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CNN International: Trump Guilty On 34 Felony Charges, Sentencing July 11; Biden Campaign: Verdict Shows "No One Is Above The Law"; International Reaction To Trump's Criminal Conviction. Aired 8- 9a ET
Aired May 31, 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]
MATT GORMAN, FORMER SENIOR ADVISOR FOR TIM SCOTT CAMPAIGN, & REPUBLICAN STRATEGIST: Well, if you are Larry Hogan and you are running in a state that Biden won by 20, it actually might help you. I think that's important context to keep in mind here. I think, though, when you have everyone from, obviously, my old boss, Tim Scott, Donald Trump, all the way down to Susan Collins, who voted to impeach Trump for January 6, kind of sings in the same song. She -- I think that says a lot about where I think the Republican Party writ large feels truly about this thing.
KATE BOLDUAN, HOST, "CNN NEWS CENTRAL": It's great to see you, guys. Thank you so much.
KAREN FINNEY, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR, & FORMER SENIOR SPOKESPERSON FOR HILLARY CLINTON'S PRESIDENTIAL CAMPAIGN: Take care.
BOLDUAN: The next hour of CNN News Central starts right now.
OMAR JIMENEZ, CNN ANCHOR: Alright, everybody. Welcome to our viewers all around the world. I'm Omar Jimenez, and this is CNN NEWSROOM.
Let's go straight to our top story. We're going to begin with the word that shook the U.S. political and legal world and reverberated around the globe on Thursday. Guilty, guilty, guilty, that word spoken 34 times as the jury in Donald Trump's hush money trial turned the ex- President into a current felon. Now, despite weeks of often damning evidence in the trial, the verdict came as a shock to many, if not everyone, though, not some on his actual legal team. It is the first time, though, in history that a former President has been convicted of a crime. Now, Trump remained defiant and unbowed as he left the courthouse, vowing to appeal, and saying this fight isn't over.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP (R), FORMER U.S. PRESIDENT AND 2024 PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: This was a rigged disgraceful trial, but the real verdict is going to be November 5 by the people, and they know what happened here, and everybody knows what happened here. You have a Soros-backed DA and the whole thing, we didn't do a thing wrong. I'm a very innocent man.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
JIMENEZ: So, the focus now turns to what kind of sentence Trump might get. The judge has scheduled sentencing for July 11, and legal experts say anything from probation to a prison term is possible. Now, CNN spoke to Trump's lead attorney, Todd Blanche. He made it clear he sees no way his client should face a prison cell for a crime like this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TODD BLANCHE, TRUMP'S DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Somebody like President Trump should never, never face a jail sentence based on this conduct. Other 77-year-old first-time offenders would never be sent to prison.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
JIMENEZ: And we'll be covering this history, really, making verdicts from many angles this hour.
And we begin with CNN's Kristen Holmes, who is outside Trump Tower this morning. All right. Kristen, we expect Donald Trump to speak in the coming hours. I don't want to put you in the position of predicting what he is going to say because that's maybe a tough job in many respects. But, give us a sense at the least of what we should expect.
KRISTEN HOLMES, CNN U.S. NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Omar, well, first of all, I would never exactly estimate what Donald Trump is going to say, because as you said, he is often off teleprompter and often talking about things that have nothing to do with the current state of affairs.
However, when I talked to his senior advisors, they say that he is going to continue his messaging, and he has done, since before this trial, even started calling this election interference, saying that this process was already rigged and saying it is political persecution. They believe that that helps them in November, continue to rile up the base, but not just the base. Some of those Republicans who are sitting on the sidelines aren't sure of what to do, looking for an alternative to Donald Trump. They actually believe that this conviction could help with them too.
Now, to be very clear, this is an election that is going to be decided by a very narrow margin. And the real answer is that no one knows how a conviction is actually going to play out with voters. But, this is what his senior advisors are hoping and what they say they believe is likely to happen.
Now, the former President himself, we heard some of this yesterday, he was outraged. He was surprised when that verdict came in. We actually saw almost the oxygen coming out of the room through our court reporters, who said everybody was ready to leave. Donald Trump was laughing. He was hitting a lawyer. They were chatting back and forth. And then all of a sudden, those words, we have a verdict, really take out the oxygen of the room. Now, by the end of the night, sources around Donald Trump say that he was in better spirits. He was contacted by a number of allies, by donors, saying they stood by him, saying they were going to donate hefty sums to him. Of course, we have seen this in the past when these kinds of legal issues have actually given Donald Trump a boost financially.
We are still waiting to see those numbers. And again, we're still waiting to see Donald Trump today. We have a lot of questions. Whether or not he takes them, still remains to be seen. They haven't given us any guidance on that. The other big question is Melania Trump. We know that she is here in New York despite the fact that she never went to one day of his criminal hush money trial. The big question for us now is, whether or not she'll be by his side today at Trump Tower when he walks up to that podium to speak to reporters, really for the first time in a press conference setting since that verdict came down.
[08:05:00]
JIMENEZ: And Kristen, look, obviously people across the world were watching in when this verdict actually came. You are actually at Trump Tower, outside Trump Tower. What is the atmosphere have been like this morning? But also, what is the atmosphere been like since this verdict actually came down on the actual streets of New York, if not for the supporters of the President or otherwise?
