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Dems Struggle To Get Border Messaging Under Control; NYT: Tom Cotton Emerges As A Top Pick For Trump Running Mate; Josef Newgarden Goes Back-To-Back At The Brickyard. Aired 5:30-6a ET
Aired May 27, 2024 - 05:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
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[05:31:23]
JESSICA DEAN, CNN ANCHOR: It is 5:30 a.m. here in Washington. A live look at Capitol Hill as the sun is starting to come out -- up out there. Good morning, everyone. I'm Jessica Dean in for Kasie Hunt. It's great to be with you today.
Let's turn now to the politics of the border crisis. Democrats struggling to nail down their narrative on border security ahead of next month's presidential debate. And late last week, the Senate failed to advance a bipartisan border security bill. Republicans argued the bill and that vote, in particular, was a purely political shield for vulnerable Democrats ahead of November.
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SEN. RON JOHNSON (R-WI): We just had to witness another charade -- a political ploy -- on the part of Chuck Schumer as they're trying to obtain political cover for their open-border policies that is a catastrophe and a clear and present danger to America.
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DEAN: And while Democrats claim Republicans want to campaign on the border chaos.
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SEN. CHRIS MURPHY (D-CT): This is as clear a contrast as has ever been available to the Democratic Party on the issue of the border. Democrats support bipartisan border security. Republicans want the border to be a mess because it's good politics --
MARGARET BRENNAN, MODERATOR, "FACE THE NATION": Right.
MURPHY: -- for them. And the president and every Democrat running for office should be talking about that.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
DEAN: And joining us now is congressional reporter for Axios, Stephen Neukam. Stephen, great to have you here.
Just to give everyone the high points as to how we got here, that bill that they voted on -- they'd already voted on once or tried to get through back in February -- it was bipartisan legislation with Kyrsten Sinema, Chris Murphy, and James Lankford all negotiating it. Donald Trump, at that moment, then came down and said don't vote for this. The Democrats brought it back, and that's what brings us to where we are now.
So how was the vote last week anything but a political move if they knew they didn't have the support?
STEPHEN NEUKAM, CONGRESSIONAL REPORTER, AXIOS: Well, what you saw from both sides there -- there's a little bit of truth to both of it, right? I mean, this was an attempt from Chuck Schumer to sort of turn the tables on the border issue. Republicans are hammering Democrats across the map. It's a tough Senate map, as we know. This is their number one issue. And Chuck Schumer attempted to sort of give Democrats cover.
But if you talk to Democrats, they'll tell you that we want to solve the border crisis, so they wanted to bring that to the floor. It lost Democratic votes. It was -- it did get one Republican vote with Lisa Murkowski, so it was still bipartisan but it just didn't make it through the floor.
DEAN: Right. And you mention that it lost some Democratic votes and that's because the Democrats -- the Senate Democrats aren't united on this bill anyway.
NEUKAM: Yeah, but --
DEAN: How divided are they on this issue?
NEUKAM: It's pretty divided. I mean, look, this was a bipartisan compromise that had to do with a larger government funding fight. This was sort of the carrot for the stick and --
DEAN: Um-hum.
NEUKAM: -- previous sort of circumstances that they were dealing with in Congress.
But, Sen. Alex Padilla -- a senator pretty liberal, from California -- argued that this should not be the Democratic Party's starting point for negotiations with border security. That this is too conservative. This is too moderate. And if they were to come to the table with purely a political and partisan sort of package, it should be more progressive.
DEAN: And I want to take a look. We have some polling from Quinnipiac University on the most urgent issue facing American among registered voters. Immigration is up there. It's in the double digits but it's -- the economy not surprising at the top. Preserving democracy.
Stephen, I don't have to tell you this. We're now at Memorial Day. It's kind of the unofficial start to summer. It's also a campaign year. When you're covering the Hill, this is when things start to erk, erk, erk because --
NEUKAM: Yeah.
DEAN: -- now it's time to campaign and be gone for the summer. And no one really -- there's not a real incentive to get anything done in an election year at this point.
[05:35:04]
Do you get that sense being up there?
NEUKAM: Yeah. I mean, if you -- if we're real quiet we can hear the sound of, like, vulnerable senators running down the Capitol steps to get to a plane --
DEAN: Yeah.
