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Erin Burnett Outfront
Judge Rejects Trump's Last-Minute Push To Delay Hush Money Trial; Millions Watch Solar Eclipse, Swath Of Darkness 100+ Miles Wide; Rep. Greene Holds Town Hall, Threatens To Oust House Speaker; Harris Blasts Trump's Changing Positions, Says He Can't Be Trusted. Aired 7-8p ET
Aired April 08, 2024 - 19:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[19:00:38]
ERIN BURNETT, CNN HOST: OUTFRONT next:
We've got breaking news. Trump denied and time is running out. A judge killing his last-ditch effort to delay the hush money trial, and we have just obtained the jury questionnaire for Trump's criminal trial that begins in six days. We're going to go through that with you right now.
Plus, a sight to behold. Nearly every single American could see at least parts of the eclipse sweeping across America if you had the glasses. Thirty-two million people though were in the path of totality, a stunning thing. One of the former NASA astronaut tells me its like nothing he's ever seen before.
And Marjorie Taylor Greene linking the eclipse to the New York earthquake as, quote, signs to repent in America. This is her efforts to oust the House speaker are making her even more powerful in the GOP.
Let's go OUTFRONT
And good evening. I'm Erin Burnett.
And OUTFRONT tonight, we begin with breaking news. Trump's last ditch effort to delay denied. A judge just rejecting the former president's request to delay his hush money trial, which starts in six days. Trump is trying to move the case out of Manhattan.
And it comes just as CNN has obtained the crucial jury questionnaire that potential jurors will have to answer in Trump's first criminal trial. Our Paula Reid obtain them and they the offer a lot of important clues about the trial we're about to witness. You've got questions ranging on, you know, whether jurors have supported any fringe groups like QAnon to where they get their news, to whether they've ever listened to certain podcasts to whether they're married, all sorts of details, you know?
And also questions like this. Do you have any feelings of opinions about how Mr. Trump is being treated in this case? So it is 42 questions in all. We're going to go through it, as Trump is throwing every piece of spaghetti he can find at the wall and a final effort to avoid his facing judge and jury in that first criminal trial in just six days.
He's also frenetically trying every last ditch effort to get his Georgia election interference case tossed. Tonight, turning to the Georgia court of appeals, his team writing that the former president's quote, indictment wrongfully criminalizes core political speech and expressive conduct predict -- protected, I'm sorry, by the First Amendment.
Remember, this is the case where Trump appealed to the secretary of state of Georgia to find him votes that did not exist. Listen.
(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP, FORMER U.S. PRESIDENT & 2024 PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: All I want to do is this. I just want to find 11,780 votes, which is one more that we have.
(END AUDIO CLIP)
BURNETT: These two cases are not theoretical possibilities anymore in New York or Georgia, they're real and they're happening. And in the case of Georgia, the prosecutor promising the, quote, train is coming and that she wants a trial and this is very crucial in this one because it's different than the New York one, it will be televised, and so the whole country can see it coming into the final days of the election. She wants it to start in August.
So let's get straight to Paula Reid on the breaking news tonight.
And, Paula, you've gotten these jury instructions and the criminal trial in New York that they refer to is starting in just six days, even though he is trying one more Hail Mary after another here to try to delay it.
REID: Yeah, drawing unsuccessfully today. That New York appeals court judge rejecting these last-minute efforts to pause the trial, while Trump continues to try to argue that this should be moved out of Manhattan. The Trump lawyers argued that pretrial publicity is making it impossible to get a fair trial. But prosecutors, Erin, they said, look, it's too late to do something like that when the way we will weed out bias jurors is through jury selection.
And that's where the jury questionnaire comes in and you look through this. The question some of them were similar to the questions we saw during jury selection in the E. Jean Carroll case. They ask where jurors get their news. They ask if they or anyone close to them has ever worked for Trump or attended a Trump rally. They also ask about membership in extremist groups like the Proud Boys and the Oath Keepers.
Now again, these are questions that we have seen before. Then they get more specific about this case, about feelings about Trump himself. This is the process are and that prosecutors insist will help them weed out anyone who has a bias. The question I'm getting a lot is how long is this going to take?
Remember in this case, there's only four days in a trial week, because court is off on Wednesdays, then also have a couple of religious holidays over the next few weeks. So this process of selecting a jury for this, the first criminal prosecution of former President Trump could take a few weeks.
[19:05:01]
BURNETT: Could take a few weeks just for the jury to be selected. All right. Very significant.
Paula, thank you very much. Paula breaking this news and obtaining this questionnaire as well.
OUTFRONT now, Ben Ginsberg, the longtime Republican election lawyer, Harry Sandick, former assistant U.S. attorney for the southern district of New York. And Astead Herndon, national political reporter for "The New York Times".
So thanks very much to all of you.
