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New Signs Today That A Special Counsel Investigation Of Donald Trump Could Be Nearing Its Final Stages; Authorities In India Investigating One Of The Deadliest Train Crashes In That Country's History; White House's Response To Massive Chinese Warship Sailing Dangerously Close To American Naval Destroyer: Unsafe, Unprofessional. Aired 3-3:30p ET

Aired June 05, 2023 - 15:00   ET

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

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[15:00:36]

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN HOST: Donald Trump's attorneys seen leaving a meeting today at the Justice Department. We're going to tell you what we're learning about it and what it could mean for the Special Counsel as his work appears to be in its final stages.

JIM SCIUTTO, CNN HOST: Authorities in India are investigating one of the deadliest train crashes in that country's history. Did a signal failure lead to the disaster and to the staggering loss of life? We're going to take you there live for more on the investigation.

BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN HOST: Plus, unsafe and unprofessional. That's the White House's response to a massive Chinese warship sailing dangerously close to an American Naval Destroyer. Ahead, the impact this is having on the already tense relations with Beijing. We're following these major developing stories and many more all coming in right here to CNN NEWS CENTRAL.

KEILAR: New signs today that a special counsel investigation of Donald Trump could be nearing its final stages. Lawyers for the former President held a lengthy sit down with Justice Department officials today. This is video of those Trump attorneys leaving the building this afternoon after their extensive talks with DOJ officials.

This is a meeting that is coming after Trump's lawyers recently requested to meet with the Attorney General Merrick Garland accusing the DOJ of prosecutorial misconduct. Today's face to face discussions may signal the Special Counsel's investigation into Trump's handling of classified documents and possible obstruction is nearing its conclusion.

CNN Senior Justice Correspondent Evan Perez is with me now on this.

Evan, what do we know about this meeting?

EVAN PEREZ, CNN SENIOR JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: Well, we know they were in the building for about 90 minutes, Brianna. We know they did not meet with the Attorney General, who is the person that they had asked to have this meeting with. Just in that letter just a few days ago where the lawyers for the former president said that they believe there had been prosecutorial misconduct committed by the investigators in Jack Smith's office.

So we know that didn't meet with Garland. They didn't meet with Lisa Monaco, who is the Deputy Attorney General. But we do know that it was led by the top career prosecutor, top career official inside the Justice Department.

Again, that's a sign that - certainly for Merrick Garland, he's trying to keep politics or sort of the political appointed officials out of the work that the Special Counsel is doing. He's insisting that the Special Counsel finish his work and make any charging decisions.

And then, of course, if Garland disagrees with anything, he can try to overrule that. But until then, the President's lawyers, the former President's lawyers can make their case, right? It's not only about their complaints about what's going on with this investigation, but I think the larger point they want to bring across to Merrick Garland and to the people at Justice Department is that they believe the former president should not be charged with a crime.

KEILAR: We had Andy McCabe, former Deputy Director of the FBI on, and he said this is akin to a Hail Mary, what are you hearing?

PEREZ: Yes, absolutely. I mean, I think this is - there are all these signs that we are seeing that this investigation is near the end. It's in the closing stages. We know that the grand jury that we haven't seen in action, this grand jury, the one that's handling the Mar-A- Lago documents has not met since about this time last month.

And so the fact that we expect some witnesses to be called before the grand jury in the coming days tells us that there's some additional work that prosecutors want to wrap up, and that they could be near making a final decision on charges and that could be somebody around the former president who may have been involved in the handling of these documents, maybe the former president himself.

We do not know, Jack Smith is not telling us right now, but certainly I think the body language from the former president, the body language from his attorneys tell us they know, they believe this is coming to a crucial point.

KEILAR: All right. We'll be waiting. It could be very soon.

Evan Perez, thank you.

PEREZ: Thank you.

KEILAR: Jim?

SCIUTTO: All right. Let's get some legal analysis.

Now joining us, Elliot Williams, former federal prosecutor at the DOJ, CNN Legal Analyst.

[15:05:02]

So as we know, Trump's attorneys - they've alleged prosecutorial misconduct, not an uncommon thing to hear from Trump's team in various prosecutions. Is this meeting about making the case for that or is it equally about trying to figure out what they can about the DOJ investigation?

ELLIOT WILLIAMS, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: No. These kinds of meetings aren't that uncommon, Jim, as investigations go on. Defense - defendants and/or their attorneys will sit down with prosecutors to make their case and say, look, I shouldn't be charged with a crime or maybe you should charge me with a different crime or maybe I might agree to plead guilty to something. That happens all the time, it's not uncommon.

