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$98 Billion Aid Packaged Passes House; Zelenskyy, "Thank You America"; Netanyahu Thanks U.S. House; Secretary Blinken To Visit China; Opening Statements In Trump's Criminal Trial Set For Monday; Full Jury And Six Alternates Seated; House Passes And Deal Despite GOP Rebellion Against Speaker; 25 Years Since Columbine High School Shooting; Gender Pay Gap In Pro Sports. Aired 7-8p ET

Aired April 20, 2024 - 19:00   ET

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

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[19:00:00]

ALEX MARQUARDT, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: You are in the CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Alex Marquardt in Washington. Thank you very much for joining us.

We begin with a pivotal vote on Capitol Hill. After months of delays in political wrangling, in a rare Saturday session today, House lawmakers passed a $95 billion foreign aid package for Israel, Ukraine, and Taiwan, Republican Speaker Mike Johnson was finally able to advance the bills through Congress with the help, it must be noted, of Democrats.

It's a move that could cost him his job, as some hardliners in his party have threatened to introduce a measure to remove him from his speakership. The Senate is now set to take up that aid package on Tuesday. President Biden now urging Senators to send the legislation to his desk quickly so that he can sign them into law "right away."

Let's get straight to our correspondents in both Jerusalem and Kyiv. Two countries set to benefit directly from this major bill. CNN Senior International Correspondent Fred Pleitgen is in the Ukrainian capital and our Senior Diplomatic Editor, International Diplomatic Editor Nic Robertson joins us from Jerusalem.

Fred, I want to start with you. We're talking about more than $60 billion for the Ukrainians. They have said time and time again that this is so desperately needed. You've spent a lot of time on the front lines. How is this going to impact the Ukrainian soldiers?

FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, I think in so many ways. I mean, one of the things that we have to keep in mind, Alex, is that over the past couple of months, the Ukrainians have been suffering from a severe lack of ammunition on the front lines.

In fact, one place that I went to about two months ago, near the front lines in the east of the country, near Bakhmut, the soldiers there were having to fire smoke shells out of artillery launching systems. So, ones that don't even really explode when they hit targets near where the Russians are.

So, these weapons had absolutely no effect because the Ukrainians simply didn't have enough regular shells to fire at the Russians. It's a problem that's been going on for months as this aid has been delayed by the United States. So, the Ukrainians are hoping that they can get some fast relief from that very quickly.

The other thing that they said that they need immediately is air defense missiles. They do have some air defense systems that have been helping them. However, they say that they simply, at this point in time, don't have enough missiles.

Of course, one of the things, Alex, that we've been reporting about over the past couple of weeks, the past couple of months, is that the Russians have launched this massive aerial campaign, especially against energy infrastructure in this country, destroying or badly damaging a lot of energy plants here in this country. And the Ukrainians are saying they simply don't have enough ammo for their air defense system to shoot those Russian missiles down. So, they're hoping that they're going to get fast relief for that as well.

We also spoke to some soldiers on the front line who said that this aid bill now going through the House of Representatives and being OKed by the House of Representatives does so much for morale for the Ukrainians on the battlefield, knowing that new ammo is coming.

The president of this country, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, he also came out and thanked the United States. Here's what he had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY, UKRAINIAN PRESIDENT (through translator): We appreciate every manifestation of support for our state and independence, our people and our lives, which Russia wants to bury in ruins. America has shown its leadership from the first days of this war.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PLEITGEN: Of course, one of the things that we have been seeing Alex recently is that the Russians do have a bit of momentum going for them on the battlefield right now. It's no strategic gains yet as far as the Russians are concerned. However, they are more effective at using their air force now, they've made some advances on the ground as well.

The Ukrainians are saying they understand that this aid package is not going to completely reverse that, but they do hope that it is going to help them hold the Russians up and possibly even start some sort of planning for what could be as the summer progresses a counteroffensive by the Ukrainians. But of course, right now, immediately, they say the main thing is trying to hold the Russians up, Alex.

