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Trump Guilty On All 34 Felony Counts; Merchan To Sentence Trump On July 11; Mavs Blow Out Timberwolves To Advance To NBA Finals. Aired 5:30-6a ET

Aired May 31, 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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[05:30:27]

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ANTI-TRUMP CROWD OUTSIDE COURTHOUSE: Guilty! Guilty! Guilty! Guilty!

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's been a long time coming. And we didn't think there was any way they would come to a verdict on my birthday. That's too nice. This is wonderful. It's good. It's so good.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I believe that everybody is -- everybody who supported him for -- since he started running, they're still going to be behind him 100 percent.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (INAUDIBLE) is dead. (INAUDIBLE) is dead. (INAUDIBLE) is dead.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KASIE HUNT, CNN ANCHOR: Reaction from the crowd outside the courthouse yesterday after Donald Trump was found guilty on all 34 felony counts.

It is 5:30 here on the East Coast; 2:30 out West.

These are unprecedented times as we all grapple with what's next in a one-of-a-kind election year.

Our panel is back.

Stephen Collinson, you write this morning under the headline "Trump conviction heralds a somber and volatile moment in American history," that "The danger is acute because with his attempt to stay in power after losing the 2020 election, Trump has already shown he'll do what it takes to save himself even if his actions catastrophically hurt democratic institutions. If it's Trump who raises his hand to swear to preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution on January 20 as the 47th president, America will be led by a criminal whose duties will include being the symbolic head of the justice system."

Quite a weighty frame -- MARIA CARDONA, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR, HOST, "HOT MICS FROM LEFT TO RIGHT", DEMOCRATIC STRATEGIST: Scary, yes.

HUNT: -- for where we are.

STEPHEN COLLINSON, CNN POLITICS SENIOR REPORTER: Yeah. And we saw the way that the former president acted when he was in office in his first term. I think a second term would be one that would have even fewer legal and political constraints. That's the message from -- that we can take from the way the Republican Party has responded to this.

I think that it will be interesting to see the Republican convention, which takes place four days after the sentencing is due to take place. That was already shaping up as a pageant of vengeance, if you like. The Trump second term --

HUNT: A pageant of vengeance. There's a phrase.

CARDONA: It's good.

COLLINSON: The Trump second term mantra is this will be a presidency of retribution. And I don't think we should -- I think we should take that seriously because he has said what he will do in the past and he's gone ahead and done it.

HUNT: Yeah.

So this is how, of course, his allies are framing this in the media aftermath.

Let's listen to his son, Donald Trump Jr., on a podcast in the aftermath of the verdict -- watch.

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DONALD TRUMP JR., SON OF FORMER PRESIDENT TRUMP: The Democrats have succeeded in their yearslong quest to turn America into a (bleep) hole country. There can be no doubt that has been their plan all along. This is a third world banana republic, it looks like. Yeah, if -- like, if this happened in Zimbabwe, we'd be like that's really bad.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HUNT: Shermichael Singleton, I think the reality that we've -- what we've learned about how Donald Trump's supporters perceive him and the things he says and the things his allies say is that believe him. I mean --

SHERMICHAEL SINGLETON, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR, FORMER DEPUTY CHIEF OF STAFF AT HUD, TRUMP ADMINISTRATION: Yeah.

HUNT: I mean, the polls show that a lot of them buy his argument that the 2020 --

SINGLETON: Yeah.

HUNT: -- was stolen. This is what they're feeding them right now.

SINGLETON: And a lot of Republicans I've spoken with last night via text messages and a couple of phone calls from different focus groups I've done over this past couple -- this year -- they're angry. They're excited to support the former president. They're resolute in their resolve. They -- many of them said this is exactly what we expected. We're not surprised. They feel even more energized about trying to go out and do whatever they can to get other Republicans to see things their way.

I think the concern though here, if I'm just putting on my strategist hat and looking from a 10,000-foot view, what do you do with some of the Nikki Haley Republicans? What do you do with some swing voters who lean to the right? We call them swing voters, but they sort of act like partisans in terms of their voter profile. What is the message to them?

