Return to Transcripts main page
CNN This Morning
Actor Treat Williams Dies In Motorcycle Crash; Trump To Turn Himself In And Appear In Court Today; Federal Reserve To Get Critical Inflation Data. Aired 5:30-6a ET
Aired June 13, 2023 - 05:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[05:32:37]
POPPY HARLOW, CNN ANCHOR: Twenty-two U.S. service members have been injured in Syria and a press release from Central Command says it is because of a quote "helicopter mishap." That's really all we know at this point and we don't have any more information yet, but the cause of the incident is under investigation. No enemy fire has been reported and U.S. Central Command says 10 of the injured have been moved to higher care facilities. We'll keep you posted.
PHIL MATTINGLY, CNN ANCHOR: Also this morning, Transportation Sec. Pete Buttigieg is set to visit the site of the Interstate 95 collapse near Philadelphia. Right now, authorities are working to identify a body recovered from the wreckage and demolition efforts are getting underway. Officials say a tanker truck carrying 8,500 gallons of gasoline burst into flame after the driver lost control and slammed into a wall. The collapse is on the northbound side but the southbound lanes were also compromised and will need to be repaired.
HARLOW: Veteran character actor Treat Williams has died.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TREAT WILLIAMS, ACTOR: Clip from Warner Bros. "Everwood."
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HARLOW: His agent tells CNN he died in a motorcycle accident. This happened in Vermont.
He had been featured in television and movies since the mid-'70s, starring in the film version of the musical "Hair," which earned him a Golden Globe nomination. He was also known for TV works like "BLUEBLOODS" and as the lead in "EVERWOOD."
Treat Williams was 71 years old.
MATTINGLY: And an end of an era. Pat Sajak is preparing for one last spin of the "WHEEL OF FORTUNE."
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) PAT SAJAK, HOST, "WHEEL OF FORTUNE": Johnny, go ahead and spin.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MATTINGLY: The 76-year-old game show host announced his retirement in a tweet, saying the upcoming 41st season will be his last. Sajak became the show's host in 1981, earning a Lifetime Achievement Daytime Emmy in 2011 and three regular Daytime Emmys along the way.
HARLOW: What a legend.
MATTINGLY: Also, central figure --
HARLOW: What a legend.
MATTINGLY: -- at Mount Vernon as John Avlon and I were discussing. The more you know.
All right, former President Trump facing arraignment on federal charges just hours from now. We'll talk about when a trial could take place coming up.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[05:38:52]
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. MITT ROMNEY (R-UT): I think the president holding onto these documents and getting indicted makes it more likely he's able to raise money and do well in the primary. But I think it hurts his chances in the general and I'd rather see someone who could win.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HARLOW: Winning reelection may be the long game but just hours from now Donald Trump is set to make a historic federal court appearance. The former president is scheduled to turn himself in and appear in front of a judge in Miami at 3:00 p.m. Eastern. We are expecting him to plead not guilty to 37 felony charges related to his handling of defense documents and classified documents after he left office. And he's the first former president to face federal criminal charges.
MATTINGLY: Now, Trump arrived in Miami yesterday. CNN obtained this exclusive video of supporters greeting him at his Doral golf resort. Sources say he spent the day looking for a potential lawyer to add to his legal team.
I want to welcome you guys back. We're going to be taking all of your smart ideas, co-oping them, and using them as our own.
But John, I want to start with you because the aftermath of one of these moments -- we've had several. Despite how historic this is, there's a familiarity to this. And what I tend to do in these moments is wait for Manu Raju on Capitol Hill to talk to all of the Republican lawmakers and then you get a halfway decent pulse of kind of where -- [05:40:10]
JOHN AVLON, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST, AUTHOR, "LINCOLN AND THE FIGHT FOR PEACE": Yes.
MATTINGLY: -- the party is in the immediate aftermath.
I want you to take a listen to some of what he heard yesterday.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. JOHN THUNE (R-SD): Well, they're very serious allegations and the burden of proof of the Justice Department will be high. I think there are a lot of people across the country who have skepticism about the standards of justice and how they're applied, and wanting to make sure that they're applied equally.
