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Fifty Jurors Excused Monday; Biden to Campaign in Pennsylvania; Rep. Glenn Ivey (D-MD) is Interviewed about Israel and Ukraine Aid; DOJ Preparing Anti-trust Lawsuit Against Live Nation. Aired 6:30-7a ET

Aired April 16, 2024 - 06:30   ET

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:34:20]

JIM ACOSTA, CNN ANCHOR: Jury selection resumes today in former President Donald Trump's criminal hush money trial. Thirty-two potential jurors will be asked questions about their political views. More than 50 people were immediately dismissed Monday because they said they could not be impartial and fair. Trump has also made an unusual request to be part of the sidebars, either approaching the judge's bench or meeting with him in a side room.

CNN's Brynn Gingras is live outside the courthouse with more.

There were some surprises yesterday, Brynn. I suppose there might be some more today.

BRYNN GINGRAS, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, I mean, Jim, no one thought that this was going to be easy. And, obviously, jury selection is proving to be a tall order with just one day into it.

[06:35:00]

As you just said, 50 people were dismissed because they said they couldn't be impartial or fair out of the first 96 batch of jurors that went into the courtroom. As it stands this morning, there are 32 that are left in the courtroom still going through that 42 questionnaire, trying to figure out if there are people who can sit on this jury. No one has been selected yet. And again, some of those questions that they're being asked are, you know, what is their background? Where do they get their news from? One person said that they had strong opinions about Trump. One person said that they don't believe a president, a past president, or even a janitor is above the law. So, there's a lot of questions that are going through this to weed out this process, but it is expected to take quite a bit.

And we do pick up jury selection when court resumes today at 9:30. The judge saying he wants everyone their 9:30 sharp today.

Jim.

ACOSTA: All right, Brynn Gingras, thank you very much. While Donald Trump sits in a Manhattan courtroom, President Biden is

heading to the battleground state of Pennsylvania. He'll start the campaign swing with a speech in his hometown of Scranton. His message to voters, Donald Trump is out of touch.

My panel is back.

And, David, I mean, let's talk about the split-screen a little bit today. I mean I guess it's sort of a media crushing (ph) to talk about it in that sense, but that is what we're going to be seeing today. Trump's in court. Biden's on the campaign trail talking about issues.

DAVID FRUM, STAFF WRITER, "THE ATLANTIC": The split screen may get even more dramatic next week, because next week we are back in another courtroom where the New York attorney general will be arguing that the bond Trump put up to cover his liability in the fraud case that he lost where he owes $454 million and rising dollars, he put up a bond for $175 million. And it turns out, you know that seen in "Dumb and Dumber" where they say, this is better than cash. Those are IOUs. That bond looks very shaky and may be entirely fictitious. And if - next week there's going to be a hearing on it. And if a judge says, if Judge Engoron says, you know what, this bond isn't worth the paper its printed on, then the attorney general can begin to move against Trump's assets. And that makes for an even more dramatic split screen in the bottom half of April, the beginning of May.

ACOSTA: Yes, I mean, Shermichael -

LULU GARCIA-NAVARRO, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: Can we play with Monopoly money? Is that a thing?

ACOSTA: What's that? Yes -

GARCIA-NAVARRO: Can we pay with Monopoly money?

ACOSTA: Oh, yes, absolutely. Sure.

FRUM: Canadian Tire Money, a reference that some viewers will get and others won't.

ACOSTA: Yes. Yes. Yes, I mean, let's talk about this, guys, Lulu, Shermichael. I mean how - Shermichael, how much of this do you think we're going to be seeing over the course of the next several months. I mean if it takes this long to seat a jury, that means that this Manhattan trial, this Alvin Bragg case, may take some time, and that gives more time for Joe Biden to be out there on the campaign trail talking about issues. He's - today he's going to be talking about tax policy while Trump is stuck at the courthouse.

SHERMICHAEL SINGLETON, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: You know, it's interesting. I mean, I've been critical of the president for some of the issues that I think he hasn't done very well on in the eyes of many Americans, but I will say that I think the re-elect campaign, they have been very smart to focus on some very key battleground states. He's been in Wisconsin. They're focusing on Pennsylvania. From some conversations I've had with friends of mine who are part of the campaign, the president plans to go back to Arizona and Nevada again. So, I think that they recognize that this is going to be a battleground state election this November, Jim.

