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Feud Between Pompeo and Bolton; Voters Head to Polls Today; Weinstein Appears in Court; Aired 9:30-10a ET

Aired June 5, 2018 - 09:30   ET

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


[09:30:00] CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN CHIEF BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: So he's not really ruling it out here. We'll see what the future holds, Poppy.

In terms of the opening bell here, maybe a little bit of a flat to slightly higher day. A very good rally yesterday. A record high for the Nasdaq, Poppy. So tech stocks did very well, shrugging off concerns about trade wars, focusing instead on their business, which is doing very, very well here, Poppy.

POPPY HARLOW, CNN ANCHOR: All right, Romans, thank you so much. Appreciate the reporting.

ROMANS: You're welcome.

HARLOW: Bolton benched. Tension escalating between the president's national security adviser and his secretary of state. We'll tell you why, next.

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[09:35:15] BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN ANCHOR: The high stakes North Korea summit is one week away, and today the president is meeting with his top diplomats, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Nikki Haley. This as CNN is learning of an escalating feud between Pompeo and the president's National Security Adviser John Bolton.

CNN's Michelle Kosinski is joining me now on this.

Michelle, tell us about this.

MICHELLE KOSINSKI, CNN SENIOR DIPLOMATIC CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Brianna.

Well, you know, John Bolton, the president's national security adviser, came on the scene, joined the administration with something of a splash. He immediately started making changes. The U.S. very dramatically left the Iran nuclear deal. So it's been pretty surprising over the last several days leading up to this big Trump/Kim Jong-un summit to not see John Bolton to anywhere. It's been Mike Pompeo, the secretary of state, who's been next to the president, who's been going on the trips and making the statements. And John Bolton has seemed to be quite silent all of a sudden.

Well, now we know from multiple sources that that is because of those comments he made referencing North Korea, but calling it the Libya model and making a comparison there, which we know from other sources angered the North Koreans to the point that they didn't want to talk to him. They didn't want that model used because Muammar Gaddafi in Libya, of course, gave up his nuclear weapons and then years later he was killed by rebels that were supported by the United States.

So, you know, the Libya model was actually mirrored in words by the president himself and the vice president, but it was John Bolton that really brought that up. And, you know, that led to a heated exchange we're told between Bolton and Pompeo at the White House. One of my sources told me that Bolton now is cut out of the process on North Korea. That, of course, could change over time. But those words and that comparison caused enough tension within the White House for this to be something of a shake-up in who's leading the team, and who's really out front on North Korea, Brianna.

KEILAR: Wow, it really did not take long for him to sort of fall out of favor there, Michelle.

Michelle Kosinski, thank you so much.

Welcome to the jungle. That is what today's primary in California is being called. And a lot of Democrats are worried that their candidates may not survive.

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[09:41:34] HARLOW: All right, so, today, we get a little bit of a preview for the November midterms. Eight states hold their primaries. Voters head to the polls in Alabama, Iowa, Mississippi, Montana, New Jersey, New Mexico, South Dakota. The big drama, though, could be in California.

Harry Enten, senior writer and analyst for CNN Politics is here with more.

Good to have you, my friend.

HARRY ENTEN, CNN POLITICS SENIOR WRITER AND ANALYST: Hello.

HARLOW: What's happening in California is called the jungle primary, and that's because the two top vote getters, no matter their party, advance to the midterms. Some Democrats look at this and fear what they're calling a potential disaster. Why, and are those fears founded or unfounded?

ENTEN: Well, essentially what you have is these three congressional districts, the 39th, the 48th and the 49th, all of which have current -- are currently held by Republicans and all of which voted for Hillary Clinton in 2016. And Democrats believe that these three seats could be big for them in order to take back the House in the fall if they can win them. But because you have so many Democrats running in these districts, it could be the case that two Republicans advance despite them getting cumulative less votes than the Democrats.

HARLOW: A lot of the data out there in polling, it just doesn't tell us a lot, does it?

ENTEN: No. I mean we really just don't have a lot of data from these congressional districts. I think there's one public polls in those three districts that I mentioned in the last month.

