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Charges Against Trump; Dozens of Mexican Politicians and Candidates Killed; Sports World Pays Tribute to Floyd; Man Accused of Bringing Bombs to Capitol. Aired 6:30-7a ET

Aired May 26, 2021 - 06:30   ET

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

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[06:32:25]

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN ANCHOR: Developing this morning, "The Washington Post" is reporting that Manhattan's top prosecutor has convened a special grand jury to look into potential criminal charges related to the Trump Organization. Prosecutors are sifting through millions of pages of documents related to Trump's company, including the former president's tax returns.

So what are they likely to find? What have they already found?

Joining us now is someone who is very familiar with Trump's tax returns, investigative reporter David Cay Johnston. He is the author of "It's Even Worse than You Think: What the Trump Administration is Doing to America."

David, good morning to you.

DAVID CAY JOHNSTON, INVESTIGATIVE REPORTER: Good morning.

KEILAR: What questions does this raise for you now that a special grand jury has been convened?

JOHNSTON: Well, it -- because we now know that they're approaching getting an indictment, I think the most important question is, are they going to use New York state's racketeering law? New York state has something called the Little RICO law of corrupt organizations. And if you can show three felony acts, then the prosecution can not only go after the criminals within an organization and the organization itself, but they have the power, if a judge approves, to seize assets and freeze them so that they're not dissipate in any way.

And so in addition to the tax fraud, business fraud, insurance fraud charges, will they bring a corrupt organization's charge?

KEILAR: And so -- I mean the question then would be, is Trump part of that? Is he affected by that? Because when you have cases like that where assets are freezed, essentially everything just comes to a standstill. There is no money to be spent. And certainly the former president lives rather lavishly. JOHNSTON: Exactly right. The businesses would continue to operate, the

golf courses and whatnot, under a trustee, but it would certainly tie up Donald Trump, as well as putting his personal freedom in jeopardy.

And the Trump Organization's a very small organization. There's just a handful of people that work there. So to suggest that Donald doesn't know what's going on, that's not going to work. This isn't like, for example, indicting the head of Chase bank or General Electric. Everything that goes on goes on with the knowledge of Donald and with his money man, Allen Weisselberg, and whatever lawyer at the moment he is depending on.

So it's a small group of people. And there are going to be memos especially if the Mazars' accounting firm, that the client want this or we said we did this and the client says no, and those could prove to be very damning.

[08:35:09]

KEILAR: OK, so those are some big questions that are being raised here, but you followed the paper trail of Donald Trump for years. What sector of his business enterprises is the most potentially jeopardizing for him?

JOHNSTON: Well, probably taxes because Donald has a record here. I mean Donald was tried twice for tax fraud. These were civil cases, not criminal. They were civil. But in one of these cases, his own longtime tax lawyer and accountant was shown the tax return in evidence and he testified, that's my signature, but I didn't prepare that tax return. In other words, Donald had forged his own tax return. And Donald has a long history of submitting documents that are inconsistent in one place or another.

Now, the problem with the tax case, Brianna, is, you can get lost in minutia and a jury can become confused. So even if tax turns out to be the central charge, the trick for prosecutors is to show the fundamental point that fraud is everywhere and always a crime and to stick to evidence that they knew something -- those who were charged -- knew that they were doing things that weren't lawful, and they did it again and again and again.

KEILAR: Well, look, the thing about the special grand jury is, it's secretive, so we have so many questions and I think we're going to have to wait to get some of them answered. But these are very interesting ones you raise.

David Cay Johnston, thank you.

JOHNSTON: Thank you.

KEILAR: A secret State Department investigation looked to prove that the pandemic originated in a Chinese lab. This started under Trump. Why did President Biden shut it down?

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: Plus, politics in Mexico can be deadly. There's been a wave of assassinations in the run-up to next month's election. We have a live report.

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[06:41:12]

BERMAN: A bloody election season in Mexico. Dozens of politicians and candidates have been killed in the months leading up to the country's midterm elections. That's June 6th.

CNN's Matt Rivers live for us in Mexico City.

Look, this is brutal stuff, Matt.

MATT RIVERS, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, absolutely, John. Going up to what will be the largest overall elections in Mexico's history, it's clear that these elections will not be able to escape the violence that so often plagues this country.

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RIVERS (voice over): Here is Abel Murrieta, a candidate for local office in the Mexican municipality of Cajeme. Crime was his number one issue.

ABEL MURRIETA (through translator): Enough of the drugs that steal our kids and destroy our families. I'm a man of the law. I'll lay down the law. My hand isn't shaking. I'm not afraid.

