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CNN Live Event/Special

Jury Selection In Trump's Historic Criminal Trial; Israeli War Cabinet Meets; Aired 9:30-10a ET

Aired April 15, 2024 - 09:30   ET

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

[09:30:00]

LINDA MORENO, JURY CONSULTANT AND ATTORNEY: Come into the courthouse a day early and fill it out. Here, they're going to be answering the questions out loud in open court one by one. This is, I think, very advantageous for the defense, and even for the prosecution, because you're going to be seeing that person answer under oath, because they're under oath, all these questions to questionnaire.

KAITLAN COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: And let me note that Donald Trump is now walking in to the courtroom, accompanied with his legal team. He - we're going to listen in.

QUESTION: (INAUDIBLE)?

DONALD TRUMP (R), FORMER U.S. PRESIDENT AND 2024 PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: This is an assault on America. Nothing like this has ever happened before. There's never been anything like it. Every legal scholar says this case is nonsense, it should never have been brought, it doesn't concern anything like this. There is no case. And they've said, people that don't necessarily follow are like Donald Trump, said this is an outrage that this case was brought. This is political persecution. This is a persecution like never before. Nobody's ever seen anything like it.

And, again, it's a case that should have never been brought. It's an assault on America. And that's why I'm very proud to be here. This is an assault on our country. And it's a country that's failing. It's a country that's run by an competent man who was very much involved in this case. This is really an attack on a political opponent that's all it is. So I'm very honored to be here. Thank you very much.

(INAUDIBLE).

COLLINS: And there is Donald Trump. He did say one thing that is accurate, this is an historic case. One like we have not seen in our country's history. A former president facing criminal charges and about to go into that courtroom as this case is going to get underway. He was accompanied by his lead attorney here, Todd Blanche. He said several things that are not true that he has been saying repeatedly about this case. You've likely heard the fact checks of them before, that this is a case that is politically motivated and being led by his opponent here, President Joe Biden. That is not the case. This was a case that was brought by the Manhattan district attorney. A jury indicted him in this case and agreed to that and signed off on it. That is why we are here where we are today.

But all of this has a political lens to it as well. And you heard Donald Trump mentioned that as he talked about his status as the presumptive Republican nominee in the 2024 election. He said he is proud to be here. And, Paula, of course, that goes back to what we have been seeing, which is how he's approaching this from a campaign perspective and what that's going to look like.

You know, we've been talking about jury selection and how you've - just his presence in the courtroom. He knows that he has that presence. We've seen him, you know, talk out loud during proceedings before where the jury was in the room because he believes ultimately that he personally can shape people.

PAULA REID, CNN SENIOR LEGAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: He can, for good or for bad. You know, I'm told that he did learn some lessons in terms of how his decorum impacted the outcomes of the civil trials that we've seen where he lost and lost badly. So, it's going to be fascinating to watch.

This is his first criminal trial. Unlike the three civil cases, this is the first time he faces the possibility of jail. And it will be fascinating to watch his decorum inside the courtroom.

Obviously, he likes to spar with the judge and prosecutors as well, but it's a different thing when you're in front of the jury. They can make all kinds of inferences from you. So, that's going to be a big issue here watching not only what he does outside the court, but more importantly inside the courtroom, especially when jurors, or potential jurors, are present.

COLLINS: Yes, all of this is going to be getting underway right now, now that he has entered the courtroom. We will be watching it all very closely with this jury selection. One of the first processes underway today in this historic criminal trial for Donald Trump.

We're also following the major international news that is happening overseas. We're going to go live to Tel Aviv, where Israel's war cabinet is meeting to decide how to respond to Iran's brazen attacks over the weekend. That's next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[09:38:42]

JAKE TAPPER, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome back to CNN's special, live coverage.

Just moments ago we heard from Donald Trump as he is set to make history in New York. The first ever former president of the United States to face a criminal trial. His just selection is set to start in just minutes.

We're also following major news overseas. And CNN's Anderson Cooper is live for us in Tel Aviv, Israel.

