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Trump Associate Sentenced to Prison; Donald Trump Continues Attempts to Delay Hush Money Trial; Arizona Turns Back Clock on Abortion; President Biden Holds Press Conference With Japanese Prime Minister. Aired 1-1:30p ET

Aired April 10, 2024 - 13:00   ET

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

[13:00:46]

BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN HOST: Thanks for joining us this afternoon.

At any moment, President Biden is expected to hold his first press conference of the year, sharing the stage with Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida in the Rose Garden.

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN HOST: These two leaders are set to announce a list of new defense and technology agreements, all in an effort to counter China's emerging power in the Indo-Pacific.

CNN's M.J. Lee is joining us now live from the White House.

M.J., tell us a little bit more about these points of cooperation that Biden and Kishida are going to unveil.

M.J. LEE, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Brianna and Boris, this visit by the Japanese prime minister says a lot about a key feature of Biden's foreign policy.

And that is strengthening the U.S.' alliances with countries in the Indo-Pacific, with the goal of countering China's strength and influence in the region. And that's going to be quite clear when we see the two leaders emerge from this bilateral meeting and announce dozens of deliverables.

And, if you look closely, a couple of those things at least get to this issue of countering China, for example, further integrating the two countries' militaries and strengthening the two countries' defense industrial cooperation. There are going to be a number of other announcements too that just get at the two countries' potential areas of cooperation, technology, artificial intelligence, even space cooperation.

And now, as with any two countries, there have, of course, been other areas of tension between the two countries as well. We know, for example, that the president opposes Japan's efforts to purchase U.S. Steel, a company that is based in Pittsburgh.

But, interestingly, when a senior U.S. official was previewing this meeting yesterday with reporters, they predicted that the issue probably would not come up because the two leaders already know where the other stands on this issue.

Now, one of the ways in which the White House is making clear that Japan is such an important alliance for the U.S. is, of course, by hosting the prime minister as part of a state visit, featuring, of course, the state dinner coming tonight.

We know that there is going to be all of the pomp and circumstance that comes with a state dinner. There is going to be an ornate and decadent menu and decorations and entertainment that all pay tribute to the U.S.-Japanese alliance.

And, also, I would be remiss if I didn't mention that, in just a few minutes, when we see the president come out with the prime minister in the Rose Garden, this is going to be the first formal press conference that the president is holding this year.

The last time that he had a formal press conference was actually back in December, when the Ukrainian president was here at the White House.

KEILAR: Yes. It doesn't happen very often.

M.J. Lee, thank you for that.

We are awaiting the press conference. You see the Rose Garden all set up there. We're going to bring that to you live as soon as it begins.

But, in the meantime, let's turn now to Arizona, which is the latest state to turn back the clock on abortion policy. President Biden and former President Trump are reacting to a ban on nearly all abortions that could reshape the political landscape in a crucial 2024 battleground state, the Arizona Supreme Court reviving a law that dates back to 1864.

It bans abortion in all cases, except to save the life of the mother.

SANCHEZ: Well, the White House putting out a statement shortly after this was announced, the president calling this cruel and extreme.

Meantime, Vice President Kamala Harris is actually heading to Arizona today. And now former President Trump is in a bind, because, the day before this ruling dropped, he took credit for killing Roe v. Wade and said that abortion should be decided by the states.

Today, he's actually saying that states like Arizona may have gotten it wrong.

CNN's Natasha Chen is tracking the fallout here.

Natasha, abortion providers are now scrambling, and Republicans are scrambling to prevent backlash from this.

NATASHA CHEN, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: And, Boris and Brianna, there is definitely a chilling and rippling effect, not just for the people of Arizona, but also politicians who are up for election, as you just mentioned. I spoke to Eloisa Lopez this morning. She's the executive director of

Pro-Choice Arizona and the Abortion Fund of Arizona, that -- a group that helps fund travel for women who might need to go out of state for an abortion. Currently, they help women who are beyond 15 weeks to go to Nevada or California, for example, for abortion services.

[13:05:06]

She anticipates that, pretty soon that's going to be all women, because this ruling yesterday essentially makes it illegal to have an abortion, except in cases of saving the life of the mother. That's banning nearly all abortions.