As so my differences aside I have with President Biden, I think it's very, very smart for the president to go to these states, talk about the economy, talk about some of the issues that he believes he's accomplished for the American people while President Trump has to deal with the legal issues.

GARCIA-NAVARRO: But he's facing - he's facing a lot of challenges in these battleground states.

SINGLETON: Yes, that's true.

GARCIA-NAVARRO: Polls are - polls are showing that actually he's behind, underwater in all except one of them. And so it's -

ACOSTA: Been tightening a little bit.

SINGLETON: Yes.

ACOSTA: Yes. Yes.

GARCIA-NAVARRO: They're tightening a little bit. It - absolutely. But it's do or die.

He's comfortable in Pennsylvania. Let's not forget, he grew up in Scranton. This is his, you know, this is where he likes to be. This is where he feels comfortable.

But there's been a lot of emphasis that he needs to get out in places that perhaps he might not feel so comfortable, rural parts of the - of the state and other parts where they might not be so friendly to his message because he needs to push beyond the suburbs. He needs to push beyond the city. He really needs to try and persuade voters that he's the person for them.

ACOSTA: And, David, I mean, the president has been a bit reluctant to go after Trump on these legal issues. You know, Trump likes to talk about these Biden trials and so on. And it sounds as though the president has sort of pulled back a little bit, not really wanting to engage. Should he though? I mean, there's sort of a debate it seems inside Biden world, should the president go after Trump on these - on these trials and say, listen, you know, he should be hammered for this stuff?

FRUM: I think it's possible to hold in mind the idea that an election is - will be important for one reason from the point of view of 100 years from now, and an election will be decided for a different reason today. So, when they teach this election in the history books a century from now, the issue on the ballot will be the preservation of the American Constitution, yes or no, can a violent coup detat be permitted, yes or no?

But the election will actually be decided on the issues of prices and abortion. And that, especially down the ballot, what happens in the House of Representatives, it's - their project to surveil and police and harass American women.

[06:40:03]

That's why they're going to lose Arizona in my opinion. But that's not - so, the president doesn't have to talk about that, even though in his longer-range mind he may know that's what this election is ultimately going to be about. When we remember it, we'll remember, did the Constitution get over -- do we permit violent coup detat or did we stop it, you know?

GARCIA-NAVARRO: I think one of the questions for me though, which I think you're getting at actually, is this idea of what kind of role is Biden supposed to be playing here in this election? Is he supposed to be highlighting all the foibles that Trump is committing, that he is facing all this legal jeopardy, that he is sitting in a courtroom while he is out there campaigning.

ACOSTA: Right. Yes.

GARCIA-NAVARRO: Or - and, or, is he really supposed to just take a step back, say, I am the president. I am above this. Whatever Donald Trump is doing, let that speak for itself. And I'm going to take my message to the American people. That, I think, is the real divide here.

And I and, you know, many people do believe that really Biden needs to take a more forceful stand to highlight what - what's happening (INAUDIBLE).

SINGLETON: Yes, look, 'm not a Democrat. But if I were advising the president, that's what I would advise. I would say, look, we need to make a clear distinction between who we are, what we represent, what our stances are on a whole host of issues, compared to the alternative. And I would argue, I don't I think the president is doing that effectively. I understand probably not wanting to because I guess you don't want the appearance -

ACOSTA: I mean when - during the 2016 campaign, I mean, and ever since, any Democrat that Trump is up against he calls them crooked. He goes after them and all these things.

SINGLETON: Yes.

ACOSTA: And I'm just kind of wondering, you know, at what point does a Democrat say, wait a minute, who's the crooked one here?

SINGLETON: Well, that's - that's (INAUDIBLE) point out.

FRUM: There are a lot of people who voted - there are a lot of people who voted to re-elect President Lincoln in 1864 because the issue for them was the control of the Post Office in their town. And those-

ACOSTA: All politics is local, yes.

