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Donald Trump Pleads Not Guilty To 34 Felony Counts Of Falsifying Business Records; Israeli Warplanes Strikes Gaza After Rockets Target Israel; Finland To Become 31st Member Of Military Alliance NATO Today; McCarthy To Meet With Taiwan's President In California On Wednesday; Trump Speaks after Pleading Not Guilty to 34 Felony Counts; Israeli Police and Palestinians Clash Inside Holy Site; Tiger Woods Back to the Masters; New Look at Barbie Movie. Aired 1-2a ET
Aired April 05, 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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[01:00:17]
JOHN VAUSE, CNN ANCHOR: Wherever you are around the world you're watching CNN Newsroom. Ahead this hour, reboot the grievous campaign. Donald Trump addresses his supporters describing the criminal charges against him as political persecution. Right now, 60 million people across the U.S. hunkering down under various severe weather threats. And while the heart may be wheeling the body especially the leg a week, Tiger Woods back at the Masters.
Just hours after he was arrested, fingerprinted, and appeared in a New York courtroom to plead not guilty to criminal charges. Donald Trump was back in his safe space at his Mar-a-Lago Country Club in Florida. But he told supporters he never thought anything like this could happen in America, a claim so many of his opponents and critics would agree with, but for very different reasons.
The first U.S. president ever to be criminally charged seem to similar with anger, as he had a long list of grievances filled with misstatements half-truths and lies. He also lashed out at the justice system, the judge, the judge's daughter, he called them and had a difficulty who brought the case a criminal.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP, FORMER U.S. PRESIDENT: He knew there was no case. That's why last week he delayed for a month and then immediately took that back. And through this ridiculous indictment together came out today. Everybody said this is not really an indictment. There's nothing here. I lose came to me and they said there's nothing here they're not even saying what you did.
The criminal is the district attorney because he illegally leaked massive amounts of Grand Jury information for which he should be prosecuted, or at a minimum he should resign.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: Earlier in New York, Trump seemed subdued as he made an historic and unprecedented court appearance to enter a not guilty plea to 34 counts of falsifying business records. The former President heard the charges against him for the first time Tuesday.
Prosecutors allege Trump sought to undermine the integrity of the 2016 election, overseeing a criminal scheme paying hush money to women who say they had extramarital affairs with him. The indictment says for all 34 counts, Trump had quote intended to defraud and attempt to commit another crime.
Prosecutors allege the unlawful plan to suppress information which would harm his campaign included an illegal payment of $130,000 for an adult film actress. Trump's legal team has until early August to file motions including motions to dismiss, the prosecution must respond by mid-September. The next in-person hearing is it for December 4 of Donald Trump.
CNN's Kristen Holmes was there when Trump addressed his supporters in Florida. She filed this report now from Mar-a-Lago
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
KRISTEN HOLMES, CNN U.S. NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (on camera): Former President Donald Trump given uncharacteristically short speech after his arraignment on his Mar-a-Lago club, he did talk about the New York case briefly. He attacked the district attorney there as well as the judge, but he spent more time talking about other investigations into him.
He talks specifically about the Department of Justice's investigation into classified document handling at his Mar-a-Lago club.
Now, he had a crowd here full of supporters, everyone here was a, well I would say is a MAGA fan. You saw members of Bikers for Trump, members of Club 45 as well as support of lawmakers, allies, advisors, family members as well.
Now I am told that after he made those remarks, he went up to the patio where he often eats dinner at Mar-a-Lago, and during his time there they actually started playing the J6 song that he had recorded with the J6 choir we were men that had been incarcerated for their alleged actions. On January 6, he did the Pledge of Allegiance the entire patio stood, and then he sit back down -- sat back down and then continued eating dinner.
Now I am told that he afterwards DJ with a laptop, something he is want to do when he is at his Mar-a-Lago club. So clearly a very long day. He is now surrounded by some people who adore him the most. We obviously are just starting this process with this arraignment, something that we will be watching very closely, particularly as it pertains to his 2024 campaign. Kristen Holmes, CNN, West Palm Beach, Florida.
(END VIDEOTAPE) VAUSE: Live now from Washington, Daniel Strauss, senior political correspondent for The New Republic. Thank you for staying up late. We appreciate it.
DANIEL STRAUSS, SENIOR POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT, THE NEW REPUBLIC: Yes.
VAUSE: OK. Remember a couple of years ago, there was the blue dress, the gold dress debate. Some people saw blue, some people saw gold no one could really understand and how anyone could see it differently to the other one.
