Return to Transcripts main page
CNN Newsroom
CNN International: Raisi, Iran's Foreign Minister and Seven Others Killed in Helicopter Crash; Funeral Ceremonies Begin for Ebrahim Raisi; Iran's Late President to Be Buried in Mashhad on Thursday; Iran's Presidential Election Set for June 28; ICC Seeks Arrest Warrants for Hamas & Israeli Leaders, Including Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu and Defense Minister Gallant; Biden Blasts ICC Move to Obtain Arrest Warrants for Israeli Leaders; Costello Returns to Stand After Scolding by Judge; Unlikely Trump Will Take the Stand in His Own Defense; One Dead, Several Hurt on a Singapore Airlines Flight That Suffered Severe Turbulence; Zelenskyy Says Foreign Military Aid is One Year Late; Rudy Giuliani and Other Trump Allies to Face a Judge in Arizona; Elvis Presley's Granddaughter Fights Sale of Graceland; Trial Begins for Group Planning to Overthrow German Government; U.K. Court Says Prince Harry Can't Expand Suit Against Sun Publisher to Include Allegations Against Murdoch; Princess of Wales Not Expected to Resume Royal Duties Until Medically Cleared; OpenAI Removes ChatGPT Voice Resembling Scarlett Johansson. Aired 8-9a ET
Aired May 21, 2024 - 08:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[08:00:00]
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Admit it is a mess up and it is wrong. Do you still have it up?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yeah. Good luck trying to get that Donald Trump to delete tweets. I think -- I think we have learned that over the last 12 or whatever years. But no, look, I understand that. And I think the tough part is right when Trump is winning, sometimes, that is when he can make these sorts of mistakes, right?
Again, it is -- look, it is not affect the votes. It is not going to make a big wrong thing. But, they have to be careful, right? They are showing they are up is five or six swing states. They are doing pretty well. They have to be careful of these sorts of little missteps along the way. They distract with press --
ERICA HILL, CNN ANCHOR OF "CNN NEWSROOM": Hello and welcome to our viewers from around the world. I am Erica Hill. This is "CNN Newsroom." Just ahead, the body of former Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi has arrived in the capital of Tehran just two days, of course, after his death in that helicopter crash. We'll have the very latest on the official period of mourning. Plus, as Donald Trump's hush money trial enters the final stages, a fiery witness set to retake the stand today. We are live in New York. And a deadly incident on board a flight from London to Singapore, the latest details and what went wrong.
HILL: Iran is saying goodbye to President Ebrahim Raisi, funeral ceremonies now underway. The plane carrying his body arrived a short time ago in the capital of Tehran. Earlier, large crowds has turned out to pay their respects to the country's foreign minister and seven others who were killed in a helicopter crash over the weekend. The northwest city of Tabriz is the first stop for these official ceremonies and that will, of course, be followed by other cities in the days ahead.
The country meantime, is observing five days of national mourning. Raisi's helicopter crashed in a remote mountainous area of Iran's East Azerbaijan province. Iran's military chief has now appointed a commission to investigate what caused that deadly crash. CNN's Ben Wedeman joining us now with more from Rome. So Ben, let's begin first if we could with these plans, of course, for multi-day national mourning, also the funeral plans for President Raisi and the others who were killed alongside him.
BEN WEDEMAN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes. As you mentioned, his body has now arrived in Tehran, the capital. We expect a major funeral in the city tomorrow. And also tomorrow, it will be a public holiday, so offices will be closed as well. And the final stop will be the city of Mashhad, Iran's second largest city in the north eastern part of the country and that, of course, is where President Raisi was born. Now, it will be interesting to see the turnout at these various funeral ceremonies.
Now, I've covered funerals of heads of state in the Middle East before and it is often the case that, for instance, I was -- I covered the death of Hafez al-Assad, the president of Syria, in the year 2000. In that instance, when you would show up with a -- at a crowd that it was supposed to be morning, the president -- people would break out and tears and wail. And as soon as you put the camera down, they'd often timed (ph) light up a cigarette and go back to chatting among themselves. So, it would be interesting to actually be there and see how people are reacting as opposed to what we are seeing on state media.
HILL: Yes, it is. It is such an important point and it is quite the visual that you paint there as well, Ben. So that, of course, what is happening on the ground. There are a lot of questions about the impact on the wider regional picture, if you will, where do things stand this morning?
WEDEMAN: Well, I don't think there is going to be a radical change in Iran's policies across the region, particularly its ties with groups like Hezbollah in Lebanon, the Houthis in Yemen, Hamas in Gaza, and other groups elsewhere. I think what is going to be interesting is the election that is going to take place, I believe on the June 28, to find a replacement who will obviously set the tone to a certain extent for Iran's policies throughout the region.
