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Arrival of President Biden in Dublin; Trump Queries Hush Money Case's Statute of Limitations; Interview with State Attorney for Palm Beach County, Florida Dave Aronberg; Jim Jordan Sued by Manhattan DA for Interfering with Trump Case; Justice Department and Manufacturer of Abortion Pills Ask Appeals Court to Block Judge's Decision that Could Prevent Drug from Being Available; Fungal Outbreak at a Paper Mill in Michigan Thought to Have Infected 93 Workers; Interview with Union President for 670 Workers at Paper Mill with Fungal Outbreak and United Steel Workers Local 21 Union President Gerald Kell. Aired 10:30-11a ET

Aired April 12, 2023 - 10:30   ET

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

[10:30:00]

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN'S INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: And it's an interesting contrast as well, because I covered President Trump when he came to Ireland, and he spent a lot of time in his golf resort. President Biden, he says, is going to spend a lot of time out in the community. And who would like it? Who would not want to be walking around in Irish castle while strolling down an Irish high street talking to people who just love to have a conversation of always got a tale to tell? Who doesn't love that? I know I do.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN NEWS CENTRAL CO-ANCHOR: And you know that President Joe Biden loves it as well. You can see the smile on his face. Before that we saw his sister Valerie Biden Owens and then his son, Hunter, was in there as well. OK. We're going to be watching this trip very closely. Nic Robertson in Belfast, the president now south of you on the Republic of Ireland in Dublin, beginning this three-day trip there. Sara.

SARA SIDNER, CNN NEWS CENTRAL CO-ANCHOR: All right. John. An extraordinary step from the Manhattan district attorney. He is suing House Judiciary Chair, Jim Jordan, in an attempt to stop Congressional Republicans from interfering in his case against Donald Trump. Details on that next.

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[10:35:00]

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN NEWS CENTRAL CO-ANCHOR: The mayor of Louisville says that the city is heartbroken and understandably so as it prepares for a vigil today for the five people killed at that bank downtown. Officials also say, it took the gunman only one minute to carry out the attack. And the gunman's family is speaking up and saying this morning that he struggled with depression, but that they had no idea he was plotting this. 2,000 people have been evacuated in Indiana as a huge fire, as you can see, continues burning at this recycling plant in the state, the thick toxic smoke. It is really just wild to see. And officials say that it could still be burning for days. Local officials also said just this morning that all the blame falls on the owner of the plant and that the business has been cited before for unsafe building conditions. Sara.

SIDNER: Former President Donald Trump says he'd never drop out of the 2024 race even if he was convicted of a crime. Trump's comments come during his first sit down interview since being indicted for his role in paying hush money to adult film star, Stormy Daniels. The former president also taking issue with the statute of limitations on the case against him.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TUCKER CARLSON, HOST "TUCKER CARLSON TONIGHT": If this goes to trial and you get convicted, like, how would you respond in the middle of a presidential campaign? How would you respond?

DONALD TRUMP, THEN-U.S. PRESIDENT: Well, it's so off, the statute of limitations or years off. It's hard to believe --

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SIDNER: All right. You heard his answer there. State attorney for Palm Beach County, Florida, Dave Aronberg, joins me now. Dave, you heard Donald Trump there, answering that question. The D.A.'s office is going forward. They're using a law, a section of the New York criminal law that basically says if you haven't been in the state, they can extend the statute of limitations. It has been used before recently in the Harvey Weinstein case. Do you think this is a stretch by the D.A. or a good strategy?

DAVE ARONBERG, STATE ATTORNEY FOR PALM BEACH COUNTY, FLORIDA: Sara, the D.A. wouldn't go this far and charge the former president unless they thought they had a really good case, and that means there's no statute of limitations problem. And the reason is, what you said, Trump left the State of New York. So, the statute of limitations has told or paused. He moved near me, in Palm Beach County, although I live on the other side of the bridge.

But you can't move out of the state and still claim, A, statute of limitations has expired. No pause. And also, there's another reason, Governor Cuomo signed into law another measure that pauses the statute of limitations because of COVID. So, Donald Trump may have some good arguments in defense of this action in New York, but I don't think a statute of limitations is one of them.

