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Trump Brags About 1/6 Rally As "Biggest" He Ever Saw; Tuberville: Dems Want Reparations Because They "Think The People That Do The Crime Are Owed That"; New Attention On Close North Carolina Sen. Race. Aired 12:30-1p ET

Aired October 10, 2022 - 12:30   ET

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

[12:30:00]

ELIE HONIG, CNN SENIOR LEGAL ANALYST: But of course, it turns out that's not the case. As Kristen just reported, there's documents showing that these documents were packed by people around Donald Trump. And frankly, Donald Trump has acknowledged such in his public statements. He's acknowledged that he knew documents were removed from the White House and brought down to Mar-a-Lago. And all that goes to the core issue of knowledge. I guarantee you prosecutors are paying attention to that.

JOHN KING, CNN HOST: Well, prosecutors might be paying attention to these TSA. They might also listen sometimes to the former president. He was out this weekend. And he says, there's no crime here. And I want my documents back.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: No crime, you know, there's no crime. It's not a crime. And they should give me immediately back everything that they've taken from because it's mine. It's mine. They took it from me in the rain, they broke into my house.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KING: Elie, they legally served a search warrant that was issued by a federal judge on his house, they didn't break into his house, they legally served a search warrant, and they recovered what the search warrant said they could recover. But to the point where the former president says it's mine, it's mine. Is it his?

HONIG: No. Well, some of it actually is, John, a very small percentage of it. But we actually learned just on Friday now they're going through this special master process. And there are a certain narrow class of documents that DOJ and Donald Trump's team agree were personal property of Donald Trump and they are being returned to Donald Trump.

However, that is a small fraction of the total amount of documents that were seized from Mar-a-Lago. And that's not what's ultimately going to be an issue for prosecutors here. They're looking at the classified documents. They're looking at the sensitive documents, which both sides in some cases have agreed or not Donald Trump's property. So it's a little bit of a misdirection here. Some of the documents seized a small percentage were Donald Trump's, but those are the bulk of the materials. And those aren't the ones that prosecutors are focused on.

KING: Misdirection is a very important word. Let's get some of the politics now, Elie, stay with us as well. Let's get some of the past -- he talks about misdirection about, you know, chain of custody, who's documents are they, confused people, just confused people out there. Listen to Donald Trump this weekend, saying I'm under investigation, he tells his supporters, what about the other presidents?

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: When will they investigate and prosecute Bill Clinton, Hillary Clinton, George Bush had look into what took place with George Bush's father, a very nice man and the warehouse of documents and what about Barack Hussein Obama, are they under potential prosecution?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KING: This is classic Trump and misdirection in the sense that he wants to run for president again. He knows all these investigations, and we'll see where they get us substantively by then, that's a long ways off 2024. But the idea being well, they say I'm corrupt. But we're all corrupt. Every President. Where are the investigations of everybody else? This is a time tested Trump's strategy.

YASMEEN ABUTALEB, WHITE HOUSE REPORTER, THE WASHINGTON POST: Absolutely. And this is what he did right after news broke that some of the documents might have contained nuclear secrets. He said, well, Barack Obama, falsely, of course, said Barack Obama took documents containing information about nuclear secrets. What about him? He took 30 million records all this sort of made up stuff. So I think he's trying to distract or normalize what what's happened to him and politicize the FBI, that they're only going after him but they haven't gone after previous presidents for similar crimes, misdemeanors, whatever you want to call it, which is obviously not true.

But like you said, it is misdirection and trying to confuse his supporters and distract from what it is actually happened. Because when this first happened, you know, everyone thought this would be good for Trump. And then of course, the details came out and it's been very damaging.

KING: We now going back to the earliest days of the Trump presidency, that he obsesses about crowds, crowds, I want you to listen to this obsession about a crowd and connect the dots.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: The biggest crowd I've ever seen, January 6th. And you never hear that as the biggest. And they were there, they were there largely to protest a corrupt and rigged and stolen election.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KING: He's proud of the big crowd on January 6th, part of that crowd attack the United States Government, injured, brutally beat police officers, threatened the Vice President of the United States. He's proud of that crowd.

