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Trump Plans To Turn Himself In For Arraignment Tuesday; U.S. Strike Kills Senior ISIS Leader In Syria; Finland Set To Join NATO In Historic Security Policy Shift; U.S. House Speaker McCarthy To Meet Taiwan President Tsai This Week; Chinese Spy Balloon Was Able To Transmit Information Back To Beijing; How Past U.S. Presidents Avoided Imminent Indictments; More Severe Weather in Store as Recovery Continues; Tehran Asks Universities to Ban Women Not Wearing Hijab; French Minister's Interview, Cover Shot Stir Controversy; Unclear if Trump will have Mugshot Taken. Aired 1-2a ET
Aired April 04, 2023 - 01:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
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[01:00:19]
JOHN VAUSE, CNN ANCHOR: Coming up here on CNN Newsroom, the return of the old Trump all the time new cycle. With the once indicted twice impeached, one term president said to be arraigned in your courtroom.
Moments before the blast, which could a pro-war Russian blogger who was handed a small statue of his likeness, possibly packed with explosives, and not appropriate Madame secretary the dressing down of a junior French minister for a Playboy magazine cover.
In the coming hours, Donald Trump will once again make history for all the wrong reasons when he appears at a New York courtroom to be the first current or former U.S. president to face criminal charges.
The judge has denied a request by media outlets including CNN for the arraignment to be broadcast live, but we'll allow five photographers to take still pictures before the proceedings begin.
Right now Trump is at his residence in the Trump Tower. Aide say he's been huddling with legal and political advisors. He is not expected to speak publicly while in New York instead, he will deliver remarks on his return to Mar-a-Lago in Florida Tuesday night.
Trump's attorneys have argued the former president is unlikely to get a fair trial in New York City. They've also publicly said they will not make a plea deal.
Trump's supporters gathered near his Mar-a-Lago resort Monday to cheer the former president who has urged his supporters to protest. Security has now been ramped up by the New York City Police Department of the FBI Joint Terrorism Task Force and the Secret Service ahead of the arraignment in lower Manhattan.
Well, a new CNN poll finds 60 percent of Americans approve of Trump's indictment. More than three and four people believe politics played a role in the decision by the Manhattan DA. 37 percent believe Trump's alleged payment of hush money to adult film star Stormy Daniels was illegal. 33 percent say unethical but not illegal. 10 percent say not wrong at all. More now from CNN's chief U.S. National Affairs Correspondent Jeff Zeleny.
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JEFF ZELENY, CNN CHIEF U.S. NATIONAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT (on camera): Donald Trump has seen it all and done it all including run for the White House from here in Trump Tower in New York. But on Tuesday morning, he does something new faces a judge for an indictment and an arraignment in a felony case here in New York City for an old hush money case involving Stormy Daniels.
Of course this was litigated during his first presidential run back in 2016. But now the Manhattan district attorney has brought this up again and a grand jury last week indicted the former president.
So this will all come to a head really the first time and an historic moment where a former American president faces an arraignment in a criminal court.
I'm told that the former president was huddling with his advisors as after he arrived here in New York City after flying up for Mar-a-Lago on Monday, meeting with his lawyers and his political team as well. He is not expected to speak on Tuesday here in New York. He's going to save his remarks I'm told for on Tuesday evening at Mar-a-Lago when he plans to deliver a full throated defense of this case as well as other cases of before him.
But now this legal case is front and center in the 2024 presidential race. It is essentially brought this early stages of the campaign to a halt. He's raised some $7 million in the last few days alone with his supporters, coming to his defense. Even his rivals have been standing on the sidelines essentially defending him and watching this case unfold.
But there is no doubt on Tuesday morning when the former President arrives at the district attorney's office and later goes into a courtroom. He is facing an uncharted territory, something he has never done before and his long years of entertainment and political life here. He's standing in front of a courtroom in which she has very little controller. Jeff Zeleny CNN, New York.
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VAUSE: To Washington now, Michael Zeldin is a former U.S. federal prosecutor, now host of the podcast That Said with Michael Zeldin. Good to see you, Michael, thanks for staying up late.
MICHAEL ZELDIN, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: My pleasure.
VAUSE: OK, so one late report that Trump is reportedly facing 34 felony counts and falsification of business records that triggered a good old fashioned rant on social media by the former president. He's part of it. Well, District Attorney Bragg just illegally leaked the various points and complete information on the pathetic indictment against me. This means that he must be immediately indicted. And it goes on.
We'll get to the politicization of the investigation in a moment, but first I've explained how these charges are falsifying financial records, which are normally a misdemeanor, how can they be bumped up to a felony? What does that say about the case? What does it say about the evidence?
ZELDIN: Right, so Michael Cohen makes $130,000 payment to Stormy Daniels and then is repaid in 10 or 12 increments for that payment.
[01:05:06]
Those payments are marked on the books as legal expenses, and they're not. That's a lie. And so that's a false business record. If those false business records are made in connection with another crime, the possibility of tax evasion or election law violations, then they become felonies.
So we have 10 misdemeanors, which probably are barred by the statute limitations. Then you've got 10 misdemeanors that become felonies for tax 10 misdemeanors, which come felonies for federal election, and then maybe they wrap up this whole thing round with a conspiracy to conduct this. And that gets you, you know, to tend to have more possible charges. So that's how you get to 30, I think.
