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Erin Burnett Outfront
Trump Departs Georgia Jail After Arrest, Booking on Felony Charges. Aired 7-8p ET
Aired August 24, 2023 - 19:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[19:00:17]
ANDERSON COOPER, CNN HOST: Wolf, thanks very much.
Looking there at a live shot of Hartsville Jackson International Airport in Atlanta, where the 45th president of the United States is expected to arrive any moment on his way to surrender for the fourth time this year on felony criminal charges.
Good evening. I'm Anderson Cooper, here in New York, where he, too, is charged with 34 counts.
Jake Tapper is in Washington where the former president faces federal counts, as well as in Florida.
CNN's Kaitlan Collins is outside of the Fulton County jail in Atlanta, where he will be booked tonight.
JAKE TAPPER, CNN HOST: Anderson, after landing, we expect Donald Trump will ride in from the Atlanta airport with his new lawyer, Steven Sadow, who replaced his former Georgia attorney, Drew Findling, earlier today.
KAITLAN COLLINS, CNN HOST: And, Jake, of course, when he gets here to the jail that you can see over my shoulder, the question is still, will we have his mugshot taken the way that his former chief of staff, Mark Meadows, Rudy Giuliani, and all of the other defendants certainly have. His own team says that has not yet been decided, certainly as of a little bit earlier today, despite the Fulton County sheriff's earlier statement that they will all get the same treatment.
Of course, if that turns out to be the case, we will see another first tonight. A first sitting or former president with a mug shot. That is in addition to something we learned today.
Also, he is the first to engage a service of a bail bond specialist.
TAPPER: That said, Mr. Trump is not the first president to see his former chief of staff's mug shot on the front page. President Richard Nixon did beat him to it. His chief of staff HR, also known as Bob Haldeman, was convicted and did 18 months in prison on Watergate- related charges.
Nor is Rudy Giuliani, the first New York mayor to sully his reputation. He is, however, the first former U.S. attorney to dismantle the mob using the RICO statute, only to later be charged as he has been with a RICO violation. One note about, perhaps, the least known of the 19 defendants, Harrison Floyd, director of Black Voices for Trump, he either cannot, or would not reach a bond agreement as of right now, he remains in the Fulton County jail as opposed to all of the other co-defendants along with Mr. Trump.
COOPER: Jake, a lot to cover in the hours ahead as we wait for the arrival of the former president and Atlanta.
I want to turn to John Miller now and Elie Honig.
Just in terms of what to expect in this next hour, he arrives there, drives to the jail, what then?
JOHN MILLER, CNN CHIEF LAW ENFORCEMENT AND INTELLIGENCE ANALYST: I mean, it is kind of interesting. The motorcade that they had planned for him is a full motorcade. It is the bulletproof car. It's the lead car. It's the staff car behind.
COOPER: By the way, I'm told, this is his plane. We've been watching different commercial planes landing. I'm told this is his plane coming in.
MILLER: And, I mean, on top of that, Atlanta PD and other agencies have intersection control, which is as he approaches those, they will be blocked of traffic. It is going to be very similar to the ride that he would take when he was president of the United States, with basically a frozen route from the airport to the jail.
COOPER: Is that because of security concerns? We have not seen that in the last time.
MILLER: So, we haven't. And it is -- it is a security concern. I think it's also about waiting for this late at night to get in quickly, get out quickly, avoid, you know, making the rush hour were. I think from Donald Trump's standpoint, and his aides, there's probably some aspect of doing this during primetime television, to catch up on exposure that he -- he would have missed last night.
But I also -- the plan is when they get to the jail they drive in the right street side or the Jefferson's treat side. They go into this sally port and the gate closes behind them. Another gate opens in front of them. They go basically in a frozen zone.
It will be the limo, the lead car, and the follows. Only three cars with the Secret Service detail. The rest of the motorcade will turn around to face the direction for the departure. He will go in and go through this process, presumably with the mugshot. Live scanning fingerprints and electronically, the forms have all been filled out in advance by advanced people to get as much as the paperwork out of the way, so that they will turn that all around. It will come out the same time that he came in.
So, in this case, we expect not to see him except coming off of the plane and perhaps stopping to make a statement at the airport giving back on the plane. [19:05:02]
COOPER: Would -- go ahead.
ELIE HONIG, CNN SENIOR LEGAL ANALYST: So, what's worth remarking on here is that this one is different from the ones we've seen in the past. The prior three cases, the surrender and processing happen inside of a courthouse.
Now, we are in Fulton County. This will happen inside a county jail. He is not going to be in general population. He's not going to be in a cell, but I think this is a reality that this will happen inside a jail and it's a reminder of the stakes here.
These cases are about more than just the indictment. This is a real criminal case and of Donald Trump is convicted, and we are a long ways away from that, this is where he could end up several months down the road.
COOPER: Let's go back to Jake.
Jake?
TAPPER: Thanks so much. As we watch the images coming in from Hartsfield-Jackson Airport, international airport in Atlanta, it is quite a sight to behold. The idea that a former president for the fourth time is landing in the coming into -- this time, a jail, where he will be arraigned, and arrested.
We do not expect that it will be particularly a long process. We expect that he will be in and out, as opposed to the individual who we were talking about just a few minutes ago who did not previously, properly negotiate his bond. So it looks like he will spend at least one night in the Fulton County jail, the Fulton County jail, which is a notoriously horrific jail.
But again, we do not expect Mr. Trump or any of the other 17 codefendants to have to spend a night in that jail.
And, Michael Moore, former U.S. attorney for Central Georgia, I mean, this is -- it's a sad day. Whether you like Mr. Trump or you do not like Mr. Trump, whether you approve of the charges or you don't approve of the charges, the fact is that the allegations are serious, we all saw it play out, and it's sad that it's come to this.
MICHAEL MOORE, FORMER U.S. ATTORNEY: Yeah, I agree with you. I think probably what makes it any different is that it is not sterile. Some of the other times, it has been almost a sterile process. We don't really see what happened. We don't know how the inner workings are going on.
But here, he is going into a jail, and they all have a distinct smell, they all are nasty places even from --
TAPPER: Fulton County jail is under investigation by the Justice Department right now for horrific conditions. MOORE: Right. And so -- he is now a part of that place. So it is sad
but it is also jarring a little bit to think about what he is seeing right now. I am sure anybody would be taken aback I guess if they found themselves there for the first time.
ABBY PHILLIP, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: And if and when this goes to trial, I mean, this is just the beginning of a process that will look different, including that there could be cameras in these Georgia courtrooms that would give us a completely different view of what, you know, Trump looks like in that setting. Prior to this, we have only really seen him in courtroom sketches and maybe a photograph here or there.
