Return to Transcripts main page

CNN News Central

Trump Allies Mull Seeking Gag Order Against GA D.A. Fani Willis; New Technology Allows The Blind To Experience The Eclipse; Final Four Weekend Tips Off Tonight. Aired 1:30-2p ET

Aired April 05, 2024 - 13:30   ET

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[13:34:42]

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN HOST: There's a new angle in the multiple trials of former President Trump. Could there be a gag order coming, not for Defendant Trump, but for prosecutor, Fani Willis? She's the Fulton County D.A. accusing him of 2020 election subversion and racketeering.

And sources say lawyers for several of Trump's co-defendants in the investigation are mulling over whether to seek a gag order against Willis, who has continued to speak publicly about the case.

[13:35:07]

We have CNN legal analyst and former deputy assistant attorney general, Elliot Williams, here to talk about this.

We'll talk a little bit in a second about some of the comments that she's made here recently.

ELLIOT WILLIAMS, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: OK.

KEILAR: But, first, I just wonder if you think this would be a smart move for Trump and other defendants to pursue or is this something that could actually kind of backfire, maybe --

(CROSSTALK)

KEILAR: -- swing -- swing right back at them?

WILLIAMS: Right back at them. Turnabout is fair play. And there's a couple of reasons why it's probably not a great idea for Trump and his team.

Number one, they are trying to get her removed from the case on account of some of her behavior and statements and so on.

If, in fact, they get a gag order that silences her, that takes away all they're or a big part of the reason for getting her off the case in the first place. That's number one.

Number two is you open the door to a gag order against former President Trump as well, you know? Because all the parties here, including the judge, who is himself running for office, they're all out speaking about this case.

So if they put a gag order in place on her, they ought to put one on Donald Trump as well. And I just think, if you're a defense attorney, they're really weighing this and it's probably not a great idea.

KEILAR: Let's talk about something that McAfee's ruling said. At a recent awards event, she's -- or pardon me -- this is what Fani Willis said.

Recent or -- sorry -- this is what the judge said. "Recently, they tell me" -- no, this is what Willis said. I'm so sorry. I'm going to do this whole cycle myself without letting you weigh in, apparently.

(LAUGHTER)

OK, so, "Recently, they tell me they don't like me to talk about race." This is what she told a crowd. "Well, I'm going to talk about it anyway."

And I wonder how you think the judge sees that. Because most recently in his ruling, he basically said, hey, a gag order isn't what is before the court right now, however, it might be time for one.

WILLIAMS: She's allowed to talk about race. Now, if the question is, is she calling a party to the proceedings racist? Is she calling something -- you know, does her -- do her comments in some way touch on the substance of the proceeding?

And I think people hear the word "race" and sort of their ears prick up and think that she is inherently saying something problematic.

The rule is, and when we're talking about gag orders and things that are permissible, is the judge saying something that will impede a party's administration -- ability to get the fair administration of justice? And when you start talking about race, that's a little bit of a gray area.

Now, look, I'll be the first to say that everyone in this case, including that prosecutor, is guilty of probably going too far and saying things they shouldn't have about the other parties and about the judge in the court and so on.

But I just think all this sensitivity around talking about race, I think is a little bit much here.

KEILAR: The judge has also spoken publicly.

WILLIAMS: Yes.

KEILAR: Let's -- let's remind people. He's spoken publicly multiple times. And I know a lot of legal observers look and say, I really wonder if he would have done that if he weren't facing an election.

WILLIAMS: Yes.

KEILAR: Because he is, she is as well. WILLIAMS: I think that's the dark side. This is my personal view.

(CROSSTALK)

KEILAR: Tell us the dark side.

WILLIAMS: This is the dark side of judges being elected and racists. They are running for office just like district attorneys, and, frankly, presidents are. They have -- they're accountable to voters, too, in a way that appointed judges are not.

And he is going to be out on the campaign trail talking and speaking. And he has an interest in being seen a certain way by the public in this trial as well.

KEILAR: So far, he's been seen as pretty good.

WILLIAMS: He has, yes.

KEILAR: But I think speaking publicly has sort of raised some eyebrows.

All of this talking that is going on, what does it do to the politicization of the trial and to the legitimacy with which people are going to view the outcome.

WILLIAMS: The great challenge, Brianna, is that, one, we in America, enjoy the right to speak. Candidates enjoy the right to speak. It comes, many people think, from God as written into our Constitution. And that's, frankly, a good thing.

We also have an open court system. And those two things come in conflict -- conflict, and they really are here. Judges and law professors have struggled with these issues quite a bit.

