Return to Transcripts main page

CNN Newsroom

Former New York Attorney Says, Many Pieces of Evidence Exist to Charge Trump; 2,300-Plus Dead in Turkey, Syria After 7.8 Magnitude Earthquake; Biden Preparing for State of the Union Address Tomorrow. Aired 10:30-11a ET

Aired February 06, 2023 - 10:30   ET

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[10:30:00]

ERICA HILL, CNN ANCHOR: A former Manhattan special assistant district attorney who investigated former President Trump says there is, quote, plenty of evidence that could be used to criminally charge him. Mark Pomerants resigned from the Manhattan D.A.'s Office last year. He was part of the team that was working on investigating Trump and his company's business dealings.

ERICA HILL, CNN ANCHOR: Pomerants spoke to CBS' 60 Minutes ahead of the release of his new book, which shares details of that investigation that ultimately led to charges against Trump's longtime CFO.

CNN's Kara Scannell joins us now with details. So, what details exactly that Pomerantz released in this book?

KARA SCANNELL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Jim and Erica, I mean, this is the first interview on television that Mark Pomerantz has given since her resigned in protest last year after the incoming district attorney, Alvin Bragg, who was six weeks in on the job, would not authorize him to move forward with an indictment on the former president. Now, Pomerants says that what he believes was one of factor in that decision was the fact Donald Trump was the former president. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MARK POMERANTZ, FORMER MANHATTAN SPECIAL ASSISTANT DISTRICT ATTORNEY: If you take the exact same conduct and make it not about Donald Trump and not about a former president of the United States, would the case have been indicted? It would have been indicted in a flat second.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: So, what ties Donald Trump directly to this? And couldn't he say, my accountant said it is worth this, I signed it?

POMERANTZ: There were many bits and pieces of evidence on which we could rely on making that case.

(END VIDEO CLIP) SCANNELL: Now, some of those bits and pieces ended up becoming public in the New York attorney general's civil lawsuit against the former president, his three eldest children and the company, and a civil lawsuit has a lower burden of proof than it requires to bring a criminal case. And as we reported a year ago, some of those career prosecutors working in the D.A.'s office with Pomerantz disagreeing with him, they did not thing that they had enough evidence to prove that Trump had criminal intent in connection the accuracy of these financial statements. There were many questions about that.

Now, Bragg in a statement, anticipating this interview, said that he agreed with those prosecutors, reached the same conclusion that more work was needed. A lawyer for the former president had said that Pomerantz is making these statements as a desperate attempt to sell a book, and he said that he is very much in the minority in his position that the former president committed a crime.

And then one thing that Bragg, who is still investigating the former president in connection with an alleged hush money payment, one thing that he and the former president have in common is that they did not want Pomerantz's book published. Jim, Erica?

HILL: United on that, at least. Kara Scannell, I appreciate it, thank you.

SCIUTTO: Yes. Actually you either are going to charge or don't charge.

Well, an off-duty New York police officer is still in critical condition this morning, shot in an attempted robbery.

HILL: According to officials, the officer was trying to buy a car over the weekend. That's when the seller allegedly pulled out a gun.

CNN's Jean Casarez is joining us now. So, where is suspect this morning, Jean?

JEAN CASAREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Still on the run. They have not gotten him. But Mayor Eric Adams on another interview this morning was saying that the family right now may be looking at making difficult decisions, which is --

HILL: The family of the officer, you mean?

CASAREZ: Yes, the family of the officer. He was shot in the head.

Now, this was all because the officer, who is very young, 26 years old, married, children, and he made a sale on social media. Now, WABC, our affiliate, is saying it was Facebook marketplace. And you know how that goes. Somebody is offering something for sale, you message them and then negotiate, you reach a price, and then you go to meet them in a public place to get the item.

And here is what happened next.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) COMMISSIONER KEECHANT L. SEWELL, NYPD: This appears to be an attempted robbery during an attempt to purchase a vehicle. Please keep this young officer in your prayers. He is currently fighting for his life.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CASAREZ: Now, what we understand is that when he got on the scene, immediately the perpetrator pulled out a gun and said, this is a robbery, and that's when he shot him. There was an exchange of gunfire, but they are talking about it as an attempted robbery. I find that interesting because the perpetrator may not have gotten the money for the car.

And so, anyway, they are in a manhunt to find this person, because, obviously, he is armed and dangerous.

HILL: And the officer was off-duty at the time.

CASAREZ: He was off-duty.

HILL: Is there any indication the seller knew that he was an officer?

CASAREZ: No. What we're hearing and our affiliate, WABC, is saying this also, that there is no information they knew each other. And the officer took a relative with him. He was not even alone.

HILL: Wow, that is really something, and heartbreaking.

CASAREZ: Yes, it is very heartbreaking.

HILL: Yes. Jean, I appreciate it, thank you.

SCIUTTO: It's so sad to hear about his condition as well.

Well, still ahead, we are going to have the latest on this catastrophic, massive earthquake that so far has killed thousands in Turkey and Syria, genuine concerns about that toll is rising. Desperate search and rescue operations are underway.