HARLOW: Yes.

ENTEN: Just not a lot going on there.

HARLOW: In California, there's also concerns that the Republican Party as a whole could be locked out of the governor's race there. And the broader concern for the party is what will that do in terms of -- if that were to happen -- in terms of getting people to the polls to vote in the midterms, and that could affect who holds the majority in the House.

ENTEN: Correct. The big fear was the Gavin Newsom is the leading candidate. He's the Democrat. He's the lieutenant governor. And then the thought was Antonio Villaraigosa, who's the former mayor of Los Angeles --

HARLOW: Right.

ENTEN: Was also going to get in. But the late polls indicate that John Cox, a Republican businessman, is going to sneak into that second spot, which could alleviate those fears.

HARLOW: But if he doesn't?

ENTEN: If he doesn't, then you could have a major problem for Republicans turning out in the fall. And, again, there are seven districts in California --

HARLOW: Right.

ENTEN: Republican held, that voted for Clinton in 2016.

HARLOW: The story here is largely women, especially female gubernatorial candidates.

ENTEN: Yes. Look across the board. Alabama, Iowa, potentially South Dakota. You are looking at a lot of women who look like they're going to win the big nominations and then be favored in the fall. And that's part of a larger story that we've seen in this primary season where women candidates are doing very well, especially in the Democratic side.

HARLOW: Speaking of women and the Me Too movement, let's talk about the former president, Bill Clinton, who has addressed multiple questions on this book tour he's on about the Monica Lewinsky affair, had he apologize to her, the Me Too movement. Then he tried to clean it up last night. And, you know, even his former adviser, David Gergen, just told me he didn't clean it up very well.

I mean, what are you seeing in terms of whether Democrats running in the primaries, in these midterms, think that former President Clinton is helpful to them or is a liability to them in this environment?

ENTEN: I would say he's certainly a liability. I would advise Democrats probably not to have him out on the trail. We've seen nationally his numbers have dropped in the past few years. And it does seem that since he was last president, every single time he gets involved in a major campaign, whether it be 2008 or 2016, he opens his mouth and his numbers decline.

HARLOW: Harry Enten, thank you.

ENTEN: Thank you.

HARLOW: I know you have a long night as these primaries go on.

All right, so from the studios of Hollywood to a Manhattan courtroom. In just moments, the one-time movie mogul Harvey Weinstein responds to rape charges.

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[09:49:19] KEILAR: Disgraced Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein is set to appear in a New York courtroom just minutes from now. His lawyer says that Weinstein will enter a not guilty plea to charges of rape and criminal -- and criminal sexual act. The charges are stemming from allegations by two different women, though dozens have come forward in recent months accusing Weinstein of various forms of sexual misconduct.

Brynn Gingras is outside of the New York supreme court for us.

Brynn, tell us about what we're expecting today.

BRYNN GINGRAS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Brianna, this is really the next step in the criminal proceedings of this case. Like you said, Harvey Weinstein is expected to enter a not guilty plea, even though he was in court just a few weeks ago, two weeks ago, this is really the first time he actually has to enter a plea for those charges. And we expect it to be a not guilty according to his attorney.

[09:50:09] Just to give you a little color inside the courtroom, we're just ten minutes outside -- ten minutes, rather, from the actual proceedings beginning in front of the judge and we know that Harvey Weinstein and his lawyers are actually not in the courtroom just yet. We know the D.A.s are there and the courtroom is full, but he's not there yet. We haven't seen him arrive. It's very possible he went in through other entrances.

So we do expect it to happen on time. We expect it to be a quick court proceeding. But a not guilty plea for those three charges, including rape. The strongest of those charges coming from a woman who says that she was raped by Weinstein back in 2013. And it's possible, we know from sources, that even more indictments could be coming down in the future as detectives continue to work to bolster this case and a grand jury continues to hear testimony in this case as well.

Brianna. KEILAR: Yes, 80 women who have come forward with allegations of sexual misconduct.

