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Today, Trump to be Arrested, Face Criminal Charges; JPMorgan CEO Says, Banking Crisis to be Felt for Years to Come; Trump to Speak from Mar-a-Lago Tonight After Arrest and Arraignment. Aired 10-10:30a ET

Aired April 04, 2023 - 10:00   ET

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

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[10:00:00]

SARA SIDNER, CNN ANCHOR: He's reportedly itching to talk, but will Donald Trump be silenced by a gag order? The former president will soon head to this Manhattan courtroom where he will be placed under arrest. We're chasing all the latest, what's in the indictment, how many charges and will the former president say anything to the many cameras at the courthouse. We're on it.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: We want in NATO too. That is the message from Ukraine this morning after the major news that Finland officially joined the alliance. What this means for the war and the world.

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: Brand new jobs data just dropped, what it says about the state of the U.S. economy. These major stories and more right here on CNN News Central.

SIDNER: In just a few hours, former President Trump will turn himself in appearing before a judge, and what you're looking at that in Manhattan to be arraigned on criminal charges. It is a historic, never before seen situation in the United States. You're looking at some live pictures outside the court and outside Trump Tower where Donald Trump spent the night.

CNN This Morning Anchor Kaitlan Collins and CNN Senior Legal Affairs Correspondent Paula Reid join us from Manhattan.

Kaitlan, you have been there all morning since very, very early. Can you give us a sense of what you've seen out there so far?

KAITLAN COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR AND CHIEF CORRESPONDENT: Yes, we have been here since very early this morning, since about 4:30 A.M. Of course, it is the building behind me where former President Trump will arrive in just a few hours. That is where he will turn himself in, where he will be arraigned and where we are now learning he is expected to speak.

I had been told by several people who have been familiar with his mindset that Trump had been itching to talk about his indictment while here on the ground in Manhattan. We did not hear from him yesterday as he arrived here. He went straight to Trump Tower and has been behind closed doors ever since meeting with his legal team. But he has been wanting to talk about this indictment before he gets back to Mar-a- Lago tonight, where he is going to give that speech in front of supporters and surrogates later on.

Of course, the big question is what he is going to say. There is a moment where he is going to arrive here today he will go to the 15th floor of the building behind me. That is 100 Centre Street, and that is where there will be a camera not inside the courtroom after the judge's ruling overnight, but outside of the courtroom in that hallway. I am going to go in there with him, so we'll see what it is that former president says.

We have a pretty good indication, Sara, given what he's been posting on Truth Social, saying that he believes the Manhattan district attorney, Alvin Bragg, who we saw arrive at work earlier today, should indict himself, clearly not pleased with the situation that is facing him today as he is adding new people to his legal team, including that attorney, Todd Blanche, that has been added to the defense team.

The question, of course, is whether or not Todd Blanche is the one taking the lead in the courtroom today. That is a big question when it comes to Joe Tacopina, the Trump attorney that we have seen on air today. But we are told that Trump has been in what was described as a resilient mood by one of his attorneys. But certainly this is not the situation he wants to find himself in.

And, finally, Sara, I just want to note that over here to my left, there is a small park in front of 100 Centre Street, this courthouse that Trump is going to appear in later today. There are a lot of members of the media. There are a few protesters here. We did see freshman Republican Congressman George Santos here for a brief moment earlier today. We are expecting Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene to arrive in a bit. We'll see what that looks like. Trump did want to see a show of support outside the courthouse today.

SIDNER: I'm curious what you're hearing about this because we have reporting from our CNN's Jeff Zeleny, who you know quite well, who's saying, look, the defense attorneys in this case have told Donald Trump not to use this vitriolic language when he -- if he addresses the cameras against the judge and against the D.A. Is there any indication that he is going to heed the warning by his attorneys? Because in other times, he has not.

COLLINS: One of the things that we've heard of people for is Trump often gets legal advice. He doesn't always take such legal advice. He obviously has been very critical of the judge that he is going to go before today. You see a few protesters behind us that are here. Not that many, I should note, that are gathered out here yet, so a few hours to go before he arrives.

His own legal team and advisers don't think it's wise to be criticizing the judge, especially given that's who is going to be appearing before today, but he has criticized the judge constantly. He has obviously attacked the district attorney in this case. We'll see, you know, whether or not that is something that judge himself brings up today. It remains to be seen. [10:05:00]

SIDNER: All right. Kaitlan Collins there with all the latest on what's happening there in Lower Manhattan. Kate?

