Return to Transcripts main page

CNN News Central

Unprecedented Biden-Trump Debate Set for Six Weeks from Today on CNN; Soon, Cohen Retakes Stand for Critical Moment in Cross- Examination; U.S. Says, Floating Pier for Humanitarian Aid Anchored in Gaza. Aired 7-7:30a ET

Aired May 16, 2024 - 07:00   ET

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

[07:00:03]

KASIE HUNT, CNN ANCHOR: The Philadelphia Union put a lot of minds at ease with this update. The raccoon has been safely released. He is fine.

And, of course, this is not the first time something like this had happened. There was a time a turtle found its way onto the outfield. That is a very fast turtle. A minor league game slowing the contest to a crawl, womp, womp, very nice. Then there was this kitten, kitty that caused the rally cat curse for the Anaheim Angels.

I think we ran out of time, so, unfortunately, we're not going to be able to show you all of the other times it's happened, but we promise it's a lot. Thanks to our panel for being here. Thanks to you for joining us. I'm Kasie Hunt.

Don't go anywhere. CNN News Central starts right now.

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: The great debate, new details about how President Biden and Donald Trump are preparing for this historic coming showdown. The earliest general election debate in modern history will be right here on CNN.

SARA SIDNER, CNN ANCHOR: Meanwhile, one of the most critical parts of Donald Trump's criminal trial defense is happening this morning. The defense expected to hammer into the jury's head one central theme while cross-examining Trump's former fixer, Michael Cohen. The old school yard taunt, liar, liar, pants on fire.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: Heart-stopping new dash cam video of a truck crashing into the side of a bridge. The driver left dangling over the river below.

I'm John Berman with Sarah Sidner and Kate Bolduan. This is CNN News Central.

BOLDUAN: After months of speculation, weeks of back and forth, and a whole lot of the equivalent of like I dare you, the first presidential debate of the 2024 general election is now set. Donald Trump literally responded to Joe Biden's proposal with, let's get ready to rumble. Marking -- this will mark the third time that these men have faced off on a debate stage, also marking the earliest general election debate in modern history, June 27th, right here on CNN.

This morning, there are new details on how Biden and Trump are already preparing. And new reporting on why the candidates agreed to face off so far out from Election Day. For Biden, it's a chance to boost lagging poll numbers. For Trump, it's an opportunity to change the conversation from his criminal hush money trial and the others that he's about to face. On top of that, the timing gives both a chance to recover if they don't perform well.

The debate plans seemingly came together at lightning speed and now puts the candidates and the country on a collision course with history for the very intense start to summer ahead of us.

CNN's Priscilla Alvarez is joining us now from the White House with more. Priscilla, what are you learning this morning from there about how they're now preparing?

PRISCILLA ALVAREZ, CNN WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: Well, Kate, there was groundwork that was being laid leading up to the announcement yesterday that these two will go head to head. Of course, remember, last month, President Biden told Howard Stern that he was, quote, happy to debate Trump. And that really started to set things in motion in earnest.

In recent weeks, we've learned the Biden campaign and Trump campaign were having informal conversations behind the scenes largely focused on their mutual disdain for the Commission on Presidential Debates, which wouldn't have started its debate schedule until September, which both campaigns viewed as too late. But still a remarkable moment to see two campaigns, two candidates agree when they usually just don't, and not only that, but also shun the commission.

So, yesterday, in rapid succession, we saw the Biden campaign pitch an altered proposed schedule for debates, as well as lay out their criteria to have a one-on-one debate and coordinate directly with the broadcast networks. The president accepted an invitation by CNN and ABC News, former President Donald Trump doing exactly the same, the dates there, CNN on June 27th and ABC News on September 10th.

Now, as far as the criteria for CNN that's going to happen in Atlanta. There will be no audience. And both candidates will have received 15 percent in four separate polls meeting CNN standards.

But, of course, here at the White House, it now turns to preparation. And on that end, we're learning that Ron Klain, President Biden's former chief of staff, will take vacation from his job at Airbnb to come and help the President prepare for that June debate.

And, look, at the end of the day, the Biden campaign has wanted to put President Biden out there on the debate stage. They think he performed well in 2020. And this will allow them to bring that stark contrast that they're eager to shine a light on between him and former President Donald Trump directly to American living rooms. Kate?

BOLDUAN: Priscilla, thank you so much. And, John, I also really loved the deadpan Airbnb vacation reference that she just pulled off. BERMAN: Well, yes, he can probably find a place to stay at a reasonable price if he needs to during debate prep. That's what I was thinking right there.

[07:05:00]

As for Donald Trump, he's now got to do trial prep and debate prep all at the same time.

Let's get right to CNN's Alayna Treene for the view from Trump world this morning. What are you hearing?

ALAYNA TREENE, CNN REPORTER: Well, I think Priscilla laid it out very well. And, look, she's exactly right. There had been conversations behind the scenes. I was told between two very senior people at the Trump campaign and also with the Biden campaign, kind of laying the groundwork to make sure, are we doing this, are we going to go ahead with this.

