Return to Transcripts main page

CNN News Central

Israeli Strikes On Central Gaza Refugee Camp Kill At Least 36; President Biden To Increase Tariffs On $18 Billion; Republican Allies Appear In New York Court To Show Support For Trump. Aired 7:30-8a ET

Aired May 14, 2024 - 07:30   ET

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

[07:30:00]

HARRY ENTEN, CNN SENIOR DATA REPORTER: Of Americans believe that Michael Cohen's trial testimony would, in fact, be honest compared to 48 percent right nearby who say no, it wouldn't. But, of course, he's going up against Donald Trump's word to some extent, right? And so, how many people believe that Donald Trump is honest? Just 33 percent of Americans do compared to 61 percent who don't.

So it's basically trying to figure out, OK, who is the honest guy here -- the one guy that we really don't believe or the other guy that we kind of, sort of, don't really believe either? It's sort of this interesting thing. It's almost like a general presidential election these days where you have two unlikable characters going up against each other.

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: I was waiting for you to make that (INAUDIBLE).

ENTEN: Of course, I'm always making that (INAUDIBLE).

BOLDUAN: But it will be interesting to see how this -- how this changes as coverage --

ENTEN: Of course.

BOLDUAN: -- of his testimony continues.

OK, you see this number and that says what does the public say then about if Michael Cohen, they think, would strengthen or weaken the case against Donald Trump.

ENTEN: Yeah. If you are -- if you're a prosecutor and your case against Trump is based largely on Cohen's testimony, it makes the case -- the plurality answer here is weaker at 38 percent. But keep in mind here this 26 percent is stronger but add that to 31 percent who say no impact, right? He's just part of a larger --

BOLDUAN: Yeah.

ENTEN: -- pillar that you're trying to build out your case.

If that's the case, then, of course, you get a majority between this no impact and stronger. But the number one answer here is weaker.

And then, I think as part of the reason why Cohen is almost going last, right -- you're building up to him. I think this is what prosecutors are sort of keeping in mind. They realize he's not exactly the strongest key witness in the world so they're basically saying OK, he's just the one who is going to tie it all together. And that, I think, is sort of explained here well by these numbers.

BOLDUAN: And then remind folks because you've been taking what we've been -- you've been tracking this for quite some time how the public viewed -- if they think Donald Trump is guilty going into this.

ENTEN: Yeah. You may see this 38 percent weaker. You may see this 48 percent no, I wouldn't believe that Michael Cohen's trial testimony would, in fact, be the most honest thing in the world. And then you look here, which is, "Is Trump guilty of the alleged crimes in the hush money case?" The clear answer here is yes at 50 percent.

So although Michael Cohen is not exactly Mother Teresa, the fact of the matter is the public at large believes that Trump is, in fact, guilty of the alleged crimes here.

BOLDUAN: So interesting.

Good to see you, Harry.

ENTEN: Nice to see you.

BOLDUAN: Thank you so much -- John.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: All right, Kate.

There's a word that you use to describe what we expect here at the courthouse today and that is fireworks -- genuine fireworks. That will be in the cross-examination beginning later today. Why fireworks? Because the defense needs to undo some of the things that Michael Cohen did in his testimony yesterday -- namely, directly linking Donald Trump to the hush money payments to Stormy Daniels and the scheme to cover it up.

This testimony took place yesterday.

The prosecutor, Susan Hoffinger asked Michael Cohen: "Did you call Mr. Trump before you went and set up the account to make a transfer?" Cohen says, "Yes."

"What in substance did you discuss with him on these two calls?" Michael Cohen: "I wanted to ensure that, once again, he approved what I was doing because I required approval from him on all of this. That's what the sum and substance of the conversation was, laying out exactly what was going to happen, what was being done in order to ensure the story didn't get sold to Daily Mail or somebody else."

"Did you let him know," the prosecutor asked, "you were going across the street and you were going to get the account set up and make the payment?" Cohen says, "Yes, ma'am." "Would you have made that payment to Stormy Daniels without getting a signoff from Mr. Trump?" Cohen answers, "No." Question: "Why not?" Answer: "Because everything required Mr. Trump's signoff. On top of that, I wanted the money back."