MANU RAJU, CNN CHIEF CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: It says that he may have obstructed this investigation and made false statements to prosecutors. Does that worry you?
SEN. TOMMY TUBERVILLE (R-AL): No, I don't know anything about that now. Eventually, they obviously got what they wanted. I don't know whether he obstructed or not.
REP. KELLY ARMSTRONG (R-ND): I wouldn't -- I wouldn't be pulling out the drapes and the curtains for a new FBI building right now.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MATTINGLY: I'm not sure what drapes have to do with this. But the senator from Alabama could also just read the indictment.
AVLON: Yes. But obviously --
HARLOW: That's the thing.
AVLON: -- the senator from Alabama doesn't want to read the indictment because the details are too damning, and that's what we're hearing from a lot of people who are defending the president. They're focusing on process. They're focusing on false allegations of equivalence, saying that Hillary Clinton or presumably, Mike Pence weren't prosecuted and therefore, Trump wouldn't -- shouldn't be. And that depends upon not reading the details of the indictment.
You say John Thune there who has endorsed Tim Scott -- a leading Republican walking that line that a lot of Republicans find themselves in. Saying look, you know, the base may not like this but the charges are serious. That at least is a reality-based argument.
And I would just encourage all of us not to get wrapped up in the horse race polling and how does this play with the Republican primary voter and what's the bank shot, and just say this is about equal justice under law and that principle --
HARLOW: And that -- AVLON: -- Trump -- no pun intended -- all.
HARLOW: You know, notably, we cannot group all Republicans or all Republicans running --
MATTINGLY: I'm all (INAUDIBLE).
HARLOW: -- for president --
MATTINGLY: It's just -- yes
HARLOW: -- in the same group.
Listen to Asa Hutchinson --
AVLON: Yes.
HARLOW: -- trying to explain why some of his Republican colleagues are doing this. Here he was yesterday.
MATTINGLY: Yes.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ASA HUTCHINSON, (R) 2024 PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I'm going to say they've made a political calculation that they don't want to offend Donald Trump. They don't want to offend anybody in the base. And I'm just saying these issues are too important not to state your honest views on this and to take a -- to take a bow or to step away from the honest evaluation of where we are as a country and the seriousness of these charges.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
AVLON: What Asa Hutchinson there is saying is exactly right. It's what you heard Chris Christie say a version of. Notably, these are the two former U.S. attorneys who are running for president explaining to the American people the seriousness of these charges and saying that their colleagues in this race were kind of tiptoeing around it -- sort of finding fault with the process while ignoring the substance.
That they're playing a political game. That they're afraid of offending the base and they feel like it's more politically expedient to pick up Trump support down the line if somehow this -- you know, Trump will be dispatched by the legal process. Just saying that that's actually cowardly, it's motivated by fear, and it doesn't reflect the facts.
LIS WIEHL, FORMER FEDERAL PROSECUTOR, AUTHOR, "A SPY IN PLAIN SIGHT": Well, at some point, I hope, we all -- and I mean the whole country -- will have read this indictment or a least a good solid analysis of it. I mean, if you read the indictment it makes sense. It's so full of details, right?
And the -- and the state charges that have been brought here in New York -- you know, they're just a little more difficult -- the ones involving Stormy Daniels. It's just -- the law is more difficult. The application of the law to the facts is just more difficult.
Here it's just intuitive, right? We know when we go to a hotel -- a fine hotel -- we're not supposed to take the painting off the wall and take it with us. And if the hotel calls us for it we go yes, it was in our briefcase and here you go. And those aren't state secrets or federal secrets, right?
MATTINGLY: Do have experience with this?
WIEHL: You know, I'm not -- I'm taking the fifth.
MATTINGLY: She's very specific.
WIEHL: I'm not admitting to anything. It was a great hotel, great coffee, solid warm robes, and I gave the painting back when they asked, right?
So that's -- I mean, people get that. We all understand that. And I think that's what's going to be difficult for Trump to get around.
MATTINGLY: Jonathan, one of the things when you look at the indictment -- and again, I think this is a key point. It's whether or not you're talking about the substance or whether or not you're talking about kind of the political position here.
