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Soon, Burial for Opposition Leader Alexei Navalny After Funeral; Soon, Trump Expected in Court for Critical Hearing on Trial Date; Defiant Hunter Biden Slams GOP at Fiery Closed-Door Deposition. Aired 7-7:30a ET

Aired March 01, 2024 - 07:00   ET

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

[07:00:23]

KASIE HUNT, CNN ANCHOR: All right. Thanks to all of you for joining us. I am Kasie Hunt.

Don't go anywhere. We are still monitoring live events in Moscow as Alexei Navalny is set to be buried.

CNN News Central starts right now.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: And the breaking news, mourners as far as the eye can see police line the streets with snipers on the roofs at the funeral of Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny. Now, CNN's live signal, which was jammed or blocked for a time, is now back up.

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: Locking in a trial date in Florida a critical hearing is happening this morning in the classified documents case against Donald Trump. Trump is expected to be there. We are there, too

BERMAN: So, never in the history of recording U.S. weather has 12 feet of snow ever fallen in just one to two days. That could happen this weekend.

Sara is out. I'm John Berman with Kate Bolduan. This is CNN News Central.

And the breaking news this morning, he was a true hero, I want to say to him farewell. You're looking at live pictures from outside the funeral of Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny.

Thousands of mourners are risking their lives and their freedom to be present or even just near this event. Crowds as far as the eye can see in some cases. The funeral, we're told, just wrapped up. His body has been carried out of the Moscow church.

I believe we have pictures, a still photo of Alexei Navalny's body inside that church while the funeral was still happening. We'll show you that picture as soon as we can.

In this video you can hear supporters chanting.

You heard them chanting, Navalny.

Now, there is an extremely heavy and an extremely noticeable police presence on the scene. Of course, Navalny died in a Russian prison camp two weeks ago. His widow, Yulia, says she is concerned that police are going to arrest people who have come to pay their respects.

Our Matthew Chance has been reporting from outside the church. The signal was down. Now it's back up again, Matthew. I'm just going to turn it over to you. Tell us everything going on.

MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN CHIEF GLOBAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: Yes. I mean, the signal's been very dodgy here. They put an umbrella blanket, it seems, over the whole area, and we couldn't get a signal up, but we're here now. And you can see the line of people stretches into the distance thousands of Russians have come out to pay their last respects to Alexei Navalny, even though you've just said that the funeral in the church, which is a short distance from here, is now over.

You can see people are still coming along, carrying flowers and messages to lay at the casket inside the church where Alexei Navalny has just been taken away from.

Do any of you guys speak English? Do you speak English? No? Do you speak English?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hello?

CHANCE: Hi, hi.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I speak English.

CHANCE: Oh, you do?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.

CHANCE: Hi. Thank you, sir. Thank you. Why have you come here today with so many other Russians to pay respect?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I guess it's a symbolic value for people who don't agree with everything that's happening in Russia. I can be specific because we can say the bad words, you know?

CHANCE: It's risky for you to be here.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, it's certainly risky.

CHANCE: So, why take this --

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You see, because that's my stance on things. And I believe that's to show solidarity, that you are not the one who has to deal with this.

CHANCE: All right. So, thank you.

I've got Paulina (ph) over here as well. The fact that Alexia Navalny is dead, does that unite the people here? What does it what does it say about the state of the country, in Russia?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I would say that it united some people, but at the same time it's quite -- it's obviously horrible, sad. It upsets me obviously and other people here in this group. But I think it's kind of a uniting thing since a lot of people came here to say their last goodbyes.

CHANCE: Sure. But what does it say about your country, about Russia, the state of it?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: There are obviously some people who are, I guess, against the whole thing that's happening right now. I can't say it, obviously, but there are some people who have good hearts, basically, I feel like.

[07:05:05]

CHANCE: Thank you very much, I really appreciate it. Thank you.

Well, John, there you have it. A lot of people here coming out. They're very careful about what they say because, obviously, it can be risky speaking your mind out publicly in this way. Remember, hundreds of Russians who were simply putting flowers that makes you memorials across the country over the past couple of weeks have been detained by the authorities. And so people know that they're taking a risk here.

