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Mass Shooting in Prague; Special Counsel Asks Supreme Court to Decide Trump Immunity Question. Aired 11-11:30a ET

Aired December 21, 2023 - 11:00   ET

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

[11:01:47]

ANNOUNCER: This is CNN breaking news.

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN HOST: We are starting this hour with breaking news out of the Supreme Court, special counsel Jack Smith now responding to Donald Trump's legal team about the federal elections case, the special counsel pushing the High Court even more now to take this matter up quickly.

Let's get right over to CNN's Joan Biskupic. She has all the details that truly are just coming in right now.

Joan, what are you picking up?

JOAN BISKUPIC, CNN SENIOR SUPREME COURT ANALYST: Yes, Jack Smith, the special counsel in the Donald Trump election subversion case, has just submitted another filing to the Supreme Court, doubling down on the imperative to the Supreme Court to take up this case now, rather than wait for another court to handle it.

The question is whether former President Donald Trump is immune from criminal prosecution for election subversion arising from the 2020 election right as we head into the 2024 election. And what he's trying to do here, special counsel Jack Smith, is counter what Donald Trump's lawyers said yesterday.

They said, Supreme Court, there is no need to take this case up hastily. Let it go to a federal appellate court first, which is, Kate, the normal processes. It's -- yesterday, Trump's lawyers said that Jack Smith had not made a sufficient case on this.

But, today, in this 11-page filing, special counsel Jack Smith tries to reinforce how the rule of law is at issue, how Donald Trump's actions back in 2020 need to be resolved. And here is a line from that, Kate.

"Enforcing federal criminal laws that prohibit such conduct" -- this is related to election subversion -- "is vital to protecting our constitutional processes and democracy itself."

What he has stressed in his initial filing, Kate, was how much America's rule of law and the democratic order depend on the court resolving this issue of whether the former president can be tried at all, needs to be resolved, as I say, sooner rather than later. And just to remind our viewers, a trial judge earlier had said that

Donald Trump should not be immune from criminal prosecution. Donald Trump is appealing that. He is appealing that. He wants courts to intervene, but he does not want the Supreme Court to hear it until a lower court hears it, in part because for -- he wants it on the legal side to go through the normal processes.

But, frankly, as a political strategy, it could also mean delay and delay until we're really smack in the middle of the 2024 election cycle, if not having the 2024 election behind us.

So the Supreme Court now has everything in front of it that it needs to decide, should it take it up and expedite this case so that the nation has an answer to whether former President Donald Trump is immune from trial, or will it say that this is an issue that should remain in the lower court, and it will be months, Kate, until we get a final answer from the Supreme Court, which is the only bench that can finally and definitively answer this question.

BOLDUAN: And, also, just by way of background, because I want to ask you another -- a little bit more about this...

[11:05:00]

BISKUPIC: Sure.

BOLDUAN: ... Trump's team in their filing that we just also just got overnight, his team argued that the case should -- quote -- be -- should be -- quote -- "resolved in a cautious, deliberative manner, not at breakneck speed."

And you can see, obviously, the two completely opposing takes on this, which one would not be surprised at. Is it unusual, Joan? This is the first ask from the special counsel that the Supreme Court take this up in an expedited way. Then you have the response from Donald Trump's legal team saying, no, stay out of it for now, please.

And now you have the special counsel coming back again. The response to the response, is this unusual?

BISKUPIC: Well, no, and actually, Kate, let me just say -- I'm so glad you asked that, because I will give you a little P.S. on why this is kind of intriguing.

Normally, that's how things happen with cases. You have the initial petition, you have a response, and then you have a reply. But Jack Smith, in his initial petition, said, I will waive my right to a reply. He was waiving his time period for filing like in a couple weeks.

He said, I don't need that. I want you, Supreme Court, to decide this right now. Let us know if you're going to intervene. You will have all the filings as of last night. But what he did is, knowing that the court had not yet given an order, he dropped us in before lunchtime today, saying, P.S., consider this also. It's 11 pages. He had every right to do it, but I think what he tried

to do was counter, again, what Donald Trump's lawyers were saying, just as you so properly stated, that what Trump's lawyers are saying, look, there is a process for this, and the process involves going to an appellate court first. Do not do this hastily. Do not do it at breakneck speed, using their word there, Kate.