FRUM: Those votes count just as much as the people who voted to save the union and end slavery. ACOSTA: Yes.

FRUM: And the result of the election was, who remembers now the Post Office, but we all remember what they did, not why they did it. So, this election will be about abortion, prices and the strong performance of the American economy. Wages are up.

GARCIA-NAVARRO: So you're saying that Biden shouldn't then talk about Trump and his legal cases and he should just talk about abortion?

FRUM: He should - he should talk - his campaign - his campaign in each place should talk about what the voters in that place want to hear.

ACOSTA: Localize it.

FRUM: Care - care about, and then he should leave the verdict, the consequence, the meaning of this election to history, because the things that I care about most - I care - I mean I'm going to be voting because of the Constitution and Ukraine, all right. I think that's going to be quite anomalous set of motives. And -

SINGLETON: Yes, I would - I would agree with that.

GARCIA-NAVARRO: I would - I would think so.

SINGLETON: But I - but I -

FRUM: But - so, look, vote to protect your abortion right. Vote to thank the president because your wages went up. But the result 100 years from now will be we saved - we saved NATO, we saved the Constitution.

GARCIA-NAVARRO: But the message of Biden world - but the message of Biden is also, I'm not the other guy. And you have to show who the other guy is in order for that to be a motivating factor for voters. I mean this has been a central tenant of what Biden's been trying to do.

SINGLETON: I mean I do think you have to make that distinction. But also I do agree somewhat with David on those kitchen table issues. You have the make a compelling and a forceful argument that you have done a great job and well do an even better job to improve the daily lives of people. And I'm not sure that President Biden has really successfully accomplished that.

ACOSTA: Is it a good idea for the president to talk about the economy when, I mean, it seems like people are looking past where the stock market is, where their 401ks are right now, what the unemployment rate is, that wages are going up, and they're just - they're focused on gas prices. They're stubborn.

SINGLETON: Yes.

ACOSTA: The stubborn inflation that is just sort of hanging in there as a liability for the president.

SINGLETON: It is a huge liability and I think a part of it, we can blame some of the corporations that are making a whole lot of money. Now, this is typically a conservative position to take.

ACOSTA: Yes.

SINGLETON: But if I were the president, I would take a hammer to those corporations and I would say, your gas prices, grocery store, everyday goods are all up because these guys are price gouging and they only care about their bottom line and making more money. And if you elect me again for another four years, we're going to go after them to make it fair for the average person.

GARCIA-NAVARRO: I will -

SINGLETON: The president isn't doing that aggressively enough.

FRUM: And when the prices of groceries and gasoline go down, as they've done over the past year and a half, is that because the corporations suddenly feel -

SINGLETON: But they're still - but they're still up, though, David.

GARCIA-NAVARRO: But they're still higher. They're still higher.

SINGLETON: They're still up around 5 percent, 6 percent, though.

FRUM: But the - but if - if these - if - I don't understand why corporations are sometimes greedy and sometimes generous. Sometimes they raise prices. Sometimes they don't.

GARCIA-NAVARRO: Because corporations act in their own self-interest.

ACOSTA: One thing that -

FRUM: You mean because they act in response to market signals?

GARCIA-NAVARRO: But we -

ACOSTA: But one thing the president is going to talk about today is tax policy. And they feel like this is a salient issue inside the White House. Now, you have a lot of guys at the top who just have - because of the Trump tax cuts have not been paying, they feel, they say, have not been paying their fair share in taxes.

SINGLETON: No one - Jim, no one likes rich people. I don't have a problem with rich people as a conservative, as a capitalist. Make all the money you can. But if I were a Democrat, I know that that's a salient point for a whole host of people going after the wealthy. You're not going to get a lot of people to push back against that.

ACOSTA: Yes.

GARCIA-NAVARRO: I do wonder, though, if this is actually an issue that is going to motivate voters. And I'll tell you why. I mean we - and its referencing our previous conversation about the partisan hats that people have on, which is, you know, there was an incredible report out of Pennsylvania from one of the local papers there that they went to a Trump rally and you had union workers talking about how Trump was their guy.

[06:45:08]

And this was after -

ACOSTA: It's so - this is - this election is so visceral.

