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Alec Baldwin's Movie Set Shooting Trial Underway; Trump Launches New Attacks On VP Harris; Trump Wants To Announce VP Pick Ahead Of GOP Convention; Starliner Crew Speak After Multiple Delays In Return Flight. Aired 1:30-2p ET

Aired July 10, 2024 - 13:30   ET

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

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[13:30:45]

JESSICA DEAN, CNN HOST: Alec Baldwin's criminal trial is underway now in New Mexico, with opening statements ramping up just a short time ago. You're looking live at the courtroom right now.

Baldwin is charged with involuntary manslaughter for the deadly shooting of cinematographer, Halyna Hutchins, on the set of "Rust."

Prosecutors opened their case by accusing Baldwin of, quote, "reckless disregard for safety."

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ERLINDA O. JOHNSTON, PROSECUTOR: When someone plays, make believe with a real gun in a real-life workplace, and while playing make believe with that gun, violates the cardinal rules of firearms safety, people's lives are endangered and someone could be killed.

Ladies and gentlemen, that's what this case is about.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN HOST: Let's get the latest from CNN correspondent, Elizabeth Wagmeister. We also have with us CNN legal analyst, Joey Jackson,

Elizabeth, first to you.

Bring us up to speed on what we've seen unfold in the courtroom so far.

ELIZABETH WAGMEISTER, CNN ENTERTAINMENT CORRESPONDENT: Well, what we are seeing unfold is really a tale of two different stories.

As we just saw from the prosecution, they're saying that Alec Baldwin acted recklessly. He knew that the armor, Hannah Gutierrez Reed, was inexperienced and that he should have been responsible for checking this gun.

They said -- as we saw in that clip that you played, they said that even though this is a movie set, this isn't make believe. It's real life.

Then if we go to the defense, in their opening statement, they are saying that this is a movie set and our client, Alec Baldwin, is an actor. It's not his job to check the gun.

We have a clip. Let's take a look at what one of his lawyers had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ALEX SPIRO, DEFENSE ATTORNEY FOR ALEC BALDWIN: The actor's job is to act, to rehearse, to choreograph his moves, to memorize his lines. In the incident in question, he's pulling a six shooter to try to defend himself. That's why the gun has to be safe before it gets into the actor's hands.

His mind is somewhere else, in the being of another a century away, an outlaw. He must be able to take that weapon and use it as the person he's acting would.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WAGMEISTER: His attorney went on to say that, on a movie set, while everyone does act in harmony, that each person has their own individual responsibility. And that checking the gun would have been the responsibility of the armor and also of the assistant director.

Now, you'll remember that earlier this week in a pretrial hearing, there was a big legal victory for Baldwin when the judge ruled that his role as a producer cannot come up.

Now why this is significant is because the prosecution was intending to say that, as the producer, Baldwin did bear more responsibility for safety on that set.

What we're seeing today is that direct result of that legal victory, which is that Baldwin's defense is really relying on the fact that he is an actor and that's what they're drilling into.

DEAN: All right. Elizabeth Wagmeister, thank you so much for that reporting.

With that in mind, let's turn now to Joey Jackson.

And, Joey, let's talk about the fact that these charges against Baldwin were initially dropped, and yet now we're looking at live pictures inside a courtroom. So what changed?

JOEY JACKSON, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: Yes, a lot changed. The reality is -- good to be with you, Jessica and Boris -- is that the prosecution had the ability, even though the case was dismissed, because there was no final adjudication, this is not double jeopardy.

Whenever a case is otherwise dismissed in any way without the merits, you don't get to the question of double jeopardy. And so to the extent that there was evidence which would suggest there

was initial issue as to whether the gun was operable, whether the gun was altered, whether the gun had any issues, such as to make Alec Baldwin not culpable.

However, it was tested and it was determined that at the time that it was used that it was perfect -- it was in perfect condition. As a result of that, he decided, Jessica, to move forward.

Remember, this is not a murder trial. The issue is not whether he had the intent to kill anyone. The issue was whether he was careless, whether he was irresponsible, and as a result of that irresponsibility, whether it led to the death.

