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Heightened Security in New York City Before Trump's Arraignment; Trump, The First Former U.S. President, To Be Indicted; Today: Trump Surrenders, Faces Criminal Charges; Finland Becomes Newest NATO Member; Dmytro Kuleba, Ukrainian Foreign Minister, Congratulated Finland Becoming NATO's 31st Member; Infertility Affects 1 in 6 People Worldwide, According to Recent W.H.O. Report. Aired 10:30-11a ET

Aired April 04, 2023 - 10:30   ET

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

[10:30:00]

KRISTEN HOLMES, CNN U.S. NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: We do expect the former president to revise and review that speech on the plane back to Mar-a-Lago. But there really isn't any question that they are going to make this political. And if you want any indication of how political, Trump brought his own videographer for this trip to document the behind the scenes of his surrender, just showing you again how they plan to use this in the future. We don't expect any of that to subside despite the fact that we are going to learn these charges today.

SARA SIDNER, CNN SENIOR CORRESPONDENT: Yes, whether it's good or bad fundraising for Donald Trump has always been good when it comes to just about anything. Kristen Holmes, thank you so much from West Palm Beach there

Kate.

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: Officials in New York City are preparing and bracing for potential unrest after Trump told his supporters to protest and warned of death and destruction. The city's mayor says that there is no major threat at this time, but still had a warning for anyone thinking of stirring up trouble. Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ERIC ADAMS, (D) NEW YORK CITY MAYOR: While there may be some rabblerousers, thinking about coming to our city tomorrow, our message is clear and simple, control yourselves. New York City is our home, not a playground for your misplaced anger.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BOLDUAN: Joining us now, a former secret service agent and CNN Law Enforcement Analyst Jonathan Wackrow and CNN Legal Analyst and Criminal Defense Attorney Joey Jackson. Guys, thanks for coming in.

Joey, first, let's talk about the case in the moment before us. One thing that happened just yesterday and is now we're going to see how it looks today in court is Donald Trump bringing in a new attorney to apparently lead things today. And to me, as a layman, it feels the last minute bringing him in just the day before you're going to face the judge. What does it mean to you?

JOEY JACKSON, CNN LEGAL ANALYST AND CRIMINAL DEFENSE ATTORNEY: It means that it's game time. It's on. Prior to today, you can talk politics, you can speak about the fact that this is politically motivated, you could talk about you scoring (ph) the president without evidence. Today is different. Why, Kate? Because the game changes from the public relations narrative to what does that indictment say? How do we pick it apart? Is it legally sufficient? Is there anything we could attack with respect to a motion to dismiss?

And that takes a village. It takes an effort, right, by all attorneys on board. It takes the evaluation of it and it takes the experience, of course, of really seasoned minds to evaluate and determine what the proper defenses are at last point. Again, there's one thing from a public relations perspective to give the narrative. It's another thing when you're in a courtroom to give a narrative that attacks the evidence, and today we're going to be all about the evidence when we get that indictment.

BOLDUAN: Absolutely, I'm going to get to that in just a second.

JACKSON: Yes.

BOLDUAN: The legal that mixed up in all of this is the security protocols. The security put in place that we've been talking about leading up to this. Secret service and NYPD, they are ready. They're prepared for anything that could take place today around this historic moment.

But there is the wild card, which is Donald Trump and all of this. His attorneys saying, he could speak before or after going into court today. Him speaking later this evening. What does law enforcement need to be looking at? Not just today, but in the weeks and months ahead because this is going to be a long thing.

JONATHAN WACKROW, CNN LAW ENFORCEMENT ANALYST, FORMER SECRET SERVICE AGENT, AND COO AND GLOBAL HEAD OF SECURITY, TENEO RISK: Well, listen, today sets up the, you know, the future events, right? The coordination of security with the secret service, the NYPD. All of the preparedness that had gone and all of the planning, today is game day for them. And they have to execute on it. Now putting it into practice, but that practice is going to set up, you know, Trump's return to the court later on. Is this the structure that we're going to have moving forward?

