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Trump Campaign Out Fundraises Biden Campaign in Month of May; President Biden and Former President Trump Prepare for First Presidential Debate; Report Indicates Peers of Judge Aileen Cannon Suggested She Step Down from Donald Trump's Classified Documents Case Due to Her Inexperience; Donald Trump's Classified Documents Case; Appeals Court Rejects Steve Bannon's Bide to Delay Prison Sentence; Migrant Arrests Fall Sharply with New Asylum Restrictions. Aired 8- 8:30a ET

Aired June 21, 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]

FELICIA WHITE, PUBLIC SCHOOL PARENT: Is going to be hard, really hard.

RENE MARSH, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Advocates are sounding the alarm that the future of public schools is at stake.

BETH LEWIS, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, SAVE OUR SCHOOLS ARIZONA: Our schools have been so underfunded for so long that there really wasn't any cushion in those school budgets. Even the smallest amount of movement is going to destabilize that. And our public schools simply cannot hold.

(END VIDEO TAPE)

OMAR JIMENEZ, CNN ANCHOR: All right, thank you, Rene. Rene Marsh with that report. Now, neither Turning Point nor Dream City responded to CNN's request for comment. And as I mentioned, thank you, Rene, for that report.

A new hour of CNN NEWS CENTRAL starts right now.

SARA SIDNER, CNN ANCHOR: After his felony conviction, Donald Trump outraising President Biden. A reclusive billionaire giving him a major boost to the tune of $50 million while the latest poll of poll shows Trump and Biden in a dead heat.

Plus, you good out there? A Southwest flight triggering a low altitude warning, flying just 525 feet above an Oklahoma town. Now the FAA is investigating that.

And a drastic drop in border encounters. The number of people entering the U.S. illegally dips by 25 percent. What this means for Biden and his campaign.

All that and more ahead this hour. I'm Sara Sidner with Omar Jimenez. John and Kate out this morning. This is CNN NEWS CENTRAL. JIMENEZ: All right, everyone, for the second month in a row Donald Trump has pulled in more campaign donations than President Biden. After a massive hall in the immediate aftermath of his criminal conviction in his hush money trial, Trump ended May with a staggering $141 million. Biden and the Democratic Party fell well short of that, even though they raised more than $85 million last month.

CNN's Jeff Zeleny joins us now for more on this. So Jeff, what do the numbers tell us here? Because obviously we're talking about a lot here.

JEFF ZELENY, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: Hey, good morning, Omar. We are, I mean, millions and millions, and that money is being spent as well. But very interesting, in the filings we have been poring over the Trump campaign has essentially erased the Biden cash advantage. This has been something that's been consistent month by month by month, President Biden and his team have outraised the Trump campaign. That changed in an instant around the time of Trumps guilty verdict back just to last month.

Take a look at these numbers just from the month of May, as you were saying. The Biden campaign raised at $85 million. The Trump campaign raise $141 million. Many of those were through small-dollar donations, the Trump campaign says, was because of people are registering their concern, their outrage over that conviction.

Now, what we don't know exactly is how much the Trump campaign has on hand at this moment. The Biden campaign going into June has a cash on hand of $212 million. They've already been spending much of that in battleground states in a big advertising campaign. The Trump campaign has spent far less than that. But there is no doubt heading into the summer months, the last of four-and-a-half months of the election, if you will, there is essential parity. Perhaps not a big surprise, and money was never going to be the driving factor of this race. Both sides will have a lot. But certainly, the Trump campaign erasing that financial advantage is one sort of hurdle they have climbed here.

The question is going forward, how will they spend that money? Will they save it for legal fees, or will they invest it in television advertising campaigns as well?

SIDNER: Alright, Jeff, we are, what, six days away now from the first and historic Trump-Biden rematch on the debate stage. There are going to be some differences from what we have seen in the past. What can we expect?

ZELENY: Without question. I mean, the two men will still be standing on stage. It's actually the last time either of the two have met together, and it's the last time either of the two have debated. But the set of issues this year is so, so much different. Take a look.

(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)

ZELENY: The historic rematch between Joe Biden and Donald Trump is anything but a rerun. A vastly different set of issues are driving this race as the president and former president come face-to-face for the first debate of the 2024 campaign, four years since they shared a stage.

JOE BIDEN, (D) PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: You're the worst America has ever had. Come on.

DONALD TRUMP, FORMER U.S. PRESIDENT: In 47 months, I've done more than you've done in 47 years, Joe.

ZELENY: It feels like an upside-down lifetime ago, back when the coronavirus pandemic was raging.