TIA MITCHELL, WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT, ATLANTA JOURNAL-CONSTITUTION: Yes. And of course, he's -- he would say he's referencing the crowd that preceded the riot. But I think it goes to show that his priorities are on something that's not really rooted in policy governing, not rooted in the truth often it's rooted in, you know, just kind of self-satisfying behavior, kind of it's, you know, it's just not necessarily what we thought we would see from a former president, but this is classic Donald Trump.

JONATHAN MARTIN, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: Well, and the story for hour with Trump is not him, it's everybody around him. We know Donald Trump cares more about crowd size than anything else. But the -- what's more telling me is that it's October 22nd, he's giving that speech after being impeached twice leaving office in disgrace and the statewide candidates in the states are still showing up with him because there's more of a penalty politically in their minds for not showing up then standing with him and that to me is the bigger reveal about the state of his party and what he's done to his party. We know who Donald Trump is. What the tell is here is how he has reshaped one of our two parties in this country.

[12:35:15]

KING: Well, to that point, when we come back, Donald Trump sometimes shares the stage at his rallies, next to Republican senator says Democrats are pro crime, then came a racist rant.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KING: Republican Senator Tommy Tuberville was a featured speaker at a Trump rally in Nevada this weekend. Listen here, the Alabama Republicans very racist take on the issue of crime.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

[12:40:02]

SEN. TOMMY TUBERVILLE (R-AZ): The Democratic Party they have majority, they could stop this crime today they said -- some people say, well, they're soft on crime. Now they're not soft on crime, they're pro crime, they want crime. They want crime because they want to take over what you got. They want to control what you have. They want reparation, because I think the people that do the crime are owed that --. They're not owed that.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KING: Our great report is still here at the table. You would think we might be discussing that because he says Democrats are pro crime, but then he goes on to finish, they want to give money, reparations is about giving money to people who commit crimes. That's not what the reparations debate is about at all.

MITCHELL: It's not only not what the debate is about at all, but it equates black people to crime, which is a racist stereotype. And I think when you ask, we always hear Republicans saying, well, why are black people so beholden to the Democratic Party, the Democratic Party has failed over and over again, to deliver for black voters. And we know black voters are frustrated. But what's the alternative? And when you look at speeches like this from Republicans that have not been denounced by other Republicans, then you see why black people do not by and large, do not feel the Republican Party is where they can turn for good representation.

KING: And you make a key point where are the, you know, why don't I have a stack in here of Republicans saying I just wholeheartedly disagree. That was horrible. Tuberville should apologize, period.

MARTIN: Yes, it's now midday Monday. These comments were Saturday night. That to me is the story at this point is that this stuff is normalized that the former president has done and said so much over the years that we're almost in nerd to this kind of rhetoric. But that's an outrageous thing to say. And for the fact that we're two days later it's not been denounced, reminds me of the old Bob Dole line, where is the outrage?

KING: Where is the outrage? And Don Bacon, a Republican from a tough district in Nebraska was on Meet the Press Sunday, and he was asked about it. Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. DON BACON (R-NE): I wouldn't say it the same way. But there is a problem in our country with crime. Major cities have seen a 40 to 50 percent increase in violent crime and the primary reason, and my view is we have these far left prosecutors, county attorneys and mayors who are releasing violent criminals back on the street.

KRISTEN WELKER, NBC NEWS ANCHOR: Do you feel as though those comments cross racial line, Congressman, do they cross the racial line?

BACON: I'm not going to say he's being racist. But I wouldn't use that language. Be more polite.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KING: Again, it's a punt. I mean -- in defensive Congressman Bacon, he didn't say this. But he's a Republican who's booked on a television show. And he gets asked about it. And he says, you know, I wouldn't say it the same way. I'm not going to say he's racist, I would use that language. How about that's reprehensible?

