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Soon, Trump To Land In Florida Ahead of Arraignment; Indictment: Trump Docs Included Info On U.S. Nuke Programs, Defense Capabilities, Attack Response Plans; Trump Facing Multiple Other Investigations. Aired 2:30-3p ET

Aired June 12, 2023 - 14:30   ET

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

[14:30:00]

LAURA COATES, CNN SENIOR LEGAL ANALYST: You run the risk of such a high-profile case to undermine their credibility.

If it's less than it is right now, for example, or if there are other facts you will have the jury saying to themselves, not only the motive but why didn't you include that in the first instance. It gives more political fodder.

But in the end, they don't have to show their hand. Trump doesn't get to say, as the defendant in a federal case, jump and then I respond as a prosecutor how high.

I can share what I'd like to share and develop my case because not that you want a gotcha Perry Mason moment, but you want to be able to not preview your case to such an extent that, on the one hand, it preserves the defendant's right to a fair trial.

But doesn't allow for this year long, which it could be months long ability, to negate and undermine my case. If he has the roadmap and the keys to my castle, he can then come in and find his way.

ERIN BURNETT, CNN HOST: Which, John, is pretty interesting. The implication here is that there may be -- as detailed as this is and as damning as it is, that there could be more that they have.

JOHN MILLER, CNN LAW ENFORCEMENT & INTELLIGENCE ANALYST: And there probably is more. I mean, one of the boilerplate lines in any indictment or complaint is, you know, this is a summary of the evidence to establish, like, you know, our case but it's not everything we know.

And as we've experienced many times in these cases, people who were -- weren't witnesses become witnesses, people who were defendants may become witnesses.

In this case, we see, you know, one lawyer who became a witness. So the plot will thicken.

BURNETT: Do they need, Karen, Walt Nauta to turn? It's so damning what's in here and none of it requires any attorney/client privilege being violated, right? You have him texting people pictures of the boxes. You have him on tape moving the boxes. You have the time stamp with Trump's calls.

Is there any more he could give them?

KAREN FRIEDMAN AGNIFILO, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: Yes, I think Walt Nauta, the fact that he's on the indictment I think it's pretty clear they're doing it -- the prosecutors are doing it hoping that he will flip and that he will testify.

BURNETT: Yes.

FRIEDMAN AGNIFILO: I mean, he was a co-conspirator. He had the conversations. He did it with him. I think that would be a pretty powerful to the jury.

BURNETT: We should note, of course, knew him -- was with him a long time before this, right, so --

(CROSSTALK)

ALYSSA FARAH GRIFFIN, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: And if I could mention one thing, Erin, missing in all of this is Mark meadows who I think there is a reasonable assumption that he may have been granted partial immunity to cooperate and get us to this point.

Because part of this conversation is the removal of the boxes from the White House, which would have been overseen by the then-chief of staff. He's been noticeably quiet.

I feel like he's in there, having read the indictment, so the next phase would be Walt Nauta.

(CROSSTALK)

COATES: It's important to remember, though, I know we talk about always want to go flip for the bigger fish. There is a reference to an employee number two in the document.

Nauta is one person. There's an employee number two, which means the prosecutors likely have an independent source for the information, which means they don't necessarily need him to flip if they have that corroboration.

It's good for the conspiratorial aspect to say, listen, I was in the room where it happened, here is what was said to me, to buttress what happened with Corcoran and other entities.

But if you have that other employee, which is why I want to have that ambiguity, because it puts the person who might want to now cooperate on their toes. What else do they know?

(CROSSTALK)

MILLER: And the gap there is, you know, you've got Walt Nauta communicating with Donald Trump, moving the boxes. You've got the employee who can testify he moved them at Nauta's instructions.

But if you get Nauta to flip, then he can answer the questions employee number two can't, which is: What did Trump say to you?

BURNETT: Right. In that phone call.

MILLER: Right.

BURNETT: We know what happened. We know it was 30 seconds. We know what you went and did. But we don't know word-for-word.

All right, thank you all.

And soon, on CNN, former President Donald Trump will be landing at Miami International Airport ahead of his arraignment in federal court. Details on what to expect, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[14:38:04]

JAKE TAPPER, CNN HOST: And welcome back to our special live coverage. Any moment now, we expect to see former President Trump touchdown in Miami where he will be arraigned in federal court in just about 24 hours.

