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Police Arrest Former Student After Stabbings Near UC Davis; Special Counsel Probing Trump Org's Handling Of Mar-a-Lago Footage; WAPO: GOP Activist Arranged Hidden Payments To Ginni Thomas. Aired 11-11:30a ET

Aired May 05, 2023 - 11:00   ET

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

[11:00:05]

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: The countdown is on for the pomp and pageantry that has not been seen in the U.K. for 70 years, the coronation of King Charles, to be more specific. CNN is live in London as the crowds are gathering and the King is on the move this morning.

SARA SIDNER, CNN ANCHOR: And insider is now cooperating. This morning a stunning new report as Donald Trump's classified documents pro keeps up, what this could mean for the special counsel's investigation.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: Also heating up, the labor market, April's surprising jobs report. All this coming in right here to CNN NEWS CENTRAL.

BERMAN: All right, surprising and impressive jobs numbers just in this morning from the Labor Department, employers added 253,000 jobs last month. That is a lot more than the 180,000 that were expected. The unemployment rate also dropped slightly now 3.4 percent. It's down from 3.5 percent. And 3.4 percent it's like the lowest level it's been since 1969. So this report comes just two days after the Fed raised interest rates for the 10th consecutive time, all in an effort to rein in inflation. CNN business correspondent Rahel Solomon is with us now. These are good numbers.

RAHEL SOLOMON, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: These are good numbers in the labor market just really continues to defy expectations. So 253,000 jobs added in the month of April, as you said this was stronger than almost every economist that was pulled was expecting also stronger than the months prior, unemployment rate falling to 3.4 percent.

I want to put that 253,000 in perspective, we did get downward revisions for the prior two months, so a stronger than that. But you can see this is still historically strong growth, perhaps not as strong as during the pandemic. But in normal times, this is a renormalizing of the economy.

So I want to show you 3.4 percent for unemployment, as you pointed out, sort of tying the 50-year low. John, we've been in this range of unemployment between 3.4 to 3.7, since March of 2022. So we've been really tight. And when you look at the sectors where we're seeing the strongest job growth, it's sectors like business, financial services, really strong hiring for accountants, a healthcare, I think nursing home facilities, that sort of thing also saw strong job growth, with leisure and hospitality, which of course, was battered by the pandemic.

And all of this, despite those 10 interest rate hikes that you pointed out, despite 14 months of a very aggressive fed, that means we have still seen despite all of this, consumers continue to spend and companies continue to hire.

BERMAN: Companies continue to hire. I mean, the numbers tell the story still positive and better than people expected. What about all the layoffs that were held that have been in the news, we see layoffs in tech companies in other areas?

SOLOMON: It's a great point, what we're seeing essentially is a tale of two economies, so parts of the economy that are more consumer facing, like leisure, like hospitality, that sort of thing. They are still adding jobs, but parts of the economy that are more interest rate sensitive, not so much.

I just talked to Julia Pollak. She's the Chief Economist of ZipRecruiter. And I asked her the same thing. And she said, you know, there's a funny situation going on, where you have a boom, and half the economy, and a bit of a bust in other parts of the economy and less than half of the economy, relatively low job gains in the production sector. So that's sort of what we're seeing.

So if you are in parts of the economy that are more interest rate sensitive financial services, for example, certainly a tech, you might not be seeing this boom. But if you are working at a hotel or restaurant, that sort of thing, you're experiencing it.

BERMAN: And the overall bigger story is the economy has been resilient to all these interest rate hikes, 10 straight from the Fed. It really is interesting. Rahel, thank you very much. Kate?

BOLDUAN: Thank you, John. All right, California police have arrested a former student in connection with a string of stabbings near a college campus there. The stabbings, really terrified and paralyzed the community of UC Davis. And now 21-year-old Carlos Dominguez, he has faced -- he's under arrest and he's facing charges of two counts of homicide and one count of attempted murder.

Now, the three stabbings you'll remember happened over the course of just five days and two of the victims died, and one was left severely wounded. CNN's Camila Bernal is tracking this for us. She's back with us this hour. Camila, what are you hearing about if the suspect is whether or not he's talking to police at this point?

CAMILA BERNAL, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Kate, we know that the detectives interviewed him for hours. So yes, they were talking to him. It's unclear exactly how much he was able to say or wanted to say. Police described him as someone that was very reserved. Now, they also say they do not have a motive at the moment. But what they do say they have is evidence not only linking him to the stabbings but also evidence that shows that these victims tried to fight back.

