NYT: Deutsche Bank Staff Saw Suspicious Activity with Trump & Kushner Transactions; Trump Prepares Possible Pardons for Accused U.S. War Criminals
BALDWIN: President Trump may be considering pardons for several military members who are accused or convicted or war crimes. CNN has learned the Department of Justice Pardon Office has asked the U.S. military for case files for two U.S. servicemembers accused of murder. This was a first reported by the "New York Times." And this comes weeks after President Trump pardoned Army First Lieutenant Michael Behenna, convicted of killing an Iraqi prisoner. These new cases have been championed by conservative pundits. But it's also sparked quick backlash from several veterans groups. Chris Cillizza is there for us in D.C., our CNN politics reporter and editor-at-large. In one of these cases, Chris, the former Navy SEAL hasn't gone to trial yet.</s>CHRIS CILLIZZA, CNN POLITICS REPORTER & EDITOR-AT-LARGE: That's right. Let's go through them, Brooke. It's important to note, the "New York Times" said these pardons will be extradited in hopes of potentially announcing on Memorial Day weekend. As you noted, we talked about this last week, Donald Trump has pardoned two people in this vein. Two people already. Let's go through them. First, Eddie gallagher, Navy SEAL, accused of killing two Iraqis, unarmed Iraqis, and stabbing another unarmed Iraqi. His Navy SEAL cohort said they witnessed him doing this. Here's Donald Trump -- and has not gone to trial yet, was about to go. Donald Trump, "Gallagher will be moved to a less restricted confinement while he awaits his day in court. The process should move quickly. Obviously, he was watching one of our competitor networks. Let's go to what the attorney for Mr. Gallagher said. "We would love to have the trial, but" -- here's the important part -- "Chief gallagher would welcome any involvement by the president." You kind of see where that one is headed. Now, this is not, by any means -- as you mentioned, there are several people. Let's go to the next one. OK, this is matthew goldstein. Green Beret, he and several of his comrades detained an Afghan mean who they suspected was involved in making IEDs. Several soldiers have been lost to IEDs in that area. They detain him. They eventually release him. Goldstein is accused of murdering that man after he had been released. OK. Again, has not gone to trial and been found guilty. Here's Trump again. "At the request of many, i'll be reviewing the case of U.S. military hero, Major Matt goldstein. He could face the death penalty from our own government. After he killed the terrorist bombmaker, the world is safer." Again, a little bit of elision of exactly what we know, facts on the ground, but that's Trump. And his lawyer, Goldstein's lawyer, and his parents have been advocates for Donald Trump to take a look at it. Here's what i believe it's his father told CNN recently.</s>JERRY GOLDSTEIN, FATHER OF MAJOR MATTHEW GOLDSTEIN: I don't know what the implications might be as far as the law is concerned but he is the commander-in-chief. If he feels that action is not being taken in the proper way, as he learns more about the situation, we're in favor of him doing whatever he feels is necessary. We would encourage his involvement.</s>CILLIZZA: OK. Now, final case, Brooke. This one is different. This person, Nick Slatten, he'll come up in a second, Blackwater contractor. He has been convicted. He has been found guilty of an incident in Iraq, in Baghdad, that left 17 Iraqis dead, another 20 injured, involving Blackwater, the security firm. He has been convicted. Those are three of the names out there. Obviously, Trump has tweeted about the first two. We're talking about Memorial Day weekend potentially. Very quick. Usually, pardons and the documentation to justify them do take much longer. They've asked for an expedited case moving this thing along faster. We shall see. Again, just a reminder, we've seen this before. We talked about it last week. He's done this with two other people and he's said on the campaign trail and in the White House that this is the sort of thing he believes he should be doing using that executive power which has granted him broadly as it relates to pardons. Brooke, back to you.</s>BALDWIN: We'll keep the eye out for those potential additional part pardons. Chris Cillizza, thank you so much --</s>CILLIZZA: Thank you.</s>BALDWIN: -- for running through those for me. Another tragedy tied to the Columbine high school massacre. A survivor, who spent his life helping others, has been found dead. We'll talk about his life. Plus, more on our breaking news. The White House expected to block former counsel, Don McGahn, from testifying tomorrow. What this means in the president's war with Congress.