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CNN INTERNATIONAL: CNN Goes Into Gang-Controlled Territory In Port-Au-Prince; Blinken: "Gaps Are Narrowing" In Israel-Hamas Ceasefire Talks; DOJ Files Historic Antitrust Suit Against Apple; Lawmakers Have A $1.2 Trillion Deal On The Table To Fund Government; Speaker Johnson Says He'll Invite Netanyahu To Address Congress; Sources: D.A. Willis Plans To Request Summer Trial Date For Trump; New York Attorney General Takes Initial Steps To Seize Trump Assets; E.U. Leaders Eye Russian Assets To Fund Ukraine's Defense. Aired 3-4p ET

Aired March 21, 2024 - 15:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

[15:00:36]

JIM SCIUTTO, CNN HOST: It is 07:00 p.m. in London, 3:00 p.m. in Port- au-Prince, 9:00 p.m. in Kyiv, 2:00 p.m. here in Houston. I'm Jim Sciutto and thanks so much for joining me today on CNN NEWSROOM. And let's get right to the news.

We begin in Haiti and the desperate effort there to restore law and order as deadly gang violence intensifies. U.S. government-chartered two helicopters today to evacuate Americans, this according to a senior State Department official. That after two flights arrive from Port-au-Prince in Florida, just last night.

This is a country in crisis with food in short supply. Residents living in fear and no one, it seems, in charge.

CNN's David Culver is on the ground in Port-au-Prince, where he rode along with Haiti's national police into gang-controlled territory

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DAVID CULVER, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Here in Port-au- Prince, there are no front lines. The boundaries, they are blurred and they are constantly shifting. And when you're with Haiti's national police force, one that is facing struggle and setback and diminishing resources, you realize just what they're up against and that is constant gang activity.

We're driving through areas that are highly contested between different gangs and the police and they're trying to hold them back time after time.

And yet these attacks are constant and they come at all hours. The police often, especially with armored vehicles like this, are able to push them back. The issue comes in holding that space and keeping it secure. They don't have enough resources to do that. Many of them have told us that's where an international mission would help.

As of now though, they have to go in, push-back and then move on to other areas where gang activity has broken out. It's incredible to be inside this tank of sorts and to realize just how much it has seen. Evidence of that is along the windows. The glass, bullet-proof in theory, but certainly has taken a lot of beatings

David Culver, CNN, Port-au-Prince, Haiti.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SCIUTTO: Our thanks to David for that report.

For more on the situation in Haiti, we're joined now by Sophie Mealier. She's the head of mission at Doctors Without Borders in Port- au-Prince.

Sophie, thanks so much for taking the time this afternoon.

SOPHIE MEALIER, HEAD OF MISSION AT MEDECINS SANS FRONTIERES (MSF): Thank you for inviting me.

SCIUTTO: You have described Port-au-Prince as a city plunged into chaos and violence. We're seeing so much evidence of that.

Is there any relief in sight?

MEALIER: No, not at all. Actually, since the beginning, so since 29 February, it's a very intense fighting in different areas. Last time I explained, it wasn't (INAUDIBLE) areas, and now we have more and more areas touch by the situation. So it's clearly becoming worse than before.

SCIUTTO: Sophie, the Haitian medical association secretary general told CNN, medical care in Haiti is, quote, on the verge of disaster. I wonder, are you concerned now about the outbreak of disease?

MEALIER: What we are seeing at the beginning, we had a lot of patient coming endured by the fight, but after a few days, weeks. that is happening. Now we are worried about the patients who have indeed some disease, chronic disease, like diabetes or we have facing, for example, (INAUDIBLE) that we have in Haiti, and people don't have access to health care since, since now, three weeks so they don't have access to their treatments and we are worried about the consequences of not having treatment in place for them.

So yes, we have we are facing different situation now. The response about the emergency, plus the patient who have sick and needs medical care and they cannot have access to that.

[15:05:05]

SCIUTTO: We're hearing now reports of gangs now attacking, even ransacking multiple hospitals, forcing some of them to close. Have you seen a similar threat? And how many hospitals remain open at this point?

MEALIER: So as we know, we have a lot of hospital who had who needed to close, the pubic health services and (INAUDIBLE) hospital for different reason. It's also because staff cannot access to the hospitals by itself. So if they don't have a staff, they cannot operate the activity.

So it's not because of gang attacking the hospital, but it's also because the population is indeed suffering of the situation and they cannot access to their work. Like, for example, for us, we have three hospital and we still continue to open them because we put in place shuttle that we can pick up our stuff and bring them to work. But we know that not everyone can do that. And unfortunately because of that, you have a lot of hospitals had to close goodness.

SCIUTTO: Goodness, just the worst you can imagine, like given how many people have need now.

I know it's your job to provide health care to people but who needs to, in your view, step in to provide security now, because it seems you can't do your job without some measure of law and order.

