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450-plus Without Power in Texas After Another Round of Storms; Closing Arguments Over in Trump Trial, Jury to Get Case Today; POLITICO: Democrats in Full-Blown Freakout Over Biden. Aired 8-8:30a ET

Aired May 29, 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]

MICHAEL TYLER, COMMUNICATIONS DIRECTOR, BIDEN 2024 CAMPAIGN: -- threat that Donald Trump poses to our democracy. That is what the president is going to talk about with Donald Trump on the debate stage if he does show up in June.

And so, we're going to make sure that people understand that Donald Trump is a person who is fighting for himself no matter where he has, but is a person who continues to embrace and sow political violence everywhere he goes. He's somebody who is pledging to rule as a dictator on day one. He is somebody who is promising for a bloodbath if he's not able to win. And so that's what we were doing yesterday in Manhattan. It's what we'll continue to talk about every day until the first debate in Atlanta.

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: But Michael, real quick, the Trump campaigns suggests that they think its blown up in your face and in the movie you guys made yesterday, saying that it proves the case that they've been trying to make the whole time that politics is motivating the case. Jason Miller said "After months of saying politics had nothing to do with this trial, they showed up and made a campaign event out of lower out of a lower Manhattan trial for President Trump." Did this backfire on you?

TYLER: No, not at all. We're not talking about the trial. We're talking about the threat that Donald Trump poses to our democracy, his embrace of political violence, that he does every single day, whether he's outside the courthouse there in Manhattan or he's down in Mar-a- Lago or he's shouting into an echo chamber on Truth Social. That's what we were talking about with Robert De Niro and Officers Fanone and Dunn, who defended our democracy at the Capitol on January 6th.

So we're of course going to take advantage of the media circus there. We're going to use every tool at our disposal to communicate directly with the voters and breakthrough this fragmented media environment and make sure that people understand the stakes. So we're going to continue to do that every single day through the debate.

BOLDUAN: Michael Tyler, thanks for coming in. Appreciate your time.

A new hour of CNN NEWS CENTRAL starts now. JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: Hello everyone, I'm John Berman. I am

outside the Manhattan criminal court. This is CNN's special live coverage of the case against Donald Trump. And today is the day the jury gets the case. In the next few hours, they will begin deliberating the 34 counts. Donald Trump is charged with falsifying documents to cover up hush money payments to Stormy Daniels, all to influence the 2016 election. The prosecution calls this an election fraud case.

The closing arguments are done. The lawyers are done. They have spoken before the jury for the very last time. Today, it is the judge and the judge alone who will address them before they go behind closed doors to determine the fate of the former president. And by the end of today, Donald Trump could be the first former president convicted of a felony or, likewise, the first former president acquitted of criminal charges. Either way, what were about to see here is simply unprecedented.

With me this morning, CNN's Brynn Gingras who has been covering the trial all 44 days since it began back on April 15. What will we see today?

BRYNN GINGRAS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes. I mean, listen, let's talk about what's going on. At 9:30, we expect the former president to be here. He might actually say some words, like you mentioned before. Then at 10:00, that's when it's going to start today. The judge giving those jurors a little bit extra time since they went so late yesterday with those closing arguments.

Jury instructions are expected to take about an hour. Now, remember, this is the roadmap that the judge is giving these jurors to interpret the law and apply it to all this evidence that they have heard over these last several weeks.

And they were debated last week by the -- by the both sides, right? They had markers, yellow and, I forgot the other color. But they were basically wiping out what they wanted in those jury instructions and what they didn't. Nobody has seen these your instructions. Nobody has heard them. This is going to be the first time that we actually hear the judge talk about them when he gives them to those jurors.

And then we are going to have the deliberations. This is the big moment when those 12 jurors go behind closed doors and deliberate the fate of the former president. During that time, Trump and his defense team, they have to stay inside the courthouse. There will be other press up there waiting to see if there are any notes, and then of course waiting for the verdict. If there are notes, they are not allowed to come during the lunch hour. That is the latest guidance that we are getting. So that's about an hour break during the day that they're going to ask any questions about anything with this case.

But they have a lot of evidence to file through. They have recordings, they have text messages, they have documents, they have the testimony. So there's a lot that's going to happen within today, possibly into tomorrow.

BERMAN: So no notes during lunch?

GINGRAS: That was the latest guidance we got. They want to eat.

BERMAN: I did also take note yesterday that the prosecution, Joshua Steinglass, kept on saying you can check this evidence, look at these documents as you are deliberating. The prosecution very much wants the physical evidence to be a key part of the deliberations.