[19:05:00] MARQUARDT: Yes. That most recent counteroffensive didn't go terribly well for them. Fred Pleitgen, great to have you back in Kyiv. Thank you so much.

Nic, to you now, we have $26 billion that are going to Israel and Gaza, $9 billion of it is going to be for humanitarian aid, $17 billion going to the Israeli military. We've seen Israel go through a lot of those interceptor rockets in the past few days as they were fending off that attack from the Iranians. Of course, the Israelis using a lot of tank shells, for example, in Gaza. What is the reaction in Israel to these billions that are coming their way?

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: Very happy, from the top of the political leadership from the president of the country, Isaac Herzog, saying that Israel has no better ally than the United States and saying the United States has no better ally than Israel as well.

The prime minister, like other political leaders here, has said he's very grateful for the bipartisan support. He says, this bipartisan support shows support for Israel. And I think that's significant coming from the prime minister, because there's a sense among many people in the country here, particularly those that are critical of him, that he has really grown tensions with the White House between himself and President Biden, and particularly over the way he's fighting the war in Gaza.

More than 34,000 Palestinians dead there now. The war is not over. More military operations to come. That's what's expected. So, the prime minister domestically making it clear that this is bipartisan support. We haven't damaged that relationship. The defense minister talking about the seven different enemies that Israel is fighting at the moment. That this is, he says, shows strong support from the United States.

The foreign minister talks about strong ties, talks about strategic partnership, all of these words welcoming that money, that military support, the ability to be able to hold off the enemies of Israel. And that's what the speaker in the Knesset said. It's an important message for the enemies of Israel.

And that, I think, has particular resonance here as well, because there's been an assessment here that the reason Iran just last weekend, you know, we were standing on the roof here watching some of those 350 Iranian drones and missiles coming into Israeli airspace getting shot down, and the sense was that Iran believed that there was a weakness in that relationship between Israel and the United States because of the strains between Prime Minister Netanyahu and President Biden. And this is what is understood that encouraged them to strike.

So, when the speaker of the Knesset says, our enemies understand that bond with the United States is strong, that's sending that message. So, it isn't just the military aid it is that perception for the enemies of Israel. And for the aid money that goes to Gaza, an important sort of point on that was that none of the money that's being given for aid for Gaza is going to go to the U.N. body UNRWA, which oversees the aid distribution in Gaza, which Israel has been incredibly critical of as having members of Hamas with it within their numbers.

And there's a big tension, obviously, between UNRWA and Israel at the moment. Some nations not funding UNRWA and to the detriment of the people of Gaza, they say.

MARQUARDT: Yes, so many see them as the most effective network at getting aid to where it needs to be inside the Gaza Strip. Nic Robertson in Jerusalem, thanks very much.

I want to bring in retired Australian Army Major General Mick Ryan. Mick, great to have you back with us. I want to start with Ukraine first, $60 billion heading to Ukraine. Certainly, very welcomed. We've been hearing Ukrainian officials, from President Zelenskyy on down, sounding the warning about what it would mean if they didn't get this aid. So, what is it going to mean for Ukraine's troops in concrete terms?

MAJ. GEN. MICK RYAN (RET.), AUSTRALIAN ARMY: Well, good day, Alex. This is a major shot in the arm for Ukraine in the war fighting realm. They should see very quick infusions of artillery and air defense munitions. These are the two big priorities in the Pentagon and European commanding. Places throughout Europe will have been planning on a very quick injection once this bill is placed. So, we should see that moving quickly.

But more importantly, it provides a big morale boost for Ukrainian citizens and for their soldiers on the front line. They know that aid is on the way, and that will help.

MARQUARDT: We saw the Russians take the town of Avdiivka in Eastern Ukraine. That's just one example of where Russia has been able to progress in the past few months. How do you think Ukraine has been directly impacted as U.S. lawmakers were going back and forth about what to do?

RYAN: Well, it certainly had a significant impact on front line soldiers that had great shortfalls of artillery munitions, as one of your previous speakers noted.

