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New Evidence in Menendez Brothers Case; Musk's $75M Super PAC Donation; Harris and Trump Ramps up Interviews; Trump Declares Himself "Father of IVF"; New Jan. 6 Filing from Special Prosecutor. Aired 10:30-11a ET

Aired October 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]

MARIA CARDONA, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR AND DEMOCRATIC STRATEGIST: -- capable of dealing with a global pandemic. And then again, let's remember what the Harris campaign is doing today, he ripped babies from the arms of their mother as a way to try to keep them from coming here. A huge, huge, cruel, inhumane policy that he will do again if we let him anywhere near the Oval Office.

JIM ACOSTA, CNN ANCHOR: He has talked about it having mass deportations in this country, and as a matter of fact, they're waving signs that said mass deportations at the Republican Convention over the summer. Maria, I know we'll be back in touch with you in the next hour. Thanks so much for breaking that down for us, this event from the Harris campaign. We appreciate it.

CARDONA: Thank you, Jim.

ACOSTA: Coming up Donald Trump has declared himself the, quote, "the father of IVF." Those are words from him. How will Trump's new self- proclaimed title sit with women voters? We'll discuss with our panel coming up. Stay with us.

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[10:35:00]

ACOSTA: Today, the family of Erik and Lyle Menendez will hold a news conference calling for the brother's release from prison nearly 35 years after the pair admitted to fatally shooting their mother and father prosecutors are reviewing new evidence in the case. It's a letter Erik allegedly wrote to his cousin eight months before the 1989 murders. Erik claimed his father, Jose, was still raping him. That abuse was central to the brother's claim of self-defense.

Quote, this is the letter, "I've been trying to avoid dad. It's still happening, but it's worse for me now," end quote. The case fascinated America three decades ago and has returned to pop culture thanks to a documentary on Netflix. The long-imprisoned brothers describe an abusive relationship with their father that drove them to kill.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) ERIK MENENDEZ: He loved us, but he believed that love needed to be earned. So, to be loved by him, we had to be worthy of that love, and often that meant going through pain. The belief that I would go to college to get away from what was happening with my father was the most important thing in my life. It drove everything I did.

So, when it was taken from me, when my father told me, no, that you are not getting away from me. It was, up until that moment, the most devastating moment of my life.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ACOSTA: And CNN's Jean Casarez joins us now. I mean, Jean, this documentary is fascinating. It has focused a lot of attention on this case. You and I were talking about this during the break, which was a blockbuster case back in the late '80s. What's your take on everything and why this is happening now?

JEAN CASAREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, it's fascinating. And first of all, legally speaking the defense for the Menendez brothers filed a writ of a petition for habeas corpus last year asking for them to be released. And they included what they say was new evidence.

Now, George Gascon, who is running for re-election as the district attorney of Los Angeles, has really taken this and made it front and center in his re-election efforts. He's saying, we are going to look at the case, but a lot of people feel his demeanor and how he's speaking out is that he's advocating for the release.

Now, it involves new evidence, Gascon says. Well, this is potential new evidence of a letter, and I say potential because a judge determines if it's going to be new evidence or not, not discoverable at trial, would it affected the jury's decision? But it's a letter that Erik Menendez allegedly wrote to his cousin they say eight months before they were murdered, but the letter isn't dated at all, saying that, my dad is -- continues to do this. I'm scared he's going to come into my bedroom again. And that is the evidence.

But also, Gascon is talking about that his platform is progressive in regard to rehabilitation. There's a law in California with rehabilitation. You can be let out. But we've got to remember, the jury convicted them of premeditated first degree murder. Two life sentences here, the mother and the father, because they went to San Diego finally to get the guns. They talked about it for a long time that they wanted to murder them. And they literally shot their heads off. They plummeted them with bullets, according to the legal transcript.