GINGRAS: Yes, absolutely.

BERMAN: All right, Brynn Gingras, thank you so much for being here really appreciate it.

All right, with us now, CNN legal analyst, Jennifer Rodgers, and Molly Murphy, trial consultant and mediator.

Jen, let me just start with you. The jury instructions, Brynn points out, we don't know what they are exactly yet.

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We heard the discussions about them, but we haven't heard exactly what the judge will say. Both legal teams know, and they crafted their closing arguments around those jury instructions. But what will you be looking forward today when the jury when hears those instructions for the first time.

JENNIFER RODGERS, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: I think John, the biggest thing to me is how is the judge going to describe to them the law around the enhancement issue, right? So the financial records crime is fairly simple, falsification of financial records. But then of course we have this enhancement where if in the course of that you were concealing or committing a second crime, it becomes a felony. So how is the judge going to describe that?

And then how is he going to describe the third piece, which is what crime was it that was being concealed are committed? Because that's where we get into the federal election law, for example. So that's the main thing I'm focusing on. We don't know what that's going to look like and it's kind of confusing. So he's going to want to do it in a way that the jury can understand.

BERMAN: And just to follow up one more time on that, quickly, Jennifer, in this case, it matters so much because the language use to describe the charges in what the jury will be deciding, it is novel, and it could influence how they end up deliberating, correct?

RODGERS: Well, it certainly does. I mean, the instructions or the framework for how they deliberate. Ultimately, there's a verdict form that says guilty or not guilty, but it's going to go into a little bit more detail because it's going to have to ask them whether they find that the business records were falsified. And then again, whether they find this enhancement, there was another crime that was being concealed or committed there. And so they have to think about it in that way. And if they don't understand what crime is being discussed, then they're not going to be able to deliberate properly and they'll have appeal problems.

So it's really, really important, and it's interesting that at this point we don't know but what it will be, but I guess we'll find out in the next hour.

BERMAN: And then Molly, at about 11:00 the jury walks behind the door and enters what is, in a way, a twilight zone, but also in another way, the very foundation of our legal system. The jury will deliberate, and what happens behind those doors, how -- which ways can it go? What do juries often do in situations like this?

MOLLY MURPHY, TRIAL CONSULTANT AND MEDIATOR: Well, they've waited, what, six weeks now, seven weeks of trying to figure out what the evidence is and make a decision. So I think there's -- for the most part, the jurors are ready. And they're walking in the courtroom to figure out truly what evidence was pertinent, what evidence was weighed well enough to support the elements of the charges.

And as Miss Rodgers just stated, that these are new instructions for the jury. And the key is, do they -- will they be able to really understand the instructions. What we typically do is we will talk about specific instructions that and we'll explain what the instructions mean in lay terms, because often they're written more in the legalese. So often jurors are talking amongst themselves of what does this actually mean? So their job is to take those instructions and tie them into the evidence itself and figure out if the burden has been match. So it's a big task, and I think they're ready for it.

BERMAN: What jury questions, what possible questions will you be looking for Molly, to instruct us as to how they're thinking? What question would be sort of a red flag.

MURPHY: Well, I think if they aren't sure what the beyond a reasonable doubt is would be a major flag, because the way, I have to say, the closing arguments were just so long, and my bet very contrived. So I think there's going to be some confusion of really, what is the evidence, what was the real evidence versus what were the arguments?

So if they come in and they want to know, I would say the document themselves, if they're not clear of who said what, if -- and I think the I think Cohen did a very good job in the sense that he lied because he was told to lie. And if the jury really understands that, then I think that's going to be a big discussion. I think they are going to talk a lot about what Cohen said. So if a note comes out on really the pertinent evidence itself, that's going to be problematic, I believe, for the prosecution.

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BERMAN: And then very quickly, Jennifer Rodgers, which side do you think feels -- does any side, does any lawyer feel good at this moment after closing arguments in before jury instructions?

RODGERS: Well, all the lawyers feel nervous, I'll tell you that much. I think prosecutors should feel pretty good. They went a little too long, but I thought it was a really powerful summation. They managed to counter the points made by the defense and lay out their basis for why the evidence meets the law and they should find the defendant guilty. So I think they should feel pretty good. But again, everyone is just waiting. No one knows what's going to happen.

BERMAN: No lawyer feels great, not before jury instruction, not before that jury door opens. Jennifer Rodgers, Molly Murphy, thanks to both of you. Kate?

BOLDUAN: So the new reporting coming in this morning that Democrats are in a freakout over President Biden's reelection chances. The New York City Democrat who says the number of people in New York that I come across who say positive things about Trump is alarming, he's our guest.

