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Prosecutors Expected to Call Stormy Daniels to the Stand Today; IDF Takes Control of Palestinian Side of Rafah Crossing. Aired 9-9:30a ET

Aired May 07, 2024 - 09:00   ET

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

REP. JOSH GOTTHEIMER, (D) NEW JERSEY: Americans hostage today.

[09:00:02]

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: We know that ceasefire and hostage release talks are resuming after what was really complicated and confusing yesterday over Hamas saying they agreed to a deal but they had changed the agreement. Israel's saying they're not agreeing to what they changed. They're back at the negotiating table, so we here today. Do you cast yourself as optimistic about this round of ceasefire talks?

GOTTHEIMER: Well, listen, I'm an eternal optimist, so I will be optimistic. It's tough, right? I mean, Hamas, yesterday was just a big Hamas PR stunt. They have felt, as we've seen them say publicly, emboldened by these protests on college campus and the violence on college campuses, where people are screaming in support of Hamas, right? We are Hamas. A lot of these kids are screaming out in support of these terrorists. And I think we need to make sure we level set here and make it clear that until Hamas frees the hostages, including the Americans, right, stops firing missiles, as they did just again this morning at the crossing where humanitarian aid is coming over in Gaza, until they actually stop doing that and back down on attacking Americans and other proxies attacking Americans, you know, until that happens, it's very hard to see this moving forward.

I'm hopeful and optimistic that this will be different today. But the bottom line is Hamas keeps walking away from the negotiating table, and that's incredibly frustrating.

BOLDUAN: Congressman Josh Gottheimer, thank you for coming in today.

GOTTHEIMER: Thanks.

BOLDUAN: Thank you.

A new hour of CNN News Central starts now.

ANNOUNCER: This is CNN Breaking News.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: All right, I'm John Berman, live outside the Manhattan courthouse, and we do have breaking news, big breaking news. We just got word that Stormy Daniels is expected to testify today. This could be one of the marquee moments in the criminal case against Donald Trump.

He is charged with falsifying documents in a scheme to interfere with the 2016 election. It all stems from $130,000 in payments to Daniels, an adult film actress, to keep her quiet about allegations that she had a sexual encounter with Trump years ago.

Again, we are expecting her to testify today, perhaps as soon as this morning. Let's get right to the courthouse itself. CNN's Brynn Gingras is live outside the building. This is one of the moments, Brynn, that people have been waiting for.

BRYNN GINGRAS, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yeah, John, really, what a day in court it is going to be. A couple of things I think our court reporters are really going to be looking out for when Stormy Daniels does take that witness stand is whether or not there is any sort of eye contact that is made with Donald Trump as she enters the courtroom, and also what will Donald Trump's sort of posture be.

You know, in the beginning of this trial, he sort of sits back with his eyes closed, was taking in the testimony yesterday when there were Trump Organization employees on the stand. He was a little bit more turned in his body toward those witnesses, listening to their testimony.

And it's important to also note that when the witnesses are on the stand or reporters tell us that they can't actually see the former president at the defense table, their block or their view is blocked, by the way, the courtroom is set up. And also, how are jurors going to react to this?

Of course, there is going to be some really interesting, to say the least, testimony coming out of Stormy Daniels for the prosecution. So will they be as engaged? I imagine so, as we have certainly seen them be for the whole entire trial, taking notes and such.

But yeah, this is going to be a big witness. This is the beginning of those big witnesses that we have been expecting and we do expect for the next couple of weeks as the prosecution continues its case.

Important to note, though, just yesterday was a very important day in court. There was a lot of documents that got put into evidence. And those documents, of course, are the bones for this prosecution's case. They are trying to lay out those 35 falsifying business records that the charges are against Donald Trump. And jurors saw a lot of that from those witnesses. One from a former Trump org employee and one who is currently a Trump org employee, how Michael Cohen was reimbursed through the checks that were cut, the ones that were signed by Donald Trump, how that was all taken. And of course, when the defense had its turn, they tried to distance Donald Trump from all of that evidence.

