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Judge Denies Trump Request To Delay Defamation Trial; House GOP Tries To Discredit Manhattan DA With NYC Hearing; George Santos Announces 2024 Re-Election Campaign; Man Freed From Prison Ordered Back Behind Bars; DOJ: China Set Up Secret, Illegal Police Operation In NYC; FBI: Chinese Agents Worked To Silence Dissidents In U.S.; Thriving Ecosystem Found In The Great Pacific Garbage Patch; No State Charges For Officers In Fatal Shooting Of Jayland Walker. Aired 3:30- 4p ET

Aired April 17, 2023 - 15:30   ET

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

[15:30:00]

KARA SCANNELL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It does not sit well for Mr. Trump to promote pretrial publicity and then to claim that coverage that he was promoted was prejudicial to him and should be taken into account as supporting a further delay. Now as you mentioned, this is the battery and defamation case and that E. Jean Carroll brought against former President Trump.

You know the judge saying also that both Trump and Carroll are in their late seventies. There is no reason to delay this trial any further. He said that he would also make this an anonymous jury not even letting the identity of the potential jurors known to Trump or Carroll's attorneys.

That is because of Trump's rhetoric. Jim.

JIM SCIUTTO, CNN HOST: Incredible protection there. Kara Cannell, thanks so much. And it's reminder, Boris, there's more than one trial underway. Of course, the former president's already involved in.

BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN ANCHOR: That's right, Jim. We've got an update now on another legal issue for Trump. Republicans on the House Judiciary Committee are going after Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg.

During a field hearing today in New York City, they claim that Bragg is more focused on pursuing Donald Trump for political reasons than addressing crime in his own city. Now this comes just weeks after Bragg charged the former president with 34 felony criminal charges in that alleged hush money investigation with payments to an adult film actress. Trump, of course, pleaded not guilty in that case.

And now Bragg's office is pushing back calling Today's hearing a quote, "political stunt." With us now is CNN's Resident Fact Checker, Daniel Dale. Daniel, let's break down some of these claims from Republicans specifically about record breaking crime in Manhattan. What can you tell us about these claims of violent crime and murder being at all-time highs? DANIEL DALE, CNN REPORTER: Yeah, so we've heard these claims from former President Trump himself. They are not even close to true. Now, NYPD numbers Boris are public, so anyone who wants to find them can find them. Let's take a look ourselves. So, if you look at murder in Manhattan's peak year, 1990, Manhattan had 503 murders, last year, 2022, under DA Bragg 78.

Clearly nowhere close to a record. It's not just murder. Similar declines for other kinds of crimes. You look at rape, there were 689 reported in 1990, down to 350 in 2022. How about robberies? Well, an even bigger decline from 29,907 to 4,167.

SANCHEZ: Yeah, so not even close to a record. And we should know the early nineties, Trump was a resident of New York.

DALE: Yeah, he's a New Yorker.

SANCHEZ: In his heyday in New York City before eventually moving to Mar-a-Lago. Let's talk about Alvin Bragg's time as district attorney. He took over in 2022. What transpired since then?

DALE: So there's ammunition here for both Bragg and his critics.

Now, Bragg's office keeps noting that this year, 2023, so far, crime is down. And if you look at the numbers, that is true, at least for most categories, murder down, rape down, robbery down. We do have an increase in felony assault. Now, Bragg's critics say, hold on, let's not just talk about the first few months of this year.

Let's look at what happened last year, 2022 compared to 2021. And there, well, they have some data in their favor. Murder was down, but rape, robbery, felony, assault, other categories were up. So a mixed bag.

SANCHEZ: Yeah, a mixed bag as you said, how much of these different shifts can be attributable to the district attorney?

DALE: So the short answer is that we don't know for sure. Crime data is notoriously complicated. We can't even figure out why crime increased or decreased decades after the fact, let alone, you know, the year of, and anyone who points to one guy, whether it's the governor, the mayor, the sheriff, the DA, probably doesn't know what they're talking about.

With that said, Boris, there are two critical pieces of context that I think clearly cut against the idea that the increase last year was solely result of Alvin Bragg. Number one, it was a citywide increase, so not just Manhattan, but the other four boroughs where Bragg is not the DA also saw increases.

The second critical thing as a really smart crime analyst and consultant named Jeff Asher told me that increase in 2022 actually began in 2021, 9 months before Alvin Bragg took office.

SANCHEZ: The data often is very complicated and we appreciate you walking through a complex picture. Daniel Dale, thank you so much. DALE: Thanks bud.

SANCHEZ: Brianna, over to you.

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN ANCHOR: He was released after spending 32 years behind bars, most of them on death row, and now he is heading back to prison. CNN spent one of Crosley Green's last days of freedom with him, hear his story. And just into CNN embattled Republican Congressman George Santos says he will seek re-election in 2024 to represent New York's third district, constituents including some who voted for him, have called for his resignation after a slew of allegations about lies surrounding his resume, background, and financial earnings.

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[15:39:18]

KEILAR: Imagine this, spending 32 years in prison, being free for two years after your convictions are overturned, only to be ordered back to jail. That is what happened to a Florida man named Crosley Green, who's about to be incarcerated once again after rebuilding his life. CNN's Carlos Suarez has his story.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CARLOS SUAREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It's been two years since Crossley Green was conditionally released from prison. During that time, the 65-year old bonded with his family, held down a job, and fell in love.

CROSLEY GREEN, MAN ORDERED BACK TO PRISON: This is my woman, this is my future wife, hopefully. I prayed that and it's going to come true.

SUAREZ: One of Green's prayers for more than three decades has been for freedom, but on Monday, his prayers will continue from behind prison walls.

[15:40:00]