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Jury Questionnaire for Hush Money Criminal Trial of Donald Trump Released; Special Counsel Jack Smith Asks Supreme Court to Rule on Former President Trump's Argument of Total Immunity for His Acts in Office; Parents of School Shooter in Michigan Face Sentencing for Involuntary Manslaughter. Aired 8-8:30a ET

Aired April 09, 2024 - 08:00   ET

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

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DONOVAN CLINGAN, UCONN HUSKIES CENTER: Just how hard I've worked and what I started with. I played at a public high school. I play on a very small AU team. I worked hard and I tried to make it to a level, a very high level. And I was able to make history. I know she's smiling down on me. I know she's happy for me. And I wish she could be part of it, but like I said, I know she's proud of me.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: I'm sure she would be so, so proud of you. We lost the signal there. Donovan Clingan, what an athlete and what a nice guy.

There are new developments in the case against Donald Trump. A new hour of CNN NEWS CENTRAL starts right now.

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: Another attempt to delay rejected. Donald Trump's hush money trial will go forward next week, and we now know what the potential jury will be asked ahead of this historic case.

Speaking of historic, a historic sentencing. How far will the judge go to hold the parents of a school mass shooting accountable for their role in their son's crimes.

And absolutely no control of his emotions, that is what prosecutors are saying about Alec Baldwin on the "Rust" movie set. Why they argued this compromise safety on the set where the cinematographer was shot and killed.

I'm Kate Bolduan with John Berman. Sara is out today. This is CNN NEWS CENTRAL.

BERMAN: This morning the trial is set to begin for real, it seems. Donald Trump's attempt to delay his criminal trial in New York denied overnight, maybe for the last time. And for the first time we have a window into the jury selection process, which some attorneys will tell you is the most important part of any trial. Starting on Monday, Trump is required to sit in a courtroom four days a week for at least the next several weeks as arguments over his 34 charges involving lies, payments to an adult film actress, play out.

The first part is already underway with a jury questionnaire released overnight. CNN's Katelyn Polantz has the details on this. A lot of really interesting questions, Katelyn.

KATELYN POLANTZ, CNN SENIOR CRIME AND JUSTICE REPORTER: Yes, John, 42 questions these potential jurors are going to be asked and have to answer. That's only the start of the process of jury selection that will start next Monday, April 15th, in this first trial of former President Donald Trump in New York. These questions are built to weed out people who may have a strong bias for or against Donald Trump and cannot find a way to be an impartial juror.

So some of the questions will just give enough information to the defense team and to the prosecutors to ask further questions. So an example of that is there is going to be a question asked of these potential jurors of what print publications, cable news outlets, or other online media they are consuming regularly. Do they watch CNN? Do they read "The Washington Post"? Do they watch FOX News, MSNBC? Do they read "The New York Times"? That is one of the questions.

That doesn't necessarily mean something one will be tossed just because they say yes to that or because they say they watch one of the cable news networks, but it does allow both sides to ask further questions to see if there's a bias.

One of the things, too, that the judge has said here, just being a member of a political party or voting for Donald Trump, that is not going to be even asked. He says there are no questions asking prospective jurors whom they voted for or intend to vote for in this upcoming election or who they have made political contributions to.

However, there are questions about do, do you have a strong opinion or belief about Donald Trump as president four years ago or as his candidacy continues for president now in a way that makes you unable to set aside the facts here? And then there are also questions, if you have worked for or volunteered for him in the past. John?

BERMAN: All right, just some of the questions, and that is only the beginning. Katelyn Polantz. Thank you very much for that reporting. Kate?

BOLDUAN: And to another Trump case right now. Special Counsel Jack Smith has a new asked of the Supreme Court when it comes to Donald Trump and presidential immunity. Now, this, remember, involves Smith's federal election subversion case against Donald Trump. Jack Smith is now urging the court to reject Trump's wishes to get the charges tossed out, and we are now 16 days out from oral arguments before the high court. CNN senior Supreme Court analyst Joan Biskupic is joining us now with more on this.

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Joan, can you walk us through what exactly Jack Smith is saying and asking here?

JOAN BISKUPIC, CNN SUPREME COURT ANALYST: Sure. Good morning, Kate. It's a very forceful filing in advance of the April 25th oral arguments. This is his main attempt to make a case in writing. His lawyers will be making it in person on April 25th, but this is in writing. And he rejects across the board in a very unequivocal way Donald Trump's claim of absolute immunity. He says that nothing in U.S. history dating back to the founding or any Supreme Court precedent since would allow a president to claim absolute immunity for any kind of actions in office, after office, against criminal prosecution.

And what he does here, remember, Jack Smith has brought several charges, all related to the aftermath of the 2020 election. Fraud against the U.S., obstruction of an official proceeding, denial of the right to vote. And first he reaches back to the founders and says, the framers never endorsed criminal immunity for a former president, and all presidents from the founding to the modern era have known that after leaving office, they faced potential criminal liability for official acts. And I want to stress, this is after leaving office.

