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ESPN: Scottie Scheffler Detained By Police On Way To PGA Championship; NYT: Upside-Down Flag Flown In Front Of Justice Alito's Home; Civilians Flee As Russians Close In On Ukrainian Town. Aired 7:30-8a ET

Aired May 17, 2024 - 07:30   ET

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

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[07:32:08]

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: This morning, Donald Trump will attend his son's high school graduation in Florida. He is probably the only parent of a grad who will then hop a plane to Minnesota to headline a Republican dinner.

There is a new development in what appears to be the over-jockeying to be his running mate. One lawmaker has now directly asked him to pick someone not believed to by anywhere near Trump's short list, and her name rhymes with schmicky schmaley.

CNN's Steve Contorno has the latest on this. So this is like an unlikely pitch coming in the perhaps final weeks of Trump's selection process.

STEVE CONTORNO, CNN REPORTER: That's right, John. Yesterday, a group of House Republicans met with Donald Trump before his trial, including Rep. Ralph Norman of South Carolina. Now, Norman was the only member of Congress to endorse Nikki Haley.

And he said -- when it was his turn to talk to Trump, he said, "I did tell him he ought to put Nikki on the ballot. That would unite the party more than anything. As Nikki told me, she said, you know, 'People can hate me. They can't hate my voters.'"

And this is coming as Nikki Haley continues to get a sizeable share of the electorate in these primaries long after she has dropped out of the race.

But look, there has been little indication that Trump is considering Haley. The two can't even agree how to have a kumbaya. One side thinks that the other should come to the table first. The other side disagrees.

Nikki Haley, herself, has yet to even endorse Trump, and that is quite different than the overt overtures that we have seen coming from some of these other Republican contenders for the job. Take a listen, for example, what J.D. Vance, the senator from Ohio, told Donald Trump Jr. last night on his podcast. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. J.D. VANCE (R-OH): I want to help your dad however I can. And so, certainly, if he asked me, I want to help him. My assumption is like this is a little bit of speculation and maybe it's a little bit real, but he'll make his decision. I'm sure that whoever he picks will be a good vice president. And I'll cross that bridge if I have to.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CONTORNO: Now, we have probably two more months of this public auditioning for the job because Trump, yesterday, said, "there's a pretty good chance" he won't make a decision or at least announce his decision until the convention in Milwaukee, which is in mid-July, John.

BERMAN: All right, Steve Contorno. Thank you very much for that -- Sara.

SARA SIDNER, CNN ANCHOR: All right.

Meantime, back in New York, the judge in Donald Trump's hush money trial signaled closing arguments could begin as soon next week.

Here to discuss now, CNN legal analyst and criminal defense attorney, Joey Jackson. And criminal defense attorney, William Brennan also joining us now.

Joey, first to you. The jury was shown texts that Michael Cohen sent. That was brought up. Trump's attorney, Todd Blanche, read Cohen's texts about a call to one of Donald Trump's guards, right, Schiller. And before the call he had testified that he had spoken to Donald Trump about Stormy Daniels during this call.

[07:35:09]

And here is what the defense confronted Cohen with.

They said, "Who can I speak to regarding harassing calls to my cell and office? The dope forgot to block his number." That was Cohen sending a text message just before the call. Blanche (sic) says, "Call me."

And Blanche says the texts show that at 8:04 p.m., Cohen texted Schiller the phone number of the teenager prank calling him. Blanche used the text to challenge Cohen's account of the call. "That was a lie. You did not talk to President Trump. You talked to Keith Schiller. You can admit it," he went after Cohen. "No, sir. I don't know that's accurate."

And then he says, "I believe I also spoke to Donald Trump and told him everything regarding the Stormy Daniels matters." And here is where the gotcha moment potentially comes. "We are not asking for your belief," Blanche said. "This jury does not want to hear what you think happened."

Was this a knockout punch to Cohen and all that he has said about Donald Trump knowing about this transaction?

JOEY JACKSON, CNN LEGAL ANALYST, CRIMINAL DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Wow. Sara, good morning. If not a knockout punch, it certainly put him on the mat, right, and knocked him down. Whether the prosecution can get up is the open question. Why?

What generally happens, Sara, is that when you have adverse information -- that is information damaging to your case -- on your testimony on direct.

Sir, there's a time you made a phone call to the president. Yes. Tell us about that phone call. What was the nature of the discussion? You discussed two things. You discussed a 14-year-old harassing you, right, and you discussed something else in addition to telling the president. It didn't take you long, did it? Then you get to the conversation.