So this is a different proceeding. It is a different venue. The rules in the state setting like this are going to be very different for Trump. And, frankly, I am not sure he will like it all that much because there already seems to be much less given to him in this context then the federal or even the New York state context.
TAPPER: And, Dana Bash, no matter how much Donald Trump and his supporters try to act as if this is something that is part of a witch hunt, or it is no big deal, it doesn't face them, this is distressing situation for anyone to find themselves in.
DANA BASH, CNN CHIEF POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: No question. I think the point that you made, Michael, and the hearing that you and the reporters on the ground talk about is that maybe in New York City, it wasn't as pleasant, if you will, as the federal court houses. This is going to be a completely different situation. And he is going to see firsthand how people have to deal with what it is like to deal with a very notorious jail, as this kind of thing is.
One thing I will say, John Miller was talking about the timing, inside Trump's orbit they say that a big reason for this, the main reason for this timing, 7:30 Eastern at night, is because of traffic. It is because of safety and the Secret Service wanted this.
But there is no question. No one denies the fact that Trump, as a showman, having this primetime moment, as bad as it is for him legally, in his very, very beneficial he believes politically.
TAPPER: Yeah. We had Sarah Matthews, former Trump White House communications official on the show earlier.
[19:10:02]
And she was talking about how Donald Trump likes being the center of attention for good or for bad. He likes the fact that today we are all talking about this and not the Republican debate that featured eight of his challengers last night, which is -- it's true. He sucks the oxygen out of the room.
We're now waiting for him to obviously come out of his Boeing 757 and make his way down the stairs. It will take him and his entourage to -- including his new lawyer -- was that his new lawyer? Was that Steven Sadow? We know that it was Susie Wildes, one of his aides. And so, along with
what you think is Steven Sadow, his new attorney.
Go ahead.
PHILLIP: One quick note, as we are looking at these pictures, Trump coming down, there's a lot of the trappings of the presidency, most notably the Secret Service which he still maintains. But --
TAPPER: As any ex-president.
PHILLIP: As a former president.
TAPPER: Yeah.
PHILLIP: But the reason that we are here is because he is not the president anymore despite what he wants to believe. He likes people to call him Mr. President and all of that, he's not. And he's facing charges because he does not have that umbrella of protection anymore that he enjoyed when he was the president of the United States. That, too, I think is very jarring for Trump, in a moment like this, as he does this for the fourth time.
TAPPER: And, Andy McCabe, one of the points that we were talking about earlier, we were talking about of the 19 defendants, including Mr. Trump, Harrison Floyd, the former head of Black Voices for Trump who has been indicted, and turned himself into authorities with his alleged harassment of Fulton County election official, Ruby Freeman, he did not negotiate his bond agreement. So he may end up spending tonight and the Fulton County jail, a notorious jail.
Trump and his allies, they like to talk about a two tiered system of justice. They think that Republicans get overly prosecuted as opposed to Democrats. But that's really an example of the two tiered system of justice here that we are making the point.
ANDREW MCCABE, FORMER FBI DEPUTY DIRECTOR: Yeah, it really is, Jake. I think that it stands out, particularly in these circumstances, because you have 17 other, 18 other defendants in the same case, all of whom are mostly male, all white, wealthy, professional people, political people, attorneys.
TAPPER: They at least have access to wealth, if not their own.
MCCABE: That's right, that's right. The financial ability to hire attorneys who are going in and initiating these deals so that their time in the jailhouse will be a short as possible.
Then, on the other hand, you have this gentleman --
TAPPER: Harrison Floyd.
MCCABE: Harrison Floyd, who was charged about a week or so ago as we understand, for a altercation that he got in with FBI agents who were trying to serve a subpoena on him and conjunction with Jack Smith's federal investigation of election interference. He allegedly assaulted one of those agents.
He, without an attorney, walked up to the jailhouse and surrendered as he was told to. They discovered the outstanding warrant and he will now be in custody, likely until they resolve come to some sort of agreement with respect to bail on both of those charges.
TAPPER: We should note it is a very dangerous jail. Not that others aren't, but Fulton County jail is known for prisoners being killed there, or dying their under questionable circumstances. I think four or five in the last few weeks alone, 14 in 2022, it is really a horrible disgusting plays, and again, only one of these 19 individuals.
And I don't think any of them should have to spend the night there but I am just saying, as you, noted really is this system of justice.
Jamie Gangel, your thoughts as we watch these historic images?
JAMIE GANGEL, CNN SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT: Two points, one is most former presidents do not have motorcades like this and Secret Service protection. We do not know exactly why he, all of a sudden, has this big motorcade. I guess that they are doing it because they think that he needs more security.
But if you see former President Bush, the son, the father, Clinton, it doesn't look like this when they travel. I think a big part of it has to do with the optics of Donald Trump. He wants it to look like this. But --
TAPPER: Wait, we will take a second watching Donald Trump come down the stairs from his Boeing 757 as he prepares to head to the Fulton County jail to be arrested and booked. We are told that it is possible that after his booking when he is back in the location where he is right now, he will make remarks to the cameras and comment on the experience he is about to go through.
[19:15:06]
And the press pool is now running to their cars so as to record this.
I'm sorry, Jamie, please continue what you are saying.
GANGEL: No, I just wanted to add, you know, you were saying earlier, again, we're seeing earlier that today is a sad day. It is a sad day historically that this is where we are. On the other hand, I think that we should also note that this is also because no one is above the law. He is not getting a pass.
Yes, this is the fourth time, but, he has tried to undermine the system, the justice system. He has done all of these posts about the Justice Department, about the judges, and we should not forget why we are here. We are here because Donald Trump did not want to give up power.
TAPPER: Yeah. Jamie Gangel, thank you so much.
Anderson?
COOPER: Jake, thanks so much.
Back here with the team in New York. We watched these images waiting for the motorcade to take off and in toward the Fulton County jail.
It should be a relatively quick process here.
MILLER: Twenty minutes in and out.
COOPER: Once they get their?
MILLER: Once they get there, and if it goes as scheduled.
And, of course, you know, you have this odd, not quite awkward situation where you've got the elected sheriff, Fulton County, and his team that runs that jail, a very troubled plays, you've got the Secret Service, fellow law enforcement officers, their job is different. Their job is to protect Donald Trump and make sure that nothing happens to him coming or going.
And the deputy's job is to get him to a booking process where they are charging him with a crime. And, you know, it's interesting for the Secret Service because they are not in the habit of letting go of a protectee.
But there is a moment in time where he goes from being their protectee to being in custody. Legal custody of another agency until that agency says, okay, this process is over. You are tactically free to go. But there is another world where he is not.