[19:10:00]

General Cavoli in Europe recently stated that the Russians will probably double their overmatch to about 10 to one without significant help. But also, it's resulted in a shortfall in air defense missiles over cities, but also over the frontline. And therefore, we've seen these glide bomb attacks, which have been so devastating against the Ukrainians.

MARQUARDT: Anybody who is interested in this conflict should be following your analysis. You're following this so carefully and offer such terrific perspective. We did hear from CIA Director Bill Burns on Thursday, and he sounded this warning that essentially that if there would -- was not more U.S. support for Ukraine that they could essentially lose the war to Russia by the end of the year, or at least allow President Putin to set the terms for some kind of diplomatic solution. Do you agree with that analysis?

RYAN: Absolutely. And these comments by the director were also made by the Ukrainian president the last couple of weeks, that without additional assistance, Ukraine would lose this war. Modern wars are about alliances. No country can go it alone, not even the U.S. So, Ukraine, like many other nations, needs support to help it defeat Russia.

MARQUARDT: If I could ask you about Israel now, they obviously have a much more formidable military industry than Ukraine does. At the same time, they've been at war now for six months, not just in Gaza, but they've been also battling on a lower level with Hezbollah in the north. They're getting about $17 billion in direct military aid. How needed is that in Israel?

RYAN: It's very important for Israel. When you go to Israel, they talk about being surrounded by a ring of fire, fighting in Gaza, they have Hezbollah to the north, they have a threat from the west, and also the Houthis to the south.

So, Israel is facing threats in all directions, and it will go through air defense missiles in particular very quickly, but there's a range of other military material they need for their defense.

MARQUARDT: And of course, the U.S. wants to replenish those stockpiles, not just so they can use them in those conflicts, but to establish deterrence for future conflicts. What message do you think that this sends to U.S. adversaries around the world? You know, we haven't been talking as much about Taiwan, but there's $8 billion going to Taiwan. So, what is that message that Russia, China, and Iran are receiving right now?

RYAN: Well, I think it's important to remember that there were four bills. There was a Ukraine bill, an Israel bill, an Indo-Pacific bill, as well as the bill on TikTok and freezing Russian assets. What this is saying to what I would call the authoritarian quad of Iran, Russia, North Korea, and China is that the United States and its allies are looking at all of them as one large threat. It's an entity that the democracies of the world are going to push back on, and the U.S. funding in these bills will be a critical part of that.

MARQUARDT: All right. Retired Major General Mick Ryan joining us from Brisbane in Australia. Thank you very much for your thoughts on all these subjects today. Really appreciate it.

RYAN: Thank you.

MARQUARDT: Secretary of State Antony Blinken and his State Department are not losing sight of keeping relations with China secure. They have been battered in recent years, but both sides trying to make them better and smooth out tensions. And today, we learned that Secretary Blinken will be traveling to China in the coming week.

It'll be his second trip to China as America's top diplomat after he visited last summer. This time he is set to meet again with senior officials in both Shanghai and in Beijing. His main mission is to stabilize relations after that -- those tensions from the Chinese spy balloon that flew across the United States and of course, China's support for Russia and the war in Ukraine as well as some troubling issues when it comes to Chinese human rights.

Still ahead, opening statements are set for Monday in Former President Donald Trump's criminal hush money trial that's taking place, of course, in Manhattan. The crucial role that alternate jurors could have in this historic trial, we'll be discussing that. You're in the CNN NEWSROOM. Stay with us.

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MARQUARDT: Opening statements in the historic first ever criminal trial of a former president are set to begin on Monday. Donald Trump will return to a Manhattan courtroom as prosecutors start to present their arguments in his New York hush money case.

Now, Trump was meant to go from the courtroom to the campaign trail this weekend, campaigning today in North Carolina, but his rally that was set to happen right now in Wilmington, North Carolina was actually just cancelled due to thunderstorms.

