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Prosecutors In Fulton County Believe Fani Willis's Vehement Testimony Was Sufficient To Overcome Motion For Disqualification; Putin Opponent Alexie Navalvy, 47, Passed Away, According To Russian Prison Service; Russia Is To Blame For Navalny's Passing, Claim Harris And Blinken; Taylor Swift Gives Family Of The Lady Shot Dead $100K On GoFundMe; Kansas City Police Released One Individual And Placed Two Teenagers Under Arrest; Roy Barnes, Former Governor Of Georgia, Spoke During Fani Willis's Hearing. Aired 10:30-11a ET

Aired February 16, 2024 - 10:30   ET

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

[10:30:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

JOHN BERMAN, CNN NEWS CENTRAL CO-ANCHOR: All right. These are live pictures from inside the Atlanta courtroom where we are waiting on a hearing to resume weighing misconduct allegations against Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis, who will not take the stand again today as we were all expecting.

Let's get to CNN Anchor and Chief Legal Analyst Laura Coates who is outside that courthouse. Laura, what exactly is happening right now?

LAURA COATES, CNN SENIOR AND CHIEF LEGAL ANALYST, FORMER FEDERAL PROSECUTOR, AND SIRIUSXM HOST, "THE LAURA COATES SHOW": You know, we are waiting for the very next witness to testify, and we are told that it will likely be Terrence Bradley. Now, who is that? He was one of the first people on the stand yesterday before that explosive testimony of D.A. Fani Willis, before the engaging testimony of Nathan Wade, and even before the former friend of Fani Willis. And former employee at the D.A.'s office talked about a romantic relationship that she said predated when Nathan Wade and Fani Willis said that it occurred.

Now remember, he was a former law partner of Nathan Wade and also somebody who represented him during his divorce proceedings. And that was the reason that he had to get off the stand because he was unwilling to break the attorney-client privilege and disclose the contacts and communications that they had.

Now, this was a point of contention, if you remember, because everything you tell someone who happens to be a lawyer does not make it privileged information. It's got to be communication that is made in furtherance of legal advice. And there is a start and normally an end date for a presentation. So, if it was outside those parameters, it's not going to be privileged.

That was the fine-tooth comb that was going through the courtroom yesterday. Trying to figure out whether it in fact would be privileged or not. And so, I suspect the delay right now is about whether him retaking the stand will simply be a repeat of what we saw yesterday when he would be unwilling to testify.

And remember, the attorney-client privilege does not belong to both the attorney and the client, it belongs to the client, and that is Nathan Wade. And when he was asked on the stand, John, if he's willing to allow that to go away, he said no. He is not going to give up the attorney-client privilege.

And here we are, America, in a waiting game, still waiting for other witnesses. But more importantly, we are waiting to see if this judge feels that they have made their case, that they can disqualify Fani Willis based on a conflict of interest.

MEYERSOHN: You know, absolutely. And thank you for putting the big picture in there, that's what it's all about. But in the immediacy, we are waiting to find out, A, if Terrence Bradley can be found to testify. B, how much of his testimony might be privileged. And C, if he's allowed to speak at all. What if anything does he know about this relationship and when it began between Fani Wills and Nathan Wade.

Laura Coates, thank you for being here. Let us know when we get any answers to any of these questions.

COATES: It's a lot of letters, John.

[10:35:00]

BERMAN: A lot going on here. We are waiting --

COATES: A lot about it.

BERMAN: -- we are waiting, in the meantime, to hear from President Biden this morning on the death of Alexei Navalny, one of Vladimir Putin's harshest critics. According to the Russian prison service, Navalny fell ill while taking a walk then died. Vice President Kamala Harris spoke on this a short time ago.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KAMALA HARRIS, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: It's terrible news, which we are working to confirm. My prayers are with his family, including his wife, Yulia, who is with us today. And if confirmed, this would be a further sign of Putin's brutality. Whatever story they tell, let us be clear, Russia is responsible. And we will have more to say on this later.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: That was the Vice President from the Munich Security Conference.

