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Ex-Trump Attorney John Eastman Arraigned For Role In "Fake Electors" Scheme; Biden Speaks At Morehead College As He Works To Secure Black Vote; Backlash Builds After Chiefs Kicker's Graduation Speech. Aired 1:30-2p ET

Aired May 17, 2024 - 13:30   ET

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

[13:30:00]

JESSICA DEAN, CNN HOST: Still ahead today, former Trump attorney, John Eastman, becomes the first of 18 defendants arraigned on charges stemming from the 2020 fake electors scheme in Arizona. We're in Phoenix.

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BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN HOST: Today, former Trump attorney, John Eastman, pleading not guilty inside an Arizona courtroom after being indicted by a grand jury for his alleged role in a conspiracy to overturn the state's 2020 election results.

Eastman became the first of 18 defendants to be arraigned on charges related to the fake electors scheme.

[13:35:03]

DEAN: Other Trump allies charged in this case include former chief of staff, Mark Meadows, former White House aide, Boris Epshteyn, and Trump campaign attorney, Jenna Ellis. They're all due in court in the coming weeks.

CNN senior national correspondent, Kyung Lah, is outside court in Phoenix.

Kyung, what's the latest from where you are?

KYUNG LAH, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Brianna and Jessica. Well, as you mentioned, he is the very first of the 18 who are named in this indictment to make their in-person court appearance.

It is a standard arraignment that we saw him go through. The court making very clear they're not going to treat anybody differently than they would any other defendant.

Mr. Eastman arrived at court. He appeared very calm before cameras that were waiting for him. He was also very brief and calm with his Arizona-based attorney, in addition to his national D.C.-based attorney. Very relaxed and saying that he is not guilty.

And then afterwards, he spoke to reporters, denying his involvement with any of this. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOHN EASTMAN, FORMER TRUMP ATTORNEY: I just -- an appearance, an arraignment on charges that, in my view, should never been brought. I, of course, pled not guilty.

I had zero communications with the electors in Arizona, zero involvement in any of the election litigation in Arizona our legislative hearings.

And I'm confident that with the laws faithfully applied, I'll be fully exonerated at the end of this process.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LAH: Well, Eastman did have to have the same processing as any other defendant. He did have his mug taken.

He told me in the elevator as he was walking out of his arraignment that he is next heading to California where he will be fundraising for his legal defense fund, in addition to speaking to California Republicans.

As far as what this was all about, Jessica and Brianna, it was weeks after the 2020 election when the allegation is that national Trump allies, seven of them named to this indictment, helped coordinate 11 others state-based Arizona Republicans to sign fake documents to essentially say that Trump won when it was Joe Biden who won the state of Arizona -- Brianna, Jessica?

DEAN: All right. Kyung Lah, for us live in Phoenix, thanks so much for that reporting.

Still ahead on CNN NEWS CENTRAL, President Biden making fresh appeals to black voters as his sees -- as his campaign sees a drop in support among that key demographic.

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[13:41:54]

DEAN: Less than six months until Election Day and President Biden is working to shore up support from black voters. He is headlining a string of events to mark civil rights milestones.

Today, he was at the National Museum of African-American History and Culture.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Black history is American history. Its American.

(CHEERING)

(APPLAUSE)

BIDEN: It's a really important thing to continue to -- we have a whole group of people out there trying to rewrite history, trying to erase history. It's a tribute to heroes, known and unknown, who pursued our nation's north star.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

DEAN: Polls have been showing Biden losing significant support among non-white voters when he's matched up against Donald Trump.

KEILAR: This weekend, President Biden will be giving the commencement speech at and Morehouse College, which is the alma mater of Martin Luther King Jr.

CNN Anchor Victor Blackwell sat down with the president of Morehouse.

Victor, tell us what President David Thomas told you about this.

VICTOR BLACKWELL, CNN ANCHOR: Yes. He said that he will hold that invitation. That's what he's held to this entire time.

Now, there are some students, some faculty members, some alumni who are opposed to the invitation to the president because of his administration's support for Israel and the war against Hamas, the reluctance to call before permanent ceasefire.

But President David Thomas, of Morehouse College, says that there must be some place where these tensions can live.

He says that there had been obviously the commencements that have been canceled. There had been commencement speakers who have been canceled. A valedictorian we know that has been canceled.

But there has to be a place where people can disagree with the president, but also not cancel him because his body of work is much larger than this single decision.

It's important also to say that the invitation went to the White House from Morehouse College, a historically black college here in Atlanta, that it educates black men primarily.

It went in September, it was accepted in April. And the president says -- the president of the university says, "It behooves the president to come to Morehouse and give more than just a stump speech, a campaign speech."

He says, there are three things that President Biden should cover. Here They are.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DAVID THOMAS, PRESIDENT, MOREHOUSE COLLEGE: One, why did I choose Morehouse to come give this speech? To connect to the soul of this place, what it represents in the world. Two, for him to give his vision of the direction that we need to move, domestic policy, over the course of the next four years so that it creates a more inclusive economy.

And third, he needs to speak to the issues of Israel, Hamas and Gaza. To me, this is an opportunity for him not to duck that.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLACKWELL: And President Thomas, the president of the university there, says that he is aware of the challenges that President Biden has with black voters, with young voters.

[13:45:04]

And he's aware of the likely political motivations for choosing an HBCU in Georgia, of all states, to deliver the commencement address.

And he says that, "The president will have to walk this line, but don't come just with a campaign message. Speak to the students. Speak to those in attendance. That would best serve his campaign."

KEILAR: Yes. They're looking for a genuine message. We'll see if he can deliver that.

