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CNN This Morning

Trump Completes Pre-Sentencing Interview; Hunter Biden's Gun Trial Jury Deliberation; McCarthy's Revenge Tour Against Republican Opponents; Congress Wants Scarlett Johansson to Testify on A.I.; Blinken in Middle East to Push for Ceasefire and Hostage Deal; Panthers' Commanding Lead in Stanley Cup Finals. Aired 5:30-6a ET

Aired June 11, 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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KASIE HUNT, CNN ANCHOR: All right. 5:30 a.m. on the nose here in Washington. A live look at New York City. Look at that beautiful sunrise on this Tuesday morning. Good morning, everyone. I'm Kasie Hunt. It's wonderful to have you with us.

Donald Trump has completed his pre-sentencing interview. CNN reporting the former president answered all the questions. He was polite, respectful, accommodating to the probation officers, telling them to be safe at the conclusion of the session. This routine interview lasted just 30 minutes. A source tells CNN there could be a follow up meeting.

Here is a former New York City -- the former New York City corrections commissioner, who is just explaining a little bit here. This could be, and is usually, a drawn-out process.

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MICHAEL JACOBSON, FORMER NYC CORRECTION AND PROBATION COMMISSIONER: It's just the beginning of what can be a pretty long and sometimes intrusive process. So, you shouldn't take too much that it was just a first polite interview. The probation officer has wide berth here. So, this was the start of something and it's certainly not the end.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HUNT: Not the end. Joining me now, CNN Legal Analyst Joey Jackson. Joey, good morning to you. It sounds like we got a slightly different version of Donald Trump than we often see on the campaign trail when he talked to his probation officer. I'm still working on getting over the fact that this is the reality that we're living in, that this is what we're covering day in and day out, considering he is the Republican -- presumptive Republican nominee for president. But what do you take away from what unfolded here?

JOEY JACKSON, CNN LEGAL ANALYST AND CRIMINAL DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Kasie, good morning to you. It is a very pleasant surprise and quite unusual from what we're used to in terms of brashness, in terms of making statements about the system and being a victim and injustice.

And so, yes, it is a surprise, but remember a big picture what this is about, right? There's something called a PSI. What is a PSI? Pre- Sentence Investigation. And pursuant to that investigation, a defendant, as we look at here, now convicted felon, is provided with the opportunity to give information with respect to things that are relevant about you.

Like what? Like your family background, like your mental health history and status, like the nature of the conviction and how it affected your ability to support and otherwise provide for your family. Generally, not getting into the facts or circumstances of the case itself, which is why counsel generally doesn't even appear or need to for that matter.

And the whole reason for that, Kasie, of course, is that then you go from a PSI, Pre-Sentence Investigation, to a PSR, right? A lot of acronyms. Pre-Sentence Report. And that report is certainly helpful for a judge to provide sentencing to the defendant, having learned more about them. And then, of course, this comes with and along -- alongside what your attorneys will give, which is their recommendation with respect to the sentence, and then prosecutors will weigh in, and then the judge will certainly look at all of it and render a fair and just determination as to what sentencing should look like.

HUNT: I mean, Joey, is it plausible here -- I mean, like, I completely understand why this process exists for, you know, your average defendant who is not known to any of these officials in this system, right? I mean, however many cases come before them day in and day out, this is typically a pretty routine thing.

This is not a routine situation. Like, if you're the judge here how much does this actual process, do you think, does -- do you think Judge Merchan already knows what he's going to do?

JACKSON: So, three parts to the question, I think. Number one, in terms of the nature and typicalness of this for Mr. Trump. It's not, right? We know, I think, people in general about him. He's run for president before, he served as president before, he ran again for president and he's running again. And so, I think, generally, the typical defendant, to your point, is not someone who's known to the judge and the judge is trying to get a broader perspective with regard to who you are, what you do.

Number two, in terms of the process itself, it's helpful and important for a judge, in general, because it does give a deep dive into who the particular person is, what their family is about, what their mental health history about, who they are about, what their thoughts and nature of the system are about, to give you a better rendering of a decision.

