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Rejected Plan by Trump; Suarez Announces Presidential Run; Marine Vet Charged in Subway Death; Texas Sends Migrants to Los Angeles; Air Defense Equipment to Ukraine. Aired 9-9:30a ET

Aired June 15, 2023 - 09:00   ET

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

[09:00:28]

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: Did former President Trump turn down a chance to avoid an indictment? The new revelations from "The Washington Post" about a deal that one Trump lawyer urged him to make months ago.

RAHEL SOLOMON, CNN ANCHOR: And we are also following an indictment in New York City. The Marine veteran who put a homeless street performer in a fatal choke hold on a subway train now charged with second degree manslaughter. A formal announcement expected later today.

BERMAN: And Orcas on the attack. Sailors capture video of killer whales ramming their boats. Whale versus man. But why? Scientists now looking for answers.

This is CNN NEWS CENTRAL.

This morning, did Donald Trump reject a plan that might have prevented charges that could send him to prison for life? That is the new reporting in "The Washington Post." It highlights a deal that one of Trump's current lawyers, Chris Kise, reportedly wanted to make months ago with the Justice Department. According to "The Post," Kise wanted to, quote, quietly approach Justice to see if he could negotiate a settlement hoping that Attorney General Merrick Garland and the department would want an exit ramp to avoid prosecuting a former president. "The Post" says this came last fall after the FBI found more than 100 classified documents at Mar-a-Lago in August. Trump refused. So, the attorney, Kise, he never reached out. A Trump insider who "The Post" says was part of dozens of document discussions puts it this way now, quote, we didn't have to be here.

And Trump's former fixer, Michael Cohen, had this reaction.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MICHAEL COHEN, FORMER TRUMP ATTORNEY: He's like a petulant child that just keeps sticking their finger into an electric socket.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: Now we should note, CNN did speak to sources close to Trump's legal team. They are casting doubt on ever -- whether there was ever a real opportunity for any kind of settlement like this.

Rahel.

SOLOMON: Important context there, John. Thank you.

And this new reporting though from "The Post" is now posing some key legal questions this morning.

CNN's senior legal analyst Elie Honig joins us now.

Elie, good morning.

So, this new reporting seems to underscore that maybe these charges could have all been avoided if the documents had been turned over.

ELIE HONIG, CNN SENIOR LEGAL ANALYST: Yes, when you hear people say this is a self-inflicted wound, I think this new reporting sort of underscores that. But the timing to me is really important here because we have to remember, there was about a year's worth of time when it was only the archives, no DOJ involvement, and archives was negotiating with Donald Trump. If someone had gotten to him back then and said, OK, you need to come clean, let's get in touch with The Archives, let's make it all available, let's give it all to them, I do think there's a good chance this could have gone away without criminal charges. And we know that because the few documents, the 15 boxes or so of documents that Trump did turn over to The Archives before DOJ got involved, none of them are part of this criminal indictment, none of them are charged.

Now, at a certain point in early 2022, DOJ gets involved. And at this point Trump's still playing games, still obstructing justice. And then comes the subpoena where Trump gives a partial response. That's in June of 2022. Trump's team turns over 38 documents, but there were still many, many more. And so a couple months later, in August 2022, they do the search warrant.

I think, at that point, by the time DOJ is serving subpoenas and search warrants, even if Trump's team had wanted to come clean, too late by then.

SOLOMON: Yes, because I think when you look at that timeline the question becomes, at what point is it a point of no return for prosecutors that, you know what, at this point we're moving forward with charges?

HONIG: DOJ was remarkably -- arguably even overly patient with Donald Trump here. There's an argument they should not have accommodated him and negotiated this long. But when you get to a point when you're getting to a search warrant, last summer, August 2022, that means as DOJ you've gone to a judge, you've shown probable cause that crimes were committed, in this case three different crimes. At that point if Trump's lawyers come in and say, we want to make a deal, I would say, fine, but it's got to involve a guilty plea.

SOLOMON: Elie, would a deal mean that Trump would also have to admit guilt, wrongdoing?

HONIG: Yes. Yes. SOLOMON: Do they - do they have to go hand in hand?

HONIG: No, they don't have to. I mean if DOJ wanted to they could say, fine, you give us the documents back, that's it, we'll go away, we've got the documents, we've taken care of the national security interests. But, again, if it was too late in the game, the only deal that would have been available is a guilty plea. And that, of course, requires Donald Trump or any defendant to admit his guilt in court.

SOLOMON: Fascinating. Great to have you, Elie.

HONIG: You too. Thanks.