Now, back to the trial. All 12 jurors were seated just this week in New York in a fairly quick process. But it wasn't without its hiccups, and six alternates were also sworn in alongside those 12 jurors. CNN's Brian Todd now explains why their role could prove crucial.

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BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Already, two empaneled jurors have been excused from former President Trump's hush money trial, underscoring just how crucial the six alternate jurors are, who've just been seated.

RENATO STABILE, JURY CONSULTANT AND ATTORNEY: In a case of this length and in a high-profile case, the alternates are as significant as the regular jury panel because there's a very high likelihood and probability in this case that one or more of those alternates are going to end up on the jury.

[19:20:00]

TODD (voice-over): The alternate juror is there to take over a spot on the 12- member regular jury if one of the regulars has to drop out of the trial.

STABILE: One of the reasons could be illness. They could have a family emergency or something else could happen like they can't follow the courts instruction not to post things on social media.

TODD (voice-over): Court veterans say the life in limbo of an alternate juror can be strange, unsatisfying, and tougher than it may seem. LESLIE ELLIS, TRIAL CONSULTANT, THE CAISSA GROUP: It's difficult to be very present and to really focus as much as jurors might need to, with the idea in the back of their mind that they might not really need to deliberate at the end of it all.

TODD (voice-over): But as one alternate juror in Police Officer Derek Chauvin's murder trial said, being an alternate doesn't mean the case weighs on you any less heavily.

LISA CHRISTENSEN, ALTERNATE JUROR IN DEREK CHAUVIN TRIAL: Every night when I would come home, I felt exhausted. It was pretty draining, pretty emotional.

TODD (voice-over): And that juror didn't even know she was an alternate until the end of the trial. In some cases, the judges purposely don't inform the jury of them are alternates and which are regulars until they start deliberating.

ELLIS: So, they don't have that issue of knowing, I might not have to deliberate. Do I really to listen to this?

TODD (voice-over): There are six alternate jurors for Trump's trial. While that may seem like a lot for a complex and highly charged case, it may not be enough.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: All right. He appears to have pulled the gloves off, Counsel.

TODD (voice-over): During a O.J. Simpson's lengthy murder trial, ten regular jurors were dismissed for failing to disclose something, allegedly passing a note or considering a book deal, or simply telling the judge, I can't take it anymore. Ten alternates took their place. What happens if the Trump trial runs out of alternates?

STABILE: It would be up to the defendant whether or not he would want to consent to a verdict with 11 jurors, but I don't believe that he would do that in this case. And you would have a mistrial.

TODD (voice-over): The alternates are always in court during the actual trial, but don't join the final deliberations unless they're needed. What happens if a regular juror has to leave the case during deliberations?

ELLIS: What happens then is the real jury has to basically start over their deliberations. They have to deliberate as though they hadn't done the deliberations, they'd done with the first -- with the original juror and start over with the alternate juror.

TODD: What's the best advice for an alternate juror? Trial consultant Leslie Ellis says try to forget you're an alternate, participate in everything you can with the other jurors. Pay attention to every bit of the evidence, pretend that you're one of the first 12 because you may very well be at the very end.

Brian Todd, CNN, Washington.

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MARQUARDT: Our thanks to Brian Todd. We have special coverage of opening statements in Former President Trump's criminal hush money trial that starts at 9:00 a.m. on Monday. You can watch it right here on CNN or stream it on Max.

Still ahead, the U.S. House has passed a $95 billion package, including aid for Ukraine and Israel today, despite months of delays and Republican infighting. What's next for Speaker Mike Johnson after Democrats helped him pass the bill? We'll be answering that question with two of our experts. You're in the CNN NEWSROOM. Stay with us.

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[19:25:00]

MARQUARDT: More on that big news from Capitol Hill today. Lawmakers on both sides of the aisle coming together to approve a $95 billion aid package for Ukraine, Israel, and Taiwan after months of fierce debate. It now goes to the Senate, where we've just learned it's going to be voted on on Tuesday. And already, President Joe Biden is asking for it to be sent quickly to his desk for signing.

