Return to Transcripts main page

CNN Newsroom

Ukraine Claims Russian Hypersonic Missile Downed With U.S. Patriot System; Former UC Davis Student Pleads Not Guilty In Series of Attacks; Police Release 911 Call From Midtown Atlanta Killing; Charles III Officially Crowned As King Of Britain; U.S. Borders Bracing For End Of COVID-Era Policy; Texas Bill Would Let GOP Call Election "Do- Overs" In Largest County; Sources: Hunter Biden's New Aggressive Legal Strategy Initially Sparked Anxiety In White House; Trump's Video Deposition In E. Jean Carroll Case Released. Aired 4-5p ET

Aired May 06, 2023 - 16:00   ET

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

[16:00:00]

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN HOST: So awful. All right, Thank you so much, Patrick Snell. Good to see you. Appreciate it.

All right. Thank you, everybody, for joining me today. I'm Fredricka Whitfield. The CNN NEWSROOM continues right now with Paula Reid, and we leave you with some live images -- oh, it's striking, isn't it? Of London. The night King Charles III was officially crowned king.

PAULA REID, CNN HOST: Live from Washington, I'm Paula Reid in for Jim Acosta. You're in the CNN NEWSROOM.

We begin this hour with a potential new milestone in Russia's war in Ukraine. Ukraine has announced that it has used a U.S. made Patriot air defense system like this to bring down a Russian hypersonic missile. If true, it would be the first time Ukraine was able to intercept a missile that travels at 10 times the speed of sound.

CNN's Sam Kiley joins us from Kyiv with the latest.

Sam, how significant is this?

SAM KILEY, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: I think it's very significant indeed, for two reasons. First of all, it's kind of proving the need for highly sophisticated weapons such as the Patriot missile that the Ukrainians have been asking for effectively since 2014 when they were first invaded by the Russians.

But then on a technological level, Paula, this is a very significant development because Patriot was never designed for hypersonic missiles because they didn't exist when Patriot was designed. This is a missile that can travel up to 10 times the speed of sound. The Patriot missile is not designed to catch something moving that fast. There had been an assumption that there was no missile in the world that was the Russian boast that could bring it down.

Now, if the Ukrainians are telling the truth and there's every reason to suppose that they are, that is proven to be incorrect. So that will be a piece of information and the American arms manufacturers and technologists working on future weapons will be studying this in very great detail -- Paula.

REID: And Sam, meantime, there is this expected Ukrainian counteroffensive. What's the latest on that and the fighting in the east?

KILEY: Well, as you know, Paula, the fighting in the east has been intense now for very, very many months, centered around Bakhmut. And that has been absorbing a huge amount of Russian fire power and manpower. In many ways the Ukrainians have seen that as an effective killing ground. They've been using it when they are feeling confident. They'll boast about that being an area of no strategic advantage where they're happy to kill Russians.

And they want to kill as many as they can and absorb as much of that energy as they can before they prosecute this offensive that they've been talking about now for some time, possibly in the south of the country. But the developments there have been very dramatic with the leader of thing Wagner Group who are offering among the most men in the battle for Bakhmut. Prigozhin has said that because he's not getting enough ammunition from the Kremlin, from the Russian Ministry of Defense, he's pulling his men out on May 10th.

And he's going to done a deal or got the agreement of the Chechen leader Kadyrov to replace the Wagner mercenaries with Chechens on May 10th. Now he has been very vocal in his criticism of the Kremlin and criticism of the prosecution of this war by Russia's generals, and this might well be part of that kind of ongoing political soap opera. He does love the attention. But if there is a switch from Wagner to Chechen fighters, that would provide an opportunity inevitably for the Ukrainians to try to regain the initiative in the battle for Bakhmut ahead of this anticipated offensive -- Paula.

REID: Sam Kiley, thank you.

And in northern California, a former student at UC Davis has pleaded not guilty in three knife attacks near campus. Two people died in the stabbings, which took place over the span of five days.

CNN's Camila Bernal joins us now.

Camila, what more do we know about the suspect?