SOLOMON: John.

BERMAN: All right, this morning, the 2024 Republican presidential field growing.

[09:05:01]

Just moments ago, the Republican mayor of Miami, Francis Suarez, threw his hat into the ring. CNN learned that overnight Suarez filed his paperwork to run. He is currently serving his second term as mayor of Miami. And he enters a crowded Republican field with fellow Floridians Donald Trump and Ron DeSantis, leading this field in all the polling.

All right, joining us now to talk about this is CNN chief national affairs correspondent Jeff Zeleny.

Francis Suarez, the Miami mayor, maybe not someone who was on everyone's radar a few months ago, now in. Why?

JEFF ZELENY, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: John, good morning.

So many candidates there they barely fit on your large screen. But, look, Mayor Francis Suarez is making the case that he is a generational type of a new candidate with a new generational message. And you can see in this video here that is playing on the screen that he is running for president literally. He is showing himself as an in fit, young, 45-year-old Republican, Hispanic candidate. The only Hispanic candidate in the race. So he makes the argument that he represents a new face and a new moment for the Republican Party.

He was re-elected as mayor of Miami. Now, it's largely a ceremonial mayor position. Most of the power in Miami resides in the county board. But he has been the face of the city government there. But he also explained why he's running in an interview on "Good Morning America."

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MAYOR FRANCIS SUAREZ (R), 2024 PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I think I have a different message than what other candidates have. I'm generational. And that generational is a buzzword, but as someone who has implemented generational change to create prosperity in the city. I'm someone who was the president of the U.S. Conference of Mayors, so I know the problem that 85 percent of Americans who live in cities and 91 percent who constitute the GDP of this country are going through. Things like increasing crime, homelessness, mental health issues. I'm someone who has a positive track record of success and has a positive vision for the future.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ZELENY: And he has been the head of the Conference of Mayors. So, he's been traveling across the country in that capacity. He's been taking some trips to the early voting states of Iowa and New Hampshire as well trying out his message.

John, a very crowded field, no question. The big question for him, though, will he make the debate stage in August? The first Republican debate is August 23rd. And candidates must have a wide variety of donors, some 40,000 individual donors from 20 individual states. So, if he makes that, he will be on the debate stage in August. And, of course, that is needed to sort of rise above this growing field. But there is no doubt, a large field heading into the summer certainly benefits the frontrunner, Donald Trump. But now three Floridians in the race with Governor Ron DeSantis as well. So, there may be even another candidate or so coming up in the future weeks. We will see, John. But, wow, a crowded field.

BERMAN: Well, that's a tease right there. Tune back in to see who Jeff Zeleny reports will be entering the race in the coming weeks.

Thank you so much for that.

With me now is CNN political commentator and famed Florida resident, Ana Navarro.

So, we got three -

ANA NAVARRO, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Let me just go ahead and announce, I will not be entering the race for Republican nominee.

BERMAN: So Jeff Zeleny can stop calling you to find out.

Look, I think there are three different things here, although they intersect. There's Miami, there's Florida, there's America. I want to start with Miami and Mayor Francis Suarez. How is he viewed there in his second term?

NAVARRO: Look, he's viewed as -- some people like him a lot. Some people don't like him. He's viewed as somebody who's very energetic, youthful. He comes from a long-standing family that's been involved in politics. His father, when I was a kid, Xavier Suarez, was the first Cuban American mayor of Miami. But I think, you know, to me, Francis, who I know, is a positive energy. He works in a bipartisan fashion. He is not indicted. That's good. He also doesn't go from one manufactured culture war to another. He doesn't play grievance politics. That's good too. And since it's a free-for-all and there's - it's like a Noah's Ark

right now, there seems to be one of everything, I'm, frankly, happy there's going to be an Hispanic voice, hopefully, on that stage.

BERMAN: Well, he supported Andrew Gillam against Ron DeSantis in 2018. He supported the Democrat in 2018 in the - in the Florida governor's race, did not vote for Donald Trump, I don't think, either time he ran for president. Can someone like that win a Republican primary?

NAVARRO: Well, John, Ron DeSantis was endorsed by Donald Trump and Donald Trump voted for Ron DeSantis in 2018 and Ron DeSantis voted for Donald Trump, and now they hate each other. So, if we start talking about who voted for who, I'm not sure what that - you know, what that eventually leads to.

He's going to have to - he's going to get asked that and he's going to have to explain it.

[09:10:03]

Can he win a primary? It's obviously a long shot. I think, you know, my poodle has got about as much chance. But --

BERMAN: Your poodle's registered independent, just to be clear here, so not eligible to run.

