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Trump Faces Three More Criminal Cases; Rep. Byron Donalds (R- FL) is Interviewed about the Trump Verdict; Inflation Gauge Didn't Budge in April; Third Bird Flu Case in a Human; Bruhat Soma is Interviewed about Winning the Spelling Bee. Aired 8:30-9a ET

Aired May 31, 2024 - 08:30   ET

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[08:32:21]

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: Donald Trump says that he is going to hold a press conference this morning, just as he and his legal team are already preparing to appeal his verdict from yesterday. And he also still has three other criminal cases outstanding. The classified documents case in Florida, the election interference case in Washington, and the election interference case out of Georgia. In all it means 54 counts between the three outstanding cases. All three of those cases in something of a holding pattern at the moment though.

CNN's Katelyn Polantz has much more on this, kind of bringing it all together.

Katelyn, where did things go from here?

KATELYN POLANTZ, CNN SENIOR CRIME AND JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: Kate, it's a long road ahead for Donald Trump in these three other criminal cases he's facing, the classified documents case in Florida in federal court, where he's accused of mishandling national security secrets and obstructing justice. And then the two cases he's facing related to charges around the 2020 election, January 6th, a state case in Georgia, and a federal case in Washington, D.C.

All three of these have no trial dates at this time. That's because there is work to be done in all of the different fronts of these three cases. One by one, let's take them.

The classified documents case in Florida, that's bogged down at the moment in legal work. Judge Aileen Cannon has a lot of requests from the defense that she's needing to get through. She has hearing set out until the end of July. The trial date is currently postponed. There just isn't one on the calendar. And there's a lot of work to do about how classified documents can be used in that case, potentially shown to a jury. It's going to take several months to get through all of that. Don't expect a trial this year.

In the other two cases, a lot is up in the air this month. That's when the Supreme Court is expected to rule, before the end of their term, on questions of presidential immunity. This is primarily going to affect the federal case against Donald Trump. But whatever the Supreme Court does could have quite an effect in the Georgia case as well against him related to the 2020 election.

And the Supreme Court ruling is at a point where it could create a couple different paths, either no trial at all, cases dismissed against Donald Trump if the Supreme Court gives broad protection to Donald Trump because he was serving in the presidency. But then, Kate, there is also the possibility they could define the presidency and the immunity a president gets and send this back into the court system so that judges could put trials on the calendar in the coming months.

Kate.

BOLDUAN: A lot still ahead, that is for sure.

Katelyn, thank you very much. It's good to see you.

[08:35:00]

Let's get some fresh reaction to Donald Trump's guilty verdict from yesterday. Joining us right now as Republican Congressman Byron Donalds of Florida.

Congressman, thanks for coming in.

Have you had the chance to speak to Donald Trumps since the verdict?

REP. BYRON DONALDS (R-FL): I actually talked to the president last night. He was still in good spirits, primarily because he knows that this is a joke and it's a farce, although it's serious in nature because what happened in New York was a travesty of the justice system. You had charges that first should never have been brought into first place. Number two, the judge, the prosecution, and the jury could not actually define what the underlying crime was to make these bookkeeping charges felonies. They still can't define what that is. Nobody knows what that is even today. In my view, that's a violation of Donald Trump's constitutional rights because how is he supposed to defend himself if he doesn't know what he's defending himself against. That's just - I'm not a lawyer, but that's basic constitutional protections that every American is afforded.

And so I know that there are pundits who were saying, oh, well this just proves that Donald Trump's not above the law. No, what happened in New York is, is that they have made it that he's below the law. And that is reprehensible, in my view. But the president is still in good spirits. He's going to fight on.

BOLDUAN: And some of what you lay out is definitely going to be part of the appeal that they'll be putting forward. We heard that some from Todd Blanche, his attorney, just last night.

You were not happy with the verdict. On CNN last night, I heard you say you don't respect what the jury said in - with their verdict. It's a jury of - you know, it's always - it's a jury of their peers. It's a jury of 12 ordinary citizens and 12 people coming to a unanimous verdict. How did they get it all - get it wrong? Why don't you respect their verdict?

DONALDS: Oh, listen, a number of reasons. First of all, Alvin Bragg ran for office saying he was going to get Donald Trump. Not that there was some specific crime to look at, that he was just going to do whatever it took to get him. So, if you prosecute -

BOLDUAN: But I'm talking about the jury. Alvin Bragg wasn't in the jury room.