Prosecutorial misconduct, look, if you're going to raise that, raise it with a court going and talking to the Justice Department's, not the people you've been talking to.

SCIUTTO: Okay. We know that the grand jury has effectively finished up its work, although they called back some witnesses ...

WILLIAMS: Yes.

SCIUTTO: ... sort of for a second - Colombo moment. Yes, just one more thing of them, this is reading tea leaves, but based on having a meeting like this with Trump's attorneys, what we know about the grand jury, can you glean your best guess as to where the investigation stands,

WILLIAMS: It's moving along and they're getting close to charging somebody with a crime. It's highly unlikely for Trump --

SCIUTTO: Wait, close to coming to a decision or close to charging someone?

WILLIAMS: Close to coming to a decision, right.

SCIUTTO: Got you.

WILLIAMS: And I should be careful about that.

SCIUTTO: Right.

WILLIAMS: These - it's often the case that as prosecutors approach a defendant's attorney and say, we are likely to charge you or somebody else with a crime, you can come in and talk. Now look, they will keep a straight face and not tip their hand as of what they're doing, but it's your right as an attorney, to some extent, to try to make the case for your client, either to lower what you could be charged with or just try to get out of it all together. So it's a sign that something's happening. Whether it's up or down, we just don't know.

SCIUTTO: Final question. You're at a disadvantage, of course, you were a prosecutor, you have not seen all the evidence here. You weren't in the grand jury room as you were asking questions. But based on what you know and for instance, the significance of this recording recently ...

WILLIAMS: Yes.

SCIUTTO: ... in discussions of a possible classified document, at least, president's understanding of what the rules were, is there a significant chance that the former president is charged - indicted, I should say, with a crime.

WILLIAMS: (Inaudible) with something. I would think if I were the president, I would be most concerned about obstruction of justice, because the kinds of information that's leaked out about boxes may be being moved the day before the Justice Department showed up ...

SCIUTTO: Right.

WILLIAMS: ... and the documents just weren't having an estimate as to the number of documents that were turned over, but then not turned over. It just doesn't look right with respect to obstruction of justice. Some of those possession of documents charges could come too, but I do think obstruction of justice is they're going to look (inaudible) ...

SCIUTTO: And how many cases - we said it's not the crime, it's the cover up?

WILLIAMS: Yes, absolutely.

SCIUTTO: The intent to cover up. We'll continue to watch.

Elliot Williams, thanks so much.

WILLIAMS: Thanks.

SCIUTTO: Boris?

SANCHEZ: Another major headline we're following this afternoon a Chinese warship came dangerously close to a U.S. Navy boat in international waters this weekend. This was in the Taiwan Strait where the U.S. was conducting a joint exercise with Canada.

The Navy released this video of a Chinese warship cutting in front of a U.S. Navy destroyer. The U.S. says the Chinese were being "unsafe and unprofessional." China though, is blaming the United States.

Now, we want to show you the moment the two warships nearly collided. The Pentagon saying the vessels came within 150 yards of each other, forcing the US ship to abruptly slow down to avoid a direct hit.

CNN Senior National Security Correspondent, Alex Marquardt, is with us with the details.

Alex, what do we know about how these ships got so close?

ALEX MARQUARDT, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: This was an extremely close call. This was far closer than Navy ships should be. There are three ships in question: the Chinese warship, and then the American and Canadian warships.

The Chung-Hoon - the USS Chung-Hoon as the U.S. Navy destroyer. The Canadian frigate is called the Montreal. And the American and Canadian ships were sailing together in what the U.S. called a routine transit of the Taiwan Strait.

We're going to - this is they came within 150 yards or 137 meters of each other.

SANCHEZ: Mm-hm.

MARQUARDT: In terms of context, you can see there the USS Chung-Hoon is just a little bit longer than that gap. That U.S. warship is more than 8,000 tons. So it is very difficult for a warship like that to slow down ...

SANCHEZ: Right.

MARQUARDT: ... or to turn very quickly. So, USINDOPACOM, which is the command out there in the Pacific, said that the Chung-Hoon had to slow down to around 10 knots to avoid colliding with this Chinese warship. This is a statement - part of their statement saying that the Chinese actions violated the maritime rules of the road of safe passage in international waters.

Now, if this were an isolated incident, it would already be tremendously concerning but it comes immediately on the heels of another incident in the skies, where a - over the South China Sea, where a Chinese fighter jet just last week crossed in front of a U.S. spy plane called an RC-135. And just a couple of moments, you're going to see the turbulence from that jet caused in the U.S. cockpit.