Now, at the moment, for instance, the leadership -- the supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, has a bit of a dilemma before him. If he allows for a broad array of candidates to participate in this presidential election, the problem is he may find himself with a reformist, a liberal, running the country, in which case those regional policies could change. On the other hand, if he does what has been done in the past where he -- the choice given to Iranian voters in this presidential election is basically a choice among ultra- conservatives, he may find that the downward trend in turnout continues and that the leader, the next president, is much less -- has much less legitimacy in terms of popular support.
[08:05:00]
WEDEMAN: And that will have an impact obviously on the regional policies as well, of Iran going forward. Erica?
HILL: Yeah. Absolutely, Ben, really appreciate it. Thank you. Palestinian health officials say at least seven people were killed, including a doctor, in an Israeli army raid on Jenin in the West Bank, the occupied West Bank. And they say at least nine others were injured, including some elderly people who were on their way to work. The IDF says it had carried out an operation to, in its words, eliminate terror activity. The U.N. meantime says, it is alarmed by the growing difficulty in both collecting and distributing aid in Gaza. One senior official warns they are running out of words to describe the humanitarian catastrophe there, calling it worse than hell on earth. And global reaction continues to pour in following the International Criminal Court's decision to seek arrest warrants for top Israeli and Hamas officials, including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. In the U.S., President Biden slamming that decision, calling the move outrageous. Here is more of what he said. His reaction coming as he was delivering remarks on Monday at a celebration for Jewish American Heritage Month at the White House.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOE BIDEN, (D) PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: Let me be clear, we reject the ICC's application of arrest warrants against Israeli leaders.
(CROWD CHEERING)
BIDEN: Whatever these warrants may imply, there is no equivalence between Israel and Hamas.
(CROWD CHEERING)
BIDEN: And it is clear there isn't (inaudible) do all it can to ensure civilian protection. But let me be clear, contrary to allegations against Israel made by the International Court of Justice, what is happening is not genocide.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HILL: The Israeli prime minister is calling the ICC's decision a disgrace. The defense minister, who was also named in the warrant application, calling it despicable. Not all reaction to the news though has slammed it as negative. France and Belgium both say there are actually supportive of that move by the ICC. CNN's Scott McLean is live in Istanbul this hour for us. So, as we mentioned, some varied reaction there, but specifically what more are we hearing from Israel? SCOTT MCLEAN, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Erica, yeah. So, this news is going over precisely how you would imagine it would, not well at all. All ends of the political spectrum are widely condemning this. Case in point, you have Benny Gantz, an opposition figure, also a member of the war cabinet, who is in the midst of this very public spat with the Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, called the decision moral bankruptcy. You have the far-right national security minister who calls it anti-Semitic. You have the former Prime Minister Naftali Bennett calling for countries to defund the ICC.
And in particular, you have many Israeli leaders and politicians who are really taking issue with what they would call outrageous -- the outrageousness of comparing democratically elected leaders in Israel with a terror group like Hamas. The prime minister himself, Benjamin Netanyahu described it this way. He said it was like creating a moral equivalence after September 11th between President Bush and Osama Bin Laden. What is interesting is President Biden is essentially making the same argument about there is no moral equivalence here. But Hamas is basically saying the same thing in reverse, saying look, please don't associate us with the Israelis. They say that they strongly condemn equating victims with aggressors.
In terms of the broader reaction, Erica, look, you touched on it a little bit already. There are varying degrees of outrage, at least in terms of the West, you have countries like the Czech Republic, like Italy, like Britain, pretty clearly condemning this decision to include Israeli leaders in this. Then you have some that are more on the fence like the Austrians and the Germans. The Germans for their part said, look, they don't understand, they don't agree with the equating Hamas and Israel, but they said that they support the court and they also support Israel's right to defend itself, but it needs to do that within international law.
And then, as you rightly pointed out, you have these, maybe outliers we can call them, Belgium and France. The Belgians have said that crimes in Gaza must be he prosecuted regardless of the perpetrators and France says that it supports the court's independence and the fight against impunity in all situations. Erica?
HILL: Scott, is there any indication that this will impact in any way Israel's decisions moving forward when it come to what is happening inside Gaza and the war there?
MCLEAN: There are plenty of indications that this will have no impact at all on how Israel goes about its business and its war in Gaza.
[08:10:00]
MCLEAN: The Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has made that abundantly clear that it will not, in his words, deter Israel from rooting out Hamas and bringing back the hostages. You also had just today, the defense minister defending himself and insisting that Israel does fight within international law and, in his words, takes unprecedented measures to facilitate humanitarian aid.
But just today in Gaza, just this morning, we got news that five bodies showed up at a hospital in Rafah, three of them were children. You also have, as you pointed out, that U.N. official telling the Security Council that they don't have enough fuel to do much meaningful work inside Gaza. And they have complained about the border crossings that are open in theory, they say, but because of the difficulties with fighting around them and the difficulty with logistics and the coordination that is required, they are very difficult to use.
There is also even difficult to using that brand new -- newly constructed U.S. pier to bring in aid. And over the weekend, we saw desperate people mobbing some of those convoys and looting whatever boxes they could get from inside. This is, of course, worth mentioning because one of the charges facing the Israeli leaders is starvation of civilians as a method of warfare.