BOLDUAN: So, as you were just discussing with Kaitlan Collins, in just a few hours, we could also hear from the former president, whose attorneys have said that he may speak at the courthouse before or after his arraignment.

CNN's Paula Reid, she's standing by with a closer look at the legal battle that is really just beginning.

Paula, the judge, let's talk about the ruling that came in, the order that came in overnight. The judge has decided no cameras inside the courtroom, still cameras to take a take some photos before the proceeding begins. What was the judge considering, what are you learning in terms in this decision, because there were so many media organizations, including CNN, making the case to be able to be in there and broadcast this historic moment?

PAULA REID, CNN SENIOR LEGAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: Exactly. Now, usually, cameras are not allowed inside courtrooms here in New York, but media organizations, as you said, including CNN, argued that there was overwhelming public interest in having cameras present for this historic moment.

Now, this judge historically has not allowed cameras in even when requested for cases of significant public interest. But what tipped the scales here is when the former president's defense attorneys came out and said that they objected to having cameras inside. They made several arguments. There are security concerns. They said they didn't want to add to what they described as a, quote, circus like atmosphere.

But the argument that the judge found most compelling is that the lawyer said that having a camera inside the courtroom for this arraignment would go against former President Trump's granted presumption of innocence.

And here, it's interesting because we're really hearing from the judge, Judge Juan Merchan, for the first time. And his comments here really thoughtful and how he went about weighing this. He said, look, I fully understand there's a lot of public interest here. He called this case one of monumental significance. But he erred on the side of Trump's presumption of innocence.

And for that, he said he will not allow cameras in that we will have still photographs of this event, and there will also be cameras in the hallway for the former president, whereas our colleagues are reporting he might even try to speak.

BOLDUAN: And you also have some new reporting, Paula. Is there a chance that the defense team could learn more of the about the charges before the arraignment? REID: It's possible. The timing of exactly when they're going to get the actual indictment, the actual charges, is unclear. Now, usually, the charges are unsealed during the initial appearance. That's when we expect the attorneys will get the charges finally get to see them. But, again, it's not clear because this is such a significant case.

Obviously, the media also wants to obtain these charges as well. So, at this point, it's unclear. But once we get them, Kate, we're going to be looking at exactly that these charges are but also how are they supported. Is this is a case that's going to be mostly supported by documents or testimony from witnesses, some of whom are kind of problematic, like Michael Cohen.

BOLDUAN: Yes. And, Paula, Trump has a new attorney, a very new attorney now taking lead. What does this mean? He brought he brought Blanche in so late.

REID: So, some people have described this as a shakeout, but, Kate, I would say this is kind of the national progression of things. We're in a new phase of this. Previously, this had been a matter under investigation by a grand jury, but now we're moving into an actual criminal case.

And, historically, the former president has had attorneys not only who work behind the scenes but also who defend him on television and someone like, for example, Joe Tacopina, he has been one of the most forward-facing members of the defense team. He's someone who could certainly do both. He could work behind the scenes. He could also defend the former president on T.V.

But Todd Blanche brings a lot of experience in white-collar cases. It's unclear right now who is going to be the, quote/unquote, lead attorney. Joe Tacopina tells me he expects to be the lead, other people suggesting Todd Blanche will be the lead.

But, look, I think a lot of that, just behind the scenes jockeying and, ultimately, there's plenty of room to defend the president not only in court today but also in the court of public opinion.

BOLDUAN: So much we're going to learn and said that courtroom especially. It's good to see, Paula. Thank you. John?

BERMAN: So, Kate, Donald Trump, not only the first former president ever to be arraigned, he is also the first former president ever to be arraigned who is running to be president again. So, the new CNN poll finds that 60 percent of voters approve of the decision to indict Trump, but a majority also says that the indictment is political.

CNN Political Director David Chalian is with us now. So great to see you here. So, what we're going to see today, legal proceeding, campaign opportunity or both?

DAVID CHALIAN, CNN POLITICAL DIRECTOR: Both, there's no doubt about that, John. And just to add to what you said, not only is he a candidate running for president again, he's the frontrunner for the Republican nomination right now, and he has frozen that race in place. Today, he is going to navigate both the court of public opinion and the court of law. And we have not seen Donald Trump in this moment, never seen anybody in this kind of moment, obviously who served as president, but Donald Trump is now going to face a moment he's been trying to avoid his entire professional life.

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And what will be not new for him is to try and turn that into a political advantage.

BERMAN: So, let's talk more about that, because we are reporting that his lawyer is saying that Trump plans to speak before and after the arraignment. We don't know if that will even happen. But that might be the point. So, how is the fact that this is now being said fit into the stage managing we've seen from Trump for decades?