So taken together, these are part of what the White House calls a growing aggression by the PRC.

[15:10:04]

What just a short time ago the White House's John Kirby called unacceptable and unprofessional behavior by the Chinese.

SANCHEZ: Yes. Also saying that the United States is not going to be leaving what is international waters, the Chinese dispute that obviously central to this conflict.

Alex Marquardt, thanks so much for the reporting. Brianna?

KEILAR: Turning now to Russia's war on Ukraine. Kyiv is refusing to confirm if the major counteroffensive against Russia has begun. But a top defense official declared today that Ukrainian forces have "advanced" in several directions in the east in the long disputed Donetsk region.

This is video from Ukraine's Armed Forces press services. Russia has released its own video saying that it shows a skirmish also in Donetsk. Its defense ministry says Russia has repelled a large scale offensive, they're killing 250 Ukrainians. But, of course, keep in mind, Ukraine has not confirmed those details

and Russia is known for making inflated claims about Ukrainian losses.

I want to go now to CNN's Frederik Pleitgen. He's in Kyiv for us.

Fred, tell us what you know about whether this long awaited counteroffensive may have begun?

FRED PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: PLEITGEN: Well, we certainly could be in the early stages of that counteroffensive, Brianna. In fact, one of the things that a senior adviser to the Ukrainian presidency said to me just a couple of days ago, he said, look, when you see things like these kinds of skirmishes, when you see certain advances by the Ukrainian Armed Forces, when you see some of these missile attacks that have been happening by the Ukrainians, for instance, on Russian arms depots in occupied areas, all of that most likely is going to be a precursor to the large scale offensive.

Now at the same time, the Ukrainians have come out and said, they are not going to make an official statement when that offensive starts. In fact, they put out a video this weekend calling on people to not talk about the offensive. And the sort of message that they had with that was plans love silence.

So they certainly are saying that they're not going to announce that. Nevertheless, there are some telling signs on the battlefield and I think one of the things that we saw there was that Russian video, for instance, where the Russians were saying that the Ukrainians had launched what the Russians call a large scale attack yesterday. The Russians say they thwarted that attack.

However, what we're hearing from a Russian installed official in that area is that the Ukrainians apparently came back today. It certainly seems that Ukrainians gained some ground in the south of Ukraine. The big thing that the Ukrainians are trying to showcase is there games in Bakhmut.

They say several areas around Bakhmut, the Ukrainian Armed Forces have made some gains. Of course, that's very significant for the Ukrainians, because the Russians just recently announced that they had completely taken that city. And obviously now we're seeing that that is not the case.

In fact, the Ukrainian Central Command came out and they said, look, the Russians talking about the Ukrainians launching attacks in the south of the country are trying to divert attention from the fact that the Russians are losing ground in the east in Bakhmut.

So what we're seeing on pretty much all the front lines here in Ukraine, of course, we know it's a very long frontline, Brianna, there's no way that the Russians are advancing and there are areas where definitely right now the Ukrainians have their foot on the gas and are putting the Russians under pressure.

And of course, all of that comes on top of the fact that you have that situation across the border in Russia, in Belgorod, where there are those anti-Putin Russian forces that have crossed the border in some cases, they say, and are putting the Russians under pressure there. The Russian military still not able to come to terms with that.

So right now, for the bigger picture - vantage point, it certainly seems as though Vladimir Putin has a pretty big problem on his hands, and right now the initiative certainly seems to be with the Ukrainians, Brianna.

KEILAR: Yes, really significant developments.

Fred Pleitgen live for us from the capital, we appreciate it.

Jim?

SCIUTTO: Still to come on CNN NEWS CENTRAL, we're going to take you live to India, the scene of that horrifying train crash that killed now nearly 300 people. Traffic has just resumed. You can see there even as the tangled cars and the belongings of countless victims lay strewn by.

Plus, the NTSB says it is checking whether a downed plane that's sent fighter jet scrambling across Washington, D.C. had black boxes on board as we get the first images of the crash site.

And the mother of one of the four murdered Idaho university students is speaking out publicly. Why she says she has no intention of attending the trial of the accused Bryan Kohberger.

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SANCHEZ: Today, some signs of progress after a devastating three-way train crash rocked India over the weekend. Crews have now cleared the rails allowing other trains to pass through the crash site. It is one of the deadliest India has ever seen. Nearly 300 people were killed, more than a thousand injured.

We want to take you now live to the scene in eastern India with CNN's Ivan Watson who's there for us. Ivan, how exactly does something like this happen?

IVAN WATSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: The authorities were saying this was some kind of a switching malfunction that resulted, Boris, in this kind of perfect storm of a train crash with a staggering loss of lives.