[01:05:03]
Trump's arraignment seems kind of similar in that it was either the greatest day for American democracy or the day democracy died. Now, this like it, I'm saying how the other one can see it the same way. So how did we get to this point? And what does it mean about the state of American politics right now?
STRAUSS: Well, I don't think we're not at a point where it's either between the greatest day for American democracy or democracy died, but this is a -- there's a sort of dichotomy going on here. On the one hand, he's a former president of the United States being indicted, also as he runs for another term as president.
On the other hand, there is evidence that his supporters are rallying to him. His rivals in the presidential field have taken a pretty soft approach to attacking him over this alleged scandal. And then beyond that, he is continuing to raise large sums of money. And on top of that, his supporter -- his support in the Republican primary field has only gone up in the past few weeks.
So the sense that he's trying to telegraph to his supporters in the broader public that he is the victim of a so called Witch Hunt, and is really just in the crosshairs of overly partisan district attorneys in two states really seems to be resonating with his supporters.
VAUSE: What is also resonating in seems the majority of Americans approve of Trump's indictment. That's according to a CNN poll. We've seen as David Chalian says found a majority also believed politics played a role in Trump being charged. Listen to this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DAVID CHALIAN, CNN POLITICAL DIRECTOR: One of his biggest talking points is that this is a political prosecution. Well guess what, the American people see politics at play here. 76 percent, three quarters of those in the polls say politics is at play, including 52 percent a slim majority of Americans say that it plays a major role in this case.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: So 60 percent support the indictment. 70 percent say he's done something bad or illegal. And you know, there's this belief that politics is in play, does that mean that Americans are to some degree now OK with politics playing a role in the judicial process?
STRAUSS: I mean, right now -- right across the board at multiple levels of American government, the sense that politics plays at least some pivotal role in the American judicial system is pretty common. Tonight, for instance, there was a very important state Supreme Court race in Wisconsin, between a liberal -- it's technically nonpartisan between a liberal candidate and a conservative candidate.
And -- But the way that support lined up, he was pretty clear that the liberal candidate was Democrat, the Conservative candidate was supported by Republicans. The same sense is going on with Trump here. The Americans have some feeling as that CNN poll illustrated that there is some politics driving his indictment, but they don't really care.
They still see over all that he should be indicted, and that there is reason to take a serious look at his conduct in allegedly paying off a porn star over to keep quiet over an extramarital affair. So, I think that's what's the state of play. Americans are cognizant of multiple angles in this and they seem OK with it.
VAUSE: Well, Trump's about -- it's also likely that the charge has been brought here by the Manhattan DA that a bit squishy they kind of nebulous, leading to this sort of criticism we're hearing from Republican Congressman Byron Donalds, listen to this.
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BYRON DONALDS, U.S. HOUSE REPUBLICAN: They actually don't cite the charge. So what are you supposed to do with that? I mean, it's clear that Alvin Bragg hat was on a mission to indict Donald Trump. And so that's how we got to where we are. But you say 34 felonies but what are we actually talking about? What are the actual charges the indictment --
WOLF BLITZER, CNN HOST: We're talking about, Congressman -- let me explain.
DONALDS: -- speak to it?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: We also have well known Trump critic Mitt Romney, senator from Utah, releasing a statement which read in part, the prosecutors overreach sets a dangerous precedent for criminalizing political opponents and damages the public's faith in our justice system.
If this case, if this criminal prosecution against Trump fails, in theory, it should have no impact on the ongoing investigations elsewhere around the country. But what will happen in reality here?
STRAUSS: In reality, there will be continued skepticism over whether any of these investigations are founded in legal approach and only illegal approach in any investigation of Trump going forward. If this one is bumbled, the sense will be that these are all political witch hunts as Trump says and that he may be on to something by complaining that this is all just political persecution to prevent him from taking office again.
[01:10:09]
That is not the case. There is serious reason to believe that Trump may have violated the law. That is how in the American judicial system, we settle matters like this. But that will be the public perception going forward.
VAUSE: Are we now at a point where it opens the way for Republicans to somehow bring charges against a Democrat, Joe Biden, Hunter Biden, Hillary Clinton, in some kind of politically motivated legal case itself?
STRAUSS: There is no way Republicans won't try -- try and cite this situation in going after their political adversary is going forward, like you mentioned. But that's just how American politics works. And there are plenty of examples in history of how one side does something and the other side, moves forward and cites the previous sites actions. And that's what's going to happen here.
