Return to Transcripts main page
CNN Newsroom
Ex-Tabloid Publisher Accounts the Catch-And-Kill Scheme that Silenced Donald Trump's Negative Story in Print; U.S. Secretary of State to Meet Chinese President Before Heading Home to Close His Three-Day U.S. Visit; Critical Elections in South Africa is At Stake as it Celebrates Three Decades from the Very First Elections; Appeals Court Overturns Harvey Weinstein's Conviction Case; More than 100 Inmates Escaped from a Nigerian Prison Due to Rains. Aired 3-4a ET
Aired April 26, 2024 - 03:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[03:00:00]
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
KIM BRUNHUBER, CNN ANCHOR: Hello and welcome to all of you watching us around the world. I'm Kim Brunhuber, this is "CNN Newsroom".
Catch-and-kill. A key prosecution witness details how his tabloid paid to keep one negative story about Donald Trump out of the press, why he didn't do it for another.
Campuses in turmoil, pro-Palestinian protests engulf some U.S. colleges, as demonstrators express anger over Israel's war against Hamas.
And Nigerian prisoners on the run, how bad weather led to more than 100 convicts escaping.
UNKNOWN (voice-over): Live from Atlanta, this is "CNN Newsroom" with Kim Brunhuber.
BRUNHUBER: Donald Trump's hush money trial resumes later today, with a former tabloid publisher returning to the witness stand for a fourth day. Trump's attorneys will pick up their cross-examination of the "National Enquirer's" David Pecker. Throughout the week, he's been providing explosive details on Trump's alleged affairs, speaking specifically about payoffs to a Playboy playmate and former porn star. Pecker has insisted catch-and-kill deals were standard operating procedure for politicians and celebrities. This comes as the judge considers possible new violations of the gag order against the former U.S. president.
Now to Washington, where the Supreme Court could be putting the special counsel's election subversion case against Trump in serious jeopardy. The justices are hearing arguments on presidential immunity, and may decide there are indeed some areas in which a president deserves immunity from criminal prosecution.
Well that could kick the case back to lower courts and delay the trial for months, possibly until after the November election, and if Trump wins, he could just make it go all the way.
Well there are signs the justices aren't buying claims that Trump deserves absolute immunity. Justice Elena Kagan pressed Trump's lawyer about whether a president who sells nuclear secrets or orders a coup should be immune, and he struggled with his answer. Here he is.
(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)
ELENA KAGAN, ASSOCIATE JUSTICE OF THE SUPREME COURT OF THE UNITED STATES: I don't feel like leaving office. I want to stage a coup. Is that immune?
D. JOHN SAUER, LAWYER FOR DONALD TRUMP: If it's an official act, there needs to be impeachment and conviction beforehand, because the framers viewed that kind of very low risk.
KAGAN: If it's an official act, is it an official act?
SAUER: If it's an official act, it's impeachment.
KAGAN: Is it an official act?
SAUER: On the way you've described that hypothetical, it could well be.
(END AUDIO CLIP)
BRUNHUBER: The lawyer for the special counsel went on to describe some of the many crimes a former president could dodge if granted king-like immunity.
(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)
MICHAEL DREEBEN, LAWYER FOR SPECIAL COUNSEL JACK SMITH: His novel theory would immunize former presidents for criminal liability, for bribery, treason, sedition, murder, and here, conspiring to use fraud to overturn the results of an election and perpetuate himself in power. Such presidential immunity has no foundation in the Constitution. The framers knew too well the dangers of a king who could do no wrong.
(END AUDIO CLIP)
BRUNHUBER: A closer look now at the Hush Money trial. The former publisher of the "National Enquirer" testified that he considered Trump a mentor and still considers him a friend, even though they haven't spoken since 2019. CNN's Brynn Gingras has the story.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BRYNN GINGRAS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Cross-examination of David Pecker got underway in the criminal case against Donald Trump. 17 years of providing President Trump with a heads-up about potentially negative publicity? Yes, the former publisher of the "National Enquirer" testified. Trump's lawyers trying to show that catch-and-kill schemes, buying negative stories to make them disappear, was not uncommon. We didn't want the story to embarrass Mr. Trump or embarrass or hurt the campaign. One such scheme? At the crux of the D.A.'s case against Trump, Stormy Daniels. Months before the 2016 election, the adult film star and director tried to sell her story of a sexual relationship with Trump to the Enquirer for $120,000, but Pecker testified he wouldn't buy it. Pecker said he later learned Trump's then-attorney and fixer Michael Cohen paid Daniels out of his own funds.
At one point, Pecker testified Trump called him, saying Daniels violated the agreement and owed him $24 million for doing this interview.
ANDERSON COOPER, 60 MINUTES CORRESPONDENT: And you had sex with him?
STORMY DANIELS, PORN ACTRESS INVOLVED IN TRUMP'S HUSH MONEY: Yes.
COOPER: You were 27, he was 60. Were you physically attracted to him?
DANIELS: No.
GINGRAS (voice-over): Pecker didn't pay Daniels because he wasn't reimbursed for an earlier catch-and-kill for Trump.
KAREN MCDOUGAL, MODEL AND ACTRESS: As the night ended, we were intimate.
GINGRAS (voice-over): Karen McDougal tried to sell her story of a year-long affair with Trump, which he denies.
I think you should buy the story and take it off the market, Pecker testified he told Trump.