COOPER: And they are on their way now. Elie, talk about the bond process that he has come through.
HONIG: So, this has already been negotiated between the D.A. and Donald Trump's team in advance, and signed off on by the judge. The terms of the bond are, first of all, $200,000 cash bond, although he doesn't have to and he hasn't written a check for $200,000. Our reporting is that he posted 10 percent of that through a bill spawned agency. That is the way most people do it.
The other thing to keep in mind that is really important about the bond here is not there are very specific restrictions about what Donald Trump can say publicly about this case. He may not intimidate or threaten any codefendant, any witness, any victim, or the community in general. There are very specific terms that are in Donald Trump's conditions are not in the other defendants conditions.
The other thing that isn't Donald Trump's condition is that he may not violate any of these provisions by posting on social media or by re- posting on social media because they have seen how he does this before.
When he makes remarks later tonight, as we just heard, we are expecting to see that it will be very interesting to see -- does he challenge that? Does he toe the line? Does he cross that line? And if so, do prosecutors or the judge call him out on it and enforce consequences for it?
COOPER: I mean, we've grown used to seeing these images by now but this is just worth pointing out how bizarre this is. Particularly for -- this is a man who I do not remember if it was when he was campaigning or when he was actually president, in front of I think it was sheriffs on Long Island, was encor -- or a team of sheriffs, was encouraging police to not treat defendants quite so with kid gloves.
MILLER: You don't have to be so gentle.
COOPER: Maybe let their heads bang into a police cruiser as you are putting them in. The irony is that he was encouraging police to be rough with defendants. He is in the position of putting himself in the hands of these police officers.
MILLER: There are a lot of contradictions here. And he also spent a lot of time talking about anybody who mishandled classified documents belongs in jail, so, it's full of interesting contradictions.
HONIG: He also said publicly when he was running for office, that it would cripple our government to have a president who's facing indictment on potential incarceration. Geoff Duncan pointed out the other night, and now, we are looking at the very real possibility of that.
MILLER: Van?
VAN JONES, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Look, I mean, the thing that is so interesting is the Republican supporters of Donald Trump keeps saying, you know, they do not want a two tiered system of justice. They want equal justice. They want equal justice.
No, they don't. No, they don't. Not in that jail. Not in that jail. That jail is one of the most horrific jails in the country.
One of the things that I am observing is that this is one of the richest people in America. Donald Trump. He is facing 91 felony charges. He can plunk down $20,000 and walk out.
[19:20:03]
That ain't equal justice.
I don't know anybody facing 91 felony charges with that much money. That is getting escort in and escort out. There is not, there is a two tiered system of justice, and it benefits people like Donald Trump.
He just wants to compare himself to Hillary Clinton and Hunter Biden, two or three people in the history of the country, compare yourself to everybody else in that jail. Compare yourself to everybody else facing this system without all of that protection, without the Secret Service, without a gazillion lawyers, without the media on you.
There are people in the jails suffering right now. You do not want equal justice. You want special justice for Donald Trump. They should admit that. COOPER: The -- does he pay the entire bond or did he just pay -- did
he just pay -- did he actually get a bill bondman?
JONES: Yeah, he went to Vinny, or whatever, just like Pokie and Snoopy (ph) doing the neighborhood, he went to Vinny and plunked down 10 percent. So that's what everybody else --
COOPER: He's not going to -- I mean, Rudy Giuliani actually stopped by his bills bonds second chance.
MILLER: For a guy who is running a second term, that could be the lucky bondsman.
COOPER: I assume he's the former president, he will not be needing to stop by the bill bond.
HONIG: I hope they had arranged. I'm actually mystified why he's using a bill bond.
JONES: He is a billionaire.
HONIG: Right. He should have 20 grand to post.
DAVID URBAN, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Maybe the full 200 grand.
HONIG: Yeah, even that. Yeah.
ALYSSA FARAH GRIFFIN, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: I mean, what struck me, you know, Elie was making the point about the conditions of his bail, which of course, got intimidating. The potential jurors, the D.A. in this case, he's already telling a line on his truth social. He is calling D.A. Fani Willis a low life, a radical leftist, talking about the violent crime that is, you know, ravaged Atlanta in this region already.
So, a man who has not ever been known for self control, Donald Trump, I think is really going to push the limits of what he can say. And playing a game we always do with trying to get into his head. On the one hand, I worry that this is becoming pro forma. This is now the fourth time that he's gone through this process. He knows if I do it at prime time, the cameras are going to cut in.
But on the other side, you see him spiraling on his social media. You see that there is, I mean, the statements, and the length of them and the outrage. He is clearly not happy that this is happening to him. What I don't think has been reached is any sort of recognition that is his own doing.
COOPER: By the way, the Foster Bail Bonds is --
JONES: It wasn't Vinny.
COOPER: The choice of --
GRIFFIN: If you need one.
COOPER: The choice of the former president, I assumed via a local commercial perhaps.
The former president is heading to Fulton County jail where our Kaitlan Collins is standing by. Let's go to her.
Kaitlan?
COLLINS: Yeah, Anderson. Just remarkable watching this scene play out, and this may be a moment that others -- it didn't seem to stand out that much. But as -- the plane has landed and you saw a woman emerged.
That's Susie Wiles. She is a senior campaign adviser to Donald Trump and she is significant, not just for her title in the work that she does for his reelection effort but she is also the person who controls a lot of the attorneys and their paychecks and who it is that Trump is bringing in to his legal team. That was the case with John Lauro, the new attorney that Trump added for the federal indictment in Washington.
It is certainly the case with Steven Sadow. That is a new attorney who this may have been the first time he met Donald Trump as he climbed those steps to Trump's plane and went in there briefly before Trump emerged. And they got a motorcade to head here to the Fulton County jail behind me.
And I've got CNN's Sara Murray with me and also Sarah Flack, who's a former prosecutor in Fulton County. So perfect expertise for this.
I mean, Sara Murray, just knowing how Trump's legal orbit operates and how this works, I mean, as a week ago it was not clear to me if they were bringing on this name in particular. They've been looking for new attorneys. This is a first day on the job for Steven Sadow.
SARA MURRAY, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: It really is. I mean, on the one hand, it's not surprising, right, for Donald Trump to be shaking up his legal team, we have seen him do this in every other case essentially that he has been involved in. But Drew Findling, who is his original attorney, was already a prominent, criminal defense attorney.
Now he has Steven Sadow, another prominent criminal defense attorney who's no stranger to celebrity clients. You know, when you talk to people about the reputation of Steven Sadow, and I've talked to a number of lawyers about him today, they say, look, if I were in trouble, he would be top of my list of lawyers that I would call.