MEALIER: We cannot do our job properly, clearly, so this is the things for that people need to be able to move around and need to be safe to leave, first, and to go to their job and work after. So, were hoping that the situation can calm a little bit, and at least allow the people to go to work, and then allow the people to reach these facilities where they can receive any service that they need because we are talking about healthcare. But there is also like before healthcare, you have a water and sanitation issues, the food issues.

So this is all the consequences that after can impact on health for sure. So we have a lot to do before even talking about health care.

SCIUTTO: Goodness, understandable.

I know a lot of people watching right now at home would like to help anyway they can. What can you recommend? What's the best way to help?

MEALIER: I would recommend that feel free to donate whatever you can donate toward any organization that you can like MSF is for sure one organization where you can donate. There is a lot of organization who are working on healthcare or watch water and sanitation or food.

We are in need for sure for (INAUDIBLE) to be able to give a better service to the population here.

SCIUTTO: Yeah. Well, we certainly appreciate the work we're doing -- you're doing. We know you're doing it in the most difficult circumstances.

Sophie Mealier, Medecins Sans Frontieres, thanks so much for joining us.

MEALIER: Thank you very much.

SCIUTTO: More now to another part of the world experiencing suffering, the Israel-Hamas war. In the last hour, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken held a press conference in Cairo where he addressed the latest attempts to negotiate a ceasefire and secure the release of at least some of the hostages still held in Gaza.

Have a listen

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ANTONY BLINKEN, U.S. SECRETARY OF STATE: We've been working, as you know, with Egypt, with Qatar and with Israel to put a strong proposal on the table. Hamas responded to that. Negotiators continue to work. The gaps are narrowing and we're continuing to push for an agreement in Doha. Still difficult work to get there, but I continue to believe it's possible.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCIUTTO: Joining me now to discuss that more, former defense secretary under former President Donald Trump and CNN global affairs analyst, Mark Esper.

Thanks so much for taking the time this afternoon.

MARK ESPER, CNN GLOBAL AFFAIRS ANALYST: Good to be with you, Jim

SCIUTTO: So I've heard that phrase for some time, naps -- the gaps are narrowing. And yet we still don't have a deal. There was hope that would happen before Ramadan. It is not.

I wonder from your perspective, does either side in this want to make an agreement sufficiently to get to one?

ESPER: My sense is, Jim, that the sides are too far apart, that the demands being put forward by Hamas, for example, are completely unacceptable to Prime Minister Netanyahu. So, for example, previously, the Hamas said they want a complete ceasefire and they want an end to the conflict and they want IDF troops out of Gaza.

[15:15:09]

Look, there's no way those things would be acceptable to Israel because Israel believes it needs to finish the conflict and the way to finish the conflict is by going after the four to six militant battalions still left in Gaza, going after the underground facilities, and going after Hamas leadership in Gaza remains.

So I don't see how you narrow that, but the interestingly, you know, news reports are saying that the United States is going to put a resolution on the table at the U.N. that calls for a complete ceasefire to the conflict, which is news. That's something different. The United States has not put forward a complete ceasefire as compared to a temporary ceasefire or a pause in fighting. So it'll be curious to see where this goes, but I don't see, you know, peace breaking out anytime soon here.

SCIUTTO: That would be and I agree with you, that'd be quite a step because the U.S. has to date vetoed similar resolutions, but clearly, President Biden is applying pressure on Netanyahu. In particular, not to go into Rafah where so many Palestinians are still taking shelter here.

Yesterday you said Netanyahu, he needs to, in your view, go into Rafah because that's where they believe Hamas's leadership remains. But you said they have to take responsibility to balance that with the needs and the safety of the civilians there.

I wonder can Israel in your view strike that balance. Because to date, there's not a great deal of evidence that's been able to. I mean, the deaths of civilians, 13,000 children so far, 13,000 children does not seem to point to that being possible.

ESPER: Well, Jim, they can do both. They must do both. The question is, are they willing to take the risks, if you will, to do both?

As I said yesterday on CNN, that means exposing their troops two more risk in the dense urban combat. That means not applying, you know, for example, a massive airstrikes when you go in, and that means being more discriminate as you, you know, target things.

And look, you have to take care of civilians. You have to do your utmost best to protect them from harm. And I think they can do that. But is there the political will?

We'll know a little bit more. Apparently, the Israelis have sent a team to the United States. They'll be here in a few days to brief about their plan. But interestingly, you know, another change has been that the Biden administration is no longer saying only go into Rafah once you have a plan to move the civilians out. They're now saying, don't go into Rafah.

So it seems like the administration has made another change here in terms of its policy approach.

SCIUTTO: And certainly Netanyahu as well seems to be moving himself closer to the Republican Party here, which is not a new development in his leadership of Israel. That's quite a difference from past prime ministers who made an effort to make it a bipartisan relationship with U.S., an Israeli-U.S. partnership as opposed to a government aligning itself with one party here.

And I wonder if you believe that's in Israel's interests. So you have this invitation now for Netanyahu to come at the invitation of the House speaker to come address Congress.

ESPER: Well, look, I think it's smart for any country to maintain a bipartisan relationship with elected officials in Washington, D.C., and certainly, of course, with the executive branch.

