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CNN International: Both Sides Rest In Trump Hush Money Trial; Funeral Ceremonies Begin For Ebrahim Raisi; World Reacts To Requested ICC Arrest Warrants For Leaders. Aired 11a-12p ET

Aired May 21, 2024 - 11:00   ET

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

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RAHEL SOLOMON, HOST, "CNN NEWSROOM": Good morning or good evening, depending on where you're watching. I'm Rahel Solomon live in New York.

The Donald Trump hush money trial moves to a new phase. Within the last hour, the defense resting its case. The body of Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi arrives in Tehran as part of a multi-date funeral ceremony. At least one person has been killed and 30 others are hurt after turbulence strikes a Singapore Airlines flight. And Scarlett sues, the Hollywood actress Scarlett Johansson accusing OpenAI of stealing her voice to use on ChatGPT.

We want to begin this hour in New York. That's where both sides have now rested at Donald Trump's hush money trial, with closing arguments set to begin next Tuesday. The final defense witness was Robert Costello, the former legal advisor to Michael Cohen. His testimony today was focused on his contacts with Trump's former fixer shortly after the FBI searched Cohen's home and his office in 2018. He was also on the stand yesterday, and when he was there, there were fireworks. At one point, a visibly angry Judge Juan Merchan reprimanded Costello, asking him, are you staring me down?

Let's bring in CNN's Senior Crime and Justice Reporter Katelyn Polantz, who joins me now from Washington. Katelyn, day two of this testimony, as we said. Take us inside the courtroom. Were there more fireworks today, or was it a relatively calmer scene?

KATELYN POLANTZ, CNN SENIOR CRIME AND JUSTICE REPORTER: Well, Robert Costello got his act together after being warned explicitly by the judge that he needed to knock it off, or he would be held in contempt. That's what happened behind closed doors when the jury was cleared from the courtroom, as well as any public that was in the room, and the judge had a talking to with Robert Costello in the middle of his testimony yesterday afternoon.

But, really, as the primary defense witness, one of only two witnesses the defense called to present evidence for their case, he did two things. He said yesterday, whenever he was testifying and he was being questioned by Trump's lawyers, he said that Michael Cohen told him back in 2018 that he had nothing on Donald Trump, and Donald Trump didn't know about payments to Stormy Daniels. That was that testimony, essentially calling Michael Cohen a liar.

And then, in the cross-examination today by the prosecutors of Robert Costello, he said that there was actually some discussion he was having over email with others about getting Michael Cohen on the same page, as say Donald Trump, Rudy Giuliani, others in the circle that he was working with. He says that he was not pressuring Michael Cohen. But, that point was made over and over again to the jury by the prosecutor questioning him today. So, that's the end of the evidence presentation.

This set of evidence, the set of witnesses, 20 on the prosecutor's side, two on the defense, it wasn't just Michael Cohen. There were several other people, Stormy Daniels, David Pecker from the National Enquirer, testifying to Trump's motivations to conceal stories about women that would have been negative and the reason that he may have wanted to keep secret the payments to Stormy Daniels and others during the 2016 election. But, is that enough to convict him? That will be the question, and it's something that we're going to hear the defense talk about quite a lot in their closing summations next week, Rahel, when they argue to the jury, there just isn't enough evidence yet or presented or that anyone has to firmly say beyond a reasonable doubt Donald Trump had criminal intent to hide things in 2016.

SOLOMON: Yeah. And the burden is on the state to prove. Katelyn, let me ask, so, as you pointed out, closing arguments expected to begin next Tuesday. So, what happens now? I mean, is court still in session? We know court isn't usually in session on Wednesday. So, what happens now?

POLANTZ: Yeah. Rahel, here is the schedule. We have a couple more things that the court needs to do with the lawyers to nail down this afternoon. They're going to be back arguing in a very technical sense of what the jury can be told, how they can be instructed to deliberate over this case. It is technical and it's going to be pretty dense. But, it's a very important moment, because it's when the judge decides how the jury will have to think about the charges in this case, what those charges should sound like, and how they should be told how to weigh the prosecution's evidence, how much evidence they actually need to find if they want to reach a unanimous conviction on this case, as the prosecutors ask them to.

So, very important. But, dance this afternoon and then we're going to be back next Tuesday.

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That's when the jury will be back in the room. They will hear the closing summations of both sides, prosecutors' case, defense case. And then Wednesday, right now on this calendar, that is the day that it looks very likely the jury will get to deliberate on the very first criminal case against Donald Trump.

SOLOMON: OK. All eyes on next Wednesday. Katelyn Polantz live in Washington. Katelyn, we will check back with you a little later in the show. Thanks so much. All right. To Iran now where funeral services are underway for the

late Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi. Iran is also observing five days of mourning after the President was killed along with his Foreign Minister and seven others at a helicopter crash.

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The body of the Iranian President arrived in Tehran with full military honors. Earlier Tuesday, thousands of mourners gathered in the Northwest city of Tabriz, that's not far from the crash site, as the coffins of the dead were carried through the crowds.