With me now, legal analysts Joey Jackson and Michael Moore.

Joey, first to you. There is more direct examination first. In other words, prosecutors will ask some more questions to Michael Cohen this morning.

What more do they want to get from him in the next few hours?

JOEY JACKSON, CNN LEGAL ANALYST, CRIMINAL DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Yeah, I think -- good morning to you, John -- that they continue to tie it all in. They have a lot, and what do they have?

They have the knowledge of the payment -- very important. They've got the purpose of the payment for the campaign, right, the prosecution says. They have the structure of the payment with respect to the reimbursement. They have the meticulous nature of Donald Trump and his management style, which goes to show from the prosecution's perspective that this would not occur but for him.

And so, what I think prosecutors have done, John, is that they've used other witnesses essentially to lay out the case. To talk about the narrative -- the catch and kill, the conspiracy, the coverup. They have used Michael Cohen to tie it all in with the least reliance upon what he says as is humanly possible.

Why? Because we've gone over text messages. We've gone over emails. We've gone over, really, the nature of the phone logs, which have him speaking to everyone and everyone who is part of this case, including Mr. Weisselberg, the CFO. And he's relevant because when you get to the ledgers, the invoices, right -- when you get to the checks, he's the guy that knows how to structure the deal. Guess who's in the room?

[07:35:00]

And so I think that they will conclude. But last point, they have to bring out more of the fact that Cohen -- not only is he not likeable but he's dishonest. And they have to end on the fact that despite your dishonesty, despite your no love for Trump, despite him being you enemy, what are you saying here? And he'll say I'm telling you exactly what occurred. And then, of course, we'll have the next witness that will summarize it all together, and then the prosecution will rest believing that they've proved their case.

BERMAN: All right, Michael Moore. Counselor, I have two questions for you.

The first one is a mini question, so hold your fire on the cross first. The mini question is this. If the jury believes what Michael Cohen said yesterday and so far -- if the jury believes it -- and I know that's a big if -- is that enough to convict Donald Trump?

MICHAEL MOORE, CNN LEGAL ANALYST, FORMER U.S. ATTORNEY: Well, good morning. I'm glad to be with you.

It probably is enough to convict him if they believe him, but he's not through tying up -- tying up the loose ends so there's a little bit more to do. But if they, at the end of the day, believe everything that he says that may be enough in some jurors' minds.

BERMAN: All right, now the follow.

How much do you think the jury will believe Michael Cohen? What is it that you think the cross will focus in on when it begins in the next few hours?

MOORE: You know, I think the jury has been waiting on the prosecution to tie this thing into a knot and really, all they've sort of ended up with is a slip knot at this point. I think they've still got some loose ends to work with here.

And one of the things that you put up -- one of the quotes from the testimony was about Cohen telling the prosecutor that he told Trump everything because he needed to know and he wanted his money, but he told him everything.

But he's lying to the jury in that one statement. He didn't tell him everything and we know that because he recorded it. And he recorded his client, recorded his friend, recorded his mentor and didn't tell him. And so, that's going to come back to bite him I think at the end of the day. So I think you're going to see the defense take a huge attack on that.

I mean -- and also, if you think about it, the idea that Trump knew about the payments -- that's not illegal to pay somebody off. The idea that he'd sign some checks, that's not illegal to what we're talking about here.

What's illegal and what they've got to prove is that he did it specifically with the intent to commit another crime. And I think that's the bridge they haven't quite gotten over yet. I mean, they could talk about well, he didn't want people to know. Whether it's Melania, whether it's the voters, he didn't want somebody to know. But they've got to prove that he did all this with the intent to commit a crime. And I think you'll see the defense drill down on that in great part.

And I think, too, that the defense is going to really push him on this idea that the only witness that they have to Trump's state of mind and his intent and the purpose behind all of this is Michael Cohen -- somebody who I think we would agree is pretty vulnerable on his credibility. And you're going to just sort of hear this litany --

BERMAN: Yeah.