You've been in law enforcement. You've worked in this space for a very long time. When you look at how things were laid out in this indictment what stands out to you, particularly, about the type of case that's being brought?
JONATHAN WACKROW, CNN LAW ENFORCEMENT ANALYST, FORMER SECRET SERVICE AGENT FOR PRESIDENT OBAMA: Well listen, it's very detailed, right? And I think we've had a lot of commentary about what this indictment -- how it read. It read to the public this was the moment where the special counsel was able to lay out this case with great detail.
The problem is what we were talking about in the previous segment. How is that received by people who are following Donald Trump? How is that received today? Most of the people that are going to be out there today in support of him will never read this indictment. They'll never read the facts of that. Why? Because they don't have to. Why let facts get in the way of a really good narrative that's coming out from the former president?
[05:45:00]
And I think that's the most dangerous part of this. And this is what law enforcement actually is looking at is that these narratives that are developing -- this rhetoric that's building is for a different purpose. It is not for the defense of law. It's not for the defense of the judicial system. It's for the defense of one single individual, and that is dangerous.
And the more violent that rhetoric gets the greater the potential is that it jumps into this direct violent action. And that's why law enforcement can't take any chances and they have to prepare today for any eventuality.
HARLOW: How difficult is this jury pool potentially going to be?
WIEHL: That's a difficult question.
HARLOW: And can you explain why --
WIEHL: OK.
HARLOW: -- because it's not just about being a red state.
WIEHL: No.
HARLOW: This is about what juries in South Florida often do when it comes to politicians.
WIEHL: Right.
HARLOW: Democrats and Republicans.
WIEHL: Both. And -- but we worry about I think as lawyers is this idea of jury nullification. That you can have a jury --
HARLOW: Explain to people what that is.
WIEHL: Jury nullification means I'm on the jury, I've heard all of the law. The law is overwhelming and beyond a reasonable doubt that the guy or gal is guilty. But because I don't believe in those charges, because I have an antithesis to the charges or support of the person, I say yes, he or she is guilty but I'm going to vote that. I'm going to vote not guilty. That's jury nullification and, of course, we know that we have to have all of the jurors in a criminal trial.
HARLOW: That's the --
WIEHL: Overwritten.
HARLOW: Yes.
AVLON: Yes, and I actually wonder about questions about the judge who was selected at random who has a history with at least the Mar-a-Lago document search --
HARLOW: Aileen Cannon.
AVLON: Yes, which was overturned by a higher circuit.
HARLOW: By the 11th Circuit.
AVLON: Yes. And that seems fairly significant to prove a point. We're not talking about just skating the way the puck is going.
WIEHL: I think so. I think she's got to be careful -- the judge -- though. Because we all are so intensely looking at her and the previous rulings, which have been overruled -- some of them. So key rulings like whether or not Trump's former -- actually, still
with him -- lawyer and his notes can be brought in as a crime-fraud exception, meaning usually you can't go into what your lawyer has, but you can in this instance because it's to prevent an ongoing crime, right? That was right on the law -- exactly on point.
Now, whether or not those type of rulings will be upheld with this particular judge --
HARLOW: But can I ask you? That was a D.C. court decision --
WIEHL: Yes.
HARLOW: -- and Judge Beryl Howell.
WIEHL: A different judge.
HARLOW: And she decided to do this. Is it not fair for Trump's legal team to go and say look, we want a judge in Florida to make a decision on whether Evan Corcoran's notes and audio --
WIEHL: Absolutely.
HARLOW: -- are admissible because --
WIEHL: Yes.
HARLOW: -- they're saying the crime-fraud exception is a big deal.
WIEHL: Big deal. Big deal. Huge deal. One of the biggest.
Yes, it's absolutely acceptable and they will. And they'll ask for a change of venue, meaning we don't want to try it here even though they really do. I mean -- but they'll just try to push, stall. I'm shocked. I'm absolutely shocked that they would take that kind of -- I mean, we've never seen that before, right?
So, of course, that's what they're going to try to do. And, of course, they can with this particular judge -- any judge. But those rulings should come fairly quickly.
MATTINGLY: Yes. There's -- I have like 15 questions for you guys now but I'm being told we have to go. But the good news is you guys aren't allowed to go. You guys have to hang out with us, which I'm very excited about.
