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Jury Acquits Two, Declares Mistrial On Two Others In Trial Of Men Accused Of Kidnap Conspiracy Against Michigan Governor; Ketanji Brown Jackson Celebrates SCOTUS Confirmation At White House; Oksana Markarova, Ukrainian Ambassador To The U.S., Discusses Russian Atrocities In Ukraine; Tiger Woods Tees Off In Second Round Of Masters; Academy Bans Will Smith From Events For 10 Years. Aired 2:30- 3p ET

Aired April 08, 2022 - 14:30   ET

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

[14:30:00]

SHIMON PROKUPECZ, CNN CRIME & JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: And you'll recall, back in 2020, six men were arrested and indicted and charged for this plot to kidnap the governor. They talked about blowing up bridges and going to the governor's home where they were going to kidnap her.

And then try to somehow either get some ransom or try and get something changed because they were all very angry over the pandemic, the restrictions that she placed during the pandemic.

And so the FBI was in on this investigation. This was a massive investigation for law enforcement as for the FBI. And so they charged six people.

They now went to trial. Four of the people went to trial. And today, after five days -- on the fifth day of deliberation from this jury, they came back with a partial verdict. Not so good for the government.

Two of the defendants were acquitted of all charges. They were acquitted of kidnapping and conspiracy to use a weapon of mass destruction because they talked about using a bomb and, at one point, even built something that was like a bomb.

The other two defendants, which the government has sort of described as the ringleaders, Adam Fox and Barry Croft, the jury could not reach a verdict on. So it is likely they will get retried.

However, this is very significant. Because there was a large amount of evidence, video evidence, audio tapes. The government had an informant inside of this group that was -- they were using to try and get information.

After all of the evidence, despite all of that, this jury unable to reach a verdict on two of the defendants and then also acquitting those two other defendants.

So certainly, a significant loss here for the government's case. And now we wait to see what happens with the two that the jury could not reach a verdict on.

ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN HOST: OK. Shimon Prokupecz, thank you very much for that important update.

VICTOR BLACKWELL, CNN HOST: So this was an historic celebration at the White House today. President Biden hosted the now-confirmed soon-to-be Supreme Court justice, Ketanji Brown Jackson.

Judge Jackson, if you didn't watch it, she delivered an emotional speech. She thanked those who helped her along the way. And recognized the long road traveled to let a black woman to be elevated to the Supreme Court.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

(APPLAUSE)

KETANJI BROWN JACKSON, CONFIRMED TO THE U.S. SUPREME COURT: So as I take on this new role, I strongly believe that this is a moment in which all Americans can take great pride. We have come a long way toward protecting our union.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CAMEROTA: Let's discuss with CNN political commentator, Keisha Lance Bottoms, who was there today at that White House event, and CNN legal analyst, Elliot Williams.

Mayor, just describe the atmosphere. What was that like to be there?

KEISHA LANCE BOTTOMS, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: It was very celebratory. And it was like a family reunion of sorts because we hadn't had many of these large gatherings at White House.

There were people there from all over the country, representing all groups and governments across the country. And it looked and felt like America. And it was just a wonderful day.

And as she spoke, there were many people who had tears in her eyes. She quoted Mia Angelou from "Still I Rise," "Bringing the gifts that my ancestors gave, I am the dream and the hope of the slave."

She talked about being one generation removed from segregation.

And to watch her next to President Biden and Vice President Harris was -- it was just a moment that I will always remember. And I'm so glad that so many people had an opportunity to witness it.

BLACKWELL: That first line of her remarks when she said, "First, I want to thank God who delivered me as promised." That stood out to me.

Elliot, let me come to you.

We heard from the president. He said that what Judge Jackson endured, using his words, during the confirmation hearings amounts to "verbal abuse." Republicans complained about how Kavanaugh was treated but was this

different?

ELLIOT WILLIAMS, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: You know, look, the entire process of selecting judicial nominees is just broken and tainted.

Look, Victor, in the last day, Senate majority leader, Mitch McConnell, has acknowledged that he may not bring up any nominees if he's majority leader begin.

There's plenty time to fight about how tainted and dirty the process it. Today, frankly, should be a day of joy for all Americans.