With us now from that conference, CNN Chief National Security Correspondent Alex Marquardt. Also, former CNN Moscow Bureau Chief Jill Dougherty. And Alex, I just want to start with you. We heard from the Vice President there. What else are you hearing from U.S. officials on this this morning?

ALEX MARQUARDT, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Well, John, just generally, this conference has been shocked and stunned by the news of Navalny's death, which, I think, would have been the case anyway, globally speaking. But this is a unique conference. You have so many world leaders concentrated in one place. So, when this news broke and when it was reported by official Russian sources, it just rocketed through the crowd. And it's really all anyone has been talking about since that broke just a few hours ago.

Now, Vice President Harris was essentially first out of the gate. She was kicking off this conference. Everyone looking to the U.S., you know, at a time of major stories around the world and for, essentially, Harris to reiterate the U.S.'s place on the global stage.

But she took that opportunity at the very beginning of her speech to make those comments about Navalny's death. Still calling them reports, not that that's skepticism, but certainly the U.S. wants to make their own assessment, which we have not yet heard. But making clear, John, as well, that no matter what the circumstances of his death, that it is Vladimir Putin who is personally responsible.

We have also heard from Secretary of State Antony Blinken, who I've been traveling with for the past few days. He's been meeting with world leaders throughout the course of the day. And when asked about Navalny's death, he did say that it underscores the weakness and the rot in the heart of the Russian system. Here's what he had to say earlier today in Munich.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ANTONY BLINKEN, U.S. SECRETARY OF STATE: His death in a Russian prison and the fixation and fear of one man only underscores the weakness and rot at the heart of the system that Putin has built. Russia is responsible for this. We'll be talking to many other countries concerned about Alexei Navalny, especially if these reports bear out to be true.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MARQUARDT: So, John, several big questions now in terms of the U.S. reaction. Can the U.S. impose more sanctions, enact more sanctions? Can they or their allies step up the seizures of Russian assets? But I think, you know, domestically, politically, John, one major question is, will this move the needle at all when it comes to that supplemental bill, of course, being fiercely negotiated in Congress, $60 billion that Ukraine so desperately needs. Will this death of Navalny serve as a reminder, particularly to Republicans, of the brutality of the Putin regime and the need to stand up to him? John.

BERMAN: That's a great question, Alex. It really is. And it is just a statement of fact that a lot of people who have stood up to Vladimir Putin and opposed him have ended up dead. Obviously, as we hear from U.S. leaders, we're waiting to get more information about what happened here, confirmation about what happened here.

But Jill Dougherty, do you think Vladimir Putin fears the response from around the world in any way?

JILL DOUGHERTY, CNN CONTRIBUTOR AND FORMER CNN MOSCOW BUREAU CHIEF: You know, John, I don't think on one level he cares at all what the West thinks. I mean, already he's made it very clear he believes that Russia is already at war with the West, with the United States, with Europe, with NATO, et cetera.

But on another level, I think he is very concerned about the stability of his government right now in terms of not only Navalny's death, but remember that the context of all of this is in a month, March 15, 16, 17, there will be the presidential election in Russia.

Now, there is no question that Vladimir Putin will win that unless something very unexpected happens. But that's exactly the problem, I think, for Putin. Could something unexpected happen?

[10:40:00]

And Putin is paranoid. Putin believes the West is trying to take him down, destroy his government and take over Russia.

So, if you put those factors together -- at least this is the way I look at it, if you put those factors together, I think his paranoia may make him very wary of any action by the West that he would perceive as an action against him that might affect to try to topple him or just make it impossible for him to be reelected or interfere in the election, et cetera. So, to me, this is a very unstable time in Russia and a very dangerous time, actually, domestically, politically in Russia.

BERMAN: And Jill, you've lived there. I mean, is there -- will there be any organized swell, uprising of opposition to Putin following the death of Alexei Navalny?

