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Russian Missiles Hit Ukraine's Power System, Gas Storages; Japanese Prime Minister Calls On Congress To Aid Ukraine; Shohei Ohtani's Ex-Interpreter Charged With Federal Bank Fraud; Football Star O.J. Simpson Dies After Battle With Cancer; ISIS Group Threatens European Football Stadiums; Remembering the Chibok Girls, 10 Years Later; Trump Plans to Punish Perceived Enemies If He Wins Second Term; Some Economists Warn Trump's Tariff Plan Would Hurt Economy; DeChambeau Leads after Bad Weather Plagues First Round. Aired 1-2a ET
Aired April 12, 2024 - 01:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[01:00:00]
JOHN YANG: Ahead this hour on CNN, Putin's revenge. A wave of Russian missiles and drones cause widespread damage to Ukraine's energy grid. Retaliation, it seems so Ukrainian drone strikes on Russian power plants.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: If it doesn't fit, you must acquit.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: We look back at the most -- one of the most infamous American figures of the 20th century O.J. Simpson, football superstar turned actor turned accused double murderer. Also this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
Mr. Mizuhara committed fraud on a massive scale.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: The ultimate betrayal how the former interpreter and close friend to major league baseball star Shohei Ohtani allegedly used that position of trust to sell millions of dollars.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Live from Atlanta, This is CNN Newsroom with John Vause.
VAUSE: In recent weeks, a resurgent Russian military has renewed attacks on Ukraine's civilian infrastructure, especially the national power grid. And on Thursday morning, Russian missiles and drones scored a major blow, destroying one of Ukraine's biggest power plants just outside the capital Kyiv will strike elsewhere and reduced output from the largest electricity provider to 20 percent.
Ukraine air defenses were unable to shoot down a third of incoming Russian fire. At a regional summit in Lithuania President Volodymyr Zelenskyy once again pleaded with Western allies for more air defenses and other military assistance.
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VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY, UKRAINIAN PRESINDENT (through translator): We don't have our own air defense compatible to the Patriot system. It just doesn't exist. I want to tell you that we need time. We need help from our partners. We don't need Patriot systems forever. We will definitely be able to produce our own systems. We started working on this. I believe we will be able to do it. But during this time, we don't want to lose people.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: According to Russia's President Vladimir Putin, Thursday's attack was in response to recent Ukrainian strikes on Russia's power facilities. Ukrainian officials are becoming increasingly not just by the high number of missiles and drones fired by Russia, but also the accuracy, which indicates better intelligence and fresh tactics by Moscow. And this ongoing offensive on Ukraine's electrical grid. More details down from CNN's Fred Pleitgen.
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FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice- over): Kyiv's largest power plant destroyed the energy company center in there go declaring Thursday quote, a black day, the dark smoke on the skyline marking the end of the company's energy supply. All three of its power plants across the country either destroyed or occupied.
Russian strikes systematically targeting power facilities have been a constant in Ukraine since late 2022. But have ramped up in recent weeks. DTEK, Ukraine's largest power company saying two of their plants were also targeted overnight.
They say their facilities have suffered their worst attacks this month since the war began with 80 percent of their infrastructure already destroyed. Employees trying to repair and to rebuild the burnt out skeleton of their facilities needing to be back up and running as soon as possible echoing each other's calls for the world to ramp up its weapons support.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): We need more air defenses. If we don't have air defenses, there won't be anything left. A lot of missiles and drones get through and we get a lot of hits.
PLEITGEN (voice-over): It's a call heard many times over with the Ukrainian president currently in Lithuania to meet European leaders and to ensure those calls do not become white noise in this very long war.
Warnings by generals also becoming more desperate, with the country's parliament voting on Thursday to overhaul mobilization rules, potentially allowing the military to call up more men. GEN. YURIY SODOL, COMMANDER, JOINT FORCES OF UKRAINE (through translator): The enemy outnumbers us by seven to 10 times with lack manpower, where we are holding the defenses on the last breath.
PLEITGEN (voice-over): The bill still needing to be signed into law by the Zelenskyy is a sign of an exhausted frontline. Civilians in Kyiv spending the night once again underground, a routine too familiar for a country resilient as ever. Fred Pleitgen, CNN, Delphi, Greece.
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VAUSE: According to U.S. and other intelligence assessments, Russian military losses were so severe in Ukraine, it would take a decade to recover. That appears to be wildly optimistic, with the head of the U.S. European command saying Russia has been quite successful at rebuilding its forces despite heavy sanctions from the west.
At the same time, Ukraine is struggling with ammunition shortages and a military exhausted for more than two years at war. Here's General Chris Cavoli (INAUDIBLE) Russia's military comeback.
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GEN. CHRISTOPHER CAVOLI, COMMANDER, U.S. EUROPEAN COMMAND: The attrition that they've suffered so far has been very significant. But it's been localized. It's been mainly in the ground forces. They lost a couple 1,000 tanks and the ground forces, they lost as many as 75,000 killed from the ground forces but they've replenished those.
[01:05:01]
They've grown back to what they were before. They've got some gaps that have been produced by this war, but their overall capacity is very significant still, and they intend to make it go higher.
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VAUSE: Joining me now is Peter Layton, a Visiting Fellow with the Griffith Asia Institute in Brisbane. Good to see you, Peter, like you've been with us.
PETER LAYTON, VISITING FELLOW, GRIFFITH ASIA INSTITUTE: Yes, John.
