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Escaped Inmate in Idaho; Trump Faces Bond Deadline; Anti-Trust Lawsuit Against Apple; Biden's Cash Edge Widens. Aired 9-9:30a ET

Aired March 21, 2024 - 09:00   ET

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

[09:00:00]

ANDY SCHOLES, CNN SPORTS ANCHOR: Ohtani's lawyers, they sent out this statement saying, "in the course of responding to recent media inquiries, we discovered that Shohei has been the victim of a massive theft and we are turning the matter over to the authorities."

Now, on Wednesday as well, Mizuhara also walked back much of what he had told ESPN, saying Ohtani had no knowledge of his gambling activities, debts, or efforts to repay them.

Now, CNN is attempting to contact Mizuhara. We've reached out to local authorities. And Major League Baseball is refusing to comment at the moment.

Mizuhara was in the dugout for Wednesday's MLB season opener against the Padres in Seoul. He was seen smiling and talking to Ohtani. But Mizuhara, he was actually fired by the Dodgers after this story came out.

Now, the Dodgers are wrapping up that short series with the Padres in Seoul right now. It will be interesting to see, Kate, what Ohtani has to say about this. I assume he will speak. And again, the Dodgers will once again have to hire a new interpreter as well for whenever he does those interviews.

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: I mean, it's just so wild. It's not just any player. I mean for any play this would be - this is - you know, you don't want any of this around you. But for the highest paid North American athlete in sports history is wild how this is going to be - how this is going to unfold and what's going to happen now. So, let us see.

It's great to see you, Andy. Thanks for bringing it to us.

SCHOLES: All right.

BOLDUAN: The next hour of CNN NEWS CENTRAL starts right now.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: So, busted from prison. A white supremacist gang member is on the loose. Three corrections officers shot. These men on the run are considered armed and dangerous.

Could Donald Trump declare bankruptcy by Monday? Look, it's one option he has as he needs to come up with half a billion dollars. New optimism on a possible deal to free the hostages in Gaza.

Sara is out today. I'm John Berman, with Kate Bolduan. This is CNN NEWS CENTRAL.

Overnight, a frantic manhunt underway after a dangerous inmate and a documented member of the Aryan Knights, a white supremacist prison gang, busts out of a Boise hospital. Police say Skylar Meade escaped in a coordinated attack, an ambush, with the help of an accomplice. Three corrections officers were shot during the escape. Now, Meade was serving a 20 year prison sentence for aggravated battery of an officer.

CNN's Whitney Wild following all of this. These men considered armed and dangerous. They've shown a propensity for violence against law enforcement, Whitney.

WHITNEY WILD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: And, John, that's not the first time. Skylar Meade, as you said, is serving this 20-year prison sentence. He was not supposed to get out until 2036 because of this aggravated battery with a firearm against a law enforcement officer.

And to put into context, John, how dangerous law enforcement already thought he was when he was in custody, he was in a segregated area of the prison population. That's because he was so dangerous that they didn't feel like he was safe around other members of staff, other members of the prison population. That was in custody, let alone out on the loose. So, it is impossible at this moment to overstate the urgency in the Boise area as police go on this urgent manhunt.

Now, let's back walk through how this all started.

So, what happened here, John, is that early Wednesday morning Skylar Meade, according to law enforcement, had injured himself so badly that when prison staff assessed him, he had to go to the hospital to get evaluated and get treated. And it was as they were preparing to transfer him that the shooting took place.

So, law enforcement says Nicholas Umphenour, an associate of Skylar Meade, busted in that area, began shooting. Two Idaho Department of Corrections officers were injured in that initial shootout. Skylar Meade, Nicholas Umphenour jump in at 2020 Honda Civic and they took off.

Here's what law enforcement says about the coordination prior to this incident.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CHIEF RON WINEGAR, BOISE, IDAHO, POLICE: We believe that this was a coordinated attack, an ambush, on the Department of Corrections officers, and certainly a planned endeavor to free him from custody.

They are dangerous, they are armed and they have shown a propensity for violence.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WILD: Meade and Umphenour were able to escape just before Boise police arrived. And, John, the scene was so chaotic that it was actually a third officer who was injured by another law officer's firearm in this incident. That's just how chaotic the situation was.

