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Trump Returns to Court after Saying Biden Running 'Gestapo' Administration; Vote to Oust House Speaker Johnson Expected This Week; Multiple Tornadoes Expected Across OK, KS. Aired 6-6:30a ET

Aired May 06, 2024 - 06:00   ET

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

KASIE HUNT, CNN ANCHOR: It's Monday, May 6. Right now on CNN THIS MORNING, the White House and the Biden campaign both responding forcefully after Donald Trump compares the Biden administration to Nazi Germany's Gestapo.

[06:00:40]

Let the auditions begin. Republican hopefuls gather to make their case to become Donald Trump's V.P. pick.

And thousands displaced and a young boy killed as Texas struggles to recover from the devastating flooding.

All right, 6 a.m. here in Washington. A live look at the White House on this Monday morning. Good morning, everyone. Happy Monday. I'm Kasie Hunt. It's wonderful to have you with us.

Scandalous affairs, secret payments, accusations of Gestapo tactics, and we still have six months to go before America's 47th president is elected. Welcome to the new normal?

Donald Trump, of course, returns to court this morning for week four of his criminal hush money trial. Week three ended with gripping testimony from former Trump aide Hope Hicks. She offered potentially damaging details about the hush money payments that were made by Trump to adult film star Stormy Daniels.

Trump refrained from commenting on his former employee's testimony.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: What was it like seeing Hope Hicks again?

DONALD TRUMP (R), FORMER U.S. PRESIDENT, 2024 PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: So I'm not allowed to comment on any of that. As you know, I'm under a gag order, which is very unprecedented.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HUNT: Look at him being respectful of that.

The former president then held a fundraiser at Mar-a-Lago over the weekend. He told Republican donors that President Biden is running a, quote, "Gestapo administration," end quote, while falsely claiming that the White House is behind all of his criminal prosecutions.

This is, of course, not the first time that Trump has used Nazi rhetoric in the campaign. And the Biden team wasted little time in responding. They said, quote, "Trump is once again making despicable and insulting comments about the Holocaust while in the same breath attacking law enforcement, celebrating political violence, and threatening our democracy."

All right. Our panel's here: former federal prosecutor Elliot Williams; Michigan Congresswoman Debbie Dingell; and Matt Gorman, who is former senior adviser to Tim Scotts presidential campaign. Welcome all. Thank you for being here.

Congresswoman, let me start with you on these comments from Trump, where he called -- he said that the Biden administration was using Gestapo tactics. We were just talking about how high emotions are running in other areas of our country.

But this kind of language, it's not the first time Donald Trump has used it. What -- what are the ramifications of Trump talking like this?

REP. DEBBIE DINGELL (D-MI): Well, this is how Donald Trump talks about many things, and I think it's just contributing to a whole culture right now of the kind of way we're treating each other. A culture of hate, a culture of pettiness against each other.

And I'm very concerned about what is happening out in our communities and people being pitted against each other. And I do believe that former President Trump fans the flames of it.

HUNT: Elliot Williams, when you use a phrase like "Gestapo tactics," let's just be clear about, like, what we're really talking about.

ELLIOT WILLIAMS, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: Yes. Well, what's really interesting is that across America, look, go through these newspapers that are sitting here right now. Antisemitism is on the rise in the country. There are documented acts of violence, and if not -- if not actual physical violence, harm against Jews.

When you use terms like "Gestapo tactics," even casually, calling back to the Holocaust, you -- I think No. 1, will probably bring back very painful memories for many people and their families, but also to using the kind of rhetoric that the Congresswoman talked about here, that really has very little place even as metaphor in a civil society.

It's just -- it's just -- there's just no place for it. But again, we're -- yesterday on the Internet on Twitter, I think "idiot" and "liar" were trending terms, right? And I just think it's indicative of the point that she was making, which is that words -- words matter; and one ought not use terms like "Gestapo," full stop.

HUNT: Yes. Matt Gorman, as the Republican at the table, I mean, how -- do you see danger in what Donald Trump is doing here?

