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Former Trump Attorney Michael Cohen to Continue His Testimony in Hush Money Criminal Trial of Donald Trump; Michael Cohen to Face Cross-Examination on Witness Stand from Donald Trump's Attorneys; Blinken Meets with President Zelenskyy in Kyiv; Bodycam Video Captured Shock, Confusion after Bridge Collapse; Dangerous Wildfires Threaten Parts of Western. Aired 8-8:30a ET

Aired May 14, 2024 - 08:00   ET

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

[08:00:00]

JOSEPH PINION, POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: As he tried to defend himself 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 the process inside the courtroom, but there's also something that's happening outside the courtroom in the court of public opinion that should ask you -- make you a question, is that why certain people are saying certain things as it relates to these charges.

SARA SIDNER, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: And when you talk about the court of public opinion, you look at the polls, and five of the swing states are going for Donald Trump at this point in time. We will have to wait and see. We don't know if that's because people don't care about the trial or if they care about other things.

PINION: They care about the border, they care about the economy, they care about a great many things that unfortunately get swallowed up by this process.

SIDNER: Thank you so much. I appreciate you, gentlemen.

The next hour of CNN NEWS CENTRAL starts right now.

ANNOUNCER: This is CNN breaking news.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: I'm John Berman outside the criminal court in downtown Manhattan, and the breaking news, we are about to enter the most contentious moment in the criminal trial against Donald Trump. The key witness, Michael Cohen, left his apartment just a short time ago. We got footage of him leaving. He is on his way down here. He will be back on the witness stand facing questions from prosecutors.

But we do expect at some point today the cross-examination will begin. Donald Trump's lawyers will get their chance to go after Michael Cohen, and we expect that to be something. Fireworks anticipated.

Now, our Manu Raju on Capitol Hill just reported that Donald Trump calling in the cavalry for today's testimony. House Speaker Mike Johnson expected to be here to show his support for Donald Trump.

From a legal standpoint at this point, what has happened is that Michael Cohen has tied Donald Trump directly to the hush money he payments to Stormy Daniels that were made in 2016, the prosecution argues all to influence the 2016 election. And Cohen has also tied Trump to the falsification of documents after the fact. Defense lawyers will have to undo some of that testimony from Michael Cohen.

Also, Michael Cohen has provided some pretty damaging color to the situation here, suggesting that what Donald Trump did with those hush money payments, it wasn't for his family. It wasn't for his wife, Melania. It was for the campaign. There was this exchange, the likes of which we've never really heard before from Michael Cohen.

Cohen describes a conversation he had with Donald Trump after the Stormy Daniels news broke in 2016. Cohen says he said to Trump, "I said to him, how's things going with upstairs," meaning with Melania. Question from the prosecutor, "Were you concerned about that?" Cohen says, "I was." The prosecutor asks, "And what, if anything, did he say about that?" Michael Cohen says, "Don't worry, he goes. He goes, how long do you think I will be on the market for? Not long." The prosecutor says, "What did you understand that to mean?" Answer, "He wasn't thinking about Melania. This was all about the campaign."

You can expect defense lawyers to try to undo some of that and go right after Michael Cohen and his credibility later today when they get their chance to cross.

Standing by with me at the courthouse, CNN's Brynn Gingras, who has been covering this from the very beginning. And again, it really comes down to the cross-examination today.

BRYNN GINGRAS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: You described it perfectly. It's probably going to be fireworks. They are really going to attack his credibility, and they have a lot of ammunition to do that. We expect actually the cross to take longer than the direct examination. So we'll see how that goes.

But listen, Michael Cohen tied together the whole narrative story about what prosecutors are arguing here. We have for the last four weeks heard about text messages and phone calls and conversations. Michael Cohen brought jurors into the room, and he did a very calmly, composed. There were times where Donald Trump really just was taking it all in, trying not to react at all, but also contributing to his own defense and sort of nudging his defense attorneys, making notes and such. So we'll see how that plays in today as well.

But listen, it's about the fact that Michael Cohen said he did everything for the former president. He wouldn't do anything without his sign-off. And when it comes to about $420,000, I want to bring another excerpt in where it discussed how this was about a reimbursement and not about legal fees, which is what the prosecution is arguing here. The prosecutor says "Was the $420,000 that you were going to receive back from Mr. Trump, going to be payment for future legal services as a personal council?" And Cohen says "That was what it was designed to be." "Well, was it actually?" "It was reimbursement of my money."

