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Rabbi to Columbia University Students: Go Home for Passover; Opening Statements to Begin in Trial of Donald Trump for Falsifying Business Records Tied to Hush Money Payments for Stormy Daniels; Former Publisher of "The National Enquirer" David Pecker to be First Witness for Prosecution in Trump Trial. Aired 8-8:30a ET

Aired April 22, 2024 - 08:00   ET

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

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: It's good to see you guys.

JIM MESSINA, FORMER OBAMA CAMPAIGN MANAGER: Thank you.

BOLDUAN: Please come back even though -- you love me, you do.

MESSINA: No, I do, I do.

(LAUGHTER)

BOLDUAN: A new hour of CNN NEWS CENTRAL starts now.

We are standing by for open statements in the New York criminal case against Donald Trump. We're getting new details on the first witness to be called, a man allegedly in the room when a scheme was hatched to bury bad stories about Donald Trump and the 2016 election.

Jewish students being urged to return home for their own safety, classes go virtual as protests roil a university.

And the Supreme Court braces for arguments that could effectively end the federal election case against Donald Trump.

I'm John Berman with Sara Sidner and Kate Bolduan. This is CNN NEWS CENTRAL.

History is unfolding before our eyes today. Right behind me live pictures of a courthouse in lower Manhattan, and then that is Trump Tower here in New York. Bery shortly, Donald Trump will leave his apartment for opening statements in a trial that could ultimately land him behind bars. We're getting new details this morning about the very first witness expected to be called by the prosecution, a man known to be involved in several catch and kill schemes for Donald Trump, including the alleged hush money payment with porn star Stormy Daniels.

CNN's Kristen Holmes is live outside court this morning where history really will be made, Kristen.

KRISTEN HOLMES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's right, John. And we do expect Donald Trump to stop by those cameras in the hallway. Remember, this is effectively the only campaign stop he's had in several days. He was supposed to have a rally in North Carolina over the weekend where he could likely air his grievances, as he likes to do. However, it was canceled due to bad weather. And as we know, he is using these various trial appearances as campaign stops because he effectively has to. He is in court four days a week.

So what do we know about what we're going to see today? Of course, you're going to have those opening arguments by both sides talking about what the details are of the case, laying out their version of the case. But we also have learned who that first witness is going to be. That is a man by the name of David Pecker. Now, Pecker has been friends with Donald Trump for decades. He ran the company that owned "The National Enquirer." He is known to have bought and buried damaging stories about Donald Trump, meaning that people would come to him. He would buy the rights of the story and then never publish it because it could hurt Trump.

He allegedly helped broker the deal with Stormy Daniels and allegedly had multiple conversations with the former president about that. Again, this would have been before he was president. Now he has been granted immunity in exchange for his testimony.

The thing to keep an eye on here is how Donald Trump reacts during this testimony. This is likely when we're going to here are some of those salacious details. Remember at the heart of all of this is an alleged affair with a porn star, Stormy Daniels, something that roiled his marriage when he was the White House when these reports first came out and something that has embarrassed the former president. Now he is going to be forced to sit in that courtroom for hours listening to a line of questioning around this, John.

BERMAN: And we have really begun to see him grow more uncomfortable in that courtroom as the days of this trial has progressed, and today could certainly be the worst so far. Kristen Holmes, thank you very much for being with us. We'll check in with you and again shortly. Sara?

SARA SIDNER, CNN ANCHOR: All right, John. We're going to continue the conversation. With me now, former Manhattan prosecutor Jeremy Saland. Jeremy, thank you so much for being here. Opening statements begin, prosecutors go first. What should we expect from them, and the response from the defense?

JEREMY SALAND, FORMER MANHATTAN PROSECUTOR: Absolutely. And the prosecution does not want to overpromise and fail to deliver. And what they need to do and what I'm sure they will do is not make this about a salacious, sexy scandal. This is a very straightforward -- it is a very straightforward case involving falsifying business records. And it's a very straightforward case that the jury should be able to follow, that this involves the former president tried to circumvent the law when it came to the election. That's what this case is about.