Speaker Mike Johnson is hailing it as the right move, but it is one that could potentially cost him his job. At least three Republican hardliners are threatening to oust him, potentially leaving it to Democrats to save him as Republican speaker.

Let's discuss with our political panel. Ron Brownstein is a senior -- CNN, senior political analyst and senior editor at "The Atlantic," and Mike Lillis is a congressional reporter for "The Hill." Thank you both for joining me today.

Mike, I want to start with you. Republicans could have voted on the Senate bill back in February, which included border security measures, which did not get voted through today. So, to what extent is this a win for Democrats politically?

MICHAEL LILLIS, CONGRESSIONAL REPORTER, THE HILL: Well, I think it's a win for Democrats because they've been pushing for this for so many months. Biden's been pushing it, Schumer's been pushing it, Jeffries have been pushing it. You know, they are the three leaders and they see this as a direct threat not only to Ukraine, but to the national security interests of the United States and Putin's -- you know, they want to stop Putin where he is and not allow him to move further into Europe.

It is a -- you know, it's an argument that resonates not only with Democratic voters, but with a lot of conservatives. So, they see it as a bipartisan victory. It put, you know, Mike Johnson in a tough spot when he said, no, I'm not going to do it.

Johnson has shifted. He has reversed. He had voted against every Ukrainian bill until he took the speaker's gavel. And then, when he started seeing some of the intel behind closed doors he said, listen, this is a real threat. I am no longer just, you know, backbencher representing 700,000 people in Louisiana, now I am representing the House of Representatives, 435 people the country. And I have to look at this through a different lens.

And -- you know, and he's also, we all know, a man of faith. And by all accounts, he -- part of this process was he sat down and he prayed and he said -- and the decision came after that process.

MARQUARDT: Right.

LILLIS: And he really went out on a limb here because there's a lot of angry conservatives, including the three you just mentioned, who want to boot him from office.

MARQUARDT: Right. Ron, how damaging, do you think, it was to Johnson that now this Ukraine aid has gone through, but there's nothing on the border?

[19:30:00]

RON BROWNSTEIN, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: Yes, and look, that was their choice, right? I mean, you know, the Senate bill that included the border provisions was simply enforcement.

I mean, I've been covering immigration debates since the 1990s and every time there has been a big package on immigration, 2006 in the senate, 2013 in the Senate, tougher border security was paired with some pathway to legalization for undocumented people here, none of that was there in this bill.

I mean, it basically only went in the direction Republicans wanted, but not as far as they wanted, and ultimately they decided they didn't want to do that.

I mean, I would say, what was interesting about this vote is it kind of -- it reflected, but didn't fully express how divided each party is over these issues. I mean, the fact that a majority of House Republicans, again, as they did last fall as a majority of Senate Republicans did in February voted against the Ukraine aid really is an historic kind of inflection point that says the international sway of the Republican Party is now the subordinate minority in this kind of Trump coalition and their influence is likely, more likely to diminish than to increase.

I mean, one of the Senate Republicans noted that virtually everyone voted -- elected since 2018 on the GOP side, voted against this, and then on the Democratic side, this really just puts off the reckoning that is coming about aid to Israel. There were not that many Democrats willing to vote against the Israeli aid package.

But on May 8th when the administration is required to report to Congress whether Israel is using the arms in accordance with international law and allowing international aid in. I think you're going to see a lot of pushback from Democrats about continuing to do transfer offensive weapons as opposed to defense weapons to Israel.

MARQUARDT: Mike, in terms of Mike Johnson's fate, what did you make of Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene, not pushing the Motion to Vacate today instead, saying, I am going to let constituents speak to their representatives. I am going to let these representatives go home and hear from their voters. Were you surprised by that?

LILLIS: Right, it was fascinating because you know, for weeks, she said -- she introduced this Motion to Vacate, it happened right after the last government spending bill and she said at the time, I am not going to put it on the floor. This is a warning to Speaker Johnson on the upcoming Ukraine debate.