HOLMES: Yeah. Look, we've seen a couple of people who are here just to say that they're happy that this verdict came down, that they're excited. They were coming here to kind of just stand around in Trump Tower. We've also seen people who are here just support the former President, but neither in big groups. I think the most surprising thing to me is that we are on the street in New York in front of Trump Tower and New Yorkers are just living their day-to-day lives. But, I can tell you, inside of Trump Tower right now, those advisors, Donald Trump himself, they are all strategizing about how to make this work in their favor, if they can, ahead of November. That is where the concentration is.
I know you mentioned the sentencing date. That is actually very critical. July 11 is just days before Donald Trump is set to go to the Republican convention. That is also when he is set to be the official Republican nominee. You talk a lot about how historical this was because of the fact that he is the first former President to be convicted. It is also historic because he is the first current presidential nominee of a party to be convicted. So, how again this plays out in November, that's the big question. That's what you're going to see both him and his team really focusing on in the next coming weeks.
JIMENEZ: Yeah. We've used the term "unprecedented" with Donald Trump a lot, but truly, maybe no truer sense of the word with some of the dynamics that you just laid out there, and the dynamics we'll see this summer as well.
Kristen Holmes outside Trump Tower, really appreciate it.
Now, following the verdict, Trump and his legal team said they would appeal what the former President called a "rigged trial". Now, the judge told the defense that it has about two weeks to make motions to the court regarding sentencing and other matters. And Trump's lawyer says this fight is only getting started.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BLANCHE: We have motions due in a couple of weeks in front of Judge Merchan, which we're going to vigorously fight and restate a lot of what I'm saying to you tonight and other things that happened on the trial that we think just made the trial unfair, including the testimony of Ms. Daniels. If that is not successful, then as soon as we can appeal, we will.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
JIMENEZ: So, are there good grounds for an appeal?
Joining me now is Criminal Defense Attorney Janet Johnson. Let's start there. We can assume as we've seen elements of they're going to appeal here, which Trump has consistently done with court rulings against him, but this was a case brought by grand jury, the selected jury was unanimous, over 34 counts despite an imperfect star witness in Michael Cohen. What are the real chances of an appeal actually working here?
JANET JOHNSON, CRIMINAL DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Yeah. Good morning. Generally not good. I mean, a lot of people think, Oh, I'll go to trial, and if it's a conviction, all over. Turn it on appeal. And that rarely works. I see really just two issues. One is actually the aggravator, the felony that was created because there had to be another crime that this was in furtherance of, not that it was completed, but the attempt. And they had an option of three different crimes, and the jury could pick any one of the three, and they didn't even have to agree unanimously on which one was the predicate crime. So, I do think that that might be there, some case law that is on both sides of that issue. That's probably their strongest issue.
The other thing is that their expert was essentially not allowed to testify. The defense had somebody who is going to talk about elections, and whether this actually was in furtherance of trying to influence an election, and that person was limited in what they could say. And then, ultimately, the defense said, we're not going to call them. I don't know if the defense proffered that testimony. If they didn't, then they've waived that. But, if they did, that may be another issue. But, Judge Merchan has a lot of latitude in what he allows in and out, and it really has to be an outrageous mistake to be overturned. So, Stormy Daniels testimony, those things, that is not going to be grounds for an appeal.
JIMENEZ: And obviously, look, right now, his sentencing for this verdict is scheduled for July 11. Could appeal efforts affect that sentencing date?
JOHNSON: No. The appeal actually wouldn't start until after the sentencing. Right now, he is actually technically not convicted. He is guilty --
JIMENEZ: Yeah.
JOHNSON: -- but the judge hasn't adjudicated him, hasn't convicted him. So, that won't affect it. But, is it unusual for sentencing date to be pushed back? Because the defense or either party says, look, we have to get witnesses. We have to get psychologists to testify. We have to get the pre-sentence investigation report. That date is, while it is firm, they have been continued. I personally have sentences (ph) continued all the time. But, it just pushes it closer to November. So, it doesn't necessarily help Trump in terms of a political gamut. But, July 11th may not be the date. And after that, then the appeals would start.
[08:10:00]
JIMENEZ: One of the things that Manhattan DA Alvin Bragg said after the charges or after the jury decision was announced, was calling Trump a defendant unlike any other in American history. I think that's fair, given the fact that we've never had a former President prosecuted in this way, much less convicted in this way. Now, does that actually make a difference in how one, I guess, sentencing is considered, but also, how did that maybe in some ways change how this case needed to be a tried, adjudicated? Just how did that dynamic change what we saw play out over the course of this trial?
JOHNSON: Great. That's a great question. I think he is a different defendant. But, I don't think Judge Merchan treated him differently at all. And I think that's going to be an issue in sentencing. Judge Merchan is going to look at, how are similarly situated defendants treated? How have I sentenced them? How is his behavior been an aggravator or a mitigator? Remember, he had 10 contempt charges upheld against him. He did not behave like a model defendant, and he is still continuing to behave sort of in an outrageous way if he was compared to any other defendant.