NEUKAM: -- to get to Montana, to get to Ohio, to get to Arizona -- to all these places -- these battlegrounds that are super important not just for the Senate but in the presidential race. I mean, that is where things are turning. And it also sort of controls the business that is on the floor. What we saw with Chuck Schumer doing --
DEAN: Exactly. See you last week, right?
NEUKAM: Exactly. So it colors everything as we sort of race toward November.
DEAN: Yeah.
And I want to change gears just a little bit because one big thing that is on the horizon -- House Speaker Mike Johnson inviting Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister, the address a joint session of Congress. And it's -- there's been a lot of chatter around this.
What have you been hearing, and how -- what do you think the response has been like amongst members?
NEUKAM: Yeah. I mean, the big thing to remember here is that there is sort of significant political costs that could happen if Democrats were to have Benjamin Netanyahu address Congress.
They all remember 2015. He came to Congress in the Obama administration and criticized the Iran deal. It was a big deal for Democrats. They felt disrespected by that. It was sort of trying to criticize the Obama administration.
And things are way more political and difficult right now geopolitically. So what would he say if he were in front of Congress?
DEAN: Um-hum.
NEUKAM: Would he criticize Biden? Would he criticize Democrats who have been increasingly isolated by him over the last few months? So all indications are that Chuck Schumer will sign that invitation
and that they will have him in front of Congress at some point. But again, there is a significant risk that Democrats are taking to have him in Congress.
DEAN: All right, more to come on that.
Thanks again for being here early on a holiday.
NEUKAM: Of course.
DEAN: Good to see you.
We are just a day away from closing arguments in Donald Trump's criminal hush money trial and the jury could potentially reach a verdict by the end of the week. Prosecutors will try to weave together weeks of testimony and evidence they say proves Trump falsified business records to help his 2016 presidential campaign.
Regardless of the verdict, there is mixed reaction from Democrats on the impact this case will have on Trump's reelection chances.
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MANU RAJU, CNN CHIEF CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Couldn't this give him a boost if he's acquitted?
REP. JAMIE RASKIN (D-MD): You know, I don't really think so. I think Donald Trump's character is clear to the world.
REP. DEAN PHILLIPS (D-MN): I think the New York cases, if anything, may have backfired against those who thought that it would be the salvation. But I don't think the New York cases are exactly what Democrats were hoping they would be.
SEN. RICHARD BLUMENTHAL (D-CT): a Broad, centrist, middle of the American people I think understand what he did and why it is so abhorrent. I am already deeply disturbed that Donald Trump has succeeded in slow walking one or more of those cases.
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DEAN: So, of course, that's the political side of it. Let's talk about the legal side. Joining us to discuss that, CNN legal analyst, Joey Jackson. Joey, good morning to you.
We are now looking at these closing arguments set to begin tomorrow. Lay out what you are expecting to hear from both sides as they try to land the plane here.
JOEY JACKSON, CNN LEGAL ANALYST, CRIMINAL DEFENSE ATTORNEY (via Webex by Cisco): Indeed. Jessica, good morning to you.
So, prosecutors will certainly give a compelling timeline as to why the president -- former president is guilty. And here's what they'll say, and then I'll pivot to the defense. I think prosecutors will say listen, the bottom line here is that you
had a president be -- when it came to the "ACCESS HOLLYWOOD" tape, who really was having a campaign that was in a tailspin. As a result of that tailspin, you had another story that could potentially be damaging, right, as we look there at the hush money trial and what's no court and the closing arguments, et cetera. But what they'll say is on the heels of that he could not afford another scandal. As a result of that, enter Stormy Daniels and that deal. We know that he met -- that is, the president, in addition to Mr. Cohen, his fixer. They, of course, had a relationship with Mr. Pecker that they would catch and kill stories. That relationship became apparent as it related to trying to get this Stormy Daniels deal done. What deal was that? The deal to hush her up and the deal to direct his fixer, Michael Cohen, to do so.
He had full knowledge of that. And what is -- what tells you that? Because you also had the issue concerning Karen McDougal. She was a Playboy model. Therein, Mr. Trump was fully aware of that deal. There's an audiotape which would suggest he was aware of that deal.