VAUSE: OK. Here are a few headlines from May of last year from Britain's Telegraph. Russian army needs a decade to rebuild, and NATO can take advantage all. Over at The Daily Mail, Russia will take up to 30 years to rebuild its economic and military strength. While the Defense Post, Russian military may take 10 years to recover.
That report, it came from testimony by U.S. Lieutenant General Scott Barrier on Capitol Hill, telling lawmakers at the time that the estimates go from five to 10 years based on how sanctions affect them and their ability to put technology back into their force.
Well, it hasn't been 10 years, it hasn't been five years. It hasn't even been a year since then. So how do you get it so wrong? And what are the consequences?
LAYTON: I think that the point is that the Russians know exactly what forces that they need. So they are if you like, maximizing the appropriate production of tanks and armored vehicles. Now bear in mind that the Russians ended the Cold War with literally tens of thousands of army vehicles, most of those waiting to stall, was stall very badly and they have taken well, some years now to return back into service.
So these are perhaps not the sort of leading edge tanks and armored vehicles. But these are old Cold War ones, but they have been refurbished. And as the general said, there are thousands of them.
I think, also, that the West has been optimistic, I suppose, about casualty figures, the Russians have been politics highly successful in recruiting a lot more soldiers, especially those out of Central Asia. They are also recruiting foreigners, of course, out of places like Cuba, Syria, et cetera.
So they have a mix of other Russian nationals and foreigners. And of course, the Russians match to the surprises of, you know, or sort of, to our surprise these days, but historically normal for the Russians have had, of course, using us very large numbers of convicts and of prisoners as well.
They're talking about recruiting or reconstituted about fourths of 400,000 this year. That's extraordinarily large.
VAUSE: Yes, just with regards to the tank. So you mentioned the tanks, I want to get to the soundbite from your general Chris Cavoli.
LAYTON: Yes.
VAUSE: He talks about how many they have and how they're doing it, listen to this.
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CAVOLI: They've got tank production going on. They've got tank refurbishment going on, and they've got tank repair going on. And they have managed, they still have as many tanks functioning inside Ukraine, as they introduced at the beginning of the war.
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VAUSE: And they lost 3,000 so they replaced that 3,000 with another 3,000. So is this a direct result of Putin putting the economy on a war footing? And how long can that last?
LAYTON: Very much so. Russia has certainly -- has certainly moved into being a war state if you like, where wartime needs dominate everything. Certainly the figures look like this could last another four or five years.
Russia has also has been buying military hardware from the foreign countries as well. And the missiles are interesting example that in that Russia is making about 100 cruise missiles, et cetera, a month, but they're buying from the Iranians thousands of the of these Shahed drones. So there's a combination of making new missiles if you like, and buying stuff from offshore.
VAUSE: Also, Russia seems to be getting help indirectly, at least in China has that working?
LAYTON: It seems that the Chinese are selling various dual use items into third countries. And if you like they are being smuggled into Russia. And the big example are the low cost consumer drones made by the DJI company. And I have to say, of course, that the DJI drones also finding their way onto the u into Ukrainian service as well. So it's a curious thing that the Chinese products are in service on both sides of the bottom line.
VAUSE: China is the, you know, manufacturing in half of the world, I guess in many ways. OK, so once I get this resurgent Russia, in contrast to Ukraine, critically lower ammunition, especially artillery, air defense is a failing troops are exhausted. Is this how wars are won and lost?
LAYTON: Now this particular one, I think, yes. The attrition is certainly how -- it is certainly how this war is being fought. If we go back to World War I the Germans lost because they because -- they just suddenly lost a lot more people and a lot more gear.
[01:10:07]
And this one looks to be very similar, very modern Russia is about three times the population base. Therefore Russia starts off very well placed. At the moment, the Ukrainians are losing more than I can replace easily.
VAUSE: Peter Layton. Thank you for your insights. Thank you for analysis most appreciated.
LAYTON: Thanks so much, John.
VAUSE: Take care. During his address to a joint session of U.S. Congress, Japan's Prime Minister made a plea on behalf of Ukraine. Fumio Kishida appeal to lawmakers to once again embrace America's leadership role in the world as defenders of liberty, democracy and freedom.
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FUMIO KISHIDA, JAPANESE PRIME MINISTER: Without U.S. support, how long before hopes of Ukraine would collapse under the onslaught from Moscow.
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VAUSE: Japanese Prime Minister also took part of the first ever trilateral summit with the U.S. and the Philippine presidents at the White House. The three leaders issued a joint vision statement, saying that equal partners and trusted friends are bound by shared values. CNN's Kristie Lu Stout live for us in Hong Kong watching all of this happen.
So, it does seem notable, given all the tension to the Asia Pacific region that President Biden reminded both leaders who was with him at the White House of U.S. Defense commitment allies is ironclad.
KRISTIE LU STOUT, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, absolutely especially given tensions from China on Thursday. The leaders of the U.S., Japan, the Philippines gathered in the White House to counter China and it's increasing pressure in the South China Sea and China is pushing back.
In fact today this morning, we learned that the Chinese Coast Guard is conducting a patrol near the disputed Diaoyu or the Senkaku Islands it's according to state run media. On Thursday, the U.S. president Joe Biden, he hosted the Japanese prime minister and the president of Philippines in this White House summit and Biden said that U.S. Defense commitments to both countries are iron clad. Listen to this.
