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New Evidence in Classified Documents Case; Tornadoes Slam Iowa; White House Comments on Palestinian State; Trump Comments on Birth Control. Aired 9-9:30a ET

Aired May 22, 2024 - 09:00   ET

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

[09:00:00]

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: Another American charged will be joining us from Turks and Caicos this hour.

I'm Kate Bolduan, with John Berman. Sara is out. This is CNN NEWS CENTRAL.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: This morning, major developments and new evidence that we have not seen in Donald Trump's classified documents case. We're standing by as Trump appointed judge, Aileen Cannon, is expected to hold two hearings where she will consider motions to dismiss the cases from co-defendant Walt Nauta - including from co- defendant Walt Nauta, a Trump aide.

This comes as never before seen photos have been revealed from June 2022 showing Nauta moving boxes around Mar-a-Lago. Prosecutors say that Nauta moved the boxes shortly before a Trump attorney was going to look through them after getting a subpoena to turn over classified material.

CNN's Evan Perez is in Fort Pierce, Florida, today to watch these hearings as they develop.

Evan, what do you expect to see?

EVAN PEREZ, CNN SENIOR JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: Well, John, look, I mean a lot of these motions that the defendants are making are usually handled by - by briefings by the lawyers. In this case, Judge Aileen Cannon is having hearings on pretty much every single motion, which is why this case is moving so, so slowly.

What - today we're going to here motions from Walt Nauta this morning. This is a co-defendant of the former presidents, still works for him. He is arguing vindictive prosecution. Trump, in his case, and the other co-defendants, are going to - his lawyers are going to be in court this afternoon and they're arguing for the suppression of evidence. Trump wants all evidence from the FBI's search of Mar-a-Lago to be - to be - to be suppressed. He also wants testimony from his former lawyer, Evan Corcoran, he wants that kept out of this case.

Now, here's the deal. What we saw with these new documents, you're seeing some of the evidence that what the prosecution says support their case. First of all, you saw those images of Walt Nauta, according to prosecutors, this is from surveillance video. This is where he is moving boxes before Corcoran and other lawyers were doing a search of Mar-a-Lago to be able to return those documents as ordered under a lawful subpoena.

What we're also seeing, John, is one of the reasons - the major reasons why Judge Beryl Howell ordered Corcoran to provide testimony. A very unusual thing. As you know, he was a lawyer for the former president and he was claiming, of course, attorney-client privilege.

But here's what she wrote as part of the reasoning for ordering that. She said the government has proffered enough evidence that the former president was using person 18, in this case that's - that's Evan Corcoran, as an instrument or as a front man to obstruct the government investigation or to conceal the documents, again, that he was ordered to produce.

John.

BERMAN: All right, Evan Perez, obviously a lot of developments down there this morning. Keep us posted. Thank you very much.

Kate.

BOLDUAN: And joining us right now is CNN legal analyst and former federal prosecutor Jennifer Rodgers for more on this.

Let's start with one of the motions that she needs to consider today, Jennifer, which is the - the - and Evan spoke to that, that Walt Nauta, they're trying to get those charges dismissed because of vindictive prosecution. One, what would they need to show to have a case thrown out because of that? And do you think that that's going to happen?

JENNIFER RODGERS, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: I do not. So, you've heard of selective prosecution -

BOLDUAN: Yes.

RODGERS: Which is the more common motion, basically saying, I'm being treated differently from any other defendant like me on the facts. This is even harder to prove, right. This is saying prosecutors are acting vindictively. So, it basically is, the defendant is exercising a right and prosecutors are trying to punish him for that. So, it's very, very high burden to get over and I don't think there's any chance he'll meet it here. I haven't even seen really what his arguments are.

BOLDUAN: Yes. And to that point, seeing the images that were - part of the evidence that was released of him carrying boxes, it kind of speak - that speak - is that what will speak to the - the -

RODGERS: Yes. Here's why you are being prosecuted.

BOLDUAN: That's what - I was like, this speaks to the case that is before -

RODGERS: As opposed to vindictiveness.

BOLDUAN: Exactly.

And we've also learned that Donald Trump is seeking to get thrown out all of the evidence gathered by the FBI searches of Mar-a-Lago. Wouldn't that be crippling to the special counsel's case if that happened?

RODGERS: Oh, absolutely. I mean remember all the photo -

BOLDUAN: Yes, I mean -

RODGERS: Everything that they gathered at (INAUDIBLE).

BOLDUAN: Yes, some of its behind you right there. Yes, exactly.

RODGERS: So, that's basically an automatic argument in any search warrant case.

BOLDUAN: OK

RODGERS: They always challenge the warrant is really what they're doing. They're saying there was no probable cause for the warrant or there was bad faith when they got the warrant and so you have to throw out all the fruits of the search.