Following all of this for us in Rome is CNN's Ben Wedeman. Ben, good to see you. Reaction to Raisi's death, of course, has been mixed. What can you share with us about who or what we can expect from these funeral ceremonies, especially the one tomorrow in Tehran and on Wednesday?

BEN WEDEMAN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yeah. Tomorrow is going to be the basically the state funeral for the late President and the Foreign Minister and others who died in that crash on Sunday. But, the list of guests is relatively short. I mean, a quick look at them. You've got Mohammed Sudani, who is the Iraqi Prime Minister, the Turkish Vice President and Prime Minister, the Taliban Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister, the head of the Russian Duma, and the President and Prime Minister of the Iraqi region of Kurdistan. So, it's not a very long list, and that does reflect to a certain extent the lack of friends Iran has outside of Russia, China, North Korea, Syria, and Hezbollah and a few others.

But, it certainly doesn't indicate that a lot of heads of state are going to be going to Tehran to attend this funeral. And of course, this funeral will be followed on Thursday with the actual burial of Ebrahim Raisi in Mashhad, which is in northeast Iran, which, of course, is where he was born. Rahel.

SOLOMON: And Ben, what more insight might you share on? I mean, we're obviously looking at these photos, these videos of crowds of people, some mourning quite intensely, but just about the reaction among Iranians, both within Iran and also abroad.

WEDEMAN: Well, certainly abroad, we have seen, at least on social media, people actually celebrating the passing of Ebrahim Raisi. He was seen as perhaps the most ultra-conservative of the clerics who have been held this position as President of Iran. Within Iran itself, of course, what we're getting in terms of what we're seeing on state media is an outpouring of grief from the masses. But, the fact of the matter is, we know that many people were not great admirers of Raisi, that there were instances that appeared on social media from inside Iran of people actually celebrating his passing.

And in fact, I can tell you, having attended the funerals of other Middle Eastern autocrats, that oftentimes when you show up to a crowd of people in the capital where they're mourning, you lift the camera and people will cry and wail and sing praises for the dear departed leader. And when you put down the camera, people tend to light up cigarettes and go back to chatting among themselves. Rahel.

SOLOMON: Ben, let me ask your reaction to -- we learned from the U.S. State Department that Iran actually reached out to the U.S. for help for assistance with this helicopter crash. Now, the U.S. says it was unable to provide that help because of what it calls logistical reasons. But, Ben, even just the mere request, Iran asking the U.S. for help, I mean, how significant is that? I mean, what's your read on that?

WEDEMAN: Well, let's keep in mind, when this old ancient Bell helicopter, I think it was more than 45-years-old, went down, it went down in a remote, mountainous rugged area of Iran. They were flying in some very bad weather conditions, very thick fog, and you have to wonder why, that you ask yourself, why they were doing that.

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But, let's keep in mind that in terms of sort of global surveillance, the United States, more than any other country on Earth, has the wherewithal to see what's going on. And then, certainly in terms of a crash like this, if you're looking for help, you would turn to the United States. But, of course, this does fly in the face of decades of mutual hostility between the Iranians and the United States. Nonetheless, they know that if anybody can find this crashed helicopter and its passengers, it would be the United States. Rahel.

SOLOMON: Really fascinating. Ben Wedeman, good to have you live for us there in Rome. Thanks, Ben.

All right. Turning now to the International Criminal Court and the fallout from the top prosecutor's divisive application for arrest warrants over the Israel-Hamas war, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu strongly rejecting any comparison between his government and Hamas. Here is part of his response from Monday.

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BENJAMIN NETANYAHU, ISRAELI PRIME MINISTER: Mr. Khan creates a twisted and false moral equivalence between the leaders of Israel and the henchmen of Hamas. This is like creating a moral equivalence after September 11th between President Bush and Osama Bin Laden, or during World War II between FDR and Hitler. What a travesty of justice. What a disgrace.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SOLOMON: Now, the move by the ICC has been met with split reactions internationally, both Germany and the U.S. raising objections, and France showing support for the move. China, meantime, taking a more neutral path, stating that it hopes the court will quote, "uphold an objective and fair position".

Let's bring in Jeremy Diamond, who joins us from Jerusalem. Jeremy, is it clear what impact this could have to Israeli leaders who, as we just heard from Netanyahu there, have clearly slammed this finding, but may also find their travel restricted if in fact these warrants are granted by a panel of judges?

JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yeah. Listen, we have to wait and see first if the panel of judges does indeed approve it. In the case of Vladimir Putin last year, it took the ICC's pretrial chamber about a month before -- between the time when the top prosecutor requested these warrants and when they were issued. But, once and if indeed they are issued, this could pose problems for the Israeli Prime Minister and his Defense Minister, Yoav Gallant, to travel to some of the 124 member states of the ICC. These are the countries that are parties to the Rome Statute which established the International Criminal Court.