What they did, though, is they took a threat-based approach. They're letting intelligence drive the control measures not just around the courthouse or Trump tower, but across the city.

BOLDUAN: First, it's just locking everything down.

WACKROW: Just locking it down.

BOLDUAN: Yes. WACKROW: I mean, you can throw 20,000 police officers and really shut down Lower Manhattan. But is there a need to? And what we -- what we're looking at over the last seven days is we did not see large groups mobilizing around the president. You know, we're seeing -- you know, some protesters expressing their first amendment right. But we're not seeing any type of agitators in those crowds that are trying to, you know, act nefariously or capitalize on the moment.

BOLDUAN: And that kind of strategy, as it works, it applies going forward --

WACKROW: Correct.

BOLDUAN: -- as we as we continue to watch and hear what the president says. One thing -- one of Trump's attorneys today, Joey, said just this morning that he can guarantee one thing, and that is that there will be no guilty plea, even on a misdemeanor. The attorney saying that he doesn't even think that this case is going to -- that it's going to see a jury. What do you think of that?

JACKSON: I think a couple of things. The first thing is, there's no question about it as they should. All of us lawyers attack the sufficiency of the information. Should it even go before the jury? Are there legal theories in the indictment that are flawed? Does it make out a crime? Et cetera. So, there'll be a lot of what we call motion practice. I can tell you that's my former office. As a prosecutor there, they are very good as it relates to dealing with paper crimes. It's the financial capital of the world.

[10:35:00]

And as a result of that, they did it then, they'll do it now. It also means that, look, no holds barred. In the event we don't get our case dismissed by virtue of making legal motions, right? By judges saying, we're going to throw this out. We're going to take our case to the jury and we are going to, right, not that they have a burden of proof.

BOLDUAN: Uh-huh.

JACKSON: but give the indication to those 12 members beyond a reasonable doubt that this president is not guilty. Make no mistake about it, this will be a fierce fight on paper. It will be a fierce fight with respect to presentation. It will be a fierce fight in front of the jury.

BOLDUAN: And a fierce fight, probably in the media. Unless there would be a gag order. And there is -- there's talk, of course, that a gag order could be in place. But the same attorney that was on this morning, talking about no guilty plea, also said that he thinks that there is no indication that there will be a request for a gag order or will be a gag order put in place. From a security perspective, I was wondering this this morning, would law enforcement prefer a judge telling everyone to keep quiet?

WACKROW: From a law enforcement perspective, yes. But we're dealing with Donald Trump. And does he listen to that, right? I think his advisers will say that he should. His attorneys will say that he should. But will he? And what would -- the problem with the former president is that it's not his message, right? It's not the words that he says. It's how they are interpreted by his proxies.

Do they use that as a call to action? Well, he's saying no, no, I was just kidding. I was just kidding. I didn't -- I didn't mean that. But he -- did he really mean it? And the intent to that message and how it's received is that wild card for law enforcement. But they have thought about that already. The secret service has thought about it. The NYPD has thought about it. And it's something that, you know, we've just come to know with the former president.

BOLDUAN: And we will stand by to stand by to see though they are prepared. Jonathan is very good to see you.

WACKROW: Nice to see you.

BOLDUAN: Joey, thank you so much.

JACKSON: Thank you. Thank you.

BOLDUAN: John.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: All right. House Speaker Kevin McCarthy is set to speak with the president of Taiwan. China now condemning the move.

And Finland, officially the 31st member of NATO, something Russia has long feared. So, how is Russia responding? That's ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[10:40:00]

BOLDUAN: Right now, at least one person is dead and 30 others injured after a train derailed in the Netherlands early this morning. Dutch officials say, the train slammed into construction equipment that was on the tracks before plowing into a field. At one point, rescue teams were also working to put out a fire that erupted at the scene.