So, we are not in a situation where Donald Trump is, you know, hiring someone who just wants to perform on television or hiring someone who has questionable credentials. This is someone who is very well respected here in Atlanta.
COLLINS: Sarah, I mean, you've been in the courtroom with Steven Sadow. I mean, what's his reputation and how do you know of him as?
SARAH FLACK, CRIMINAL DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Oh, absolutely. I mean, he is notorious. He handles high profile cases only, usually really serious cases -- murder, RICO, racketeering, a lot of federal cases in federal courts all over the state. He's known as a trial lawyer. Most of the cases he has gone to trial. If not he is handling really huge appeals in our Georgia state Supreme Court.
COLLINS: And he represented, you know, T.I., Ray Lewis, Usher, I believe. I mean, he's represented high-profile clients.
[19:25:00]
I mean, it's safe to say that this is the highest profile case that he's ever taken. And I should note behind us, Jake and Anderson, we can see a few cars arriving. Of course we are truly outside of the Fulton County jail.
Also, Sarah, can you just walk us through what this is going to look like? What is Trump going to see the when he walks into this jail?
FLACK: Yes. So, he's probably going to be going to the sally port, which is where most people are going when they move into the jail. And it almost looks like a big DMV. There are chairs for different areas for processing.
There's a place for mugshots. There's a place for fingerprinting. There is a place to followed bonding information or your background information and getting all of your information -- doing body searches.
They probably will not be doing that for the former president. A lot of this has already been done. But rest assured, he's going to be in there having to go through these different stations to get his fingerprints and get his mugshot taken.
COLLINS: What's the -- what is he going to see as far as the conditions? I mean, the conditions of this jail, there'd been under investigation by the Justice Department for how the people who actually have to stay here overnight are treated, overcrowding, violence.
But also -- I mean, the sheriff said the walls were crumbling. People were creating shanks of the pieces of concrete that have broken. I mean, what will he actually physically see?
FLACK: The former president will see the true conditions of that jail. I mean, I was there last week and even going through the elevator, the floors were flooded. The water you're having to tiptoe around I know that is no different back to the intake area.
The intake area, just on the other side of the front entrance to the Fulton County jail, you can see the walls, the ceiling is leaking. There is a lot of issues with the leaking ceiling. I'm sure he'll see that when you walk in. It smells terrible.
It's hot. A lot of those cells and a lot of those areas in the jail have no AC. So he will fail to see all of that no doubt.
MURRAY: I do think that's one of the biggest differences. I mean, this case is different and it's sweep in its scoop, because of all the codefendants. But also, in the past, Donald Trump has been able to walk into court and walk out, and not really get that experience that you might see other criminal defendants get.
And obviously, he's being spared, some of that. He's not going to spend hours in there, like a normal defendant would. He's not going to spend days in there, but he does have to go inside an actual jail for this arrest in processing.
COLLINS: I mean, even just spending a little bit of time in there. I mean, it -- when we were, Sarah, just outside the courthouse in Washington on the federal charges, I mean, he was irritated because it took 20 or so minutes for him to get fingerprinted. And then he goes -- he was physically fingerprinted and he will have to go wash his hands after.
I mean, what is that process going to be like? Is he -- how long do expect it will take even if it is expedited?
FLACK: I think for him, it will probably be somewhere between 20 and 30 minutes. I mean, typically, that area there are other inmates being processed in and the Fulton county jail there is not a lot of other places to do booking. It is an old, old facility.
So maybe they will not have other inmates sitting in there with him like normal but he will be in that typical area and he's going to have to go through, the Fulton County jail, as you know, they are having very old processes. It's not updated. There's really no way to hide that, even for the former president.
MURRAY: And you see that in some of the ballerinas of the mugshots that we have gotten so far. But I do think that we are talking to sources here, it does seem like it is a mutual feeling that Trump's team and the sheriff's team want to move the president through there as quickly as possible. They don't want this to be a process where he's lingering.
COLLINS: Yeah. And, just an update, as we are watching Trump make his way to the Fulton County courthouse, Trump did indeed meet with his new attorneys, Steven Sadow, that was where you saw climbing the steps of his plane, to go and meet with him, to speak with him, as they are potentially meeting for the first time, as Trump was here and meeting and shaking hands with Susie Wiles going on that plane, and just remarkable to see the scene playing out that a former president is about to walk into this jail.
MURRAY: I know, you kind of -- I bet he likes the lights and sirens, and the full, you know, motorcade treatment he's gotten here. Obviously, that's one of the things that has irritated him, and that some of his past arrests, that he didn't get that full treatment. But I'm sure, that is going to change.
As Sarah said, once he walks inside of the jail and gets the full, sort of sight and scent and feeling of what this notorious Fulton County jail is. FLACK: Right. I mean, like I said, there is no hiding the conditions
of that place. And is probably the worst jail in the country, maybe even, you know, I don't know, the world? At this point, just because of the conditions.
MURRAY: Right, it does seem striking.
COLLINS: Yeah, the noise you heard behind us, and there are a few dozen supporters of the former president, and a few protesters of his as well, who have been standing outside the Fulton County jail all- day. They have grown in numbers. There is an increased amount of security behind us, cars just lined up on the drive.
That drive you can see behind me, you saw an ally of the foreign presidents earlier emerge, Marjorie Taylor Greene, with a coterie of security around her, coming up to speak to the supporters here. Now, you see it is lined with law enforcement vehicles here, as they are awaiting Trump's arrival to this jail, as he comes in.
[19:30:04]
And, when he gets, I mean, he's not going to be spending the night, he's not going to be staying for long. But he's also never been to an actual jail that we know before in this kind of sense. He is only got to a courthouse before he turns himself in.
MURRAY: Right, I think that it would be hard for me to imagine, even for someone like Donald Trump, that it doesn't feel like something, of a wake up call. Just listening Sarah, to you, describe the conditions, describe the way of the sentencing, and describe the way even if you are not getting thrown in with the general population, which, of course, we don't expect Donald Trump would be.
But you do get the full effect of, you know, this is a jail that's overcrowded. This is a jail that's under federal investigation. This is a jail that, you know, even the sheriff has been essentially begging for additional money, additional help, because he knows that they have an overcrowding issue, and they have safety issues here.
COLLINS: And, Sarah, and he's also -- we reporting early about his bond. I know he has worked with the -- to put down 10 percent of that $200,000 bond. One of the highest ponds we've seen, in this entire case. But also, he has strict restrictions coming along with, that about what he can and cannot do.