Harry, you've been going through this juror questionnaire and as Paula points out, some of the questions in here are ones we saw before in the E. Jean Carroll case, you know, whether you've worked for Trump for example, where you get your news. Forty-two questions as she points out. What stands out to you?
HARRY SANDICK, FORMER ASSISTANT U.S. ATTORNEY: Sure. I think it's a very thoughtful approach. Many of these questions are typical in any jury trial about the background of the juror and what they do, where they live, those types of things. But then they're aimed at trying to elicit people who cant be fair because of course, Trump is entitled to have a fair trial of jurors who don't go in with a preconceived notion about his guilt.
And the judge has said that anyone who says, I can't be fair, they'll just simply be excused, which will make the process take a long time. But will result one hopes in a fair trial.
BURNETT: Right, and you hope, of course, if people give honest answers to all of these things, this isn't an odd moment in America.
Ben, what stands out to you as you look through this and interesting on the places where you get your news? I mean, sure, Newsmax is on there, MSNBC, you've got all the -- but then, you know, X, TikTok, all of it, all of it is here, Ben.
BEN GINSBERG, REPUBLICAN ELECTION LAWYER: Yeah, it is all there and it's designed to obviously to try and get it with people are believing. I do think it's noteworthy that the judge said in centered his cover letter that the two sides had not agreed on the jury instructions so that anticipates something we probably all knew along, which is there going to be appeals on this, that there will be kind of station over the jury selection process and you're right, it is going to take an awfully long time. BURNETT: As Paula said weeks.
All right, put a pin in the appeals and the time it takes for one second, Astead, just going through this, what stands out to you? It's interesting. They even go so far as to say, have you read certain books and listen to certain podcasts?
ASTEAD HERNDON, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: Yeah. I mean, I think it shows the painstaking process, the legal process goes through to make sure you weed out folks who have bias, but that my political head to on and those that Donald Trump, no matter what the processes is very, very likely going to say to this bias against him, no matter what, as he has been doing this whole time. I mean, they've had pretty much the same set of goals since these indictments came down last year, to obscure the facts and also to delay this for long enough so that it starts blending in with him and the political calendar over the summer.
The mere fact that we are talking about the hush money case and not the January 6 cases, the trial that's going first was considered a victory for the Trump folks. They wanted this case to kind of go for anything. Easier to the folks have actually ingested the facts here, but I think that as this comes on, we do see polling say that maybe people will change their opinion if a conviction comes or as the election gets a little closer.
So, all of this case may not be the same in terms of severity substantively as the other ones, I don't think we should put it to the side and assume that doesn't matter for voters.
BURNETT: All right. So, Harry, what's the timing were looking at here? You presume, interestingly, they didn't agree on the jury instructions, I guess so few things. Is that normal and how long do you think if Trump appeals that? What does that do to this six-day start? Does anything changed including his last-ditch effort for a change of venue today?
SANDICK: Sure. I don't think anything is let me put this way. I don't think anything should change it. The fact that the parties didn't agree on the questions to put to the jury is very common typically, each side, the government and the defense, they make proposals in the judge picks between pick some from one and some from the other to do what he thinks is fair.
Now, you can always appeal anything but typically the way it's done is not as you go, it's done after final judgment. So if Trump challenges these questions or challenges, venue or anything else, its not that he doesn't have a chance to challenge it. He will on appeal after a conviction. If he's not convicted, there does --
BURNETT: It basically said that the effect -- the conviction itself, if it happened is biased?
SANDICK: That's right.
BURNETT: And therefore should be thrown out? SANDICK: That's right. Any legal error that he identifies, he'll be
allowed to appeal at the end of the case.
BURNETT: All right. So, Ben, what do you think happens here and does any of this in your mind add up to changing where this case goes in six days. And also if you could weigh in on how -- what's the timing error if it's going to take us weeks to even get a jury selected before you get an initial verdict
GINSBERG: I think Paula was right about the time it is going to take -- it is going to take a matter of weeks, given everything in this case and the holidays. So it is going to be a prolonged period.
As for the substance of this case, I think this is the weakest of the cases that have been brought against Trump. And there are going to be legal points in here in which Trump actually has a pretty good argument. But it's also true that this case is going to present a series of not so flattering facts about and instances that took place in this.
[19:10:02]
And that does stand to very much tarnish his reputation no matter what the outcome of the case is --
BURNETT: Right.
GINSBERG: -- and how long the appeals.
BURNETT: Which is interesting, Astead, because we are talking about things that have been very well-litigated in the court of public opinion, right? Whether, you know, people care that, whether Trump slept with a porn star, people have opinions on that that were set prior to the first election.
HERNDON: Absolutely. I mean, actually when I talked to people about this case, they feel like it's old news. I mean, as we talked to the folks across the country, people bring up the fact that he hasn't been criminally indicted about January 6. And looking at the special prosecutor, even things like taking the documents, cut through because of the Mar-a-Lago search.
