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Soon: Day 2 Of Jury Deliberation In Hush Money Trial; North Korea Drops Balloons Of Feces, Trash On South Korea; 30 Million People Face Severe Storm Threat In Central U.S., Texas. Aired 5-5:30a ET

Aired May 30, 2024 - 05:00   ET

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

[05:00:40]

KASIE HUNT, CNN ANCHOR: It's Thursday, May 30th.

Right now on CNN THIS MORNING:

Day two of deliberations about to begin in Donald Trump's hush money trial after jurors sent two requests to the judge.

Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito, blaming his wife for flying an upside-down on flag, now refusing to recuse himself from January 6 cases.

And dirty tactics. North Korea launching balloons filled with feces and trash and dropping them on South Korea.

(MUSIC)

HUNT: Five a.m. here in Washington, a live look at -- I guess that's New York City. There it is, a little -- little cloudy there this morning, as those jurors start to wake up, had into their second day of deliberations.

Good morning, everyone. I'm Kasie Hunt. It's wonderful to have you with us.

The jury in the Trump hush money trial back to work this morning after meeting for more than four-and-a-half hours yesterday. The jurors are requesting four pieces of testimony that they want to review. They want Michael Cohen and "National Enquirer" chief David Pecker's descriptions of an August 2015 Trump Tower meeting.

Pecker's phone call with Trump in June 2016 about former Playboy playmate Karen McDougal and Pecker's testimony about not finalizing Trump's payment to the "National Enquirer's" parent company for McDougal's life rights. Jurors also want to re-hear a portion of Judge Merchan's instructions.

Yesterday, Trump outside the courthouse trying to set expectations, shall we say, ahead of the looming decision.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, FORMER U.S. PRESIDENT & 2024 PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Listening to the charges from the judge who's, as you know, very conflicted and, corrupt because of the confliction, very, very corrupt.

Mother Teresa could not beat these discharges. These charges are rigged. The whole thing is rigged. It's a disgrace, and I mean that Mother Teresa could not beat these charges, but we'll see. We'll see how we do.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HUNT: Okay.

Joining me now to discuss, Julia Manchester, reporter for "The Hill". Julia, good morning to you.

JULIA MANCHESTER, REPORTER, THE HILL: Good morning, Kasie.

HUNT: Well, so it certainly sounds like if you -- if you really read between the lines, there about what Trump is saying, they think that they're going to lose, or that he's likely to get convicted, or at least they're trying to prepare his supporters for that by saying, well, this was inevitable all the way along. If that's what happens.

MANCHESTER: This is absolutely lowering expectations, sort of comparing Trump to a saint, to martyr, if you will. And look, I think the Trump team is trying to prepare themselves for a number of scenarios. Look, if he were to be acquitted. That would certainly be a victory for Donald Trump. He could essentially sail through and say, look, I was right all along.

But if this jury of quite frankly is New York peers convicts him, that's not good for him, so he's going to be lowering those expectations.

HUNT: Yeah. Well, I mean, I feel like this is a time honored Trump tactic. Basically, he's giving people talking points at their dinner tables, et cetera, certainly for themselves as they make their decisions about because again, lets not lose sight of the fact that he is the current presidential nominee for the Republican Party.

Let's put up on the screen what the jury has asked two re-hear, and we're going to -- court is going to reconvene this morning. We're going to cover this, but it's these four things.

And as I look at them, the Trump Tower meeting and that's Cohen and Pecker's testimony, Pecker's call with Trump and then Pecker's testimony on not finalizing that deal, the thread that ties all these things together is Donald Trump's involvement and knowledge, right? It seems like trying to figure out, did he know? Was he aware of all of these things is a central question in this case.

What do you see as you consider what they're looking at here?

MANCHESTER: You know, that's interesting because we've seen the defense time and time again sort of tried to say, look, Donald Trump wasn't aware of all of this, even pinning this on his sons, Eric and Don Jr. saying, well, they signed some checks, Donald Trump was sort of just the CEO with no knowledge sort of delegating this to other people in the organization.

So this is the jury trying to get to the root of that, trying to essentially see, is Donald Trump the common thread?

[05:05:02]

How aware was he? And the big question I have is they're obviously going after testimony surrounding David Pecker and Michael Cohen, that Michael Cohen part has got to make both sides nervous because we now how much of a wildcard Michael Cohen has proven to be throughout the years in terms of his involvement with Trump.

HUNT: Right. And it does seem as though there's a little bit for everybody in there if they're asking about Cohen, is it related to his credibility? Maybe that helps the defense, some of these other signals might indicate the jury is looking for a way to pull the strands of a conviction together.