And how likely would it be that he's aware of a catch and kill deal concerning a payoff of Karen McDougal that happened earlier but, yet, coming to Stormy Daniels, he has no idea? Nonsense, prosecutors will say. He had every idea.
And why did he try to cover it up and fix the books? Because he wanted to boost his election prospects. In doing so it was a campaign violation and as a result of that he's guilty.
And by the way, the defense tells you not to believe Michael Cohen. You know what? You don't have to. There's so much corroboration as to Michael Cohen from every other witness that you don't need to put your trust and reliance upon him. You need to put your trust and reliance upon your common sense. And all common sense will indicate that Trump knew, was aware, was engaging in this falsification -- a conspiracy and cover up. He's guilty.
[05:40:17]
The defense will stand up, Jessica, and say nonsense. The reality is that we've heard about no other crime, which is required in order to find him guilty. There was one other crime that was referenced during the trial. In order to get there that's what you need.
We know Michael Cohen is a liar. We know that he lied to Congress. We know that he lied to his associates. We know he lied to banks. We know he lied to his wife. And he's also lying to you.
He is the only one the defense will say that puts Mr. Trump directly involved in anything relating to falsification of business records. He acted on his own accord. He went rogue. He did what he did.
The president knew nothing about it. The president is not guilty.
And so, those will be the competing narratives as it relates in brief form. Of course, they will go, Jessica, three hours apiece. I'm going two minutes apiece but I think the essence of the arguments will be that you'll see the prosecution saying forget about relying upon Michael Cohen. Rely upon your common sense and good judgments in determining that the president -- former president is guilty.
And the defense, of course, highlighting Michael Cohen, saying he's a Trump hater. He has every motivation to lie about the president. He's the only direct line, which was established, to these falsifications. You can't believe him. He's not guilty.
And, of course, the defense will go first and then the prosecution will go last because they have the burden of proof.
DEAN: Right, right, right.
And so, they've had kind of this weeklong stretch almost of being outside of the courtroom with the holiday and everything. Does that give anybody a leg up -- the prosecution or the defense -- or is it pretty even there?
JACKSON: So, I think it's pretty even and here's why I'll say that.
Now, normally, in ending a trial, the ending of a trial is very important. I think it was a dud as it related to bringing in Robert Costello being the last witness that the defense really called. And the defense called him, really, to rebut Michael Cohen. How? To rebut him in saying -- that is, Robert Costello was the legal adviser to Michael Cohen and spent a lot of time with him.
And there are indications in that relationship that Michael Cohen said two things. Number one: I have nothing on Donald Trump. And number two: I acted on my own. They probably shouldn't have done that -- that is, the defense. They did and I think they suffered for it.
However, preceding that, you had a dud for the prosecutors and that was Michael Cohen being caught in what I believe to be a significant lie in that he said that he was speaking to the president about the deal. And by the way, it was a 96-second phone call. And by the way, in the lead-up to that phone call, he was talking about a 14-year-old who was harassing him and that he needed the Secret Service to help.
And so, as a result of that, the defense really caught him flat-footed -- that is, Michael Cohen -- saying wait, you called to speak to the president. You called his body man because you knew the president --
DEAN: Right.
JACKSON: -- would be with him. In the lead-up to that phone call you sent numerous texts about a 14-year-old saying nothing about Stormy Daniels. But you want the jury to believe the call was about alerting the president to Stormy Daniels?
Why do I say that in response to your question? Because there were faux paus on both sides. And as a result of that, what I think is that it's pretty even with respect to --
DEAN: Yeah. JACKSON: -- what the layoff of this week -- really, who it benefits. So that's why the closing arguments -- what we're speaking about -- are going to be so important, Jessica, because they're an opportunity to remind the jury for both sides what's relevant, what's not, what the law should say and how it should apply to this case.
And how, if you're the prosecution, he's guilty. How if you're the defense, nothing to see here. Wasting everybody's time. Go home. Not guilty.
Those will be the competing narratives tomorrow.
DEAN: All right. We shall see it all unfold.
Joey Jackson, thanks so much. Good to see you.
Just ahead, a new potential frontrunner in the scrum to be Donald Trump's running mate. Plus, the Dallas Mavericks one win from the finals. We've got the Bleacher Report ahead.
