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FBI has Reduced Number of Potential Suspects in Classified Documents Leak Investigation; Republican-Controlled Arizona House Votes to Boot Out Republican Representative; North Korea fires Missile Near Japan; Biden is About to Address the Irish Parliament; Security Breach Surrounding Biden's Visit Being Looked into by Northern Ireland Police; Political and Personal Ties will be Highlighted in Biden's Speech to Irish Parliament; Dominion V. Fox News Defamation Trial Jury Selection Currently Underway. Aired 10:30-11a ET

Aired April 13, 2023 - 10:30   ET

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

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[10:30:00]

SARA SIDNER, CNN NEWS CENTRAL CO-ANCHOR: We'd like to welcome you back to "CNN News Central". Here is a look at some of the top stories that we're following this morning. Outrage in France protesters marching in the streets of Paris setting fire to dumpsters, storming the headquarters of Louis Vuitton. Police are firing tear gas in response, this as a ruling on whether French President Emmanuel Macron's controversial plan to raise the retirement age can go through as expected tomorrow. John.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN NEWS CENTRAL CO-ANCHOR: All right. This just in, sources tell CNN that the FBI has narrowed the number of people they believe could be responsible for leaking sensitive government secrets posted to social media and have been conducting interviews in recent days. CNN's Natasha Bertrand following this story for us.

Bring us up to speed, Natasha, because this is a pretty significant development.

NATASHA BERTRAND, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY REPORTER: Yes, John. So, two sources briefed on the matter to my colleagues, Evan Perez and Kylie Atwood. that the FBI has said significantly narrowed the pool of potential suspects here in this investigation. They have been conducting interviews over the last several days, and they believe that they are getting a lot closer to finding this leaker, primarily because the alleged leader left a forensic trail that investigators have been able to really home in on.

So, really significant here, especially as we're learning more about the suspected leaker from "The Washington Post", which says that it found a member of the original group where these classified documents were posted who knew the leaker, who knew the suspect's identity, as well as where he allegedly worked. Now, it is not clear whether that is the same individual that the FBI is homing in on. But we are told that even before this story came out by "The Washington Post", the FBI had generated a number of leads based again on this forensic trail that this person has left. John.

BERMAN: Yes, it really was interesting to read that in "The Post" this morning, Natasha. It gives you a sense that there's a lot of information out there, perhaps, and investigators are probably trying to dig through it as much as they possibly can.

[10:35:00]

Keep us posted, because as I said, this is an important development.

Kate.

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN NEWS CENTRAL CO-ANCHOR: So, in the Republican controlled Arizona Statehouse, a Republican state lawmaker has just been expelled. 46 Arizona representatives voted to oust the newly elected Liz Harris. The resolution to kick her out says that she brought, "Disrepute and embarrassment" to the state's legislature, where she -- when she invited a conspiracy theorist to publicly testify before lawmakers. When the resolution passed on the video of that vote, you could hear a voice off camera yelling in protest. Listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You've heard the motion. All in favor, vote aye.

CROWD: Aye.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: All oppose, vote no. Ayes have it. So ordered, the House is adjourned.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Shame on you. Shame. Shame. Shame.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BOLDUAN: CNN's Kyung Lah is following all of this for us. So, Kyung, what is going on here and what happens now?

KYUNG LAH, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, this process may sound familiar to people who have been watching what's happening in Tennessee. It's a similar process, but a whole different story. Here, we're talking about a Republican lawmaker, now exiled lawmaker Liz Harris. Before she was elected in November, she was known within the state as a well-known peddler of election lies. The kind of election lies that really bridged on the outlandish.

Well, once she was elected in February, this is just a few months ago, she invited a conspiracy theorist to speak at a hearing. She was the expert witness, if you will say. The conspiracy theorist then said some outlandish things, one of the things that this conspiracy theorist testified to is that the Arizona governor, Democrat Katie Hobbs, was being paid by the Mexican cartels. Well, that blew up on right wing media.

And so, then the Republican House -- as Republican Majority House gathered to discuss whether or not Harris should go. Take a listen. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ALEX KOLODIN (R), ARIZONA STATE REPRESENTATIVE: They will perceive that they don't have a true voice in this body, because when they elect somebody to rock the boat, and she does it, about a -- in the wrong way, a way that should have been better considered that that member will be expelled.