HILL: Scott, really appreciate the reporting. Thank you. CNN's Priscilla Alvarez is also following these developments from the White House. So Priscilla, as Scott pointed out, talking about some of those charges there, part of President Biden's statement on this, which we heard those remarks a few moments ago, he said it is clear Israel wants to do all it can to ensure civilian protections.
This has been difficult, to perhaps put it mildly, for President Biden as he looks to find the wording and do so in an election year. It is impossible to ignore that as discussing perhaps as it may seem, that is weighing on a lot of what we see here in the United States. Are we expecting to hear more from President Biden about this?
PRISCILLA ALVAREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, he'll certainly continue to be asked about it by reporters. But as you heard from him earlier, he condemned this -- these arrest warrants. And earlier in the day yesterday, he called it "outrageous." The condemnation here in Washington has been that there is no equivalent footing here between these Israeli prime minister and Hamas. And it is notable that this is the first time that the ICC sought an arrest warrant for a top leader of a U.S. ally.
This, for example, puts the Israeli prime minister in the same company as Russian President Vladimir Putin. But of course, Erica, this also comes during tense relations between the U.S. and Israel amid the continuing humanitarian crisis in Gaza. And of course, this also gave the president an opportunity to speak in favor of Israel, despite all of the tensions that have been -- have erupted over the last several months. Of course, the president and the Israeli prime minister have had very frank conversations about Israel's war against Hamas in Gaza.
He also put conditions on potential offensive weapons that he would send to Israel if they were to continue with their major ground operation in Rafah. So, these arrest warrants and this announcement really coming at a critical time for the U.S. and Israel. But all the same, what we heard yesterday has been the underlying theme of this White House, which has been supporting Israel all the same. And that is exactly what we heard from the president in his remarks yesterday.
And we have heard the same condemnation over on Capitol Hill from Republicans and Democrats. So, he is likely to continue to get questions on this. But to your point, Erica, this of course does still loom over the presidential election. But even though the president was condemning this, even though there have been tense relations between the U.S. and Israel, what continues to remain the same is the steadfast U.S. support for Israel.
HILL: Priscilla Alvarez at the White House, thank you.
Today is expected to be the final day of testimony in Donald Trump's hush money trial here in New York City. The prosecution's cross- examination of Robert Costello, an attorney and former legal advisor to Michael Cohen, set to continue just a little over an hour from now. And then the defensive is expected to rest its case. Closing arguments expected next week. Costello's testimony on Monday produced one of the most controversial moments yet at this trial.
CNN's Brynn Gingras is outside the New York courthouse with more on that. That may be putting it mildly, a judge who is known as being pretty even tempered -- I read one account that said, even when he is upset, he doesn't raise his voice. That changed yesterday.
BRYNN GINGRAS , CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yeah, it certainly did, Erica, and I can tell you that the reporters who were inside in the courtroom at the time could easily see that he was angered, very much so, and to a point where he literally cleared the courtroom.
[08:15:00]
GINGRAS: Let me walk you through exactly what happened with Robert Costello on the stand. As you just said, he is an attorney who advised Michael Cohen after Michael Cohen's home was rated in 2018. He was essentially rebuttal witness for the fact that the prosecution elicited this testimony that Michael Cohen was under a pressure campaign after that incident happened with the FBI raid.
And so, the defense was asking questions here and essentially, he didn't like the fact that the judge was sustaining objections by the prosecution, so much so that he was audibly saying words like ridiculous, or jeez, he sighed, he rolled his eyes, to which the judge then removed jurors from the courtroom first, and then he essentially gave a warning to Robert Costello saying that you do not say jeez, you do not give me side eye, and you do not roll your eyes.
And apparently then, Robert Costello gave the judge a bit of a long glare and that really upset Judge Juan Merchan. He cleared the courtroom of the entire press and everyone that was inside and basically gave a huge warning to the defense and Robert Costello, saying that he will remove him as a witness and he will strike all of his testimony if that conduct continued. And then, when everyone was brought back in, his testimony did continue. There were no more incidents, but it was certainly a fireworks moment in this trial which has had actually a lot of fireworks moments.
HILL: Yes.
GINGRAS: And so we are expecting about 30 minutes more of the prosecution to cross-examine Robert Costello when court resumes in a little bit.
HILL: And then so, after that, Brynn, the defense is likely to rest today unless -- unless they decide to perhaps call the defendant --
GINGRAS: Yeah.
HILL: -- former President Trump to the stand.
GINGRAS: Yeah. I mean, that door has always been wide open. The judges actually reminding that door is still wide open when the discussions are had in court. The defense though saying yesterday, it seems like -- based off of what they were saying -- that they are not going to call Donald Trump to the stand. It does seem like they are going to rest their case. And this is just only a day after the prosecution rested its case, calling 20 witnesses to the stand over 15 days of testimony. It's been quite a trial, a wild ride.
