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Police And Suspect At A Standoff In Trenton, New Jersey; Official: PA Shooting Suspect Barricaded In Home In Trenton, NJ; Tonight, Trump Stumps In Ohio After Pence Refuses To Endorse; Judge Rules Fani Willis Can Stay On Trump GA Election Case; Delays In Multiple Trump Cases Raise Chances He May Not Face Criminal Trial Before Election; WH Deflects On Question About Netanyahu's Political Future; Source: Ceasefire Talks Expected To Resume Monday In Doha. Aired 4-5p ET

Aired March 16, 2024 - 16:00   ET

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

[16:00:14]

PAULA REID, CNN HOST: You are in the CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Paula Reid in Washington.

Breaking news, a dramatic standoff between police and a man accused of killing three people. Right now police say the suspect is barricaded inside a home in New Jersey. We'll bring you the very latest.

Plus Mike Pence cannot in good conscience endorse his former boss. And he says it's not just because of Trump's actions on January 6th. Will Trump respond to his former vice president at a rally just moments from now?

And unpredictable and dangerous. That's how the U.S. embassy in Haiti describes the region under gang rule. It's now arranging evacuation flights for U.S. citizens out of the country but that's only if they can reach the airport. CNN is on the ground with a live report.

And we start with that breaking news. A suspect in a triple homicide has barricaded himself inside a home in Trenton, New Jersey. The suspect is identified as 26-year-old Andre Gordon. Police alleged that Gordon killed his stepmother and sister in one location in Falls Township, Pennsylvania. He then allegedly drove to another home and shot and killed the mother of his two children, and bludgeoned her mother with his assault rifle. They alleged he then carjacked a vehicle and fled to Trenton.

CNN's Polo Sandoval is near the house where the suspect has barricaded himself in.

Polo, what are you seeing right now?

POLO SANDOVAL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Paula, as we speak, there are signs of some potential movement right now at this Trenton home where they believed the 26-year-old suspect and the triple murderer earlier today neighboring Pennsylvania has been barricaded. We have been listening for the last roughly hours or so negotiators here on the ground pleading with 26-year-old Andre Gordon to come out shirtless, hands up.

Police assuring him that if he did so he would not be hurt. And just seconds ago, Paula, as I listened to what's happening, saw some sort of smoke coming from the area and some repeated banging noises that are coming from the area where that home is. Now, it may or may not be directly linked to this. However, the area directly surrounding this duplex in this neighborhood in Trenton has been blocked off since about 12:30 this afternoon when they, police here, received the report that the suspect involved in that triple shooting was likely barricaded inside that home with several residents.

Now, eventually the residents in that home were able to escape successfully, and that led us to this standoff that's going on about three hours now, a little bit over that, I should say, between police and local, state and federal authorities that have been pleading with their suspect to bring this with a peaceful end -- to a peaceful end by either coming out with his hands up or using a phone to dial 911 indicating that he intends to surrender.

So, again, as we sort of take all this in right now and to see and monitor for any and significant potential developments, I can tell you that there are signs of some potential movement here as authorities are trying to bring this to a peaceful end.

And very quickly, let me just go back through the timeline. It was about 9:00 a.m. this morning when police believe Gordon shot and killed two relatives about miles south of here, neighboring Pennsylvania, and then made his way to a second home and it was after that police say that he carjacks the driver of an SUV and then made the short drive here to Trenton, New Jersey, and made his way into that home.

Police have not said, have not made clear what that potential link might be between Gordon and this home, though neighbors in the last several hours have told me that this is a place where folks could potentially rent rooms. And so it wouldn't be surprising if we eventually learn that Gordon did potentially stay here at some point. But again, that brings us to this moment now about well-over three hours after the standoff started with Trenton police along with other authorities, are trying to bring this to a peaceful end and detain and arrest the man who they believe shot and killed three people earlier today -- Paula.

REID: Polo Sandoval, stand by.

I want to bring in CNN chief law enforcement and intelligence analyst, John Miller.

John, talk to us a little bit about how law enforcement is approaching this situation.

JOHN MILLER, CNN CHIEF LAW ENFORCEMENT AND INTELLIGENCE ANALYST: Well, Paula, this is one of these things that starts out very fast. You've got multiple people shot.