The former president facing 37 federal criminal charges connected to the more than 100 classified documents seized by the FBI at his Mar-a- Lago resort after he refused to turn them over.

Why the former president was so adamant about hanging on to these documents, that remains unclear.

CNN's senior legal affairs correspondent, Paula Reid, joins us now live from outside the courthouse where Mr. Trump will appear tomorrow.

Give us a little preview. What can we expect over the next 24 hours?

PAULA REID, CNN SENIOR LEGAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: Well, as you said, the former president is expected to arrive here anytime now. We know he's traveling with his lead attorney right now, Todd Blanche, his co- defendant, Walt Nauta, and other advisers.

While he's staying at his Doral Golf Course, we expect that they will have a meeting to discuss his legal strategy.

Jake, as we've reported, the former president is looking for other attorneys to add to his legal team after the three top attorneys who have been defending him so far in this case have all departed the team in recent weeks.

We know they've reached out to some firms here in Florida. We know some defense attorneys here in Florida have reached out to them. But it's unclear at this point if they have officially retained anyone.

But he still has the requisite lawyers with the requisite credentials to go before the judge tomorrow for this arraignment.

Now, in terms of tomorrow, you can see the federal courthouse behind me. This is where he will come and, like any other defendant, he will be taken into custody and processed. That will include being fingerprinted.

And then he will go before a magistrate judge where he will hear the charges that have been filed against him. And we expect he will have an opportunity to enter a plea of guilty or not guilty. And then there will be a discussion of the terms of his release.

Now, tomorrow's hearing is before a magistrate judge, as it would be with any other defendant. But then, going forward, the case will be handled by Judge Aileen Cannon. She is a Trump-appointed federal judge here in southern Florida.

[14:40:07]

She has previously heard a related issue in the Mar-a-Lago documents case. And her decision there was roundly criticized by legal experts on both sides of the aisle and ultimately overturned. But she is going to be a key aspect of this case.

A lot of questions from former President Trump and his allies about the fairness of the judicial system. But here, he's going to be before a judge that he appointed -- Jake?

TAPPER: All right. Paula Reid, thanks so much.

Highly classified documents in high-traffic areas of Mar-a-Lago. Next, a closer look at exactly where in Trump's Mar-a-Lago resort those boxes were found.

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[14:45:06]

BURNETT: A private club with very public spaces. According to the indictment, former President Trump didn't just store classified documents in a storage room at Mar-a-Lago. Of course, they were on the stage of a public ballroom. They were in a shower, an office, a bedroom.

And, of course, the indictment says that tens of thousands of people came through Mar-a-Lago while all those things were just laying around.

The national security risks, of course, to this could be profound.

And our Alex Marquardt has a breakdown on just how close people might have been able to get to these documents.

There was that crucial line in there, Alex, about tens of thousands of people would have come through Mar-a-Lago over the timeframe we are talking about here. ALEX MARQUARDT, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Members,

staff, guests, tens of thousands of them, according to that indictment, between the time that former President Trump took up residence there after losing the election in January of 2021 and then the FBI search in August of 2022.

These documents were spread all over that resort in that timeframe. Some pretty extraordinary locations when you think that these are some of the country's most closely guarded secrets.

Erin, starting in January of 2021, right there in the white and gold ballroom, that's where many of those boxes were stored. You can see right there in the middle of the Mar-a-Lago complex. That is where, according to the indictment, events and gatherings continued to take place.

And then in April, many were moved to what's called the Lake Room. That is essentially a fancy name for that room that you are looking at right there. It is a bathroom with a shower and a toilet. Those boxes piled six or seven high right next to that toilet.

And then in June, the former president asked for the boxes to be removed to a storage room. There were some 80 boxes that were moved. And that hallway, Erin, could be reached, according to the indictment, by several different entrances, including one that was often left open.

Now, a few months later, Walt Nauta, who, of course, is the alleged co-conspirator of the former president, he visited that storage room. And you can see what he found, several of those boxes fell over with their contents spilled out onto the floor.

In that pile of documents is one that is classified "secret," which means, by definition, that if exposed, if revealed, it could cause serious damage to the national security of the United States.

That document also had a classification that said "relating only to Five Eyes." Five Eyes is the alliance, the intelligence sharing cooperating alliance that the United States has with its closest intelligence partners.

You can see the flags there, the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia and New Zealand.