The issues that Elizabeth brought up, the excellent point that she makes with respect to the battle of the narratives, is very much at play. The prosecution trying to say this is a workplace and, in a workplace, you have to be responsible and there are cardinal rules.

[13:35:06]

The defense arguing, what cardinal rules? He's acting and he has every right to rely upon the work of others who handed him a cold gun.

Last point, with respect to this question, and that is the fact that they cannot introduce his role as a producer, Jessica, into the equation goes into a lot.

That the defense, it ignores to the benefit greatly because now you take out the issue of a produces ability to establish a safe environment. What should he have done? What protocols followed? What was the workplace like? What should the workplace have been like?

It all comes down to whether he acted responsibly as an actor. And that's the question that has to be decided by this jury.

SANCHEZ: Joey, something in the opening statements on the defense side struck me and that was their argument that, in his mind, he's an outlaw 100 years ago.

This sort of method acting argument that we're hearing that he's in a different mindset where his focus is on the scene itself and not necessarily on the function of what he has in his hand.

How effective is that as an argument?

JACKSON: So Boris, that's important. Because it goes to the fact that you're acting and it distinguishes the issues the prosecution was raising in terms of the cardinal rules of a workplace.

This is not a normal workplace, and you have to, I think, judge someone's conduct consistent with context, consistent with their environment, consistent with their role, consistent with their responsibilities.

And what the defense is arguing, Boris, that he had every right, being an actor of another -- an actor of this era, right, mirroring or acting from someone from another era, to reasonably rely upon the gun safety measures of others.

And if someone hands you a gun and says "cold gun," right, why would you have any reason to believe that it was otherwise loaded, that it was otherwise operable, that it was otherwise capable of taking a life.

So I think it's going to be critical as the jury evaluates this to determine whether he was responsible.

And also the point to be made, he said repeatedly -- that is Alec Baldwin who is, of course, accused -- that he never put his -- his hand on the trigger, his finger on the trigger.

I think, to the defense argument, if you buy it, it wouldn't matter. Because whether he put his finger on the trigger or not, he had the ability to believe and to know, as an actor from another generation, that he was simply acting.

The gun was cold and that no projectile would come out of it, much less hit someone, much less kill them.

Those are going to be the issues for the jury's determination.

SANCHEZ: Joey Jackson, always fascinating to get your perspective. Thanks for being with us.

JACKSON: Thanks, Boris.

Thanks, Jessica.

SANCHEZ: Vice Presidential Pick; Marco Rubio; J.D. Vance; Doug Burgum; EZ: Still ahead, Former President Donald Trump launching several new attacks against President Biden and the chaos that he says is dividing Democrats. But Biden isn't the only person Trump is going after. Why his attacks against Vice President Kamala Harris are reaching a new level.

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[13:41:59]

DEAN: As President Biden fights efforts to remove him from the Democratic ticket, Donald Trump is waiting to announce his choice for vice president on the Republican ticket.

And on the campaign trail in Miami, he's bashing Biden's number two, Vice President Kamala Harris, who he sees as a possible opponent in November.

CNN's Alayna Treene is joining us now.

Alayna, he's now -- look, they've -- Republicans have been going after Kamala Harris since the primary. But it really seems like he's doubling, even tripling down on that. ALAYNA TREENE, CNN REPORTER: Yes. And I will note as well though that over the past year or so, Donald Trump's team has largely tried to ignore Kamala Harris.

As soon as she became the vice president and they knew that Joe Biden is the person that will be at the top of the ticket that he would be fighting, they've really trained most of their attacks on him.

So this is a change in posture. And it clearly shows, and I can tell you from my conversations with Trump's team, this is how they're feeling.

They are monitoring this the situation very heavily, privately, and watching like the rest of the world to what's going to happen and whether Joe Biden will step aside.

Now, he did have very harsh words for her. I want you to take a listen to exactly what he told the crowd last night.

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DONALD TRUMP, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES (R) AND CURRENT U.S. PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE (R): But whatever else can be said about Crooked Joe Biden, you have to give him credit for one brilliant decision, probably the smartest decision he's ever made. He picked Kamala Harris as his vice president.