Now, you just put on the screen, let's look at some of this letter right here. That is the potential new evidence. Erik writes to his cousin, I never know when it's going to happen, and it's driving me crazy. Every night I stay up thinking he might come in. I need to put it out of my mind. I know what you said before, but I'm afraid. You just don't know dad like I do. He's crazy.

And now, George Gascon said this morning, when asked, is this part of the Netflix documentary, why you're doing this? Listen to his response on Good Morning America.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GEORGE GASCON, LOS ANGELES COUNTY DISTRICT ATTORNEY: If you think that Netflix is somewhat conspiring with me to release this documentary that they have been working on for years, let me just put it this way, there would have been a much easier path to being elected and getting re-elected than the path that I have taken.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CASAREZ: So, the family wants them home by Thanksgiving. The presser from the family is this afternoon. We've got to see what happens because this will have to go before a judge.

ACOSTA: Fascinating. All right, Jean Casares, thank you very much. We're going to keep our eyes on that. And let's continue this conversation about all of this, joining me now is CNN Legal Analyst Jennifer Rodgers. She's a former federal prosecutor.

Jen, I mean, what do you think? How likely is it that we might see a resentencing in this case or a release of the Menendez brothers?

JENNIFER RODGERS, CNN LEGAL ANALYST AND FORMER FEDERAL PROSECUTOR: I think it's pretty likely, Jim. I mean, I think we'll see the resentencing. Of course, the issue is with the judge as to whether the sentence will be changed or not.

[10:40:00]

But, you know, this is all part of a trend in conviction, integrity, where D.A.s around the country are taking a look at old convictions to see whether there's new evidence, whether mistakes were made, misconduct, and in this case, it's a resentencing.

So, some D.A.'s offices, including L.A., are saying, listen, when a case is old, when the person has been in prison for a long time, we're willing to look again and see if the sentence that was imposed at the time still makes sense today.

And so, you know, I think that this is a good thing that some D.A.'s are willing to look at sentences again. There are criteria here. The criteria are met in this case. So, really, the D.A. just has to decide, is there enough for me to make the motion? And then it's the judge actually who will say, I sentenced them at the time, I gave them life in prison. If I knew then what I know now, including how they've behaved in prison, by the way, what kind of prisoners they've been, if they've had disciplinary problems or not, would I give them that same sentence?

I think it's part of a positive trend to look now and say, you know, maybe we got it wrong or just that things have changed. So, I think that they probably will get the shot at resentencing and then the judge will decide.

ACOSTA: Interesting. And the actress Rosie O'Donnell has been a long- time advocate for the Menendez brothers. She said she spoke to both of them after talking to their attorney, Mark Geragos. And here's what she shared about that.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ROSIE O'DONNELL, ADVOCATE FOR MENENDEZ BROTHERS: I called them after I spoke to Mark last night about doing this appearance and I said, what's going on? And they said, we -- you know, they're hesitant to hope. After being in jail and prison for 35 years and being abused for his childhood up to that point, you know, these men don't have a lot of bandwidth to hope for what exactly happened.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ACOSTA: And apparently Kim Kardashian is also a big-name advocate for the brothers. She wrote an essay for NBC News saying, quote, "The trial and punishment these brothers received were more befitting a serial killer than two individuals who endured years of sexual abuse by the very people they loved and trusted."

Jen, it seems as though there's sort of a revisiting here of what people go through who are victims of sexual abuse and how that might be a factor in this.

RODGERS: That is part of what's happening here, Jim. I mean, this was 35 years ago. You talked with Jean about remembering the case. I was obsessed with this case when I was in law school, actually, because the first trial was televised.

You know, at the time it was thought that boys didn't really suffer sexual abuse in the same way. We also now know a lot more about how sexual abuse victims sometimes act inappropriately after these sorts of things happen. So, this evidence against the brothers, it was very damning at trial about how they were out spending money and, you know, not acting as if their parents had just been murdered, you know, that sort of thing kind of is in a new light now with what we now know abuse victims sometimes act inappropriately after something like this happens to them.