GARCIA-NAVARRO: After Biden actually, you know, stood with union workers -

ACOSTA: Yes. Yes.

GARCIA-NAVARRO: Went out with them. But there is this sense that, you know, if people want and like Donald Trump, that is who they're -

SINGLETON: Oh, I agree with that.

GARCIA-NAVARRO: Despite all the evidence, despite, you know, what we know, that that's their guy. And so I do think it's going to be hard for that to be a motivating issue.

SINGLETON: Yes.

ACOSTA: Yes.

FRUM: Trump has never won a popular vote ever. He has never been above 50 percent in any respectable poll ever. He is an unpopular candidate in -

GARCIA-NAVARRO: That's true.

FRUM: At a time of economic prosperity at the head of a party that wants to police and surveil American women, while they want to blow up -

SINGLETON: No one feels the prosperity, David.

FRUM: While they want to blow up NATO and overturn the Constitution by violence. I think that's a compelling message.

ACOSTA: And we'll hear the president talk about that.

Guys, thanks, as always. Appreciate the conversation.

Coming up, Maryland's Democratic Congressman Glenn Ivey is here to talk about aid for Israel and more.

And the lighting of the Olympic torch, that happened earlier this morning, kicking off a global journey to Paris and the countdown to the summer games. We'll show that to you in just a few moments.

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[06:50:11]

ACOSTA: Here in Washington, Iran's attack against Israel is giving House Speaker Mike Johnson a new opportunity to make a long-awaited move on foreign aid. Johnson announcing last night that he will have the House take up four separate bills this week to provide aid to Israel, Ukraine, and Taiwan. The decision comes amid intense pressure from within his conference and threats of his ouster.

Here is Johnson last night.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. MIKE JOHNSON (R-LA): There are precipitating events around the globe that we're all watching very carefully. And we know that the world is watching us to see how we react.

I think the final product will be something that everybody can take confidence in because they got to - they got to vote their district and vote their conscience.

I do expect that this will be done this week and we'll be able to leave knowing that we've done our job here.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ACOSTA: And joining me now is Democratic Congressman Glenn Ivey of Maryland. He's a member of the House Homeland Security and Judiciary Committees.

Congressman, I guess, first of all, what is your sense of this plan that the speaker has hatched to sort of pass these things separately now? Before it was all wrapped together in one big package to see if everybody could swallow it all at once. That's not going to happen anymore it looks like.

REP. GLENN IVEY (D-MD): Well, he keeps trying to do these gimmicks and they keep falling apart on him in the - you know, on the House floor. I think it just makes a lot of sense just to move all of it together since that would actually save time because you'd send back a bill to the Senate that's ready to go. And the White House has already announced that they're going to move to block if you have separate bills.

And we tried this once before and we voted down the Israel solo package. So, I'm not sure why he's doing this. You know, let's just move them all together and get it done.

ACOSTA: So, it would be your preference to bundle them back together and pass them in one big package? And if it comes out as one at a time, an individual bill on Israel, Ukraine and Taiwan, so how do you vote, if I may ask?

IVEY: Well - well, those are - those are all, you know, aid packages that I want. I would include aid to Gaza as well, humanitarian aid to Ukraine. But, you know, last time around the concern was that they would just move, they being the House Republican leadership, one bill and then stall the others, Ukraine in particular. So, rather than do that, we'd like to see all of them move together. I think the House Democrats will have to wait to make a decision. In fact, we meet this morning at nine to think it through. But - and

hope - I haven't seen actually any kind of written guidance on what the speaker has in mind either, so we'll have to sort that through this morning.

ACOSTA: And a name you've heard of before, Marjorie Taylor Greene, apparently she is still threatening to oust Mike Johnson over this aid to Ukraine. I - what is your sense of this? I mean do you take this stuff seriously? Do you think that this is just all performative? Is there a possibility that we could see the speaker tossed overboard and you guys might have to come in and bail them out or potentially move toward a speaker Hakeem Jeffries? I mean what are - what are some of the scenarios that you're running through?