But, look, so many thousands of people have come out despite the very intense security operation that's been underway here. Riot police have been put in place all along the route to sort of hold people back.

But at the moment that we haven't seen any crackdown yet by the authorities. The authorities are still allowing these thousands of people to file pass, to go to this church, which is right behind us there, and to pay the respects to Russia's most prominent opposition figure from here in the next few hours. The funeral will take place at a cemetery, which is not far from here. And so this parade, this procession will continue throughout the course of the day, we expect, John.

BERMAN: Matthew, we are lucky to have your signal up here. As we said, it was down for a period of time. So, I want to take advantage of this moment because we just don't know how long it's going to last there.

These people we're seeing streaming behind you, some of whom were extraordinarily willing to talk to you, how do they even know about this funeral? How is the information been getting out to the people around the country?

CHANCE: Well, look, I mean, despite the efforts of the authorities, the state media not really talking much about what's being planned. I mean, people have the internet, people have, you know, VPNs. They have the ability to sort of like access news in this information age that we live in, just like we do.

And, of course, the Navalny team, the Navalny campaign are very proficient at getting their message across to the millions of Russians that click on their investigations and that listen intently, at least in private, to what they have to say.

Now, there's obviously all this kind of -- you know, kind of word that Alexei Navalny wasn't that popular in Russia. That's the allegation that often comes from people who rule the country. But, look, you can see that's not necessarily the case.

There are -- again, let me spin around here just to get you a sense of how many people. The line of people that are queuing up now lining up to pay their last respect, it's never ending. I mean, it was hundreds this morning, it's turned into thousands. But it's very difficult to judge because it's just that the line of people is just not stopping at this time in Russia, as people come to lay flowers and messages at the casket inside the church where Alexei Navalny's funeral has been taking place.

BERMAN: Matthew Chance, it is great to have you there. Thank you so much for the work that you and your team are doing. Please stay safe. The stream of people has just been passing behind you this entire time you're talking, that, in and of itself, tells a story. Hopefully, we'll get you back again soon.

Kate, remarkable to see that.

BOLDUAN: We see it. I mean, look remarkable things happen on live T.V. all the time. This is extraordinary given the bravery that people would need to have not only to be in that procession but to stop and speak with Matthew Chance.

BERMAN: The courage they show to talk to him is extraordinary.

BOLDUAN: It is. All right, let's talk much more about this right now. CNN's Chief International Correspondent Clarissa Ward is joining me. Clarissa, I want to just so everyone can, let's just talk about the image that is next to you right now on the wall. This is the image that has come out, released from Navalny's team, of Alexei Navalny's open casket during the funeral today, this morning. I mean, this is an image that the world should see and needs to see. But just what you think of, one, these images coming out, and, two, what we just saw with Matthew Chance, the people who are willing to stop and talk?

CLARISSA WARD, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: I think it's pretty incredible, Kate, that the Kremlin has done absolutely everything in their power to try to play this down, to try to minimize it, to try to prevent it from escalating into some kind of a demonstration of sorts. And that included, by the way, jamming signals. People were not able to -- well, our own Matthew Chance was not able to get his live shot up, but also the Navalny team who had been live streaming from the church were not able to do that. The signals stopped jamming when the church service was over and when Alexei Navalny's body was moved on to the cemetery.

But you can see that extraordinary, haunting image, frankly, of his coffin covered in flowers and the mourners, his mother, you can see by the coffin on her knees, people holding those candles, and just that extraordinary stream of people that you just saw Matthew standing within, pouring in hour upon hour, regardless of the risk, regardless riot police flanking all around the church.

[07:10:13]

We also saw dignitaries attending the funeral, the U.S. ambassador to Russia, the U.K. ambassador to Russia. One extraordinary image showed those two ambassadors standing before this wall of so-called OMON riot police.

And you heard the chants of the crowds, Navalny, Navalny. They were also chanting, we aren't afraid because you were not afraid. That's a sort of a play on a slogan that Alexei Navalny himself used to say all the time, ya ne boyus' i tebe ne sleduyet boyat'sya, I am not afraid and you should not be afraid.

