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CNN This Morning
Soon: Hearing To Determine Whether Trump Violated Gag Order; House GOP Inserts TikTok Ban Into Foreign Aid Package; Freeze Warnings For I-95 Corridor In The East. Aired 5-5:30a ET
Aired April 23, 2024 - 05:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[05:00:38]
KASIE HUNT, CNN ANCHOR: It's Tuesday, April 23rd.
Right now on CNN THIS MORNING:
A hearing to determine whether Donald Trump violated his gag order in his hush money trial set to begin in just hours.
The Senate preparing to take up a foreign aid bill that could save Ukraine and potentially sink TikTok.
And tensions rising on college campuses as pro-Palestinian protests erupt across the country.
(MUSIC)
HUNT: All right. Five a.m. here in Washington.
A live look at New York City on this Tuesday morning, the site of all today's political news.
Good morning, everyone. I'm Kasie Hunt. It's wonderful to have you with us.
In just a few hours, the judge in Donald Trump's hush money trial will hear arguments to determine whether the former president violated his gag order in the case. Prosecutors argue that Trump has failed to comply with it at least ten times and just hours before the hearing, Trump, once again tested the limits of the order, attacking witness Michael Cohen outside of court.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP, FORMER U.S. PRESIDENT & 2024 PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: The things he got in trouble for were things that had nothing to do with me. He got in trouble, he went to jail. This had nothing to do with me.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HUNT: Under the order, Trump is forbidden to talk about any witnesses or members of the jury. Violations could lead to reprimands, fines, or even jail time.
This comes as prosecutors call their first witness, David Pecker, Trump's longtime friend and the former tabloid publisher testified under oath Monday. The prosecutor teed them up as a key player in Trump's catch and kill scheme to control the narrative during the 2016 election. He's expected to be back on the stand before lunch today.
With me now politics reporter for "Semafor", Shelby Talcott.
Shelby, good morning. Good to see you.
SHELBY TALCOTT, POLITICS REPORTER, SEFAMOR: Good morning.
HUNT: In court yesterday, David Pecker did acknowledge checkbook journalism, so to speak. They also, of course, read the words that Trump had when he infamously was caught on tape during the -- it was an "Access Hollywood" tape, of course, a seminal moment in the 2016 election that prosecutors fought to have included in the testimony yesterday.
What did we learn as Pecker took the stand and what do we expect from him today?
TALCOTT: Yeah. I think were going to expect -- we can expect to see more details about this catch and -- this scheme that they essentially thought up, which involved Pecker killing stories or allegedly killing stories, and telling Donald Trump about negative stories that were going to come out about him, while also publishing favorable stories about the student to be president.
And what I think is really interesting about this is this is clearly a key part of the prosecution's argument against Donald Trump. And so I'm curious to see how the defense ends up trying to discredit this -- this sort of key player, right? Because they've not denied that all of this has -- I think the big thing that is that they have not denied that this has occurred. They've not -- they have not denied all of this. So, I think it's going to be really interesting to see what the defense comes out.
HUNT: Let's talk about the gag order for a second because there's a lot underneath this, a lot going on here. Clearly, we have focused a lot on the way the former president has talked about the judge, and the judge's family, in particular, his daughter. They had to expand kind of the original version, to kind of cover some of that, but, of course, Trump has tried to turn this into a political issue, right? Because he's saying, look, I'm running for president, you're not letting me talk. That's major problem.
How do you see this hearing playing out today?
TALCOTT: Well, it's going be interesting to see what exactly the judge determines, right? Prosecutors are asking for, you know, Donald Trump to be fined $1,000 per gag order. I think this is interesting because remember Donald Trump always does what he wants.
[05:05:02] And it's very -- it's been very different -- difficult historically for him to not speak about witnesses and not speak about all of these things. So --
HUNT: Even when this political people are telling him this is really a bad idea. Don't do it, don't do it, he does it anyway.
TALCOTT: And to be clear, it would be much easier for Trump's lawyers if you just didn't say anything. But that's not how Donald Trump operates. So what I'm looking for going forward is after this gag hearing order, does Donald Trump continue to make comments and sort of push the boundaries as to what he may be allowed to say or not be allowed to say.
And I have a feeling that he's going to continue to push the boundaries and that this is going to be consistent problem throughout this trial.
HUNT: We did see some change in behavior when -- I mean, the other kind of example we have here was the civil fraud trial where the judge did start throwing punishments at him. He started finding him for what he was doing.
