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Trump Speaks On Illegal Immigration In Texas; George Gascon, Los Angeles D.A., Discusses Filing Resentencing Petition In Menendez Brothers Case; Nuns Fight Back After False Accusations Of Voter Fraud; Controversy After "Washington Post" Not Endorsing Presidential Candidate. Aired 2:30-3p ET

Aired October 25, 2024 - 14:30   ET

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

[14:30:00]

BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN HOST: Trump here, focusing on immigration. And it is an issue that has been central to each of his presidential campaigns. The former president, though, making some misleading remarks in his criticisms and we'll walk you through those.

Let's start with the way that he opened, talking about a decision in Virginia by a federal judge to block an attempt at the state level to purge voter roll systematically of people that are suspected of being noncitizens.

The president there not giving the full story. First of all, these are roughly 1,600 people that the state has identified as potentially not having citizenship in the United States, but yet being part of the voter rolls in Virginia.

The judge found that the order, the program to purge those folks violated a federal law that prevents systematic purges 90 days before an election. So it was more focused on the technicality rather than any evidence of wrongdoing or accusations that folks that aren't U.S. citizens are voting in federal elections.

Further, the president went deeper into accusations that jails and mental asylums are being open around the world to focus more migrants into the United States from those places.

He also notably -- and this is something that has come up as an attack in the close Senate race in Texas -- talked about transgender rights and went after his opponents on that issue.

He did say about Kamala Harris that he believes that she picked the wrong place, going to Texas, at this point in the campaign.

ALEX MARQUARDT, CNN HOST: Well, they both picked going to Texas. And they're both going there, as we we're saying, with two very different messages, reproductive rights for Harris and immigration.

And he was -- he continues to paint a very dark picture. You know, earlier, he talked about the U.S. being a garbage can, extraordinary comments. There, he was talking about the U.S. being a dumping ground, talked

about bloodshed, suffering, and death all across our lands. A very dark depiction of what's going on here in the United States.

I want to bring in our senior reporter, Daniel Dale, for a bit of a fact-check.

Daniel, what did you hear in those comments?

DANIEL DALE, CNN SENIOR REPORTER: He's saying the same false stuff about immigration over and over. Like we could do this in our sleep at this point.

He keeps telling the story about the Congo. First, it started with some bad people from the Congo arriving at the borders. It's tough to fact-check.

Then it was the Congo is emptying prisons to somehow allow criminals to come here as migrants. Now, it's the Congo actually driving people to the border, taking them here. There is no evidence for any of this.

I've repeatedly asked the Trump campaign. They cannot provide any. I've spoken to representatives of the governments of both the Democratic Republic of Congo, the neighboring Republic of Congo. They have no idea what he's talking about. So this is nonsense with obvious racial undertones.

He keeps saying that 21 million migrants have crossed the border under Biden and Harris. That is many millions too high. It's about 10 million so-called border encounters, even if you add in the estimated two million so-called got-aways, people who evaded the Border Patrol.

He's still wildly exaggerating. So it's the same claims over and over. They continue to be wrong.

SANCHEZ: Important also to differentiate on those numbers, the difference between encounters --

DALE: Yes.

SANCHEZ: -- and actual people that came in --

(CROSSTALK)

DALE: Yes, millions of those people were quickly expelled.

SANCHEZ: Exactly.

DALE: -- right after they were encountered.

SANCHEZ: And very quickly, Daniel, is there any evidence -- has there ever been any evidence that there is a large number of undocumented immigrants voting in federal elections?

DALE: No. This is a tiny, tiny, tiny problem. There was no evidence it has ever changed the outcome of any federal election in any state. SANCHEZ: More often than not, it's a clerical error with the voter rolls.

And if they did, this is the kind of crime it would be very, very easy to trace, which is why it doesn't really happen.

DALE: Its already a felony.

SANCHEZ: Yes.

DALE: Its already a felony. So there are severe punishments for something with little reward for anyone who actually tries to do it, which is why he rarely happens, right?

SANCHEZ: Daniel Dale, appreciate you walking us through that.

[14:33:52]

Stay with CNN NEWS CENTRAL. Plenty more news to come this hour. Don't go anywhere

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[14:38:34]

SANCHEZ: Los Angeles County district attorney, George Gascon, has just filed a petition asking a judge to re-sentence Erik and Lyle Menendez.

This, following the D.A.'s announcement yesterday that he would ask the court to reconsider the two brothers punishment for killing their parents more than three decades ago.

If a judge agrees, a parole board when then decide whether Erik and Lyle walk free potentially just weeks from now.

MARQUARDT: And joining us now is the district attorney of Los Angeles, George Gason, who filed that petition, saying that the Menendez brothers have paid their debt to society.

Mr. Gascon, thank you so much for being with us.

With your petition --

(CROSSTALK)

MARQUARDT: -- what do you think the likelihood is that these brothers will soon be released?

GEORGE GASCON, LOS ANGELES COUNTY DISTRICT ATTORNEY: Look, I mean, the petitioners is, under California law, basically, the judge is looking at two major components.