And I think today you're seeing some of that extraordinary courage of Alexei Navalny being carried on by the many supporters that he has, particularly in Moscow, but in other urban areas and across the country, even though the risk is so high now, even though Dmitry Peskov, who was President Putin's spokesperson, has said and warned against the dangers of, quote, unauthorized memorials. And yet still you see this stream of humanity coming out to pay homage and pay respect to an extraordinary man, Kate.

BOLDUAN: Yes. I just received word also from Navalny's team that his body has now arrived at the cemetery. This is -- you know, we are going to be following this as this continues and continuing to bring to everyone these extraordinary images as you're talking about that are coming out as people defiantly and bravely and courageously coming out to pay their respects and speaking up in the only way that they can right now in Moscow to pay their respects to Alexei Navalny and what he means to them.

Clarissa, thanks so much. She's going to be with us. We're going to continue to follow this for everyone. John?

BERMAN: And as we watch that, very shortly, we do expect to see Donald Trump at a Florida courthouse, hearings today. They could see him scheduled for trial in the Mar-a-Lago documents case well before the election.

And we just got our first look at the transcript of Hunter Biden's closed door testimony. What the drama and defiance tells us about where that case is going next.

And up to 12 feet of snow, officials warning it's too late to evacuate if you have not already. Records about to be shattered.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[07:15:00]

BERMAN: All right. This morning, will Donald Trump be on federal trial during the Republican National Convention? We could learn the answer to that in a federal court in Florida where Donald Trump is expected to be shortly.

Trump's classified documents trial had been on the calendar for May, but this morning, Special Counsel Jack Smith's team will ask to begin in July.

Now, this is notable for any number of reasons, but one of them is the impact it could have on the federal January 6th trial. Does this box that out? Does Smith think that the federal January 6th trial is now less likely to happen before Election Day anyway?

CNN's Katelyn Polantz is live outside the federal court in Florida, where the Mar-a-Lago documents case is front and center, and we could get a lot of new information today, Katelyn.

KATELYN POLANTZ, CNN SENIOR CRIME AND JUSTICE REPORTER: We could we're waiting to see how the judge reacts to these proposals here in Florida for trial dates. Both sides, both the Justice Department and Donald Trump's team and his co-defendants defense team, nobody thinks they're ready to go to trial in May as they had been scheduled.

So, they're going to be articulating that for the judge. There's a lot of things that they still have to do a lot of work to be done in this case. Jack Smith, they're pointing out July 8th as the date that they would like to go to trial and then Donald Trump and another co- defendant, Carlos de Oliveira, they want a date in August. Walt Nauta, his political aid, the third co-defendant, he wants a date to start in September. We will see where the judge comes down on this.

But, John, there is a real question here if the judge Schedules this federal criminal case against Donald Trump for the mishandling of classified documents here in Florida in July or August or September. Does that mean that there is almost no possibility for a January 6th federal criminal trial to be held before the election?

That is going to be a very big question for the other judge, Tanya Chutkan, in Washington, D.C. And we'll have to see how that plays out closer to the date. But it's really going to be a popcorn situation this summer with trial dates and when things will happen, how long they will take. And even if there will be a trial in this case, Trump has also pointed out in his filings that it's a busy campaign season, there's a lot of primaries, and he would prefer not to be in trial during the election season

BERMAN: Katelyn Polantz, great to have you there explaining to us everything that will take place today. We'll check back in with you shortly.

And we should note that coming this afternoon, the judge overseeing the Georgia election subversion case, we will hear closing arguments on whether Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis should be disqualified. We will cover that live. There are cameras in the court for that, so you will see it take place. Kate?

BOLDUAN: That's exactly right.

Furious and defiant, the released transcript from Hunter Biden's closed door deposition on Capitol Hill reveals that he was ready to fight back.

[07:20:05]

The president's son admitted that he was, quote, drunk and probably high when he name-dropped his father to a Chinese associate in a WhatsApp message that has become one of the focuses of the Republican investigation into the family's foreign business dealings.

The transcript also revealed the true hostility that was evident between Hunter Biden and House Republicans investigating his father throughout the hours of contentious testimony. Hunter Biden remained adamant of one thing for sure, that his father never financially benefited or helped in any of Hunter Biden's business deals.

