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Soon, Trump Heads to Court for Opening Statements in Criminal Trial; Rabbi to Columbia University Students, Go Home for Passover; U.S. Animation Studio's Work Found on North Korean Server. Aired 7- 7:30a ET

Aired April 22, 2024 - 07:00   ET

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

KASIE HUNT, CNN ANCHOR: This story, The Atlantic cover story.

[07:00:02]

You say, the era of American -- the golden age of America Jews is ending. Can you just, as we wrap up here, explain what you mean?

FRANKLIN FOER, STAFF WRITER, THE ATLANTIC: You can almost do it through the arc of the history of Columbia University, which was a place that had excluded Jews with quotas. They even created a campus in Brooklyn in order to take Jewish money of smart kids would otherwise get into Columbia and they educated the mayor in this kind of warehouse. And then it became the symbol of Jewish success, where when I went to Columbia about a third of the class was Jewish.

And then now there was this place of kind acceptance of Jewish triumph in America. And now to come full circle, to see the ways in which Jewish students don't have a basic sense of safety on campus it feels like a parable about America.

HUNT: Very remarkable. Thanks very much to our panel for being with us this morning. I'm Kasie Hunt.

Don't go anywhere. CNN New Central starts right now.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: All right. History in the courthouse, opening statements set to begin in the criminal case against Donald Trump. And breaking this morning, word on who the first witness will be, someone who bought and buried damaging stories about Donald Trump.

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: Columbia University's president is president, is calling for a reset, all classes going virtual today as the university grapples with the ongoing pro-Palestinian protests on campus, and Jewish students now being urged to stay home for their own safety.

SARA SIDNER, CNN ANCHOR: The FAA is investigating another scary close call on the runway at JFK. We'll tell you what happened when one flight was forced to abort takeoff to avoid hitting several other planes.

I'm Sarah Sidner with Kate Bolduan and John Berman, and this is CNN News Central.

BERMAN: All right. You are looking at live pictures of the courthouse in lower Manhattan. This is CNN's special coverage of an event the likes of which this country has never seen. This morning, we are standing by for opening statements in a case that could ultimately put a former president behind bars.

Donald Trump is charged with falsifying business records to hide a potentially damaging story about an affair with a porn star. This something he has long denied.

This morning, brand new details about the first witness the prosecution plans to call a man who once led the National Enquirer and as the New York Times put it bought and buried stories that could be damaging to Donald Trump.

CNN's Katelyn Polantz is outside the court this morning for the latest on what we are expected to see. Katelyn?

KATELYN POLANTZ, CNN SENIOR CRIME AND JUSTICE REPORTER: Well, John, those 18 jurors, the 12 jurors that will judge Donald Trump plus the alternates, they're all going to be coming into the courthouse by 9:30 today and then we're off in earnest in this first criminal trial against Donald Trump.

Opening statements will be taking place this morning. They expect it to start pretty quickly once the jurors have assembled for the day. And what they will be doing is previewing the contours of the case on both sides. So, the prosecutors are going to give the jurors and the public a glimpse into all the evidence that they have collected against Donald Trump and want to present against him over the course of the coming days. That's what their opening statement will be.

And then the defense team, Todd Blanche, Donald's Trump's chief attorney, is going to be giving his opening statement. We do expect that to largely be about witness credibility, trying to cut into what the prosecutors are going be putting on the stand.

The first witness, that will David Pecker, he's going call as a witness for the prosecution. He is the former chairman of the publishing company that was publishing the National Enquirer and is a person who has agreed to cooperate, got a deal with prosecutors, and he's stepping up at this time to speak about very likely what he knows of catch and kill schemes, these schemes in 2016 that Donald Trump and his campaign were interested in, and his personal attorney, Michael Cohen, were interested in, to collect negative stories about Donald Trump, put money toward the people who had those stories, whose those stories were there is to tell and silence them.

A very big thing, not just for Stormy Daniels, who is at the core of this falsification of business records case, but also for other witnesses who are like likely to be called to testify against the former president.

BERMAN: Katelyn, how long will the opening statements be? Do we know? And just a little bit more on David Pecker, because you said, he reached an immunity deal with federal prosecutors. What is it that he has admitted or conceded to in the past?

POLANTZ: Well, John, as far as opening statements, there isn't a time limit on how long these attorneys will go, but they're not going to bore the jury to start out this day.

[07:05:01]

Typically, opening statement's can take, you know, an hour, 45 minutes, something like that. I've understand from my sources that on the defense side, it's not going to be very long at all.

But as far as David Pecker being the first person up on the witness stand and what he's going to be speaking about, he is particularly attuned to what had happened with another woman who accused Donald Trump of an alleged affair, a woman named Karen McDougal, who is expected to be testifying at some point against Trump during this trial, sort of to paint that portrait of all of the motivations of Trump to allegedly falsify these business records.

And so he would be a person that can give a window into the entire atmosphere of what Donald Trump wanted to do and what may have motivated him in 2016 to want to pay off Stormy Daniels.

BERMAN: Very, very interesting, great explanations, great to have you down there for this moment in history. Katelyn Polantz, thank you very much. Kate?