But what Jack Smith has come back -- and, again, I should stress that Jack Smith is speaking on behalf of the United States government, the Department of Justice, saying, no, the kind of conduct at issue here needs to be put to trial, and it needs to be put to trial as soon as possible.

And right now, everything's been on hold because Donald Trump is saying he cannot be tried because he should enjoy immunity from criminal prosecution. He says that these actions that are in dispute occurred as part of his official work when he was president back in 2020.

And Jack Smith is saying, no, that cannot be that he should be shielded. And this has never been tested, Kate, the question of whether a former president or even a sitting president should be immune from a criminal prosecution. And he's asking for complete immunity here. It's a very big question.

And, as I say, only the U.S. Supreme Court can answer that definitively.

OMAR JIMENEZ, CNN HOST: And I want to bring in CNN's Katelyn Polantz here as well.

Katelyn, obviously, a big development. I want to read really quickly just a little bit of what Jack Smith told the justices in court papers, because I think this really hits up the crux of things.

"The public interest in a prompt resolution in this case favors an immediate, definitive decision by this court. The charges here are of the utmost gravity."

You have been following this case as it's been going through the trial proceedings or the case proceedings up to this point. Is this as urgent as you have seen things? And to sort of piggyback off of what Kate said, is it unusual to see another filing on top of or after the defense filing, when we would, in theory, be awaiting a decision from the Supreme Court?

KATELYN POLANTZ, CNN SENIOR CRIME AND JUSTICE REPORTER: I'm with Joan in that there always -- almost always are three rounds of arguments.

So this is pretty typical to hear it. But the way that the Justice Department is speaking about this case just underlines how important it is for the administration, for the Justice Department, for the country, what they say is for the precedency, for our understanding of the Constitution.

And that -- the question here is about timing, the trial of Donald Trump's -- the timing of Donald Trump's trial, which is set for March. That date is still on the calendar. Donald Trump has tried to argue repeatedly, including at the Supreme Court in this context, that he shouldn't have to go to trial so quickly and that this push from the Justice Department is about politics, that they want to prosecute him because of the campaign.

But the Justice Department is having to explain themselves over and over again and now, yet again, before the Supreme Court emphasizing why there needs to be some sort of resolution, some sort of finality here on how the country grapples with, how the law falls into place in understanding what happened in 2020, January 6, 2021, and the former president's role in that.

Not only are they saying in this filing, just a couple of their words, that this is an issue of great constitutional moment. They're also saying that only this court can provide the final word on this issue of presidential immunity that has to be resolved before Donald Trump can go to trial as a criminal defendant.

[11:10:09]

And they also are saying, we did a maneuver like this way back in the Nixon administration or after the Nixon administration, determining that there was a need before a trial related to Nixon to get resolution from the Supreme Court before and any other appeals court weighed in.

The stakes here -- they're saying today, the stakes here with Donald Trump, the former president, going to trial, that is a more necessary situation than even when this happened with Richard Nixon.

JIMENEZ: And even before this filing, I mean, you had mentioned in your reporting as well the Supreme Court could make a decision at any time.

Does this filing affect that timing in any way, or is that essentially the waiting game that we are still in at this point?

POLANTZ: Well, as legal reporters like Joan and I like to say, they are fully briefed.

(LAUGHTER)

POLANTZ: So, they have heard all of the briefing. They have it before them. And so the Supreme Court could do what they want.

Now, I will leave it to Joan to be more of a prognosticator on exactly when the justices might take some action this. But it is before them. The Justice Department has made their arguments twice now as to why this case should be taken very quickly and resolved.

And the other thing about timing here is, they point out in this filing that not only do they want the justice -- or the Supreme Court to take this case quickly; they want them to take it quickly so that it can be resolved this term of the Supreme Court, which would theoretically end in July or beginning of summer. And so that shows you they want this to be maybe not resolved by March 1, but they definitely want the Supreme Court to be addressing it before the end of the term.

