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Soon, Jury Instructions and Deliberations in Trump's Criminal Trial; Source Says, DOJ Potentially Seeking Sean Diddy Combs Indictment; Today, 30 Million People Under Threat from North Dakota to Texas Panhandle. Aired 7-7:30a ET

Aired May 29, 2024 - 07:00   ET

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

[07:00:00]

KASIE HUNT, CNN ANCHOR: It made a lot of people wonder if the designer had ever actually flown on an airplane. The designer behind them is actually back and now there is a luxury twist that has more room, seats that can go fully horizontal. But the vision behind the new first class version of the design remains the same, removing the overhead locker to create two levels of airplane seating in one cabin with one passenger seated directly below another. Thank you for your time. It's like a whole new version of, you know, the guy that lives in the apartment banging the broom, be quiet.

All right, on that note, thanks to you guys. I appreciate you being here. Thanks to all of you for watching. I'm Kasie Hunt.

Don't go anywhere. CNN News Central starts right now.

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: It all comes down to this. Seven men, five women are about to start deliberating and are about to decide the fate of a former president and current presidential candidate.

A CNN exclusive, Sean Diddy Combs under new scrutiny right now, sources tell CNN federal investigators are working to bring his accusers before a grand jury.

And people in Texas could be in the dark for days, is the latest word. The already deadly storms now leaving nearly half a million Texans without power and more bad weather is on the way.

I'm Kate Bolduan with John Berman, Sara Sidner is out today. This is CNN News Central.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning from the Manhattan Criminal Court, where as soon as today, history will be made. This morning, the jury gets the case in the criminal case against Donald Trump. He, of course, is charged with falsifying documents to cover up hush money payments to an adult film actress, all 2016 election. Of course, the prosecution calls this an election fraud case, not a hush money case.

In any case, over the next few hours, the jury will be instructed on the law, then they will go to a room and they will determine the fate of the former president and the presumptive current Republican nominee. Of course, they could find him guilty. They could find him not guilty, or it could be a hung jury. What that means is at least one juror dissents from the rest of the group. And if you listen to the Trump team, they may feel like that is their best possibility at this moment. Nevertheless, no one knows what will happen once the jury goes behind those closed doors and discusses the case.

Trump is charged with 34 counts. He could be found guilty on all or some of them. We're just waiting to see how it all goes down. Nevertheless, as I said, today is the day in history here, one way or another.

With me, CNN's Brynn Gingras, who has been down here at the court, the entire, what is it, six-plus weeks of the trial now.

BRYNN GINGRAS, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: It's been fun. Yesterday was a marathon. Oh, my gosh, closing arguments was a marathon getting us up to this point. Like you said, the jurors could have this case as early as 11:00 this morning, and it is a big day. We'll see where it progresses from here.

But, yes, that yesterday was just been such a marathon of closing arguments. The defense trying to sew that reasonable doubt into jurors' minds, giving ten reasons as to why they should have reasonable doubt, probably the number one reason, Michael Cohen, right? There wasn't a name that they didn't call Michael Cohen throughout this trial, and then they kind of summed it up with superlatives at the end of their arguments, calling him basically the MVP of liars. The GLOAT, the greatest liar of all time, said he committed perjury and the prosecution allowed him to commit perjury on the stand.

Let me read a quote from Defense Counsel Todd Blanche. He said that Michael Cohen has repeatedly lied under oath. He has lied to his family. He lied to his wife about the $131,000 home equity line of credit. He lied to his banker. I mean, he's literally like an MVP of liars. So, let's see where jurors take that.

Then it was a prosecution's turn yesterday, of course, and it was about for less than five hours that they spent trying to basically kind of counter what the defense had just said in their closing arguments, but also weave in all of that evidence, all of that testimony into why they believe, of course, Donald Trump is guilty on all these crimes.

So, we'll see what happens. Today is a good day.

BERMAN: It was interesting. The defense mentioned Michael Cohen more than Donald Trump in its closing argument. We counted, it was, what, like 250 plus mentions of Michael Cohen, 230 of Donald Trump? You got a sense of what the defense fact that the judge wants this case to be about, Michael Cohen.

GINGRAS: Yes. Then the prosecution was like you don't need to pay attention to Michael Cohen. You have your Pecker. You have Hope Hicks. You have all of this evidence. You don't need to pay attention to Michael Cohen. So, who does the jurors believe? BERMAN: And the business this morning, the judge will give jury instructions to this jury.

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That will last about an hour, and by 11:00 o'clock, they will start deliberating.

All right, Brynn Gingras, thank you so much. Thanks for letting us come down here with you.

Whatever happens here, obviously, doesn't just have legal implications, it has huge political implications as well.

With me now is CNN Senior Political Analyst Mark Preston. And, Mark, to get a sense of the fact that this is the center of the political universe right now, all you have to do is look at the fact that the Biden campaign for the first time actually sent surrogates down here to do an event, not about the case itself, but about Donald Trump. Everyone knows what happens here. Is the political moment happening right now?