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JOE BIDEN, U.S. PRESIDENT: The United States defense commitments to Japan and to the Philippines are iron clad, their iron clad. As I said before, any attack on Philippine aircraft vessels or armed forces in the South China Sea would invoke our mutual defense treaty.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LU STOUT: OK, he made reference to the mutual defense treaty between the U.S. and the Philippines that dates back to 1951. It says both sides would help defend each other if either were attacked.
Now on Thursday, the three nations announced plans to bolster the Philippines with new investment and infrastructure projects in the following. Let's bring up the graphic for you in ports, in rail, including a new rail and shipping corridor for the Philippines, in clean energy, in semiconductor supply chains. Also in wireless communications.
Now the three nations also pledged to deepen cooperation in humanitarian assistance and disaster response.
Now also on Thursday, we heard from the Japanese Prime Minister, he addressed Congress, he called China the greatest strategic challenge and China has pushed back it criticized Japan and the U.S. for ratcheting up tensions on Thursday.
This is what we heard from the spokesperson the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Mao Ning said this quote, U.S.-Japan relations should not target other countries harm their interests or undermine regional peace and stability. China firmly opposes the cold war mentality and small group politics unquote. She also added that China's actions at sea are quote in full compliance with international law.
Look, Japan has a dispute with China over islands in the East China Sea. The Philippines has had several tense encounters, especially in the last month with China in the South China Sea. In fact, last month, a CNN team including Ivan Watson witnessed that confrontation while on embedd with the Philippine Coast Guard, so China's provocative moves have resulted to this moment it has drawn regional allies closer together and as seen at the White House on Thursday, closer to the United States. Back to you.
VAUSE: Kristie, thank you. Kristie Lu Stout live for us in Hong Kong. Appreciate it.
With that, we'll take a short break, when we come back. If the glove don't fit, you must acquit. It didn't end they did. A look back at the controversial murder trial now late O.J. Simpson.
Also, fraud charges filed against Shohei Ohtani his former interpreter, how much he's accused of stealing from the L.A. Dodgers superstar and what happens next.
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[01:16:39]
VAUSE: O.J. Simpson the former U.S. football star and broadcaster who was acquitted in the death of his ex-wife and her friend has died he was 76 and had suffered a long battle with prostate cancer.
Back in 1994, millions watch the slow speed police chase and Simpsons white Bronco and live television after he was charged with two counts of murder. His trial and subsequent acquittal divided the United States along racial lines. Here's more now from CNN's Stephanie Elam.
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STEPHANIE ELAM, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): O.J. Simpson dead, leaving behind a controversial legacy.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: If it doesn't fit, you must acquit.
ELAM (voice-over): Some only know him for the so called trial of the century for double murder after the infamous slow speed chase. Others recall Simpson's heyday as one of the best running backs in football.
O.J. SIMPSON, FORMER FOOTBALL STAR AND ACTOR: What a beautiful day it is in Las Vegas.
ELAM (voice-over): This is the last public statements Simpson made on social media in February, about eight months after announcing he had cancer.
SIMPSON: Let me take a moment to say thank you to all the people who reached out to me. My health is good. I mean, obviously I'm dealing with some issues. But I think I'm just about overwritten. I'll be back on that golf course. Hopefully in a couple of weeks.
ELAM (voice-over): Simpson died two months later, reaction from the Pro Football Hall of Fame celebrating his on field success as quote, the first player to reach a rushing mark many thought could not be attained and a 14-game season when he topped 2,000 yards.
KATO KAELIN, WITNESS IN O.J. SIMPSON TRIAL: I'd like to express my condolences to the children.
ELAM (voice-over): Kato Kaelin who rose to fame as a witness in the murder trial put the focus on O.J. his ex-wife Nicole Brown and friend Ron Goldman, who were stabbed to death outside Brown's L.A. home in June 1994.
KAELIN: Nicole was a beacon of light that burned bright may we never forget her.
ELAM (voice-over): Others reflecting on the polarizing life Simpson led.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Scaring everybody man.
SIMPSON: I'm not going to hurt anybody.
ELAM (voice-over): The football star led police on a shocking low speed chase on live TV after he was charged in the murders.
JEFF MALLES, POTHOGRAPHER, KCAL-TV: With every freeway overcrossing there began to gather more and more crowds of people.
ELAM (voice-over): But Simpson fought the charges in a trial that divided America. It happened as racial inequality in the justice system was front and center. Following the 1992 acquittal of the LAPD officers who beat Rodney King and the riots that followed. The nation stopped in its tracks to hear the Simpson verdict read on live TV.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Orenthal James Simpson not guilty of the crime of murder.
ELAM (voice-over): Was he framed by the police, or did he get away with murder? The debate raged at the watercooler and Simpson capitalized on it, writing a book entitled "If I Did It," which the publisher ultimately never released.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There was never closure. Ron is always gone.
ELAM (voice-over): The family of Ron Goldman who won a wrongful death civil suit against Simpson in 1997 won control of the book rights and released the book under the title, "I did It: Confessions of the Killer" in 2007.
SIMPSON: I didn't know I was doing anything illegal.
ELAM (voice-over): It wasn't until 2008 that Simpson would go to jail, serving nine years for kidnapping, armed robbery and assault with a dead weapon after he broke into a hotel room to retrieve his stolen belongings.
[01:20:03]
UNIDENATIFIED MALE: What we have is satisfaction that this monster is where he belongs.