MATT GORMAN, REPUBLICAN STRATEGIST: I mean, I think, stepping back for a minute, I think it was interesting. We've talked about this quite a bit. I think, in many respects, in the back of your mind, you've got to remember that there is a money deficit among his campaign and the Democrats.

So I think some of this word use is somewhat intentional, whether it's for small-dollar donors or like you saw in the room, to try and think --

[06:05:01]

HUNT: Wait, when you think like normal, like when you say small-dollar donors, we're talking about people you send emails to?

GORMAN: Exactly.

HUNT: Do you think that they're going to go for talking about the Gestapo and that?

GORMAN: I think -- I think you have to remember that what animates these folks is kind of that pat -- that sort of language like that very "us against them" language. And whether they're high-dollar donors in the room or low-dollar donors, there's -- there is a -- somewhat of, in his mind, a purpose behind this sort of thing.

And I think it's important to keep in mind. You can't discount the fact that the Republicans, they have a money gap to make up. And I wouldn't be surprised if that some of the reason why.

HUNT: So Matt, I have to play for you what your former boss, Tim Scott, had to say. Kristen Welker interviewed him on "Meet the Press" over the weekend. Watch this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KRISTEN WELKER, HOST, "MEET THE PRESS": Senator, will you commit to accepting the election results of 2024? Bottom line?

SEN. TIM SCOTT (R-SC): At the end of the day, the 47th president of the United States will be President Donald Trump. And I'm excited to get back to low inflation, low unemployment.

WELKER: Wait, wait, Senator, yes or no? Yes or no will you accept the election results of 2024, no matter who wins?

SCOTT: That is my statement.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HUNT: So could not answer yes or no question. And I raise this in the context of what we were just talking about, because the president [SIC] himself has raised the specter of political violence -- the former president -- of political violence, if he doesn't win and says that the election is unfair.

What is Tim Scott doing there? And do you see any danger in that? GORMAN: I think a couple of things. I think what you're seeing,

whether it's Tim Scott, it's stepping back, what you're seeing kind of along the Sunday shows now is in real time, folks, whether its Doug Burgum, Tim Scott, or others, really play out in live time, you know, some sort of an audition to, I think, be the V.P. And you're able to kind of compare the answers in real time. It's kind of unprecedented.

And look, I will also say --

HUNT: He's giving the answer that he thinks Donald Trump -- he thinks Donald Trump wants to hear, that he won't accept the results of the 2024 election.

GORMAN: Look, I don't know about that, but what I think is what was surprising to me, kind of being on the road for the last year with him, was in many respects, that is where the party is at. That is -- and where many of the kind of -- the grassroots Republicans are at, in large part.

And so, you know, I'm not surprised. I don't, in any way, think that it's calling for political violence. But I also think in fairness, though, too, he's not going to -- he's going to -- he was going to stick to what he wanted to say and wasn't going to be, you know, swayed either went by Kristen.

WILLIAMS: Yes, but that might be where certain primary voters are, but that is a staggering display of cowardice from the sitting senator, that he can't say, I will support the next president of the United States. Or, well -- will accept the -- pardon me, will accept the results of the next election.

It's just remarkable that -- maybe we can analogize this to the disk -- discourse point we were making earlier, that we've sunk so low as a nation that we can't have a major party and folks who might be the next vice president, look at a camera and say, I will result the lag [SIC] -- I will accept the results of a free and fair election.

DINGELL: Here's reality, my friends. The strength of our democracy is that you believe. You have confidence that the elections are held fair and squarely, and you believe in the outcome.

We are now moving closer to what we see in other governments, where democracies have toppled, where you have dictators, when people say I won't, if it's -- if I win. If I don't win, we're going to overthrow the government.

I mean, it's not -- I'm not saying that Tim Scott's saying that, but he won't even say that he'll accept the results of the election.

January 6 was a precursor to what we really could be seeing in this next election. And it should scare all of us. People need to have confidence in their democracy, in their electoral process. And that what comes out on election day will be honest and will be accepted by all the people.

WILLIAMS: Now the only other point I'd make is that it's not just the good behavior of the victor that is important to a sound democracy. It's the losing party's respect of the system. That is actually the first act of a new administration or whatever else it might be.