When we think about this case specifically, every time I've heard someone bring this up, its kind of a confusion as to why this has been relitigate it right now. I think that should be separate from that kind of legal questions PC here, but politically, Trump is going to try to use that to his vantage.
What we ask about why these appeals are happening, some of it is because he wants to be able to make the political argument in a public arena about them. So they may fail and they might delay the trial, all of that is a possibility, but we know he's going to try to use it to weaponize it against the process itself.
BURNETT: And, Harry, you're -- in terms of when you look at the Georgia attempts to delay on Fani Willis, which a failed thus far. And again, in this case, do you anticipate both of those going ahead?
SANDICK: I do think that that trial well go ahead the grounds that were argued for the appeal about this being free speech, that seems like a real long shot. You're not allowed to say anything that you want. That's not what the First Amendment protects.
BURNETT: Yeah.
SANDICK: And I thought the judges decision about whether to disqualify the district attorney seemed like a balanced decision, saying that, you know, she couldn't have this one particular lawyer working on the case due to the appearance, but not disqualifying her entire office, which is a drastic step.
BURNETT: And, Astead, quick final word to you in terms of paying for all this. Trump's trying to raise money and have other people pay for it. But to the extent that he's had to pay for some things himself, even some of the judgments in the Manhattan real estate valuation case is net worth has been affected and you've done a deep dive on that. What have you found, especially in light of Truth Social, which is now like the lions share of his net wealth worth for a brief moment, even though it may be ephemeral to say the least, right?
HERNDON: Exactly. Last week, we focused on Trumps finances for our podcast and vote came through, is really this is the person doing it, extreme juggling act. And so the money has dwindled these using to pay for other people, other people's funds. That pocket the money has gone away.
So you might have to dip further into those personal funds to basically be able to pay for the legal expenses coming forward, you have the judgment, certainly. You have the legal trial, certainly. You also have a political campaign that is bleeding dry.
The Biden campaign is raising so much more money than Donald Trump. And partially that is because his money is tied up in five different places right now, so much so that it's not just the brand that's being affected. It actually his ability to legally his ability to actually do the things he wants to do politically and personally.
BURNETT: Yeah, which is -- which is a huge thing to actually say. It's in the past, he always had that ability.
HERNDON: He was always --
BURNETT: He didn't want to use his own my now.
HERNDON: Absolutely.
BURNETT: A very different story that you paint.
All right. Astead, thank you. Harry, thank you. Ben, thank you. Great to see all of you.
And next, a spectacular show from Texas to Maine, a rare solar eclipse turning day into night for millions. And now, cars lined up for miles because guess what? It's time to go home. These are live pictures outside of Indianapolis, which was in the path of totality.
Plus, Marjorie Taylor Greene live in Georgia at a town hall, where she's tripling down on calling for speech there Mike Johnsons head.
How the fringe congresswoman is growing ever more powerful in the GOP tonight.
Plus, a top staffer for RFK Jr. revealing what they say is the number one priority.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The only way for him for Bobby to shake it up and to get rid of Biden is if he's on the ballot in every state.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
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BURNETT: Tonight live pictures near Indianapolis, heavy traffic. Wow. That looks absolutely miserable, but maybe they're all in such a great mood because they were there at the center of the path of totality from that rare solar eclipse today. They had that moment, 32 million people in the path today altogether as the moon cross the Mexico Texas border and across 15 states.
Massive crowds gathering to take again, the spectacular site, looking up as a whopping 99 percent of Americans were able to claps -- catch at least a glimpse, a glimpse of partial eclipses.
Bill Weir is OUTFRONT.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BILL WEIR, CNN CHIEF CLIMATE CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Every day, the shadow of the moon bounces willy-nilly across the lifeless Milky Way. And when it hits earth, it mostly darkens ocean or ice with no human witnesses.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The darkness has settled into Kerrville, Texas.
WEIR: But on this day, random fate sent that shadow on a North American tour like no other. And from Mexico to the Maritimes, that shadow moved people to weep and cheer, marry, and propose.
It moved animals, triggering both flamingos and penguins at the Dallas zoo to bunch their flux tighter for nighttime safety.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The penguins are all clustered together. The flamingos are all clustered together.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yeah, all the birds are joining together --
WEIR: The swath of darkness over 100 miles wide move clouds, and dropped temperatures by ten degrees.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The chill in the air is getting cooler and cooler.
[19:20:03]
WEIR: But for science lovers --
REPORTER: What did you think of it all?
WEIR: -- there were chills for other reasons.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I thought it was incredible. You know, I've seen several solar eclipses. This though, one of the best I've ever seen. We saw the diamond ring effect. And then Bailey's beads, you know, the sun coming through the mountains.
WEIR: And with the sun less blinding than normal, this was also a rare chance for NASA to use high flying planes and rockets to study the sun's corona and the massive eruptions of plasma happening as the sun cycles through its most active phase.
