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CNN Live Event/Special

My Pillow CEO Mike Lindell Served With Subpoena At Hardee's; DOJ Fires Back At Trump Claims, Says There's No Evidence Records Have Been Declassified; Election Deniers Win New Hampshire GOP Primary Races Ahead Of Midterms; Source: Package That Staff Said Exploded At Northeastern University Didn't Contain Explosives; Study: Daily Multivitamin May Slow Cognitive Aging; Study: Climate Change Causing Spike In U.S. Power Outages. Aired 1:30-2p ET

Aired September 14, 2022 - 13:30   ET

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

[13:30:00]

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MIKE LINDELL, CEO, MY PILLOW: I said, these are either bad guys or the FBI. Well, it turns out they were the FBI.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ANA CABRERA, CNN HOST: Lindell is a Trump ally, a prominent backer of his voter fraud claims.

He says the FBI not only seized his phone, they questioned him about a Colorado clerk charged in a 2020 election security breach.

Joining us now is CNN legal analyst, Norm Eisen. He was House Judiciary special counsel in Trump's first impeachment trial. And also joining us is Renato Mariotti. He's a federal prosecutor, a former federal prosecutor, and host of the "On Topic" podcast.

Great to have you both. Lots to discuss.

Let's start there, Renato. What's your reaction to Lindell getting a subpoena?

RENATO MARIOTTI, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: Well, very interesting. I think the seizure of his phone, which he has been complaining about, is really a concern for Mr. Lindell.

It means a judge signed a warrant indicating there's probable cause to believe a crime was committed and that evidence of that crime exists on his phone. That is a very significant problem.

And that questioning was not a friendly chat. That was the FBI trying to build evidence against Mr. Lindell. Just because they didn't read him his Miranda rights doesn't mean that can't be used against him. Since he wasn't in custody, that wouldn't be expected.

So they're definitely building a case. And he is, at the very least, an important witness, most likely a subject of the investigation. CABRERA: Are you surprised he was so nonchalant talking about how this

went down?

MARIOTTI: Not surprised, given who he is. But my advice to a client in that situation would be to say nothing. Hire a lawyer. Exercise your right to remain silent. And clearly, Mr. Lindell is not doing that.

CABRERA: OK.

Norm, this is just one of many investigations all related to 2020 election fraud lies or schemes.

Now the January 6th House Select Committee met again yesterday to discuss how their investigation will proceed. They're targeting a hearing at the end of the month, we're told. Bennie Thompson saying they need to meet or exceed previous hearings.

What do you think they need to do?

NORM EISEN, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: Well, Ana, first, they need to remind the American people of the ground they've covered. Really, the extraordinary evidence that has already been found by a federal judge of likely crimes by Donald Trump and others in this run up to the January 6th, possible frauds.

Number two, they're going to have to have new information, Ana. They really need to, if they are going to do what the chairman says, they have to share new information.

For example, about possible Secret Servicemembers' involvement in alleged obstruction of justice. We know they've been looking into that and much more over the summer.

Number three, they have to start signaling the wrap up, where they are going with this investigation, their findings.

And what they want Congress, prosecutors, and the American people to do about the truly disturbing evidence they've uncovered.

CABRERA: Bennie Thompson says the committee has not been sharing information with DOJ, other than the initial set of 20 transcripts they turned over in late July.

Renato, does that surprise you?

MARIOTTI: I am a little surprised. I really think the DOJ and the committee should be working hand in glove so to speak.

I have to say it really does appear that the January 6th committee may have prompted the DOJ to move into a more aggressive direction.

We had seen some reports there was some surprise at the DOJ regarding some of the testimony they heard. We're now seeing some real aggressive moves by the DOJ.

Not only on the subpoenas but seizures of phones, you know, by the FBI, folks like Lindell and some other Trump aides, I think signals the investigation is going into a pretty aggressive phase right before the quiet period before the election.

CABRERA: They've done interviews with people like Pat Cipollone and his deputy in the White House.

Do you have a sense of who knows more, the DOJ or the January 6th committee?

MARIOTTI: It's interesting. The DOJ ordinarily would be the right answer to that question because they have so many more aggressive tools. Obviously, we just heard a moment ago from Lindell what it is like when the FBI exercises some of those aggressive tools.

But I will say, for a period of time, it sure looked like the DOJ was running behind the January 6th committee. Now they're trying to catch up.

CABRERA: Norm, let's take it to the investigation now involving the Mar-a-Lago documents. The DOJ is trying to call Trump's bluff on his public claims that he declassified these documents.

There's a new brief just yesterday in which the DOJ says that while Trump attempts to raise questions about the classification status, he hasn't actually identified which documents he considers declassified or provided any evidence of how they were declassified.

Can Trump's legal team just get away with not answering those questions?

