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Testimony Ends for the Week in Trump Hush Money Trial; Cyberattack Forces Health Care Network to Divert Ambulances; Consumer Confidence has its Worst Monthly Tumble Since 2021; Passenger Jets to Become Pentagons of the Sky. Aired 3:30-4p ET

Aired May 10, 2024 - 15:30   ET

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

[15:30:00]

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN HOST: Welcome back to our special coverage of former President Trump's hush money trial. Testimony is done for the day with the prosecution saying it could rest its case by the end of the week. And it's a week that could start with a bang.

On Monday, former President Trump's former fixer, Michael Cohen, is expected to take the stand. Let's discuss with former Trump attorney Jim Trusty. And Jim, we will talk about Cohen here in just a second.

First, though, I do want to ask you that if you were still Trump's lawyer, if there was anything different that you would have done on cross-examination of Stormy Daniels. And I ask specifically because there were a lot of questions about whether Susan Necheles went overboard on cross the second day was Stormy Daniels because Trump may have wanted her to.

What would you have done if you had a client demanding you do something you don't think is the best strategy?

JIM TRUSTY, FORMER TRUMP ATTORNEY: Well, you got to stick to your guns and, you know, and get an apology later rather than permission on the front end. But look, here's the bottom line. I think that the overall strategy for the defense has made sense.

And she -- and Stormy became the flashpoint of the strategy. And I'll explain in a sec. Basically, make it all about Michael Cohen.

You know, through all of your cross-examinations, you want to get in, you want to get out, you want concessions. You don't want it to seem like it's a big battle because none of this other stuff has really hurt you. It's not really the primary focus of the case.

The more you make this trial a referendum on the credibility of failed cooperator, perjurer, hateful Michael Cohen, the better you have a chance as a defense.

Now, Stormy created a problem because I think they started off that way thinking they're not going to dignify her too much, they're not going to cross too much on that first day where they started to cross. The mischief was when they had a day off to think about it. And so they sat back. They didn't object a whole lot. She got in some gratuitous stuff. And that opened a door where they felt they had to start going out with guns blazing, which opened another door on redirect for her to say more scurrilous stuff. So the strategy kind of got off kilter a little bit this week by, again, dignifying her as a witness a little too much.

But I'll say this. I mean, she's a little bit of a target-rich environment. When you're cross-examining a witness about how they made money talking to dead people, you know, you got some stuff to play with that might resonate with the New York jury. I just think it was a little long, but not crazy long.

And it will be forgotten because, you know, we're right now it's the calm before the storm. When we get to Monday, it's a whole new trial.

KEILAR: What are you expecting Monday?

TRUSTY: Well, Monday I expect that Cohen is going to try to come off as a very cerebral, you know, pained guy on direct. All I did was because this, you know, this mystical President Trump guy forced me to do it. You know, the direct, we just have to kind of listen and take it with a grain of salt.

The cross is just, you know, the best drama in town. I mean, the case has all sorts of circus elements to it. But cross-examining Cohen is, you know, if you're a lawyer, if you've ever been a litigator, you're like, my God, can I please be the one to cross this guy?

He's got convictions for crimes of falsehoods. He's said that he lied to a federal judge when he pled guilty. He goes on air hundreds of times saying how much he hates President Trump, so he's biased.

I mean, look, if he's the star witness, there's a reason SDNY walked away from the federal case. And, you know, Alvin Bragg may learn the hard way that that was the right call.

KEILAR: I want to listen to something that Trump said. This was what he said when he went to the microphones after court today.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, FORMER U.S. PRESIDENT, 2024 PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: He wants to put me in jail. And that could happen one day, and I'd be very proud to go to jail for our Constitution. Because what he's doing is so unconstitutional. There's never been anything like it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[15:35:00]

KEILAR: Jim, the jail threat from the judge, of course, has to do with the gag order, which is to stop former President Trump from talking about witnesses or talking about family members of the judge or talking about prosecutors, aside from Alvin Bragg. Trump has two days, and he's got a rally this weekend before Cohen's expected testimony Monday.

How important is it for Trump to adhere to his gag order, even if Cohen, who is now facing a warning from the judge, takes jabs at him?

TRUSTY: Yes, I mean, look, it's just a difficult challenge for anybody, much less somebody running for president, to keep taking blows. Even Stormy had to talk to the press and taunt him after her testimony. So, you know, it's a real challenge.

I'm sure he's going to say something, but whether it really rises to the level of being contemptible for the court I think is a different issue. I mean, look, I've got a lot of problems with a gag order for a defendant in a criminal trial. If he says something that's obstructionist, if he says, like, go kill this witness or go, you know, attack these juries or here's where they live, you know, that's all subject to contempt and to other penalties already.