I mean, what do they do if he violates those? I mean, he's talking about not threatening witnesses and codefendants, and posting on social media.
FLACK: Oh I can tell you, Madam DA, Fani Willis, has an entire team that is dedicated to watching Donald Trump and his team. And I can tell you that if he even remotely thinks about violating that bond, she will file a very detailed, lengthy motion to revoke his bond. It will be a full blown hearing at the Fulton County courthouse, where he will have -- she will have to prove that he violated it, and that if he did, he would be arrested there, and take it right back here on 91 Rice Street.
COLLINS: And one question had been about, what's about to happen here a few moments, and now see an ambulance pulling up, is the mugshot.
I was talking to people in Trump's team earlier this morning, and they were claiming it was still unclear whether or not the mugshot was actually going to happen. That seems to contradict what we heard from the sheriff, who said this would be treated like anybody else.
I mean, if he doesn't get a mugshot, would that make sense to you? Or that be completely out of any protocol you've seen?
FLACK: No, I would be completely shocked if we didn't see a mugshot. I think we'll see a mugshot this evening. It's exactly what the sheriff said they're going to do, it's what they've done for every other defendant. And it's what they've done for every other defended in Fulton County. So I think we will see a mugshot of the former president this evening.
MURRAY: It does seem like, you know, in this case sheriff -- really sort of set himself up, or boxed himself in let's say. Because, he was so prominently out there, saying we are going to treat any defendants in this case the same as any other defendant. And obviously, that's not entirely true when it comes to the former president, but he said we're going to have a mugshot ready for you.
COLLINS: And, of course, there is his motorcade, they're turning in on, I believe that is Jefferson Street. All right here, you can see the barbed wire on the fence in the background.
It's a bit larger motorcade than what we've seen in some of his previous times that he's come to surrender in terms of informed indictment.
MURRAY: It is large. And look, that is a decent sized crowd out here. I think, when I first got here around 7:30 this morning, there were already a couple of people with their Trump flags, and a couple of anti-Trump protesters. You know it's obviously -- throughout the day. I certainly think that they didn't want this causing. I mean they didn't want to be sitting in traffic, obviously. They wanted these escorts, but they also don't have any problems along the, way when they arrived here.
COLLINS: And, Sarah, what's the district attorney? I mean, you worked under -- you worked alongside her, what is she doing, as all of this it seems controlled chaos, I guess is the phrase we would use right now. I mean, if she just going about business as usual? What does that look like for?
FLACK: I imagine she's in her office. I know she has a separate complete unit wing there, at the D.A.'s office, that's aside from the normal other prosecutors in that office. So I imagine she is there with her team, monitoring what's going on, probably speaking with Sheriff Labat, to make sure that everybody is turned in, and that there are no issues. And I imagine that the clerk, it's a new clerk actually -- Shea Alexander (ph), is probably a part of that, to make sure the paperwork goes through, and bonding.
He will have a booking ID number tonight, so making sure all those things are connected in the clerk's office, and dealing with logistics.
COLLINS: And there, you can see the motorcade entering the grounds. Of course, we are awaiting for him to actually enter. And I should note, as we are covering this. And, it is remarkable to watch this motorcade, to watch his plane land, to watch him turn and make his lawyer.
Trump himself has been not downplaying this. I mean, he has certainly seen how he uses these exact moment to his political advantage, Sarah. I mean, you covered him when he was in the White House as well. And, he was posting today, what time he expected to be here -- 7:30, here it is, 7:34, as he is arriving here, where --
MURRAY: He loved a timely -- he loves some timely guidance I guess. Yeah, but he does use these. I mean, he uses these for fund raising.
[19:35:00]
He uses these to rally his base. I mean that's one of the questions about the sort of value of a mugshot in this case, right? It's -- sure, it's -- if Donald Trump the same as any other defendant.
But you are also giving him a photo, that there is no doubt that he is going to use on promotional material, he's going to use on fundraising material. I believe he made a fake mugshot in the past.
COLLINS: Yeah.
MURRAY: That he used for fundraising purposes. And I think that, you know, that's one of the things that has gone into consideration, in his previous three arrests, where he has not had a mugshot. It is, do we really need to do this, when we're talking about a former president of the United States. We know what he looks like.
COLLINS: And it's -- he is certainly the highest profile person this week that has come in here. But, it's not just Trump who has gone through this exact process, without a motorcade, without a private plane bringing him in.
I mean, Mark Meadows came in just earlier, and at his mugshot yesterday, or today. We saw Rudy Giuliani coming in yesterday, getting his mugshot as well. I mean, the parade of people, and former top officials in the U.S. government that have come through this Fulton County jail, in the last few days, is remarkable in of itself.
FLACK: Oh, absolutely. It's unprecedented. It is nothing like I think any deal has ever seen. And certainly, I know Atlanta and Rice Street has never seen. And I know a lot of work efforts that have gone into making sure it goes through without a hitch.
But, it will be interesting to see what happens inside that jail. Because again, it is the Fulton County jail. COLLINS: And, you know this chill well. But for people at home who
are watching, and haven't been to Atlanta. I mean, can you just remind them. The Justice Department has opened investigations into this jail because of the humanitarian conditions, it called in a humanitarian crisis, the sheriff had.
I mean, can you just speak to, what regular people who go into this jail experience?
FLACK: Yes. I mean, it is overcrowded. There are not enough beds for inmates. And so at the height of COVID, and recently, people were sleeping on the floor. They don't have enough masks at one point. There was it was notorious for are the locks, different cells not walking, which obviously poses a security risk for inmates. There is a serious gang issue in that jail.
And, the higher up you go it. It's seven floors. The higher up you go, the more serious the charges are. So people charged with murder and the most serious crimes are on the seventh floor, and down on the first floor, you've got mental health, or special high-profile people, like a Donald Trump. If he were house there, he would probably be on the first floor.
MURRAY: I do want to point out though that, this was a choice to have Donald Trump and these other 18 codefendants, show up and be processed at the jail. This does not have to happen. It commonly does for most defendants in this case.
But there are other ways that defendants can be arrested, can be criminally processed. This was a choice that the sheriff made, that he wanted all of these defendants, you know, in consultation with the district attorney, to go through this process close to what a normal criminal defendant.
COLLINS: So what would the other options have been?
MURRAY: So my understanding, one, is that there is an option that is at the Fulton county courthouse, that is very uncommonly used but, it is a possibility. But, two, that they could have potentially made other arrangements in other places to do this.
In my conversations leading up to it, it sort of seemed like the jail was the top of their list, the D.A. and the sheriff really wanted to send this message, that they were going to try to treat these defendants as close to any other criminal defendant. And again, obviously, a normal criminal defendant does not get the silenced treatment for the airport, and is not going to be in and out in, you know, 15, 20, 30 minutes. But it still was a choice for the sheriff, to have them all come here.