Anderson. ANDERSON COOPER, CNN ANCHOR: Jake, thanks very much.

Israel's war cabinet is currently meeting. They started a meeting about two hours ago, obviously trying to figure out what kind of response, if military or otherwise or diplomatic, to make to the attack that occurred over the weekend from Iran.

I'm joined here by CNN's Clarissa Ward.

What do we know about what is going on in this war cabinet meeting because, obviously, there is - it's - we understand it's quite heated.

CLARISSA WARD, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, I mean, from everything we're hearing it seems like there's a lot of back-and- forth, a lot of diversity of opinion about what is the best its way to proceed. They met for several hours yesterday. They're meeting for a couple of hours today.

Yesterday, we heard the centrist war cabinet minister, Benny Gantz, talk about the importance of putting together a regional coalition. He said that Israel would respond at the time and in the manner of its choosing. He came under a lot of criticism almost immediately for that, from some of the hard right members of Netanyahu's coalition, Ben-Gvir, Itamar Ben-Gvir, the national security minister, saying these were hollow western catchphrases.

[09:40:08]

COOPER: And these are the right-wing elements which Netanyahu are very much kind of beholden to in order to remain in power.

WARD: He is beholden to them. He needs them. At the same time, they're not part of the war cabinet, right?

COOPER: Right.

WARD: So, now today we're hearing a slightly different story. Benny Gantz is not saying that he thinks that there needs to be a response quite swiftly because you don't want to lose the momentum that Israel has in its favor and the goodwill that Israel has in its favor.

I mean think about this, Anderson, what the conversation is today as opposed to what it was a week ago or two weeks ago.

COOPER: Yes.

WARD: I think Israel does understand that the world feels for Israel in this moment to a certain extent, particularly Israel's allies. And they also want understand that they're under a lot of pressure from those allies not to escalate, to find a carefully calibrated, calming response that does not risk and all out conflagration.

COOPER: It seems hard to imagine though, and, you know, all the Israelis we've talked to say that there has to be some sort of response. The given this is - the unprecedented nature of this direct attack from Iran, the question is, is when, what is it going to look like?

WARD: And what does it look like, because there are so many different directions they could go in. They could go for direct tit for tat, right? We're going to go for a military response, targeting military sites, directly from Israel to Iran. They could go for some kind of an asymmetrical attack, attacking Iran's proxies. They could go for some form of a cyberattack, for example.

So, they have a lot of different possibilities that they can look into, but it really is a question of what that will look like and when they go for it because there is a window of opportunity here, right? It doesn't necessarily extend forever.

I do think, though, that there is a broader realization from some corners of the government that in some ways this is a lifeline for Netanyahu. What are we not talking about today? We're not talking about Gaza. We're not talking about the near famine stocking the people of northern Gaza. We're not talking about the fact that hostage negotiations have essentially collapse. We're not talking about the fact that Israel has been lambasted on the international stage.

And so perhaps it's possible that they will seek to try to capitalize on that in some way and pivot and reframe the conversation around this entire conflict to their advantage.

COOPER: In terms of - in terms of Gaza, there had been belief that the operation in Rafah, which the U.S. and others have said they don't want Israel to do, was going to start this week. Any word on that?

WARD: Well, so we have heard some reporting saying that they were getting ready to lay the groundwork for it to happen. Other reporting saying that it's very much on hold for the moment. The reality is, from conversations we have had, the IDF understands that they need to move a million people out of Rafah in order to be able to carry out this operation in a way that is not going to inflame tensions with close allies like the U.S. And that takes time. That takes effort.

At the same time there are four Hamas battalions, according to the IDF, that are pivotal and central and operational in Rafah and they do believe and they continue to say that they will have to take that on at some point. But the question of whether their focus now can really be in two places at once, able to carry out some kind of response to Iran and start a massive operation in Rafah, it seems unlikely. It would seem logical that they would want a handle one threat before pivoting to the other?

COOPER: Yes. Clarissa Ward, thanks so much.

We'll have more, Jake, from here all morning long.