So when Johnson pushed ahead with Ukraine, everybody is saying, okay, Marjorie Taylor Greene, what are you waiting on? You know, put it on the floor, put it on the floor.

She has, as a single law maker has the power to put it on the floor. She has not done that and that has been very, very telling. Today she left again, left the Capitol, said I am not going to put it on the floor and so from where we are sitting right now, it seems that Speaker Mike Johnson has weathered this storm, which is a fascinating development because he has done everything that his predecessor did.

He has cut all of these deals with President Biden on government spending. Just last week, he cut a big deal on government surveillance. Today, he cuts a big deal on Ukraine.

All of these things really abhorred by his -- by the conservatives, the same people who had booted Kevin McCarthy from office. And yet Mike Johnson still survives.

Marjorie Taylor Greene will not bring it to the floor and we mentioned the three conservatives who have -- or the two others who have endorsed her resolution, but that's not a huge number. It is enough in the tiny majority to topple her, but if Democrats come and save him, which they said they will, then he remains.

So for a whole host of reasons, she is very reluctant to bring this resolution. One of them has to do with timing. We are now closer to the elections. They don't want to cause the same chaos that they did last October, three weeks without a speaker, you can't bring anything to the floor, it just makes the party look bad.

And the other thing worth mentioning is Donald Trump called Mike Johnson down to Mar-a-Lago last week, and said, you're doing a very great -- a very good job.

MARQUARDT: Right.

LILLIS: So, Donald Trump gives this glowing review. It really makes it tough for Marjorie Taylor Greene.

MARQUARDT: Right.

LILLIS: Who sees herself as very closely allied with the former president to suddenly say, oh, he is doing a great job in Trump's eyes, but I think he is doing a terrible job. Let's kick him out.

Now, there is daylight between Trump and Greene.

MARQUARDT: Right.

LILLIS: That's not what she wants.

MARQUARDT: Right.

LILLIS: So she is really in a pickle. She is in a tough spot and she left today and said let's hope that voters start calling their representatives and say, Johnson should be gone.

She needs the support that she doesn't have right now.

MARQUARDT: Right.

LILLIS: That's why we have not seen that resolution move forward.

MARQUARDT: She inferred to those voters.

Hey, Ron, how do you think this plays out in the campaign trail? I mean, traditionally foreign policy isn't really a deal breaker or has a major impact on presidential politics. But you've got a lot of Democrats who are questioning support for Israeli. You've got a lot of Republicans questioning support for Ukraine. How is this going to impact the race?

BROWNSTEIN: You know, I think the fractures that I talked about before really do have electoral implications.

The internationalist wing of the Republican Party, the voters not only the elected officials, but among the voters, is now the minority and there are just under half of Republican voters who say in polling like from the Chicago Council on Global Affairs that the US should continue to take an active role in international affairs.

[19:05:12]

They also tend to be the same kind of voters who rally to Nikki Haley, you know, kind of white-collar suburban economic conservatives and the message of all of this Ukraine maneuvering is that they are the minority in the party and that their views are not going to be reflected in the dominant direction of the Republican Party, and it kind of adds another account to the question of whether they feel that they will stay in the Republican Party going forward.

And then on the other side, as you note, I wrote last week that if you look at all the dimensions, public opinion, congressional resistance and public activism, I think Biden is facing more resistance in the Democratic coalition to his support for Netanyahu in the Gaza war than any Democratic president has faced for a foreign policy decision of their own since Vietnam.

Iraq was a foreign policy decision by a Republican president that also split Democrats. And I don't think there are any signs of that getting better. If you look at the campus controversies that we are seeing literally from coast to coast from Columbia to USC, Biden has a problem in his coalition here, a clear majority of Democrats -- Democratic voters now oppose sending more offensive weapons to Israel.

He has been very reluctant to match his tough words with tough consequences, and that pressure is only going to grow.

MARQUARDT: What a fascinating day, and lots more to come.

Ron Brownstein, Mike Lillis, really appreciate it.

We will be right back.