ELAM (voice-over): The legal turmoil overshadowing what had been a trailblazing life.
ELAM: And the family of Ron Goldman has put out a statement that reads in part, quote, The news of Ron's killer passing away is a mixed bag of complicated emotions and reminds us that the journey through grief is not linear. For three decades, we tirelessly pursue justice for Ron and Nicole, and despite a civil judgment and his confession in "If I Did It," the hope for true accountability has ended.
And they go on to say that they're going to continue to advocate for the rights of all victims and survivors. And they thank people for keeping the family and Ron in their hearts for the last 30 years. And this is signed by Kim and Fred Goldman.
So while O.J. Simpson's life has come to an end here, obviously you see the pain from that very tumultuous time will still live on. Back to you.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VAUSE: And Stephanie Elam thank you for that. Well the former interpreter and once close friend to Major League Baseball superstar Shohei Ohtani is expected to turn himself into authorities in the day ahead. Ippei Mizuhara is facing federal bank fraud charges for allegedly stealing more than $16 million from Ohtani to pay gambling debts.
Prosecutors allegedly have recordings of Mizuhara impersonating Ohtani will ask him bank staff to transfer funds from Ohtani's accounts and they emphasize authorities to that Ohtani is the victim here.
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MARTIN ESTRADA, U.S. ATTORNEY: Our investigation has revealed the due to the position of trust he occupied with Mr. Ohtani. Mr. Mizuhara had unique access to Mr. Ohtani's finances.
Mr. Mizuhara used and abused that position of trust in order to take advantage of Mr. Ohtani. Mr. Mizuhara used and abused that position of trust in order to plunder Mr. Ohtani's bank account to the tune of over $16 million.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: We'll stay with the story for a little longer. Joining us now from Los Angeles civil rights attorney and Legal Affairs commentator Areva Martin. Good to see you, Areva.
AREVA MARTIN, LEGAL AFFAIRS COMMENTATOR: Hey, John.
VAUSE: OK. This indictment seems to be a victory for Occam's razor, the civil most likely explanation was correct. Here's how Ohtani explained what was happening in his own words.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Just to kind of just go over the result. In conclusion, Ippei has been stealing money from my account, and has told lies.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: That was another interpreter talking for behalf of Ohtani. But it's kind of an understatement in the sense that this was a massive betrayal by someone Ohtani had befriended, and obviously he trusted way too much.
MARTIN: Yes, it's really a sad story because we know that Ohtani has very limited English skills and relied heavily on this interpreter who happened to be a good friend of his had to manage his finances gave him access to his bank accounts. And this interpreter made sure that other members of a Ohtani's team, his lawyers, his accountants, his manager, and other professionals that worked for him did not have access to that account so that he could perpetrate this crime so he could steal millions of dollars from Ohtani.
And now we know what that money was used for was used for illegal gambling. So it's the ultimate betrayal from a friend or by a friend.
VAUSE: Yes, and why are the way Mizuhara allegedly stole the money seems especially sinister. Listen to this.
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ESTRADA: We've obtained recordings of telephone calls, which means Mizuhara spoke with bank employees lied to them about being Mr. Ohtani gave personal biographical information for Mr. Ohtani in order to impersonate him, and thereby convinced the bank to approve large wire transfers of large amounts of money to the bookmakers.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: So given the betrayal of trust here, the premeditation the citizen nature of how it was well done, would that have an impact later in kind of in sentencing here?
MARTIN: Oh, absolutely. I think these charges are very serious. Let's start with that. They carry up to 30 years in prison if he is indeed convicted. I suspect they'll generate a case like this, there's going to be a plea deal. There's not very much by way of defense that this interpreter can put forth that would allow him to escape liability for these crimes. They have the video, the audio tapes, I should say, of him making calls, they have his phone, they have Ohtani's phone, they have the transfers from the bank.
So they have the kind of evidence that's going to make it pretty difficult for him to like launch any kind of defense. So I suspect that there's going to be a plea deal where he'll accept some pretty large amount of jail time for these crimes.
I mean, like I said, 30 years are at stake. So I wouldn't be surprised if we don't see some deal where he's in the, you know, seven to maybe 12 years, you know, pleading out to those kinds of to that -- to the fraud charges and accepting that kind of jail time.
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VAUSE: As you say this appears to be a sweeping investigation very detailed, looking closely at thousands of text messages as well as phone calls and bank accounts. I want you listen again to the U.S. Attorney Martin Estrada. Here he has
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ESTRADA: Messages between Mr. Mizuhara and the bookmaker show that he lost considerable money on those bets. But he continued to make the wagers thousands of wagers over time.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: In fact, Prosecutors allege that Mizuhara winning bets totaled $142,256,769. Total losing bets $182,935,206, meaning he allegedly lost more than $40 million. And Mizuhara was placing an average of almost 25 bets daily, for an average daily total of $320,000.
That is extraordinary. I'm wondering, does it seem strange or odd to you that no one at the Dodgers, no one within Major League Baseball had any idea that this was happening.
MARTIN: Well, when you look at how this was structured, how this interpreter use his leverage, uses friendship, use the trust that a tiny had in him and kept his other professionals, those professionals like accountants, lawyers and managers, or kept them away from this account. It's not all that extraordinary.
We see this unfortunately, all too often with sports figures where they trust their managers, they trust a financial person. And there's fraud that goes on this went on for three years. And as you said, these the numbers are just jaw dropping. We can care the amount of bets that were placed in the amount of money that was lost.
