Major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by. Pediatric surgeon, volunteer, topiary artist, financial advisor, tailored advice to help you live your life, life well planned. The candida fund, committed to advancing Restorative Justice and meaningful work through performative leaders and ideas. More at candidafund. Org. Carnegie corporation of new york, supporting organizations and democratic engagement and the advancement of International Peace and security at carnegie. Org. And with the ongoing support of these individuals and institutions. This program was made possible by the corporation for public broadcasting and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. Thank you. Iversity. At Arizona Stategton, geoff welcome to the newshour. It has become a familiar sight. For the third time this year, former President Donald Trump was arraigned on criminal charges. Today, he was in federal court in washington, just a few blocks from the u. S. Capitol, where a mob of his supporters rioted on january 6th and in the same courthouse, where hundreds of participants in that attack have also appeared as defendants. Mr. Trump pleaded not guilty to felonies relating to efforts four to overturn the 2020 election and remain in power. Among them, conspiracy to defraud the United States, obstruction of an official proceeding, and conspiracy against the right to vote. Mr. Trump spoke to reporteres after his court appearance. When you look at whats happening, this is a persecution of political opponents. 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 them or you prosecute him. We cant let this happen in america. Geoff cameras were not allowed in the courtroom but a handful of reporters were given access. Carrie johnson was among them. Shes a justice correspondent for npr and joins us now from the court house. Thank you for being with us. You were in the overflow room. Give us a sense of how the proceedings unfolded and what could you make out of strict trumps demeanor . Carrie we were waiting most of the day for the proceeding to start. It started a little late after 4 00 p. M. The former president entered through the back of the courtroom. He seemed somber and spent a lot of time talking with his two attorneys and seemed animated and flipping through court papers. When the magistrate judge took the bench, trump paid close attention to her, he talked about his name, age, and took an oath to tell the truth when answering questions. It was a remarkable moment when the clerk called out the case, the United States versus donald j. Trump. It really steps away from the u. S. Capitol, which was the scene of the crime in many ways. Geoff the magistrate judge also told trump, do not commit a crime and tamper with the jury. How did he respond . Carrie the magistrate judge basically said trump would be released on limited conditions. One, pretty basic, do not commit a new alleged crime while on release. Two, do not retaliate against anybody you think is a witness, do not talk with anyone you think may be witnesses without the presence of their lawyers. Trump nodded and said he understood all of that. He basically paid close attention to the judge and followed along with what she was saying. Geoff mr. Trumps attorney john lauro shared an argument in the courtroom, when he shared on the program last night, saying that the government had years to bring the case, and the Trump Legal Team would need more time to bring a defense. Tell us how the judge reacted to it. Carrie this is going to be the heart of the matter. The judge wanted to set a next judge appearance for donald trump and the prosecutors wanted to pick the first available date. Donald trump and his lawyers wanted to pick the last available date, so it will be a push and pull. The special counsels office would like to go to trial under the speedy trial act and they are ready to share information with donald trump and his defense lawyers relatively soon. John lauro says he is not aware of the magnitude of the evidence in the case and there could be reams of paper documents, electronic evidence, a years long investigation, anything semibe absurd to follow the speedy trial rule. He says he would like trump to get a fair trial, not a fast one. In the magistrate said she could guarantee in the courthouse, he would get a fair trial. Geoff we have a date for the next hearing in the case, august 28, a few weeks away. That suggests that this is going to be a speedy trial. How do you read it . Carrie judge tanya chutkan, a longtime defender appointed to the bench by former president obama, is relatively nononsense and have. She will present nononsense and tough. She will preside next month, and the magisterium says she would like to set a trial date at the hearing. The open question is trump already faces trial in march in new york city over alleged house payments to stormy daniels. He is for trial in may of 2024 over the maralago documents, the allegedly classified documents found that his resort. It is hard to see when and that disease schedule in that busy schedule they can look at the case for trial. More will be clear on what the judge says for sure. Geoff the former president is facing three trials in three separate jurisdictions and running for president again. Has the Trump Legal Team given any idea on how they plan to handle it . Carrie their strategy is to delay for as long as possible. Even though he hasnt trial date set next year, i am not sure he will not go back to the judge and ask for additional delays. With respect to the case, the defense preferences to try the case after the election. That is important because of trump becomes the president again, he could pardon himself or directs new attorney general to get rid of the federal cases altogether. Geoff we are so grateful to have you as our eyes and ears in the courtroom on this historic day. Carrie my pleasure. Stephanie i am stephanie sy with the latest headlines. A federal judge formally imposed the Death Penalty on the gunman who carried out the worst attack on jews in u. S. History. Robert bowers killed eleven people