COLLINS: And I should note that he is, we are told, being placed under arrest in Fulton County right now. He is surrendering to state law enforcement, and now he is going to undergo the booking process.
And you had mentioned, you call it the sally port. What did you call it? FLACK: Yeah, the sally port. That's where he's at. That's where you
are taken. So, where we're sitting --
COLLINS: So that's where he's just entered just now, entering the jail?
FLACK: Correct. That's the sally port. He will go through there. There is a private sort of area, a glass area that isn't closed.
Typically, they will do a strip search, so if you arrest off the street, they will unclothe you and do a cavity search to make sure you're not smuggling any contraband. And then, you will be taken inside, where the intake booking process happens, with all of those different sort of sections in the intake booking area.
COLLINS: And is that the entrance that typically, a defendant would go through? Or?
FLACK: It is. That is the area that the defendant would go through, with the exception of if a person knows they have an active worn off the streets. Sometimes, their attorney will just arranged to walk them in the front door the jail, and say hi, my client is surrendering. And they will do that with the front door. But if you arrested on the street, and you are taken in a police vehicle, you're going to be taken to the back of sally port.
COLLINS: And can we -- because we were talking, Van was saying earlier how, you know, talk about a two-tiered system of justice, and how some people are treated, and how Trump is treated. I mean, typically, they would not clear the streets of Atlanta to have his motorcade, to have a defendant's motorcade come through.
I mean this does look unusual, than what you typically see for a defendant.
[19:40:01]
FLACK: You're right. I mean, the streets would not be closed. I will say that when they do transport inmates from the jail to the Fulton County courthouse, which is about, you know, a seven-minute ride, that happens a few times a day. And they do have an escort, obviously for safety purposes, with the sheriff's office. And then the buses that go that way, to make sure that there are no issues.
You know, Fulton County is the home for the most dangerous shootings at a courthouse, in 2005, with Brian Nichols. And so security has been elevated here. Since then, more probably than anywhere else in a county courthouse in our state. So, security is number one here in Fulton County, because of that.
COLLINS: And, Trump has officially gone into the jail. We are told that his aides that are with him are sitting in the vehicles that you can see.
Obviously, the Secret Service goes in with him. They did that in Washington. It's just a remarkable security scene because of his Secret Service.
But one person who is sitting in those cars right there, that the people at home will now know is Walt Nauta, his codefendant, in the documents case, just to speak to the bizarre level of what we are watching.
MURRAY: Yeah, it does sort of. You know, we were talking about Susie Wiles earlier. And it sort of makes you wonder, back to the beginning, when Susie Wiles started working for Trump, and with somebody that had started working with Trump, how different it is, how different this experience of working for, you know, again the front runner of the Republican nomination for president is, from what they anticipated. Organizing lawyers, sitting in a motorcade outside of a jail while you are, the person you're working is preparing to be arrested, or is under arrest, for the fourth time.
And I mean it, just an incredible thing to see.
COLLINS: Yeah, Jake, I mean, you covered a lot of campaigns, you cover the White House. It's safe to say that is not typically with senior advisers on campaigns are tasked with doing, making sure that you have the right attorneys for your indictments.
TAPPER: No, it's certainly not, but whether for indictments including -- or one.
We should, note just up to you at some of the pictures we saw when Mr. Trump's plane landed, a 757, landed that Hartsfield airport, in Atlanta. That was in fact his new attorney. Stephen Sadow, who got on to the private plane to talk him, along with his aide, Susie Wiles. We saw her.
And then for those of you keeping track at home, Walt Nauta, who is his co defendant in the special counsel's classified documents case, is also traveling with him.
Donald Trump, as we understand it, is right on being placed under arrest, and surrendering to law enforcement.
One thing that's interesting about this case, and I love to get our lawyers who hear to weigh in, is that we understand that Mr. Trump is using the services of Charles Shaw, of Foster Bail Bonds LLC, to put up the $200,000. Is that normal, Michael Moore, former U.S. attorney for central Georgia? Is that normal for a wealthy defendant, to use a bail bondsman?
MOORE: No, there's -- there's nothing normal about that at all. I mean it's really because you are paying a bail bonds a fee just to sign your bail.
So, typically, somebody will either put up their own cash, especially somebody wealthy, they will make a deposit.
TAPPER: And it's only 10 percent have to put up, right, $20,000?
MOORE: They'll get the money back. TAPPER: That's going to be like getting a sofa changed for Donald
Trump.
BASH: Or the change of his giant plane that he rides.
TAPPER: Right.
MOORE: It costs more than that to come out and say that. It is unusual to see that some people put up a property bond, if they are living a stay during the can or where the jail is. But here, this is -- to go ahead and use a bail bond was different.
TAPPER: Why would he do such a thing?
MOORE: You know, I feel like I'm watching really a campaign trip, as opposed to a court trip. And so, everything from the number, the cars in the Secret Service detail, to the sort of fascination with the plane coming in, and the big production, and I'm not sure that it's going to play with the narrative of me of as the victim, and I'm being victimized. And so, I'm doing this.
That's the only thing I can -- I can come up with, that it makes sense to do. Because it's just --
BASH: We're going to put you on your political panel. You just nailed it.
TAPPER: Like you remember the back of the shirts for the bad news bears, saying they are sponsored by a bail bondsman. That was a sponsor.
PHILLIP: Maybe you just didn't want to hand over his own money to --
TAPPER: Twenty grand. But you're paying $2,000 fee --
(CROSSTALK)
MOORE: And sometimes you pay more than that. Sometimes, you pay 10 percent oft the bond. It's a --
BASH: That's a lot.
MOORE: That's a hefty fee.
PHILLIP: But even to your point about god, getting off the plane and seeing the press, running from one part to the motorcade. I mean, that is stuff that you really only see when it is the actual president. It's just not typical, for a former president to have that kind of arrangement of a press movement and all that, and the theatrics of it.
TAPPER: By the way, when he came down from the plane, and he said something to the cameras, we couldn't hear. He said, and thank you very much, to the press pool.
PHILLIP: Yeah, I mean, he is used to coming off that plane, and having people at the airport, on the sidelines, cheering for him, waving for him, that was typical when Trump was president. That was typical for most presidents, when they land somewhere.
It didn't happen today, because there is really no one there, except for the media.
[19:45:03]
But, Trump, in his mind. I mean, he is carrying this out like he would if he were still sitting in the Oval Office.
BASH: Right, except remember what he is right now. Yes, he is a former president, but he is a candidate for president.