MOORE: -- of a story about what he's -- what he's not been truthful about in the past and again, what he's probably not been truthful about right here, today, to this jury. So they'll say not only did he lie to the government, not only did he lie Congress, not only did he lie to his wife, not only did he lie -- he lied to Trump, he's lied to you.

And so, at that -- once you have those things in play they really need this other person, and that's going to be Weisselberg who we know, at least at this point, the state is saying they're not bringing him in. That may become sort of the missing link to all this. And remember, it just takes that one juror to be satisfied that the cross-examination was enough.

You know, lawyers -- good lawyers are worth their salt. You don't go get a steak dinner after a direct examination thinking you've won the case. You celebrate after the cross-examination. We'll see how the client does -- how the witness does and whether they can withstand sort of the scrutiny at that point. And that's what we'll know maybe more at the end of today.

BERMAN: And maybe only a shrimp cocktail --

MOORE: Maybe.

BERMAN: -- after the direct. You wait for the steak until after the cross. That will happen at some point today.

Michael Moore, Joey Jackson, our thanks to both of you.

I am now going back to Sara, maybe?

SARA SIDNER, CNN ANCHOR: You got it right, John, every time.

All right, thank you.

BERMAN: Sara.

SIDNER: Appreciate it.

All right, disturbing new video overnight shows the aftermath of deadly Israeli airstrikes on a refugee camp in Gaza. Hospital officials say more than 100 displaced Palestinians were huddled in a four-story building when the strike occurred. Video shows on social media people, including children, trapped under the thick slab of cement rubble. At least 36 people have been killed in two different airstrikes, but the death toll could, of course rise.

Meanwhile, U.S. officials say Israel now has enough troops around Rafah to launch a full-scale attack -- a move Biden has repeatedly warned Israel against.

CNN's Jeremy Diamond is joining us now from Jerusalem. What are you hearing about these overnight strikes?

JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, we're getting a lot of very difficult images from the aftermath of these strikes. Bodies being pulled from the rubble, including the bodies of at least seven children, in one of these two strikes.

[07:40:05] Now, one of these strikes happened on a residential building in the Nuseirat refugee camp. When we say refugee camp in this sense, we're talking about refugee camps stemming from 1948. But in this case, what we're also talking about is the fact that many of these people have been displaced from elsewhere in Gaza. And, indeed, in this one residential building we're told that about 100 people were believed to be sheltering there when this airstrike hit in the middle of the night around 1:00 a.m. local time.

And so, while 25 bodies have been recovered from that building so far, the death toll is very much expected to rise. Another 11 bodies were recovered from a nearby U.N. school where more displaced Palestinians were sheltering. That's according to Al-Awda Hospital in Nuseirat. And so, both of these strikes happening within about an hour to two hours of each other.

The Israeli military, so far, has yet to comment on the cause of this strike. But it does, of course, bring attention to the fact that even as the Israeli military is expanding its military offensive in Rafah in Southern Gaza, we're also witnessing stepped-up and very much increased Israeli military activity in Central Gaza, as well as in Northern Gaza. And that just highlights the fact that as we're watching the displacement of nearly half a million people now in Rafah, according to the United Nations, they are fleeing north but they are finding that many of these areas simply are not as safe as they might hope -- Sara.

SIDNER: I want to ask you also because of what happened with the World Central Kitchen and with some of their aid workers dying in an Israeli strike. There is also now word that the U.N. had one of its vehicles struck. What can you tell us about that?

DIAMOND: Yeah. The United Nations vehicle was struck yesterday. It's not clear by whom at this point but the Israeli military is now saying that they are aware of this strike. They say that the vehicle was in an "active combat zone." They say that a report was received from the U.N. organization about these workers being injured in the strike near Rafah. They say that an initial inquiry conducted in the case that the vehicle was hit in an area declared to be a combat zone. They said they had not been made aware of the root of the vehicle.