TRUMP: You have to understand, if you look, I mean, I have a mask right here. I'll put a mask on it when I think I need it.

BIDEN: This is his economy that he shut down.

ZELENY: In the Biden-Trump sequel, an entirely new fight has been brewing on the campaign trail.

TRUMP: We could end up in World War Three with this person. He's the worst president ever.

ZELENY: And in TV ads.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This election is between a convicted criminal who is only out for himself and a president who is fighting for your family.

[08:05:04]

ZELENY: That offers a window into the new issues and fresh lines of attack, a reminder of just how much the country, the world, and, yes, they have changed. From an insurrection and all its fallout to a new fight on abortion rights in the wake of the U.S. Supreme Court overturning Roe versus Wade, to Russia's invasion of Ukraine and a war in the Middle East, to the very stark question of America's role in the world. Yet the economy, inflation, and immigration are still at the center of it.

Trump's record was at the heart of their last debates, even as he sought to deflect.

TRUMP: If he gets in, you will have a depression the likes of which you've never seen. You're 401(k)s will go to hell, and it'll be a very, very sad day for this country.

ZELENY: While those warnings didn't come to pass, Biden's record is now under the microscope, complicating his effort to make it a referendum on Trump.

BIDEN: The fact is that everything he is saying so far is simply a lie. I'm not here to call out his lies. Everybody knows he's a liar.

ZELENY: And Americas oldest presidential candidates are even older. Trump is 78, Biden 81, with age and fitness for office now a central issue in the race. Public opinion for presidents can be punishing. Biden's favorability has fallen 11 points since 2020, with nearly six in ten Americans holding an unfavorable view. Perceptions of Trump have changed less, with more than half still seeing him in an unfavorable light.

Televised debates have long been a storied part of presidential campaigns, of history making moments for candidates.

RONALD REAGAN, FORMER U.S. PRESIDENT: There you go again.

ZELENY: Yet this showdown is without parallel. The nation's 45th and 46th presidents still seeking to define one another in the earliest general election debates in memory, an old duel being fought on new ground.

(END VIDEO TAPE)

ZELENY (on camera): And history does offer no guide for this. We have never seen a sitting president and a former president side-by-side on the debate stage. And there was a coin toss just yesterday. The president, President Biden elected to stand on the right side of the stage. I'm told that as the side he prefers. It's his good side, if you will. And former President Donald Trump, he will have the last word in the debate, of course, the earliest one on record that could define the rest of this presidential campaign. Omar and Sara?

JIMENEZ: Highly anticipated. And as you mentioned, it'll be the first time in a long time that voters will have a chance to see them onstage together live, no script, no teleprompter at all. Jeff Zeleny, thank you so much.

And as I mentioned, we're close now to the most anticipated moment of this historic election season. Join CNN as President Biden and former President Trump meet for their first debate. Jake Tapper and Dana Bash moderate the CNN presidential debate next Thursday, live from Atlanta, beginning at 9:00 p.m. eastern.

SIDNER: All right, today, Donald Trump's lawyers are heading to court in Florida to try and kick the special counsel off of his classified documents case. Why the judge overseeing that case was asked to step away from it by several of her colleagues on the bench.

And what exactly causes devastating wildfires in New Mexico that have claimed the lives so far of at least two people and destroyed thousands homes and buildings. Now the FBI is looking into that.

And when a Houston area family of highly trained taekwondo athletes noticed a woman seemingly in trouble, they sprung into action to save her. That story straight ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[08:13:08]

SIDNER: All right, we are standing by right now for a new hearing in Donald Trump's classified documents case, one that if Trump gets his way could end with Special Counsel Jack Smith no longer being allowed to prosecute him. The chances are slim that that will actually happen, but the fact that we're talking about this right now is a win for Trump as his trial is further delayed.

All of this as "The New York Times" now reporting the judge who approved this morning's hearing was advised multiple times by her peers of judges to step down from this case.

Katelyn Polantz is following all of this. Katelyn, walk us through what the other judges were saying to her and why.

KATELYN POLANTZ, CNN SENIOR CRIME AND JUSTICE REPORTER: Yes, these other judges were calling Aileen Cannon right after Donald Trump was indicted and she was randomly selected to oversee this case up in that Fort Pierce courthouse where she's the only judge up there. It's quite remote. And one of the judges called her and suggested to her it actually might be better to have this case about three hours south or even two hours south in a different courthouse that was more equipped for national security matters. Perhaps you should hand it off to a more experienced judge.