They need to be allowed to speak and speak their minds about other candidates and, frankly, about the system but not at the cost of messing up somebody's trial, even a former president that many people take some issue with.

So if I had the answer today, I'd be a much richer man. I don't think anybody does. But it's a very, very narrow line that both Judge McAfee and, frankly, higher courts that review those are going to have to sort out.

KEILAR: We'll have to see what happens with this potential gag order or not.

Elliot, always great to have you. Thank you.

[13:39:18]

Eclipse watchers will be looking toward the skies on Monday, but what about those who are visually impaired? Up next, the new technology that will allow them to experience the event.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KEILAR: For many visually impaired or blind Americans, this could be the first time that they get to experience a solar eclipse.

"How," you say. Well, it is all thanks to a new technology developed by researchers at Harvard. It's called the LightSound Device, which translates light into sound, allowing people to actually hear the eclipse.

BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN HOST: This is fascinating.

Joining us now is Kiki Smith. She works for a community development organization in Rochester, New York.

There's going to be a -- they're going to be hosting a free eclipse watch party using the devices.

Kiki, you yourself are blind. Can you demonstrate how this device works?

KIKI SMITH, FUNDRAISING & OUTREACH COORDINATOR, SOUTHEAST AREA COALITION: Absolutely. Thank you so much for having us on today.

We received these LightSound Devices from Allyson Bieryla and her team at Harvard. And the device plugs into, by the audio jack, to a set of speakers or a set of headphones for private listening.

[13:44:57]

But when you turn the device on, and you turn the unit over, it is sensitive to light. So that we'll use cell phone flashlight, for example. The high pitch of a flute will represent the sound of light, pre-eclipse, or hopefully, at 2:00 here in Rochester, New York. You'll hear this high pitch.

(MUSIC)

SMITH: There we go.

And as the light waves, those tones will decrease until the deepening of a clarinet sound. And eventually, the sound of crickets, which represents totality. For the three minutes and 38 seconds, we'll have that silence.

And at 3:23.5, the clarinet will begin again and the light will wax. And we will begin to hear those notes ascend.

KEILAR: Kiki, that is amazing.

SANCHEZ: Wow.

(LAUGHTER)

SANCHEZ: Wow.

KEILAR: That is so cool. And -- (CROSSTALK)

SMITH: I didn't design it.

KEILAR: I know.

(LAUGHTER)

SMITH: I just use it.

KEILAR: But you get to use it. You get to use it. And you're a --

(CROSSTALK)

KEILAR: -- a very good model to show it, I will tell you, to demonstrate it.

Tell us a little bit about -- I mean, it's not just that that you will hear. There's also going to be other sensations that you were sharing in with everyone, which is it gets a little cooler as the eclipse happens.

So you're going to be experiencing that in tandem with the sound. And I wonder what you're anticipating.

SMITH: Well, I'm hoping to feel a shift toward winter and then we'll have our beautiful spring bloom at 3:30.

But also, I'm really looking forward during the totality to hearing the silence, to noticing the hush of the birds, hopefully the traffic, which is anticipated to be extraordinary here in town, will come to a halt.

And so we'll actually just be experiencing together the silence of nature and, of course, the oohing and aahing of the gathered crowd.

SANCHEZ: Yes, absolutely.

Kiki, I'm wondering what this means for young kids, especially, who are part of the visually impaired and blind community. It has to be a unique sensation to experience something like this.

SMITH: Well, it is. It's certainly opportunity for us to belong to the rest of the world and all of their excitement and celebration, that we can be part of that and not marginalized.

But it also represents hope and possibility. I have told the story about how, in fourth grade, I was determined to become the next -- you know, the first woman astronaut at the time. That was a long time ago.

(LAUGHTER)

SMITH: But as my vision deteriorated, those dreams sort of disappeared. They got fuzzier and fuzzier as my ability to perceive those scientific materials and methods wasn't memorizeable (ph) anymore and they were more conceptual. So I think that the development of these types of instruments and

devices, like the LightSound box, give folks who are living with vision loss hope that they'll be able to participate in the careers and the technologies and the educational opportunities that we thought, once upon a time, we're out of our reach, out of our touch even.

KEILAR: Yes. And you've spoken about how you felt like you didn't belong. And you mentioned that word "belonging." I think it's so important as we have -- you know, we've talked to psychologists about this eclipse. There's this collective event that is going to be very important to a lot of people.

And this does allow you to belong. How important is that for the sight-impaired community?

SMITH: I think it's really special. You know, we often feel marginalized because the world is so visuocentric. We watch all the time. It's all about what things look like.

And now, particularly post-COVID, I think the world really at-large came to understand this sense of isolation and marginalization.