DOUGHERTY: Well, they're -- already on social media, you can see that there are people who are coming out in various places, in some Russian cities, in Georgia, and probably in other cities where there are significant groups of Russians who have fled recently because of the war. But in Russia, it is almost impossible to protest. I mean, you will be arrested immediately. And people have been arrested for, you know, standing there with a blank sheet of paper or liking something on social media.

So, I think that if anybody does that, they know what will happen. That does not mean that they won't do other forms of protest. Some of the video I've seen is people coming to memorials for the victims of repression over the years in Russia, Stalinist repression. That's a way to do it. But I do think that we are looking at, in Russia, and unfortunately, you know, the Russians are looking at a lot more repression.

BERMAN: Jill Dougherty, we thank you for being with us. Alex Marquardt, with so many world leaders in Munich now, we know you're pressing for more reaction there. We'll talk to you again very shortly. Thank you.

So, a big blow this morning to the Republican push to impeach President Biden. A former FBI informant now charged with lying about the president and his son Hunter's ties to Ukrainian energy company.

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[10:45:00]

BERMAN: This morning, Taylor Swift has donated $100,000 to a GoFundMe for the family of Lisa Lopez-Galvan. Lopez-Galvan was killed in the shooting at the Chiefs Super Bowl celebration rally in Kansas City. Two teenagers in custody, a third person has been released without charges.

CNN Law Enforcement Correspondent Whitney Wild is in Kansas City with the latest. Whitney, what are you learning?

WHITNEY WILD, CNN LAW ENFORCEMENT CORRESPONDENT: Well, John, the big question here is, what charges, if any, are these two juveniles who have been detained going to face? A law enforcement source tells CNN's Josh Campbell that the ballistics are going to be a major part of this. The ATF working through the bullets, the bullet fragments, as well as the shell casings to figure out which firearms that were recovered at the scene injured which patients, and further, if there are any other pieces of ballistic evidence that would suggest that one of the firearms, they did not recover here is still outstanding.

So, if they can't match all of the ballistic evidence to the firearms they have recovered, that would lead a new investigative thread where they have to go out and figure out if there is another person responsible for the shooting out there.

So, those are all the things that Kansas City Police and federal law enforcement are working through at this point. We know, fortunately, that several of the victims of this case, there were at least 29 people who were injured. Many of them have been discharged from the hospital. Sadly, John, half of the shooting victims were children. Here is one of their stories.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SAMUEL ARELLANO, SHOOTING SURVIVOR: We see people fighting. And then they pull out a gun and started shooting three times. And I dug, like -- and then one of them hit me -- it felt like getting stabbed.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WILD: John, the stories that we are hearing from the many victims, the many witnesses, the good Samaritans who jumped in at a time of crisis are simply harrowing. One of the people we've spoken with was right there as the gunfire rang out. He chased down one of the people he believed to have been involved, jumped on top of him.

There were other witnesses who described the moments leading up to this shooting. One person saying that they had heard the scuffle. Another woman saying don't do this, not here. So many more questions to answer. Law enforcement desperate for any tips that can help them bring this to justice. John.

BERMAN: It is such a tragedy. Whitney Wild, thank you for being there. Keep us posted.

So, Iowa's Caitlin Clark, good at basketball, now sealing her spot in the record books.

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[10:50:00]

BERMAN: All right. Back in Fulton County, Georgia where lawyers for District Attorney Fani Willis have called to the stand now Former Democratic governor of Georgia Roy Barnes, I believe, to testify in that testimony we believe will pertain to the qualifications of various people involved in the prosecution of Donald Trump and others in efforts to overturn the election in Georgia. They are settling into their seats.

Laura Coates is with us now as we are preparing to see Former Governor Barnes. Why? Why would we hear from Former Governor Barnes in this instance?

COATES: Well, it's so important that you ask that question because it might seem very odd to call a former governor of Georgia. But he was somebody -- as Nick Valencia is here with me now, he is somebody who actually was offered the job before Nathan Wade and turned it down.