DONALDS: Well, hold on. But - but this is important. But this is important. Because this is what the jury hears when they're in that courtroom. They're hearing from a prosecution team put together just to get Donald Trump. Regardless of whatever might have occurred, a positive or a negative.

You got Mathy Colangelos (ph), the number three from main justice, bumped down to a front-line prosecutor. That never happens in any profession, let alone the legal profession.

Number three, you have the judge, he is - he's definitely biased against Donald Trump. Obviously a supporter of Joe Biden. Has donated to Joe Biden. His daughter is making millions of dollars raising money for Democrats using the trial as a backdrop. Number four, the jury instructions were an absolute joke. They told the jury, you don't even have to agree on the underlying crime. If some of you think it's tax- evasion, cool. If some of you think it's campaign finance, cool. Whatever it is, all you got to do is come back and say that he's guilty. That is not the way a jury trial is supposed to be conducted.

So, how can I respect the verdict of a jury when every - everything that was put into the jury's hands was corrupt in the first place.

BOLDUAN: Former Republican governor of Maryland, currently running for Senate, there, Larry Hogan, he said that - he said this right after - right as all of this was happening, and this is in direct contrast to exactly what you're saying, Congressman. Larry Hogan says, "regardless of the result, I urge all Americans to respect the verdict and the legal process." Going on to say, "we must reaffirm what has made this nation great, the rule of law."

That tweet was responded to from Trump's campaign co-chair, Chris Lacivita, who tweeted, "you just ended your campaign."

Are you OK with that, that just saying you want to respect the verdict and rule of law should mean the end of a career in Republican politics?

DONALDS: Listen, I don't agree with Larry Hogan. He is wrong. Because you cannot respect the process when the fix is in from the beginning. It was fixed from the beginning. It was a rigged judicial process in lower Manhattan. Any legal scholar worth their salt who observed this case knows this. I disagree with Larry Hogan. That's his - whatever his opinion is, is irrelevant. Because -

BOLDUAN: That's not true. That - a lot of legal scholars worth their sale didn't say that, but keep going.

DONALDS: Hold on. But it's irrelevant. It's irrelevant because what happened in New York was a travesty of justice. Like I said at the beginning, they couldn't even identify the underlying crime. They never could do it anywhere in the case. The only time the prosecution even tried to put it together was in closing arguments after the defense had finished their closing arguments. You and I both know that is not a fair legal process that protects the constitutional rights of Donald Trump.

So, if Larry Hogan is playing to voters in Maryland, because Maryland is deep blue, I find that to be reprehensible. But that's his decision. What happened in New York was wrong.

[08:40:00]

This is why so many Americans, not just Republicans, are going to donaldjtrump.com to support President Trump, to volunteer for President Trump, because they look at this for exactly what it is, a miscarriage of justice.

BOLDUAN: Is - do you see this as what we're just talking about with Larry Hogan, that this as the new litmus test for Republicans?

DONALDS: A litmus test? No. The litmus test is not for Republicans, it's for protecting our Constitution. It's for actually protecting the institutions of our country.

You know, I'm sick and tired of being lectured to by Joe Biden and everybody on the radical left saying they're trying to save democracy. No, you're not. Not when you twist the law into legal pretzels just to get a conviction. Not when you are constantly, voraciously investigating the same man over and over again simply because you don't like his tweets, or you don't like his manners or his mannerisms. This goes all the way back to 2015, 2016, when they were spying on his campaign, when the FISA process was abused to go after a political rival back then, and it's never stopped.

So, this is not about, oh, what the jury said. That's not true at all. This is about protecting our Constitution, protecting the institutions of our government. It has to be blind. It cannot be a respecter of persons, it cannot be a respecter of politics because once you go down that line, you actually destroy America. And that's where Joe Biden and the radical left are taking us. And it is disgraceful to see it happening in our country.

BOLDUAN: Real quick, but I know you told - said Joe Biden is twisting the law into knots and to talk - has just spoken out against the Justice Department and things you've said, though no evidence that Joe Biden has anything to do with the criminal case in New York. But even just talking about the Department of Justice. This is the same Department of Justice, if you're speaking out against it, saying that it's biased unfair, that's twisting the law into knots, that is also taking Joe Biden's son, Hunter Biden, to trial next week.