Number one, have they shown that they have rehabilitated during their time in prison. And number two, are they safe to be released into our community? I think the answer to both of those is the affirmative. They were

imprisoned for over 30 years, 35 almost. They actually never thought that they would get out of prison.

And even under those conditions, they continue to rehabilitate. They've not only worked on self-improvement, but they did a lot of work to help other prisoners.

And then they -- you know, they have a family waiting for them. They have a college education, one of them. They're both married. One has a 15-year-old daughter. Both of their spouses are gainfully employed. One also is a (INAUDIBLE, the other one is a practicing attorney.

[14:40:10]

So I think that the -- the two prongs that need to be -- mainly, I think to have been satisfied. And I believe that they more than likely will be re-sentenced. But again, it's up to the court.

SANCHEZ: Sir there's this letter that is a key piece central to this decision. It's a letter that one of the Menendez brothers wrote to his cousin in the months before the murders, alluding to the abuse.

We know that, throughout the trial, there was this allegation that the brothers we're trying to encourage loved ones to lie for them, to suggest through witness testimony that they we're aware of abuse that they endured.

I'm wondering with this letter, how you know it's authentic and what other evidence you might be hanging this decision on?

GASCON: No, you know, I greatly appreciate you asking this question. Because the letter actually he wrote, it's irrelevant. There are two separate petitions, if you will, that are running concurrently.

The defense filed what is called a habeas petition. A habeas petition basically says, hey, there is either evidence that should have been presented to the court that wasn't orders or there's new evidence, either one, if presented in front of a jury, the outcome of the trial may have been different. And that's a habeas petition.

And then there's, under California law, a resentencing process. And that is a prosecutor-initiated process when it's requested by a criminal defendant who has been in prison for a long time.

There's no question that the conviction was valid. They have rehabilitated. They have shown the capacity to be integrated back into our community. And if they were under 26 years of age when they committed the crime, they qualify given and the number of years they've been in prison for what is called a youthful parole.

So the process that we're following is the latter process. We're not concerned with the -- whether evidence was presented or not or whether they were letters (ph) or not.

Although, I have to tell you, I've reviewed a lot of evidence. I believe that they were -- there we're signs of molestation.

You know, there were two trials initially. The first trial, the jury hung and about half of the jury at that time wanted to give them a manslaughter conviction, which would amend that they would have been out over two decades ago. And the other part of the jury didn't.

We were seeking the death penalty. There was a second trial. We sought the death penalty again. The jury did not agree on the death penalty, but they agreed on life without the possibility of parole.

Much of the evidence that had been presented initially was not presented in the second trial. Now there were given the opportunity to provide testimony about the sexual molestation --

(CROSSTALK)

GASCON: -- but some corroboration wasn't there.

But that is not part of the process that we're currently following.

MARQUARDT: Mr. Gascon, how much do you think attention from Hollywood and celebrities played a role in this most recent decision?

GASCON: Well, I have to tell you, we have, since I've been in office, we have re-sentenced over 300 people, 28 for murder, less than 1 percent has recidivated.

We've also exonerated now 14, possibly 16 by the end of this week. So this is the work that I have been doing from the very beginning.

And those people are -- people have been in prison for decades. They have shown signs of rehabilitation. And, you know, they paid their debt to society.

The process was moving along because the petition for habeas was filed over a year ago. We just simply have a tremendous workload there. And then there was a second petition asking for re-sentencing that was filed earlier this year.

MARQUARDT: Yes.

GASCON: The habeas petition actually was coming to a hearing in November. What occurred during the second, I don't know, or third documentary, because I know there have been multiple documentaries.

MARQUARDT: Yes.

GASCON: But the more reasonable one from Netflix clearly raised a lot of -- a lot of media, a lot of public attention. We started getting slammed with a lot of requests for information.

And because of processes, that was so nearly to our conclusion, I came out publicly and said we will come up with a decision by within 10 days or so, which I did yesterday.

(CROSSTALK) GASCON: You know, I have people in my office who are against it, people that are for it.

SANCHEZ: Sure.

GASCON: I made the final petition like this way.

SANCHEZ: Yes.

Sir, one more question, if I could. Kitty Menendez's brother has made the accusation or has insinuated that this decision, in part, is coming now because you're facing a tough reelection battle in just about 11 days.

I wonder what your response to that.

GASCON: Its absolutely not the case. If that were the case, I would not have re-sentenced 300-plus people or even the exonerations that we've done.

But I understand that's his feeling and, you know, I respect that. You know, there are also about 12 members of the family that actually have been urging --a lot of people -- to get them released.

[14:45:06]

So he -- he's unique within the family.

SANCHEZ: Yes.

George Gascon, thank you so much for the time, sir. Appreciate it.

GASCON: My pleasure. Thank you. Take care.

SANCHEZ: So a bit of a pivot. Nuns are fighting back in battleground Pennsylvania after they we're falsely accused of voter fraud.

A Republican operative posted to social media that a canvas or had somehow discovered 53 voters registered at a Catholic Church on East Lake Road in Erie, Pennsylvania, and said, quote, "No one lives there."