So, look, he did speak before the Republican caucus yesterday. My understanding was he ask Democrats to speak to their -- their caucus, but that was turned back. He needs to be very careful here. You don't want to alienate one party over another, but, you know, clearly, the Republicans are showing more support now, because as you know, Democrats are divided and increasingly so because of progressives, folks on the far left, young Democrats who are saying you know, Israel's being -- is acting indiscriminately. They're promoting the Palestinian cause in some way.

So clearly, the Democratic left is shifting here in the United States and that's going to cause problems. Look, at the end of day though, Netanyahu is going to go where the majority of Israeli people are. And the sense is that the Israeli people want same thing that you're not been discussed.

And they want to take care of innocent civilians. They want to make sure that humanitarian aid is provided. But they also know that the Hamas needs to be knocked out or otherwise it's just going to be a few years before we go through this once again, and there's another October 7 attack.

SCIUTTO: Well, we should know that there are differences between the U.S. and even some of its closest allies, right, on how Israel has conducted this war.

I do want to talk about Ukraine because Ukraine's capital came under heavy missile fire in the early hours, Thursday, the worst that we've seen in some six weeks here. And just after the U.S. national security adviser, Jake Sullivan, had been in the city. Do you see Vladimir Putin emboldened following his election?

[15:15:03]

I mean, election in quotes, right, in the recent vote there under heavy restrictions -- be more aggressive in Ukraine, perhaps sensing division, not just in the U.S., but among some of U.S. allies regarding Ukraine.

ESPER: Oh, yeah, absolutely, Jim. He's been emboldened for a number of reasons. I mean, beginning with the United States not providing additional monies to $60 billion at the administration is requesting. He has the election. He's had the recent win of his forces capturing Avdiivka, which is in the Donetsk region and they're apparently picking up some towns further west of there.

So, momentum is on his side. He sees the European Union divided as well. As you know, Hungary's blocked funding for Ukraine. So there are a series of things happening that I think he sees that he's got the upper hand now, which is interestingly a far cry from where he was what six, seven, eight months ago, when Prigozhin was on the move north toward Moscow with troops, you know, how quickly things change.

And look, at this point, he's got the strategic patience to wait and see what happens in the U.S. elections in November of this year.

SCIUTTO: What does happen? Several of his former -- Trump's former senior advisers have told me that if Trump were to be reelected, he would end aid to Ukraine immediately and might very well attempt to take the U.S. out of NATO.

ESPER: Yeah, look, right now, aid to Ukraine is effectively ending, unless Democrats can submit a discharge petition and pull the funding out of the House, or maybe Speaker Mike Johnson changed his mind. But let's just say it continues, I think it's true. Donald Trump has

said on many occasions that when he gets an office, he is going to pull funding from Ukraine that he doesn't think it's worth the money being spent. It's not accounted for and he thinks that money is better spent on the southwest border securing what's happening down there with regard to illegal immigrants coming across.

But my view is we can and should do both. We have to help Ukraine defend itself from this unprovoked Russian invasion. At the same time, we have to secure our borders. So we can do both should do both. But this is going to be a big moment for the Ukrainians and for the Russians, what happens in November.

Clearly Biden will continue to support and clearly, Donald Trump will push to end support for Ukraine.

SCIUTTO: Yeah. It's quite a choice coming up in November.

Mark Esper, always good to have your thoughts. Thanks so much for joining.

ESPER: Thank you, Jim.

SCIUTTO: And we will have more on Russia's invasion of Ukraine, including a new E.U. proposal to fund Ukraine's defense later in the program from Russian funds.

Still to come, if you have an iPhone or any Apple product, as do billions of people around the world, listen up, the U.S. government just filed an historic antitrust lawsuit against the tech giant. We're going to have the details, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:20:06]

SCIUTTO: Now, the legal news -- the Justice Department is targeting one of the richest, most powerful, most visible tech companies in the world, Apple. Today, the DOJ filed a blockbuster antitrust suit against Apple, accusing it of intentionally harming competition in the electronic marketplace.

Attorney General Merrick Garland put it simply.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MERRICK GARLAND, ATTORNEY GENERAL: We alleged that Apple has consolidated its monopoly power, not by making its own products better, but by making other products worse. Monopolies like Apples threatened the free and fair markets upon which our economy is based. They stifle innovation. They hurt producers and workers, and they increased costs for consumers.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCIUTTO: Joining me now is CNN's Brian Fung. You know, and reading this, listen some of this stuff is stuff that you and I experience, right? If you're on an Apple phone, you text someone with an Android phone, it comes up in a different color, you know, things don't share quite as well as between Apple phones.

So can you expand here and tell us exactly what the DOJ is alleging?

BRIAN FUNG, CNN REPORTER: Sure. Yeah, Jim, one of those allegations is exactly as you said, how iPhone users experience the messaging with Android users and it when that green bubble shows up, it instantly tells you, look, you are dealing with a non iPhone user and that has some people saying, well, that feels like a second-class citizen sort of experience when android users show up differently. And that deters folks from going to android or other platforms that aren't in the iOS ecosystem. And that's just one example.

