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The Lead with Jake Tapper

New Body Camera Video Shows Ronald Greene Kicked, Tased, Dragged, 2019 Police Report Never Detailed the Use of Force; Vaccine Manufacturing Execs Testify on Capitol Hill About Production Issues with J&J Vaccine; Israel and Hamas Reach Ceasefire Agreement; GOP Support For January 6 Commission Dwindling After McConnell, McCarthy Announce Opposition; State & Local Politicians Who Took Part In Events Of January 6 Keep Their Jobs, Power And Influence; Long-Time Trump Aide Faces Pressure To Cooperate With Investigators; Biden Signs Law Targeting Hate Crimes Against Asian Americans. Aired 5-6p ET

Aired May 20, 2021 - 17:00   ET

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

[17:00:00]

JAKE TAPPER, CNN HOST: The AP reports the Greene was left bloodied, lying face down, moaning for more than nine minutes according to the Louisiana State Police. Greene died on his way from that scene to the hospital. A warning now, the video of Greene's cases graphic and you might find it difficult to watch it. It does reveal much more of what actually happened to this American citizen on May 10, 2019 than what the police initially disclosed. CNN's Ryan Young reports.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RYAN YOUNG, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The video seen by the public for the first time in about two years since the deadly encounter between Ronald Greene and Louisiana State Police officers.

After a high-speed chase led to a deadly confrontation just outside the City of Monroe in May of 2019, the Chase ended when Greene crashed. State police initially said he was taken into custody after resisting arrest. Greene became unresponsive shortly after and died on his way to the hospital. But a new video reveals a more disturbing confrontation. In body cam video obtained by the Associated Press, troopers can be seen repeatedly punching Greene after appearing to drag him out of his vehicle.

Trooper tased Greene multiple times while he's face down on the ground as they attempt to handcuff him. Another trooper appears to kick Greene.

TROOPER: I got blood all over me. I hope this guy isn't fucking AIDS.

YOUNG: The Associated Press release three segments of the original video, which it says is 46 minutes long. Only two of the video clips have audio. CNN has never reviewed or obtained the original video, and it's unclear what occurred before or in between the video clips. The mayor and attorney for the Greene family strongly criticized the actions by law enforcement.

LEE MERRITT, GREENE FAMILY ATTORNEY: What it tells us about policing and particularly about police brutality is that, it's a team sport.

YOUNG: The 2019 state police report says officers attempted to pull Greene over for unspecified traffic violation. Greene's mother says two investigator officers wouldn't tell her why law enforcement was chasing Greene. Mona Hardin, Greene's mother says the lack of transparency on behalf of authorities has been painful.

MONA HARDIN, MOTHER OF RONALD GREENE: I'm so pissed, but I'm a good pissed because we're going to get results.

YOUNG: The Associated Press reports that at no time on the video can troopers be seen trying to render any medical aid to Greene, who according to the Associated Press was facedown and moaning for more than nine minutes. Two of the officers continue to be employed by the department. Both were reprimanded for their actions that night, one face a 50-hour suspension from manipulating their body camera equipment. The other police on administrative leave for an unrelated incident, a third officer died in a single car crash accident last year.

MERRITT: These officers are not only physically assaulting him, but verbally degrading him. It's not only what you're seeing, but the sounds that go with it. You can hear them screaming and writhing in pain.

YOUNG: For now, Greene's mother continues to fight for her son.

HARDIN: They beat him with the purpose of letting him just die.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

YOUNG (on camera): Jake, something that's clear from watching that is you don't see any kind of statements from LSP. Of course, we would love to have them on camera. They did release a statement and basically says the premature public release of this investigative file and video evidence in this case was not obtained through official sources. They go on to say they are cooperating fully with the investigation. But obviously, Jake, there are a lot of questions that we would like to ask in this case to kind of figure out, why this time, why is taking so long.

I've been talking to the Greene family pretty much all day long and they say they are so thankful that this video was finally released, because clearly, they've been in pain ever since this incident happened and you can understand why.

TAPPER: I love how they call it premature two years after the death of their loved one. Ryan, thanks so much.

Let's bring in the House Majority Whip James Clyburn from South Carolina. First Congressman, I want to get your reaction to this video that is now public showing Louisiana State Troopers beating, tasing, dragging this black man, face down two years ago, the police report obviously told a very different story.