He suggested that mail ballots cast from there would be illegal votes. The Post was made by Cliff Maloney, the founder of the Pennsylvania Chase. That quickly went viral.

But there are apparently voters at that address, 55 nuns, including our next guest, Sister Stephanie Schmidt, the prioress of the Benedictine Sisters of Erie.

Ms., thank you so much for being with us.

I know you've been waiting for a bit to come on, so we appreciate your patience.

How did you first hear about this accusation of voter fraud and what went through your mind?

STEPHANIE SCHMIDT, PRIORESS, BENEDICTINE SISTERS OF ERIE: Actually, I had a friend text me this post. I am not a follower of X or Twitter or any of that stuff.

But she texted me and, when I read it, I was first in disbelief and shock. And then when I read it again, I was outraged because they were accusing this community of voter fraud. And that is so wrong.

We have a responsibility, I thought, to speak up clearly and quickly and to defend ourselves in defending the truth. This is misinformation.

SANCHEZ: We appreciate that effort very much.

I understand you also may be considering pursuing legal action. Tell us about that.

SCHMIDT: Well, we do have a lawyer we've been in touch with. And we are waiting to see how this evolves. We're not so much interested in -- you use the terminology of fighting back. I think it would be more accurate to say we're standing up for the truth and we're speaking out for integrity.

This election, this campaign, the social media has just been filled with so many lies and so much misinformation that we've got to stop it. And we've got to encourage other people, wake up, don't believe everything you read. It's not true.

If this particular person had done his homework and his research, even a phone call here, he would have realized that this was not the case. Many people live here.

SANCHEZ: And, Ms., CNN did reach out to that gentleman, the ballot chaser, who shared the accusation on social media. Cliff Maloney declined to comment.

You kind of alluded to him there. If you could send a message to him, what would you say?

SCHMIDT: Well, we welcome guests all the time here. He would be welcome to come and meet with us and see that we are real living people.

And we would ask him to publicly correct that information, which was a lie. That he would be public in taking that back and defending the truth.

This -- this community's reputation should not be maligned by someone who doesn't even know us. It's just wrong.

SANCHEZ: And I'm wondering, is your community partisan in any particular way?

SCHMIDT: No. We are a nonpartisan group. We do not vote for a particular individual. There are 55 registered voters here. Yes. But each sister votes her conscience.

I have no idea who votes what way unless they tell me. So we are definitely nonpartisan.

SANCHEZ: Sister Stephanie Schmidt, I very much appreciate you joining us, sharing part of your afternoon with us, and your mission to fight misinformation. Thank you so much for the time.

SCHMIDT: You're most welcome. Thank you.

[14:49:37]

Stay with CNN. We're taking a quick break. We'll be right back.

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MARQUARDT: This just into CNN. The "Washington Post" editor-at-large, Robert Kagan, has confirmed that he has resigned from the newspaper. This comes after the "Washington Post" announced that it would not be endorsing a candidate for president in the 2024 election.

The Washington Post" newsroom now reporting that the decision not to endorse was made by the newspapers owner, Jeff Bezos.

CNN's media correspondent, Hadas Gold, is joining us now with more.

So, Hadas, this resignation by Kagan, perhaps just a first of more to come -- we don't know -- really does highlight just how badly this is going down with some of this stuff.

[14:54:58]

HADAS GOLD, CNN MEDIA CORRESPONDENT: Yes, it's not just a non- endorsement. There was an endorsement for Vice President Kamala Harris that was drafted that was ready to be presented to the board. That's according to a source with knowledge who tells me that there was a Harris endorsement ready to go.

Now, the "Washington Post" themselves is reporting that it was the "Washington Post" owner, Jeff Bezos, one of the richest men in the world, who ultimately spiked it.

There's a lot of anger in the newsroom. As you noted, we have our first resignation, Bob Kagan, editor-at-large, confirming to me that he is resigning as a result of this non-endorsement.

Members of the editorial board are furious. They're telling CNN that they felt blindsided. Others are questioning the timing. Why is this coming out just two weeks ahead of the election?

Marty Baron, the former editor, famous editor of the "Washington Post," tweeting, "This is cowardice. This democracy is it's casualty."

Saying, "Donald Trump will see this as an invitation to further intimidate owner Jeff Bezos and others, disturbing spinelessness at an institution famed for courage." The big question now is, why? Why did Jeff Bezos decide to spike this -- this potential endorsement? Because remember, in Marty Baron's own book, "Collision of Power."

He says that, in 2016, then-publisher Fred Ryan wanted to not make an endorsement and Jeff Bezos, according to Marty Baron, said, why wouldn't we make an endorsement? They ultimately endorsed Hillary Clinton -- Alex?

MARQUARDT: Yes. The fact that there was this endorsement already ready to go really highlighting what a last-minute decision that was. And it never goes down well in any newsroom when the owner of the business side interferes. There's much more on this story, no doubt.

Hadas Gold, thank you so much for your reporting.

And still ahead, 11 days to go, and Kamala Harris is speaking about reproductive rights with a Texas-sized backdrop and none other than Beyonce by her side. We'll be speaking about the Beyonce factor and whether the media mogul will be helping Harris win the White House.

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