[10:55:00]

Nick, when you think about this, what are we getting ready to hear from him? Is the reason they're asking him questions because they want to know about what was offered and not offered and why Nathan Wade got the job?

NICK VALENCIA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, sure. It gets to the core message here that Fani Willis wasn't first intending to hire Nathan Wade. This wasn't about hiring her boyfriend to try to profit. I think the state is going to put forward this reporting that we know is that it was offered to at least two people, including Roy Barnes, before Nathan Wade was approached for the job.

Roy Barnes turned this job down, Laura, because of the political circus surrounding this and because of the safety concerns surrounding this. Potentially, that's going to be part of the testimony that we'll hear in just a matter of minutes.

COATES: That's really fascinating to think about this moment. And of course, we are not hearing from Fani Willis. We are not hearing from Nathan Wade. We're not yet hearing from the witness who's a former friend of Fani Willis, talking about their romantic relationship. And we're not hearing, at all, from the former law partner of Nathan Wade, where there was a privilege issue about attorney-client privilege. We're going to continue to hear what might be said, but we're hearing now, of course, the hearing is ongoing. And the fact that this is ongoing, the fact that we're still waiting from this judge to make this ruling, means potentially that he is still waiting to hear more information, more evidence to come in about the issue of disqualification.

We're seeing someone now walking in the courtroom. Who is the person in the suit that we are now identifying, Nick?

VALENCIA: Well, we're looking at some very high-profile local individuals. Sitting right there is the head of the NAACP to the far left of the camera, the Georgia chapter here, Anthony Griggs. You also have the famed mayor of Atlanta, Shirley Franklin, and the current mayor here of Atlanta, Andre Dickens. So, some very high-profile individuals in the courtroom here today. Let's listen in.

COATES: Let's listen in.

ROY BARNES, (D) FORMER GEORGIA GOVERNOR: I do.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And can you please state your full name for the court.

BARNES: Roy Eugene Barnes. R-O-Y E-U-G-E-N-E, Barnes B-A-R-N-E-S.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Good morning, Mr. Barnes.

BARNES: Morning.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Can you tell the court a little bit about, your background as it relates to your service in the -- in public service?

BARNES: I was first elected to the state Senate in 1974 from Cobb County and I served 16 years there. And then in 1990, I ran for governor and was defeated. And two years later, I went back to the House of Representatives. I was elected to the House of Representatives and served six years until I was elected governor in 1998. And I served in that position until January of 2003.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And after serving in the position of governor, can you tell the court a little bit about what you transitioned into after your public service?

BARNES: I did exactly what I was doing before I was elected. I went back to practicing law in Marietta, Georgia with my daughter, who's now judge of the state court, and my son in law. And now we have -- I think, six or seven lawyers, Charlie Bailey (ph) back there was one of them at one time.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: OK. And, Governor Barnes, would you consider yourself a -- to be a trial lawyer?

BARNES: Yes.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: OK. BARNES: We don't write contracts or we don't write wills. All we do is try cases.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And I want to direct your attention back to 2021. Were you approached by the District Attorney of Fulton County, Fani Willis, about being a special prosecutor?

BARNES: I was. I don't do -- I don't recall the exact date. But I know it was sometime in 2021. And she asked me to come down. And I met with her and Nathan Wade and there were several other in the meeting. She asked me, since they were beginning this investigation, and she asked me if I would be interested in being special prosecutor, to which I replied that I had mouths to feed at a law office and that I could not -- I would not do that.

And also, I just had a bad -- well, I won't say bad because it happens from time to time. But I just had the FBI to report, a fellow militia trainer to me that said they were concerned that he was making threats against me. And because I was -- I thought it was because of the flag, but I asked him and he said no, it was because I was too close to the "Jews".

And I told D.A. Willis I didn't -- I had live with bodyguards for four years and I didn't like it. And I wasn't going to live with bodyguards for the rest of my life.

[11:00:00]