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Court Adjourns After Trump Briefly Takes Witness Stand; Source: McConnell Warns GOP In "Quandary" Over Immigration Deal; Source: Many Parents Help Support Adult Children As Old As 34; Dr. Sanjay Gupta On Health Benefits oF "Dry January". Aired 2:30-3p ET

Aired January 25, 2024 - 14:30   ET

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

[14:30:00]

KARA SCANNELL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The judge told him to keep his voice down.

Once they worked out exactly the questions that his attorney would be allowed to ask him, just three, they called the jury in.

Trump went up on the stand, stood at the side, raised his hand and said he swore to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, and then sat down to give his testimony.

Now, his lawyer had asked him. just very quickly went through and asked him, the jury has seen your deposition in this case. That was played earlier today. Asked him if he stood by that testimony. He said, 100 percent, yes.

He was also then asked, did you make this denial in response to the accusation brought by Carroll? He said, yes, I did. Considered a false accusation.

That judge cut him off at that point and told the jury, everything after "yes, I did," was stricken from the record.

Then Trump's lawyer asked him, did you instruct anyone to hurt Carroll? Trump said, no, I just wanted to defend myself, my family, and the office of the presidency.

The judge struck everything from that answer, other than, "no." So, saying that "no," he never instructed anyone to hurt Carroll.

Then Carroll's lawyer was beginning cross-examination. She tried to ask Trump two questions relating to the previous trial, but the judge sustained the objections on that, saying it was not within the scope of the questioning.

So, Carroll's lawyer really only asked one question and that was whether he attended the first trial. Trump said he did.

Then Trump's attorney had a second chance at this. She asked him about that trial, saying, did you have counsel at the last trial? He said, I did have counsel. She wanted to ask him if he followed the advice of his counsel. We

remember, at that trial, Trump never attended a day. He didn't testify. And the judge wouldn't let Trump answer that.

So, very brief appearance on the stand. Trump really just getting in that he responded, that he agreed with the depositions testimony that was played. They heard him say that he thought she was mentally ill and a whack job for making these allegations, that he denied the allegations.

But the judge would not let him testify to that live. He wouldn't let him carry on in what we've seen in other courtrooms, where he begins making these side comments about, you know, a witch hunt, or making political statements or campaigning.

The judge very tightly controlled that. And the former president mostly abided by that.

He tried to get a few other ancillary things in, but he was not able to give a political speech from the witness stand.

He just answered these very specific questions that he made these denials in response to the accusation, that he never instructed anyone to harm Carroll, and that he was just trying to defend himself.

So, very limited, from what we've seen in other cases. Very tightly controlled.

When Trump was leaving the courtroom, he was overheard by reporters saying, this is not America, this is not America. But none of that was before the jury.

So now the defense has also rested their case. The judge is going over some questions between the lawyers about what they will instruct the jury. But he told the jury to come back tomorrow morning, 9:30, for closing arguments -- Brianna?

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN HOST: All right, Kara Scannell, thank you.

BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN HOST: Really fascinating detail there. And a number of things stick out. One of them, Trump saying on the stand, I was not at that trial.

Elliot, that was by choice that he didn't participate in that first trial.

ELLIOT WILLIAMS, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: And again, why that's the case, in civil trials, a defendant does not have to be present. It's a different proceeding than a criminal trial, where a defendant necessarily would.

But again, people may not know that. The jury may not know that. They may not be aware of it. And frankly, the jury's probably been directed -- on account of their not knowing that much about the case.

What I found interesting in all of this is that we talked a lot about the questioning of Trump, but not the cross-examination. And cross has to be limited to what came up on the direct examination.

The problem is, when everything that the witness says is being struck, you don't really have much that Robbie Kaplan was allowed to question him about.

She could just ask him these yes-or-no questions, but even they got cut off because of the scalpel job that had to be done on everything, number one, that was asked of the former president and, number two, that he was allowed to say in response.

This was a little bit of jets from all the parties that really -- a couple on the record, just three or four, most of which is struck that nobody else can talk about.

KEILAR: An extraordinary afternoon in court. Closing arguments tomorrow in this civil trial here.

But the former president taking the stand for just a matter of a few minutes and not saying much, due to the limitations of Judge Kaplan really running a tight ship in that courtroom.

[14:34:42]

We are going to take a quick break. We will be back in just a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KEILAR: Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell's push to lock in a bipartisan immigration and foreign aid bill is in serious jeopardy.

And at least one Republican Senator, blaming former President Trump, claiming that he's openly encouraging GOP decision-makers to tank any agreement.

CNN chief congressional correspondent, Manu Raju, is up on Capitol Hill covering this story for us.

Manu, a border deal, that is what the GOP has been demanding here. How close were lawmakers before Trump really threw a wrench into the works here?

MANU RAJU, CNN CHIEF CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, they're very close. But this was a small group of Senators who've been negotiating for several months now, trying to get a deal.

They think they are there. They think they are on the cusp of a deal. But it's not going to go far as many Republicans in the right of the Republican conference want, particularly people in aligned with former President Donald Trump.