It's not about Stormy Daniels per se, it's not about Michael Cohen per se, although they will take the wind out of those sales of the defense so that this is not just on Michael Cohen's shoulders. In fact, we know that David Pecker is going to start things off, so it's far more than that. But they're going to simplify things, the prosecution.

SIDNER: All right, they're starting with David Pecker, who is the publisher of "The Enquirer" that was made a deal with prosecutors, but was killing stories that were negative against Donald Trump before the 2016 election. Why do you think, or what do you think of the prosecutor's strategy of starting with him?

[08:05:00]

SALAND: It makes sense because he's kind of the hub of all of this. He was in the room, if true, with Donald Trump back in 2015. He is part of that formula, that plan of what, to kill any bad story, that catch-and-kill which involved Stormy Daniels, which involve McDougal, which involved potentially as well this doorman. So this is -- if you don't start here, you're kind of coming out fragmented, and he's a strong witness who's also not someone who maybe so adversarial, like Michael Cohen or Stormy Daniels, to the former president. So he's a great place to start by laying that foundation and understanding what's next. How did this evolve? Where did this come from? David Pecker.

SIDNER: This is how they're trying to link it to the election, because that is why this is a felony, correct, that there it was in the course of another crime?

SALAND: Right. So the intent to defraud and making those alterations in the business records and the falsifications, that's that misdemeanor. When you get that felony, is there a tax fraud in there? Is there a federal election crime in there? Is there a state election crime in there? Is it a combination of any of those?

And again, that all starts with this theme and why we're doing this, because it makes no sense just to kill a story. And this was the reason behind it. That reason is behind it is to protect Donald Trump in the election in some capacity. That is a theory in part of the prosecution.

SIDNER: What does the defense do with David Pecker. How do they combat what the prosecutors are going to bring out of him?

SALAND: Well, David Pecker got a deal, if you will. So he has immunity, he's not going to get prosecuted. And there can be some attacks in that, although it may be awkward a little bit. The attorneys aren't his friend, but Donald Trump and David Pecker have a longstanding relationship. But listen, there's an advantage to you to do this. Why are you doing this? Because you have a benefit, and you may be able to fudge things a little bit to point things the other way, as opposed to taking blame and responsibility. David Pecker, his company, had 187,000, I think, or so, fines from the Federal Election Commission. His hands aren't clean, so there's going to be attacks certainly on that level as well.

SIDNER: Can you give me a sense of what the hardest thing for prosecutors will be in this case? Is it about intent, really, in this case? SALAND: I think you're going to have to establish that Donald Trump

really knew, and that's how they're bringing in David Pecker. That's why they're bringing in Michael Cohen. Thats why they're bringing other folks. But it's that second component which people have a hard time with, which I understand, is falsifying business records is just a misdemeanor, just as a relative term because no one wants to be convicted of a misdemeanor. But it's how do you get to that next stage and this sort of novel theory of it's a federal election crime that was never charged, a state election crime that was never charged, a tax fraud.

So it's convincing that jury, again, to follow the law, to follow what I am saying as the prosecutor. Josh Steinglass, Chris Conway, let's not make this about sexy, scandalous behavior involving an affair and a former porn star. This -- take it out. This is just falsifying business records.

SIDNER: You're talking about -- but those salacious details are going to come, and you've got Stormy Daniels, you've got Michael Cohen, you've got David Pecker, and you've got Karen McDougal all on the witness list.

I do want to ask you, because this has been something that's been in the back of my head looking at what happened with Michael Cohen, who was convicted of violating campaign finance laws, and here he will be on the stand. He is one of the main witnesses in this case. Does that work well for the prosecutors, to say, hey, look, he was convicted of this. He went to jail for this. This is in trying to help Donald Trump do what we're saying he tried to do in this case.