Think about not just the black boys and girls who are seeing Ketanji Brown Jackson but the white kids growing up in a world where a Supreme Court justice could be a black woman. That's their framing and notion of what success and the Supreme Court looks like.

So look, it is a horrible process now. Consider that she only got three Republicans supporting her. Where, just a couple of years ago, John Roberts had 22 Democrats supporting him.

In the last years, it has gotten ugly and hideous and partisan.

She was able to be the best and sort of rise up, and be someone that all Americans, even Republicans, should be proud of today.

[14:35:06]

CAMEROTA: Yesterday, Mayor, Victor and I were on the air when this historic vote was happening.

And were you surprised that these three Republicans, Senators -- it was Rand Paul, Lindsey Graham and Jim Inhoff -- couldn't be bothered to be in the room.

Two of them weren't wearing the appropriate clothing. They had showed up without their ties on. And then we saw Rand Paul forcing everybody to wait something like 15 minutes for him to cast his vote.

Why couldn't they put ties on for this? I'm not telling them how to vote. They could vote against her, however they want. But they couldn't put ties on?

LANCE BOTTOMS: I think there's some things you just don't want to begin to understand. Just watching this process has been deeply troubling on so many levels.

But the president today acknowledge Mitt Romney and the role that -- the historic role that he has played in this confirmation. So I'm grateful for the three that voted to confirm.

This woman is more than qualified to be a justice of the Supreme Court. And to show up not even dressed appropriately, it is not just disrespectful to her personally, but to the Senate and to the American people. And I hope that as people go back out to vote this November, we will

remember how we got to this moment.

We were able to get to this moment because Joe Biden is president. And because there's a Senate that values the diversity of this country and values competence.

BLACKWELL: Elliot, speaking to how we got to this moment, of all of the people that President Biden thanked, he didn't say anything about Congressman James Clyburn.

He said, when I decided to run, this was a commitment I was going to make. We've all done the reporting of how President Biden got to the point of a commitment on a black woman to the Supreme Court.

What do you make of that? I won't call it omission but we didn't hear the name.

ELLIOT: Yes, look, we did not hear the nape. Who knows what was behind that?

This is one of those interesting moments, Victor, where something that might have been political expedience was also morally the right thing to do.

It was past time, number one, for the Supreme Court to have a majority of non-white men. But to have a sprinkling that looks more like America.

I was struck, in particular, Victor, along the lines of the words the president used today when describing Ketanji Brown Jackson. In his remarks, he said -- used "excellence, calm, humility, poise, composure, patience, restraint." It is really just a remarkable nominee.

It is the omission, I think, of Congressman Clyburn's name was notable. But at the end of the day, this is something that I'm sure all of us can and should be proud of.

CAMEROTA: Elliot Williams, Keisha Lance Bottoms, thank you both.

BLACKWELL: "The unthinkable has happened here" -- those words come from the president of -- the European Commission president as she was there witnessing firsthand what happened in the Ukrainian town of Bucha. We'll have more on this next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[14:42:02]

BLACKWELL: We have the latest on the Russia missile strike that claimed the lives of at least 50 people. The attack happened at a train station used as an evacuation hub in eastern Ukraine.

A warning now. The images you are about to see are graphic. Scattered luggage and personal belongings of people that never got a

chance to leave the area. You see the blood there on the road. More evidence of Russia's growing aggression.

And top European Union officials are now inside of the war zone. They're getting the firsthand look at the atrocities committed in Bucha.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

URSULA VON DER LEYEN, PRESIDENT, EUROPEAN COMMISSION: It is the unthinkable that has happened here. We have seen the cruel face of Putin's army. We have seen the recklessness and cold heartedness with which they have been occupying the city.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLACKWELL: With us now, Oksana Markarova. She is the Ukrainian ambassador to the U.S.

Madam Ambassador, thank you for being with me.

The pictures, the video, you hear the screaming from people immediately after that attack at the train station. Latest number we have, at least 50 killed.

What is the latest that you could tell us? And your reaction to what happened at the train station?

OKSANA MARKAROVA, UKRAINIAN AMBASSADOR TO THE U.S.: Thank you very much, Victor, for having me.

For 44 days, we're all together now witnessed this unprovoked and unjustified war on Ukraine.