TAPPER: Thanks so much, Anderson. We're going to be following these major developments out of Israel today.

But back in the United States, we are just moments away from a moment in history. Donald Trump inside a New York City courtroom right now, talking with his attorneys. He is just minutes away from becoming the very first former president of the United States of America to ever face a criminal trial. I'll be joined next by an attorney who previously worked on a major Trump case for his insights on what he expects to see this see today.

Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[09:48:30]

TAPER: You're looking live inside a New York courthouse. We are just minutes away from jury selection in Donald Trump's historic criminal trial. We're told that the former president is now inside the courtroom where hundreds of potential jurors will be in and out today as prosecutors and the defense work to try to come up with a way to find a jury to sit in Trump's hush money trial.

Let's check in with CNN's Paula Reid. She's outside the courthouse getting live updates on what's happening behind closed doors in the courtroom.

Paula, what's happening right now?

REID: So, Jake, there are no cameras inside the courtroom. We are relying on our amazing team inside to give us updates. And we have learned that former President Trump is now inside the courtroom that will soon be filled with potential jurors.

Now, we've learned that he is sitting right now with his attorney, lead attorney, Todd Blanche, reading these updates from our colleague. They're apparently having a pretty active back and forth. And so far he appears to be in good spirits, all things considered. I mean he is now going to be the first former president of the United States to face a criminal trial. And unlike the three civil cases that we've covered over the past few months here in New York, this is the first time that he will potentially face jail time if he is convicted.

Now, last week he said that, look, jury selection is just a matter of luck, and you can be sure that he will be watching each of these potential jurors very closely as they go through this process over the next few hours.

TAPPER: All right, Paula Reid, thanks so much.

I'm joined now by Bill Brennan. Bill Brennan served as an attorney on a 2022 Trump Organization case in front of the same judge as this one.

[09:50:01]

Bill, thanks so much for joining us.

So, obviously, you know better than I do, jury selection can make or break a trial. You've done jury selection in that very courtroom with that very judge, Merchan. What are you going to be looking for? What's the best advice you could give the defense? WILLIAM J. BRENNAN, CRIMINAL DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Well, I mean, when we

had the case in 2022, the former president was not in the room. So, there's a - it's a big difference. There's security issues. There's people moving issues. But just the presence of a former president, I think, impacts on people. And I would say just, you know, take it slow. Go through each individual questionnaire and focus on the prospective juror you're interviewing at the time. That's really how you have to do it. And don't worry about how long it takes. It takes how long it takes basically.

TAPPER: So, obviously, Manhattan is - and the surrounding burrows are not exactly known as being ground zero for support of Donald Trump. What's the best way to make sure you get a fair jury for a Republican president in a largely Democratic city?

BRENNAN: Well, Jake, here's the problem with what you just said. Most people I think the way even you phrased it, Manhattan and the surrounding boroughs, you know, the Bronx, Staten Island, Queens, Brooklyn, people think that's where you pull from, but you don't. When the Manhattan DA files charges, you only pick from the island of Manhattan. So, you know, you need that cop from Staten Island, you need that firefighter from Queens to kind of balance things out, but your subset is the island of Manhattan. And I just can tell you my personal experience was that that's not a great demographic in this case. My thoughts from having done it once.

TAPPER: So how, given - I appreciate the correction. I did, you're right, I did think that Staten Island would be part of it. Staten Island, obviously, went for Trump. The only borough to do so in the 2020 election. So, given the limitations of Manhattan, how do you do it? How do you find a fair jury?

BRENNAN: Well, I'll tell you, Jake, when we were doing it, and Judge Merchan is a very serious man. He's very smart. He's extremely courteous. I mean, I'm not getting into people's biases or prejudice. I'm not qualified to do that. I can tell you, having spent seven (ph) weeks with the man, he's a gentleman. And he gave us as much time as we needed.

However, you know, he wanted to get a jury seated. So, we had a lady (INAUDIBLE) -

TAPPER: Bill, I'm sorry to interrupt. Just for one second. I apologize. We're just showing the first image of Donald Trump from inside the courtroom.