So it's not really -- a gag order right now is really kind of an egotistical challenge where the judge is just trying to show you can control the court. I don't think the judge wants to put him in jail. I don't think President Trump really wants to be in jail, and I don't think it's going to result that way.

But it'll be an interesting weekend just to see how loose the tongue gets in terms of talking about people like Cohen.

KEILAR: Yes, I mean, to be clear, he has mentioned family members, for instance, of the judge. And you don't have to say where someone lives. That's easy to figure out if you put a target on their back, just to be clear there.

But I do wonder, Jim, if you were a betting man, what would the odds be, in your view at this point, that Trump will take the stand in his own defense?

TRUSTY: I'm terrible at betting, but I would say slim or none. And look, there's a couple of reasons. Number one is they had a standard kind of preliminary determination of what could be used for cross- examination, and it went all the government's way.

So, you know if he takes the stand, it's not just about Stormy and the NDA. It's going to be about E. Jean Carroll and all sorts of stuff that I think is really pretty collateral to this case but, you know, could reflect on credibility, so it's fair game, according to Judge Merchan. So that's one thing.

The other thing is, look, the strategy is all about Cohen. Like, why distract? You really don't want to put anybody else in play for a credibility battle. Leave it Cohen and turn around and tell the jury, you know, if you couldn't buy a car from this guy, you sure can't convict based on his word. So I think the smart strategy that I think even hopefully President Trump will understand when they talk about it is, you know, no chance.

Sometimes when I was a prosecutor, which I was for 27 years, every now and then I would laugh about how a weak defense bailed me out. I had a fairly tough case. I had problems with maybe a witness or two or somebody doesn't show up, and the defense put on some sort of case that ultimately helped me. They would have been better off just resting and going right to argument.

So I think right here that the best move is look at it, scoff, and say we're not putting anything on in light of that stuff, and then go to closing arguments.

KEILAR: That's a really interesting point. Jim, Trusty, thank you so much. Appreciate it.

TRUSTY: Sure. Good to see you.

KEILAR: A health care hack may expose data to hackers, but one is now having a real-world impact, even hitting ambulances and hospitals in more than a dozen states. We'll have that next.

[15:40:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KEILAR: A cyberattack is forcing a major American health network to scramble to minimize the impact on patient care. That network, Ascension, is now diverting ambulances from hospitals. It has 140 hospitals in 19 states. CNN's Sean Lyngaas has more on this for us.

Sean, this is a huge health care network. You first told us about the hack on it on Wednesday. Sounds like the impact is really kind of ballooning here.

SEAN LYNGAAS, CNN CYBERSECURITY REPORTER: Right, Brianna. As often the case you see with these incidents where you get glimpses of what happened, you get an announcement, a vague announcement from the victim saying we're having computer issues. And then over the next days and hours you start to get more details about the impact.

And right now what we're seeing is that this massive hospital network, which owns 140 hospitals in 19 states, is diverting ambulances from some of those hospitals because of the cyberattack. There's issues with access to electronic health records that doctors and patients use. And there's other impacts as well. So it's really much a developing situation.

And it's just the latest example of a health care provider in America that is massive and has a big impact on patient care having to deal with a debilitating hack. Just a couple months ago there was a ransomware attack on the United Health Group, which is responsible for a large portion of billing in this country for health insurance.

And senators and lawmakers were asking tough questions in the aftermath of that about why that company was not better prepared for that hack. So right now, in talking with my sources in the government and in the private sector, there's a lot of consternation and head- scratching and soul-searching about why some of these big health organizations are not better defended for this type of hack, Brianna. Because it's not very complicated how the hackers are getting in, but they're able to disrupt in some cases patient care, in some cases business operations.

And when you're hacked like this, you're faced with an option. Do I pay the ransom?

[15:45:02]

In the case of United Health Group, they paid $22 million in ransom to try to protect patient data, but the FBI advises if companies cannot pay the ransom because in some cases that incentivizes follow-on hacks, and that's definitely what we've seen over the years with the health care sector -- Brianna.

KEILAR: You're also describing me to you during the commercial breaks ahead of your hits where I'm like, Sean, again, how did this not get stopped? Aren't they supposed to be ready for this? And hopefully more companies are getting ready for this kind of thing. Sean, really appreciate it. Thank you so much.

And this is a report that the White House does not want you to see when it comes to how people view the economy.

CNN's Matt Egan is joining us. Matt, tell us what we're talking about here.

MATT EGAN, CNN REPORTER: Well, Brianna, consumer sentiment plunging by the most in almost three years. Three big concerns that stood out here. Jobs, interest rates and, of course, inflation.

Now, this was a surprise. Economists thought that consumer sentiment was going to hold steady. Instead, it plunged.