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[05:48:28]
DEAN: After Donald Trump was booed on stage at the Libertarian Party's convention over the weekend, vice presidential hopeful Tim Scott was quick to come to the former president's defense.
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SEN. TIM SCOTT (R-SC): Well, I saw a wave of red hats at the Libertarian Convention. Donald Trump's popularity continues to increase.
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DEAN: Now, a new potential candidate for Trump's running mate is emerging. The New York Times reporting Republican Sen. Tom Cotton, of Arkansas, has risen to the top of Trump's VP short list. Cotton says he's yet to hear from the Trump campaign.
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SEN. TOM COTTON (R-AR): The president and the campaign has not reached out to me. I suspect only Donald Trump knows who is really on his short list. When we do talk, we talk about what it's going to take to win this election in November. To elect President Trump to another term in the White House and elect a Republican Congress.
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DEAN: Trump is expected to make is decision, ultimately, in July.
Joining me now, Republican strategist Rina Shah. Rina, it's always great to have you here. Worth noting that Tom Cotton was one of the first Republicans in a sea
of Republicans that ran for president this year to say I'm not running for president, which I thought was interesting -- and now to see him bubble up this way.
But more generally, as we look at a potential VP for Trump, who do you think that might be, and what is the significance or insignificance of their role?
RINA SHAH, REPUBLICAN STRATEGIST: Well, Cotton is in that column of not running for president but certainly open to VP.
DEAN: Um-hum.
SHAH: And this past week, of course, Nikki Haley told us she's also certainly open to VP. So we've that column of people that, to me, are milk toast picks, and Cotton is at the top of that list. Also, with Rubio and Vance.
[05:50:04]
When you're looking at guys like Cotton and Hawley who sit in the Senate -- and Hawley, of course, isn't in this mix -- you're looking at sort of a younger white male --
DEAN: Um-hum.
SHAH: -- from an area in which Trump wants to show his strength. He's got the strength there. But he's got to make a real serious determination with this VP pick because it's so important given the debates.
DEAN: Um-hum.
SHAH: Now he's open to debating -- Trump is. So, of course, his VP pick will debate, and they will debate Kamala Harris.
And I think, again, going back to Nikki Haley, that was what made her say I'm going to vote for Trump. That was her indirect signal to Trump world to say I'm open to being your VP.
Because you know her calculation -- her major calculation -- and if you're in her brain you know this -- is she thinks she'll wipe the floor with Kamala Harris. She did so well in those debates last fall and drew all that attention from the mid-Atlantic powerhouses, whether it was money or power, and now she thinks she can do it again for Trump. And she also thinks she'll outlast Trump.
So this is what we're looking at. I don't think it will be a male. I think it will be a female because he knows he has to win women back. And if it's not a female, then what about Black men?
DEAN: Um-hum -- another demographic that they're --
SHAH: Right.
DEAN: -- targeting right now.
SHAH: And there you've got Scott and Carson, his willing co- conspirators in anything, it seems. I mean, Sen. Scott is willing to try anything. He will --
DEAN: Well, he had a very hard time saying he would even accept election results, which as someone who covered him on the Hill --
SHAH: Right.
DEAN: -- was very out of line with where he used to --
SHAH: Yeah.
DEAN: -- be -- yeah.
SHAH: It doesn't jive with who Sen. Scott is as a person. He's willing to again defend the indefensible because he sees a clear opening for him here. And that is Sen. Scott to a tee. He wants his values pushed out further. And we get it -- you want to promulgate your evangelical values, that's fine -- but that's not going to sit well with the rest of the American electorate, and Trump world knows that.
So they're going to try to figure it out. Where do they go get their most vulnerable people? It's certainly not at the Libertarian convention, by the way.
DEAN: Which was a strange place for him to show up, and we talked about that a little bit earlier in the show.
SHAH: Yeah.
DEAN: Just before I let you go --
SHAH: Sure.
DEAN: -- as we look at this hush money trial coming to its conclusion, if he is ultimately convicted, does that change the game in terms of a VP pick? Because conviction has been kind of the thing for some voters. Oh, if he's a convict, maybe I waffle. Some of these Independent voters -- not people that are with --
SHAH: Yeah.
DEAN: -- Trump no matter what.