BRENNAN: OK.

TAPPER: It's a still photograph that we're showing there. I just - I want to make sure our viewers know what they're looking at. Please continue. I apologize.

BRENNAN: We had a lady come up as a prospective juror. I've been picking juries for about 35 years. She looked good to me. A lady in her mid 40s, of Irish extraction. She spoke with a broke (ph). She worked in an Irish pub. And in our questionnaire, questions 29 and 30 said, do you have any forward - do you have any strong feelings about the former president, and, if so, would they affect your ability to be fair? And she checked them. So, I said, well, ma'am, you know, would they be positive or negative feelings. And she says, oh, I despise that man. And I said - I guess it was late in the day, Jake, and I said, oh, come on, don't sugarcoat things for me, speak your mind. She says, I always speak me mind. I hate him. And, Jake, I have - you know, three and a half decades since Ronald

Reagan was president I've been knocking around picking juries. I was floored. And I looked over a Judge Merchan expecting him to meet my gaze and dismiss her and he said, now, well, now, wait a minute. He's got his robe on and the pomp and circumstance of the courtroom. If I instructed you on the law, could you put those feelings aside and be fair. And she said, like most people say when they're - they see the judge in that black robe, sure, judge.

So, she made it to the second round. I got her out a different way, but it was like rows of shark's teeth. They just kept coming. And she wasn't a danger (INAUDIBLE) because she answered the questions. The juror who just answers no questions and you just have a gut feeling and you say, if it's a male jury, say, sir, you seem to be the perfect juror on paper. There's nothing about the former president that gives you - no, I'm fine. Put me in. I'll be great. And that's the juror that I worry about, the juror who has some type of ulterior motive to get on that case to settle a score.

TAPPER: All right, Bill Brennan, thank you so much. Good stuff.

BRENNAN: Thank you, Jake.

TAPPER: Let's check in now with our team outside of the courthouse.

Kaitlan, what's happening in the building behind you right now?

COLLINS: Well, Jake, all the major players are now entering the room. We're waiting for the judge himself, based on what we've heard from our reporters inside the room. Of course there are no cameras, so we are relying on their updates. The judge himself has not arrived inside that room, but we know Donald Trump is in there. We also have the district attorney, Alvin Bragg, has now arrived inside the courtroom. You're seeing the first pictures from actually what's happening inside the courtroom as we are getting this kind of a look inside of there.

[09:55:06]

And, obviously, we'll be getting live dispatches once everything with the actual beginning of this trial gets underway.

And Kristen Holmes and Paula Reid are back here with me outside the courthouse.

And, Kristen, I think one thing that's important is that Trump, as he's going into this, and, you know, the way he came up to the cameras before he went in, he came up closer than he ever has before, to my knowledge, when he walks it. Typically he speaks from back by the door.

REID: By - yes.

COLLINS: He came up front and center because he wants as much media coverage of this as possible. He wants his allies out on TV. He wants to be able to use this as his campaign trail just from being inside the courtroom.

KRISTEN HOLMES, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, and if it's any indication, one of his senior advisers was posting a split screen of all the networks taking Donald Trump walking up to the camera and saying, full media corps press here. They want that attention.

Now, I do want to point to those photos because one thing we know about Donald Trump, he knows how to work a camera. This is not just the face of a man who is sitting there stunned, angry. This is a face that's been practiced. We talked about this with the mug shot. He actually was trying different faces on with his advisers. He has a particular look that he is going for continually because he wants to show this kind of strength, this kind of seriousness, but also -

COLLINS: He was practicing different expressions?

HOLMES: For the mug shot.

COLLINS: OK.

HOLMES: When he did that in Georgia. And we know that's something that's really important to him is that he knows the cameras are on him so he practices to see how his face is going to be.

COLLINS: All right, we're going to continue watching all of this. We have live coverage here as we are seeing Donald Trump inside that courtroom, just moments away from history here as jury selection is about to begin in Donald Trump's hush money trial, making him the first former president to ever face a criminal trial.

More in just a moment.

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