CAMILA BERNAL, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Hey, Paula. So these are very serious charges and the suspect when he was arraigned said he understood these charges. He was very quiet. He was just looking at the judge, answering yes to a few questions that he was asked, and essentially that was it.

This is a student or a former student of UC Davis just a day before these stabbings started, he was separated from the university. That's what the university said. They said it was for academic reasons, but didn't really give an explanation as to why this happened. And he was a student, a member of the community, and what's interesting here is that the same members of this community, they are the ones that led police to Dominguez.

About 15 people on Wednesday called police to say that they spotted someone that looked like the suspect in this case.

[16:05:02]

One of those callers even following Dominguez to the point where authorities were able to get his exact location. When they found him they looked in his backpack and he had a large knife. And so initially he was arrested for having this knife on him. But he was taken in and investigators actually sat down and questioned him for hours. They say he was a very reserved person, and unfortunately authorities saying they do not have a motive here as to why exactly he was doing this.

What they do say they have is evidence that links him to these stabbings, and also evidence that they say show that a lot of these victims fought back. One of those victims, the only one that survived, is speaking out from her hospital bed. Here is what she's saying.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KIMBERLEE GUILLORY, STABBING SURVIVOR: I was so scared. When he started punching me I thought that's what he was doing, was punching me. I didn't realize he was stabbing me until afterwards. I'm glad that they got him fast. I was praying for that, that nobody else will have to go through this.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERNAL: And she's not the only one that's glad that they got him fast. I mean, this was an entire community really hoping that this would be resolved. They were terrified when they started hearing about all of these stabbings and so thankfully a lot of people today just breathing a little bit easier. We'll have to wait to see how this legal process plays out -- Paula.

REID: Camila Bernal, thank you.

And in Columbus, Ohio, the city's police chief is lashing out at the accessibility of guns after a series of overnight shootings. At least two people are dead and several more injured. The chief says guns are winding up in the hands of too many people.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CHIEF ELAINE BRYANT, COLUMBUS POLICE: It's tragic that these incidents occurred, and one of the things that we're really concerned about is how many guns are so easily accessible, and how many people are walking around with guns. As you know, the gun laws changed back in June of last year. We were concerned.

Obviously as police we want to be able to make sure that we make people as safe as possible, but when you have a situation where anyone can have a gun with no checks and balances, they don't have to have any type of training, they don't have to have any CCWs, they don't have to be able to have anything to get guns, what we're seeing is the guns are readily available.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

REID: Under that law put into effect last year, eligible adults in Ohio are allowed to carry a concealed handgun without a license or training.

And in Atlanta, police have released a 911 call that captures the horror and confusion of Wednesday's mass shooting inside a medical office. The attack left one person dead and four others wounded.

CNN's Isabel Rosales joins me with more.

Isabel, what are you learning today?

ISABEL ROSALES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Paula, police are currently still combing through all of the 911 calls that came in on Wednesday, and once they're done with that they plan to release more. But even from this one 911 call, we get a real sense of the urgency of the situation, how dangerous it was and scary inside of a hospital, a place where anyone would have an expectation of safety. Instead, it erupted into chaos and violence.

You're about to listen to this 911 caller who appears to be a worker at the hospital describing a doctor seeing a body.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We hear gunshots in the hall. One of the doctors they see -- he thinks he sees someone on the floor, by the elevators on the 11th floor, but it's definitely loud and --

UNIDENTIFIED 911 DISPATCHER: Are they still shooting?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We don't -- they're not shooting at this moment, but there were several shots that we heard.

UNIDENTIFIED 911 DISPATCHER: OK.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROSALES: Right, and Deion Patterson is the suspect here. According to a high-level source within the Atlanta Police Department, his mother told investigators that he was seeking care at that hospital because he was dissatisfied with the care from the Veterans Affairs, from the V.A., and his mom then said that when doctors refused to give him antianxiety medication, that is when he got angry and started to shoot with a gun.