REP. JAMES CLYBURN (D-SC): Jake, thank you very much for having me. Two years ago, we just saw a video down in Charleston, South Carolina, from something that happened back in January. Now the police officers had been terminated there, but only when people made the videos public. I think that what we see here is more evidence that something must be done about this so-called qualified immunity, which is created out of whole court by the Supreme Court. And we have to stop the notion that some police officers seem to have that they can do whatever they want to do. However, they wanted to do, to whomever they wanted to do and be immune from in any accountability.

[17:05:07]

Qualified, if you look at Black's Law Dictionary says limited, restrictive. There's nothing that says is absolute. That word itself is being applied in an absolute fashion throughout law enforcement. And I would hope that this committee, the joint committee of the House and Senate, working on the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act, will give us a very clear understanding of what that means.

TAPPER: Let me ask you about the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act because the Biden administration said that they wanted a deal by the one year anniversary of George Floyd's killing, his murder, which is next Tuesday, Democratic Senator Cory Booker is one of the top negotiators, as you know, he said yesterday, he does not think that the group is going to meet that deadline, what might be a more realistic timeline at this point for this policing reform bill?

CLYBURN: Well, I don't think will happen by the 25th. I had a long talk with Karen Bass yesterday, on that subject, she assured me that they are still working, she's still hopeful. But no, he will not be done by the 25th. And there's nothing magic about that number. It is the anniversary day. And it's a good thing to do to have something done. We do things that way. Those kinds of milestones are set, but I want to see them do something. And then I could come into the third year, then come into the third year, let's get something done.

TAPPER: Before your days in Congress, you were South Carolina's Human Affairs Commissioner, your father was a civil rights activist, what do you make of the just the aggregate numbers of incidents that we see like this, that we only know the truth because of a camera? In this case, it was body cam video. But other incidents we've seen were just there are people who have cell phones, smartphones nearby. What do you make of it as somebody who's just been fighting for civil rights for decades?

CLYBURN: Well, it says that, although we have made some great strides in this great country, there is much, much more that needs to be done. And every now and then, as we have had with voting, Congress passed the Voting Rights Act of 1965. And we saw how effective it was, then all of a sudden Supreme Court intervenes and set that back with the so-called Shelby case. And now we have to re-fight that over again. That it says to us, that we can never rest on our laurels. No matter how much we've done there's a whole lot more that still needs to be done. We must stay engaged in this process, and not give up hope that will get to be more perfect.

TAPPER: I know you also want to talk about the hearing you led yesterday with the CEO from the company Emergent BioSolutions. That's the Baltimore area lab that the federal government paid $271 million to in order to produce the Johnson & Johnson vaccine, that lab has yet to crank out a single dose to be used, despite all that the company executives still receive their bonuses. So, tell us about the hearing and does Emergent get to keep that $271 million contract?

CLYBURN: Well, I hope not. Remember the contract is 650 million, you've only paid 271 million, but they get $27 million a month, they don't produce a single vaccine. And that's why we had to hear because we really think that something massively untoward is taking place here. How do you have this guaranteed contract, you're going to collect $27 million from the taxpayers every month, even though you know, produce one single thing, and they've gotten up to 271. If we do not intervene, if they don't send that money back under the contract, they can keep getting $27 million a month. So that's exactly why we had the hearing. We want to make all of that public. And I, though they say they're going to cooperate, they have not fully cooperated with this investigation, and we will keep pursuing it until such time to get to the bottom of.

TAPPER: All right House Majority Whip James Clyburn, Democratic South Carolina, thank you, sir. Good to see you as always.

CLYBURN: Thank you very much for having me.

TAPPER: We're standing by for President Biden to come to the microphone and speak this hour after a ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas, plus the increasing pressure the prosecutors are putting on the one man who knows all about former President Trump's finances. That's ahead.

[17:10:10]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

TAPPER: We have breaking news for you in our world lead, in the next few minutes we are expecting to hear live from President Biden on the mutual ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas, which was just announced. Hamas says the ceasefire will start at 2 a.m. local time. That's just a couple of hours from now.

CNN's Kaitlan Collins is at the White House for us. And our Hadas Gold is in Jerusalem with details of the agreement. So let's start with you, Hadas. How did this agreement happen? How did it come together?

HADAS GOLD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, we know that the pressure had been building on Israel, especially from the United States in the recent days. And the security cabinet met this evening for more than two hours before agreeing to the proposal that was brought by the Egyptians to mutual and unconditional ceasefire.

