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Trump Arrested, Booked in Georgia, Mug Shot Released; More Trump Co-Defendants Turn Themselves in Overnight; One of Trump's Co- Defendants Exercises Right to Speedy Trial. Aired 7-7:30a ET

Aired August 25, 2023 - 07:00   ET

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

DEREK VAN DAM, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Players here on the field as well as the spectators.

[07:00:02]

Yes, I've never something like this before.

POPPY HARLOW, CNN ANCHOR: Well, it's kind of like those heating those you use in your (INAUDIBLE).

VICTOR BLACKWELL, CNN ANCHOR: Do, I have to be a member of the PGA Tour to get one of those?

VAN DAM: Yes.

HARLOW: Victor wants one.

VAN DAM: I'll bring it home. They're only a cool $1,000. So, yes, no big deal.

HARLOW: All right.

BLACKWELL: All right. Thanks, Derek.

BLACKWELL: CNN This Morning continues right now.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DONALD TRUMP, FORMER U.S. PRESIDENT: I really believe this is a very sad day for America. This should never happen.

JOHN KING, CNN ANCHOR: The 45th president of the United States has now been arrested for the fourth time this year on criminal charges.

ANDERSON COOPER, CNN ANCHOR: This is the picture that will probably stand the test of time for Donald Trump.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Since this has gone out, he's fundraised off of it.

TRUM: Terrible experience. I came in, I was treated very nicely, but it is what it is. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I will not support a convicted felon for the position of president of the United States regardless of who that person is.

GEOFF DUNCAN, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: When all this is over, I think Donald Trump is going to go down as one of the biggest mistakes this country has made.

TRUMP: We should be able to challenge an election. I thought the election was a rigged election, a stolen election.

VAN JONES, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: My question to the Republicans who say you're willing vote for this guy, would you hire somebody with a mug shot, would you hire somebody with 91 charges against him?

ADAM KINZINGER, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: I'm not angry at the prosecutor. I'm angry at Donald Trump for putting us in this position.

REP. JIM JORDAN (R-OH): This is ridiculous. We're going to do our duty to get the answers the American people deserve for this ridiculous indictment that has taken place in Georgia.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HARLOW: Well, there you have it really on every newspaper this morning, it is the mug shot seen around the world. The former president, Trump arrested, booked, and photographed at the Fulton County Jail as inmate P01135809.

Trump was only at the jail for about 20 minutes. He did turn himself in on those 13 felony charges for trying to overturn his election loss in Georgia. This is Trump's fourth arrest in just five months, but it is the first time he's had a mug shot taken.

And this morning the photo is, as we said, on the front page of pretty much every newspaper and tabloid across the nation and around the world, sources tell CNN Trump made the decision to look defiant in this mug shot. Here is how he described his experience shortly after his release.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: Terrible experience. I came in, I was treated very nicely. But it is what it is. I took a mug shot, which I never heard the words mug shot. That wasn't -- they didn't teach me that at the Wharton School of Finance.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLACKWELL: The former president flaunted that photo, his mug shot on Twitter, now known as X, just two hours after he surrendered. And Trump posted it with the caption never surrender. It is the first time he's posted on Twitter since he was banned after the January 6th insurrection and later reinstated. And new overnight, three more of Trump's co-defendants have turned themselves in including, former Justice Department Official Jeffrey Clark. That means that all but two of Trump's 18 co-defendants have now surrendered before the deadline, just five hours away from that, it is noon today.

HARLOW: We have team coverage this morning, a lot to get to. Zachary Cohen for us live at the Fulton County courthouse. Let's begin with Kristen Holmes near Trump's golf course in New Jersey, where he returned very quickly, Kristen, last night, right after very quickly getting out of jail after being booked.

What can you tell us about his mood? Because the reporting that he intentionally looked defiant in that mug shot is really interesting.

KRISTEN HOLMES, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Poppy and Victor. Well, yes, and we know that he and his team had discussed at length what exactly that mug shot would look like. Should he smile, should he look serious, and that's where they landed.