MARK PRESTON, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: You know, John, there's something to be said about this moment in history as we wait for this verdict to happen. We've never seen this happen before. If he is convicted, could you imagine for the first time in history that we would have a United States president running for the presidency as the nominee of a major party with a conviction?

Having said that, who knows what is going to happen? And more importantly, as you note, what happens in New York is going to reverberate throughout the country. So, where will it reverberate and where will it help politically? Because as much as this is a case about business records, this is really a case about politics, and this is a very divided nation right now, and we just don't know if this is going to help or hurt Donald Trump in the coming days or rather the coming months.

BERMAN: No, there's simply no way of knowing the political impact it could have, mostly because we don't know what the verdict will be. But it is worth noting, you know, James Michael Curley, former mayor, a Congressman, governor of Massachusetts, he had been convicted and he kept on winning elections. You just don't know what the impact will be.

Mark, anything you're hearing from the political parties on this?

PRESTON: Well, you know, I did talk to someone very close in the Trump campaign last night about what is the next play. What happens if there's a conviction? What happens if there's not a conviction?

Imagine this, John. They were very tight-lipped about what, what they're going to do, something we're not used to hearing from the Trump campaign. However, all we have to do is look at history and look at President Trump's actions. There is no surprise. There's no mystery in what is going to happen. Donald Trump is clearly going to try to use this to rally his base, which is very solid around heading into the election.

Meanwhile, as you note, Democrats see this as a political opportunity. It might not have worked very well for them yesterday. It was kind of broken up by the Trump campaign. But they see this as a political opportunity.

But just remember this, John, a couple things, one, when Donald Trump was elected back in 2016, I remember going on television and saying, mea culpa, mea culpa, mea culpa. I was one of those folks who said that Donald Trump would not win because of the access Hollywood tape. I said it on television. I was absolutely wrong. It just goes to show you that as much as you and I have spent in this world of politics trying to understand the voters, our voters are changing very, very quickly. And we are really -- one thing we've learned from Donald Trump's presidency is that we didn't necessarily know what the electorate was thinking across the country.

BERMAN: No, it is just impossible to break what could happen, as I said, because we don't really know what will happen behind the closed doors as the jury deliberates. But one thing I think we did learn over the last 24 hours is that for either party at this point, either election to deny that this is the center of it all is futile at this point. That's what I took out of the fact that the Democrats showed up here with Robert De Niro yesterday again. Again, it wasn't about the case. The event wasn't about the case, but it was an acknowledgement that this is where the campaign is right now.

PRESTON: Absolutely. Look, this is the first of four cases, John. This very well may be the only case that goes to trial before the election. That's why all the cards are on the table here. Look, Donald Trump has used this as a political staging ground, coming out and giving his comments before and after, bringing up members of Congress. The speaker of the House of Representatives stood behind Donald Trump as well as many senators who are trying to be his running mate.

So, you're absolutely right. The political center of the universe today, New York City, perhaps tomorrow, and you're standing there.

BERMAN: That's right. V.P. auditions have been taking place in this courthouse behind me over the last few weeks.

Mark Preston, always great to see you. Thanks so much for being with us.

Kate, I have to say more media here than the last time I was here, for sure a security presence. You do get a sense that the moment is upon us.

BOLDUAN: Absolutely and all the action is going to be happening inside that courtroom right where you are, John, and we're going to be getting right back to it. John is down in lower Manhattan.

We also have this coming up for us still ahead, a CNN exclusive murder in a recent visit. Federal investigators are preparing to bring the accusers of Sean Combs before a federal grand jury. What this means now for all of the allegations and lawsuits he's already facing. Plus, the phone call to police from Samuel Alito's neighbor, new reporting just in on the controversial flag flown outside the Supreme Court justice's home.

[07:10:01]

And a history-making move and a long time coming, Major League Baseball announcing is adding Negro League stats to the official records. What this now means for Babe Ruth's record.

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BOLDUAN: In a CNN exclusive, sources tell CNN federal investigators are preparing to bring accusers of Sean Diddy Combs before a federal grand jury.

[07:15:00]

This is seen as a clear sign the Department of Justice could be moving to indict the disgraced music mogul.

Since November, you'll probably remember that Combs has been named in eight civil lawsuits, seven directly accusing him of sexual assault.

CNN's Elizabeth Wagmeister has all of this new reporting for us. Elizabeth, what more are you learning?

ELIZABETH WAGMEISTER, CNN ENTERTAINMENT CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Kate. So this is obviously the biggest escalation since those March raids on Diddy's homes in Los Angeles, in Miami. We are now hearing that federal investigators are preparing to possibly bring witnesses in front of a federal grand jury in New York City. What we have heard is that possible witnesses have been notified that they could be called to testify.

