prices are up more than 13 percent, the highest increase ever.

We're told again and again by Washington that it's all temporary. The historic spending binge of Joe Biden and his Democrat Congress has brought the greatest inflation crisis to this nation in generations. Democrats spent your money on wasteful projects, including millions on ski resorts and luxury hotels, and even spending $1 billion of hardworking taxpayer money on stimulus checks to violent criminals in prison, yes, and they even sent one to the Boston bomber. This has only driven inflation higher.

Here's what it means to the American people. For senior citizens, a lifetime of savings is being wiped out. Their 401(k)s are now 201(k)s. For our mid career workers, wages are being ravaged. Young people cannot afford rent, not even to mention to buy. Mortgages are now out of reach. Families are barely able to make ends meet. Electricity and energy costs, they are consuming household budgets. Citizens are forced to make agonizing choices, every single day just to pay the bills.

You know, more than 20 million American households, that's about one in every six families, have fallen behind on their utility bills. The amount they owe has doubled since the beginning of the pandemic, and winter is coming. Fact, gas prices are 60 percent higher than when Joe Biden took office. He inherited energy independence from President Trump but is now --

BROWN: All right. You've been listening to House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy. We're going to continue to monitor his remarks. But as you heard there, he is slamming Democrats, slamming President Joe Biden as a rebuttal before the president's prime-time address tonight on democracy.

So, I'm going to get analysis now from CNN Congressional Correspondent Jessica Dean, CNN Senior White House Correspondent Phil Mattingly and our Chief National Affairs Correspondent Jeff Zeleny.

All right, so, I want to go to you, Jessica. You were in the room. What stood out to you with this speech so far?

JESSICA DEAN, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Well, I think, Pamela, you know, you really hear that age-old expression that you hear from the party that wants to be back in power. Are you better off two years in? And it was interesting that right off the top of that speech, McCarthy really hit home, reminding everyone that Democrats control all the levers of government right now and asking the American people, are you better off than you were two years ago and walking them through all of that.

I think it's also worth noting, we really got to the top of his speech. We're told he's expected to speak for about a half hour. And we do know, too, that as he goes on, based on excerpts that we have received, that he is going to say, and I'm quoting here, when the president speaks tonight at Independence Hall, the first lines out of his mouth should be to apologize for slandering tens of millions of Americans as fascist, of course, referring to President Biden's comments from last week saying that the kind of philosophy that underpins President Trump and those who stand by him is semi-fascism, so really trying to drive home the President Biden speech tonight but also that his administration has been divisive. Now, whether or not the American people agree with that, we're going to have to look to the polls to see.

BROWN: Yes. And, clearly, he sees the theme of President Biden's speech tonight in this speech -- I'm just going to take my (INAUDIBLE), I'm hearing myself echo. I want to go to you on that note, Jeff Zeleny. He said that Joe Biden has been an assault on the soul of America, that he has been an assault on democracy. So, clearly, this was intentional because that is exactly what Joe Biden's speech is about tonight, about democracy, about saving democracy, painting a picture of extremists among MAGA Republicans, right?

JEFF ZELENY, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: Of course, Pamela. And this is exactly what the House minority leader is trying to do. He's trying to deflect the conversation, turn the conversation, redirect the conversation back to President Biden. And this evening, behind me here, President Biden is going to try and turn the conversation back to former President Donald Trump and MAGA Republicans, in his view.

[18:15:01]

But when you sort of step above this back and forth, what this is is simply the opening outlines of the midterm election fight, the fight for the fall campaign.

A couple things I was struck by saying there though, Kevin McCarthy walked right up to the line of talking down the economy, saying that the economy is in recession. He talked about gas prices, did not mention, of course, that they have gone down throughout the summer. So, look, I mean, these are pretty typical political back and forths here. Also, Kevin McCarthy did not mention Donald Trump, who looms large, hangs over his Republican Party like a giant shadow.

So, pretty typical speech, I think, some back and forth. A typical speech will be coming here tonight from President Biden as well. The question is the voters in the middle, what do they feel? Are they feeling better than they -- are they better off than two years ago? That's always the challenge for a president's party. You know, this is a referendum on the president's party.

But will this year be different because Donald Trump does loom so large? And it seems to be getting larger by the day here. That's one thing that Kevin McCarthy is not wanting to talk about, Republicans don't address. So, when you look at independent voters in the middle here, what side do they come down on? They have 68 days to sort it out. It will not be sorted out by the back and forth really pretty predictable speeches here in the commonwealth of Pennsylvania tonight.

