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Israeli PM Netanyahu Takes Stand For First Time In Historic Corruption Trial; Luigi Mangione Is Fighting Extradition And Was Denied Bail; 45 Trump Allies Still In Legal Peril Despite His Election Victory. Aired 2:30-3p ET

Aired December 10, 2024 - 14:30   ET

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

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[14:33:40]

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN HOST: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is not only engaged in a war in Gaza and potentially facing threats from the wider turmoil across the region, he's also on trial for corruption.

Today, Netanyahu finally took the witness stand, more than five years after he was indicted. The 75-year-old is Israel's first sitting prime minister to be charged with a crime.

BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN HOST: He's accused of accepting gifts from millionaire friends and for allegedly seeking regulatory favors from media tycoons in return for favorable coverage. Netanyahu denies any wrongdoing.

We're joined now live by Barak Ravid, a CNN political and global affairs analyst.

Barak, thanks so much for being with us.

So there are three main cases here. He's accused of bribery, fraud, receiving gifts from businessmen overseas, trying to boost favorable coverage in a top Israeli newspaper.

Which of these allegations do you think most worries Netanyahu?

BARAK RAVID, CNN POLITICAL & GLOBAL AFFAIRS ANALYST: Well, Boris and Brianna, I think all of them worry Netanyahu very much because, at least in one case, there's really no argument over the facts.

For example, case 1,000, where Netanyahu received $200,000 worth of cigars, champagne and jewelry from two businessmen whom he afterwards helped in on certain issues. He doesn't deny that he received this champagne and those cigars and the jewelry. He just says it's a gift between friends.

[14:35:12]

On the other hand, in case 4,000, about the millions of -- hundreds of millions of dollars of regulatory benefits that he allegedly gave this telecommunication tycoon in order to get favorable coverage, Netanyahu claims that he did not know that he gave this tycoon those regulatory benefits.

And in the last case, its -- you know, when he tried to get favorable coverage in one of Israels widely circulated newspapers, there's a recording of his whole conversation with the publisher of this newspaper.

So in many cases -- in many of those cases, the evidence are very, very strong. And the argument is, how do you interpret this evidence?

KEILAR: Yes. And he -- he also we should note, Barak, has been -- he's saying I've been waiting for eight years to tell my side of the story. But his attorneys have notably sought to delay this case for years.

RAVID: Of course. You know, it was kind of funny to see Netanyahu yesterday saying that, you know, he waited for eight years. The reason eight years have passed since he was first investigated by the police and until he takes the stand to testify for the first time is because he and his lawyers delayed it as much as they could.

And, you know, to his lawyers credit, they did quite a good job. And only in the last few days, Netanyahu tried to even use the crisis in Syria in order to postpone his testimony.

He sent the ministers of his security cabinet to sign a joint letter to the judges, something that is unheard of in Israel's history that the -- the politicians, ministers in the government are trying to intervene in a legal proceeding, asking the judges to postpone the testimony.

The judges obviously rejected this request. But you know, Netanyahu personally tried to delay and postpone his trial and his testimony.

And I'll tell you another thing. Today, during his testimony, three times a courier with a -- with an envelope with a huge "top secret" written on it entered the courtroom to give it to the to the prime minister, allegedly to update him about security issues.

That happened three times a day. And it happened when his own lawyer was questioning him. When the state prosecution will question him, I believe we will see a train station of security updates --

(LAUGHTER)

RAVID: -- and envelopes and couriers.

SANCHEZ: Barak, he's also been accused of -- and you sort of alluded to this. He's been accused of using his own power as prime minister to try to get away from this case to -- to make these allegations go away, to make the case go away.

I wonder if you find that to be a fair criticism.

RAVID: I don't think it's -- it's a fact. What do you mean? It's undisputed. You know, people -- we had a war now for more than a year, so people forget what happened before the war.

In the year before the war in Gaza, the number-one thing Netanyahu and his government were dealing with is an attempt to neuter the Supreme Court to weaken Israel's democratic institutions, including the attorney general, and to pass laws that could delay or even cancel Netanyahu's trial.

That was the reason for what they've been doing. There was no other reason to do it.

Obviously, they built a whole ideology around it, but it was clear to everybody. And you know how I know? Because several of -- of the ministers in his government admitted that the reason it happened is because of Netanyahu's trial.

And by the way, this judicial overhaul and everything happening around it is one of the main reasons that October 7th happened.

Because Netanyahu was warned four times during that year, before the war, by the heads of the security services, that what he's doing with the judicial overhaul is weakening Israel and is encouraging Israels enemies, Iran, Hamas, Hezbollah, to go after it, which is exactly what happened.

KEILAR: Barak Ravid, thank you so much. Fascinating reporting about what happened during his testimony, indeed. Thank you.

RAVID: Thank you.

KEILAR: So in the meantime, the Biden administration says it has no new information about American journalist, Austin Tice, who has been held in Syria for so long, since 2012.

Over the weekend, U.S. officials revealed they reached out to rebel forces about Tice's whereabouts. And the FBI renewed it's $1 million offer for information that could lead to Tice's safe return.

[14:40:01]

SANCHEZ: President Biden has said he believes that tice is still alive. And his family told CNN they recently received confirmation he is alive from what his mother described as a significant source, one of many stories we will keep an eye on.

Up next, President-Elect Donald Trump's legal woes may be over, but the allies accused of helping him try to overturn the 2020 election are still facing some very real charges. An update when we come back.

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[14:45:00]

KEILAR: We are following breaking news. Luigi Mangione has been denied bail and is fighting extradition. He is the 26-year-old who has been charged with murder in connection with the killing of health insurer CEO, Brian Thompson. Trial attorney, Mercedes Colwin, is back with us on this.