There was no mention at all with respect to any 14-year-old, any harassing, anything at all. And so, now you have the defense, in cross, giving that call context. Talking about the 96 seconds -- a short period of time.

SIDNER: Right.

JACKSON: Talking about your preoccupation with this 14-year-old harasser -- talking about how that was on your mind. But now, all of a sudden, this is what you talked about?

Major disconnect. Major problem. Big point for the defense.

SIDNER: A big point, you said. You said wow when we started.

All right, I want to get to our other guest. Compared to the first day of cross-examination, how do you think Cohen actually did this time around?

WILLIAM BRENNAN, CRIMINAL DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Good morning, Sara, and thanks for having me.

I think Joey really nailed it. If it's not a knockout punch, it's a standing eight-count. And there were a lot of critics of the way that Mr. Blanche began his cross, but crosses are rhythmic operations. You've got to -- you've got to get your pace, get your rhythm. I think he's doing a marvelous job.

And you don't open with your best stuff. He had that. I'm sure he's had it for a year. And he bided his time and he let it out at the precise moment it would do the most effective damage.

You know, not only does make the prosecution look unprepared -- because as Joey said, they should have gotten this out first to avoid the shock value -- there's just a seedy nature to the other reason for the call.

He's fighting with a 14-year-old child. What's 14? Seventh grade, eighth grade? I mean, has this guy never heard of call block? It's going to taint him to the jury. He wants to take a 14-year-old kid and report him or her to the Secret Service.

Blanche has caught Mr. Cohen in lie upon lie upon lie. Now, it's kind of like fishing in a pond that stocked. You're guaranteed to get something. With Cohen, you're going to get lies. But this has really been a strong cross-examination and a strong couple of days for the defense. And if the whole case rises and falls on Cohen, I don't think 12 people will vote to convict.

SIDNER: All right.

What do prosecutors have to do now that this has sort of been information -- juries don't really like it when they think you have withheld something because it looks bad for your case. What do they have to do in redirect?

JACKSON: So they have a couple of options. The first thing is to embrace what I think is to be kind of preposterous, right? There's 96 seconds and you're going to indicate that although you were preoccupied with this 14-year-old, you were briefing the president.

The other thing, which I think may be more favorable, is to maybe embrace the mistake and then to look at other ways and issues of which he would have informed the president. Were there other timeframes in which he spoke to the president? Is there other documentary evidence indicating that he was reaching out to the president that those, in and of themselves, could have been that? Is there other corroboration to that?

This is critical Sara because everything else -- not everything, but most things he has said -- that is, Michael Cohen -- have been corroborated. This critical issue putting Trump not only in the room but at the table is not, and that's a big deal.

[07:40:00]

SIDNER: Yeah. And there's been a lot of other evidence that has been presented but Cohen is, for lack of a better word, the star witness in this case linking all things together.

William, I just want to ask you quickly what you think of the fact that the jury is now going to spend the next three days -- the weekend -- with this brutal cross-examination in their mind. Was that a good tactic for the defense?

BRENNAN: Absolutely, Sara. It certainly gives them three days to ruminate on what they heard. To let this marinate in their minds.

And there's been some argument -- well, the prosecution has three more days. As Joey said, that's a lot to come back from.

I mean, think about the juxtaposition of the reasons for this call. Cohen told the jury, without any other reason being in there, I called to deliver the crucial important news that the Daniels matter was resolved. Blanche showed them that he texted on a 14-year-old kid. I mean, it's a big problem to overcome.

SIDNER: William Brennan, Joey Jackson, always a pleasure. Thank you both. I know we will be back --

JACKSON: Thanks, Sara.

SIDNER: -- hot and ready to go on Monday.

BRENNAN: Thank you, Sara.

SIDNER: Appreciate it.

JACKSON: Looking forward.

SIDNER: All right -- Kate.

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: Hot and ready to go. That's how we're going to open the show on Monday, I promise all of you.

Gen Zers are in serious financial trouble. A new report out from the New York Fed shows one out of every seven Gen Z credit card borrowers has maxed out their credit cards. And also, a lot of them having a hard time paying them off.

CNN's Matt Egan has the details on this report. And it's not just Gen Z that has trouble with credit card debt, that's for sure.