Again, this is a central argument of the prosecution. This is where we bring it to a felony where or there could actually be jailtime for the former president. This was an important exchange.

BERMAN: That is testimony about the falsification of documents and that Donald Trump new, and Michael Cohen says Donald Trump approved of this scheme as well.

[08:05:03]

Legally, that might be the most significant testimony here. With all the fireworks, all the Stormy Daniels, it might come down to that. All right, Brynn Gingras, thank you very much. Great to see you here. Thank you for letting me join you at your perch down here.

With us now, former defense lawyer, I should say, former prosecutor, current defense attorney Randy Zelin, and CNN legal analyst, former federal prosecutor Jennifer Rodgers. All right, Jen, this morning, Michael Cohen is back on the stand. Prosecutors get one more go at him in their direct. What more do you think they need to do this morning?

JENNIFER RODGERS, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: Well, John, we haven't finished the story yet. So Michael Cohen is going to need to finish that out, take it through the meeting in the Oval Office, and then go through the breach with Trump, actually.

I want to hear him talk about his change of heart, right? He's been so deferential to the former president during his testimony, and I think he'll continue to be that way in terms of tone, but he's got to talk about what split them apart and had his change of heart, right, because he's going to see on cross-examination probably a lot of clips of himself being, let's say, less than deferential. And I think he needs to prepare the jury for some of that.

And then, of course, they have to talk about all of this impeachment evidence that's coming. His crimes, his pleading guilty, the bad acts that he's done. All of the things he's going to be hammered with on cross, they're going to want to front in detail on the direct examination, so I expect to see that as well.

BERMAN: And Randy, just before we get to the cross, how well do you think the prosecution has done here? What more could they have done with Michael Cohen?

RANDY ZELIN, FORMER PROSECUTOR: The one thing they needed to do was the one thing that they could not do. One word resonated with me yesterday, the word "approved." A man who does not call the sitting president a moron and the sitting prosecutor "Fat Alvin," does not sit around the room and say, I approve of what you all are doing. That word, "approve", was like hand grenades. It almost only counts in horseshoes and hand grenades. For Michael Cohen not to be able to testify in detail what the former president said, camouflaging it by saying he approved it, prosecution does not have it.

BERMAN: Let me actually just read you the excerpt you're talking about there. It came at the end of the testimony yesterday, and this got to the idea of the falsification of documents. It was in a meeting in Trump Tower in January of 2017 when Donald Trump was president- elect. And the question from the prosecutor, "What, if anything, did Mr. Trump say at the time about the scheme to pay Michael Cohen back?" The answer from Michael Cohen. "He approved it. He also said this is going to be one heck of a ride in D.C." Question, "Did Mr. Weisselberg say in front or Mr. Trump, that those monthly payments would be, you know, like a retainer for legal services?" The answer "Yes."

So Jen, those were answers. Michael Cohen said he approved it, and yes, Donald Trump knew. Randy says it's not enough. What's your view?

RODGERS: Well, I mean, it is enough technically. But I do tend to agree that it would be much better if there were more detail around it. We'll see if prosecutors go back to it to kind of put more meat on the bone. Sometimes when you get a chance to read the transcript afterwards, you decide that you do want to go back to something. And I do agree, it would be better and play better if it said, what did he say? What did you say? And he could put a little bit more meat on it, right? Like he said, OK, sounds good, or works for me, or something that is little bit closer to actual words as opposed to just Michael Cohen's interpretation of those words. So I think technically they're there, but I don't disagree that it would be better if they got a little bit more on that.

BERMAN: So Randy, when the defense comes out of the gate at the cross, how intense do you expect them to be? How many minutes do you think we will have to wait before they call Michael Cohen a liar?

ZELIN: Well, I think if the defense is smart, rather than simply trying to blow up Michael Cohen, I would embrace him. I would embrace the power that he had. I would embrace his reputation as being a bully. I would embrace the fact that he was put on this earth to please the former president. And when we are put on a planet to please someone, we tend to do things without getting their approval or getting their permission so we can come back and say, look what I did for you.

I would embrace the fact that the man had his sights on being the chief of staff. There, it is a credible story. And remember, trials are all about whose story makes more sense. And to portray Michael Cohen as someone who would do anything to curry favor with the former president, it would not be above him to go and do all of this on his own and then say, look how I saved you.