All of this led to an eight-hour manhunt that paralyzed essentially with fear the city of Atlanta, and it took a combination of new police technology, 911 calls that came in, and even barking dogs, and I'll explain that in a little bit. This is what led to his capture. There was a system of cameras that captured footage of a truck that he had stolen and the license plate, automatic license plate reader system spotted that truck over nearby Cobb County about 15 miles away from that attack.

Then came the barking dogs. A resident at a condo complex within Cobb County heard that commotion and was worried that potentially the suspect was hiding within the pool area within a gazebo, so she alerted officers that were already there in the site and that is when they confronted him.

Here's what the mayor of Atlanta had to say about this act of violence and what he would like to see happen next.

[16:10:08]

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MAYOR ANDREW DICKENS (D), ATLANTA: This cannot be the new normal. We know the commonsense gun laws that we should have. Universal background checks should be just adopted and established as a norm. We should not allow convicted felons to have the ability to buy guns or violent misdemeanors. Anyone that's mentally unstable, we should disallow them to have access to guns as well.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROSALES: And all of the injured and one killed were women including Amy St. Pierre who was 38 years old. She worked for the CDC. Family released a statement calling her a loving wife and a devoted mother of two. The other four that were injured, the survivors, two of them are in critical condition -- Paula.

REID: Isabel Rosales, thank you.

Well, now to the historic coronation today in London. For the first time in 70 years, we have a new British monarch.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: God save the king.

CROWD: God save the king.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

REID: The nearly 400-year-old St. Edward's crown was placed on the head of King Charles III today at Westminster Abbey marking a new chapter of his seven-decade journey from heir to monarch. His wife Camilla also received her crown, which belonged to Queen Mary, officially making her Britain's new queen.

Now thousands packed into Westminster Abbey while tens of thousands lined the streets outside to greet the royal family. A royal reception followed the ceremony along with a royal salute from 4,000 British troops.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Three cheers for his majesty, the king and her majesty, the queen. Hip, hip --

UNIDENTIFIED SOLDIERS: Hooray.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hip, hip.

UNIDENTIFIED SOLDIERS: Hooray.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

REID: Later the newly anointed king and queen along with the royal family stepped out onto the balcony of Buckingham Palace to greet the crowds. Now notably not present Prince Harry. CNN has learned that he did not receive an invitation to join in this part of the royal event.

Now CNN's Scott McLean has been on the streets of London all day for us.

Scott, describe what was the mood like there today?

SCOTT MCLEAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, it's been a festive mood. It's been a party mood for sure, and what's really struck me, Paula, is that this is not a nation of flag fliers. The British people are generally not outwardly patriotic, except in moments like this. And I'm reminded of the monarchy's ability to really unite the country.

And, you know, even though polls show King Charles is not as popular as his mother and he's less popular with younger people compared to older people, the folks that I met had no doubt about the monarchy's future in Britain. Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Look at the crowds, the monarchy, they're here for that. Going out in the rain.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I think there are some people, but I'm a big fan.

MCLEAN: Why?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Me and my friends.

MCLEAN: Why?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I just think they are a great way of uniting the nation.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I enjoy the monarchy, I'm for the monarchy, nice family. There's nothing wrong with them. I like them, and I'm here for Prince William as well.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MCLEAN: Now there were plenty of memorable moments for the day. One of them was the actual crowning itself, so this was performed by the Archbishop of Canterbury who led the coronation service, who put the crown on the king's head, and he kind of puts it on it first and struggles a little bit. It's a little off center. He tries to adjust it and then takes it off, puts it back on, then it's a little bit lopsided.

Then he finally gets it right and just has to check to make sure it's exactly equal or even on his head. It also looks particularly uncomfortable to actually wear. And that crown in particular is called the St. Edward's Crown. It is made of solid gold and it is also extremely heavy at more than five pounds. So not an easy thing to wear.

You also mentioned that balcony moment, Paula, where Prince Harry was noticeably absent from, and I asked people about that, and people seemed to understand the complicated family dynamics that went into that decision-making. The king and queen, though, did come back for their own curtain call on their own which got a huge response -- Paula.

REID: A lot of questions about how they keep those crowns on their heads. But of course there were more than 50 arrests made today. Can you tell us what happened there?