VAUSE: OK, so along with the attacks on the Manhattan DA, there's been the fundraising that's gone along with all of this. Jason Miller, who was a senior Trump advisor, tweeted a few hours ago, in three days since word of the indictment, they've raised a record $7 million, $2 million a day or just over that. There has also been the OG like coverage of Trump's arrival in New York or New York City, rather.
And keep all that in mind. And I want you to listen to one of Trump's lawyers speaking to Fox. Here he is. Listen to this. She is, sorry.
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Do you think the President can get a fair trial here in New York?
ALINA HABBA, ATTORNEY FOR PRESIDENT TRUMP: No. No, I think it's very difficult. I've been practicing and for him now for a couple years and gone to court in New York for a few years. And I can tell you, it's not the same as representing anybody else. Unfortunately, people no matter how much they try not to have their biases get involved. They do.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: Is a fair trial the last thing the Trump legal team actually wants here?
ZELDIN: Well, I they do want a fair trial. What they'd like to do is move this to upstate New York, a more Republican leaning part of New York. They want to be out of the Democrat controlled as they would call it, city, because they think that if they can get one or two jurors who are Trump supporters, then at best, maybe they get a hung jury.
So they I think they would want very much this to be out of New York City. But I don't think they'll prevail on that motion.
VAUSE: But what are the circus like atmosphere they've sort of created around all of this? Does that influence, you know, the hearing in any way? Well, how does that play out?
ZELDIN: No, inside the courtroom, it won't impact the judge or the trial lawyers. That's a real political show on Trump's part, and, you know, it stirs up the base and it gets people talking about how this is a persecution. You heard Trump's lawyer say this is a persecution rather than a prosecution. That's all just media, political hype in the courtroom. All that stuff stays outside.
VAUSE: At all for the grand jury investigations into Trump's time before, during and after office, will most likely be ongoing when we head into next year's White House election. So, we have the former Republican governor of Arkansas, Asa Hutchinson, who is running in 2024. He wants Trump to drop out and this is why he explained. Here he is.
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ASA HUTCHINSON, FORMER ARKANSAS GOVERNOR: There's a presumption of innocence that goes with him as any criminal defendant is charged. But I said that he should step aside simply because there is the more regard should be given to the office of presidency than any individual person their concerns.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: Which has never happened during Trump's time in office, but he is legally presumed innocent at this point. So, if he does run and if he does win the White House around the same time, he's found guilty at any one of these four cases. What happens? Felons can vote but they can be president?
ZELDIN: Yes, unless they are convicted of treason or seditious conspiracy, which could get them precluded from holding office, but if he's convicted of tax violations, or interfering with a political election in Georgia, or even obstructing the Mar-a-Lago documents retrieval case, none of that bars him from running for president. Only treason and seditious conspiracy cases, which I don't think will be brought against him.
So yes, he may not be able to vote for himself, but he could still serve in office.
VAUSE: Michael, thanks for being with us. We really appreciate it. Michael Zeldin there in Washington. Thank you. We had this just in a senior ISIS leader has been targeted by us airstrike U.S. Central Command says Khalid 'Aydd Ahmad al-Jabouri was killed in a unilateral strike. He was responsible for planning attacks in Europe. He was also one of the architects of the leadership structure of the Islamic State.
CENTCOM's commander says al-Jabouri his death will temporarily disrupt the group's ability to strike beyond the Middle East.
There are new images from inside the St. Petersburg Cafe just moments before a powerful blast killed a pro wall Russian blogger. Vladlen Tatarsky who is seen here receiving a gift from a woman who would later be arrested by Russian authorities.
They say the exploit Mission was a terrorist act and suggest it was planned and organized in Ukraine. More details now from CNN's Fred Pleitgen.
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FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voiceover): The moment a massive blast ripped through a St. Petersburg cafe, wounding dozens and killing prominent Russian military blogger Vladlen Tatarsky.
This video shows the run up to the blast as to Tartarsky received a statuette authorities believed was laced with explosives allegedly given to him by this woman Daria Trepova now in custody.
In an interrogation video released by Russian investigators, they asked if she knew why she was detained. Trepova says for giving Tatarsky the statuette, it's not clear whether it Trepova was being coerced to speak in the video, but Russian authorities released images showing a woman looking like Trepova entering the cafe before the blast.
After giving the box with the statuette to the host, Trepova went to a different part of the room of witnesses. Investigators asked her where she got the statuette from which she declined to answer.
The Kremlin called the killing an act of terror and investigators say they believe Ukrainian intelligence agencies and the organization of jailed opposition leader Alexei Navalny were involved.
Supporters of Navalny have denied that while Ukraine has brushed off the allegations altogether.
Vladlen Tatarsky's real name was Maxim Fomin. Military bloggers like him have become extremely influential since Russia is full on invasion of Ukraine. Tatarsky was a staunch supporter of the war, but sometimes critical of Russia's military leadership, which he felt was not effective enough.
We will beat everyone. We will kill everyone. We will rob everyone who needs to be robbed. Everything will be the way we love. God is with us, he said inside the Kremlin after Russia annexed for Ukrainian regions last year.
