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Trump's Historic Arraignment; Finland Joins NATO. Aired 11- 11:30a ET

Aired April 04, 2023 - 11:00   ET

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

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JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR (voice-over): Donald Trump inside Trump Tower right now, getting ready to leave for history. We're talking about his arraignment. We still don't know exactly what charges he is facing but we soon will. We are following all the developments and we have new reporting coming in.

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: The effort to expel three lawmakers in Tennessee is now underway. Republicans there are trying to remove some Democrats for protesting for gun reforms, as police now reveal new details about the Nashville school shooter.

SARA SIDNER, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: We have just learned he's a billionaire.

But could Tiger Woods soon be wearing green jacket number six?

He's won the Masters five times already. His odds this week as the 87th tournament prepares to tee off. Those major stories and more all coming in right here to CNN NEWS CENTRAL.

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BERMAN: A former president gets arrested today. Boy, those words are something. We are closing in on a historic moment and a first in U.S. history. You're looking at live pictures outside Trump Tower. Donald Trump is inside. And we have new details on exactly how today's events will unfold.

A lawyer for Trump claims that the former president may speak to cameras before and/or after his arraignment. We'll see. The judge overseeing this case is not allowing cameras to broadcast the official proceedings. But still photographers will be allowed into the courtroom before the hearing begins.

We also expect to learn for the first time why prosecutors believe Donald Trump is a criminal. When the indictment is unsealed, the criminal charges facing Donald Trump, they will finally be known.

We also just learned this morning that Donald Trump has hired a new lead counsel. Criminal defense attorney Todd Blanche will take the lead for Trump in today's proceeding. CNN's Kara Scannell is outside the court in Manhattan, where she's been for days and days.

Now the moment really, Kara, is about to take place.

What have Trump and his team been doing?

I understand you have some new reporting.

KARA SCANNELL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, John, so one of Trump's attorneys told me that they were huddling last night and they were huddling again this morning before Trump takes this historic trip down to the criminal courthouse, just over my shoulder, where he will be arraigned this afternoon.

Now the attorney tells me that Trump's mood is upbeat, that he's resilient and that he's vowing to fight these criminal charges. We're also learning that Trump is expected to speak to the cameras.

And remember, this is going to be a very unique situation, where the former president will enter the hallway and enter the courtroom. There will be a camera there to capture this moment. And we're told that he is expected to say something either before or after the arraignment.

And then once he is inside the courtroom and the judge asks for him to enter a plea -- I'm told by one of Trump's attorneys that Trump himself will enter that plea of not guilty. In some instances, the lawyers do it but I'm told that Trump is going to do it today. We'll see how that plays out real time.

Meanwhile, he has brought on an experienced criminal defense attorney, Todd Blanche. He's a former federal prosecutor. He's someone that the Trump circle knows. He once represented Paul Manafort in state charges brought by this very same district attorney's office. So Blanche is someone who is familiar with the New York state law.

He is working with Susan Necheles, another veteran criminal defense lawyer, who represented the Trump Organization in their tax fraud trial last fall. That ended in a conviction.

BERMAN: Kara, you did say that the former president intends to enter his plea himself. He is going to speak those words himself. We will not see that live because video is not going to be allowed to be broadcast live from the courtroom.

What was the judge's reasoning behind that?

SCANNELL: Yes, John, so this order came down late last night and the judge saying that he appreciated the public interest in this case but he said he had to weigh it against the interests of the defendant.

And Trump's team, of course, oppose that broadcasting of this thing. It would only add to the circuslike atmosphere and saying that it could harm his presumption of innocence.

But the judge did nod to the moment, the historic moments that we're experiencing right now.

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SCANNELL: And he wrote, "Never in the history of the United States has a sitting or past president been indicted on criminal charges. Mr. Trump's arraignment has generated unparalleled public interest and media attention."

And he said that the public's interest is understandable. But he said that he was not going to allow cameras to broadcast this live -- John.

BERMAN: Kara Scannell for us outside the courthouse, watching these developments unfold, Kara, thank you very much.

And Sara, it's clear the judges, Kara was just saying, they're -- fully does understand the gravity of this moment.

SIDNER: Absolutely.

And how could he not?

This is a historic moment.