But again, the situations are radically different. The Hunter Biden investigation is very unlike any of the investigations Donald Trump is facing right now. And it's just not a carbon copy. But Republicans will try and paint some similarity between the motivation behind what's going on in this investigation and what they want to conduct going forward.
VAUSE: Daniel, thank you so much for staying up and being with us. We appreciate it.
STRAUSS: Thanks so much.
VAUSE: Violence is flowing again in the Middle East. The Israeli military says warplanes strike targets in Gaza in the past few hours, including two weapons sites belonging to the militant group, Hamas. That's after a barrage of rockets from Gaza were fired towards southern Israel, all were intercepted or landed in open areas.
This happened after a clash between Israeli police and Palestinians inside the third most holy site of all of Islam, the likes of Muslim in Jerusalem.
Israeli police say they were trying to clear a large group of Palestinians but barricaded themselves inside the mosque. But they say they were met with a barrage of fireworks stones and sticks. Some worshippers accused police of firing stun grenades, but that has not been confirmed even though that sounds incredibly much like stun grenades.
Officers say they arrested the perpetrators who have desecrated the mosque. The Palestinian Red Cross says seven people were hurt outside some by rubber coated bullets. Al-Aqsa reopens to dawn (ph) prayers, but the Palestinian authority prime minister has called the event a major crime against worshippers. We live our reporter in Jerusalem later this hour. Ukraine has rejected Russian claims that it has lost Bakhmut and says fierce fighting is ongoing for control of the city in the eastern part of the country. Ukrainian soldier also tells CNN the high ground to the west of the city remains firmly in Ukrainian control.
Meantime, the Ukrainian military says it repelled more than 45 tags in the Donetsk region in the past day also about 20 of them around Bakhmut. The Ukrainian military also says that Russians launched 17 a ready-made drones against Ukraine during the past day, and that Russian offensive actions in the Donetsk region has not succeeded.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JENS STOLTENBERG, NATO SECRETARY GENERAL: Let me start by welcoming Finland as the newest member of our alliance.
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VAUSE: The Secretary General of NATO opening a session there with ministers giving a nod to NATO's new member.
Finland's flag raids outside NATO Headquarters Tuesday, marking its ascension to the alliance, also marked a strategic change for the country which avoided joining for decades, but changed course after Russia invaded Ukraine. CNN Scott McLean has been looking into the political and military implications of Finland's move who reports now from London.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SCOTT MCLEAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (on camera): For Finland, its new membership in NATO means more work for its armed forces to integrate with the military alliance a small price to pay though for the protection afforded by NATO's Article 5, an attack on one is an attack on all.
For NATO, it means that its border with Russia just got more than 800 miles longer. NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg says the Russia went to war to get less NATO on its doorstep and now, the war has done the exact opposite. American Secretary of State Antony Blinken called this occasion historic and then also said this.
ANTONY BLINKEN, U.S. SECRETARY OF STATE: I'm tempted to say this is maybe the one thing we can thank Mr. Putin for because he once again here is precipitated something he claims to want to prevent by Russia's aggression, causing many countries to believe that they have to do more to look out for their own defense.
MCLEAN: The Kremlin called NATO's expansion, an aggravation of this situation vowing to match any military buildup along its border with Finland.
[01:15:04]
The question now though, is what about Sweden. Sweden and Finland had applied to join the Alliance at the same time last year but Turkey and Hungary are still standing in its way. Turkey is blocking Sweden's bid over its failure to repatriate some 120 people in Sweden that it claims are terrorists. More recently, it's been offended by a Koran burning outside of its embassy in Sweden.
As for Hungary, it wants Sweden to stay out of its domestic affairs. Despite broad European concern about eroding democracy in that country. The Hungarian Prime Minister says that the two countries need to clear the air in his words before Sweden's NATO bid can move forward. Scott McLean, CNN, London.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VAUSE: Still to come here on CNN Newsroom, the U.S. House Speaker Taiwan's President set to meet in California in the coming hours. And that's angling China and further straining already. Tense relation. More on that in a moment.
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VAUSE: The Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy is set to host the president of Taiwan in the coming hours meaning which is already drawing warnings and condemnation from China. President Tsai Ing-wen arrived in Los Angeles a short time ago expected to meet with Kevin McCarthy at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library Wednesday afternoon.
Today, Beijing has been highly critical of this meeting which it says it resolutely opposes. CNN's Marc Stewart following developments for us now live from Tokyo. So Marc, I guess will the Speaker be the only one there in the room?