The Justice Department also says that mobile payments are restricted because Apple, you know, has this near-field communication chip that lets you use, you know, Apple iPhones to do tap to pay. Well, that chip, according to the Justice Department is only exclusive to Apple and you only can use an Apple digital wallet. You can't use a digital wallet made by Google or any other company when you're using an iPhone and its tap to pay chip.

So that according to the Justice Department is also anticompetitive. You know, if the Justice Department gets what it wants, this could be a wholesale change to Apple's business model that's turned it into a $2 trillion company. And so, this is a very, very big deal, Jim

SCIUTTO: Yeah, you have to think that payment system is right, because there's a lot of money to be made in those payments -- already being made.

Now, Apple has successfully fended off legal challenges in the past. I wonder how it's responding and what the next steps are. And also crucially, how long this whole thing might take?

FUNG: Yeah, obviously, Apple is pushing back very hard, vowing it's going to fight this lawsuit. You know, this could actually take many years to play out. Just like it took many years for the Microsoft case to play out.

Now, here's what Apple is saying in a statement. Let me read you a little bit here. They said, this lawsuit threatens who we are and the principles that set Apple products apart in fiercely competitive markets. It would also set a dangerous precedent, empowering government to take a heavy hand in designing people's technology.

So what we can expect here going forward is a big battle between the Justice Department and Apple over what markets Apple has allegedly monopolize. So, the Justice Department says that Apple has monopolized the markets for smartphones and performance smartphones that is high end smartphones that like iPhones that consumers all over the world have desperately sought after. And again, has turned Apple into the wealthiest, most powerful tech company in the world.

SCIUTTO: No question. So many people dependent on their phones as you and I know well.

Brian Fung, thanks so much.

Congress is facing yet another race against the clock to, well, just avoid a government shutdown. Deadline, midnight tomorrow, lawmakers have unveiled a $1.2 trillion plan that among other things, raises the Customs and Border Protection budget to protect the border, funds an additional 41,000 ICE detention beds. These for people captured for coming into the country illegally, offers 12,000 special immigrant visas. And this is crucial for Afghans who served alongside the U.S. during the Afghan war. It also increases funding being for Head Start, which is an early childhood education initiatives.

So, will this one pass? We like -- we go to this question every few weeks now.

Melanie Zanona joins me from the Capitol.

So does this one have the votes necessary to get through?

MELANIE ZANONA, CNN CAPITOL HILL REPORTER: Yeah. Well, it does look like its going to pass both the House and the Senate. The question is, when?

And, Jim, we should point out this has been a very tortured process to get to this point because remember, they were supposed to have funded the government for the fiscal year nearly six months ago. But finally, the White House and the top board congressional leaders were able to work it out. They finally came to agreement on these remaining six spending bills and it really is a true compromise.

[15:25:02]

You laid out some of the wins that Democrats are touting when it comes to child care funding, special immigrant visas for Afghans. They also were able to block a number of ultra conservative policy provisions, and then Republicans got more detention beds. They got more border agents. They got cuts to foreign aid.

So, now, it really is up to the leadership to sell this product to the rest of their members. And there is some outcry on the far right that they have not had a lot of time to read this bill. It's over thousand pages that didn't get released until around three in the morning this morning. And the House is going to vote on it tomorrow morning, around 11:30.

Again, we are expecting it to pass, but its going to require some hefty Democratic support to get over the finish line. And then it heads to the Senate where of course choirs, all 100 senators to move quickly. So it only takes one person to really gum up the works.

So they're trying to make that Friday midnight deadline, but there's a chance this could slip into the weekend, which means there would be a brief lapse in government funding. But as long as they can get it done by Monday, the minimal-- the impact should be minimal, Jim. SCIUTTO: Very quickly where does it stand on the Ukraine aid package? Is that still coming? Is it days away, weeks away, or might it never come?

ZANONA: It might never come. Speaker Mike Johnson did say, he's going to turn his attention to this issue after government funding is complete, but the House is going to be on recess for two weeks? It's also unclear what bill they would vote on because Johnson said he's not going to take up the Senate bill. There has been a group of Republicans in the house trying to work on their own package potentially turning Ukraine aid into some form of a loan, which is something Donald Trump is floated.

But the Senate is against that idea for the most part. And anything they do, it's going to take time and people who are supporting Ukraine can say they just don't have time on their side, Jim.

SCIUTTO: They just got pummeled in the last 24 hours, Kyiv did, multiple cruise missiles.

ZANONA: Right.

SCIUTTO: Melanie Zanona, thanks so much.

All right. So joining me now to discuss, a member of Congress, Congressmen Gerry Connolly, Democrat from Virginia.

Congressman, thanks so much for taking the time.

REP. GERRY CONNOLLY (D-VA): My pleasure to be with you.

SCIUITTO: So first on the spending proposal, are you going to support it? And do you believe it will pass before tomorrow's deadline?