[11:05:04]

I mean you mentioned it this community was terrified after the stabbings were reported. And it was members of that same community that reported the suspect. Because we know that on Wednesday, at least 15 people called police saying they saw someone that matched the description. Here is one of those callers and what he told police.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CARTER CARLSON, WITNESS: I had called in a report while I was in the car, just saying that there was a person matching this description walking down the street, and kind of tried to keep them updated. I'm hoping that this is the person. And that Davis can kind of be done with this.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERNAL: And policing, yes, Davis can be done with this. But there is, of course, a long legal process ahead. There's also the fact here that there is more to learn to figure out exactly why he was doing this. It's interesting to note that this was a third-year student. And so the university said that on the 25th, essentially, they separated him. That's what he's the university said, for academic reasons. And then you have all of the stabbings and then you have the community, of course, just so concerned about what's going on here.

So a lot of people just breathing easily today and of course thinking about that one victim that survived who was severely injured, but it's still in the hospital. Kate?

BOLDUAN: That's a great point, still trying to recover from those serious wounds. Camila, thank you so much. Sara?

SIDNER: This morning, major new signs that the special counsel's investigation into the classified documents found at Mar-a-Lago is focusing on possible obstruction of justice, The New York Times is reporting Prosecutors now have the cooperation of a witness, an insider who worked for Trump at the Florida Resort. We do not know who this witness is. But the Times reports prosecutors are hoping the person will help fill in some gaps about how the documents Trump took from the White House were handled, once they got to Mar-a-Lago. CNN's Paula Reid is following all of these developments. Being in the room where it happened could be really significant, couldn't it.

PAULA REID, CNN SENIOR LEGAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: It could be. And while that's a big headline, a cooperating witness of the story itself acknowledges this could be significant, but little is known about who this person is, and what they have provided beyond a photo of a storage space. Now that storage space is very significant, because we know that's where classified documents where time were stored. And they were eventually moved.

But it's unclear if this person has provided any incriminating evidence or just some material that they would have access to in the course of their job at Mar-a-Lago, because as CNN has reported, pretty much anyone who works at Mar-a-Lago at this point has been subpoenaed from waiters and waitresses to people in operations all the way up to the head of security.

So it's unclear when they say there's a cooperating witness. Is this someone who has flipped and could potentially expose the former president or aides to legal jeopardy? Or is this someone who's just complying with what has been requested of them by investigators. But the big story we broke on Wednesday is also significant because we now know that investigators, they're really focused on whether or not they have all of the security footage from Mar-a-Lago because that security footage is key to knowing what happened all these classified documents once they went down to Mar-a-Lago.

We know that one of the things they have seen on that surveillance tape is a junior Trump aide, Walt Nauta, and another employee moving boxes out of a storage space. And yesterday, we also broke the news that Investigators spoke to Matthew Calamari Sr., He's a guy who's worked at the Trump Organization for decades. He's an Executive Vice President, Chief Operating Officer of the Trump Organization. He oversees security.

And the reason they want to talk to him we learned is because he received a text message from Walt Nauta, asking him to talk. And investigators want to know what happened offline. And if there were any conversations about surveillance tape, and what happened after they sent a subpoena asking for that footage. Did they receive all of it? And did anyone tamper with it. So clearly, look, Sara, from our reporting from the headline in the New York Times. It's clear this investigation is far from over.

SIDNER: Jack Smith says being slow and methodical it seems. Thank you so much. Paula Reid there live for us in Washington. John?

[11:09:26]

BERMAN: Countdown to the coronation. London in the middle of all those last minute things you need to do before crowning a monarch. A stunning new report says the judicial activist paid Ginni Thomas, wife of Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas big money and tried to keep it quiet. We have new details this morning. And transgender rights under threat in Florida as three bills restricting freedoms head to the governor's desk. Now Ron DeSantis shifts focus to 2024.