[14:40:09]

Trump himself has said that any compromise with Democrats that does not go -- is not, quote, "a perfect deal" is not sufficient. He said that Republicans should reject this plan if it doesn't include, quote, "everything that they want." But they're not going to get everything. They have to negotiate with

Senate Democrats, have to negotiate with the White House.

And this is so essential because, in addition to dealing with the surge of migrants at the southern border with Mexico, Republicans have demanded action on the border in order to greenlight aid to Ukraine as well as aid to Israel. So, so much riding on these negotiations, at this key moment.

Now, even as Trump has made clear, he does not want a bipartisan deal and there are grim prospects of getting this passed.

The Senators who are trying to negotiate this deal tell me that they still plan to press ahead, trying to see if they can get any sort of agreement to try to move ahead.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RAJU: Do you think that this has blunted, though, your momentum in trying to get a deal?

SEN. CHRIS MURPHY (D-CT): We will find out the answer to that the next 24 to 48 hours.

I hope we don't live in a world today in which one person inside the Republican Party has so much power that they can stop a bipartisan bill to try to give the president additional power at the border, to make more sense of our immigration policies.

RAJU: How much has the effected these negotiations by saying, Republicans should not accept anything less than a perfect deal?

SEN. JAMES LANKFORD (R-OK): I will get. That we don't doubt that he wants a perfect deal, so do I, on it. But we've got to be able to figure out and do something right now big to get as much done as we can possibly get done.

I have a Democrat Senate that hasn't wanted to deal with this, has refused even had hearings on these issues for the last three years, as the whole country watches the chaos.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

RAJU: Now, after last night, when Senator McConnell told his colleagues that the Republicans are in a quandary over this issue because of Trump's position, just moments ago, he did address this again in closed-door meetings.

We're told that he indicated that he's behind the Republican Senate with James Lankford's efforts to try to get a deal. So, McConnell is still supportive of this effort going forward.

But can they get there with all the politics in play? It remains highly uncertain at this moment -- Brianna?

KEILAR: All right, Manu Raju, live for us on the Hill, thank you for that.

Still ahead, a new survey showing a lot of parents are financially supporting their adult children well into their 30s. We are looking at some of the reasons why.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[14:47:05]

SANCHEZ: There is an eye-opening new study revealing that many American parents are still helping to support their adult children, sometimes well into their late twenties and early 30s.

KEILAR: Yes, and a few researchers saying the big way that parents do this is with food and housing, either free or at a discount.

Joining us now, we have Michelle Singletary. She writes the nationally syndicated personal finance column, "The Color of Money," for "The Washington Post."

And also with us is Kyla Scanlon, writer, video creator, broadcaster, and author of the book, "In This Economy, How Money and Markets Really Work."

All right Michelle, to you first.

Most parents, I think they expect to pay for their children until they become adults. But we're talking a full 59 percent of parents who say they financially helped an adult child in the past year. Tell us what we are seeing.

MICHELLE SINGLETARY, "THE COLOR OF MONEY" COLUMNIST, "THE WASHINGTON POST": So, what we are seeing is the financial pressure on the young adults. Many come out of college -- they go to college with debt.

We know in many areas where they want to live, big cities, the rent is amazingly high. Sometimes oppressively so.

And then we've got a health care system that costs a lot of money to have medical insurance.

And so, what these young adults are finding is, hey, I want to launch, but I need some more time before I can get out of the nest.

SANCHEZ: Kyla, I'm curious about that sort of protracted adolescence. You say that adult life has been delayed. Help us understand why.

KYLA SCANLON, AUTHOR & BROADCASTER: Yes, I mean, I think there is a sheer lack of -- there are no cars really selling under $20,000. We're in the middle of a housing crisis.

Upward mobility in most careers is not as accessible as it used to be. And so, it's just very difficult to get your foot on the first rung of the ladder for a lot of people.

KEILAR: The other thing, Kyla, that we should note here is it's not like parents are really mad about this. They're not unhappy, right? And 45 percent say the living arrangement has actually been positive for the relationship with their child.

But I wonder if there are concerns that this could have an impact on the finances of parents who may -- I mean, look, they may also be on the hook for shouldering expenses of their own aging parents.

SCANLON: Yes, I mean, I think that, you know, we used to live communal style a long time ago, so it's sort of makes sense that you have kids living with their parents.

I think that the kids are financially well off, most of the time. It seems at least according to the statistics. They're just delaying these big life events.

So I think it's just parents are willing to step in and help out. And if that's what it takes, that's what it takes.

SANCHEZ: So, Michelle, is this a sign that the economy is sort of allowing this to happen? Because people have more choice, as Kyla kind of outlined there, and they can decide that they don't have to work at a job that they're perhaps unhappy with?

[14:50:01]

They prioritize work from home, for example. They decide, you know what, I want to fingerpaint and live in a van down by the river.

(LAUGHTER)

SINGLETARY: I don't know if they fingerpaint.

(LAUGHTER)

SINGLETARY: But listen, this is really about the reality of our economy. And multigenerational housing, I'm a huge advocate for it.

I'm going to be completely transparent. All three of my 20-something- year-olds are living with my husband and I in our home. By choice.