So we'll see how they work, both the prosecution and the defense, with Stormy Daniels. But like you said, we are expecting her to take the stand at some point today. And we'll be here for it, John.

BERMAN: Yeah, it seems unlikely that this would be a day that Donald Trump falls asleep in court. Safe to say that. Brynn Gingras, thank you very much.

With us now, CNN Legal Analyst and Criminal Defense Attorney Joey Jackson. Also with us, CNN Legal Analyst, former Federal Prosecutor Jennifer Rodgers. We have a lot to discuss today.

Jen, first to you, from a legal standpoint, just the law, just the case here, where does Stormy Daniels fit in this case for the prosecution?

JENNIFER RODGERS, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: Well, John, she's going to corroborate some of what we've heard from Keith Davidson, among others. The deal from her perspective, the timing, what she wanted, what she was prepared to do if she didn't get what she wanted, when the payment came through, how they were concerned that the election would delay payment. Ultimately, they wouldn't pay her afterwards. Those sorts of things, those pieces of corroboration for Keith Davidson, but more importantly, of course, for Michael Cohen, are going to come from Stormy Daniels.

[09:05:23]

And then I think the other thing is, you know, listen, Donald Trump and his team had made very clear their position is that this affair did not happen. She's going to testify that it did happen. And while the affair isn't one of the elements of the crime, the jury thinks, yeah, we think it did happen. And Donald Trump's a liar. They may think he's a liar and a fraud in other ways, too.

BERMAN: So Joey, how do you handle this if you are the prosecutor on direct? How do you approach Stormy Daniels? Because everyone knows about the electricity surrounding this moment.

JOEY JACKSON, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: Yeah, without question, John. I think the prosecutors are going to lay out the case, right? Now, we know the case, of course, because we've heard about the case. We've heard about catch and kill. We've heard about her attorney negotiating the deal, right, not only for Stormy Daniels, but with Karen McDougal.

But however, as it relates to what prosecutors will do, they are going to elicit the information. They're going to elicit, number one, her relationship with Donald Trump. When it began? What was the nature of that relationship? Number two, pivoting to the issue of the payment. When did that come about? How did it come about? Were you shopping a story? Tell us about when that occurred. Did you retain Mr. Davidson to do that? Was he your lawyer? What, if anything, do you understand with respect to those negotiations? What were you looking for? Did there come a time you received the payment? What was specifically that payment that you received? What was that all about? Right? What did you understand that?

So I think, John, in answer to your question, prosecutors will tell their story through Stormy Daniels. It's already been told. But to have her there confirming, corroborating, and supporting what we already know is huge with respect to the affair, with respect to the payment, and with respect to the impetus to get the payment done based upon the election, such that the voters would not hear, presumably, what the story would be. They're going to hear a lot today.

BERMAN: Yeah, listen, there are no cameras in the courtroom, I think, which is a shame. It's a New York state law here in this case that is preventing us from all seeing it. But this is one of the moments, Jen, that I think from a political standpoint, the Trump campaign is thrilled there are no cameras.

This is one of the pictures, I think, from a political standpoint, that they would dread the most. If you are the defense team advising your client, Donald Trump, today, in what may be the most uncomfortable day of testimony from a personal standpoint for Donald Trump, what do you tell him? How do you tell him to react? How do you tell him to behave today?

RODGERS: Poker face, John. It's the poker face today. You know, you don't want to be angry. You don't want to roll your eyes and harumph at the table. You want to try to be just sitting there, you know, eyes down. You can look at her. But try to keep the reactions to a minimum. That's hard with Trump, although actually he's done a decent job at it, this trial, so far. That would be my advice, for sure.

BERMAN: And, Jen, just one other thing. Joey said you may very well ask direct questions about what happened, the relationship as it were, and I put that word in quotations. What's the risk here for the prosecution? I mean, how much of the salacious stuff do they want to get in, and how much might be dangerous for their case?