Solar storms have the potential to destroy satellites and fry entire electrical grids. So scientists are hungry for clues that could help predict space weather.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BURNETT: So amazing, Bill.
So, when you look at some of the things they're trying to do and NASA has a moment like this to observe, what were they trying to learn?
WEIR: Well, the power of this star that really gives us life, it lifts our moods, tans our skin, but it's also a thermonuclear bomb that's been going on for and billion years. And on an angry day, it emits enough electrical power, enough energy from those spasms in the plasma that could really fry the electrical grid here on earth are really wreck havoc with our satellite systems, they keep us connected through GPS and weather and finances.
So they're studying that. They're studying the ionosphere, the charged particles that sort of crackle around the earth sun comes up right now, and it's just that artificial shade that science enjoyed today. Lets them study stuff that normally you can't see because the sun is so bright.
Also, amateur radio operators, ham radio operators bouncing their signals off the ionosphere to see how it's altered by this. But what a day of just pure human connection, whether you're an astrophysicist or a seventh grader you can see faces light up. Most people saw it despite warnings of cloud cover all in all, a nice nonpartisan uniting force of nature across America.
And the next one, to give a perspective, Erin, toddlers today will be old enough to drink for the next total eclipse in the United States, 22 years from now.
BURNETT: Wow, that's just something sobering to think about, pun intended.
All right. Bill, thank you very much.
And I want to go now to former NASA astronaut Mike Massimino who has traveled to space twice, also the author of "Moonshot: A NASA Astronaut's Guide to Achieving the Impossible".
So, Mike, people traveled from all over the country to be in the path of totality. And I know people who travel around the world constantly looking for these things. You know that there's something spiritual about it, something that touches the soul.
You made the journey from New York to Russellville, Arkansas, to go to one of the best viewing spots in the country. And you shared some of your images from today with us.
Tell me what -- what did it mean to you.
MIKE MASSIMINO, FORMER NASA ASTRONAUT: Erin, it was -- it was amazing. I have gotten to see some amazing things during my space flights, but I would say this is the most amazing event that I've witnessed here on the planet, as far as our relationship with the cosmos and our being here on this planet and how we are part of this cosmic dance between the sun and the moon and the stars.
This was quite an event and it was the totality of it. I've seen other partial eclipses, but this was the first good weather total eclipse that I had been able to observe and to see that a diamond ring that it looked like a halo in the sky. It was emotional and to be there with some of my family members and with a very nice community made it even more special.
BURNETT: I'll never forget it. I've only seen one total eclipse. I saw it today, but I was not in the exact totality. I've only seen one in my life stumbled upon it and unforgettable day in my life, but you, Mike, this is the thing when you say the most incredible thing you've seen in array, you have seen some of the most amazing things that human can see. In fact, that so few humans have seen spaceflight. You shared images with us, but that's not the same as being there yourself, right? For spacewalks.
You were compelled to travel 1,300 miles for the eclipse from the upper one west side in Manhattan where you still would have had a pretty darn good, you're just barely outside the path of totality.
MASSIMINO: Yeah.
BURNETT: So what made it worth it?
MASSIMINO: Well, I had heard that getting to totality is a big difference than even seeing like 99 percent.
BURNETT: Yeah. MASSIMINO: And I heard this from sources that I trust.
And they're right. Are you really was different. It was the whole thing was kind of cool to see the moon current ban and the sun gets -- gets eaten away little by little like a Pac-man. And then when it goes and you can remove your glasses again and its dark and its cool. And you're looking up at an astonishing sight.
[19:25:02]
It's -- there's something about it that no photo can really do it justice. It's being in that moment and noticing that in real life -- this is something that only happens, as you said its not going to happen again here in the U.S. for 22 years and you're witnessing it for a few minutes.
It is worth the trip. It really is, and I'm so glad I did.
BURNETT: So, you know, one of this thing and I guess this and other events recently all in their own different ways, whether it'd be earthquake or crazy weather, it made us all realize how vulnerable we are, right? How things happen outside of our control especially in the context now, we worry so much about the environment and climate change.
One of the things Bill mentioned in his report, right, there was a point in some places where the temperature dropped as much as ten degrees during the eclipse, so, in just a few quick moments. Now, we all feel that when a cloud goes over the sun, and yet somehow experiencing it in the context of what we saw today was quite different.
I mean, what -- that's an incredibly its an incredibly large and swift a change in temperature -- it's a reminder of how dynamic and fragile things are, I think because when we said and when it gets cloudy out, it's a lot different than when the sun is shining on us.
But it's really the same reason during the eclipse, it's just that less solar radiation is reaching the surface and reaching us. So it's cooler. We feel a cooler temperature.
With the moon blocking the sun, it perfectly blocks it. The moon, the side is 400 times larger than our moon, and it's also coincidentally 400 times further away than our moon. So that when we get a total eclipse, like we had today, it perfectly blocks it out.