BOLDUAN: So, before Trump's legal team begins laying out their legal strategy inside court, Donald Trump is doing his level best to have his say outside of the courtroom, lashing out on social media against the district attorney, the gag order, the fact that he even needs to be in court, and more, all this weekend, part of his continued effort to manage the narrative before having to sit silently before the jury.

CNN's Alayna Treene has much more on this. She's joining us now. Alayna, what are you hearing about Donald Trump's thinking going into this week? Because you look at social media or how he talked outside of court on Friday, he seems angry, for sure.

ALAYNA TREENE, CNN REPORTER: He is angry, Kate. And I can say his public comments, his raging about this being unfair, his frustration with the gag order placed on him, all of that is also playing out behind the scenes. He very much does not want to be a criminal defendant in any trial.

But this one in particular, I think, is very personal for Donald Trump. And, remember, a lot of salacious details are expected to come out of this. You're going to be hearing from people who have been very close to him in the past, people like Michael Cohen, his former attorney and fixer, as they referred to him. That's part of the reason, as well, that he's very angry about this gag order, because he's not able to attack witnesses. That's something that he is particularly very frustrated about.

But a lot of this, as well, could be embarrassing for Donald Trump. And he does not want this on display, particularly in the lead-up to his next presidential election ahead of November.

And if you think back to what this is really about, it's about alleged payments to a porn star that he allegedly had an affair with and then used hush money payments to try and cover that up during his first campaign ahead of 2016.

And, again, when it comes down to it, you strip all the bluster away, you think about Donald Trump, this is not something he wants to be sitting through.

Now, I also just want to point out that, as much as his advisers are saying that they think this trial could help him with fundraising, this could boost his support and donations, they really don't know particularly how this is going to play out because it is in a general election.

What we saw happen during the primary, when he was indicted, is not necessarily going to be the same thing that happens in adrenaline. So, I keep that in mind.

Now, I also just want to point your attention to, Kate, some of this interview we had with the South Dakota governor, Kristi Noem, yesterday, she was speaking with Dana Bash. She had a very interesting response about how it could be playing with some of his allies. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DANA BASH, CNN ANCHOR AND CHIEF POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: If Donald Trump is convicted in this trial, will you still support him in November?

GOV. KRISTI NOEM (R-SD): If my choice is between Joe Biden and Donald Trump every single day of the week, yes, I will support Donald Trump. I have from the very beginning.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TREENE: Now a pretty stunning answer, Kate, from Kristi Noem. But I think that just underscores as well how they're unsure of what could happen. If he is ultimately convicted in this, how will this play out?

He knows, though, that he has his best defenders out there on the air rides, like Kristi Noem, rehashing talking points that the campaign has given them to support him. And so I think you're going to continue to see interviews like that in the days to come.

OLDUAN: That's for sure. It's good to see you, Alayna. Let's see what today brings, for sure. Sara?

SIDNER: All right. Coming up, a full-blown crisis at Columbia University as Passover begins tonight. Columbia University's rabbi is warning Jewish students to stay home as more pro-Palestinian protests are planned for today with the school is telling students today.

Did some prominent U.S. movie and television studios accidentally hire animators based in North Korea? Why that question is being asked.

Plus, two close calls on runways at major U.S. airports in less than just a week. The FAA investigating what is going on here.

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[07:10:00]

SIDNER: This morning, the war in Gaza, causing a crisis on U.S. campuses. All classes at Columbia University are being held virtually amid growing tensions over ongoing protests by pro-Palestinian demonstrators.

Tonight marks the start of Passover. A rabbi associated with Columbia is urging the school's Jewish students to go home and stay there for their own safety. And the NYPD will be on hand at the school's craft center for the duration of Passover.

The White House is condemning any calls for violence or physical intimidation, targeting Jewish students and blatantly anti Semitic, unconscionable and dangerous.

[07:15:01]

CNN's Polo Sandoval is outside Columbia University. You are just outside. I know there have been protests. There were some arrests over the weekend. Tell us what you're seeing this morning.

POLO SANDOVAL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: So, Sara, that announcement coming from Columbia University overnights to turn to virtual learning in an effort to try to de-escalate this mounting Columbia crisis. All weekend long, we witnessed two key demonstrations, one on campus and one off.

The first, titled the Gaza Solidarity Encampment, which is actually just beyond the gate that you see over my shoulder, there is this growing number of people there, some setting up tents. The question is how long university officials will allow them to remain there, given that NYPD was called last week to actually clear out a previous encampment.

The other demonstration happening on the --

SIDNER: All right. So, it looks like we're having some technical difficulties with Polo Sandoval. Let's see if we can go back to him, and just now? Polo?

SANDOVAL: Hey, Sara, I hope you can hear me and see me now.

SIDNER: Yes, we've lost you for a minute. We got you now.

SANDOVAL: So (INAUDIBLE) of a sense of what transpired over the weekend.

So, over the weekend, we saw a large demonstration actually gather outside of the Columbia gates. Remember, the campus itself, it is still restricted access, so only students and staff. So, because of that, we saw a secondary demonstration form outside the gates.