NAVARRO: Right. But - but I think -- you know, I think Francis' big challenge is going to be to prove that he's not doing this just out of vanity, that he's not doing this just to raise his name ID, that he's not just competing to be vice president or on a cabinet but that he's doing this for real.

But the other thing that this to me shows is, we have supposedly two big guys, right, running. Donald Trump and Ron DeSantis. These were supposed to be the Godzilla and the King Kong of the Republican nomination. And they haven't stopped anybody from jumping in. They have not frozen the field. They have not scared anybody off. Nobody is staying away out of respect.

I think it's -- it's pretty telling just how much Ron DeSantis has flopped since entering the race. He had that disastrous entry into the race, and then he hasn't seemed to - to really carve a niche for himself.

And those two had all the advantages going for them.

BERMAN: I'm old enough to remember -- you keep getting younger, but I'm -- I'm old. It --

NAVARRO: No, you have a fancy new hair cut. I see it.

BERMAN: It makes me look -- a lot of gray.

In 2016 everyone was talking about, there are two big Floridians in this race, Jeb Bush and Marco Rubio. And, of course, Donald Trump, who was not yet a Floridian full time, came in and cleaned their clock by the time the Florida primary came around.

Is there room for three Floridians? Are they fighting for the same votes and the same money maybe in Florida?

NAVARRO: Frankly, no. And I -- I've been very -- you know, I've been looking at social media from Florida influencers. I've been listening to Cuban radio. I've been talking to people. And I'm amazed at how much Donald Trump dominates the Republican Party, the Republican primary in Florida.

BERMAN: Even more than DeSantis?

NAVARRO: A lot more than DeSantis. I mean the -- what I'm hearing from people who like DeSantis, who voted for DeSantis, are two things. One is, this was not his time. He skipped his turn. He should have waited. This is not good. We like Trump.

And the other thing is, people think he's gone overboard. You know, when you are the governor of Florida and you are in a - in a vendetta- driven war against Mickey Mouse, you've got some explaining to do.

BERMAN: Ana Navarro, great to see you in person.

NAVARRO: Great to see you.

BERMAN: Thanks so much for coming in.

Rahel.

SOLOMON: All right, John, thank you.

A grand jury in New York has voted to indict a Marine veteran after he put a homeless street performer in a fatal chokehold. This all happened on a New York City subway train. Sources tell us that Daniel Penny has been indicted on second degree manslaughter charges. Prosecutors expected to make the official announcement later today.

Penny is accused of killing Jordan Neely. This all happened early last month after pinning him down to the train floor and then holding him in a chokehold until he stopped breathing.

CNN's Brynn Gingras following this story from us - for us from New York.

Brynn, good morning. What more do we know about these charges?

BRYNN GINGRAS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Rahel, like you said, we're still waiting to hear when the Manhattan district attorney, Alvin Bragg, is going to officially announce this indictment and whether or not he's actually going to unseal the indictment before Daniel Penny heads to court when it will be officially unsealed otherwise.

But as you sort of laid out, we do know a lot about this case, right? A lot of this was on social media because there was video of at least part of what happened on that subway train. According to witnesses who tell CNN that Jordan Neely, a street artist, came onto the train -- he was a person suffering from homeless -- and was shouting about being hungry and thirsty and he didn't care if he needed to die. While Daniel Penny, a former - a veteran Marine, said he seemed that he was, you know, disturbing others, he was threatening, and then took it upon himself to, what he says and told in an interview, that he was going to subdue Neely until the police arrived, put him in this chokehold, and then we know, of course, it was long enough to cause the death of Jordan Neely.

And, of course, this is a case that really has divided opinions, not only in New York City, but across the country. Some people talking about it being a result of the crime and the incidents that we have been seeing in homelessness on New York City subways and also this issue of taking things into your own hands and the homeless issue in general, which is what many cities are grappling with all across the country.

We do have some statements that were given to us about this from Jordan Neely's family about the indictment that is now handed down against Penny. He said, Mr. Penny didn't have the right to be the judge, jury and executioner. That coming from his family.

And, again, speaking to the fact that this has been an issue so dividing many people, the defense, a Go Fund Me for Daniel Penny, Rahel, is at $2.8 million at this point.

[09:15:06]

His attorneys saying in a statement, it should be noted that the standard of proof in a grand jury is very low and there has been no finding of wrongdoing. We're confident that when a trial jury is tasked with weighing the evidence, they will find Daniel Penny's actions on that train were fully justified.