The St. Petersburg Cafe that was blown up was once affiliated with the head of the Wagner private military company. The spearhead of Russia's efforts to Bakhmut in eastern Ukraine. Wagner boss Yevgeny Prigozhin even commemorating the bloggers death.
Behind me is the Bakhmut City administrative building, he says. This is a Russian flag it says on the flag in good memory of Vladlen Tatarsky. But Russia's pro war establishment fields it's under attack. Vladlen Tatarsky was acquainted with hardline political scientists, Daria Dugana, who was assassinated in Moscow last year.
The Kremlin then also pointing its finger at Kyiv. This is a regime that has been behind killings for many years since 2014, the Kremlin spokesman said. This is why the special military operation is being carried out.
PLEITGEN (on camera): And Daria Trepova has since been moved to Moscow where she is in detention and she has another preventive detention hearing that it's going to take place on Tuesday. Meanwhile, the Russian government has moved to award the order of courage of the Russian Federation to this military blogger for what they say is bravery in the line of his duty. Fred Pleitgen CNN, Berlin.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VAUSE: Finland is now just hours away from joining NATO officially and come Tuesday afternoon local time. The Finnish flag should be flying from this flagpole outside NATO headquarters in Brussels. NATO Secretary General says Finland's membership will make the country safer and the Alliance stronger.
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JENS STOLTENBERG, NATO SECRETARY GENERAL: This is a historic week. We will race the Finnish flag for the first time here at the NATO headquarters. It will be a good day for Finland security for Nordic security and for NATO as a whole.
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VAUSE: For those few who remain in the better villages on the eastern Ukrainian front lines, almost all they have left right now is their faith. Many are old or disabled or shell shocked by war. But every week a pastor comes to give them what they feel they need the most dreaded hope. Here's CNN's Ben Wedeman.
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BEN WEDEMAN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voiceover): Donning his flak jacket, Pastor Igor Yershov (ph) of the Protestant Bethlehem Christian Church prepares for his rounds.
Today he's conducting services in the village of Maksymilyanivka, just a few miles from Russian lines.
Churches a hurried affair just 45 minutes of no frills sermon in prayer to tarry is dangerous.
A Russian artillery shell recently landed next door spraying shrapnel on the walls, destroying the roof, shattering the windows. Yet, when the faithful emerge, there is momentarily a sense of serenity. It calms your soul, says Natalia (ph). We feel that we're with God and that He protects us.
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But for the handful of residents, Maksymilyanivka is ghost town. The few still here depend upon the kindness of others for their sustenance, including bread brought by Pastor Igor, one loaf per person.
WEDEMAN (on camera): Once a week, every Sunday, this is the only time these people can get fresh bread, fresh bread. It's still warm.
WEDEMAN (voiceover): But man cannot live on bread alone. Today says Pastor Igor, hope is the most precious thing for people here on the front lines.
Afterwards, we went with the pastor to a nearby bomb shelter and abandoned tuberculosis sanatorium. At the shelter entrance, Alexei (ph) shows us where parts of the rocket struck a month ago. That day, he recalls when rain began to fall and others went below. Then the rocket hit.
If it had been five minutes earlier, he says no one would have survived. Down below they have electricity, even satellite television. Ana (ph) distracts herself by cooking. She never leaves the shelter.
It's horrible, she tells me. Three times shows exploded next to me once when I was at home one exploded nearby. I was alone. Everything was smashed. Now I can't go outside even for five minutes. Here there is shelter but no peace of mind. Ben Wedeman, CNN, Maksymilyanivka, Ukraine.
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VAUSE: Still coming on CNN Newsroom, Syria says that a shutdown more missiles from Israel overnight. The reasons for the airstrikes just ahead. Also cue the outrage from Beijing. Nancy Pelosi did it so now who Kevin McCarthy. New speaker the U.S. House will meet with Taiwan's President later this week.
Also later this hour, no risk for parts of the U.S. about to be hit again by severe weather. Hear from survivors once again bracing for the worst.
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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We are tornadoes in western Arkansas before but it was never (INAUDIBLE) like this. (END VIDEO CLIP)
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VAUSE: Syrian state media reporting multiple Israeli missiles were shut down overnight by the country's air defense system. No comments from the IDF that this would be the fourth Israeli strike on targets linked to Iran since last week.
Iranian state media says an earlier Israeli attack near Damascus killed two members of Iran's Revolutionary Guard.
U.S. House speaker has confirmed he will host Taiwan's president he went in California this week. Even before the official announcement Beijing said it was firmly opposed to any exchanges between Washington and Taiwan, which China claims as a renegade province.
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President Tsai will arrive in the U.S. after wrapping up a trip to Central America, which has been shoring up ties with Belize and Guatemala, two of Taiwan's remaining regional allies. CNN's Anna Coren is in Hong Kong live this hour. Last time when Nancy Pelosi, the U.S. House speaker went to Taiwan, Beijing was less than pleased. What can we expect this time?
ANNA COREN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I think you can expect a similar reaction, John. We've just heard from the spokesperson of the Chinese Consulate General in Los Angeles, and he's voiced China's protest over this confirmed meeting. He has said quote, disregarding China's solemn representations and repeated warnings, the U.S. insisted on arranging Tsai Ing-wen transit and plotting and supporting the Taiwan authorities pursuit of independence. China solemnly protests and strongly condemns this.
