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Donald Trump's Criminal Hush Money Case; Former President Trump Will Arrive Ahead of a Hearing on Whether or Not He Violated the Gag Order; Do Trump's Legal Issues Negatively Impact His Polling Numbers?; David Pecker, Former Tabloid Publisher, Will Soon Begin Testifying Again; Biden Admin Issues Privacy Rule Protecting Abortion; Trump Arrives at New York Courthouse; Voyager 1's Long Distance Call; After Five Months, NASA Reconnected with Voyager 1; Vote in Senate on Aid Package to Taiwan, Israel, and Ukraine. Aired 8:30-9a ET

Aired April 23, 2024 - 08:30   ET

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

[08:30:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SARA SIDNER, CNN NEWS CENTRAL CO-ANCHOR: A scene you will see over and over again. Live pictures outside the lower Manhattan courthouse. Any moment, Former President Trump will arrive ahead of a hearing on whether or not he violated the gag order in place in the criminal hush money case, we'll bring you all of that as it happens.

All right. A horrific mid-air collision involving two helicopters in Malaysia. This video shows both helicopters going down. Oh, God, that is awful. Officials say, this happened during a rehearsal for a Royal Malaysian Navy parade. All 10 crew members on board both aircraft were killed.

The city of Baltimore suing the owner and manager of that Dali cargo ship that crashed into the Key Bridge, bringing it down last month. They're accusing the company of negligence, alleging that Dali was unseaworthy when it left port, and for hiring an, "Incompetent crew" that lacked proper skills and training.

And a new study out today, women are more likely to survive health issues when their doctors are women. They are also less likely to be readmitted to the hospital with female doctors, the study showed. The difference is just a quarter percent, but the researchers say that statistically significant. Men and women both benefited from having female doctors, but there was a greater difference for women. The study was conducted over three years and is in the annals of internal medicine today.

Kate.

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN NEWS CENTRAL CO-ANCHOR: Thank you. Sara.

Just days in, it is too early to know the full impact of Donald Trump's criminal trial and how voters will feel about the former president being on trial.

[08:35:00]

But this is a question that voters have weighed in on in the past. CNN's Harry Enten, he's been looking at it, he's here with me. Harry, what are you seeing in polling since the Republican primary ended and the focus has shifted into the courtroom?

HARRY ENTEN, CNN SENIOR DATE REPORTER: Yes, I think there's this idea that the legal troubles that Trump is facing have somehow helped him. But that's not something that I've necessarily seen in the recent data. So, this is Biden versus Trump margin nationally.

Look, in January and February, you had a pretty clear Trump lead, right? Plus five, plus four, plus five. And you had the Marist poll that had Biden up by one, but within the margin of error. A Trump lead. Look at what's happened in April, though. All of these polls, all of them have shifted to be more friendly to Biden, plus four, plus three, plus one, but it was plus four Trump back in January and February, and plus five to now plus two.

So, something is cooking, Kate. Something is cooking in the polls, and whatever is cooking seems to be helping Joe Biden. And one of the things that might be cooking is the fact that the attention has turned from the Republican primary now to Trump's legal problems because that's really been the math -- main thing that's been in the news.

BOLDUAN: Something is cooking. It sounds nefarious when it comes from Harry Enten.

ENTEN: It's massive, yes.

BOLDUAN: Is there any sign, though, that you're seeing of what we -- it has been suggested, Donald Trump has said it, that this attention, his legal troubles are helping him.

ENTEN: Yes, so let's take a look here. This is the Biden vs. Trump margin by attention paid to Trump's legal cases. This is from a recent "New York Times" Siena College poll. If you're spending -- if you're putting some attention, some or a lot of attention, if you're looking at the Trump trials, look at this, Biden leads among these voters by eight points. If you're paying little to no attention, Trump leads among these voters by 18 points.

So, the more people are focusing in on the Trump cases, they're actually more likely to vote for Joe Biden than for Donald Trump. The less attention that you're paying, the more likely you are to vote for Donald Trump. So, the fact is, if you're paying more attention, you're more likely to vote for Joe Biden. Less attention, more likely to vote for Donald Trump. So, I don't see the case that Trump is making here.