The United Nations, meanwhile, says that one of its workers was killed in this attack -- the first foreign U.N. worker to be killed, although nearly 200 Palestinian U.N. workers have already been killed over the course of this war. The United Nations has not yet ascribed blame for this attack -- Sara.

SIDNER: All right, Jeremy Diamond. Thank you so much for all your reporting there in Jerusalem -- Kate.

BOLDUAN: A remarkable academic achievement and something to celebrate as the school year winds down for so many, and this is for one Michigan high school senior. Samarah Saggers was -- has been accepted into all 11 colleges that she applied to, including five Ivy Leagues. She is currently her school's student body president and selected as valedictorian for the 2024 graduating class.

According to Samarah, getting into a top college has always been a personal goal of hers, but it's not everything.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SAMARAH SAGGERS, MICHIGAN HIGH SCHOOL SENIOR: At the end of the day, it's not necessarily about what college you go to or what your plans are after high school. No matter what, you still have the power and the ability to make a meaningful impact on society.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BOLDUAN: After facing the best of tough choices -- meaning how many schools want her -- so many schools wanting her to attend there -- Saggers has decided she will attend Yale in the fall. And right now, she says she wants to study cognitive science or computer science and psychology with plans to head to law school after undergrad -- Sara.

SIDNER: That's so sweet.

All right, stick around, Kate. You've got to see this video. Take a look at this. Golfers there -- you see them running. You see them putting the pedal to the metal there or to the battery as a tornado comes toward them, tearing down the stairway. We'll talk a little bit more about what happened there coming up. Also, we have a dramatic new look at the moments after the deadly bridge collapse in Baltimore. You'll want to see this. That's ahead.

(COMMERCIAL)

[07:48:39]

SIDNER: On our radar for you this morning, six major airlines filing a lawsuit against the federal government over a new rule requiring carriers to disclose all fees upfront. The public would probably like that. The rule, announced last month by Transportation Sec. Pete Buttigieg, includes fees for checked bags and for cancellations. The DOT estimates it could save consumers half a billion dollars annually.

The lawsuit alleges, though, that the department exceeded its authority in announcing the rule. But the DOT disputes that and tells CNN they will vigorously defend it.

All right, take a look at this. A tornado tearing through southern Missouri caught on camera Monday afternoon. And this is while a group of golfers were on the golf course the moment it touched down nearby sending them, as you can see there, running for cover.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Where do we go?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yeah.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I don't know. (END VIDEO CLIP)

SIDNER: Yikes! All right, you see them -- you're going to see a golf cart going as well. On foot, on cart, they were trying to get out of the way.

The National Weather Service confirmed the tornado, which was part of a strong storm system moving through that area.

All right. Ellen DeGeneres returning to stand-up. The comedian and former talk show host will star in a new hourlong comedy special on Netflix. It will stream later this year. And she says it will be her last special.

[07:50:08]

This is her second stand-up with Netflix. Her first one aired in 2018. And if you're wondering if she plans to discuss the controversial ending of her weekday talk show in 2022 after 19 seasons, she says yes, I'm going to talk about it and joke about it was well -- Kate.

BOLDUAN: This morning, President Biden is issuing a new warning to China. He's expected to roll out an aggressive plan of $18 billion of tariffs on Chinese imports. This appears to be something of a preemptive strike by the Biden administration against China's low-cost products like electric vehicles, batteries, solar equipment, steel, aluminum.

CNN's Arlette Saenz has more on this from the White House for us. Arlette, what's driving this move by President Biden right now?

ARLETTE SAENZ, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, Kate, in just a few hours, President Biden will announce that his administration is planning to increase tariffs on about $18 billion worth of Chinese imports over the next two years. It comes as the president is trying to ratchet up pressure on China but also show his emphasis on domestic manufacturing when it comes to semiconductor chips and clean energy.

But it also is coming as the president is combating criticism from former President Donald Trump and other Republicans that he is not tough enough on China. It comes as the administration is trying to make a play for voters in key states in that blue wall, such as Michigan and Pennsylvania, where the manufacturing industry is key.

