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Lawyer Turned Key Classified Documents Witness Leaves Trump Legal Team; Rep. Mike Johnson (R-LA) to Meet With Trump as Speaker Job in Jeopardy; Biden to Forgive $7.4 Billion in Student Loan Debt for 277,000 Borrowers. Aired 7-7:30a ET

Aired April 12, 2024 - 07:00   ET

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

SARAH LONGWELL, REPUBLICAN STRATEGIST: In the way he fights with the judges.

[07:00:01]

Like the reason he's been getting these big verdicts against him in these civil trials, like the E. Jean Carroll trial, is because he's such a jerk in the courtroom. He fights with the -- there's a reason there's a gag order on this one. He has been attacking the judge and the judge's family.

And so I think if there were cameras, it would be bad for him. Instead, he gets to come out and control the environment with the cameras, which he likes. So yes, I'd like to see this trial.

KASIE HUNT, CNN ANCHOR: Yes. And there's no unpredictability either around the moments that may happen in the courtroom.

All right, well, how's that for the end of a Friday? Thanks to you guys for being here. Thanks to all of you for joining us as well. I'm Kasie Hunt.

CNN News Central. Start right now.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: Breaking overnight, intrigue in Trump legal world, a Trump lawyer turned critical witness to the Mar-a-Lago classified documents case is no longer representing him. Why this information is, quote, disquieting to Donald Trump.

SARA SIDNER, CNN ANCHOR: Next hour, lawmakers will view classified information ahead of a key vote reauthorizing the FISA bill. Will speaker Mike Johnson be able to control his own party?

BERMAN: This morning, still no change in the 1800s near-total ban on abortion in Arizona. And today, the vice president heads to the scene. What she plans to say.

Kate is out. I'm John Berman with Sara Sidner. This is CNN New Central.

And breaking overnight, CNN got word that a key attorney to Donald Trump turned critical witness has left his legal team. Evan Corcoran was hired to help Trump in the classified documents case, but he became a central part of the very indictment because of the meticulous notes and memos he took about his interactions with Trump.

The indictment referred to Corcoran as Trump Attorney 1 at least 20 times. And it was from Corcoran's notes and memos that we learned that Trump allegedly misled him about the whereabouts of the classified documents, encouraged him to lie to the Justice Department and withhold these documents allegedly.

If the case ever goes to trial, prosecutors could potentially call Corcoran as a key witness. And this morning, we know he is out of the fold. And as Maggie Haberman told us overnight, that is disquieting to Donald Trump.

His departure comes just ahead of a hearing today for two of Trump's co-defendants in that case. Trump aide Walt Nada and Mar-a-Lago employee Carlos de Oliveira both hope a judge will toss the obstruction cases against them.

First, let's talk about Evan Corcoran. CNN's Katelyn Polantz with us this morning. Corcoran out of the fold.

KATELYN POLANTZ, CNN SENIOR CRIME AND JUSTICE REPORTER: He is indeed. Evan Corcoran in this indictment against Donald Trump in the Florida classified documents case, he's all over it. He's called Trump Attorney 1 multiple times because he was a witness to multiple things in this indictment, crucially, all of those allegations that Donald Trump was trying to obstruct the Justice Department and the federal government from getting back classified records in his possession.

Trump Attorney 1 is a pretty apt title for him because he was not just part of the original team. He was the lead attorney for Donald Trump at a really important moment in the January 6th investigation, where the Justice Department was pursuing testimony from people as important as Mike Pence. That was Evan Corcoran, the man fighting those battles on the frontline as the investigation bore down before Donald Trump was charged.

After that, he became the person that the Justice Department compelled to testify. They forced him to come into the grand jury and reveal information, making him a cornerstone witness of this indictment in Florida against Donald Trump.

So, he had continued on representing Trump in the January 6 probe, but really was the person who witnessed something as significant as when Donald Trump was talking to him about the classified records found and apparently making reference to not wanting those classified records to be turned over.

So, specifically in the indictment, one of the things that happened is that Corcoran goes to a storage room in Mar-a-Lago, collects, under a subpoena's orders, 38 classified records that are in those storage room boxes, puts them in an envelope, talks to Trump about it, and they're about to turn them over to the FBI in June of 2022.

Trump says, did you find anything? Is it good or bad? And then according to Evan Corcoran's memorialization of this conversation, Trump then makes a plucking motion and says, okay, why don't you take them with you to your hotel room? And if there's anything really bad in there, you know, pluck it out.

Of course, Evan Corcoran didn't find all of the documents at Mar-a- Lago at that time.

[07:05:04]

There was more than 100 more found in the search by the FBI later on. There's going to be a major fight whether he testifies against Donald Trump at the criminal trial in Florida, but it is pretty significant that he has totally cleaved himself from the legal team.

BERMAN: Do we have any sense of when exactly that happened and if it has any actual legal significance, deliberate legal significance for the Mar-a-Lago case going forward?