MCLEAN: Yes, so 52 arrests, according to the Metropolitan Police were made today, and we know that some of those were anti-monarchy protesters.

[16:15:02]

And this will be controversial for a lot of reasons. But, for instance, one of the charges that was leveled was conspiracy to commit public nuisance, and that means that someone hasn't actually been a public nuisance. It just means that police think that they were going to cause a big disruption.

The police actually just recently got new powers to crack down on disruptive but otherwise peaceful protests, controversial new powers, but Human Rights Watch says that, look, these kind of arrests are things that you might see in Moscow, not in London. The Metropolitan Police said, look, it understands the public concern. They also said that the arrest depended on context which seemed to indicate that they may not have been made if it was some other event. They may have been made simply because this was such an important occasion in the coronation -- Paula.

REID: Important context from you, Scott McLean, thank you.

And if you missed CNN's live coverage of the coronation of King Charles, tune in tonight at 8:00 p.m. for a replay.

And tensions inside the West Wing, the legal strategy by Hunter Biden's lawyer that was causing some anxiety inside the White House. That's ahead.

But first, bracing for a surge. How the feds and cities like New York and El Paso are preparing for what will happen once a pandemic era immigration rule lifts next week.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ALEJANDRO MAYORKAS, HOMELAND SECURITY SECRETARY: I think that there is no question that this is going to be extremely challenging. I do not want to understate the severity of the challenge that we expect to encounter.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

REID: And later, Luke Russert tried following in the footsteps of his famous father, so why did the former NBC reporter decide to pick a different path? I'll talk to him about it coming up in the CNN NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[16:21:00]

REID: Title 42 is expiring on Thursday, and the Biden administration is bracing for a surge at the southern border. The Defense Department will be deploying 1500 troops to the border to help Customs and Border Patrol as it grapples with a wall of migrants. Yesterday, authorities discovered more than 100 illegal migrants hiding aboard a train heading for Uvalde, Texas. Just a few hours south, the Homeland Security secretary was also in Texas warning of severe consequences for illegal border crossers.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MAYORKAS: We will deliver consequences for individuals who arrive at our southern border irregularly. That is our commitment and our obligation as a way of cutting the smugglers out and taking care of the safety and needs of individuals who qualify for relief.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

REID: This as official in New York City are voicing outrage after they were awarded only a fraction of the federal funds they requested to manage their response. The city is anticipating an influx of 800 migrants per day beginning Thursday.

Meantime, border towns in some places are already being overwhelmed by the number of migrants hoping to stay in the country.

CNN's Rosa Flores is in El Paso, Texas, to find out how the people there are coping.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ROSA FLORES, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The streets around this El Paso church have turned into a migrant camp where desperation looms among thousands who are hungry and broke.

(On-camera): Have you ever seen anything like this?

RAFAEL GARCIA, PRIEST: Not like this. FLORES (voice-over): Father Rafael Garcia runs the shelter here and

says that the surge started about two weeks ago ahead of the lifting of Title 42, the rule that allows immigration agents to return some migrants quickly to Mexico.

R. GARCIA: And this is an international issue and we're just like the neck of the bottle or the funnel.

FLORES: With Border Patrol roaming the area, migrants like Daniel Gomez say they feel trapped.

(On-camera): Can you work?

(Voice-over): Because they have no money to continue on their journey.

(On-camera): The fear is that immigration can pick you up if you leave.

(Voice-over): He says they have no other options but to loiter and pray. That kind residents like this woman who distributed 90 burritos in minutes will help them meet basic needs. Others like John Alvarez from Venezuela are the life of one encampment where he set up a barbershop.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: One, two, three, four. Four, four.

FLORES (on-camera): Four or five dollars?

(Voice-over): And even at a few bucks a cut, he says he's earned more in El Paso in the last 12 days than in one month in Venezuela.

Across the street from the church.

(On-camera): How long have you lived here? So about 12 years.

(Voice-over): Marina Carrillo has been nervously watching the growing number of migrants who are now her new neighbors.

