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Judge Merchan Rejects Trump Motion For Mistrial; Axios: State Department Report On Israel's Conduct Expected Soon; Florida Sheriff: "No Determination Has Been Made" In Fatal Shooting Of Black Air Force Airman. Aired 5-5:30a ET

Aired May 10, 2024 - 05:00   ET

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

[05:00:37]

KASIE HUNT, CNN ANCHOR: It's Friday, May 10th.

Right now on CNN THIS MORNING:

Donald Trump's hush money trial set to resume after the last motion for a mistrial was rejected by the judge.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowing the stand alone if the U.S. decides to halt arms shipments to Israel.

And a Black U.S. Air Force airman was shot and killed by Florida deputies inside his own apartment.

(MUSIC)

HUNT: All right, 5:00 a.m. here in Washington. A look at New York City on this Friday morning.

Good morning, everyone. I'm Kasie Hunt, wonderful to have you with us. We made, it's the end of the week.

Motion denied. Donald Trump's criminal hush money trial resumes this morning after seven hours of testimony from Stormy Daniels and another motion for a mistrial from the former president and his team. Judge Merchan rejecting that motion, as well as a request by Trump to have his gag order amended.

The former president's lawyers claiming the case should be tossed out because they say Stormy Daniels keeps changing her story. She has said she has not changed her story.

The defense tried to undermine Daniel's credibility yesterday in this exchange. Quote: You've acted and had sex in over 200 porn movies, right? And there are naked men and naked women having sex, including yourself in those movies, right? But according to you, this is again, Susan Necheles, talking the Trump lawyer, seeing a man sitting on a bed in a t-shirt and boxer shorts was so upsetting that you got lightheaded?

Daniels replied with this: Yes. When you are not expecting a man twice your age, to be in their underwear.

With his gag order still in place, Trump had basically one target available after the court.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, FORMER U.S. PRESIDENT & 2024 PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: This judge is corrupt. He's a corrupt judge. This judge, what he did or what does ruling was is a disgrace. Everybody saw what happened today. He's a corrupt judge and he's totally conflicted. And I got to get back on the campaign trail.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HUNT: All right. Let's bring in Jackie Kucinich. She's Washington bureau chief for "The Boston Globe".

Jackie, good morning. Did we wake you up yet?

JACKIE KUCINICH, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: Good morning.

HUNT: Because I'm not used to discussing pornography at 5:00 in the morning, I've got to be completely honest with you.

KUCINICH: It's usually more of like, you know, afternoon thing.

HUNT: Look, as were watching this unfold yesterday, it was clear going in that Donald Trump had been pushing his legal team to go after Stormy Daniels, attack her credibility after she had suggested that perhaps there were elements of their encounter that weren't entirely essential. She is, of course, said it was, but there were -- they were, of course pressing on these details about how she came out of the bathroom. She was surprised, felt threatened, basically by the fact that Trump was on his in his attire, right? That she says she wasn't expecting.

How do you think the testimony yesterday and the way that they pressed her, it impacts the jury and also plays with a broader audience because it did seem to in some ways that are up is a more sympathetic figure than perhaps she initially was in this trial?

KUCINICH: Well, you even have the judge when he was denying the mistrial, criticizing how Trump's attorneys questioned Stormy Daniels through the course of that of their examination of her. And listen, yes, they wanted to tear down her credibility. Trump was a very frustrated. He couldn't attack her. They wouldn't amend the gag order because the judge said, really can't trust you to do that.

How it pleased with the jury? This is a reminder of how of this whole episode, and that potentially could be harmful. But listen, it's very clear to me when you see the former president there and the presence of Senator Rick Scott, their to defend him, that the jury -- the jury that he's more concerned about are the ones not in that courtroom, it's public opinion, it's voters. That's who he is focused on right now.

HUNT: Yeah. In fact, let's show a little bit of what Rick Scott had to say off the court yesterday. Watch this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. RICK SCOTT (R-FL): What he is going through is just despicable. It's a crime in this country -- you use the court system, go after your political opponents.

[05:05:01]

So, of course, these are the lines that Donald Trump wants, his allies to be delivering for him. But like, Rick Scott of all people who's running in Florida, which is yes, more red than it used to be, but has an abortion amendment on the ballot? He's going to have to spend a lot of his own money.

I mean, what? What's going on?

KUCINICH: I mean, I think lining up behind the president in a state like Florida and you're Rick Scott not necessarily be a bad thing.

HUNT: You can't go wrong.

KUCINICH: She went back him up, can't go wrong. And I think you're going to see even more of this honestly, of the president -- since the president, former president can't say certain things. He's going to have his allies do it for him. He's going to have more of those surrogates out there saying things that he can't say, potentially because of his gag order, but also just to have that echo chamber that we are so familiar with and lots of corners of politics.