Now, again, law enforcement on the hunt for this 2020 Honda Civic. And here's what they're saying about Nicholas Umphenour. They say he's the suspected shooter. Again, a unknown associate of Skylar Meade. He is now facing aggravated battery against law enforcement charges, as well as aiding and abetting an escaped. Again, both are considered armed and dangerous. Certainly a very urgent situation out there in Idaho, John.

[09:05:02]

BERMAN: Yes, a lot of space to cover. A lot of places to hide.

Whitney Wild, keep us posted. Thank you very much.

Kate.

BOLDUAN: So, time is running out for Donald Trump to scrounge together a half a billion dollar -- about a half a billion dollars by Monday. $464 million to be exact today. And if he doesn't pay up, New York's attorney general, Letitia James, is ready to go after his assets.

CNN's Kara Scannell is with me now. She's got much more on this.

So, Kara, what are the options? Like, what is happening here? We've known this was coming. We've heard about it - we've heard about the dollar amount. We know that it accrues interest every day. What is happening here?

KARA SCANNELL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Right. I mean Trump has known since mid-February that he's got to come up with this amount of money. And they're still working behind the scenes to try to get together some kind of package, if possible. But they're also trying to get the appeals court to say, you can only put up a smaller amount or don't post anything until this whole appeal is over.

But, you know, as of now, they've said they've tried to get someone on to underwrite a bond, an insurance company. They've approached 30. None of them will do it if it's backed solely by property. And that is Trump's biggest asset. It far outweighs any of the cash or stock that he has right now.

He could also try to take out a mortgage on some of these properties. But, you know, one issue may be that, you know, the whole allegation in this case is that he inflated the value of these properties and it's tough to do that pretty quickly to get someone to appraise a property or come up with a value that they're comfortable with.

And also a number of big banks stopped doing business with Trump years ago because of his history of, you know, being litigious and just not a good client. So, you know, those are some options. He could also sell something very quickly. That seems highly unlikely.

BOLDUAN: (INAUDIBLE).

SCANNELL: And I think, you know, as now they're really banking on the appeals court to come up with a delay or give them some more time. You know, the New York attorney general said that they're looking to move forward and they are prepared to move forward as soon as Monday.

You know, either way, I think we're going to continue to see litigation on this space if she tries to seize a property, whether it's Trump Tower or another one. I don't think Trump's going to take that lightly, and I think we're going to continue to see a lot of litigation.

BOLDUAN: I mean it's - like, this is -- this was like the end of a chapter. It's now just the - like the very beginning of another really - it could be like a very messy chapter here, Kara.

Thank you so much for the update. Kara Scannell on that.

Let's get some more on this. Former Manhattan prosecutor Jeremy Saland is here with me.

OK, so what do you think of the options that Kara is laying out here?

JEREMY SALAND, FORMER MANHATTAN PROSECUTOR: I think he's in a real bind. And that Monday -

BOLDUAN: A bind of his own design.

SALAND: Well, no doubt. Of course. And he can't just turn around and sell property, even if he had a buyer. What are we forgetting here? There's something called long-term capital gains. So, there's a tax consequence to him. Is he going to declare bankruptcy to those particular companies? Well, that's certainly not a good look, right, leading up to an election for the man who's - who's really the king of business. So, he's really finding himself in a difficult place. What Attorney James does is yet to be seen, but she could extend him - give him more time if she's so kind to do so. There's a lot of options here for the attorney general.

BOLDUAN: I - you're not in - you're not in the AG's office. You're not in Letitia James' mind. But what do you think is likely to happen Monday if he - if he doesn't get this figured out?

SALAND: Well, I think at a minimum you would think she'd put a lien on the property because it's not so easy to just seize someone's assets.

BOLDUAN: Right.

SALAND: It's not - you don't just do that like this.

BOLDUAN: Right.

SALAND: You don't just freeze someone's bank account with a snap of a finger. There's a process. And that process can be challenged as well, even though she has a right to proceed.

BOLDUAN: All right.

SALAND: So, I think the easiest way, for lack of a better term, which is not necessarily easy, is a lean. But more so than what she's going to do, it's really what is he going to do? And he doesn't have the dollar to put up and he doesn't have Chubb to come rescue him like he did with - with E. Jean Carroll.

BOLDUAN: What do you think of the bankruptcy option? I mean do you think - as time progresses, even if - I don't know, even if an extension was given, does bankruptcy - the longer this is a problem for him, does bankruptcy become a more and more likely option?