This being a criminal trial, the stakes are higher and the potential punishments are potentially different, although I'm not sure that there's any expectation that Trump will be thrown in jail over this. I mean, do you think giving him consequences potentially affects this?
TALCOTT: Potentially, but I guess it depends on what the consequences are, right? Because if the consequences are a few thousand dollars and the stern warning, does Donald Trump then think, okay, I can continue to get away with this. On the other hand, right, as you said, there's not really the expectation there is the possibility that he could be jailed for this. Is that likely going to happen?
When I talk to legal experts, they say no. So, yeah, we -- we don't really know and how Donald Trump takes these. Is he going to take this as sort of more of an art, more bolster for his argument that this is all politically motivated? I think that's probably likely.
And so does this stop him from continuing on? We'll see.
HUNT: And, of course, there are all of the -- we heard what he had to say there are about Michael Cohen, questions around that as we are going to start to I'm sure battle again about the credibility of Michael Cohen in this case. Shelby Talcott, Semafor, thank you for being here. I really appreciate it.
All right. Coming up next here, the Senate preparing to vote on that foreign aid bill that could also trigger an effective ban on TikTok.
Plus, pro-Palestinian protests erupting on college campuses across the country.
And the city of Baltimore suing the owner of the cargo ship that took -- that crashed into the Key Bridge. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[05:12:08]
HUNT: Welcome back.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy meeting with a bipartisan delegation of U.S. lawmakers last night in Kyiv, ahead of a crucial Senate vote on foreign aid, the visit comes after the House passed a $95 foreign aid package over the weekend. It had support for Ukraine, Israel, and Taiwan.
The Senate should start debate on the bill today. A final vote expected on Wednesday. That vote could also determine the fate of TikTok in the U.S. after House Republicans put in a ban on TikTok into this foreign aid package. Senators could try to strip the TikTok legislation out, but it is considered unlikely at this point.
CNN's Clare Sebastian joins us live from London and Marc Stewart is with us in Beijing.
Clare, let me start with you on Zelenskyy and his meeting with this congressional delegation. What has he been saying about look the money is out the door now, but there was a significant delay and it absolutely affected how they were able to conduct this war?
CLARE SEBASTIAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yeah, I think there's a sort of a fine line in a sense for President Zelenskyy, Kasie, because on the one hand, he has been showing this fulsome gratitude and praise for us leadership in the war, but also using this as really a call to action to urge greatest speed, really every moment matters for Ukraine right now. But I think the optics of this visit by this bipartisan congressional delegation were important showing to Ukraine, but also crucially, I think to Russia as well that there is this long term bipartisan support for Ukraine still in the U.S. We see clear signs on the battlefield recently Russia has been betting against that.
And, you know, I think a moment that really exemplifies those upticks was this very, very symbolic gift given to President Zelenskyy by a Republican -- Democratic Congressman, rather, Bill Keating from Massachusetts.
Take a look.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. BILL KEATING (D-MA): This is the official tally of the vote.
VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY, UKRAINIAN PRESIDENT: Yes, I see.
KEATING: For the supplemental aid.
ZELENSKYY: Yes.
KEATING: Look at that vote, 73 percent.
ZELENSKYY: Yes. Thank you so much.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SEBASTIAN: So it's a big moment, obviously, that bill passing, but this is also a very vulnerable moment for Ukraine. Overnight, the air force having to shoot down some 15 attack drones. There are parts of the frontline that they're struggling to hold. We see the second city of Kharkiv under the relentless bombardment this morning, picking up the pieces after its TV tower was toppled in a Russian missile attack on Monday, Kasie.
HUNT: Yeah. Really interesting moment there that's sort of underscores the degree of support here in the U.S., but also reminds us that the political system here is such that the will of that 73 percent is not necessarily what actually plays out.
Marc Stewart, let me ask you about the TikTok question here, because they did put in this effective ban that basically would force ByteDance to sell TikTok if they want to keep operating here in the U.S.
[05:15:04]
I'm curious what the view is from where you sit in China, how do they view this? And I guess how antagonistic do they think this is?
MARC STEWART, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, I was talking to one of my sources who is very well-versed in tech and the politics with China. And as he told me, this is really a moment of truth, for Beijing and if you look at the current discussion that we have heard from Beijing, this is not something that the Chinese government is keen on, this idea of having to take orders from U.S. lawmakers to sell off this component of this larger accompany otherwise known as ByteDance.
So we will likely see resistance if this goes forward for it as expected, legal challenges are almost a foregone conclusion. And this is such a complicated sale. This is not like going to the store and buy a gallon of milk or a candy bar.