RIVERS (voice-over): But just one day after filming this ad, he was dead, shot and killed May 13th, in broad daylight, on a busy street, while handing out campaign flyers.

State authorities say Murrieta was deliberately targeted, but don't know by whom. Suspects or not, though, it's just further proof that in Mexico politics can be deadly.

From September of last year through May 24th, at least 87 politicians or candidates have been killed, according to Mexican consulting firm Etellekt Consultores (ph). They're a part of the more than 564 politicians or candidates overall that have been targeted by some sort of crime ranging from murder to assault to threats, the firm says.

The government says it believes both numbers are actually far lower, though they don't say how they tally their numbers. But, still, it admits there's a problem.

It's a difficult time for these campaigns, says Mexico's president. We're going to keep protecting them.

Though Mexico has consistently failed to protect its candidates. Political assassinations have bene a problem for decades. But this year is particularly bad.

ANA MARIA SALAZAR, PUBLIC SECURITY EXPERT: I do think that this is going to be considered one of the most violent elections in Mexican history. RIVERS (voice-over): Security experts like Ana Maria Salazar says

politicians are killed for a number of reasons, but it most often involves organized crime. In many cases she says criminal groups want their preferred candidate in office, and so they might target others they don't like, especially candidates who make crime a centerpiece of their campaigns.

SALAZAR: Candidates that talk the way Abel Murrieta speak clearly are going to run bigger risks.

RIVERS (voice-over): Murrieta was known for challenging criminal groups and drug cartels. As a private lawyer, he was also representing the LeBaron, an outspoken family with dual U.S./Mexico citizenship that lost nine of its members when they were murdered by suspected cartel members in Mexico in late 2019.

Adrian LeBaron tweeted shortly after Murrieta was killed, saying in party, quote, they killed my defender. What do we call this? The rule of law?

RIVERS: Do you believe he was killed because of his opposition to the cartels?

ADRIAN LEBARON, FAMILY KILLED IN MEXICO: Yes. He was always exposed them. To me he died a martyr.

RIVERS (voice over): Authorities have not identified any suspects or motive in Murrieta's murder, but the victim seemed to know he was at risk, saying this a few days before he died.

MURRIETA (through translator): I am serious and going in with no fear to do this, you have to be very conscious of what you're doing to do and not be scared.

RIVERS (voice-over): He went on to say the streets belonged to the people, not to criminals. And some of those people turned up here, to his funeral, in Cajeme. They gave him a standing ovation as his coffin was led out.

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RIVERS (on camera): And right after our story finished up last night, after we published it, John, we got word that a candidate for mayor in a small town in the state of Guadahato, well, she had been gunned down, killed at her own campaign event there.

[06:45:04]

That means at least 88 politicians have been killed in this election season with about ten days left of campaigning to go.

John.

BERMAN: Did you -- did you say 88?

RIVERS: Eighty-eight politicians and/or candidates since campaigning began last September have been killed. And, keep in mind, there's another ten days left in the campaign season, John. And the last couple of weeks of campaign seasons here generally are the most violent.

BERMAN: That's stunning. And when you hear the Mexican president make the claim, oh, we're going to protect the candidates, they're clearly not. I mean they are clearly not.

RIVERS: No.

BERMAN: And it almost suggests there is a level of business as usual here.

RIVERS: A hundred percent. This is a problem that goes back decades. And what is also a part of this, levels of impunity in Mexico.

BERMAN: Right.

RIVERS: You're talking about a country where somewhere like 95 percent of all crimes go unsolved. Only about 0.3 percent of crimes like this, murders, are presented -- prosecutors present charges eventually in these cases. So not only is the government not protecting these candidates, but in many cases they are not -- in the majority of cases they're not prosecuting anyone for these crimes.

BERMAN: Talk about a barrier to entry. Talk about something that might give you pause if you try to enter the public sphere and try to make things better.

Matt Rivers, really important reporting. Thank you so much.

We have frightening, new details this morning about a Capitol rioter accused of bringing homemade bombs to the insurrection. The senator he tried to meet before the riot.

KEILAR: Plus, the Minnesota Twins honor George Floyd on the one-year anniversary of his death. Details in the "Bleacher Report," next.

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[06:50:54]

BERMAN: Athletes and sports teams across the country paying tribute to George Floyd on the one-year anniversary of his murder.

Andy Scholes has this morning's "Bleacher Report."

Andy.