SHAH: Well, the politics here is deep so you've got to sit with me for a second. The appearance at the Libertarian convention asking them, when he hadn't even submitted nominating paper, to nominate him tells you just how desperate he is. It tells you that he thinks a conviction embattles him so badly with the Republican Party that he's out there figuring out what other PAC he can get to the presidency.
It is so bizarre -- and I want viewers to know this -- for a presumptive nominee of one party to show up at another party's convention again tells you Trump is scared about the results in court this week.
DEAN: Interesting.
All right, Rina Shah. Great to see you. We're going to see you a little bit later as well, so stick around.
Let's turn to sports now. The Dallas Mavericks are now just one win away from the NBA Finals after a dominant win over the Minnesota Timberwolves.
Andy Scholes has this morning's Bleacher Report. Good morning, Andy.
ANDY SCHOLES, CNN SPORTS ANCHOR: Yeah, good morning, Jessica.
So all three games of the Western Conference Finals have been good ones, but the Mavs -- they've won all three thanks to Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving.
Now, Patrick Mahomes and Travis Kelce -- they were sitting courtside for this one.
Anthony Edwards was trying his best in game three to get the T-wolves a win. And check him out here flying through the air for the incredible slam in the third. Ant had 26 in this one.
But with the game close in the final minutes, Luka and Kyrie just taking over. The Mavs up two here. Luka, the turnaround fall-away jumper. It's good.
Then moments later, Kyrie, the step-back over Karl-Anthony Towns. Both Luka and Kyrie scoring 33 points. And Luka putting an exclamation point on this one with the alley-oop to Daniel Gafford.
The Mavs outscore the T-wolves 14-3 in the final five minutes. They win 116-107 and now are a win away from the finals.
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LUKA DONCIC, GUARD, DALLAS MAVERICKS: You've got to focus game by game. If we don't win next one, we've got to win next one. So we've just got to stay focused and play the same. We know they have Anthony Edwards so it's going to be a game -- a tough game -- but we've got to play the same way.
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SCHOLES: All right. After a four-hour rain delay, the Indianapolis 500 came down to a sprint on the final lap. And check that out. Josef Newgarden passing Pato O'Ward on turn three to take the victory. Newgarden becomes the first back-to-back winner of the Indy 500 since Helio Castroneves 22 years ago, and he's just the sixth to do it.
After crossing the finish line, watch what he does. The 33-year-old -- he's going to climb out of his car, go through the fence and into the stands to celebrate with some of the 125,000 fans in attendance at the greatest spectacle in racing. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOSEF NEWGARDEN, TWO-TIME INDIANAPOLIS 500 WINNTER: Unbelievable. I've got to -- I love this crowd. I've got to always go in the crowd if we win here. I'm always doing that. I'm just -- oh. Honestly, that wore me out more than the race.
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[05:55:05]
SCHOLES: Fun with the fans.
All right, brutal baseball news for the Braves yesterday. Reigning National League MVP Ronald Acuna Jr. is going to miss the rest of the season after tearing his ACL in the first inning against the Pirates. Acuna was trying to steal third when it happened, and he just went down. The Braves star -- he tore his ACL in his other knee during the 2021 season. Atlanta went on to win the World Series after that happened.
All right -- and finally, the Tarp Monster claiming another victim during a rain delay during the Reds-Dodgers game in Cincinnati. So, a member of the grounds crew trapped while they were covering the infield. And you can see her there trying to crawl her way out. She did get out of there, Jessica, and I bet she was exhausted. Got a nice hug, though, there.
I'll tell you what. That would be one of my worst fears if I was on a grounds crew because I'm quite claustrophobic --
DEAN: Oh!
SCHOLES: -- and I would not want to be under one of those tarps. They're so heavy.
DEAN: Thank God she got out.
SCHOLES: Yeah.
DEAN: Yeah, that does not look fun.
All right, yikes. Thanks, Andy.
SCHOLES: All right.
DEAN: We appreciate it.
Coming up next --
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's like a punch to the stomach, really. I mean, this is my community.
(END VIDEO CLIP) DEAN: One hundred twenty million Americans facing dangerous weather today after a weekend of deadly storms took at least 18 lives.
Plus, 12 people injured in yet another case of severe turbulence on a passenger jet.
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