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[19:41:10]

MARQUARDT: Today marks 25 years since 12 students and a teacher were massacred at Columbine High School in Littleton, Colorado.

Remembrances took place as the community honors the lives that were lost and the families that were impacted by those events on April 20th, 1999.

Two students opened fire inside the school before shooting and killing themselves. It was one of the first major mass shootings at a US high school.

A Maryland teenager will remain in jail after being denied bond following his arrest on Wednesday for allegedly threatening a school shooting. Eighteen-year-old Alex Ye was arrested, following the discovery of what police say was his disturbing 129-page manifesto that outlined plans for a school shooting in Montgomery County.

CNN's Gabe Cohen reports.

GABE COHEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, police say, 18-year-old Alex Ye referred to his disturbing 129-page manifesto as his memoir.

A story about a very similar young man planning a school shooting, and according to this lengthy statement of charges, all of this only came to light because last month, he sent the book to a friend who he had previously been hospitalized with in a psychiatric facility.

They read it according to police, didn't even finish it before calling authorities to report what they saw as an imminent threat of a school shooting, and that kicked off this investigation.

And since then, police say they have uncovered many more disturbing details. Online searches by Ye about school shootings, AR-15s, and gun ranges, as well as some alarming messages, including one sent back in December allegedly to the very same friend where Ye said: "My homicidal ideation has been getting worse lately to the point I might act on it eventually to." Take a listen. Here is a little bit of what the Montgomery County police chief said was in this manifesto.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MARCUS JONES, MONTGOMERY COUNTY POLICE CHIEF: During the execution of the warrant, officers were able to read Ye's manifesto, which Ye alleges is fiction.

In the document, Ye writes about targeting his former elementary school because little kids make easier targets.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COHEN: Now, there are still a lot of questions about the major red flags in Ye's past, police say a school counselor that saw him dating back to 2022 told officers that Ye would express violent thoughts such as shooting up the school, and wanting to hurt other people and would smile while saying it.

I want to walk you through a timeline of that hospitalization that I referenced before.

Back in December 2022, police say Ye was hospitalized for threatening to shoot up a school. The next month, in January 2023, he was reported to be released from the hospital, but police say he was still hill preoccupied with self-harming, school shootings and explosives.

Then in February, he was hospitalized at Johns Hopkins pediatric unit where he remained for five months until July when he was released to a residential facility.

What we don't know is what happened in the eight months after that, how much treatment are monitoring that Ye received before March last month when his friend notified police of that potential threat of a school shooting.

Now, the Montgomery County School District says Ye has not physically been inside one of their schools since fall of 2022, and that's when he started taking online courses, according to police.

Ye did appear in court on Friday on that misdemeanor charge of a threat of mass violence. It carries a potential maximum penalty of 10 years in prison. He is now being held without bond until his trial is scheduled in early June.

Gabe Cohen, CNN, Washington.

MARQUARDT: Our thanks to Gabe Cohen.

And we will be right back.

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[19:49:48]

MARQUARDT: Caitlin Clark may have been the top pick in the WNBA draft this week, but we are finding out that being the first drafted woman doesn't necessarily mean much when it comes to your paycheck.

The Iowa college basketball phenomenon is set to make her debut with the Indiana Fever next month.

[19:50:04] The 22-year-old will make only $76,000.00 in her first year in the league as the WNBA's first pick, $76,000.00 while the first pick man who is headed to the NBA will make 137 times more than Caitlin Clark, some $10.5 million.

Here to talk more about this is CNN's sports analyst and columnist for "USA Today," Christine Brennan.

And Christine, this is stunning when you see these numbers side-by- side.

And when you think about women athletes here in the US, the soccer players, for example, had made so much progress, but it is clear that female basketball players and the WNBA, the league, still need to make a lot more progress.

So what do you think that this says, this $76,000.00 salary for the first year of this basketball player, the likes of which we may have never seen before, what does that say about women's sports?

CHRISTINE BRENNAN, CNN SPORTS ANALYST: What it says Alex is that people haven't cared about the WNBA be at all. They haven't watched games, they haven't bought tickets in any kind of significant numbers.