And, remember, we talk about the word, defiant, that came directly from a campaign adviser and that is something they like to say time and time again after each of these indictments and arraignments, that Trump is defiant.

But as we know two things can be true at once. When it comes to that mug shot, you know, comes to leaving the jail, they were very happy with how that turned out. As you said, they already started fundraising off of it, they've already started making T-shirts, he posted for the first time on X, formerly known as Twitter, as a way to take control of the media narrative. He knows that people have been waiting for him to get back on Twitter or X for literal years. And so taking control of the narrative is what former President Trump is very good at.

But we also know that he is increasingly agitated by all of these charges, by these continuing arrests, and particularly by this case in Georgia. I have spoken to him, at various times about this case, and other cases, but you can see the real anger when it comes to this specific case in Georgia. He believes or he says he believes that he did nothing wrong. And we heard some of that yesterday after he was processed. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: I really believe this is a very sad day for America. This should never happen. If you challenge an election, you should be able to challenge an election. I thought the election was a rigged election, a stolen election and I should have every right to do that.

[07:05:00]

What has taken place here is a travesty of justice. We did nothing wrong. I did nothing wrong. And everybody knows it. I've never had such support and that goes with the other ones too. What they're doing is election interference. (END VIDEO CLIP)

HOLMES: And, obviously there, he's talking about District Attorney Fani Willis, and they believe that she is out to get him, or at least that's what they say, that this is election interference.

But I do want to point to one thing that you guys played in the intro there. That was him talking about his experience at the county jail, and him saying it was a terrible experience. These are rare moments where you see Donald Trump actually admitting what this process is like.

So much of the time we hear him saying, oh, it is horrible, they're treating me badly, but rarely specifically saying going into this jail, being processed, is a horrible experience, it gives you a glimpse into what is actually going on, how he actually feels about this.

HARLOW: Yes. And as Victor pointed out, he didn't do a big press conference or anything afterwards.

BLACKWELL: Few words on the tarmac. After the first two, there was this big event in Mar-a-Lago.

HOLMES: No question. No questions either.

BLACKWELL: Not this time.

HARLOW: We know you would have asked good ones. Kristen Holmes, thank you very much, we appreciate it.

BLACKWELL: All right. So, let's look ahead. And, listen, we have on the screen here now a mix of mug shots and some head shots as we're waiting for those last few to come in.

Zachary Cohen is there outside of the Fulton County Jail. Are you at the courthouse? He's outside the courthouse. So, the deadline is a few hours away. We're expecting that everyone will turn themselves in by that deadline, right?

ZACHARY COHEN, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY AND JUSTICE REPORTER: Yes, Victor and Poppy. It has been a busy 24 hours here at the courthouse and also over at the Fulton County Jail, as you know, as you said, 17 of the 19 defendants have already turned themselves in. There is two more that we do expect to turn themselves in at some point today before the noon deadline.

But, look, you know, yesterday, when Donald Trump came to the jail, that was probably the busiest moment, the scene outside was -- you know, his supporters were there cheering him on, some were dressed in jail outfits, holding signs, there are also some anti-Trump protesters there as well, a good mix.

But overnight even we have seen some of these defendants come turn themselves in even after Trump left the Fulton County Jail, and one of them was former DOJ Official Jeffrey Clark, who you'll remember is an environmental lawyer that Trump almost installed as acting attorney general at the end of his term because he was the only one at the Department of Justice who would go with his plans to overturn the 2020 election.

So, we are nearing the end here. We have seen the vast majority of these defendants turn themselves in. You can kind of look ahead now to what the potential trial will look like. The Fulton County D.A., Fani Willis, made clear she's ready to go to trial now. She asked for an October 23rd, 2023 trial date yesterday. That's two months from now and it's incredibly aggressive timeline for her. Trump made clear yesterday through his lawyers that he really does not have any intention of having a speedy trial. He wants to play this out, delay as long as he possibly can.