So, Julia, lets talk about whether or not this is going to matter in terms of the election in November. Some recent polling from Marquette University did seem to show that there would be potentially a small impact. Now, that may be all that matters in a very close election. If Trump is found guilty in the New York case, likely voters said 46 percent of them would vote for Joe Biden, 41 percent for Donald Trump.

Now, let's note that is 11 percent protest vote in there. So that's a big chunk of voters in a situation that's so close. However, if Trump is found not guilty, you see that switch and its suddenly Donald Trump who has 46 percent and Joe Biden who has 43 percent.

I think I remain skeptical than anything matters in politics anymore. But what is your reporting around how each side is thinking about it?

MANCHESTER: So we've seen other polling and I've talked to other strategists who have said, look, a conviction would likely maybe be adding to Donald Trump, not be good for Donald Trump, sort of dent his chances slightly.

That being said, though, assuming we get a conviction before the first presidential debate later in June and the second, obviously, in September lock-in change between now and then. And I think still when you look at voters priorities, it is not this trial. I mean, although were all watching this trial, we're all aware of it, I don't think this is impacting the Americans every day lives, and that's why you've seen the Biden campaign in the administration, be very careful about how they approach this.

Yes, they had the press conference with Robert De Niro outside if the courtroom a few days ago, but Biden the other de as he was leaving the White House, did not take questions on this. That's not a coincidence. He wants to be focusing on the economy even though that's a tough issue for him, we still hear him messaging more on that issue than something a court case involving Donald Trump in New York.

HUNT: All right. Julia Manchester for us this morning -- Julia, thanks for starting us off.

MANCHESTER: Thanks, Kasie.

HUNT: I appreciate it.

All right. Just ahead here, no longer trash talking. Now, North Korea actually sending trash to their neighbors to the South.

Plus, Boeing such a release, a plan, they say, will fix its mounting safety issues.

And the Ten Commandments could soon be displayed inside every single classroom in one state. We'll talk about that.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[05:12:16]

HUNT: All right. North Korea is launching an interesting tactic as they push back on South Korea. Balloons filled with feces and trash, over 250 balloons carrying North Korea's filth have been sent across the DMZ into their neighbor to the south, the North Koreans calling it an act of free expression. The South sees it as a violation of international law.

CNN's Max Foster joins me now from London.

Max, this is just straight up disgusting. What is going on?

MAX FOSTER, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: So, as Kim Jong Un insisted, it was free expression. It's really a tit-for-tat because what they're saying is that South Korean activists are quite often sending over balloons containing propaganda, as I call it, leaflets, but also things like digital cards and drives containing pop videos perhaps, or films trying to give North Koreans a glimpse of the outside world, but also trying to change their views on their leadership.

So North Korea saying that they're receiving all of this trash as they've called it from South Korea. So they're sending their own trash back. But it has caused some concerns.

You can see where these things are landing. So people have been told to stay indoors in case they get hit by this trash and they're actually having to analyze it, because they don't know exactly what's in it.

HUNT: Yeah, I was going to say it's -- they could be dropping more than just what appears to be trash potentially.

Max, big picture here. This is a region where there are simmering tensions specifically around Taiwan. There are a pair of American congressional delegations visiting Taiwan, as the Chinese have recently surrounded the island with military drills. Obviously, North Korea and China at tied together in key ways, the U.S., a critical ally of South Korea. How does this increasing -- I want to call it. I don't know. I don't know if you put trash filled balloons under the category of tension increasing geopolitical problems or what. But what does this say if anything, about the bigger picture here?

FOSTER: Well, you know, I'm thinking North Koreans would argue this is about sovereignty. You know, we are protecting our land and you've been sending over these balloons. So it's a small version of the wider debate, which is, we have a right to exist and, all these military drills at the South is organizing with the United States is seen as big threat to the North.

North Korea's closest ally, if I can call it that, the country that sends over aid and has a relationship with North Korea is China. So you've got North Korea versus South Korea.

[05:15:02]

You've got China versus America potential actually amongst that as well.

So it does play into that wider geopolitical tension. But also some, you know, it's not as if the U.S. and China are at war. We have that lovely story, didn't we, about the pandas going back to Washington as well, which is seen as a gesture of friendship from China to America. So it's not quite North and South Korea just yet.

HUNT: Well, I know there's at least one small person and in my household who is very pleased that were going to be able to go down the street and see the pandas at the zoo again, because we were all collectively very sad when they left. So I think we've got more expensive story --

FOSTER: It's a good sign.

HUNT: -- on that later in the show. Yeah, it is a good sign.

All right. Max, you're good sport as always. Thank you. Always great to see you.

Coming up next, golfer Scottie Scheffler's wish for the Louisville cop who arrested him during the PGA championship.