And we have already seen that the Russian President, Vladimir Putin, canceled the trip to South Africa over the past year for example, and that appeared to be over concerns that South Africa, as a party to the Rome Statute, would be under an obligation to execute that warrant and to arrest the Russian President. So, that is very much the scenario that the Israeli Prime Minister and the Israeli Defense Minister could find themselves, and the United States, notably, is not a party to that Rome statute. And so, it wouldn't necessarily limit those leaders' travel to the U.S., but it could limit their travel to several key European countries, for example.

But, what is clear is that these warrants are certainly not having an impact on Israeli decision making, at least not yet. So far, what we've seen from the Israeli Prime Minister, his allies, as well as his rivals in Israeli politics is a lot of outrage and a lot of defiance, vowing not to change course in the war in Gaza, to continue to prosecute that war up until Israel achieves its goals of destroying Hamas. Rahel.

SOLOMON: Jeremy, before I let you go, I mean, talk to me a little bit about what the latest is on the aid reaching southern Gaza. You and I have talked for months about that floating pier that the U.S. built. And as of last week, it was operational, but apparently not nearly as effective as officials had hoped. I mean, what seems to be happening here?

DIAMOND: Yeah. That's right. Officials with humanitarian agencies say that there appear to be numerous challenges to getting that pier up and running in the fashion the U.S. military officials said that they hope to. They had hoped to get some 90 aid trucks per day in this first phase of the launch of this floating pier and ramping that up ultimately to about 150 trucks per day. But, today, there were just 14 trucks that managed to go across the causeway from that pier to land where the World Food Programme is that in charge of offloading the supplies and then distributing it. That is apparently due to security and logistics concerns related to that pier.

And we're seeing security concerns and the expansion of Israeli military activities in southern and northern Gaza also impacting the flow of aid in several other parts of the strip. The Rafah border crossing remains closed more than two weeks after the Israeli military captured that crossing.

[11:15:00] It is still closed today. And the Kerem Shalom crossing, which is also in southern Gaza, just a few kilometers away from the Rafah crossing, it is open in theory. But, UN officials have said that in practice, it is very difficult to actually get the aid from that crossing due to the ongoing fighting there between Israel and Hamas. So, the bottom line, according to humanitarian aid officials, is that not enough aid, not enough fuel, which helps power the hospitals in Gaza and also the trucks that are able to distribute the aid, there is simply not enough for what the situation in Gaza currently merits. So, there are calls from aid agencies, in particular the United Nations, for Israel to allow more crossings, more aid to go in and better conditions for that aid to enter.

SOLOMON: OK. Jeremy Diamond live for us here in Jerusalem. Jeremy, thank you.

All right. Here in the sky, severe flight turbulence leaves one person dead and dozens injured. Well, the details straight ahead. Plus, Rudy Giuliani is back in the spotlight after officials had trouble tracking him down to serve notice of his indictment. Coming up, the details on today's arraignment in Arizona.

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SOLOMON: Welcome back. Singapore Airlines says that at least one person has died and 30 others were injured on a flight that ran into severe turbulence. The Boeing 777 was on its way from London to Singapore when the turbulence hit. It was diverted to Thailand and did land safely.

Let's bring in Marc Stewart now, who joins us with more details. Marc, what more is the airline saying about what happened and the severity of injuries for the others?

MARC STEWART, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi there, Rahel. Right away, I want to show you some images that we have just received from inside that aircraft, inside that Boeing 777, and you could see just how sudden and strong that turbulence was. There are damaged panels inside the plane. There is food on the floor. According to one airport official in Thailand, breakfast was being served when this happened. So, most likely the food carts were out, which weigh a lot. But, in turbulence, it can almost become like a projectile. We are told the seatbelt sign was on. Nonetheless, crew members certainly were in the aisles if this is when the food service was taking place.

Again, this is Singapore Airlines flight 321 from London to Singapore. It was about halfway into this 13-hour flight when this severe turbulence hit, forcing this diversion to Bangkok, Thailand. We were looking at some of the unlined flight databases, and it's very clear that when this hit at around 29,000 feet, the pilot realized that there was a very serious situation and emergency on board.

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That flight crew made a very steep, quick descent to Thailand where airport officials were waiting to jump into action. We just heard from one of the airport leaders, airport manager. Let's take a quick listen.

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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: When you received the information from the aircraft?

KITTIPONG KITTIKACHORN, GENERAL MANAGER, SUVARNABHUMI AIRPORT: 3:45, around that.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: 3:45. And when did the plane actually landed?

KITTIKACHORN: Before 4, after -- around 10 minutes after report.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

STEWART: All right. So, just 10 minutes to get ready for all of this. As far as injuries are concerned, about 30 people were taken to the hospital, a lot of people dealing with cuts, bruises, some broken arms, from what the airport officials are telling us. The one person who did die, a man, a 73-year-old man, we don't know exactly why -- how he died. However, we are told that he had a previous cardiac condition. In addition, for people who were not taken to the hospital, they were actually treated on the tarmac, and you can see people were lying on stretchers, getting checked out just to make sure that they were OK.