Again, in that interview, Daniel Penny saying that this had nothing to do with race. That if he had felt he was in this same situation again, he would do this again, or take action again at least. But certainly we're going to keep a close eye on this one and we'll let you know when the Manhattan district attorney makes the official announcement.

Rahel.

SOLOMON: We know you'll be watching that for us, Brynn.

We're actually going to decide and speak with a legal analyst in the 10:00 hour about what a potential trial in this case could ultimately look like.

Brynn Gingras, thank you.

John.

BERMAN: A group of migrants bussed to Los Angeles and now the governor of Texas is saying he sent them. We have new reaction ahead.

Nearly a dozen women have accused Bill Cosby of sexual assault. They are filing a new lawsuit against the comedian. We have details on the accusations that go back decades.

And the fight against hidden fees. The major change that will let you see up front exactly what you will pay for concert tickets before you reach the checkout.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[09:20:27]

BERMAN: Nine women who have previously accused Bill Cosby of sexual abuse filed a new lawsuit in Nevada asking for a jury trial against the comedian. The women said Cosby gave them either pills or tainted drinks and then they were sexually assaulted while drugged. The lawsuit says the encounters happened from 1979 to 1992. A new law in Nevada eliminates the statute of limitations for most sexual assault cases.

This morning, smoke from the Canada wildfires have prompted a new round of air quality alerts. This time for parts of the Midwest. I think - well, this was the scene in Minneapolis last night. We have live pictures, I'm told, of Milwaukee right now as alerts go out for Wisconsin and Minnesota. Canada fire officials say 63 wildfires are burning in Ontario.

Lawmakers from both parties came together for the annual congressional baseball game. The Republicans won for the third straight year. The final score was 16-6. There was a milestone for the Democrats. Texas Congresswoman Jasmine Crockett, she was the first black woman to play in the annual event on the Democratic side. This has been a Washington tradition since 1909. The game raises money for local charities.

Rahel.

SOLOMON: All right, John, thank you.

Well, this morning, Texas Governor Greg Abbott taking credit for sending a busload of migrants from Texas to Los Angeles. Forty-two migrants, including eight children, arrived after a 23 hour bus ride. The migrants told immigrant rights advocates that they did not get any food during the long trek. The mayor of Los Angeles now calling the move abhorrent and also accusing Abbott of treating the migrants as pawns in his cheap, political games.

CNN's Camila Bernal is following this for us.

So, Camila, what do we know about these migrants and where they were coming from?

CAMILA BERNAL, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: So, Rahel, this is a group of men, women, and children. Non-profit advocates say that they are Honduran, Guatemalan, some Venezuelan, some Haitian. That there are children here. And they're estimating their ages but they say these children can be ages two to nine. And so they were on this 1,500-mile journey from the Rio Grande Valley all the way here to Los Angeles, California. And, as you mentioned, it was 23 hours and these advocates say that these men, women, and children were without food for these 23 hours. No food and no water. So, as they arrived here, these local leaders and non-profit leaders were doing everything they could to help these migrants to figure out where they are in their immigration process to see what they can do next.

Now, the governor of Texas, Greg Abbott, says that the border towns, the small border towns in south Texas and all over his state are overwhelmed. So, he's saying, that's why he's busing these migrants to cities like Los Angeles, and even blamed President Joe Biden for the situation at the border and for essentially not having that under control.

Now, here in Los Angeles, the mayor is saying they were not caught off guard, they were able to essentially put these non-profits on the ground before these migrants were here. She says they found out about all of this in the middle of the night, essentially, as these migrants were on their way here and says they are going to take care of them and try to figure out exactly what to do with these migrants.

Here is what some of these non-profit leaders and city leaders are saying about this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LINDSAY TOCZYLOWSKI, EXECUTIVE DIR., IMMIGRANT DEFENDERS LAW CENTER: We are in the process of trying to reunify those families. These are very complicated cases, and people's lives are at stake.

EUNISSES HERNANDEZ, LOS ANGELES CITY COUNCIL: The governor of Texas is using human beings as a political stunt.

We'll keep pushing for our sanctuary policies to make sure that immigrants and migrants know that they are safe here, that they are welcome here.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERNAL: And just this month the city council here in Los Angeles voting to draft a policy, a sanctuary city policy, that would eventually become the law here in Los Angeles. And that's exactly what Greg Abbott is targeting, these sanctuary cities. In 2022 he sent migrants to D.C. and he says his list of cities includes New York, Chicago, Denver, Philadelphia. And he says that he's already sent more than 20,000 migrants to these cities. But L.A. says, look, we are ready and we're willing to help these migrants and to treat them with dignity.