MARC STEART, CNN CORRESPONDENT: He will not John. This has been billed very much as a bipartisan meeting we were given a look at the invite list. So in addition to the House Speaker, we will see some key U.S. lawmakers including representative Pete Aguilar, who is a leading Democrat also some members of the Select Committee on China, so very much a who's who of American diplomacy if you will.
[01:20:00]
The optics of all of this also are getting attention because again, this has been, this has been described as a non-diplomatic visit yet it's being held at the Reagan Presidential Library, which has always been a spot of important meetings.
It's also the first time that a president from Taiwan will be meeting with a U.S. House speaker on American soil. So that within itself also brings a lot of symbolism. But there is also this question about the Chinese response.
This meeting has not even occurred. And already we have been getting response from Chinese officials to all of this. You mentioned some of them earlier, including remarks that China will resolutely fight back. We heard from another Chinese official who warned of serious confrontation. With all of that said, this is an important meeting for Taiwan's President Tsai Ing-wen, because she has been basically traveling the world in recent months, trying to find diplomatic allies at a time when they have kind of been peeling off in favor of relationships with China.
China just established a diplomatic relationship with Honduras after Honduras basically switched alliances from Taiwan. So there is a lot of weight not only meeting with American lawmakers, but also the broader world, John.
VAUSE: Also on mainland China, we have the French president Emmanuel Macron, as well as the E.U. Ursula von der Leyen heading to be gene for a meeting with Xi Jinping. This is going to be quite a delicate diplomatic task for the two Europeans. They're trying to get China on side. At least, you know, when it comes to not selling weapons or giving weapons to the Russians. It's a lot of Ukrainian war issues here wrapped up with trade.
STEWART: Right and Ursula von der Leyen the head of the E.U. has been very pointed in her remarks about China's with spies toward the war in Ukraine. We did get some information from a French presidential source who also conveyed the fact that expect President Macron to be very diplomatic, not necessarily the one who is going to call out China in how it has been conducting itself. But as the one who will perhaps be the organizer of a diplomatic discussion and trying to find -- try to find common ground with Ukraine and what can be best for all the parties involved.
And you also did mention economics. China is the world's second largest economy. And we have France which is of course invested in trade, but also the whole of the EU. So, expect to see some discussion there where beneficial trade alliances can be strengthened or perhaps even established even further, John.
VAUSE: It's good cop, bad cop, double play there by Macron and von der Leyen. Marc Stewart in Tokyo. We appreciate it. Thank you.
So the company on CNN, another round of severe weather settled last the U.S. Midwest, with the region still reeling from tornadoes and storms. But at the very latest forecast in a moment.
Also, look at the key players in the Trump indictment. A few of them have already battled over the Trump Organization. Plus, an exclusive interview with former Trump lawyer and fixer Michael Cohen, who's a key witness in the New York case.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MICHAEL COHEN, FORMER TRUMP ATTORNEY: Nobody's able to tell him to knock it off because Donald Trump doesn't care what anybody says or what anybody thinks he's going to continue to run the show the way he wants.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
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[01:27:40]
VAUSE: Welcome back, everyone. I'm John Vause, you're watching CNN Newsroom. But we have on our on our lead story. Former U.S. President Donald Trump condemning the criminal charges against him following an historic arraignment in a Manhattan courtroom.
Speaking to his supporters in Florida hours ago, a defiant Trump claimed the charges are attempt to derail his run for the White House next year. He also said the only crime he's committed is to fiercely defend the nation. Trump lashed out of the Manhattan district attorney Alvin Bragg as well as the presiding judge in the New York hush money case.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: I have a Trump hating judge with the Trump hating wife and family whose daughter worked for Kamala Harris, and now receives money from the Biden-Harris campaign and a lot of it. We recently had another trial and the same judge told the fine man who worked for me for many, many years, that if you admit your guilt, you will be in jail for 90 days. But if you don't, if we go through a trial and you're found guilty, you're going away for 10 years and maybe longer, which for 75-year-old man with a great family really means life.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: The key witness in the New York case against Donald Trump is his personal lawyer, a former personal lawyer and fixer, Michael Cohen. During an interview on CNN, Cohen criticized Trump's strategy of lashing out at the prosecutors as well as the judge. Cohen pleaded guilty to nine federal crimes including lying to Congress for helping pay off two women who threatened to go public with past affairs with Trump just before the 2016 presidential election.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
COHEN: He's always trying to show that he's strong. It's an appearance of strength. And he thinks by attacking people, whether it's the judge or the judge's daughter and myself or anybody that this gives the appearance of strength. It doesn't. It actually gives the appearance of ignorance and stupidity, but nobody's able to tell him to knock it off because Donald Trump doesn't care what anybody says or what anybody thinks.