(BOOING)

TRUMP: No, it was brilliant. Because it was an insurance policy.

Maybe the best insurance policy I've ever seen, Marco.

If Joe had picked someone even halfway competent, they would have bounced him from office years ago now but --

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TREENE: Jessica, I also just want to point right off the top here that he was purposefully mispronouncing Harris' name. It's Kamala, not Kamila.

DEAN: Right. So we heard that from -- we heard that on the campaign --

TREENE: Yes. That's part of his -- his way of attacking her.

But look, I can tell you from my conversations with the campaign that they really do want Joe Biden to continue on as the candidate. There are concerns about him stepping aside.

And part of that is because they've spent millions of dollars on modeling, on gathering data, months of advertising focused mainly on one single person, and that's Joe Biden.

And so if he does ultimately step aside or is forced to step down and someone else is at the top of the Democratic ticket, it really throws Trump's campaign into uncertainty for the next four months.

And so whether they say that publicly or not is a different issue. But they are currently delighting in the fact that Joe Biden is hanging on and saying that he's not planning to step aside.

DEAN: And in those remarks, we heard him shout out Marco Rubio, the Senator from Florida, a potential vice-presidential pick.

And look, time is ticking on Trump to make that decision. The RNC is next week.

TREENE: It is. And it was interesting to hear him, you know, praise Marco Rubio last night after we have all heard him call him Little Marco for many years.

[13:45:00]

But you know, he did kind of taunt Rubio a bit last night. Rubio was there with his entire family. He spoke before Trump took the stage. But we did not hear a vice-presidential announcement.

Now the three people who continue to be at the top, or I should say on Trump's short, shortlist is Marco Rubio, but also Senator J.D. Vance and North Dakota Governor Doug Burgum.

It's still unclear. And I know we're getting close. They say he needs to make this decision by Monday.

When I talked to Trump's team, they say they still are not sure who it is. They do not know. And they're not even sure Donald Trump knows. And so this is all still being formulated behind the scenes.

And I do think some of the questions over what's happening with Biden is certainly impacting that decision.

DEAN: It's weighing into it, but it remains in flux.

OK. Alayna Treene, thanks so much. Thanks for that reporting.

It is the space-to-earth call we've been waiting for. What the astronauts who've been stuck on the International Space Station for weeks have to say about their extended stay. And what we know about the repairs on the capsule that's supposed to get them home.

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[13:50:23]

SANCHEZ: Two NASA astronauts, waiting in space, insist they are not actually stranded. Even though, when they left earth on June 5th, they were expected to return just nine days later.

Their return has been delayed indefinitely after the Boeing Starliner spacecraft suffered a series of technical issues.

Here's how the mission commander, Butch Wilmore, explains the situation.

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BUTCH WILMORE, NASA ASTRONAUT & STARLINER COMMANDER: This is a tough business that we're in. Human spaceflight is not easy in any regime. And there have been multiple issues with every spacecraft that has ever been designed. And that's the nature of what we do.

You know, that mantra you've heard that failure is not an option, that's why we are staying here now. We did have some degradation in our thrusters and we know that. And that's why we're staying because we're going to test it.

That's what we do. That's what we do in this instance. We're going to get the data that we need to help inform our decisions so we make the right decisions.

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SANCHEZ: Let's discuss with former NASA Astronaut Terry Virts.

Sir, thanks so much for being with us.

Degradation in our thrusters. What exactly does that mean? How does it compare to other technical issues that we've seen in the past?

TERRY VIRTS, FORMER NASA ASTRONAUT: Well, this is a test mission. I've got a Starliner capsule model here right now. But they have a lot of small RCS jets there on this back part of the capsule. And that's used to orient and point the capsule in the right direction.

They also have some large Omax (ph) engines that are used to actually de-orbit the capsule to get it back to earth. So when the capsule undocks, it'll turn around backwards, fire the larger thrusters, the Omax (ph) thrusters, and come back.