The trains have started running again through this area because the work crews have been working feverishly there. But dozens of victims, their bodies have yet to be identified.

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WATSON (voice over): Working on the railroad. An army of labors laying new rail by hand, racing to reopen this transport route after one of the deadliest train disasters India has seen in its modern history. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

WATSON (on camera): On Friday night, three trains collided in this area. And everywhere on the side of the tracks in this rural part of eastern India, there are massive railroad cars that were - as can you see, severely damaged in this collision.

[15:20:04]

This vehicle here, this car, was reserved for people with disabilities. You can still see people's personal belongings down below right outside.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WATSON (voice over): It began with a passenger train moving at 128 kilometers or 80 miles, per hour, slamming into a parked freight train, colliding after dark in this rural area. Villagers rescued passengers by the light of their cell phones.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

WATSON (on camera): Did you actually, as volunteers, pull survivors from the train wagons?

DEEPAK BEHERA, RETIRED ARMY TECHNICIAN: Yes. Yes. One that (INAUDIBLE) train wagon where I told the other guys to hold the mobile light. I entered into it. It was no space literally because it was so inclined that everybody was - male, female = everyone was dumped out of place.

So we had to pull them very carefully. We pulled them out. Few were alive. We just separated them. Few were dead. So we had to - don't have to waste the time.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WATSON (voice over): Crowds of volunteers gather outside local hospitals. Local reporters interviewing a crash survivor being transferred for treatment.

Among the crowd here, a worried mother. She's still searching for her missing son, who was a passenger on the train. Inside the hospital, some of the more than 1,000 injured in the crash. The road to recovery may not be easy.

This 52-year-old farmer in so much pain he can't lie down.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MANTO KUMAR, TRAIN CRASH SURVIVOR: (Foreign language).

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WATSON (voice over): "I'm blessed to have another chance at life," says Manto Kumar. The 32- year-old said the collision felt like an earthquake. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KUMAR: (Foreign language)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WATSON (voice over): "Afterwards, I took my shirt and wrapped it around my head and started looking for my friends," he says.

Kumar says he shared an ambulance with his friend who lost both legs and later died.

The Indian government launched an investigation into this disaster and vows to punish anyone responsible. The pressure is on to ensure a catastrophe like this never happens again.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WATSON (on camera): Now, Boris, the authorities say that the initial passenger train was traveling at a speed of just under 80 miles per hour when it slammed into a parked freight train loaded with iron ore and the derailed cars, train cars then fell into the opposite track and another passenger train that was moving at 80 miles per hour hit some of those cars and that led to all this carnage.

Some of the survivors we've talked to they said that they were in train cars where people were standing in the aisles. It was so crowded. And today is I saw trains running again through this area. We once again saw these passenger cars just packed with people just cheek to jowl in there.

A big question is going to be for the Indian government which is investing so much in modernizing its infrastructure, will it also invest in trying to prevent these types of terrible accidents from happening again. Boris.

SANCHEZ: It's so difficult to listen to those firsthand accounts.

Ivan Watson in India for us, thank you so much. Jim?

SCIUTTO: Coming up, who dumped more than a dozen migrants in Sacramento with no arrangements for their care in place? California officials are determined to find out now.

And officials in Iowa say they are looking into a 911 call made just one day before the deadly apartment building collapsed there. What that call reveals.

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[15:28:28]

SCIUTTO: This just in to CNN, the FBI once called him the most damaging spy in bureau history. And today, convicted former agent Robert Hanssen has died in a federal prison. Hanssen received payments of $1.4 million in cash and diamonds for the information he provided to the Soviet Union and after that to Russia, and he's been in custody since July 2002.

According to the Office of the FBI's Inspector General, we're quoting here: "Hanssen compromised some of the nation's most important intelligence and military secrets including the identities of dozens of human sources, at least three of whom were executed."

CNN's Josh Campbell joins me now.

Josh, you worked for the FBI for a number of years. The FBI has long placed Hanssen in the pantheon some of the worst spies that affected not just the bureau, but the country as well. Help people understand just what damage he did over the more than 20 years that he was spying for Russia.

CAMPBELL: Yes, Jim. This was arguably the most damaging spy in the history of the United States. Robert Hanssen, as you mentioned, was an FBI agent. He started spying for the Russians back in 1979. He was a special agent in the New York division eventually working his way up to FBI headquarters, having access to some of the most classified information pertaining to the U.S. government's efforts to target Russia.

[15:30:00]

Now, he pleaded guilty to passing thousands of classified documents to his Russian handlers.