[16:05:02] You've got a suspect involved in a carjacking. You've got a vehicle on the move. But once they placed him in that building, that multiple dwelling house, and they got what they believe is all the other people out, the whole object of the game then is to slow it down and to start that conversation.

Now, the good news is they have been talking since they got there, telling Andre Gordon, this 26-year-old young man who is the suspect here, to come out, that he's not going to be hurt, that they want to be safe, too. They've talked to him about how to come out, to take him into custody. The unfortunate part is this has not been an intimate conversation. It's been largely via a bullhorn. We don't know if that's been a one-way conversation or whether he has been responding. They've asked him to call 911.

I mean, Paula, in a hostage situation if you're the negotiator, even if it's just a barricade situation where the suspect has no hostage, you want that conversation to be one-on-one. You want it to be by phone or in-person, but you want that conversation to be direct and two-way. At this point, it sounds like they are three hours into this. It sounds like they may be unable to make direct contact.

You can see the tactical people that were employed early on getting people out. So at this point they have to consider the possibilities, which is he could take his own life. That is not the ending they're looking for. They could convince him to come out, or at some point, not knowing what his status is, they might have to do a controlled entry to see if he's OK, where he is, and what the situation is.

And I think that's a little bit of what Polo is talking about now in terms of there is some movement there. So we'll have to watch that closely and see where that goes.

REID: It sounded pretty chaotic where Polo was. How dangerous is this situation?

MILLER: Well, it's very dangerous. You have an individual here with an AR-15 rifle. Now a gun is a gun, a little one can kill you as quickly as a big one. But once you're talking about an assault weapon with two to three rounds of 765 rounds, that's a very powerful round. You could shoot that and that can travel through walls, through other things. So it's a military style weapon. And as you can see from the pictures, this is a tight neighborhood.

The houses are close together. You know, garages and alleyways, not the kind of place you want any bullet traveling, let alone a high- powered round. So extraordinarily dangerous going into that environment or trying to control it with that outer perimeter and then the inner perimeter. There is -- you've got a good team there. You've got the Trenton police, you've got the SWAT team, you've got the Mercer County Rapid Response Team, you've got federal authorities offering tools and assistance.

So there are remote ways to work this with robots and other things that can give you a look around inside the house. And sometimes that's how you find out that the suspect is alive and still barricaded, or that the suspect has taken his own life. It's better to start remote and stay remote if you can. But at some point, as Chief Ramsey will tell you, sometimes the circumstances don't allow that. And at some point you actually have to send regular human being cops with the best protective gear in. The default is usually the time is on your side, though, and to keep it slow.

REID: Yes. I want to bring in CNN chief law enforcement analyst, Chief Charles Ramsey.

How do negotiators reason with someone who has already allegedly killed three people?

CHARLES RAMSEY, CNN SENIOR LAW ENFORCEMENT ANALYST: Well, I mean, it's very difficult. First of all, he's not rational. You don't commit a triple homicide and be rational so, and it seems like it's been a one- sided conversation. They've been using a PA in order to communicate with this individual. So like John said, it's not as if it's been a back-and-forth with this individual, at least that we know of, so it makes it very, very difficult.

Polo mentioned that he heard loud noises. I don't know if those are flash-bangs. He saw smoke. I don't know if that's gas. We don't have eyes on it. So I really can't tell you what's going on now but apparently they're starting some kind of tactical response to try to terminate this particular situation.

I think, you know, personally I'm a little surprised this little early because if you have no hostages and nobody in there, and just a suspect, you know, time is on your side, but, you know, they make those decisions on the ground. They know more than I know. I am not even sure if he's here, and maybe it's part of the issue, too. You know, when they got those people out, one of the first things you do is obviously debrief them.

[16:10:05]

But it took time for them to locate that house and to really put a perimeter around it. Whether he stayed there, whether they know he is in the building or not, that's always something that you have to take into account. You know, sometimes we've had barricade or what we thought were barricades and had things around it and then only to find out that the suspect had managed to leave we had it before totally secured.