We understand that Boeing is in touch with authorities with Singapore Airlines about this case. The 777 is a very big plane. It can carry close to 300 people. This particular flight had 211 passengers, 18 crew members, has a very good safety record, Rahel. But, even with the best of technology, even though with the best of tools, sometimes turbulence like this is very hard to predict. You could even be looking out the window. The skies would be blue. The Sun would be shining, and still something like this could still occur.

SOLOMON: Wow. Just frightening. Those photos really speak volumes. Marc Stewart in Beijing. Marc, thank you.

Let's take a big dig a bit deeper into this with CNN Aviation Analyst Miles O'Brien. Miles, let me first just ask your perspective, I'm not sure if you saw the monitor and saw those photos of the foods sort of flown around the plane there. It looked like a really scary situation. Your reaction.

MILES O'BRIEN, CNN AVIATION ANALYST: I did see those pictures, Rahel, and it's quite dramatic. And a reminder that as we're hurtling along in the atmosphere, 12,000 meters above the surface, 10 percent -- within 10 percent of the speed of sound, that there is a lot of dynamic forces at play. We sort of sometimes think we're cruising along in our living room watching a movie. But, you have to remember that this can go sideways very quickly. And as you point out, clear air turbulence is something we do not know how to predict very well. Weather forecasting does not give us a good idea of when this is going to happen. And there is nothing on board an aircraft that can easily identify it for the pilots. SOLOMON: Well, contextualize that for me a bit more, Miles. I mean, certainly, anyone who travels any bit knows that turbulence is pretty common, but certainly not turbulence like this, certainly not turbulence that causes the death of a passenger and serious injuries presumably for these folks. How rare or common is this, from your perspective?

O'BRIEN: It's becoming more common, and there appears to be a climate change link. As the planet warms, it warms in an uneven manner, both north and south and also at altitudes. And what that creates is, among these rivers of air, we call jet streams, it creates what's called wind shear, which means sudden changes in the direction of wind at any given altitude, and this is where the real clear air turbulence problems happen. That incidents of severe turbulence because of clear air turbulence is up 55 percent over the North Atlantic over the past 10 years. So, there appears to be a climate factor in all of this.

On top of that, you've got many more people flying. And sadly, when people are sitting in their seats, they neglect to buckle their seatbelts. And I just hope everybody walking away from this realizes that if you had had your seatbelt buckled, you would have walked away from this.

SOLOMON: Well, it is interesting, because our reporter said that the seatbelt signs were on, and so I wonder how much that plays into what happened here. Obviously, there will be an investigation. I'm wondering, Miles, what questions you might have in terms of fully understanding how this went down and what happened?

O'BRIEN: Well, it would be nice if we can come up with better ways to predict clear air turbulence. Scientists may give us that one day, but we can't rely on that for our flight tomorrow. So, I think it's up to the airlines to take this a little more seriously, be a little more certain that their passengers are buckled in when they're seated, not make it optional, and maybe the flight attendant should check more.

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And of course, it's worth pointing out that of the 160 plus injuries the NTSB has reported because of this over the past 10 years or so, 80 percent of those were flight crew, which is to say flight attendants, generally, who are out in the aisles, serving a meal, as you saw there. It's a risky business, and maybe they should be seated a little more. Maybe those flight crews in the cockpit should sit them down. But, what we're -- basically, with all the technology we have, we rely on pilot reports. It's the airport ahead of us that says, hey, there is turbulence here. You might not want to fly at this altitude. Well, that's great for the aircraft following, but somebody has to be first, and in this case, it looks like this aircraft was first.

SOLOMON: What about the questions, Miles, about whether the aircraft performed properly? Boeing will, of course, be involved in this investigation. It was a Boeing aircraft. But, what about answering that the question of, well, did the aircraft withstand this turbulence as it was designed to? O'BRIEN: Well, they'll certainly be stress testing this aircraft. They'll make sure there wasn't any metal fatigue type damage as a result of it. I suspect this airplane will be on the ground for a little while. The Boeing 777, which has been around for quite a while, is an excellent aircraft with an excellent safety record, and has not at all been implicated in the recent troubles for Boeing. As a matter of fact, it was really the last aircraft that was developed before the merger with McDonnell Douglas, and was developed in a very different way.

I don't think we have a fundamental problem with the 777. But, in the world of aviation, you've got to look at everything. And if on the ground they find some sort of flaw here in the way it was designed, we'll hear about it. But, I think what we have here is any aircraft flying into a situation of severe turbulence like that is going to have an upset, and it's up to us, as passengers, to be vigilant and stay buckled in. And maybe it's up to the airlines to insist that their flight attendants sit down a little more as opposed to serving a meal.

