Donald trump. The Breaking News this hour we are following a defiant former president of the United States on the way to his new Jersey Golf Club right now after being arrested and arraigned on four serious, very serious criminal charges, stemming from his alleged efforts to subvert the 2020 president ial election in the United States. Trump proclaiming his innocence and accusing the Special Counsel of leading a political persecution. Wolf, of course, this is trumps third indictment in the past four months. It is the most serious set of charges he ever faced. As he did in new york and miami, the former president pleaded not guilty to all four counts today, Conspiracy To T Defraud the u. S. , conspiracy to obstruct proceed, obstruction of a proceeding and conspiracy against rights. I want to go our senior justice Correspondent Evan Perez from outside the federal courthouse here in washington where the former president made his initial appearance this afternoon. Evan, walk us through what happened during trumps arrest and arraignment and where this case goes from here. Reporter well, wolf, this was about a 27minute hearing. The former president we heard from him just a few times. He said his name, donald j. Trump, john, he said, to the judge when asked to state his name. She asked him whether she gave him read him his right to remain silent and decide him whether he knew, obviously, what was going on in court, that he had not taken any drugs or alcohol, and spoke very quietly. The former president there was a few times are where he looked directly at jack smith and jack smith also looked at him during the 20 minutes or so that he was sitting it there before the magistrate took the bench. Then, of course, the moment where he stood up where he stood and said that he that he was pleading not guilty, wolf. Of course, we know now that the judge here has already set a hearing for august 28th. She says that the judge who is going to be overseeing this case, judge tanya chutkan, is going to announce a trial date at that hearing. She ordered the Justice Department and the trump team to essentially provide their own dates, and then she is going to set a trial date. Thats a very, very fast timeline that the judge here is trying to set. We, obviously, were in this courtroom there for a while. We saw a number of the federal judges who sit in this courthouse, wolf, who have been adjudicating the hundreds of former the former president s supporters, who have been prosecuted for crimes related to january 6th. Of course, you know that the capitol is right across here from this courthouse, and even today, as the court was doing some of its regular business, the former president s his presence, of course, showed itself. There was a judge who told the defendant who was pleading guilty, a member of the proud boys, he was going to make sure that nothing that the former president s presence here affected that proceeding. Wit we know that the judge is going to hold this next hearing august 28th, about five days after the Republican Debate thats coming up later this month. Erin. All right. Right now donald trump is en route to his golf course in new jersey. Before he departed the former president making a brief, a terse, i would say, statement to the media, railing against what he calls the persecution of a political opponent. This is a very sad day for america and it was also very sad driving through washington, d. C. , and seeing the filth and the decay and all of the broken buildings and walls and the graffiti. This is not the place that i left. Its a very sad thing to see it. When you look at whats happening, this is a persecution of a political opponent. This was never supposed to happen in america. This is the persecution of the person thats leading by very, very substantial numbers in the republican primary, and leading biden by a lot. So if you cant beat him, you persecute him or you prosecute him. We cant let this happen in america. Thank you very much. That was trump on the tarmac at washington reagan arm. We now have him landing just a few moments ago. His plane is getting ready to land in newark. A short statement. We have seen him other times much more low kashs. But thats not what we saw 40 minutes ago as his plane approaches newark. Kristen holmes, as we watch this from reagan airport, just outside washington, of course, where the former president depathed from. What are your sources telling you about the mood for those around the trump camp . By the way, one of the potential coconspirators with him today, someone else mentioned in the indictment. Was there today what are you hearing . Reporter well, first of all, we talk about what they are going to do next. Thats a big question. They are going to do exactly what they are doing. Making this political. Thats what you heard in this speech. When i talked to his advisors, talk to people close to him, days like today they said the same thing they always say, he is defiant, ready to fight, he knows this means he has to win in 20124. As you noted, that statement was very short. This was completely different from what we saw the last two times that he was indicted. He held big parties at his resort. He talked for almost an hour. This was short. We yelled questions at him. I think you could hear it at the end, about five feet from him. He didnt take questions, even though we were told he was going to. I know i am going to get Text Messages after this from these trump advisors, from these allies saying it was raining outside. I have seen him Stand In The Rain for 30 minutes giving a speech at a rally in miami. So i dont believe that thats the only deterrence here. When you hear from our own correspondents like evan perez who was in the courtroom talking about how he held his head down, coll clasped his hands. We know he doesnt enjoy these days. He doesnt enjoy getting arraigned or being indicted. This isnt something that he wants to do. He isnt reveling in that. But, again, from