Again, Ohtani is a victim, as the U.S. attorney has stated very clearly he was unaware of these transfers, he was unaware of the fraud that was being committed. He was unaware that his friend that he trusted was impersonating him and making these transfers with the bank.
I just think it's a wake up call, obviously, for anyone that has the kind of money that attorney has in terms of being much, much more diligent in terms of reviewing your finances and records because obviously this could have been caught. He's transfers, or were coming out of his account.
So had anyone reviewed the bank records, John, the fraud would have been revealed. So three years of these kinds of transfers, it begs the question about the safeguards or the lack of safeguards that were in place.
VAUSE: Yes. $700 million contract with L.A. Dodgers will soften the blow a little bit, but still, it's going to hurt. Areva, as always, thank you so much for being with us. Really appreciate it.
MARTIN: Thanks, John.
VAUSE: We take a short break, when we come back. Football stadiums across Europe on alert, authorities warn of possible attacks from ISIS-K, the same group which struck the concert hall near Moscow.
Also, a look back at the mass kidnapping that shocked the world. Revisiting Nigeria's Chibok girls 10 years after their lives changed forever.
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VAUSE: Welcome back everyone. I'm John Vause. You're watching CNN NEWSROOM.
Police in Paris are boosting security ahead of this week's Champions League matches after threats from ISIS and its affiliates. And there's growing fear the terror group could strike in the United States.
More now from CNN's Melissa Bell reporting in from Paris.
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MELISSA BELL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: This was ISIS-K training in Afghanistan back in 2016. Now, it is to the United States that the group presents an urgent threat, according to FBI director Chris Wray.
CHRISTOPHER WRAY, FBI DIRECTOR: the potential for a coordinated attack here in the homeland, like the ISIS-K attack we saw at the Russia concert hall just a couple of weeks ago is now increasingly concerning.
BELL: That attack in Russia, the deadliest in decades, killing more than 100 and quickly claimed by ISIS-K, the affiliate of ISIS that's been regrouping in Afghanistan and the surrounding region.
ROBERT BAER, CNN INTELLIGENCE ANALYST: ISIS-K is like the blob that forms and reforms and disappears. What's left of it in Europe is a brand and it's anybody who perceives a great injustice and has the capabilities, can claim an attack in the name of ISIS. And this is what makes it so difficult to close this movement down.
BELL: And now this clear sign that in the West too, the group is back. A terror threat posted by the pro-ISIS al-Azaim (ph) media outlets saying kill them all, and identifying four major European stadiums, including London's Emirates Stadium, Paris' Parc de Prince, and Madrid where security was also tightened this week as Al-Azaim broadcast an image of a drone flying above the stadium with the message, "strike them from the sky".
BAER: But when people congregate, it's virtually is impossible to protect them as we saw in Kansas City.
Carrying weapons around this country is very easy. You can take a truck -- stolen, leased, whatever -- and run it into a mass gathering. BELL: The latest threats, only adding to the pressure already being
felt in Europe with France more than doubling the military personnel that patrol its streets in the wake of the Moscow attack.
EMMANUEL MACRON, FRENCH PRESIDENT (through translator): Our hope is that the culprits can be found as quickly as possible, and that we continue to fight effectively against these groups which are targeting several countries.
WRAY: Makes it even more --
BELL: Those groups now also targeting the United States at unprecedented levels according to the FBI.
WRAY: I see blinking lights everywhere I turn.
BELL: The attack on the Moscow Crocus music venue now seen as a wakeup call for the West too as ISIS-K revives long dormant terror fears.
Melissa Bell, CNN -- Paris.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VAUSE: New warning from Israel. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is hinting at a wider regional conflict publicly saying his government is preparing for scenarios in other locations beyond the war in Gaza. U.S. officials have already want Iran could carry out an imminent attack on American or Israeli targets. Iran blames Israel for a deadly strike on its consulate in Syria last week and has vowed retaliation.
President Joe Biden says the U.S. commitment to Israeli security is ironclad in the face of Iranian threats.
Well now to Nigeria, nearly ten years after the Chibok school kidnapping which stunned the world. In April of 2014, Boko Haram militants stormed a school in the north of the country, kidnapping nearly 300 students and sparking a global cry to "bring back our girls".
Stephanie Busari and CNN's "As Equals" makes the journey to Chibok to meet some of those who managed to escape as well as the families of those still missing.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
STEPHANIE BUSARI, CNN SENIOR EDITOR OF AFRICA: The road to Chibok, northeastern Nigeria. 10 years on from the kidnapping of nearly 300 schoolgirls. We've come to meet some of the girls who were taken that night in April 2014 and see how the threat of abduction still shapes children's lives here.
HAUWA ISHAYA, FORMER CHIBOK SCHOOLGIRL KIDNAPPED BY BOKO HARAM: They've come for this way, this one.
BUSARI: And there were many cars, many trucks.
ISHAYA: Yes, they are plenty --
BUSARI: Hauwa was just 16 when she was snatched from her boarding school late at night by Boko Haram militants.
[01:34:49]
ISHAYA: They burned the hall for writing exams.
BUSARI: So they burned the hall where you were supposed to write your exams?
ISHAYA: Yes. They burned --
BUSARI: They were really against education that much.
The Islamist group took more than 270 girls into the vast Sambisa Forest, though some managed to escape.