RODGERS: I don't think they're going to ask a lot about salacious details. I think they will elicit that there was a sexual encounter, and then kind of what stemmed from that. And, you know, it'll be, was it one night, was it more than that, that sort of thing.

But they are not going to ask any, you know, gruesome details about exactly what happened, who did what, et cetera. I think that it's, you know, no one wants to hear about that. All they really need to elicit is what happened in broad strokes. So I think that's all they'll do.

BERMAN: And on cross-examination, Joey, Donald Trump's lawyers, look, Trump complained on social media this morning. He just found out who the witness would be. I have to believe that Stormy Daniels is one of two or three witnesses that Trump's lawyers have been most prepared to deal with for months at this point. What points will they want to make?

JACKSON: Yeah, I mean, at the end of the day, you can talk about an affair, et cetera. That's not illegal. You can talk about a payment, right, catch and kill. That's not illegal. So what has Trump's team been attempting to do? To distance the former president with regard to any illegality, right?

You don't know, Ms. Daniels, with respect to or with regard to, you know, where these monies went, how it was booked in the organization, what the accounting principles were, what Mr. Trump knew, what interaction he had, if any, with Michael Cohen? He certainly didn't have any interaction with your lawyer. You have no sense or knowledge with regard to Mr. Trump and anything that he might have done with regard to ledgers, invoices, bookkeeping, do you, right?

[09:10:06]

So that's the crux of the issue. We're here to talk about falsifying business records. And to the extent that she brings nothing, right, to the table as it relates to that. Trump's team will remind that jury that she adds no value with respect to any alleged criminality of which he is charged. And I think that's the way they go at him, John -- her.

BERMAN: And Jen, what about the rhythm of this case, Jen Rodgers? I mean, yesterday was documents, bank records, today, former adult film actress. How do you think the prosecution has sort of set up the pace of this case?

RODGERS: I think they're doing a great job. Listen, you got to keep it interesting. Those documents yesterday were crucial. I was actually a little surprised it took so long to get to them. That's the underlying point of the case, right? But then you want to kind of intersperse those boring parts with the exciting stuff to keep everybody awake, especially the jury.

So I think they're doing a good job of pacing it out, keeping people interested, doing it more or less in chronological order, which makes sense from the jury's perspective as they start to work through this in the jury room afterwards. So yeah, I think it's -- it's a good job.

And also the organizing feature of all of this structure, John, of course, is Michael Cohen. They need to put him in the right place so that they can corroborate him as much as possible before he gets up there, but not have him be last. So, you know, I expect to see him kind of three quarters of the way through or so. So I think they're doing a really good job so far with the pace and the structure.

BERMAN: Right, Jennifer Rodgers, Joey Jackson, a big day down here at the courthouse, an uncomfortable day for Donald Trump. The breaking news, Stormy Daniels is expecting to testify much more on this straight ahead. Sara.

SARA SIDNER, CNN ANCHOR: All right. I know you'll be there for all of the details.

Now, here ahead, airstrikes and tanks now in eastern Rafah. Israeli special forces now saying they have taken control of a critical aid crossing in Gaza. Hamas has agreed to a ceasefire. So where do negotiations stand this morning?

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[09:16:34]

SIDNER: This morning Israel says the Rafah crossing in Gaza under Israeli military control. Overnight, IDF tanks stormed the critical entry point there. You're seeing video of a tank going through. Capturing it from Palestinian control. Border officials now fear humanitarian aid, however, will stop moving into Gaza, potentially altogether.

New airstrikes this morning, also inflaming tensions as fragile ceasefire talks take place in Cairo. Several deaths and injuries in Rafah are now being reported this morning after the IDF warned more than 100,000 Gazans to evacuate eastern Rafah.

Protesters in Israel. They are demanding a huge protest. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu accepts a ceasefire deal. Now to bring the hostages home. We know Hamas has agreed to one version of the deal. So far that is a no-go for Israel.

CNN Anchor and Chief National Security Analyst Jim Sciutto, joining me now. First of all, when you look at this, just to give people an idea of where things are. The Rafah crossing right here with Egypt?