BROWN: And we should note, Kevin McCarthy did say outright the economy is in a recession. There is no consensus about that among economists.

But, Phil Mattingly, you have reporting along with Kevin Liptak and Kaitlan Collins setting the stage for the president's speech tonight, and one official is quoted as saying, this speech is not about Donald Trump, it's about democracy. But as Jeff Zeleny noted, look, Donald Trump will be looming large.

So, I want to talk a little bit more as we look ahead to that and also wondering whether White House officials are paying attention to what Kevin McCarthy is saying ahead of the president's speech tonight.

PHIL MATTINGLY, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: I think a good sign that they probably are was the fact that when Karine Jean-Pierre, the White House press secretary, was asked about some of McCarthy's remarks related to this speech earlier today.

In a statement, she had a very scripted rebuttal laying out in detail how McCarthy's position on January 6th and in the wake of January 6th had shifted over the course of a several-month period as he realigned himself with former President Donald Trump. I think White House officials are keenly aware of what Republicans, particularly the top Republican in the House, are saying at any given moment.

What I think you hear from White House officials right now or what you know you hear from White House officials right now based on reporting that my colleagues Kaitlan Collins, Kevin Liptak, and I have put together is a couple of things. One, think about this moment more in the sense of conversions of several factors that has really driven the president to make this speech. This is a speech he's been weighing for several months. This has been an issue, Pamela, as you know quite well, that he's been talking about, this battle for the soul of the nation, since his campaign launch back in 2019. There's a through-line here through the campaign and through his first 19 months in office.

However, the decision to really lay it out and try and elevate the matter comes at the same time that, as Jeff noted, gas prices have been down for more than 70 consecutive days, a flurry of legislative victories over the course of the last six weeks, and a real feeling particularly in the wake of the Supreme Court decision on Roe versus Wade, the Democrat forces (ph) are starting to shift. No longer are they looking at a complete wipeout at the midterm elections but that they have a real opportunity here. Put that together with the president's desire to really deliver a speech about the stakes and about the contrast, and that's what you're going to hear from the president tonight. That's what officials have been pushing towards here at the White House.

BROWN: And, Jeff Zeleny, you're getting some excerpts of the president's speech tonight. What more can you tell us about that?

ZELENY: We are, Pamela. We do know that President Biden will be talking about democracy, making the case to Americans, really imploring to Americans, that they are responsible for tending to their own democracy, that it will not last without that. But then he quickly pivots directly to Donald Trump.

Let's take a look at one excerpt that makes this point, that this is about much more than democracy. The president, we're told, will say this. MAGA forces are determined to take this country backwards, backwards to an America where there is no right to choose, no right to privacy, no right to contraception, no right to marry who you love. So, that sentence right there that was released from the White House in an excerpt this evening shows that this speech is more than democracy.

This speech is a midterm election speech, which of, course, we know this speech is what President Biden is trying to seize upon those independent voters that are trying to energize them going into the midterm elections about the Supreme Court decision and many other things.

So, yes, this is a speech on democracy. Yes, the president will be standing in front of Independence Hall. But it goes well beyond that to things that they hope will animate this midterm election field and get Democrats and independents to be slightly more enthused than they normally would be in a midterm election, Pamela.

BROWN: All right. And I want to get to our Chief National Affairs Analyst Kasie Hunt now. What's so interesting about that excerpt now that Jeff Zeleny just talked about, about MAGA Republicans and what the president is going to say, is that he is not backing down, clearly, from his comments earlier, calling them semi-fascist, even though there was a lot of Republicans criticizing him, even at least one Democrat.

[18:20:16]

He's doubling down, in fact, on that criticism, Kasie.

KASIE HUNT, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL AFFAIRS ANALYST: He is, Pamela. And it's very interesting to me in part because there have been examples where attacks like this have backfired in the past on both Democrats and Republicans, instances where one side lumped the other's voters into a category. That's often been an easy way to energize people. And you saw a little bit of that when the president first took office and he talked about ultra-MAGA people.

But I think we also have evolved into a slightly different moment here and I think the White House and certainly some Democratic and Republican strategists I talk to see an opening for the White House here because, in the course of January 6th, in the course of many of the issues that we're talking about now, like abortion, for example, there is an opportunity, a political opportunity, to separate out some of the people who are willing to support some of the things that the former president, Trump, has advocated, including some of his rhetoric and actions on January 6th, for example, from independent voters in particular, and Republican voters, the few of them that are unwilling to vote for President Trump. There are some out there, if not, the majority of the party, of course. So, you know, I think they're clearly making a calculation that this is not something that's going to alienate the independent voters that are likely to make the most difference here in the midterm election.