[08:10:03]

BERMAN: It could be an electric day down here. Randy Zelin, Jennifer Rodgers, thanks to both of you.

Sara?

SIDNER: All right, thanks so much, John.

Just ahead, Secretary of State Antony Blinken meeting this morning in Kyiv with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy as Ukraine loses ground to Russian forces, a top general saying the situation in Kharkiv has significantly worsened.

Right now, more than 100 wildfires are raging across Canada, forcing thousands to evacuate and pushing dangerous smoke across the border into the United States.

And some lawmakers in Louisiana trying to put abortion drugs in the same category as highly regulated narcotics. We'll discuss all that ahead.

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[08:15:20]

BOLDUAN: All right, now Secretary of State, Tony Blinken is in Ukraine, meeting with President Zelenskyy to reassure Ukraine and all of its top officials that US support remains firm.

Blinken's arrival in Kyiv is his first visit since Congress got past that six-month long delay and fight over the military aid package for Ukraine.

And as Blinken visits, Ukraine is setbacks on multiple fronts after Russia launched a surprise new push this weekend across the northeastern border.

CNN's Fred Pleitgen is tracking all of this for us and he joins us now.

Fred, this seems really a critical moment for Blinken to be visiting as Ukraine's war effort is under real threat right now.

FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Under real threat and certainly under real pressure, I think you're absolutely right. The Ukrainians can certainly use all the backing that they can get especially with Secretary of State Blinken coming in and then reassuring them that US aid as he put it, is here to stay.

The situation certainly for the Ukrainians on the northeastern front, as you put it right now are pretty critical. They say the Russians managed to take some villages there, but what is even worse for the Ukrainians is that because of that big Russian push in that area, they are having to redeploy units that are already having a big fight in the east of the country.

So right now, definitely a difficult situation and the president of Ukraine in that meeting with the Secretary of State said that of course, the Ukrainians need a lot of ammo and other aid that the US can give.

But the other big issue that they have is that the Russians are now able to use their Air Force much more effectively than they have in the past. So Volodymyr Zelenskyy said the Ukrainians need more US-made patriot surface-to-air missile systems. Here is what he said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY, UKRAINIAN PRESIDENT: Thus, the biggest deficit

for us, I think that the biggest problem, yes, and we need -- really we need today two patriots for Kharkiv, for Kharkiv region because the people are under attack.

Civilians in the worse, everybody there under Russian missiles.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PLEITGEN: So as you can see there, two patriots for Kharkiv as he put it, this among a lot of other military aid that the Ukrainians say they will continue to need from the US -- Kate.

BOLDUAN: Fred Pleitgen, great to see you. Fred, as always, thanks for the reporting.

Coming up for us, right now, wildfires are raging in Canada threatening to burn at least one entire community and the smoke up there is now triggering new air quality alerts down here in multiple US states.

And in Baltimore, controlled explosions are helping to try and clear the bridge debris off the cargo ship now, two months after it crashed into Baltimore's Key Bridge. There is also new body camera footage we will bring for you that was released showing the confusion and the chaos that ensued as officers tried to respond to the scene.

We'll be back.

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[08:22:28]

BOLDUAN: New bodycam video is showing the panic and confusion among officers as they were responding to the Key Bridge collapse in Baltimore two months ago. There is also new video showing the first round of controlled explosions to try and get rid of the bridge debris that's been sitting on top entrapping the crushed cargo ship since the disaster happened.

(VIDEO CLIP PLAYS OF CONTROLLED EXPLOSION OF FRANCIS SCOTT KEY BRIDGE)

BOLDUAN: CNN's Gabe Cohen has much more on all of this for us.

Gabe, let's first start with this body camera video. What do you -- what are you seeing in it? And what are you hearing?

GABE COHEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, so Kate, these officers were some of the first responders on the Patapsco River in the minutes after the collapse and you can hear the shock in their voices, reacting in real time to seeing this wreckage for the first time.

Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) OFFICER: I don't -- I don't know what to do. I don't know where to

go. I mean, I guess we can head in Armistead, but they're not going to do that until daylight. It's like, are you kidding me?

It's like something is missing here in the skyline. There is no -- the whole center span is gone completely. It is in the water.