Now, a few interesting points, I think from the Israeli statement about this, first is that they don't put an hour on it. The Hamas -- Hamas has confirmed that it would -- that they expect it to start at 2 a.m. The Israelis have not put an hour on it. And the Israelis have -- first of all, the fact that the Israelis put out the statement is unique because in 2014, there wasn't an official statement like this. The actions just sort of ended and the Israelis are making sure in their statement to note that their military activity would be restarted if they don't think that the militants are upholding their end of the deal.

[17:15:13]

Now, the Hamas is saying their political wing are saying that they will uphold their interview if Israel upholds their end of the deal. The next few hours here that will be key. Now we have already seen red alert sirens going off in southern Israel and continuing activity in Gaza as well, ever since the ceasefire was announced. And this is -- this tends to happen in the few hours before the ceasefire takes effect, a flurry of activity. And I think there is a concern from Israeli officials that the first rockets were launched towards Jerusalem nearly two weeks ago, that sort of helped kicked off this military activity. And there is a concern that the militants will try to potentially have a sort of last hurrah, a barrage of rockets, perhaps, perhaps towards Jerusalem, perhaps towards Tel Aviv. That's also I think, why you're hearing for the Israeli Home Front Command warning, anybody who lives within about a four-mile radius of the Gaza Strip to stay within their protected shelters. So this could be a tenuous next few hours to see what happens before this 2 a.m. hour if the ceasefire will actually take effect.

And I think what's even more important, Jake, perhaps in all of this is OK, if we have the ceasefire at 2 a.m., everything stops. What though, will fundamentally change to end the sort of tortured cycle of violence we're seeing between Israel and Hamas? Because as of right now, doesn't seem like we have any fundamental changes on the table.

TAPPER: That's right. All right, Hadas Gold, thank you so much. Stay safe.

Let's go down to the White House where you find CNN's Kaitlan Collins. And Kaitlan, what are we expecting to hear from President Biden when he comes out in the next few minutes?

KAITLAN COLLINS, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, it's a terrible, Jake, that we're hearing from the President at all, because this is not something that the White House had scheduled, they actually already called the lid, which is typically a signal to reporters that you can go home for the night. There are no more presidential appearances expected for that day. But they have now lifted that lid. So those reporters have come back to the White House. And we are going to see the President speak about this in a few moments, which is notable in and of itself, Jake, because President Biden hasn't really spoken at length about this yet since the violence broke out. He talked about it right at the beginning, he said he didn't think it would last that long. But other than that, he's only spoken briefly about this to tell us, you know, maybe he's spoken to the Israeli Prime Minister, or comment on it very quickly, but he has not spoken at length on what's been going on. And the violence that has ensued over the last 11 days are so or about these negotiations that we've seen, ramped up behind the scenes, a pressure campaign, really on Netanyahu to end the violence, which is what we know happened during their last call that we believe happened on Wednesday. We're still waiting to figure out if he and Netanyahu have now spoken given the recent developments with this ceasefire.

But one other world leader that we do know President Biden spoke to today, Jake, was the Egyptian president who of course, the Egyptians played a critical role in brokering the ceasefire, the last time the violence was this bad in 2014. And this is the first time that Biden had spoken to the Egyptian leader since he took office, which I think really gave you an indication of how much they felt like they needed the Egyptians to play a role here and to get this ceasefire actually accomplished. And so of course, a big question is going to be, how long they think this is going to last? What's going to be the next step for them? Because it's not something that President Biden did prioritize the Middle East, really, upon taking office.

TAPPER: So Kaitlan, Biden has been talking to Netanyahu and obviously a lot of American officials have been talking to a lot of officials in the region both Israeli, Egyptian and others, did the White House know that this ceasefire agreement was coming?

COLLINS: I think they were hopeful. But they were not counting on it. They weren't exactly sure because it was yesterday that President Biden said he wanted to see that significant de-escalation and violence. We saw still rockets and airstrikes were happening overnight. And so I think that they were, you know, not exactly sure what was going to happen. They weren't even committing or confirming reports earlier about a ceasefire, and they were waiting after it was announced by the Israelis that a ceasefire had been reached to confirm it, actually. So I think it was really a tenuous situation. And of course, obviously, as it usually is unpredictable.

TAPPER: All right, Kaitlan Collins at the White House. Thanks so much. We're going to bring you President Biden's remarks live when he comes out and start speaking, which we expected a few minutes.