So, I actually think, in the courtroom, the politics, the idea that he is a former President, that he is a candidate for President, that is actually not played into it. And I suspect if they talk to the jurors, they will say that they listened to the instructions that the judge gave them and they put that aside. Any prejudice, any bias, any sympathy, that was not part of their verdict. That is part of their oath. And I think these jurors followed to the tee every instruction that they were given. The fact that he is Donald Trump, he was just a defendant in that courtroom, and he will be that at sentencing.
JIMENEZ: All right. Janet Johnson, criminal defense attorney, really appreciate you taking the time and perspective. A lot to talk about here. Thank you.
JOHNSON: Yes.
JIMENEZ: All right. There has also been a tsunami of reaction to this historic verdict. The Biden campaign wasted no time slamming the former President, saying quote, "There's only one way to keep Donald Trump out of the Oval Office: At the ballot box." Meanwhile, two officials tell CNN that Biden aides in the West Wing were transfixed as Thursday's verdict came in. And for his part, President Biden remained out of the public eye at his home in Delaware, where he honored the memory of his son Beau on the ninth anniversary of his death. Let's go live to Washington and CNN's Priscilla Alvarez. Now,
Priscilla, what else are you hearing from the campaign about this really historic verdict?
PRISCILLA ALVAREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Now, the campaign is trying to walk a fine line here, and they're really taking a subdued approach, not seeing this verdict as changing the entire calculus of this election, but rather trying to keep the focus on the issues, and framing this as another example of the threat that Donald Trump poses to democracy. That has been, of course, a central theme of the Biden campaign. And all of this was reflected in a statement by the Biden campaign that came out shortly after the verdict was reached, where they said, quote, "A convicted felon or not, Trump will be the Republican nominee for President."
Now, they also used the opportunity to fundraise, essentially telling their supporters that this Trump conviction could fire up his supporters and his fundraising. So, texts went out to folks with -- from the President saying, "You know I hate to ask, but there couldn't be a more important time for you to make your first donation to keep this guy out of the White House once and for all." So, as you can see, they're trying to use this to fire up their own supporters in their own base. But, they're being very careful about how they seize on it, because they do think that the issues of this election will ultimately be more prominent.
Now, of course, the White House has been generally reluctant to weigh in over the course of the trial. And we did get a statement from the White House Council spokesperson last night who said, quote, "We respect the rule of law, and have no additional comment." So, we're not anticipating hearing much more from the White House. And as you mentioned there earlier, the President was really out of the public eye yesterday, commemorating the ninth anniversary of the death of his son Beau. He will be returning to the White House this morning, where he does have a few events, including celebrating the Kansas City Chiefs. That is usually a lighthearted event, but you can imagine that he will be asked about this by reporters, and we'll see whether or not he decides to weigh in.
Of course, this is something that the White House had been considering whether or not he would give remarks. The logistics, of course, a little bit complicated and uncertain. But, all eyes will be on the President, what if anything he has to say on this today. Omar.
JIMENEZ: Yeah. We will keep an eye out for it all. Priscilla Alvarez, thank you so much.
Meanwhile, internationally, reaction to Trump's verdict is also starting to come in. The Kremlin spokesman says quote, "It is obvious political rivals are being eliminated through all legal and illegal means", while Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, who is a fan of Trump, is urging Trump to quote "keep on fighting".
I want to bring in CNN's Nada Bashir, who joins us now live from London. So, Nada, look, we're hearing from Hungary's Orban. How are other world leaders and politicians reacting so far to this news? NADA BASHIR, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, the news came in quite late last
night in the United Kingdom and across Europe, Omar.
[08:15:00]
This has already taken the place of some of the front pages, particularly here in the United Kingdom, the key headline most newspapers going with "Trump guilty". But, as you mentioned, we are beginning to see reaction from world leaders here in Europe, particularly in those nations where there is a significant far-right political presence. You mentioned, of course, the reaction from Hungary's Prime Minister Viktor Orban, who said, I've known President to be -- the President Trump to be a man of honor, again, referring to the upcoming U.S. election, saying, let the people make their verdict in November.
We've also heard from Italy's Deputy Prime Minister Matteo Salvini. He said earlier today, describing this as judicial harassment, again, saying that Italy is familiar with, in his words, the weaponization of the judicial system by the left who he said have for some time tried to eliminate political opponents through legal means, and again, that reaction from the Kremlin in Russia voicing tacit support and encouragement for the former U.S. President Donald Trump.
Now, when it comes to allied nations, we haven't seen that outpouring of reaction and response just yet. This is, of course, a delicate topic for many of those allied nations and allied political leaders, particularly considering of course that this is an election year in the United States. That question was put to Germany's foreign office spokesman earlier this morning. He declined to comment. But, we will be keeping an eye on any further reaction from leaders in Europe and the United Kingdom throughout the day. Omar.
JIMENEZ: Yeah. Nada Bashir, thank you for taking us through those reactions. Really appreciate it.