And at this moment, Donald Trump is in Trump Tower but not for long. We have new details about the course of events on this historic day. He will depart Trump Tower in just a couple of hours.

The drive to the courthouse is four miles, which, in normal New York City traffic, could take anywhere from 20 to forever. But with his Secret Service detail, he should not have to deal with any of that.

All trials and most court activity will be halted even before Donald Trump gets there. This is because of security concerns. Now when Donald Trump arrives to the DA's office, he will technically be under arrest. He will be booked, he will be fingerprinted.

But at this moment, it's not clear if a mug shot will be taken, because authorities are concerned it will be improperly leaked. The arraignment is scheduled for about three hours from now, at 2:15 Eastern.

Now as we said, Trump's lawyers claim that Trump will speak before and after the arraignment. We are not clear exactly when or if that is actually going to happen. Then the arraignment: during the arraignment, the indictment will be unsealed finally.

This is the moment when the public might get its first glance of the details of the charges. His lawyers have said he plans to enter a not guilty plea. After the hearing, maybe he speaks right after; maybe not.

But he is expected to head straight to the airport, go back to Mar-a- Lago in Florida, where he is planning to speak at 8:15 pm Eastern. You will definitely hear from him sometime today.

CNN's Shimon Prokupecz is outside of the court right now.

Can you give us some more details about what is going on at this hour? We haven't seen huge protests, have we, yet?

SHIMON PROKUPECZ, CNN SENIOR CRIME AND JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: No, there are some of the supporters, you know, maybe a couple hundred, who have gathered in the park behind me here. I can actually show you, Sara.

Why don't we show Sara this?

Some of the supporters there behind us. Those are where the Trump supporters have been gathering. It's a park that's directly across the street from the courthouse, literally across the street from the courthouse.

And so, you know, potentially Trump can hear them when he's inside the courthouse, when he's inside the district attorney's office. He's likely able to hear them. Marjorie Taylor Greene was here. She spoke for about 10 minutes and then she left.

Right now, really, we're seeing a lot of activity outside the courthouse, here outside the Manhattan DA's office. Just up the street for me here is where we expect the motorcade to arrive.

Donald Trump will be arriving here, then going into the Manhattan DA's office and he will be placed under arrest at that moment, taking the stairs to the seventh floor, where he's going to be processed, the fingerprinting that you were talking about.

And then the processes begin and we wait for him to go to court. But I can tell you, just in the last hour, we've seen more Secret Service agents. We've seen uniformed members of the Secret Service outside here. So certainly they're gearing up and preparing for his arrival.

And just -- the influx of people just continues more and more as the hours get by and as we get closer to that 2:15-2:30 arraignment time. But it's been peaceful out here. Certainly the police have been allowing the traffic to flow. They've been letting people walk through the streets.

So really right now, I think everyone is just waiting for Donald Trump to get here. And I will tell you this much, once he gets here, things are going to be very, very different -- Sara.

SIDNER: I want to ask you about what we might see, what the public might be able to see. Everyone wants to see what these charges are, including his own defense team.

When do you think that might happen when it comes to the defense team and the public?

PROKUPECZ: So for the public it may just -- it may take some time. It may have to happen at 2:30 once he's in court. And the DA maybe will release it. But for the attorneys, for Donald Trump and for his attorneys, they will know almost immediately when they walk through the doors here at the Manhattan district attorney's office. They will be told what he's charged with. They would -- will be given

a copy of the indictment, which will list all of the charges. And they will be given some other information. So they will know immediately.

The former president will know immediately as he's being placed under arrest, walking through the doors, going upstairs to the district attorney's office. So they will know immediately.

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PROKUPECZ: For the public, it may just take a little more time as the process works its way through. And then hopefully we will get that information and it will be released -- Sara.

SIDNER: Shimon Prokupecz, outside the court on this historic day -- Kate.

BOLDUAN: And Shimon was talking about gearing up.

Well, here's another message. "Keep the peace and behave."

That's the direct warning from New York City mayor Eric Adams to protesters just this morning. Security in the city right now remains really on high alert. CNN's Brynn Gingras is joining us now with more on this.

Brynn, law enforcement has been bracing ever since Donald Trump called for supporters to protest his arrest. But the mayor says that New York is ready.

What are you seeing?