Coming up next, Democrats are weighing their options with the bipartisan January 6 commission unlikely to clear the senate because of Republican opposition. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[17:23:51]

TAPPER: In our politics lead today, more Senate Republicans came out against the January 6 commission, making its path to passing in the Senate. Less and less likely possibly not by coincidence, House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy today told CNN Manu Raju that he would be willing to testify about his call with President Trump during the insurrection if called by the Commission if the Commission were to exist.

Manu joins me now from Capitol Hill. And Manu, (inaudible) clearly knows the chances are pretty slim, that this commission is going to be approved by the Senate?

MANU RAJU, CNN CHIEF CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yeah, because Republicans like him are opposing this for a variety of reasons saying that it is duplicative and their view unnecessary. And it's unclear and highly doubtful that there will be 10 Republicans that will join with Democrats and vote to open debate even. I'm hearing that it's very likely that Republicans will filibuster that first vote to open debate and even senators like Mitt Romney, who had voted twice to convict Donald Trump told me he wants changes to the bill because he has raised concerns like other Republicans, that perhaps Democrats would have more of a say in staffing situation even though the legislation is clear that the vice chairman and the chairman of the new commission would have to talk to have to name someone they'd have to consult, to name a commissioner, but nevertheless getting 10 Republicans seems almost certainly to be out of the question at the moment. And one reason why to, Jake, they're saying is duplicative with a Senate investigation that's coming out of a Senate report that's due in June.

But that Senate report, I'm told by the Republican who's helping draft that Rob Portman does not look at the full scope of what happened in the run up to January 6, simply looks at what happened on January 6, the response by the security forces, the lack of preparedness in the Capitol, not everything running up to it. That's what the Democrats want to focus the Commission on and clear the Republicans don't want to shine the light on what Donald Trump did and what some of the Republican members did as well.

TAPPER: Yeah, and Manu also you have some new reporting on the future of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi?

RAJU: Yeah, a lot of questions about what she will do. Like she had said that this would likely be her last term as Speaker that meaning at the end of next year, but there are growing questions about what she will do. Will she run for reelection? Will she perhaps decide to stay keep the speaker's gavel or will she even leave Congress early?

Now what we're hearing from her confidant is that the talk about her leaving Congress early simply just not going to happen. She is in the middle of a furious effort to try to raise money for House Democrats. They have a beleaguered majority that could easily fall to the Republicans. She has raised $32 million in the first three months of this year, but there are still questions about whether she will run. She is taking steps to run again if they if need be, potentially to raise even more money and there are people who are looking at her because this -- depending on what she does, could affect their own fortunes. People like Hakeem Jeffries, Steny Hoyer, Jim Clyburn, three potential leaders of the Democratic Party all of whom I spoke to, all who declined to say what they would do if she were to step aside. But Jake also looked at the potential of her daughter, Christine Pelosi, someone who I've been told is interested in public office could potentially also run for hot seat.

TAPPER: Oh, interesting. OK. Manu Raju, thank you so much. Let's discuss with my quests panel. Ayesha, let me ask you, between those three, and maybe there are other ones that I don't even know about Hakeem Jeffries, Jim Clyburn, who we had on the show earlier, and Steny Hoyer, do you think one has the edge over the other? AYESHA RASCOE, NPR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, the thing that Hakeem Jeffries has on his side, is youth or relative youth, for the House, he's in his 50s, you know, everyone, the other two are in their 80s, or --

TAPPER: I like you talking about people in the 50s. That makes me feel good. Thank you.

RASCOE: Well, you know, in the House -- and I mean, that's part of the issue, right? Nancy Pelosi love her or hate her, she has been effective. And that's really why a lot of people on the right have come out against her so much is because she has been effective. But you do have a Democratic Party that has not really been able to allow people to come up through the ranks.

TAPPER: Yeah.

RASCOE: A younger generation, to develop those leaders. And so her stepping aside, would give that opportunity for a new generation of leaders to come along.

TAPPER: It's one of the reasons why you've seen some popular young members go back and run for office in their home states, like Keith Ellison, the Attorney General of Minnesota, because there's no room for growth.

Let me ask you, I remember when Paul Ryan announced that he wasn't going to run for reelection and I thought up, he knows that they're going to lose the House. Do you think that that's part of what's going on here? I mean, Pelosi has a very narrow majority. And historically, if you go by trends, Republicans will take over.