[01:29:40]
He's going to continue to run the show the way he wants, which is why he has this clown car of counsel right now representing him because no legitimate firm wants to take him on because you have an out of control client that doesn't listen to any advice. And at the end of the day isn't going to pay you either.
So you know, this is -- you get -- you get what you pay for, I guess.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
JOHN VAUSE, CNN ANCHOR: The other key players in the Trump indictment include some familiar faces, some have been involved in earlier legal action following Trump's company and associates. CNN's Tom Foreman reports on the people to watch as this alleged hush money case unfolds.
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TOM FOREMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Let's start with the person at the center of all of this. The defendant, Donald J. Trump, former president of the United States. These charges stem from the 2016 election. That's when these payments were allegedly made to keep this woman silent about this sexual encounter, so it wouldn't hurt his campaign. That's the allegation.
He is a candidate for president in 2024. He denies any wrongdoing and says, in fact, this is political persecution to keep him from becoming president again.
The prosecutor Alvin Bragg, Manhattan district attorney since January of 2022. He was previously criticized for not charging Trump on these things. He says new information has come up. That's why he's moving now.
Also he's prosecuting Steve Bannon, a Trump adviser who is involved in a completely separate allegation of fraud about raising money for the border wall.
The judge in this case Juan Merchan, he's very experienced. He has a reputation for fairness and toughness. He sent Trump's chief financial officer to jail in a tax fraud case involving the Trump Organization, fined the organization more than a million dollars as well.
And witnesses using it abroad since we're not sure who all will actually show up in court. Michael Cohen, a former Trump attorney, who went to jail over many of the things that are actually being alleged in this case. He says Trump knew about these hush money payments, knew about the false records, everything Stormy Daniels, Stephanie Clifford adult film actress. She says she and Trump had the affair that got all of this going, or at least a sexual tryst in the past.
And then there is the defense among Trump's lawyers, Joe Tacopina. He's defended Trump in a defamation case entirely separate from this.
Todd Blanche previously represented Paul Manafort, a Trump insider who went to federal prison over some of his dealings, again separate from this. Blanche helped keep that from becoming a state case as well.
And Susan Necheles who worked on the tax fraud case that involved Trump's big money man.
These are just some of the faces. There could be many, many more as this goes on and on for what could be many months.
(END VIDEOTAPE) VAUSE: With us now is former federal prosecutor and host of the podcast, "It's Complicated", Renato Mariotti. It's good to see you. Thanks for being with us.
RENATO MARIOTTI, FORMER FEDERAL PROSECUTOR: Happy to be here.
VAUSE: Ok so here is the Manhattan D.A., outlining the election laws allegedly broken by the payment of hush money to Stormy Daniels. And it seems the election laws are sort of the key here to all of this. So listen to this.
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ALVIN BRAGG, MANHATTAN DISTRICT ATTORNEY: The scheme violated New York election law, which makes it a crime to conspire to promote a candidacy by unlawful means. $130,000 wire payment exceeded the federal campaign contribution cap. And the false statements in our MI's books violated New York law.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: So as you see it now we know a bit more about the case. What's the strongest part of the prosecution's case against Trump? Someone said the violation of the state laws isn't exactly kind of clear. Well, the federal violations are sort of much stronger part here. How do you see it?
MARIOTTI: Yes. I think in terms of the election law side of things, the federal violation is more clear. But I will point out that the fact that you know, the other crime that is being invoked here as a federal crime, something that isn't quite settled that you can do that under New York law.
So it is a practice that from time to time, prosecutors in Manhattan have used federal statutes as a way to increase that that books and records crime from a misdemeanor to a felony. But never before in a case that's actually been tested in court with the judge so very interesting to see how the judge is going to rule on that.
VAUSE: Ok I want you to listen to one of Trump's lawyers actually talking about the violation of federal law here, federal campaign funding law making just that point and a little bit extra. Listen to this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOE TACOPINA, TRUMP LAWYER: Federal election law makes it clear that the facts in this case do not equal a violation of federal campaign laws at all. The FEC has opined on that already, the Justice Department, the federal prosecutors have refused this case because of that.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: So he's right. The federal prosecutors wouldn't take up the case here. But what about the rest of what he was saying? MARIOTT: Yes. I don't think it's that clear. I don't think that's
accurate. I think he's right that federal prosecutors didn't take up the case, but that I think was due to Michael Cohen and his credibility as long as well as some other factors.