MATT EGAN, CNN REPORTER: That's definitely right, Kate. This is really a problem across all age groups. Americans are now sitting on $1.1 trillion of credit card debt. And what's concerning is that a growing number of people -- they're failing to even make the minimum payments.

The New York Fed found that serious delinquencies -- people who are 90 days late or more -- that has climbed to 12-year highs.

BOLDUAN: Oh, my.

EGAN: And there's this direct link between failure to make your payments --

BOLDUAN: Um-hum.

EGAN: -- and maxing out your credit cards.

So you can see maxing out credit cards -- Gen Zers, 15 percent. Roughly one in seven have maxed out, triple the pace of baby boomers.

I spoke to a 28-year-old woman from Jackson, Mississippi who said that she fell into credit card debt in college. She hasn't been able to get out. She's had to delay life events. She's now maxed out seven credit cards --

BOLDUAN: Geez.

EGAN: -- $30,000 in credit card debt. And she's not alone here.

And part of the problem is interest rates are very high. What we can see here is this chart shows that the number of people who have maxed out their credit cards and fallen behind on their bills -- that has really started to spike. Roughly one in three people who have maxed out are now behind on their bills.

Now, part of this is high inflation, right? It's very -- life is very expensive right now. Housing, food, daycare, it adds up. And unfortunately, some people are turning to credit cards. Now, the Fed's solution is interest rates, but we also have a situation where credit card interest rates have almost never been higher -- 20.6 percent.

Now, experts say there are some solutions -- some things you can do. One thing is if you have a lot of credit card debt you can apply for a zero percent balance transfer. That gives you time -- perhaps 21 months -- to pay down your principal without getting hit with high interest. You could also have a personal loan with lower interest rates.

Another thing that would be ideal to do is to obviously make more money and lower your expenses. That, of course, is easier said than done, Kate.

I just think this is another reminder that behind those positive national economic indicators there are troubles here that a lot of people are facing.

BOLDUAN: Really highlighting what we talked about -- the big national economic indicators and how people's personal economy is feeling.

EGAN: Exactly.

BOLDUAN: This is one of those things.

It's great to see you, Matt.

EGAN: Thank you, Kate.

BOLDUAN: Thank you -- John

BERMAN: All right, we've got breaking news -- a huge development in the world of sports. The world's number one golfer, Scottie Scheffler -- no one is hotter than him -- detained overnight at one of golf's major championships -- the PGA Championship. We've got new reporting on what officials are saying this morning.

A report in The New York Times overnight that has people talking and some Supreme Court watchers outraged. An American flag flown upside- down at the home of Samuel Alito just days after the riots of January 6. How the justice is explaining what many see as a symbol of support for the insurrection.

And then, CNN on the front lines in the path of Russian drones. Why some Ukrainians say now is the time to evacuate.

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NICK PATON WALSH, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: That noise, either the sound of death or someone deciding they're not worth the payload.

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[07:48:32]

SIDNER: On our radar this morning, desperately needed humanitarian aid to Gaza finally being delivered via floating pier built by the U.S. military. U.S. officials say trucks have started moving ashore carrying vital international aid and food, but no U.S. troops are setting foot in Gaza. The aid comes as Israeli troops continue to move deeper in Rafah, severely restricting aid trucks trying to enter through the Rafah crossing from Egypt.

Researchers say they've found a planet that looks like a giant ball of cotton candy. According to a new study published in the journal Nature Astronomy, the planet is about 50 percent larger than Jupiter -- huge. A team of space detectives found this puffy planet about 1,200 light years from Earth. They think it's made up mostly of hydrogen and helium. The coolest part of this, though, there's even a fluffier planet out there almost as big as Jupiter but 100 times lighter.

All right, the NFL confirming it has scheduled its games around music tours. For example, no Miami Dolphins home games during Taylor Swift's free concert at Hard Rock Stadium in October. They've also avoided scheduling games in New Orleans and Indianapolis when Swift has concerts in those cities. An NFL official tells CNN it wasn't just Swift's schedule, they always consider many factors, including stadium availability, of course, when they're making a schedule.

[07:50:00]

All right, we have some breaking news to share with you right now. CNN just learning that the world's number one golfer, Scottie Scheffler, was detained by police earlier this morning while he was heading to the PGA Championship round in Louisville, Kentucky. This is all according to ESPN at this moment.

CNN sports correspondent Carolyn Manno has the breaking details. What do we know about what happened here?

CAROLYN MANNO, CNN SPORTS CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Sara.