And then Special Counsel Smith pivots to a more modern precedent, and that involves Richard Nixon, who engaged in misconduct related to the Watergate cover-up, remember the 1972 break-in of the Democratic National Campaign headquarters in the Watergate building. And Richard Nixon was an unindicted coconspirator related to that cover up. And Gerald Ford, when he became president after Nixon was forced out of office, pardoned Richard Nixon. And what Jack Smith is saying is that that pardon implicitly acknowledged that a former president could have been criminally prosecuted for his acts while in the White House. Kate?

BOLDUAN: So interesting, Joan. What do you think the high court, the justices are going to make of Trump's position here?

BISKUPIC: Well, in many ways, it's pretty audacious, Kate. He is saying he would be absolutely immune from any kind of criminal prosecution for any actions, including actions that would involve really serious alleged crimes. It would go -- it would even go to as emerged in the lower court hearing to the president ordering some sort of hit on -- using Seal Team Six against a political a rival.

And what lower court judges did was just absolutely reject that out of hand. And there's a line that I think will strike this Supreme Court from the lower court ruling in this case that said, whatever kind of executive immunity President Trump might have enjoyed while he was in office dissolved once he became citizen Trump. And that's what the court will be looking at here, not what he could have been liable for while in office, but once he leaves office, could he face charges.

And in this case, because of Trump's really no exceptions argument, I think they're going to reject it in the end. Maybe with some caveats, but I think he's heading for a rejection, Kate.

BOLDUAN: Joan, thank you so much. It's great to see you.

Coming up still for us, the parents -- next hour, the parents of the Michigan school shooter will be sentenced. That's happening today. Next hour, the first parents be held criminally responsible for these horrific crimes committed by their son. How far will the judge go? We will soon find out. So she sued her state after Roe v. Wade was overturned, and now that doctor is running for Congress in a key battleground state and wants to make take abortion rights the central issue.

Plus, they were a critical part of President Biden's 2020 coalition. A closer look now, though, on why he is struggling with younger black voters this time around.

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BERMAN: All right, very shortly, for the first time parents will be sentenced for a school shooting their son committed. Prosecutors are seeking 15 years each for James and Jennifer Crumbley, convicted of involuntary manslaughter for murders committed by their son and Oxford, Michigan.

CNN's Jean Casarez has been following this from the beginning and joins us now. This is a precedent setting day in Michigan.

JEAN CASAREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: For sentencing it is, because it's a precedent-setting case. These are the parents. They didn't pull the trigger of the gun, but they bought their son a gun four days before the mass shooting at Oxford, high school. So the focal point is not only how long they're going to get in prison in Michigan, but also the victims, the families of the four young students that were gunned down by their son, who was the one that pulled the trigger.

Prosecutors are asking for the maximum. They want 15 years, if not 10 to 15 years, because they say there's no now remorse here at all. These are egregious crimes. These are homicide convictions and there are four of them. The defense is asking for far less.

Now, a very novel theory, Shannon Smith, who is representing Jennifer Crumbley, always has said I have a guest house behind my home, time served, put a GPS monitor on her. She can stay in my guest house for the remainder of any term of imprisonment that you want for her.

But there's also an issue about James Crumbley. Not only did he buy the gun, but the prosecutors have recordings that he made.

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We might even hear a clip in the sentencing where they allege, he threatened Karen McDonald, the elected county attorney for oxford -- for Oakland County, and he says wait until I get out. I am coming for you.

The defense is saying, there are two sides to this story. You've got to listen to the whole tape because after that, he wants her disbarred from the Michigan Bar saying that she lied during this case, she should not be an attorney.

He begins that recording, the defense says, by saying, I would have done anything to stop this if I had known it was going to happen. So that's what the defense will be arguing.

BERMAN: His conduct during the trials an issue here as well.

CASAREZ: Well, the prosecution is saying that as he held his earphones to be able to hear that he used his middle finger and that middle finger was a sign to the prosecutor, this is what I am talking about, this is how I feel about you.

The defense is saying, he was just holding his earphones in so he could hear. He wasn't doing anything like that.

BERMAN: Jean Casarez, some full contact reporting today. Thank you very much for being with us.

CASAREZ: I know. Thank you.

BERMAN: All right, new attacks from Donald Trump on Jewish people who vote for President Biden. Why Trump says any Jewish-American who does not support him should "be spoken to."

And prosecutors claim, Alec Baldwin, had "absolutely no control over his own emotions," why they say his behavior contributed to issues on the set of "Rust."

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[08:21:07]

BOLDUAN: The Biden campaign, making it clear once again, they want abortion rights to be the central focus in many battleground states in this election.

Out with a new ad blaming Donald Trump for the near-death of a woman who was denied an abortion in Texas.

(BIDEN FOR PRESIDENT AD VIDEO CLIP PLAYS)

BOLDUAN: Now that woman, the woman who is a focus of this ad, Amanda Zurawski is going to be campaigning for Biden in key states this presidential election. That includes Wisconsin where the race for one congressional seat may very well turn on this very issue.