SALAND: Well, if you look historically at Donald Trump, you understand and know that he has used bankruptcy to his advantage. But while you don't have me on here to be a political commentator, I don't see that as an option.

BOLDUAN: There's a political calculation to whatever move he would make.

SALAND: Yes. I don't see that as a political - you know, from a legal perspective, yes. But from a political perspective, one would think that's a difficult scenario leading up to an election because he's also somewhat conceding defeat, whereas that's not what he's saying, I'm the victim and I'm going to fight back. So, I don't see that as an option right now.

BOLDUAN: What - it seems - from the layman, it's messy with the bond and the appeal. What does - what impact does the bond have on the appeal?

SALAND: So, everyone should understand, this is not sort of debtors prison. In other words, you don't have to be rich to be able to appeal a civil case or a criminal case. So that money is not giving him the right to appeal. He always has a right to appeal.

BOLDUAN: Yes.

SALAND: What that money is going to do is stop the action so that it's not ticking in terms of interest, because, as you know, and let's look back at E. Jean Carroll, the Chubb gave money for not just the bond, but for the interest too, right, because it's going to keep on ticking until it's - there's - it's finite, until it's complete.

BOLDUAN: And I think the latest is the interest is $115,000 a day. I mean it's - it's a huge amount of money.

SALAND: It's - it's - it's not palatable for anyone.

[09:10:01]

BOLDUAN: Yes.

So, do you - can the - can a judge step in and say this needs to be - we just need - we need to - we need to lower -- we need to lower this figure or lower the - is there a - is there a gray area? Is there a tween?

SALAND: It's not necessarily a gray area, but there is an appellate court, yes. So, it goes from the trial court, which is Judge Engoron, and then it goes to an appellate court. And that appellate court can say, theoretically, you know, Mr. Trump, I agree with you, $100 million is sufficient. Mr. Trump, I agree with you, we're going to stop or pause or stay, and then that interests isn't ticking and it can be litigated and resolved.

BOLDUAN: Kaitlan Collins had reporting that she's hearing that everyone around Donald Trump and Donald Trump, they've kind of entered panic mode on what to do. As Kara talks about, they - this is - they've known about - this happened in mid-February. What do you think that - the timing? Do you think it's just - they have been trying to find someone to underwrite this and this is what's pushed them up against the deadline? But I asked that because part of the Donald Trump strategy has always been delay, and I'm wondering, I have no idea, but I'm just curious if you think that that could be part of it?

SALAND: There's different versions of delay. There's an incentive to delay in a criminal case because the theory would be that he could potentially pardon himself or it could push back the election.

BOLDUAN: Exactly.

SALAND: The same incentive for him to delay doesn't exist now because every day he delays, every second he delays, there's $1 equation that is involved here. So, I don't see this as a delay tactic gets him. Could he thought of something else, possibly, but I don't think that's it.

BOLDUAN: So interesting. Thanks for coming in. It's great to see you, Jeremy.

SALAND: Good to see you.

BOLDUAN: John.

BERMAN: So, Senator Marco Rubio once ridiculed Donald Trump for any number of things, including the size of his fingers. This morning, though, could he be on the short list for running mate.

And breaking just moments ago, we're getting word of a huge federal anti-trust lawsuit against Apple. Details ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[09:16:13]

BOLDUAN: So, we do have some breaking news coming in.

The Justice Department will file a blockbuster anti-trust lawsuit against Apple today. That's according to three people who are familiar with the matter. Let's get over to CNN's Brian Fung. He's got much more on what we're

learning about this.

What are you learning?

BRIAN FUNG, CNN TECH REPORTER: Yes, Kate, this is a huge lawsuit coming later today. We believe it will be about Apple's, you know, business practices that have really been the subject of intense criticism for many, many years about its app stores, app store terms, the restrictive rules that it applies on app makers, fees related to the in-app transactions that it uses, imposes on users, and other business practices that many critics of Apple have for years leveled against the iPhone maker.

Apple is, of course, the last remaining tech giant to be sued by the U.S. government since a sprawling report came out in 2020 that was the result of a big House investigation into tech giants, including Meta, Google, Apple, and Amazon. And all four of those companies, after today, will now have been sued by the U.S. government over anti-trust grounds.

Kate.

BOLDUAN: Much more to come on this. Let's see what they say in this blockbuster lawsuit when it is filed. Thank you, Brian, for the update.

John.