Now, President Tsai office, she's also confirmed Wednesday's meeting her spokesperson told Taiwan state media quote, it is the right of the 23 million people of Taiwan for a democratic Taiwan to have exchanges with other democracies. China has no say in this matter.
Earlier, Kevin McCarthy's office issued a statement also confirming the bipartisan meeting with Tsai. It will be held at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library just outside Los Angeles. McCarthy will be the highest ranking U.S. official to meet a Taiwanese leader on American soil.
This meeting, John, was long anticipated and obviously is guaranteed to further inflame the fractured relationship between the United States and China. Beijing has already threatened to quote resolutely fight back if this meeting takes place.
Now as you mentioned, John, Tsai has been in Central America for an official visit in Guatemala and Belize and yesterday while addressing the National Assembly in Belize, she said her country is facing, quote, expansionist threats from authoritarian regimes. She's obviously referring to China. Let's have a listen to some of that speech.
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TSAI ING-Wen, TAIWAINESE PRESIDENT: The people of Taiwan phase concentrates and pressure from the neighbor on the other side of the Taiwan Strait. While Taiwan's relationship with democracies around the world have gotten stronger in recent years. We continue to be excluded from participating in international organizations and serving as a productive member of the international community.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COREN: John, last week, Tsai had a stopover in New York on her way to Central America. She attended a banquet gave a speech and said Taiwan's relationship with the UN has never been closer.
As we all know, China believes Taiwan belongs to it, it's refused to rule out the use of military force to bring Taiwan back on or under its control, I should say and while the U.S. acknowledges China's position has never officially recognized by Beijing's claim to the island.
Interestingly, John, the White House has declined to weigh in on this meeting a bit. As you mentioned, Nancy Pelosi, the former U.S. speaker when she visited Taiwan last year, China responded firing a ballistic missiles over Taiwan, deploying warships in the Taiwan Straits and conducting a simulated blockade of the island. I think it's safe to say that we can expect a similar response this time.
VAUSE: It's all complicated. It's a complicated relationship. But Anna, thank you for explaining it. Anna Coren live for us in Hong Kong.
Turns out that Chinese spy balloon which was unable to send real time information to beaching was in fact sending real time information to Beijing, just how much and what information was actually sent before the balloon was shut down by the US Air Force remains unknown. Details from CNN national security reporter Natasha Bertrand.
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NATASHA BERTRAND, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY REPORTER (on camera): The suspected Chinese spy balloon that was hovering over the United States before being shot down off the coast of South Carolina back in February, was able to take some images and collect some signals intelligence over sensitive U.S. military installations across the United States.
Now, the U.S. government is saying that they were able to take steps to mitigate the kind of intelligence that the Chinese were able to gather. But at the same time, we are told that the Chinese government was able to remotely erase the data on that spy balloon, making it possible that the U.S. government will not ever know for sure what the Chinese government was able to glean from that balloon.
In other words, the Chinese government may have been able to wipe all of the data on that device before the U.S. government was able to get its hands on it. So the U.S. government does have some idea here of what the Chinese were able to gather because they were able to determine that there were some pictures, as well as some signs that there were some signals intelligence gathered by this balloon.
But at this point, the U.S. is saying that they do not believe that any of this intelligence at the Chinese gathered anyway, was more sophisticated than what Chinese satellites are able to gather as they orbit above the country on a daily basis.
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Now it remains unclear how much longer the FBI is going to be investigating this balloon. They have had it, of course now for well over for about two months now. And they have gleaned some important new information about the algorithms that power the balloon software, for example, and how it is actually able to be maneuvered across its targets.
So, what we're waiting for now, of course, is a fuller picture by the U.S. government about what the balloons capabilities actually are. And of course, about the kind of intelligence it was able to gather about these sensitive U.S. military sites. Natasha Bertrand, CNN, at the Pentagon.
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VAUSE: Harvard professor, and CNN national security analyst, Juliette Kayyem, is with us now. Good to see you.
JULIETTE KAYYEM, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY ANALYST: Good to see you. Thank you for having me.
VAUSE: It's always a pleasure. Now, how does this change the threat assessment posed by these Chinese spy balloons? You know, it doesn't seem entirely surprising that information was actually being sent to Beijing in real time, after all.
KAYYEM: No, it's not surprising at all, it shows why the administration was concerned about the balloons and was making a risk calculation between when they would shoot this balloon down. And whether it would harm people. That's why they waited.
But I think this sort of confirmation that there was live sort of intelligence gathering shows that -- it shows a couple things. One is the capability of the Chinese to be able to deploy and capture information and means that there's potentially information that has to be modified, changed, moved, whatever it is that they capture, so that it can be continually can be used, but will be protected in the future.
But I think it goes to another point that not many people are talking about. Remember, in the days that follow, we were essentially shooting anything out of the sky, none of them turned out to be balloons. But I -- this goes to why the Biden administration was so forward leaning, and maybe even too forward leaning, in shooting down the potential for -- the likelihood that there might have been other balloons. I think it shows that at that moment, they knew that there have been security and intelligence breaches and how to ensure that they weren't ongoing.