ABUTALEB: This should be a pretty easy thing to condemn and say that was wrong, he should issue an apology. You can make the crime argument without being racist. And this was overtly racist. He didn't say, you know, we have a crime problem in this country. It's gone up however much percent over the last two years, a lot of Republicans are making that argument across the country pretty successfully. He -- go ahead. MITCHELL: And I was just going to say black voters are concerned about crime. We know that by and large, black people tend to live in lower income neighborhoods that have higher crime issues. Crime is a concern for black voters, but addressing it by equating black people with crime, that's not going to resonate with black people.

KING: No, it's outwardly racist. And again, it's a platform the former president of the United States. He determines, he decides who speaks at his rallies.

MARTIN: Right. And the fact that we're showing that Don Bacon clip, and that that's the quote that I've seen in stories is such a tell. He just happened to be on a show yesterday. And so that's the clip that were here, he's a congressman from Nebraska. Where is the 50 U.S. senators who are happened to be Republicans, the other 49 I should say. Well, why don't you have a comment from them if not on television, at least a paper statement in your hand, it's just -- it's remarkable to me that none of them have said a word.

KING: That's pretty simple. What the Senator said was reprehensible. He should apologize. It's not a hard one. Take that pretty quick.

[12:44:19]

Up next for us, the toss up Senate race that gets mostly overlooked.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KING: Look now at a Senate race that just simply is not getting the attention it deserves. It is in North Carolina where Democrat Cheri Beasley is in a very tight race with Republican Ted Budd. Beasley is a former State Supreme Court Chief Justice, Budd is a Republican congressman. The two candidates faced off in a debate Friday night.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. TED BUDD (R-NC), SENATE CANDIDATE: Joe Biden is on the ballot on November 8th. And he goes by the name this year of Cheri Beasley because she would be an absolute rubber stamp for everything that's led to this country being on the wrong track.

CHERI BEASLEY (D-NC), SENATE CANDIDATE: The President and Congress could work a whole lot harder to make sure that prices are being lowered. And Congressman Budd has been there for six years and so he's partly to blame as well.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KING: Two North Carolina campaign veterans join us now to discuss this fascinating race, the former RNC Communications Director Doug Heye and Morgan Jackson. He's the chief political advisor to North Carolina's Democratic governor. Morgan, let me start with you. You say here, well you remember Obama carried North Carolina the first time because of historic African-American turnout in 2008. Do you believe with an African American woman at the top of the ticket it is possible, correct? [12:50:09]

MORGAN JACKSON, CHIEF POLITICAL ADVISER TO GOV. ROY COOPER: I do. Listen, I think is one of the things nobody's talking about in this race is we talk about this race. Nobody is talking about it nationally. This is the first time in 26 years that an African- American has led the ticket in North Carolina, the first time ever that an African-American female has led the ticket. The last African- American to lead the ticket North Carolina was Harvey Gantt in 1996. And so I think, as we've see historical candidacies like this often have an ability to increase turnout among base voters, especially in a midterm when that turnout is so critical to success.

KING: Do you believe that Republicans should be more keyed in on this race than it should be getting more attention? They talked about Pennsylvania, they talked about Georgia, they talked about Arizona, they talked about defending in Wisconsin, what about North Carolina?

DOUG HEYE, REPUBLICAN STRATEGIST: Yes, I've been telling people for weeks and months don't lose sight of North Carolina. The last three polls have had it at one point, less than one point and less than one point. It's the closest race in the country. And obviously, we're going to talk about all the kinds of more cartoon characters in this campaign. You know, the running back, the T.V. doctor, the tatted up giant in the hoodie. But North Carolina is ground zero. If you're talking about a 50-50 Senate, this is a big important race that isn't getting the attention it deserves.

KING: And so then Morgan Jackson to that point, Doug says isn't getting the attention it deserves but we do know from ad spending that is booked between now and Election Day, Republicans are both $21 million in spending, Democrats one-third of that. Do Democrats need to wake up and send in more money? Can Cheri Beasley win if that's what happens between now and Election Day?