And so, that were seeing a total blackout for those minutes of that reduction in solar radiation. And that's why we get that huge temperature drop. We see the effect of what the sun does to us and how fragile that can be when it's blocked.
BURNETT: Yeah. I mean, what an amazing thing when you say 400 times larger, 400 times farther away, even in the context of the billions and trillions, whatever. You know, there's no word for the number of stars out there just to think of the odds of such a perfect ratio coming even in the context of our sadly average little sun that does give us everything.
All right. Thanks so much, Mike. I appreciate it.
MASSIMINO: Erin, you bet. Thank you.
BURNETT: And next, Republican Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene's war with their own party heating up tonight, threatening to oust the House speaker and blow up the House if she does not get her way.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. MARJORIE TAYLOR GREENE (R-GA): How dare he go on TV and say it's his top priority to fund Ukraine for $60 billion?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: Plus, Trump taking a lot of heat tonight from conservatives after opting not to support a national ban on abortion.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[19:32:10]
BURNETT: New tonight, Republican Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene just wrapping up a town hall in Georgia where she ramped up her attacks on Speaker Mike Johnson as she pushes to oust him.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GREENE: I will not tolerate a speaker of the House that I voted for to sell us out. I will not tolerate it.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: It comes as Greene again is making headlines for social media posts. The latest slinking the eclipse to the New York earthquake and calling them all strong signs to, quote, repent.
Sunlen Serfaty is OUTFRONT.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
GREENE: This majority is a failure.
SUNLEN SERFATY, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Brazen.
GREENE: Why don't you (EXPLETIVE DELETED) off?
SERFATY: Brash.
GREENE: Say her name!
SERFATY: And ever the provocateur.
GREENE: No, I reclaim my time. You're a liar! SERFATY: Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene is holding the reins at the center of the effort to take down Speaker Mike Johnson, threatening to throw the Republican Party into chaos.
GREENE: It's more of a warning and a pink slip.
SERFATY: Since filing the motion to vacate, Greene only intensifying her attacks.
GREENE: Mike Johnson has returned into Mitch McConnell's twin and worse. He's a Democrat.
SERFATY: Slinging political arrows directly at the leader of her own party.
GREENE: He is a damn fool, Steve. And he's -- he's a liar.
SERFATY: Greene set off by the spending package Johnson negotiated to avoid a partial government shutdown.
GREENE: The current speaker of the House we have right now is getting rolled in every single meeting. He is negotiating from weakness and we have lost full confidence in him.
SERFATY: Johnson calling her move a distraction.
REP. MIKE JOHNSON (R-LA), SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE: She's trying to send a message. I respect the message. I share her -- again, her frustration about the process.
SERFATY: With some Republicans dismissing her as an unserious.
REP. BOB GOOD (R-VA): Nobody cares what Marjorie Taylor Greene says or thinks. She's a one-man show. She's grandstanding and she wants attention.
SERFATY: The congresswoman has trafficked in some of the most deeper conspiracy theories, bringing the most questionable views, and wild opinions to the U.S. Capitol.
REPORTER: Do you have any regrets?
SERFATY: Greene claiming this weekend that today's eclipse and Friday's earthquake in New York are assigned from God to repent and warning about things to come.
Yes, eclipses are predictable and earthquakes happen and we know when comets are passing by. However, God created all of these things and uses them to be signs for those of us who believe.
Greene is an election denier.
GREENE: Today, I'll be objecting to a stolen election. We can't allow this to happen.
SERFATY: And before coming to Congress was a QAnon sympathizer, promoting conspiracy theories about the September 11th terror attacks.
GREENE: The so-called plane that crashed into the Pentagon.
SERFATY: And mass shootings.
GREENE: You guys are being used.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: That's right.
GREENE: Being use by the left because you're young and you're being tricked and having your Second Amendment slowly chipped away and taken away from you.
[19:35:06]
SERFATY: And antisemitic conspiracy theories.
REPORTER: What out about Jewish space lasers? Tell us about Jewish space lasers?
GREENE: No, why don't -- why don't go talk about Jewish space lasers?
SERFATY: Once claiming that the deadly wildfires in California in 2018 were caused by a laser from space possibly controlled by the Rothschild investment, a conspiracy theory. She was forced to apologize for after taking office in 2021.
GREENE: These were words of the past and these things do not represent me.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SERFATY (on camera): Now the next big question is will Marjorie Taylor Greene followed through with this threat to get rid of Speaker Johnson. Now that he has filed that motion to vacate. She now has to bring it to the floor. Now, after it's brought to the floor, she will officially have two legislative days to try to force it the vote to oust him. But, Erin, she has so far not reveal the timeline of how all this will unfold -- Erin.
BURNETT: All right. Sunlen, thank you very much.
And lets go now to the former Republican Congressman Ken Buck, who was one of the eight Republicans who voted to oust then Speaker Kevin McCarthy.