BISKUPIC: Yes, I should say...

BOLDUAN: Go ahead, Joan.

(CROSSTALK)

BISKUPIC: ... coming up on this holiday. I'm going to be ready this afternoon for an order, but I think it's more likely to come on Friday, just because they will want to all seriously look at these briefs.

Now, remember that the nine are not together in one room right now. They're dealing with this by phone, by memo, trying to figure out what's the best way forward. I'm sure it's not going to be an easy 9-0 decision here, frankly, because this court is not 9-0 on most issues anymore.

And -- but I would expect, by the end of tomorrow, before the holiday weekend, that they would decide it. And if they don't, that shows you how much they're struggling with it., and we wouldn't get something until next week or soon into the new year.

But I think we're all just watching, because they can indeed issue an order at any point.

BOLDUAN: Joan, Katelyn, thanks you guys so much for jumping on to give us some more context around all of this and this important filing that we now also just see has come in. Thanks, guys.

JIMENEZ: I feel fully briefed after talking...

(CROSSTALK)

BOLDUAN: Fully briefed, that's our new thing when we're done with them.

JIMENEZ: Always. Thank you all.

Now, look, that's not -- obviously not the only case that we are dealing with when it comes to Donald Trump. His legal calendar is very full for the next year, with several trials that could see him in court and off the campaign trail. You see some of those key dates on your screen there.

CNN's Jessica Schneider joins us now.

So, Jessica, Trump is the Republican front-runner. And depending on the outcome of these -- depending on the outcome there, all of these other cases could impact him as the election gets closer.

JESSICA SCHNEIDER, CNN JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: Yes. And what's interesting, Omar, we just saw that filing from Jack Smith. Trump's legal team, they have referenced in legal filings, including the one yesterday before the Supreme Court, how they're battling on multiple legal fronts at the same time Donald Trump is trying to crisscross the country campaigning for presidency.

They wrote yesterday that Jack Smith is trying to ensure that President Trump will face a monthslong criminal trial at the height of his presidential campaign. So they're trying to use this argument to their advantage, urging judges or justices to really slow down or even delay these proceedings.

So far, though, those tactics haven't worked. And all of Trump's legal proceedings, they're set to collide as the election calendar really ramps up in 2024. So I will lay it out for you just what Trump is facing.

In just a matter of weeks, the first of many trials begin. This will be the defamation trial brought by E. Jean Carroll. It's set to begin in January. This is the trial, of course, about comments that Trump made while he was president where he denied he raped her in the mid- 1990s. So that's a defamation trial, a civil case.

Then there's the federal criminal case about Trump's efforts to try to derail the election results. That's happening here in D.C. That is still on track to go to trial March 4, despite all of these ongoing appeals about Trump's claims of immunity. We're seeing that all play out, Jack Smith's team trying to get it to the Supreme Court.

So this date, it's likely, March 4, to get pushed back once we see if the Supreme Court's going to step in. Then we have March 25, weeks later, the hush money case related to Stormy Daniels brought by the Manhattan DA. That's slated to start, then the classified documents case.

Remember that one? That's the other case brought by special counsel Jack Smith. That's down in Florida slated to start May 20. And then the big conspiracy case out of Georgia, of which Donald Trump is a co- defendant, scheduled for early August.

[11:15:10]

So, guys, you're seeing all of these happening, his legal team fighting on multiple fronts here, as the campaign barrels forward with Trump as the Republican front-runner. Guys, I don't have to say it. This is going to be a very tumultuous and busy 2024 on the legal front, on the political front as well. We're going to see how it all collides.

JIMENEZ: Well, and the Trump team has been trying to keep those together, fund-raising even off of some of those court dates.

SCHNEIDER: Yes.

JIMENEZ: It was like in the hours after the Colorado state Supreme Court, there was a fund-raising e-mail in my inbox sent to reporters. Jessica Schneider, thank you so much.