LAURA BARRON-LOPEZ, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: I think it's a mix of that. And also, the fact that there is a Democrat in the White House, and so -- and she promised in 2018, what she struck a deal with Democrats that wanted to see her out in 2018, keep me in a bit longer, and I'll leave in four years. But if Democrats somehow maintain power, I also wouldn't be surprised if Pelosi and her top two deputies decide that they want to stick around a bit longer. She still has a dominant force and has a lot of control over this caucus. And as you saw, even the people that, as Manu said, even the people that could maybe replace her, they aren't eager to step out, put their neck out and say that they're ready to do it.

And Steny Hoyer and Jim Clyburn also bristle at the fact that that they are 80 and that people bring that up and that when Pelosi goes, they should go because Hoyer, as you probably know, Jake, has long wanted that speaker.

TAPPER: Sure.

BARRON-LOPEZ: He doesn't want to necessarily hand it over to the younger generation just yet.

TAPPER: 80 is the new 70. Let me let me ask you about the future of this commission. I mean, it looks as though the Senate is going to kill it the all the Democrats likely will vote for it 50 but they need 10 Republicans. And I just have to say I'm just -- like this idea that they're upset because -- the Republicans are upset because the democratic chairman of this commission would ultimately have final say on staffing. They could fix that with an amendment if they wanted to.

[17:30:00]

RASCOE: Yes. Yes.

TAPPER: They -- I mean, it's kind of a bogus excuse, don't you think?

RASCOE: They could find a way to get this done. And in the past, when something as big as what happened on January 6th, I mean, this was an incident that is really changing for this country. I mean, you had people taking over the Capitol --

TAPPER: Yes.

RASCOE: -- in the past, that is something that both parties would have been able to come together and get a commission. And I'm sorry, I've never seen it where Congress didn't want a commission.

TAPPER: Right.

RASCOE: When is that? When does that happen? Like they love commissions.

TAPPER: Yes.

RASCOE: And so the idea that they don't want someone else looking into this, says a lot about where this Congress is, and the fact of like, how can you get anything done. They're real questions about what Congress can do. And the fact that they can't even get together on this is a sign of how far apart the parties are.

TAPPER: Huffington Post, I think it was Arthur Delaney had a piece about the 17 House Republicans who sponsored legislation to create a commission to look into what happened, who then voted against a very similar bill, in fact, even more favorable to Republicans, despite that they had that position. Lindsey Graham called for a 9/11 style commission, and he's going to vote against it. I mean, is it just because they think, ultimately, attention on this even if it's important attention, will be bad for Republicans?

BARRON-LOPEZ: Well so many of them are fact witnesses. I mean, McCarthy himself and -- yes, there are still -- there is still pieces of this where Democrats and other Republicans want to know how many of them potentially were involved or complicit in what occurred on January 6, and Republicans don't necessarily want that to see the light of day. Now, when they bring up the fact that these are duplicative investigations, 9/11 Commission was -- there were other investigations going on at that time.

TAPPER: How many Benghazi committees were there.

BARRON-LOPEZ: Exactly. TAPPER: Speaking of duplicative.

BARRON-LOPEZ: Right. So, but unlike the 9/11 Commission, you're seeing a Republican Party that does not want a whole of government legitimate investigation into this. And so that's why from January to now, they flirted a little bit with maybe investigating it, but are deciding that their political benefit and their survival in 2022 is by saying no to it.

TAPPER: It's just so discouraging. Laura Barron-Lopez, Ayesha Rascoe, thanks for being here. Really appreciate it. Good to see you both in person.

We're waiting for President Biden to speak. We expect him to come out in minutes to talk about Israel and Hamas reaching a ceasefire agreement. We're going to bring you his remarks live, of course. Plus, a look at state and local politicians who took part in that insurrection on January 6, and are nonetheless keeping their power in their respective states and local jurisdictions. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[17:36:54]

TAPPER: In our politics lead today, by a one vote margin, the House of Representatives today approved nearly $2 billion in new spending to increase security around the Capitol in the wake of the January 6 insurrection. Beyond that, though, the attitudes and beliefs that brought people to D.C. (ph) that day, are alive and well and spread throughout the country. As CNN Sara Murray discovered state and local politicians who took part in the events of January 6 are keeping their jobs and power and influence.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SARA MURRAY, CNN POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): A Texas State Representative spotted near the steps of the U.S. Capitol on January 6th, around the time rioters began clashing with police, returned home to introduce a bill paving a path for Texas to session.