All right, so denied bail, fighting extradition, which I think was the expectation here. What happens next, Mercedes?

MERCEDES COLWIN, TRIAL ATTORNEY: Well, now they'll have to go through this probable cause hearing since he didn't waive the hearing.

So that's where law enforcement from New York will have to step in and set forth before the judge the evidence establishing that there's probable cause that Mangione is, in fact, the shooter of Brian Thompson.

And so they'll have to go -- the alleged shooter, Brian Thompson. It's still -- it's not an evidentiary hearing. It's rather, do they have sufficient evidence to establish that he is, in fact, the alleged shooter?

That's -- and then the judge will make the ultimate decision as to whether or not it will be granted. And after that, then, he will be sent to New York to face the charges.

KEILAR: So what's the standard on that? I mean, what kind of thing might they -- they have a ton of evidence, they say, for the fake I.D. that was allegedly used at the hostel. What do they have to present? How involved is that?

COLWIN: Great question, Brianna. And there is a lot involved in it. There's testimony you'll probably hear from the arresting officer in Pennsylvania about his about Mangione demeanor when he was first approached.

You will probably -- the judge will probably hear about the manifesto. And in the manifesto, there's specific references to UnitedHealthcare insurance company.

There will be discussion, probably, of the ghost gun. There will be, exactly to your point, that there is going to be the fact that he had multiple fake I.D.s.

Including the I.D. that allegedly he used to stay in the hostel in the upper west side of New York City. That's one of the places where they were able to identify him as a possible shooter.

And then, of course, all the images we've seen, the images of him sitting down with the mask, just his eyes and his eyebrows are shown, the images of him where he's allegedly flirting with the receptionist at the hotel. That will come into the evidentiary hearing as well.

So it is an evidentiary hearing, but it won't get to the substance of it as to whether or not he's guilty or innocent of -- of the charges.

KEILAR: And how long does all of that take?

COLWIN: It could take a long time. I mean, it could take a couple of days because they will have to be the coordination of the evidence that will have to be presented to the judge.

And especially if they go just beyond the -- the evidence that we're discussing, they're going to be testimony. So it could be a couple of days. And then the judge will make the decision.

And one thing we're not surprised, obviously, that he did not waive the hearing. I mean, obviously, the rantings that he said when he was taken across, when the media we're actually presented it.

But one thing, too, Brianna, and this is what we discussed earlier, it has to be established, especially if the defense believes that there is some sort of mental health issue that's at play here, that he, that Mangione does not understand the proceedings.

And that is such a critical function of the due process he's owed as a presumed innocent individual. So that will have to be established as well.

We haven't -- we've heard whispers that he dramatically changed in his behavior just in a short period of time.

Because there are those that are so shocked, including his family, including the individuals that lived with Mangione, that they're devastated, in shock, that they had no indication whatsoever that Mangione would be capable of any of these charges that he's facing.

So that will be a process as well. And if the defense does step forward and they believe that, because of some mental health issues, Mangione is not capable of understanding the proceeding, that will sidetrack the evidentiary hearing regarding whether extradition is possible.

And there will be a focus on whether or not Mangione understands the proceeding and can actually proceed with the extradition hearing.

So there are some steps that may actually sidetrack the evidentiary hearing on -- on the extradition.

KEILAR: All right. Mercedes Colwin, thank you so much for being with us.

[14:49:03]

We have much more news ahead. We'll be right back.

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SANCHEZ: Donald Trump's election victory has derailed a string of legal cases against him. But that's not so for dozens of his allies.

Those involved with the fake electors plot to overturn Trump's 2020 election defeat still face state criminal prosecutions that Trump, even as president, can't shut down.

KEILAR: That's right.

We have CNN's Marshall Cohen here with us.

Marshall, tell us about this, because there are so many of his allies who are still in peril.

MARSHALL COHEN, CNN REPORTER: Yes, Trump is in good shape, but a lot of these other people are kind of left holding the bag.

As you know, Donald Trump, he's protected. He's the president. He can order the Justice Department to shut down his cases. He could grant pardons for federal offenses.

But these are state prosecutions. There are 45 Trump allies in Georgia, Michigan, Arizona and Wisconsin, who are facing criminal charges for state crimes. So he cannot pardon those cases. He can't shut down those cases.

And I'm told that more charges may be coming very soon in Nevada, where they had some technical hiccups with their previous attempt to bring a case.

And some of these people are big fish, guys. They're folks like Rudy Giuliani, Trump's former White House chief of staff, Mark Meadows, Boris Epstein, his advisor, and Ken Chesbrough, one of the architects of the fake electors plot.

So they are not in a good position while their boss is probably going to end up just OK.

SANCHEZ: And we learned, Marshall, that, overnight, new charges were filed in Wisconsin. Tell us about those.

[14:55:01]

COHEN: Yes, there was a case in Wisconsin that was filed in June against three Trump allies there. It was just one count back in June. Overnight, the prosecutors added 10 additional felony counts for alleged forgery.

I should point out the prosecutor there, and in all those cases, they are Democrats here in this case, going after Republicans.

Ten additional forgery counts. They have their first court appearance on Thursday, where they will almost certainly plead not guilty.

KEILAR: All right. We'll be watching that.

Marshall, thank you so much for that report.

We do have some breaking news coming from Capitol Hill. Senator Mitch McConnell is recovering from a fall that he suffered while he was returning from the weekly lunch with other members of his party earlier today.

His spokesperson says that he sustained a minor cut to his face and that he sprained his wrist. At one point, a medical team entered McConnell's office and an

ambulance team was sent in as well, but the medics were seen leaving a short time later.

Two Republican Senators telling CNN that McConnell is, quote, "fine."

And we'll be back after a quick break.

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