Well, we're learning a little bit from ESPN reporter Jeff Darlington, who seemed to witness this firsthand. He said that Scottie Scheffler was trying to pull into the entrance at Valhalla and, according to him, didn't realize that a police officer was trying to stop him, so he continued to advance with his car another 10 to 20 feet. According to Darlington, Scheffler said he didn't realize that it was a police officer that was trying to get his attention. And then, this escalated where Scheffler was brought out of the car, essentially put in handcuffs, and ultimately detained by police.

Jeff Darlington said that he heard the officer say there's nothing you can do about it. He's detained. He's going to jail. It seems, at this point, like it was something of a misunderstanding.

ESPN is also reporting that Scottie Scheffler wasn't combative, didn't raise his voice. It seemed like he just didn't realize what essentially was going on -- what he was being asked to do.

But this is separate from a different report that's coming out now. The PGA Tour only saying that the start of the second round has been delayed because of a serious accident that occurred near the golf course. And we're starting to learn a little bit more about what that might be. There are reports that was a fatality that occurred near Valhalla that police are still sorting through. We don't have confirmed details on that, so we'll wait for further reporting and confirmation from the PGA.

But two separate incidents and Scottie Scheffler ultimately involved and being detained by police.

SIDNER: Wow. And I'm just assuming -- I just want to make clear that the one we don't have any information -- the one incident has anything to do with the other, correct?

MANNO: Correct, correct.

SIDNER: OK.

MANNO: They are two completely separate incidents. Scottie Scheffler did not have anything to do with why the PGA Tour has ultimately decided to hold off on the start of the second round.

SIDNER: All right, Carolyn Manno. Thank you so much -- John.

BERMAN: All right. Donald Trump is set to appear today at a Republican fundraiser in Minnesota even though he vowed never to return to that state if he lost it in 2020, which he did. In fact, he lost it twice.

The Democratic governor of Minnesota, Tim Walz, is with us now. Governor, thank you so much for being with us.

I imagine you're always happy to get visitors from the outside. How do you feel about Donald Trump visiting today?

GOV. TIM WALZ, (D) MINNESOTA: Well, yeah, you said it. He's coming back for a hat trick. We're the -- we're the state of hockey. He lost it in '16 and lost it in '20, and he'll lose it in '24.

Look, I was hoping the one thing he kept his word on was he said he wouldn't come back. But he'll come out here and he'll use his list of grievances. And he gave an unhinged interview yesterday where he said he actually won Minnesota in 2020. We all know he lost by over seven points.

So nothing new here. We're just going to go about finishing our legislative session. Thanks to Joe Biden, we're going to be feeding kids this summer. We're going to be doing infrastructure projects and just getting on with the things Minnesotans want us to. BERMAN: You know, when you were named the head of the Republican Governors Association -- sorry, Democratic National Governors Association, excuse me -- I'll get it right -- hat trick, as you say -- you said one of the things you want to see is you want to see Democrats be bold. What is it --

WALZ: Yeah.

BERMAN: -- from President Biden that you want to see? What kind of boldness would you like to see from him on the campaign trail?

WALZ: Yeah. Well, he's doing it, I think. When President Biden comes here, he delivers a billion dollars for a bridge in Duluth, Minnesota. Just this week, we announced half a billion dollars in high-tech chip manufacturing. Being bold means leaning into this and making sure we're protecting reproductive rights.

And I think this week, you know, calling this bluff that yeah, I'll debate you because I've got a record -- President Biden does -- of actually delivering. Getting us out of COVID. Look, we were here when Donald Trump was telling people to drink bleach. We're home of the Mayo Clinic. We believe in science.

So, I just think he should just get out there and lean into these things -- things that improve people's lives -- and talk about the record.

BERMAN: You know, there's a trial going on here in Manhattan. I don't know if you've been paying attention. A criminal case against Donald Trump. And a lot of court watchers think it went well for Donald Trump yesterday.

What do you think would happen if he is acquitted on the charges here? How might that impact the campaign?

WALZ: Oh, I don't know. This guy is not a -- doesn't live a normal life. Minnesotans are engaged. We're decent people at heart. Republicans know he lost Minnesota.

And look, this guy is, what, leaving his trial and stopping by his son's graduation, and then coming out to raise money in Minnesota, which I hope the Republicans here know none of it's staying in Minnesota. There's no ground game here. There's nothing. We take this very seriously. We know this election will be close and we're doing the work.