Still to come, it's been a moment like no other, and as Nada just took us through the world reacting to America's new political reality, a former U.S. President, now a convicted felon. We're going to take you through what it means, just ahead. We're also going to take a look at what's ahead for the former President. A date has been set for his sentencing. He also faces more legal troubles. We're going to have all that and more in a live report ahead.
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JIMENEZ: Welcome back. Let's get back now to our top story and what is now an unprecedented moment in American history. For the first time ever, a former U.S. President is a convicted felon. Now, Donald Trump was found guilty on Thursday on all 34 charges of falsifying business records with the intent to commit, aid or conceal another crime. Now, his sentencing is scheduled for July 11. Trump is calling his hush money trial, maybe unsurprisingly, rigged, with his team vowing to appeal.
And while that trial may have been the first, it's certainly not the last of Donald Trump's legal troubles. The presumptive U.S. Republican presidential nominee has been indicted in three other criminal cases. Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis charged Trump and 18 others in connection with their attempts to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election in Georgia.
[08:20:00]
Trump is also facing charges in two federal cases that were brought by Special Counsel Jack Smith, including conspiring to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election and illegally retaining classified documents.
CNN's Katelyn Polantz joins me live from Washington. She has been keeping track of all of these legal proceedings, which they are very detailed and intricate at times. So, Katelyn, just bring us up to speed, keep us on track about all of these other potential trials, at the very least indictments in cases, right now.
KATELYN POLANTZ, CNN SENIOR CRIME AND JUSTICE REPORTER: Yeah. Omar, there is quite a road ahead for --
JIMENEZ: Yeah.
POLANTZ: -- all three other criminal cases that Donald Trump is still facing with potentially trials and even the possibility of maybe one more trial this year before the election. I'm not going to rule that out. We just don't know. Let's go one by one, though.
The case in Florida, the classified documents case, that's the federal charges against Donald Trump for mishandling national security information, obstructing justice, that case, it's bogged down right now. There is a lot of work that the judge has to do. She is hearing many, many different legal arguments that Donald Trump's team has put before her. She has hearings scheduled until the end of July. No trial date. But, the big thing that she is going to have to tackle in that case going forward is how classified documents could be used at trial. That's going to take a lot of time and attention in a secret room where the judge goes document by document with the defense and prosecutors on what can they show the jury. So, that's where that stands.
The two January 6 cases against Donald Trump, the state case in Georgia and then the federal case in Washington, D.C., are a big question mark. The case in Georgia, a state case, that's moving very slowly because there are some big legal issues on appeal, such as whether Fani Willis, the district attorney, can remain on that case. Let's take a moment. I'll come back to that in a second.
The big question, though, hanging over that and the federal case in Washington, D.C., that is related to presidential immunity. We're waiting for a Supreme Court decision, very likely by the end of this month. Depending on what the Supreme Court does here, there is a path for that to potentially go to trial unless they give Trump so much protection because of him serving the presidency at the end of 2020, in the beginning of 2021. If they give him so much protection, he can't go to trial. That's also a possibility. Once that is all sorted out, then things may be able to pick up again in the Georgia case as well. Immunity questions, federal questions, constitutional questions, classified documents questions, a lot to go for the courts to work out before we see even trials again on the schedule. Omar.
JIMENEZ: And even here in New York, as we work towards sentencing, we could even see an appeals process play out as well. So, there is a lot, a lot to factor in here. Katelyn Polantz is going to be busy this year, and I can't wait to have you back.
All right, everyone. Still to come, the date is set for the sentencing of the former President Donald Trump. It's just days before the Republican National Convention. We're going to have details in a live report ahead. Plus, will the Trump verdict move the needle at all in terms of his support? We're going to have more on that straight ahead.
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[08:25:00]
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JIMENEZ: More now on our top story. Sentencing for the first former U.S. President to be convicted of a felony is scheduled for July 11. This is after a New York jury on Thursday found Donald Trump guilty on all 34 counts of falsifying business records to conceal hush money payment to a former adult film star in an effort to influence the 2016 election. Now, Trump is expected to hold a news conference at Trump Tower later today. He called the jury's decision a "disgrace" and his attorneys are vowing to appeal. For now, he will remain out of prison. And Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg says the jury has spoken.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ALVIN BRAGG, MANHATTAN DISTRICT ATTORNEY: While this defendant may be unlike any other in American history, we arrived at this trial, and ultimately today at this verdict in the same manner as every other case that comes to the courtroom doors, by following the facts and the law and doing so without fear or favor.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
JIMENEZ: Now, as the verdict was read, both pro and anti-Trump rallies popped up outside of the courthouse.
CNN's Shimon Prokupecz was there to hear what they had to say.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SHIMON PROKUPECZ, CNN SENIOR CRIME AND JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: Trump supporters and those against the former President were gathering in this park here, just opposite the court, as the verdict was coming down. And obviously, those who are against the former President were cheering as they were learning the verdict. And those who are supporters of the former President, we're all gathered here in this area. And at one point, sort of shocked and stunned at the verdict. But, they say they were not surprised because he has been targeted, targeted by this district attorney, targeted by law enforcement, targeted by the court system. And so, it was hard for them to accept the verdict. Take a listen to what both sides had to say when the verdict came down.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They're targeting this man because he is about to be President again. There is no crime from what I can see.