So, there's a lot that we know. And, you know, listen, if they meet the criteria, which they do, especially with this new evidence, which isn't even really necessary to all of this, but new evidence suggesting that, in fact, their defense has some actual evidentiary value, I think the judge should take a look at it.

And listen, he can weigh it both sides. Should they stay in? Should they get out? Should they serve some lesser amount of time from here on out, but not life? That's all in the hands of the judge.

ACOSTA: Fascinating. All right. Jennifer Rogers, thank you so much. We appreciate it. All right. Coming up, the world's richest man making a mega donation to a pro-Trump Super PAC. Is that mega or MAGA? What this means to the former president's campaign in this final stretch. That's next.

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ACOSTA: All right. Some news about some mega MAGA money this morning. We're learning new details about massive donations to help Donald Trump's re-election bid. The Federal Election Commission says Elon Musk alone ponied up nearly $75 million to a pro-Trump Super PAC over the summer. Musk helped put that Super PAC together.

CNN's Matt Egan joins us now. Matt, this is a lot of money, but not surprising. What more are you learning?

MATT EGAN, CNN REPORTER: Well, Jim, Elon Musk, he's putting his money where his mouth is. The latest filings show that the richest person on the planet donated $75 million to a pro-Trump Super PAC just over the last three months. This is a massive cash infusion, and it's one aimed at putting Trump over the top in battleground states.

Now, Elon Musk regularly supports Trump on social media. He even appeared on the campaign trail with Trump in the must win battleground State of Pennsylvania. And it's really a stunning reversal given the rocky relationship that the two had. You know, back in 2017 when Trump was in the White House, Elon Musk, he famously quit two of Trump's business councils to protest the fact that Trump was pulling the United States out of the Paris Climate Agreement.

Trump, just two years ago, he called Musk -- and I'm abbreviating in case my kids are watching, he called Musk a BS artist, and Musk responded by calling for Trump to hang up his hat and sail into the sunset. And now, Jim, Elon Musk has emerged as one of Donald Trump's biggest backers.

ACOSTA: Yes, there's no question about it. We saw the dark MAGA hat he was wearing at that rally in Pennsylvania just a few days ago. All right. Matt Egan thanks a lot. Appreciate that update.

EGAN: Thanks, John.

[10:50:00]

ACOSTA: And with less than three weeks until Election Day, Former President Donald Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris are in a race to expand their appeal. This evening, Harris will sit down with Fox for her first interview with the network as the Democratic nominee. This comes after Trump taped a Fox town Hall yesterday with an audience of all women. He told them he's the, quote, "father of IVF."

Let's discuss with Democratic strategist and former senior adviser to president Biden's 2020 campaign, Alencia Johnson and political strategist and former spokesperson for the Republican National Madison Gesiotto.

Madison, let me start with you first. What do you make of Trump saying that he's the father of IVF?

MADISON GESIOTTO, FORMER SPOKESPERSON, REPUBLICAN NATIONAL COMMITTEE: You know, this is an issue that he's really championed in recent months. Hearing criticism, I think, from his base, from many women in the Republican Party who have suffered with fertility issues, who have had to go to IVF to start their families at the Republican Party.

I think we want to hear more pro-family policies, and this is what I think many Republicans view as being a pro-family policy. So, not only did he get on board with really pushing and talking more about IVF, but he made his policy push, I think, back in August, saying that not only should we support IVF, but we want to make sure that's funded, you know, through insurance policies or through Medicaid.

ACOSTA: Yes. Alencia, what do you think of that, Trump making this claim about being the father of IVF?

ALENCIA JOHNSON, DEMOCRATIC STRATEGIST: Literally, Donald Trump cares nothing about women and women being able to have a pregnancy that they are self-determined to have or have decisions over their bodies. Listen, he is only saying what he needs to say in order to win.

Again, we have to remember, this is the person who bragged about appointing the justices that overturned Roe v. Wade. He has, you know, said that women should be criminalized for exercising their right to decide what happens to their pregnancy.