(On-camera): What are you worried about? She said that she's worried about security and also about potential diseases.

(Voice-over): She says her heart breaks for them, that she's helped some of them with food and water but that she too lives paycheck to paycheck.

Javier Garcia, the manager at a nearby hardware store.

(On-camera): Do they ask you for jobs?

JAVIER GARCIA, HARDWARE STORE MANAGER: Yes, usually.

FLORES (voice-over): Says he has no complaints about the migrants.

(On-camera): Has it impacted your business at all?

J. GARCIA: No. FLORES (voice-over): His frustration is with Texas Governor Greg

Abbott and President Joe Biden.

J. GARCIA: Not even Abbott, not the federal government are doing their job.

FLORES: Rosa Flores, CNN, El Paso, Texas.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

REID: Coming up, a controversial bill that could effectively give the Texas secretary of state the power to overturn election results in the state's largest county. We'll speak to an election law expert who calls it state sponsored election subversion.

[16:25:05]

You're in the CNN NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

REID: A controversial bill that could have major implications on future elections is making its way through the Texas legislature. It would effectively give the secretary of state the power to overturn election results in the state's largest county if there's, quote, "good cause" to believe that 2 percent of its polling places ran out of usable ballots during regular voting hours. It would affect, though, only Harris County where Houston is located and where paper ballot shortages triggered delays and legal challenges after the last election.

[16:29:59]

Now, Democrats acknowledge the county had problems but say Harris is being singled out because it's trending in their favor demographically. And they say it's wrong to give one official the power to toss out an entire election.

Let's discuss this with former DNC election lawyer, Marc Elias.

Marc, you called this a, quote, "unprecedented step towards state- sponsored election subversion." Explain.

MARC ELIAS, DEMOCRATIC ELECTIONS LAWYER: Yes, so Paula, thanks for having me on.

We spent a lot of time this year and before elections talking about voter suppression laws. You may remember, in 2021, Democrats walked out of the state legislature in Texas to prevent a voter -- voter suppression law from being enacted.

This is one step further, though. This says that after the ballots have been cast, after the election has been done, a single officer -- and just to be clear, that single officer is an appointee of the Republican governor -- can decide to overturn the election results.

But only in one county, and that one county is Harris County where Houston is, which happens to be a stronghold for Democrats.

So voter suppression is a problem. Election subversion, though, is a whole other level of problem. It's what we saw Donald Trump tried to do after the 2020 election.

I represented the president and the Democratic Party in 60 plus victories. We saw the state of Texas try to go to the Supreme Court after the 2020 election.

And this just seems like their next step to try to give themselves an out after the ballots have been cast.

REID: CNN has a new report out on the movement among several Republican-controlled states to create new barriers, to vote for high school and college students.

Now, much of this revolves around student I.D. cards and whether they should be a valid form of I.D.

It may sound like a small obstacle to some, but why are voting rights advocates like yourself so concerned about this?

ELIAS: Right, so just so you know, in full disclosure, my law is suing Idaho and Ohio that you have listed there. We're involved in litigation in Montana as well. And we are watching the Texas law that targets campuses there.

Look, there was a report recently that Cleta Mitchell, who is one of the election denying lawyers, who was on the Trump famous phone call in Georgia with Brad Raffensperger, trying to find 11,000 votes.

She recently gave a presentation to the RNC that leaked out and the one theme state by state was telling Republicans that they needed to stop college students from voting.

They needed to prevent college students from having polling places on campus. They needed to suppress young voters. And that's because honestly young voters tend to vote Democratic.

And the 26th Amendment says you don't get to fence young voters out of the political process.

And you know, to the extent Republicans try to do that, it is both unconstitutional. It is a sign of how weak that party has become. And it's something we all need to stand up against.

REID: Well, going forward, what are the biggest challenges that you see coming up for the next presidential election?

ELIAS: Look, I think that the biggest challenge right now is just the volume of bad laws, and officials taking over state and local election offices.

