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Russian Troops Gain Ground in Ukraine; Severe Weather Causes Power Outages in Houston; House Oversight Committee Hearing Devolves into Personal Attacks; President Biden to Give Commencement Address at Morehouse College; Some Morehouse Students Threaten to Protest Bidens Graduation Speech; Former Trump Attorney John Eastman to be Arraigned for Role in Fake Electors Scheme; Defense Confronts Credibility in Crucial Trial Moment. Aired 8-8:30a ET
Aired May 17, 2024 - 08:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[08:00:00]
NICK PATON WALSH, CNN INTERNATIONAL SECURITY EDITOR: I think they can hear a drone here. It's so hard to tell with the wind and the trees and the artillery, but that's a constant threat for them now.
Then our security adviser spots it. They raise their weapons, but will firing make them more of a target? Three drones, one large one that hovers and two small ones whizzing about. Exposed, powerless. If we run for cover, they might come for us. All we can do is hide in the trees and hope that if we're seen, the Russians instead have a better target in mind. But they come right overhead. That noise, either the sound of death or someone deciding, you're not worth their payload.
We decide to leave. But again, we cannot travel fast enough to escape the drones, only expose ourselves and pray they lose interest. Perhaps they did. We'll never know. But behind us, Ukraine is aflame again, because however the west's interest in this war wanes, Putin's burns brighter than ever.
Nick Paton Walsh, CNN, Vovchansk, Ukraine.
(END VIDEO TAPE)
JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: A deadly storm with hurricane-force winds, hundreds of thousands in the dark this morning as torrential rains blew out windows and downed power lines.
Finger-pointing, name-calling, taunting, jeering, shouting, threatening, just as the founders intended. What turned an overnight congressional hearing into a near brawl.
And a new report overnight, an upside-down flag flown at the home of Samuel Alito. Some see that as a sign of support for the insurrection. How does this Supreme Court justice explain why this was at his house?
I'm John Berman with Kate Bolduan and Sara Sidner, and this is CNN NEWS CENTRAL. SARA SIDNER, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Breaking overnight,
Houston's mayor telling people to stay at home after severe storms tore through the area, killing at least four people and damaging homes, businesses, and throwing power lines across streets.
It's like lightning hitting a transformer there. In downtown Houston, the storm blew out window, sent people scrambling for cover. CenterPoint Energy is already warning Houston residents to be prepared for extended power outages, and there are a lot of them.
CNN's Ed Lavandera joining us now from downtown Houston right now. Houston, it has gotten battered with a rain in that county as well. What are you seeing this morning?
ED LAVANDERA, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, it might be tornado season, but it really does feel and look like it was a hurricane that blew through here. This is what was a popular dance club here in downtown Houston. You see the back wall collapsed like three stories worth of bricks collapsing down. We're told nobody was there at the time and that all employees are safe.
But wherever you look here in downtown Houston as the mayor has described, this area is a mess. Light poles knocked over here, massive tree limbs in the way of many of the roadways, so traveling through downtown Houston would be very difficult this morning. And this is the famed bayou here that cuts through downtown Houston. It's also been historically a good gauge just to see how much rainfall has fallen here. And you can see how much water is still continuing to fall into the bayou, which is usually quite a bit lower than what it normally is. I've seen it higher over the years in various other rainstorms, but still, that is rather intense.
Because of all of this, there are still about 800,000 customers without power, we are told, 700,000 of those here in the Houston area. And They're being told that it could be quite some time before that power comes back up a day to two days as temperatures are expected to get much warmer here as we get back into the weekend as well. Four people killed. One of those victims killed by a crane that was knocked over in the wind. It was hurricane force winds that blew through in this storm. Two other people killed by downed trees. Just an absolute messes this storm rolled through here yesterday afternoon, and emergency officials are urging people to be very cautious today.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CHIEF SAMUEL PENA, HOUSTON FIRE DEPARTMENT: If you don't need to be on the roads, stay home. There's widespread debris on the roads. Some areas are without any power, no light. It's hard to see as you're driving.
MAYOR JOHN WHITMORE, (D) HOUSTON: Downtown is a mass. It's dangerous due to the glass and the lack of traffic lights. So stay at home.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
[08:05:00] LAVANDERA: So Sara, this morning, the sun is up, the cleanup process begins as Houstonians and people here in southeast Texas get back on the roads. But it's going to be a long day for many people.
SIDNER: All right, Ed Lavandera, thank you so much for bringing us that reporting to us this morning. Appreciate you. Kate?
KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: On a Capitol Hill that tagline has become chaos and confusion, and in a committee that's become the personification of the attention seeking partisanship that continued to search -- that continues to search for new lows, even with all of that, last night was wild. A House Oversight hearing that devolved into personal attacks over fake eyelashes, that's how it started.