LUPE DIAZ (R), ARIZONA STATE REPRESENTATIVE: We need to keep the bar and not lower the bar. And it is -- it's a tough decision to make. I did read through the, you know, I did read through the committee's report, and because of that I really feel that, you know, this is -- this -- the vote is justified.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LAH: And in the end, the ayes had it. We saw Harris packing up her boxes and heading out. 46 to 13. Again, it's important to note, Republican Majority House, this is a rare move, Kate. They decided. They had enough. They had to draw the line somewhere. So, the county will now decide who will be Harris' temporary replacement. Kate.

BOLDUAN: That is so interesting, especially as we have been -- you've reported on so much the history with -- when it comes to the election and politics and election fraud or accusations of it and unfounded ones in the very state of Arizona. It's good to see you, Kyung. Thanks for bringing it to us.

Sara.

SIDNER: And still ahead, we will go back to Dublin, Ireland where President Biden is set to speak to the Irish parliament. More on what he is expected to say coming up.

Also, terrifying moments in Japan. People on one of the country's northern islands warned to evacuate after North Korea fired an unidentified ballistic missile. How Japan and the U.S. are responding to that. Next.

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[10:40:00]

BOLDUAN: Around the world this morning, a North Korean missile sparked fear on a northern Japanese island after an emergency alert system warned residents to take cover. Millions of people on Hokkaido received the order urging them to take shelter. And then this led to widespread confusion then once the order was lifted. Local officials say, the alert was sent in error as the missile fell into the waters off the Korean Peninsula.

And right now, tropical cyclone Ilsa is swirling off Australia's west coast and is expected to make landfall with winds up to 150 miles an hour. Forecasters warn it could be one of the most powerful storms to hit the region in more than a decade. It's expected to make landfall within the next few hours. We'll be tracking that one closely for you. Brazil's President, Lula, is in China this week to meet with Chinese leader, Xi Jinping. His visit marks Brazil's return to the diplomatic stage among the global south despite prior vows to discuss peace strategies. It appears this trip's focus will center largely on trade and carbon credits.

Much to come on that Jonathan and Sara.

BERMAN: Yes, and we are standing -- standing by right now to hear --

BOLDUAN: You're so literal.

BERMAN: -- from President Biden. He is expected to address Ireland's parliament moments from now. This speech is expected to highlight the longstanding ties between Ireland and the United States.

BERMAN: This comes as police in Northern Ireland are investigating a security breach during the president's visit to Belfast. Police confirm now that a document outlining details of the president's trip was found on the street yesterday.

[10:45:00]

SIDNER: CNN's Phil Mattingly and Nic Robertson are live for us in Dublin with details. We're going to ask you first, Nic, what you can tell us about this breach that's being investigated at this -- at the moment.

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN'S INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: Yes, official and sensitive as well, the document said it was handed into the British broadcaster, the BBC. Literally just around the corner from the hotel where the president was staying while he was in Belfast. But it was found on the ground, not far from the hotel.

It's not clear yet to the police in Northern Ireland how it got there. Who was responsible for leaving it. But was it stolen? Was it dropped? Was it just, you know, was it just a mistake or perhaps somebody put it there intentionally? Not clear. It was dated the 10th of April, the document. And, of course, the president arriving on the 11th and leaving on the 12th.

So, it was very, very -- it had details, a very, very pertinent to his visited didn't have specific details about the president or anyone in his entourage. But it did have details, personal details of some of the senior police officers involved in the operation there.

CNN hasn't been able to verify the document, there were five pages in the document. And the police say that they are investigating it. They're working with U.S. counterparts as well to investigate it. They say they take the visit of dignitaries and officials and the people of the city very seriously. It's not the first time there's been a breach like this in Northern Ireland, but of course, very embarrassing for the police that it should happen while the president was there and be -- and have details about his visit.

BERMAN: Phil Mattingly, as you've been reporting, this is a very personal trip for President Biden. But he is also conducting that the business of state in one of the most important moments will be this address to the Irish parliament. What's expected from that?