CONNOLLY: We're still looking at the details in the bill. There's some things we like and some things we don't but on balance, I believe that we have to support this bill. We have to keep the government funded -- almost two thirds of the government is funded in this bill. And it takes us finally through the end of the fiscal year.

So I would expect very strong support by a majority of the House.

SCIUTTO: Okay. On the Ukraine aid package, you're a big supporter of it. Ukraine is suffering. They're running out of ammunition. I've heard 1,000 different ways that folks are going to try to get this across the finish line, including a discharge position in effect, going around the authority of the speaker.

Are any of those efforts alive or anywhere set to happen in the near term?

CONNOLLY: We have to get aid to Ukraine, as you said, Jim, but I don't think a discharge petition is going to be successful. There are two competing discharge petitions so each one is draining support off the other. We're not going to get to 218 that way. So, sooner or later the speaker is going to have to actually act with some courage, and bring a robust Ukraine aid bill to the floor sooner rather than later, because as you indicated in your recording, Ukrainians are dying for lack of ammunition on the battlefield.

SCIUTTO: But he's -- people have been talking about that for ages, and he's shown -- he's talked about it certainly, but he hasn't done it yet. He could have done it yesterday or weeks ago. What evidence or confidence do you have that that's going to happen, the speaker is going to bring it to the floor for a vote?

CONNOLLY: The only evidence I think we have is his own word. He has told multiple sources including President Zelenskyy of Ukraine, including numerous pro-Ukraine Republicans, including some key Republican leaders in chairman of critical committees that he will bring a Ukraine aid bill to the floor.

So, his words on the line. I have no reason to doubt his word. But as you indicate, time is fleeting and lives are being in loss. So, we've got to get this done and done soon.

SCIUTTO: Ukrainian commanders have told me soldiers are dying as they wait for this ammunition.

I want to ask you about Israel now, because as you know, the speaker said today, he will extend an invitation to the Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to address Congress directly.

Do you support that decision?

CONNOLLY: I do not support Netanyahu coming back here to the Congress for joint session if it involves a snub to the president the United States he did this once before to President Obama. It was to me an unforgivable foreign policy breach of protocol.

He used it for political purposes. In fact, he actually filmed his speech to the -- to the Congress for his campaign reelection back in Israel, after telling us this was above politics.

[15:30:07]

And so, I do not favor a repeat of that. If the president of the United States counts (ph) as his coming here and both the Democratic Senate and the Republican House extend the invitation, he's more than welcome.

SCIUTTO: I want to ask you be -- I want to play for you what Jared Kushner, the former president's son-in-law, said last month, though revealed only in recent days about the future of Gaza and I want to draw attention to a particular line in this. Let me play it for you and I want to get your thoughts.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JARED KUSHNER, FORMER TRUMP WHITE HOUSE SENIOR ADVISER: And Gaza's waterfront property, it could be very valuable to if people would focus on kind of building up livelihoods. You think about all the money that's gotten into this tunnel network and do all the munitions, if that would have gone into education or innovation, what could have been done? And so, I think that it's a little bit of an unfortunate situation there, but I think from Israel's perspective, I would do my best to move the people out and then clean it up.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCIUTTO: Move the people out, move the Palestinians out of Gaza there.

Is it that the Trump team, if he were to be reelected, would give right-wing Israeli leadership what they want, what they're looking for, including them in some of the hardliners want to move Palestinians out of the West Bank as well?

CONNOLLY: If past is prologue, the answer to that question is tragically, yes. President Trump basically gave Netanyahu everything he wanted when he was president for that four-year period. And I think what Kushner just said is repugnant beyond imagining. It is ethnic cleansing at its worst, and to then go on as if he were developing property and in beachfront areas of the Carolinas, speculating how valuable be front property is in Gaza, while 31,000 when people have been killed, is disgusting, and beneath contempt.

And I can only imagine the impact those words on the suffering Palestinian people in Gaza right now.

SCIUTTO: Congressmen Gerry Connolly, we appreciate your joining us this afternoon.

CONNOLLY: My pleasure.

SCIUTTO: Still to come this hour, the bill is coming due for former President Donald Trump. He owes nearly half a billion dollars to cover the judgment against him in the New York civil fraud case. So how will he pay and can he pay it? We're going to try to answer that coming up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SCIUTTO: Welcome back.

New exclusive reporting from CNN, Georgia District Attorney Fani Willis is pushing forward now with her goal of beginning Donald Trump's election interference trial this summer.

[15:35:09]

That move coming after Willis narrowly avoided being disqualified from the case due to a romantic relationship with the then lead prosecutor, Nathan Wade. He's since withdrawn.

CNN's Zach Cohen joins us now with this exclusive reporting.

Zach, how ambitious is this timeline? And is it just aspirational or is it possible?

ZACHARY COHEN, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY REPORTER: Yeah. Jim, I mean, it's a bold move from Fani Willis, I think there's no doubt about that. And it's an aggressive timeline.