Leading the charge here, Marjorie Taylor Greene. Greene, deciding to use the words of a middle school -- middle school lunchroom fight to attack Democratic Congresswoman Jasmine Crockett after Crockett called out Greene for going on a tangent completely unrelated to the actual matter that they were considering in committee.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. MARJORIE TAYLOR GREENE, (R-GA): I think your fake eyelashes or messing up --
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hold on, hold on.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BOLDUAN: CNN's Lauren Fox is following all of this. Did I set that up correctly?
LAUREN FOX, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, the greatest deliberative body at work again here on Capitol Hill last night. They were supposed to be debating whether or not to hold the attorney general in contempt of Congress. But things got very personal very quickly last night. And what happened next was essentially Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez asking Marjorie Taylor Greene to strike her words, essentially get rid of this in the congressional record. Here's what happened next.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. JIM COMER, (R-KY) HOUSE OVERSIGHT COMMITTEE CHAIRMAN: -- that Ms. Greener agrees to strike her words. The Chair recognizes --
REP. ALEXANDRIA OCASIO-CORTEZ, (D-NY): I believe she has apologized. No, no, no, she just apologized.
COMER: Hold on. Then after Mr. Perry shall be recognized, then --
REP. MARJORIE TAYLOR GREENE, (R-GA): I'm not apologizing.
OCASIO-CORTEZ: Well, then you're not striking your words.
GREENE: I am not apologizing. COMER: Stop. Come on, guys.
GREENE: Why don't you debate me?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Mr. Chairman, the minority --
OCASIO-CORTEZ: I think it's pretty self-evident.
COMER: No. Chair -- you're not -- you're not yes.
GREENE: Yes, you don't have enough intelligence.
COMER: The chair recognizes Mr. Perry.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: OK, move to strike --
OCASIO-CORTEZ: I move to strike those words as well.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Order.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I move to strike the lady's words again.
OCASIO-CORTEZ: That's two requests to strike. That's two requests to strike.
GREENE: Oh, they cannot take the words.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
FOX: Chairman Comer trying to get control of the committee, but what happened is really a series of confusing votes, of questions about particularly what they were trying to vote on. And then here's Representative Jasmine Crockett asking a question about specifically what they're voting on. Here you go.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. JASMINE CROCKETT, (D-TX): I'm just curious, just to better understand your ruling. If someone on this committee then starts talking about somebody's bleach-blond, bad-built, butch body, that would not be he engaged in in personalities, correct?
REP. JIM COMER, (R-KY) HOUSE OVERSIGHT COMMITTEE CHAIRMAN: A what now.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Chairman, I make a motion to strike those words.
COMER: I don't think that's --
CROCKETT: I'm trying to find clarification and on what qualifies --
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Chairman, motion to strike those words.
COMER: I have no idea what you just said.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We're not going to do this. You guys earlier -- CROCKETT: You just, you just voted to do it. You just voted to do it.
COMER: Order, order.
CROCKETT: I'm trying to get clarification.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Calm down, calm down.
CROCKETT: No. No, no, no, because this is what you all do. So I'm trying to get clarification.
COMER: Miss Crockett, you're not recognized.
(CROSS TALK)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Calm down. Would you please calm down.
CROCKETT: Don't tell me to calm down! Because you all talk noise, and then you --
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Please calm. You're out of control --
(CROSS TALK)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Mr. Chairman.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
FOX: And after a lengthy detour, that committee eventually did vote to hold Merrick Garland, the attorney general, in contempt of Congress. It's unclear when that will actually come to the House floor. Kate?
BOLDUAN: Yes. Yes. Yes. And we have a member of the committee who will be joining us in the next hour. Lauren, thank you so much. John?
BERMAN: That'll be interesting.
All right, Morehouse College has a message for their graduates threatened to protest President Biden's commencement address this weekend. What will and will not be allowed.
We've got new reporting on how the prosecution plans to undo the damage to their case after the contentious cross-examination of Michael Cohen.
And the breaking news, the world's number one golfer Scottie Scheffler detained this morning at one of golf's majors, the PGA championship. What officials are now saying.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[08:14:03]
BERMAN: President Biden speaks today at the National Museum of African American History. Sunday, he will deliver the commencement address at Morehouse College. There have been concerned -- there has been concern over protests at that appearance.
With us now, CNN anchor Victor Blackwell. First of all, we're always excited to have Victor on the show this morning. Great to see you. Even more exciting because you've spoken to the president of Morehouse extensively about what's going on this weekend.
VICTOR BLACKWELL, CNN ANCHOR: Yes, good morning, John. We spoke for about an hour. I spoke with the president of Morehouse college, Dr. David Thomas, which is an historically black men's college here in Atlanta. And there have been a lot of passions on and around campus about this invitation for President Biden to deliver the commencement address on Sunday. As we've seen on other campuses, students, faculty, some alumni, who oppose the support for Israel and their war with Hamas and the handling of the situation in Gaza.
