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Attorneys to Deliver Closing Arguments in Donald Trump Hush Money Criminal Trial; Donald Trump Posts Criticism of Hush Money Criminal Trial Truth Social; Four Inmates Escape Louisiana Prison with Two Still at Large; Severe Weather Threatens 47 Million Across Oklahoma and Texas; Today: American to be Sentenced in Turks and Caicos. Aired 8-8:30a ET

Aired May 28, 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]

CHRISTOPHER LAMB, CNN VATICAN CORRESPONDENT: So if the Pope did intentionally use this slur, it would undermine that and threaten his attempts to really shift the church's position on this.

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: Christopher Lamb, thank you so much. Much more to learn here, for sure. Thank you.

John? Oh, the next hour of CNN NEWS CENTRAL.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: Countdown to closings. We are in the final moments before attorneys deliver the closing arguments in the criminal case against Donald Trump. One way or another history is about to be made.

We've got new details on the deadly attack that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is now calling a tragic error. Could this be the final straw in U.S. support for the war in Gaza?

And an urgent manhunt underway after multiple inmates escape from a Louisiana jail after sliding through a gap in the jail yard fence.

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

BOLDUAN: History in the making today as closing arguments get underway in Donald Trump's criminal trial. The former president charged with 34 counts of falsifying business records to conceal a hush money payment to Stormy Daniels. In just over an hour from now, Trump's defense attorneys will kick things off with their closing argument. They're expected to really focus in on savaging the credibility of Michael Cohen and continuing a clear pattern there, and also ask why other key figures in the telling of these alleged crimes were not called as witnesses?

Prosecutors then go second and have the final word, if you will, expected to spend hours focusing on the evidence to prove that Trump broke the law regardless of Michael Cohen's credibility. They're also going to dig into the testimony from the 22 witnesses that took the stand, 20 of them called by the prosecution, two of them by the defense.

In the end, the burden of proof remains on prosecutors. They need a unanimous verdict to convict Donald Trump. The defense needs just one juror they have enough doubt to block a conviction.

CNN's Brynn Gingras is outside court for us as she has kindly been all along the way. Brynn, this is the big moment. How are they approaching at all today?

BRYNN GINGRAS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Kate, in the critical ending to these five weeks of testimony, I can tell you that there were people actually tented out by the courthouse this morning wanting to get inside. There is now a line that stretches all the way around this giant park outside this courthouse. People are anxious to see how this trial ends, how both sides wrap up their arguments.

As you said, we start with the defense, who is going to really highlight Michael Cohen, saying he is the prosecution's star witness. He's the only one that the prosecution ties these allegations to Donald Trump. And how could he be trusted? They say he is a liar.

They're also going to highlight the people that the jurors did not hear from but were mentioned by other witnesses in this case, people like Keith Schiller, Trump's former bodyguard, people like Dylan Howard who worked for AMI and helped broker those deals. And also, of course, the former CFO of the Trump Organization, Allen Weisselberg.

When it's the prosecution's turn, they are saying, listen, Cohen is not our star witness. We have 20 witnesses that we brought forward that tied this whole story together. And oh, by the way, we also have the receipts. We have the 34 allegedly fraud, or what they say is fraud, documents. They have the business vouchers, they have the checks, and they have the invoices, all that evidence and witness testimony that they are going to highlight and sort of show the jurors their entire case because, of course, the burden is them.

Now, we understand, it's possible that these closing arguments could last the entire day today and could even go into tomorrow. Once closing arguments are done, though, then there is another part of this case, of course, that's so crucial, and that is the jury instructions. We have not seen what those jury instructions look like. Remember, they are being debated at the end of the last time jurors, or rather, lawyers were inside the courtroom. And that'll take about an hour. And then once those are done, the deliberations begin to decide guilty or not guilty on these 34 counts for former president Donald Trump. Guys?

BOLDUAN: All right, Brynn, thank you so much. Thirty-four counts, hours ahead of closing arguments, it will be fascinating to see how they present this.

BERMAN: I really want to see how they lay out the complete story, both sides here. It will be interesting, something we haven't seen exactly just yet.

So Donald Trump put out a flurry of social media posts railing against the judge and questioning why his defense team has to go first in the closing arguments? That is the way it works in New York state.

CNN's Steve Contorno is with us now on the venting by Donald Trump. Steve?

STEVE CONTORNO, CNN REPORTER: Yes, lots of posts from Donald Trump in the last 24 hours ahead of this critical point in his trial.

[08:05:03]

He started the day with a Memorial Day message to the, quote, "human scum that is working hard to destroy this country." And from there he continued to lash out, railing against the gag order and rulings that have been against his allowing the use of certain witnesses in the trial. He said, quote, "There was no crime, but if there was, it should've been brought seven years ago."

And then he posited this question in on Truth Social that is getting a lot of attention this morning. He asked, "Why is the corrupt government allowed to make the final argument in the case against me? Why can't the defense go last? Big advantage. Very unfair." And the answer to that question, John, is, as you mentioned, this is standard operating procedure in cases. There are going to be trials all across America today where defense is going first, prosecutors go second. That's how the American justice system works. But clearly a window into Donald Trump's state of mind heading into this final week of his case, or potentially final week of his case?