JACKSON: Listen, Cheri Beasley has been outspent for the last three months by sort of independent expenditure groups. I think Cheri Beasley can win this race. But what she needs actually even more important than independent expenditure, she needs individual contributions, it donors who have been contributing to all of these big Senate races need to clue in on the fact that North Carolina's where they need to be sending their money directly to her campaign. This is a race, you know, it's fascinating, John, as we look at all the races moving up and around on the board.

And North Carolina has stayed stable for the last two months, almost dead, even its stuck at plus one minus one for the past two months why you see some tightening in these other races. This is a race that is incredibly winnable, but Beasley needs help from national donors.

KING: So let me stick with you for a second from the Democratic perspective. We heard the debate there. And obviously, Joe Biden has an issue. The President of the United States has always an issue in his first midterm election campaign. What else in the sense of from the Democratic perspective if Cheri Beasley in the four weeks left is to keep this competitive to the point that she can win on Election Day? What do you see as the most important clothes for her?

JACKSON: Well, I think it's a continuation what Beasley have been doing. Beasley has been running a really good campaign that is a North Carolina based campaign. The fact that there hasn't been a ton of money in this state over the last two, three months has accrued to her benefit, because it's allowed her introduce it and create a foundation or relationship with voters that's based on her record as a judge, basically somebody who approaches things from an independent lens and makes a decision based on law.

And so I think that's what voters are looking for somebody independent, I think Beasley has to take the wood to Ted Budd and his radical positions. You know, we talked about Beasley being the first African-American in 26 years. Ted Budd is actually a throwback to Jesse Helms, the most conservative nominee that Republicans have placed and put forth in the last 26 years. It's an incredible contrast for voters.

KING: Morgan says incredible contrast of the retiring Republican senators Richard Burr, he says Ted but as far to the right in terms of the same thing you heard in the debate clip, but Budd running a pretty trademark midterm campaign linked the Democrat to an unpopular president. Is that enough?

HEYE: It's not enough but what he's doing and you learn a lot about politics, watching college football, watching North Carolina play, I'm a Tar Heel. You see the ads that Cheri Beasley is running and that Ted Budd is running. He is running on crime, first and foremost. You talked about that issue in your previous panel. In North Carolina, you have Cheri Beasley as a retired Chief Justice of the Supreme Court. You have two Supreme Court seats that are on the ballot in North Carolina. That issue is going to play harder in North Carolina than I think any other state and Budd is going full in on that.

KING: because they elected judges there as well. Important point, Doug Heye, Morgan Jackson, appreciate your insights we'll keep in touch in these important final four weeks.

[12:54:17]

Ahead for us, a former D.C. police officer released his tapes he secretly recorded during a meeting with the House Republican Leader Kevin McCarthy after January 6th.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KING: Topping our Political Radar today, newly obtained audio of the House Republican Leader Kevin McCarthy claiming Donald Trump had no idea those were his supporters attacking the Capitol on January 6th. McCarthy made those comments last summer in a private meeting with two police officers who were there defending against the insurrection. One of the officers in the meeting, Michael Fanone, secretly recorded that conversation. We know from sworn testimony to the January 6th Committee indicates the former President, then President spent hours watching the events unfold on T.V. The New York Congressman Republican candidate for governor, Lee Zeldin, says the crime issue quote, it's really close after a shooting outside his home on Sunday. Police say the incident which injured two people is not connected to Zeldin nor his family. Like other Republicans nationwide, though Zeldin is honed in on crime, the central focus of his campaign.

The former New Mexico governor, United Nations Ambassador Bill Richardson says he's quote cautiously optimistic that Brittney Griner and Paul Whelan could be freed by Russia by the end of the year. Richardson has met with senior Russian officials and is coordinating with the White House hoping win their release.

[13:00:01]

And set your alarms Ohio Senate candidates Tim Ryan, J.D. Vance debate tonight at 7:00 Eastern. It's the first of two scheduled debates, Ryan and Vance running neck and neck according to the polls.

Thanks for your time on INSIDE POLITICS, hope you come back tomorrow. Boris Sanchez picks up our coverage right now.