They have ignored the WNBA, a great product now for our generation and so those people who are shocked about this, have they ever watched a game? Have they ever bought a product that they've watched be advertise during a game, bought a jersey for their daughter or their granddaughter? On and on it goes.

So really what we are talking about here is capitalism. I am not discounting, of course the incredible disparity but what it shows is that if people don't pay attention and that's when the story line for women's sports for generations, then this is what we are going to see.

The great news here is now the spotlight is shining on it and it is going to change the contract, the contract, the TV contract is up and there will be new negotiations and Caitlin Clark will of course show the incredible difference and the interest and it will be a much, much bigger contract and better salaries moving forward in the next few years because of Caitlin Clark.

MARQUARDT: And when you look at the money that she is going to be making outside of basketball, that is quite substantial. She signed deals with Gatorade, with State Farm. She could soon have a massive deal with Nike and her own signature shoe, I believe, but that obviously doesn't change the fact that she is only making $76,000.00 in her first year.

So you do expect things to change and how quickly do you think that could change for these basketball players? I mean, there were such an incredible crop of women going to the WNBA this year, how quickly do you think those numbers could creep or move closer towards what the men are making?

BRENNAN: As soon as the contract is signed, a new contract another year or two, and the national outcry helps. I mean, again, Caitlin Clark taking us to amazing national conversations on so many issues.

And so Alex, yes, it is going to change. Will it be close to the men? No. But will they get maybe closer to a million dollars a year? That's certainly a possibility.

There are also a couple other things. One is there is a quarter of a million dollars, $250,000.00 contract available for marketing the WNBA. Guaranteed, Caitlin Clark is going to get that $250,000.00 and that is part of the package to obviously sweeten the contract a bit.

A lot of the players go overseas. Caitlin Clark won't have to do that, of course. But that's why Brittney Griner was in Russia, it wasn't because of the sunshine and the great politics. It was because she wanted to supplement her salary when she was arrested and in jail for all of those many months.

So this has been happening for a long time. The fact that we are talking about this week and there is so much attention and outrage, that's terrific because it will help force change.

And of course, as you said, I mean, this record-breaking numbers for Caitlin Clark in terms of the endorsements and the sponsorships and that Nike deal is expected to be between $20 million, maybe even up to $28 million.

So again, Caitlin is fine, but she is going to -- the rising tide lift all boats. She is going to help everyone else make more money. And that's fantastic.

MARQUARDT: Well, she certainly deserves all of that. Christine Brennan, thank you very much.

And we will be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MARQUARDT: And we have breaking news just in to CNN out of the Detroit area. Sheriff's Deputies say that several children and adults were seriously injured after a vehicle drove through a building, a child's birthday party was happening inside at the time.

The local Sheriff's Office is planning to provide an update about what happened in just about 30 minutes' time.

A battle is raging between man and elephants in Sri Lanka, areas where animals once roamed freely are now covered in farmland, villages and trash heaps. That's the focus of this week's "Whole Story" with Anderson Cooper. So be sure to tune in to the all-new episode that airs tomorrow at 8:00 PM Eastern and Pacific only on CNN.

And Taylor Swift is topping the charts once again with her 31-song double album.

("FORTNIGHT" VIDEO CLIP PLAYS)

MARQUARDT: And that is Swift's new song, "Fortnight" featuring Post Malone from her new album, The Tortured Poets Department.

It was released Friday at midnight with the surprise second part released at 2:00 AM and it has been on repeat for so many Swifties worldwide ever since.

It is now Spotify's most streamed album in a single day, breaking Swift's own record. Swift or the so-called the Dean of the Tortured Poets Department has also become the most streamed artist in a single day in Spotify history. Congratulations to her and her legions of fans.

Thank you for joining me this evening. I am Alex Marquardt. I will see you again right here tomorrow night starting at 5:00 PM Eastern.

An encore episode of "Real Time with Bill Maher Show" starts right now.

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