PROKUPECZ: OK.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And I think it's going to make him more popular with the American people because they're seeing how he has been targeted.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'm glad that the former President is being held accountable, because the most important thing in a democracy is that no one is above the law, especially ex-President. The record is so important that he is convicted. And I'm very proud of my fellow New Yorkers for being brave enough to do the right thing.
PROKUPECZ: Both sides saying that they will be back out here for the sentencing in July. Back to you.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
JIMENEZ: Alright, Shimon, thank you.
Beyond the reactions, let's delve deeper into how the verdicts could impact the presidential race. Trump's base support is probably baked in, but it's the verdict's impact on the crucial independent undecided voter that may matter most.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: This was a rigged disgraceful trial, but the real verdict is going to be November 5th by the people, and they know what happened here and everybody knows what happened here.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
JIMENEZ: CNN Politics Senior Reporter Stephen Collinson joins me now from Washington. Now, Stephen, you've got a great piece for us online right now in which you write in part that Trump's political tactics from here will quote, "inevitably mean that the legal system will join the electoral system as another essential institution of American governance that is now viewed as illegitimate by millions of citizens." What do you mean by that, and what do you think Trump's new title of convicted felon does for his support?
STEPHEN COLLINSON, CNN POLITICS SENIOR REPORTER: Well, this is Donald Trump's real political power, the way he is able to mobilize millions of his supporters and make them believe what he says. He once very famously, back when he was President, told supporters, don't believe what you read in the media. Believe what you get from me. His attempt to overturn the 2020 election based on false claims of electoral fraud poisoned in the minds of many Trump voters the electoral system. I think he is going to try to do exactly the same thing here. He has for months said this trial was rigged, that it was unfair, that the judge was corrupt, that he couldn't get a fair trial in New York, a big liberal city.
And what he has done there is he has hedged against this verdict for months.
[08:30:00]
And it's not surprising that you saw Trump supporters there arguing that this shows that they can't trust the legal system. So, while Trump is doing this to save himself, it's very corrosive to the institutions of governance. I think it's too early to say how this breaks through non-partisan voters or more moderate voters in swing states. I don't think there is sufficient polling to really make a judgement of that. And we are in the end of May, and the election isn't till November.
The one thing, though, is that the election will be decided in a few states by potentially a few tens of thousands of votes. So, it doesn't need that many votes to shift or for disaffected Republicans to stay home for him to have an outside political impact.
JIMENEZ: And look, we wondered coming into this how his legal proceedings would intersect with his political campaign. I think we are seeing this now play out in real time, and maybe no more so than his sentencing date scheduled just days ahead of the Republican National Convention, when he is set to become, as expected, the Republican nominee for President.
I want to talk a little bit about the support we have seen from him in the GOP in the aftermath of this verdict here. Are you surprised that we've seen such a swelling and such a doubling down by Republicans here to support the former President, given what we've seen and given some of them, in many cases, have pushed for law and order and preached law and order?
COLLINSON: Not really, because it's the signature of Trump's entire time in politics, the way he is been able to co-op the Republican Party to his own aspirations, if you like. He was impeached twice during and after his time in office. And in both of those occasions, Republicans in the Senate decided not to convict him, which meant he could run again for President, among many other things. But, Trump's power in the grassroots of the Republican Party is so great that if any Republican wants a future in politics, they have a choice. They can either support Trump, or they can speak out against him and probably lose their career. We've seen that many times. For example, former representative Liz Cheney, who was a rising star in Republican politics, was pretty much driven out of the party because she stood up to Trump after January 6, 2021.
So, that is the reality of politics in the Republican era. In any other era of modern American politics, the idea that somebody could be convicted of a crime and still continue running for President will be fanciful. But, it speaks to Trump's talent for really changing the political environment and transforming his party and his own image, that he is just as viable a political figure, at least with Republican voters today as he was yesterday.
JIMENEZ: Yeah. Look, it's been a fascinating dynamic, journalistically, to watch, to see how the party has shifted around, as you said, bent into his image here, and I think this will -- this year will be a perfect proof of that dynamic. CNN politics senior reporter Stephen Collinson, really appreciate it.
COLLINSON: All right.
JIMENEZ: I want to bring in CNN's Brynn Gingras, who has been live for us outside the New York courtroom, where history was made by this jury. Now, the judge is going to sentence Trump on July 11. Brynn, just lay out the reality for us. Could he really go to jail here?
BRYNN GINGRAS, CNN U.S. NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: It's really up to the Judge Juan Merchan. I mean, it's unlikely, Omar, especially because there is a number of factors that play into the judge's decision when he gives the actual sentencing. Let me lay those out for you. One, the fact that Donald Trump does not have any other criminal history behind him, that's a big deal, the fact also that these charges that he is now convicted of, they're not violent felonies. So, typically, someone who was convicted of these, they wouldn't see jail time as it was anyway.
Another of those factors that will also lay into Juan Merchan's decision is the fact that he is going to be getting references, character references from Trump's family, his friends. He is also going to get a recommendation from a probation officer who will interview the former President ahead of this sentencing day on July 11.