So, we're going to have to litigate those elements of the case going forward. But as of now, the first step is almost there, we have 17 of 19 defendants who have surrendered and we can look ahead to how a particular trial might play out. BLACKWELL: Zachary Cohen for us outside the Fulton County courthouse,

thank you.

HARLOW: All right. With us, CNN Senior Legal Analyst Elie Honig. What a week it has been. And there is so much ahead. Let's begin with these efforts to -- look, so many. Let's begin with the efforts to some of them move their case to federal court, because that's the hearing on Monday. That's what that's about.

ELIE HONIG, CNN SENIOR LEGAL ANALYST: Right, Poppy. So, we have 19 defendants and we can see them now all starting to pull in sort of different directions. Let's start with what we call removal. There is a law that says if you're a federal official or a former federal official and you get charged with state crimes, you can get your case moved to federal court if, this is the big if, you can show you are acting under color of such federal office. Meaning you were acting within the scope of your job.

Now, we have seen these two defendants so far. Mark Meadows, of course, was the White House chief of staff and Jeffrey Clark was a DOJ official ask to remove their case to federal court. Trump, who was president, has not yet made that motion, could be coming very soon. The D.A. has responded, you are not within the scope of your federal office, you were committing crimes, that's the opposite of what you're supposed to be doing under federal office.

Now, Mark Meadows is going to have his hearing on this issue on Monday. And Jeffrey Clark's is going to be in a few weeks on September 18th.

Now, one of the big questions is what happens if one of these guys, Clark or Meadows or maybe Trump, succeeds in getting their case moved over to federal court? Does everyone go with them? The only honest answer is we don't know. There is no specific procedure on this. I think the better argument is everyone is on their own, because the law is designed to protect federal officials, not random co-defendants who happen to be charged along with them.

HARLOW: Well, let's talk about one of the defendants who wants a very speedy trial, two months.

HONIG: This is, by the way, not a typo. October of 2023, less than two months from now. This is a --

[07:10:00]

HARLOW: Kenneth Chesebro, one of the lawyers.

HONIG: A really important development. Under Georgia law, if you are a defendant and you insist on a speedy trial, speedy trial, right, by the way, belongs to the defendant, you must be tried by the end of the next court term, which here means before November. Kenneth Chesebro has said I want my speedy trial. Fani Willis said, fine, we'll see your speedy trial, we'll see you October 23rd. And the judge said, okay, that's when we'll do your trial.

Now, Fani Willis said, in fact, I'm going to try all 19 of you on October 23rd. But let me just say, that's not happening.

HARLOW: They have a right to contest that.

HONIG: Exactly. You have a right to say I want my speedy trial, but if you need a little more time than two months to prepare for massive case like this, you're going to get it.

Now, if he goes first, we're going to have separate sequential trials, big advantage for everyone else. They'll sit back and watch the prosecution put on its whole case against Kenneth Chesebro, see all the witnesses, cross-exam, take notes, big tactical advantage.

HARLOW: And also if she doesn't meet that date for trial, he's acquitted under Georgia law.

HONIG: Yes, the case gets thrown out if they don't try him on time.

HARLOW: Calendar.

HONIG: 2024, nice and free, right? Looks good. November is the election we're all watching. Let's look at what we have on the schedule. The New York hush money case, remember that one, that has been scheduled for trial starting in late March. That's certainly going to go through to April.

Jack smith's case, the federal case for Mar-a-Lago, down in Florida, that one has been scheduled for late May. That is certainly going to carry through June and July.

Now, Jack Smith's other case, his January 6th case, he has asked to start in early January. If he gets that, it is going to carry at least through April, probably beyond that.

Now, Trump's team has said, we want a trial in 2026. That's on the other side of the studio.

HARLOW: You don't have a 2026 calendar here for us? HONIG: No, we don't have a 2026 page just yet. But the judge is going to hear that on Monday. There is going to be a hearing where she's going to consider that.

And finally, just to make it extra complicated, Fani Willis, if she doesn't manage to move everyone up to the speedy trial date, she wants to start in early March, which is going to take, given how slow things move in Georgia, all the way through here. You can't have the same person on trial three times, two times at once.