And look, this will be the second time she's asked Judge Scott McAfee who oversees the Georgia case to set a trial date and to set one as soon as this summer that would obviously put the trial date before the 2024 presidential election, which again is been the objective of the D.A.'s team. This entire time, but its really -- it seems to be a hard pivot by Fani Willis in this case, given where we are in the case and given what we spent the last two months talking about, and that's the allegations of an improper romantic relationship between Willis and her top prosecutor.

It's clear Willis is trying to redirect some of the focus back to the case itself and pushing McAfee to put a trial date on the calendar is really a clear sign of that. And it also is consistent with what Fani Willis said when she was forced to take the stand to defend herself in the disqualification proceedings, she made the point that she's not the one on trial. Donald Trump, in his fellow co-defendants, are for trying to steal the 2020 election.

So really in mind with what we've heard from her, even publicly when she herself felt like she was on trial now, pushing to try to make a trial for Donald Trump and his co-defendants happened before the election.

SCIUTTO: Now, as we said, the judge did not push her off the case. She still leads the case, but she is now allowing Trump's attorney's to appeal that disqualification ruling.

Does that impact the timeline at all or does that appeal take place while other steps in this case move forward?

COHEN: Yeah. Jim, it's really interesting in the judge's order yesterday, he made clear that those two things are going to happen in parallel, will happen at the same time, the appeals process, the appeals court has 45 days to say if its going to take up this matter, it can say no. It can reject the petition to appeal the ruling from McAfee.

It could also take it up and potentially overturn McAfee's decision to let Willis stay on the case, but that will not pause the case. McAfee made that very clear yesterday, he said there he's going to continue to work through what does a stack of other motions, other pretrial issues that have to happen before trial can even occur.

SCIUTTO: The wheels of justice that can move slowly.

Zach Cohen, thanks so much.

So speaking of the wheels of justice, let's move from Atlanta to New York. Now, another of Trumps myriad legal issues and trials, he has until Monday now to come up with nearly half a billion dollars he needs to post bond in his civil fraud case. Today, the New York Attorney General Letitia James took the first legal steps towards the potential, at least, of seizing Trump's assets if he cannot pay that bill. Filings in Westchester County, north of Manhattan, signal James is

eyeing Trump's golf course and his estate there, Seven Springs. So what are Trump's options exactly.

I'm joined now by William Cohan. He's founding partner at Puck.

William, good to have you on.

WILLIAM COHAN, FOUNDING PARTNER, PUCK: Great to be here. Thank you.

SCIUTTO: So, she's starting -- she's at least putting the wheels in motion to seize assets here, if you can't come up with the money.

So what are Trump's options now? He tried to get underwriters to give them a bond, some 30 of them said no. So where does that leave him?

COHAN: Between a rock and a hard place, if you asked me. I mean, it's still got a few days, right? You know, presumably, he started the process of trying to raise this cash a while ago. If you were smart because he could obviously see the writing on the wall here.

But I think if he can't get this money together by Sunday, she's going to start seizing assets. And the only way he can stop that, Jim, is if he files for personal bankruptcy. So I personally think that that's going to be his best option here.

That's not going to allow him to avoid this judgment but it will slow things down, throw a lot of sand in the gears. You know, if the Court of Appeals in New York doesn't give him the time to try to give him more time, his best option will be personal bankruptcy, if you asked me.

SCIUTTO: Well, I mean, I know there has been some reporting that he is loath to file for personal bankruptcy. If he doesn't do that, is seizure of assets the only option? Or could some white knight come to his rescue? Just offer up the money to pay it for him?

COHAN: Well, I mean, I think a white knight would have to -- I mean, he is the Republican candidate for president in United States. I believe there's federal election laws to kick in. So any white knight is going to run foul of federal election laws.

A $500 million donation is a very large donation. I think --

SCIUTTO: Yes.

COHAN: -- well in excess of what the legal limits are. So I don't think he can do that. A foreign government, no.

She's going to start seizing his assets and, you know, first with this bank account, then his brokerage account, then Seven Springs, which is a logical place for her to turn.

To stop any of that or to slow it down, personal bankruptcy, Jim.

SCIUTTO: Wow. Now, with assets seizure, how would that work exactly? Would they become the property of the state of New York? Would that be a temporary thing?

COHAN: Look, I think what would happen is, you know, they have this judgment and he owes the money. They can begin the sale process, so, right. I mean, you just don't seize the assets and it turns into cash.

SCIUTTO: Right.

COHAN: You have to, you know, begin the process of marketing these assets -- Seven Springs, 40 Wall Street, Trump Tower takes time, find a buyer, figure out what the buyer will pay, you know? So, it begins, it's the beginning of a process. She'll get her money.

SCIUTTO: Let me ask you a very basic question then, because Trump claims to be worth billions of dollars and we know there's a track record of him claiming to be worth more than he actually is, some of which is the substance of this very civil fraud case here.

COHAN: Yes.

SCIUTTO: Why didn't they have the cash to pay this?

COHAN: He testified, you know, in this case and a deposition under oath that he had $400 million or growing every day into more than that. I hate to say it, but obviously that was not true because if he did have that kind of money, this would not be a problem.