BOLDUAN: And also, what about the -- you know, if you're paying attention to what Donald Trump is saying about the trial, he's called every case against him, all of the cases, a witch hunt. Are people buying into that?

ENTEN: Not really. So, take a look at this question from "NBC News", right? Thinking about the upcoming trials, Trump's being held to the same legal standard as others or being unfairly targeted. The plurality, the clear plurality, 50 percent saying he's being held to the same standard as others versus just 43 percent who say he's being unfairly targeted.

This basically looks like what you would look at 2020, right? Where Biden beat Trump by about four and a half percentage points. This looks very similar. To me, when you put it all together, it looks like the trials aren't helping Trump. They may, in fact, be hurting him. Kate.

BOLDUAN: So, this is really an interesting basis, if you will. Like, if this is our base case, to see how it changes as the days and weeks continue. That will be really interesting to see.

ENTEN: Exactly, right.

BOLDUAN: Thank you, Harry.

ENTEN: Thank you.

BOLDUAN: Sara.

SIDNER: All right. In just hours, former tabloid publisher David Pecker will be back on the stand in Donald Trump's hush money trial. Prosecutors are arguing Pecker was the third partner in a catch and kill scheme to bury negative stories about Donald Trump and help his 2016 presidential campaign. But their friendship goes back much further than that.

CNN's Tom Foreman has a look for you.

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TOM FOREMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): More than just friends from back in the '90s, more than fellow New Yorkers on a quest for power and fame. David Pecker and Donald Trump were for decades a match made in media heaven. So, how did it all come to this?

DONALD TRUMP, FORMER U.S. PRESIDENT AND U.S. REPUBLICAN PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I don't think they even paid any money to that tabloid, OK? I don't think we made a payment to that tabloid. Nobody, except for me, would be looked at like this. Nobody.

FOREMAN (voice-over): For a long time, the relationship was good for both men. Trump gave Pecker's "National Enquirer" access to his fame. The tabloid gave him headlines. Trump catches Russia's White House spy. Trump must build the wall. Trump takes charge. The paper gave him its first endorsement ever for president. Trump returned the favor.

TRUMP: I've always said, why didn't the "National Enquirer" get the Pulitzer Prize for Edwards and O.J. Simpson, and all of these things?

FOREMAN (voice-over): With slashing and burning enthusiasm, Pecker relentlessly posted false stories about political foes, while reportedly suppressing embarrassments for Trump, like the time First Lady Melania appeared to slap his hand away on a foreign trip. But those who studied the two men did not see an equal relationship.

JEFFREY TOOBIN, LEGAL ANALYST: Pecker really looked up to Donald Trump. Still does, and he put his very important magazines to work for Donald Trump's interests.

FOREMAN (voice-over): Then some big names said Pecker went too far. In 2019, business mogul Jeff Bezos, for example, said Pecker threatened to release compromising photos of him unless Bezos publicly refuted claims that the "Enquirer" was improperly playing politics. Pecker's lawyers called it negotiation.

[08:40:00]

ELKAN ABRAMOWITZ, ATTORNEY FOR AMI CEO DAVID PECKER: It absolutely is not extortion and not blackmail.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FOREMAN (on camera): But Pecker's friendship with Trump was already unraveling. He had started cooperating with the various authorities looking into all of these deals. And now it is said that the two old friends do not even speak to each other. Sara.

SIDNER: But they're certainly hearing from Pecker on the stand. Donald Trump is. I wanted to ask you about the arrangement with Donald Trump. Was this a really tightly held secret at the time?

FOREMAN: It appears that it was held by a limited number of people in the circle of David Pecker. However, those people seem to have been mainly bound by these nondisclosure agreements, that was the bet. That they wouldn't say anything because there was potentially a downside to it. But as you can see now, despite everything that they tried to set up here, it's kind of a first rule of "Fight Club". Don't talk about "Fight Club", but now everyone's talking about "Fight Club".