So we'll find out. We'll find out pretty quickly I would imagine from the way things sound they are right now. But just hopefully, no one is injured. But this is going to be resolved one or two ways, either he's going to kill himself or he's going to surrender. And hopefully there's no more death involved in this. There's been enough loss of life already. So --

REID: Certainly, and senior law enforcement analyst, Andrew McCabe, how does the fact that they have multiple crime scenes across those two states complicate this investigation right now?

ANDREW MCCABE, CNN SENIOR LAW ENFORCEMENT ANALYST: Well, it's a complex investigation simply because of the array of criminal activity that's taking place across two states. But most of that activity are things that would be prosecuted at the state level. You're talking about homicides, carjackings, there is of course a federal carjacking statute, but it is likely that state or local prosecutors in both Pennsylvania and New Jersey will conduct those prosecutions and the investigations, the crime scene investigation and the other investigation they need to do to put those cases on.

This is all if we walk away at the end of the day with a subject in custody which as Chief Ramsey just said is really only about a 50-50 prospect at this point. So we'll have to see. I agree with John and Chief Ramsey that, you know, they are at the point where time is on their side. Usually at this point in the day, there's typically a perceived advantage for law enforcement to basically hold the scene until nightfall because once under the cover of darkness, it's a little bit easier to get a tactical team up to the entrance of the breach point or the entrance of the building without being seen by the subject inside, and with a weapon like an AR-15, you know, anyone -- there's a large range around that building in which you could be struck with lethal fire from the inside with a weapon like that.

So a lot of things to consider. A little bit surprising to see if they try to resolve it right away. But we could be here for a while.

REID: All right, everyone, stand by. We'll have more on this breaking news when we come back including we're learning about the victims.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[16:17:34]

REID: We're back with our breaking news this hour. A 26-year-old suspect allegedly behind a triple homicide has barricaded himself inside a home in Trenton, New Jersey. Earlier, the Bucks County district attorney describe what happened. Let's take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JENNIFER SCHORN, BUCKS COUNTY DISTRICT ATTORNEY: Preliminary investigation determined that 26-year-old Andre Gordon driving a stolen vehicle, which was carjacked from Trenton, New Jersey, early in the morning, forcibly broke into the residence after which he shot and killed his 52-year-old stepmother, Karen Gordon, and his 13-year-old sister, Kera Gordon who lived at the residence.

There were three other individuals at the residence including a minor inside the home, who were able to hide and avoid being shot by Gordon as he went through the house searching for them. Following the shootings at approximately 9:01 a.m. Gordon drove to the unit block of Edgewood Lane, Levittown, where he forcibly broke into a residence after which he shot and killed 25-year-old Taylor Daniel, with whom he has two children.

At the time of the shooting, there were four other individuals present inside that home, one of which was injured after being bludgeoned by Gordon with the assault rifle. She was transported to Jefferson towards DAU campus for her injuries. At approximately 9:13 a.m. Gordon committed a carjacking at gunpoint of a 44-year-old man from Morrisville at the parking lot of the Dollar General on Bristol Pike in Morrisville. The operator of the vehicle did not suffer any injuries.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

REID: I want to bring back in our law enforcement panel.

John Miller, what is your reaction to what you just heard from the district attorney?

MILLER: Well, as Chief Ramsey said, you know, you had an unhinged person who came in there with high-powered rifle who was obviously premeditatedly intending to kill people. But interestingly, some people hid and that may be why they were spared. Another person was hit with the rifle, but not shot. So apparently, he had his intended targets and those he was willing to let live. As for his plan, you know, he hijacked the car to get away, which meant in his mind, he expected to, A, escape.

[16:20:05]

He went to two different addresses this morning, but then fled to this location. Now this is what we don't know. Was he looking for additional victims at that location? Was there another intended target or was he just trying to get home and think of what to do next? And that is where dynamics change because the car is located 11:38. By 12:15 p.m. this location is surrounded. And then it becomes not a hostage situation because police are able to get all the people out.

So it does not appear he made any effort to gather them around and hold them as collateral, and then since that time in what has appeared to be a one-way conversation through bullhorns and PA systems, they've tried to engage him with a dialog and get him to come out and have not heard. So as we discussed a little bit earlier, they're probably engaged in what is the next step tactically, to run the clock out or try to do a controlled probe to see how far they can see in either using technology or a tactical team into that house to determine is he still inside, or did he escape before the perimeter was tight?