So I hear, you know, you obviously had to put up some cash in the E. Jean Carroll to make that bond happens so that he could appeal that case. He obviously doesn't have the cash that he said under oath that he has. And that's so why he's in this situation now and his assets are fewer than people think and they're relatively encumbered with mortgages and other debt.

It's unclear what the equity is in these projects and how liquid they can be, and how quickly they can make them liquid. So, you know, this is problem that he's got.

SCIUTTO: Final question Trump's strategy with all those cases and even going back long before he was president was to delay, delay, delay, partly with the expectation that once he's president, he could kill some of the federal cases or perhaps both the federal cases. In this case whether he's elected or not, doesn't matter. Is that right? Yeah. I mean, this is a state case and he would have to come up with the money regardless?

COHAN: He's going to have to come up with this money. His best possible way to delay if the New York Court of Appeals does not grant him his wish for a delay, which I think has not yet been decided. If he wants to delay, the best way to do that is personal bankruptcy.

That'll put it in the federal bankruptcy court, takes time to organize that and figure things out. And that's probably his best option. It doesn't mean he can avoid this judgment, but he can sell assets in a dignified, smarter way. You might also have the money from his SPAC by then, or at least know that that's deal is going to happen. The merger of truth, social into that SPAC, which would be worth a lot of money to him, too.

SCIUTTO: Goodness. Well, one thing is certain, if you or I were to apply for a security clearance and were bankrupt, that would be an issue. Whole another issue we'll get to that at a later time. William Cohan, thanks so much.

COHAN: Thank you.

SCIUTTO: Still to come, the heavy missile attack on Kyiv, we mentioned, just as European leaders are looking for new ways to fund Ukraine's defense without U.S. help coming for now.

Our Richard Quest standing by with new reporting. That's next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:45:58]

SCIUTTO: Welcome back.

A heavy missile attack on Kyiv left more than 25,000 people seeking shelter inside the city's metro stations. Officials say about a dozen people were injured from falling debris no reports so far of fatalities. This is the first time in six weeks the Kyiv has come under such heavy fire and notably, this attacks comes just hours after a visit to the Ukrainian capital by U.S. national security adviser Jake Sullivan.

CNN's Fred Pleitgen filed this report from Berlin.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice- over): After more than a month of relative calm, Ukraine's capital once again under sustained Russian missile fire, more than a dozen injured, mostly from falling debris as the Ukrainians shot the missiles down.

This is a ruthless extermination of the Ukrainians and an attack on the civilian population that was just sleeping, this man says.

We feel hatred, terrible hatred, he says. This is not fear. This is hatred towards Russia generally and everyone in particular.

Russia's new missile blitz on Ukraine's capital coming just as Vladimir Putin was officially announced as the winner of the Russian presidential election, which was never in doubt.

VLADIMIR PUTIN, RUSSIAN PRESIDENT (through translator): The elections has shown that Russia today is one big friendly family. We walk together on historical path chosen by us, confident in ourselves, in our strengths, and in our future. Thank you.

PLEITGEN: But some Russians fear their path after Putin's victory could lead them straight into military service and the battlefields in Ukraine. As Russia burns through soldiers while achieving only minor gains, and

the Russian defense ministry says, they will drastically increase the size of the Russian military by tens of thousands of troops.

SERGEI SHOIGU, RUSSIAN DEFENSE MINISTER (through translator): The plan is to form by the end of the year to combined arms armies, 30 units, including 14 divisions and 16 brigades.

PLEITGEN: All this as the Ukrainians are already drastically outmanned and outgunned. Ammunition stocks running dangerously low, Kyiv says. The E.U. now wants to step up and use profits from Russian assets frozen in Europe to pay for arming Ukraine.

While the Kremlin is threatening to retaliate, the Ukrainians say they'd welcome the measure with the U.S. funding still held up by House Republican leadership, even though National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan on a visit to Ukraine said he remains hopeful.

JAKE SULLIVAN, U.S. NATIONAL SECURITY ADVISOR: From our perspective, we are confident we will get this done. We will get this aid to Ukraine.

PLEITGEN: Just hours after Sullivan's remarks, Putin's missiles came raining down on key, a reminder that when it comes to getting weapons stocks replenished, the Ukrainians don't have a moment to lose.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PLEITGEN (on camera): And you know, Jim, after this early morning attack, Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. He came out and he praised the air defenses of the country. He said the Russians currently don't have a missile that can bypass the U.S. made Patriots surface to air missile system. But, of course, the Ukrainians have been saying they need a lot more of them -- Jim.

SCIUTTO: Our thanks to Fred Pleitgen for that report.

European Union leaders are now considering a new way, a new proposal to use about $3 billion per year in profits generated by frozen Russian assets to help fund Ukraine's defense. This as $60 billion in U.S. remains stalled on Capitol Hill yet again, blocked by House Republicans.

For more on that E.U. proposal, I'm joined now by CNN business editor at large and anchor of "QUEST MEANS BUSINESS," Richard Quest, who spoke with E.U. Commissioner Thierry Breton earlier today.