So, all of that's going to come into play. Also, a recommendation from the District Attorney Alvin Bragg. Now, when he was asked yesterday after the announcement of the verdict was made, and he had a news conference, he was point blank asked, what's your recommendation going to be? And he would not answer that. He basically said we're going to let filings and the court procedure speak for itself. But, let's hear more from Bragg about this historical, really unprecedented event.
OK. Sorry. We don't actually have DA Bragg.
[08:35:00]
But, listen, he also said, look, Donald Trump is like no other defendant, but he -- they went in there, they did their job, is how Alvin Bragg summed up this entire seven weeks of the trial. As far as Trump's team, Todd Blanche, the lead defense attorney, to Kaitlan Collins on "The Source", and basically said, look, they are going to file a number of motions. We saw that prior to this trial even starting, if you remember, Omar, and that will lead up to the July 11 sentencing. And then, after that, of course, they plan to appeal. He says they have a number of appeals that they already can discuss right now that are possibly in the works, the fact that they didn't think this was a fair jurisdiction in Manhattan, so they didn't get a fair jury. They didn't like the testimony of Stormy Daniels. You know that during
the trial, they raised objections to a lot of that, asked for a mistrial based on her testimony. And also, they just think that the whole system was unfair to Donald Trump. So, we fully expect a number of appeals to be coming after this process anyway, Omar.
JIMENEZ: And again, we do expect the former President to speak a little bit later this morning where he is likely going to --
GINGRAS: Yeah.
JIMENEZ: -- mirror some of what we have heard him spew, calling this rigged and beyond. So, we'll be watching out for that as well. Brynn Gingras, thank you so much.
Now, I want to get to a little bit more on the political fallout from this verdict. We're joined by Natasha Lindstaedt. She is a government professor at the University of Essex. Good morning (inaudible) here in New York. Trump is already trailing rival Joe Biden in terms of fundraising. But, how do you anticipate the verdict here impacting Trump's, essentially, campaign on?
NATASHA LINDSTAEDT, GOVERNMENT PROFESSOR, UNIVERSITY OF ESSEX: It's really hard to say because Americans polled, about 55 percent, they weren't even paying attention to this particular trial. And most Americans said, of the four criminal cases, this was the one that they thought was the least important, and some of the polling we had right before the verdict was released were providing some mixed messages. That being said, there was a Quinnipiac University Poll last month that said even amongst Trump supporters, six percent might change their mind or might be less likely to vote for him if he was found guilty.
And it's very hard to predict what's going to happen in the upcoming months. These polls were taken before he has been found guilty on 34 counts. I mean, it's really shocking to hear this being read out. Is this going to change the mind of voters who are undecided? They're going to have to ask themselves a question. Would you vote for someone for the most important elected position in the entire country who couldn't even get a job at a local mall? He is a convicted felon now. And that might be enough to change and to sway people's minds in these critical swing states where it's really going to matter.
JIMENEZ: And look, you bring up a good point. And I've covered politics a good bit here in the U.S. Many voters really don't pay attention until the last minute, and here you have a trial that was very intricate, and its details of white collar crime. Even within that, the charges, I think, for the average American weren't exactly clear that you could explain in five seconds or less. So, I wonder, do you think the conviction, while unprecedented and while important to cover, do you think the conviction here in this case will reverberate as much as if this conviction was coming in the January 6 election subversion case, for example, the federal case out of D.C.? Do you see this as not quite having as big of an impact on the American population? LINDSTAEDT: It's a good question because it's possible that it might not. Of course, these other cases were cases that really struck to the heart of democracy, particularly the one that you mentioned with the attempted interaction. But, prosecutor Alvin Bragg tried to make a case that actually this is why this was a felony and not a misdemeanor. Of course, falsifying business records would normally just be a misdemeanor, but it rose to the level of a felony because he was trying to defraud the American voter at a very critical time in the 2016 election. And in the end, he ended up winning.
So, he had basically cheated the American voting public, and this really goes at the heart of American elections, a critical institution in any kind of democracy that someone defrauded American voter and that may be enough to sway some people who feel like this isn't -- enough is enough. But, I think there is other liabilities as well. It's going to be really interesting to see what happens at the Republican Convention, which is held, of course, a few days after Trump is going to be sentenced. There could be louder voices in the Republican Party. I mean, thus far, he has had an authoritarian hold over it, but this is just too much of a liability, and there might be a little bit of chaos at the convention come July.
JIMENEZ: It's something we're really going to have to keep an eye on, especially as we will be going into that convention, having the news of the sentencing, whatever that may be as severe or as lenient, as that sentencing may be.
[08:40:00]
So, it'd be crucial to see that reaction there. University of Essex government professor Natasha Lindstaedt, really appreciate the time. Thank you.