POLANTZ: Well, I don't know if it changes anything about what we know in the Mar-a-Lago case. He was able to continue representing Trump on this other matter, January 6th, as long as he wanted to, but he had taken a backseat. He wasn't the person who was primarily writing a lot of the motions and taking the case to the Supreme Court on presidential immunity in that case, but he was with Trump when Trump was arraigned in Washington, D.C., related to the 2020 election January 6th charges.

In the Mar-a-Lago case, there's going to be a really big fight coming over whether he can be testified, whether the information he gave prosecutors is going to be part of that case. So, John, at very least he's a guy to watch.

BERMAN: And now, to an extent, in the wilderness.

Katelyn Polantz, great to have you this morning, thank you very much. Sara?

SIDNER: All right. Also this morning, John, the build-up before the kissing of the ring, so to speak, Speaker Mike Johnson heads to Mar-a- Lago to speak with former President Trump. When it happens in just a few hours, job security may be top of mind for the House Speaker as Marjorie Taylor Greene threatens to oust him from the speakership.

Before Mar-a-Lago, though, Johnson will try to evade another blow to his leadership. Next hour, a national security bill that Trump convinced Republicans to tank just 48 hours ago will head back to the floor for a vote.

CNN's Alayna Treene has more on this. Alayna, we will all be talking about the FISA bill a little bit later as Congress looks at that. But you have some brand new reporting for us that just dropped on the event that involves Mike Johnson and Donald Trump. They're going to be standing side by side, correct? What is the issue they'll be talking about?

ALAYNA TREENE, CNN REPORTER: Well, that's exactly right, Sara. House Speaker Mike Johnson is trekking to Mar-a-Lago really as he faces a threat from many of House Republican colleagues to strip him of the speaker's gavel. And I'm told from some of the source is familiar with this meeting and how it was set up that this meaning today between Donald Trump and Mike Johnson, a really joint press conference, I should call it, was part of Johnson's idea as he faces this threat, showing his ties to Donald Trump.

But, look, the two are going to appear side by side today at Mar-a- Lago at 4:30 P.M., and they're going be discussing what they argue are state proposals and lawsuits to have non-citizens be allowed to vote.

Now, of course, it's important to point out that non-citizens and migrants here, undocumented in the country, are not able to go in federal elections. And those who do cast their ballots illegally face steep fines, deportation and even prison.

But, course this has been a main topic of Donald Trump's as we look forward to November. He has really been stoking fears around immigration, undocumented immigrants in this country, whether it's about election security or about crimes that they have allegedly committed in the country. It's something that has been a focal point for Donald Trump and Republicans ahead of the elections. And so I think that's very important to keep in mind here.

And, of course, Mike Johnson also has a chief person who has really helped peddle Donald Trump's false claims of the 2020 election being rife with fraud. And so that is another element to this as well. And it comes, as Mike Johnson is worrying about that FISA vote on the House floor today. And he's heard threats from his colleagues.

Here's what Marjorie Taylor Greene, someone who is being a chief leader of this threat to strip him of the speaker's gavel. Take a listen to what she said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. MARJORIE TAYLOR GREENE (R-GA): I think the motion to vacate is also being supported by quite a few members in our conference. That's an internal House issue with our elected speaker of House, totally two separate issues. Hopefully they, have a great meeting tomorrow.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TREENE: Now, Sara, that was Marjorie Taylor Greene telling our colleague, Manu Raju, essentially, that this meeting with Donald Trump and Mike Johnson is separate from the issues that they are facing currently in Congress. So, we will see how that plays out today.

But just one other quick thing I want to give you a preview on, and our colleagues, Kristen Holmes and Melanie Zanona, laid this out in their story today, is that Mike Johnson is also going to Mar-a-Lago with another idea in mind, which is to fill out the former president on a potential package for Ukraine, an aid package, I should say. That's also a perilous issue, but something that I think is top of mind for the House speaker as he heads to Florida. Sara? SIDNER: Well, it certainly sends a message that he is meeting with the former president.

[07:10:00]

Thank you so much, Alayna Treene, there from D.C. John?

BERMAN: Look, he's got a vote today on the House floor. We don't know which way it's going to go. So, next hour, we will learn if Mike Johnson has any control over House Republicans.

$7 billion in student debt wiped out, the breaking details from the Biden administration this morning designed to bring relief to more than 270,000 borrowers.

The former interpreter for Dodgers star Shohei Ohtani expected to surrender today after being charged with stealing more than $16 million. He allegedly even impersonated Ohtani.

And the fish that are spinning in circles and swimming upside down before unexpectedly dying, the mystery that has scientists baffled and frankly concerned.

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[07:15:00]

BERMAN: Breaking overnight, we learned that President Biden is canceling a new round of student debt. His administration announced it is forgiving $7.4 billion for more than 270,000 borrowers.