[01:34:57]
MARIOTTI: So I think that you know, it is certainly the case that there may have been a violation here but on federal law, I do think it's not entirely clear and there are legitimate questions that can be -- that can be raised regarding that however.
VAUSE: The D.A. Alvin Bragg has been the focus of a lot of intense criticism as well as personal attacks. The Republican senator from Tennessee Marsha Blackburn among them.
But she also made this claim on Twitter. D.A. Alvin Bragg downgraded 52 percent of felonies to misdemeanors in New York City. So given Bragg upgraded misdemeanors to felonies in the Trump case, is she right? And does it matter? Is there a point she is making that we should consider.
MARIOTTI: I don't think so. I mean, I think that it's very difficult to compare the crime here with the -- with the sort of block and tackle cases that the Manhattan D.A.'s office has to deal with on a regular basis.
In other words, there's all sorts of crime in New York City. A lot of that crime is you know, for example, everything from shoplifting to simple assault, the Manhattan D.A.'s office has to take care of that. And at the same time, it's the financial capital of the world and there's plenty of financial crimes there as well.
And so, yes, I think comparing financial crimes to let's say this more typical block and tackle sort of crimes that the Manhattan D.A. handles, I don't think it's appropriate.
VAUSE: Fair enough.
And here's another Trump lawyer on kind of what their legal strategy maybe as it plays out the next couple of weeks, months. However long this trial may take.
Listen to this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JAMES TRULY, TRUMP LAWYER: You know you're talking about a specific intent to essentially break federal law. That's not only unchartered territory, that's perilous territory. But I think that you'll see very robust motions to dismiss that will have some weight to them that may well take this case out of play this year.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: There has been a lot of talk that out of all of the, you know, the four major cases before grand jury investigations that Trump is facing, this is probably the weakest out of all of them. Do you see it actually going to trial, getting a successful prosecution at the end? How strong is this case overall?
MARIOTTI: I think it's -- it's a solid case but there are significant issues of the case. It's a case that I'm not sure I would have brought if I was in Alvin Bragg's position.
So I think that you know as a starting point, the first motion I'd be bringing here is for a bill of particulars, a motion that would essentially be asking the prosecution to explain exactly what their theory is, and their statutes are.
It's not entirely clear from the indictment. That's the first place I'd start. I do think there are some potential motions that could be brought by the defense here. I do. I think that, actually, if you are looking focused solely on the legality, I actually think that Trump will be well served to try to speed up the trial here.
Try to get this trial before the more difficult cases ahead as you point out. There's many other cases that he's facing. I don't think he's going to do that. I think he's going to try to delay. And frankly, he could be at a very difficult position if he doesn't win the presidency if he is, in fact, facing multiple criminal indictments at the same time.
VAUSE: An interesting year ahead to say the least. Renato, good to see you. Thank you very much.
MARIOTTI: Thank you.
VAUSE: At this hour more than 60 million people are under some kind of severe weather threat alert in the United States, dangerous tornados are forecast for parts of the west and south. Parts of the city of Kelowna in Illinois, suffered heavy damage after a tornado touched down with winds up to 185 kilometers an hour. Emergency officials are urging residents to be aware of weather alerts over the coming hours.
CNN meteorologist Britley Ritz has more on the severe weather threat right now and in the coming hours, Britley.
BRITLEY RITZ, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Yes, thankfully, we have seen a lot of these watch boxes expire. Specifically the tornado watch boxes.
Still have a few severe thunderstorm watches in place. Those are these areas highlighted in yellow until about four or five o'clock in the morning. Really concerned about a few of these storms down in southeast Kansas, what were highlighted in orange? Those are severe thunderstorm warnings that go for a few more hours or a few more minutes rather.
These are areas of concern with winds gusting over 70 mph and half- dollar size hail.
We've had hail reports in Iowa and Illinois over two inches. Look at Davenport, which is right there on the Mississippi River four inches. Still dealing with the threat for tornadoes specifically down through parts of southern Missouri back into Arkansas, what were highlighted in red, although the storms are showing signs of weakening, that is a good thing.
However we're still dealing with damaging winds and hail already getting reports in over the last few minutes that line, eventually pushing eastward back through the Ohio Valley and the Great Lakes. That's00 where we'll have the greatest threat for tornadoes tomorrow.
More of a wind and hail threat yet again, but it can't be ruled out and that comes into play around 1:00, 2:00 throughout the afternoon. Once it presses into parts of the mid Atlantic and down into the southeast, the severe weather threat starts to taper back a bit.