[03:05:03]
Pecker hatched a plan with Cohen as previous recordings show.
DAVID PECKER, FORMER NATIONAL ENQUIRER PUBLISHER: So were you funding?
MICHAEL COHEN, LAWYER FOR DONALD TRUMP: Yes.
GINGRAS (voice-over): Trump would pay him back in exchange for signing the story over, Pecker said Cohen assured him. Don't worry, I'm your friend. The boss will take care of it.
McDougal's story was purchased, but never published. In the end, Trump didn't reimburse the Enquirer.
COOPER: Did Donald Trump ever say to you that he loved you?
MCDOUGAL; All the time. He always told me he loved me.
GINGRAS (voice-over): Pecker testified after this interview in 2018, Trump called upset. I thought you had, and we had, an agreement with Karen McDougal that she can't give any interviews, Pecker recalled the then president saying.
But Pecker testified the company's agreement with McDougal was altered and allowed her to speak.
If a negative story was coming out with respect to Donald Trump, he was concerned about what the family may hear or say about it. Not saying whether it was true or not, Pecker testified.
After Trump's campaign was announced, Pecker said Trump's concern shifted. It was basically what the impact would be to the campaign and the election, Pecker said.
GINGRAS: When court resumes on Friday, cross-examination will continue of David Pecker by the defense. One thing that didn't come up is how the judge ruled on that gag order. This after prosecutors at the beginning of the day brought up four more examples in three days that they say Trump violated that gag order. So we'll have to wait and see how the judge does eventually rule and when.
Brynn Gingras, CNN, New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BRUNHUBER: And joining us this hour from Los Angeles is attorney and legal affairs commentator Areva Martin. Great to see you again. I listened so much to discuss, frankly, we won't get to all of the Trump trial news today, but I just want to start where we left off there, the prosecution. Starting with David Pecker as a way to start telling the story to the jury and to the public.
AREVA MARTIN, ATTORNEY AND LEGAL RIGHTS COMMENTATOR: Yeah, the testimony of David Pecker has been really, really surprising on so many levels. Think about the irony of Donald Trump, who coined the phrase fake news. And what we learned from David Pecker is that Trump and Pecker and Michael Cohen were actually engaged in creating fake stories, suppressing stories about Donald Trump that they deemed harmful and promoting stories, in some cases fake stories, about his opponents in order to embarrass and to humiliate them.
The testimony has been in some ways riveting. We have reports that Pecker established an incredible relationship with the prosecution and is appearing as a very credible witness for the prosecution.
BRUNHUBER: So that's inside the courthouse. In the meantime, the showdown over what Trump is saying outside the courtroom to reporters and on social media, whether he's violating the gag order and how he might be punished for it. I mean, that showdown continues.
MARTIN: Yes, there was a very heated argument in the courtroom on Tuesday about violations or alleged violations by the prosecution of the gag order. The court has not issued a ruling as of yet. And the court really has two options at this point, fine Donald Trump $1,000 for each violation of the gag order or to put him in jail for up to 30 days.
It is very clear, though, that no matter what this court does, Donald Trump is not going to stop talking about the witnesses, stop talking about this trial, despite the gag order, putting the court in a very difficult position because essentially Donald Trump is allowed to do things as a criminal defendant that no other criminal defendant in our legal system would be or as would be allowed to do.
BRUNHUBER: Yeah, that's clear. And the polls show, though, people are interpreting that different ways. Polls show an equal number of people thinking Trump is being treated differently by the justice system. Some, you know, some 30 something percent saying treated harsher and another exactly equal amount saying he's being treated more equally, as you suggest there.
So I want to turn to another weightier Trump case in the Supreme Court hearing and arguments about Trump and presidential immunity. They seem to be leaning towards, you know, a ruling against a blanket immunity, but then defining some official acts as immune. What did you make of all of it?
MARTIN: Very disappointed, Kim, in the Supreme Court, clearly operating along ideological lines. This is a six to three conservative court. And we saw on display today by the questions asked by the conservative justices that there was an attempt to carve out again some special privileges that no other defendant, again, in our criminal justice system would be afforded. The questions asked by the conservative justices, very troubling.
[03:10:04]
At one point, Chief Justice Roberts was critical of the D.C. Court of Appeals, saying that they didn't do enough to dig into the facts or the documents relevant to this case, when by all accounts, the contrary is true. The tough questions about whether Trump is essentially above the law being asked by the three liberal justices.
I think the display today of the questions by the court really caused the court to lose a great deal of credibility.
BRUNHUBER: Areva Martin, thank you so much for joining us.
MARTIN: Thanks, Kim.
BRUNHUBER: And you can watch CNN's special coverage of the Trump hush money trial. It resumes Friday at 9 a.m. in New York, 2 p.m. in London.
In Gaza, authorities say they've recovered nearly 400 bodies from mass graves at a hospital in Khan Younis. Now, I just want to warn you, the video you're about to see is graphic and disturbing.
The Palestinian Civil Defense said on Thursday they concluded their search of three mass graves at Nasser Medical Complex. Some of the bodies were still wearing surgical gowns or hospital wristbands. Some allegedly had their hands and feet tied up.
The IDF denies it buried Palestinian bodies in mass graves and said Palestinians had dug a grave at the complex several months ago. The Gaza Civil Defense acknowledged around 100 bodies were buried at the complex before the IDF operations there.