SOLOMON: OK. Miles O'Brien, we'll leave it here. Thank you so much for the insights today.

O'BRIEN: You're welcome.

SOLOMON: All right. Coming up after the break, a check of the international headlines, plus testimony is over as Donald Trump's hush money trial reaches a critical phase. The very latest on the case coming up next. And Haiti's international airport in Port-au-Prince has reopened for business after nearly three months. We'll have a live report.

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SOLOMON: Welcome back. You're watching CNN Newsroom. I'm Rahel Solomon live in New York. And here are some of the international headlines we're watching for you today.

And official mourning period and memorial ceremonies are underway for Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi.

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This is after a fatal helicopter crash that is now under investigation. Funeral processions started early Tuesday before the President's body was eventually moved to Tehran. Later this week, Iran's supreme leader is expected to lead prayers at a holy shrine where Raisi will be buried.

In Gaza, the Health Ministry there says that 85 people have been killed in a 24-hour period. In addition to those killed, it says that 200 others were injured by Israeli military operations. And the fight to get aid to those in need is becoming even more difficult. That's according to UN officials for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. One senior official told the Security Council that there aren't enough supplies or fuel to help people in Gaza. And at least two people were killed and five injured in Ukraine over

the past day as Russian shelling struck Kherson and Donetsk. In Kherson, strikes damaged buildings, damaged more than a dozen buildings, in fact, including the school. In Zaporizhzhia, Russian forces launched several attacks with shells hitting a number of residential areas.

And in Haiti, the international airport has now reopened for business after nearly three months. Flights resumed on Monday, and the Port-au- Prince airport welcomed the flight from Miami from Haitian-based Sunrise Airways. The country's ongoing political chaos forced the closure of the airport several months ago.

Let's bring in Patrick Oppmann, who is covering the story from Havana. Patrick, this feels like a pretty significant development. What can we make of this in terms of the situation on the ground? Does this reflect an improving situation at all?

PATRICK OPPMANN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Very much so. It was just about three months ago that as the all-out gang warfare broke out in Port- au-Prince and across Haiti. You had planes that actually had damage from bullets as they're trying to leave the country. And so, that is why the airport was shut down. This was not safe to fly in or out. Officials did not have control of this vital lifeline in and out of Port-au-Prince. And so, up until now, diplomats leaving the country had to leave by helicopter, sometimes in the middle of the night, as U.S. embassy officials have done or have taken the dangerous drive to other parts of Haiti to fly out from there.

So, this is certainly a good sign. Haitian officials tell us that the U.S. military was able to bring in some equipment -- communications equipment that will help with the preparations to bring in Kenyan soldiers, about 1,000 Kenyan soldiers that are expected to come in in the coming days or weeks, have long last to begin to take control of the security situation. That will be a very hard thing to do, because the gangs, not only control most of Port-au-Prince, most of Haiti, but they are just outnumbered, outgunned. The police force that is on the ground at the moment. So, while it is a positive step that people who've been trapped in Haiti now for nearly three months, have been able to evacuate and help will be able to come in.

You're only talking about a handful of flights really every day. Secretary of State Antony Blinken just moments ago saying that Haiti is on the verge of becoming an all-out failed state. So, while this is some rare positive news about Haiti for the majority of Haitians on the ground, life continues to be pretty much minute by minute of very dangerous circumstances, and they are not going to be able to leave anytime soon, or whether or not the airport is open or closed.

SOLOMON: Yeah. And Patrick, to that point, I mean, as you point out, I mean, there are a handful of flights at this point. Any sense from authorities on when the airport is expected to open at full capacity again?

OPPMANN: Well, Antony Blinken talking about moments ago at the Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing, said that he expects that U.S. airlines, perhaps by the end of May or in June, will begin to fly regular flights to Haiti. At this point, we've just seen this one airline, Sunrise Airways, a Haitian-run airlines, and then somehow military flights coming out of Haiti. So, it'd be a good sign that the airport will be open and safe enough for U.S. airlines to fly in. But, as we've seen in the past, the security situation in Haiti can change at a moment's notice. And it is really much a question of whether or not the gangs will permit this to continue, because when they group together and they decide to shut down something, they've shown in past that they have the power to do so.

SOLOMON: OK. Patrick Oppmann live for us out there in Cuba. Patrick, thank you.

All right. Let's get back to Donald Trump's hush money trial, where closing arguments are set for next Tuesday, and that is after testimony today from the defense's final witness Robert Costello, who at one point was the legal advisor to Michael Cohen. Now, a total of 22 witnesses were called during the trial, 20 of them for the prosecution, two for the defense. Judge Juan Merchan says that he hopes the jury will get the case by Wednesday of next week.

Let's bring back our Senior Crime and Justice Reporter Katelyn Polantz, who is back with us from Washington, and welcome in National Security Attorney Bradley Moss.

[11:35:00]

Good to see you both.

Katelyn, let me actually start with you and set the scene for what is actually happening now in terms of the jury, in terms of the courtroom. What happens now?