Now, just to take a look at what exactly these tariffs entail. The administration is planning to increase tariffs on electric vehicles by 100 percent. That's quadrupling the current tariff rate on EVs. There is also about a 50 percent increase when it comes to solar components, and a 25 percent increase in tariffs on other sectors. That includes steel, aluminum, and batteries.

Now, this -- these new announcements from the administration are building off of a sweeping tariff proposal that President -- former President Trump had put in place when he was in office. He had enacted about $300 billion in tariffs on Chinese imports. President Biden has largely kept those in place even as he had criticized them as a presidential candidate back in 2020.

Now, the administration says that the tariffs that they are announcing today are targeted to specific sectors, especially ones where the U.S. is investing here when it comes to domestic manufacturing. But on the other hand, former President Trump is also vowing widespread tariffs across the board of he is reelected. That would include about a 60 percent increase on tariffs for goods specifically coming from China. Also, applying to cars being imported into the United States as well.

But it's clear that the administration is trying to take some efforts to try to tackle these types of issues heading into November's election, especially as they're making that play for working-class voters trying to show that the Biden administration is focused on U.S. production and manufacturing across the board.

BOLDUAN: Yeah, very -- it seems, as you are laying out, a long-term mission and also short-term gains that they could be seeing on this as well.

It's good to see you, Arlette. Thank you -- Sara.

SIDNER: All right. Thank you, Kate.

This morning, Vivek Ramaswamy will join a growing list of Republicans who are showing their support for Donald Trump at his trial. A spokesperson says he'll join the motorcade at Trump Tower and arrive at court alongside the former president. Ramaswamy is rumored to be on the short list for vice presidential candidate, along with a bunch of other Trump allies who have been at the trial.

Joining me now is Democratic strategist --

Oh, we are now seeing Cohen right there getting into his car. He's heading to the courthouse after a significant day of testimony. We expect him to be cross-examined today so there will be a lot of contentious back-and-forth we expect there.

But joining us now to discuss all this, Democratic strategist and former White House aide to President Clinton, Keith Boykin. And Republican strategist and political commentator, Joseph Pinion.

All right, let's start with Vivek Ramaswamy heading to court. We saw J.D. Vance there as well. I want to ask you about this sort of new way of doing things. Donald Trump complaining he can't go on the campaign trail but he's bringing the campaign, it appears, to court.

Is this a good move?

JOSEPH PINION, REPUBLICAN STRATEGIST, POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Well, I don't think President Trump brought the campaign to court. I think obviously, the circumstances of his life have brought the campaign to court. And certainly, obviously, there is a political angle here, but you have to remember the president does have personal relationships with these people as well.

So, yes, obviously, we can talk about the actual horse race. Who is in pole position to become the Vice President of the United States. But ultimately, what you see here is President Trump, in many ways, trying to put a spotlight on a process he thinks is unfair.

To say that you have Sam Bankman-Fried, who has acknowledged funneling millions of dollars into federal elections and the Department of Justice has declined to prosecute, the FEC declining to actually pursue any action against President Trump with these fines.

[07:55:00]

And yet, here we are talking about $130,000 based on the word of a man who is a convicted felon and who has, even on the own tapes that he took of his client -- which is a complete breach of actual -- any type of normal efficacy -- does not ever on those tapes say, "Mr. President, what you're asking me to do is illegal."

SIDNER: Right. So he basically -- in those tapes, there's only one he said that he recorded, and it's a sort of very short recording the jury heard. But you did have a lot of other testimony from other people --

PINION: Sure.

SIDNER: -- where the prosecution --

PINION: Sure.

SIDNER: -- are trying to show that there is evidence of this beyond what Michael Cohen said.

I do want to ask you, Keith -- I want you to listen first to what potential Trump running mate and current Sen. J.D. Vance had to say. Because he, too, showed up in court yesterday. Here's what he said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. J.D. VANCE (R-OH): What's going on inside that courtroom is a threat to American democracy, ladies and gentlemen. We cannot have a country where you get to prosecute your political opponents instead of persuading voters. Joe Biden's entire strategy is to try to distract from inflation at home and war overseas with this sham trial.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SIDNER: All right. So he's reiterating some of the things that President -- former President Trump has been saying.