IVEY: Well, it's certainly performative on Marjorie Taylor Greene's part. And whether or not he's actually going to be ousted, I think that's unlikely at this point. But the bottom line will be, you know, what do the Democrats do? And hopefully, unlike Speaker McCarthy, Speaker Johnson will reach out to Hakeem Jeffries and have conversations about what we can do to move forward jointly. And that will probably involve the bills that you just mentioned, as well as some other aspects moving forward.

ACOSTA: And, I mean, are Democrats - I did talk to one Democratic congressman last week who said, you know what, if Speaker Johnson can get us aid to Ukraine, OK, maybe we might help him out a little bit if it gets - if the going gets tough. What's your sense of it?

IVEY: Well, this has been the least productive Congress may be in history so far. So, you know, some production would be important. And these are two critical -

ACOSTA: Would you bail him out?

IVEY: I wouldn't necessarily oppose that.

ACOSTA: OK.

IVEY: I really - it really would depend on what he decides to do with respect to dealing with Hakeem Jeffries. Even Speaker McCarthy, I think, you know, we didn't make a decision to vote him out until the last minute based on some things that he'd done over that weekend. Otherwise, he could still be speaker. But I think we'll have to see what Johnson proposes and what the negotiations with Hakeem are going to be and how we move forward on the package we just discussed in particular.

ACOSTA: All right, a lot to unpack, untangle. It's going to be interesting to watch. You'll be in the middle of it. Congressman, thanks for being with us this morning. We appreciate it.

IVEY: Thanks for having me.

ACOSTA: Good to see you, sir.

All right, coming up, it is 53 minutes past the hour. Here's your morning roundup.

Pro-Palestinian demonstrations in cities across America on Monday from Seattle and Oakland to Miami and New York. More than 150 people were arrested as protesters disrupted traffic on roads and bridges. Take a look at this.

The torch now on its way to Paris for the summer games. The flame was lit this morning in southern Greece, where the Olympic games were born in 776 B.C.

[06:55:04]

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The Indiana Fever select Caitlin Clark, University of Iowa.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ACOSTA: And basketball phenom Caitlin Clark, you've heard of her, she is headed to Indiana after being picked number one in the WNBA draft. Ticket prices to watch the Fever this season more than doubled after Clark announced she was entering the draft.

Amazing stuff. Can't wait to see that.

And in the meantime, the Justice Department is setting its sights on the biggest name in concert promotion and ticketing. "The Wall Street Journal" citing people familiar with the matter reports the agency is planning to file an antitrust lawsuit against Ticketmaster's parent company Live Nation in the coming weeks. CNN has reached out to the Department of Justice and Live Nation. And as we've reported, the company has come under some intense scrutiny after the Taylor Swift concert ticket fiasco back in 2022. You may have heard of that. It left millions of fans unable to buy tickets or empty handed if they did, fueling questions from critics and lawmakers about anti- competitive practices and exorbitant ticket prices, and prompting an apology from the company's president and CFO during a Senate Judiciary hearing months later.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOE BERCHTOLD, PRESIDENT AND CFO, LIVE NATION ENTERTAINMENT: We knew bots would attack that on sale and planned accordingly. We were then hit with three times the amount of bot traffic that we'd ever experienced.

This is what led to a terrible consumer experience, which we deeply regret. We apologize to the fans. We apologize to Ms. Swift. We need to do better and we will do better.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ACOSTA: All right, joining us now, CNN's senior media analyst and senior media reporter for "Axios," Sara Fischer. Back with us, David Frum, Shermichael Singleton and Lulu Garcia-Navarro. I mean, Sara, what is your sense of this case? I mean it sounds like the Justice Department is going to go after Live Nation. And I can speak on half of myself, and I think a lot of other people who go to concerts and sporting events, people are tired of paying for these crazy fees on these tickets.

SARA FISCHER, CNN SENIOR MEDIA ANALYST: And they're getting exorbitant, right?

ACOSTA: Yes.

FISCHER: You're talking thousands of dollars.

ACOSTA: Totally.

FISCHER: So, we've had a source close to the matter also confirm to us that the DOJ is preparing a suit. What's unclear is exactly when it's going to happen, if it's next month, if it's in the next few months.