So, Congressman, you heard Sunlen talk about some of the conspiracies Greene has pushed over the years and obviously now saying that if the speaker doesn't do what she wants regarding Ukraine, she's going to go ahead with what she can now do, right, just takes one to force a vote on the speakership.
Does it worry you that she has this much power in the House of Representatives?
KEN BUCK (R), FORMER U.S. REPRESENTATIVE: Well, Marjorie has as much power because we have such a small majority at this point in time. Mike Johnson, the speaker, is on the right side of history and Marjorie is on the wrong side of history. We know that Russia is propagating these false statements narratives about what's going on in Ukraine.
We know that she is getting her talking points from Russia and we know that they're false and Mike Johnson is doing the responsible thing by trying to make sure we get a vote on Ukraine funding, make sure that Ukrainian people can fight for their freedom.
The fact that the Marjorie is continuing now and this false bath, I don't think many Republicans are going to support her. There will be some and I expect that the Democrats recognize this moment in history and the importance of being bipartisan in supporting Mike Johnson.
BURNETT: Well, we will see. I mean, that's a whole another can of worms, I guess as we could say. But, Congressman, she has been going after Speaker Johnson over Ukraine funding, obviously specifically, but then she just recently suggested to Tucker Carlson something that took me aback. She had no evidence to back it up, but she said, that the whole reason that he may be doing this is because Johnson maybe being blackmailed.
Let me just play the exchange
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GREENE: Mike Johnson has made a complete departure of who he is and what he stands for and to the point where people are literally asking, is he blackmailed? What is wrong with him? Because he's completely disconnected with what we want.
TUCKER CARLSON, TV HOST: Do you think he is being blackmailed?
GREENE: I have no idea
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: All right. So she's saying people are literally asking you to being blackmailed, and she says she has no idea when Tucker asked her again. Do you take this seriously?
BUCK: No. I think it's irresponsible as so many of the statements that Marjorie has made over the years are completely irresponsible. The idea that somehow the speaker is corrupt because he believes that we should be supporting an ally that's been invaded by a war criminal, Vladimir Putin.
And the idea that somehow anybody who is in agreement with Ukraine and our NATO allies is corrupt, it's just another distraction that she uses to take away from the core arguments that are so important.
BURENTT: So, so when you talk about her, it is, it is a bit different obviously then what the man you voted to remove as speaker, Kevin McCarthy, said about her. In fact this weekend, he said this about Congresswoman Greene. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KEVIN MCCARTHY, FORMER HOUSE SPEAKER: The one I have always found about Marjorie is she's a very serious legislator that deals with policy and the best way to deal with anyone like that is sit down and talk to them.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: You've worked with her more recently. Did what he say add up to you at all and --
BUCK: Well, I think Kevin is much more experienced talking to Marjorie about policy than I do, first of all. Secondly, my experience with Marjorie is people have talked to her about not filing articles of impeachment on President Biden before he was sworn into office, on not filing articles of impeachment that were groundless, be -- on other individuals and the Biden administration. And she was never moved by that. She was always focused on her social media account.
And Moscow Marjorie is focused now on this Ukraine issue and getting are talking points from the Kremlin and making sure that she is popular and she is getting a lot of coverage.
[19:40:10]
BURNETT: All right. Well, Congressman, I appreciate your time and your blunt, and honest words. Thank you very much. I appreciate it, sir.
BUCK: Thank you.
BURNETT: And next, we've got breaking news. The special counsel, Jack Smith, has just filed a brief with the Supreme Court on Trump's immunity claims. We are just getting that now. It's at the heart of the DOJ's election interference case. We're going to share it with you in just a moment as we're going through it.
And the vice president, Kamala Harris, shredding Trump after a major announcement that has in breaking with his own party.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BURNETT: Breaking news, we have a new filing. This is just in from the special counsel, Jack Smith, and it is a filing to the Supreme Court urging them to reject Trump's claims of sweeping immunity, and an effort to try to stop the former president from further delaying his January 6 trial.
[19:45:02]
Paula Reid is OUTFRONT in Washington and Paula, 50-some odd pages going through. You've had a chance to read more of it than I have, but point by his argument as to why Trump is not immune from prosecution because things he committed or crimes that he allegedly committed while he was in office. PAULA REID, CNN CHIEF LEGAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: Exactly. Here, they are urging the Supreme Court to reject Trumps argument that he should be immune from prosecution for things he did in and around January 6 and efforts to subvert the election because he has presidential immunity. This is an argument that was rejected by the trial court. It was she rejected by the court of appeals.
Here, the Supreme Court is taking it up. It will be the subject of a much anticipated Supreme Court argument next week. Now, here, they make arguments. They say the special counsel says, quote, the absence of any prosecutions of former presidents until this case does not reflect the understanding that presidents are immune from criminal liability. It instead underscores the unprecedented nature of petitioners' alleged conduct. They described the charges against him, Erin, as quote, an unprecedented assault on the structure of our government. So here they are asking the court to reject this argument and to do it quickly.