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BOLDUAN: Violent clashes have been recorded near the presidential palace in Khartoum, Sudan. Today black smoke has been hanging over the capitol for days as a ceasefire after ceasefire continue to fail. This morning, one of the main telecom providers there has stopped its service making already difficult communications even worse. We're also watching this, big crowds we're seen in the West Bank today to mourn the deaths of three Palestinians killed in an Israeli raid in the city of Nablus. Israel says one of the men killed was the gunman who shot and killed a British Israeli woman and two of her daughters last month. [11:15:08]

Now in Cuba, major fuel shortages have forced the government to scale back their May Day celebrations. Take a look at this video from Havana this morning. The annual parade was canceled but people are still gathering. This didn't happen overnight. As you have probably well know, people have been waiting in long lines to get gas for nearly a month at this point. John?

BERMAN: Thanks, Kate. A new report from "The Washington Post" this morning, they have reviewed documents showing Ginni Thomas, the wife of Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, was paid tens of thousands of dollars for consulting work. "The Post" says it was all set up by conservative judicial activist Leonard Leo. They say Leo specified there should be quote, no mention of Ginni in any paperwork.

According to "The Post" reporting, Leonard Leo advises a network of conservative nonprofits that work to support the nominations of conservative judges. And in January 2012, Leo told Republican pollster Kellyanne Conway to bill the judicial education project. "The Post" says he told Conway to then give Ginni Thomas another $25,000. They say document show, he emphasized that the paperwork should have quote, no mention of Ginni, of course. It's unclear exactly what Ginni Thomas did for Conway's polling firm or the judicial education project. Thomas has not commented for that report. CNN senior Supreme Court analyst Joan Biskupic has been looking into this. And Joan, it comes in the middle of all these questions about ethics inside the Supreme Court.

JOAN BISKUPIC, CNN SENIOR SUPREME COURT ANALYST: You know, that's right, John. This is just one more piece of awareness we're all getting about the very secretive world of the Supreme Court, and money surrounding the Supreme Court, individuals giving money to justices and questions being raised about why and does that actually influence the justices in cases?

Let's start with what Leonard Leo has said in response to "The Washington Post" story. The work Ginni did here did not involve anything connected with either the courts business or with other legal issues, knowing how disrespectful, malicious and gossipy people can be, I have always tried to protect the privacy of Justice Thomas and Ginni.

But let's just step back here, John, and remind people have who Leonard Leo is. Leonard Leo is arguably the most powerful person beyond the White House in Congress to have affected the federal judiciary. He was a Federalist Society leader. He helped handpick the three justices that Donald Trump put on the Supreme Court. So Leonard Leo is a very powerful individual. He's also a very good friend of Clarence Thomas' dating from 1990.

But let's just then draw some distinctions between what we just learned from "The Washington Post" last night and what we learned from ProPublica, which has done very extensive reporting on the money that Republican billionaire Harlan Crow has given to Clarence Thomas for, you know, luxurious trips on his super yacht and private jet to all sorts of places across the globe, helped finance we learned most recently, a young grandnephew of Justice Thomas helped finance his private education.

Now, those things from Harlan Crow probably should have been reported on Justice Thomas' financial disclosure forms. Money that flowed to Ginni right now, the way the justices financial disclosure forms are, that they don't -- spouses don't need to report that kind of information. But this all goes to the problem that the justices have with no formal ethics code, no watchdog able to see, are they even meeting their own standards.

And that's why each of these instances is getting so much attention. And frankly, rightfully so, these people set the law of the land for the country, they do not abide by any formal ethics code. And I think what's happened is that they've just dependent on the fact that these instances fade over time. But the reality is that we're all becoming much more aware of the moneyed interests in the justices world and how much they can influence these individual justices. John?

BERMAN: Joe Biskupic, thank you so much for explaining all of this to us. Appreciate it. Sarah?

SIDNER: This morning Senator Dianne Feinstein is insisting her month long absence from the Senate is not holding up judicial confirmations. The 89-year-old California Democrat is facing scrutiny for extended leave from Capitol Hill as she recovers from shingles. She has not voted in the Senate since February 16th, missing dozens of votes there. She's also been absent from her seat on the Senate Judiciary Committee. But Feinstein insists it's not her fault. Some judicial confirmations have stalled and instead is blaming the Republicans for blocking them.

CNN's Lauren Fox is on Capitol Hill for us. We have seen AOC come out and publicly say that she believes she should step down. I know that some Democrats are privately saying this. But now you've got a "New York Times" editor board that came out an op-ed saying she needs to make the responsible decision and basically saying she should step down. Is any of this having a serious effect a pressure on her and her staff?