BOLDUAN: We've talked through this but - so many times before, though.

RODGERS: Yes. It's - it's not going to work.

BOLDUAN: They've tried to get documents returned. They - they said that they reached the point of needing to - to - to get this warrant because of the resistance to returning documents and they had evidenced that there - that - the probable cause that there were still classified documents at Mar-a-Lago.

RODGERS: So often what happens is they'll find some sort of mistake in the warrant itself and they'll say, oh, you know, they lied to the court and they got the warrant under false pretenses and so it all should get thrown out.

[09:05:07]

But there's a good faith exception for law enforcement. You can make a mistake in the warrant as you list out the facts that you know. And so as long as you're acting in good faith and it wasn't core to the search warrant, it won't get thrown out. And I don't expect it will get thrown out here.

So, we're going to see some of this play out today. That's why Evan is there and he's going to be seeing this in court.

The hearing today is the first before the judge since the announcement that she was delaying indefinitely the start of the trial. It had been scheduled, I believe, to begin as early as this week if they were going to move ahead. So, what do - what does - do all of these motions that - some of which we were just talking about, but all of that - that she is now considered basically individually, what does that suggest about the overall timing of this ever getting to trial?

RODGERS: Well, nothing good for people who want to see this trial, right? So, there are all these motions outstanding because Judge Cannon has not moved them along and has not ruled on them. And some of them, honestly like the ones you're talking about today, Kate, wouldn't even normally warrant a hearing. You would decide them on the paper -

BOLDUAN: Really?

RODGERS: Because there's nothing there. And so we have others in the queue that are the same, that she really should have decided months ago on the papers. Some more complicated things like the Classified Information Procedures Act matters -

BOLDUAN: Yes.

RODGERS: Which do require hearings and should have gotten going months ago. But some that really should have been dismissed out of hand (ph).

BOLDUAN: So, is this - this is unreasonable you think?

RODGERS: I do.

BOLDUAN: It's great to see you, Jennifer. Thank you for coming.

RODGERS: Thanks.

BOLDUAN: John.

BERMAN: All right, this morning, basically nothing left after a string of deadly storms tore through several states in the Midwest overnight. Wind gusts of up to 100 miles per hour. Seventeen reported tornadoes touching down. And the thread is not over. More than 75 million people from Texas to Vermont are facing the risk of severe storms today.

CNN's Whitney Wild is in Greenfield, Iowa, which was one of the hardest hit areas.

Whitney, what are you seeing there this morning?

WHITNEY WILD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, John, even from about a half a mile to a mile away, you can see the damage here.

I'll give you a look over my shoulder here. We're at a staging area at the outskirts of Greenfield. Police are very reluctant to let anyone inside, and for obvious reasons. I mean this destruction is just massive.

If you look here, you can see quite a bit of damage. Buildings that are crushed. Pieces of aluminum, John, that are crumpled up and thrown about like they're simply confetti.

This is just one town. This is one of the areas in Iowa, southwest Iowa, which was one of the hardest hit locations from this massive storm system that ripped through Illinois, Wisconsin, Iowa.

Here in Greenfield, this is a small town. There's 2,000 people who live here that the actual town John, is just under two square miles. So, a storm this massive just decimates really a huge chunk of this very small town.

And it, of course, is not just here, as I said. Southwest Iowa very hard hit. In neighboring Montgomery County, 28 homes were hit. That's according to officials out there.

And then I'll take you to Carbon, Iowa, where a storm team was there just moments after a tornado hit. They came right upon a home that had been impacted by that storm. Here is the moment those storm chasers tried to figure out if everyone inside this home was OK.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There's nobody here?

No - call out!

Down here. All right. Are you in shelter? All right. Nobody's hurt?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WILD: A lot of people so grateful for their lives this morning, John. But heartbreakingly we do know that there were some fatalities associated with this storm here in Greenfield. We don't yet know how many people may have died in this storm. We don't yet know even close to a dollar amount of this damage.

What we do know is that later today Governor Kim Reynolds is going to come out here. She's going to survey the damage as well. And as you mentioned, that emergency declaration is for at least 15 counties in Iowa. So, at this point, John, this is - continues to be a search mission, a rescue mission and a cleanup mission.

Back to you.

BERMAN: All right, Whitney Wild for us in Greenfield. It is concerning. All we've heard is multiple fatalities, but we still do not know the exact number. Thank you so much for your reporting there.

Kate.

BOLDUAN: Also new this morning, the White House is pushing back against the move that was just announced from Ireland, Spain and Norway. The countries announcing they will soon formerly recognize a Palestinian state.

And one of the five Americans charged with bringing ammunition into Turks and Caicos has pleaded guilty, just as U.S. lawmakers traveled to the - to the island to plead for all of their release. So, what this means now for the other four Americans facing jail time. One of them will be joining us.