Is he still alive or is he disabled through maybe a self-inflicted gunshot wound or something else? And if he is still alive, are they in a position to start that dialogue with him to get him outside, but right now, as of a few minutes ago, it didn't appear they had all that information and certainly at this moment, we don't.

REID: And Chief Ramsey, what kind of information could they get from the people who were inside the home?

RAMSEY: Well, I mean, first of all, do they know him and is there some connection to their family or otherwise? Was he looking for a specific person there? As John mentioned, we don't know why he went to that location. And he went to two other locations, killed someone at both those locations. So why there? Was it another person he was hunting for or was he trying to seek some kind of shelter or something? We just don't know the answer to that.

But they would debrief it and get as much information as possible whether or not they believe he's still in the house. And if so, where? Is he in the rear of the house? Because they were able to get on the second floor, make entry and get people out. So someone in that house apparently probably called 911, told them that they were upstairs. They were able to get them out safely.

Obviously, if you're in the house on the first floor, you'd have to hear what's going on, yet they were able to make entry and get those people out safely. So whether or not he's still in that house is, you know, always something that you have to consider. But they certainly would have asked whether or not they believe he was there. How was he armed, all those kinds of questions.

You know, one thing that's interesting. He's only killed or injured women so far, you know, at both those locations. The one grandmother which he struck with the weapon, but there were males that were there. Now granted they were supposedly hiding or whatever, I don't know if he had an opportunity to kill a male but this is definitely something that interests me to find out. You know, the targets were all women.

And whether or not that means anything are part of his grudge or gripe that he's got against the individuals that he killed, I don't know. He carjacked the individual who's a man, didn't harm him at all. So that'll all be something that as the investigation proceeds, there'll be digging into. But right now they've got to make sure they can get their hands on him at some point in time and again, it's a very dynamic scene going on right there.

REID: And important point about the victims. We're going to take a quick break and we'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[16:28:38]

REID: We start with our breaking news. A suspect in a triple shooting has barricaded himself inside a home in Trenton, New Jersey. Police are surrounding the area. The suspect is identified as 26-year-old Andre Gordon. Police alleged that he killed two people in one home in Falls Township, Pennsylvania, his stepmother and his 13-year-old sister. He then allegedly drove to another home and shot and killed the mother of his two children and bludgeoned her mother with his assault rifle. They alleged he then carjacked a vehicle and fled to Trenton.

CNN's Polo Sandoval is standing not far from where the house where Gordon is supposedly barricaded inside.

Polo, what are you seeing right now?

SANDOVAL: Paula, I'll give you a lay of the land in just a few moments. But first, remember it has now been four hours since police here in Trenton, New Jersey, received that report that the man believed to have been involved in that triple shooting that you just laid out was barricaded inside a home in this neighborhood that we're standing in at this hour. We're just beyond the yellow tape here.

We do have several layers of yellow tape and several law enforcement officials between us and the home. So we're in a relatively safe area to be able to show you. The home itself is the red brick face duplex that you see off in the distance here, about 100 yards from where we're standing. And that's where for the last 90 minutes from our vantage point and our perspective, we've been able to hear law enforcement personnel using effectively a bullhorn to communicate with the suspect who they believe is inside, identified as 26-year-old Andre Gordon.

We have heard negotiators repeatedly ask him to step out of the home, shirt off, hands up, assuring Gordon that they do not want to hurt them, that they want to bring this to a peaceful end.

About 30 minutes ago or so, we did see some smoke -- some -- a bit of smoke that was billowing from the area in front of the home. Also heard some banging noises. But since then, we really haven't seen or heard anything else.

Important to point out that investigators said that they have no reason to doubt that he's inside, but really until they're able to have eyes in the interior of this -- of this home, they will not be able to finally confirm that or that he's even still alive.

But again, what we have seen, what we have heard are constant efforts to communicate with this young man, with Andre Gordon, suspected of shooting and killing several of his relatives in neighboring Pennsylvania.

Pleading with him that he either step out of the home or pick up the phone and dial 911 and really show his intentions that he would like to also help bring this to a peaceful end, Paula.

Lt's send things back to you.

REID: Polo, we will continue to monitor the situation. Thank you for that report.