Now, the flipside of that, of course, is also they want to energize the Democrats. And that's one of the key differences that we're seeing, especially in the wake of the Dobbs decision. The Democrats are just more excited than they were to get out and vote in the midterms.

BROWN: All right. Kasie Hunt, Jeff Zeleny, Phil Mattingly, thank you all so much. And, of course, CNN will be carrying that speech live from President Biden 8:00 P.M. Eastern Time tonight. And just ahead for you, the hearing on former President Trump's request for a special master in the Mar-a-Lago. We're going to talk to a key member of the House Intelligence Committee and get his reaction to Trump's legal team comparing highly classified documents to overdue library books.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[18:25:00]

BROWN: Some interesting arguments from former President Trump's lawyers as they seek a special master to review the classified documents the FBI found and took from his Mar-a-Lago estate.

Joining us now is Democratic Congressman Raja Krishnamoorthi of Illinois, a member of the Intelligence and Oversight Committees. Hi, congressman, nice to have you on the show.

So, at this key hearing today, a lawyer for the former president compared these highly classified documents to overdue library books. What is your reaction to that?

REP. RAJA KRISHNAMOORTHI (D-IL): I've never seen an overdue library bookmarked top secret, and certainly I've never seen a library book that was subject to a subpoena where the person receiving it refused to comply. And that's exactly what you have here. You have 320 classified documents required, basically recovered by the FBI, in the possession of President Trump at Mar-a-Lago, that he refused to turn over for months. And that is nothing akin to an overdue library book situation.

BROWN: This federal judge said that she is now considering releasing a more detailed inventory of what was taken from Mar-a-Lago during that FBI search. What would you be looking for from that document?

KRISHNAMOORTHI: Well, you know, I think that it would be interesting to know in more detail, you know, what was in those boxes of documents. Obviously we have to make sure that national security is preserved and I suspect that a lot of it will still be redacted. But some of it won't be. And I think what you'll probably see is a lot of comingling of classified documents with all kinds of personal papers and so forth, which apparently was happening even in the president's desk.

BROWN: Yes. I mean, that's what the FBI says and that there were at least three classified documents in one of the desks in the president's office.

It's interesting to note, though, Congressman, that Trump's lawyers are not repeating his claim that he declassified these documents, but does that make a difference here in terms of the national security risks of such highly sensitive material?

KRISHNAMOORTHI: No, it doesn't. And they could not possibly make that claim for at least two reasons. One, at the time that the lawyers met with -- lawyers from the DOJ met with the lawyers for Trump, executive privilege was not asserted, nor did they claim that there was some broad declassification order that was made with regard to those documents. And if you look at those documents, they're all marked as classified. And, clearly, they didn't say, this has recently been declassified or showing any indicia of that.

And, finally, with regard to the statutes, they make no mention of classification. If you are wrongfully withholding, concealing or removing documents, especially related to defense information, which is the case under the Espionage Act, that is a complete crime in and of itself.

BROWN: Are you encouraged to hear this judge that say that she may allow the intelligence community's damage assessment to continue even if the prosecutor's work is paused?

KRISHNAMOORTHI: That's right. I think that I would be concerned about that. I think that, you know, you need to have them simultaneously occurring. And I hope that they find a way to accommodate that.

BROWN: Taking a step back here though, I mean, look, this is remarkable how much the Justice Department has revealed about this investigation through their filings, through the hearing today. From what we've seen so far, do you see evidence of potential crimes?

[18:30:00]

KRISHNAMOORTHI: Well, I think that the development of the fact pattern with regard to the obstruction of justice is very interesting. As you can see from the Justice Department's response with regard to the special master issue, apparently, when they went to Mar-a-Lago in- person, they were handed a red weld of papers of something like 38 classified documents. And at that time, they were not allowed to go to the storage room. They were not allowed to look through the boxes of documents for other classified materials. And so, that just leads them to have more suspicions, especially when they go back and they find 100 classified documents intermingled among all these boxes.

You know, the lawyers for Trump specifically said that they conducted a diligent search and there were no remaining classified documents at the time of their meeting with the Justice Department lawyers. So, it looks really -- it looks really fishy.

BROWN: Yes, a lot of questions about that, why the lawyer would certify the point of contact for the Archives, the records, would certify that they're -- all the classified documents have been turned over and then the FBI would go months later and find more than 100 classified documents. We really haven't heard much of an explanation about that from the Trump side.