POLANTZ: The jury has gone home and won't be coming back to the court until Tuesday. That's when the closing summations will take place there. They will hear the arguments from both sides about why they believe the jury should unanimously convict or acquit Donald Trump based on the evidence that was presented.

But, today, before that, before it gets back to the jury next week and deliberations will begin shortly after, we have a charging conference, everyone's favorite thing in a trial. It actually is quite a technical and detailed discussion that the lawyers have with the judge. It could get very dense. It is the discussion of arguments where the sides, the prosecutors and the defense, are working out the nitty-gritty of exactly how the judge can explain the case and the charges to the jury what they must find, what the DA's office needed to prove beyond a reasonable doubt to obtain a conviction, how the law is defined in these business falsification charges.

So, it's a really important thing that will be happening this afternoon, because the defense team is likely to argue at their summations next week that the prosecutors didn't prove their case. One way to argue that is to make sure the law gets in line with what the defense hopes so that they can find openings there to say to the jury, the judge is going to instruct you. These things need to be proved. We can tell you those things were not proved in the case. But, we're going to have to see exactly how it works out and how it all comes together for the instructions that the jury will ultimately hear next week.

SOLOMON: And Bradley, take us inside. I mean, how critical are jury instructions really? I mean, it sort of sounds sort of routine. But, I mean, I've read somewhere that many appeal have been because of jury instructions, what the judge has told the jury. Walk us through it.

BRADLEY MOSS, NATIONAL SECURITY ATTORNEY, & PARTNER, LAW OFFICE OF MARK. S. ZAID: Yeah. Jury instructions are a critical but often overlooked part of a criminal trial. And you're right. They do come up on appeal if there is erroneous jury instructions, if it misleads the jury on the nature of the state of the law. That has often been a reason for convictions to be overturned and a new trial to be ordered. So, this will be a very critical afternoon, setting forth, just as Katelyn had said, how the jury gets its guidance. The judge sets the law. He hears from these two sets of lawyers on what the law is here. But, the judge makes the decision of how that will be instructed to the jury. The jury then interprets the facts based off that legal guidance. That's the role of the jury here.

So, it'll be interesting to see what the ultimate decision is, how this is framed (ph), and whether or not it is done in a way that gives Donald Trump an opening, at least for a hung jury, or if it makes it more likely than not, he will be convicted possibly as early as next week.

SOLOMON: Katelyn, remind us, for those who have not been following the ins and outs of the court, of the trial, I mean, who have we heard from? 20 witnesses from the prosecution. I believe five weeks now of trial. Who have we heard from?

POLANTZ: Well, Rahel, of course we heard from Michael Cohen, that star witness who was the prosecutors' person in the room with Donald Trump, saying he told me to do this, to pay off Stormy Daniels. I had trouble getting reimbursement from him. And it was all the motivation of Donald Trump, the politician in 2016, to keep these payments quiet, hide them on his business records, because he didn't want to be hurt as a candidate, a possible campaign finance violation. That's the Michael Cohen testimony.

But, the prosecutors used many of those other 19 witnesses that they called as part of their case to try and bolster various parts of what Michael Cohen had to say. We heard from David Pecker from the National Enquirer, the former chairman of the company, over that, explaining the catch and kill schemes and how when he was in the room with Trump and Michael Cohen, there was discussion about protecting the campaign, not making these stories or not allowing these stories about women and Donald Trump to get out in the public sphere. Also, Stormy Daniels took the stand. A lot of questions on how that may have played with the jury. She was quite harshly questioned with -- by a female attorney on Trump's team, Susan Necheles, and that questioning was largely about her credibility. Keith Davidson, another lawyer.

So, a lot of people, both were questioned quite closely by the prosecutors to bring evidence in that would support Michael Cohen. The defense would cross-examine them as a way to undercut their credibility and also hark back that don't believe everything Michael Cohen will tell you either.

[11:40:00]

And now, in the summations, we're very likely to hear about credibility of witnesses that many of these people are motivated with unhappiness, anger towards Donald Trump, a wish to make money off of this case. We'll see what the jury does, though, in many days from now.

SOLOMON: Bradley, let me -- I will let you have the last word here. And let me ask -- I mean, you could argue that both sides rolled the dice. I mean, the prosecution put up Michael Cohen. Obviously, he had credibility issues. The defense put up Robert Costello. I mean, we saw how that went with the judge. Is it clear to you, obviously, the jury will decide and no one knows how that's going to go, but is it clear to you going into closing arguments who is going into this with the upper hand?

MOSS: Yes. So, I think the prosecution likely has a slight advantage here. They basically framed it out as a house of circumstantial evidence, texts, emails, fact witnesses, all meant to surround and serve as a foundation for Michael Cohen, who, as you noted, has tons of credibility issues of his own. But, he was the key eyewitness. He was the key fact witness. So, they have enough. It was a lot of cross- examination. There was a lot of credibility issues brought up. But, the way the prosecution felt that it was sort of a bend but don't break approach to this, I think they've got enough to get a conviction. The question becomes, do we have a unanimous jury or will we have a hung jury? That is where I think this will be interesting to see next week.