BRYNN GINGRAS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, listen, and the NYPD has been saying all along, listen, we deal with major security events all the time. Just think of the U.N. General Assembly in September, when they have numbers of heads of state coming into town. So they are used to this.

Certainly it's different, a little bit, with the Secret Service involved and other agencies. But certainly they are prepared.

I actually want to kind of let you know where I am right now. We're on the backside of where you just saw Shimon, on the other side of 100 Centre. That is that building there behind me, where the arraignment is going to take place.

And on a nice day, like we're seeing today, the area just below me is a park. It's usually bustling with people, ready to have their lunch. The streets are all shut down and this is actually likely the route the former president will be taking to get into the arraignment on the side of 100 Centre.

Of course, we don't know his direct right -- route. That is by design for security purposes. But it will be interesting to see as the morning into the afternoon goes on, as we start seeing the security posturing that there were dry run-throughs by law enforcement of several different agencies.

Last week, for example, I'm hearing it's possible a tent maybe put up just outside the door of where the former president will enter 100 Centre for security purposes or just so no one can actually see him going in.

So it'll be interesting again to see what other measures will be taken to protect the former president.

We also are hearing very soon, Kate, they're going to be shutting down this courthouse, if you can imagine that. This is a very popular court, where a lot is happening on an everyday basis. And to have it completely shut down, to make sure there's no foot traffic into, again, increase the security, it's quite unprecedented -- Kate.

BOLDUAN: Absolutely. Great to see you, Brynn. Thank you so much -- John.

BERMAN: All right. We want to go back outside Trump Tower. CNN's Jeff Zeleny is stationed there.

And Jeff, we've been talking about the legal implications for Donald Trump today and they are they are immense. But that's not the only implication for him today, because, of course, there is politics.

JEFF ZELENY, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: John, without a doubt. And now and forever, as long as he is a Republican presidential candidate -- or perhaps the party's nominee going forward -- these two paths are completely linked, the legal path and the political path.

We know that the former president has essentially frozen this Republican presidential race into place. I've been talking with advisers from some of his rival candidates. Yes, they're lamenting the fact that there's no oxygen left for them to make their own cases. But they've also had to sort of rally behind him and against this criminal indictment.

We will see how long that lasts, of course. But the politics of this are very immense. It's part of the unprecedented nature of all this. But we should point out, this is one of the very reasons that the former president wanted to announce his candidacy so early.

Last fall, he knew these potential charges were looming. And this is just one venue. There's still a Georgia case looming and the potential of a couple of cases in Washington. This is why he wanted to be an active presidential candidate.

So John, one thing is so clear standing outside Trump Tower here, where he is still inside, I'm told, talking with his advisers and family throughout the morning, that there is no campaign trail that does not include the courtroom.

So that is a central part now of not only his campaign but also the entire Republican presidential race. BERMAN: You know, Jeff Zeleny, it's so interesting. None of us have seen the indictment so none of us knows exactly what Donald Trump -- Donald Trump will be charged with. I do wonder if these other campaigns or potential campaigns like Ron DeSantis have plans to go through, line by line, count by count, to familiarize themselves with this, to make their own decisions going forward.

ZELENY: You can be sure that they will be looking through this. You know, they all have lawyers as well. And they have a lot at stake here. But they know the perils of speaking out against the former president at this moment because of that Republican base.

This is still Donald Trump's Republican Party. We don't know if that will be the case in the future going forward. As we've been traveling across the country talking to voters for months, there's an exhaustion. There is no doubt there's an exhaustion for all of this drama.

So perhaps that will be too much for some Republican voters going forward. But for now, at least, you were on the wrong side of your Republican politics if you speak out against Donald Trump. We will see if that continues.

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ZELENY: But that's where we are right now. But I am told that the former president will be leaving shortly after lunch time. But as of now he's still in his beloved Trump Tower, of course, the site of so much history, including where he jumped into this race eight years ago -- John.

BERMAN: No one wants to be on the wrong side of politics. Jeff Zeleny, on the right side of Fifth Avenue outside Trump Tower, great to see you. Thank you so much for your reporting -- Sara.

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SIDNER (voice-over): A new era begins. Finland officially joins NATO. We will tell you why the expansion matters so much and how it impacts Russia's war in Ukraine.

Plus Tennessee House Republicans are trying to remove three Democrats from office after they participated in a gun protest. We have the latest on that.