And I've spoken with some folks on the campaign and my advice to them was you guys, the base is energized. Yeah, they're going to be more energized, but this is still an election that's going to be won by the margins.

And so, electorally and mathematically, you still have to figure out a way, Kasie, to make some appeals to those Nikki Haley voters. To make some appeals to some of those Independent swing voters who lean to the right. And the rhetoric for those voters will not be what we just saw in that clip. I'm just being frank here as a strategist.

HUNT: What do you think about that, Maria?

[05:35:00]

CARDONA: I think that's right. And it's interesting because what we just heard from Eric Trump (sic) about banana republics -- that's what we saw on January 6. That's what you see in places where the Constitution doesn't matter, where dictators take over, where people are desperate to stay in power and they will do whatever it takes to maintain that power. And that's exactly what Donald Trump has done.

January 6, to so many people in this country, was a trial run, which is why I believe the Biden campaign is being very smart in making sure that everybody knows that they have never depended on any kind of verdict, on any kind of Donald Trump's legal woes to make the case to the American people that this man is an existential threat to our democracy. That he has set -- has tried to and will continue to try to take away our rights and freedoms. And that is sort of the clarion call for the Biden campaign to continue to make the case that this is still a contrast and a choice on November 6 regardless -- or November 5, regardless of this --

HUNT: Yeah.

CARDONA: -- guilty verdict.

HUNT: So the statement that the Biden campaign -- I mean, look, they're fundraising off of it. CARDONA: Um-hum.

HUNT: But the statement that the campaign put out --

CARDONA: Um-hum.

HUNT: I mean, the official kind of mouthpiece of the president in the wake of this, it didn't call Donald Trump a criminal.

CARDONA: Um-hum.

HUNT: It said no one is above the law.

CARDONA: Right.

HUNT: They also said, though, that today's verdict doesn't change the fact that the American people face a simple reality. Only one way --

CARDONA: Um-hum.

HUNT: -- to keep Donald Trump out of the Oval Office, the ballot box.

CARDONA: Right.

HUNT: And that is also what Donald Trump is saying --

CARDONA: Right.

HUNT: -- that it's the ballot box that's going to decide.

Look, if roles were reversed, Donald Trump would be being way more aggressive than President Biden --

CARDONA: Yeah.

HUNT: -- is right now.

CARDONA: Yeah.

HUNT: Is it the right call to --

CARDONA: I --

HUNT: -- be as -- they are being a little bit restrained.

CARDONA: That's right. I do think it's the right call for this moment because -- you know, and regardless of what they would have said or what they said, the Trump campaign is going to continue to say that this was something that Biden pushed and that the Democrats pushed. And we all know that is not true. But I do think it was the right call to be restrained at this moment.

I think that going into the election, let's see what happens at the debate. Let's see what happens at the conventions. I do think they're going to lean into this moment and the whole issue about Donald Trump being this existential threat to democracy and using this as an example.

HUNT: Stephen?

COLLINSON: Yeah. I think that if Donald Trump succeeds in moving past this it will be because he's changed American politics. He's kind of defined political deviancy down. The reason why so many millions of Republicans believe that the legal system is cooked against them, it's corrupt is because of the power that he's been able to amass. The power of his narrative -- his demagogueries. So he's changed the country.

At the same time, however, this was the October surprise that came in May that wasn't really a surprise. There may be many more things. I think experience shows us with Trump there are many more things that happen between now and November that can change this. Having said that, a lot of people begin voting early --

CARDONA: That's right.

COLLINSON: -- by mail and by ballots, so it could push it forward.

To your point about the president, it will be really interesting to see how he behaves off the cuff in the side in a debate.

CARDONA: Um-hum.

COLLINSON: That may be when we find out well, he really thinks --

CARDONA: That's exactly right.

COLLINSON: -- when he's not programmed.

CARDONA: I agree.