There have been no encampments on Morehouse's campus, but there is an expectation that there may be some protests on Sunday.
[08:15:00]
Now, the president told me that he will not impede silent protests. He says that if the students were to stand and turn their backs on the president during his speech, he would be embarrassed, but that's not their problem.
If they want to bring signs, as long as there is no hate speech. And he says, if they decide to wear something that shows where their sympathies lie, he is fine with that.
Here is where he draws the line. What he says, he will not tolerate.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DAVID A. THOMAS, MOREHOUSE COLLEGE PRESIDENT: What we won't allow is disruptive behavior that prevents the ceremony or services from proceeding in a manner that those in attendance can partake and enjoy. So for example, prolonged shouting down of the president as he is speaking.
I have also made a decision that we will also not ask police to take individuals out of commencement in zip ties. If faced with the choice, I will cease the ceremonies on the spot if we were to reach that position, but this will not be a place where there will be a national photo-op of individuals being taken out of the Morehouse campus in zip ties by the police authorities.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BLACKWELL: And again, Morehouse College is an HBCU that educates men, and I thought it noteworthy that he drew the line at allowing a photo of Black men in capping gowns being escorted campus by police in zip ties, and he says that was not his framework, John.
He said that the image would suggest that Morehouse isn't -- I have this here -- exalted above the humanity of those people expressing an opinion and don't feel like they can have another avenue.
He said he'd rather be the first president to have a failed commencement than to tell those men that they are less important than the ceremonies of the institution.
So we'll see what happens on Sunday.
JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: Look, it is clear, he has thought a lot about this, that this has been a focus for him.
Did he ever have any second thoughts about the invitation to President Biden?
BLACKWELL: He tells me no. First the invitation went on in September, before the attacks on October 7th. The acceptance of the invitation came in April. He said he never considered rescinding the invitation because there needs to be some place where these tensions can lie.
He ticked off the canceled commencements, the canceled valedictorian speeches, the canceled speakers, the UN Ambassador Linda Thomas- Greenfield. She was canceled at Xavier, another HBCU and he says there must be a place where people can listen and say we disagree with what you say, but we are not going to cancel you because your body of work is much larger than this moment.
President Biden is scheduled to speak 10:30 about on Sunday to the men graduating there at Morehouse College.
BERMAN: Victor Blackwell, great to have you. Great to have your reporting this morning. Thanks so much.
BLACKWELL: Thank you, John.
BERMAN: Sara --
SARA SIDNER, CNN ANCHOR: All right, ahead. Did Michael Cohen's testimony and cross-examination end up as a big win for Donald Trump's defense? We will discuss.
And the 2020 fake electors case heads to an Arizona courtroom today, but a prosecutor is still looking for Rudy Giuliani. We will have all of that story coming up.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[08:23:10]
SIDNER: Happening today, Trump ally and former attorney, John Eastman set to appear in Arizona courtroom.
Eastman is the first of 18 defendants to be arraigned on charges stemming from the 2020 fake electors scheme. CNN's Kyung Lah is following this from Phoenix.
You've been following this since the beginning, really? What can we expect today? KYUNG LAH, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Sara, this is going to
feel very much like any other arraignment that you may have covered out in the field, it is going to be typical court proceedings. There are going to be charges announced and there will be a booking. There will be a mug shot taken.
The difference here is who we are talking about. It is not the proceeding per say, standard arraignment, but it is John Eastman, the former Trump attorney, someone who is known at least in this indictment as the architect of this multi-state fake elector scheme, and he is a very first of the 18 defendants named in this indictment, who will be appearing in court. So those in-court appearance beginning today.
So who are they? Who are these fake electors? We've heard about the scheme over and over again through a number of swing states. Let's take a look at this first page.
These are the 11 that were actually in the room. These are people known very well here in the state of Arizona, from the head of the Arizona GOP, to two state senators, as well as the executive of Turning Point USA, all Trump allies.
But it is the second page, and take a look at this one. This is where a lot of our national audience may actually see some of the faces that they've seen over the Trump administration.
These are very close allies, including Mark Meadows, White House chief-of-staff, also charged in Georgia, and also charged in Georgia and appearing in just a few hours, Sara. John Eastman, that Trump attorney -- former Trump attorney.
SIDNER: I have to ask you, the person on the bottom left, Rudy Giuliani. There has been people not being able to serve him. Where is he? Have they found him yet and served him?
[08:25:14]
LAH: Yes, that's all the chatter of everybody I've spoken to here in Arizona. The big drama is where is Rudy Giuliani? The reason why it is important is because Arizona officials have to deliver that notice in- person. They have gone in-person. They went to New York to try to serve that notice, so he is set to appear here for his indictment, but he wasn't there.