Also today, Vice President Kamala Harris heading to Arizona on the heels of the state Supreme Court ruling there that reinstated in 1800s era near total ban on abortion.

CNN's Arlette Saenz is at, frankly, a busy White House this morning.

ARLETTE SAENZ, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Yes, John. And President Biden is trying to offer a bit more relief to student loan borrowers, trying to address a key issue of concern for many voters, including young voters heading into November's election, the Department of Education announcing this morning that they would use an existing program to cancel an additional $7.4 billion in student loan debt. That is something that would impact about 277,000 borrowers.

This increases the total amount of debt canceled by the Biden administration to $153 billion for nearly 4.3 million borrowers. That's the most student debt canceled by any president in the White House.

Now, this comes after just a few days ago, President Biden unveiled a sweeping new plan to reduce and cancel student loan debt for millions of Americans, essentially a do-over from his previous student loan forgiveness plan, which was struck down by the Supreme Court. The hope is that this plan would be in place by the fall, right before voters head to the polls in November. But it also marks Biden's latest attempt to show voters that he's trying to drive down costs for them at a time when many voters continue to hold pessimistic views about their own personal financial state but also President Biden's handling of the economy.

The president did get some tough news this week when a key inflation report showed that prices were ticking back up, showing how stubborn that issue has been for Biden in this campaign.

Now, the Biden campaign is also eager to really draw an economic contrast with former President Donald Trump. Campaign officials tell me this morning that the president is preparing for a three-day, three-stop swing through the battleground of Pennsylvania.

It will kick off on Tuesday with a stop in his hometown of Scranton, Pennsylvania, where the president is expected to make arguments relating to tax policies, saying that he is working for the middle class while former President Trump's policies are working for the wealthy.

That's an argument that they believe will help voters heading into, or help them with voters heading into November's election.

BERMAN: The biggest news out of the White House might be the vice president headed to Arizona on a campaign trip on abortion. We'll get more reporting on that next hour. Arlette, thank you very much. Sara?

SIDNER: All right. We could learn very soon if House Speaker Mike Johnson can regain control of his party. There is a critical vote on the Hill happening this morning. We'll bring that to you.

And new warnings for Israel about Iran's plan to retaliate after several Iranian commanders were killed during a strike on their consulate in Syria.

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[07:20:00]

SIDNER: New for you this morning, the top U.S. general for the Middle East is in Israel as concerns of a possible retaliatory attack from Iran is growing after last week's strike on the Iranian consulate in Damascus believed to be carried out by Israel.

The Pentagon's press secretary said the trip was moved up so he could meet with key IDF officials about the recent security threats.

CNN's International Diplomatic Editor Nic Robertson is joining us now from Jerusalem.

Nick, what are you hearing about this trip? I know that the heightened security, it's been ratcheted up.

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: Yes. And it is something that IDF spokesperson, Daniel Hagari, made a point of mentioning in his briefing late last night, the importance of this visit, that they discussed the threat coming from Iran.

But he pointed to the fact that, for Israelis, this shows that the United States does support and have Israel's back, that ironclad support that President Biden has talked about. And why is that important here right now? And, why's that important for the IDF to speak about? Because people here are rattled, not over-nervous, but they are concerned about the retaliatory strike that Iran it says that it's going to strike back at Israel's interests.

It's not saying specifically where or when or how and there's much speculation about that. And that's what's causing concern here, coupled to the fact that there is a sense among many people that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is sort of getting adrift of President Biden.

And this raises concerns in people's minds about how much support they will get from the United States. That's why these statements are important. That is why this visit is being played up by the IDF and people are being told about it in the briefing.

And the other thing, of course, the spokesman was telling people here, which again intended to settle people's nerves, saying that Israel is well prepared for any Iranian threat.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DANIEL HAGARI, IDF SPOKESMAN: We are highly alert and prepared for a wide range of scenarios and are conducting a situational assessment. We're ready in both defense and defense with the various IDF capabilities and strategic partners.

A strike coming from Iranian territory will clearly prove the Iranian intentions to escalate the situation in the Middle East and to stop hiding behind its proxies.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[07:25:02]

ROBERTSON: And, of course, a lot of pressure on Tehran, a lot of calls to the Iranian foreign minister over the past 24 hours, not just from counterparts in the region here, but also European counterparts trying to put pressure on Iran to dial back its retaliation.

Precisely what they do and how they do it, that's intense speculation. And that speculation plays out here with people having the jitters. And, of course, that's precisely what Iran would like to see, too.

SIDNER: That's exactly right. Nic Robertson, thank you so much for your reporting there. John?

BERMAN: All right. Breaking overnight, a cornerstone witness for the prosecution in Donald Trump's classified documents case who also happen to be one of his attorneys has now left Trump's legal team.

This afternoon, the interpreter for the highest paid athlete in all of North America expected in court. Why prosecutors say he committed fraud on a massive scale.

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