So, Richard, there's been talk of this for some time. Some concerns about what precedent it might set.

[15:50:00]

Can you explain this new proposal and crucially, how quickly could this aid get to Ukraine?

RICHARD QUEST, CNN BUSINESS EDITOR AT LARGE: Well, there are difficulties, there are questions of international legality of the sequestration in a way of these profits. And can they be used for military purposes?

So there some legal, if you will niceties that's have gotten away. But I think European leaders, and today, there was a meeting of the European council, just up the road here, they've had enough of it. They've already provided about 28 to 30 billion dollars worth of aid that could come out to about 40 or 50 billion. And what Europe basically says is that they are now paying almost, if not as much as the United States since the U.S. hasn't paid its last slot, it was supposed to.

More importantly for Europe, they believe is getting their own defense industries up, running harder, faster, quicker, and more integrated. And that's what Thierry Breton, the European commissioner was talking about when he said it basically putting it in blunt language, it's time for Europe to get its act together.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

THIERRY BRETON, EUROPEAN COMMISSIONER FOR INTERNAL MARKET: Of course, we are allies United States, but we're getting what we see. So, there's a very big consensus now here in Europe that we needed to take out this into our hands. In other words, we can do everything in Europe in terms of our defense industry. We can do hypersonic missiles, aircraft carriers, nuclear submarines, everything. But the question is to do it faster and together.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

QUEST: Now, this is all going to be too long in a way for Ukraine, they need help now. And that's why the one the NATO secretary general says, Europe is great. Europe is fine but the reality is U.S. military prowess products, they are -- that they are essential and cannot be avoided.

SCIUTTO: But let me ask you this then, given the continued delays in this country and the fact that we have a presidential race, one of the candidates, Trump, who is talking about moving further away, ending aid to Ukraine, perhaps even leaving NATO, is part of this that the U.S. -- is the E.U. rather is protecting itself in case the U.S. doesn't come through.

QUEST: It's totally that. I mean, they would say the alliance and NATO is all fair enough and all good. But Europe has to stop, not only paying its 2 percent of defense as required by NATO, which is music to former President Trump's ears, and actually, by the way, as a result of what he did last time, more European countries did actually start paying more. So, the former president is right on that front.

But ultimately, what they are saying and the German said, the French are very hawkish at the moment on it, is that Europe needs to provide for itself. That's going to cost money and it's time to start paying.

SCIUTTO: Fascinating reporting. Richard, thanks so much.

You could see more of his reporting next hour on "QUEST MEANS BUSINESS".

And when we come back, this hour, the gambling scandals surrounding the former now interpreter for Los Angeles Dodgers superstar Shohei Ohtani. Fascinating story, that's next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:55:05]

SCIUTTO: A gambling scandal, a big one, just a week before baseball's opening day. The interpreter for baseball's biggest star Shohei Ohtani has now been fired for massive theft allegations. Ohtani's attorneys accused his interpreter of stealing millions of dollars from Ohtani, then placing bets with a bookmaker, losing a lot of money.

CNN's Coy Wire joins me now.

Coy, walk us through the details of the story and are there any questions about Ohtani's involvement himself?

COY WIRE, CNN SPORTS CORRESPONDENT: I think many are questioning who all is involved in this, (INAUDIBLE) what is another Pete Rose sort of situation who, of course, was banned from baseball for life for his involvement in gambling.

And the reason for the questions, Jim, is because the explanation of how this all went down changed and it changed quickly. Shohei Ohtani spokesman originally told an investigative reporter at ESPN that Ohtani was covering the gambling debts of his longtime interpreter and friend, Ippei Mizuhara, to the tune of $4.5. But then Ohtani's lawyers contradicted that on Wednesday saying Ohtani was the victim of massive theft.

This all came to light because federal investigators are looking into an illegal California gambling operation as first reported by "The L.A. Times". According to ESPN, Ohtani sent those millions of dollars in wire transfers from his bank account to an alleged bookmaking operation with Mizuhara, originally telling ESPN on Tuesday that the transfers were to cover his losses, but that Ohtani had, quote, zero involvement in betting.

And Mizuhara said that he didn't know gambling was illegal in California and that Ohtani wasn't happy about his debt, but decided to pay it off for him. Well, as ESPN was getting ready to publish their story on Wednesday, Ohtani's lawyers sent out a statement saying this, in the course of responding to recent media inquiries, we discovered that Shohei has been the victim of a massive theft and we are turning the matter over to the authorities.

And on Wednesday, Jim, Mizuhara walked back much of what he originally told ESPN, saying that he had lied and that Ohtani had no knowledge of his gambling activities, his debts or any efforts to repay them. CNN is attempting to contact Mizuhara, we've reached out to local authorities and Major League Baseball, Jim, who will not comment at the time.

SCIUTTO: Wow, lot -- lots of questions. Coy Wire, thanks so much.

WIRE: Uh-huh.

SCIUTTO: And thanks so much to all of you for joining me today. I'm Jim Sciutto.

"QUEST MEANS BUSINESS" is up right next.