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Rival Generals Battle for Control in Sudan; Leaked Documents Show Taiwan is Vulnerable to China; Thomas to Amend Disclosure Forms; LA DA's Officer Reviewed Hammer Allegations; Boston Marks 10 Years Since Marathon Bombing. Aired 9:30-10a ET

Aired April 17, 2023 - 09:30   ET

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

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[09:31:14]

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome back to CNN NEWS CENTRAL. Here's a look at some of the top stories that we're following right now.

About 30 minutes from now House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, he's going to be delivering a pretty big speech at the New York Stock Exchange. He's expected to essentially lay down his marker as the high stakes battle over raising the nation's debt ceiling kicks into high gear. Sources tell CNN House Republican leaders are moving behind the scenes now to get their caucus to rally behind a plan that would raise the debt ceiling for one year and also, though, come with a bunch of strings attached.

Also, the high stakes and wildly expensive trial between Dominion Voting Systems and Fox News is being delayed. The trial, which was supposed to start this morning, has been pushed off until tomorrow. The reason why, still officially unclear. "The Wall Street Journal," though, which is owned by Fox News parent -- the -- Fox News' parent company, is reporting that Fox has made a last minute push to settle the defamation case out of court.

Sara.

SARA SIDNER, CNN ANCHOR: Burning buildings and gunfire echo through the capital of Sudan. This morning there is worry the country may dissolve into civil war as two rival military generals fight for control of that country. Take a look at the video here. It appears to show a military headquarters up in flames. Another shows fighter jets flying over the capital city of Khartoum. And today, residents woke up to the sound of more artillery fire. More than 100 civilians are dead. Behind the chaos, these two men, Sudan's Army Chief General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, and Mohammed Hamdan, Dagalo, the commander of the Rapid Support Forces, a paramilitary group.

Now, they gained power during the bloody conflict in Darfur, nearly two decades ago. But in 2019, both of the men worked with the army to overthrow Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir, who was the first sitting head of state charged with war crimes by the international court. And just two years ago they both played a crucial role in another military coup that ended with what was supposed to be a power-sharing deal between the military and civilian groups. But, just last week, violence broke out after a disagreement over how the paramilitary and the military would integrate, creating the violence that we are seeing unfolding now.

John.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: Violence which they've seen much too much of over the last several decades. And civilians always caught in the middle, Sara.

The violence centered, as Sara said, in the capital city of Khartoum, where smoke and flames have been seen near the presidential palace, the army headquarters and the airport. This is some of the gunfire that has forced residents to take shelter.

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BERMAN: Civilians there have had to deal with severe water shortage, power outages. It's been a serious mess there. A life-threatening mess.

CNN's Nima Elbagir is with us now.

Nima, you've done so much reporting on this war-torn region. We're hearing, what, now the hospitals are being targeted. Bring us up to speed on the latest.

NIMA ELBAGIR, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL INVESTIGATIVE CORRESPONDENT: We've been able to verify testimony given to us by eyewitnesses regarding the deliberate targeting of hospitals. I want you to take a listen to what we got from a doctor inside a hospital, John.

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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We were living in a real battle. Can you believe that we left the hospital and left behind children in incubators and patients in intensive care without any medical personnel. I can't believe that I survived dying at the hospital where the smell of death is everywhere.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ELBAGIR: The hospital she was in - the hospital she was in was receiving wounded soldiers from the -- from the Sudanese Armed Forces. And so this deliberate targeting appears to be part of the Rapid Support Forces' attempts to gain the upper hand inside the capital.

[09:35:05]

But, of course, John, it is a war -- it would constitute a war crime. And it is absolutely a violation of international law. And this comes as doctors tell us that they are unable to reach patients and they aren't able to help people bury their dead.

BERMAN: Trying to get the upper hand on the backs of the sick and the infirmed.

Nima Elbagir, thank you so much for your reporting. Please, keep us posted.

Kate.

BOLDUAN: John, thanks so much.

So, this morning, Taiwan is disputing a "Washington Post" report that claims leaked U.S. intelligence documents show that they would not be able to fend off airstrikes coming from China. The findings are part of the dozens of highly classified documents that were leaked online allegedly by Massachusetts Air National Guardsman Jack Teixeira. This latest intelligence assessment comes as tensions are at an all-time high, of course, and just a week after China conducted three straight days of military drills near Taiwan,

CNN's Ivan Watson is joining us now to - he's looking into this report, what we know, what we don't, and also, Ivan, how Taiwan is responding to all of this.

IVAN WATSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Right. Well, right off the bat, the defense ministry of Taiwan, Kate, they've come out with this statement saying, quote, we respect outside opinion on our national defense, but a foreign media cited unidentified documents and the content was obviously not factual. And then went on to go -- went on to say that Taiwan's military is prepared to defend Taiwan's airspace in the event of an attack from mainland China.