JIM SCIUTTO, CNN ANCHOR & CHIEF NATIONAL SECURITY ANALYST: Right here. And this is important, right, because it's not just for food coming in, which is already a crisis there.

SIDNER: Yeah.

SCIUTTO: You have U.N. officials talking about near famine or perhaps even famine conditions some part in Gaza. But it's also a key point for the wounded to get in and out and to get the hospitals in Egypt. So when you close this crossing, you are closing a lifeline to Gaza. And when you think of this in the context of the ongoing ceasefire talks, it's frankly difficult to see how you come to a ceasefire agreement when Israel is not just closing this, but moving into Rafah for an operation that, well, as you know, U.S. officials have been cautioning for some time. They don't see how you carry that out without significant civilian casualties.

SIDNER: We heard there were already casualties this morning. I do want to give some sense of the evacuation zone and where they've told people to evacuate. These are the two areas in eastern Rafah where they have told people, 100,000 people to move. The issue always is where do they go that's safe?

SCIUTTO: No question. I mean, listen, some of the designated areas in Gaza, which Israel says are the safe go zones for them, right, or when you talk to others, aid groups, et cetera, they say -- first of all, they say there's no real safe place in Gaza. But they say those zones, barely livable as it is.

And this 100,000 figure is one set by Israel. But speaking to U.S. officials, they're not particularly confident that only 100,000 people need to leave or will want to leave. Because if you see your neighbors going, fleeing the violence, others may follow, and they fear a bigger exodus, which, of course, creates a whole other issue here with already limited and impacted resources.

SIDNER: President Biden is under pressure. He has also said to Netanyahu on multiple occasions, do not do a major ground offensive here. How close is this to defying, outright defying President Biden?

SCIUTTO: I would say it's pretty darn close, right? And Israel calls this a limited operation. But limited is in the eyes of the beholder, right? I mean, if you're closing a major crossing here, we've already seen some civilian casualties. We've already seen some of the explosions and airstrikes overnight. Limited in the description of Israeli officials, I'm not sure it's limited in the view of U.S. officials.

And listen, this has been an ongoing battle between U.S. and Israeli officials for months. Really, even going back to when you and I were there in October, November, you had U.S. officials, military officials, cautioning Israel about the consequences of extensive military action in Gaza. And that action has gone forward.

[09:20:03]

U.S. officials will say that they've had some impact with that influence, right? They've delayed the Rafah operation. They've limited other activity. But Rafah has been, I don't want to say red line, but Rafah certainly has been a point of contention. It looks like Netanyahu is pushing forward.

SIDNER: And that's where these 1.4 or so million civilians --

SCIUTTO: Yeah.

SIDNER: -- have been pushed into and now sort of moving out in different ways.

Jim Sciutto, thank you so much for your analysis. I really appreciate it.

Kate?

BOLDUAN: Minutes from now, court is back in session for Donald Trump's criminal trial. Payments to Stormy Daniels are at the center of the alleged crimes. And Stormy Daniels is about to take the stand.

Also, the opening bell on Wall Street is moments away. Dow Futures are looking flat. There, you can see Dow Futures are looking, flat, yeah, flat-ish after four straight days of gains. Investors are viewing a slight uptick in the unemployment rate as a positive sign that the Fed may finally start cutting interest rates this year.

People are also keeping a close watch on Disney, after a better-than- expected earnings report was just released this morning, and the company says it expects its combined streaming businesses to be profitable in the fourth quarter of this year.

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[09:25:31]

ANDERSON COOPER, CNN ANCHOR: -- will be the woman at the heart of the criminal case against the former president of the United States. Good morning, I'm Anderson Cooper in New York.

JAKE TAPPER, CNN ANCHOR: And I'm Jake Tapper in Washington, D.C. You're watching CNN's special live coverage of Donald Trump's Hush Money cover-up trial.