PHILLIP: Yes.
BASH: So it still happens.
MCCABE: The striking thing, though, is he's not doing it alone. He's doing it with the significant assistance of Fulton County authorities, and, of course, the Secret Service.
Now, they approach protecting him, they decide, they make a decision about how he is going to be protected based on the threat assessment. And, there may be threats they are concerned about, that we are not aware of. But I have to tell you, you don't see motorcades with parades of motorcycles this long, when the president of the United States and drives through Washington, D.C.
This is really, I mean if I lived in Atlanta, I would have some questions.
TAPPER: What do you mean, just because of the public just expense? Because all of this is not just necessary?
MCCABE: It's hard to imagine how this is necessary. I don't know what their threat assessment is, and that's the work they do. But this appears to be pretty overdid.
TAPPER: As a security matter, does it make more sense to have a smaller footprint, then just have a car or two drive to the deal, as opposed to a big motorcade?
MCCABE: It certainly can. It depends on the environment, let's think about this as compared to Miami. In Miami, we didn't even see barricades front of the courthouse, right. He was able to pull right up. Of course, he drove into the building, in a similar way that he is doing here.
New York City didn't shut down the perimeter around the courthouse, where he was arraigned. So, there are other ways to do it, clearly, other than shutting down the entire city, and closing the highway, and using, you know --
MOORE: They made a big deal about the mugshot, in the negotiations over the militia. It might have been a more interesting deal to see, well, we will negotiate over when you turn yourself in. He had like 3:00 a.m., which is a lot more secure than coming in at 7:00. And this could've been done quietly with all the fanfare.
TAPPER: Right, but also, he. And I think as Abby noted, or Dana noted, he enjoys the fanfare. He enjoys. I mean, you couldn't pick a better time to be the arrested, arraigned, if one wanted as much attention as possible for it.
We are told, by the way, that is the process is done. Donald Trump has been arrested and arraigned now. And we are told he will be leaving the Fulton County jail shortly, and the motorcade we will see, that he was arrested and book, I suppose.
MOORE: Yeah, he will be arraigned later.
TAPPER: He'll be arraigned later, but right --
PHILLIP: And, Jake, as we were discussing earlier, they did provide, in the records, his height and weight. Six foot three, 215 pounds.
TAPPER: Two hundred and what?
BASH: Two hundred and fifteen pounds.
PHILLIP: One-five.
GANGEL: But did they, did they say they took it because, we were told that he filled out some papers ahead of time.
BASH: I don't think they put him, it doesn't look like they put him on a scale.
GANGEL: No, I -- my understanding is he was given the ability to fill out some paperwork ahead of time, including his weight.
TAPPER: And he put down, he filled out, Donald Trump put that he weighs 215 punds.
GANGEL: I was not there. But --
TAPPER: It's a self reporting?
GANGEL: It's a self reporting, yeah.
TAPPER: So he has lost 25 pounds, since he was president, is what we are understanding? Because he was I believe, Dr. Ronny Jackson said that he weighed something like 242 before his official physical, which we will have to time were skeptical of that number.
BASH: It says here, we look at the document.
TAPPER: Yeah, white male.
BASH: White male, 6'3", 215 pounds, hair, blond or strawberry, eyes blue.
TAPPER: Did he fill that out to, blond or strawberry? Or is that --
BASH: I think all of this was.
TAPPER: How does that, how does strawberry end up on a --
MOORE: That's a good question. Not so that I would --
BASH: Strawberry blonde.
TAPPER: I've -- okay, I've never seen strawberry as an option on any form. Not that I would be looking for it anyway. But, it certainly is unusual.
So, yes, white male, 6'3", 215 pounds, blond or strawberry with blue eyes. And then, of course, much more importance to the charges, violation of the Georgia Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organization or RICO Act, and on, and on, and on. Thirteen charges, as I mentioned. Rudy Giuliani is tied for most charges.
Is this, Michael Moore, a former U.S. attorney for Georgia, does that look familiar to you?
MOORE: Yeah, this looks like the screenshot you would see outlining the charges. And it identifies the bond that is assigned to each one. So, as opposed to giving up a mass bond, to cover the entire indictment. They broke down to a certain amount per charge, and that will be normal.
TAPPER: Is it normal to self report your height and weight? Is that also something?
MOORE: Again, I think this is probably a different, he's being treated different. Had he gone in as a regular inmate, or defendant to be turned in, they would have done a processing that typically would weigh, they do a pat down, those kinds of things.
[19:50:01]
This looks like --
TAPPER: So, Andy McCabe, let's go through some of the charges here because I'm wondering which ones look like the most important, the most significant. The first one obviously, violation of the Georgia RICO Act. That -- that is alleging that he was part of a grand conspiracy to steal the state of Georgia in the Electoral College, yes?
MCCABE: That's correct, that's correct. So that is by far the most significant charge he is facing. He is that -- he will I'm sure at trial, be portrayed as the head of a racketeering enterprise, and that engaged in this conspiracy to steal the election. And then you can see the remainder of the charges, these are essentially all of the elements that go into what that enterprise is alleged to have committed in the lead up to, and in the aftermath of the election.
TAPPER: And what's the next one there?
MCCABE: So, the next one is, solicitation of violation of an oath by public officer.
TAPPER: That is trying to get somebody who is a public official to violate their oath, to the state, or to break the law.
MCCABE: That's exactly right.
TAPPER: To violate their oath to the state, or this federal constitution. So that could have been state legislators, that could have been fake electors, it could've been leading on Secretary of State Raffensperger of Georgia, et cetera.
MCCABE: That's right, that's right.
The next one is conspiracy to commit impersonating a public officer.
TAPPER: So that would be the fake electors.
MCCABE: That would be the fake electors scheme. And then you have conspiracy to commit forgery, in the first degree. That would likely also be part of the fake electors scheme, the signing of documents and sending those documents to the National Archives. You have conspiracy to commit false statements in writings --
TAPPER: All of the documents and saying in which he was claiming voter fraud, that did not exist, including swearing in notarized documents or sworn testimony about these things that he had been told by his lawyers, and his attorney general, and the White House counsel, et cetera, et cetera, were not true.
MCCABE: That's right. And that's also statements by people like Rudy Giuliani, acting on his behalf, testifying to the Georgia state senate, and, making false statements in that testimony. Likely --
TAPPER: Even though he wasn't sworn in, it was still an official proceeding?
MCCABE: Correct. So, commit filing false documents -- I'm sorry, false statements in writings. Yeah, conspiracy to commit false statements and writings.