Congressman Raja Krishnamoorthi, thank you so much for joining us.

KRISHNAMOORTHI: Thank you, Pamela.

BROWN: And just ahead, call it evolving or retiring? Any way you spin it, tennis legend Serena Williams shocked fans with her thrilling win last night. And there's much more ahead. We're going to break down her storied career with Patrick McEnroe, up next. Stick around.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[18:35:00]

BROWN: Tennis great Serena Williams showed U.S. Open fans she isn't done yet, pulling out a stunning singles win last night.

CNN's Athena Jones reports on the jaw-dropping upset against the second best tennis player in the world and likely the last professional tournament of her storied career.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ATHEN JONES, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice over): A huge upset. Serena Williams advancing to the U.S. Open's third round after defeating world number two Anett Kontaveit in three sets.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Is this really 2022? She's really almost 41.

JONES: but for a legend, often called the greatest of all time, perhaps not so stunning.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You just beat the number two player in the world. How did you do it?

SERENA WILLIAMS, 23-TIME GRAND SLAM CHAMPION: Well, I'm a pretty good player.

JONES: After falling to last year's Open winner in Cincinnati just weeks ago, few expected to see vintage Serena flashing and dashing across the court in what is likely to be her final tournament. Once seemingly invincible, Williams struggling at times looking down and out in the second set, but still swift with her signature ace.

ANETT KONTAVEIT, RANKED WORLD NUMBER 2: She played a very good third set I thought. She was returning better. She was playing the rallies better.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I think what you're getting now is somebody who has had finally a couple matches under their belt, and she remembers really easily what it's like to win a lot of matches. And I think she's just tapped into the old Serena right now.

JONES: Not yet ready to take her final bow on tennis' biggest stage.

WILLIAMS: It's no rush here. I'm just -- I'm loving this crowd. And, oh, my goodness, it's really fantastic. So, there's still a little left in me. We'll see the next -- we'll see.

JONES: Amid the ceremony and the celebration, another star studded stadium at capacity, Williams says she has nothing to prove and nothing to lose.

WILLIAMS: Yes, I feel like, you know, everything is a bonus. And I feel like I've already won, you know, figuratively and mentally. And, you know, it's just pretty awesome, the things that I've done.

JONES: Sharing this about Tiger Woods, a fellow sports legend, who also went pro in the 1990s.

WILLIAMS: He's one of the reasons I'm here, one of the main reasons I am still playing.

JONES: Williams meets another 20-something rival, unseated Ajla Tomljanovic, Friday night.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's going to be a huge moment no matter the outcome.

JONES: Hoping to top off her career with a win at the same place her 23 Grand Slam run began.

REPORTER: Can you win this tournament and are you any more convinced of that based on how you played tonight?

WILLIAM: I cannot think that far. I don't --

(END VIDEOTAPE)

JONES (on camera): And Serena is teaming up with her sister, Venus, tonight for their first round doubles match. The pair last competed together at the French Open in 2018, and they last won a U.S. Open doubles title back in 2009. Whatever happens tonight, you can bet that all eyes will be back on center court tomorrow night to see how far Serena Williams will go. Pamela?

BROWN: All right, Athena Jones, you're right about that. Thanks so much.

Let's bring in ESPN Tennis Commentator Patrick McEnroe and CNN Sports Analyst Christine Brennan. Hi to you both. So much excitement ahead for us, right, tonight with the doubles match and again and then, of course, the singles match, again, with Serena.

Patrick, starting with you, you witnessed yet another Serena Williams victory first hand last night. Take us inside that stadium. Describe that energy for us.

[18:40:00]

PATRICK MCENROE, ESPN TENNIS COMMENTATOR: Where, Pamela, first of all, it's great to be on with you and the great Christine Brennan. You know, Serena Williams has done it all, as she said, as you heard in that piece, lean into this. And she has nothing to prove. She's the greatest of all time. And I've been lucky enough, Pamela and Christine, to have been in that stadium behind me for some of the all- time matches with some of the all-time greats, Sampras, Agassi, Serena, when she played Capriati against her sister, Venus, Djokovic, Federer, Federer against Nadal, against Djokovic. There was nothing, I'm telling you, nothing that I've heard like I heard last night inside that stadium for a second round match, okay? It was blown off the roof with the energy of the crowd. We're seeing Serena Williams, the greatest of all time, have to fight, have to scrap, have to claw, have to struggle.