And while this ruling may go into effect in about two weeks, we anticipate there's going to be a lot of legal wrangling and a lot of confusion. She says, already, they're having to clarify for people that abortion services are still available right now in Arizona.

But she does anticipate the clinic appointments are going to fill up fast, that there is a 24-hour waiting period as it is. Some clinics may not be open all days of the week. Some may only have one provider. So you can imagine there's going to start to be a little bit of that kind of panic.

You see that map there. There are a lot of other states with restrictive bans. We're going to see if this one -- how this one plays out. Already, we're seeing strong reactions from politicians, including former President Donald Trump, who just spoke in Atlanta on the tarmac, saying that he will not sign a federal ban on abortion.

Here's what he said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

QUESTION: Mr. President, did Arizona go too far? Did Arizona go too far?

DONALD TRUMP, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES (R) AND CURRENT U.S. PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Yes, they did. And that will be straightened out.

And, as you know, it's all about states' rights. That will be straightened out. And I'm sure that the governor and everybody else are going to bring it back into reason. And that will be taken care of, I think, very quickly.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHEN: So, there you see Trump believes that there is still more to come in this fight.

Right now, the stay is for 14 days, if the parties want to bring up further issues in lower courts. The person I spoke to with the organization the Abortion Fund of Arizona said to me: "It is angering, but this work is survival work for me." So there is a lot still to be debated and talked about, including that ballot initiative that -- where a group is gathering signatures to enshrine abortion rights in the state's constitution. That may appear on the November ballot for Arizonans.

SANCHEZ: Natasha Chen, thank you so much for the latest there.

Let's talk about that way that Arizona voters may soon have a say on abortion.

Joining us now is Dawn Penich. She's a spokesperson for Arizona for Abortion Access, the organization leading an effort to let Arizonans vote directly on protecting abortion rights on the 2024 ballot.

Dawn, thank you so much for being with us.

So, this 1864 ban is set to go into effect in two weeks. Is there a legal or legislative avenue that could realistically result in a reversal or a pause in that span of two weeks?

DAWN PENICH, SPOKESPERSON, ARIZONA FOR ABORTION ACCESS: There is some talk coming out of our state legislature about some sort of repeal of the 1864 ban.

The governor, Governor Katie Hobbs, has called for that. So we are definitely watching that very closely to see if that's something that our state lawmakers will move forward in doing.

KEILAR: And so, if that happens, then where exactly is Arizona, considering that when you -- I just want to say, considering, when you look at this ruling, what the Supreme Court was saying here was, the issue with the more recent 15-week ban, they said, was that it was hinged on Roe v. Wade, which is obviously now irrelevant.

So, where would that leave Arizona?

PENICH: So, there's a possibility that if the 1864 ban is repealed, then we could go back again to the situation we had on Monday, which was the 15-week ban, which, of course, is nothing that Arizonans can rely on, as this is evidence of.

And so that's why we at Arizona for Abortion Access keep coming back to our measure to allow Arizona voters to chime in on this themselves on the November ballot. And that would be a constitutional amendment, which would stop all of this back-and-forth and political gameplay and give Arizonans some peace of mind.

SANCHEZ: Dawn, when will you have confirmation that it'll actually be on the ballot?

PENICH: Our deadline to turn in signatures is July 3. Then we will move into a validation phase. There might be lawsuits from the opposition.

And so, by the end of summer, we should know whether it will be on the November ballot. And I will tell you that, at the campaign, we anticipated all of this. This is all very standard in Arizona for citizens initiatives. So we're confident that we will get through the submission deadline, the legal challenges, and be on that November ballot for folks.

KEILAR: And are you confident that it will succeed? And, if so, what are you basing that on?

PENICH: Two things, really.

We are very confident that Arizona would be next in a long line of abortion access wins across the nation. I am out in the community every single day. So, I can tell you, from firsthand experience, very many people see us out there with petitions and come rushing over, thanking us for being there, because they are so outraged, even before this Supreme Court ruling, at what has been done in terms of reproductive freedoms.

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But we also have many years of polling, including now in this moment, saying that Arizona voters across the political spectrum, Republicans, independents, Democrats, support access to abortion. So we feel very confident that we will get this done in November.