[13:34:58]

EISEN: Well, we'll see if they can get away with it in front of Judge Cannon.

Her rulings so far really have been contrary to the legal principles of executive privilege and classified documents, Ana, that these documents do not belong to Donald Trump. They belong to the American people.

I don't think that Trump's team -- she may decide to stay her order. Probably not as to the classified documents. That's what's before her now pending appeal.

Will she continue to rule? Ana, think about how nonsensical this is. Trump's team is seeking the possible return of these classified documents that have so jeopardized our national security by being in his hands. That can't be the law.

If she doesn't rule, very likely the 11th circuit is going to take the Department of Justice's request for a relief, a stay, at least as to the hundred-plus classified documents.

Those should not be subject to special master review. They should not be subject to return.

So DOJ will be looking to the 11th circuit appellate court for relief if they don't get it from Judge Cannon.

CABRERA: Quickly, Renato, what do you think the judge is waiting for before making her ruling? What is she waiting on?

MARIOTTI: I think she is just taking her time to formulate a ruling. At this point, she has everything she needs. She should rule quickly.

And if she doesn't, I think Norm is right, there's going to be an appeal to the 11th circuit and they'll make the decision for her.

CABRERA: Renato, thank you.

Thank you, Norm Eisen.

Appreciate you both.

The sprint toward the midterms is underway with the final primary races wrapping up last night. And in New Hampshire, two election deniers have now secured spots on the November ballot.

CNN's Athena Jones joins us.

Athena, the midterms are just eight weeks away now. What are some of the key takeaways from last night's race?

ATHENA JONES, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Ana. Look, these newly minted GOP nominees in New Hampshire are celebrating certainly.

But you can imagine, a lot of the New Hampshire Republican establishment is not celebrating that Don Boldoc and Karoline Leavitt. Boldoc for Senate and Karoline Leavitt for House are now the nominees. They may be worried this could hurt their chances of winning in November.

These -- you had mainstream Republican groups spending millions of dollars to try to hurt the far-right candidates, like Boldoc, and prop up his opponent, Chuck Morris.

But in the end, Boldoc came out on top. So did Karoline Leavitt. Both of them very Trumpy candidates, both believing strongly the 2020 election was stolen. So they agree and have been promoting Donald Trump's lies about that election.

Boldoc is a retired Army brigadier general. And at an August debate, he bragged about having signed on to a letter with 120 other generals and admirals saying that Trump won the election.

This is someone who, even people close to him say is a loose cannon. He says extreme things.

He has talked about getting rid of the 17th Amendment, which allows direct election of Senators. And he's even questioned whether the FBI is necessary after that search of Mar-a-Lago.

So there's a lot of concern he may not be the strongest candidate to put up against Maggie Hassan. Not least because of fundraising. She has out raised him by about 50-1 as of late August.

Now when it comes to Karoline Leavitt, she was a Trump aide. She was running against a Trump aide. But she was the Trumpier of the two. As I mentioned, also an election denier and she came out ahead.

There's concern. Some of that concern was communicated by a former state party chair of the Republican Party, who said, if Leavitt wins this nomination, I'm not going to vote for her because New Hampshire doesn't need another Marjorie Taylor Greene or Lauren Boebert type.

These two candidates going up against -- she's going up against Chris Poppas in seats that Republicans thought could be big opportunities to pick up. Now it is very unclear how the candidates will fair in a general election -- Ana?

CABRERA: We'll see if they go on to fail or succeed.

Thank you so much, Athena Jones.

A package blows up in a Northeastern University staffer's hands but now sources tell CNN it didn't actually contain explosives. So what was it? How did it get there?

[13:39:19]

And researchers are calling it a shocking discovery. A new study may have just uncovered a way to slow cognitive aging.

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CABRERA: We're back with new details about the package that blew up in the hands of a staffer at Northeastern University in Boston.

Multiple sources now tell CNN that inside a hard plastic case, investigators found a rambling note, railing against virtual reality and Meta owner, Mark Zuckerberg.

But they didn't find, anything that could have made this case explode when it was opened.

CNN's Brynn Gingras is following this story for us.

So a rambling note and explosion but nothing to set off the explosion?

BRYNN GINGRAS, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes. That's what they're trying to figure out, what exactly happened here. That is where the investigation stands right now.

As you pointed out to viewers, investigators telling us through sourcing that this was found in the virtual reality lab at Northeastern University last night.

[13:44:59]

And it didn't have any sort of explosive in this package or mechanism to cause an explosion. Rather the employee, who talked to investigators, said the depressurization when opening the latches of the case caused somewhat of an explosion.

Now, investigators are also saying that it wasn't sent through the mail to this lab. That the belief is that, however, it got there, it was found among other pieces, other cases similar to the one being reported in that lab.