And that's part of what makes this so intriguing, to watch her, not at her best, not the greatest of all time, but someone that has this incredible passion and energy to put it all on the line one more time. When the tournament started, Pamela, I would have said, no way can Serena go all the way. Now, maybe just maybe one more run left in her to win that elusive 24th singles title.

BROWN: Yes, she likes to keep us on our toes, Christine Brennan. And now I think a lot of people might be wondering what Patrick just said. Could she? Will she, right?

In that post-match interview, Williams talked about how fun it is to play now that she just has nothing to lose, after feeling like she had an X on her back for more than 20 years. Has that made all the difference? What do you think?

CHRISTINE BRENNAN, CNN SPORTS ANALYST: I do think that, Pamela, Patrick, no one better than you to analyze tennis, that's for sure, and I do. And, you know, I've covered -- I've been so fortunate, Pamela, to cover her career for the length of her career. I was at the '99 U.S. Open covering that 17-year-old Serena Williams winning the first of the 23 Grand Slam titles she has.

And I would not have expected her to go there last night. But that's what she said. She started talking about the X on her back. She said that she really hasn't had this feeling of not having people going for her and trying to beat her since before '99, since '98. And so she is playing tennis in a different manner than she has before. She is much freer. She is having more fun. And that's what we're seeing, this reckless abandon of Serena. How far she can take it, we'll see. But so far, it is a magical run.

BROWN: It certainly is. It's working in her favor, that's for sure, and she seems to be truly enjoying it, as she deserves. Christine Brennan, Patrick McEnroe, thank you both.

And coming up, are two of former President Trump's most lawyers in the Mar-a-Lago case facing potential legal jeopardy themselves, right after this break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[18:45:00]

BROWN: Just in to CNN, new developments in the January 6th investigation. The House select committee is now seeking voluntary cooperation from former House Speaker Newt Gingrich.

CNN Political Correspondent Sara Murray is on the story for us. So, what more can you tell us, Sara?

MURRAY: That's right, Pam. There is a new letter from the committee tonight seeking, as you said, voluntary cooperation from Newt Gingrich, prominent Republican, former House speaker. What they say in their letter is that they want to learn more about communications Gingrich had with senior advisers to Trump's campaign, people including Jared Kushner and Jason Miller. They say that they have some kind of communications showing that Gingrich was in touch with these folks and getting input about television ads that repeated false claims about the 2020 election.

They point to some correspondents in this that they say shows that Gingrich was emailing about trying to arouse the country's anger. They are basically saying, like you are not sharing this information to try to give legitimate input into this advertising. You are trying to gin up anger based on false claims about the 2020 election.

Now, we, of course, are going to reach out to the former speaker to see how he's taking this letter. But, of course, we're seeing a lot of pushback from a number of these witnesses when it comes to the committee.

BROWN: It certainly has. All right, Sara Murray, thanks for bringing us the latest on that breaking news.

Also ahead for you tonight, there is new scrutiny of two of former President Trump's lawyers who worked with federal investigators looking into classified material being held at Trump's Mar-a-Lago estate.

CNN's Brian Todd is working that part of the story for us. So, there are some serious questions, Brian, about a sworn statement signed by one of the attorneys.

BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's right, Pamela, questions over whether that statement could get that attorney and another Trump lawyer charged with obstruction of justice or making false statements to the government. It's putting the former president's overall legal representation at serious risk at a critical moment in this case.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

TODD (voice over): Potential legal trouble tonight for two of Donald Trump's trusted lawyers in the Mar-a-Lago document case.

JEFFREY JACOBOVITZ, CRIMINAL DEFENSE ATTORNEY: They could be charged with false statements to the government and they can be charged with obstruction.

TODD: That refers to Trump attorneys Christina Bobb and Evan Corcoran and questions over whether one or both of them misled investigators about sensitive documents held at Mar-a-Lago.

Two sources familiar with the matter tells CNN Bobb signed a letter on June 3rd at Mar-a-Lago claiming all materials requested in a subpoena had already been handed over to the Justice Department. But this week in a court filing, the Justice Department said, quote, classified documents remained at the premises, notwithstanding the sworn certification made to the government on June 3rd.

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The New York Times reports that Evan Corcoran also met with a justice official at Mar-a-Lago on June 3rd.

JENNIFER RODGERS, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: Well, it's pretty bad as far as their legal jeopardy and for their continuing to represent the former president.