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

And the deadly storms that have been slamming into Texas, the wild video showing hurricane-force winds blowing a plane off of its gate in Dallas.

We'll be back.

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BOLDUAN: Right now, Texas is grappling with the aftermath of another round of severe storms. One million customers were without power at its peak on Tuesday, and the fierce winds that have been really hitting that state not only toppled power lines, but take a look at this video, also strong enough to move an airplane from its gate at the Dallas Airport.

Joining us right now is a top executive of Dallas County, Dallas County Judge, Clay Jenkins.

Judge, thank you so much for coming in. How are things going right now in your county? How do you describe it?

CLAY JENKINS, DALLAS COUNTY JUDGE: You know, things are rough for a lot of people because here in North Texas, we had 650,000 of those million without power and we still have about 290,000 customers, that's not people, but that's homes and businesses, so more than that in people are without power.

In Dallas County, we have about 198,000 of the original 350,000 without power and we are lucky that it has been relatively mild weather in the middle east, The Heights, but we know this is a multi- day event just to get the power back on.

The water is safe here and we are doing food distribution and cooling shelters, but it is really tough on those people who had been without power.

BOLDUAN: What is the biggest hold up at getting the power restored? Is it just the infrastructures that has just been crushed?

JENKINS: It is the infrastructure.

So you had a widespread storm of 80-plus mile per hour straight-line winds that knocks tree limbs into the lines, that even knocks down lines that are nowhere near trees, and so you've got a lot of lines to fix.

Crews have been coming in from several other states to help our provider, Oncor, restore those lines and there is a possibility of more storms in the next couple of days and so we may see more damage that will have to be fixed.

BOLDUAN: Yes. I was seeing that yesterday was primary day for Texas and at one point yesterday, you had said that 103 of the county's 283 polling places, they didn't have electricity and couldn't process voters.

How much did this weather impact voting yesterday?

JENKINS: Well, I am sure it impacted it some because a lot of people who would have voted yesterday didn't have power and were worried about other things rather than voting in an election.

We are fortunate that in Dallas County, we have what is called countywide voting and so you can go to any of those other 180 places, you didn't have to go to a specific precinct to vote.

We also extended voting hours by two hours, so instead of the polls closing at seven, they close at 9:00 PM. So hopefully that helped.

But no doubt, there were people yesterday that would have otherwise voted, but because of the storms, either decided not to or were not able to get to the polls.

BOLDUAN: Yes, for sure.

I was taking a look. According to our Storm Prediction Center, Texas has seen at least one storm report of hail, damaging wind gusts, or tornadoes.

The reports of tornadoes, 23 days just this month, just in the month of May. I mean, you guys cannot get a break. It has been wild.

How do you describe what this month has been like?

JENKINS: It has been tough. These weather phenomena that are happening this month, it happened Texas for a long time, but they've never happened with this frequency or this widespread of an effect.

So, I've been the county executive here for 14 years, I was talking to the senior vice president over restoring outages at Oncore, our provider yesterday, neither of us have seen this widespread of a problem with keeping the power on because of the weather.

BOLDUAN: I'm sorry you are in the middle of it, Judge, but thank you so much for coming on and giving us a couple of minutes of your time. Good luck.

JENKINS: Thank you.

BOLDUAN: Thank you.

Coming up for us, new overnight, North Korea is accused of sending more than 260 balloons in to South Korea to dump garbage. Take a look at these videos -- these pictures. We will have more on that.

And new research that shows a link between less peanut allergies with earlier exposure to peanuts.

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[08:23:54]

BERMAN: All right, welcome back to the Manhattan Criminal Court, where over the course of the morning, really the only poll that will matter is the poll taken inside the jury room when they get this case. They will get the case about eleven o'clock.

The jury of seven women and five men will determine the fate of Donald Trump. Will he be the first former president ever convicted of a felony or the first former president ever found not guilty of a felony? Either way, as we said, it will be unprecedented. That's the poll that matters in this building, but there are other polls as well.

And for that we have CNN senior data reporter, Harry Enten.

Harry, Americans view of this case. It has been going on now, what -- I am looking at my notes -- 44 days since jury selection began. How has it changed?

HARRY ENTEN, CNN SENIOR DATA REPORTER: It feels like only yesterday to me, John, that it began, but apparently, it is 44 days.

You crack the numbers, you've run the numbers.

All right, let's take a look here. Think Trump did something illegal in the New York hush money case. I've been interested in whether or not these numbers will change at all during the course of this trial?