[09:09:53]

And a nightmare at 37,000 feet. One passengers describing people hitting the ceiling after their flight hit sudden and severe turbulence that left one passenger dead and now the NTSB is jumping into the investigation.

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BOLDUAN: New this morning, the White House responding for the first time to the announcement coming from Ireland, Spain, and Norway overnight that the nation - that those nations will soon formally recognize a Palestinian state.

[09:15:08]

CNN's Priscilla Alvarez is at the White House.

What more are you learning now, Priscilla?

PRISCILLA ALVAREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Kate, the White House this morning is pushing back on this saying that this needs to be done through negotiations, not through, quote, unilateral recognition.

Let me read you a statement from the national security council spokesperson that says the following, quote, "the president is a strong supporter of a two-state solution and has been throughout his career." It goes on to say, "he believes a Palestinian state should be realized through direct negotiations between the parties, not through unilateral recognition."

Of course, the president has been vocal about his support for a two- state solution and even weighed in on this during his commencement address at Morehouse College over the weekend.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I'm working to make sure we finally get a two-state solution. The only solution so two people live in peace, security and dignity.

This is one of the hardest, most complicated problems in the world. And there's nothing easy about it. I know it angers and frustrates many of you, including my family. But most of all, I know it breaks your heart. It breaks mine as well.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ALVAREZ: Now, you heard it there from the president, this is a complicated endeavor. That is what we often hear from senior administration officials who put it in their own words, say it's different ideas in Israel, different ideas in Arab capitals and it's trying to find the middle ground in all of that. These are discussions that are underway and have been underway and that, again, the administration believes needs to be done through negotiations with all of the relevant partners here. So again, the White House is pushing back on this move by Spain,

Norway, and Ireland for this unilateral recognition because, from the White House's perspective, this does need to continue to be a discussion with everyone that's involved in a diplomatic negotiation to that end, Kate.

But, of course, the conflict in Gaza needs to recede for this to really move forward in earnest.

BOLDUAN: Priscilla, thank you so much for the update from the White House today.

John.

BERMAN: All right, this morning, the Trump campaign cleaning up its messaging on contraceptives after an interview that Trump did with a local Pittsburgh station.

Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Do you support any restrictions on a person's right to contraception?

DONALD TRUMP (R), FORMER U.S. PRESIDENT AND 2024 PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Well, we're looking at that, and I'm going to have a policy on that very shortly.

And I think it's something you you'll find interesting.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Well, that suggests that they - you may want to support some restrictions.

TRUMP: Well, we -

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Like the morning after pill or something.

TRUMP: We are - we are also - you know, things really do have a lot to do with the states.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: So later, on social media, Trump wrote, quote, "I have never and will never advocate imposing restrictions on birth control or other contraceptives." And the statement went on.

With us now is Democratic strategist and former White House aide for President Clinton, Keith Boykin, and CNN political commentator, Republican strategist, Shermichael Singleton.

I think it's really interesting to listen to that exchange for a few reasons. And, Keith, let me just start with you because the way I see it, there are probably three options for what happened there. Number one, Trump heard and understood the question, how do you feel about contraceptives, and then basically made up that his campaign was going to come out with some kind of a statement, a new policy over the next two weeks on it because we don't believe anyone is coming. The second option is that he confused contraceptives with abortion and, again, made up some kind of statement that the campaign was going to come out with in the next two weeks because, no - we have no reporting that's going to happen. Or, c, didn't understand the question at all and just made up that the campaign was going to come out with a statement in the next few weeks because we have no reporting that that's actually going to happen there.

I'm not sure any of those possibilities reflect that well on him, but what do you think happened there?

KEITH BOYKIN, DEMOCRATIC STRATEGIST: Or maybe, d, he just made up a statement because that's what Trump always does. I mean the sad reality is that this was a softball question, John. Any political neophytes should have been able to answer that question. And for Trump to say, we are looking at that and we're going to have a policy on that very shortly, that is an unacceptable answer for a man who was the president of the United States for four years, has been running for president for the past two years and wants to be president again for another four years. He's got - he's the same guy who's been out there bragging that he's responsible for appointing the three Supreme Court justices who overturned Roe versus Wade.

But when Arizona, because of that overturning of the law, when Arizona went back and enacted this 1864 draconian law banning abortion in almost all instances, Trump had to come out and say, oh well, no, I didn't really mean that. You know, this guy who has said - claims he's the best president ever seems to have no knowledge of basic public policy. And the idea that anyone would take him seriously is disturbing in and of itself.

I don't know if it's embarrassing or if it's dangerous, but either way, he's not a credible candidate for president of the United States.

BERMAN: And, Shermichael, before we dig into the actual policy issue on contraceptives, what do you think actually happened there in that exchange?