And like you said, Erica, now, what we are looking forward to is closing arguments, the judges having those next Tuesday. Those are set in stone because this week is a little bit of a chopped up week with no court tomorrow, no court Friday. And the judge didn't want the jurors to have a case with all these interruptions. So, come back Tuesday, closing arguments and then jurors are going to have really an open runway to begin their deliberations on this historic case.
HILL: Yeah, absolutely. Brynn, appreciate it. Thank you.
We are following a developing story involving Singapore Airlines, which says at least one person died and numerous passengers were injured on one of its flights from London to Singapore after it suffered severe turbulence overnight. This was a Boeing 777. It was ultimately diverted to Bangkok, where passengers are now receiving medical attention. 211 passengers, 18 crew onboard that aircraft. CNN's Marc Stewart is joining me now from Beijing with more of these details. Marc, what more do we know at this hour? One person died from that turbulence?
MARC STEWART, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yeah, and Erica, turbulence does happen. We do see lots of injuries every year, but fatalities are relatively rare, which goes to show just how violent this was. Again, this is Singapore Airlines Flight 321. It was heading from London to Singapore. It is a 13-hour flight, roughly halfway through is when it hit this severe turbulence.
We have been looking at these images coming in. We just got some new images. You can see people on structures; you can see people on the tarmac of the runway. When this plane landed a good for hours ago in Bangkok, it was greeted by an army of ambulances as well as medical workers. This is a very big plane. It is a 777-300; it is a jumbo jet. It flies these long-haul flights all the time between Europe and Asia.
Not clear if the seat belt sign was on at the time. If this was halfway you through the flight, it is possible people were having a meal service. Maybe they were sleeping. People may have been walking around or waiting in line to use the lavatory. The bottom line is that when this turbulence happens and it can be very sudden, even if the weather outside looks perfect, people can be thrown to the top of the plane and then dropped very suddenly back on the ground.
We are hoping to get some briefings from airport officials in the hours ahead or in the evening ahead, I should say, to find out the extent of the injuries. We know one person is dead, but we don't have an exact number as far as the number of injuries. Finally, Erica, I should point out to you that despite the best of tools, the best of technology, air turbulence, this sudden air turbulence as it is called, can be very difficult to detect even with all of these tools available.
[08:20:00]
STEWART: Hence, we are seeing some very severe injuries and hope to learn the extent of them in the hours ahead, Erica.
HILL: Yeah. And Marc, I will apologize in advance for putting you on the spot a little bit with this next question. But in terms of -- as you noted, it is rare, can be difficult to predict as you just noted, but it is also rare to see turbulence or to experience turbulence that is this severe. That being said, as we look at the increase in severe weather around the globe, do we know if there is a correlation between the increase in incidence of severe turbulence?
STEWART: Well, there are some scientists who believe because of these atmospheric changes that yes, we are seeing increased cases. There is no question that these cases have been rising. That is what the data shows. The cause maybe up for debate, but a very large school of scientists feel that some of these environmental changes may have an impact and some areas are more prone to turbulence than others. I live here in China; my family lives in the United States.
The route between Asia and the U.S. over the Pacific, that is known as one of those more volatile regions. The Rocky Mountains also known for having a lot of turbulence. So, why this is happening more? There is a scientific discussion and debate taking place. But this is a very real threat for passengers on planes.
HILL: Yeah, it absolutely is. Marc, really appreciate it. Thank you.
Still to come this hour, as we just noted with Brynn Gingras, this is of course expected to be the final day of testimony at Donald Trump's criminal hush money trial. Could there still be any surprises in store? We'll dig in a little bit deeper with a legal analyst just ahead, who is also former judge. Plus, as fighting rages in parts of Ukraine, we are going to take you directly to the frontlines for first-hand look at one of Ukraine's drone units. That's ahead.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HILL: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy says military aid from the U.S. and other allies is arriving one year late. Those comments coming as Ukraine faces a new wave of Russian attacks, they are most intense at this point near the country's northern border. Ukraine says it has managed to stall Russian advances in the Kharkiv region. Russia, of course, has been targeting the battled town of Vovchansk. But Ukrainian officials say their forces do now control about 60 percent of the town, adding that the situation in the region is, in their words, stabilized.
This fierce fighting though in Ukraine's north is resulting in more cross-border attacks from both sides, including a notable increasing the use of drones by both Russia and Ukraine. CNN's Nick Paton Walsh reports now from the frontlines.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
NICK PATON WALSH, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Dusk begins rise (ph) to hide before dark.
[08:25:00]
PATON WALSH (voice-over): It is this drone unit's first night in a new location. Twilight, a tiny window when perhaps you can unpack, setup without the Russian drones that are always, always above, seeing you as clearly. Like so much in this fast changing war, their task was unimaginable when Moscow invaded. Their target is on the horizon.
Russia itself into which they fly and plant mines on key roads. They wait for dark.