BERMAN: All right, Steve Contorno, thank you so much for that. Kate?

BOLDUAN: Coming up for us, a manhunt is underway in Louisiana for two escaped inmates. How officials discovered the jailbreak. We have more details on this.

And we are learning new details also this morning about the suspect accused of stabbing four young girls in a movie theater, and also two more people at a McDonald's.

And they were members of one of the most popular boy bands of all time, Nick Carter for one, and then his late brother, they are now subjects of an explosive new documentary series.

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[08:10:00]

BERMAN: This morning a manhunt is underway for two inmates after they broke out of a Louisiana prison. A total of four inmates, three of whom are facing murder charges, escaped over the weekend before two were recaptured yesterday. Officials admitted the jail was unaware any of them had escaped until a concerned citizen contacted the warden.

CNN's Ryan Young is with us here with the very latest. Ryan, what are you learning?

RYAN YOUNG, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, talk about a detail that stands out. John, the idea that this jail did not know that these inmates had escaped until someone gave them a phone call on Sunday, it's quite a head-scratcher at this point. From what we know, these Tangipahoa inmates were inside that facility, and on Saturday, two of them escaped. And then apparently, I guess the word spread throughout that facility, two more escape.

Now, for their part, the jail saying that this is a lack of supervision, they didn't do a head count. The wire on the yard was actually weakened by corrosion. So at some point they were able to evade that, go under a fence line, and then jumped over two fences. And there was also a lack of razor wire, something that you normally don't see a lack of when you talk about a jail facility.

But listen to one of these correctional officials talk about the problems that they're going through at this point.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: If the wall wouldn't have a gap in it, you wouldn't have been able to get over the wall or under the wall. If the fence wouldn't have had the corrosion where they were able to take and physically break the wire and work it loose, you wouldn't been able to get to the wall to go under it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

YOUNG: John, this isn't a movie. This is actually something that has played out, and these two men are still on the run right now.

But let me just also talk about this. Not only did they get away, but someone called in. And once they were called in, they were able to track two of the men down who were hiding in a dumpster behind a Dollar Tree. Now at this point, two of the men, Omarion Hookfin and Jamarcus Cyprian are still in the run. Police are looking for them as we speak. They're hoping that as we put these mug shots up that someone in that community might be able to focus on these two men's picture and help capture them, because obviously there was some time between Sunday and Monday before they realized that they were gone.

Now, obviously, they'll probably make some changes at that jail, but at this point, four different men were able to escape. They weren't noticed until that phone call came in. Two have been captured so far, but a lot of questions to be answered at this point with all that facility issues in terms of not only the razor line and everything else. Somebody is going to be answering some questions pretty soon. John?

BERMAN: Oh, yes. I am sure. And the fact they didn't know they were gone, that's something. All right, Ryan Young, thank you very much for that.

A teenager plummeted more than 400 feet down the side of a canyon and sustained only minor injuries. We've got new details about the rescue.

And new importing from "Politico," the Democrats are in a quote, full blown freak out about President Biden. Why high level party members are anxious about his reelection prospects. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[08:18:26]

BERMAN: All right, happening now, nearly 50 million Americans are at risk of severe weather today. A tornado warning in the Dallas Metro area, flash flood warnings all over the place as well. Menacing pictures from Texas this morning.

Let's get right to CNN's Allison Chinchar for the very latest.

Allison, so what are you seeing?

ALLISON CHINCHAR, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Cluster of showers and thunderstorms sliding through the Dallas area, the worst of it now, just on the southeast side, but notice still, there are some of those training storms behind it. Youve still got this severe thunderstorm watch in effect for a little bit longer. We've even got a severe thunderstorm warning and this tornado warning on the southeastern suburbs of Dallas here, that's valid until 7:30 AM Central Time this morning.

But again, just overall, all of the rain that is coming from this is triggering a flash flood warning and that does include the metroplex area because there is even more rain on the way.

Now, all of those storms as they've moved through have caused a significant amount of power outages already. We are up to over 600,000 people without power. The bulk of those are in that Northern Texas area. That number could continue to go up as more of those storms continue to slide in because we are going to see some extra development even as we get later on into the afternoon hours, too.

You're going to start to see more of this pop up, say two, three, four o'clock this afternoon, that full line begins to take shape once we get towards after evening. That's going to slide in and bring additional showers and thunderstorms to places like Dallas, Austin, and then eventually by the overnight hours should finally slide into the Houston area, bringing them the potential for those strong to severe thunderstorms.

So overall, the greatest threat for severe weather is included in this general area you see here.

[08:20:02]

The biggest threats are going to be very large hail. We are talking golf balls, eggs, maybe even the size of baseballs.

You're looking at more damaging wind gusts, which in turn means, yes, there could be additional power outages for a lot of these areas and also cannot rule out the potential for another tornado.