SINGLETON: Kasie, if I can just really quickly -- I actually think that statement was very smart, and I told Maria this. Because strategically, if you're trying to draw a contrast from your opponent that I am the more stable individual --

CARDONA: Um-hum.

SINGLETON: -- I am the one who is sort of above the fray -- and you're looking at, again, some of those folks in the middle --

CARDONA: Um-hum.

SINGLETON: -- some of those moderate Republicans who are looking at Biden to see how does he respond to this -- they're going to look at that and way you know what, this is someone that I -- that I could vote for.

CARDONA: Yeah.

SINGLETON: I may disagree on every issue, but this is someone that -- who could lead the country for another four years who is above the partisanship. And I think that's smart. HUNT: So, Shan Wu, legally speaking -- first of all, you have a column I would recommend to everyone that says here's who Trump should blame for this. He's obviously blaming Biden and the Democrats. You say he should blame his lawyers from shouting at Michael Cohen to bullying Stormy Daniels, and failing to establish rapport with the jury. Trump's lawyers proved consistently lousy at fighting for their client.

I'm interested to know how you think he should change his legal strategy going forward because, I mean, big picture, it's not necessarily likely we'll get another trial of Trump before the election. There is still a possibility it could happen and that Tanya Chutkan, January 6 insurrection case.

How do you see this playing into that?

SHAN WU, DEFENSE ATTORNEY, FORMER FEDERAL PROSECUTOR: He has no legal strategy, so what he could change is to actually have a legal strategy.

Way back when everyone was saying wow, you know, so brilliant. He's using the political strategy with the legal strategy. It shifted to there is no legal strategy; it's all political strategy.

So going forward, if he wants to listen to his lawyers he'll have a strategy. If they only listen to him, like they did in this trial, there will continue to be no strategy whatsoever.

[05:40:00]

I mean, I think in this country we ask a lot of the criminal justice system -- a little bit too much. But yesterday, the criminal justice system had a good day. It actually did its job.

CARDONA: Um-hum.

HUNT: All right, Shan Wu, Stephen Collinson, Shermichael Singleton, Maria Cardona. Very grateful to have you this morning.

CARDONA: Thanks, Kasie.

HUNT: Ahead here, Donald Trump's VP contenders rushing to defend him. We're going to hear from one of them, Gov. Doug Burgum, next hour. Plus, a one-on-one with a former Trump attorney, Tim Parlatore. That's coming up next.

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HUNT: All right, welcome back.

Donald Trump guilty on all 34 felony charges in his criminal hush money trial in New York.

Trump's lead attorney, Todd Blanche, on CNN last night, explaining why Trump didn't take the stand in his own defense.

[05:45:03]

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TODD BLANCHE, DONALD TRUMP'S DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Of course, he wanted to testify. And I don't say that because that's what he has said. He wanted to get his story out. I think the judge had made some decisions before the trial or the day the trial started about what would be allowed to be asked of him by the -- by the prosecutors. I don't think that we -- that there was a conviction because he did not take the stand.

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HUNT: All right. Joining me now is CNN legal commentator and a former attorney for Donald Trump, Tim Parlatore. Tim, good morning. I know you've put in a lot of long hours. You and I were on this set las night. Thank you so much for being here this morning.

You are well-versed. You have a lot of experience in dealing with the former president. You understand kind of how he operates.

Do you think that --

TIM PARLATORE, CNN LEGAL COMMENTATOR, FORMER TRUMP ATTORNEY (via Webex by Cisco): Um-hum.

HUNT: -- he -- do you think his defense team let him drive this train too much?

PARLATORE: You know, I was surprised by some of things Todd Blanche said last night, in particular when he was talking about whether he was in the -- in the lead on strategy here. And I think that is something that does happen, whether with a client or with other clients, when they don't trust and respect the lawyers that they have working for them. That they want to kind of take the reins themselves.

And I do think that there were aspects of this where it seemed like Todd Blanche didn't have a strategy whatsoever, and so he had to kind of take his lead from the client, which is not the best position to be in when you're in a criminal trial.