So that just gives us a sense of how these documents were treated, that one of these documents that could only be shared with the United States' closest intelligence partners, just splayed out there on the ground in boxes that fell over in that storage room -- Erin?

BURNETT: All right. Thank you very much, Alex.

And Trump has now been indicted twice, of course. But there is even more legal trouble likely ahead. So we're going to go through the other ongoing investigations that the former president is facing and may, indeed, be charged regarding to those over these next couple months. Stay with us. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[14:52:47]

TAPPER: The indictment of Donald Trump over his handling of classified documents is just one of the many legal challenges that the former president is facing.

CNN senior legal analyst and former federal prosecutor, Elie Honig, is back with us now.

Elie, let's start with the first case where Trump faced an indictment.

ELIE HONIG, CNN SENIOR LEGAL ANALYST: Jake, I don't think that I have ever seen another human being - forget about another president, who is under two different indictments by two different prosecutors with two other cases pending.

The first indictment, of course, came out of the Manhattan district attorney. This is a state-level case brought by the district attorney, Allen Bragg.

We remember Donald Trump, of course, has made the first appearance. He has pled guilty.

Of course, that case relates --

(CROSSTALK)

HONIG: I'm sorry. Pled not guilty.

TAPPER: Not guilty.

HONIG: Big difference, yes.

In that case, the charges there is falsification of business records, 34 counts, relating to the payment of Donald Trump of $130,000 in hush money through Michael Cohen to Stormy Daniels.

Now, looking ahead in that case, they are in the process of discovery. The prosecutors are turning over the information and they are starting to make motions. The defense has asked to move this court to federal court, for example.

And we have a trial date for this case, late March of 2024.

TAPPER: Right in middle of the primaries.

HONIG: Right in the middle of the primaries. The first one to take a trial date.

TAPPER: OK, interesting.

And the special counsel has another. I mean, Jack Smith, the special counsel, who is doing the classified documents case, he's also investigating Donald Trump on another matter pertaining to January 6th.

HONIG: Yes. Let's remember, there's January 6th also. Jack Smith has indicted the documents case, but he is investigating on January 6th. He's looking at, did Donald Trump have any role of trying to steal the election beforehand or inciting the riot, insurrection?

The latest thing we know is that Jack Smith has put Mark Meadows in the grand jury and gotten his testimony. To me, that's the last major player remaining to be heard from.

We know that he's heard from several key White House insiders. So that case is pending.

The fact that he has already decided on the Mar-a-Lago case does not tell us when or whether he'll decide on January 6th, but that is one is still in the mix, too.

TAPPER: And finally, another January 6th case, the one being brought in Fulton County, which is around Atlanta in Georgia.

HONIG: Yes, and now we're back to the state level. This is, again, an elected local D.A., Fani Willis, in Fulton County, looking at Donald Trump for potential election interference.

[14:55:07]

And also, according to our reporting, conspiracy and racketeering, which means a sort of organized group committing crimes.

This focuses on Donald Trump's attempt to interfere with the Georgia election results.

Of course, we remember his infamous phone call to Brad Raffensperger, asking Raffensperger to find 11,780 votes.

Fani Willis says, signaled and then some that she is likely to charge this summer, likely in August.

TAPPER: So that's four cases. Practically speaking, how do they do that?

HONIG: The timing is so important here.

The election, I think the big question everyone has, will these cases be tried before the election in November?

Now we know the Manhattan D.A.'s case starts in March and will certainly carry on into April. Cross those off.

And so when does Jack Smith get a trial? And it is impossibly early to try that case starting in January. The defense has a constitutional right to more time to prep.

So the question is, are any of these other cases going to realistically going to get tried in June, July, August, that close to November? And remember, a defendant has a constitutional right to prepare. You

can't make them go one right into the next.

So huge question to watch for tomorrow when we get into scheduling: How quickly does is this going to move, is there any chance they get this in before November?

TAPPER: And keep in mind that this is when the first primaries begin this process. The primary season is to go here. Somewhere in here is going to be the Republican nomination, the convention.

And then this is election and debate season. And so that is going to be a lot going on.

Elie Honig, thank you so much.

Security concerns around Donald Trump's court appearance are mounting. Trump's plane just landed in Miami. These are some live pictures that we're bringing you of the Trump plane. Guess how we figured it was his landing in Miami International Airport.

CNN's special coverage of Trump's indictment continues after this short break.

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