The big thing here is that Live Nation acquired Ticketmaster in 2010 and the DOJ declined to block it. So now you're looking over a decade later at these anticompetitive practices and I think the regulators are saying, should we have blocked it then? Is there something we need to revisit now? That's why they're doing an investigation.

ACOSTA: Yes. And I guess one of the morals of the story here is, don't mess with the Swifties,

FISCHER: Don't mess with the Swifties, right?

ACOSTA: Yes.

FISCHER: Like, I think one of the reasons that there's so much attention to this issue is definitely because of the Taylor Swift fiasco in 2022. You'll recall in January 2023, the issue went to Capitol Hill, where senators debated over this. They all got their 15 minutes of fame by quoting Taylor Swift lyrics. But it did prompt a lot of regulatory response. And so, to your point, Jim, the big conclusion here, if you're going to take on a massive tour, like the Era's Tour and Taylor Swift and mess it up, better watch your back.

ACOSTA: You're going to pay the consequences.

And, Lulu, I mean, this kind of reminds me of the conversation we were just having in the previous segment about what people care about, the bread-and-butter economic issues. And this is one of those things, you know, we're - we were talking about during the break, people credit card - going crazy with their credit cards in this economy and so on. I mean the fees that they put on these tickets, it's got everybody fired up right now it seems.

GARCIA-NAVARRO: It's - I mean, it's crazy.

ACOSTA: Yes.

GARCIA-NAVARRO: As a consumer, as someone who just took their daughter to a concert, her first concert, and the sticker price on that was absolutely shocking. And I do think it hits everyone because we all want to be able to enjoy live music, right? We all want to go to these concerts. We all want to have these communal experiences.

ACOSTA: Yes.

GARCIA-NAVARRO: But to go and do that at now, it's just like so hard to even get the tickets, to then pay all these fees. And I think people do rightly blame these companies for that because, frankly, it is a kind of monopoly.

ACOSTA: It feels like a monopoly. I mean I took my kids to March Madness and it was like, what, like $80 in fees per ticket. And I'm thinking to myself, what - where are these fees going? I mean, I just clicked on a button and bought a ticket.

FRUM: It's also important to understand, this is a thing that the consumer may not want to hear it. That money is being taken, the value is being taken as much from the team or the artist. And that's why this monopoly is so sinister.

Think of how this world would be different if March - college basketball could say, well, we're considering you, Live Nation, or you, Ticketmaster, one or the other, cut us the right kind of deal because if people are willing to pay $80 extra dollars, why don't we take 40 and let the consumer have 30 and you take ten. But because there's only one platform - and it's weird, in a world in which no one knows how to watch the movies because they've got 97 streaming services, the idea that these two platforms were allowed to consolidate into one and to take value from the provider, as well as the consumer, that's strange.

GARCIA-NAVARRO: It was a huge mistake in 2010.

SINGLETON: A (INAUDIBLE) one.

GARCIA-NAVARRO: It's - it was a huge mistake in 2010 that they didn't actually -

ACOSTA: Yes, when this merger happened.

GARCIA-NAVARRO: When this merger happened that they didn't actually try and stop it.

[07:00:03]

And I think actually, in this case, the Biden administration and its Justice Department has been taking a much tougher line on some of these monopolies.

FISCHER: But the question -

SINGLETON: I mean to David's point, look, competition breeds fair prices for the consumer. And I think there's a reason that DOJ is now re-looking at this and saying, wait a minute here -

ACOSTA: Taking on Talyor Swift.

SINGLETON: (INAUDIBLE) but this is not competition at all.

ACOSTA: Yes.

SINGLETON: This is price gouging at its worst.

ACOSTA: And at the end of the day, don't mess with -

FISCHER: You know, don't mess. But, like, also -

ACOSTA: Yes.

FISCHER: There's going to potentially be a new administration, right?

SINGLETON: Yes.

FISCHER: So, what is the likelihood that this investigation carries over? That's another thing to watch too.

ACOSTA: Yes. All right. Don't mess with Taylor Swift and her fans. Just don't do it. All right, thanks, guys. Thanks to our panel. Thanks very much for joining us this morning. I'm Jim Acosta.

"CNN NEWS CENTRAL" starts right now.