BURNETT: Yeah. I mean, it's interesting and as they go through, as you point out it saying that Nixon's acceptance of a pardon was also making it clear that he felt that there needed to be a pardon because he was subject to prosecution for acts he committed during Watergate while he was in office.
So going through and laying all of this out, ultimately, though, Paula as you point out, this is the arguments are supposed to be next week. This is all about timing, right?
REID: Yeah. And, look, the special counsel has to be frustrated because, Erin, months ago, he asked the Supreme Court to just step in and decide this issue. Don't wait for it to go through the appellate court and then take it up because he knew that process could potentially make it impossible to bring this case before the November elections. The Supreme Court declined to do that. They let it go forward with an appeal.
Now they are hearing this on an expedited basis, but we still don't expect it opinion right now until late June. And then even though Judge Tanya Chutkan, the judge overseeing this case, has said she would move pretty quickly. She would like to bring this as soon as possible. She still has to give both sides some time, perhaps a few months to prepare. So were talking about late summer at the earliest.
So timing is such a critical issue here. The Trump team is even floated the idea that maybe they could just toss it back down to the lower courts port for more proceedings. Again, that would necessarily be a win for them, but it would be a win in terms of this goal of getting it pushed back until after the election. And I remind people the reason he wants to push back until after the election, because if Trump is reelected, he will make both of these cases go away.
BURNETT: All right, Paula, thank you very much, as Paul continues to go through that, she'll be back. She sees more for you to know about.
This also comes tonight as Vice President Harris is slamming Trump. The former president teased a big announcement on abortion. But the takeaway was just to put it to the states.
Harris is warning that Trump would go much farther to restrict abortion rights though if given the chance
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KAMALA HARRIS, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: If you were to be put back in a position where he can sign off on a law. He would sign off on a national abortion ban. Let's be very clear about that.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: The Trump's decision coming nearly two years after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, also criticized by many Republicans who are demanding a national abortion ban today as well.
OUTFRONT now, Alabama State Representative Marilyn Lands. She's a Democrat who recently flipped to Republican held district after taking abortion rights head on, including by opening up and talking about the abortion that she went through more than 20 years ago.
I appreciate your time, Representative Land, so, you know, there are some may Republicans say, they say Trump punted. Why would he punt this to the states? He should have gone back to 15-week abortion ban? Others, of course, wish he would go much farther on the Republican side. But you think that what Trump said today by punting it to the states is even more dangerous.
How come?
MARILYN LANDS (D), ALABAMA HOUSE REPRESENTATIVE: Well, I'm finding little solace in this today and I know my constituents -- Ive talked to so many women and families and they are fed up and I just -- I feel like Alabama has become ground zero for attacks on women's health care and reproductive freedom. And I think my victory sent a real message, not just to our state, but to the country that this is unacceptable.
BURNETT: So, Trump in his announcement today about where he's going to fall on this at least for now it gave a four-minute video, and among other things, he also said this, Representative.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP, FORMER U.S. PRESIDENT & 2024 PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: It must be remembered that the Democrats or the radical ones on this position, because they support abortion up to and even beyond the ninth month. The concept of having an abortion, and the later months and even execution after birth, and that's exactly what it is.
[19:50:03]
The baby's born, the baby is executed after birth is unacceptable and almost everyone agrees with that.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: I know you're sort of recoiling even listening to that, Representative.
What do you -- what do you say to someone like Trump who is talking about executing?
LANDS: That doesn't happen. And what I say is that we need to return to Roe versus Wade, that, you know, that held us for 50 years and the government just does not need to be involved in these heartbreaking decisions. It's just not a place for government. It's people's private medical decisions and it should be between a woman, her family, and her doctor and her God.
BURNETT: So what I want to ask you about this though, that maybe goes a little bit contrary to how some see it, but I just want to open the door to this, you have some Republicans publicly criticizing Trump for not going far enough that he supported a national ban.
You know, Mike Pence, who's said he won't even be able to vote for Trump is calling it a slap in the face, and anti-abortion groups say they're deeply disappointed. Lindsey Graham is upset, some of his loyalists.
But, you know, of course, Representative, voters have shown even in red states like Kansas and Ohio, your state with your election, that they support abortion rights. So are you worried that Trump may muddy the waters on abortion, assume that he's got the far right already going to back him. And that this position to go for states rights may make him more palatable to other voters that, this could affect what a winning issue this is for Democrats?
LANDS: I think that what I found in my election is that I had a lot of Republicans support and I feel like people are really fed up and they're ready for change, they're ready for something different and I feel like the Republicans are very confused on this at the moment.
And I know my opponent, you know, wouldn't come out and talk about it. I think they're missing the mark here. I think they're out of touch.