Australia is now joining the United States, and a growing list of other countries, banning the use of TikTok on government devices over privacy concerns and national security concerns. The attorney general there says that the move will go into effect as soon as possible. Now, TikTok tells CNN, it's disappointed by the move, which the company says is driven by politics.

And House Speaker, Kevin McCarthy, will meet with the president of Taiwan in California tomorrow. The long-anticipated meeting is all but guaranteed to rattle the already tense relationship between China and the United States. China is condemning the move, saying it's, "Firmly opposed to any form of official exchanges between the U.S and Taiwan", which Beijing claims as its own.

BERMAN: It is a historic day for NATO and a major setback for Russia. Last hour, this Finnish flag was raised at NATO headquarters in Brussels to mark the official membership of Finland to the alliance. Secretary of State, Tony Blinken, welcomed Finland to the group.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ANTONY BLINKEN, U.S. SECRETARY OF STATE: I'm tempted to say this is maybe the one thing we can thank Mr. Putin for because he, once again, here is precipitated something he claims to want to prevent by Russia's aggression. Causing many countries to believe that they have to do more to look out for their own defense and to make sure that they could deter possible Russian aggression going forward.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: So, in response to this, it seems, Russia is now claiming that Belarus has now been equipped with aircraft that can carry out nuclear strikes. CNN's David McKenzie is in Kyiv for us this morning. You know, David, Finland, now a member of NATO. Ukraine, of course, has been basically asking for this for some time that Ukraine be a member of NATO. So, how is the country now responding?

DAVID MCKENZIE, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, we had that very symbolic moment of the Finnish flag being raised, and it is a very important day for NATO. The Ukrainians, as you say, are looking to find a pathway towards joining NATO. That is one reason that this country is fighting so hard to maintain its identity away from Russia. There was the foreign minister of Ukraine act (ph) that NATO summit. Here's what he had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DMYTRO KULEBA, UKRAINIAN FOREIGN MINISTER: We are all handed from Finland today. And Finland's accession is a clear message that the time to revise all strategies and old perceptions has come. And there is no better solution to ensuring EuroAtlantic security as a whole, then membership of Ukraine -- eventual membership of Ukrainian in NATO.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MCKENZIE: And that is what they want here. And this will certainly be another moment that will give leverage to Ukraine to eventually try, as he put it, to join NATO and improve security in Ukrainian's eyes. John.

BERMAN: Certainly, Finland joining NATO is something that Russia has dreaded for decades and decades. Would have been unimaginable some time ago.

[10:45:00]

David, there is the question of Bakhmut, the city in eastern Ukraine, in Donetsk, which has been hardly fought over for months and months now. Who is in control?

MCKENZIE: That's a very good question. You had this video, this -- I have to say, dodgy looking video, nighttime vision shots of Yevgeny Prigozhin, the head of the Wagner mercenary group, he said that they had -- their estimation, legal control over much of Bakhmut. He raised the Russian flag there.

Well, the Ukrainians are hitting back, saying that this is rubbish. They actually said it's, "Wishful thinking" that, yes, the fighting is very hard there, but they say they still control significant portions of that city. Again, today, you had images in day -- daylight of the Wagner flag, the Russian flag. This is clearly the Wagner and Russian forces try to have a propaganda win to show that they meaningfully control that city.

But it is worth remembering, John, that they have tried to take it for many, many months now without success. And so, we would know if they had totally lost that city. But the Ukrainians said they are still fighting for control and still have control over a significant portion of that ground. John.

BERMAN: Inching ever closer, day by day, to the part of spring where we've been expecting maybe one side or the other to launch an offensive, David. What is the atmosphere in the capital city?

MCKENZIE: I think the atmosphere has been strange. You had these moments where you have these air raid sirens going off. You look at your app and you figure out whether you need to get into the shelter, and it's very disrupted because any time there's a siren like this, kids have to go underground and try and learn underground. There have been multiple strikes on the city and across the country.