DONALDS: Well, I'm glad you brought that up. The only reason why the Department of Justice is prosecuting Hunter Biden is because House Republicans actually investigated what was going on with Hunter Biden. And what we found in our investigations -

(CROSSTALK)

BOLDUAN: Yes, I mean, you can say that but that also shows - that also suggests impartiality on the part of -

DONALDS: Hold on, you raise a good point.

BOLDUAN: I know I did. It also suggests impartiality on the Department of Justice.

DONALDS: You raise a good point. Because we shamed - we shamed the Department of Justice into looking into Hunter Biden. They tried to shove this gun charge into some other charge underneath it, and it took a judge in Florida to look at the indictment of the - the agreement that the - that main justice negotiated with Hunter Biden's attorneys, to look and that and says, this is a joke. I'm not signing this. And that is the only reason why that prosecution is going forward.

But let's take a step away from Hunter Biden. Joe Biden's in violation of the Espionage Act. That's what Robert Hur said in his - in his documents. But the only reason he's not prosecuting is because he says he's an elderly gentleman. Meanwhile, Jack Smith is moving forward. Why? Because Jack Smith wants to get Trump.

(CROSSTALK)

BOLDUAN: Well, Hur said he doesn't suggest charges.

DONALDS: That is not true. Joe Biden took documents when he was a U.S. senator and a Vice President of the United States. That is a clear violation of the Espionage Act.

And your elderly state does not protect you from violation - violating the Espionage Act. It does not. But that's what main justice is doing right now under Merrick Garland. So, you tell me what's fair.

BOLDUAN: I'm not going to tell you what's fair. I'm just going to say, it's the same Justice Department that is taking Hunter Biden to trial in Delaware next week.

Thank you so much, Congressman. We're going to wait to see what -

DONALDS: Only because they were shamed to do so.

BOLDUAN: We're going to see what Donald Trump has to say when he wants - when he speaks out, if he does, later this morning.

John.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: All right, Kate, thanks very much.

With us now, CNN's senior political analyst, Mark Preston. Counselor, I think you have it right there. You can see what Republicans are going to do to defend Donald Trump. Even going so far as to go after Larry Hogan, the governor of Maryland, who may be their best chance to retake the Senate. Byron Donalds attacking Larry Hogan merely for saying the verdict should be respected.

MARK PRESTON, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: You know, John, just over the past couple of hours I've looked at the guests that we've had on CNN, the Republicans that we've had on CNN, just to see what their reaction is. Now, Byron Donalds, certainly what we've just seen, has - has really emphasized what we're going to hear from not only President Trump in a couple of hours when he does his news conference, but certainly from all of his surrogates.

Right when the conviction came out yesterday, we saw a message from the House speaker who described the verdict as the weapons - weaponization of the justice system. This morning, Doug Burgum was on our air. He said that the verdict was political. Markwayne Mullin said he questions the fact whether Donald Trump could actually even get a fair trial in New York. So clearly we are going to hear over the coming weeks, the coming months, heading into election day, that this has all been rigged, that this took place in an area, in a region of the country, that would never give Donald Trump a fair hearing.

[08:45:05]

That's how this is going to play politically, I think, John, in the next couple of months.

BERMAN: Well, that's what they're going to say.

PRESTON: Right.

BERMAN: The question is, who is going to take the counter argument here? Because Alvin Bragg held a press conference, barely said anything. All he did was thank the jury, talked about the process.

PRESTON: Right.

BERMAN: Wouldn't comment on sentencing.

President Biden says, the only way to beat Donald Trump is at the ballot box. We don't know if we're going to hear from President Biden. He leaves Delaware shortly. He may or may not comment on the way to the helicopter here.

So, what you see is a disproportionate situation being set up here where you have every Republican out there saying gross miscarriage of justice, and Democrats, in terms of the campaign, not saying much, at least so far, Mark.

PRESTON: Certainly not saying much, allowing the verdict of 34 counts that Donald Trump was convicted on to kind of stand by itself. But you're right, at some point this narrative potentially could be - start to be embraced by folks. I will tell you who is embracing it, and that's certainly the folks

that are die-hard Donald Trump fans. The real concern for me is really not the politics of it all, John, because, you know, you hope that the voters, the viewers, would be able to discern what is right and what is wrong. What concerns me is the judicial system and the judges and those who work in these courts systems where now it's being weaponized and could judges across the country be put in danger because of some of the words that we're hearing out of Washington and from some of the words from Donald Trump's supporters.