Also backlash: the first lady is walking back comments now, suggesting that both LSU and Iowa women's basketball teams visit the White House. Her response just ahead.

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BOLDUAN: On our radar this morning, rescue operations are underway in northeastern India after a massive avalanche swept away a group of tourists this morning. So far, we know at least seven people were killed and more than a dozen others were injured.

Plus Russian authorities have formally charged 26 year old Darya Trepova with terrorism offenses. This is over the killing of a well known pro war Russian military blogger in that explosion Sunday in St. Petersburg.

And also this we're tracking today: in the Midwest, some communities that have just been hammered by weather now need to brace for another round of severe storms. More than 70 million Americans are under some level of threat today, with the possible -- possibility of more dangerous, long-track tornadoes developing overnight.

BERMAN: So it is an historic day for NATO and a major setback for Vladimir Putin. As of this morning, Finland officially became the 35th member -- 31st member of the NATO alliance.

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BERMAN: This was the flag raising just a short time ago. Maybe the most significant impact of this is mileage: 832 miles. That is the length of Finland's border with Russia. This is what NATO's eastern flank looked like before, roughly 755 miles. And this is what it looks like today.

You can see Finland basically doubles NATO's presence against Russia on the border there. Additionally NATO will now have access to Finland's military assets. The country has upwards of 257,000 troops, both active and in reserve, as well as hundreds of -- hundreds of tanks and combat aircraft.

It's also important to remember the original goal of NATO, formally known as the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. The group was formed in 1949 to challenge Soviet expansion in Europe after World War II. The treaty was signed 74 years ago today.

And at the heart of the treaty is Article 5, the Principle of Collective Defense, which is, an attack on one member of NATO, quote, "shall be considered an attack against them all."

This article has only been used once in NATO's history after September 11th. So NATO leaders from across Europe and North America welcomed Finland's membership into the group. CNN's Scott McLean is following this for us in London this morning.

So Scott, what does this mean for Finland?

What does it mean for NATO?

SCOTT MCLEAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hey, John. Look, the Finnish president called this a great day for Finland. For Finland, it means obviously more responsibility for its armed forces. It also means that it now has the protection of NATO Article 5, which is, as you said, an attack on one is an attack on all. For NATO, it means that their border with Russia just got more than

800 miles longer. The secretary general, Jens Stoltenberg, said that look part of Russia's justification for going to war in the first place was to get less NATO.

But now as a result of its invasion, it's actually gotten more NATO right on its doorstep. The U.S. secretary of state Antony Blinken called this day historic. It comes 74 years to the day of NATO's formation.

He also said this.

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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, has 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.

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MCLEAN: Russia has made it very clear, John, that this will have a negative impact on its relations with Finland. It's also it's also pledging to match any military buildup along its border with Finland.

The Kremlin is also denying that this is in any way a blow to Vladimir Putin, saying that it didn't have the same kind of issues with Finland that it clearly had with Ukraine.

BERMAN: What, Russia's got hundreds year-long issues with Finland. So that statement from Putin just not true.

Is NATO done here?

What about Sweden?

MCLEAN: Yes, so, of course, any NATO member can veto the membership bid of any potential member. And right now there are two main obstacles to Sweden's accession. One is Hungary. The other one is Turkiye.

So for Turkiye, well, they're upset with Sweden's so-far failure to repatriate some 120 people that Turkiye considers to be terrorists that are living in Sweden right now. It's also upset with the recent Quran burning outside of its embassy in Sweden.

And for Hungary, what their issues are much more broad. They say that Sweden has this habit of questioning the state of democracy in Hungary, which many in Europe are now concerned about.

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MCLEAN: It says that look, it's right for Sweden to join the bloc. But it also says that clearly some things need to be cleared in the air before that can happen.

How long that will take though?

Still anyone's guess -- John.

BERMAN: All right, Scott McLean for us in London, of course, the U.K. very much part of NATO, thank you very much -- Sara.

SIDNER: We are watching as at any moment former president Donald Trump could leave Trump Tower and head to that Manhattan courtroom, where he will be arrested and his indictment unsealed.

Also in Tennessee, an effort to kick out three lawmakers for their stance on gun reforms as we learn new details about the Nashville school shooter.

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