SOLOMON: Yeah. It certainly will be. Bradley Moss, thank you. Katelyn Polantz, thank you.

All right. Let's turn our attention now to Arizona. That's where individual charge in that state's 2020 elections version case are scheduled to be in court for arraignment this morning. Among them, Trump ally Rudy Giuliani.

CNN's Kyung Lah has the details on why officials had so much trouble tracking Giuliani down ahead of today's hearing.

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KYUNG LAH, CNN SENIOR INVESTIGATIVE CORRESPONDENT: It's going to be a busy morning here in Phoenix, 11 total scheduled to be arraigned, half of them will be appearing virtually, half to appear in person. Among those appearing virtually is Rudy Giuliani, the former Trump attorney, former New York Mayor, and someone that the Attorney General's Office here in the state of Arizona said they had been trying to serve notice of what's happening today, which is the arraignment for three weeks.

Now, agents had been sent to New York because they saw the former mayor livestreaming his program from New York, and then they saw that he was doing the same in Florida. So, those agents went to Florida. They tracked him to a particular address because they saw that he was livestreaming from that address. What those agents didn't know is that it was Giuliani's 80th birthday this past weekend and that was a party to celebrate it. He even was celebrating with a cake during that livestream. He was singing on the front lawn, New York, New York. Well, after he finished singing that song and he was heading home because the party was over, that's when the Attorney General's Office agents served him notice.

KRIS MAYES, ARIZONA ATTORNEY GENERAL: That's correct. I mean, we found out essentially through his livestreams, he is not that hard to find. And so, we did that and our agents professionally served him after his birthday party.

LAH: Even though Giuliani will not -- is not scheduled to appear in person, he will still have to do the standard arraignment, appearing virtually. He'll have to get a mugshot as well as being fingerprinted.

Kyung Lah, CNN, Phoenix.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SOLOMON: Thanks to Kyung there.

Well, it is primary day for voters in the U.S. state of Georgia, and on the ballot are two key players overseeing the Donald Trump election subversion case. Both District Attorney Fani Willis and the judge in that case, Scott McAfee, are up for reelection. And Willis, she has a lot to say in a rare interview, claiming that the Republican- controlled legislature in her state is quote "coming after her." Polling places are open until seven o'clock tonight Eastern Time, and CNN will be tracking those election results.

Well, still ahead, a big loss for Trump media. We will tell you why the company's first quarter numbers were a disappointment. Plus, Red Lobster is revealing why it had to declare bankruptcy. We'll have a live report covering the reasons, when we come back.

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SOLOMON: Welcome back. Trump Media, the owner of Truth Social, reported a first quarter loss of more than $300 million. That's linked to some one-time deals that allowed the company to go public earlier this year. The company generated less than $1 million in revenue. Former President Donald Trump owns a majority of the company.

Well, from endless shrimp to bankruptcy filings, it's the latest development for the popular Red Lobster chain. The restaurants abruptly announced the closure of 100 locations prior to filing for bankruptcy. On Monday, that filing listed a timeline of what led to this point. Reasons included, lack of competition over shrimp wholesale prices, upper management issues and apparently not enough table turnover due to the endless shrimp promotion. Oh no, blame it on the shrimp.

CNN Business Reporter Nathaniel Meyersohn here with all of the details. So, Nathaniel, we got through some of the reasons there. Walk us through how Red Lobster got here.

NATHANIEL MEYERSOHN, CNN BUSINESS REPORTER: So, Rahel, this is quite a tale and a fall for the -- it's actually -- Red Lobster is the largest seafood restaurant chain in the world, and it really was a pioneer of casual dining in America. Let's go back to 2020. In 2020, Thai Union, which is a large seafood supplier, in 2020, Thai Union became the controlling shareholder, the largest shareholder of Red Lobster, and their claims that Thai Union really lacked expertise in the U.S. restaurant industry didn't know how to run a restaurant chain like Red Lobster. So, it really was focused on cost cutting, and so mismanagement really hurt Red Lobster.

Then last year, you have the endless shrimp deal under Thai union. So, last year, Red Lobster did $20 endless shrimp. They made it a everyday promotion. And this just turned into a disaster for Red Lobster, and their claims that the Thai Union was really more focused on selling shrimp through Red Lobster than managing the business. So, that's kind of a point of contention right now. What was Thai Union's goal with this endless shrimp deal? Was it in the best interest of Red Lobster? And then, you also have to look at inflation. Inflation certainly played a role here, squeezing people's budgets. They're not going out to eat at casual dining restaurants as much. So, kind of a list of issues here. But, it really goes back to this 2020 deal from Thai Union.