SANCHEZ: Dawn Penich, we appreciate you joining us and sharing your perspective. Thanks for being with us.

PENICH: Thank you.

SANCHEZ: We are keeping a close eye on the podiums at the Rose Garden right now, because, at any moment, President Biden is going to deliver his first press conference of the year. He will be flanked by the Japanese prime minister, and there are very important questions to ask both leaders.

We're going to stay tuned for that and be right back after a short break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[13:15:25]

SANCHEZ: There are two big developments in the New York cases against former President Donald Trump.

His former moneyman Allen Weisselberg was just sentenced again, this time for lying to investigators in the New York attorney general's fraud case against Trump. Now, that was a civil case against the former president.

In the New York criminal case against him, his attorneys filed yet another appeal. The case is set to go to trial next week. There, the Manhattan DA is accusing Trump of benefiting from a hush money scheme during the 2016 campaign.

CNN correspondent Kara Scannell is live for us outside the courthouse in New York.

Kara, let's start with these new appeals. Again, Trump's team has been trying to delay this case and all the others for quite a while. It's set to start with jury selection on Monday. So what are they arguing now?

KARA SCANNELL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Right, Boris.

This is the third attempt this week to try to delay this trial. Today's filing, they're asking this judge, the judge here, to have an emergency hearing and delay the trial so they can make arguments on two different fronts. One of the fronts is about presidential immunity.

Trump's team had filed a motion with the judge overseeing the trial, Judge Juan Merchan, asking him to delay this trial until the Supreme Court rules on whether Trump is -- has immunity from prosecution in the January 6 case in Washington, D.C. Now, Judge Merchan denied that motion, saying it was filed way too late, just a few weeks out from this trial.

Now, they also are asking the appeals court to allow them time to make arguments about whether the judge should be recused from this case. They filed a motion asking the judge to step aside based on work his daughter does for a political organization that works for Democrats.

The judge has not ruled on that yet, but, already, Trump's team is bouncing to the appeals court to try to get them to get involved here and stop this trial, so they can make further arguments on that. Now, we are waiting for to see whether a judge will take up this emergency action today or if we will be back tomorrow.

But that is the most recent pending thing. And, as you mentioned, this is just the latest effort. Earlier this week, Trump's team came to this same court and asked judges to stop the trial so they could make an appeal of a gag order that was put in place on the former president to limit certain statements he can make about possible witnesses, about the judge's family members.

That was swiftly denied. Another motion that was denied, the judge's -- the judge overseeing a different one about whether to stop the trial so Trump could challenge the venue, because he said that he couldn't -- Trump could not get a fair trial in Manhattan due to all the pretrial publicity. That was also very quickly denied.

So, waiting to see if this is going to be taken up today, but it is the third attempt this week to try to stop the trial from happening, and jury selection is still scheduled at this point to begin on Monday -- Boris.

SANCHEZ: Kara, turning now to Allen Weisselberg. He's already done time, and he's returning now to Rikers. Originally, it was for tax fraud back in 2022. Why is he going back now?

SCANNELL: Yes. So, last month, Allen Weisselberg, Trump's longtime chief financial officer, pleaded guilty to two felony counts of perjury. And what he said he did was that he lied during the investigation into Donald Trump's financial statements. That was by the New York attorney general's office that resulted in that big fine, almost half-a-billion dollars, that Trump is ordered to pay.

Well, Weisselberg with investigators during the course of their investigation, and he admitted to having lied to them about what he knew about the size of Donald Trump's triplex apartment at Trump Tower and how that apartment was valued on the financial statements that the judge found were inflated.

Weisselberg came into court today under a deal with the prosecution. The whole sentencing hearing lasted less than five minutes. The judge said she would honor the agreement that he had with prosecutors. So, she sentenced Weisselberg to five months in jail at Rikers Island.

Now, the previous sentence, you mentioned, was also five months. Weisselberg ended up serving about 100 days. But, in either case, he's not cooperating against Donald Trump, and he's not expected to appear at the trial next week -- Boris.

SANCHEZ: Kara Scannell live for us outside the courthouse in New York.

Thanks so much, Kara -- Brianna.