And the fact that there's this drumbeat from these folks who are auditioning to be vice president, not willing to say if we lose, we will accept the fact that we lost, it's very troubling to me. But --

HUNT: And it's also -- leadership matters in terms of what people believe, right? What the rank and file of any political party on either side. Leadership really, really matters.

So what we're seeing or not seeing from these people is incredibly important.

All right. Our panel stays. Coming up next, the speaker of the House, bracing for a challenge to his speakership.

Plus, we're keeping a close eye on the forecast after deadly flooding in Texas forced thousands of people from their homes.

And dozens killed by devastating flooding in Brazil. This is one of five things you have to see this morning. We'll have that coming up next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HUNT: All right. Tell me if you've heard this one before. House lawmakers expected to vote this week to oust the House speaker. In this case, it's Mike Johnson.

Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene leading the effort, but it is very unlikely Johnson will lose his job as House Democrats have already announced they plan to kill the effort.

Several Republicans have also pushed back against Greene's plan, but she says she is forging ahead.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. MARJORIE TAYLOR GREENE (R-GA): And what you guys need to know is I really don't give a rat's (EXPLETIVE DELETED} what anybody up here says about what I'm doing. I care completely about the people of this country, and I cannot wait to put the uni-party (ph) on record next week.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[06:15:03]

HUNT: OK. Panel is back.

Congresswoman Dingell, it seems like she's going to go ahead. Are you going to vote to save Johnson?

DINGELL: I'm going to follow my leader, Hakeem Jeffries. He's indicated what we will probably do. I -- you know, look, I can approach this two ways.

I could enjoy the fact that the Republicans, once again, show how disorganized they are, that they would rather do this kind of ridiculousness and, you know, bills like the Laundry Liberty Act instead of getting an FAA bill and an agricultural bill passed.

But I really think the country wants us in Congress to get some work done. I will work with most Republicans, any Republican to get some bipartisan legislation done that this country needs. And Marjorie is just making a farce of the House of Representatives again.

HUNT: So here's what Hakeem Jeffries had to say about why he's leading Democrats to do this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. HAKEEM JEFFRIES (D-NY): And our view would traditionally be let the other side work its own mess out. But when that mess starts to impact the ability to do the job on behalf of the American people.

And the responsible thing at that moment might be for us to make clear that we will not allow the extremists to throw the Congress and the country into chaos.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HUNT: So Matt Gorman, does he get credit for that?

GORMAN: Not particularly, but no.

HUNT: Why not?

GORMAN: No, OK, OK. Look, I think the real danger for -- for Mike Johnson is in November. It's not now. You know, I don't think any particular Republican really wants the job right now at -- at this point.

But I think come November, that is when you could see, when we're all going to be choosing a new Senate leader. We'll probably -- you know, there'll be, I would assume -- I wouldn't be surprised if there's someone challenging Johnson, regardless of what the outcome is in the House. I think that is where the danger is for Johnson, not right now at this moment.

HUNT: Who do you think challenges him?

GORMAN: I think that depends. I think it depends, A, how we do in the presidential election, whether the Republicans keep the House or not. I mean, certainly, I thought it was notable. You had Johnson, Emmer, Scalise, the leadership team at the top three, although in the same way in the Ukraine and Israel bill, Eliase Stefanik voted the other way. I thought it was very notable.

HUNT: Aha. Interesting. Elliot, I mean, in terms of Hakeem -- what Hakeem Jeffries is doing here is really interesting. It does seem to say something about the trust that there may be between Jeffries and Johnson that didn't exist with McCarthy?

WILLIAMS: I think so. And I think it's a recognition, like in the movie "Independence Day," we have to -- like Randy Quaid flying into the spaceship at the end.

Sometimes you've just got to take one for the team and maybe crash into that space. And that's kind of what they're doing here. I don't know, for folks that don't get the analogy.

But I -- you know, it's --

HUNT: You know, that movie is older than I really --

(CROSSTALK)

WILLIAMS: It's really great. Randy Quaid sacrifices himself for the good of humanity. And I wonder if that's what Mike Johnson is doing.