You know, you point out that Texas is considering two laws, one targeting college students, one targeting -- one allowing them to overturn election. Idaho is already targeting college students. Ohio has passed an

omnibus voter suppression law. Florida is set to sign another omnibus voter suppression law.

And at the same time, we see election deniers running for office and also taking over local election offices.

So I think the fight for democracy is the fight of our time. And it is the thing that is going to decide whether or not we remain a country that is committed to other individual rights and liberties.

But we need to all make sure we are first protecting the right to vote and everyone to participate.

REID: Marc Elias, thank you.

ELIAS: Thank you.

REID: And coming up, former President Trump under oath and on camera. What we've learned from the deposition he sat for as part of the E. Jean Carroll trial, which was just made public.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You say Marla's in this photo?

DONALD TRUMP, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: That's Marla, yes. That's my wife.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Which woman are you pointing to?

TRUMP: Here. Oh, is that --

(CROSSTALK)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The person you just pointed to was E. Jean Carroll.

[16:34:37]

TRUMP: Who is that?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

REID: Sources tell CNN Hunter Biden's new legal strategy has initially sparked some concern inside the White House. His litigious new lawyer is calling for investigations into various officials who have spoken at length about the younger Biden.

The president has maintained his support for his son, saying in an interview yesterday, "My son has done nothing wrong. I trust him and I have faith in him."

Now CNN legal analyst, Jennifer Rodgers, joins us now. All right, Jennifer, I did this reporting yesterday. I want to sort of

set the context for viewers before I get your take.

Back in December, after Republicans took the House, made it clear they were going to target Hunter Biden. The Justice Department investigation that was supposed to have been nearing an end, hadn't resulted in any charges.

Hunter's lawyer, Kevin Morris, and Hunter wanted to pursue a more aggressive, forward-leaning strategy. But some senior officials and senior Democrats inside the White House said, look, we don't know if that's a good idea. I'm told they were concerned about what that would mean for Hunter.

So if you were in the room for this meeting back in December, which side would you be on? Would you encourage a client to, yes, go fire off some letters, throw some punches, or would you have advised maybe not the time to be too forward leaning here?

[16:40:03]

JENNIFER RODGERS, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: Well, I think, Paula, it depends on who you are. Since I'm a lawyer, I would take the view that he should be aggressive if that's the legal strategy that they think is the right one.

I think the hesitation probably comes more from the political side of the House. Legally and ethically, it seems to me that Hunter Biden's team certainly can push back, if that's what they think will help them in terms of the criminal investigation and case.

As a lawyer, I would be on the side of doing what they think will benefit him the most as far as legal exposure.

REID: And what's your take on the relationship with the White House? I mean, obviously this is a unique circumstance. But it's a fine line for President Biden and his advisers to walk, right?

RODGERS: It is. I mean, you know, he's doing the right thing so far, I think, by completely staying out of the prosecution side of things.

Telling Merrick Garland to proceed however he thinks should be done without any influence at all from the White House. That's what he should do legally and ethically.

So far, it appears that he is doing that so everything looks good from that side. They just have to worry about what happens if he is charged. And of course, the politics of all of this as we go into the next election cycle.

REID:" Absolutely. Now, I want to get your take on another legal development yesterday. Of course, the new video of former President Trump's deposition in the civil rape case brought by E. Jean Carroll.

Let's play a bit of that now.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: Well, historically, that's true with stars.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's true with stars that they can grab women by the (EXPLETIVE DELETED)?

TRUMP: Well, that's what -- if you look over the last million years, I guess that's been largely true, not always, but largely true. Unfortunately or fortunately.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And you consider yourself to be a star?

TRUMP: I think you can say that, yes.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

REID: So there he's doubling down on his comments in the infamous Access Hollywood tape. How are comments like that going to impact him legally in this case?

RODGERS: I think it was a big mistake. I think he came across very poorly in the deposition testimony, which is why we'll probably never see him testify voluntarily.

He was arrogant. He was insensitive. And as you said, instead of saying, with that Access Hollywood tape, I don't really believe that, that was locker room talk, I don't think that way at all, that's not me.