BERMAN: All right, if having much more cash on hand than your political rival is nice, having two times more must be twice as nice. New filings this morning show that is exactly where President Biden's campaign is this morning after a huge fundraising haul in February.

CNN White House correspondent Priscilla Alvarez joins us now.

Cash on hand, something everyone in politics wants, Priscilla. And the Biden campaign might have more soon.

PRISCILLA ALVAREZ, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: And they're very happy about it too, John. Of course, fundraising has been a bright spot for the Biden campaign, and the numbers reflect what a strong outlook it was for them in February. As you mentioned there, the Biden campaign having $71 million on hand. That's double what former President Donald Trump has in his coffers.

Broader outlook here, you have $53 million raised in February for the Biden campaign effort, and $155 million with affiliated committees.

Of course, this is the month of February. That was a month where President Biden was on the west coast. He was involved - he was going to fundraisers. And also at a time where the Biden campaign said that the rematch between President Biden and his Republican rival, Donald Trump, was crystallized.

And this also doesn't include what we saw happen after the State of the Union, where the Biden campaign was touting $10 million that were raising in just the 24 hours after that address.

Now, President Biden continuing his travel blitz. He is in Texas this morning where he had fundraisers last night. So, this has been an ongoing effort by the campaign, even amid those low approval ratings, trying to shore up that cash, which is being used in part to put out advertisements on digital and television, but also to build out their infrastructure. They are opening offices in battleground states and hiring personnel. All of these states the President Biden only narrowly won in 2020.

So again, another strong month for the Biden campaign, one that they are happy to tout. And they say there's more to come in this space. And all of it, of course, important at a point where the -- both campaigns know it's going to be a tight race heading into November.

John.

BERMAN: Yes, money is good. Votes are better. That's the way both campaigns no doubt feel heading into November.

Thanks so much, Priscilla. Appreciate it.

With me now, CNN political commentators Bakari Sellers and Shermichael Singleton.

I want to talk about a different money story this morning, and this has to do with the half a billion dollars that Donald Trump has to come up with by Monday. And, Shermichael, one option if Donald Trump can't find the money that he has would be to declare bankruptcy.

[09:20:05]

But "The Washington Post" reports this morning, CNN's got some reporting on this over the last few days too, is, he really doesn't want to do that because he thinks there could be political implications.

SHERMICHAEL SINGLETON, REPUBLICAN STRATEGIST: Yes.

BERMAN: What political implications?

SINGLETON: I mean, look, I certainly wouldn't advise that as an option, John. I mean the last thing you want is for the American people to perceive the former president as being incapable of managing his finances when most of them are expected to manage their finances in their day to day lives. It's just not a very good political look. It doesn't bode confidence.

But I am curious, John, about this argument that you're slowly beginning to hear out of some Republican leaning attorneys about the Eighth Amendment, about this bond figure being too high for the former president, about it not being constitutional, if you will. Is that a potential argument that could be made to help the former president lower that amount? I certainly think it is.

BERMAN: Another thing you're hearing, Bakari, is at some Republicans and Trump allies say, you know what, if the New York attorney general's office tries to maybe seize Trump properties, because one thing that could happen in theory, if Trump doesn't come up with this money by Monday, is that they would have the right to go after some Trump assets. But there are Trump allies saying that would be a bad look politically for New York Attorney General Letitia James. Why?

BAKARI SELLERS, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: No, I don't think it will be a bad look at all. I think - I'm thinking about the great American poet, Curtis Jackson, also known as 50 Cent, who always posts and says that he needs his money by Monday.

And, look, if the money's not there by Monday, then she has every right to seize his assets. I mean Shermichael's right, he doesn't have any options. I mean most Americans know that Donald Trump's wealth is a sham. This would just further solidify the fact that he's not as wealthy as he claims to be, he inflates his assets and that - and that he, right now, has actually lost. And one of the things Donald Trump does not like to be seen as is a loser.

What I'm looking forward to, however, though, is this White House and the campaign messaging from Democrats and Joe Biden going down the path of, who is going to pay this bond for him? Who's going to get this money for him? Who's going to buy Donald Trump for $400 million? The person who actually helps him get out of this mess will have so much influence over somebody running for president of the United States that that should draw concern from everybody.