Some Palestinians at the scene said they buried family members on the premises in January, but later returned to discover the bodies had been dug up and placed in a collective grave.
Israel is explaining its actions after one of its airstrikes in Gaza killed an aid worker, his son and other family members. Israel's ambassador to Belgium in Luxembourg says the aid worker and his family were staying at a house in Rafah that belonged to a senior Hamas operative who was the target of Thursday's strike. The ambassador didn't say whether the operative was killed.
After a meeting with Belgium's foreign minister, the Israeli diplomat expressed regret over every innocent civilian lost. The aid worker was an employee of Belgium's Federal Defense Development Agency. The Israel Defense Forces says the incident is under review.
More than a dozen world leaders are urging Hamas to accept the terms of a ceasefire in a hostage deal with Israel. The leaders of 18 countries, including the U.S. and the U.K., all signed on to this joint statement as they try to secure the release of their citizens. It says in part, quote, "the fate of the hostages and the civilian population in Gaza who are protected under international law is of international concern. We emphasize that the deal on the table to release the hostages would bring an immediate and prolonged ceasefire in Gaza".
All right, I want to bring in CNN's Scott McLean live in Istanbul. So Scott, the outreach over the ceasefire, any hope it'll bear fruit?
SCOTT MCLEAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: So, Kim, this seems on the surface to tick one of the three boxes, maybe, that Hamas is insisting on, the free movement of people from southern Gaza to north, though it seems that there may be some form of condition set on that movement.
The other two things, though, the full withdrawal of Israeli troops, it's not clear whether Israel would agree to that. And of course, the other part is the permanent ceasefire. What is being proposed here is a prolonged ceasefire. Hamas is insisting that it needs to be permanent. So already there are things that are not included in this deal, which may be non-starters for Hamas and perhaps for the Israelis as well.
BRUNHUBER: All right. And, Scott, we're learning that a ship with aid and humanitarian workers that was set to depart from Turkey, where you are, to Gaza has been delayed. What's the latest on that flotilla?
MCLEAN: Yeah, so they had hoped to set sail today. They have been delayed by an administrative issue, they say, that in a roundabout way they're actually blaming on Israel. We've reached out to the Israelis for a comment.
Either way, the Israelis have been promising for some time now to flood Gaza with aid. But surely this flotilla is not what they were hoping for, because not only will it be delivering aid, more than 5,000 tons of it, it's also going to be delivering hundreds of foreign pro-Palestinian activists from 30 different countries, including 40 who are American.
This effort was actually first announced back in November with the aim of sailing by the end of last year or the beginning of this year. Here we are now, more than five months later, the ships are finally in the water and ready to go. But getting past the Israeli naval blockade of the Gaza Strip is either going to require permission or some kind of confrontation.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MCLEAN (voice-over): At a port in southern Turkey, this cargo ship is being loaded with aid that may well never be delivered. The ship will be part of a small flotilla soon bound for Gaza, along with this ship being tuned up in Istanbul. Neither have permission from Israel to enter the blockaded Gaza Strip.
[03:15:01]
MCLEAN: This is a passenger ferry, it's not meant to carry aid, it's meant to carry people and there will be hundreds of them on board, mostly activists, because as much as this is about sending aid to Gaza, it is also very clearly about sending a political message.
ANN WRIGHT, FREEDOM FLOTILLA COALITION SPOKESPERSON: And if we can get our little ship in, it will be a drop in the bucket of what's needed, but hopefully it will put pressure on other countries to put pressure on Israel, and it could be diplomatic isolation, economic isolation, to make them stop this genocide.
MCLEAN (voice-over): Anne Wright is a former American soldier and diplomat turned pro-Palestinian activist and was on board an ill-fated aid flotilla to Gaza in 2010.
UNKNOWN: Mavi Marmara, you are approaching an area of hostilities which is under a naval blockade.
MCLEAN (voice-over): The ships were boarded by Israeli troops in international waters, and on the Mavi Marmara, carrying hundreds of international activists and journalists, soldiers were greeted by slingshots and with bars and chairs after rappelling down onto the deck. The resistance was futile.
UNKNOWN: We have one person has just been hit in the head by a bullet.
WRIGHT: I was at the boat next to them, and we heard the shots hitting the Mavi Marmara, and we saw people falling. Nobody expected that. We didn't expect that the Israelis would start killing people and killing 10 of them.
MCLEAN (voice-over): Nine Turks and an American were killed. Israel initially defended the deadly raid, but then years later apologized and paid a multimillion-dollar settlement to the victims' families.
One of the victims was Jengi Songur, whose son Ismail has spent the last six months organizing this latest effort.
MCLEAN: Why are you doing this again?
ISMAIL SONGUR, PRESIDENT, MAVI MARMARA ASSOCIATION: That's very simple, to break the siege of Gaza. It's not because of my father. Right now we are standing for the children of Gaza. It's according to Islam, if a person is dying while going for the good mission, he's becoming a shaheed, a martyr. That's why it is not a kind of loss for us. It's a kind of gain for us.
MCLEAN (voice-over): The flotilla has not been coordinated with the Israelis, nor is it attempting to use the established maritime corridor to Gaza used by the World Central Kitchen before seven of its staff were killed by Israeli strikes.