SIDNER: Tom Foreman bringing up "Fight Club", which I know you're a member of. Thank you so much.

FOREMAN: Sure.

SIDNER: Appreciate it.

Kate.

BOLDUAN: The best part is, it was really appropriately used, which is, you know, I like to make some metaphor just so I can, and he like uses it perfectly.

All right. Let's continue with "Fight Club". Joining us right now is Jim Schultz, a CNN Legal Commentator and Former Trump White House Lawyer. And Alan Tuerkheimer, a jury consultant and attorney. Thank you both for joining me.

Jim, let me ask you, you were watching yesterday very closely. What are you interested in hearing the prosecutors get into with David Pecker today? JAMES SCHULTZ CNN LEGAL COMMENTATOR AND FORMER TRUMP WHITE HOUSE LAWYER: So first off, you know, the prosecutors have a bunch of witnesses with baggage, David Pecker being one of them, right? So, David Pecker made a deal. David Pecker is now turned on Donald Trump. I think the Trump team is going to look to discredit him for the deal that he cut. I think they're going to try to impeach his testimony for that.

But I think yesterday kind of set the table for, kind of, the process. Today, I think we're going to hear some of the details as to how the deals were cut in David Pecker's eyes.

BOLDUAN: And Alan, I heard you say yesterday that people need to -- something that people need to remember about jurors, is jurors want a story. What kind of story does David Pecker -- what kind of story does he tell for the prosecution and also being the first witness? What is the overall -- what role does he play, do you think, in the overall story?

ALAN TUERKHEIMER, JURY CONSULTANT AND ATTORNEY: He certainly gives jurors the ability to look into the window of Donald Trump's business dealings as it related to his election prospects and what was going on. And as was just mentioned, Jim said that he did these other witnesses, maybe they have baggage, some of them. Jurors are going to wonder about their motives for testifying, but being such an early witness, it really sets the stage for jurors to create this overarching case story in their minds.

And then once they do that, the other witnesses will either reinforce for them what that case story is, or if the witnesses get up there and there's some contradictions, then that will go against it. And then the jurors have to decide which of the witnesses is more believable than the others.

BOLDUAN: And, Alan, when you're doing jury research and also when you're prepping legal teams, when it comes to witnesses with baggage. You've got David Pecker today. You've got -- you knew -- we know that the defense is going to focus squarely and try to just to discredit Michael Cohen. They already started that with opening statements. How does that baggage, how does that part of the story -- how does that impact a juror and how does a legal team successfully overcome that?

TUERKHEIMER: You have to remind jurors that these witnesses are under oath, and whatever the circumstances are that brought them to testify. They have relevant information that bear on the actual charges in this case. You have to try to get the jurors to focus on that. You have to get the jurors to focus on what the witness says, what they testify to.

And jurors look at a lot of things. They look at motivation. They look at whether witnesses are consistent, they look at whether or not they're knowledgeable. Are they evasive? Are they -- do they come off as arrogant? And a lot of times too, which is interesting, is that jurors look at nonverbal communication as well.

So, they don't just look at what the witness is actually saying, that is important, but they also look at how the witness is saying it and how they come off when they're testifying under oath. And that -- what's really important too is consistency between direct and cross- examination.

So, David Pecker's getting his story out for the prosecution. When he's cross-examined, the jurors will be very interested to see if his demeanor keep -- can -- totally changes, or whether or not he's consistent in the way he's answering questions from opposing counsel.

BOLDUAN: That's a good point.

Jim, one thing that came out of openings was that the prosecution wants to portray this case as an election interference case, not as a hush money case as it's been described for so long. What do you think of that choice? Why do you think they're making -- maybe it's not a shift for them, but it's definitely a shift from how this has been described for quite some time.

[08:45:00]

SCHULTZ: So, I think the purpose for -- they need a theme of the case, right? What's their theory of the case? The theory of the case is, you know, they -- the business records were doctored because they were trying to hide this information from the general public during the election cycle, right?