KYLE BIEDERMANN (R), TEXAS STATE HOUSE: We have our own grid, we have our own gold, the depository. Texas can lead and these states can join with us and make our grievances heard in a stronger way.

MURRAY (voice-over): Kyle Biedermann also back to new voter restrictions and he kept up the big lie, e-mailing a staffer this interview.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You are watching an effort to steal the presidency analysis.

MURRAY (voice-over): And adding, patriots we must rise. Biedermann who has not been charged with wrongdoing, told CNN he never went inside the Capitol. "I've already said everything I have to say about the Capitol", he said. "I'm not ashamed whatsoever". At least one public official resigned after being charged for his role in the riot. But he appears to be an anomaly. Several other politicians nationwide who were in or near the Capitol January 6th, still hold their high-profile positions back home and some are using those platforms to further their cause.

Former Arizona State Representative Anthony Kern, a stop the steal advocate --

REP. ANTHONY KERN (R-AZ): Something nefarious is going on against our President Donald Trump.

MURRAY (voice-over): -- tweeted from Washington on January 6th, "D-Day in D.C. to support Arizona's and America's duly elected President Donald Trump". He was later spotted on the Capitol steps and went on to work on the partisan Maricopa County election audit. GOP audit organizers initially defended his role even though Kern's name was on the ballot.

KEN BENNETT, AUDIT LIAISON, ARIZONA SENATE REPUBLICANS: We're not counting his race so he can count votes on the ballots for the presidential race in the U.S. Senate race.

MURRAY (voice-over): Kern who declined to comment was eventually booted from the audit. He has not been charged with any wrongdoing and has announced plans to run for State Senate. In Natick, Massachusetts, town meeting member Suzanne Ianni was arrested and charged with unlawfully entering the Capitol and disorderly conduct after she was allegedly identified by the FBI in this photo inside the Capitol. The Justice Department alleges Ianni organized buses to D.C. through anti- gay group Super Happy Fun America and was spotted in Washington at draped in a homophobic straight pride flag.

Ianni has not entered a plea and declined to comment on the charges. But said, "It was peacefully protesting a fraudulent election. There was no domestic terrorism." Natick's governing board has no way to recall Ianni so they introduced a resolution condemning the Capitol rioters.

PAUL COFFEY, NATICK TOWN MEETING MEMBER: I suggest that this resolution addresses that issue without naming names and without caring any further simply say the events of January 6th were disgusting.

[17:40:04]

MURRAY (voice-over): It passed overwhelmingly.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The resolution passes by a majority.

MURRAY (voice-over): Texas couple, Mark and Jalise Middleton appears smiling, supporting Trump hats in Washington a day before the riot. The quaffed couple quickly transforming into a disheveled mess. Charging documents alleged Mark pushed against police barricades screaming f-you. And Jalise reaches out a manicured hand to allegedly slap an officer before both were pepper sprayed. They each face nine charges including assaulting or resisting officers. They have not entered pleas and their legal representative declined to comment. The Cook County Republican Party website still lists Mark as a precinct chair, a role meant to grow the GOP. There was no way to remove him, a party official told CNN.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MURRAY: Now in the public comments from these folks, and in my conversations with some of them, it's clear that they still believe in these things. Some of them still believe the election was stolen. They believe that, you know, Texas might be better off succeeding (ph). And this kind of shows you how these beliefs are going back into the country and continuing to sort of roost there as these people, in many cases, still hold positions of power.

TAPPER: Yes, they're not being ostracized, they're continuing to spread from their positions of leadership. Sara Murray, great report, thank you so much.

Any moment President Biden is set to speak about the Middle East for Israel and Hamas, say they have reached a ceasefire agreement. Plus, the increasing pressure -- prosecutors are putting on a key Trump aide who knows a lot about the Trump finances.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[17:45:53]

TAPPER: Welcome back in our national lead, a longtime aide to former President Donald Trump is now under criminal investigation over tax issues, sources tell CNN. The New York State Attorney General Letitia James has been looking into Allen Weisselberg, the Trump Organization CFO for months, we're told, this is in addition to the criminal investigation that her office has into the Trump family business.

Now, as CNN's Jessica Schneider reports, prosecutors say they are hoping to find leverage that could sway Weisselberg into cooperating with authorities.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JESSICA SCHNEIDER, CNN JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The New York Attorney General's Office has opened a criminal tax investigation into former President Donald Trump's longtime financial gatekeeper Allen Weisselberg.