BOLDUAN: And coming up for us, we have an update on the breaking news out of Prague. Emergency officials now say 10 people have been killed, 30 people injured in that shooting at Charles University. We have new information coming in. We will bring that to you next.

And six Americans are now free after being wrongfully detained in Venezuela. CNN was there the moment they touched down back on U.S. soil for the first time. The details on what it took to get them all home.

We will be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[11:20:52]

BOLDUAN: We are following breaking news this hour in the Czech Republic, where people are still evacuating Charles University in Prague after a deadly shooting there today.

We're going to show you video that's really just coming in. This was just from moments ago. You can see what looks like police, rescue teams, emergency crews searching the balcony of a building. This is near and around where we'd seen a lot of activity with emergency vehicles. You can see them with their flashlights on the balconies there.

This clearly is still an unfolding scene. We have also learned from Prague emergency services that 10 people were killed and 30 people were wounded in this shooting. Police say the gunman has also been killed.

Now let's get over to CNN's Melissa Bell. She's gathering more details that are coming in.

Still early hours, still unfolding, Melissa, but what more are you learning?

MELISSA BELL, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Kate, that's right.

The first we heard of this was when the Czech police began tweeting within the last hour, and those images just coming into us, the first there, of a scene that is still actively being searched. As you said, Kate, they're looking for what weapons, what else might have been hidden there.

We know that the shooter himself has been killed, eliminated. We'd heard initially killed, now we have had confirmed to CNN by police sources. We know nothing of who he is, what his motives may have been for the time being, but clearly extremely troubling scenes there in Prague. Dusk is just falling, night is falling.

And you can see the entire perimeter of that university, Charles University, in the very center of Prague, that has been completely cordoned off. This, Kate, is an extremely busy tourist center within the very center of Prague, just opposite Prague Castle, a busy campus as well.

And what we have begun to see over the course of the last hour is stills coming in as well while this was still an active shooting scene of some of the students who climbed out of windows to hide on windowsills away from him, so extremely violent scenes that went on for a while, 10 dead, 30 wounded.

I think it's important to remind our viewers that these sorts of shootings are exceedingly rare here in Europe. We are not in the habit of having regular mass shootings. They simply don't happen terribly often, so very shocking scenes. We await more on what might have driven this person, the perpetrator, to carry out these killings.

We don't know whether he was a student. We don't know whether he was Czech. We know nothing about him at all. But he has managed to kill 10 people, wounding 30 others, so extremely violent scenes there at Prague university until the police could take him out, Kate.

BOLDUAN: Yes, and also, in -- amongst the 30, we do not know the severity of those injuries as well. So this is a really tragic scene as this continues to search and unfold.

Melissa Bell is gathering more for us. She's going to pop back up as we get it.

Melissa, thanks so much.

JIMENEZ: We will continue to follow that story.

Another story we are following and coming up: Donald Trump is speaking out on social media this morning, as Republicans rally behind him, insisting Colorado had no right to boot him from the ballot.

More ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[11:28:48]

BOLDUAN: New this hour, special counsel Jack Smith reiterating his request to the Supreme Court in a new filing we have just received that the justices immediately hear his case and quickly decide on the immunity dispute that there is very clearly with Donald Trump's legal team.

And this gets right to the core of the federal election interference case that Trump is facing. In this situation, Trump, of course, and his legal team is asking the High Court to stay out, to not intervene, just as his team is also likely to ask the very same Supreme Court to soon intervene in another case he is now up against, the case coming out of the Colorado Supreme Court removing him from the presidential ballot.

CNN's Alayna Treene following all of this for us. Alayna, what are you hearing from Donald Trump's team about how they

are handling and trying to utilize all of this in his favor?

ALAYNA TREENE, CNN POLITICAL REPORTER: Right.

Well, first of all, I just want to point out that, according to my conversations with Donald Trump's team, particularly about the Colorado decision that came in on Tuesday, they were very surprised by that. They were not expecting that decision to go down the way it did. They had really anticipated that the higher courts would rule in Donald Trump's favor.

Of course, that is not what happened. And that is why they are planning to appeal it to the United States Supreme Court. I'm told they will not file that