Flotilla organizers say they will not allow Israel or any Western country to inspect the cargo. Israel declined to comment.
SONGUR: We are sure that Israel is not an authority in the region to check our humanitarian aid. That's why it's very clear for us. We have the green lights from the international conscience to move with the flotilla.
MCLEAN: And if they block you?
SONGUR: That's the problem of Israel. We will go there. If Israel tries to block it again, you know, same or similar scenario can happen in the Middle East.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
MCLEAN: So nobody wants to see history repeat itself, but what will the Israelis do here? We don't know. We have asked them for comment. We've gotten none so far. Organizers will also not say what they would do if they were to be boarded or blocked by the Israelis at that blockaded zone, other than stressing that they will be using non- violent techniques.
They also came having explained how they would actually unload their cargo if on the very remote chance that they were actually allowed to bring it in because their ships are probably much too big to use the jetty that's built by World Central Kitchen.
I also asked whether they would accept an offer from Israeli, the same offer that they got back in 2010 when the Mavi Marmara incident happened, to bring the aid to an Israeli port and then take it in by land. The answer was very clearly, no, they don't trust the Israelis. They are also not interested in docking in Egypt and taking it in by land that way either, Kim.
BRUNHUBER: Interesting. I really appreciate all the reporting there. Scott McLean in Istanbul, thanks so much.
Pro-Palestinian protests are expanding across the U.S. with law enforcement officers moving on demonstrators at universities in Georgia, New York, California and several other states, and protesters' demands are growing louder with calls for a Gaza ceasefire and demands for schools to cut funding to Israel. (VIDEO PLAYING)
At Emory University here in Atlanta, 28 people were arrested, including two professors. A CNN crew witnessed police using a stun gun on at least one protester who authorities say was resisting arrest.
(VIDEO PLAYING)
Ohio State University officials say some demonstrators were arrested Thursday night after they refused to disperse. And in New York, there's some progress reported in the standoff between Columbia University officials and pro-Palestinian protesters. School authorities say talks are continuing with the student organizers to dismantle their encampment and disperse.
[03:20:01]
Ukrainian troops got some good news after months of severe ammunition shortages. Still ahead, word of more ammunition on its way, and possibly these U.S.-made air defenses.
Plus some frank negotiations for the top U.S. diplomat as he visits China. We go live to Hong Kong to keep track of Antony Blinken's talks in Beijing. Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BRUNHUBER: Desperately needed ammunition is now headed for Ukraine after the U.S. approved a new batch of military aid for Kyiv. A senior U.S. defense official says the ammunition has been pre-positioned in Europe when it's rapidly being shipped to Ukraine.
In addition, Kyiv's allies will also look into the possibility of sending more Patriot air defense systems. The official says the topic will be discussed at Friday's virtual meeting of the Ukraine Contact Group. The group includes more than 50 countries which are supplying military aid to Kyiv.
But Ukraine isn't just outgunned, it's also outnumbered. So to change that, it's overhauling its mobilization laws to find badly needed recruits for its military. Now earlier I spoke with independent Ukrainian journalist Natalia Gumenyuk who says the overhaul is a turning point for Ukraine. This is how she explained it.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
NATALIA GUMENYUK, INDEPENDENT JOURNALIST: It made visible for the state million of the internally displaced or the people who during the martial law, during the war were not supposed to serve because they have some health conditions. For instance, not that serious, but still.
So it's of course is a push to organize and as you mentioned there are still some things which are not there. For instance, there is no demobilization for those who are serving for more than two years.
But the most important is to understand that prior to the first Russian invasion in 2014, the Ukrainian army was around 70,000 people.
Later it was built up to 300,000 people. And since the full scale invasion, it's over the million. And most of these people are regular civilians who never fought, we never really had a strong army.
So a lot of people joined, but now the idea is that most of the Ukrainian men sooner or later should fight, should come to the army, but also there should be economy built in a way that is capable to pay for that huge army of people.
But also they need to have the ammunition to fight because you don't need to have a lot of men who can't fight because they don't have ammunition or for whom the state cannot pay.
BRUNHUBER: Central to the debate over mobilization, as we sort of touched on there, is how they balance keeping the troop numbers up, but also releasing some of those who've served for the past two years. I mean, they'd be losing so much invaluable battlefield experience there.
GUMENYUK: So that's exactly what the challenge, it was a long awaited provision that those who joined the army, especially during the first days of the invasion, there is no procedure to be discharged legally because you're supposed to serve till the end of the war, till the end of the martial law.
[03:25:05]
So it was highly debated and of course it's a huge dilemma for the military commanders because none of the trainings can substitute the combat experience.
So it was cited away to a separate law, which we expect to be also then again, as always in Ukraine, debated in the parliament and would be passed in some of the months, maybe in autumn. But it was quite a scandal, but I think like it usually happens in Ukraine, there is a debate in the society, the situation calms down, people accept it. But that's of course an issue.
BRUNHUBER: Well let me ask you about that, I mean, you say people accept it, you've conducted some focus groups on the response to all of these changes. Would it be fair to sum it up with one word, fear?
