And now to
the security measures being taken
surrounding Trump's court
appearance tomorrow in Miami.
CNN's Carlos
Suarez is live from Doral, Florida,
outside the Trump Doral Hotel.
Carlos,
city officials
say they're working
with all levels of law enforcement.
We have heard that
the proud boys at far right militia group
there are expected to be there.
Are our police
preparing to handle
any potential violence
Well,
if you ask that question to Miami's
police chief, he would tell you yes.
According to the chief
of police out here,
he says that they have enough resources
and officers
to deal with a crowd of up
to 50,000 people
that might show up
to the federal courthouse tomorrow.
Now, when pressed for specifics,
the chief of police said
that is something
that his police department
is not going to get into.
There is a growing concern at this hour
whether law enforcement
across South Florida is ready to deal
with the possible crowd
of supporters of the former president,
as well as protesters
who might show up
outside of the federal courthouse
in downtown Miami at this hour.
There are few barricades
outside of this courthouse,
and it is still unclear
whether Miami police plan
to separate these supporters
of the former president
from the folks
that are going to be out there
protesting the former president.
Here now is the chief of police
at a news conference
earlier this afternoon
We bring
in enough
resources
to handle
a crowd anywhere from 5000 to 50,000.
We don't expect it to. Right.
So we appreciate the public's help
Everybody going out there
expressing themselves
in a peaceful and civil manner
And so the chief of police
really pushed back
on some questioning there
about exactly
just where all of these resources
are at this hour,
when we might expect
to see them outside of this courthouse.
The chief ended up saying,
look, a lot of these decisions
we're going to make
really will depend on exactly
how many people turn out tomorrow.
Jake, there was
a crowd of about 100
Trump supporters
outside of the Doral property
out here earlier this afternoon.
At one point this afternoon,
some of those folks
got out onto the street.
However, our police here
were able to get everyone back on
to the sidewalk Jake.
Have any
officials notice
noted any concerning signs
by extremist groups
online of possible threats
Well, it's
our understanding,
according to law enforcement sources,
that a group of FBI agents
have been tasked with going across,
going through social media posts
for any possible threats
to the federal courthouse
in downtown Miami.
We're told
that they're also taking a look
at some communications
between members of the Proud Boys,
because they were talking
about traveling to South Florida
ahead of tomorrow.
However,
just about every law enforcement official
that we've talked
to, including the chief of police
for the city of Miami,
said that right now
there are no credible threats to Miami.
All right.
Carlos Flores in Doral, Florida,
thank you so much.
Joining us now
to further
explain the security concerns
over Trump's
arraignment is Jeh
Johnson, former
secretary of homeland security
during the Obama administration.
Secretary Johnson, thanks for joining us.
So Miami
officials say they're prepared
for tomorrow,
but some of the officials,
former officials
that we've had here in studio watching
what's going on in
Miami seemed alarm,
noting that there's just yellow tape
in some areas, a few plastic barriers,
but nothing like what we saw in New York
given what happened at the U.S.
Capitol.
On January six,
given the calls to violence
that we've heard
and the bellicose language from many,
many Trump supporters,
including members of Congress,
Do you think that's sufficient
or should they be barricading
and preparing for the worst
Well, the downside to
all of
this, Jake,
is there hasn't been a whole lot of time
to prepare for this.
The indictment just came down
late last week.
Normally in a situation
like this, law enforcement
wants a lot of time to provide
adequate security.
I am quite sure that right
now, as we speak, elements of the U.S.
government,
the Department of Homeland Security,
the US Marshals, Federal
Protective Service,
Secret Service, the FBI,
along with local law enforcement
in Miami-Dade,
are thinking this through our erecting,
erecting hopefully the appropriate
barriers.
They know that community best.
As you touched on it,
I'm sure they're actively monitoring
social media.
But we do have to anticipate
a potentially large
crowd here, particularly
given some of the rhetoric
from some of our so-called
public officials over the last few days.
But I've been down to Miami
Dade to oversee
active shooter training exercises.
It's a complicated jurisdiction,
but there's a lot of resources
down there.
Well,
some of the rhetoric
we've heard from members of Congress
and also from the Proud Boys
and others are a rather alarming.
Now, obviously,
people have a First Amendment right
to express themselves.
And the mayor of Miami, Francis Suarez,
stressed
the importance
of letting people use their free speech.
Is there a way,
do you think, to keep this from
getting out of control
Jake, that is
probably my principal concern right now.
Some of the rhetoric we've heard over
the last couple of days
has been over-the-top
dangerously irresponsible
with some of these extremist
in public life seek to outdo each other.
That kind of rhetoric
makes unacceptable behavior acceptable
and frankly, violence inevitable.
And, you know,
I can understand the impulse
of some of our leaders,
some of our rational leaders
to avoid engaging
in responding to this kind of thing.
But I do think
there comes a responsibility, frankly,
by federal officials who lead federal
and the law enforcement
to really speak out against this
and call it out and say
to those who are engaging
this kind of dangerous rhetoric
So if somebody gets hurt,
we are going to,
within the fullest extent of the law,
seek to hold you responsible.
It is a federal crime
to threaten a federal official
in the conduct of their office.
It is a federal crime
to incite an insurrection.
And so
we've got to look to
not just the proud boys
and those who were on the ground,
who might be on the ground
in Miami-Dade tomorrow,
but also those
who are frankly inciting and encouraging
this kind of violence.
When you look at the charges
against Donald Trump in the indictment,
as somebody once charged
with the safety of the American people
on both
at the Department of Homeland Security,
but then also prior in your career,
when you were an undersecretary
at the Pentagon,
how alarmed are you
at the those classified documents
being stored in such a reckless way
and being shown off to individuals
that are just visiting Donald Trump?
Well, in addition, Jake,
I was also years and years ago
a federal prosecutor hired by none
other than Rudy Giuliani in Manhattan
It's surreal
to know that there are TSA level,
highly classified,
compartmentalized documents
lounging around and in banker's
boxes in storage bins
at Mar a Lago that the former president,
it seems, showed off to various people.
We handled classified information
in Washington
in the most secure fashion in skips.
We don't talk about it outside of skips.
And for Donald Trump to undertake to do
this is alarming.
I'm concerned about the fallout
from this.
You know, an interesting challenge, Jake,
when this case goes to trial
and I'm certain it will will be.
How do you share
this information?
With 12
jurors
who were randomly selected off the street
so they appreciate
the gravity of what
former President Trump has done.
There's a procedure for doing this called
CPR, the Classified Information
Procedures Act.
But to try to show redacted, redacted
versions of this stuff or substance
So I think it's going to
be a challenge in this case.