The problem with that is, is that that in and of itself is not a crime. Politicians try to hide their baggage all the time from the general public when they're running for office. So, now they have to look at the true crimes that make this a felony, right? Remember, this would have been a misdemeanor, but for the fact that they made allegations that crimes were covered up. Campaign finance, tax, those kinds of things.

They're going to have to make a showing on that at some point in time. And they're not going to be able to just rely on, hey, we were trying to cover up Donald Trump's baggage for purposes of an election. And that's going to be a real tough hurdle to jump over.

BOLDUAN: Yes, Alan, you were talking about demeanor. You've years of experience with jury research and helping legal teams prep for trial. I'm interested in your take on the Trump demeanor in court. We don't have cameras in there, but from everyone who's inside, it's really -- they've described him so far as pretty controlled and muted compared to how he's acted in past court appearances.

How much coaching and conversation do you have with the client about how they act in court when the jury is present? What impact do you think his demeanor in court in this case could make on the jury?

TUERKHEIMER: So, you always tell a client that the jury is always watching the -- watching them. So, don't slip up. Don't do anything that you think is going to irk the jury. Stay calm, stay focused. stay interested. Don't come off as if you're uninterested in the process. The jurors are giving their time. This is so important. And I think he's going to heed that call. This is not like any of his campaign rallies or campaign events, or even the debates that he participated in. So, this is a very different process. I think it's really important for Trump and his team to keep in mind that he has to just, respect the process and come off as someone who's treating this very seriously because these are serious charges, and he deserves a presumption of innocence.

BOLDUAN: We'll see how that demeanor and how that comes across from day to day to day. It's good to see you both. Thank you.

Sara.

SIDNER: All right. The Biden administration is taking new steps now to try and protect patients seeking reproductive health care services like an abortion or IVF. The new rule protects patients and providers even if a patient travels to another state to receive care. This is the latest effort by President Biden after Roe v. Wade was overturned by the Supreme Court. And Republican-led states across the country have moved to restrict and even criminalize access to abortion care.

CNN's Jacqueline Howard has more on this story. What are you learning about this new rule that has been put in place and what it means to patients and providers?

JACQUELINE HOWARD, CNN HEALTH REPORTER: Yes, Sara, because you know, under HIPAA, our medical information has always been protected. But what this new rule does, it strengthens those protections for patients, especially those receiving reproductive health care services.

So, whether a patient had a pregnancy test, whether they're undergoing IVF, this new rule maintains that their medical data cannot be used to target them, or track them, or target or track their family, or target or track their provider.

And one way federal health officials are putting this, Sara, you see here, it says it prohibits healthcare providers from being targeted with that medical data. And it also ensures that no one should live in fear that their medical records can be used against them. Here's what Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

XAVIER BECERRA, U.S. HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES SECRETARY: Please make no mistake. You, when you access care, when you go see a doctor, when you enter a hospital, when you see a medical professional, and you provide, because you're required or you're requested, very personal health information, that information is entitled to protections under federal law.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOWARD: And, Sara, this new rule is being issued at a time when, of course, since the overturning of Roe v. Wade, there have been a lot of questions among patients around whether their medical data could be used against them. So, this answers some of those questions, especially for those living in states with abortion bans.

SIDNER: Jacqueline Howard, thank you so much for bringing us that story. We appreciate it.

Live pictures -- let's go to live pictures right now inside the New York courthouse. Donald Trump has just arrived to the court moments ago. And you see people hustling in there. The trial resumes today with the prosecution's first witness.

[08:50:00]

But before that, a hearing where the judge is going to determine if Donald Trump has already violated the gag order. Prosecutors have accused him of violating it 10 times. You've seen the rushing around in the court there. Our special live coverage is coming up next.

And it was a very long-distance call. NASA back in communications with Voyager 1 after five months of with no communication. That story as well.

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SIDNER: A live look now inside the courthouse. Donald Trump has arrived just a few moments ago. And he is there initially for a hearing on a gag order. Accused of violating the gag order.

[08:55:00]

The judge looking at all the options there. Then they will begin testimony again with the former publisher of the "Enquirer", David Pecker. We will have all of that for you in a special report in just a bit.

