happens, is anybody s guess, and today s events only added to the drama. i m pamela brown in for anderson tonight. the former president kicked off speculation that an indictment may be imminent with a social media post over the weekend stating that it may come tomorrow but he offered no proof of that and his own lawyer told cnn that they are merely repeating what they read in the media but they can t be because everyone is in the dark about what s going on behind the closed doors of the grand jury room and about when they could reach a decision. all we know is that if the former president is charged, it will be historic and not just for the reasons we cited, but also because of the nature of the crime being alleged. a payoff and coverup of an alleged relationship with an adult film actress, something trump has denied. any potential indictment can also be the first of more charges to come for former president trump. those would involve separate investigations out of the justic
indictment could land soon. that has law enforcement in new york and washington beefing up security ahead of potential protests. but amid putin continues talks with his dear friend, she jinping, and moscow, in the coming hours. the white house says it s watching the meeting of russian and chinese leaders closely. how this visit could impact the war in ukraine. plus, shares and u.s. bank first republic tumbled to a new low, raising the question is the banking system in the u.s. secure, or is more turmoil coming? live from cnn center, this is cnn newsroom with rosemary church. good to have you with us. it s two a.m. and new york, with the city that never sleeps is getting ready for an unprecedented possibility. talk the indictment of a former president. a senior law enforcement official tells cnn donald trump could be charged as soon as this week. but that s for us close to trump s legal team say they don t expect any arrest or court appearance to happen before next
something more. reporter: according to lawyers for smith s family, s.l.e.d. has agreed to work with them and participate in exhuming stephen s body for a private autopsy to gather more evidence. it s all validation for sandy smith who told us before the news she never believed her 19-year-old son s death was an accident. in my heart, this was not a hit-and-run. i think he was murdered, and i just need the proof. reporter: smith s body was found lying in a rural south carolina road back in 2015. state investigators initially ruled it a hit-and-run and no one has ever been charged. in june of 2021, s.l.e.d. reopened the case based on information gathered during the course of the double murder investigation of paul and maggie murdaugh. the agency has not said what that information was. a netflix documentary raised the possibility of a relationship between smith and buster murdaugh. there are so many rumors swirling around that buster and stephen were intimate together. reporter:
answers, eight years after the mysterious death of her teenage son. overnight, the south carolina law enforcement division known as s.l.e.d. confirms to nbc news stephen smith s death is being investigated as a homicide. based upon their review of the forensic evidence that they too are convinced that this was not a hit and run, that this was something more. reporter: according to lawyers for smith s family, s.l.e.d. has also agreed to work with them and participate in exhuming stephen s body for a private autopsy to gather more evidence. it s all validation for sandy smith who told us before the news she never believed her 19-year-old son s death was an accident. in my heart this was not a hit and run. i think he was murdered and i just need the proof. reporter: smith s body was found lying in a rural south carolina road back in 2015, state investigators initially ruled it a hit and run and no one has ever been charged. in june of 2021, s.l.e.d.
2015, on sandy run road in hampton county. in the road, a boy. he s been dumped. reporter: at the time it a peerpd stephen was the victim of a hit and run but the south carolina highway patrol s incident report noted they didn t find any debris or injuries consistent with being struck by a vehicle. according to the case notes stephen died from blunt force trauma to the head and stephen s loosely tied shoes remained on his feet. if he was hit by a vehicle that s going fast enough, it s going to project you. your shoes are just going to fall off. reporter: along with exhuming stephen s body, she hopes to gain access to his phone calls and text messages in the months and hours leading up to his death. a crime scene investigator is expected to take a fresh look at the forensics and determine if he was struck by a vehicle or something else. sandy told me last year she has