BERMAN: Mark Preston, great to see you this morning. Thank you so much.

So, a new case of the bird flu in a human has health officials on high alert. What the CDC says you need to do to protect yourself.

And the spelling bee. There is a new champion spelling amazing works.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Myrabalanus.

BRUHAT SOMA: M-y-r-a-b-a-l-a-n-u-s.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Sciniph.

SOMA: S-c-i-n-i-p-h.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Voussoir

SOMA: V-o-u-s-s-o-i-r.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[08:51:27]

BOLDUAN: Breaking just moments ago, the Federal Reserves favorite inflation gauge showing prices - pricing pressure remains sticky in April.

CNN's Rahel Solomon is here now.

I don't like sticky pricing is what I'm guessing.

RAHEL SOLOMON, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: I don't like sticky prices either.

Yes, we're sort of stuck in place, Kate. So, it didn't get much worse, but we're kind of where we were. So, 2.7 percent. That is both what we expected, economists were expecting, but it is also where we were the month prior, hence why it's sticky, right?

If you look at the index, even on a monthly basis, prices increased 0.3 percent, or the index increased 0.3 percent. This is also what economists were expecting, but this is also where we were the month prior. So, that's sort of why it feels like we're sort of stuck in this gear, right?

BOLDUAN: Yes.

SOLOMON: Now, if you look under the hood and you look at sort of what's happening with prices. So, we saw food prices fall.

BOLDUAN: OK.

SOLOMON: You do like that, right?

BOLDUAN: Yes.

SOLOMON: But energy prices increased. So you have to -

BOLDUAN: It's like flipping - they're like flip-flopping.

SOLOMON: Exactly. Now, if you take away both of those categories, food, you take away energy, this is what is core inflation. And this is what the Fed pays really especially close attention to because it gives you a sense of underlying price pressures, underlying inflation. And this also, for the most part, came in - came in line with what we were expecting.

If you look back and sort of where we've come from the last four years or so, you can see the peak there, Kate. That's the summer of 2022. That was 7.1 percent I want to call it, June of 2022.

BOLDUAN: Yes.

SOLOMON: We are not there, 2.7 percent is a far cry from there, but we are also not there. We are also not at 2 percent, which, remember, is the Fed's target. That is where we are trying to get to. That is where the Fed is trying to get us.

Now, the reason why that's so important right now is because there is a huge debate on Wall Street and the investment community about what the rest of this year looks like in terms of rate cuts, right? We've been looking for better inflation data. This is sort of more of the same, but there's a question about, if we don't start seeing better, improving data, do we see any rate cuts at all?

BOLDUAN: Because June was the - June was the month.

SOLOMON: June was the month, but we do hear from the Fed in a few weeks. We do not expect - virtually no one expects to get a rate cut then, but do we see one in September? Do we see one in November? That's the question. But as recently as this week, we've heard from some Fed officials who have said, look, if inflation doesn't start improving, a rate hike is still on the table.

BOLDUAN: OK.

SOLOMON: So, this is - we're sort of where we were. We're sort of moving flat, moving sideways.

BOLDUAN: But time matters here. Time matters here.

SOLOMON: Time matters.

BOLDUAN: Yes.

SOLOMON: But, this is where we are, 2.7. Better than seven, not quite at two.

BOLDUAN: Yes.

SOLOMON: It's like that last crawl when you're in a marathon.

BOLDUAN: Yes, but, I mean, Rahel, when you're coming around - down off Mount Everest, you can still be at a pretty high altitude.

SOLOMON: Exactly. That's a very good way to put it.

BOLDUAN: Exactly. Thanks. Thank you so much.

John.

BERMAN: Sticky prices.

BOLDUAN: They're cray.

BERMAN: This morning, a farm worker has tested positive for bird flu in Michigan. That's according to the CDC. This is the second bird flu case in the state, the third in the United States. This is among humans now.

CNN's Meg Tirrell joins us now.

Meg, what are you learning?

MEG TIRRELL, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, John, this one is a little bit different from the previous two that are associated with this outbreak among dairy cattle in the United States. And that's because this is the first case that public health officials have said showed more typical symptoms of flu, the respiratory symptoms that we associate with flu. The previous two cases really just affected farm workers' eyes and conjunctivitis, or sort of pink eye. This one they saw more typical respiratory symptoms. Things like cough, congestion, sore throat, watery eyes.