HARLOW: Because a criminal defendant has to be in the courtroom.

HONIG: Yes. You physically have to be there if you're the criminal defendant. Remember, Donald Trump had the E. Jean Carroll trial, civil case, opted out of that. But you have to be there.

And important to note, all of these are fluid. Trial dates can and do move. The New York case, for example, the D.A. has said publicly he would be willing to consider moving. So, something has got to give here, this traffic jam just became gridlock.

HARLOW: Yes, it did. Elie, thank you very much. Victor?

BLACKWELL: We're Within five hours now for the rest of Donald Trump's co-defendants to turn themselves in there at the Fulton County Jail. So, what is next as the district attorney eyes, as Poppy and Elie just discussed, that October trial date?

The former mayor of Atlanta, Keisha Lance Bottoms, joins us next. She was outside the jail last night.

And Vivek Ramaswamy apparently feels confident after the Republican debate. Why he says he thinks he'll win the 2024 election in a landslide.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[07:15:00]

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: What has taken place here is a travesty of justice. We did nothing wrong. I did nothing wrong. And everybody knows it. I've never had such support. And that goes with the other ones, too. What they're doing is election interference. They're trying to interfere with an election. There's never been anything like it in our country before.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLACKWELL: Well, now that a former president has been arrested and booked for the first time, what happens next? We have been reporting that Donald Trump is expected to try to move this case to federal court. If that were to happen, Trump and his co-defendants would end up with a jury pool more sympathetic than the one that they might get from the Atlanta area. The state house courthouse there is based in Fulton County in Atlanta. Joining us now is former mayor of Atlanta Keisha Lance Bottoms. Madam Mayor, good to have you. You were there last night. This is your city. For it to happen there, what were you thinking, what were you feeling, what did you see?

FMR. MAYOR KEISHA LANCE BOTTOMS (D-ATLANTA, GA): It was a very sad evening for me. I used to work inside the Fulton County Jail as a magistrate judge. So, I've been inside that building. I've represented clients who have been inside that building. It is not a pleasant place. And to see the former president of the United States booked into that jail, I think really it is a sad day for all of us across America because it really is a disgrace that a former president has done things and encouraged others to do things that would lead him to a booking inside the Fulton County Jail.

So, I didn't take any joy in seeing that happen on yesterday. It was a circus atmosphere out there yesterday evening, a lot of anger. I pulled up. They thought that I was Fani Willis and began to chant, lock her up.

HARLOW: Really?

BOTTOMS: So it was a very, very strange evening to say the least.

HARLOW: We're going to have this motion in court on Monday to try to get Mark Meadows' case. He wants it moved to federal court and it is the expectation that Trump is going to follow in step because the thinking is you get a more favorable jury pool. And if Trump wins again, he could get rid of it on the federal level, not the state level.

How do you see this playing out given that it was in your state? Are you expecting this to be tried in Georgia State court?

BOTTOMS: I do expect it to be tried in state court. And you have to remember, Fani Willis is a very seasoned prosecutor. So, she knew what she was taking before the grand jury and what she had an opportunity to give indictments on. So, I do believe that this will play out in state court. You're absolutely right, if it goes into the northern district of Georgia, a much more diverse jury pool.

Fulton County is split about 50/50 between Democrats and Republicans. I think Democrats may have the upper hand slightly just as diverse, racially diverse.

[07:20:00]

And if you think about the YSL gang trial that's going on with young thug and some other rappers right now, it has been very difficult to see the jury inside Fulton County. So, even if it does stay in Fulton County, expect the jury selection process will take a very long time.

BLACKWELL: You know, one of the elements that I guess is kind of a tertiary detail in this saga of this indictment is that we're learning about the Rice Street Jail, and people are learning about the conditions of that jail, the sheriff now asking for $2 billion to build another facility.

But I wonder what you think the impact is of America seeing inside that jail, even after people have lost their lives, related in some ways to the conditions and the lack of care inside of it.