PATON WALSH: Those lights twinkling over there on the horizon, that'd Belgorod, Russia, how close they are operating towards Russian mainland.
PATON WALSH (voice-over): Putin's latest offensive towards Kharkiv has made the fight personal for Artem. His parents live about a five- minute drive away and fighting for his literal home is unsettling.
ARTEM, DRONE OPERATOR, "CODE 9.2" DRONE UNIT (through translator): It's anxious for real. For a year and a half, they didn't know that I am in a combat brigade fighting near Bakhmut. I was telling them I'm guarding checkpoints.
PATON WALSH (voice-over): And now, for the first of many times, their only defense is to listen for drones.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Back! Back! Back! Orlan [Russian drone] flying. Right over us! What? Orlan.
PATON WALSH (voice-over): It passes. Now, it is dark. They must hurry. Russian drones have thermal cameras. They hear another.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Quiet! Flying --
PATON WALSH (voice-over): Battles raging nearby may help them go unnoticed. They resume. Any strike could also ignite the two mines they are fitting, when they hear another drone.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Come on! Run! The (inaudible) won't let us work.
PATON WALSH: Such an escalation over two years into the war, to now see Ukrainians flying drones of explosive straight into Russia.
PATON WALSH (voice-over): Inside Sasha (ph) watches it cross the border.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Here's the border. Did you bring your passport?
(LAUGH)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No visa needed.
PATON WALSH (voice-over): Remarkably, when Russian jamming kicks in, the drone keeps going and they are able to pick the signal up again deeper inside Russia. They spot the target road they will mine, drop both payloads, and head back. A GPS problem means that drone crashed lands, but they have a spare. They once, elsewhere, managed 24 sorties in one night.
But they have to be spotted only once, and these shells may not pass overhead. We leave.
Lights off at first to avoid drones, the road littered with anti-tank defenses not laid out in time to hinder Russia's latest advance. And now, they have only courage and ingenuity to hold back the dark.
Nick Paton Walsh, CNN, outside Kharkiv, Ukraine.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HILL: Thanks to Nick for that report and his team. Still to come here, as the defense prepares to rest its case in Donald Trump's criminal hush money trial, plenty of fireworks in the courtroom to kick off the week. We'll take a closer look at what happened and what that could mean moving forward. Plus, Prince Harry probably not getting the news he hoped for in his phone hacking case, what it means, next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[08:32:07]
HILL: Any minute now, Donald Trump will be making his way from Trump Tower to the courthouse in lower Manhattan, but it could be one of the final times that he makes that commute. The defense is expected to rest its case today after finishing with its main witness, Robert Costello, who offered up some controversial fiery moments on the stand Monday with the judge admonishing Costello for his outbursts and disrespectful behavior.
CNN's Katelyn Polantz joining us now with more. I mean, this was quite a moment. The fact that the judge was so annoyed, frankly, at this witness that he cleared the courtroom of almost everyone, not everyone it is important to point out, to really admonish the witness. Walk us through what happened there.
KATELYN POLANTZ, CNN SENIOR CRIME AND JUSTICE REPORTER: Yeah. We did see what the judge said to Robert Costello, even though press couldn't be in the room whenever he got his talking to. And the judge says you are very close to being held in contempt of court. You're being contemptuous to the court because Costello, on the witness stand, had almost become argumentative with the judge, had been unhappy when the judge was making rulings in the moment, express that displeasure, was exasperated, was heavily sighing, rolling his eyes, staring at the judge.
That was an episode though, when the judge spoke to Robert Costello in the witness box with no one else in the courtroom, that was outside of the jury. So the purpose that he is there for is as a defense witness. And Erica, as a defense witness, he is the primary defense witness. He is testifying and will continue testifying this morning about his interactions with Michael Cohen at a time where Michael Cohen was considering cooperating with federal prosecutors against Donald Trump
And what Robert Costello says is another variation on the theme that Michael Cohen is a liar, something that the defense has really tried to pull out and hit home with the jury. What he said to the jury yesterday was that he didn't have anything on Donald Trump. He told that to Michael Costello -- Michael Cohen says that to Robert Costello, excuse me. And then told Robert Costello that there were numerous times where Trump said that he knew nothing about the payments to Stormy Daniels, very different than what we heard from Michael Cohen on the stand all of last week. So, that's that piece of testimony. He will continue testifying, but we are into the cross. This is very near the end of all of the evidence being presented in this trial from both sides, prosecution and defense.
HILL: Near the end, but we will not actually see closing arguments this week because there is no court on Wednesdays, as we know. There is no court this coming Friday. So, are we done today for the week? Does anybody need to come in on Thursday when court is normally scheduled?
POLANTZ: Well, we'll see what the judge says about Thursday when for it is normally scheduled. We might be dark for the rest of the week after this evening.