All right, Brynn Gingras, we know you'll be watching. You're outside the courthouse there in New York.

I want to bring in Joey Jackson now, He's our CNN legal analyst and criminal defense attorney.

So this is -- this sounds sort of like a, you know, just a procedural day, but anything involving Harvey Weinstein is of such interest to so many people, Joey. So even as he is there and he appears, this is a key part of the process, right? He'll be saying not guilty when he is informed by a clerk of the charges.

But it's also a time where the prosecution has to reveal to the defense, right, through discovery, the goods that they have on Weinstein.

JOEY JACKSON, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: Good point.

Good morning to you, Brianna.

That's coming. So what happens is, just to bring us to today, we know that a grand jury convened, right? A grand jury consists of 23 people. And defense attorneys, like myself, are quick to say that it's just an accusation. So of those 23 people, a majority, that's 12, have to vote two things, number one, that there's reasonable cause to believe that a crime was committed, and, number two, that Harvey Weinstein committed it.

That takes the case from where it was before to the supreme court, where it is now. And so to your point, what happens in court today, as part of this formality of due process, is, he's informed of the indictment, he formally will enter a plea of not guilty as to that indictment, and then thereafter the defense will get discovery. Certainly there will be a request for information in terms of exactly what they're alleging, what do the police reports say, what do the witness statements say, how many witnesses are there?

And so I would suspect that that request for discovery will be made, although we're always arguing, defense attorneys and prosecutors, as to exactly when we get it. Sometimes a judge orders it. If not, you have to wait for some period of time. And then, of course, Brianna, I would suspect that Mr. Brafman, who is the defense attorney, will make certain motions, including a motion to dismiss. And, thereafter, there will be negotiations and thereafter there may very well be a trial.

KEILAR: So there are -- and I believe these are live pictures coming in? These are live pictures coming in as we are awaiting Harvey Weinstein there with his lawyer. Let's -- oh, here we go. This is -- this is Harvey Weinstein coming into court for a procedural day, but a really important day, Joey, as you mentioned, where the clerk is going to inform him of the charges. And according to what we have in our reporting, he's going to issue a plea of not guilty. Can you imagine, Joey, a situation where you don't have this -- this

case -- before the court today has to do with allegations by two different women, from 2004 and 2013, but there are about 80 women who have come forward with allegations of sexual misconduct, as we're watching Harvey Weinstein enter the courthouse here.

Can you imagine not having more women, more charges, more of this playing out even maybe in other courts?

JACKSON: You know, it's a great question. And so let's address it this way. We know that London is undertaking an investigation at this point, right? We have instances in California, investigation there as well. Additional investigation here in New York. And the federal government is investigating. And so there certainly could be additional charges down the line.

The more immediate issue, though, Brianna, as it relates to his appearance today, and the instant case for which he's charged, is how many, if any, of those additional accusers will, should there be a trial here, be permitted to testify as prior bad act witnesses. We saw that in the Cosby case, for example, where the judge -- it went to trial, right, allowed five provider accusers. And that's very compelling testimony. Defense attorneys always trying to keep it out, trying to suggest that this case was about what's before you in the indictment. But, of course, the prosecution, Brianna, will say, no, it's fair game. It goes to motive, intent, opportunity, allow it in.

So I think that critical to this case and the landscape of it will be how much the judge permits based upon the prosecution's request any of those additional accusers to offer testimony should there be a trial in this particular case.

[09:55:00] KEILAR: Yes, you can only imagine how compelling that would be, as you said, Joey.

Thank you so much, Joey Jackson, our CNN legal analyst with us.

JACKSON: Always. Thank you.

KEILAR: Bye, Eagles, bye. The White House disinvites the Super Bowl champs after sources tell us that as few as four players planned to show up.

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HARLOW: Good morning, everyone. I'm Poppy Harlow in New York.

[09:59:53] KEILAR: And I'm Brianna Keilar in Washington, where he's had Patriots and Penguins, Tigers, Astros and even Cubs. But President Trump has no time for Eagles, even those who want to spend time with him.