Still, the CDC says that this person was in closed contact with cows. They were not wearing protective equipment.

[08:55:00]

And so this was a cow to person transmission in all likelihood. And so we are not seeing person-to-person transmission of this bird flu virus right now.

And for that reason, the CDC says the risk to the general public at this time is low. However, we are seeing this outbreak pretty widespread in dairy cattle herds.

Now, 67 herds have detected this virus across nine states. Still, we only have these three detected cases in people. The CDC says the recommendations really to protect folks are mostly for people who have contact with potentially infected animals. Wear that personal protective equipment. Don't have prolonged exposure without being protected. For the general public, the risk is low, they say, but what's really important is to avoid raw milk and not pasteurized milk because they have detected the virus in milk, but pasteurization should kill it, should make sure that the milk is safe. So, that is the main recommendation right now from public health officials for the general public, and the focus really is to protect farm workers who could have exposure.

Guys.

BERMAN: All right, Meg Tirrell, thank you very much.

BOLDUAN: The this morning winner is spelled b-r-u-h-a-t. That spells the first name of a spelling wizard and also the first name of the 2024 Scripps National Spelling Bee champ. And it was an epic road to getting there. Champion Bruhat Soma is 12-years-old and crushed 29 difficult words in 90 seconds, besting his opponents 20 correct words in that same minute and a half.

Here's a taste.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Myrabalanus.

BRUHAT SOMA: M-y-r-a-b-a-l-a-n-u-s.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Sciniph.

SOMA: S-c-i-n-i-p-h.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Voussoir

SOMA: V-o-u-s-s-o-i-r.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Caixinha.

SOMA: C-a-i-x-i-n-h-a.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Ramoneur.

SOMA: R-a-m-o-n-e-u-r.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Aposiopesis.

SOMA: A-p-o-s-i-o-p-e-s-i-s.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Abseil.

SOMA: A-b-s-e-i-l. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Posology.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BOLDUAN: Amazing. Amazing.

Joining us right now is now the National Spelling Bee champion, Bruhat Soma.

Bruhat, how are you?

BRUHAT SOMA, SCRIPPS NATIONAL SPELLING BEE WINNER: Hi. I'm good. How are you?

BOLDUAN: I'm doing really good.

Can you take us to this moment, that moment, and those 90 seconds? You clearly were prepared. What was that like and how fast you went?

SOMA: Yes, it was kind of exhilarating. In the starting, when they first announced that there's a spell-off, my heart was pumping so fast. But then I realized, because I was practicing spell-offs for six months, I realized that maybe I have a shot at winning. And I did.

BERMAN: Yes, you did. Yes, you did.

Listen, you are - I have to say, ice cold cool in that moment. You just kept going and going and going.

And we saw you with your hands I think typing the words. What were you doing with your hands? How does that help?

SOMA: Yes. So, it helps me type - so, like, when I type the word, it helps me because usually I use this website called Spell Pundit (ph) and then it has pronunciations and then it has the information of the word. And then you just type in the word and then go on. So that - like, that's what I usually do to prepare. And then I have to type in all the words. So, doing that onstage simulates that experience too.

BOLDUAN: What - well, as you said, six months of doing spell-offs. What kind of preparation and practice and time have you put in to being - I mean you sounded more auctioneer than spelling - than, you know, articulate speller. It was amazing. What kind of practice do you - went into this?

SOMA: Yes, so I studied ten hours on weekends and then six hours on weekdays.

BERMAN: I watch that much TV usually on weekends and weekdays. That's how I prepare for sloth (ph), which is what I do.

In the - in the spelling bee, in the spell-off, were there any words you didn't know? You just looked like you knew all of them. I think I had never heard a single one. But you sounded like you knew all of them. SOMA: Yes. Yes, all of them I knew. There was this one word, porfirio (ph), that I misheard. So, I missed that one. But, yes, everything else I knew.

BERMAN: What is Porfirio?

BOLDUAN: Yes, I was going to say, good old Porfirio.

BERMAN: What does it mean?

SOMA: What? Oh, it's like a genus of like purple birds I think.

BERMAN: Of course. Of course it is.

SOMA: Yes.

[08:59:58]

BERMAN: Bruhat Soma, congratulations. You did such a wonderful job. You must be - I hope you're proud of yourself, and I know your family is super proud of you. That work really did pay off.

SOMA: Yes.

BERMAN: So, congratulations.