Now we know that consumer sentiment, the reading right now, 67.4. For some context, we need to look where things were right before covid in May of 2019. This was at 100. Sentiment had been moving in the right direction more recently.

But now you can see on that chart it's taken a bit of a drop here. Now, this is moving in the wrong direction and it does likely reflect frustrations with inflation, which is also moving in the wrong direction. Prices are no longer skyrocketing like they were two years ago.

But inflation is higher than what is considered healthy. The big problems, of course, food, housing, car insurance, the cost to repair your car, all of those things have gotten more expensive. And consumers are worried that this trend is going to continue.

The University of Michigan survey found that consumer inflation expectations went higher. Now, that is exactly the opposite of what the Fed wants to see. They monitor inflation expectations very closely and they've been trying to reassure the public that inflation is going to go back down. And clearly, Americans are skeptical.

As you mentioned, Brianna, this is another indicator that has got to alarm officials in the White House because it really does capture the mood of Americans. And clearly that mood has started to sour again. And that is never a good recipe for the party in power.

KEILAR: No, it is not. Matt Egan, thank you for the report.

How does an ordinary airliner become a so-called doomsday plane? Ahead, we'll look at how these commercial jets could become a pentagon in the sky.

[15:50:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KEILAR: Now to the big buy for what literally involves the worst-case scenario. A U.S. contractor just purchased five passenger jets, planning to convert them into next-level doomsday planes. Think of these as flying command centers when there's mass destruction on the ground, like from a nuclear attack.

CNN's Tom Foreman is here with the details on this. It's kind of out of a movie here, Tom. The Air Force saying that a doomsday plane right now is on alert, and these purchased airliners will be the next generation.

TOM FOREMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, we forget about this kind of stuff going on all the time. My father used to be in the Air Force's Strategic Air Command. Bombers, missiles, all of that. And I was always aware as a child that it's always going on, though we forget about it. The doomsday planes. Very interesting.

This purchase of five 747s from Korean Air, which will be retrofitted to become the doomsday planes. What are they? They're designed to be command and control centers for U.S. military during national emergency. Essentially a pentagon in the sky. It will have the president on board, secretary of defense, the joint chiefs, and about 100 other people who would then operate military operations around the world in the event of Armageddon, essentially.

It's built to withstand the effects of an electromagnetic pulse. You may have seen that in movies, wiping out other electronics. And at least one is on alert 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, at a U.S. military base somewhere in the world. So these jets will be brought in.

They're a little bigger than the ones that were used before. They will be retrofitted, built out in Dayton, Ohio, by this company called Sierra Nevada out of Colorado. But other than that, Brianna, we don't get a lot of details because you might guess this is kind of secret work.

KEILAR: Yes, it does seem kind of like maybe we shouldn't know everything. But if there's something to know.

FOREMAN: We'll see it in the movies. You've got to update them because you don't want to be prepared for yesterday's doomsday. You've got to have today's doomsday.

KEILAR: That's right. It's constantly evolving. Tom Foreman, thank you so much for that report.

We'll be right back.

[15:55:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KEILAR: A model killed by her Olympic athlete boyfriend on Valentine's Day. An all-new episode of "HOW IT REALLY HAPPENED" investigates the Oscar Pistorius case.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Early in the morning of February the 14th, the neighbors woke up to pa, pa, pa.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The first people who arrived found a really gruesome scene.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: They saw a man carrying a woman down the stairs, and he was hysterical. He laid her body at the bottom of the stairs on the tiles.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He was bathed in blood and shrieking and howling and crying.

OSCAR PISTORIUS: I just sat there with her and I waited for the ambulance to arrive. I felt hopeless. I wanted to take her to the hospital. I was trying to stop the bleeding.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Oscar Pistorius tried to save her. Others there tried to save her. But there was nothing that they could do for her.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KEILAR: "HOW IT REALLY HAPPENED" airs this Sunday at 9 p.m. Eastern.

And a good reason for some stargazing this weekend. Maybe something to worry about, too.

Right now, our planet is experiencing a severe geomagnetic storm. Tonight, people as far south as Alabama may be able to see this, the Aurora Borealis. The government's Space Weather Prediction Center issued a severe geomagnetic storm watch for Friday evening.

[16:00:00]

They're saying that we're experiencing a level 4 out of 5 conditions right now. The last watch like that was 19 years ago. And the downside of these storms is the damage that they can cause. One actually knocked out the power grid in Quebec back in 1989.

A similar event today could cause trillions of dollars worth of damage. So don't miss our special tonight at 10 p.m. Eastern, "CNN NEWSNIGHT: SOLAR STORM," with Abby Phillip and Bill Weir only on CNN.

And "THE LEAD" with Jake Tapper starts right now.