But you do sense the country drawing its collective breath. And signs here and there, and hints that maybe this counteroffensive may happen relatively soon. Of course, we don't know exactly when it will happen, but that's the moment here in the capital everyone's waiting for. John.

BERMAN: David McKenzie for us in Kyiv. Great to have you there, David. Please stay safe.

Sara.

SIDNER: This is a staggering statistic, one in six. That's how many people around the world are affected by infertility. How some doctors are using that as a rallying cry for better healthcare.

And next, Donald Trump, the former president is about to make history by facing criminal charges. He will surrender to authorities in just a bit now. We're watching Trump Tower for that departure, that is where he spent the night, and following every move -- moment for you, just ahead.

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[10:50:00]

BERMAN: New this morning, a night of celebrating has ended with dozens of UConn fans, most of them students, arrested after celebrating the school's and national men's championship. According to a university spokesperson, 15 people were charged with various crimes. We're told that 16 people were taken to the hospital to be treated for injuries. Some of the celebrations on campus did take a turn when fires were set to trash dumpsters and a few light poles were broken.

The school did go on to say that the majority of those celebrating did so safely and responsibly. This is what they were celebrating, the Huskies beat San Diego State 76 to 59, which brought them their fifth men's national championship. Sara.

SIDNER: It's a number that one researcher is calling staggering and it is. It's now estimated that one in six people are affected by infertility. This is from a new report from the World Health Organization, which also makes clear that this is a nationwide and a worldwide problem. CNN's Jacqueline Howard is looking into all this for us. Jacqueline, what else did the study report find?

JACQUELINE HOWARD, CNN HEALTH REPORTER: Well, Sara, I can tell you the report defines infertility as not being able to conceive within a year of trying. And when the report looks at that, specifically globally, it does find that about 17.5 percent of adults around the world are impacted by this. And that translates to that one in six statistic that you mentioned.

Now, what's really striking is the prevalence of this is similar across countries despite a nation's level of income. In high income countries, the prevalence is about 17.8 percent versus in low-income countries, the prevalence is about 16.5 percent. So, 17 versus 16, it shows that this is a common issue. And the World Health Organization is calling for countries to pay attention to this and to raise awareness around it and to find a way to address it as a public health issue. Sara.

SIDNER: Yes, and some of these are higher income countries, one of the issues has long been that people wait until later in life to have children, but this is something that's happening across the world. What can be done to address this? Did the World Health Organization say anything as to what could help in these situations? This is real heartbreak for a lot of people.

HOWARD: It is. And they did say, Sara, that we need more research into fertility issues. They said that we need better access to treatment. And when looking at that access, physicians do warn that many people have a lack of access to evidence-based information. A lack of access to recognize infertility to treat it and a lack of financial support for financial benefits. You know, one WHO official had this to say about the issue.

[10:55:00]

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DR. PASCALE ALLOTEY, DIRECTOR, SEXUAL AND REPRODUCTIVE HEALTH AND RESEARCH AT W.H.O.: Infertility is a major and a widespread health issue, affecting a staggering one in six people, globally, over the duration of their reproductive lives. And yet to date, infertility has received relatively little, limited attention in health policy and research.

(END VIDEO CLIP) HOWARD: So, now that this report is out, Sara, now that we have new numbers on the prevalence of this, it will be interesting to see whether more attention is paid to infertility in medical research and health policy discussions to really see what we can do to address this globally, Sara.

SIDNER: All right. Jacqueline Howard there, major and widespread bad news. John.

BERMAN: So, this morning, three Democratic state representatives in Tennessee face expulsion after participating in gun safety rallies in the wake of the deadly school shooting in Nashville. We have new reaction from the state capitol.

And former president Trump prepares for his day in court. This is an unprecedented moment in U.S. history. We have new developments next.

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[11:00:00]