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CNN Live Event/Special

Biden Campaigns As Testimony Begins In Trump Criminal Trial; Columbia Cancels In-Person Classes Amid Pro-Palestinian Protests; Police Arrest Dozens Of Pro-Palestine Protesters At Yale; Trump Criminal Trial Wraps For The Day After Opening Statements And First Witness. Aired 2:30-3p ET

Aired April 22, 2024 - 14:30   ET

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

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[14:33:21]

WOLF BLITZER, CNN HOST: As Donald Trump finds himself on trial in New York, President Biden is out on the campaign trail. The president is set to speak any minute now out in Triangle, Virginia to mark Earth Day. Bernie Sanders is there setting the scene for the president. He's speaking right now as you can see.

Today's events will provide a very stark contrast for the 2024 presidential race with one presumptive nominee on the trail and the other on trial. CNN senior White House correspondent Kayla Tausche is joining us right now.

Kayla, so what is the White House saying about the start of Trumps historic criminal trial? And what is the Biden campaign strategy during this weeks' long trial?

KAYLA TAUSCHE, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, the White House, Wolf, is hoping that for President Biden, actions speak louder than words, putting him out in these official events, choosing instead to focus on what the president is doing instead of what he is saying and not really responding at all to the developments of the trial.

They're hoping that the work and the comments that he's making about conservation and clean energy today, reproductive rights later this week, and essentially what the administration has already done are going to take the mantle from any of the focus of what's happening inside that courtroom.

Officials tell me that there's no formal work stream or resources being dedicated to monitoring the trial and providing updates to keep the president apprised of exactly what is happening in that courtroom, saying that, you know, essentially there's no formal effort to monitor the events besides the public coverage.

But the campaign itself is taking some choice words in a statement that it put out last week, trying to capitalize on some of the imagery of the former president appearing to fall asleep in the courtroom, putting out this very sharply worded statement, calling him Sleepy Don.

[14:35:11]

And spokesman James Singer saying the verdict is in. Donald Trump and his campaign's self-inflicted wounds are not paying off. Their strategy of not campaigning, wasting money, acting like small time thugs and pushing their extreme agenda is driving away voters.

Instead, Biden will be ringing an earth Day in Virginia, touting $7 billion in new investments from the Inflation Reduction Act devoted toward making solar power more affordable for approximately 900,000 low income households and also expanding a climate core to pursue conservation work. Again, choosing to put the focus on what the president is doing while he's not saying much, if anything, about what's happening in the courtroom in New York. Wolf.

BLITZER: Very interesting. Kayla Tausche at the white house for us. Thank you, Kayla, very much. Up next, we turn to another developing story, Columbia University in New York facing a full blown crisis. The New York governor says students are scared and afraid to walk on campus as protests force the school into virtual learning.

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[14:40:52]

ERIN BURNETT, CNN HOST: And we are following the pro-Palestinian protests on college campuses and growing concern of potential violence during the Jewish holiday of Passover. Police say at least 45 people at Yale were arrested and charged with criminal trespassing after refusing to leave today.

And meanwhile, at another Ivy League university, Columbia classes have been canceled in-person today as officials consider their options amid what have been heated protests there.

Shimon Prokupecz is there outside Columbia's campus today in upper New York. So, Shimon, what is the latest?

SHIMON PROKUPECZ, CNN SENIOR CRIME AND JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: Well, the latest is the, you know, the pro-Palestine protesters now are basically back in their encampments here in the middle of the college. This is where I'm standing. I want to show you.

As you can see here, the tents are back. Just a couple of days ago they were told to they had to remove tents, but that all came back yesterday. The university said they did not give them permission to have the tents, but the tents are back today.

And you can see all the way through here. There are dozens and dozens of tents. Many of the students have been spending several nights out here. There's an area for food. There's an area with blankets. There's even medical supplies. You can see in this tent. People have all sorts of blankets and other items there.

They don't really want the media here right now. What we've been told is we sort of had to fight our way inside this area, the encampment. No, I understand that, but I'm trying to show people what you guys are doing here. I understand.

So as you can see, they're sort of giving us a hard time. This is all being run by the students, and the university has absolutely no control over, really what's happening inside this encampment right now. Many of the students who are doing, there's virtual learning today. So a lot more here today.

I was out here for several hours yesterday talking to students about why they're doing this, some Jewish students who are out here supporting the pro-Palestine movement. But most of the students here say that they want the school to divest from their support of Israel and any other money that perhaps could be used by companies that are helping Israel in any way. And that's what the students here are calling for. And they say they're going to stay out here as long as they have to until their demands are met.

The other thing that's happening out here is that in just about a month, less than a month, there's going to be a graduation here. And you can see over this way, Rod, just show this way, they're actually starting to set up bleachers and other things for the graduation. So it's unclear how this is going to unfold because many of the students here said they're not leaving. This area is supposedly -- supposed to be set up for graduation. That right now is not happening. So it's unclear what the school is going to do.

A couple of things just to note, the NYPD said that they're ready to come into the campus if the school asks them to remove students, to remove the tents. Right now there's been no request from the school to do that. So, many of the students are just remaining out here, staying in their tents, gathering, talking to one another.