HUNT: So there's a former federal prosecutor writing this in The New York Times. "Instead of telling a simple story, Mr. Trump's defense was a haphazard cacophony of denials and personal attacks. That may work for a Trump rally or a segment on Fox News, but it doesn't work in a courtroom."

Is he right?

PARLATORE: Absolutely. I mean, you can throw everything up against the wall like that of everybody's lying, none of this is true. It doesn't resonate with the jury. And to have a good and effective defense you have to start with a theme, and you have to weave that theme through your opening, your closing, your crosses and really tell the jury a story and not just fight everything and just say oh, everybody's lying. And when it comes to somebody like Michael Cohen, you can't just show

that he's a liar. You can't just attack the witness. You have to attack the story. You have to show not only that he lies. I mean, that's very easy. To try and show the jury that Michael Cohen is a liar, any first-year law student can do that. But show why he lied and why that's relevant and why that actually changes what the D.A.'s theory of the case is. That's something that you really need to focus on.

And so, I didn't see any of that here. It didn't -- you know, at no point did I see what their strategy is or what their theme of the defense was.

HUNT: Tim, what's next in terms of how this legal team is going to interact with the judge who now has to decide a sentence for the former president?

PARLATORE: Right. Well, the first thing that they have to do is they have to file motions, which are unlikely to be successful, to set aside the verdict. And they will do it based on -- they'll do a written brief to put out why they think that the jury couldn't have possibly reached this verdict. That's unlikely to succeed.

At the same time, you never know what could possibly come out at this stage. Let's say that tomorrow, a juror decides to be interviewed and says some things that turn out to reveal juror misconduct. Let's say they all of a sudden reveal that there was some kind of prosecutorial misconduct. I've had cases like that where you all of a sudden realize the prosecutor withheld the document at this stage of the case. And so you make that part of the motion. I don't think any of that's likely to happen here.

And so, they're going to do the motions. They're going to be denied. And then they have to prepare a sentencing memorandum. And they're going to go back in for sentencing on July 11. And at that point, the judge will make a decision.

HUNT: What do you think the judge should be calculating here in terms of thinking about this sentencing? I mean, is there any world where political consideration should enter into it? It seems as though the answer to that should be an obvious no, but there is a historic context here.

PARLATORE: You know, you're absolutely right. Political consideration should not take part in the sentence whatsoever. A judge has to decide a sentence not only based on the severity of the offense -- which, in this case, is an E felony, so that generally would go for a non-jail sentence -- but also the individual history and characteristics of the defendant. Whether they're showing remorse or not.

[05:50:00]

And the remorse piece I think is maybe a little bit more overblown. I've often gone into sentencing saying your honor, my client does intend to appeal. At this point, he is maintaining his innocence. I ask you not to hold that against him. But let's, instead, talk about the history and characteristics of the defendant.

So with all that, I think that the judge does have a very difficult task because ordinarily, this is the kind of case that would absolutely have a no-jail probationary sentence, but there are the aggravating factors. Things like the contempt findings on the gag order. Things like his attacks on the judge right after the verdict.

I think where the politics really cold potentially come into play is in a way that would help Donald Trump. Because Judge Merchan, whether he knew it or not, he put the sentencing right before the RNC convention.

HUNT: Um-hum.

PARLATORE: And if he were to sentence Donald Trump to one week in jail, he'll go in right then. The court officers will take him right out the back and he'll be in jail for one week. And so, he'll miss the convention.

So I think that the judge probably has to at least consider that aspect -- that there's been enough attacks on the justice system and attacks on him -- his impartiality that if he takes a sentence that could be spun or interpreted as being more election interference. I think that's something that he'll want to avoid. So, if any, the politics I think will go --

HUNT: Hmm.

PARLATORE: -- to Donald Trump's lawyer.

HUNT: Very interesting.

All right, Tim Parlatore. Very grateful for your time this morning. Thank you very much, sir.

PARLATORE: Thank you.

HUNT: All right, now something we need -- sports. The NBA Finals matchup is set. The Mavs advance to face the Celtics after eliminating the Timberwolves in a game-five blowout.