ANDY SCHOLES, CNN SPORTS CORRESPONDENT: Yes, good morning, John.

George Floyd changed the world. Those were LeBron James' words after last night's Lakers win as sports teams and athletes all across the country remembered and honored George Floyd a year after his death.

Just about four miles away from where George Floyd was killed, the Minnesota Twins holding a moment of silence before last night's game against the Orioles. Members of the Twins' organization lining up along the warning track at Target Field wearing "end racism" t-shirts.

Now, teams all across the NBA also holding a moment of silence before their games. The Seattle Storm of the WNBA wearing shirts with the words "call your senators" in support of the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act. LeBron saying after his game he fully supports that bill and reflected on the one-year anniversary of Floyd's death.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LEBRON JAMES, LOS ANGELES LAKERS FORWARD: The man literally changed the world, you know. And -- you know it's unfortunate, obviously, that his family his to, you know, grieve and still, you know, ask questions of why. There's an angel looking over all of us, looking over all these kids in the black community. And, you know, his family, you know, I continue my well wishes to him.

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SCHOLES: Now, LeBron and the Lakers trying to even their series with the Suns at a game apiece. And LeBron and Anthony Davis come through in the final minutes. Late in the fourth, Davis right there, a huge three to put the Lakers up by six. Then, under a minute to go, LeBron seals the win with a deep three as the Lakers got the win, 109-102. Game three of that series tomorrow night in L.A.

As for tonight, John, your favorite team, the New York Knicks back at Madison Square Garden trying to even their series with the Hawks. That one's on TNT at 7:30 Eastern.

BERMAN: I didn't even know New York had a basketball team, first of all. Although -- although the other one, the Nets, just beat the crap out of my Celtics last night, who barely even showed up. So --

SCHOLES: A rough end to the season for you Celtics the way things are going.

BERMAN: Indeed. It will make it better when the Knicks lose tonight.

Andy, thank you very much for that.

Brianna.

KEILAR: It's going to be OK, Berman, it's going to be OK.

We do have some scary news that is developing this morning because a Capitol rioter, who allegedly brought mason jars bombs to the Capitol complex on January 6th had called up Texas Senator Ted Cruz's office and even tried to visit the Republican at home to talk about election fraud. This is according to a new court filing.

And CNN's Whitney Wild has been tracking all of this for us.

It's hard to believe but you have even more news than that on this guy. WHITNEY WILD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, that's absolutely right. I mean

in -- what these details show is just how close he tried to get to Senator Cruz and the outreach that he was making to, you know, get in contact with him. So, really scary. These details emerging in a court filing.

The criminal allegations against Lonnie Coffman are some of the most chilling to emerge from the riot investigation. Coffman was arrested the after of the insurrection after police found an arsenal of weapons in his truck, which had been parked just blocks from the Capitol. Inside, Coffman allegedly had a shotgun, a rifle, three pistols, and a cooler of 11 mason jar bombs that, if detonated, could have acted like napalm.

Authorities say they also found handwritten notes with names of elected officials and a federal judge he noted to be, quote, a bad guy. Officials say that the Alabama resident had been living out of his truck in D.C. for a week before the insurrection and they were able to track his movements prior to the attack thanks to a GPS device in his truck. That GPS device allegedly showed that Coffman tried to visit Texas Senator Ted Cruz's Washington, D.C., home after officials say he tried to call Cruz's office to arrange a meeting to discuss election fraud.

The Vietnam War veteran had been on the FBI's radar since 2014 after allegedly meeting with members of a Texas militia to patrol the U.S./Mexico border. Coffman is a Vietnam veteran and has pleaded not guilty to all charges. His family says he suffers from mental health issues, Brianna.

KEILAR: I think it's a pattern that we may be seeing with some of these defendants in these cases.

[06:55:02]

Whitney Wild, thank you so much.

New York prosecutors convening a special grand jury in their criminal investigation of Donald Trump. How much trouble could the former president be in?

BERMAN: I was right with you on that tease there, Brianna.

And senators will cast a key vote tomorrow to show where they stand on the creation of a January 6th commission. New information about how some key Republicans say they plan to vote.

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KEILAR: We are keeping our eye on some severe weather in the central plains right now. It's heading east. And, of course, we have Memorial Day here coming up, so this could threaten plans there.

Let's bring in Chad Myers.

This is -- this is a big deal for many people, our first vaccinated holiday, and this weather is bad news for that.

[07:00:04]

CHAD MYERS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: There was baseball-sized hail in Texas again yesterday and an awful lot of lightning, Bianna.