And Justice Alito refusing to recuse. We'll have details ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[05:20:28]

HUNT: All right. Ninety minutes past the hour. Here's our morning roundup.

Today, Boeing will announce sweeping new changes to try to fix some glaring safety issues. Two reviews in February found serious problems the company will present its plan to the FAA later this morning. Schools in Louisiana could soon be required by law to display the Ten

Commandments in every classroom from kindergarten through college, if the bill becomes law, if Republican Governor Jeff Landry signs it. CNN seemed that has contacted his office about this. We have not yet heard back.

Assault charges against pro golfer Scottie Scheffler have been dropped. Two weeks ago, he was arrested for driving around a fatal crash while on his way to the PGA championship. The officer involved is being disciplined, but Scheffler says he hopes that both he and the officer can put the incident behind them.

All right. Thirty million people facing severe storm threats today, mostly across the Central U.S. and Texas, with record heat also on the way for Florida and South Texas.

Our meteorologist Elisa Raffa tracking all of it for us.

Elisa, good morning. What are we seeing?

ELISA RAFFA, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Good morning.

We have storms firing up already across parts of Kansas, that panhandle of Oklahoma and Texas this morning with some intense lightning and I'm heavy downpours. We've had a few severe thunderstorm warnings over parts of the Florida -- I'm sorry, Texas panhandle there. There's a warning there just to the east of Albuquerque this morning or we could find some large hail and damaging winds.

Here's a look at that risk for today, stretches all the way up from Iowa and Nebraska, down into Texas. This yellow and orange area here is where we are most concerned about that large hail, damaging winds and then maybe a tornado or two. Now, we have that level three and a five enhanced risk, right over Lubbock, Lubbock because we've got the chance for some hail over two inches in diameter, that would be bigger than the size of golf balls. So we'll have to watch out for super cells that are capable of doing that.

Now, Texas under the gun again for severe weather threat while they still have nearly 200,000 people without power from the severe winds that blew through a few days ago. So we can see the storms here as they've fire up, as we go into the afternoon, the super sounds that firearm in Oklahoma could become a damaging wind thread for Dallas as we go later on into the day today.

Then additional super cells develop over parts of the Texas and Oklahoma panhandles. This is where those discrete cells, that's where we can get those golf ball size hailstones, then that becomes a damaging wind threat for Dallas again, looks like you can have two rounds of storms and then the damaging wind throughout makes it to Houston by the morning. So as we go into tomorrow, we have that damaging winds are from Dallas to Austin and Houston, large hail, damaging winds possible again -- Kasie.

HUNT: All right. Elisa Raffa for us, Elisa, thank you very much.

All right. Coming up next, the four pieces of evidence the jurors want to revisit in Donald Trump's hush money trial.

Plus, a mid-game meltdown for a New York Mets pitcher. Yikes!

And this is a live look at a volcano that is currently around putting in Iceland. It's one of our five things you got to see this morning. We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[05:28:14]

HUNT: All right. Just before 5:30 a.m. here in Washington. A live look at that beautiful sunrise over Capitol Hill on this Thursday morning.

Good morning, everyone. I'm Kasie Hunt. It's wonderful to have you with us.

In just a few hours, the jury in Donald Trump's criminal hush money trial will begin deliberating for a second day. On Wednesday, they asked to revisit four sections of testimony from David Pecker and Michael Cohen, who, of course, are two of the prosecution's star witnesses.

Their focus seems to be a 2015 Trump Tower meeting where both men met with Mr. Trump.

In his testimony Pecker said, quote, there was a discussion about that. I was going to be able to be the eyes and ears of the campaign. And there was a discussion that I would be notifying Michael Cohen of any women that were in the process of are going to be selling stories and I would notify Cohen that they would be available and that they would either have to buy them or take them off the market, or kill them in some manner.

Joining me now is criminal defense attorney Andrew Cherkasky

Andrew, good morning to you. Oops. Sorry. That's Stef Kight. That's our other guests this morning. She'll be joining us shortly.

Is Andrew in there? Do we have Andrew? There he is.

Hi, Andrew. Sorry about that.

ANDREW CHERKASKY, CRIMINAL DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Good morning.

HUNT: Let's dig into what these four things are that the jury is asking for and kind of what ties them together.

The thread to me seems to be Donald Trump's involvement but when you looked at these requests that were made, what did you think that they were looking for?

CHERKASKY: Well, my number one rule in trial advocacy, especially during jury deliberations, is to not read the jury because oftentimes, it can be very deceiving. It might be just one juror who has a question.

That said, let's dive into this a little bit. It could very well be trying to figure out what the origin of the deals were. That was something that Josh Steinglass hit hard on in his closing argument. He had a whole bit in the -- in the closing argument, making that kind of the center of attention as the beginning.

[05:30:00]