I think it doesn't matter. I've said all along we need to beat this guy at the ballot box. We need to return our democracy to a sense of normalcy where things matter. Rule of law matters. So I have to tell you I'm -- John, I'm not watching that thing that closely. I think it's stunning to me that we're even in this point, but I think we need to keep our eye on the ball, we need to stay in our lane, and we need to prepare to win in November.

[07:55:07] BERMAN: Can I ask you about -- a question about a report in The New York Times overnight that we all sort of woke up to. The New York Times posted photographs of a flag flying upside-down at the home of Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito. This was just days after the riots on January 6 -- what some people call the insurrection. Just days before the inauguration of President Biden.

And a lot of people see the upside-down flag as a symbol of support for the insurrection or a symbol that said we don't accept the results of the 2020 election. And this was at Samuel Alito's house just days after that.

Now, Alito put out a statement where he said, "I had no involvement whatsoever in the flying of the flag." This was a statement he emailed to the Times. He says, "It was briefly placed by Mrs. Alito in response to a neighbor's use of objectionable and personally insulting language on yard signs."

We did reach out to the Supreme Court, I should note, and did get no response from the Supreme Court on this overnight.

Just what's your take on this? And I will note that Alito is deciding a case that deals --

WALZ: Yeah.

BERMAN: -- a little bit with Donald Trump's actions around January 6.

WALZ: Well, it's certainly concerning. But once again, look how weird this stuff is. Let me just say that my wife has never had to explain why she flew a flag upside-down at my house. I mean, this is not normal stuff and not surprising whether it's Ginni Thomas and others involved in this.

Look, this is a -- this is a concerning time. This is a Supreme Court justice having to explain why a symbol of election that was fair and open and free and the most secure we've ever had, won by Joe Biden overwhelmingly -- that he would somehow have a problem with that. This stuff's not normal.

And this is -- I come back to again. This is why we need to do our work. We need to focus. We need reelect Joe Biden. And we need to get this country doing the things Americans want us to do. This is just insanity. I'm just stunned that we would ever have had to have a Supreme Court justice --

BERMAN: Um-hum.

WALZ: -- explain why his wife was flying a flag upside-down in response to -- and as you said, some people called an insurrection. It was an insurrection. We know exactly what happened. One hundred fifty police officers injured by people trying to overthrow the peaceful transition of power.

And I think we should all be prepared. If Donald Trump is saying he won Minnesota in 2020, he is going to say, no matter what happens, that he won in 2024. That will not stand in Minnesota. We will -- we will stand for democracy, and we'll stand for our elections.

BERMAN: Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, I appreciate you being with us this morning. I know you have a big game seven coming up with the Timberwolves. Good luck.

WALZ: Go, Wolves! All right, John.

BERMAN: Kate.

BOLDUAN: You always end it with a good sports reference.

This morning, Ukraine's President Zelenskyy is squarely blaming a lack of adequate air defenses for the reason Russian forces were able to cross the border into the Kharkiv region in that surprise attack last weekend. And civilians in the region are still trying desperately to flee as the fighting gets closer and closer to their homes.

But our Nick Paton Walsh and his team saw firsthand just how dangerous finding safety has become there.

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WALSH (voice-over): When nightmares recur, they're often the same. Here they get worse. The border town of Vovchansk bearing the blunt horror of Moscow's race to take as much as they can in the weeks before Ukraine starts feeling American military help again. Every street, a flame. Russians deeper inside the town.

Policeman Maxim (PH) is answering one of 35 calls from locals on Thursday to evacuate. The day before, three colleagues were injured. The shelling never stops.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (Speaking foreign language).

WALSH: Three people still coming out. You have to imagine quite how desperate these final people -- the situation must be to leave.

WALSH (voice-over): Mikola (PH) and his wife hiding in their basement. But despite staying through the first Russian occupation and then liberation two years ago, they found the airstrikes last night just too much. They're joined by Maria, their mother, who can't hear the shelling or anything too well.

Thousands evacuated since Russia invaded again around here five days ago. Why everyone has to leave is clear again as we drive out. As it is with almost every part of Ukraine Russia covets, just utter destruction.

We head back in with another police unit who soon learn two of the houses they must rescue from are impossible to reach. As we wait, they hear a buzzing noise.

WALSH: I think they can hear a drone here. It's so hard to tell with the wind in the trees and the artillery, but that's a constant threat for them now.

WALSH (voice-over): Then, our security adviser spots it.