[08:35:00]
POLANTZ: However, there is going to be a very important conference in court, a discussion between the lawyers on both sides and the judge, where the judge is going to have to make some very crucial decisions before this case goes to the jury. So, the evidence presentation will end this morning. The defense this is likely to rest their case. The jury will be sent home. And then this afternoon, when the attorneys come back, they are going to what they will have, what is called a charging conference.
So, they will discuss with the judge exactly how the law should be explained to the jury and how the jury should be instructed on what the prosecutors need to prove in order to find a guilty verdict for the defendant, Donald Trump, if jurors want to do that. In this situation, that is going to be really crucial, what that language looks like. There are two lawyers that we know of on this jury and one of the things that the defense team has said in court multiple times in their openings, even yesterday, in some arguments to the judge at the end of the day, is that they believe the prosecutors haven't proven the case. They haven't shown evidence of criminal intent, of hiding business records that were falsified, of breaking campaign finance violations by Donald Trump, that there was no criminal intent around the catch and kill schemes, trying to keep damaging stories from voters during the 2016 election. They say that there just isn't the goods that have been presented in court on Trump. How the law is explained to the jury though is going to be a crucial piece of what jury deliberations may look like behind closed doors when they do begin, potentially, as soon as next Tuesday.
HILL: All right, Katelyn, appreciate it. Thank you. For a little bit more including on that tense confrontation between Judge Merchan and Robert Costello, (inaudible) of course, for the dissents, we are joined now by a former Judge in the state of Florida, Jeff Swartz, who is also Professor at the Thomas Cooley Law School. So let's start there. The fact that this judge, who is by all accounts, very mild mannered even tempered, even when he is upset doesn't raise his voice, the fact that he got so frustrated that he cleared the courtroom to have a moment with this witness and basically say, get your act together, this is my courtroom, what does that tell you about what was going on in those moments for him to be pushed to that moment?
JEFF SWARTZ, FORMER JUDGE AND PROFESSOR, THOMAS M. COOLEY LAW SCHOOL: There's a number of things that are going on here. Mr. Costello is known as a very confrontational lawyer. He comes in and he believes that he is in control of a courtroom even when he is the lawyer there. He carried that same attitude with him when he walked in as a witness.
He just could not believe that this judge was not going to let him say what he wanted to say and he didn't like it very much. And he wanted the judge to know it. And he wanted the jury to know it. You can get away with that to a certain extent, sometimes when you're the lawyer, but certainly not when you are the witness. This was done for a performance.
It was done because that's what Donald Trump wanted to do if he took the stand. And I think Mr. Costello was just trying to make a point to, what we call, an audience of one. And that just wasn't going on (ph) with Judge Merchan. I think that he handled the matter absolutely perfectly. He took control of his courtroom again.
HILL: The jury was not in the room, obviously, for this moment, when the judge was addressing a witness, but the jury knew they were being cleared out of the room.
SWARTZ: Absolutely (ph).
HILL: They saw --
SWARTZ: They knew what was going --
HILL: -- the witness on the witness stand. How do you think a jury took those moments in after having sat in that courtroom for so many weeks and watched the way the judge handles things?
SWARTZ: Well, juries tend to get connected to a judge. This is the guy that protects them. This is a guy that's interested in them. This is a guy who doesn't want anything from them except for their attention and for them to do their job the right way. I used to say that when a judge goes into a trial, he always walks out a winner because he has got more for votes than he would have had before and because the jury always loves him.
The fact of the matter is that they saw what was going on. I think they had a dislike for Mr. Costello. They always do when someone is confrontational with the judge. I think they appreciate the way the judge has been handling the matter. And I think they are going to come back and I think Mr. Costello, for the most part, probably could apologize when he gets the opportunity to the judge when he is testifying and try to get some of that back. But that is not Mr. Costello.
He is going to walk in there like many lawyers that I've known and they say that judge is not going to do that to me again, and they tried to take charge again.
HILL: Let me ask a question about him as a witness. What did he do, if anything, for the defense?
SWARTZ: I don't think he did very much because remember, that Michael painted him for what he was and that was a lawyer paid for by Donald Trump to make sure that Michael did not flip over and testify or roll- over on Mr. Trump.
[08:40:00]
SWARTZ: That's why he fired Costello. And Costello knows that. In other words, he failed in what his mission was. And so, Costello doesn't like Michael very much and I think he is making it very clear that he doesn't.
HILL: You know, as Katelyn Polantz, my colleague, was just saying before I came to you for your legal analysis, this charging language is going to be very important here. The defense is saying the prosecution hasn't done their job, which is what you would expect a defense attorney to say, hey, the prosecution didn't prove this, you know, beyond a reasonable doubt. They haven't proven intent which is key to these charges here. What are you looking at in that charging language?
SWARTZ: OK. First of all, what was happening and will happen again after the defense rests and the state doesn't put anybody else on, is they will renew their motion for a judgment of acquittal. That is basically saying, judge, I want you to find my client not guilty because they haven't proven their case. The real key here is for the judge to define for the jury where they can find evidence and what they say is, you can believe all, any part of, or none of the testimony of a witness. And this is where you look to, to get the evidence to determine whether the defendant actually exhibited an intent.