BURNETT: All right. Well, Representative Lands, I appreciate your time and thank you so much for being with me tonight.
And next, hear what a top RFK Jr. staffer is telling Republicans.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Whether you support Bobby or Trump, we all oppose Biden.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[19:55:37]
BURNETT: Tonight, get rid of Biden. Those are the exact words of RFK Jr.'s New York state director in a meeting with New York Republicans, which was captured on video. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The only way for him -- for Bobby to shake it up and to get rid of Biden is if he's on the ballot in every state, including New York. Whether you support Bobby or Trump, we all oppose Biden. And my thoughts are that, you know, that's the number one priority in the country.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: A campaign spokesperson telling CNN, the state director is, quote, not involved in electoral strategy, but those comments come as Biden's own coalition is far from locked in.
And so tonight, Rene Marsh has the latest in our "Voters OUTFRONT" series.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
RENE MARSH, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): This November will be the first time Lonnie White and Rokiya Garbo will be old enough to vote in the presidential election
And just the second time when Malik Poole and Mozn Shora will cast a presidential ballot. None are planning to vote for Joe Biden or Donald Trump.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: If I were to vote tomorrow, I wouldn't vote, period.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Ideally, I would like to vote third party.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm for an independent candidate.
MALIK POOLE, VOTING THIRD PARTY IN THE PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION: I'm considering either voting for Claudia Dela Cruz or Cornell West at this point. If there is no substantive policy change when it comes to the genocide in Gaza, then there's not really a discussion for me.
MARSH: When we met at this barbecue restaurant in Atlanta, all four told me they were raised an originally registered as Democrats. But this year, the president's handling of the Israel-Gaza war has turned them away.
MOZN SHORA, VOTING FOR THIRD PARTY IN THE PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION: I think what Biden has done in aiding and abetting a genocide is just something I cannot stand for.
MARSH: You're willing to withhold your vote in the presidential election unless there is a ceasefire.
ROKIYA GARBO, NOT VOTING IN THE PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION: Yes.
MARSH: And it's implemented?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes. MARSH: Not voting could mean Donald Trump gets into office. Do you
think he'll be better on Gaza?
SHORA: Trump champ would probably say, flatten Gaza and make it into a golf course. I have absolutely no faith in him.
MARSH: Would you not say that all so the people who are not voting for one of the two people who are the likely people to really be in this race have a role to play in kind of giving the race to Donald Trump? In a state like Georgia, where it's going to be like razor thin?
POOLE: I'll do you one better actually, I think that just means that's why the Democrats should listen.
LONNIE WHITE, VOTING THIRD PARTY IN THE PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION: Exactly
MARSH: Radical and more tapped in than their peers is how the group describes themselves. Rokiya, even helping to organize this demonstration in Atlanta last October, calling for peace and aid for the Palestinian people.
While they don't speak for the majority of Black voters, their dissent poses a real concern for Democrats in battleground states like Georgia, where Biden won by fewer than 12,000 votes. Black voters under age 30 made up only about 6 percent of voters in Georgia in 2020. That group voted for Joe Biden by more than 50 points.
POOLE: We are holding there election in the palm of our hands and they're not listening
GARBO: We're tired of just hearing him say these things, these empty promises. We have no trust in Joe Biden.
MARSH: The Republican Party isn't earning their vote either.
GARBO: Both sides or just equal. Nothing is being done for us.
SHORA: If enough people vote third party, we can win. That's my thoughts.
MARSH: President Biden's campaign has touted his success on key issues affecting young voters, including student loan forgiveness, lowering unemployment, and tackling inflation.
Still though --
SHORA: I don't feel it. People may be employed, but can they survive off of what --
WHITE: The federal minimum wage has stayed the same since 2009. I was five and 2009, I'm 20 years old now. Well, I work at Goodwill now for $12 an hour. And cost of living keeps increasing, especially here.
MARSH: What could President Biden do to change your mind as far as how you vote in November?
GARBO: Call for a permanent ceasefire and actually implement it.
SHORA: I would like us to stop giving aid to Israel.
WHITE: If he doesn't get elected. That is his fault. That's not our fault. That's not the Black voters here. That's not XYZ, no, it's on him
(END VIDEOTAPE)
MARSH (on camera): Well, MAGA Inc., the super PAC supporting Trump has spent more than half $1 million for ads on Black radio hoping to woo those unhappy Biden voters and, you know, Erin, we ask the Biden campaign about this dissent that were seeing among some of these young Black voters and they framed it as a race between a president that actually cares about making life better for Americans, even if they haven't felt the full impact just yet, and another candidate who they say, and I'm quoting, cares only about his rich friends and himself.
All that said, Erin, they, they realize this dissent is there, and they are working. They say it is their priority to turn it around.
BURNETT: We shall see, really fascinating and so important, that work.
Rene, thank you.
And thanks so much to all of you for being with us.
Anderson starts now.