Victor, thank you so much as always.

And you can watch Victor's full interview with the president of Morehouse College tomorrow morning during "FIRST OF ALL," on CNN at 8:00 Eastern.

And ahead, the backlash keeps building over an NFL kicker's controversial commencement speech. Now Harrison Butker has upset even the nuns.

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KEILAR: Well, it's not every day that you tick off nuns and the NFL in one fell swoop. But Kansas City Chiefs kicker, Harrison Butker, managed to do just that.

The NFL now distancing itself from Butker after his controversial commencement speech at Benedictine College, which is a Catholic school in Kansas.

The league said, it is, quote, "Steadfast in our commitment to inclusion, which only makes our league stronger."

In that speech, Butker said, "Women should be excited about becoming wives and mothers instead of focusing on their careers." He really singled out women, not the guys for that one.

And he said that Pride Month was dedicated to a, quote, "deadly sin."

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HARRISON BUTKER, KANSAS CITY CHIEFS KICKER: I think it is you, the women, who have had the most diabolical lies told to you. How many of you are sitting here now about to cross this stage and are thinking about all of the promotions and titles you are going to get in your career?

Some of you may go on to lead successful careers in the world. But I would venture to guess that the majority of you are most excited about your marriage and the children you will bring into this world.

As men, we set the tone of the culture. Be unapologetic in your masculinity. Fighting against the cultural emasculation of men, do hard things, never settle for what is easy.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KEILAR: All right, I'd like to bring in religion and faith commentator, Father Ed Beck.

And, Father, as I mentioned, the founding sisters of Benedictine also coming out in opposition to his remarks.

I just wonder, as you hear what Butker said there, do you think it's representative of Catholic doctrine and what most Catholics think and practice?

FATHER EDWARD BECK, CNN RELIGION & FAITH COMMENTATOR: No, not at all, Brianna. I mean, begin with the sisters. Their vocation is not to be mothers and wives and homemakers. So is their vocation, the founders of the college at which he is speaking, somehow less than mothers and wives?

And he managed to anger a lot of people with this. Throughout the speech, he said, you know, you need to stay in your own lane, everybody. And yet, he goes on then to criticize priests and bishops and women.

And you know, even says, God -- he knows what God wants, you know, as far as what kind of worship God wants.

I think there was a lot of hubris and a lot of arrogance in the speech. And I don't think that Harrison stayed in his lane.

KEILAR: Yes. It's an interesting point. I do think that there -- listen, he's got a lot of people, Father, who are very critical of him. There are also folks who are rallying behind him, who sort of agree with him.

And it's this, like, division that you are seeing that is prevalent in our culture. And I wonder what you think about that.

BECK: Well, I think there's some of that division even in the Catholic Church. But the Catholic Church that he belongs to, that he adheres to, is a very fringe group. I mean, he talks about going to the traditional Latin Mass. But this is the Catholic Church where Pope Francis has named more

women to full-time jobs in the main departments of the Vatican, which are called the Castries. That's the fancy word.

And usually, those jobs were just for men and cardinals and bishops. And Francis named women to them. Well, those are full-time jobs. And 25 percent of the workforce at the Vatican are women, full-time.

So are they shirking their responsibilities as wives and mothers? Not according to the Vatican, not according to Pope Francis. That's the Catholic Church that Harrison supposedly adheres to in his faith.

So I just think that there's a split in the culture. And as you saw at the commencement address, he got a standing ovation. So obviously, there were people there that agreed with him.

But I do not think he is representative of the Catholic Church and Catholic perspective as he espouses it to be.

KEILAR: I do think this is prompting a lot of looks at the Catholic Church. You know, Pope Francis has also said the greatest vocation of women is to be mothers. And you'll have people who point at that.

So what do you think when you look at that statement from the pope?

BECK: Well, I think, you know, he -- he takes Mary as the model. And he -- he speaks of the church as a woman. So I think he tries to extol the feminine and just say that, you know, the mother of Christ and the church as woman, that it's an important role.

[13:55:05]

But if -- you can also find quotes of Francis where he says, and I think this is a direct quote, that "women should express their skills in every sphere and not just the family."

So he doesn't believe it's simply about being mothers and wives. And it's obvious, through his actions, that he doesn't believe that. So you don't want to denigrate motherhood. Obviously, it's important. And it's a vocation.

But I think Francis is really trying to push against the idea that women are second-class citizens in the church, and that they have a place, and certainly a place in society.

And his attempts have been to lift up women. And this seemed to be very misogynistic to me. I mean, what Harrison was saying toward women.

He just was making men -- he said that that men set the tone of the culture. And if they don't, then dysfunction and chaos sets in.

Really Harrison? I mean, if men are setting the tone in this culture, it seems to me there's a lot of dysfunction and chaos right now. Maybe we should let women set the tone of the culture.

And so I just think it was very kind of demeaning for women. And not just women, but priests and bishops and a lot of people.

He says it wasn't an angry screed but it certainly came across that way to me.

KEILAR: Yes. One other call to action on fatherhood, you know --

(LAUGHTER)

KEILAR: Talk to the guys as well on this one.

(CROSSTALK)

BECK: Yes, I mean, talk about staying in your own lane, right?

KEILAR: Yes.

Well, there's two lanes in parenthood.

(LAUGHTER)

KEILAR: Father Beck, thank you so much. Appreciate it.

BECK: Thank you, Brianna. Always good to see you.

KEILAR: Great to see you.

Ahead on CNN NEWS CENTRAL, the curious case of Scottie Scheffler. How the top, known as mild-mannered golfer in the world, got arrested this morning before the PGA championship.

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