Rahel.

SOLOMON: Camila Bernal, live for us in Los Angeles.

Camila, thank you.

John.

BERMAN: So this just in to CNN. The United States, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands and Denmark will deliver what's called high priority defense equipment, air defense equipment, to Ukraine.

[09:25:06]

This was just announced in a joint statement a short time ago. Hundreds of short and medium range air defense missiles and associated systems are included in this package. That is according to the statement.

Now, this morning, U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin met with his Ukrainian counterpart, as well as NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg, at NATO headquarters. That is ahead of a meeting with NATO defense ministers. The meeting comes at what Stoltenberg describes as a critical time.

We have CNN's Sam Kiley in Kyiv. First, though, Natasha Bertrand is in Washington.

This is a substantial arms package that I'm sure the Ukrainians will say they need, Natasha.

NATASHA BERTRAND, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY REPORTER: Yes, John, this is something that Ukrainians are really desperate for at this time which is air defense because, of course, the Russians are launching missiles across the country at a really frantic rate, frenetic rate. And so what the Ukrainians say they need is more air defenses. Of course they would like those F-16 fighter jets as well. And that is going to be another topic of discussion at this Ukraine defense contact group meeting, which is really a meeting of around 50 allies to discuss what each ally can provide Ukraine with at this really pivotal moment.

It's going to be equally important right now because of the fact that Ukraine is in the middle of a major counter offensive and the Ukrainian defense secretary, Oleksiy Reznikov, he is expected to brief his counterparts on what Ukraine needs right now and how to sustain the battle tanks, for example, that Ukraine is using by the hundreds in this counteroffensive. What additional air defense systems they need. Of course, they already have the Patriot system that the U.S. has provided.

And, of course, munitions, ammunition, other munitions for their rocket systems. These are all going to be really important so that Ukraine can maintain its initiative against the Russians.

Now, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, he did speak this morning and he really urged the allies to dig deep into their stockpiles to provide Ukraine with the equipment that they need in order to sustain their momentum in this counteroffensive. And he said that the U.S. and the allies are going to be in it for the long haul.

Here's what he said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LLOYD AUSTIN, DEFENSE SECRETARY: Throughout the Kremlin's vicious war of choice, the Ukrainian forces have shown outstanding bravery and skill. And Ukraine's fight is a marathon and not a sprint. So, we will continue to provide Ukraine with the urgent capabilities that it needs to meet this moment, as well as what it needs to keep itself secure for the long term from Russian aggression. And make no mistake, we will stand with Ukraine for the long haul.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERTRAND: Now, Austin also said that what's become clear in his conversations with other defense ministers in this contact group is that Ukraine's military needs to become interoperable with western militaries. And that is something that they are going to hear from the commander of European Command about today. Those ongoing efforts to train the Ukrainian military to really bring them up to par with western militaries in the hopes that one day Ukraine may be able to join NATO, John.

BERMAN: All right, Natasha Bertrand, at the Pentagon, thank you very much.

Sam Kiley, to you in Kyiv.

Natasha brought up the Ukrainian counteroffensive, what agreement that it is on. What there is very little visibility around the world is exactly how it's going. The Ukrainians continue to claim some success. What do we know this morning?

SAM KILEY, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, I think some success is the best that the Ukrainians can go with in terms of maintaining the edge, in terms of the propaganda need to keep their troops fired up and keen to prosecute this conflict. If we look at the mapping and the evidence on the ground, though, they are indeed enjoying some progress and significant gains south of Bakhmut, that bloody battlefield, possibly in addition to what they're planning to do in the south.

But in the south they have been making very small, incremental gains. They are finding it as difficult as they would have imagined getting through a very substantial Russian defensive line there which, if they succeed, will divide Russian forces and open up a route to the Crimean peninsula. So, this is going to be a long, bloody slugging match until there is a Ukrainian -- if and until the Ukrainians or indeed the Russians break through somehow. And that is exactly what both sides are looking for.

Now, it's very interesting indeed that this latest amount of weaponry being pledged to Ukraine emphasizes short and medium range anti- aircraft missiles. In other words, man portable and vehicle portable missiles. This is exactly what the Ukrainians need on the front line in the absence of air dominance. At this moment the Russians have air dominance. The Ukrainians are able to fly but it's extremely dangerous for their aircraft and their aircraft are no real match for the sheer size of the Russian capabilities.

But, in the meantime, if they're able to bring those Russian aircraft down with short, medium range missiles, then they will be able to prosecute more - or gain more initiative, John.

[09:30:07]