TODD: A couple of months after Christina Bobb signed that letter, FBI agents searched Mar-a-Lago. They found over a hundred more classified documents. But a key passage in Bobb's June 3rd letter when she claimed all the documents had already been turned over said, quote, the above statements are true and correct to the best of my knowledge. What if Bobb and/or Evan Corcoran didn't know classified documents remained at Mar-a-Lago?

Is that an out?

JACOBOVITZ: Well, that's an interesting question because that makes them both a witness. And that's their best scenario to be witnesses and cooperate with the government. Because then they could say, we didn't have the intent to deceive anybody. This is what we were told.

TODD: But in its filing this week, the Justice Department said that during that June meeting at Mar-a-Lago, Trump's lawyers did not let justice officials search boxes in a storage room there. A key question is whether Donald Trump directed his lawyers to mislead investigators.

RODGERS: If Donald Trump is the one made the representations to Ms. Bobb, she's now a witness against him. So, she now has to obviously get off of the case, can no longer represent him. And she, if this goes forward with a criminal case, she would certainly be called in order to testify about what the former president told her.

TODD: A recent complaint filed by Evan Corcoran and other Trump lawyers says the former president and his team provided, quote, complete cooperation.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

TODD (on camera): CNN has reached out multiple times to Christina Bobb and Evan Corcoran for comment. We have not heard back. Donald Trump has denied any wrongdoing in the Mar-a-Lago investigation, calling it, quote, the weaponization of the justice system. Pamela?

BROWN: Brian Todd, thank you so much for that report. And we should note that Trump's attorneys in court today, they could have provided some explanation for that. They did not. All right, thanks so much.

Up next, newly released police body cam video shows an officer fatally shooting an unarmed black man in his own bed.

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BROWN: Just in, a CDC advisory committee has given a green light to updated COVID-19 boosters designed to target the latest omicron subvariants of the virus. Now, when CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky signs off on this recommendation, the updated vaccines will be available to Americans just within a matter of days.

Well, police in Columbus, Ohio, have released body cam video showing an officer fatally shooting an unarmed black man in his bed. Police say officers thought the victim had something in his hands. It turned out to be a vape pen.

CNN's Omar Jimenez has this report which contains disturbing video.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

OMAR JIMENEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): It started with an early morning knock at the door and Columbus police officers preparing to serve a felony warrant for domestic violence, assault and improper handling of a firearm.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Columbus police, we're not leaving. We know you are inside.

CHIEF ELAINE BRYANT, COLUMBUS DIVISION OF POLICE: It should be noted that they spent eight to ten minutes knocking on the door.

JIMENEZ: A man eventually opened the door. He and another person inside were detained. But a third, who ended up being the target of the warrant, was believed to be behind this door.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We're going to send that dog in.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He's got something in his hand.

JIMENEZ: The something in his hands didn't turn out to be a weapon, police say, but a vape pen was found next to him on the bed. 20-year- old Donovan Lewis was later pronounced dead. He was shot by Officer Ricky Anderson, a 30-year veteran with the department, who has been placed on leave pending an ongoing state investigation.

In less than a week, this was the third police-involved shooting in Columbus, this being the only fatal one but also the latest in a number of controversial shootings in recent years going back to December 2020.

Casey Goodson Jr. was shot and killed by a deputy looking for violent offenders at the time, but not him. That deputy was indicted on two counts of murder and one count of reckless homicide.

Later that month, an officer shot and killed Andre Hill as police responded to a report of a man sitting in his SUV. That officer fire and charged with murder.

And in April last year, 16-year-old Ma'Kiah Bryant was shot and killed when video showed her lunging at another woman with a knife. The officer wasn't indicted.

MAYOR ANDREW GINTHER (D-COLUMBUS, OH): The last few years have been challenging for a variety of reasons, not the least of which is balancing the need for public safety with the need for police reform. JIMENEZ: It's part of why the U.S. Department of Justice launched an ongoing review into the police department. But for Donovan Lewis' family, it doesn't change him being gone.

REX ELLIOT, DONOVAN LEWIS FAMILY ATTORNEY: How many more lives are going to be lost to this type of reckless activity? There was no justification, let me be clear, no justification for Officer Anderson to shoot an unarmed man trying to get out of bed as police officers were instructing him to do.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

JIMENEZ (on camera): Now, the attorneys for the shooting officer put out a statement saying they sympathize with the loss of life, but also, we must look to the totality of the circumstances, because unlike all of us, officers are not afforded the luxury of armchair reflection when they are faced with rapidly evolving, volatile encounters and dangerous situations.

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