They don't have any school loan debt. We don't have debt for them. But they're doing it so that they can save for their future.

So, we talk about 20, late 20s and 30s and say, oh, my gosh, if they are not out the house, what kind of life are they going to have? They have 30 or 40 years left to be independent.

If you can afford it, and it is amendable and you are all happy about it, it is the best way for them to launch off.

I have a child who is almost 30. She is saving to buy your next car with cash. She's saving up for a down payment for a home.

I have a young adult who is a teacher. We know the stress that teachers are under, specifically, since they are not being paid a whole lot of money. So she is staying home, saving about 80 percent of her salary.

So when they go, they are going to be gone. They are not coming back. That is the reality of where we are here in the U.S. And there is nothing wrong with that if it works for everybody.

KEILAR: Yes. If they have a down payment on a home, that is really something to show for that.

Michelle, thank you so much, Michelle Singletary. We really appreciate it.

And, Kyla Scanlon, we appreciate the conversation.

SCANLON: You are welcome.

KEILAR: So happy six days left in "Dry January," if you are celebrating in a slightly damp January for some people. Surviving, as the case may be. If you don't know, "Dry January" means what it sounds like. It's giving up alcohol for the month.

SANCHEZ: Joining us now is CNN chief medical correspondent, Dr. Sanjay Gupta.

Sanjay, what is the medical consensus on whether alcohol is good or bad for you? We have heard that a glass of wine a day can help you with antioxidants. We have heard whispers of benefits of alcohol.

This is a perception that has changed a lot over the years.

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, it really has. I will cut to the chase, which is that the medical establishment is basically saying that no amount of alcohol is good for your health.

That's where things land. Not necessarily what you want to hear, I realize.

But it's interesting if you chart this, as you were saying, overtime. I love the discussion around whether alcohol might be good for you or not. It started about 100 years ago. It was around 100 years ago, it was Prohibition.

If you look at this particular graph, what' interesting is they looked at what was the average mortality in the country. That's the horizontal line going across the middle of that graph. No drinks at all, you are about average in mortality.

Look at what happened when you had one, two, 2.5 drinks. You were below average mortality.

That graph, that study from 100 years ago was really what launched the conventional wisdom around alcohol for a long time. A little bit of alcohol can be good for your health.

It was around the 1980s or so, when they started to see associations between alcohol and detrimental things. Certain cancers, for example, stroke. Thirty years ago, in the early '90s, there was a lot of interest in

what people called the French Paradox. This idea that the French people could eat high fatty foods, they could smoke, they did not exercise so much, but they seemed to have lower mortality. Could it be red wine? There was sort of a lot of interest.

But over the last decade or so, a lot of studies have come out and the conclusion is that no amount of alcohol is good for your health. That's where they have lived at this point.

I will say, it is interesting -- I dug this up for you guys last night. If you look after Prohibition until now, the attitudes toward alcohol in this country have stayed relatively the same.

About two-thirds of the country say that they will drink. Obviously, some drink more than others. About a third of the country is sort of abstinent from alcohol.

But it's sort of interesting to me that roughly 90 years or so now, that hasn't changed much. That is where we have landed as a country.

KEILAR: "Dry January," this idea of quitting drinking for a month, are there health benefits to that, Sanjay?

GUPTA: Yes. I think there really are. I think one of the studies that really jumped out at me -- and I have a family history of heart disease so it's something I think about a lot.

But just having one drink a day can increase your systolic blood pressure. That is the top number of blood pressure. Even if you don't have hypertension. Men and women alike, just one drink a day can increase your blood pressure. I don't think a lot of people realize that.

The good news is that not drinking can bring that blood pressure down and it can happen quickly. And there are other benefits as well that happen pretty quickly when you stop drinking.

[14:55:08]

Your liver is where your alcohol is metabolized. Your liver enzymes start to improve pretty quickly.

You sleep. I tracked sleep. I know that if I have had a drink in the evening, my sleep will be thrown off. A lot of people who track that probably realize the same thing.

The diet changes when you stop drinking. Typically, they find that from part of these large studies.

And also other bad routines, bad habits, not exercising as much, eating unhealthy foods, things like. That seems to improve as well just by going several days without drinking.

So going a month without drinking, really beneficial. Obviously, though, again, the medical establishment has landed on this idea that no amount of alcohol is good for good for you so don't pursue alcohol in the pursuit of good health.

KEILAR: Yes, no Resveratrol diet, people, just to be clear. That is not a thing --

(LAUGHTER)

KEILAR: -- says Sanjay Gupta.

Sanjay, thank you so much for taking us through all of that.

GUPTA: You've got it.

KEILAR: I know a lot of curious folks finishing up their Dry January. Going into soggy February.

SANCHEZ: Soggy February.

(LAUGHTER)

(CROSSTALK)

KEILAR: Thanks, Sanjay.

GUPTA: Brianna, projecting here.

(LAUGHTER)

(CROSSTALK)

KEILAR: I am not. I was a slightly damp January. So I am not part of this club. I just have to be clear.

(LAUGHTER)

KEILAR: A wild day in court in the E. Jean Carroll defamation trial. Former President Donald Trump taking the stand. We are live outside court, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)