VAUSE: And they still really didn't know exactly what intelligence has been gathered at this point.
KAYYEM: Yes.
VAUSE: But here's a little more from CNN reporting. The intelligence community has not been overly concerned about the information the balloon was able to gather, because it is not much more sophisticated in what Chinese satellites are able to glean as they orbit over similar locations.
That doesn't make a whole lot of sense to me for a couple of reasons. First, if trying to get the same information from satellites already in orbit, then why use balloons? And secondly --
KAYYEM: Right.
VAUSE: -- do they use the balloons because they can loiter or linger in one area for longer at a low altitude?
KAYYEM: That's exactly right.
VAUSE: And that gives them better intelligence gathering?
KAYYEM: That's exactly right. The ladder -- what you said the latter part is exactly right. But it's the hovering, that becomes the sort of intelligence tool. Remember, satellites are quite fast, they can pick up lots of information over time. But it's the hovering that can give you things like depth, distance, so real life distance it is -- it's sort of like having a drone with pictures. But you're able to hover over the facility.
So let's assume some critical infrastructure and take in depth photos and potentially also audio so they could pick up what are there pinging sounds, are their alarm sounds going off, other pieces of information that might be relevant to the Chinese as they get an overall picture of our critical infrastructure, what we might have on the ground.
And remember, this is not like they just have the balloon. They have the balloon, they have satellites, they have spies, they have signal intelligence, they have all sorts of different pieces of intelligence gathering. And what they're doing back in Beijing is putting all those pieces together. This, the balloon just provides another lane but not a redundant lane, not a duplicate lane, a new lane of information gathering.
VAUSE: You know, back in 2001, there was a collision between a U.S. spy plane and a Chinese fighter jet, or the Hainan Island, Beijing and Washington at the time, then after the crisis, opened a special line of communication for just that sort of event. We had just said sort of with the Chinese balloon, but no one call. What does that say? KAYYEM: Yes. So that was the most disturbing part of this situation for someone like me is that, look, there's instances between countries that happen all the time. You know, they're not hot wars, but they're warm, they go from cold to warm. And this was one of them, certainly, because of the threat that the balloon pose to the continental United States. And the concerns that that our airspace had been, you know, had basically had been violated, which we which was true in that case, and possibly true in the later cases.
[01:29:49]
You have those communications at moments like that, because the belief is that if you can lower the temperature, do military to military communications or diplomatic and diplomatic communications rather than political to political, you can lower the temperature. And people who have met each other who worked together who may have trained together at one stage, who sort of know each other and our subject matter experts can break through the noise that we were hearing that week.
The fact that that was never utilized was always somewhat worrisome because it suggests that the Chinese -- or shows that the Chinese are content to essentially go dark, right? In other words, that they will do things like this that sort of challenge us. Sort of wake us up in the sense of yes. We're doing this and then are unwilling to communicate about that.
It's in the silences that there's misinterpretation and that people will act based on inconclusive information. That's never good when you have two major countries like ours in what's essentially a conflict, but one that's that hopefully refrains from being a military conflict.
JOHN VAUSE, CNN ANCHOR:: No one likes the silent treatment.
KAYYEM: I don't. Yes, exactly. Exactly you don't want to go. You don't want to go to the United States if you're China like that's a bad idea.
VAUSE: It is a bad idea. Juliette Kayyem, thank you so much.
KAYYEM: Thank you.
VAUSE: When we come back, U.S. presidents were never meant to be kings, never meant to be above the law, but in reality for the past 233 years, the rule of law has not applied to the highest office in the land. Does Trump's indictment means former presidents will be finally held accountable?
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VAUSE: Welcome back. I'm John Vause. You're watching CNN NEWSROOM.
The judge presiding over Donald Trump's arraignment has announced news cameras will not be allowed to broadcast this court proceedings scheduled to begin just hours from now.
In his ruling, the New York Supreme Court justice acknowledged unparalleled public interest, but said that must be weighed against competing interests. However five still photographers will be allowed to take pictures before the hearing gets underway.
Trump returned to New York City Monday and at this hour police are staying at his residence in Trump Tower.
There's been what seems to be an unofficial agreement between incoming and outgoing presidents in the U.S. to look the other way be it Watergate, perjury or torture -- move on move on, heal and forget.
CNN's Randi Kaye has more now on two other presidents who escaped criminal charges that were spared for the good of the country.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Five people have been arrested and charged with breaking into the headquarters of the Democratic National Committee in the middle of the night.
RANDI KAYE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: June 17th, 1972 a break in at the Watergate Building, President Richard Nixon denied any involvement.
RICHARD NIXON, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I first learned from news reports of the Watergate break in.
[01:34:59]
KAYE: Still at hearings held by the Senate Watergate Committee, witnesses testified about the voice-activated taping system in the Oval Office. On those secret recordings, Richard Nixon can be heard talking about the Watergate break in.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: When were those devices placed in the Oval Office?
ALEXANDER BUTTERFIELD, DEPUTY ASSISTANT TO PRESIDENT NIXON: Approximately the summer of 1970.
KAYE: Nixon invoked executive privilege and refused to give up the tapes to the special prosecutor until the Supreme Court forced him to.