KEILAR: Now to a rare court decision in another Trump case. This is one involving the federal prosecution of the former president for keeping hundreds of classified documents on his property.

The judge has sided with special counsel Jack Smith and has ruled that the witness list will stay secret.

We have seen CNN chief legal affairs correspondent Paula Reid here with more on this.

All right, Paula, what does this mean for this case?

PAULA REID, CNN CHIEF LEGAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: So, here, Judge Aileen Cannon -- she's the Trump appointee who's overseeing this case -- she actually decided something that has been a bit of a logjam in this case, and that is whether to reveal the names of witnesses in this case.

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She previously said that she was going to be more transparent in this case, but the special counsel pushed back on that, reminding her that, if these witnesses, some of their names are released, they could be at risk. They could face harassment.

As CNN has reported, some of these witnesses are even low-level staffers at Trump's Mar-a-Lago club. So, last night, she said that, for now, the witnesses' names will remain secret. KEILAR: And she sides with him in this.

REID: Yes.

KEILAR: However, there is some tension between the judge and Jack -- and special counsel Jack Smith.

REID: Yes, there's a lot of tension. And you can sense it in these filings, that, here, she admonished the special counsel for not being more clear in the past about specifically why these witnesses needed to be protected.

Of course, just about a week ago, they admonished her for not understanding the law. So, there's clearly some tension. She's been under a lot of scrutiny for how she's handled this case. She still has over a dozen motions outstanding, and she still has not set a trial date. We were down in court in Florida well over a month ago to hear arguments from both sides about how far back to push this case.

She still has not decided that issue. Now, a question I get asked a lot is, will the special counsel move to try to get her removed from the case if they're not happy, if they think it's either her inexperience or some other issue means she's not handling this properly?

There's nothing in their filings right now to indicate that they're going to make that move. But if they were to do that, they would probably need more of a record, and decisions like this, where she sort of backtracks, and other decisions where they believe she is wrong in the law, that would all go to support that, if that's something they do down the road.

KEILAR: The fact that there's this logjam and this sort of backup of all the motions, that wouldn't factor into that?

REID: I mean, it's -- it would have to -- it would have to speak to why she is so slow in making these decisions, right?

Some of these are complicated. This is an unprecedented case. But other legal experts have pointed to her relative inexperience. I have been in the courtroom with her. I have been in the courtroom with Judge Tanya Chutkan, the other federal judge handling the other special counsel case.

I mean, there is certainly a contrast, in terms of a judge who's been on the bench for two or three years versus a judge who's been on the bench for over a decade, in terms of how -- how well you control your courtroom, control the Trump legal team, control the special counsel prosecutors. They can be difficult too.

There is a contrast there. So it would have to depend on which issues they would want to pursue.

KEILAR: There's so much pressure on this case. And you have covered so many cases. I wonder how you see judges reacting, and experience included as a factor here, when there is such a harsh spotlight like this.

REID: I mean, some judges sort of embrace it, right? I think Judge Tanya Chutkan, she embraced it. She would speak through her hearings. She knew the national press corps was there. It would quote her. She made her feelings on some of Trump's objections, some of his defenses known, and her feeling also that she wanted to move that case along quickly.

She insisted that it was going to go in early March. Of course, we know it's not. It's going to be -- the issue of immunity is going to be heard at the Supreme Court. But then you look at a judge like Judge Cannon. She's only been on the bench for a few years.

And you can tell, when you're in the courtroom and she's dealing with a special counsel and the defense attorney's arguing with one another, sometimes over substantive issues, sometimes over petty personal grievances, she doesn't have as much of a command of her courtroom.

But we also see Judge McAfee down in Georgia. He's also an even more novice judge, right? But he has shown -- and we have been able to see everything in his courtroom, because, God bless Georgia, those are televised. He's done a really good job.

KEILAR: It's been noticeable.

Paula, thank you so much for that.

Let's go now to the Rose Garden, where President Biden is about to have a news conference with Prime Minister Kishida Fumio -- or -- Kishida Fumio of Japan. Here they are.

JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Please have a seat.

It's an honor to stand here today with the prime minister of Japan, President Kishida -- Prime Minister Kishida.