And then because she didn't step down from the case at that time, there was another call that was placed to her from the chief judge in the Southern District of Florida. According to "The New York Times," in that call that judge spoke to her about how it might not be great optics for her to continue on this case. She's quite an inexperienced jurist, having not a lot of trial experience, not a lot of political experience, not a lot of national security experience either on this classified documents mishandling case. And the judge mentioned to her how she had handled things in the investigation where she essentially blocked the Justice Department from investigating after they pulled all of those boxes of classified records out of Mar-a-Lago and was then overturned by more experienced judges above her in the Appeals Court.

[08:15:00]

She did not give up the case at that time. That is what we know because she is still on it, and she is having hearings. One today, another one Monday, one on Tuesday that are looking at some requests from Trump, as well as from prosecutors.

Today's hearing is going to be a long day in court where everyone is arguing about the validity of the special counsel's office, the power that office has to bring charges. Other judges across the country of signed off on the special counsel's office, but Judge Aileen Cannon, she wants to hear everything, including from people not even involved in the case -- Sarah.

SARA SIDNER, CNN ANCHOR: This has caused huge delays. Everyone thought this might go before the election, that is clearly not happening.

I do want to talk to you about what has happened with Trump's former adviser, Steve Bannon. An Appeals Court made the decision that deeply affects him. What happened? POLANTZ: Yes, Steve Bannon convicted two years ago on contempt of

Congress for refusing to turn over information in that January 6 investigation, and he is going to prison.

His report date is July 1. He is set to go to the Federal Prison in Danbury, Connecticut, and he is trying to get out of that or hold it off. It is not happening as of right now.

A trial judge says he needs to go to prison, serve his time, four months, and now an Appeals Court as of last night, Sara, also said the same.

Bannon is not very happy about a lot of things right now as that date approaches. It is possible he tries with the Supreme Court as well, but he is out there on his podcast, at speeches with conservatives talking about how there is going to be retribution for political opponents or perceived political enemies of Donald Trump.

He said specifically about Andrew McCabe, one of the former top FBI officials in the Trump era, we are going to come and get you. Here is how Andy McCabe responded to that with Anderson Cooper last night.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ANDREW MCCABE, CNN SENIOR LAW ENFORCEMENT ANALYST: This -- they've been doing this to me, Donald Trump has been doing this for years. I will be fine.

It is about people who will be experiencing this for the first time, and more importantly, their families. You know, I talk to former officials and everyone is in the same place like we are still committed to this country and seeing this through, we still have faith in the systems that are built to protect the rights of every American.

But that's a hard thing to explain to your family when their thinking, basically they don't want to have to live in this kind of fear and terror for another four years.

What is really, to me, shocking and disgusting about the rhetoric is what it says about who we are becoming as a nation and the fact that a person who is quite possibly the next president of the United States is engaging in this level of absolutely fundamentally, anti-democratic rhetoric and behavior and ideation.

Everything he says, it stands in direct contrast to the nation that we think we are, the nation that we have always been. But I think people have got to start asking themselves, is this the direction that we want to go? Is this the country that we are becoming? A place where an incoming president takes the levers of power and uses them for his own gratification to pursue enemies.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

POLANTZ: And yet, Steve Bannon keeps talking. He remains in touch with Donald Trump as far as we understand through our sources and also what we hear from him publicly, but it may be difficult to hear from Steve Bannon starting July 1, the whole way through the end of October -- Sara.

SIDNER: That's right. All right, Katelyn Polantz, thank you so much for all of that reporting for us this morning -- Omar.

OMAR JIMENEZ, CNN ANCHOR: All right, a lot to talk about.

With me now to help talk about all of this is defense attorney and former federal prosecutor, Shan Wu.

All right, Shan, where do you want to start here? Let's start with Aileen Cannon, because obviously, we've got the two -- the reporting that two federal judges urged her to give up this case.

I mean, how unusual is this? Have you have you ever seen that?

SHAN WU, FORMER FEDERAL PROSECUTOR: It is really unusual, even the fact that were hearing about it in these sort of backroom, back- channel conversations. It is very rare.

I mean, I've clerked for federal judges and two things to note, I think, Omar, first if the chief judge speaks to you, it is not that they have direct supervisory authority in that sense, but there is an enormous amount of deference given to the chief judge, and for them to expressed that opinion to her and for her basically to bode off is really a very unusual situation.

Then let's start with the fact that the chief judge took it upon himself to speak to her. This notion that she was too inexperienced to take the case, I take that with a grain of salt. I mean, you've got to start somewhere.

[08:20:10]

And it is her first case, it is a big one. It's her first case.