SIDNER: OK. Let's move on to D.A. Alvin Bragg is also suing the House Judiciary Chairman, Jim Jordan. And he's basically saying, look, there was a transparent campaign to intimidate and attack his office. He is getting death threats. What do you think about this? And whether or not Jim Jordan is going to come comply with this lawsuit as it goes forward. ARONBERG: Alvin Bragg had to do something because it was of level intimidation out there. Jim Jordan was trying to get involved. He would do that for no other criminal defendants, except for Donald Trump. But you know, there's something called federalism, and Jim Jordan needs to learn that. The -- well, maybe the best part about the job of being a state prosecutor is that the governor, the president, and especially not a member of Congress, they're not our bosses. It's the people of our communities.

And so, Jim Jordan, I don't think, will win in this fight. Also, when it comes to trying to get grand jury materials, that's secretive. It's against the law to get it. So, I think maybe if they ever do depose Mark Pomerantz, they won't get what they want. It'll be a big show and nothing more.

SIDNER: There is another lawsuit, and there are other potential lawsuits coming, but there's also one that is in the flow. It's already started, the E. Jean Carroll case. The lawyers for Trump are asking a judge to delay that case where she accuses him of sexual assault and defamation. Do you think that the judge will actually grant Donald Trump's request to delay it because of his prosecution in this other case that D.A Bragg brought?

ARONBERG: Yes, he's saying because of all the bad publicity and the emotions and the hysteria that the jury would be swayed by that, as opposed to normally when the jury in Manhattan would like him. So, I think this is another tactic that Trump has always used, which is delay, delay, delay.

[10:40:00]

He's trying to push it out. I don't think it's going to work and I think the case is going to go on as planned.

SIDNER: Thank you so much for joining us from my home state. I appreciate it. John.

BERMAN: All right. Sara. A rare fungal infection has made almost 100 people sick in Michigan. Details on where and how this is spreading.

And the Justice Department facing a 1:00 p.m. deadline today in the fight over abortion access. We have new reporting on the strategy they seem to be taking.

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[10:45:00]

BERMAN: A new deadline today in the fight over abortion access. The federal appeals court has asked the Justice Department to respond by 1:00 p.m. as the fifth circuit is considering whether to hit pause on the pending Texas ruling that would halt sales of the abortion pill mifepristone come Friday. CNN's Ariane de Vogue is covering this for us today.

Ariane, lots going to happen in a short period of time. What does it all mean?

ARIANE DE VOGUE, CNN SUPREME COURT REPORTER: Right, John. The clock is really ticking here. This federal appeals court could say, like you said, as early as today, whether or not it's going to freeze that controversial lower court opinion. Keep in mind, that lower court opinion blocked, as you said, the government's approval of the drug. It's set to go into effect on Friday unless a court intervenes.

And the Biden ministrations here is really reeling from that opinion because millions of women have used that drug since it was allowed to go into effect some 20 years ago. And meanwhile, the opponents here who are doctors who oppose abortion, they filed briefs last night at midnight saying that that opinion should be allowed to go into effect. The appeals court should stay out.

And we are hearing from other voices, for instance, doctors they filed briefs in this case, saying how safe it is. And outside of court, John, you're hearing from drug companies. And drug companies are very worried about that opinion because they're worried that it's going to affect all sorts of other job -- drugs. They're worried that this will destabilize the regulation of those drugs too. So, all eyes now on this appeals court, which could rule as early as today.

BERMAN: And this, of course, may just be one more step in a process that could go on for some time. Ariane de Vogue, great to have you on. Thanks so much. Sara.

SIDNER: A bit of good news, wages -- first but there is another side to this, it's not enough to make a difference. We'll explain, coming up.

Plus, nearly 100 confirmed or probable cases of a rare fungal infection have been identified in Michigan. We're hearing from the union president who is representing those working at the plant that has been ground zero for the spread, we'll have all that.

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[10:50:00]

BOLDUAN: A troubling and still unsolved mystery really is happening in Michigan, where there are 93 confirmed or probable cases of a fungal outbreak at a paper mill there. The infection is called blastomycosis and it's caused by a fungus, most often found in moist soil and decomposing what it leaves. Infections like this, though, are also quite rare. Normally, there are only one or two cases per every 100,000 Americans per year.