Number three, in terms of the judge, I don't think so, Kasie. I don't think Judge Merchan has made up his mind. You know, and I know that by nothing in terms of having spoken to him or knowing anything about it, but I think that the process provides for the nature of what happens and what does happen. What happens is, is your attorneys provide their view, defense attorneys with respect to what they fear is just inappropriate.

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Prosecutors weigh in. The Department of Probation weighs in because they will give, Kasie, they, the Department of Probation, the essence of why he gave this interview, a recommendation. And I think the judge takes all that into account. And let's not forget, when your attorneys provide their memorandum.

It's accompanied by all kind of letters and documents and things about who you are, what you're about, the redeeming qualities you have, and all the factors that talk about the aberrational nature of the actual -- in most instances, the aberrational nature, you know, it's not typically who the defendant is, judge, this is something that was a one off, your honor, whatever argument you make, but there are multiple letters that come with that.

And then, of course, at the sentencing itself, Kasie, very briefly, the attorneys are afforded an opportunity to make oral argument with regard to what they think it should be and the defendant, him or herself, in this case, the former president, has an opportunity to render, you know, some kind of public statement about how they feel. And then, oftentimes you get victim impact statements too.

And so, I think because of all that, it would really be a disappointment. And I'm sure that's not what Judge Merchan Sean is doing to say, I've got my mind made up. I'm just going to render a decision. I don't need any of this. All of it is important. Sometimes, come game day, the sentencing day, judges do change their mind, you know, right then and there. So, let's see what happens here.

HUNT: Very interesting. Very briefly, Joey, let me ask you about the other case that's unfolding, and that's Hunter Biden. The jury has this case. How long do you expect it to take for them to reach a verdict on something like this?

JACKSON: So, you know, Kasie, that's always the wild card in terms of the time frame, and I don't think we could draw anything into the time frame. Of course, deliberations just having begun yesterday. Of course, this dealing with three different counts. Did he lie to a federally licensed firearm dealer? Did he lie on the form with regard to the purchase of the weapon? And did he illegally possess it? So, those are the issues. I think they're very clearly defined.

What's a bit murky is that is whether or not there's really was he addicted at the time, whether he thought he was addicted at the time. Was he deceiving himself with this evidence to that regard? And let's not forget, he's got home court advantage. His family is pretty popular in Delaware. It matters. I think you have an African-American jury that is pretty in tune to what's appropriate, what's in just, et cetera.

And so, let's see whether or not we get a hung jury. Or finally, jury nullification, whether the jury says, you know what? Perhaps it's something he did. I think they're shaming addiction. We're not going to do that. And then, let's throw it out. Of course, the defense has been arguing that, but the prosecution saying it's about lying. Let's see what narrative the jury comes up with. We'll know soon.

HUNT: All right, Joey Jackson for us this morning. Joey, thanks very much.

All right. Now, this story. The former house speaker, Kevin McCarthy, reportedly planning a revenge tour. NBC News reporting McCarthy is seeking to retaliate against Republicans who voted to oust him last year. This has really been an ongoing thing, but it's starting with Republican Congresswoman Nancy Mace of South Carolina.

According to NBC, operatives aligned with McCarthy are directing big money into these races through outside groups. Tuesday's challenge to Mace is the first test, and then we'll see House Freedom Caucus Chair Bob Good, who faces a primary in Virginia next week. Two other anti- McCarthy voters, Representatives Eli Crane of Arizona, Matt Gaetz of Florida, also have primary challenges this summer. McCarthy denies it's a revenge mission and says he's not targeting anyone.

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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: These are the eight Republicans that you mentioned. You see them on your screen. What is the first thing that comes to your mind when you see them?

KEVIN MCCARTHY, FORMER SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE: Dysfunction.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Are you on a political vengeance tour?

MCCARTHY: No, I -- you know, I know you guys try to say that. No, last week I went to Los Angeles, Orange County, San Diego, raising money for the Republican Party.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HUNT: OK. Joining me now, Senior Congressional Reporter for Punchbowl News, Andrew Desiderio. Andrew, this is revenge tour. This is a revenge tour.