PHIL MATTINGLY, CNN CHIEF WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Yes, look -- and I think this is a really important point here as we talk about the trip, and we talk about the visits to pubs or the visits to long lost family members or distantly related cousins, that there is a very significant and substantive bilateral portion of this trip. And that the long and -- the deep and longstanding ties between the U.S. and Ireland are certainly ones that the president will use this opportunity to look back on and to highlight.

But much of this speech, much of these remarks will be talking about the way forward here. And I think the relationship as -- I think, almost grown in importance in the two plus years the president has been in office, not to minimize what's happened in the past. But I think when you look at the geopolitical strife that the president has had to confront, that the, really, the west and the western alliances have had to deal with over the course over the last two years, speaking, most notably about Russia's invasion of Ukraine, Ireland has always been a critical component of that, particularly on the humanitarian side of things.

Their willingness to welcome Ukrainian immigrants. Their willingness to help in humanitarian aid. I think that is something the president is certainly going to highlight and underscore the necessity of the durability of that support going forward. Also, keep in mind where the president was just yesterday before he started making his pub visits and greeting thousands here in the streets in Dublin and around Ireland, he was in Northern Ireland.

And the discussions that he had with the five political leaders there. The reality of a situation that is far more stable and far more driven by peace than it ever probably was thought to be possible before the Good Friday Agreement 25 years ago still has a very significant layer of political complexity. Still does not have a power sharing government that is actually working at this moment in time. And relating what he heard, what he saw, and what he sees as the path forward on that front is critical as well.

So yes, certainly pay attention to the ancestral heritage. Pay attention to the Blewitts and the Finnegans and pay attention to where the president stops and what he sees. But I think the bilateral component here, as shown by the meetings with the president, and the (INAUDIBLE) earlier and as will be shown by the president's remarks here in front of parliament are very critical component of this trip, John.

BOLDUAN: Phil, Nic, thank you so much. We're going to show you some live pictures as we are waiting to hear very soon from President Biden and -- to speak to the Irish parliament.

But this are live pictures from France. Outrage across France where protests have just erupted once again in the streets ahead of this kind of final ruling, potentially over President Emmanuel Macron's controversial pension reform plan. We're going to get you live on the ground, the very latest as we've been seeing these clashes between protesters and police play out live in "CNN News Central".

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[10:50:00]

SIDNER: Right now, roughly 300 potential jurors are being questioned in the historic $1.6 billion defamation Dominion lawsuit against "Fox News". And it will be whittled down to a panel of, of course, 12 jurors and 12 alternates. The jury is expected to be seated by tomorrow, and opening statements, expected to begin Monday. The high stakes trial, which will put a spotlight on Fox's 2020 election denialism and the role of disinformation in American politics, that is expected to last about six weeks.

CNN's Marshall Cohen joins us from outside of the courthouse now. Marshall, what are we expecting to see during the trial? We know there have already been some rulings against "Fox News" as this goes forward.

MARSHALL COHEN, CNN REPORTER: Sara, this is all about the first amendment and what Fox did in the wake of the 2020 election. As you said, "Fox News" put people on its air who promoted the false claim that that election was rigged and that Dominion did the rigging.

[10:55:00]

So, as you mentioned jurors in the courthouse right behind me here in Wilmington are being selected as we speak. And that jury is going to hear evidence from some big names. Some of the top talented "Fox News". People like Tucker Carlson, Sean Hannity, Maria Bartiromo who all hosted programs in 2020, where some of the alleged defamation took place.

But we're also expecting testimony from top executives like Rupert Murdoch and Suzanne Scott, who is the CEO of "Fox News". It's pretty rare to see high profile figures like these dragged into court. But of course, the judges allowed this trial to take place. He's allowed it to move this far, and we're going to see how it all shakes out for the right-wing network as this continues. Sara.

SIDNER: And we know the judge is also looking into whether or not he was lied to by "Fox News" as well. There's a lot going on before the trial. There will be so much to learn during the trial. Marshal; Cohen, thank you so much for joining us.

Kate.

BOLDUAN: Still ahead, some wild pictures are coming out of South Florida, car after car, street after street, submerged in water as the area is hit with a one in 1,000-year flooding event. We'll have the very latest, that's coming in.

Plus, intense protests are unfolding in Paris and across France. Demonstrators are outraged over a possible pension reform plan that Macron has been pushing. Looking at these pictures from last hour, we're going to have the very latest from the ground. That's next. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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