HUNT: Do you think that Rick Scott being there to support him? I mean, it sort of underscored to me that like millennia is not in the courtroom, right? I mean, typically you go through a criminal trial. Your family is more aggressively present for you. That's not really happening here.

KUCINICH: No, but Melania hasn't been -- I mean, because -- perhaps because of the subject matter.

HUNT: I mean, it's going to make sense why she's not there, but still it just sort of threw into stark relief, like his best support in there right now is a senator, not a family member.

KUCINICH: Yeah. I mean, no, I mean, but I think in terms of his political allies, yeah, that might be more powerful for him at this, at this juncture, then potentially his family members. I mean, I believe Eric Trump has been -- has been there.

HUNT: He has, yeah.

KUCINICH: He has had some families support, but your point is taken.

HUNT: So today, let's set the stage. We've been hearing from -- we heard from someone inside the Trump Organization. We've been hearing from Madeleine Westerhout, who was at the White House in terms of establishing that these checks were going back and forth from the Trump organization to the White House, back into the bookkeeping aspects of the trial. What do you --

KUCINICH: What is this about?

HUNT: Right, exactly, we took a detour into satin or silk pajamas.

KUCINICH: Right.

HUNT: And now, we are re-emerging in the part, you know, that's actually going to determine whether or not the Donald Trump's convicted of a crime.

What more do we expect today and into next week?

KUCINICH: So we have Madeleine Westerhout back on the stand today. It seems that the -- they were really trying to use her to humanize the former president because she was a very -- I mean, aside from the whole signing the checks, she really was someone who was talking about what a good boss he was.

So that -- and then going but we still haven't heard from Michael Cohen. That is -- that is on the horizon as we get into the next week. I don't know that he's coming next week, but that's definitely something I think a lot of us are waiting for.

HUNT: Right.

All right. Jackie Kucinich for us -- Jackie, good morning.

KUCINICH: Good morning.

HUNT: See you soon, I hope.

All right. Coming up next, a defiant Benjamin Netanyahu calling President Biden's decision to pause arms shipments to Israel a mistake. Plus, pro-Palestinian protesters clashing with police on the campus of MIT. And tornadoes tearing through Alabama with folks in Georgia, Florida, and South Carolina bracing for more severe weather right now.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[05:12:01]

HUNT: Welcome back.

A highly anticipated report to Congress on Israel's conduct in Gaza is expected soon, according to CNN contributor and "Axios" political reporter, Barak Ravid. The report from the State Department is supposed to examine whether Israel has violated international humanitarian law. And it comes amid rising tensions between or at least some tension between the U.S. and Israel.

Earlier this week, President Biden warned Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu against launching a full-scale operation in Rafah.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I made it clear that if they go into Rafah, they haven't gotten in Rafah yet -- if they go into Rafah, I'm not supplying the weapons that have been used historically to deal with Rafah. I've made it clear to Bibi and the war cabinet, they're not going to get our support if in fact they go on these population centers.

We're not walking away from Israel's security. We're walking away Israel's ability to wage war in those areas.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HUNT: Netanyahu responded that Israel will stand alone if it must, to protect itself.

Joining now from London, CNN's Max Foster.

Max, good morning. Always wonderful to see you.

What are we expecting from this report? And how do you think it will be viewed once it does come out?

MAX FOSTER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, the question is this agreement basically, we see the U.S. and Israel about under what terms America supplies Israel with arms and a lot of it is around aid and America, obviously, very keen to make sure enough aid is getting into civilians in Gaza. That wasn't the case pretty clearly. But has gotten better, even though there are still a huge amount of problems and not enough aid is getting in.

So, you know, the -- the big worry for Israel in this report would be if they've broken that agreement or seemed to be broken that agreement. We're not to wait to see exactly when it comes out, but I think it's highly likely -- unlikely that the U.S. is going to say Israel broke this agreement because then they'd have to effectively cut off all military aid to Israel. It seems very unlikely that that would be the case.

But the same time they cant have a report that says everything's gone perfectly and were very happy with the way Israel has conducted there. So I expect there to be some really big criticisms in this report, but it won't cross the line into saying that Israel has broken this agreement.

HUNT: Yeah. It's going to be a delicate -- it's probably why we haven't seen it come out sooner, honestly, something like this so difficult to thread that needle from a political perspective.

[05:15:06]

Max, the Prime Minister Netanyahu was on with Dr. Phil, interestingly, in the last day and he was talking about some of the student protests that are unfolding on college campuses here, and were actually seeing this continued to unfold there are confrontations are having when confrontations at MIT, at George Washington University overnight.