What we also have seen intensify are the concerns among some Jewish students who have expressed concern that they feel uncomfortable and, in some cases, even intimidated. I had an opportunity to speak to some of these Jewish students who told me that they are growing increasingly frustrated with Columbia, saying that the institution is not doing enough to make sure that they feel safe, particularly ahead of Passover. You mentioned that rabbi that even called on several hundred Jewish students to simply go home.

Now, Columbia for its part, saying that it hears these concerns, that they are doing everything they can to make sure that these students feel safe. And also the organizers of this pro-Palestinian demonstration have also released a statement saying that they have maintained a peaceful environment and also distancing themselves from who they described as non-student protesters off campus, calling them, quote, inflammatory individuals who do not represent us. So, that's a key voice in this.

And then, finally, another key voice in this, the Columbia president, out with the announcement that you mentioned a little while ago, turning to virtual learning. In a statement, President Minouche Shafik saying that she's deeply saddened by what's happening on campus on all sides of this debate and writing specifically that the decibel level of our disagreements has only increased in recent days.

The president wrote that these tensions have been exploited and amplified by individuals not affiliated with Columbia who have come to campus to pursue their own agendas. She writes, we need a reset, Sara.

So, that's going to be one thing to watch, certainly, what will Columbia University's plan of action be here, not just for the demonstrations that we've seen form off campus, but most importantly, the one that's taken place on campus.

And this is really a reflection of what so many universities and colleges throughout the country are facing, grappling with the fact that they need to come up with plans to -- their demonstrations as well.

SIDNER: All right. Polo Sandoval, some glitches there, but you got the gist of what is going on at Columbia online this morning because of these protests. I appreciate it. Kate?

BOLDUAN: Waiting for Trump leaving his apartment very soon heading to a huge day in his criminal trial, just as he's also on track to get another $36 million shares in his social media platform, what kind of payday that could actually mean he's in for now.

And another scary close call on the runway, how a near collision this time was avoided during takeoff.

We'll be right back.

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[07:20:00]

BERMAN: All right. These are live pictures of the courthouse in Lower Manhattan. It doesn't look like much, but inside that building very shortly, history will be made with opening statements in the criminal case against Donald Trump.

This is the first time a former president has ever faced a criminal trial. If he is found guilty, it is conceivable he faces jail time for this. We will cover every step of the way this morning.

In the meantime, new this morning, documents discovered by U.S. researchers suggest that U.S. companies may have unknowingly used North Korean designers and illustrators to create popular American cartoon animations.

The U.S. has strict sanctions that ban U.S. companies from doing business with any North Korean companies.

And Sean Lyngaas is here with the details here. Sean, what have you learned?

SEAN LYNGAAS, CNN CYBERSECURITY REPORTER: John, North Korea has a longstanding fascination with Hollywood. Dictator Kim Jong-il was famously a collector of many movies. In this case, Hollywood may not know they're actually having a relationship here with North Korea, because what we found in talking to U.S. researchers is a trove of documents sitting on a computer server in North Korea, which is a very restricted part of the internet.

And we looked through the documents, and we found a series of animations for what appear to be forthcoming animation series. Skybound Entertainment is producing something called Invincible, a very popular cartoon. We saw sketches there. And also a series called Iyanu, which is forthcoming from MAX, which is a CNN -- like CNN is owned by Warner Brothers Media, or Discovery, excuse me.

So, there's a series of sketches here that illustrate how this work sometimes gets unknowingly outsourced to North Korea.

[07:25:00]

And what we're learning is that the companies tell us they had no knowledge of this work ending up on the server or having any role in that. Skybound Entertainment, which is producing Invincibles, told us that they have no work with North Korean or Chinese companies and they're taking this very seriously. MAX declined to comment.

But, John, this is another example of the very complicated supply chain when it comes to stuff like this. The U.S. government has warned repeatedly against U.S. companies running the risk of using North Korean labor, and this is just one example of that possibly happening, John.

BERMAN: Sean Lyngaas, this is your reporting, thank you so much for sharing it with us. Sara? SIDNER: All right, we've got some good stuff for you this morning after about a violence. Some beautiful people did some wonderful things. An 81-year-old pizza delivery driver has a new car thanks to an outpouring of support from the community.

Ernie Aimone, a veteran from Vietnam, was carjacked near Chicago while delivering pizzas. Now, it's his job that he's had for four decades. Police say several teams punched him and took off with his car. When people found out about this, they started donating and raised more than $62,000.

So, with the donations and some help from a local dealership, Ernie was able to pick up his brand new car. The dealership says it will service Ernie's car for life. That is a beautiful community coming together for one gentleman who's been delivering pizzas for 40 years. He loves it. But, you know, going through that freaking makes me mad, but I'm glad people came to his rescue. Kate?

BOLDUAN: Absolutely. Very soon, opening statements are set to begin in the trial of Donald Trump. We are live outside the courthouse with the very latest.

And the head of the IDF's military intelligence branch has just resigned over the October 7th Hamas attacks, the first senior military figure to step down. What he's saying about Israel's war with Hamas as he departs.

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