CNN's Marshall Cohen has more on this. I mean, what is this -- the transcript of this back and forth is, what, nearly 230 pages, Marshall. Tell me more about what we heard from Hunter Biden.

MARSHALL COHEN, CNN REPORTER: Well, there was a lot in there, Kate. And as you mentioned, this whole impeachment inquiry revolves around the Republicans' allegation, their theory that Hunter Biden was in business with his father, that they worked together hand in hand to basically abuse his positions in government to get rich from overseas business dealings.

And what we saw in this transcript over and over were unequivocal denials from Hunter Biden. Let me read one of those for you. And he basically said that he knew better than to do that and that he didn't do it. He said, quote, that there was one thing that I was fully aware of my entire life, is that my dad was an official of the United States government, and there were very bright lines that I abided to and that I was very, very cognizant of. And I made certain that I never engaged with my father in asking him to do anything on my behalf or on behalf of any client. It doesn't get more black and white than that, an unequivocal denial.

But, Kate, look, in the last year-and-a-half, Republicans have unearthed some examples of the blurring of those lines. There were instances where Hunter Biden put his father on speakerphone when he was in a business meeting or when he introduced his dad to business partners. There was that WhatsApp message that you mentioned in the beginning there, where he was texting a Chinese business partner and saying, I'm here with my father and my father know wants to know why we haven't gotten paid yet, clearly invoking his dad to close a deal.

He had explanations for pretty much everything in this interview, and let me read for you what he said in response to that infamous text. It was very personal. He said, I was out of my mind. My father was not sitting next to me. My father had no awareness. I take full responsibility for being an absolute ass and an idiot when I sent this message. If I did send this message, I was drunk and probably high, talking repeatedly about his struggles with addiction and telling Republicans that they were taking advantage of his darkest days to try to score political points and impeach his father.

Kate, there was contrition, candor and a lot of combativeness in this all-day interview.

BOLDUAN: The question is where does this investigation now go from here? It's good to see you Marshall, thank you. John?

BERMAN: All right. In a few hours, the funeral service will be held for Laken Riley and Woodstock, Georgia. The 22-year-old nursing student was killed on the University of Georgia campus in Athens last week. Federal authorities say her accused killer entered the U.S illegally in 2022 and had been arrested and was out on parole.

Now, Georgia lawmakers are moving to require police to report, track and arrest anyone suspected of being in the United States illegally. The bill just passed the statehouse and now goes to the Georgia Senate. Kate?

BOLDUAN: So, the desperate search for a young girl now, Texas police are expanding their effort to find a 12-year-old that they fear has become a victim of trafficking.

And a partial government shutdown has been avoided at least for one more week, said another way, they have kicked the can down the road yet again. What this now means for Congress and maybe more specifically the Republican House speaker.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[07:25:00]

BERMAN: This morning, Texas police are expanding their search for a missing 12-year-old girl who they say may be the victim of trafficking. E'minie Hughes was last seen a week ago. She's at the center of a Houston area Amber Alert now.

CNN's Ed Lavender in Texas this morning. Ed, what's the latest from there?

ED LAVANDERA, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, police say have issued that Amber Alert yesterday, but it comes about a week after E'minie Hughes was first reported missing. According to a police that it was believed that the 12-year-old girl simply walked away from her home at first, but police say new information has now uncovered a more troubling possibility, and that includes surveillance video from the neighborhood where just before 2:00 A.M. on February 2nd, Hughes is seen walking through the neighborhood and then getting into a dark colored Dodge pickup truck.

And investigators also say that they've discovered that Hughes was using a social media website called Tag, which, quote, focuses on connecting people for friendships or dating through features like a browse, meet me, and live. So, there's a concern as police are saying now that there is a possibility that this could be a trafficking case, and that is why they issued the Amber Alert yesterday on Thursday.

Her mother is extremely terrified of what might be happening.

[07:30:00] (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SHANNON WILLIAMS, E'MINIE HUGHES' MOTHER: She's a baby. She don't understand what's actually going on. So, it's been really devastating.