GUMENYUK: No, it won't be. I think the fear is of course a very important issue, but it's rather how to make it fair. Not fear, but how to make it fair. Who should serve? Because there is no any explanation why somebody has to risk his or her life and why somebody not. So it shouldn't depend either on the financial situation or on the education, because in the end, you know, every life is precious. So it's really how to build a fair system in which, you know, it would be equal for all people, but in the situation when it's really risky and it's really when the people's lives are at stake.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BRUNHUBER: The U.S. Secretary of State has just wrapped up talks with his Chinese counterpart in Beijing, and the State Department says Antony Blinken will meet Chinese President Xi Jinping soon. Blinken spoke with China's foreign minister for more than five hours in Beijing. During the talks, Blinken told him he wouldn't hold anything back about the U.S. differences with China, while the Chinese diplomat warned the U.S. not to cross Beijing's red lines. They spoke during Blinken's three-day visit aimed at improving relations.
For more, Kristie Lu Stout joins us from Hong Kong. So Kristie, developments since we spoke last hour. You mentioned a meeting between Secretary Blinken and President Xi might be in the works, now confirmed. So what are we expecting to come out of all these talks?
KRISTIE LU STOUT, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yeah, quite a number of developments. We've learned that Blinken is set to meet with Xi Jinping. This is according to the U.S. State Department. He met earlier with China's foreign minister, Wang Yi, with Blinken calling the encounter quote "extensive and constructive". And Wang Yi, he delivered a warning to Blinken to quote not step on China's red lines. And Blinken, we also learned, also just met with China's minister of public security and they presumably discussed anti-narcotics cooperation, namely stemming the flow of fentanyl precursor chemicals from China to the United States.
Look, this visit designed to improve relations between these powers, it comes at a sensitive time after President Biden signed a bill to counter China's military might and a separate bill that could ban TikTok in the U.S., Blinken back in China to bolster the relationship and also to express concerns, concerns about China's support of Russia's war machine and concerns about Chinese overcapacity.
I want you to listen to what Wang Yi said earlier about the U.S.-China relationship and how he puts it, the choice that needs to be made. Take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
WANG YI, CHINESE FOREIGN MINISTER (through translator); Should China and the United States keep to the right direction of moving forward with stability or return to a downward spiral? This is a major question before our two countries and tests our sincerity and ability.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LU STOUT: Look, last year Blinken was in China to stabilize relations. Since then, relations have improved, friction has eased, but there are many points of contention. Let's bring up the list for you, and they include China's support of Russia. They include China's assertions of sovereignty in the South China Sea, TikTok, the fate and future of Taiwan, human rights, especially the situation in Xinjiang, fentanyl trade and the issue of Chinese overcapacity.
Trade was in focus in Shanghai. When Blinken was there, he raised concerns about Chinese trade practices while he was meeting with the top official in Shanghai. While in Shanghai, he also spoke with business leaders as well as students at NYU in Shanghai as well. And he said that both Biden and Xi are determined to strengthen people-to- people ties, including student exchanges.
And we are at this moment awaiting a person-to-person exchange between Blinken and Xi Jinping. And when that meeting happens, we'll bring the latest right here on CNN. Back to you, Kim.
BRUNHUBER: Absolutely. All right. Kristie Lu Stout in Hong Kong. Thanks so much for that.
Four years after the infamous movie mogul Harvey Weinstein was found guilty of sex crimes, a New York court issues a staggering reversal. We'll explain why just ahead.
Plus, more than 100 escaped inmates are on the run in Nigeria. How they got out of a medium-security prison, that's coming up after the break. Please stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[03:30:00]
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
KIM BRUNHUBER, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome back to all of you watching us around the world, I'm Kim Brunhuber, this is "CNN Newsroom".
Tomorrow marks 30 years since the historic election that would bring Nelson Mandela to power in post-apartheid South Africa. But with inequality at an all-time high in crime and corruption running rampant, the once hopeful promise of democracy seems to be losing its glimmer ahead of next month's critical elections, which pose a serious threat to Mandela's party, the African National Congress, holding on to power.
Live now to CNN is David McKenzie in Johannesburg. David, plenty of discontent in South Africa and so much on the line with these elections. Where do things stand?
DAVID MCKENZIE, CNN SR. INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Kim, it is important to note that this is a very significant milestone. 30 years of democracy, this country has gone through a lot and many here are going to be celebrating, of course, the peaceful transition to a democratic nation after years of a racist government under apartheid.
But this is also a time to take stock ahead of a critical election and we report on what many are calling a silent crisis.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MCKENZIE (voice-over): Liberation icon Seth Mazibuko lived the painful history of this country.
SETH MAZIBUKO, SOUTH AFRICAN LIBERATION HERO: Students were coming from that direction and police were coming from that direction. That morning of June 16, 1976, this was where the students who were marching peacefully, they were raising their hands and fingers of peace. They were given bullets. MCKENZIE (voice-over): Protesting the apartheid state and its racist education system.
MAZIBUKO: I still feel guilty to date that I led students and children out of the classroom to be killed.
MCKENZIE (voice-over): Their sacrifice and the sacrifices of later generations helped topple the violent apartheid state.
Birthing a peaceful democratic South Africa. The rainbow nation where everyone can vote. But for Mazibuko, 30 years on, the rainbow has faded.
MCKENZIE: Has the leadership of this country respected the sacrifices that you've made?
MAZIBUKO: Sold out.
MCKENZIE: Sold out?
MAZIBUKO: Many of the leaders that were supposed to be leading, they left this community. They left the very people that they were fighting for.