And it's bringing that into our everyday lives where we're trying to think more inclusively about belonging and value, so that when we have these opportunities to be part, integrated.

It's not -- this is not an event for the blind. It's an event with everybody. So we can participate alongside folks who see, who don't see who hear, who don't hear.

[13:50:03]

And together we can have these opportunities to participate in what would have been an only visual experience.

We have some really neat tools. This, in fact, is a device -- this is another LightSound Device that was just built in prototype by our Rochester Institute of Technology students.

They're starting to get involved in how they can, at that institution, get involved in shifting this paradigm and thinking outside of our typical contexts.

But we have a really neat -- here's Florida's representation -- representations of the path of totality. Back in 2017, that rough surface that takes those swaths across from the northwest to the southeast, versus this path of totality that reaches up from Texas. And eventually, oh, there we are, there we are with our sticker in Rochester, New York.

(LAUGHTER)

So this is -- you know, back in 2017, I thought -- we all thought this was the biggest thing to hit Rochester. But look how far away we were from that path of totality. Here we are right in the center line. And I had no idea until I got my fingers on this map what that meant

for how this side of the map shows just how that corona is going to be just between those two little tangent lines.

That sliver of light that provides the corona at totality. And how that tiny little moon is going to cast that huge shadow over that surface so that we can experience this together.

KEILAR: Kiki, it is amazing. I'll tell you, I was fighting back tears there a second. I did not expect that with this segment that we are having with you, but this is amazing.

Thank you so much for spending time with us and showing us how you and so many people are going to be able to experience this. We really appreciate you being with us.

SMITH: Oh, we're so glad. And we hope that this is just the beginning, that this is the kind of event that everybody walks away from and thinks, how can I make my next meeting, our next event --

KEILAR: Yes.

SMITH: -- my business --

(CROSSTALK)

SMITH: -- more successful all the time.

KEILAR: Yes. Such a good point.

Kiki, thank you. And enjoy the eclipse.

We'll be right back.

SANCHEZ: Such a pleasure to chat with you.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[13:55:50]

SANCHEZ: It is a big weekend ahead for college basketball. We're now down to a Final Four teams in both the men's and women's March Madness tournaments. The women's games tip off tonight. The men's games tip off tomorrow.

Coy Wire is right now on the practice court putting up some free throws in Glendale, Arizona.

Coy, take us through the weekend.

COY WIRE, CNN SPORTS ANCHOR: Yes, we're putting up bricks, first of all, Boris. But, yes, we are here on the court where UConn and Dan Hurley's Huskies going to look to do something that hasn't been done in 17 years, repeat as champions.

They are on an historic run, 10 straight games, winning by double digits. It's never been done before. They'll face Alabama.

And then, the other game, you have Purdue facing N.C. State, who are in the Final Four for the first time in 41 years. They've lost four games to end the regular season but have gone on a nine-game tear undefeated to make it to the Final Four. Their head coach, Kevin Keys, calls it a miracle run.

But there's star big man, D.J. Burns, the 275-pound force of nature, says he has believed all along. Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

D.J. BURNS; N.C. STATE: Yes, I definitely could have imagined this, you know, that's why I worked so hard every day to get to this point. So I'm not going to act like it's something that was -- that I thought was unachievable.

But you need a team to do it. So I'm just glad that God blessed me with the team that would allow us to be here.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WIRE: Now, Boris, tonight, another huge moment for women's sports. Last Elite Eight match-up between Iowa and LSU drew 12.3 million viewers. That's more than every MLB game last season, every NHL game, every NBA game, except for one.

You're going to have the undefeated South Carolina Gamecocks of Dawn Staley, they are an abdominal force. They're going to be facing N.C. State.

But the other match up tonight, Iowa and Caitlin Clark facing the UConn Huskies. We know the Caitlin Clark effect. She's shattered records, packed arenas.

Tickets to get in are more at the women men's Final Four than at the men's currently. It's going to be an incredible match up because she's facing Paige Bueckeres, aka, Paige Buckets.

The head coach for UConn, Geno Auriemma, already is likening this to the 1979 men's national championship game between Magic and Bird. It's going to be all kinds of fireworks and a whole bunch of awesome on the women's Final Four tip off tonight.

SANCHEZ: A huge moment for women's basketball. This tournament has really raised the bar.

Coy Wire, look forward to seeing what you build with all those bricks, my man.

Still to come on CNN NEWS CENTRAL, President Biden about to speak after taking an aerial tour of the Baltimore bridge collapse.

This is one day after a tense phone call between the White House and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu days after that deadly strike on a World Central Kitchen convoy that left seven aid workers dead. We're going to bring you the president's remarks live.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)