CHALIAN: Well, this is now like the reality show producer part of Donald Trump that was part of his pre-White House life, and as we all witnessed for four years, very much a part of his White House administration. He loves to be able to manipulate as much as he can in terms of the media, but he's not going to be able to manipulate inside the courtroom. So, dangling this out here may speak, not speak.

What we do know is this for certain, he has announced an event to take place tonight at 8 15 back in Florida, at Mar-a-Lago, on his home turf, before a crowd of fans and supporters to what people inside have described as present a vociferous defense, not only in this case, but in all the investigations.

BERMAN: Well, talk to us about that moment. What do you think he wants to do with that primetime moment?

CHALIAN: I mean, he wants to do a couple of things. One, he wants to give Republicans the script to follow because we haven't seen the indictment yet, right? And so now we're going to have actual information today.

So, will all the rush to judgment from Republicans that this is purely political, because that's what Donald Trump sort of scripted for them, will that look the same after we all read the indictment as before? I doubt they're going to adjust their messaging on this. But when we see the indictment, the question is, should they right?

And so I think one of the things he's going to do tonight is give everyone that's ripped to start reading from, but also he's going to try to raise money and fortify this position with his supporters.

BERMAN: David Chalian, a human political decoder ring, how we're lucky to have you here. Thank you very much for that. Kate?

BOLDUAN: Also new this morning, more evidence of just how tight the job market is, good news for job seekers, but maybe not such great news for the Fed.

Plus, a white man arrested on the campus of a historically black university carrying an arsenal, handguns, blow darts, a crossbow and a machete. We have details on what he was allegedly plotting.

And it's election day in Chicago. We have the latest on the mayor's race that has put crime front and center.

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SIDNER: On our radar, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis has signed a bill allowing Floridians to carry concealed weapons without a permit. Florida is now the 26th state to allow permit list carry and critics, including some in law enforcement, call the move dangerous.

Officials in North Carolina say a man was arrested on the campus of a historically black university with a cache of weapons. They say he also had thousands of rounds of ammunition and explosive. The white man has been charged with multiple weapons violations. He's now banned from the campus of North Carolina A&T University police say he has no ties to that school.

And parts of the Midwest and south devastated by catastrophic tornadoes will have almost no time to recover before another round of dangerous storms takes aim at those hard hit areas. At least 70 million people are under threat for severe storms today from Michigan all the way to Texas.

BOLDUAN: Now, we're getting the latest read on the state of the economy this morning. The government is reporting that there are 9.9 million job openings, and that was in February. That is a drop from the prior month, but it's still about two jobs for every one person, a sign that the labor market is still very much hot.

CNN's Vanessa Yurkevich joins me now with more details on this report. So many job openings still, Vanessa. It says what?

VANESSA YURKEVICH, CNN BUSINESS AND POLITCS CORRESPONDENT: Still, it says that we're moving in the right direction. But there's still more work for the Federal Reserve to do. 9.9 million open jobs in February, that's down from 10.6 million in January, but it's not quite where we were pre-pandemic. We want to be closer to that number, 7.1 million.

And the Federal Reserve is watching this closely. Because when you have so many open jobs, that's about 1.7 open jobs to every job seeker. So, there's a lot of options for jobseekers right now. And that means that employers are going to have to get creative with being competitive. And one way they do that is by raising wages, and raising wages ultimately helps fuel inflation.

This is just one key reports that the Federal Reserve is worth looking at this week. There's also weekly jobless claims on Thursday. They want to see those numbers rising, that big jobs report on Friday. They want to see -- the Federal Reserve wants to see that number come down. They're looking at all of these different reports to try to paint a picture in order to figure out how what they're going to do with interest rates in the next couple of months.

BOLDUAN: It's still clear that, one, hard job, a complicated economy and their work is still definitely not done yet in terms of the Fed.

Jamie Dimon of JPMorgan came out this morning with something of a warning following the banking crisis spurred by Silicon Valley Bank. What is he saying?

YURKEVICH: Essentially, he's saying what is bad for one bank is bad for all banks. And he came out with his investor note this morning to shareholders, and he talked about the banking crisis that happened with SVB. He said in his letter that, he says as I write this letter, the current crisis is not over yet, and even when it is behind us, there will be repercussions for years to come.

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And he went on to say that this is not the time to get politically motivated in terms of federal regulations because we kind of need to wait and see what happens because there is going to be a longer term ripple effect.