But for right now, for the very first time in five months, NASA is finally back in communication with Voyager 1. The spacecraft is about 15 billion miles away, and it's been stuck in a data loop since November. The mission team received the first coherent data this week from Earth's most distant spacecraft.

CNN Space Correspondent Kristin Fisher is joining me now. Kristin, how in the world did they managed to fix this? I understand it's like a 46-year-old spacecraft and it's been out of commission for a while.

KRISTIN FISHER, CNN SPACE AND DEFENSE CORRESPONDENT: Yes. Well, Sara, keep in mind Voyager 1 and Voyager 2, it's sister spacecraft, they were only designed to last about five years. They've lasted 46 years. And Voyager 1 is now, as you said, about 15 billion miles away -- million -- billion miles away in interstellar space, way beyond our solar system.

And so, these spacecrafts are just really old and they're really far away, right, to begin with? But in November of 2023, Sara, Voyager 1 -- the engineers started noticing that Voyager 1 was sending back data that was indecipherable. Basically, the data that was being sent back to Earth in a code of, you know, zeros and ones was stuck in a loop. And so, NASA engineers were stuck with this problem of, you know, how do we troubleshoot an issue with Voyager 1 when this spacecraft is billions of miles away and, get this, it takes 22 hours for a signal on Earth to reach Voyager 1 and then another 22 hours for that signal to get back from Voyager 1 down to Earth.

So, two days from the time you send a code, you poke the spacecraft to the time it gets back to Earth. So, those are just some of the issues that they were dealing with. They were able to track the problem to one single chip. We don't know what went wrong, Sara. It might have just worn out after 46 years. It might have been hit by too much radiation in space.

Whatever they did, the NASA engineers were able to get it out of that stuck loop. They were able to stop that chip from what it was doing and move the memory that it was storing elsewhere. And just a few days ago, Sara, they were able to get their first readable, understandable signal from Voyager 1. So, it is back and it is sending us, you know, we're not getting those images there of Jupiter and Saturn that you're seeing. I mean, those are the images that Voyager is so well known for. But everything else is just gravy now, Sara.

SIDNER: Yes, they're only supposed to last five years. That's kind of how my professors in college thought I would last, but there is no way in journalism. But there's no way I'm lasting 46 --

FISHER: Look at you now.

SIDNER: -- I can tell you that so kudos to Voyager 1. Kristin Fisher, thank you so much for all your reporting there.

Kate.

BOLDUAN: That's hilarious. You've got --

SIDNER: Sad but true.

BOLDUAN: You got so many years. We're going to have so many years together.

SIDNER: It's been a while. There's love here for you. There's love.

BOLDUAN: We're like space satellites and stuff. That's exactly right.

OK. The Senate, not a space satellite. The Senate is ready to act today. What could be the final stop for the foreign aid package before it heads to the president after months of fighting, really, infighting among House Republicans. This is where they have landed. A $95 billion package that includes $61 billion for Ukraine, $26 billion for Israel, and $8 billion for Taiwan and the Indo-Pacific. But you also see there, now attached to all of this, a move that would ban TikTok in the United States or force the China-based parent company to sell it off.

CNN's Lauren Fox tracking all of this for us. Lauren, what are we going to see happen in the Senate today? LAUREN FOX, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, the Senate was supposed to be on recess this week, Kate, but they view this package, this aid package is so crucial and so necessary that lawmakers returned in order to try to get this through the United States Senate.

Well, we expected to see today is at 1:00 p.m., they will begin a series of procedural votes. Now, there are still negotiations happening between Republican and Democratic leadership to try to find some kind of an agreement to expedite this process and potentially get a final vote on this package today. That agreement has not been reached though.

So, there is a possibility that the Senate will come back tomorrow to try to finally finish this work up. But again, lawmakers were supposed to be gone. And oftentimes jet fumes can be really motivating when it comes to getting Senate agreements to move things through the process more quickly.

You're also going to see, sort of, this moment for Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, which I think is just really important to point out. He has been a leader on this issue.

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