ANDREW DESIDERIO, SENIOR CONGRESSIONAL REPORTER, PUNCHBOWL NEWS: One million percent, right? To the tune of -- in Nancy Mace's case, $9 million dollars in outside spending against her.

HUNT: In the single house race

DESIDERIO: In a single house primary, yes.

HUNT: Yes, that's wild.

DESIDERIO: Yes.

HUNT: What are -- what is the likelihood that any of these folks are going to lose their primaries?

DESIDERIO: Well, look, I think it's very possible that Nancy Mace loses her primary, for example, today. I think that's the big race that everybody's going to be tuning into. Those other ones you mentioned, probably not, but Kevin McCarthy is very much interested in toppling the people who were sort of orchestrating the push to oust him from the speakership.

HUNT: So, Andrew, can you kind of walk me through also the dynamics in the Bob Good house race in Virginia? Because that one is really interesting. He's the freedom -- you know, top of the Freedom Caucus. He is someone who has -- he's -- it's not just Kevin McCarthy he's made angry. What's going on with that?

DESIDERIO: Right. So, Donald Trump has endorsed his primary opponent, for example, which was quite stunning to learn, especially given that Bob Good is, as you said, the chair of the Freedom Caucus, and he's got a lot of conservatives both, you know, movement conservatives and conservatives on Capitol Hill who are very much behind him and trying to make sure that he wins his race. He was one of the eight, of course, who voted to oust Kevin McCarthy. So, there's that dynamic there as well.

[05:40:00]

I will tell you, a lot of Freedom Caucus members are a little bit upset with Donald Trump and his political operation at, you know, the level at which he's gone in terms of the intensity of trying to sort of endorse in these primaries. They think it's not productive, not helpful, not helpful to the conservative cause in particular to be endorsing against these members, particularly when you have Bob Good, who's someone who is the chairman of the Freedom Caucus, right?

The Freedom Caucus of 10 years ago is not the Freedom Caucus of today. It's basically a devotion to Donald Trump, right? And Bob Good is a special circumstance because he endorsed Ron DeSantis early on in the presidential campaign. So, there might be some bad blood there between him and Donald Trump, and that might have led to the endorsement of his primary opponent. But it's definitely an interesting dynamic to watch.

HUNT: Yes, multiple revenge tours kind of taking their way through his district.

DESIDERIO: Exactly. Yes.

HUNT: That's how I would say it. So, this is something that we've been following closely on the show, different topic. The questions about ChatGPT, the new kind of voice of ChatGPT, and Scarlett Johansson, who is very upset about that to the point where she sued over the fact that there was a very uncanny similarity to her voice in this movie. Watch.

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SCARLETT JOHANSSON, ACTRESS, "HER": Good morning, Theodore.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Good morning.

JOHANSSON: You have a meeting in five minutes. You want to try getting out of bed? UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You're too funny.

JOHANSSON: OK. Good. I'm funny. I want to learn everything about everything.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HUNT: And of course, Sam Altman, the head of ChatGPT, tweeted "Her," just one word, before he rolled out this new A.I. Now, Congress says they want Scarlett Johansson to come testify. What's that about?

DESIDERIO: Well, speaking of Nancy Mace, it's actually her subcommittee on the House Oversight Committee that's requesting this interview with Scarlett Johansson. They tried to schedule it for next month. But apparently, it's not going to happen until later this year, maybe not even until October.

I think this is an example of the legislative process in Congress, not moving as fast as A.I. is moving. Both the development of the technology as well as these moves that are happening sort of in private industry like places like OpenAI, like the -- you know, the organization that Sam Altman leads, that's going to be a struggle for Congress as they try to address a very complex topic like this.

I know we've talked about this before, but when you see a request for testimony that doesn't actually come to fruition for another four or five, maybe even six months, you know, the technology looks very different next week compared to now, right? Much less five or six months from now.

HUNT: Yes.

DESIDERIO: And that's something that Congress is going to have to contest with, is making sure that they're moving at the speed, not of Congress, but of the technology, which is difficult.

HUNT: I mean, we're still waiting on them to do something comprehensive on social media, which has been around now for years, let alone A.I.

DESIDERIO: Yes.