[03:34:56]
MCKENZIE: When thousands of students were bravely marching down these streets, they were fighting for a better future for South Africa. But decades later, here's a staggering statistic. More than 80 percent of Grade Four's cannot read.
Has it gotten worse over the 18 years of you being at the school?
PRINCE MULWELA, TEACHER, MORRIS ISAACSON HIGH SCHOOL: Yes, it's becoming worse and worse.
MCKENZIE (voice-over): At Morris Isaacson High School, famous for its role in 76, teachers like Prince Mulwela say that jobs and education are given to the politically connected. And corruption is rife. Primary students now come to his classes unprepared, he says. Corruption watchdogs call it a silent crisis.
MULWELA: We're living in a world, in South Africa, where it's all about politics. Everything is being politicized. So the education system is also being politicized. So that is the reason why probably we're experiencing such problems.
ATLEGANG ALCOCK, STUDENT, MORRIS ISAACSON HIGH SCHOOL: I feel honored being in the school because then I get to learn about history.
MBALI MSIMANGA, STUDENT, MORRIS ISAACSON HIGH SCHOOL: Some put their lives in danger for a better future, for better education.
MCKENZIE (voice-over): I spoke to two leading students at Morris Isaacson. They are proud of their school, but acutely aware of the challenges that lie ahead. MCKENZIE: Is there enough opportunity for young people like yourselves
in this country?
ALCOCK: Right now, no.
MSIMANGA: It's going to be a struggle. And it is scary for us to be sitting at home and doing nothing.
ALCOCK: Especially when you know that you went to university for so long, and you have a degree, a qualification, but you're still struggling to get a job because of the unemployment rates.
MSIMANGA: Those rates are some of the world's highest. An uncertain future, despite the bitter struggles of the past.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
MCKENZIE: Now Kim, education officials here say 98 percent or so of students are in school, and that is a huge improvement, of course, from the apartheid days. But it's the quality of education that is up for serious debate here in South Africa, and is on the lips of many as we head into a critical election period.
Now, you've had significant and obviously robust campaigning from a variety of parties in the last few months and weeks. And the question is now on many people's minds whether Nelson Mandela's party, the ANC, will drop below its 50 percent majority. That will be a significant rebuke of the party that helped bring this country to liberation. Kim?
BRUNHUBER: We'll be watching. David McKenzie in Johannesburg, Thanks so much.
The second phase of voting in India's general election is now underway. People from 13 states and federal territories are casting their ballots in what's been called the most consequential election in decades. Voting is taking place in seven phases across the country and will take six weeks to complete. Nearly one billion people are eligible to vote in India. Results aren't expected until June 4th.
Contaminated flood water has left some people ill in the United Arab Emirates. The region experienced record rainfall just over a week ago. The health ministry says the limited number of cases showing symptoms of coming into contact with mixed water. Those affected have since been discharged from hospital. A medical specialist explained why the huge downpour poses such a health risk.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
EMAN ALABAR, INTERNAL MEDICINE SPECIALIST, BURJEEL HOSPITAL (through translator): This flood was exceptional. Such accumulations of rain do not occur every year. Possibly happening once every few decades or years. This water could be contaminated with waste from the streets and might mix with sewage in certain uncontrolled areas, potentially leading to some contaminations.
(END VIDEO CLIP) BRUNHUBER: The climate crisis made the deadly floods in Dubai and Oman this month up to four times more intense than they would have been without global warming. That's the conclusion of a team of scientists and researchers who analyzed the disaster. Here's CNN's Chad Myers.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Science has proven that warmer air holds more humidity than colder air.
In the extremes, the tropics are more muggy than the North Pole.
Yes, that's the extreme.
But we know that the Earth has warmed 1.2 degrees Celsius, almost 2 degrees Fahrenheit, from where we were pre-industrial levels when we started burning fossil fuel.
But how much does that 1.2 affect those floods in Dubai?
Well, the WorldWeatherAttribution.org society says that that was 10 to 40 percent worse than a flood than it would have been without that 1.2.
Now we know, of course, there's other facts going on out here, that it is strongly evident that we're going to get more droughts, we're going to get more floods, we're going to get coastal flooding with a rising sea level, and we're also going to get more heat waves, of course.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BRUNHUBER: There were expressions of shock and anger following a court ruling overturning the New York conviction of Harvey Weinstein. The disgraced Hollywood producer was found guilty of felony sex crimes and sentenced to 23 years in prison. Allegations against Weinstein from more than 100 women helped launch the MeToo movement. CNN's Jean Casares has the details.
[03:40:00]
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JEAN CASARES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The highest court in the state of New York is not saying that Harvey Weinstein is innocent of the crimes he was convicted of. What they are saying is that he was deprived his due process right and his right to a fair trial because the judge included so much evidence that should not have been a part of this case.
Focusing number one on the Molyneux witnesses, these are the women, the prior bad act witnesses that took the stand one by one to allege that Harvey Weinstein committed sexual crimes with them.
They were not charged in the indictment, they were not part of what would go to the jury, and it can be allowed, according to the opinion in regard to intent, Harvey Weinstein's intent, or a pattern of behavior. But the court said in its opinion that there were so many of these
prior bad act witnesses with so much they had to say, many of them having long-term relationships, also consensual relationships in part in between where they alleged sexual crimes were committed, that it amounted to witnesses showing his guilt, and that wasn't fair.