SALAND: Whatever hand you have is what you have. And what they need to do, as I said before, is take the wind of the sales of that he's a bad guy in a liar, but what's really important here is if you have a drug dealer who is a kingpin announcing Donald Trump is a drug dealing kingpin. But if a drug dealer and kingpin, who knows most about that person? Not someone on the outside, but someone who is immersed in that business, someone who is selling the drugs, is buying the drugs, who is involved.

That, as ugly as an analogy as it is, is who? It's Michael Cohen. He's immersed, he's hands-on, he's there. So there's a great advantage to have Michael Cohen on your team. You just have the bubble to clean them off and say, I get it. He's not the best guy, but that's not what you'll hear about. You'll hear, if you believe him, and he's immersed in it, there's your answer.

SIDNER: And then try and corroborate that with all the documents and then the other witnesses as well.

SALAND: Right. Not just his shoulders. There's a lot of other people involved in documents crime.

SIDNER: All right, we'll be watching this historic trial. Jeremy Saland, I know you'll be watching every moment. I really, really appreciate it.

Kate?

BOLDUAN: And this just in. Protesters arrested at Yale this morning, and at Columbia University classes are going virtual today as schools grapple with the growing pro-Palestinian protests on their campuses.

And another dangerous close call on the runway. The FAA is now investigating how four planes were cleared to cross the path of the jet taking off, the pilot aborting at the last minute.

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[08:14:18]

BOLDUAN: We're going to you live pictures of Trump Tower right there. We're still standing by. Any minute Donald Trump will be leaving his apartment to get into an SUV and head down to lower Manhattan to head back into court. Opening statements in his criminal trial are set to begin this morning.

Also happening right now in Connecticut, police are arresting pro- Palestinian protesters from an encampment at Yale University. At least 13 people, including students, have been removed so far.

And this is happening as classes at Columbia University of just been pushed to go virtual today as that school continues to struggle with ongoing protests there.

CNN's Polo Sandoval is at Columbia's campus for us and is joining us once again. Polo, the school's president in talking about the classes going virtual said that they are in need of a reset. What does that mean?

[08:15:00]

POLO SANDOVAL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, one of the big questions about that, too, Kate, is does that mean potentially having to forcibly removed some of the protesters that have set up on the campus itself, Kate, because over the weekend, we witnessed really two demonstrations taking place -- pro-Palestinian demonstrations taking place. One of them, on campus, the Gaza Solidarity Encampment that you'd be able to see just beyond that fence line that you see again, the campus is still restricted access right now because of the events of last week.

But the other demonstration also taking place on the sidewalk, literally at the gate of Columbia University. What also has intensified over the weekend are these growing fears among some Jewish students who say they fear, they feel not just uncomfortable, but in some cases, even intimidated.

And I have been able to speak to some over the weekend saying that they are growing increasingly frustrated saying that Columbia University simply is not doing enough to make sure that some of the Jewish student population feel safe coming to class.

So as a result, one of the rabbis that is with ties to the university calling on some Jewish students to simply go home.

Now, the Columbia institution itself releasing a statement saying that they hear those concerns. They are acting on them, that they are taking steps to make sure that they feel that these students are supported, especially ahead of Passover.

Now, in terms of the organizers of these pro-Palestinian demonstrations, the two groups that organized them, they are out with a statement as well, effectively trying to distance themselves from non-student protesters calling them, and I quote, "inflammatory individuals --"

BOLDUAN: We are just waiting one second to see if Polo's shot clears up. It seems like it is not going to work.

All right, we are going to get back to Polo Sandoval. He is going to continue to cover this for us all -- John.

BERMAN: All right, we have new developments in a suspect in custody after a break-in at the home of the Los Angeles mayor while she was there. What police are learning this morning.

And with opening statements set to begin in the criminal trial against Donald Trump, new polling shows his lead against president Biden has been slipping.