DONALD TRUMP, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: He's my Chief Financial Officer, Allen Weisselberg.

SCHNEIDER (voice-over): Weisselberg has handled the Trump organization's finances for 40 years. So trusted, he was left in charge of the company when Trump became president.

SHERI DILLON, TRUMP'S TAX ATTORNEY: He has relinquished leadership and management of the Trump Organization to his sons, Don and Eric and a longtime Trump executive Allen Weisselberg. SCHNEIDER (voice-over): Now investigators are looking into Weisselberg's personal taxes plus his role at the Trump Organization, a way for prosecutors to exert pressure on Weisselberg to convince him to cooperate with the broader investigation into the Trump Organization. Raising the legal stakes for Trump and his family, sources familiar with the investigation say --

JENNIFER WEISSELBERG, ALLEN WEISSELBERG'S FORMER DAUGHTER-IN-LAW: I think that'll turn on him.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Why?

WEISSELBERG: I think his sons have too many -- too much criminal liability.

SCHNEIDER (voice-over): Weisselberg's ex daughter-in-law, Jennifer, has been cooperating with investigators and was subpoenaed for documents last month. She divorced Barry Weisselberg, also an employee of the Trump Organization in 2018.

WEISSELBERG: The way the company, the Trump Org operates is by compensating you annually in apartments, cars, tuition for my two children. And in that sense, it's difficult to leave.

SCHNEIDER (voice-over): Prosecutors are exploring whether benefits like those were a substitute for salary compensation, which would lower payroll taxes for the Trump Organization, sources say.

LETITIA JAMES, ATTORNEY GENERAL OF NEW YORK: New Yorkers we can spot a con man,

SCHNEIDER (voice-over): New York Attorney General Letitia James's investigation happening at the same time. Manhattan district attorney Cy Vance is digging into Weisselberg's role at the Trump Organization, his personal finances and benefits given to his son Barry. The revelation comes soon after James said her office's civil investigation of the Trump Organization was now criminal. That investigation includes whether the company improperly inflated the value of assets and financial filings, something former Trump attorney Michael Cohen testified to.

MICHAEL COHEN, TRUMP'S FORMER PERSONAL ATTORNEY: It was my experience that Mr. Trump inflated his total assets when it served his purposes, such as trying to be listed amongst the wealthiest people in Forbes and deflated his assets to reduce his real estate taxes.

SCHNEIDER (voice-over): Cohen has met with investigators several times. Trump has previously denied any wrongdoing.

TRUMP: This is just a continuation of the witch hunt.

SCHNEIDER (voice-over): And the former President said in a statement Wednesday, "They failed to stop me in Washington, so they turned it over to New York to do their dirty work".

(END VIDEOTAPE) SCHNEIDER: And we're also getting new details about the federal investigation of Trump's personal attorney Rudy Giuliani. Prosecutors now revealing they seized 18 electronic devices in April from Giuliani and from more than one of his employees. And the filing doesn't say who else was searched, but we have previously reported his assistant had her computer seized. Jake?

TAPPER: All right, Jessica Schneider, thanks so much.

Let's discuss all this with Kim Wehle, former Assistant U.S. Attorney, as well as Criminal Defense Attorney Caroline Polisi. Kim, so you have a piece in The Atlantic magazine and you say that America is inching closer to seeing for the first time in our country's history, the indictment and trial of a former president. What makes you think it's going to come to that?

KIM WEHLE, FORMER ASSISTANT U.S. ATTORNEY: Well, it's interesting in the light of what's happening with the January 6th Commission. What's happening is that the Trump era is being pushed off to the states and the local prosecutors.

[17:50:02]

The federal system is out. But the reason this is so important is because Giuliani close confidant, lawyer of the president and then Allen Weisselberg, then the top financial person for the entire Trump Empire, dating back to 1973. And it's pretty rare for the D.A. and the man -- the State Attorney General to come together and expand the investigation in this way.

TAPPER: But the idea, Caroline, Weisselberg, and the Trump family go back to the 70s, as Kim just pointed out. One former Trump Organization employee told CNN, quote, Allen knows where all the financial bodies are buried, unquote. Do you agree that this might ultimately end up with Donald Trump on trial?