Now, coming up, Trump rallying in Ohio a day after his former vice president, Mike Pence, said he could not endorse Trump for president. We'll have a live report, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[16:36:18]

REID: We're continuing to monitor the standoff in Trenton, New Jersey, connected to a triple shooting. We'll take you back there in a moment.

But first, just moments ago, former President Donald Trump addressed supporters in Ohio while stumping for Bernie Mareno, the candidate has endorsed in what? Is devolving into an ugly three-way Senate primary race.

He, once again, called for those to be jailed who have committed crimes against him. And he said that those who committed crimes on January 6th should be released from jail. He called them hostages and unbelievable patriots.

He also repeated false claims that Joe Biden is behind his legal problems. And once again, he praised Hungarian strongman, Viktor Orban.

But he did not address his former Vice President Mike Pence, who just yesterday said he cannot, in good conscience, endorse his former boss.

CNN's Alayna Treene is live in Ohio.

Alayna, what to do here from former President Trump tonight?

ALAYNA TREENE, CNN POLITICAL REPORTER: Well, Paula, it's interesting because this is Donald Trump's first rally and first big speech since clinching enough delegates earlier in the week to officially declare him the presumptive the presumptive nominee and secure the nomination at the convention this summer.

But look, he's in Ohio, not necessarily for his own general election campaign. This is a state he won with big numbers back in 2020. He actually won more votes -- (TECHNICAL PROBLEM) -- in the state's history.

Instead, he is here to stop for his endorse - (TECHNICAL PROBLEM) - Mareno, a businessman who is really in a close race with two other Republicans, State Senator Matt Dolan and State Secretary -- Florida Secretary of State, Frank LaRose.

And -- (TECHNICAL PROBLEM) -- to come to this state. He made an 11th- hour decision, I was told, to come here because the race -- (TECHNICAL PROBLEM).

REID: All right. We're having a little trouble with our signal with Alayna Treene. So thank you for that report.

As you know, it's been a tough week for the prosecutors trying to put former President Trump on trial, particularly in Georgia, where the lead prosecutor is now no longer on the case.

Nathan Wade tenders -- tendered his resignation after a scathing ruling from a judge forced his boss, Fani Willis, to choose between removing her entire office from their election interference case or removing Wade.

And joining me now is Edward O'Callaghan. He is a former federal prosecutor. He also was a top Justice Department official in the Trump Justice Department.

You also helped to oversee the Mueller investigation. So I'm really interested to get your take on what happened yesterday with the judge in Georgia.

EDWARD O'CALLAGHAN, FORMER FEDERAL PROSECUTOR: So it was a very interesting decision by the judge in Georgia yesterday. He essentially chose to give Fani Willis the option of whether she herself would be removed from the case or the prosecutor that she had appointed, in particular, to run the case against Donald Trump and the co- conspirators.

Mr. Wade essentially resigned, which I think was the right thing for him to do. And so Fani will remain as the D.A. on the case. She now has to find a top prosecutor to replace Mr. Wade.

It is no small matter when a -- when a judge removes a prosecutor from a case. But I think this judge has been doing a pretty remarkable job in the face of what anyone would assess to be kind of a circus in the courtroom well before any trial is to take place.

[16:39:59]

And he's -- he's dealing with the issues as they come before them -- before him and making rulings that he thinks are in the best judgment to keep the case moving forward.

REID: Yes. A young judge, been on the bench just about a year. And then as to handle this question of whether her entire office should be disqualified because Fani Willis and Nathan Wade had a romantic relationship.

The defendants were claiming that she financially benefited. The judge said that they did not actually prove that allegation.

But you've been involved in a high-profile file investigation related to former President Trump. You have to be basically the pope, right? You have to be beyond reproach.

What is your reaction to what transpired here?

O'CALLAGHAN: Yes. I mean, I think the judge appropriately laid forth some of his concerns, to say the least, about what the evidence in the hearings displayed, which -- which we're some ethical issues for sure.

And look, as a prosecutor that has the responsibility to represent people in bringing a case, you do want to be above reproach. Obviously, we're dealing with human beings.

But -- but the fact of the matter is you're held to a higher standard. And that standard is, when you represent the people of the state of Georgia or in federal court, the people United States, that there should not be any -- any doubt about the existence of any conflict of interest, even the appearance of a conflict of interests.