Now, let's backtrack to the actual reporting by "The Washington Post." CNN has not seen the actual document that they're referring to, the leaked document. And we've requested comment from the Pentagon. Still waiting for an answer on that.

"The Washington Post" says that -- that there's a pretty grim assessment, arguing that there's a lack of coordination within Taiwanese air defense, that its defenses would be easily overwhelmed, that they don't have the right radios for communication, they wouldn't be able to coordinate attacks on different targets, and that barely half of the aircraft in Taiwan's air force is fully operational right now. So, it's pretty grim stuff.

And this comes again after the tensions last week where China conducted these exercises all around Taiwan. This was partially in protest of the president of Taiwan visiting the U.S., meeting with the House speaker, going to Latin America as well.

I do need to point out that a U.S. guided missile destroyer, that's the USS Milius, it conducted what the U.S. Navy calls a freedom of navigation operation transiting the Taiwan Strait on Sunday, trying to show that the U.S. will -- Navy will sail anywhere it deems to be international waters, much to the chagrin of Beijing. Just an ongoing sign of the ongoing tensions in that contentious region.

Kate.

BOLDUAN: Absolutely.

Ivan, good to see you. Thank you.

Sara.

SIDNER: All right, Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas is making some changes to his financial disclosure forms after a real estate deal with a GOP mega donor came to light.

And, the Los Angeles district attorney is reviewing allegations of sexual assault against actor Armie Hammer.

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[09:42:48]

BOLDUAN: This morning, the U.S. Coast Guard and the Mexican navy are searching for three American sailors last seen on April 4th. Now, they were heading from Mexico to San Diego on a 44 foot sailing vessel, but they did not arrive. And Coast Guard officials say there have not -- there have been no reported sightings of the boat so far.

Authorities in Japan have now raided the home of a man suspected of throwing an explosive devise near the Japanese prime minister as he was speaking this weekend. The prime minister was not injured, but the chaotic scene was caught on cameras. Police tell CNN that the suspect threw an iron pipe bomb that exploded.

And Senators Mitch McConnell and John Fetterman, they are both returning to the Senate today, both after having faced health issues. McConnell has recovered from a fall and injuries from that fall back in March, and Fetterman was being treated for clinical depression.

Sara.

SIDNER: All right, sources tell CNN that Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas will amend his financial disclosure forms to include a 2014 real estate deal he made with a GOP mega donor. Justice Thomas has been under intense scrutiny since ProPublica first reported he failed to disclose several luxury trips he took with that donor, as well as the real estate transaction.

CNN Supreme Court reporter Ariane de Vogue joins us now live.

Ariane, can you tell us what we know and why Justice Thomas failed to disclose this -- this real estate deal with the GOP mega donor.

ARIANE DE VOGUE, CNN SUPREME COURT REPORTER: Right. So we know that now, according to my source, he is going to amend his financial disclosures to reflect the sale of these three properties he owned with family members. One of them is the house where his mother still lives today. And that sale was to this top mega donor Harlan Crow. Remember, Crow, as you said, he's the same man who paid for those lavish trips for - that Virginia and Clarence Thomas took.

Regarding the trips, Clarence Thomas put out a statement and he said, I did not have to disclose those because of the rules that were in place at the time. But here this is something different. And he said he is going to amend.

I was told the reason he thought at first he didn't have to disclose it was because he and his wife put in about $50,000 to $70,000 to improve this house before the sale.

[09:45:06]

And when the sale went through, his portion, he only made $44,000. So, he fills out his financial disclosure by himself and with his aides. He looked at the section that's called investments. He thought, I didn't make any money here, so this does not have to be disclosed. But that's not true. That section of those forms clearly shows that if you have a transaction, you do have to put it there in those financial disclosure forms.

SIDNER: This is making a lot of people question the Supreme Court as a whole, and that's been something that has broken down for - for a bit of time, learning more about each of the justices.

I do want to ask you a question about whether or not the Supreme Court finally has some ethics rules in place that apply to all of these justices.

DE VOGUE: That's a good point because they do not. And they have been under a lot of heat from critics, from Congress, who say, look, you have got to have ethics rules that are directed just at you. The justices have declined to do so. They say they use other rules as guidance.

But this is another example. Like, for instance, one new detail we learned here is that that house where his mother lives, she's living there now rent free. That was the deal when the sale went through. All she has to do is pay for tax and insurance. So, these kinds of disclosures, that's kind of a drip, drip, drip. And it may cause the Supreme Court to finally take that step, but so far they haven't.

SIDNER: All right, we will keep watching this.

Ariane de Vogue, there life for us from Washington.

John.

BERMAN: New this morning, the Los Angeles District Attorney's Office says it is reviewing claims of sexual assault against actor Armie Hammer. Hammer has faced a series of troubling allegations over the last few years.