BERMAN: We are on the precipice of the silly season when it comes to the veep-stakes, who Donald Trump will pick as his running mate. And names are floated in not floated for any number of reasons that may or may not lead to the eventual pick, Shermichael. But one report out this morning, a couple of them say Florida Senator Marco Rubio is under serious consideration by the Trump team to be the running mate. And that made me think back to a time in 2016, it actually took place during, you know, Kate and mine's first marriage. We had a show and we took this event live where Marco Rubio went after Donald Trump really hard.

Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. MARCO RUBIO (R-FL): I mean he's like 6'2", which is why I don't understand why his hands or the size of someone who's 5'2". Have you seen his hands? They're like this. And you know what they say about men with small hands. You can't trust them.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: All right. That is someone who may be on your shortlist for running mate. What does that tell you, Shermichael?

SINGLETON: I mean, look, I think the former president is known for moving on beyond some of those past bygones, if you will. Look, yes, there's a recent "New York Times"/Sienna poll that came out, John, that's Clearly showcased that the former president is leading with Spanish-speaking voters, individuals within the Hispanic community, within the Hispanic diaspora. And I think it is smart to potentially pick someone, Marco Rubio's family, they're Cuban Americans. He's a bi-lingual individual and he can really speak to that particular community better than anyone else could. You're seeing that six point advantage that the former president has over Joe Biden. You just saw Biden recently I believe in Nevada talking to Hispanic individuals saying I need you. I can't do this without you. And that is true. The problem is, they just aren't buying that message.

And so if you're looking at the overall calculation, and you're looking at particular groups that the former president wants to target to ultimately mobilize in some of those very crucial and critical battleground states, such as Arizona and Nevada, I am looking for someone who could potentially target -- increase that mobilization for those voters. And I think Marco Rubio is such a candidate.

BERMAN: Bakari, what does it say that someone who felt the way that Marco Rubio did in 2016 about Donald Trump's hands would then consider being his running mate all these years later? Seriously, the evolution of Marco Rubio.

SELLERS: No, it - I don't think it's the evolution of Marco Rubio. I think that Marco Rubio, much like Ted Cruz, show that they don't have any fortitude. And that - I mean, look, you know, he talked about Ted Cruz's wife. Like, literally talked about his wife like she was a dog.

[09:25:03]

And Ted Cruz crawled back to support him. He talked about Marco Rubio. He - I mean it wasn't just Marco Rubio criticizing the size of the man's hands, and his hands are tiny. But it wasn't just that. And Marco Rubio crawls back to Donald Trump.

You see this all the time. He is a force of personality. Donald Trump is a force of personality. And what he's done is all of these individuals who he's lambasted, criticized, ridiculed, all come back to him.

I do think, however, Tim Scott and Ben Carson are probably higher on the VP stakes poll list for Donald Trump than Marco Rubio. I think he's probably going to humiliate Marco Rubio, much like he did Mitt Romney. You recall that dinner where he invited Mitt Romney out to talk about whether or not he was going to be secretary of state and we had all of this conversation and he just humiliated Mitt Romney and said, ha, not you. I think that's what's happening with Marco Rubio.

BERMAN: It was outside the Palm (INAUDIBLE).

SINGLETON: I mean, John, if I could just really quickly -

BERMAN: Go ahead.

SINGLETON: If I couldn't really quickly, I love my dear Morehouse brother Bakari but I'm going to have to push back here. I mean Kamala Harris on the debate stage essentially said that Joe Biden was a racist because of busing, and she sure enough became his vice president. So, I mean, I think there's a lot of people in politics who all of a sudden work with someone who they formally criticized.

SELLERS: There - there are - there are policy disagreements, which she had a policy difference about busing. And then there's criticizing the size of the man's hands, and then saying, you know what that means. So, their personal attacks and there are policy disagreements. You never had those personal attacks from Kamala against Joe Biden.

BERMAN: All right, Shermichael Singleton -

SINGLETON: Oh, I think that was very personal, Bakari.

BERMAN: We're going to - we'll pick this up a different time. I do appreciate it.

SELLERS: He's trying to - we're trying to go to break, Shermichael. We're trying to go to break here, OK?

BERMAN: Shermichael - Shermichael Singleton, Bakari Sellers, my fellow Americans, thank you very much.

SINGLETON: Thanks, John.

Boeing's chief financial officer is projecting the company will post a huge loss in the first quarter following all the recent safety incidents.

Just minutes away from the opening bell on Wall Street. A lot of green. Market futures all pointing up, this after all three indices closed at record highs on the same day for the first time in years. Can the magic run continue?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)