And what I think we saw was there was plenty of conflict of interests here. And I think the judge did his best, given the difficult facts that we're presented before him.

REID: I want to turn our attention to Manhattan. The Manhattan district attorney's case against former President Trump was expected to be the first criminal trial.

O'CALLAGHAN: Right. REID: It was scheduled to begin in a week. But in the past few days, they suddenly received tens of thousands of pages of evidence from your old office --

O'CALLAGHAN: Right.

REID: -- the Southern District of New York, the federal prosecutors in Manhattan.

So now the judge is holding a hearing a week from now to figure out if he needs a new trial date.

How does something like this happen or something tens of thousands of pages of evidence are turned over from federal prosecutors to the state prosecutor?

O'CALLAGHAN: I have to tell you, Paula, it's incredibly unusual. In my experience, that given where obviously we know the Southern District of New Yorke had some cases, most prominently the Michael Cohen case.

And presumably, some of these documents are coming from their cache of documents that we're developed in their investigation of that case.

But that case has been long over. Michael Cohen has already served his jail sentence and he's back out.

And so I find it difficult to understand what it was that prevented the Southern District from giving the Manhattan D.A.'s office whatever they we're asking for that was relevant, either inculpatory information or exculpatory, frankly, and, even more importantly, for the defense.

In my experience, and as a Southern District of New York prosecutor, there was a strong rivalry with the Manhattan D.A.'s office.

Frankly, the only time that you would keep information from another prosecutor's office that is representing to you that they can use it either in a case that's already charged or further investigate is when I thought I still had investigative evidence to pursue.

And I thought that there was something in that cache of documents that I wanted to make sure I ran to ground.

Now, I'm not saying that I'm aware of anything like that happening in the Southern District of New York. But that's really the only justifiable reason I could -- I could imagine that they didn't immediately turn it over at the request of D.A. Bragg.

REID: Well, look down to Florida, the classified documents case. It's been two weeks now. We've been waiting for the judge to set a new trial date in that case. There are some questions about whether that case well go before November.

What is your assessment of that case and whether it can realistically go before the election? And is that a product of the judge or is it just the nature of the case? O'CALLAGHAN: Yes. I think that it's going to be difficult, in my

assessment, too, for that case to go before the November -- will go to trial before the November election.

There are a number of circumstances that have a lot of bearing on that. One is just that nature of the charges. You know, the judge did rule against Mr. Trump and his effort to dismiss the Espionage Act charges on unconstitutionally vague arguments.

She did say it was without prejudice, which actually can prove a little troublesome for the prosecutor, that they still might have to deal with that down the road. But -- but she's at least move that along.

But in terms of what's -- what's really the difficult part of that case is all the classified information that's involved in it. There are procedures in cases involving classified documents. It's the Classified Information Procedures Act, which there have been some hearings in that.

But the fact of the matter is, because those hearings take longer, this judge is unfortunately a little bit unfamiliar with those proceedings. I just think it's going to take longer to hash all that through.

[16:45:05]

And that basically is -- and the judge has to make rulings when the prosecutors says, yes, on discovery for the defendant to defend themselves against certain allegations, they -- they don't necessarily need access to all the classified material that might be implicated in the case.

And she's got to make some pretty strong rulings saying that the defense does not need that. And that's a difficult thing for judges to do. They are inclined to, frankly, provide as much discovery as a defendant wants.

But in classified document cases, it's a different beast. And she just doesn't have familiarity with it. So I think it's just going to take longer.

REID: Another arguably inexperienced judge.

All right. So we've talked about three of the four criminal cases against former President Trump. The calendar is crowded. It's confusing. It's uncertain.

Do you think any of these cases are going to go before the election?

O'CALLAGHAN: I do think -- I do think I'm going to Manhattan D.A. will go before the election. I think -- but the judge, Judge Mark Sean (ph) there, has shown that he wants to push this case forward.

I think that they will figure out this discovery. And there may be some, quote, unquote, "bombshells" that come out in the discovery, which leads to more motion practice. But that seems like it is teed up to go before trial.

And the other case, of course, we haven't talked about is the January 6th case. That is pending before the Supreme Court on the issue of whether the president should have absolute immunity from prosecution.