our own correspondents in the room, from that remarks itself, today did hit him, he realized the gravity of the situation. All right. Thank you. Wolf. Thank you. I want to get reaction from our legal and political experts right now and laura coats, you are our chief legal analyst. This is clearly a grave moment for him, legally speaking. Certainly for him and indeed for the country. Absolutely is. And if youthink about the con fences. On january 6th we saw with our own eyes. This gave insight into what led up to the culmination, according to the allegations, of a very serious conspiracy. The fact that he has been indicted before, obviously, this seems to be coming more normalized perhaps, people having seen it, but nothing normal about the fact that you have an american president who is now thrice indicted, twice impeached, and an extraordinary significant one. He pled not guilty but he is now in a washington, d. C. , jurisdiction, unlike perhaps maybe a little more comfortable in places like florida, certainly the Talking Points indicate that, but he is in front of people, and a potential jury pool, who remembers the fencing around the capitol, who remember what it was like to have their metropolitan Police Department try to intervene to giver comfort and aid, of course, to the capitol police. And they remember seeing all of this unfold. And so the idea that even when he spoke just now outside of that tarmac he was very disparaging about the nations capitol because it served his own interests in that moment. Those are things that are all together prosecutors will look at to try to make sure they persuade the jury beyond their own burden of proof. We see trumps plane landed at Newark Airport in new jersey. They will be going in a Motorcade Back to his country club and we will watch all of this unfold. Karl racine is with us. I am happy you are with us tonight. You were the Attorney General of washington, d. C. , during the january 6th insurrection. So you see these historic moments unfolding today. What goes through your mind . Well, i remember very well that entire day, of course, of january 6th. I also remember well the weeks before january 6th. I think it bears repeating, all of the warnings and all of the threats that were leading up to january 6th, this is a truly historic day and a day of reckoning. Im happy that this is happening in a court of law before a very experienced trial judge, who is known as a former Public Defender and criminal defense lawyer, to be a person who makes the government prove their case. Frankly, i dont believe this going to be A Walk In The Park for the prosecutor. Judge chutkan is tough and she is fair. I think donald trump is going to get his day in court, as he is entitled to, as an american. Think he can get a fair jury . I have no doubt he can get a fair jury in washington, d. C. Wolf, i am concerned about some of the rhetoric thats going on out there from folks, including the governor from florida. Really downtalking d. C. Residents. D. C. Residents are american citizens. Theyre fair. And people who practice in d. C. Will tell you, getting a conviction in out district of columbia is not an easy task. Yeah, thats absolutely true. Well, if i could add, the thing that we heard today from the former president is something that we have heard before, and we are going to continue to hear again and again and again. And it is about him being the victim, and it is about what he said, you know, the persecution of a political opponent. Its what he tried to do this afternoon in his brief speech, is to sort of almost take this out of the legal realm and make the jury the country. The jury now, for donald trump, are gonna be voters, he believes, particularly voters right now in a republican primary, which he needs to win, if he is going to run against a democrat, joe biden, and so that seems to me to be the case that he is making, and that will he will continue to make. This is his case, not its a legal case, sure, but the case that donald trump is making is a political case, a persecution, and he has said remember, he says to voters, i am your retribution. So if you ever think that anything has been done to you that wasnt fair, that wasnt right, look at me. I am gonna be the person who is gonna defend you because im being persecuted just like you have been persecuted. I thought it was significant and tell me if you agree that the Special Counsel jack smith was in that courtroom today during that breefr proceeding. He was only standing about 15 feet away from donald trump. What did you think . It was, wolf, because today was the day of symbolism. This is a country where no one is above the law. The world is watching us. And remarking at the strength of the american rule of law system. One of the ways that we exemplify that is the prosecutors and the defendants show up in court. Our cnn colleagues were reporting that they looked at each other after the terrible things that donald and false things that donald trump has said about jack smith. But after the powerful and devastating indictments, this is how smith has primarily spoken, through two devastating indictments. So that was just a taste of the drama. This truly will be i dont even think trial of the century is strong enough. Its gonna be the trial of the millennium, including because American Democracy itself and its resilience is on trial. So a solemn day, an historic day, but a good day for what were about. Judge chutkan wrote, president s are not kings, and donald trump is not president. When she overruled him before. And that really was what todays pomp and circumstance represented to me, that every individual is before the law and the constitution is above us all. You know, it was curious, maybe interesting, you tell me, that trump was joined today by his codefendant in the classified Documents Case, walt nauta. He was there with him all day today. And so many of his other associates were there with him, as