So, how can you get it? Well, by breathing in the fungus' microscopic spores, and symptoms may set in weeks or even months later. The symptoms can include fever, cough, chest pains and trouble breathing. And if the infection spreads from the lungs to other organs, it can then become more severe and even life threatening. So, what happened here at this plant and why are so many people there getting sick?

Joining me now is Gerald Kell, he's the president of the United Steel Workers Local 21, the union that represents hundreds of workers at this paper mill. Gerald, thank you for coming in. As you and I were just talking really quickly in the break, there are so many unknowns still which is why it's so scary. But first and foremost, how are people doing?

GERALD KELL, UNION PRESIDENT FOR 670 WORKERS AT PAPER MILL WITH FUNGAL OUTBREAK AND PRESIDENT, UNITED STEEL WORKERS LOCAL 21 UNION: You know, people are banding together. We -- we're showing our solidarity by supporting each other. We have several members that are still off of work. They're still ill. Many of them have a long road ahead of them. But also, with the awareness we brought forth on it, a lot of people are getting diagnosed early and they're having a far better outcome.

BOLDUAN: You said -- I've seen that you say that at least one person who was presenting symptoms was in the hospital for a week. I mean, what are people dealing with? What kind of symptoms have people been having and what are they dealing with?

KELL: So, actually, we had -- we've had several members hospitalized, and one was more than three weeks. But they're having trouble breathing. It comes across very similar to pneumonia, in general. They, of course, have night sweats. They have coughs. They have sore throats. A lot of typical respiratory disease symptoms which also made it very difficult early on to identify as a fungal infection.

BOLDUAN: When people started getting sick who are working at the paper mill, which I should say you work there as well. When did you all start thinking that this --

KELL: I do.

BOLDUAN: -- this was something more serious and something that could be connected?

KELL: Well, that was obviously driven by the local health care facilities who ultimately were able to identify what it was. And then once we were notified of that, which was basically through the transparency of our own members. So, the union members have been very vocal and they were able to step up and let us know everything that's going on so we could bring the awareness of the issue. The healthcare facilities drove that, though obviously identifying it.

And we knew we had a rash of respiratory cases in the membership. But once that was identified, we were able to, you know, compel members to go see their primary care physician, to go see the local hospital. And even the healthcare facilities, in general, changed their protocols to look for it.

[10:55:00]

BOLDUAN: Yes.

KELL: So, that's where it really started to ramp up in early March.

BOLDUAN: The source of this is still not known, where and when and exactly how this how this started. The source of this is obviously critical for so many reasons, including to make sure that this doesn't happen again. But are you all confident that the current exposure is past? That the threat is over?

KELL: We do -- we don't know that at this time. That's one of my chief concerns. You know, we're working collaboratively with the company to -- and outside oversight agencies, including NIOSH, the local health department, USW Health and Safety to investigate, mitigate risk, and of course, as you mentioned, prevent it in the future.

But we don't actually know the specific source, and we may never know. It's something we're learning that it's not really easy to identify because of the long incubation period. But we can certainly work on efforts to mitigate risk and take care of our people that are impacted by it right now.

BOLDUAN: Would you want to read because it did -- company did give a statement to CNN saying that, we continue to take this matter very seriously and are following recommendations from health and government officials and implementing numerous proactive steps to protect the health and safety of our employees, contractors and visitors. You say that we are working collaboratively with them. How do you view the company's role in all of this, Gerald?

KELL: Well, I think it's -- certainly, the -- you know, the company and the unions and everybody's role is to provide a safe working environment. And we have a long history in the United Steel Workers of, you know, spearheading occupational safety and health. So, when it comes to something like this, it's important that we all work together because the ultimate goal is the safety of the entire workforce at the mill. So, it has been a joint effort up to this point, and I think we've reached out to the proper authorities and experts in the field to really get the best resolution possible.

BOLDUAN: Yes, as you said, you don't know yet if it's quite yet safe to be back at work. If the threat is passed because you don't know where the source of it all began. It's good to see you, Gerald. Thank you so much your -- for you coming in.

KELL: All right.

BOLDUAN: We'll continue to follow this. John.

BERMAN: Yes, I have family out there. It's very concerning.

So, the Biden administration just unveiled its most ambitious climate policy yet. New emissions rules aimed at boosting electric car all sales nationwide.

And brand-new body camera footage from the officers who responded to the Louisville bank shooting that left five people dead.

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[11:00:00]