You know, it's really just like if we were England, there would have been just a different party that would have come together from the center or whatever else and banded together and taken Congress over.

America can't do that. So when we have a very divided Congress like this, we're just going to end up in this situation where the majority party is constantly fighting amongst itself. And it's almost very tragic that this is where we have been all throughout 2024.

HUNT: Well, that's the argument, Congresswoman, where people will say -- and correct me if I'm wrong, but I feel like I've heard you say some version of this -- that it is actually necessary for us to have two healthy political parties that are functioning properly for our democracy to work.

DINGELL: I do believe that, and I do believe that we all need to be working together. I am very worried about how divided we are every place, every community in every different way.

And I think that up -- believe me, I think that people are trying to cost these kind of divisions. I think the Republicans need to get the rules changed. I've always worked across the aisle. I've always worked with my colleagues in the Republican side to do things that are right for this country. And I remind people on a regular basis, united, we stand; divided, we fall.

HUNT: All right. Congressman Dingell, thank you so much for spending some time with us this morning. Always really appreciate your voice.

OK. Ahead here, so many hopefuls, only one spot as Donald Trump remains mum on his running mate.

Plus, more than two dozen protesters arrested after clashing with police at the University of Virginia. This is one of the five things you have to see this morning.

And a little later, I'll be joined by Democratic senator and Biden campaign co-chair, the Senator Chris Coons. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[00:23:37]

HUNT: All right, 23 minutes past the hour, five things you have to see this morning.

At least 78 people have been killed by a series of catastrophic floods in Southern Brazil. More than 100 others are missing, with search-and- rescue efforts ongoing this morning.

At least 25 people arrested for trespassing at the University of Virginia as police cleared a protest encampment. The university administration saying they don't yet know how many of those were students.

In Pennsylvania, an attempted shooting captured on a live stream. A pastor's Sunday sermon interrupted as a man approaches and aims of guns squarely at him.

Fortunately, the gun jammed, and church attendees were able to tackle the gunman before anyone was hurt.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

(MUSIC)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HUNT: Madonna wrapping up her Celebration World Tour on Brazil's famed Copacabana Beach. One point six million people attended the free concert, some waiting for days to secure a good spot.

Hundreds of residents and pets in Southeast Texas rescued after fast- moving floodwaters swept away cars and submerged homes. Take a look at neighbors working with first responders to rescue a man who was left clinging to a tree as water levels rose. Wow.

All right. And now to the big weather news today: possible tornadoes expected across Oklahoma and Kansas. Our meteorologist, Derek van Dam, tracking all of it for us.

Derek, good morning. What are you seeing?

DEREK VAN DAM, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Yes. Kasie today is not a day to mince words. If you're located anywhere within this highlighted area, I want you to know exactly where your shelter is. I want you to consider an underground shelter and have a helmet available, should that come to that moment.

[06:25:14]

This is a serious situation that's developing this afternoon. We will likely see this moderate risk go to potentially a higher risk today with some explicit wording from the Storm Prediction Center indicating that multiple long track and intense tornadoes could develop with giant-sized hail and 80-mile-per-hour winds or stronger possible with this line of storms that will form this afternoon and evening.

And no, this is not necessarily confined just to the daytime hours. The potential for nocturnal tornadoes, which we understand to be extremely dangerous.

We could see these tornadoes still continue on past sunset this evening, roughly 8 p.m. So this is the hatched area that you see from the Storm Prediction Center, honing in on Southern Kansas to central Oklahoma.

That's where we have our greatest risks of EF-2 tornadoes. That is 111-mile-per-hour winds associated with an EF-2 minimum. And then giant-sized hail when we're talking about this language.

I haven't seen this in several years from the Storm Prediction Center. They explicitly, explicitly using wording today to help elevate and ramp-up this particular situation that is unfolding across the plains today.

So heads up. Keep an eye out of the sky -- Kasie.

HUNT: All right. Indeed. Derek van Dam for us. Derek, thank you very much.

Coming up next, Donald Trump using Nazi rhetoric to attack the Biden administration.

Plus, the V.P. candidate who Trump says -- candidates who are begging him to be his running mate.

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[06:30:00]