the cnn newsroom. i m jim acosta in washington. we begin this hour with the deadly outbreak of tornadoes that ripped across much of the south and midwest beginning yesterday afternoon. just over the last few hours, the death toll has more than doubled. 21 people are now confirmed killed by the storms and all more than 50. tornadoes have been reported in seven states, at least 12 of those tornadoes. were reported in arkansas state of emergency is in place in the hardest hit areas, including when the devastated arkansas town that you re seeing right there. cnn s derek van dam is with the latest from arkansas. jim. i was just talking to my crew a moment ago , and the scene behind us reminds us of being on the set of a major blockbuster movie. i mean, just look at what we have with this destruction coming out of wynne, arkansas, that is a church steeple that was blown off by this tornado. look at the incredible damage in front of that building just in front of us here. we have el
off from his mar-a-lago home sometime on monday on there for the formal arraignment on this 30-plus indictment that has been handed down. he would be the first former president to have to deal with something like this. it will be historic, and we re told that plans have been made to make it as unzoo-like, if you can use such a term, as possible by closing off traffic in lower manhattan and making sure that the former president can get safely into and out of that building. he will have to be the fingerprinted, he will have to be given a mug shot. there will be no handcuffing going on here, and he will be likely field on his own reconnaissance to the head back to florida. so we re keeping track of all of those storms. let s get the ones impacting a lot of folks who in some cases are dealing with this all off again. will nunley in wynne, arkansas, with more on that. reporter: nile, many a lot of cases absolutely total losses of their homes. and in the case of wynne, loss of li
former president s reaction and what it means for his campaign good day i m andrea mitchell in washington with what we are learning about the historic indictment of a former president and frontrunner for the 2024 presidential nomination. the indictment is currently under seal a source with direct knowledge of the court proceedings says prosecutors are not expected to ask a judge to unseal it today two sources familiar with the matter say the indictment has approximately 30 counts of charges related to document fraud. one of trump s lawyers told savannah guthrie that the former president is expecting to travel to new york tuesday to surrender to authorities and be arraigned. do you expect the president to voluntarily surrender will he come for his arraignment? we are working out those logistics right now. absolutely he is not going to stay in mar-a-lago we will face it. we will be successful, i m sure. he is currently expected to appear before a judge sometime tuesday
it s march 31, 2023. we are reporting on the first filing in the prosecution of former president donald trump. you may not have seen this yet it s new it s formalized by a court document that lists this case for the first time, the people of the state of new york versus donald j. trump, defendant what you see on your screen we have highlighted the key word there is actually a first for all of mr. trump s legal scuffles and civil cases, which end in payments, not prison, even if you lose this is the first time he has been on the other side of the government the people of the state of new york versus this criminal defendant. we have this new order from a judge. it marks the formal opening of this case file it notes the indictment which is called a true bill you see that there it was returned by the grand jury think of the words true bill as equivalent legally to indictment or charges under that piece of legal terminology or jargon, we learn there is a true bill, there are
in a statement to cnn, the attorney says no one tells us anything which is very frustrating. president trump is basing his response on press reports and the fact that this is a political prosecution and the d.a. leaks things to the press instead of communicating to the lawyers as they should. now, this drama began earlier today on trump s truth social page after predicting his arrest on tuesday, the former president urged his supporters to quote, take back our nation. and tonight his campaign is already fundraising off of his claims, which have not been confirmed. there is no indication that he will be arrested tuesday. sources tell me and my colleague that trump s legal team has gotten no word from the manhattan district attorney s office about the timing of any possible indictment. another source says the former president has been pushing his team to get the base riled up over the idea because he believes it would help him politically. cnn is following the latest developmen