SOLOMON: Yeah. I mean, it's been a fascinating ride for the company as of late. I mean, you think at one point it was quite popular, even more popular because of a certain pop star, Beyonce, who talked about Red Lobster. Everyone loved Red Lobster. But -- so, what happens now? I mean, what happens next? I mean, bankruptcy doesn't necessarily mean I'm completely closing all of your doors, or does it? What does it mean here?

MEYERSOHN: So, Rahel, you mentioned the Beyonce song where she mentioned Red Lobster. I think that shows, yeah, we can't get into the lyrics of those songs on air. But, look, I think, Rahel, that shows kind of the popularity and the interest that people still do have for this brand, this kind of beloved brand. That really is the symbol of seafood in America. So, Red Lobster has closed some stores. They still have about 550 locations left. But, it doesn't mean that Red Lobster is going to disappear for good. Several -- there are lots of companies that will downsize during bankruptcy and still can emerge as a strong restaurant chain.

So, I think what we'll see is Red Lobster will close more restaurants, maybe, 100 more restaurants or so, and it will operate its best and most profitable restaurants, and maybe it'll get new menus and some investment.

[11:50:00] So, this is not the end for Red Lobster.

SOLOMON: Well, for all of those that love the Cheddar Bay Biscuits, that love the biscuits and love the endless shrimp at the U.S. Open, they can turn it around. Nathaniel Meyersohn, good to have you today. Thanks, Nathaniel.

All right. Let's take a live look at the U.S. stock market and see how things are shaping up on. Green across the board. The Dow, the NASDAQ, and the S&P, all up, although muted fractionally, the Dow, the most among them, about one tenth of a percent. Things though, as I said, pretty muted, pretty flat after one Federal Reserve governor said that he wants to see several more months of cooling inflation data before cutting interest rates. Now, remember, we did get one inflation report that showed that but that was just one. Fed Chair Jay Powell also reiterating that stance from Jay Powell that rate hikes are likely off the table. So, a little bit of good news there. The rate hikes are off the table, but more inflation data is necessary.

OK. Social media can be helpful in finding travel tips or new spots to visit, but it's also creating problems for places near some of those destinations. The latest of struggles is a small Japanese town with a view of Mount Fuji.

Our Hanako Montgomery explains what some residents are doing.

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HANAKO MONTGOMERY, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): This view, once the perfect snapshot of Japan's old and new, now has a black curtain drawn. Overwhelmed by tourists blocking roads, littering, even trespassing onto private property to take selfies, the town of Fujikawaguchiko has now erected a black curtain to block the view and deter tourists, much to the locals' relief --

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (Interpreted): There have been many accidents involving foreign tourists recently.

MONTGOMERY (voice-over): -- and to the dismay of visitors.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: So, I think put a black panel on this road is something with brute force, and I think they can do better for (inaudible).

MONTGOMERY (voice-over): Mount Fuji, a UNESCO World Heritage site and a Japanese icon attracts millions of visitors annually. But, post- pandemic, numbers have swelled to record levels, well beyond control, local authorities say, causing human traffic jams and garbage to litter the sacred peak. The local prefecture now says it needs to charge $13 per climber and impose a daily hiker cap of 4,000 in a bid to address overtourism starting this season.

MONTGOMERY: But, as you can tell by the crowds of people around me here, one of Tokyo's biggest tourist hotspots, Mount Fuji isn't the only victim of overtourism. It's a nationwide problem. Over three million people visited Japan in the month of April, and though that's good news for the economy post-pandemic, it's put a strain on resources and local communities.

MONTGOMERY (voice-over): Earlier this year, the historic city of Kyoto had to close off some alleys to combat Geisha paparazzi, a name given to visitors snapping photos of Geisha without permission. Well, Kamakura, a seaside town just outside of Tokyo, is urging tourists to walk around instead of taking the train to ease congestion. Struggling to accommodate an unprecedented surge of inbound visitors, many encouraged by a weak yen, local tourist spots have resorted to taking matters into their own hands, even if it means curtains for an Instagram hotspot.

Hanako Montgomery, CNN, Tokyo.

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SOLOMON: All right. Coming up for us, Scarlett Johansson is a one of a kind Hollywood A-lister. So, when OpenAI unveiled a ChatGPT voice that sounded eerily like hers, well, she decided to lower up. We'll explain.

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SOLOMON: All right. Time now for one more thing. And Scarlett Johansson tells CNN that she was quote "shocked and angered: over ChatGPT's new voice that she says sounds a lot like her. So, she declined an offer to be Sky, the voice of the company's artificial intelligence tool. So, when the feature was introduced last week and the voice sounded a lot like hers, she hired a lawyer. All right. Let's roll the tape. First, this is Johansson's voice followed by ChatGPT's Sky. Listen.

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No, no, no. OpenAI says that it is pausing the use of the voice. The company says it used a different actress.

Well, we know your time is money. So, thank you for spending some time with me today. I'm Rahel Solomon live in New York. Stick with CNN. One World, it's coming up next.

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