[09:20:05]

SHERMICHAEL SINGLETON, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Well, look, I think the former president probably just gave a response that he thought many of his supporters would probably want to hear. And I think that's perhaps a part of this strategic problem. There needs to be a coherent strategy on this particular issue, John.

This is a perilous front for Republicans. We have two years' worth of electoral data that showcases Republicans continue to lose elections, even close elections, even counties that the former president won in 2020. We have seen in some states have voted with Democratic counties to protect reproductive rights. And when you actually speak with many Republican voters, including conservative ones, and even some evangelicals. They will limit that they recognize that this is not electorally beneficial to the Republican Party, and they are willing to give the former president almost unilateral movement on this particular issue.

So, I think his campaign needs to figure out, if you're going to say this is a state's issue, than it should be a state's issue that should be on the ballot via ballot initiatives that people should be able to vote on. And what we're seeing, when voters are able to vote on this issue, they're choosing to protect reproductive rights.

BERMAN: Yes. Yes, I mean, again, we're talking about contraception here. We're not even necessarily - I mean we're not talking about abortion here.

And before - I know there are people out there who will say, oh, it's not even an issue anywhere. But Clarence Thomas, in his concurring opinion in Dobbs, opened the door. He said the court should go back and review Supreme Court decisions, including Griswold, which had to do with contraception.

So it is, in theory, and Shermichael I'll put this to you, an issue that is out there, correct?

SINGLETON: I don't think this is an issue that's out there for most Americans. And I know a lot of times we only focus on it from the guise of people who may be on the left end of the political spectrum only being concerned about whether its abortion or contraception for that matter. That's not the case. I think a lot of Republicans also firmly believe that this is an issue that people should have access to it. That this is an issue as it pertains to abortion for women and their doctors and their health care providers.

I think there's a very small percent, John, of Republicans who are really far right, that sort of what to push the needle on this issue, which I don't think is representative of most Americans. And again, I think that's why Republicans have to figure out a way to message properly on this, which is where most Americans are. And they're saying, look, we want to protect reproductive rights. We want to maintain contraception. And I think that is probably the best option for Donald Trump.

BERMAN: And, Keith, just quickly, the president -

BOYKIN: Can I just - quickly.

BERMAN: Go ahead. Go ahead.

BOYKIN: I just want to push back on a couple of quick points about that. Two reasons why I'm suspicious. The Griswold decision was in 1967. The Roe versus Wade decision was in 1973. The Voting Rights Act was passed in 1965. Two of those things have already been overturned by the current Supreme Court in that same generation. The Voting Rights Act, although it hasn't been overturned, is being gutted by the Supreme Court in the Shelby County v. Holder decision in 2013. Roe versus Wade was gutted by - by the Supreme Court and completely overturned just a couple years ago. And so I'm not competent that Griswold will survive either because Clarence - because - not just because of what Clarence Thomas said, but because Donald Trump has followed the federal society policy of employing the nominating these conservative right-wing justices who are determined to overturn all of these precedents that are 50 or 60 years old. So nothing is safe if Donald Trump is allowed to continue to appoint more right-wing justices and federal judges to the bench.

BERMAN: Either of you want to weigh in on what would have happen if President Biden had this exchange with a local newscaster caught on video?

Keith?

BOYKIN: We know exactly what would been - what would happen. Every Republican on Fox News would be yelling and screaming about how Biden is incompetent, Biden can't remember basic facts. The same thing they were saying when the - when the - when the Hur report came out, that Biden - Biden doesn't have the ability to be able to form a sentence. So, I think we're judging the two candidates on a different standard. Biden is 80 years old or 81 years old, and Trump is 77 years old. They're both elderly men. But the idea that Trump is somehow mentally stable is not - not clearly evident.

BERMAN: Shermichael respond to that.

SINGLETON: Well, John - John, I would just say quickly, look again, this goes back to my initial point, you have to have a coherent strategy of message on this issue. Keith and I have discussed this before. I've seen Keith discuss this issue on other shows. Republicans just aren't winning on this. And most voters, when you look at our survey data, you look at our polling data, even a plethora, a majority of Republicans are saying, we don't really want politicians touching any of these issues. And I think that's why you continue to see Republicans struggle at the ballot box.

This is going to be a close election. This is an issue Republicans should completely leave alone.

BERMAN: I appreciate you both you being here. I do not recognize the existence of other shows. Please come back to CNN NEWS CENTRAL.

[09:25:01]

SINGLETON: I'm sorry, John.

BERMAN: Shermichael Singleton, Keith Boykin, appreciate your time.

BOYKIN: All right.

BERMAN: After months of dysfunction on Capitol Hill, new reporting on the rising power of Democratic House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries.

And new this morning, the NTSB is joining the investigation into the Singapore Airlines flight the hit turbulence so severe that one passenger died.

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