He will also differentiate between finding the defendant guilty of a misdemeanor and guilty of a felony by just that one element of the offense. And yes, it is important because many cases are won or lost by the language of the instructions that the jury gets. It is a real battle sometimes.
HILL: Yeah, it'll be (inaudible). Look, always appreciate your insight, your expertise, both as a former judge and of course, as a professor now. You are going to have plenty to talk about next semester, that is for sure. Jeff Swartz, thank you.
(LAUGH)
SWARTZ: OK.
HILL: And Donald Trump, you saw those pictures just moments ago, is of course making his way downtown now. Meantime, we are keeping a close watch on Arizona. That's where, in the coming hours, some of Donald Trump's closest allies are set to face a judge, Rudy Giuliani, Mark Meadows, and others set to be arraigned on charges related to Arizona's 2020 election subversion case, among those charges conspiracy and forgery. The prosecution initially had a tough time tracking down Rudy Giuliani, but they were able to find him last week to serve him at his 80th birthday party. Keep an eye on that.
Meantime, Elvis Presley's granddaughter is now fighting to stop foreclosure on Graceland, that iconic estate in Memphis, Tennessee was, of course, home to the singer. It has become one of this country's biggest tourist draws. The second most visited home in the U.S. behind the White House.
Well, now, his granddaughter -- Elvis' granddaughter, actress Riley Keough is suing to stop a foreclosure sale here. She alleges the company behind that sale is committing fraud and that it has no rights to the property. She has been granted a restraining order, prohibiting the sale of the property, as she waits for a court to rule on her application for an injunction.
Just ahead here, a British judge telling Prince Harry, you got to leave it alone, it being his lawsuit over phone hacking. Those details just ahead.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[08:45:23]
HILL: The accused ring leaders in a plot to allegedly overthrow Germany's government in court earlier today, the nine accused co- conspirators face charges of treason and belonging to a terrorist organization. The leader of that group is reportedly a German businessman, a minor royal, who had planned if this went off to become head of state. This is actually one of three trials involving more than two dozen people. Prosecutors say the group had planned to storm the parliament building in Berlin and arrest lawmakers. They were arrested in 2022. At the time, the group had amassed more than $0.5 billion in funding.
Prince Harry will not be allowed to amend his lawsuit against the publisher of Britain's 'Sun' tabloid to include allegations against Rupert Murdoch. That is the ruling from the U.K. high court. The lawsuit was originally filed in 2019 that accused his news group newspapers of phone hacking and other illegal invasions of privacy. Prince Harry and dozens of others had hoped to expand that to include claims that Rupert Murdoch was personally involved in covering up the wrongdoing.
Max Foster joining us now with more on the developments here from London. So, this is certainly a bit of a setback for Prince Harry today. What does it mean moving forward, Max?
MAX FOSTER, CNN ROYAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, the case will be heard. The trials start in January and this is basically what will be allowed into that trial. So, Harry was trying to name Rupert Murdoch. They are saying -- the judge basically said today that wouldn't add anything to the case. You still got very senior executives involved who had the editorial control. I think that's what we can read into that. So, Rupert Murdoch is not going to be implicated in this case.
He also tried to push the date at which the evidence could be included back, if you see what I mean, going back further, so he could include more evidence. That was also thrown out. But he will be able to reach out -- include more journalists in this investigation, in this trial and so there is -- he has had some wins. It is not a big point in the trial, but it does sort of set the parameters of how the trial will look in January.
He is claiming with other people, of course, it is going to be a big event because 'The Sun' has been Britain's top-selling newspaper. The publisher is the defendant here and this is just one of the cases that Harry is pursuing against the British tabloids. And it is about phone- hacking, which is really the sharp end here and how his privacy was invaded in many illegal ways. One of the other small chance he had today was the hacking of landlines, is also going to be included in the trial as well. So it does expand it to some extent. But it doesn't go as deep as he would have hoped.
HILL: On a separate note, yet sort of connected, Max, because we are talking royals. Princess Kate, there has been a lot of questions about the condition, how the Princess of Wales is doing as she battles cancer. I know there was an event for one of her charities Monday night. Any update at that event on how she is doing?
FOSTER: Yes. Her big thing now and it will continue to be I think for the rest of her sort of public service life, if you look at it like that. So going forward, is early years learning. So she is deeply interested in this and how big charity in relation to this came out with a big report today which is how businesses should invest in supporting parents, for example, at work, so they can support their families and how that will benefit the economy ultimately is a big -- I went to a very long briefing about it yesterday. It is a very deep and intricate report.
We all see how involved princess was in this, they were being very clear that she is not returning to work, but yes, she is ready. Yes, she has been fully briefed and she is excited about its results. So, she is well enough to read a really deep report and to be briefed by the experts on it. But, they are making clear that she isn't back at work just yet. She will return to full-time work when her doctor say she has got the all clear. So obviously, she is not out of the woods yet, but she is well enough to do some work from home effectively.