NIXON: Play it tough. That's the way they play it. And that's the way we're going to play it.
DOUGLAS BRINKLEY, PRESIDENTIAL HISTORIAN: Nixon knew he was going to be indicted if he stayed in the White House, the wolves were barking at his den.
KAYE: In fact, this document released in 2018 by the National Archives is the grand jury's draft indictment dated February 1st, 1974. It shows they planned to charge Nixon with several crimes, including obstruction of justice. Ultimately Nixon was named as an unindicted co-conspirator.
And after the House Judiciary Committee passed three articles of impeachment against Nixon, he resigned in disgrace. The full house never voted on the articles of impeachment. NIXON: I shall resign the presidency effective at noon tomorrow.
KAYE: His successor, President Gerald Ford, pardoned him and Nixon was never indicted. More than 20 years later, another president was staring down an indictment.
BILL CLINTON, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I did not have sexual relations with that woman, Miss Lewinsky.
KAYE: That was President Bill Clinton in January, 1998 denying he had an affair with then White House intern Monica Lewinsky. That same month, he denied it again under oath during a deposition in a sexual harassment case brought against him by a woman named Paula Jones.
Months later, he reversed course.
CLINTON: In a deposition in January, I was asked questions about my relationship with Monica Lewinsky. While my answers were legally accurate, I did not volunteer information. Indeed, I did have a relationship with Miss Lewinsky that was not appropriate.
KAYE: Clinton had perjured himself during that earlier deposition by falsely claiming he hadn't had sexual relations with Lewinsky. Lying under oath during a deposition is a felony.
BRINKLEY: There was very great drumbeat for him to have criminal charges, not just pressed against him, but to have him arrested for lying to the federal government, for perjuring himself.
KAYE: Months later, during his grand jury testimony, Clinton explained whatever happened with Lewinsky in his eyes was not sexual relations.
CLINTON: That did not constitute sexual relations as I understood that term to be defined at my January 17th, 1998 deposition. But they did involve inappropriate intimate contact.
KAYE: By then the damage was done. Still Clinton avoided indictment by admitting in an agreement with the independent counsel that he gave false testimony under oath.
BRINKLEY: There was a whole slew of agreements that Clinton made just to kind of clean the air and to allow himself to have a noble post presidency.
Randi Kaye, CNN.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VAUSE: Tim Naftali is a CNN presidential historian and the former director of the Nixon Presidential Library. He is with us this hour from New York. It's good to see you, Tim. It's been a while.
TIM NAFTALI, CNN PRESIDENTIAL HISTORIAN: It's great to be on your show, John. VAUSE: Ok, so from Nixon being pardoned by Ford, you know, over
Watergate to Bill Clinton losing his Arkansas law license for perjury during the Monica Lewinsky investigation, then there's punishment which many thought was just a slap on the wrist at best.
Then there was also the free pass that Barack Obama gave the previous Bush-Cheney administration for counterterrorism tactics like torture of terrorism suspects and domestic eavesdropping.
So come Tuesday, does the rule of law actually now apply to the presidency because up until now, it appears that it has not.
NAFTALI: In the over 230 years that the United States has had former presidents, not one of them has been indicted. And as you mentioned, two of them, Richard Nixon and Bill Clinton were close to being indicted. I would argue the crimes are not similar, but both men were close to being indicted by the special prosecutors who were investigating their cases.
In both cases their infraction, transgressions occurred during the presidency. Now we have a case of someone who committed allegedly transgressions before he became president and now he is being indicted for them.
So Donald Trump, unlike Nixon and Clinton, has this legal jeopardy not because of a crisis that occurred during his administration, but because of something he did before he became president.
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NAFTALI: So it's a -- it's a different set of circumstances and I would argue, made it easier for a prosecutor to believe in the possibility of a fair trial, which was a concern of at least Richard Nixon's special prosecutor in 1974.
VAUSE: It's an interesting point you make there because this indictment from New York grand jury it's just one of many of these ongoing investigations into the once-indicted, twice-impeached, one- term president Donald Trump.
So along with that alleged hush money in the alleged campaign funding violation it caused there's the top secret documents, which were found at the beach house, Mar-a-Lago. There's Trump's alleged role in the January 6th instruction. And finally, there's election interference in the U.S. state of Georgia where you know, he demanded state officials find him 11,780 votes, just enough to win the state in the 2020 election.
So there are -- there are alleged crimes before his time in office. There are alleged crimes when he was in office and there are alleged crimes after he was in office. He covers the whole gamut here.
NAFTALI: In the long history of this country, a country that has had human presidents all along, which means they're flawed, this is the first man who has been indicted for his actions. The very first man who has been a commander in chief, has been this country's head of state and arguably the most powerful man in the world is being indicted.
And I think it says a lot about the American judicial system. I hear a lot of talk about the politicization of the judicial system. Well, I say this. Don't rush to judgment. Let's see tomorrow. Let's see Tuesday when the indictment is unsealed and we see the counts.
Then we'll let lawyers, I'm not a lawyer, determine how strong a case it is. But at this point what we should be looking at is the fact that a group of ordinary Americans, a majority of them, voted to indict a man who at one point was the most powerful man in the world. I think that's a sign of a healthy judicial system.