Here is Arthur Aidala, the lead attorney for Harvey Weinstein. He was at his trial as one of the attorneys and the lead attorney for his appeal. Take a listen.
ARTHUR AIDALA, HARVEY WEINSTEIN'S LAWYER: The witnesses were there only to make Harvey Weinstein look bad. That's the only reason why those witnesses were admitted, to show that he's a bad guy. He was tried on his character, not on the evidence.
CASARES: In another part of the opinion, the justices also focused in on Weinstein's right to take the stand in his own defense. They said that a ruling by the judge would have allowed for cross-examination by prosecutors to focus in on what all of the prior bad act witnesses had testified to, as well as other bad acts in his life that had nothing to do with sexual crimes or anything of that nature, just workplace situations that weren't that favorable.
And the court said that this is not right, because Harvey Weinstein may have not taken the stand because of that ruling, and therefore the jury was deprived of hearing important testimony, they called it, from the defendant himself.
Now, accusers of Harvey Weinstein have been stepping forward, saying they disagree with this ruling. This is not good for the MeToo movement, this is not good for the fairness of this situation, but this is the highest court in New York, and this ruling will stand.
Jean Casares, CNN, New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BRUNHUBER: For people looking to escape war and famine, migration can be the only choice, but it's a very dangerous option. Now the U.K. is taking a controversial step aimed at keeping migrants from trying to reach its shores. We'll have more on that coming up next. Please stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[03:45:03]
BRUNHUBER: In Nigeria, officials are urging the public to be on the lookout for inmates who fled a weather-damaged prison. Authorities say more than 100 prisoners escaped from the facility on Wednesday night after heavy rainfall destroyed parts of the building. The fence surrounding the facility was also destroyed. Officials say 10 of the inmates have been captured and taken into custody.
CNN's Stephanie Busari is live this hour in Lagos, Nigeria. So, Stephanie, a bizarre story. Take us through this. STEPHANIE BUSARI, CNN SR. EDITOR, AFRICA: Extraordinary story, Kim.
So we're hearing that a total of 118 inmates at a medium-security custodial center in Sulaja, north-central Nigeria, in Niger State, fled the prison on Wednesday night, although, as you say, 10 of those escaped inmates have been captured and taken into custody.
Now what is strange about this story is that parts of the prison facility, surrounding buildings and the perimeter fence were destroyed by heavy rainfall.
And the National Correctional Service has said that the facility is old and weak and was built during the colonial era. And one wonders why this facility was being used to house inmates.
But they've assured the public that they're on top of the situation and they also asked the public to look out for any fleeing inmates and report any suspicious movement to the nearest security agency.
Now, jailbreaks are not uncommon in Nigeria and we've seen a series of them. We've reported on a series of them in recent years.
In 2022, more than 300 inmates broke free after Boko Haram militants raided a prison, a high-security prison in Nigeria's capital, Abuja. And some of the jihadist group escaped in that attempt. And then a year before that, more than 200 prisoners fled a prison in Kogi State when gunmen burst into a correctional facility and they killed a policeman in that. So these incidences are not uncommon. And the Nigerian authorities are really asking themselves questions about how to keep dangerous inmates in their facilities where they're supposed to be and keep the public safe, Kim.
BRUNHUBER: Yeah, exactly right. Stephanie Busari in Lagos, Nigeria. Thank you so much.
And we will be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BRUNHUBER: After a decade of delays and setbacks, Boeing is poised to put its first astronauts into space. NASA says the company's Starliner spacecraft could make its inaugural crewed launch as early as May 6th, carrying two astronauts to the International Space Station. It was in 2014 when NASA awarded Boeing and SpaceX contracts to make commercial trips to the ISS, and Boeing was the odds-on favorite to get there first.
But various problems kept Starliner on the ground, even as SpaceX sent astronauts to the ISS on its Crew Dragon more than three years ago. Once it's ready to fly, Starliner will join Crew Dragon spacecraft in making routine trips to the space station, keeping the outpost fully staffed with astronauts.
113,000 people registered to enter Venice, Italy on the first day of the city's new tourist fee. The five-euro admission charge is meant to keep tourists to a minimum on the busiest days. CNN's Barbie Nadeau has more.
[03:50:09]
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BARBIE NADEAU, CNN REPORTER: Around 300 people took part in protests against the city of Venice's new entrance fee, which kicked off on Thursday, the day Italy celebrates its liberation from fascism.
All visitors to the city on 29 designated holidays and busy summer weekends until mid-July will have to reserve their entrance ticket online and show a QR code to attendants at makeshift gates leading into the city. Those who are staying in hotels or who live in Venice will get in free, while day-trippers and cruise ship passengers will have to pay a five-euro tourist tax.
Around 20 million people visit the city of Venice each year. Two- thirds of them do not spend the night, according to the Venice Tourism Board.
There is no cap on the number of reservations the city will take, but the plan is meant to dissuade people from visiting Venice on the busiest tourist days.
Those against it say it has turned Venice into an amusement park. Those who support it say it might make people think twice about visiting the city on peak tourist days. The mayor of Venice says the plan is an experiment and that other cities with high tourism are watching to see if it works.
Barbie Latza Nadeau, CNN, Rome.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BRUNHUBER: The British Home Secretary is voicing support for the U.K.'s plan to deport asylum seekers to Rwanda. James Cleverly denied criticism that the scheme is a waste of money while visiting the Italian island of Lampedusa, which has been the first landing spot for hundreds of thousands of people fleeing war and famine in Africa.