HILL: All right. Max, appreciate all of the updates this morning. Thank you.
Live imitating art, perhaps a bit too closely with OpenAI's latest artificial intelligence tool. The company announced on Monday, it is actually pausing its use of ChatGPT's AI voice. The voice had prompted comparisons to the voice of Scarlett Johansson and that of a fictional assistant which she played then the 2013 film, 'Her.' Take a listen.
[08:50:00]
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SCARLETT JOHANSSON: Good morning, Theodore.
JOAQUIN PHOENIX: Good morning.
JOHANSSON: You have a meeting in five minutes. You want to try getting out of bed?
PHOENIX: You are too funny.
JOHANSSON: OK, good. I'm funny. I want to learn everything about everything.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HILL: So, important to note this pause doesn't come in a vacuum. Johansson has noted she declined an offer from the company last year when they asked if they could use her voice. They have said -- the company has said that they didn't use Scarlett Johansson's voice for its AI tool but the actress says OpenAI did agree to remove the voice after she hired legal counsel.
In a statement, Johansson spoke about her disappointment in the organization's CEO Sam Altman, noting when I heard the released demo, I was shocked, angered, and in disbelief that Mr. Altman would pursue a voice that sounded so eerily similar to mine.
Still ahead here with a checkered past of misdeeds and plenty of admitted lies, how will jurors in Donald Trump's criminal hush money trial weigh the testimony of Michael Cohen. Will they find him to be a credible witness? Stick around.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HILL: When jurors in Donald Trump's criminal hush money trial begin deliberations, they will be weighing, of course, not just the evidence, but also the testimony they heard. And chief among that is the testimony of the prosecution's star witness, Michael Cohen. Here is CNN's Brian Todd. BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Donald Trump shook his head and smirked, according to CNN's reporters in the courtroom, when his former attorney, Michael Cohen, admitted he had stolen money from the Trump Organization. Trump's Defense Attorney Todd Blanche pinning Cohen down on how Cohen had once overbilled Trump's company for a reimbursement of money Cohen had paid to a tech firm. You did steal from the Trump Organization based upon the expected reimbursement, Blanche asked. Yes, sir, Cohen said.
RON KUBY, CRIMINAL DEFENSE ATTORNEY: The testimony that Michael Cohen pocketed for himself, the difference between what he was given and what he paid was actually brought out in a very pretty low key way by the prosecution on their direct examination. Obviously, Todd Blanche hammered it home much harder using the term steal.
TODD (voice-over): It's Cohen's latest admission to a growing pattern of misdeeds and lies.
DONALD TRUMP, (R) FORMER PRESIDENT OF UNITED STATES AND 2024 PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Michael Cohen is a convicted liar and he has got no credibility whatsoever.
TODD (voice-over): In 2017, Cohen lied to Congress about a Trump Tower deal in Moscow that he had been involved with. He later pleaded guilty to that. Two years after lying to lawmakers, Cohen came back to Congress and gave a mea culpa.
COHEN: I have lied but I am not a liar. And I have done bad things. But I am not a bad man.
TODD (voice-over): A few months before his dramatic turnaround before Congress, Cohen had pleaded guilty to eight counts, including campaign finance violations related to the Stormy Daniels hush money payments, and tax and bank fraud related to his taxi battalion business.
MARC FISHER, CO-AUTHOR, "TRUMP REVEALED": Michael Cohen's background was in the taxi industry. He bought and traded taxi medallions in New York City's very volatile taxi market.
TODD (voice-over): Cohen was disbarred in 2019 and that same year, went to jail for those campaign finance and fraud charges. Cohen claimed he had committed all those misdeeds at the behest of Donald Trump, the boss who Cohen turned on in 2018, partly a Trump biographer says, because of a smoldering grudge.
FISHER: Cohen resented the fact that he was not brought into the White House.
[08:55:00]
FISHER: Cohen became more and more resentful of the fact that he was being kept at arm's length distance by Donald Trump.
TODD (voice-over): But even his history of lies and misdeeds, one veteran attorney he says, doesn't mean Michael Cohen can't be convincing to the jury. KUBY: We all know bad people and even liars can tell the truth. All the prosecution has to say during their summation is, yeah, Michael Cohen is a deeply flawed person, but you know what? We didn't pick Michael Cohen, Donald Trump picked Michael Cohen.
TODD: And Michael Cohen also testified about how he possibly stands to benefit from his past misdeeds and from his testimony at the Trump trial. Cohen discussing on the stand how he has pitched a TV show called "The Fixer," how he is considering writing a third book and saying he has thought about a possible run for Congress.
Brian Todd, CNN, Washington.
HILL: Thanks all of you for joining me this hour, here on "CNN Newsroom." I'm Erica Hill. Stay tuned. I'll be back with you after the break, joining my colleague Becky Anderson for "Connect The World." See in a few.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