CAROLINE POLISI, CRIMINAL DEFENSE ATTORNEY: I don't know if I'm ready to go that far yet, but we do know that Weisselberg has already sat for a deposition with Tish James's office back when it was only a civil probe. We also know -- we heard there in Jessica's package that, you know, the former daughter-in-law of Weisselberg, Jennifer Weisselberg, has been cooperating quite extensively with Cy Vance's office providing them with apparently a trove of documents. And you'll recall that Cy Vance already has Trump's tax returns.

So when prosecutors are looking at trying to prove accounting fraud or insurance fraud or things like that, it's actually quite complicated. It's not as though those tax documents, it's going to be a smoking gun jumping out at them, they have to triangulate documents, they have to look at contemporaneous submissions, evaluations, you know, potentially on different documents. And so, I think both of the offices are seeing that the other one can provide different pieces of the puzzle and coming together just makes them that much stronger now. And I agree with Kim, it's unprecedented.

TAPPER: And Kim, as Caroline just pointed out, and as Jessica had in her piece, even if Weisselberg doesn't voluntarily cooperate, his former daughter-in-law, his son's ex-wife, Jennifer is, they were married to the son, Barry, for 14 years. Barry continues to work for the Trump Organization. Jennifer's attorney says that she has 25 years worth of bank records, credit card records, tax records in her possession. But what would be in those documents that would force Barry or Allen to cooperate with law enforcement --

WEHLE: Well, we know --

TAPPER: -- theoretically?

WEHLE: Well, hundreds of thousands of dollars went to the grandchildren's tuition and so there could be tax questions there, was that properly sort of taxed Donald Trump signed allegedly some of those checks. And so, I think the question is, if they have some potential criminal liability from one of these lower-level players, could they then get them to cooperate, like we saw with Paul Manafort, for example, for a while in connection with the Mueller investigation? Would they cooperate and talk about the key element here, which is some level of knowledge or intent? That's really the question.

I mean Donald Trump is in charge of 500 plus entities within the Trump Organization umbrella, but he can say, listen, I have lots of people working for me. I know nothing about this. So these witnesses are critical for that.

TAPPER: And Caroline, the D.A.'s office has been trying to turn Weisselberg into a cooperating witness for quite some time. But now you have New York Attorney General Letitia James in her office joining the effort. Does that increase the chances of Weisselberg flipping do you think?

POLISI: Absolutely. This was a clear shot across the bow from Tish James here. I think that statement was directed at Allen Weisselberg, in particular. You know, once the stakes are raised, once it becomes a criminal probe and the prospect of going to jail is on the table, people tend to evaluate their options differently. I agree with Kim, you know, prosecutors, this is a tried-and-true tactic that prosecutors use all the time that you're squeezing Weisselberg to move up the chain in order to get a bigger fish. And really, you know, the reason this is such a big deal is you don't get much of a bigger fish than Allen Weisselberg except for if your last name is Trump, really.

So, you know, Donald Trump notoriously doesn't use e-mails, so Weisselberg could be a key piece of the puzzle when it comes to, as Kim noticed, you know, when it comes to his state of mind, and attesting to what Trump's knowledge was about these issues.

TAPPER: Interesting. All right, Caroline Polisi, Kim Wehle, here in studio, thanks so much. We should know Jennifer Weisselberg will be on Erin Burnett OutFront this evening, 7:00 p.m. Eastern. Be sure to watch.

President Biden expected to speak at any moment on the ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas. We're going to squeeze in a quick break. We'll be right back. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[17:59:06]

TAPPER: President Biden will come before the cameras and speak at any moment about the ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas. We'll bring that to when he comes out. Earlier today, the President signed a new law targeting the rise in hate crimes against Asian Americans and make sure that hate crimes are more accurately counted and reported, though. In an emotional speech, the President declared the real change we need as a national change of heart.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Time, we're silent. Every time, we let hate flourish. You make a lot of who we are as a nation.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TAPPER: One group that tracks racism and discrimination against Asian Americans reports that it is received more than 6,000 firsthand complaints since last year. Finally, today in our pop culture lead, I have a new novel that is now available in bookstores and, frankly, I owe you all thank you because "The Devil May Dance" is now debuting on the New York Times bestseller list and I have you to thank for that. If you are interested, you can order an autographed copy, just go to JakeTapper.com and look at the bottom of the page.

Our coverage continues right now with one Mr. Wolf Blitzer next door in "The Situation Room."