This is what Netanyahu had to say about what some of these students are doing. Watch.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BENJAMIN NETANYAHU, ISRAELI PRIME MINISTER: What is happening on American campuses and American cities, you've got -- first of all, you have a lot of ignorant people there who -- I'm sorry to say, who've lose sense of history at best, goes back to breakfast, not even that.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HUNT: So pretty sharp criticism there is a sense of history that goes back to breakfast, not even that.

What do you make that assessment?

FOSTER: Well, you know, if you speak to anyone on these campuses -- you know, if you speak so on the middle ground, the campus, they feel that people have a right to protest and there are people who are informed, uninformed. It is a really big protest. We're going to be seeing the same this weekend here in Europe, because there's the Eurovision song contest, which is one of the biggest TV shows in Europe, and is being held in a city where there's a high -- there's a big are population of people who claim Arab heritage, there's going to be huge demonstrations there.

I mean, adds to the tension, doesn't it? The two sides become more divided if one dismisses the other side, but, you know, there are a lot of people have a huge amount of sympathy for Palestinians and they're voicing their concerns about them.

Of course, none of us would approve when it becomes violent and it disrupts everyone else's lives, but they have a right to protest just as the other side does as well, is just here in Europe, that baked up these protests in the United States. They're really big amongst that student population.

HUNT: Well, Max, I can't help but notice the dateline on this video. It's Cambridge, Massachusetts. We've seen this in Cambridge original as well. No. Hasn't Cambridge University in the U.K. been grappling with these?

FOSTER: Yeah, there are some encampments at Cambridge and Oxford and other universities, and Trinity as well in Dublin, which is the big, prestigious university there.

They're not on the scale as they are in the but I think that's balanced by the fact that there have been big protests, going into capitals every weekend, pretty much here in Europe. And many of those people are or students or young people. So I just think it's a different way of expressing the same thing.

HUNT: All right. Max Foster for us on this Friday -- Max, thank you so much. Have a wonderful weekend.

FOSTER: Thanks, Kasie. And to you. HUNT: All right. Coming up next, eyes to the sky this weekend. You might be able to see the northern lights much farther away from the north, then otherwise might be the case.

Plus, Donald Trump's reaction to the judges ruling on his request for a mistrial in the hush money case.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[05:22:23]

HUNT: All right. Twenty-one minutes past the hour.

Here's your morning roundup.

A 23-year-old Black Air Force member killed inside his own home by a Florida counties the deputy. Police on Thursday releasing body camera footage from the shooting of Senior Airman Roger Fortson and disputing the families claim the deputies were at the wrong apartment. An investigation is ongoing.

Nine MIT students and employees arrested after clashing with police. The clashes create a protest against this mention of students who refused to take down a pro-Palestinian encampment.

And last night, protesters returned to George Washington University in pitch tents on campus a day after police had cleared the encampment. They were quickly disperse.

A powerful geomagnetic storm could trigger a spectacular view of the northern lights across the United States as far south as Alabama in the east and California in the west. Prime viewing time, 11:00 Eastern tonight through Saturday.

All right. Time now for weather. Severe storms lingering in the Southeast this morning. The tornado threat is lower today, but not gone completely.

Here to walk us through it, our meteorologist Derek Van Dam.

Derek, good morning.

DEREK VAN DAM, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Yes. So busy.

We've had 15 straight days of tornadoes across the U.S. Talk about severe weather fatigue, and were not done just yet. I've got to be patient one more day and then we'll start to quiet the atmosphere down.

Here's a look at our greatest risks. Anywhere across southern Georgia into the northern portions of Florida, extending into the Carolinas, damaging winds, large hail for tornado reports within the past 24 hours.

So, yes. The street continues and, boy, has it been active. Check this out 342 tornado reports since April 25th. You do the math, 15 days. Just incredible.

So right now we do have a severe thunderstorm watch that is valid until 5:00 a.m. across portions of Alabama, little further east until 11:00 a.m. Eastern Standard Time.

And by the way, there are a few embedded radar indicated tornado warnings at the moment, just south and east of Dothan, Alabama, and into the panhandle of Florida. Weak circulations, but nonetheless, the potential there still exist.

It's a wet start to your Friday and the weekend across the northeast, including New York and Boston.

And then what everybody has been waiting for the big buzz on social media, check this out, the chance of the northern lights, also known as the aurora borealis. It could be a visible as far south as northern Alabama, but the best likelihood of course, will be above and north of this white lines. So we're talking about the Midwest, Northern Plains and into northern New England.

[05:25:01]

Hey, this could be quite the spectacle. Get out there. G4 geomagnetic storm watch in place here across North America -- Kasie.

HUNT: Absolutely amazing if you get a chance to see it.

VAN DAM: Yeah.

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

VAN DAM: All right.

HUNT: Coming up here, Stormy Daniels wrapping up her testimony, how much damage was done?

And President Biden on the West Coast raising cash for his campaign.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HUNT: All right. Just before five-thirty here in Washington.