This does include Dallas, Houston, San Angelo, San Antonio, Austin, up through Amarillo, and even over into Oklahoma City as well, especially through that latter round that we anticipate getting later on this afternoon -- guys.

BERMAN: It has been a brutal stretch of weather.

Allison Chinchar, thank you so much for that -- Kate.

BOLDUAN: So one of the four remaining Americans under arrest in Turks and Caicos will learn his fate today.

Tyler Wenrich pleaded guilty after bringing ammunition to the island while on vacation. He now faces a possible sentence of 12 years behind bars for violating the country's strict firearms laws.

Wenrich though is hoping for a similar sentence as American, Bryan Hagerich was given. He was given a 52-week suspended sentence and a fine. But most importantly, was allowed to return to the United States last week.

CNN's Carlos Suarez has more reporting on this.

And Carlos, Bryan Hagerich is also speaking out for the first time since coming back to the United States. We are seeing video right here from Friday upon his return.

CARLOS SUAREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, that is exactly right.

Bryan talked about just all of the months that he spent in Turks and Caicos, as well as a brief time that he was in jail as he awaited and all of this legal process really played out.

Kate, we are really going to get a sense of just how the remaining cases may play out later today when two of the accused of four Americans will be in court.

As you said, Tyler Wenrich is expected to learn his fate when a judge hands down his sentence. The 31-year-old, just like the other Americans is accused of bringing ammunition and to the country.

And a fellow American, Ryan Watson, he is also going to be in court. He is expected to decide whether he is going to plead guilty to his charges or if he is going to go to trial.

Now, both of these appearances come days after Hagerich was allowed to return home after a judge handed down that 52-week suspended sentence and issued him a fine.

Now, the 40 year-old, he boarded a flight back to Pennsylvania on Friday just hours after that judge ruled in his case and found that there were "exceptional circumstances."

Now Hagerich maintained he told officials all along that he did not know that the hunting ammunition was in his luggage when he visited the country earlier this year.

Now, here now is Hagerich and his wife on just all of the uncertainty that really played out on Friday. Remember, he was facing the possibility of spending 12 years in prison. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ASHLEY HAGERICH, WIFE OF BRYAN HAGERICH, AMERICAN FREED FROM TURKS AND CAICOS: He sent me a list of everything that he would have needed for prison and we brought down the green suitcase and that was the not good suitcase.

BRYAN HAGERICH, AMERICAN FREED FROM TURKS AND CAICOS: Doomsday.

ASHLEY HAGERICH: Doomsday suitcase.

MATT RIVERS, ABC NEWS: You literally had two suitcases packed. One for home --

ASHLEY HAGERICH: Yes.

RIVERS: One for the --

ASHLEY HAGERICH: The black suitcase was home. The green suitcase was doomsday.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SUAREZ: All right, so Hagerich's attorney is also representing Watson, the American who is set to decide a later today if he is going to take this plea in the case.

Now, over the weekend, his wife told CNN that his attorney plans on essentially presenting the same argument here, which is that Watson did not know he had the ammunition in his bag and that the judge should use discretion when handing down that sentence.

Some of these US officials that have been quite critical of the officials in Turks and Caicos for how they've handled this really applauded the judge's decision on Friday to allow Hagerich to return home after paying that fine, and so the hope is that these other court cases are going to see a similar judgment -- Kate.

BOLDUAN: Yes, still something of a long road ahead for Ryan Watson and his family. He spoke with us last week and hearing their story was heartbreaking as well as we are seeing with all of these.

It's good to see you, Carlos. Thank you so much.

Still ahead for us, a tragic error. That is how Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is describing the strike that killed dozens of civilians in Rafah.

What the US military is learning now about the Israeli assessment of that strike and what the White House is also saying.

We are going to show you live pictures outside Trump Tower as the buses roll by, right on cue. Soon Donald Trump will leave his apartment once again and make his way to court in New York City.

His attorneys are now preparing to begin closing arguments in his historic first criminal trial beginning just hours from now.

We'll be back.

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[08:29:18]

BOLDUAN: The first presidential debate between Joe Biden and Donald Trump will be on CNN and is fast approaching, set to be held the evening of June 27th and with that in mind, the Biden campaign is getting some help ahead of time from January 6th police officers, some of the very officers who defended the US Capitol against the rioters will be mobilizing now in swing states to talk about what they see as Donald Trump's threat to democracy in 2024.

CNN's Kevin Liptak is at the White House for us. He has this new reporting.

Kevin, what more are you learning about this?

KEVIN LIPTAK, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: Yes, this is just another example, Kate, of the Biden campaign really working to sharpen that contrast with former President Trump. And they really do view this moment with the hush money trial coming to an end as an opening to start reminding and in some ways, re-introducing voters to the chaos in what they say is the antidemocratic tendencies of the former president, and that is exactly what we will see these three police officers doing when they hit the campaign trail.

All three of them were in Capitol on January 6th and they have talked previously about their experiences and I think they will start to drive home this idea of the January 6 riot as an example of Trump's tendencies towards antidemocratic ideas.

[08:30:38]