Simply put, John, they have not.

Pre-opening statements think Trump did something illegal, 46 percent. After the direct examination of Michael Cohen by the prosecution, look at where we are now, 46 percent. The percentage of Americans who think that the charges are very serious in fact, dropped from 40 percent to a little bit more than and 35 percent during the course of this trial.

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So, yes, perhaps things might have changed with those 12 jurors, but when it comes to the larger American public, there has been no change, at least so far -- John.

BERMAN: Any possible reasons why?

ENTEN: Yes, I think the question is, what is exactly cooking here? Why hasn't there been much of a change?

Well, folks like you and me, real news junkie might be paying really close attention to what is going on. The fact that most Americans don't really care that much, so closely following news about economy inflation, that's number one. It is 65 percent. Look at immigration, 52 percent; election legitimacy, 49 percent; abortion, 47 percent -- all the way down on this list of issues tested by the Ipsos Knowledge Panel is Trump's court cases at 42 percent. Significantly less than economy and inflation.

The fact is, John, when we are looking at these numbers, what we see is Americans minds aren't changing and a big reason why Americans minds aren't changing is at this particular point, John, they are tuned out of the conversation.

BERMAN: You say, folks like you and me, I am not sure there are very many folks exactly like you, Harry.

ENTEN: No, no.

BERMAN: But I take your point on that.

ENTEN: No.

BERMAN: In terms of the general election matchup right now, how things look there?

ENTEN: Yes, just quickly here, John, I will just point out. The Biden versus Trump margin, perhaps not a big surprise. Donald Trump had a slight lead before the trial began. Now he continues to have a slight lead.

Look, it is still very much a winnable race for Joe Biden, but at this particular point, that Trump train that has been moving faster than it has ever been moved before in a general election doesn't show any signs of slowing down, despite the criminal indictments against him, despite the fact that this case in New York is now going to the jury -- John.

BERMAN: Harry Enten, thank you very much for all of that. Let's go back to Kate.

BOLDUAN: All right, so today, President Biden is going to be launching a nationwide effort to mobilize Black voters during a campaign rally in Philadelphia. It also comes as some big name Democrats, there is new reporting out that big name Democrats are in "full-blown freakout mode" over President Biden's chances for re- election.

One longtime Democratic strategist telling POLITICO this: "There is still a path to win this, but they don't look like a campaign that is embarking on that path right now. If the frame of this race is what was better, the three-and-a-half years under Biden or four years under Trump, we lose that every day of the week and twice on Sunday."

Joining us right now in studio is Manhattan Borough president, Mark Levine. It is very good to have you. Thank you for being here.

MARK LEVINE, PRESIDENT, MANHATTAN BOROUGH: Thank you, Kate.

BOLDUAN: You also spoke with POLITICO and I will read your quote back to you for everyone. It says: "New York Democrats need --" you said: "New York Democrats need to wake up. The number of people in New York, including people of color that I come across who are saying pop positive things about Trump is alarming."

What are you hearing from people that is alarming as much?

LEVINE: Well, Kate, there has been a rising red wave in New York going back to at least 2020 and the polls right now here show President Biden ahead by about nine points, so he is going to win this state.

BOLDUAN: Then you could say "only nine."

LEVINE: Yes. It is too close and it has implications. We have seven competitive congressional races in New York, more than any other state outside of California. So what happens here will determine control of the House.

We cannot take working class voters for granted. We have to speak to the issues that they care about in their life. Democrats have to do better at that.

BOLDUAN: Is the Biden campaign missing it? Is the message getting missed? I spoke with Biden campaign comms director, Michael Tyler was on earlier, and he suggested when it came to Black voters, for example, he said that they are working to get every vote. They are working to rebuild that coalition and that they are putting in the groundwork to get voters who might not be paying attention now to start paying attention.

But is that it? Or is there -- is something missing?

LEVINE: Well, the president has a great record to run on with unemployment low and forgiving student debt and progress on climate and so much more, but I will tell you as much as I am alarmed at what a Trump victory would mean for our democracy, I have to admit at this point, Kate, that that is not moving swing working class voters.

What I am hearing from them every day are concerns about the cost of living, especially the cost of housing; concerns about public safety, and while it pains me, also concerns about immigration.

Democrats have a lot to say on this, but we have to stop just talking about what we are against and say what we are for. We are not against police, we are for safe, fair, effective policing.

We are not against security at the border, we are for that. We are for compassion for all people in this country, no matter their documentation status and we certainly can't be the party that is against building housing. We should be the party that's pro-housing to deal with this affordability crisis.

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