If we look at TikTok, its value, among other things, is its algorithm. This electronic digital tool to know exactly what we want to see and its something that TikTok may not want to part with. So that is why this is so complicated and it's one of many reasons why we are going to hear a lot of resistance from Beijing. In addition, Kasie, to what we've already heard over the last few weeks and months.
HUNT: Yeah, really interesting.
All right. Clare Sebastian, Marc Stewart, up for us this morning, thanks to both of you.
All right. Coming up next here, in just a few hours, prosecutors will argue that Donald Trump has repeatedly violated the gag order imposed in his criminal hush money case.
Plus, the city of Baltimore suing the owner and operator of the cargo ship that rams the key bridge last -- last month?
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[05:21:24]
HUNT: All right. Twenty minutes past the hour. Here's your morning roundup.
Columbia University shifting to hybrid classes until the end of the semester. It comes as tense path pro-Palestinian protests have prompted safety concerns for students. And at NYU, several students and faculty members were arrested Monday night at a campus protests there.
Ten crew members were killed after two Malaysian navy helicopters collided in mid air during a military parade rehearsal. Local media says those choppers were flying in formation when one clipped another's rotor.
A mistrial declared in the case of an Arizona rancher who shot and killed an unarmed migrant on his property. The jury, unable to reach a verdict. It's going to be up to the Santa Cruz County attorney to decide if George Allen Kelly will face a new trial.
The city of Baltimore is suing the owner and manager of the cargo ship that crashed into the key bridge. They accused the company of negligence for hiring a, quote, incompetent crew that lacked proper skill and training.
All right. Time now for weather. A freeze warning for parts of the east along the I-95 corridor that includes us here in D.C., Philadelphia and Boston. And we can see some severe storms in the heart of Tornado Valley running from Oklahoma to Texas later on in the week.
Our weatherman Van Dam is tracking all of it for us.
Derek, good morning to you. What are you seeing?
DEREK VAN DAM, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Good morning, Kasie. And I was talking to our wonderful producer off air during the commercial break and he said, hey, how's your Tuesday go? And I said, it's pretty chill. And he said literate literally or figuratively? And I said, oh, I see what you're doing there. That's my topic today.
(CROSSTALK)
VAN DAM: I'm picking up what you thrown down. Good one.
Look, this is why we have 40 million people that are under this freeze alert or frost alerts, frost advisory, I should say, and it encompasses large populations, but anywhere from the Hudson Valley southward into portions of New Jersey, south eastern section of Pennsylvania, you can see the freeze warnings. That means that locations there have either flirted with that freezing
marker dropped below it. So, of course, that's for sensitive plants very, very difficult conditions, but most locations above freezing, that's why we have the frost advisory. You don't necessarily need freezing weather to have frost on your plants.
But look at these temperatures and they're going to get back better from here. And I say that with all confidence because where we're located, 75 in Atlanta, that to me for weatherman or a meteorologists, that as a picture perfect Tuesday in my opinion, partly cloudy skies for much of the east coast. This is high pressure giving us the clear skies.
So a lot of radiation cooling at night, that's why we have the cool temperatures. Rain and storms across portions of the Great Lakes. My home state, Grand Rapids, Michigan, getting some rain right now, maybe hail and damaging winds with some of the thunderstorms that pass through.
But let me focus your attention a little further south where the storm prediction center just updated this location between Wichita Falls, Abilene and east of Lubbock. That's an area where we have a slight risk of severe storms, all thanks to the cold front clipping that particular location.
And then we focus our attention towards Thursday and Friday. This is tornado alley, not tornado valley. And that's located across the nation's heartland.
Heads-up, Oklahoma City, Wichita Falls, damaging winds and tornadoes possible for the second half of this week, Kasie.
HUNT: All right. Weatherman Van Dam, Derek, thank you.
Thank you very much. I'll see you next hour.
All right. Up next here, a hearing and just hours to determine whether Donald Trump violated the judge's gag order in his hush money case.
Plus, college students have free to attend classes as campus protests spread across the country.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[05:29:45]
HUNT: All right. A live look at New Orleans, Louisiana, on this Tuesday morning because why not?
Good morning to you. Thanks for being with us. I'm Kasie Hunt.
In just a few hours, a hearing to determine whether Donald Trump violated his gag order is going to kick off Trump's day in court. Prosecutors claim that he violated the order at least ten times on social media and in articles posted on his campaign website. The gag order is supposed to stop Trump from talking about.