at the tree of life synagogue in pittsburgh in 2018. He never expressed any remorse. Before the sentencing today, u. S. District judge Robert Colville told the court that, quote, there is nothing i could say to him that might be meaningful. The u. S. Military is said to be considering a major new move to stop iran from seizing commercial ships in the persian gulf. Reports today said officials are actively considering putting armed troops on civilian vessels as tensions with tehran increase. The pentagon has already sent more warships and planes to the region. Federal prosecutors announced the arrest of two navy soldiers, alleging they provided information to china. Both men were stationed in southern california. Charges include sharing details on wartime exercises, Naval Operations and critical technical material. Both sailors pleaded not guilty in federal court. In niger, hundreds of people marked the countrys independence from french rule in 1960, with a rally supporting last weeks military coup. Capital, protesters denod ow ewas that hasnaoc, coemnethe up the people are coming, and were going to demonstrate to all the ecowas countries and all those who are taking unpopular and inhumane measures against niger, which is in the process of freeing itself from the yoke of colonization. Stephanie niger elected someone who describe themselves as a hostage and warned the coup could have devastating consequences if it pursues. A man drove a car onto a crowded sidewalk and one person died at a Shopping Mall outside in the seoul, korea. The unidentified suspect was arrested at the scene. Police called it terrorism but did not give details. South korea is hosting the world Scout Jamboree amid tripledigit heat. More than 40,000 people are attending, most of them teenage scouts, and at least 600 have been treated for heat exhaustion in the first 2 days. Dozens of military doctors and nurses have deployed to help treat patients suffering headaches, dizziness and nausea. Organizers say more help is on the way. To prepare for more patients with heatrelated illnesses, we are going to install more air conditioners for five hub clinics. There are already air conditioners in place, but we feel that we need more in this kind of heat. Stephanie texas a m university announced a 1 milliondollar settlement today with kathleen mcelroy, a black journalism professor at the university of texas. A m had agreed to hire her to run its journalism department, but she rejected the offer when it became known it had been significantly reduced over her support of diversity and inclusion. The schools president resigned in july over the scandal. Still to come on the newshour, rising hospitalizations point to another summer surge in covid infections. A wildfire in the Mojave Desert threatens californias iconic joshua trees. And much more. This is the pbs newshour from weta studios in washington, and from the west at Walter Cronkite school of journalism in arizona. Geoff as we reported earlier, former President Donald Trump returned to washington today to face a federal judge on charges related to his alleged efforts to stay in power, and overturn the 2020 president ial election results. I spoke with trumps former attorney general bill barr earlier today about the historic legal case his former boss is now facing, as well as his memoir, now out in paperback. Former attorney general bill barr, thank you for being with us. Bill thank you for having me. Geoff this is Donald Trumps third arrest in four months previously charged by the special counsel in the classified documents probe and before that, by that manhattan grand jury for business fraud. In your mind, what sets this case apart from the previous two . Bill well, this case is more serious. First, i dont think alvin braggs case is a legitimate case. I think that is a political head. But i think this case is the most serious of the cases, because the conduct here involves trying to subvert and prevent the progress. The execution. Probably the most important process of proceeding we have in our country, which is the early peaceful transfer of power after criminal action. And whats being alleged here is that he knew that he lost the election, he knew that the claims of stolen election were false, and yet he decided he was going to try to stay in office by subverting that process, by putting out misinformation, but more important, by putting out these false panels of electors and presenting them to congress and trying to push the Vice President to make these decisions that suppress the legitimate votes. I mean, that was outrageous. And putting aside whether its criminal or not, you know, i do not see how the Republican Party can nominate someone whos capable of doing Something Like that. Geoff in your book, you cataloged the chaos at the end of mr. Trumps time in office. You had unique access to him. You were familiar with his thinking, his thought processes. Did he know he was lying about Election Fraud . Bill i you know, initially, i could not tell. But he didnt appear to really care about what the answers were. And he kept on repeating the same charges even after other people sat and watched them through him and explained that there was no problem with those allegations. And he kept on repeating them. He didnt really appear to care about the facts. But i have come to believe that he knew that he lost the election because something i didnt know at the time when i was telling him that was that his own campaign was telling him that, in fact, i was concerned at the time that that maybe his campaign was feeding some of this stuff to him. But on the contrary, i think everyone was telling him he lost. Geoff there are republicans who have disparaged this case as being politically motivated. How do you see it . Was an indictment warranted in this january 6th related case . Bill yeah, i think it is a legitimate case. I dont understand the attacks on the department and saying its abusive or its weaponization for bringing this case. When someone says, you know, this is unfair, this is part you know, theres some other motive here. The