All right. The response from the Republican Party's top brass shows the hold Donald Trump still has on the GOP. Many lawmakers are racing to his defense, including House Speaker Mike Johnson. Here is his statement. "Today is a shameful day in American history. Democrats cheered as they convicted the leader of the opposing party on ridiculous charges predicated on the testimony of a disbarred, convicted felon. This was a purely political exercise, not a legal one." Republican congresswoman Elise Stefanik is calling the verdict, in her words, "corrupt and rigged". Political observers point out, she could be a possible Trump running mate as well. And Texas Senator John Cornyn, who wants to be the next Senate GOP leader, is also fully behind Trump. Have a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. JOHN CORNYN (R-TX): Well, I think this is a sad day. I think the use of the justice system which is supposed to be blind and not be used for political purposes, this is kind of the weaponization of that for partisan political reasons.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
JIMENEZ: Our Congressional Correspondent Lauren Fox joins us now. Lauren, I think it is fair to say that Donald Trump still does have a hold not, just on those campaigning in the Republican Party, but on those governing on Capitol Hill, Republicans, in particular. Can you tell us more about the reaction that you're seeing on Capitol Hill?
LAUREN FOX, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yeah. I mean, I think yesterday and the swift response that you heard from Republicans on Capitol Hill just underscores what a close hold that Donald Trump not only has on elected officials, but really on the base of the party. The reason that elected officials feel like they need to run to his side isn't just because they like Donald Trump. It's because they know that not standing with Donald Trump could have an impact on their own electoral future because voters are standing with Donald Trump.
So, you heard yesterday from a slew of leaders in the Republican House leadership. They were very swift. I mean, within minutes of the verdict being read yesterday, we had statements from Mike Johnson, Steve Scalise, Tom Emmer, Elise Stefanik. That is the whole of the Republican leadership team in the House. Meanwhile, on the Senate side, you also had swift statements from John Cornyn, who, like you said, is running to be the next Republican leader, and John Thune, someone who else -- who also is running to be the next Republican leader.
We also heard yesterday from Minority Leader Mitch McConnell. He rarely speaks out in defense of Donald Trump. He rarely talks about Donald Trump, either on policy or on his legal battles. But, he did tweet this yesterday, quote, "These charges never should have been brought in the first place. I expect the conviction to be overturned on appeal." Now, you note there, there is no mention of Donald Trump, but he clearly felt like he needed to say something, given the fact that the whole of the Republican Party was swiftly moving to support the former President. Omar,
JIMENEZ: And even for those not elected to Capitol Hill just yet, I mean, Governor Larry Hogan, who is the GOP candidate for Senate in Maryland, all he said was, I urge all Americans to respect the verdict. And a prominent GOP strategist simply said, your campaign is over. So, I think it is a dynamic to now watch as we continue into this election season and on Capitol Hill, Lauren Fox, really appreciate it.
All right, everybody. Still to come, Donald Trump's conviction is unprecedented, but there have been plenty of other jaw-dropping moments in court. Up next, we're going to take a walk down memory lane. And a big shift on the battleground in Ukraine, as Secretary of State Antony Blinken attends the NATO Summit after President Biden lets Ukrainians use American munitions to strike targets inside Russia. We're going to have more on that, coming up.
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[08:45:00]
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JIMENEZ: We want to bring you some live pictures from Prague. As you can see, that is where U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken is holding a news conference at the NATO foreign ministers meeting. Now, Secretary Blinken has been meeting with his NATO counterparts as the Biden administration made a major policy shift on Ukraine. He is speaking right now. So, we'll go through some of those comments and try to bring you some of them later on.
But, the U.S. is now allowing Kyiv to use American munitions to strike targets inside Russia, but only those close to Kharkiv. Now, Russia has made significant advances around Ukraine's second largest city, although NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg has downplayed the threat of an escalation. A Kremlin spokesperson said he doesn't know anything about this decision, but added that there have already been attempts to strike inside Russian territory with American-made weapons.
I want to bring in CNN Senior International Correspondent Fred Pleitgen. So, obviously, as we continue to monitor what the Secretary of State is talking about right now, President Biden, for him, this is really a big shift from before where there are still restrictions in place now, but obviously, walking a tightrope here of a further escalation. Tell us what this means.
FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, first of all, I think you're absolutely right. I think that he is, in a certain extent, walking a tightrope. At the same time, this is a pretty significant shift for the Biden administration, Omar. Beforehand, of course, the Biden administration had said that U.S. weapons were not to be used by the Ukrainians to strike Russian territory or to hit Russian territory. But, it seems as though really the escalation on the part of Moscow has really forced President Biden's hand to now allow the Ukrainians to do just that. But, there are still those restrictions that are in place, meaning that the Ukrainians can use, for instance, artillery to hit frontline Russian troops that might be gathering on Russian territory to attack Ukrainian territory.
The main thing around that frontline that you were just talking about in the Kharkiv area is that the Russians are really attacking from Russian soil over there, and not from occupied Ukrainian territory. Obviously, those restrictions put in place by the Biden administration making it very difficult for the Ukrainians to react.
The other thing that's happening in that area as well is that the Russians have, to a great extent, been using their air force to hit the Ukrainians with some really powerful bombs. And now, the Ukrainians much more than before are able to fight back. They can, for instance, use American air defense systems to shoot down Russian planes. They can try to hit those frontline Russian troops. But, there are those -- still those restrictions on what they can't do, and those are pretty significant, because for instance, they can't use longer range U.S. missiles, like for instance, the ATACMS missiles, that can go about 150 miles to hit the Russian air bases from which they launched those planes that hit the Ukrainians.