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[08:21:31]

BERMAN: All right, you are looking at live pictures, two locations here in New York City. On the left-hand side of your screen, outside Trump Tower where Donald Trump we expect will shortly leave his apartment for the courthouse in Lower Manhattan. That is what is on the right.

This is Donald Trump's New York criminal trial opening statements set to begin shortly. This is a history-making moment. No former president has ever faced a criminal trial before. These opening statements will be something and we also learned that the first witness in this case will be David Pecker, the man who at one point, his company owned the "National Enquirer."

He had a plea agreement with federal authorities admitting to be involved in catch and kill schemes. He will testify presumably to all of this with Donald Trump in the courtroom. We are watching that very closely.

In the meantime, there is some new polling out in the last few days that shows the state of the race. With me, CNN senior data reporter, Harry Enten.

And harry, let's start with, in general how Americans feel about this contest.

HARRY ENTEN, CNN SENIOR DATA REPORTER: Yes, enthusiasm for 2024 or not. You know, when you've got one guy who is now facing prosecution in New York, and you've got another guy who folks feel is too old, very interested in the presidential election.

Look at this, at this point in the cycle, a nine or ten on a one to ten scale, just 64 percent. That is the lowest that the NBC News poll has ever measured.

At this point four years ago, it was 77 percent.

Sixty-four percent is the lowest we've seen since 2008, not a big surprise given that both candidates are disliked by the American public.

BERMAN: How does that impact who people say they're going to vote?

ENTEN: Yes. So this to me is another interesting trend line, definitely vote in the 2024 election. You go back three years ago, it was 80 percent. You go back last year, 76 percent; the same in the fall, 76 percent.

Where are we now? Just 70 percent of Americans say they will definitely vote in the election, so it is not just that folks are less interested than they were four years ago or eight years ago, it is they've become less interested during the course of this electoral cycle.

BERMAN: That's a big drop and it is a drop that happened pretty quickly.

ENTEN: Yes.

BERMAN: That is very interesting.

All right, in terms of how people say they are going to vote at this point.

ENTEN: Yes, so you know, who would this benefit if we did in fact have lower turnout. So Biden versus Trump margin. If you're looking among all registered voters, the average of New York Times and Marquette University polls, you see that Trump is plus two.

But look among likely voters, those folks who actually say they're likely to turn out and vote, we've got a tie. So it turns out that there is low -- potentially lower turnout. Who does it benefit more? It actually benefits Joe Biden more than it benefits Donald Trump at this particular point.

BERMAN: Which is interesting to people of a certain age like me who grew up and this was always reversed among Republicans and Democrats, the supposition always was that likely voters were better for Republicans registered for Democrats.

ENTEN: That's exactly right.

You know, if you tend to think about which is the party that's most associated with Get Out The Vote drives, it is normally Democrats, but at this particular point, if Republicans want to win, at this point, it looks like they would actually benefit and Donald Trump would benefit from larger turnouts.

BERMAN: One of the thing we want to point out here, there is a new poll out today, a Marist poll, which has a definitely vote question and now you see Joe Biden with an even bigger --

ENTEN: Yes, you see Joe Biden's lead at seven points on that particular poll. He does lead among registered voters, but this is a trend we are seeing across polling data that is that Donald Trump benefits from a wider electorate while Joe Biden in fact benefits from a narrow electorate.

And then, of course, lines about what we've seen in the special election so far, which tend to have smaller turnout and Democrats have been dominating it.

BERMAN: It would be interesting to see if that lasts.

Harry Enten, thank you.

ENTEN: Thank you, my friend.

BERMAN: Thank you for all of that -- Sara.

[08:25:09]

SIDNER: Pretty interesting, guys.

All right, ahead: Is it cruel and unusual punishment to ticket homeless people for living on the streets and in parks?

Ahead, we have a look at the Supreme Court case that could have far- reaching implications on how cities deal with their homeless.

All right, if you think prescriptions and surgery will solve the battle of the bulge, wait to hear what a new study says about the long-term effects, that's ahead.

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[08:30:00]