There is that one argument that absolutely but what plays out in the coming hours, maybe unprecedented for Americans in many ways, but there is reporting by the Axios Web site, which notes that leaders who left office since 2000 have been jailed or prosecuted in at least 78 countries, including democracies like France, Israel and South Korea.
Since 1980 around half of the world's countries have had at least one such case, and that's not counting impeachments or coups. The countries where this does not happen after the most (INAUDIBLE) dictatorships or monarchies and the countries where this does happen, you often find the investigations and prosecutions are politically motivated. So where are we heading now?
NAFTALI: Well, you know, correlation is not causation. I think you have to look at the counts when the indictment is unsealed, and then -- then weigh the extent to which this is a serious case or not.
I really believe that there are moments when it's important to compare the United States to other countries, and say, look, there's this trend, and this now fits a trend that seems to imply a politicization of the judicial system. But I really think that we ought to wait to see the indictment because this may be a completely idiosyncratic case that can only be explained not by the politicization of the American criminal system, but by the nature of Donald Trump. And the kind of man he happens to be.
VAUSE: I think, you know, a wait and see judicious approach is probably the best approach of all right now, Tim.
Thanks for being with us.
NAFTALI: Thank you, John. It's my pleasure.
VAUSE: Australia has joined a growing list of countries banning TikTok on all government devices, which the attorney general Mark Dreyfus says will go into effect as soon as possible with exemptions made on a case by case basis.
This comes in a major push by the United States and other western countries to keep the Chinese owned app from state devices over national security and privacy concerns.
The head of TikTok in the region tells CNN, "We are extremely disappointed by this decision, which in our view is driven by politics, not by facts."
Still to come on CNN one dead woman just doesn't seem enough for the mullahs in Tehran. Now authorities try to deny women a university education for failing to correctly wear a hijab.
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VAUSE: The National Weather Service in the United States says at least 50 tornadoes ripped across parts of the Midwest and southern U.S. from Friday to early Saturday alone. They're still trying to get a count for the entire weekend. More bad weather is on its way for those regions.
CNN meteorologist Derek Van Dam has more on the severe weather from Arkansas.
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh. (EXPLETIVE DELETED)
DEREK VAN DAM, AMS METEOROLOGIST: More severe weather forecast areas already hammered by deadly storms. Over the weekend, more than 50 tornadoes ripped through the south, Midwest and northeast, leaving at least 32 dead.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We have had tornadoes in Wynne, Arkansas before but it was never lie this (INAUDIBLE).
VAN DAM: According to the Storm Prediction Center, another widespread severe weather outbreak is expected Tuesday afternoon into the overnight in the Mississippi Valley and parts of the Midwest, threatening to bring more strong tornadoes, large hail and damaging winds.
Many of the tornadoes are expected after dark, making this even more dangerous.
GOV. SARAH HUCKABEE SANDERS (R-AR): Pay attention to the notices and the weather alerts that are coming and listen to your city and local officials that are giving you guidance.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: There. That photo album.
VAN DAM: Residents in Sullivan, Indiana salvaging precious belongings after narrowly escaping death.
MADISON COLLINS, TORNADO SURVIVOR: I just had her a week ago. So it was really scary.
VAN DAM: Madison Collins hid in the bathroom with her newborn.
COLLINS: This is where we were at right here in this bathtub. She was in her car seat, and we're all kind of just hunkered over her, you know? And we could feel our neighbor's house literally crashing against ours. It was terrifying.
VAN DAM: New satellite images show tornado damages in the town of Wynne, Arkansas essentially splitting it in half. And the damages to this high school football field.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You didn't realize you had no idea it was doing this much damage out here. It was so fast.
VAN DAM: Residents in Tennessee picking up the pieces.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It was just surreal. You know, you just -- we've lived in this house 44 years and you know everything we worked for and paid for it is gone.
VAN DAM: The number of tornado related fatalities so far this year is more than double than the entire year last year, with the threat of more severe weather and violent tornadoes looming over the residents' minds here in Wynne, Arkansas and across the nation, it is time to take the peak of tornado season seriously.
I'm CNN meteorologist Derek Van Dam in Wynne, Arkansas.
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VAUSE: Iran's state controlled media reporting on a new crackdown on women not wearing head coverings correctly. Universities have been ordered to ban women who are not wearing hijab.
Just days earlier images emerged of yogurt being thrown at two young women for showing their hair in public.
CNN's Nada Bashir has details.
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NADA BASHIR, CNN REPORTER: Well this video has sparked outcry both outside and within Iran. The women seen here coming under attack now detained by authorities for showing their hair in public in contravention of the regime's strict dress code regulations for women. Now according to state media, there is an ongoing investigation into this incident, which took place on Thursday.
The male suspect seen throwing yogurt at the women also now facing arrest for disturbing public order though the repercussions of this charge remain unclear.
[01:49:53]
BASHIR: But the regime has now addressed the matter. Iran's president, Ebrahim Raisi, telling a conference on Saturday that the hijab is a legal matter.
EBRAHIM RAISI, IRANIAN PRESIDENT (through translator): If there are people who say that they do not share this belief of ours, then this is the place for scientific and cultural centers, as well as schools to discuss and convince them. This is something we emphasis but the important matter is that today
we have a legal mandate. The legal mandate makes it mandatory for everyone to follow.