HUNT: All right. Andrew Desiderio for us. Andrew, thank you.

DESIDERIO: Thank you.

HUNT: I really appreciate it. All right. Coming up next here, Secretary of State Antony Blinken continues attempting to broker an end to the war in Gaza.

Plus, the Panthers take a commanding lead in the Stanley Cup finals. Our bleacher report is up next.

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ANTONY BLINKEN, U.S. SECRETARY OF STATE: All of the hostages, but especially our eight American families who have loved ones in Gaza, we are determined to bring them home. The proposal that President Biden put forward is the best way to do that.

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HUNT: The Secretary of State Antony Blinken in the Middle East this morning trying to put pressure on Israeli leaders to agree with -- to a ceasefire with Hamas.

Today Blinken met with Benny Gantz. He had resigned from the Israeli war cabinet on Sunday after criticizing Netanyahu's strategy in Gaza. Yesterday, Blinken met with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and with Israel's defense minister pressing them to commit to the proposed deal and asking countries in the region to put the same pressure on Hamas.

Joining me now to discuss is CNN National Security Analyst Shawn Turner. Shawn, good morning to you. Let's just dig in a little bit to what Blinken is doing here. The way that American officials are framing this in public is that they are waiting on Hamas, that Israel is on board with this American plan. But there does seem to be some murkiness around it. How do you see this playing out, especially in the wake of this very high-profile hostage rescue that also, of course, led to the deaths of scores of Palestinians?

SHAWN TURNER, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY ANALYST, FORMER DIRECTOR OF COMMUNICATIONS FOR U.S. NATIONAL INTELLIGENCE AND PROFESSOR OF STRATEGIC COMMUNICATION AT MICHIGAN STATE UNIVERSITY: Yes. Good morning, Kasie. It's good to be with you. You know, when you listen to Israel's response to the Biden ceasefire plan, I think that what most people are hearing is you're hearing comments like Israel accepts the plan, you're hearing comments like Israel believes that this is a good first step, but we're not hearing a first full-throated endorsement of the plan. And I think that while that -- a lot of people are cautiously optimistic that this is the plan that will achieve a ceasefire, there's still a lot of unknowns here.

Look, I think that what I see here is the fact that Israel is feeling increasing pressure from the International Community. It goes without saying that this is no longer a localized or regional issue for Israel. The pressure is intense and they're being criticized by all sectors of the globe.

So, I think that what we're going to see here is we're going to see the support of this plan continue to strengthen. We're going to see Israel sort of wait this out, and we're going to see Hamas, as we always see, with Hamas, try to leverage this plan to get as much as they possibly can.

[05:50:00]

I think this is the best possible option that we've had in a long time. So, I'm cautiously optimistic that this is going to work out. HUNT: Shawn, there's some reporting in "The Wall Street Journal" about Messages from Mr. Sinwar, who's the head of Hamas, who has been messaging with Hamas officials, the Qatari, and Egyptian emissaries, and it's reported that he said, we have the Israelis right where we want them, and then he also compared what's going on with Palestinian civilians to national liberation conflicts in, say, Algeria. And he said, "These are necessary sacrifices." How do you think that illuminates the thinking of Hamas at this point?

TURNER: You know, at this point, you know, one of the big concerns that we've all had is the fact that Hamas continues to use civilians to achieve their objectives. I mean, when we look at the number of Palestinians who have been killed, it's astronomical.

And I think that what this does, a message like that, I think it's obviously not constructive, Kasie, because there is a deal that's on the table and what Hamas needs to do, if you read the language of that deal, it's very clear in terms of what Hamas needs to do. There's no wiggle room for Hamas. And so, a message like that suggests that there is wiggle room and that there's some negotiation that can or should happen with Israel. And that's simply not the case.

This is a deal that lays out what Hamas should do. And I think that the challenge that we see with Hamas is that even though we see a message like that, Hamas is not always in control. You have a number of different groups and factions that maybe making decisions that are not necessarily in line with what the negotiators want to do. So, it's not helpful.

But again, I think that that's the kind of rhetoric we oftentimes see. This is a good deal. And there's a real opportunity here to release some of the pressure and to end the humanitarian crisis in Gaza.