TAPPER: And Donald Trump's record, which it now says that he has been released on bond, we should just note, as part of this process. Thanks to the bail bond, Foster Bail Bonds LLC, Charles Shaw, who put the $20,000 up, 10 percent of the $200,000 bond.
MCCABE: I guess, but for their intervention, he will be staying the night.
TAPPER: Well I'm guessing that, he would have $20, 000, or any member of his very wealthy family would have $20,000.
MCCABE: He would probably be able to --
TAPPER: It's still a mystery as to why he did this, but okay.
MCCABE: I should state say, too, that we've heard from some of the other experiences, people like John Eastman and others to surrender earlier this week, that it was typically taking those folks about an hour and a half inside.
TAPPER: Is that right?
MCCABE: It sounds like the process he went through was greatly truncated, or facilitated in different ways.
TAPPER: Which is also by the way injury interest of Fulton County jail, they don't want that security situation going on for a very long time.
MCCABE: That's right.
TAPPER: Right?
What any other charges you want to go through?
MCCABE: So we have solicitation of false, violation of both by a police officer. That's the same one that we had at the top of the list. False statements in writings, that's another repeat. We have solicitation of violation of oath by a public officer, and these are just repeats.
TAPPER: Basically, yes, it's the same thing, different people.
MCCABE: Different people. Yeah, I mean, it's a quite -- it's quite a list, to behold, when you look at all of the indictments, all the counts that he has been charged with, Abby.
PHILLIP: Yeah. And I mean, it reflects the theory of the case from Fani Willis, that Trump is at the center of all of this. All of it from, actually, one of the dates listed for the offense of the RICO charges, the day after the election. And, that day after the election could have been literally the election night when at one or two in the morning, he comes out and makes a false statement, that he basically won the election.
TAPPER: And, Abby --
PHILLIP: That launches his whole conspiracy. So, it is -- the reason there are so many counts, the reason that there are so many aspects of this that Trump is involved in, is because the whole point of this case is that he was at the heart of, it that he directed, that people did it on his behalf. And then he knew, that a lot of this was based on lies.
TAPPER: And now, this will end with an actual mugshot. The sheriff of Fulton County has confirmed that there was a mugshot taken of Donald Trump. And I expect that they will, as with all the other mugshots of the former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows, in former Time Person of the Year, Rudy Giuliani, there will be a mugshot released, probably imminently.
BASH: Yes. Go ahead.
MOORE: No, I'll just say, it will be released in the media, without a doubt.
BASH: And that is a political gift, to Donald Trump, from his perspective, and the perspective of the people around him. It is, if -- for any usual civilian, average human being, even most politicians, having a mugshot is a -- an albatross around somebody's neck.
[19:55:12]
And for him, his daughter-in-law, Lara Trump, has already been on television, saying that they have already have the plans to make them into merch. And they are going to sell it, and they're going to raise money off of it. And he is going to make it as notorious and own it as much as he possibly, can because it fits right into his political campaign.
TAPPER: Which will no doubt helping within the Republican primary. But with the majority of the country views what he is trying to do differently, it will not necessarily be a gift.
PHILLIP: No --
TAPPER: The motorcade, we should note, is now leaving the Fulton County jail, heading back to Hartsfield Jackson International Airport in Atlanta.
Abby?
PHILLIP: And just to note, I mean, on the seriousness of this. I mean, it's obvious, but this case is not going to be easy for Trump to just shake.
MCCABE: No.
PHILLIP: He cannot just become president, and pardon himself, or have somebody pardon him. None of this is going to be easy to shake. So there is going to be a process for this. It's going to be a lengthy, probably legal process.
TAPPER: Right, because we should just note for listeners, a president can pardon himself, from federal charges.
PHILLIP: Probably, yes.
TAPPER: Probably, it's never been tested.
PHILLIP: It's never been tested.
TAPPER: But his attorney, he could appoint an attorney general, who would then dismiss the cases, but not for state charges.
PHILLIP: You cannot do that in this case. He can't even have the governor of the state of Georgia pardon him. So this is going to be one of those cases, that he has to actually get through the whole thing. Go through the legal process, maybe he winds on a motion, that hasn't been thrown out. That's possible, but it seems unlikely, given the stakes here. And that's why this is so serious. It's probably why this case has
been, like the New York, the Manhattan district attorney case, those are cases that have been sort of, in the back of his mind, deep annoyances, because they are not as easy for him to see a way out of.
And Trump's entire political career, really from the beginning, seems to always be a belt trying to keep the office of the presidency, as a way of protecting himself from consequences like this. And that is not available to him in this case.
MCCABE: You know, I think that's absolutely right. And despite the Hollywood-esque staging, in the motorcade, and the raising money off the mugshot. On a personal level, he is riding in one of those Suburbans right now, and he has for the first time in his life, been inside a real jail.
I have walked many people through that process, in the course of my time in New York as a new agent of the FBI, taken many people through their first time through the system. And it is a stark, depressing, humiliating experience, because for the first time, he is seeing people basically behind bars, and he has had to think about that, in terms of to some degree, this might be me.
TAPPER: Yeah, food for thought for sure.
Anderson?
COOPER: Jake, thanks very much.
Back with the team here as we watch the former president now heading back to the airport to get on his plane. It all went fast. It seemed to go relatively smoothly.
MILLER: It went as planned, as expected, and roughly to time.
COOPER: Does it make sense to you? We talk about this level of security, the motor vehicles. I mean, it seems like it's the full --
MILLER: It is, and very much resembles a presidential motorcade for someone who's a former presidents. And you know if you've seen the movements of former presidents, it's usually in much smaller packages.
In this case, I think you've got a couple of factors. One, you've got the standard package, which is you know, the, limo, the lead, the follow of car. We've got a counter assault theme, because as a high- profile move. And it is being televised live, which means the location is easy to track, the schedule is widely known.
But then, you've got you know, the state police wanted to add their team in. You've got a staff car for the people who are traveling with former President Trump, who worked for him on his staff. And now, you have two vans, for press.
The motorcycles, there is 18 motorcycles. But they have a job that's more than the formality of writing it in front of the motorcade, as we just saw. Those are the outriders, who raced ahead, block the intersections, the ones who lead the motorcycles, and then others race head and block those intersections, so that they have what they call a floating bubble of protection. I'm using the out rider, so it looks like a lot.
But, every vehicle has a purpose. Two ambulances this time, one in case there is a medical emergency with the protectee, Donald Trump. The other because, when they did this the last, time they had a motorcycle officer go down, and they want to have, with that many motorcycles, a spare ambulance.
COOPER: You know, Elie, just in terms of the legal battle ahead for the former president, there was a pretty major development that hasn't gotten a lot of coverage.