All right. Donald Trump is due at Miami's federal courthouse just hours from now. What will happen when he arrives? That's coming up.
HARLOW: We're also waiting for a brand-new read on inflation in this country as the Fed meets today to decide whether to increase interest rates again. That's next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[05:52:40] HARLOW: Hours from now the Labor Department will release new numbers on inflation -- a key report that the Fed obviously is watching very closely. The central bank expected to announce tomorrow whether they will hike interest rates again or take a pause.
Our chief business correspondent Christine Romans is here with more. Good morning.
CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN CHIEF BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT, ANCHOR, "EARLY START": Good morning.
HARLOW: What are we watching for?
ROMANS: So I think inflation cooling is the story here but still too high -- 4.1 percent is what the forecast is for the Consumer Price Index (CPI).
HARLOW: Yes.
ROMANS: Remember last summer it got something similar just above nine percent? That really hurt. I mean, that was just really killing family budgets. So the number has been getting a little bit better.
And that's what the Fed wants to see. Obviously, that's what the White House wants to see. And so, that's where we're looking. We'll know for sure at 8:30.
I think the Fed pausing is the other big story. We've got a big bunch of data this week and a Fed meeting that begins today -- a two-day Fed meeting. We'll know for sure tomorrow afternoon.
The betting wisdom -- betting money is on the Fed pausing that --
MATTINGLY: Like, by a lot.
ROMANS: Yes, like 75-76 percent --
MATTINGLY: Right.
ROMANS: -- think that the Fed will pause.
HARLOW: This is what Phil does on the weekend. He bets on what the Fed is going to do.
MATTINGLY: Yes. I just like how things are being priced in.
ROMANS: It's --
MATTINGLY: This is like a very overwhelming view that it's being paused.
HARLOW: Right.
ROMANS: An overwhelming majority of people think that the Fed is not going to move. And you look at where we've come from here. Ten rate hikes in a row. I mean, just a monster amount of tightening but it's still working its way through the economy here. So a pause is what the expectation is.
And I'll just point out too I wanted to show you guys what stocks are doing this year.
HARLOW: Yes.
ROMANS: We just entered -- the S&P just entered a bull market. I mean, hello. The bear market is over. It was the longest bear market, by the way, since I think World War II.
But amid all of this tightening, all of this concern about a recession -- this is the longest recession watch in the history of recession watches. And in the meantime, quietly, you have the S&P 500 putting the bear back into hibernation and up for the year. All the markets are up for the year.
MATTINGLY: Don't try and act like I'm a nerd. You're a nerd, too. Like, come on.
HARLOW: Not even close.
MATTINGLY: Don't start with that.
HARLOW: I want -- I aspire to your nerd level and I appreciate your nerd level.
MATTINGLY: False modesty. She loves this nerding out with Romans.
HARLOW: I do, thank you. And I love that you brought us the good news on the market --
ROMANS: Yes, exactly.
HARLOW: -- Romans.
ROMANS: You're welcome.
HARLOW: So obviously, we're following very closely what is going to happen in Miami this afternoon. Federal, state, and local law enforcement all on alert right now ahead of Donald Trump's Miami court appearance today. We're going to take you to Miami next.
MATTINGLY: And the former president looking for new lawyers in the day before today's arraignment. What that could say about his legal strategy. Stick with us.
[05:55:08]
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HARLOW: It is the top of the hour. Good morning, everyone. We're so glad you're with us on this Tuesday, June 13. And it's a huge -- I mean, we say historic day often. This really is a historic day in America.
MATTINGLY: Yes, it's not hyperbole. It's also the start of a very historic period where we go --
HARLOW: Absolutely.
MATTINGLY: -- through this process that is going to be divisive -- but also, based on at least the indictment and what it's alleging, it seems to have some merit according to the Justice Department.
HARLOW: That's exactly right. Donald Trump just hours away from being arraigned on 37 federal charges. He will be in federal court for his alleged mishandling of classified documents and also obstruction charges. It will mark his second arrest in just a matter of weeks.
At 3:00 p.m. Eastern time.