There is a lot of confidence in these young judges, and a lot of support given them. To me, that really signals his lack of confidence in her judgment because she already made that horrible debacle out of trying to interfere with the criminal investigation, so it is a very, very unusual situation.

JIMENEZ: And look, today, obviously, the defense on Trump's side is going to try and get the charges against Trump dismissed on the grounds that Special Counsel Jack Smith was improperly appointed.

I know you do not believe in that strategy at all, so just explain how unusual that is and whether you think there is even a sliver of chance for that to go through.

WU: Yes, what's really unusual about it is that there is even this much time being devoted to it. I mean, this is something -- I mean, they can raise what arguments they want, it may be frivolous, but a good, competent judge would simply just dismiss this on the papers, she is holding like a complete hearing on it ala the Supreme Court having amicus people come in, having them actually argue the issues. There's no legs to stand on it at all. Obviously, there have been tons of special counsels who have been

appointed in the past in various forms and there is nothing in the Constitution that prohibits that.

I mean, the language and the arguments that they use is kind of just, it is the equivalent of them saying, hey, the Constitution prohibits anybody, but an ally of President Trump being empowered. It is as silly as that, and yet, she is giving it the full hearing.

JIMENEZ: Yes, no, it will be interesting to see how it plays out today.

Before we go, I just want to ask you about Steve Bannon really quickly because we were just listening to Katelyn, an Appeals Court rejected his efforts to stay out of jail while he appeals his contempt of Congress conviction. So he is still set to go to prison on July 1st.

But can you walk us through how the Appeals Court sort of made this decision? And does he have any legitimate fallback options?

WU: I don't think he has any fallback options. He certainly may seek the higher review by the Supreme Court. It might be useful to contrast them to Peter Navarro, who kind of tried to do the same thing and also failed to put off doing his sentence, he is almost done.

If you compare the two of them, Navarro had a much stronger position because, at least, he had a formal policy role with the administration making these arguments.

In both instances, they were convicted and there is really no sound legal basis for Bannon to put this off.

And I would add, if she keeps talking this way, in these very threatening sorts of ways, maybe he is up to the line of not making overt threats, but he is going to talk himself into another charge if he is not careful.

JIMENEZ: If Shan Wu says there is no sound legal basis, then that is the truth, ladies and gentlemen.

Shan Wu, really appreciate it. Thanks for being here.

WU: Good to see you.

JIMENEZ: All right, coming up, a significant drop in migrant arrests at the southern border. Is President Biden's asylum action actually making a difference? We will explain.

And Ukraine launching new drone strikes on Russia after a policy shift from the Pentagon. The Biden administration's new move to "ensure" Ukraine's survival.

Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[08:26:34]

SIDNER: New statistics released by Customs and Border Protection show a sharp decline in the number of people illegally entering the United States through the southern border.

CBP data shows encounters between ports of entry along the southwest border dropped from -- sorry, the 170,900 recorded encounters in May, that is down from the month prior since the White House announced controversial asylum restrictions earlier this month, preliminary data shows encounters have decreased by 25 percent.

CNN's Kevin Liptak, live from the White House for us.

What more can you tell us about this?

KEVIN LIPTAK, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: Yes, you do see this steady decrease over the last several for months of these migrant arrests at the southern border, it was a nine percent decrease in May.

And as you said, since President Biden announced those new asylum rules, it is now down 25 percent.

Now, these numbers do fluctuate over time and it is for a variety of reasons, including conditions in the countries where these migrants are coming from. But certainly, I think this will be welcome news for the White House who has for so long been trying to neutralize this issue of immigration.

It is a major political vulnerability for President Biden, and they have been trying so hard, really over the last several years to show that they have control over what is going on, on the southern border, and these new numbers do reflect significant decreases from some of those highs that we saw earlier in the Biden administration.

Now, this new asylum rule that the president announced a few weeks ago, it essentially allows the president to shut down the border to asylum seekers when the number of people crossing reaches a certain level, 2,500 per day. That level has been reached well before the president made this announcement. So it essentially went into effect right away.

It hasn't been universally popular. And in fact, the ACLU has already challenged it in court, but certainly these numbers, I think do give an indication to the White House that some of these steps that they are taking have been working -- Sara.

SIDNER: All right, Kevin Liptak, thank you so much for your reporting on this this morning -- Omar.

JIMENEZ: Well, a lot more coming up, including as we wait for potential new Supreme Court opinions this morning, we are waiting to see if Justice Samuel Alito will take the bench.

He was MIA on Thursday. We will explain, coming up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) [08:30:00]