Now, sources do caution that investigators are still in the process of gathering information. In fact, they are still calling in new witnesses and they have called in some witnesses multiple times. We also hear that the majority of the accusers who have filed these civil lawsuits against Sean Diddy Combs have been brought in for questioning, and, again, some of them being called in numerous times. We hear that many are cooperating and even handing over evidence that they feel could be relevant into this federal probe.

Now, a spokesperson for Homeland Security did not respond to our request for comment about the presence of a grand jury, but they did confirm that this investigation is presently ongoing.

BOLDUAN: Elizabeth, what are you learning about the evidence that investigators could be reviewing here?

WAGMEISTER: So, as I mentioned, those federal raids that were conducted on his homes back in March, obviously, a lot of people wondering what was seized. Well, we are learning now that federal investigators are in possession of video footage that was taken inside of Combs' residence. We hear that these investigators have been contacting individuals that they have seen on this footage. One person, in addition to the accusers who have filed these civil suits, is a male sex worker. That is what a source tells me and that they have been brought in. for questioning through these federal investigators.

Now, when the raids first happened, we had a law enforcement source tell us at CNN that the investigation was largely based in sex trafficking, which is what HSI specializes in. Now we are hearing that that scope has been widened and that investigators are really looking into all of these claims put forth in these civil lawsuits. That would include not just sex trafficking but also money laundering and illegal drugs. I have a source who tells me, quote, this is much bigger than just these lawsuits.

BOLDUAN: It sounds like much more to come. Elizabeth, thank you very much for your continued great reporting on this.

Still ahead for us, over half a million people are without power after a string of devastating storms in Texas, and more bad weather is on the way.

We're also learning new details about the suspect the police say went on a stabbing spree in Massachusetts. What they now say happened before the stabbing attack at a McDonald's.

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BOLDUAN: So, right now, 30 million people are under severe weather threats from North Dakota to the Texas Panhandle. Colorado was hit very hard overnight. We're going to show you this. This is not snow. This is the result of a hail storm that hit in Colorado.

The list latest round of violent weather is also just the latest in an unrelenting string of storms to hit Texas in recent weeks. At one point, a million customers without power there, Houston and Dallas faced hurricane force winds, flooded roads, buildings left in ruins from what they were taking on. Wind gusts were strong enough that we're told they pushed an airplane from its gate. You can see it in this video right here. It's one terrifying and amazing how strong those winds really were along with that rain.

We're also learning that a 16-year-old boy was found dead overnight in Magnolia, Texas, told the house that he was working on began to shift and then collapsed.

CNN's Ed Lavendera is in Garland, Texas for us. There's a lot to follow here, Ed. There is just devastation and damage in so many places across Texas. What are you seeing?

ED LAVANDERA, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes. Most of us here in North Texas woke up to this incredibly powerful line of severe weather that blew through here and just wreaked havoc for most of the day here across the state, as it moved its way south down toward Houston. As you mentioned, more than a million people left without power. This line of power lines up until last night had been toppled over construction. Power line crews have been working throughout the night to get all of this restored.

But still, you know, you see these pockets all over the Dallas-Fort Worth area where you have on one side of the street. You have power. The other side does not have power. You know, intersections like this with no working lights and kind of become very treacherous as people kind of try to navigate all of that. And this is our scenes playing out all over the place.

Here in the Dallas County area, there's still about 200,000 people or customers without power. The number statewide is about a little over 450,000 customers without power so far, but it could still take some time to bring everybody back online. That's what local officials are saying.

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CLAY JENKINS, DALLAS COUNTY JUDGE: This, unfortunately, will be a multiday power outage situation.

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That does not mean if your power is out right now, that it will be out for multiple days. It certainly could be out for multiple days.

GRANT CRUISE, SPOKESPERSON, ONCOR ELECTRIC DELIVERY: We did have a significant number of down lines because of this weather event. In many cases, it's not going to be simple repairs. We're looking at complete reconstruction for parts of our area.

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LAVANDERA: And, Kate, you know, this comes on the heels of what has been just an unrelenting several days of severe weather across the state. We've seen deadly tornadoes. We've seen hail, flooding, rain, strong winds, even dust storms in some parts of the state. More severe weather potentially expected later today. It feels like, Kate, the only thing we're missing at this point are the locusts.

BOLDUAN: You took the words right out of my mouth. I mean, it has been one thing after another for Texas, and, you know, needless to say, not in the clear yet.

Ed, thank you so much so much for being here to track the storms, the recovery and now trying to get the power back on too, it's great to see you, Ed. Thank you so much.

We're going to be following this from Texas. We told you there's weather all over the place.

But let's get back down now to Lower Manhattan. The jury is about to take the case and Donald Trump's trial and John is there. Hey, John.

BERMAN: Hey. The jury gets the case in just a few hours, Kate. In its closing, the defense called Michael Cohen a liar 78 times. How much will that matter? We could know in the next few hours.

Our special live coverage of the criminal case against Donald Trump continues right after this.

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