He just says, yes, you know, it's true. You can do that. Stars can do that. And guess what, I'm a star.

So I think it went very poorly for him. I think the jury will not like it. I think it will hurt him in the jury's eyes.

And that's really all they're seeing of him, of course, because he will not be testifying in this case, it's all the jury has to go on.

I think it doesn't look good for him.

REID: No, you're absolutely right. I've been in the courtroom a few days for this trial. And a big part of their case is establishing a pattern, not only with testimony from other alleged victims, the Access Hollywood tape, and hearing that response was not great for his case.

The closing arguments are expected to begin on Monday. And his legal team hasn't provided any form of a defense.

What do you make of that strategy? They could have put on their own witnesses. Why do you think they didn't?

RODGERS: Well, I think they didn't because this really all comes down to whether she's telling the truth or not, and there's not that much they can do in terms of disproving that, except for putting him on, of course. That is fraught with so much danger. He's really a terrible witness.

He doesn't answer questions concisely. He doesn't listen to his lawyer's advice.

And there would be so much impeachment material and material about his truthfulness that would be allowed in if he were to testify that it would just be a disaster for him.

So having that choice of really putting him on, you know, that's all they really could do in the defense in this case. I think they chose not to do it. I think that was a smart decision.

Then they're just left trying to attack her account and hoping they can get at least one juror to disbelieve her.

REID: Yes, and lawyers in his other criminal investigations have told me they are quite relieved that he has not taken the stand and hope he does not do so. Of course, he has until Sunday to still change his mind.

But I want to go to another Trump probe. At least eight of the Republican so-called fake electors in Georgia have accepted immunity deals.

So what kind of key insights could these people have now that Fani Willis has secured their cooperation?

RODGERS: Well, it's really important to that piece of the case. Paula, of course we know that they were investigating the not just the fake elector scheme.

But also pressure that was put on state legislators in Georgia and pressure that was put on state election officials in Georgia. So there's many tentacles here.

But as far as this piece of it, the fake elector scheme, they're going to want to know who set that up. It's not like these 12 or 16 or however many there were just kind of got together and came up with this on their own.

[16:45:00]

They were approached by someone in the Trump camp to put this whole scheme together.

And what Fani Willis is going to want to know -- I'm sure she already knows -- is who did that and gather proof against those people to move up the chain. So that's what they're doing with these witnesses.

And the fact that now eight of them have signed onto immunity deals, thereby securing her testimony, their testimony, that means that they, I think, are going to be moving forward with charges and, apparently, the time frame is this summer.

REID: Jennifer Rodgers, thank you.

RODGERS: Thanks, Paula.

REID: And coming up, a story about trying to follow in the footsteps of a lost loved one and finding your own path in the process. Luke Russert talks about the journey he went on following the death of his father, news legend, Tim Russert, and his new book "Look for Me There," next.

You're in the CNN NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[16:50:21]

REID: Few journalists in Washington reach the legendary status of Tim Russert. When the long-time host of "Meet the Press died suddenly 15 years ago, many in Washington looked to Russert's just-out-of-college son to one day fill his father's enormous shoes.

Luke Russert was just 22 when he lost his father and went to work for NBC News. Eight years later, though, he walked away from job, from Washington, from underneath his father's shadow and for the life he seemed destined for.

Luke Russert tells the story of finding his own way in life in life in his new book called "Look for Me There, Grieving My Father, Finding Myself."

And he joins us me now.

Luke, congratulations on the book.

LUKE RUSSERT, SON OF LEGENDARY JOURNALIST TIM RUSSERT: Thank you so much. Thanks for having me, Paula.

REID: Of course. I'm thrilled to talk about this. I think I was about 10 pages in before I started crying.

(CROSSTALK)

REID: Now, I want to talk to you first about what started this journey. A lot of doors opened for you. You had an incredible opportunity covering politics here in Washington for NBC News.

Why did you choose to walk away?

RUSSERT: I had a dream job. I was so blessed. I was covering Capitol Hill, which I really enjoyed.