The person at the front desk said, look, he is not here, so you are not allowed to get access and the Arizona Attorney General's Office says that those aides did have to leave.
We are told, CNN has learned from two different sources that Rudy Giuliani is in Palm Beach, Florida, but has he been served? We are told no, not, yet.
SIDNER: Yes, the big question is, he knows how this works. Is he just avoiding this on purpose? We will all be watching to see what happens in this case. Kyung Lah, thank you for being there covering it for us -- Kate.
KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: The court is dark today in Donald Trump's New York criminal trial, but there is a lot of action happening behind-the-scenes to prepare for Monday.
The reason being, Trump's defense team drew out some real inconsistencies in Michael Cohen's story in cross-examination yesterday. So what are prosecutors going to do now to clean it up?
Joining us right now, CNN senior legal analyst, Elie Honig. for more on this.
Elie, I think I heard you call it a body blow to the prosecution's case, but how much of a blow?
ELIE HONIG, CNN SENIOR LEGAL ANALYST: Well, to quote Michael Cohen, "that sounds like something I might say."
It was a big deal, Kate and here is why what happened yesterday was very different from what we already knew about Michael Cohen. There was well trod ground with Michael Cohen. It was well-known he pled guilty to making false statements to Congress, to various frauds, the campaign finance fraud. It was well-known that he hated Donald Trump very publicly.
What was new about what happened yesterday is it exposed a gaping, inconsistency and perhaps worse, in a key piece of Michael Cohen's testimony about this case.
On direct examination. Michael Cohen said there was this crucial phone call, October 24, 2016, where I told Donald Trump through Keith Schiller, I told Donald Trump that the thing with Stormy is resolved, but it turns out all the texts between Cohen and Keith Schiller leading up to that call and after are about something completely separate about this problem that was happening from Michael Cohen where some 14-year-old was bugging him with harassing texts.
So it looks like the call Michael Cohen said was about Stormy Daniels was actually about something entirely different. It made a huge impact in the courtroom, and I think it is a real problem for prosecutors.
BOLDUAN: And so, if you're sitting at the prosecution's table, what are you doing today, tomorrow, and Sunday to make this not stick with the jury? I mean, is there a universe of possibility, you know, you say it wasn't an oversight or a mistake that you didn't bring up the back-and-forth with this 14-year-old kid?
HONIG: So they're definitely going to have to do some damage control here. I don't think it is unrecoverable. I do think there are ways prosecutors can work their way back from this.
Now, Michael Cohen got caught on the stand and he on the sport sort of came up with an alternate justification. He said, well, maybe we discussed two things; the 14-year-old kid, which he had never mentioned before, by the way and the Stormy Daniels thing. So prosecutors are kind of locked into that, what occurred to Michael
Cohen on the spot. I think they may just have to tell the jury, look, Michael Cohen had several crucial conversations with Donald Trump. This is one of them. He may have been mistaken about some of the details around it and the thing that prosecutors really have to rely on is the other corroboration, the financial documents that corroborate Michael Cohen to a large extent, but ultimately, Kate, I do think that the jury is going to have to give Michael Cohen's word some credit in order to return a guilty verdict.
BOLDUAN: This is -- it is not about the analysis from outside of the court, right? This all comes down to how the jury sees it inside that courtroom and when they deliberate.
How confident are you though or should anyone be that they don't hear or aren't somehow inundated with what the world outside that courtroom is saying about this moment, this cross-examination over what now is a long weekend?
HONIG: I've always been a bit of a skeptic about that, Kate. When I started trying cases many a year ago, judges would tell juries, this is before social media, if something comes on about this case on TV, change your channel. If you see it in the newspaper, turn the page.
Even then, I didn't think jurors actually did that. Humans are curious. I think some try to do it, but I always assume my juries were following the media. Now we are in this age of social media, where it is almost inescapable.
So the judge has told the jury stay away. No juror has come forward, this does happen sometimes -- no juror has come forward and said, you know, I saw something on my Twitter feed the other day and it did have to do with this case and I probably shouldn't have seen it. That hasn't happened.
So fortunately for the process, we haven't had any hiccups there, but I don't personally believe that jurors actually and completely separate themselves from what is being said in the media.
BOLDUAN: Yes, I mean, this is all setting up them for a huge day, Monday. It is good to see you, Elie. Thank you -- John.
HONIG: Yes.
BERMAN: All right, the upside down American flag, some see it as a sign of support for the January 6th insurrection, so why was it flying outside the home of Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito? The new report from "The New York Times," and just out-of-control, the shocking attacks rolled back in fourth at a congressional hearing overnight.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[08:30:32]