When I became president, I said that the United States would rebuild the muscle of our democratic alliances and we would stand shoulder to shoulder with our allies again, because our alliances are America's greatest asset. The relationship with Japan is powerful proof of that, that investing in our alliance and raising our collective ambitions will yield remarkable results.

Over the last three years, the partnership between Japan and the United States has been transformed into a truly global partnership. And that's thanks in no small part to the courageous leadership of Prime Minister Kishida. And I mean that sincerely.

Together, our countries are taking significant steps to strengthen defense security cooperation, for modernizing command-and-control structures, and to -- increasing the interoperability and planning of our militaries, so that they can work together in a seamless and effective way.

This is the most significant upgrade in our alliance since the end of -- since it was first established. I'm also pleased to announce that, for the first time, Japan and the United States and Australia will create a network system of air, missile and defense architecture. We're also looking forward to standing up a trilateral military exercise with Japan and the United Kingdom.

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And our AUKUS defense partnership with Australia and the United Kingdom is exploring how Japan can join our work in the second pillar, which focuses on advanced capabilities, including A.I., autonomous systems. All told, that represents a new benchmark for our military cooperation across a range of capabilities.

On the economic front, our ties have never been more robust. Japan is the top foreign investor in the United States. Say that again. Japan is the top foreign investor in the United States. And we, the United States, are the top foreign investor in Japan. Nearly one million Americans work in Japanese companies here in the United States.

And to name just one example, a few months ago, Toyota announced an $8 billion investment in a massive battery production facility in North Carolina, which will employ thousands of people. The prime minister is going to travel to North Carolina tomorrow to visit that project.

Don't stay. Don't stay. We need you back in Japan.

(LAUGHTER)

BIDEN: They will probably try to keep you.

We also affirmed the science and education ties between Japan and the United States. Those ties stretch up to the moon, where two Japanese astronauts will join future American missions, and one will become the first non-American ever to land on the moon. And they reach into the high schools and universities as well, where the Mineta -- Ambassador Mineta's program exists, named for our dear friend Norm Mineta.

We're going to invest in new student exchanges, help train the next generation of Japanese and American leaders. We also discussed developments in the Middle East, including our shared support for a cease-fire and a hostage deal and urgent efforts to deal with the humanitarian crisis that exists in Gaza.

We also want to address the Iranian threat to launch a significant -- they're threatening to launch a significant attack on Israel. As I told Prime Minister Netanyahu, our commitment to Israel's security against these threats from Iran and its proxies is ironclad. Let me say it again, ironclad. We're going to do all we can to protect Israel's security.

And, finally, I want to commend the prime minister himself. He's a statesman, command -- you know, the fact is that you condemned Putin's invasion of -- brutal invasion of Ukraine when it happened.

You have pledged more than $12 billion in aid, prioritizing nuclear nonproliferation at the United Nations Security Council, standing strong with the United States as we stand up for freedom of navigation, including in the South China Sea, and as we maintain peace and stability across the Taiwan Straits, and taking the brave step of mending ties with the Republic of Korea, so we can all stand shoulder to shoulder together.

Tomorrow, we will both be joined by another good friend, President Marcos of the Philippines, for a trilateral summit, the first of its kind. And through it all, our commitment to the defense of Japan under Article 5, including the Sen -- excuse me -- Senkaku Islands, is unwavering.

Mr. Prime minister, through our partnership, we have strengthened the alliance. We have expanded our work together. We have raised our shared ambitions. And now the U.S.-Japan alliance is a beacon to the entire world. There's no limit what our countries can and our people can do together.

So, thank you for your partnership, your leadership, and your friendship. And now over to you, Mr. Prime Minister.

FUMIO KISHIDA, JAPANESE PRIME MINISTER: Thank you, Joe.

(through translator): And for countless times and confirmed our shared motion that we are at crucial crossroads and that Japan-U.S. partnership is immensely important.

The international community stands at a historical turning point. In order for Japan, the U.S., the Indo-Pacific region and, for that matter, the whole world to enjoy peace, stability, and prosperity lasting into the future, we must resolutely defend and further solidify a free and open international order based on the rule of law.

And again today, I told the president that now is the time to demonstrate the true values that Japan and the United States can offer as global partners.

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