OFFICER: They said there's five people is in the water.

OFFICER: Is that what they said?

OFFICER: Yes. They said. Apparently, the guy called in, said he lost steering.

OFFICER: I got the -- I woke up to the alert for the water rescue. Apparently, they are sending boats from PG County.

Holy (bleep).

OFFICER: Yes, the whole bridge is gone, dude. It's gone. The whole thing.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COHEN: And Kate, I got to the scene maybe an hour or so later and I think everyone that morning up there in Baltimore had the same sort of oh, my goodness moment first laying eyes on just the scale of the wreckage and it is amazing to see where we are at now seven weeks later with yesterday's demolition.

BOLDUAN: Yes, you can really understand the reaction from those officers. It is hard to believe that that happened, that the Key Bridge came down in such a fashion.

What are you also learning? Is there any update on the ship workers who have been -- who had to stay onboard that cargo ship ever since this happened?

COHEN: Yes, look, the 21-person crew has been on the Dali since the crash. They were on it, sheltered in place during that demolition yesterday, and they've been keeping the ship running and safe for investigators and the crews.

The good news is we expect the ship to be towed to shore in the next 48 hours, Kate. And then they'll finally hopefully be able to get off that boat.

BOLDUAN: It looks like some real movement could be happening this week on this front.

It is good to see you, Gabe. Thank you so much -- Sara.

[08:25:10]

SIDNER: Well, hello.

BILL WEIR, CNN CHIEF CLIMATE CORRESPONDENT: Dramatic entrance.

SIDNER: Just showing up for work.

This morning more than 100 wildfires are still raging across Western Canada, forcing thousands of people to evacuate homes. Fire and smoke knows no borders. The fire is impacting air quality here in the Midwest.

CNN's chief climate correspondent Bill Weir joining us now. You are here on time. I was not.

WEIR: I know.

SIDNER: But the smoke is also showing up. Don't I remember back in June of last year, was it, that it looked like the apocalypse here in New York --

WEIR: Right.

SIDNER: -- because of the fires in Canada.

WEIR: And here's the scary thing, Sara, some of these fires are zombie fires from back then that did not go out over the winter. They're holdover fires as they're known, and when things get scorchingly hot and bone dry, and 25 mile an hour gusts, this is what we have. Over a hundred fires now raging from Manitoba to British Columbia up there.

They are evacuating towns like near Fort McMurray, which burned almost to the ground back in 2016. So they are no stranger to this as well. But it is really kicking up and this is just the beginning.

I think we have some statistics to show you how this right now compares to the 10-year average overall, and its way off the charts. Like normally there is maybe half a million acres had burned by this point in the year. Right now, it is over four million acres.

These are the top 10 Canadian wildfire years. Last year was the big one. They're going to top that this year, it seems almost certain right now, and it is directly proportional to last year being the hottest year in 2,000 years. There is new science on that, that shows just how off the charts we are now for recent civilization.

But if I can -- if we have that other 10-year average chart, I'd love to show that to you, folks, maybe our computers are late too this morning.

SIDNER: You see.

WEIR: A little low key this morning, but one thing to worry about air quality in the Midwest, like if you're in the Twin Cities, that was in the top 10 dirtiest air in the world yesterday.

Minnesota, Wisconsin, that area, if it gets above a hundred for sensitive folks, that's when you need to maybe wear a mask. If the air quality index is above 150, it is bad for everybody, no matter the age or health.

SIDNER: Yes, it is pretty incredible when you look at those numbers there. You can see the progression and how bad it is. Oh --

WEIR: There it is.

SIDNER: And now we have these numbers here.

WEIR: Here's the 10-year average. It is about 884 fires a year, average. So far this year, 986. Average, 260,000 acres burned. So far this year, four million.

SIDNER: Wow.

WEIR: And we are not even fully into the summer yet. First day of summer.

SIDNER: And expecting it to potentially be the next hottest summer.

WEIR: Exactly. Exactly.

SIDNER: Correct?

WEIR: Exactly.

SIDNER: That we have ever experienced. Bill Weir, thank you so much.

WEIR: You bet, Sara.

SIDNER: We appreciate you being on time this morning.

WEIR: I try. It is the least I could do.

SIDNER; All right, ahead, new this morning, new research on the long- term effects of a popular weight-loss drug and some surprising benefits it may have beyond helping with your waistline.

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