There really have not been any problems in this encampment. It's the stuff that's been going on outside the school, on the streets, in surrounding areas, around the campus that has been the problem. So we'll see what happens here. But for now, the tents have remained. It's, you know, a sunny day, and we're seeing certainly a lot more people out here today than we've seen in the last few days.

The other thing that happened here today, just lastly, was that some of the faculty members, there was a walkout today in support of the students who had been suspended because of the arrests last week. Right now, the university president, she issued a statement saying that we need a reset, we need to think about the next steps.

And so we await to see what that is. But it's really fascinating what's happening here.

[14:45:00]

This is, in many ways, they themselves have called this an occupation. This is an encampment. And the school for now is allowing this to remain, as you can see with many of these tents and the students out here. BURNETT: It's amazing, Shimon, what you're showing us. And in a sense,

it's a standoff. I mean, I know we're looking for the right word, right? But, I mean, it's an unprecedented moment to see this, to see students doing this, refusing to leave. They want to change. That change goes against leadership of the university and a lot of big donors. But interesting, you talk about the faculty members.

So you've got Passover, of course, happening. How does that play into this?

PROKUPECZ: Well, there is a lot of concern from the Jewish students. You know, we spoke to some of those students yesterday, and they say that they're concerned. They have some fear because of the rhetoric that they've heard, some of the words that have come from the pro- Palestine supporters against Israel. And for them, it's been a hard time.

So many of them are gathering together for the first night of Passover for a Seder. There was a rabbi who's affiliated with the school who told students, Jewish students, not to come to campus. We've seen statements from the White House, from the mayor, from the governor here all concerned over what they're seeing. More importantly, what they're hearing come out of some of the students here. And so this has raised a lot of concern.

And it's even just honestly difficult to come in here because, you know, they are having their moment here and their moment to protest. But, you know, trying for us in the media to even get in here right now has been a little difficult. But, you know, we fought our way in, and it's important for people to see exactly what's going on here.

BURNETT: I think very much so. And I think the atmosphere for all of us being able to see that is very significant given so much of the rhetoric and the emotion around all of this as well. Shimon, thank you very much. And we'll be checking back in with Shimon as this afternoon goes on.

Here in lower Manhattan, though, it is almost impossible to overstate the historic nature of what we're witnessing here outside the courthouse behind me. Former president facing criminal charges at trial. That's a first.

And we're going to talk about what that means, not just for Trump, but the timing, right, for the fact that this is how happening during a presidential election in which that former president is the de facto nominee of one of the two major parties. That's next.

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[14:51:44]

BLITZER: We're back now with our special coverage of the New York hush money trial of former President Donald Trump. Jurors listened as prosecutors and defense delivered opening statements. Today, we also saw the first witness called to the stand, David Pecker, the former chairman of the National Enquirer's parent company and Trump's longtime friend.

Joining us now is CNN presidential historian, the former director of the Nixon presidential Library, Tim Naftali. Tim, thanks so much for joining us.

What do you make of this truly historic first day of testimony and opening statements in this criminal trial of a former president of the United States?

TIM NAFTALI, CNN PRESIDENTIAL HISTORIAN: Well, Wolf, we have two firsts today. If according to the indictment, and let's keep in mind that President Trump is subject to all the laws of every other citizen, and he's also subject to all the protections of every other citizen. So he's innocent until proven guilty.

But according to the indictment, President Trump, while in office, signed nine checks that were in furtherance of a corrupt venture that involved a cover up, which means this is the first time that an individual is in criminal court because of an action they took while President. Richard Nixon, as we know, because he was pardoned by Gerald Ford, never did go to court and was never indicted.

There's another first, though, and this is a first, I think, that we haven't been talking as much about. But I think it's more significant, and that's that this is the very first time in our history that the presumptive nominee for one of our two major parties is in a criminal trial during the presidential campaign.

We all talk about October surprises. Those are unexpected events that could shift or upend an election. Well, we might have a June surprise. And it's very hard for us to know, really what effect on independents and those few persuadable republican voters a guilty verdict might have in the Trump trial.

Nor do we know what, if any, effect there might be if President Trump or former President Trump is acquitted. So we know that in about six weeks, there is going to be an event that is going to have some effect on the election that is totally unprecedented in our history.

BLITZER: If this trial goes six, seven weeks, who knows how long it's going to go, but it's expected to go at least five or six or seven weeks. Are there any historical parallels, Tim, to what we're seeing take place right now with the likely presidential nominee for one of the two major political parties facing a criminal trial?

NAFTALI: No, there actually isn't. There is a slight parallel in that a party has nominated a convicted felon before for a president of the United States. In 1920, the Socialist Party of the United States nominated Eugene V. Debs, who was serving time in a federal penitentiary in Atlanta for having opposed Americas entry into World War I. But he wasn't one of the two major party candidates at the time. Nevertheless, he was. He actually ran, if you will, ran from a penitentiary and got nearly a million votes.

[14:55:02]

BLITZER: Interesting. I love the history that you know so much. Thank you very much, Tim Naftali, our presidential historian. Appreciate it.

Our special live coverage of the historic criminal trial of former President Trump will continue right after a quick break.

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BURNETT: We are following the first day of testimony in former President Donald Trump's Manhattan hush money trial.