HUNT: All right. Shawn Turner for us this morning. Sir, very much appreciate your time. Thank you for being here.

TURNER: Thanks, Kasie.

HUNT: All right. Time now for sports. The Florida Panthers are two wins away from hoisting the Stanley Cup for the first time in franchise history, if they get there. Our Andy Scholes has this morning's bleacher report. Andy, good morning.

ANDY SCHOLES, CNN SPORTS ANCHOR: Good morning, Kasie. So, Edmonton, you know, they really wanted to win this series, not only for their fans, but for all of Canada. A Canadian team has not won the Stanley Cup since 1993. The State of Florida, meanwhile, well, they could win it all for the third time in five years, but this would be the first for the Panthers.

Now, the Oilers striking first in game two. Mattias Ekholm putting this one past Sergei Bobrovsky there, but that would be the Oilers' only goal of the night. Fast forward to the third period. Panthers now up 2-1. Edmonton's Leon Draisaitl elbows Aleksander Barkov in the head right there. That really fired up the Panthers even more. Barkov, he needed help getting to the bench. Did not return to this game. Panthers would score two more to win this one, four to one to take a 2-0 lead in the series. And after the game, Panthers head coach, Paul Maurice, he was asked about that hit on Barkov.

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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Quickly, because I think you're holding back. How do you feel about the hit on Barkoff?

PAUL MAURICE, FLORIDA PANTHERS HEAD COACH: This isn't the Oprah Winfrey show. My feelings don't matter.

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SCHOLES: All right. Oilers they're not good in 0-2 holes. They've done it 10 times in their history. They lost nine of those series. Game three, it's going to be Thursday in Edmonton.

All right. Caitlin Clark, meanwhile, back on the court last night. Fresh off being left off the Olympic team. And a rough night for the first overall pick. Scored just 10 points in 22 minutes. All 10 of those points coming in the first half. Clark didn't play at all in the fourth, leaving the fans in Connecticut to chant, we want Caitlin. The Sun beat the Fever and now in 89 to 72. Indiana, just three and 10 now on the season.

All right. Los Angeles Lakers' search for a new coach is now back to square one. Yukon's Dan Hurley announcing he is staying at the school instead of making the jump to the NBA to coach LeBron. According to ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski, the Lakers offered Hurley a six-year $70 million deal to be their coach. Hurley though, turning that down to try to go for a third straight title with the Huskies. No one has won three straight NCAA titles since John Wooden's Bruins.

All right. And finally, check this out. Blue Jays' Vlad Guerrero Jr. fouling off a pitch in the fourth, and his bat goes with it. And look where it gets stuck. It's way up in the netting. And it would stay up there for another two innings. Everyone in the duck out -- dugout working for -- to figure out a way to get that bat down. And listen to how that saga ended.

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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Ventures in science continues at American family field. They have added a ring to try and dislodge this bat. They got it around it, trying to pull the bat down. They have it secured right now. It's a fish on a line. And it's down. Redemption.

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SCHOLES: Blue Jays' pitcher Chris Bassitt was the hero in the end, getting that big cheer from the crowd there in Milwaukee. But, Kasie, as you can see, it took a whole team effort. They had the pole with just a hook. Then, they figured out, let's put a ring on it. HUNT: Like what even is that pole? Like what -- where does that -- why is that in a baseball dugout? I'm so confused.

SCHOLES: Yes, the dugout attendant apparently went and found the pole that they had in the back and -- I don't know. It worked.

HUNT: Hey. You know, and I bet the fans are grateful that the net was there in the first place. Who knew it was going to be a bat flying their way?

SCHOLES: Right.

HUNT: All right. Andy, thank you. I appreciate it.

All right. Coming up next here, Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito secretly recorded discussing questions about his own ethics.

Plus, new reporting on Donald Trump's demeanor during an interview with his New York probation officers.

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JIMMY FALLON, NBC HOST, "THE TONIGHT SHOW STARRING JIMMY FALLON": Trump met with his probation officer over Zoom, which was great because Trump's lawyer could hit mute whenever he started talking.

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