first question is, okay, was the crime done . Was there serious wrongdoing here . Or is this a case of going after somebody really didnt do anything or a technical violation or stretching the law way beyond where it should be . No. There was very grave wrongdoing here, and i think its reasonable to say that it falls within the obstruction of a proceeding. That is not weaponization. That is enforcement of the law. And, you know, are there some hair on the case . Is it hard to prove . Are there areas where, you know, they may not be able to make the case . Perhaps. Are there some disadvantages for having brought the case . I think there are, but i think its unfair to say that this was an abuse. The abuse was on after the election and the abuse was conducted by trump. Geoff but what are the disadvantages that you see in terms of bringing this case . Bill well, i think its coming at a time where there is a profound feeling among Many Americans that there are two standards of justice, and i believe that thats a justified concern. And i think to come at the same time you see sort of the mishandling of the hunter biden investigation. I think its going to be very hard to persuade people that it is not political. No, i dont think bringing this case was political, but i think i can understand why people would think it is. Given the handling of the hunter biden thing, that is one. And the other is it helps trump, you know, and i think that has to be taken into account. What are we trying to do here . If the feeling is that his conduct was dangerous and we dont want this stuff happening, i can see why people would say, okay, well, we have to prosecute this. But on the other hand, youre making it more likely that he could get back into office. Geoff what do you make of the job that the current attorney general, merrick garland, is doing . Because there are democrats and republicans who, for different reasons, criticize the doj, and they say that it took too long to bring this case. And now here we are in the middle of an election, and to your point, it helps donald trump. Bill i do not know why i dont think it took that long. I mean, i think they were focusing on the people who who went into the capitol, these lowerlevel people for a while, and i said publicly and, you know, they seem to have decided just to do that and not work their way up the chain and see what happened. I dont i have seen articles to say that there was some resistance to the idea of doing that from others, including the fbi, but i think it was a legitimate investigation to look at what happened on january six. I would like to know some things about, you know, what happened there. But i do think that garland attorney general garland should i think he needs to act swiftly to deal with hunter biden thing because i think its hurting the department a great deal. And i dont think its possible for an attorney general to distance themselves from this kind of decision and say, well, this u. S. Attorney was a trump u. S. Attorney, made the decision. You own the decision. The decision has to be right, in your judgment, as attorney general. So, i think i would advise him to pull the issue and make a decision as to whether its going to be a felony or a misdemeanor, make the decision, explain it, and make sure that you can assure congress that theres a vigorous investigation by the the other aspects of the case. Geoff the Trump Legal Team, as you well know, theyre floating their legal defenses. I spoke with john lauro, mr. Trumps attorney, on this program last night, and he said that the january 6th related indictment is an attack on mr. Trumps free speech and his right to political advocacy, even though the indictment makes clear that its focused on mr. Trumps conduct. Do you think that line of defense will find its way into a courtroom . Bill oh, i am sure it will. And i also think thats a sort of a version of what the real issue is. The real issue is whether its possible to impose liability in this case without chilling other kinds of the judgment speech. I dont think the stuff that was legitimate speech. I dont think the stuff that was involved here that that is in the crosshairs of the prosecutor is stuff that hes entitled to do under the first amendment. But you dont want to have a fuzzy decision here where future campaigns are reluctant to challenge the outcome because theyre afraid of what someone may think. You know, try to accuse me of this being a crime, and i think thats a legitimate concern. But i think this this indictment was carefully drawn. And they are saying that they will prove that trump knew what, that the election was not stolen. And they are focused in on deceitful actions and false fraudulent actions such as submitting false slate of electors and trying to use those to create the illusion that there was a bona fide dispute within a state that the Vice President could then rule on. And that was a complete fallacy. And he doesnt have a constitutional right to do that. Geoff well, mr. Lauro also said that the former president was following the advice of his lawyers to include john eastman, that he had the advice of counsel. How solid a defense is that in your view . Bill i think thats quickly going to fall apart. First, trump basically searches around for any lawyer he can find who agrees with his predisposition. He doesnt get advice and follow it. He looks for a lawyer who will tell him what he wants to hear. And here he was saying, you know, just passing through all the lawyers, all the government lawyers, all his campaign lawyers who are telling him, no, no, no. And he finally found this professor who its going to be interesting to say what he actually told them, because i dont think he necessarily said this is legal and its okay. I think he said, well, you know, you might be able to make an argument there. You might make it that the courts wouldnt accept it and so forth. So well have to see how he casts it, but theres a big practical hurdle to him doing that, because hes going to have to get on the stand to raise that defense and subject himself to crossexamination