[01:39:55]
BRITLEY RITZ: Not only the threat for damaging winds, hail and tornadoes, but the flood threat. A lot of these areas are completely saturated. Then we wind up from Louisville down into Houston, areas highlighted in yellow that slight risk for flash flooding -- remind you again we've had quite a bit of rain over the last few weeks, and we're adding to it an additional 2 to 4 inches of rain down through the lower Mississippi Valley and back up into the Tennessee Valley, John.
VAUSE: Britley thank you.
And we know that there's nothing quite like a real life talking meteorologist like you because Apple's weather app actually went dark on Tuesday. They say they're now fix the problem. But for many users on Tuesday, the whole app was just basically blank with no information. It only puts out data like the current weather temperature, the forecast, the precipitation, but screen to the left, blank.
They say they've now fixed it. But, you know a person's always matter.
We'll take a short break here on CNN NEWSROOM. When we come back a violent confrontation and a violent response as Israeli police clashed with Palestinians at the third most holy site of all of Islam. The al- Aqsa Mosque. We'll take you there live in a moment.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
VAUSE: Welcome back.
A pre dawn raid by Israeli police at the Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem escalated into violent confrontations with Palestinian worshippers. More than a dozen Palestinians were reportedly hurt when police fired rubber coated bullets as well as what sounded like stun grenades.
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VAUSE: CNN's Hadas Gold reporting now live from Jerusalem. What are the details for this hour, Hadas? HADAS GOLD, CNN JERUSALEM CORRESPONDENT: Well John, in a way this was expected. Tensions have been rising. Today is the first day of Passover and for several nights we've seen Palestinians trying to stay overnight in the mosque. And I just want to give you a sense of what we're talking about here.
So behind me, you can see the old city of Jerusalem. On this side you can see the golden dome and then on my right with the building with the black top -- that is actually the al-Aqsa Mosque.
Now, this entire compound is the third holiest site for Muslim and it's the holiest site for Jews, so it's often a place of confrontations. But the confrontations we saw overnight, they were more aggressive, I think than what people were even expecting for what's already been a very tense period.
Now, dramatic footage we're seeing from inside the mosque itself. We see police entering fireworks being fired at the police responded with stun grenades as well as rubber bullets being fired back and forth.
Now Israeli police said in a statement this morning that they entered the mosque after trying to remove groups who were trying to stay there overnight. They say that several law breaking news and masked agitators brought into the mosque, fireworks, sticks and stones. They locked its doors from the inside with obstacles and fortifications at the entrances. And they say that's why they entered the mosque and they began to respond.
And that's where these clashes started from. Now police say some 350 people were detained and removed overnight. Those are massive numbers, the Palestinian Red Crescent saying 12 were injured, 3 of them were transferred to hospital. The Israeli police say one of their officers were injured.
But we're not only seeing the dramatic images of the arrest, we're also seeing images of damage to the mosque itself. And I will remind you how holy of a place this is for Muslims, especially right now during the holy month of Ramadan.
Now just Israel -- I want to give you some context because just Israeli police stepping inside the mosque is considered incredibly provocative and aggressive and then to see them engaging with stun grenades, rubber bullets and assaulting people trying to get them out. Arresting people -- that's seen as even more incredibly provocative.
And we're seeing other images as well. Israeli police being aggressive with worshippers at the site even into this morning.
Now what happens here at al Aqsa at the compound ripples, of course across the Muslim world, and we're seeing condemnation from Saudi Arabia, from Jordan which holds a special role here as the custodian of the holy sites.
And then we also have the aftermath of what happened because then we saw rockets fired from Gaza into Israel. Hamas the militant group that runs the Gaza Strip, issuing angry condemnation to what was happening at al Aqsa.
Keep in mind that two years ago, similar clashes at al Aqsa helped spark that 11 day war between Hamas and the militants in Gaza and the Israeli military.
Now the Israeli military responding to those rockets, saying that it struck a Hamas training camps and weapons manufacturing sites, now.
Right now we can see from where we stand that the situation at the compound is quiet, but it's a tense, quiet. We are still seeing some moments of agitation and it's going to -- we're going to have to see what happens throughout the rest of the day. Keep in mind, Passover is starting tonight whether the situation will remain calm or whether this will potentially escalate and spill over into something even bigger, John.
VAUSE: You're right. It's a very good context there where everything is taking place Hadas. but as far as the control of the compound at al-Aqsa, as well as, you know, the Temple Mount, this area is under control of Jordan. They administer the area.
So what are they saying in all of this? What's their role here in trying to defuse the situation?