well. Very sensitive moment, and he brought them all in. Life in trump world is complicated. There is one lawyer there who is involved with the Documents Case, who was taking notes about it. I just want to go big picture for a moment though, wolf. This did not need to happen. We are here today for one reason. Donald trump did not want to be what is the worst thing in his world . A loser. He did not want to accept the outcome of the election. And we now know from our reporting that this is premeditated. For months before the election, his pollsters were telling him, youre gonna lose. So he started laying the groundwork months before the election to say it was crooked, say it would be stolen. So i think its important to remember, every time he says hes being persecuted, we are here today because he did not want to accept the fact that he lost, even though his Attorney General, his white house counsel, 49 courts, everybody told him otherwise, and he knew that. How significant is it that the trial judge, this federal judge, has set august 28th for the start of the trial involving trump . Well, i think it shows she is going to move the case along. This was the Magistrate Judge today that handled his arraignment, and then it will move to the trial judge. August 28th will be the next hearing. He may or may not have to actually appear at that one. The big question is when the actual trial will take place. This is the start then, the next hearing . We are at the start of the process, and we will have to see the judge has to work out with the devils and the prosecution as to when the actual trial will take place, and there is going to be a continuing tension between the political calendar and the way that the legal system is going to work in this matter. I think its also important, as you noted, to put this in the context of what the Bigger Picture is, which is that this although this case is about the one defendant that has been charged so far in this january 6th plot to overturn the election, its part of the Justice Departments adherence to the rule of law and Holding Accountable all of the different parts that went into january 6th, from the hundreds of people who have been prosecuted for storming the capitol to the proud boys and the oath keepers who were responsible for coordinating that violence, and now we are seeing what i think is probably the first of the charges, because there are coconspirators who are referenced in the indictment. The first of charges related to the plot to overturn the actual election. And just to be precise, the trial date will be set at that next hearing, which is august 28th. Thats a hearing. Presumably, they will set a trial date at that hearing. We will watch it unfold. Cant the defense make the argument this is too close to the election . We have heard that argument with james comey, right . And hilary clinton. So wouldnt one of their arguments be that, you know, you cant insert this kind of a case into a Political Year this close to primaries, et cetera, et cetera, and thats why it out to be postponed . We are 4 5 859 days who is counting from the actual election. You are talking about yes, they will make that argument. I think strategically, jack smith anticipated, of course, by being differential or going along in some respects to the trial date set in maralago, cognizant of that because of the nature of those charges, the classified documents, the idea of trying to get multiple codefendants counsel up to speed. Its different. It this could go faster, i think. I think you are right. The decision to not name those coconspirators was a very important decision made by the special prosecutor, to try to narrow and focus in case, and to eliminate additional potential reasons, valid or it not, for delay. Stand by. We have a lot more to assess and discuss. I want to go back to erin. Wolf, our senior Crime ReporterKatelyn Polantz was inside the courtroom today. You saw it. You saw trump. You saw his facial expressions, Body Language, entering act with jack smith. You heard him speak. Tell us what happened. Reporter erin, i didnt expect to hear donald trump speak because the last time he was arraigned in federal court, he did not say a single word. But it this time the judge engaged with him directly multiple times. First and foremost, whenever he had to state his name, donald j. Trump, john, he said, and later in the hearing, he had to affirm that he was going to be pleading entering a plea to four charges related to january 6th and he said, quite clearly, in court to the judge, his plea was not guilty. Thats how he said it. Those were the only words he spoke in response to that question. But there were several other exchanges he had with the judge that really highlighted how this court is handling this case. How they are going to be treating it Going Forward. He agreed to the terms of his release. They went over all of the things that they formally do. Then the judge took a moment to step back and make sure that donald trump recognized that it would be a crime to intimidate potential jurors, to retaliate against potential witnesses, asked him even to ok knowledge that, which he nodded his head, and followed un, do you understand this, and he said yes, vocally, at that point in time. So that was a little bit more of a moment that is so important for donald trump in that he has been investigated and charged with Obstruction Of Justice in the florida case, and this is something that the court is cognizant of Going Forward now that he is in this court, processed here and is pleading guilty, awaiting trial, and is out on release. That really was one of the things that summed up the moment, that he is in a precarious moment. He is not going to be able to speak to these witnesses, who are foe potentially going to be testifying at trial in this case about the facts of this case. The other thing is this is one of those rare moments that you had donald trump physically in court right