Is this line of work working with voters, you think?

All right, it -- we're going to -- we're going to fix his audio. We have some technical issues and I'm --

KEITH BOYKIN, DEMOCRATIC STRATEGIST, FORMER WHITE HOUSE AIDE FOR PRESIDENT BILL CLINTON (via Webex by Cisco): Can you hear me now? Can you hear me?

SIDNER: All right, we've got you. Did you hear -- did you hear my question, Keith?

BOYKIN: Oh, yes. I'm sorry.

Yeah. I don't think that the line of questioning, Sara, is working except for the people who believe that somehow prosecuting somebody who commits crimes is a bad thing.

What we see here -- and I'm almost embarrassed for Vivek Ramaswamy and for J.D. Vance and all these other people. It's an appalling menagerie of beta males and Stepford wives who are afraid to stand up for what they said that they believed in, which is law and order. Where is this law-and-order chant about "Lock her up" that we saw in 2016? Suddenly, when it comes to Donald Trump, it's excuse him for all of his misbehaviors.

And this is not a Joe Biden-imposed trial. This is the Manhattan district attorney that filed this -- that created this -- that filed these charges after Donald Trump was indicted by a grand jury of his peers in New York City. So this is not some political witch hunt as Trump likes to say.

But the other thing, too, Sara, is that why is it that Donald Trump keeps coming out and making these press statements outside of court? Why won't he speak inside of court? We've seen Stormy Daniels testify. We've seen Michael Cohen testify under oath, under threat of perjury. Donald Trump, the one person who claims he's being persecuted, refuses to sit at the witness stand and testify in his own defense because he knows he's guilty.

And I'm sorry that the Republican Party has gotten too beholden with Donald Trump that they refuse to stand up for it. But there are people who have actually warned us Trump said he was going to pick the best people to represent him if he was elected president. But the very people who he said he was going to pick -- his -- people like his vice president, two chiefs of staff, his secretary of defense, his attorney general have all condemned him since -- and his national security advisers have all condemned him since he has been elected to office.

So this is not some Democratic conspiracy. These are people who know him the best who have said horrible things about him and said they don't think he deserves to be close to the White House again -- except for the fact that people like the attorney general come back and say -- after they said they're going to support him, they come back and say they're going to support him.

SIDNER: Yeah.

BOYKIN: Because these people don't have courage. This is a party of beta males, unfortunately, and I wish that some of them would stand up to Donald Trump instead of by sycophants to him.

SIDNER: You know, Joseph, I know you're chewing at the bit. But I do want to say Donald Trump has not testified yet but it's -- but it is -- he could. His defense team could call him to the stand. That may be the way that they do their defense, or they may call no one. So we have to wait and see until the trial is concluded. But I quickly want to ask you as we're just getting word that Speaker Mike Johnson -- Republican Speaker Mike Johnson, Speaker of the House, is headed to -- according to our sources, going to go down to court to stand with Donald Trump.

What does that tell you about their relationship? He has been high criticized by the right wing of the party about his Ukraine policies and pushing forward that bill. Now he's showing up with Donald Trump.

PINION: Look, I think, obviously, it is unilaterally believed that the speaker is a good man who has a great deal of support within the party. I think it also shows you that the Republican Party is united around ensuring that Joe Biden becomes a one-term president.

I love my dear friend, Keith, but at the end of the day, name-calling is not going to put Joe Biden in the White House. We have a system of justice that is designed to say that the -- you cannot and shall not be penalized for not testifying in your own trial.

And so I think this notion that somehow we're going to ignore the politics also while politicizing people exercising their constitutional rights as they try to defend themselves against accusations illustrates exactly why you see this pilgrimage of people going down to that courthouse and saying there is something wrong with what is happening with this process inside the courtroom.