Now Cleverly's visit came just days after the U.K.'s parliament passed the contentious bill that lets the government send migrants to Rwanda. Advocates say the plan is designed to deter illegal migration, particularly from those crossing the English Channel on dangerous small boats.
Now many of those migrants travel across Europe after making a perilous journey from northern Africa. The United Nations says 2023 was the deadliest year on record for migration routes around the world, with nearly 8,600 deaths reported. Now the most dangerous route was the path through the central Mediterranean, according to the U.N., with at least 3,100 deaths and disappearances reported in 2023.
James Wilson is the director of the advocacy group Detention Action, and he joins us via Skype from London. Thank you so much for being here with us. So, so many migrants now trying to make that dangerous crossing last year, the deadliest since 2017 for the central Mediterranean crossing used by migrants to reach Italy. The U.K. and Italy say they're cooperating now to reduce the number of sea crossings. Is that a good thing?
JAMES WILSON, DIRECTOR, DETENTION ACTION: Hello, good morning. Well, I mean, I think it's important to say that everyone from across the different perspectives on this wants to see an end to the need for dangerous journeys, whether that's across the Mediterranean, across the English Channel from northern France to the U.K., or other dangerous journeys that people in refugee-type situations are facing.
But there are very different perspectives on the best way of tackling that. We say that what is needed is safe routes. The only reason that people are taking dangerous, unsafe routes is the lack of safe routes. And in the case of the U.K. government and the increasing, the high numbers of people crossing the English Channel in the last few years, the government has failed to introduce safe routes and actually reduced some of the very few safe routes that did exist from countries such as Afghanistan, Syria, and even Ukraine.
BRUNHUBER: Now, as you say, I mean, crossing the English Channel is dangerous as well. And this week the government passed the law to send thousands of illegal migrants to Rwanda, something which had been ruled illegal by the courts. Do you still believe it's illegal now, if not immoral as well?
WILSON: Well, we've been campaigning against this policy. We were one of the charities that brought in the initial legal challenge that led eventually to that Supreme Court decision last year.
I mean, we continue to believe that the policy is fundamentally the wrong approach. It's cruel, it's inhumane, it's unworkable. I'm not aware of any evidence that it will do what the government says it will do, e.g. act as a deterrent.
But also fundamentally, I don't think we should be looking to make a deterrent. We should be looking to end the need for dangerous journeys and ensure that people in desperate situations are safe. The government has now invested a huge amount of time and money, 370 million pounds already sent to Rwanda, not a single person sent to Rwanda under the scheme.
And it's something that's causing enormous distress, enormous anxiety and difficulty to support the people that we work with and support in the U.K.
BRUNHUBER: -- and still faces further legal challenges, and you're also calling on the airlines not to cooperate with the scheme. Have you heard from them on this?
[03:54:59]
WILSON: No, and that's right. We're continuing to call fundamentally for the government to change course. We absolutely think that this is entirely the wrong approach. But you're right, we've also been calling for and writing to airlines to urge them to rule out running flights to Rwanda under this scheme, because ultimately an airline is going to need to run these flights.
Some airlines in the last two years since the policy was announced have ruled out running flights themselves, and we'd call on all airlines to do that.
U.N. experts at the start of this week warned airlines and airline regulators that they may be at risk of violating people's human rights if they do participate in this policy, regardless of what the Safety of Rwanda Act states.
BRUNHUBER: So I want to play something from Prime Minister Rishi Sunak. Let's play that clip.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
RISHI SUNAK, BRITISH PRIME MINISTER: And the success of this deterrent doesn't rest on one flight alone. It rests on the relentless, continual process of successfully and permanently removing people to Rwanda with a regular rhythm of multiple flights every month over the summer and beyond until the boats are stopped.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BRUNHUBER: So, until the boats are stopped. I mean, is there any real sense that this will act as any kind of deterrent?
WILSON: Well, as I say, I'm not aware of any evidence stating that it would. I mean, it's important to keep the numbers in perspective. The numbers of people seeking asylum who come to reach Europe to start with is relatively small as a proportion of the global refugee population. And then the numbers that go on to the U.K. eventually is again relatively small. So we have to keep those numbers in perspective.
But there has been a significant increase in people crossing the channel for a variety of reasons over the last few years. But the people doing so are in desperate situations. And I would again stress, put yourself in those shoes. Why would you take such an unsafe journey, leaving aside the journey that you've taken to get to Northern France, but then crossing a crowded makeshift cross to cross the English Channel? Why would you do that if there were other options available? You wouldn't. What we need is safe routes.
The people crossing the English Channel on small boats in the last few years are overwhelmingly from just a few countries, including countries such as Syria and Sudan and Afghanistan, where there are clear conflicts and there's clear oppression. And the vast majority of those people would go on if they had their asylum claim heard in the U.K. to get refugee status.
BRUNHUBER: We will-- I'm so sorry to cut you off. I'm so sorry to cut you off. We're just up against the end of the show. We'll have to leave it there. James Wilson in London, thank you so much for joining us.
And I'd like to thank you, the audience, for joining me. I'm Kim Brunnhuber, in Atlanta. And the news continues with Max Foster in London after this break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