Joining us now is Dr. Kristin Lyerly. She is an OB-GYN in Wisconsin, now running as Democrat in that congressional race.

Doctor, thank you so much for joining us. This is a race just to remind -- fill everyone in to fill the seat vacated by the surprise retirement really of Republican Congressman Mike Gallagher.

I mentioned that the woman who appears in this new Biden campaign ad is coming to Wisconsin to campaign for him.

You also want abortion access to be a central focus of your race. Why do you think abortion will be the issue that your race turns on?

DR. KRISTIN LYERLY (D), WISCONSIN CONGRESSIONAL CANDIDATE: The woman in this ad is like so many people that I have taken care of in my own practice and I am so grateful to her for telling her story and for coming to Wisconsin and sharing her story.

But there are so many women right here in my state who are suffering the same way that she has suffered and that is why we need to change things in this country, and that is entirely the reason why I made the decision to run for Congress.

BOLDUAN: Donald Trump just announced yesterday -- made I would say just yesterday, made his stance, I guess more clear on abortion.

After months of mixed signals, he did not come out to support a specific number of weeks where he would support a ban. He did not support a federal ban. He only said that he would like it to be left up to the states to decide. What do you think about that? What's your reaction?

LYERLY: Did he make it more clear? I think he made it murkier and I can tell you that my colleagues in Arkansas and Tennessee, who are struggling to take care of their patients, who are struggling to make maintain their practice, and frankly, who are trying to figure out whether they can continue to provide any care in these states. They need to have national protections because they are not going to get it at the state level.

We saw this in Wisconsin when Dobbs happened, we had an 1849 law that made abortion inaccessible for people of Wisconsin.

Luckily, because we have an incredible team and some fantastic doctors including me, who stood up and said this does not work for our patients, luckily, we were able to bring abortion rights back to Wisconsin, but it is not enough and it is certainly not enough for people in these deep red state.

BOLDUAN: The reaction from the right to what they heard from Donald Trump was disappointment. I mean, his former Vice President Mike Pence called it a slap in the face. Republican Senator Lindsey Graham, there is a lot of back-and-forth on social media. He thought Trump should have supported a federal ban.

If the Republican right is mad at Trump for his position here, does that mean that he is choosing a more moderate position? Does this make your work harder?

LYERLY: They are just so wrong when it comes to abortion. Politicians have no place in our exam rooms. Period. This shouldn't be a political issue.

And when you look at what is happening on the right, this is the reason that Mike Gallagher decided not to run for this district because the leadership of the county Republican Parties up here are so mega extreme that they were no longer aligned with someone as moderate as Mike Gallagher.

[08:25:11] They want more, they want harsher, and that does not reflect the

people of this district, the people where -- I was born here. I know these people. They are good, kind people and they don't want this extremism.

They want their personal freedom. They want to be able to make their own personal health care decisions. Whether we're talking about abortion or cancer care, or anything else, they don't want anyone else making their decisions for them.

BOLDUAN: Let me ask you, Mike Gallagher, he was elected four times. I think it was to serve what is a solidly red district. Trump won it wanted by 16 points in 2020.

They just looked this morning at the nonpartisan election handicap political reports still has the district of solid red.

If you're not successful, Doctor, what message does that send?

LYERLY: We will be successful because even though it looks like a solid red district on paper, it is the swingiest district in the swingiest state and we've seen trends that show that the people here are not satisfied. We know that they are independent voters. They're not red, and they're not blue, they're green and gold. We are Green Bay Packers fans, and that is what we rally around.

So these people will vote their conscience and their conscience is with freedom, it's with democracy.

BOLDUAN: In your campaign, I was, as you well know, President Biden's statistically tied in the state with Donald Trump in some of the latest polling.

Do you want to appear with him? Would President Biden campaigning with you help you?

LYERLY: You know, that's a great question. I am really focused on my campaign, and I am really focused on getting out and talking with the people, hearing what the people want to see.

The issues that I am hearing are they don't have enough resources to put food on the table. They can't put gas in their car. They are having a hard time paying their health care bills. Those are the things that people here care about and that is really what we are going to focus on as well as elevating other folks across the states.

Remember, we got new maps. We had redistricting from this horrible gerrymandering that we've been living with for the last decade. So for the first time in a very long time, we are going to have a Democrat in every state assembly race, every state Senate race, and this congressional race which didn't have a challenger in the last cycle.

It is the dawn of a new day in Wisconsin especially in Northeastern Wisconsin.

BOLDUAN: Dr. Kristin Lyerly, thank you so much for coming on. LYERLY: Thanks for having me.

BOLDUAN: Coming up for us, the UK's top diplomat and former Prime Minister David Cameron, meeting with Secretary of State Tony Blinken.

That's after he met with Donald Trump.

And President Biden unveils new moves to target student loan debt. What does it really mean for you and your family? The Secretary of Education is our guest.

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