Amina, now 27, was also abducted that night, told by Boko Haram leaders that marriage was the only way to avoid repeated abuse by fighters in the camp.
AMINA ALI, FORMER CHIBOK SCHOOLGIRL KIDNAPPED BY BOKO HARAM: They just say they will take us as a slave and then any time he wants to sleep with you, he will sleep with you. And then when he is tired of you, he will hand you over to someone else. And so, I just think, I better agree to get married to one person.
BUSARI: She was the first of the Chibok girls to escape after being held in a forest, emerging with her Boko Haram husband, who also fled the group and their young baby after two years.
Now, eight years old, Amina's daughter has faced stigma for being the child of a Boko Haram fighter.
School kidnappings are a shadow that hang over the education system in Northern Nigeria with an estimated 1,700 children abducted from school in the past decade, according to Amnesty International.
Just last month, more than 100 students, some as young as eight, were taken by armed men who stormed their school in Kuriga, Kaduna Province.
In recent years, criminal gangs have created a kidnapping for ransom industry, spanning across the northwest of the country, which successive governments have struggled to grapple with.
OBY EZEKWESILI, CO-CONVENER, BRING BACK OUR GIRLS CAMPAIGN AND FOUNDER, NIGERIA'S SCHOOL OF POLITICS, POLICY AND GOVERNANCE: The failure of governance around the Chibok girls' issue has led to an industry of abduction, a society that has scant regard for human life.
BUSARI: Many Nigerian mothers are now too scared to send them to school.
EZEKWESILI: Guess what Chibok girls tragedy did? It made the mothers feel guilty in their mind that what they did by arguing for education for their daughter was to, say, pay with your life in order to be educated.
BUSARI: Fewer than 50 percent of Nigerian girls attend school at a basic education level, according to a UNICEF report, in a country with 5 percent of the world's children by 2030.
The United Nations has said, quote, "What happens to children in Nigeria matters significantly to regional and global development."
Back in Chibok, for many mothers the pain continues a decade on Yana's (ph) daughter, Rifkatu (ph), was among the Chibok girls stolen from school and remains missing along with 81 others.
BUSARI: Do you believe in your heart that she's alive?
YANA (PH): I believe she's alive. She is my blood and I believe she's alive.
BUSARI: She's kept her daughter's clothes ready for when she returns.
YANA (PH): This is how we keep it. We always wash the clothes, fold it and then keep it for almost 10 years now.
BUSARI: Never giving up hope, despite the agony she and so many parents in Nigeria have to endure.
Stephanie Busari, CNN -- Chibok, Nigeria.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: This report is part of CNN's ongoing "As Equals" series on gender inequality.
Myanmar's military rulers continue to see significant losses to opposition rebel fighters who now claim control of its key town of Myawaddy and its military base along the Thai border.
About 200 government troops abandoned their posts and were pushed back to a bridge linking Myanmar to Thailand.
CNN cannot independently confirm the rebels claims.
Myanmar was plunged into a civil war after the military seized power in a coup three years ago. And since that coup, Myanmar has seen a surge in poverty.
A new report from the U.N. Development Program reveals some startling numbers. 76 percent of the nation's population lives below or very close to a subsistence existence just enough to stay alive.
Also, the nation's poverty rate hit nearly 50 percent last year, almost double the rate back in 2017.
Still ahead, from starting a trade war to targeting perceived enemies, Donald Trump is making plans for a second term in the White House. Let's take a close look of that agenda in a moment.
[01:39:22]
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VAUSE: Well, despite three attempts to delay proceedings, jury selection is set to begin Monday in Donald Trump's hush money to a porn star trial in New York. An appeals court judge ruled Wednesday the trial can go ahead. Trump's legal team challenges a gag order imposed in the case.
Trump's rhetoric has grown increasingly heated. He faces dozens of federal and state charges in four criminal cases, all while running for his second term for the White House.
That heated rhetoric is now offering a preview of what another Trump presidency might just look like.
Here's CNN's Phil Mattingly.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DONALD TRUMP, FORMER U.S. PRESIDENT: This is a disgrace. This is a third world country.
PHIL MATTINGLY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Just days before Donald Trump becomes the first former president to go on criminal trial --
TRUMP: It's all coming out of the DOJ. A thing like this has never happened before.
MATTINGLY: His unyielding and fact-challenged rhetorical defense on the campaign trail obscured a stark reality.
TRUMP: These radical left lunatics want to interfere with our elections by using law enforcement.
MATTINGLY: What he alleges is the exact authority Trump plans to claim in a second term, according to a CNN review of campaign policy proposals and conversations with advisers and allies. The threats leveled at his opponents --
TRUMP: I will appoint a real special prosecutor to go after the most corrupt president in the history of the United States of America, Joe Biden.
MATTINGLY: Ready to be acted out if voters return him to the Oval Office. As one Washington Republican who talks to the Trump campaign framed it, Democrats hit first, we are going to hit back harder.
When confronted with the lack of any evidence of White House involvement, Republican said, that's what he believes. That's what his people believe. And unlike last time, this is his party now.
And many voters don't seem to mind.
Trump has repeatedly attacked prosecutors and judges, their families, their relationships, former officials and his political opponents.
He called for former GOP Congresswoman Liz Cheney and the rest of the January 6 committee to be jailed. He's even floated execution to the former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
The guy accused the president of being on cocaine last week and nobody even blinked, one Biden campaign official said when asked about Trump's strength in the polls. After all, this animating feature of Trump's 2016 campaign --
CROWD: Lock her up, lock her up.