So, Donald Trump cares nothing about women. He doesn't care anything about families. He literally just wants to win. And this is smoke and mirrors because we know the devastating policies that he believes in and especially J. D. Vance if they should get into the White House.

ACOSTA: And, Madison, I do want to talk about Trump's appearance yesterday with the -- that economic event in Chicago where he spoke with the editor of Bloomberg. He sidestepped a question on committing to a peaceful transfer of power. Let's listen to that. Talk about on the other side.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Will you commit now to respecting and encouraging a peaceful transfer of power?

DONALD TRUMP, FORMER U.S. PRESIDENT AND REPUBLICAN PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Well, you had a peaceful transfer of power. It was love and peace. And some people went to the Capitol and a lot of strange things happened there.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ACOSTA: Yes. I mean, that isn't true what he said there. I mean, Madison, why does he try to maintain there was a peaceful transfer of power when we all saw with our own eyes that wasn't the case?

GESIOTTO: I don't think anybody looks at January 6, 2021 and thinks it was a good day, whether you're Republican or Democrat, that was an awful day. But when you look more specifically to January 20th, there was a transfer of power on that day, and now for almost four years, we've had a Biden-Harris administration as a result. And so, I think when we look past November 5th, whoever wins, there will be a peaceful transfer of power, whether that be to Donald Trump or to Kamala Harris, and we'll see what happens. Ultimately, I think it's going to come down to Pennsylvania, potentially, and maybe a few other swing states.

ACOSTA: Yes. I mean, I was with Donald Trump on January 20th on Inauguration Day. He did get on Air Force One and leave and go down to Mar-a-Lago. But on January 6th, I mean, that was a violent insurrection. That was part of the transfer of power. And so, I mean, I don't think you could describe that, you know, from a factual standpoint as peaceful when we saw what took place on January 6th.

GESIOTTO: Once again, I don't think January 6th was a good day. It wasn't a peaceful day. It wasn't a day we'd ever want to see repeated in our history, but January 20th was a peaceful day, and it was a day that the power was ultimately transferred, and that's what I was speaking to.

ACOSTA: OK. Alencia, I do want to ask you about what happened down in Texas last night. Republican Senator Ted Cruz faced off in a debate against his Democratic opponent Congressman Colin Allred. Let's listen to a moment from that.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. COLIN ALLRED (D-TX): He's never there for us when we need him. When the lights went out in the energy capital of the world, he went to Cancun. On January 6th, when a mob was storming the capital, he was hiding in a supply closet. And when the toughest border security bill in a generation came up in the United States Senate, he took it down.

SEN. TED CRUZ (R-TX): Do you know what he argued for? Military bases should have drag shows and should be able to fly a transgender flag above it. Look, call me old fashioned, I think the only flag that should fly above our military base should be the American flag.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ACOSTA: You know, Alencia, I mean, that race is a little tighter than a lot of people thought. You know, Colin Allred is going after Cruz on Cancun. Could we see an upset in Texas, or is that a bridge too far? What do you think?

[10:55:00]

JOHNSON: Listen, I think everything is fair game this cycle, whether it's the presidential race, the Senate race, these ballot measures, all of them are fair game and you can tell that he was getting under Ted Cruz's skin because he was talking about -- he was stating facts. And while Ted Cruz can yell, it doesn't make his argument to be true.

And so, I think the people in Texas are looking for more options. And I will be very clear that this didn't just start with Colins, his candidacy. Obviously, there had been a lot of Democrats trying to challenge Ted Cruz and building a groundswell of people who are just saying enough is enough of these politics and shenanigans. And so, listen, the only poll and the only outcome that matters is what happens on election night.

ACOSTA: Absolutely. All right. Alencia Johnson, Madison Gesiotto, thank you so much. Appreciate it. Coming up, a brand-new filing from Special Counsel Jack Smith about January 6th. Why he says Donald Trump should be treated differently than the rioters. That's coming up in just a few moments.

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