They kind of agreed on a lot, I think, you know, from the Trump campaign's perspective, when they looked at the proposal that the Biden team had laid out. A lot of what they were asking for were exactly the type of conditions that the Trump team wanted. One is that they wanted these debates to be earlier, and we're seeing it three months earlier than you would normally have any debates. They wanted this to come early.

They also want to have more debates. That's where they do differ. Donald Trump's team yesterday said that they want to have four debates. Of course, Biden's team saying they only will agree to two. And, look, when I talked to Donald Trump's team, they said that behind the scenes, they had really kind of come to the conclusion in recent weeks that they wanted to circumvent the Commission on Presidential Debates. And part of that is because, again, they wanted these earlier and they wanted more.

They also are very aware that they do not want Robert F. Kennedy Jr. or a third party candidate to also be on the debate stage. They really want this to be a one-on-one match up with Joe Biden. And part of that is because they believe that this will be a great opportunity to show that Biden is much more weaker and more feeble, in their words, not mine, than he was in 2020.

And remember, back in 2020, when we saw these two face off on the debate stage, Donald Trump was very aggressive. He barely let Joe Biden get a word in. And we did see in the aftermath of that Donald Trump's poll numbers fell. However, Trump's campaign, and this is really the view of his campaign managers, Susie Wiles and Chris LaCivita, they believe that Biden has declined in recent years and that having as many of these debates where they can have these two men together on stage will be the kind of contrast that they need looking ahead to November.

Now, I also just want to give you some sense of what happened after that chain of events yesterday, where we saw the Biden campaign agree to debate. That was really frustrating for the Trump team. When I talked to his advisers, they said, look, you know, they kind of felt like they were getting the back foot on this. They were the ones who were playing catch up. However, remember, Donald Trump and his campaign had repeatedly called on Joe Biden for months to debate.

And so they're trying to put that message out there that this is something that they want, that they have been asking for, and that they're ready to go with these series of debates. We also saw them say that they want to do a third debate in October for with Fox News. Of course, the Biden campaign not agreeing to that third debate yet. John?

BERMAN: All right. Alayna Treene for us in Washington, Alayna, great to see you this morning, thank you. Sara?

SIDNER: All right. In just hours, Michael Cohen, the prosecution's star witness, will be back on the stand at Donald Trump's hush money trial. We'll have new reporting for you on Trump's lawyer's plan of attack.

And a small bit of hope for desperate civilians in Gaza. The floating pier built by the United States is now anchored and ready to help increase food and supplies going into to the war-torn areas. How soon the first shipments of aid could start flowing.

And gold bars, envelopes of cash and Mercedes and a whole lot more than that, Senator Bob Menendez's criminal trial and who he plans to blame, we will bring you that, coming up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[07:10:00]

SIDNER: We are standing by right now for what may be the most crucial testimony for Donald Trump's defense in his criminal hush money trial. Very soon, former fixer Michael Cohen's cross examination will resume. And this morning, for the first time, we're expecting Trump's lawyers to directly challenge Cohen's testimony that Donald Trump knowingly falsified business records to hide a hush money payment to a porn star. The alleged scheme is the crux of 34 criminal charges against Trump.

CNN's Brynn Gingras is live once again for us outside of the court. You have some new details about the defense strategy moving forward. They have already been hammering him on some of the lies he has told throughout his life.

BRYNN GINGRAS, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, that's right, Sara. So, remember, Michael Cohen was on the stand for about two hours with the cross-examination. And just like you said, Todd Blanche was hammering, firing questions at him. But he was also a bit scattered in his approach, kind of jumping around to different topics, actually, as you noted just yesterday, but we're hearing now that Todd Blanche is going to be a little bit more zeroed in on the charges that are against the former president.

They're going to be challenging Michael Cohen's words, what he has said in the past, sometimes under oath, and basically trying to elicit the fact that he is a liar. You know, that is what they are trying to show to jurors.

We're also understanding from sources is that they're really going to be focusing on some conversations that Michael Cohen said he had during direct with Donald Trump in regards to those hush money payments. So, we really do are hearing that the defense is going to really get to the heart of this case.

Now, we understand that he could be on the stand for the entire day today under cross-examination, and it could even go into Monday. Remember, there is no court tomorrow because of Barron Trump's graduation. Trump wanted to attend that. And one source is telling my colleague, Kara Scannell, that it takes a long time to get through all the lies. So, that's what we're hearing. It may take a while to finish up with Michael Cohen when it comes to these defense questions.

Now, our understanding is that once that happens, the prosecution will rest its case. But, again, that might not happen until next week.

SIDNER: So, your understanding that this is the end, the last witness in the prosecution's case. I'm curious where that puts us on timing now and if we expect the defense to put on their own case. And when will this end up in the jury's hands?

GINGRAS: Yes. So, Sara, we're understanding that the defense actually wants and they asked for this on Tuesday to talk to the judge about an expert witness. What would be admissible if they brought that expert witness to the stand? That is the only indication that we have gotten exactly of what defense they might put on. Of course, the former president could take the stand, but it's very unlikely.