CNN's Chloe Melas is with us now.

And, Chloe, you were just telling me, as we were coming to air, this is significant. Why?

CHLOE MELAS, CNN ENTERTAINMENT REPORTER: This is significant, John, because the Los Angeles Police Department has been conducting an investigation for nearly two years when CNN first confirmed that this stemmed from allegations from 2017. So, let me back up for a second.

In 2021, a young woman by the name of Effie came forward in a press conference with famous lawyer Gloria Allred and she claimed that she met Armie Hammer on Facebook, that they had an on and off again relationship for several years, and that it turned violent allegedly and that he allegedly raped her in 2021. I mean in 2017. The LAPD opens an investigation. Here we are now. The LAPD has turned over their investigation to the Los Angeles District Attorney's Office, and they are looking into this.

So, it's unclear if they are going to bring charges. We have reached out to Armie Hammer's team for comment. But I want to tell you previously what Armie Hammer said to Airmail. So, he did an interview in February, and it was the first time that he had spoken out about these allegations personally, not through an attorney. And, John, he said, quote, I had a very intense and extreme lifestyle. A whirlwind of travel and sex and drugs and big emotions. Now, he, you know, stands adamantly by the fact that he did not do anything that was not consensual.

Now, just a little bit ago we got a statement from that woman, Effie, to CNN. And I'd like to read you what she is telling us. She says, quote, I am severely traumatized by Armie. I feel disgusted that he's not taking accountability for what he did to me and that he's resorted to attacking me. Armie has no remorse. He continues to cause pain, and I don't think he's changed at all.

So, obviously, we've reached out to Armie's attorneys and his publicist for further comment.

But this is a story that so many people have been watching for years to see what is going to come of this.

BERMAN: And it is now in the district attorney's hands. So, the next step, we will see.

MELAS: Could be a minute.

BERMAN: Chloe Melas, thank you very much for that.

MELAS: Thank you.

BERMAN: Kate.

BOLDUAN: And they are off. Nearly 30,000 athletes from more than 100 countries are racing in the Boston Marathon this morning. Up next, we're going to go live to Boston on today's big race and also how they are marking 10 years since the deadly twin bombings there.

We'll be right back.

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[09:53:16]

BOLDUAN: Right now the 127th Boston Marathon is underway. Tens of thousands of men and women taking part in this amazing and tough race. The world's oldest annually held marathon. And this year is also -- it also marks 10 years since the horrific bombings near the finish line of the marathon.

CNN's Polo Sandoval is in Boston for us. He's joining us now.

Polo, what are you hearing from officials about security at this year's race?

POLO SANDOVAL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Kate, you will find signs of security just about everywhere along this massive marathon course. Here, we're actually just west of Boston Proper. You have volunteers. And then as the very steady hands of our colleague Bob Crowley (ph) will show you, you'll also see Boston's finest there.

And then this left turn that will take runners, Kate, towards the final four mile stretch ahead of that iconic finish line. You may - we may get lucky and we may potentially see the wheelchair participants speed by us here in a few moments. The elites wave actually took off here about maybe 20 minutes ago or so. And we are expecting for the rest of the wave to make its way out in the next five or 10 minutes or so.

But I have to tell you, it is, yes, drizzly, and it's overcast, but Boston is shining bright today. There is no better way to really celebrate the memory of those three spectators who died 10 years ago at that finish line and the officers -- the two officers that subsequently also gave their lives in the, you know, the moments following that incident, then by holding a marathon.

And in that crowd today we're expecting to see roughly 30,000 runners from 121 countries. And in that pack will be the family and friends of little eight-year-old Martin Richard.

[09:55:01]

His presence will certainly be felt here. His brother will be running here representing the foundation that has his name. But then also we heard earlier today from Jane, who is his 17-year-old -- now 17-year- old sister, who told "The Boston Globe" in her conversations that she will certainly continue to grieve for the rest of her life, still even has the word peace in her little brother's handwriting tattooed on her wrist, but she's certainly ready to move on, ready to create her own story.

So, I think that that really speaks volumes when you're trying to describe the mood here. Yes, it is solemn and what happened 10 years ago is certainly not lost on anybody, especially after a weekend of tributes, but there's also a sense of celebration here as folks are ready to get back out and pound the pavement again.

Kate.

BOLDUAN: Absolutely. And Boston can and everyone can and do both of those things, honor this solemn anniversary, but also run a good -- run a good race. It's good to see you, Polo. Thank you.

John.

BERMAN: Good luck to all the runners today.

House Speaker Kevin McCarthy is minutes away from delivering a speech on the economy at the New York Stock Exchange.

And the highly anticipated SpaceX rocket launch called off. We'll tell you why ahead.

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