MATTINGLY: -- never actually came to fruition. And though Trump's affinity for vengeance existed long before that first campaign --
TRUMP: If given the opportunity, I will get even with some people that were disloyal to me.
MATTINGLY: -- and was often raised in his first term.
JOHN BOLTON, FORMER TRUMP NATIONAL SECURITY ADVISER: One of my favorite preoccupations during my time as national security adviser was counting how many times Trump said John Kerry should be prosecuted.
MATTINGLY: It ran headlong into advisors, Congress, and the courts loath to bend to his will.
TRUMP: I am your warrior. I am your justice. And for those who have been wronged and betrayed, I am your retribution. I am your retribution.
MATTINGLY: This time is different. Four indictments and 88 felony charges have sharpened Trump's privately-raised desire for revenge.
TRUMP: If they do this and they've already done it. But if they want to follow through on this -- yes, it could certainly happen in reverse.
MATTINGLY: Congressional Republicans who pushed back on Trump are gone or on their way out. Almost always replaced by loyalists who owe their election to Trump's endorsement.
[01:44:48]
MATTINGLY: Federal courts blocked or forced withdrawal of an unprecedented number of Trump rules. They are now stocked with hundreds of young and sharply conservative Trump appointees.
At the same moment, Trump and his advisers embrace a maximalist theory on his presidential authority.
The advisers who blocked Trump's wishes, replaced by Trump devotees --
TRUMP: I put great people in but I also put people that I made a mistake with. MATTINGLY: -- will form the backbone of expansive policy proposals targeting Justice Department, national security, and intelligence officials laying the groundwork to terminate career government officials deemed insufficiently loyal.
TRUMP: We need to make it much easier to fire rogue bureaucrats who are deliberately undermining democracy.
MATTINGLY: And with Trump escalating his rhetorical warfare in advance of his trial next week on charges brought by the New York district attorney, it should be noted, there's a policy proposal for that, too.
TRUMP: I will direct a completely overhauled DOJ to investigate every radical D.A. and A.G. in America for their illegal races and reverse enforcement of the law.
MATTINGLY: The point here is this. Donald Trump without question heading into the first criminal trial of former president in history faces the most significant legal peril of his entire career, decades in business, eight years in politics.
But if he survives that trial and any other of the four criminal trials he may face and wins reelection. He will enter the Oval Office, a more powerful, with more power-consolidated president than any we've seen over the course of a period of decades.
His team, his advisers, and his close allies, make clear that's not a bug, that's a future that's exactly what they want and they plan to act and utilize that power going forward.
Thats something that his team makes very clear that people should be aware of. Democrats also say people should be aware of, there's no question about it.
The legal peril aside, Donald Trump, is in a position right now somewhat paradoxically and he may be one of the most powerful presidents in recent decades if he's reelected.
Phil Mattingly, CNN -- New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VAUSE: And if he does get elected for a second term, it seems he wants to impose an even tougher tariff regime on imports. Trump once boasted he was tariff man and in his second term, he is proposing a 10 percent across the board tariff on imports, a 60 percent tariff on imports from China, and a 100 percent tariff on foreign cars.
Some economists warn Trumps trade agenda and possible retaliation from other countries could hurt the economy, it will increase inflation, it will kill jobs and could actually lead to a recession.
Rana Foroohar is CNN's global economic analyst as well as a global business columnist and associate editor for "The Financial Times". She joins us this hour from New York. Good to see you.
RANA FOROOHAR, CNN GLOBAL ECONOMIC ANALYST: Great to see you.
VAUSE: OK. So Donald Trump loves a tariff, even if he has no idea how they work. Here he is speaking last night.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: We're going to put a 100 percent tariff on every single car that comes across the line. And you're not going to be able to sell those, guys. If I get elected.
Now, if I don't get elected, it's going to be a bloodbath for the whole -- that's going to be the least of it. It's going to be a bloodbath for the country.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: Right. OK. It is difficult to predict the economic impact from Trump's new more aggressive approach to tariffs. But Moody's is predicting a 10 percent tariff on imports and a 60 percent tariff on Chinese goods, would cost the U.S. economy 675,000 jobs, wipe-out 0.6 percentage points from U.S. GDP and boost the unemployment rate by 0.4 percentage points.
Well, those numbers can be up for debate. The bottom line though is tariffs are specifically designed to increase the cost of certain inputs either by the importer paying that cost or the consumer paying that cost. Someone has to pay.
So right now with the Federal Reserve struggling to bring down inflation, a policy which deliberately increases prices does not seem like a very good idea.
FOROOHAR: I would say that that is broadly true. You know, tariffs are essentially what happened in 1930s when we got the Great Depression. It was interesting to me in that clip that Donald Trump is now talking about 100 percent tariffs. We went from 10 percent to 100 percent. You know, that in of itself is a bit worrisome.
But you know, you can spin the numbers either way. By and large most economists think that tariffs do raise prices. Now, one thing I will say is that both the Trump administration when he was in office and the Biden administration today are taking a different tact in terms of thinking about trade.
I mean, they're thinking about not just prices for consumers, but what it means for workers when so many jobs go abroad to cheap, cheaper labor countries. So tariffs are basically about keeping Chinese goods out of America and thus potentially increasing U.S. industrialization.
You can model that as a gain, but you can also model it as a loss. The bottom line is, we don't know, we haven't been here in 100 years.