Carolyn Manno has this morning's Bleacher Report. Carolyn, good morning.

CAROLYN MANNO, CNN SPORTS CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Kasie.

A quick break for you here. Dallas fans have been waiting for this moment for 13 years since Dirk Nowitzki led the Mavs to the first and only championship that the team has ever had. Luka Doncic assumed that mantel and now he's heading to the Finals for the first time.

The Slovenian superstar delivering a knockout performance in last night's game five in Minneapolis. He dropped 20 in the first quarter, singlehandedly outscoring the entire Timberwolves team in the period. The 25-year-old hit four threes, including one from the logo at center court, to put an exclamation point on the 12-0 Dallas run. Luka ending up with 36 for the game. He is tied this postseason with Kyrie Irving, also scoring 36 for the Mavs in the 124-103 win.

Doncic was named the Western Conference Finals MVP. And afterwards, he told the "INSIDE THE NBA" crew that the job isn't done yet.

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LUKA DONCIC, GUARD, DALLAS MAVERICKS: There's still four games to win left. But this is amazing. I think we should enjoy tonight because this is special, especially coming from the West. We had to go through a lot, especially this season up and down, but we stick together.

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MANNO: NBA fans will have to go six days without playoff basketball. Game one set for next Thursday, June 6 in Boston.

The Florida Panthers, meantime, on the verge of going back to the Stanley Cup Final for the second-straight year and the third time in franchise history. The cats taking care of business in game five against the Rangers last night, but this was not easy.

New York jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the second period after a shorthanded goal from Chris Kreider. But then, the Panthers rattled off three straight, including an empty-netter from Sam Bennett, which ended up being the eventual game-winner in the 3-2 win. So, Florida can close out the series tomorrow night on home ice.

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SAM BENNETT, CENTER, FLORIDA PANTHERS: We showed it at all playoffs. We bow right to the end. It wasn't the first period we wanted but we stuck with it and we played our game. And that's just what we've done all year. So it's a great effort from us.

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MANNO: And after winning six of her last seven tournaments, world number one Nelly Korda's first round at the U.S. Women's Open was certainly one to forget.

Korda struggled mightily, specifically on the 12th hole at Lancaster Country Club in Pennsylvania. She found herself in the water hazard three times on the par 3 after her tee shot landed in a bunker. Her recovery, rolling into a creek. And then she landed the drink twice more before managing to hit the green with her chip shot and two putting for a 10.

So, Korda ending the day carting an 80. She's near the bottom of the leaderboard, 12 shots off the lead. But she said afterwards -- hey, she's human. She just had a bad day. Hashtag relatable for every other golfer on the planet who has had that kind of day on the golf course.

And all eyes are going to be on the Bears and their number one draft pick Caleb Williams in the upcoming NFL season, and that includes the preseason, too, Kasie. Chicago is going to be featured in this year's "HARD KNOCKS" series on our sister channel HBO. The first episode set to debut on August 6.

Football season right around the corner. I cannot believe it.

HUNT: Yeah. You know what? It's still baseball season in my book, but I'm excited.

MANNO: True.

HUNT: Thanks, Carolyn.

MANNO: True.

HUNT: I appreciate it.

[05:55:00]

All right. Next hour, Donald Trump now convicted a felon. He claims he's an innocent man. What happens next? We're going to put that question to our guests. We going to have a vice presidential contender, a Republican senator, a conservative lawyer, and a former GOP congressman who is a sharp critic of President Trump.

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HUNT: It's Friday, May 31.

Right now, on CNN THIS MORNING, the presumptive Republican nominee for President of the United States is waking up a convicted felon.

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DONALD TRUMP, (R) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: This was a rigged, disgraceful trial. The real verdict is going to be November 5 by the people.

ALVIN BRAGG, MANHATTAN DISTRICT ATTORNEY: I did my job. We did our job. Many voices out there. The only voice that matters is the voice of the jury, and the jury has spoken.

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