Today's marquee witness is a woman named Stephanie Clifford. If that name does not sound familiar to you, her professional name will. It's Stormy Daniels. And she is the adult film star and director who is alleging that she had a tryst with Mr. Trump. Today she gets to tell her story. She gets her turn to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth.

A source familiar with the prosecution's plan says that the government plans to call Stormy Daniels. It's unclear if she's going to be the first witness today. It will be Daniels' alleged encounter with Trump that has put the country on this path towards this very moment. With the former president on trial, for the first time in the history of the republic, accused of trying to silence Daniels in the closing stretch of the 2016 election.

Prosecutors spent Monday questioning Trump Organization insiders, using them to explain the inner workings of the Trump business. The point was to have documents to back up the words of other witnesses, such as Stormy Daniels, such as Michael Cohen, the former Trump lawyer and fixer, who says that he orchestrated the payoff to Stormy Daniels.

We're going to start our coverage in New York with Anderson Cooper. Anderson.

COOPER: Jake, thanks very much. I'm here with my colleague, John Berman, and also CNN's Paula Reid, who's been covering this every day.

What do we anticipate from Stormy Daniels, if in fact she is called?

PAULA REID, CNN CHIEF LEGAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: So if she is called, she's of course a household name. She's a colorful witness. She was at the center of this hush money payment.

But I want to be realistic in terms of what she offers the prosecution. She will be able to talk to them about this affair, which Trump has denied. She'll be able to talk about renewed interest in her story in late October 2016, after the Access Hollywood tape.

She can help bolster the prosecution's argument that suppressing her story was done to help Trump win the White House. But what she can't help is the actual charges at the heart of this case, which are 34 counts of falsifying business records. Unless there's something that they're going to surprise us with today, she doesn't really have any knowledge of how Michael Cohen was reimbursed by the Trump Organization.

So this is certainly a blockbuster day, just in terms of the historical significance. But Stormy Daniels is unlikely to be able to make or break the prosecution's case.

COOPER: Had they not called her, the prosecution not called her, jurors might have wondered, well, what are they hiding, or why isn't she here, this person who seems to be at the center?

BERMAN: I think that's exactly right. We look at the transcripts, Anderson, every night. Her name is all over every day's worth of transcripts from this case. And for her not to be here would have been a glaring omission. The prosecution would have had to have explained. The defense certainly would have seized on in their summation.

Another thing, look, Stormy Daniels is not a bank record here. We had a full day of bank records, essential to this case. But this is certainly much more colorful.

Also, it provides another person for the prosecution to say, you know what, she's telling her story here, which is different, ultimately, than Donald Trump's story. If you think Donald Trump is less truthful than Stormy Daniels, less truthful than David Pecker, than Keith Davidson, than everyone else up here who may or may not be on the senior side of our society, that's an issue. They may look at the defendant differently as they head into the jury room.

COOPER: Donald Trump continues to insist that there was no sexual relationship with Stormy Daniels. Perhaps, Elie, jurors might believe if Donald Trump is lying about that, he's lying about other things. Elie's at the magic wall.

ELIE HONIG, CNN SENIOR LEGAL ANALYST: Hi, Anderson, I think that's exactly right. (OFF MIC). Stormy Daniels. Now, of course, Stormy Daniels alleges that she had sex with Donald Trump when he was married in 2006.

It's really important to understand the timeline leading up to the 2016 election because this is what's relevant to the prosecution's case. On October 7th of 2016, about a month before the election, that infamous Access Hollywood tape drop where Donald Trump is caught on a hot mic many years before, talking about how you can do whatever you want to women if you're famous, they let you, et cetera.

Now, just a week or so later, Donald Trump's team learns about the allegations that Stormy Daniels is making about her alleged sexual tryst with Donald Trump.

Now, just a couple weeks after that, she receives a $130,000 hush money payment from Michael Cohen. And then, of course, November 8th is the election. So the prosecution's theory is when the Access Hollywood tape drop, they had extra incentive to try to silence Stormy Daniels before the election.

[09:30:02]