GOLD: Well, the walks is our traditional custodians of the site. But in reality, they don't have actually as much control over the site of Israeli police who controlled the area around the old city and are often the ones to go in and enter this.
Now, according to the status quo, which is the agreement over how the holy sites are administered, there's several rules around it, for example, you know that Muslims are the only ones who are allowed to pray, and there's even certain rules about who was actually allowed to stay overnight at what points in time.
But at the end of the day, it's often the Israeli police who are the ones to engage. We are hearing condemnations from Jordan, from Saudi Arabia about this what they call this blatant assault on worshippers.
Like I said, this seeing Israeli police going into the mosque, even just stepping foot into the mosque and then engaging at the way they did it is considered incredibly aggressive, incredibly provocative, so we should expect to continue to see condemnation throughout the rest of the day. And we may continue to see further clashes at the compound.
VAUSE: The Palestinian Authority warning this (INAUDIBLE) as in some kind of big explosion in their words. Yes there is definitely tensions building in Israel and will continue that story for us, Hadas. Thank you.
Hadas Gold there live in Jerusalem.
Still to come, Tiger Woods returning to compete at this year's Masters Tournament, a little older, maybe a little wiser. Certainly a lot sorer. We have a report from Augusta.
Plus hop in a convertible, pack your roller blades, Barbie's world comes to life. Have a new look at her movie, Ken, in a moment.
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VAUSE: Golf superstar Tiger Woods will be competing at the Masters for the 25th time in his career. Then he spoke to reporters on Tuesday. CNN World Sports Don Riddell was there.
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DON RIDDELL, CNN WORLD SPORTS: He's 47 years old now. He's playing in his 25th Masters, and he's also banged up in so many different ways. But despite all of that, nobody moves the needle in men's professional golf quite like Tiger Woods.
He spoke to the media on Tuesday. It was as we've come to expect another packed press conference, standing room only, and these are the headlines.
Tiger Woods said that his game is better than it was a year ago when he was making his first appearance after that dreadful car accident two years ago. He says his endurance is better. But he said that he aches more. Perhaps that's because he's pushing his body more.
He knows that he's not going to have that many more opportunities to play in this tournament so the conversation with the media was less about how he defines success, how he finds joy.
This was the question I put to him. How does he still enjoy this game when it's a lot harder for him than it used to be different?
TIGER WOODS, PROFESSIONAL GOLFER: The joy is different now. I mean being able to spend more time with my son, and we will create our own little memories out there and to share some of the things that my dad has -- well, what I experienced with my dad. Ah the late night, putting our practice sessions that we did at the navy golf course. I'm doing with my son.
And it's incredible. The bonding and the moments that come because of the sport.
RIDDELL: When you're playing this course, does it ever cross your mind this could be the last time.
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WOODS: Yes it has. I didn't know. I mean, last year was kind of did not positive (ph) I was going to play again at that time. For some reason, everything kind of came together and I kind of pushed a little bit. I was able to make the cut, which was nice.
And yes. I don't know how many more I have in me. So just to be able to appreciate the time that I have here and share the memories.
RIDDELL: This time last year Tiger was very explicit with the media. They wouldn't have rocked up and entered the competition if he didn't think he could win it, so he was asked the same question this year. Does he feel the same way?
He dodged the question. He didn't answer it, so we don't really know what his expectations are. We're not going to know until he hits his first tee shot and plays a few holes on Thursday. But we do know this. He hasn't missed the cut at Augusta since the mid nineties, so at the very least we're expecting he'll be around for the weekend. Back to you.
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(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hi Barbie.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Hi, Ken.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: Hi Barbie. Hi, Ken.
It's the trailer for the new live action movie released on Tuesday. Margot Robbie is the iconic and very versatile doll from the toymaker Mattel, Barbie yourself. Ryan Gosling plays the famous boyfriend, Ken. Brilliant Ken. (INAUDIBLE). The star-studded cast also features (INAUDIBLE) and other Barbies. Simi Liu as a rival to Ken and Will Ferrell, as the toy executive.
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RYAN GOSLING, ACTOR: I'm actually not sure.
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VAUSE: Neither am I.
The movie will be released by Warner Brothers, which is owned by CNN's parent company. We should note that. Barbie, set your dates - it's set to open in theaters in July.
Thank you for watching CNN NEWSROOM. I'm John Vause. CNN NEWSROOM continues with my friend and colleague Paula Newton.
Hope to see you right back here tomorrow.
Have you seen that Barbie movie? That's your thing, is it?
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