However, JPMorgan was one of the banks that helped bail out, in some ways, First Republic Bank, another bank that was on the rocks. So, they're really trying to flex their muscles and say, let's wait and see what happens. But, guys, the banking system, the structure is good as it is right now, but let's wait before we make any major changes.

BOLDUAN: Yes, essentially saying, we've got this. We don't need more government regulation or new laws to come in. As we know, Congress is looking into it. It's great to see you, Vanessa. Thank you so much. John?

BERMAN: Kate, it is Election Day in Chicago. Voters in the country's third largest city will choose a new mayor today. This is a race that Democrats are looking at as something of a bellwether with the issues of crime and education at the forefront.

CNN's Omar Jimenez joins us now. Omar tell us about these two very different candidates.

OMAR JIMENEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes John. Essentially, you've got, on one side, Brandon Johnson. He is a local county commissioner. He's a former teacher. It's part of why he's being endorsed by the very powerful teachers union as well. He is the more progressive candidate here and nationally is being supported by Senators Bernie Sanders, Elizabeth Warren and people on that side of the Democratic ideology.

On the other side of things in the Democratic world, you have Paul Vallas. He's a former head of schools in Chicago and Philadelphia. He is being supported by the powerful police union and is also being endorsed nationally by longtime Illinois Senator Dick Durbin, former Obama Education Secretary Arne Duncan, more of the moderate Democrats.

BERMAN: So, both Democrats, yes. So, why then is the Democratic Party looking at this as a sort of signed for the future?

JIMENEZ: Well, it's really sort of a test of two Democratic ideologies here. We've actually seen this dynamic play out in some key mayoral races and the other two biggest cities in the country. In Los Angeles, the more progressive congresswoman, Karen Bass, defeated her moderate opponent, Rick Caruso, to take the mayorship in L.A. And then in New York, the more moderate Eric Adams, former police officer beat out a progressive field in the primary to take the mayorship here. So, we've seen mixed results there.

And while we don't know just yet what will happen here, that's why this race is being watched so closely to see what sort of dynamics are resonating with people and that, of course, politically could have implications down the line as well.

BERMAN: And we talked about possible bellwethers. If you can look just the other direction in Wisconsin, there is a race for the state Supreme Court, which, again, Democrats are looking at as potentially having huge implications.

JIMENEZ: Yes, John. Well, for starters, there's a lot going on today. But, yes, in Wisconsin, for starters, this is a race for state Supreme Court justice. Conservatives have held the majority in that Supreme Court bench for a decade. One of those conservatives retired, and so now this seat is up for grabs.

And the reason that's so important is when you look at abortion access, for example. There are legal challenges there to the state abortion ban that went into effect after the fall of Roe v. Wade. And, of course, this seat could be a determining seat and how that's decided on.

BERRMAN: Omar, great to see you on this busy day. Thank you so much. Sara?

JIMENEZ: Of course.

SIDNER: We have much more ahead for you. At least one person is dead and dozens of other people injured after a passenger train derailed in the Netherlands. Details of the cause of that crash is coming up.

And as you know, we're just hours away from former President Donald Trump appearing in court for his arraignment, a historic moment. Up next, to preview of what we might hear from Trump when he speaks to the country after his appearance.

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BERMAN: Live pictures from Lower Manhattan, that is the courthouse where, soon and getting sooner, Donald Trump will be arrested and arraigned, the first former president ever to face criminal charges. The judge overseeing this case is not going to allow live video of that proceeding, but we are told that still photographers will be in the courtroom before the hearing begins.

Today, for the first time, we are also going to learn why prosecutors believe that Donald Trump is a criminal. This morning, lawyers for the former president say he is itching to speak publicly about his indictment. They also claim that he plans to speak in the hallway of the court before or after today's proceedings.

We do have to see if that will really happen. Sara?

SIDNER: We knew we do no good, bad or ugly that Donald Trump is expected to speak tonight after he returns to his home at Mar-a-Lago.

CNN's Kristen Holmes is in West Palm Beach this morning, near Mar-a- Lago there. What can you tell us? We've seen a lot of stuff that he has posted, of course, on social media, where he's gone after the D.A., gone after the judge, his attorneys telling him not to do that. What are you hearing he's going to say?

KRISTEN HOLMES, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: That's right, Sara. So, what we are hearing is that he's going to issue a full on defense, not just in this New York case, but really in every legal investigation that he is currently facing.

Now, when it comes to that speech, there is a draft written by advisers. They are currently tweaking it, but we are not expecting anything finalized until after that arraignment and after those charges are made public.

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