So, here's the other thing, that there is only, you know, today for trial this week, and then next week, there is also only three days of trial. So, it's possible that we might, you know, see these closing arguments at some point next week, but, again, the timing is so uncertain at this point. So, wish I had it more clear for you, Sara, but, certainly, we do expect the defense to put on its defense at some point next week.

SIDNER: We can't pile that on you. We just love that you are giving us great, accurate reporting, Brynn Gingras. You can't predict the future. None of us can. Thank you so much. I appreciate it. Kate?

BOLDUAN: Oh, no. Let's just pile it on her. It's a Thursday. It's all on Brynn. If she doesn't break out the crystal ball, well, you know what, Brynn, we don't know what you're doing, and we love you so much.

Okay. Coming up, the United States anchors a key humanitarian gateway to a beach in Gaza. The new reporting now on what happens next.

And attorneys for Democratic Senator Bob Menendez laying out his defense in court, all those gold bars, they're putting that on his wife.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) [07:20:00]

BERMAN: New this morning, after weeks of security concerns and delays, a floating pier that will allow desperately needed humanitarian aid to flow into Gaza from the sea, it is now anchored to a beach in Gaza.

CNN's Kylie Atwood has the latest for us this morning. Good morning, Kylie.

KYLIE ATWOOD, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, yes. So, this pier has now been anchored on the beach, as you said, John, off the coast of Gaza. Now, that it has been anchored, there can begin humanitarian aid to be flown into the strip from that location. This isn't going to happen today, but CENTCOM says the expectation is that this is it's going to start happening in the coming days here.

And this system has two parts. First of all, it's that floating pier, and then they also have the causeway that's heading in to Gaza to that location where the actual humanitarian aid will be distributed from. And U.S. officials won't be on the ground, no U.S. military will be on the ground in Gaza for this operation. Of course, it's CENTCOM that has taken the lead in setting up this complex system, but it's the United Nations that's actually going to be meeting the humanitarian aid and distributing it into the Gaza Strip.

And we should note that this is obviously deeply needed aid, of course. We've heard from the World Food Programme just earlier this month that Northern Gaza is in a full blown famine and also warning that that is spreading to the other parts of Gaza. But this specific location where this humanitarian aid is coming in, U.S. officials stress that the goal isn't for it to replace the humanitarian aid coming in from the other locations, it's for it to be a supplemental to that.

So, the expectation is that once they get up to 150 trucks per day, which is going to be the goal, that would be in addition, of course, to the trucks that are coming in through the other humanitarian ports over -- no, excuse me, not ports, over land that have already been operating.

And the one last thing I want to note is that there have been challenges in setting up this pier over the last few months. It was President Biden who ordered this pier during his State of the Union Address in March, but we should note that it was set up pretty swiftly. That happened over the course of the last two months before this was able to be at a place where it is today, where it is about ready to be operational.

BERMAN: It appeared an engineering feat, but also something of a leap of faith when it comes to how it will be implemented and how long it will be in use.

Kylie Atwood, great to see you this morning. Thank you very much. Kate? BOLDUAN: So, they might be happily ever after personified. Let me explain. A North Dakota couple is celebrating more than seven decades of marriage. Mel and Vangie Bentz, this is them, they tied the knot in 1951. He was 21. She was -- why is that laughter? John, come over here. She was 19 at the time. And here's what they told our affiliate about making it work for 73 years.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

VANGIE BENTZ, MARRIED 73 YEARS: The girls were talking and they said that somebody had such a great laugh. And about that time, somebody did. And I thought it was Mel.

MEL BENTZ, MARRIED 73 YEARS: You know, marriage is up and down type thing. And we've had ours and you have to -- I always say you got to do 50/50.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BOLDUAN: Maybe it shouldn't be 60/40. I just really feel like I need a little bit more.

The pair credit their faith as the glue that has held them together over the decades, including when Mel was away serving in the Air Force.

John, would you like to say something standing off camera staring at me? Sara, would you like to weigh in?

SIDNER: I would like to weigh in. It's beautiful.

BOLDUAN: Thank you.

SIDNER: And John is going off about something else, but he'll be in trouble with his wife at the end of this segment.

BOLDUAN: Carrie (ph), please weigh in.

BERMAN: I was looking, it was the kiss. It was really sweet.

BOLDUAN: So sweet.

[07:25:00]

Yes, they were.

BERMAN: And it was -- they lingered on it, is all I'm saying. They lingered on the kiss.

BOLDUAN: Sara, please take it.

SIDNER: I'm going to take this now, all right.

Soon, Trump's former fixer, Michael Cohen, retaking the stand, expect things to get heated in cross-examination where we'll discuss the new strategy going forward. And could popular weight loss drugs be having an effect on alcohol consumption? How those drugs could be impacting people's livers, we'll talk about that coming up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[07:30:00]

SIDNER: A highly critical morning and Donald Trump's criminal trial about to get underway very soon.