BOTTOMS: Well, I do want to give kudos to Sheriff Labat and his team and the way that they managed yesterday. The challenges at the Fulton County Jail are very longstanding. It used to be under federal court consent decree because of the issues at the jail. It came off of that consent decree a few years ago. I don't think it is going to be a surprise to anyone if it doesn't happen again, given that the DOJ is investigating the conditions at the jail.

This jail was built around 1989. It was overcrowded from the day it was built. There has been an effort to get the county to support an -- the county recently approved the support of a new jail. The facility is too small. And then you put on top of that COVID, which created an extensive backlog in our court system, so you have a lot of people who are in jail, waiting on trials in that jail.

So, I don't think that it is a spotlight that Sheriff Labat would like to have on the jail, but he's been very vocal about the conditions at the jail and the need for resources.

BLACKWELL: All right. Keisha Lance Bottoms, thank you. We want you to, of course, stay with us.

HARLOW: Let's bring in CNN Political Commentator, former Lieutenant Governor of Georgia Geoff Duncan, CNN Political Commentator Scott Jennings, Elie Honig also back with us at the table.

Geoff, I just want to start with you. As someone who was by Governor Kemp's side, lieutenant governor during all of what was happening now being charged as crimes, you have said there is only one person who is trying to parlay this into running for president, and in your view, 18 other people are going to get train wrecked. That's the big picture here in your view.

DUNCAN: Yes, as I was watching the video play out of him leaving the airport and going to the courthouse, I can only think that almost every American that would be the worst moment in their life. But not only because they're walking into a jail and being arraigned or whatever the legal procedure is, and then also for the fourth time in four months, but 18 of your closest friends and advisers are going to be train wrecked, right? They could lose everything they have trying to defend, what, a mirage, a fictitious scenario, a lie. That would be hard to swallow. But for Donald Trump, he's the only one that sees this as a tailwind, not a headwind.

HARLOW: And so you parlay that, Elie, into the thinking maybe this isn't going to be 19 defendants. Maybe some of those 18 co-defendants will see it that way, as what the lieutenant governor just said, and cooperate and flip on Trump.

HONIG: You could see people just taking pleas, you could see people flipping and cooperating, absolutely. I mean, when push comes to shove, Geoff is right, this is a sobering moment. We have gotten used to it, unfortunately, because we have done so many of these with Donald Trump. But for a normal person, this is terrifying. This can ruin a person financially, your liberty is at stake, your family is at stake. I've seen many people in these situations and, ultimately, it is a question of loyalty.

I say this to potential cooperators, do you value yourself, your family, your own situation or are you going to be loyal to the person who got you in this mess? So, I do think people are going to be wrestling with that question as we speak.

BLACKWELL: So, the Chesebro trial is going to start in about 60 days, right? So, we're going to start to see evidence, there will be cameras in the courtroom. Before the announcement of this trial start date, what was expected maybe were hearings on delays and we need more time, we need documents, now, we'll have evidence. What will be the political impact of seeing this? I mean, is it as appealing then?

SCOTT JENNINGS, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Well, I think the political impact on Trump won't really hit until he goes on trial. And, honestly, for most Republicans, they consider all of this to be political until a jury gets it. And I don't know when that's going to be for him in all of his cases, but I do think that's the line of demarcation here.

If he is convicted of a felony in any of these cases, it is going to cause a fairly sizable cohort of Republicans to say, I do not want to associate my franchise with this person any longer.

BLACKWELL: Despite what we saw at the debate, with six of the candidates holding up their hand saying they would support him even if he's convicted?

JENNINGS: I mean, I'm reading the polling, just a simple political consultant, Quinnipiac last week.

HARLOW: You're not simple, Scott Jennings.

[07:25:01]

JENNINGS: 70 percent -- I'm just a caveman. 70 percent of the American people say a felon should not be president, included 58 percent of Republicans. So, when the jury -- by the way, juries are not political actors. A prosecutor can be vilified as a political actor, and they have been, but a jury is ordinary Americans, your peers.

HARLOW: So, we're talking earlier about Ken Buck, who's a Republican lawmaker, who said this yesterday on that front.