[01:49:43]
VAUSE: Well, exactly because 1922 the U.S. Congress raised input taxes by 40 percent and then eight years later came the Smoot-Hawley Act. Congress raised tariffs by 20 percent. And we all know how that worked out. Not really good.
FOROOHAR: Right.
VAUSE: So you mentioned this Great Depression. History does not repeat itself, but it often rhymes. What are the chances that Trump's tariff plans if he gets a chance to implement it will trigger a trade war with China.
We could see a recession in the United States. You know, this seems to be a moment when the law of unintended consequences comes into play.
FOROOHAR: So you're 100 percent right that there are many, many unpredictable vectors in play. I would argue, frankly that were already in a trade war with China. I mean, we've just seen a new 301 case come from the shipbuilding unions against Chinese shipbuilders. The president is going to be acting on that or not in the next 33 days or so.
You have worries about EV dumping. Janet Yellen just came back from Beijing trying to get them to stop dumping cheap electronic -- sorry electric vehicles into the U.S. and Europe didn't have much luck with that.
So tensions are high. Would they get worse if there was a 10 percent tariff? 100 percent. The big question is, what would happen in the U.S.? Would this result in a massive recession or even a depression, or would you see a speeding up of reindustrialization particularly if it was paired with a weakening of the dollar, which is what some folks on both on the right and the left would argue.
VAUSE: Rana, great to see you. Thank you so much.
FOROOHAR: Good to see you
VAUSE: Bad weather on the first day of play at the Masters. When we come back, we'll look at the leaderboard and also the latest from Augusta National.
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VAUSE: Fast-melting snow and ice caused one of Europe's longest rivers to burst its banks, triggering catastrophic flooding in parts of Russia and Kazakhstan.
Officials expect the Ural River to continue to rise through the weekend. More than 100,000 people have already been evacuated and there have been protests over the government response in some parts.
Kazakhstan's president says the floods might be the biggest disaster in more than 80 years.
Severe weather is slamming parts of the southern U.S. and even spawning a series of tornadoes. Funnel cloud looming above coastal Florida appeared to touchdown Thursday. The strong storms moving through the state also triggered flash flood warnings and emergencies. Louisiana, Texas, and Alabama were also hit by at least five tornadoes
Wednesday. Storms caused widespread outages and damage to homes as well as businesses.
Well, the first round at golf Masters Tournament in Augusta, Georgia was interrupted by bad weather Thursday. Players will tee off in about six hours now to finish the round. Play was suspended due to darkness.
CNN's Don Riddell has this report from Augusta Nationals.
DON RIDDELL, CNN WORLD SPORT ANCHOR: Day One of the Masters is in the books, but not quite the first round. The start of play on Thursday morning was delayed by two-and-a-half hours because of the weather. And when the action did finally get underway, it was pretty gusty out there during the afternoon.
But despite all of that, we still saw some very, very impressive scores, setting the pace so far the former U.S. Open champion Bryson DeChambeau, the American meant business right from tee off. Birdies at his first three holes, making eight birdies in total for a seven under par score of 65. He says that he's found a new approach to the game. He's keeping it simple.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BRYSON DECHAMBEAU, PROFESSIONAL GOLFER: It's been a journey to say the least. One that I have thoroughly enjoyed, but also it's taken a big toll on me in numerous situations.
[01:54:49]
DECHAMBEAU: I'm just doing the same thing every single day in and day out. I'm not trying something new -- I'm trying to figure something out. And that's why I feel like it just accumulated into playing some really good golf.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
RIDDELL: Meanwhile, he's got the world number one, Scottie Scheffler for company at the top of the leaderboard. He arrived in Augusta on a red-hot streak and he navigated a gusty course without dropping a single shot.
The 2022 Masters champion is extremely well placed just one of the lead on six under par. as usual, much of the excitement on the course this afternoon concern the 48-year-old, five-time champion Tiger Woods.
He says he believes that he can win a sixth green jacket this week and so far so good. He managed to get in 13 holes before darkness fell. He's on 100 par.
All things considered. It's been a pretty good day for Tiger Woods, but he will have a lot of golf now to play on Friday.
Back to you. (END VIDEOTAPE)
VAUSE: Don Riddell, thank you.
Well, three fisherman stranded on a tiny island, near Guam have been rescued by the U.S. Coast Guard. They'd been missing for more than a week on that tiny atoll and they'd survived on coconuts and fresh, well water.
But the key to their rescued, they use palm tree leaves to spell out the word "help", which really stood in contrast to that white sandy beach. A Coast Guard plane spotted the sign and in a twist, one of the rescuers turned out to be a relative of one of the three fishermen.
Well, speaking of discovery, rare paintings not seen for 2,000 years have been uncovered by archaeologists at the ruined roman town of Pompei. The artworks depict mythological characters linked to the Trojan War, including Helen of Troy and the Greek god Apollo. It was though found in a dining hall with black painted walls covered in stunning frescoes.
And according to the Pompeii Archaeological Park, the elaborate room provided ancient Romans with an elegant setting for entertainment and conversation during banquets. That's when they put the feather down their throat to vomit, to eat more.
Pompeii was buried by the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in the year 79 CE and archaeologists had been unearthing its treasures since the 1700s.
Thank you for watching. I'm John Vause.
CNN NEWSROOM continues with Kim Brunhuber after a quick break.
Have a great weekend. I'll see you next week.
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