BASHIR: In Iran, the hijab is mandated for all women, and there are harsh penalties for those who choose to uncover their hair in public. The head of Iran's judiciary, reiterating on Saturday that women not observing the hijab will be prosecuted, quote "without mercy".
Meanwhile on Monday, Iran's ministry of science research and technology ordered universities and higher education centers to prohibit services to women not wearing the hijab, according to state aligned media.
Now for more than six months since the death of Mahsa Amini in September, women across the country have been removing they're mandatory hijabs in a show of opposition against the regime's severe restrictions on women's rights and in solidarity with protesters calling for regime change. Although protests may have slowed down somewhat in recent weeks, they are still continuing in parts of the country, and we continue to see images and videos of women across the country, bravely defying the regime.
Nada Bashir, CNN -- London.
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VAUSE: In France, a junior minister has been dressed down by some in her own party including the prime minister for a feature in Playboy Magazine, including a cover shoot. The minister who has a long history of advocating for women's rights is fully clothed in the shoot, but some images have been described as racy.
CNN's Melissa Bell has more now reporting in from Paris.
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MELISSA BELL, CNN PARIS CORRESPONDENT: Here in France, one of the government's junior ministers coming in for criticism after the decision she made not just to give an interview to France's Playboy Magazine, the French version of Playboy Magazine but also to appear on its front cover. That edition will come out on Thursday. It's been defended both by Marlene Schiappa (ph) herself and by the magazine's editor who's been explaining that it's been changed quite a lot these last few years.
This is an article about promoting, says Marlene Schiappa women's rights and gay rights and attracting attention to those causes.
Marlene Schiappa, who rose to prominence when Emmanuel Macron was first elected and made equality minister had been known as a feminist author before that. That is part of the questioning that's come around her decision to grant the interview and to appear on the cover, as has the forthcoming question of the reshuffle that we expect here in France on the back of the social protests that we have seen over pension reform, with many on her own side taking the opportunity to lay into her decision.
It is a time of great political uncertainty here in France, but also people point out an ill-timed decision in terms of how it looks in the context of the ongoing protests over pension reform. It is on Thursday that the unions will be back on the street for another day of mass strike action and protest.
Melissa Bell, CNN -- Paris.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VAUSE: Still to come here on CNN, will he or won't he? Will Donald Trump actually have a mug shot? Many are speculating if it happens and what will it look like? And when will it be leaked to the press?
More on that in a moment.
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[01:54:54]
VAUSE: One of the ongoing legal battles in the Donald Trump arraignment is over his mug shot. His lawyers have argued against it, saying his face is already one of the most recognizable in the world. But if he does get a mug shot, he'll join a long list of famous people who've had booking photos taken and they do not look good.
CNN's Sunlen Serfaty has details.
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SUNLEN SERFATY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: In one second one flash, one photo an indelible image is produced steeped in the long history of the justice system. Eyes forward looking right into the camera that exposure, exposing the person becoming a lasting part of their own legacy.
Al Capone, Pablo Escobar, John Gotti -- these mug shots of famous suspects have become iconic. Lee Harvey Oswald's taken just hours after he assassinated President John f. Kennedy. O.J. Simpson's mug shot as enduring as images of his white Ford Bronco racing down a California highway.
Now all eyes are on the former president's movements and the palace intrigue is building if Trump, known for his media and image savvy, will become the first former president to have a mug shot taken or not.
JOHN MILLER, CNN CHIEF LAW ENFORCEMENT AND INTELLIGENCE ANALYST: The leaning has been not to because a, it's not really necessary. Everybody knows what he looks like. It's not like if he fled the jurisdiction that they would say wow, we really should have had that mug shot.
B, if they need to they can create a mug shot from existing pictures. But the real concern is that the mug shot is going to be misused. SERFATY: York state law prohibits the release of booking photos unless
police say there is a legitimate law enforcement purpose to release them.
Sources tell CNN authorities are concerned about the potential photo leaking. The Trump team is trying to avoid it.
ALINA HABBA, TRUMP ATTORNEY: I do have a problem with leaking of pictures. I think that it's because we're in a campaign because he's the leading GOP candidate it's not going to help anything.
Mug shots are for people so that you recognize who they are. He is the most recognized face in the world, let alone the country right now, so there's no need for that. There's no need for the theatrics, no.
SERFATY: Other politicians like John Edwards, Tom Delay and Rick Perry attempted to turn their mug shot into more of a pleasing headshot, smiling with perfectly coifed hair, suit and tie. Then there are the mug shots that go on to become celebrated. Martin Luther King, Rosa Parks, John Lewis, Jane Fonda a badge of defiance.
The world waits now for Tuesday's historical moment, a moment that would only be punctuated by this unparalleled mug shot.
Sunlen Serfaty, CNN --Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VAUSE: And stay with CNN throughout the day for full coverage of the unprecedented arraignment. Later we're expecting to hear from Donald Trump himself once he returns to Mar-a-Lago.
Thank you for watching CNN NEWSROOM. I'm John Vause.
CNN NEWSROOM continues with my colleague Laila Harrak.
Hope to see you right back here tomorrow.
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