The small thrusters, the RCS, failed during the docking. And the problem is, when it comes back to earth, the capsule with the crew on board is going to separate from the service module.

The capsule will come back safely with the heat shield and a parachute. And the service module is going to burn up. So they won't have the thrusters to look at and analyze. They won't have the helium tanks that had some leaks to look at.

They need to keep it on the space station for as long as they need to get the data they need for this separation and the service module burns up.

SANCHEZ: I see. So it's not necessarily that they can't get back to earth in the spacecraft. It's more so that they want to be able to analyze it as closely as possible for the future. Is that right?

VIRTS: Absolutely. So this is a test flight. For the contract, Boeing needs to fly a successful test mission before it's certified. Certified as the gold standard at NASA. So the next flight is supposed to be what we call an operational

flight. It'll have four astronauts. It'll be a normal rotation taking astronauts to and from the station.

So they really want that big giant certification stamp so that they can consider the vehicle operational. So I think they're taking as long as they need to make sure they can get that certification.

If there was an emergency, we just heard in the press conference, the crew would jump in, close the hatch and come back to earth. And I don't think there will be any -- no one expects any problems at all.

But they do want that certification stamp. And so it's a lot better to take a few extra weeks now than to have to fly an entire another test mission, which Boeing and NASA definitely don't want.

SANCHEZ: Yes, it's expensive, I imagine.

Pilot Suni Williams is also expecting that everything is going to go as planned.

Here's some of what she said during the briefing.

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SUNI WILLIAMS, NASA ASTRONAUT & STARLINER PILOT: We've been through a lot of simulations for this spacecraft to go through all sorts of iterations of failures.

And I think where we are right now and what we know right now and how this spacecraft flew as it was coming in to do the docking, as Butch described.

I feel confident that, if we had to, if there was a problem with the International Space Station, we can get in our spacecraft and we can undock, talk to our team and figure out the best way to come home.

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SANCHEZ: So you would have no qualms about getting in the Starliner and coming back to earth? What would be any concerns you might have?

VIRTS: No, not at all. In fact, the Starliner has already flown two times unmanned, so they've already undocked, done that, what we call the deorbit burn to slow it down and bring it back to earth.

They've already gone through this fiery 17,000-mile-an hour re-entry. The parachutes come out, it's landed safely.

So they've -- they've actually tested that twice without astronauts on board. And the problems that they have would not cause any problem for re-entry.

Again, I think, for the drama here, is that the astronauts aren't, quote, unquote, "stuck in space." They're not really stuck in space. But they are getting a few bonus weeks on the space station. SANCHEZ: So what's it like when you're up there? What's the in-flight

entertainment to help you pass the extra weeks that you're not stranded, but waiting up there?

[13:55:08]

VIRTS: Well, ironically, I had the same exact thing happen during my last flight. A Russian cargo ship blew up and it's the same rocket that launches the humans on the Soyuz.

And so they decided to do a safety investigation before they launched our replacement crew. And because they didn't want us to come to earth until the replacement crew is ready, I ended up stuck on the space station and ended up being in about a month extra time.

But we didn't know how long we were going to be there. And we were kind of low on supplies because the cargo ships, several had blown up. So I was in a similar situation.

We used the best of it. I helped film an IMAX movie called "A Beautiful Planet." I just use it as some bonus time in space. And it was a little bit stressful and concerning for the family. You know, they had summer plans.

But in the big picture, the big scheme of things, they want to make sure they're safe. And these two astronauts are going to be more than happy to get a few extra weeks in space.

And the station astronauts are going to be happy to get some free labor. You can never have enough workers on the space station. So this is free labor to knock off the honeydew list, which is always on a space station.

SANCHEZ: Yes. And nice to have additional company while you're out there. Space can be a lonely place.

Colonel Virts, thanks so much for sharing your story with us. Appreciate it.

VIRTS: Thanks for having me on.

SANCHEZ: Of course.

Still to come, it's one thing you do not want to hear during peak summer travel season. A CNN investigation reveals that Airbnb is failing to protect its guests from hidden cameras in rental properties. Details on this CNN report, when we come back.

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