[10:35:01]

They're trying to save lives. We are going to be live in Istanbul, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HILL: Right now, rescue crews searching through collapsed buildings, essentially just mounds of twisted concrete and metal, some of it turned to dust, as you can see there. They are, of course, trying to find survivors of this massive earthquake and the aftershocks. At this point, the death toll, 2,300 across Turkey and Syria, but that number is expected to continue to grow dramatically.

[10:40:03]

There are some estimates which it could reach tens of thousands.

SCIUTTO: You look at piles of rubble like that and you just wonder how anyone can get out. Thankfully, there have been moments, like this on, when a child was rescued from the rubble. Sadly, multiple powerful aftershocks have been reported this morning. Turkish officials say at least 20 so far. Our Chad Myers noted one earlier that it was, goodness, nearly as powerful as the original earthquake.

CNN's Jomana Karadsheh, she is in Istanbul. We have some news, as we've been watching, and that is that Qatar and Kuwait announcing it has set up an air bridge to try to fly supplies and medical staff to Turkey, I mean, immediate needs there. Do we know where it's needed most and what exactly is needed most?

JOMANA KARADSHEH, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: I mean, Jim, we're talking about a massive earthquake zone, ten provinces, home to millions of people in Southern Turkey that have been impacted by the earthquake. And we are still getting updates from Turkish officials on the extent of the damage and the casualties, and as well, of course, you have got the situation in Syria.

As you mentioned earlier, more than 2,300 people confirmed killed in both countries, more than nearly 1,500 of them in Turkey alone, hundreds in rebel-held Syria. These are really vulnerable, very vulnerable population there of displaced people, and then you have got also hundreds also confirmed killed in government-controlled areas of Syria.

I mean, we have heard from Turkish officials, Jim, that they have recorded more than 130 aftershocks, and as you mentioned, one of them so powerful, 7.5, pretty much an earthquake in itself, really terrifying situation for the people who are dealing with the trauma of this massive 7.8 magnitude earthquake, the situation right now really, really dire. Turkish officials are saying thousands of buildings have been damage, destroyed. We've seen many buildings also flattened.

This happened pretty much in the middle of the night, at 4:00 in the morning. So, people were in bed. They were sleeping when this happened. So, you can imagine that the expectation here is that there is very large number of people expected to be under the rubble. And we have heard from President Erdogan here saying they don't really know how many people are trapped under the rubble.

Of course, now, it is getting dark here, it is going to be very challenging for this very frantic and really delicate search and rescue operation that is ongoing. And then, of course, there's the weather situation. The temperatures are going to dip below freezing tonight. You have got this winter storm that is impacting Turkey especially in those parts Southern Turkey. Ice, snow making it very hard for the rescue crews, but also for the millions of people in this impacted zone who are now without shelter, because they have been told to stay outdoors, they cannot go into buildings, fears of the collapse of buildings as these aftershocks continue to strike.

And, you know, Turkish officials are scrambling right now to set up the shelters for everyone. And as you mentioned, they are requesting support from everyone, really, NATO, the E.U., dozens of countries so far are offering their support and assistance with this major catastrophe.

HILL: Yes. And the need is so great as the rescue operations, the medical, as you mentioned, shelter, humanitarian needs. Jomana, I appreciate the updates, thank you.

SCIUTTO: Well, later today, President Biden returns to the White House from Camp David, this ahead of his second state of the union address.

HILL: And in preparation for his speech tomorrow night, U.S. Capitol police are ramping up security around the Capitol complex adding a non-scalable fence on the ground.

CNN Senior White House Correspondent M.J. Lee is live on the north lawn this morning. So, what is the focus expected to be for the speech tomorrow evening and have there been any changes based on events from what we saw over the weekend, M.J.?

M.J. LEE, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Yes. Well, Erica and Jim, we actually have a pretty good sense of the broad themes and the tone that we expect to hear from President Biden. In so many ways, he has actually been previewing what he might say tomorrow night in the various events and speeches that we have seen over the course of the last few weeks.

The state of the union speech from the president of the United States is a way for him to just sort of check in with the country on precisely that, the state of the country and where he thinks things stand. And given that he is now halfway through his first term, we certainly expect him to look back on the last two years, tout some of the big accomplishments, whether it is on the economy or COVID, and how far the country has come in that sense.

[10:45:02]

And then we also certainly expect him to preview the next two years, some of the challenges that he sees coming, what more he would like to accomplish.

But, Erica, as you alluded to, I think you're very right that given the events over the weekend with the suspect Chinese spy balloon, we are going to be watching to see how that might potentially seep into his speech. Obviously, the idea of containing China has been such a big part of this president's foreign policy portfolio. But also on the other hand over the last few months, we have seen a real effort by Washington here in the administration to try to mend ties and sort of reset things with Beijing. So, obviously, that will be a huge area of interest to watch.