So, certainly, the Ukrainians still not able to use those U.S. weapons to the full extent, but definitely a lot more than before. And we have already heard from the Ukrainian President, from Volodymyr Zelenskyy. He said that he had heard about this decision from the Biden administration earlier this morning. He doesn't know everything about it yet. But, he did say that it was a very important first step for the Ukrainians, not just because their troops are getting hit pretty hard by the Russians on the frontlines there in the Kharkiv area, but of course civilians are also being hit as well in those villages. So, definitely a significant step for the Ukrainians.
And one last thing, Omar, and I think this is one of the things that really speaks to American leadership in all of this as well, is that other countries, NATO members, especially European NATO members, have now also followed suit. We've just heard from the Germans, that's of course where I am right now, that they're also going to allow the Ukrainians to use German weapons to hit Russian frontline troops in that area. So, definitely, the U.S. really moving forward. The French had already as well. So, from the Ukrainians, this is definitely going to help them. But again, as you've noted, those restrictions to a certain extent still in place, Omar.
PLEITGEN: And the Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has been meeting with President of Finland, Prime Ministers of Sweden, Denmark, Norway and Iceland, clearly trying to find and shore up support wherever he can.
[08:50:00]
And these -- both of these steps, whether from Germany, France or the United States, no doubt to be significant. Fred Pleitgen in Berlin, really appreciate it.
You're watching special coverage of the Trump guilty verdict. We're going to be right back.
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JIMENEZ: As we've talked about, the world is reacting to the unprecedented news that a former U.S. President is now a convicted felon. We're expecting to hear from Donald Trump himself in the next few hours. He is going to hold a news conference outside Trump Tower at 11 a.m. local time, one day after he was found guilty on all 34 counts of falsifying business records. But, the presumptive U.S. s Republican presidential nominee says the fight is far from over, with his legal team planning to appeal. Now, Trump's guilty verdict makes him the first former U.S. President ever convicted of a felony. Some legal analysts are comparing his case with other so-called trials of the century.
CNN's Brian Todd reports.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
TRUMP: There is no crime.
BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Former President Donald Trump's hush money trial is historic and unprecedented.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: In what's being called the trial of the century.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This is the trial of the century.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: -- but just might be the trial of this century.
TODD (voice-over): There have been other trials that have gripped the nation's attention, many of them in the last century. Some analysts say, for media coverage, there is one trial that rivals Trump's.
GENE ROSSI, FORMER U.S. FEDERAL PROSECUTOR: The O.J. trial is the only case that compares to the sensationalism of this case.
TODD (voice-over): The former football star accused of murdering his ex-wife Nicole and Ronald Goldman, a fallen American icon in court on TV all day, every day, for about eight months.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We, the jury, in the above entitled action find the defendant Orenthal James Simpson not guilty of the crime of murder.
NORM EISEN, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: They have two individuals who are viewed in such polarizing terms. In the O.J. case, the polarization was around race. In the Trump case, it's around politics. But, it illuminates a key moment in our life as a nation to see those stark divisions. That's what makes a trial of a century.
TODD (voice-over): Then there was the impeachment trial of a sitting American President, Bill Clinton in 1999 impeached by the House, which had charged him with perjury and obstruction of justice relating to the Monica Lewinsky investigation. Clinton was acquitted by the Senate. America had been introduced to the concept of a gut-wrenching trial of the century more than 60 years earlier. In 1932, the 20- month-old son of legendary aviator Charles Lindbergh was kidnapped from the family home in New Jersey, the child's body found more than two months later.
ROSSI: The Lindbergh case is a historical trial, because obviously, Lindbergh had a hero's following. He crossed the Atlantic. So, that had all the drama.
TODD (voice-over): After a more than two-year investigation, a German immigrant carpenter named Bruno Richard Hauptmann was arrested for the Lindbergh baby's murder. Hauptmann professed his innocence until the moment he was executed. His guilt still debated to this day. It's their purely compelling nature, analysts say, that's made Americans become glued to all these trials, from Hauptmann to O.J. to Clinton to Trump.
EISEN: Every trial of this century must capture the zeitgeist, the moment that we're in.
[08:55:00]
TODD: The analysts we spoke to said one of the strongest common threads with all these trials, a heavily anticipated verdict, and many of us will remember where we were and what we were doing when it came down.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
JIMENEZ: All right. That was CNN's Brian Todd reporting. We're going to continue to monitor. We're expecting a news conference from the former President Donald Trump. There is Trump Tower there where he will likely spew some of the same things we have heard, calling this a rigged trial and beyond, whether they are based in reality or not. This is a campaign year for the President. He is no doubt upset with how this played up. Hope you'll see what he says there.
Thanks for joining me here on CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Omar Jimenez. I'm going to be back at the top of the hour with Eleni Giokos on CONNECT THE WORLD. And I also want to shout out one of our producers, Giulia Radice, last day on the show. She has been great, guided us through it all. Stay with CNN.
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