[11:20:22]

LAUREN FOX, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, obviously, Sara, this is really a show of increased scrutiny on Senator Dianne Feinstein's absence here in the U.S. Senate, which has been going on, like you said, for more than two months. And there's a series of concerns here. One, you have an upcoming deadline to increase the country's debt ceiling.

Yes, Democrats can do this on their own in the U.S. Senate with some Republican support but the argument coming from a lot of Democrats is it would be more helpful if they had an extra Democratic vote, that means that they could get one less Republican vote. You're also getting this renewed push from "The New York Times" editorial board, and I want to read you a piece of their piece earlier today. It said, quote, if members can't effectively represent their constituents, they should not hesitate to turn their job over to someone who can. Ms. Feinstein owes California a responsible decision. It's important to recognize that Senator Feinstein's impact on the Senate has been tremendous. And she served here for more than three decades. The argument coming from her office yesterday was that she hasn't caused a slowdown of the judicial nomination process, saying, quote, there has been no slowdown when I returned to the Senate, we will be able to move the remaining qualified nominees.

But Sara, the issue is that there have been a number of judges in the pipeline ready to go to the Senate floor. What becomes a problem is, in the next couple of weeks, senators are going to run out of judges that have already been approved in the Senate Judiciary Committee to put on the floor. When that happens, expect that more of a pressure campaign is really going to mount because then the only judges they can get through the Judiciary Committee are going to be those that have Republican and Democratic support.

And there's a number of nominees who need votes who are expected to just fall along party lines. That is what a lot of Democrats are arguing is the reasoning behind this renewed push to ask Senator Feinstein to retire. Sara?

SIDNER: As you mentioned, she is definitely a trailblazer. But there is this renewed push. Thank you so much, Lauren Fox there live for us on Capitol Hill. Kate?

BOLDUAN: A live look at Buckingham Palace right now as tomorrow is the big day, the coronation of King Charles III. We're going to be live for you outside Buckingham Palace where with a preview of what tomorrow is going to look like and what you're going to be able to see. We'll be right back.

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[11:27:22]

SIDNER: Tomorrow, thousands will crowd the streets of London. They're already crowding them and millions will watch around the world as King Charles III is officially crowned in a pageant filled coronation ceremony, the United Kingdom has not seen in 70 years. Tomorrow's fanfare will include two processions, the first you're seeing here 1.3 mile route. It begins at Buckingham Palace and will take King Charles and Queen Camilla to the coronation ceremony. They will head down the Mall in a diamond jubilee stagecoach and then move through Admiralty Arch before turning to Whitehall.

Next they will travel past 10 Downing Street, and through Parliament Square ending at Westminster Abbey for the crowning. This morning, the King went out to the Mall and greeted crowds of people lining the streets. And joining me now to discuss is CNN royal commentator Emily Nash. You have gotten quite close to the King, I understand.

EMILY NASH, CNN ROYAL COMMENTATOR: Well, that's right. I was lucky enough to be happening to walk down the Mall when he came out, followed behind by the Prince and Princess of Wales. And he really gave people quite a lovely surprise. I think lots of people obviously have been camping overnight to try and just catch a glimpse of his procession. And we're not expecting to get a handshake from the King and a chance to talk to him on the eve of his coronation.

SIDNER: It is remarkable to see how excited people are and there are people from all over the world. I saw somebody holding two American flags are seeing the pictures right now. And then someone from Canada said they had, you know, come. This is great, certainly for tourism. Can you give us a sense of what we are going to see because this is the most pomp and circumstances that I think we've seen in almost 70 years.

NASH: For most of us, it will be the first time in our lifetimes that we'll have seen anything quite this spectacular. And we have a taste obviously, of this pomp and ceremony around the Queen's funeral back in September. This is a really different atmosphere. It's very celebratory. It's almost like a festival really in the streets out there? You know with the flags, the bunting, people sharing stories, making friends, as you say with people from all over the world.

And we're going to see obviously the incredible regalia from the crown jewels that have been brought out from the tower from the Tower of London for this occasion. But we'll also see a lot of modernizing touches and personal touches on the day I think that will really reflect the Kings personality.

[11:29:53]

SIDNER: I just want to mention that we are seeing some of those crown jewels. Not bad I understand the Queen when she first had to wear that crown it was really heavy and she had to really struggle to make sure her head stayed up straight. About 250,000 --