But I noticed that something was missing, that I had anxiety around turning the age of 30. Part of that I thought was, oh, part of this is just you getting older. Dad died at 58. The light at the end of the tunnel was getting clear.

But I also felt like that, wow, is this all there is to me in this life? I am just trying to preserve a legacy being in the business my dad was in. And should I do something else? Ironically, it was House Speaker John Boehner, of all people, that said, hey, there is a world outside of Capitol Hill. You might want to go check it out.

I went into the world and started traveling. What I found is I was doing two things. I was looking for something, which was something, I should say, of my father giving me the nod that it is OK not to be like me.

But I was trying to outrun something. That was grief. And being 22 and being thrust into that position, taking it wholeheartedly on, I never really grieved.

REID: So you didn't just walk away from a job. You went on this odyssey.

I want to read a portion of your book.

It says, quote, "Lots of folks think I'm crazy. Hell, some days, I think I am. Is it wrong to seek something else from life?"

"The power circles of Washington, D.C., and television news left me unfulfilled and unhappy. What am I missing in this world? And why haven't I felt whole?"

Well, did you find what you were looking for on this journey?

RUSSERT: Yes. And it took me a long time, and it wasn't immediate. That's why it was a journey. Part of getting there was the scars. It was the highs and the lows.

But ultimately, what I found is that when you are dealing with grief, you may not ever accept it. And a lot of people don't, and that's OK.

But I was able to get to a place of peace and accept it -- and acceptance is peace -- and get to a place where I might still be a work in progress.

But I know that my father would never want me to carry grief for so long and to be so unhappy or to white-knuckle things.

When I got there, I knew it was OK not to shoulder a responsibility or a legacy. It was really eye opening and really a moment of clarity.

REID: You have gone on this odyssey. You have written a book. What's next?

RUSSERT: I like story telling. Writing a book was an incredibly difficult undertaking, but one that I greatly enjoyed. This one came organically. It came out of all of these journals I had written around the world.

REID: Yes.

RUSSERT: Maybe something else in that space, maybe something else in the documentary space. They do great stuff here on CNN, with Eva Longoria and her show in Mexico.

(CROSSTALK)

(LAUGHTER)

RUSSERT: That's good stuff.

But that is the area which I like. I enjoyed the day-to-day grind of cable TV and of network TV. But I think I'm better suited to more long-term types of things than the story telling space.

REID: It is important, though, to tell the stories. Take time out of reporting to tell the story.

RUSSERT: One of the things I learned traveling the world is that nuance is really where the world is. And nuance is something that's difficult to discuss on television.

It is much easier to be black and white. They said this. They said that.

When you start to develop the nuance and you start to look into it, and you see, oh, OK, there may be some extremes on some sides or there might be some stereotypes about the world.

Once you start digging in and you see people really live in that gray, it is really fascinating, and there are many stories to be told in that space.

[16:54:59]

REID: You're absolutely right. And incredibly brave of you not only to step away from such a prestigious career but to share your journey with the world.

RUSSERT: Thank you.

REID: And congratulations --

(CROSSTALK)

RUSSERT: I really appreciate the time this weekend. Thank you so much. Good of you to work hard this weekend. Not always easy in cable TV.

REID: No, it is not. A lot of stories to tell, a lot of news to get to.

Thanks so much for being here.

RUSSERT: Take care.

REID: And Luke's book, "Look for Me There, Grieving My Father, Finding Myself," is available now.

And the new CNN original series, "THE 2010S" premiers this weekend. Here's a preview. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You kind of wanted to take a shower after you watched it. But you were like, oh, my god. I have to watch what happens next.

They drop all of season one, all 13 episodes at the same time. This is when the Netflix revolution begins.

They are the streaming network that people think of first and foremost. It is not just a place to go and binge watch old episodes of "Breaking Bad" anymore.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

REID: "THE 2010S" premiers tomorrow night at 9:00 p.m. Here on CNN.

And coming up, an escalation in the debt standoff between President Biden and House Speaker Kevin McCarthy.

Plus, horseracing under new scrutiny after the death of yet another horse at the site of today's Kentucky Derby.

You're in the CNN NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)