We don't have it. Well, he basically said, I will not vote for a convicted felon, whoever it is. The question was about Trump.

You're very close to Mitch McConnell, for example, former adviser. Can you see words like that coming out of his mouth and Republican leadership's mouth in the House and the Senate? JENNINGS: I don't think they're going to -- for McConnell, he has studiously avoided commenting on Trump since his floor speech in the second impeachment trial. And his last words on this were, the criminal justice system and the civil justice system will have something to say about a former president and we'll have to let that process play out, what's happening right now.

So, do I expect him to play pundit on this as the trials unfold? No. But it is obvious to me that Trump is already in a difficult way in terms of a general election voter sample. You throw a felony conviction on top of it, it makes it very difficult to see how, you know -- if you -- I mean, is there anything about this that would have made someone who leaned against him before lean into him this time?

DUNCAN: Donald Trump has brought the Republican Party to a slow boil, much look a frog in a pot, right? Like you don't realize, I don't think, the majority of Republicans how bad this is. Even if he was to figure out a way to win the nomination, which the polling shows that that seems likely, then to win the actual general election, which I don't think is likely, but then what would he govern like, right? We're so close to disaster. And we have somehow normalized mug shots.

And we're going to have to flip the script here. Normally America leans into leaders to lead us through this. We are going to have to start reverse leadership. The voters are going to have to, Republicans are going to have to grab a hold of this, local county commissioners are going to have to grab a hold of this party and to change the direction of it or else we might lose it forever.

BLACKWELL: But this slow boil is why I don't understand why you believe that voters won't vote for him if he's convicted, because the temperature is still going up. The frog is still alive in the pot. If you think that these polls show that they're not going to vote from once he's convicted, you could ask them two years ago, they probably would have said then that they're not going to support him in the position he is in now.

JENNINGS: I don't know. I think more Republicans than you think, including people who have no intention of voting for him right now believe he's getting a raw deal. I mean, massive numbers of Republicans think he's been pursued, hounded, politically persecuted, whatever you want to call it. They have no intention of supporting him ever again, but they do believe that. So, there is an undercurrent of that already.

But the people who decide elections are sort of, you know, Independent, center right Independents in the suburbs around Atlanta, around Phoenix, around Raleigh and other places. They do -- they are not going to vote for a convicted felon. They're not going to do it. This election cannot be a referendum on whether it is okay to be a convicted felon and the president. If you want to win, it has to be referendum on Joe Biden. Every Republican I know wants it to be a referendum on Biden.

HONIG: I have the same thought as you, Victor, which is the goal posts keep moving, right? First, it was, well, he's been impeached but not accused of a crime. Now, he's accused of a time. I'll tell you what's going to be said if he gets convicted. Let's say the conviction comes down April.

HARLOW: He's accused of 91 crimes.

HONIG: Right. But let's say, any of them, the response is going to be, well, he still has his appeal rights and we think that trial wasn't held legitimately, or whatever. There is always going to be -- well, not always, but before the election, there will always be some other step in there.

DUNCAN: The frog is also addicted to a drug called Donald Trump. And we may have to crash and burn as a party. We may have to really see how bad bad gets before we wake up.

HARLOW: What does that mean? What does that look like? Because Judge Luttig, who is very conservative legal scholar, right, said to us the other week, there is no Republican Party anymore. What does crash and burn look like?

DUNCAN: I think, I mean, there is, right? I mean, if you look at the polling, 35 percent of folks are addicted to Donald Trump and they seem to be running the party. But there is still 65 percent, 50 million Republicans that are wanting to ask tough questions and want genuine leadership. And to your point, they want to go beat Joe Biden, who, by the way, the most easily beatable president maybe in history right now. And we just don't seem to want to wake up to the easy facts.

BLACKWELL: And he's still 35 points ahead of his closest rival in the primary. Elie, Scott and Geoff, thank you so much.

President Trump's arrest steals the spotlight from some candidates who were on the rise after Wednesday's GOP debate. We'll discuss the state of the race, next.

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