If you look at the timing of that case, it is pretty interesting. I think -- they set the oral argument in the Supreme Court for April 25th. That means it's likely that a decision on that comes out with the rest of the end of term opinions, which is end of June.

Arguably, because there's only one defendant, that's only Mr. Trump in that case, there's an argument that that case could be he set before Judge Chutkan here, who's also indicated that she wants this to go to trial sometime late September, early October. It's possible.

You then bump up against the DOJ policy, of course, of whether or not you actually bring --

(CROSSTALK)

REID: -- it doesn't apply here with a criminal trial. They broke that news two weeks ago --

(CROSSTALK)

O'CALLAGHAN: I think that there is a, frankly, a more typically nuanced common-sense application of that -- of that policy than-- than what we strictly represented there.

I do think that, at the end of the day, everything would turn out that they don't push to do that trial before the election as well. But I could see this schedule working out that that trial does go before the election.

REID: Fascinating. We'll have you back to talk about all of it. It's going to be a busy year.

O'CALLAGHAN: Yes.

REID: Lots of trials maybe. We'll see.

(CROSSTALK)

REID: -- thank you so much.

O'CALLAGHAN: Thank you, Paula.

REID: And President Biden has long touted his close relationship with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. But this week is showing us just how much the Israel-Hamas war is straining that bond.

And we're also following our breaking news out of Trenton, where a triple shooting suspect is believed to be barricaded inside a home.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[16:50:48]

REID: We're monitoring an hours-long standoff in Trenton, New Jersey, where a triple shooting suspect is believed to be barricaded inside a home. CNN is on the scene and we'll take you back there in a moment.

But first, a source tells CNN that ceasefire talks between Israel, Qatar and Egypt are expected to the resume on Monday.

And this comes amid fraying relationships between President Biden and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Yesterday, the president embraced Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer's speech calling for a new election in Israel.

The White House attempted to clarify those comments, refusing to say whether Biden believes Netanyahu should resign.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Does President Biden want to see new elections in Israel and for Prime Minister Netanyahu and he no longer remain in power?

JOHN KIRBY, WHIE HOUSE NATIONAL SECURITY COMMUNICATIONS ADVISOR: That's going to be up to the Israeli people to decide. But the president spoke about the passion with which Leader Schumer made that speech. And the president said that he knows that those remarks, they resonate with many Americans out there.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

REID: CNN's Kevin Liptak is live at the White House.

Kevin, what is the latest on these reported negotiations?

KEVIN LIPTAK, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: Well, the White House says they're cautiously optimistic that these talks are heading in the right direction and they've seen the proposals that are being offered by each side and they do think that this could eventually result in a deal.

But at the same time, remember, Paula, the White House had once hoped that there would be a hostage deal in place by the start of Ramadan. Of course, that date came and went.

And so certainly officials here are realistic that these talks will take time and that there are a lot of sticky differences between all of the sides before they can come up with an agreement that would, of course, also include a temporary ceasefire fire.

But as you mentioned, this is all coming amid these deepening rifts between this White House and the government in Israel. And certainly, that speech last week from Chuck Schumer really did emphasize the divides among Democrats when it comes to this situation in Gaza.

And it was interesting. We heard President Biden not necessarily endorsed the explicit recommendation that Schumer made for elections in Israel, but he also didn't condemn it.

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And we do understand that Schumer did speak to top officials here at the White House before delivering that speech. And he did not come away with those conversations with any signs of political worries or diplomatic concerns. And so certainly was interesting.

And then it does give you a sense of this rift that is growing.

And certainly, here at the White House from the president, on down, there has been anger, frustrations growing with Netanyahu at what they see is repeated instances of him rejecting recommendations, whether it's the scale of the war, whether it's the necessity to get more humanitarian aid into Gaza.

For two men who have spoken at the start of this conflict really daily, monthly, now it has been a month since President Biden spoke to Netanyahu on the phone.

And certainly, this relationship is out of frank point, I think -- Paula?

REID: Kevin Liptak, thank you.

And next, back to breaking news. Authorities have a home surrounded right now and they believe on man who allegedly killed three people is still inside. We're live from that scene, straight ahead.

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