Now, just some political dynamics to mention as well, this is obviously the first time that the president will be speaking in the setting since Congress became divided. So, we'll see how he balances sort of going after the Republicans politically but also talking about the unity that he talks about so often, and then how this speech is expected to be sort of a preview of his re-election launch. So, a lot of politics here, certainly foreign policy will be an interesting angle, and we know that he's been working on the speech over the weekend, too.

SCIUTTO: Something to watch tomorrow. M.J. Lee at the White House, thanks so much.

HILL: Just ahead, police in Dallas say the suspect accused of stealing two monkeys from the zoo could also be responsible for tampering with other animal exhibits. We have a live report next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[10:50:00]

SCIUTTO: A man suspected of taking tamarin monkeys from the Dallas Zoo is now also suspected of tampering with two other habitats there. Investigators believe the same man responsible for break-ins at enclosures for clouded leopards and langur monkeys.

HILL: A fourth deadly incident, however, remains a mystery. CNN's Ed Lavandera spoke with zoo officials about the investigation.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ED LAVANDERA, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice over): The high-flying gibbons apes are oblivious to the fact that their little corner of the Dallas Zoo is a crime scene that's garnered worldwide attention. For the humans at the zoo, it's been a nearly month-long nightmare.

HARRISON EDELL, EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT OF ANIMAL CARE AND WELFARE, DALLAS ZOO: They broke into the building.

LAVANDERA: Harrison Edell is the Dallas Zoo's executive vice president of animal care and welfare. He is showing us where the mysterious break-ins, escapes, possible murder and animal abductions occurred. It started here in this enclosure, which is home to four langur monkeys. Edel says they found a four-foot high cut in the wire mesh.

EDELL: We also noticed that some of the climbing structure inside the habitat was broken and had literally collapsed, which made us think that an animal larger that a langur had been in here.

LAVANDERA: None of the monkeys escaped.

EDELL: A lot of us in animal care at the zoo had gone to some really dark places in our minds in the last month.

LAVANDERA: You can almost picture whoever was in there chasing these guys down. It must have been rather frantic for the animals.

EDELL: I can only imagine how scary that is for a langur to have a person in their space who is trying to aggressively grab them. LAVANDERA: Around the same time and just two exhibits away, the clouded leopard habitat was cut open. A female leopard named Nova walked right out setting off what the zoo calls a code blue.

The SWAT team rolled out here that morning. That's got to be terrifying.

EDELL: Yes. I mean, the SWAT team heard the word, leopard, and they thought, leopard, leopard.

LAVANDERA: High-tech drones were used to search for the 25-pound cat to no avail. That afternoon, two zoo employees standing about 30 yards from Nova's habitat found her.

EDELL: One of them said to the other one, why is that squirrel so pissed off, and there's a squirrel on the tree barking, and down here in one of these cabinets, the leopard was curled up in a cabinet looking at them.

LAVANDERA: Down here?

EDELL: Yes, that is the curator who said, why is the squirrel so upset?

LAVANDERA: Lisa Van Sleet (ph), the zoo's mammal curator, called for help.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And then a chase ensued.

LAVANDERA: But she is safe and sound now?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: She is safe and sound now, that first, we thought, maybe an isolated incident, somebody tried something and failed.

LAVANDERA: It was just the beginning. A lappe-faced vulture named Pin was found dead. Dallas police said that the rare bird had been wounded. And then last week, two rare emperor tamarin monkeys were taken from the zoo.

EDELL: They made a huge cut in this wall of mesh right here in order to get into the habitat.

LAVANDERA: The one-pound monkeys were found the next day in this abandoned house about 15 miles away. The zoo officials say that the monkeys were left unharmed.

That last incident led police to arrest 24-year-old Davion Irvin. He has been charged with six counts of animal cruelty and two counts of burglary to a building. But investigators say he is not currently charged in connection to the death of the vulture.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: My name is Joe Exotic, and this is Sarge.

LAVANDERA: Wildlife experts say the fascination with exotic animals is fueled by shows like Tiger King and social media influencers creating an underground world of exotic animals as pets.

DAN ASHE, PRESIDENT AND CEO, ASSOCIATION OF ZOOS AND AQUARIUMS: It is a massive problem that, globally, the illegal pet trade is, again, driving many animals toward extinction. And we think of it oftentimes as a kind of other world problem, this is an opportunity to let people know that animals need to be left alone in their homes.

EDELL: I am going to sound so old when I say this, but it doesn't helping that social media influencers are showing the kids that it is cool to have this thing in my house.

LAVANDERA: Do you think that that might be one of the motivations here, that kind of influence?

EDELL: I do. I do.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

[10:55:00]

LAVANDERA (on camera): And the suspect in this case remains in the Dallas County Jail held on $25,000 bond.

It has been an excruciating month here for the zoo keepers here at the Dallas Zoo. They described these incidents over the last several weeks as a profoundly disturbing gut punch. Jim and Erica?

HILL: Yes. I can only imagine. That's a great piece. I really appreciate it. Thank you, Ed.

Thanks to all of you for joining us today. I'm Erica Hill.

LAVANDERA: And I'm Jim Sciutto.

Kristin Fisher continues our coverage right after a quick break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[11:00:00]