So put all of this together and investigators are trying to figure out how did it get there. The belief is someone must have had access to the lab to place that case in there.

So these are all questions that investigators, of course, are looking into, asking that employee, of course, Ana.

They're also looking at surveillance video trying to see did anyone go into the lab, leave the lab, walk around the lab with a case that was similar to what's being reported here.

That employee did have minor lacerations to their hands. They did seek medical treatment but doing OK.

And right now, it is just a lot of questions at this point. But the good news is classes at Northeastern have since been continued. Another case that was sort of suspicious, nothing there.

So good that is good news. But still a lot of questions being answered or looked into at this point.

CABRERA: And no suspect in custody that we know about either.

GINGRAS: That's right.

CABRERA Thank you, Brynn, for staying on that.

Now to a discovery researchers describe as shocking. A new study may have uncovered an easy, safe, and inexpensive way to improve brain function as we age.

CNN's senior medical correspondent, Elizabeth Cohen, joins us now.

Elizabeth, tell us what we need to do.

DR. ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN SENIOR MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Ana, unfortunately, from one study, you don't really know what you need to do. But this really is intriguing.

And I'll tell you why. This is one of a very few studies where they actually sort of did an experiment on people.

They took more than 2,200 elderly people over the age of 65, some of them got multivitamins. Others did not. They followed them and looked at their cognitive decline.

When they looked at these folks 65 and up who took a multivitamin daily for three years, or some didn't, and there was a 60 percent slowing of cognitive decline among the group that took the multivitamin. This was really, I think, in many ways, unexpected. That's a pretty

dramatic number.

The theory is that maybe some of the folks in the group were deficient in some things like Vitamin E or Zinc or other things that could be related to brain health -- Ana?

CABRERA: What should people look for then when buying multivitamins?

COHEN: It was interesting. The multivitamin in this study was nothing special. It was just a brand, one of the big brands you can buy in any supermarket.

Let's take a look at what you should look for. First, look for USP verification, an independent standard-setting authority. You want to make sure it has that kind of seal of approval.

Also, if it claims you'll lose weight or sleep well or whatever, steer away from those. Those usually are just totally -- they're not well founded.

Also consider a multivitamin for your age and gender. It seems like it's marketing but experts tell us often there really is something behind it -- Ana?

CABRERA: All good to know. News we can use today.

(CROSSTALK)

CABRERA: Thank you, Elizabeth.

COHEN: Thanks.

CABRERA: We know climate change is behind unprecedented heatwaves, but what if you don't have A.C. to deal with it? How extreme weather is hammering our power grid.

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[13:52:54]

CABRERA: Extreme weather, fueled by climate change, is hurting the U.S. power grid now more than ever before. Power outages spiked 64 percent compared to the previous decade, according to the non-profit Climate Central. Most of them were due to weather.

CNN'S Rene Marsh joins us now.

Rene, what more can you tell us about these new findings?

RENE MARSH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Ana, we've been seeing the stories. It's been a summer of extreme weather. And with it, has come these dramatic increases in power outages.

This new report that you talked about today essentially confirms what energy experts have been sounding the alarm about in the beginning of the summer, which is weather related power outages spiked to 80 percent over the past decade.

And 83 percent of the power outages were caused by weather-related events. That is the graph you're looking at there. For comparison, the bottom line are non-weather-related events that triggered power outages.

And as we see this warming planet, that means hurricanes, wildfires, ice storms, flooding, heatwaves, all of those are growing in frequency and intensity. And it's all taxing the vulnerable U.S. power grid with the increased demand for power.

Now, Texas saw the most power outages, followed by Michigan and California. You're looking at the map there. Those are all the states that saw these sort of power outages linked to weather.

And it's worth noting, Ana, these power outages are more than merely an inconvenience, especially during extended periods where we see cascading effects, including death and health consequences.

Energy experts say this highlights the need for more energy sources, specifically connecting more renewable energy to the grid to essentially help meet the demand for power that we're seeing in all of these extreme weather events -- Ana?

CABRERA: OK, Rene Marsh, we appreciate your reporting.

And speaking of action to deal with climate change, let's take you to the Detroit Auto Show where we are expecting remarks from the president any minute now to talk about electric vehicles and investment that his administration has helped to create through the infrastructure bill that passed not too long ago.

[13:55:01]

And we expect the president to announce the approval of the first $900 million for electric vehicle chargers across the country when he takes the stage here any moment.

So we will continue to monitor this and we'll bring you highlights from the president's remarks as soon as that gets underway.

Thank you so much for joining us today. That's going to do it for us. I'll see you back here tomorrow, same time, same place, 1:00 p.m. Eastern. Until then, you can join me on Twitter, @AnaCabrerra.

The news continues with Alisyn and Victor right after this.

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