And every day, unfortunately, we start our sentences with horrific. Something horrific. Horrific air strikes. Horrific encirclement on Mariupol. Horrific atrocities in Bucha and everywhere to the north of Kyiv.

And today, yet another horrific atrocity. Specifically targeting people who are at the train station. Women and children primarily waiting to be evacuated. This is a simple war crime.

And unfortunately, this is a true face of Russia, as Madam President said. Because we see this face for the past eight years of the war, and now the whole world sees it for the past 44 days.

So this cannot go unpunished. We have to work together to stop the war and then also to hold Russia accountable.

BLACKWELL: And speaking of the accountability, on sanctions and both the weapons support, we know that President Zelenskyy is asking for countries to return to Kyiv, to come back to the capital, bring back the diplomatic missions into the embassies there.

We just, through Alisyn's conversation with Ned Price, there was commitment that the U.S. would do that.

Why should the U.S., other countries send their citizens back into what is seemingly a war zone when local officials are not so sure that Russians are not come back to the capital?

[14:44:59]

MARKAROVA: Well, we know Russians want to destroy us. And we also know that we're very effective in defending our country.

And we know that together with our friends and allies, especially with getting all of the necessary tools, with all of the fire power, now as we're entering this very important phase of the war, the battle for Donbass -- and we see Russia is preparing for it -- it is very important that we're capable of defending us.

And we value everyone who with us these days. And the United States has been true leader and true partner and friend in this. And of course, we would welcome when the decision will be taken to -- for the U.S. diplomats to return to the country.

BLACKWELL: President Zelenskyy called the latest U.S. sanctions, which include sanctions against Putin's daughters, flashy but not enough.

You have on social media, through other interviews, the foreign minister and the president said that the weapons support from the U.S., which is unprecedented, is welcome but not enough.

Will it ever be enough? I mean, I understand that these are Ukrainians who are being killed. And for as long as Russians are killing Ukrainians, you want more support.

But will there ever be a day where Ukraine will say, thank you, this is sufficient, or will it always be, thank you, more please?

MARKAROVA: Well, we all pray for that day to come. That is the day when we will win. So we pray for peace. We fight for freedom. And we demand justice.

And in order to fight for freedom -- and we understand that it is us Ukrainians that have to fight. We're not asking anyone to fight for us.

But we know that it is very much American approach also. The love of freedom and readiness to fight for it. You fought for your freedom.

And we're asking for all of the support while we are fighting against a huge, large, much larger than us, and very brutal enemy, the enemy that has no moral values, and enemy that has to red lines.

So we're very grateful for every support. Very grateful for the weapons. But we need more. And we count on our strategic partners in the U.S. to provide us with more.

Same with sanctions. And U.S. has been a leader in sanctions. And the more rapid and full sanctions we are able to implement together, the faster Russia would stop.

BLACKWELL: All right, Ambassador Oksana Markarova, Ukrainian ambassador to the United States, thank you so much for your time.

CAMEROTA: Back here, Tiger Woods off to a strong start at the Masters. Could he actually win? We're live in Augusta, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[14:51:56]

CAMEROTA: So Tiger Woods off to a slow start today. He's back on course after an impressive first round.

BLACKWELL: CNN's Coy Wire is in Augusta.

Coy, Woods teed off about 2:00 today. How is he doing so far?

COY WIRE, CNN SPORTS ANCHOR: Yes. Hi, Victor and Alisyn.

He's struggling a bit today. Bogied three of his first four holes. But speaking of his first round, he beat eight of the top-12 players in the world.

He almost had his legs removed and he's out here performing like this. He was one under and he's just four shots behind the leader.

He has that rod and screws in his leg and foot. He was limping. This 46-year-old, he described, Victor and Alisyn, all it was going to take overnight to prepare for this round two today.

Here is what he said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TIGER WOODS, PRO GOLFER: Lots of ice, lots of ice baths. Just basically freezing myself to death. And that's part of the deal.

Most sports, if you're not feeling very good, you've got a teammate to pass it off to and then they can kind of shelter the load. Or in football, one day a week.

Here we have four straight days. There's no one going to shoulder the load besides me. I have to figure out how to do it. I know how to play. I just have to get out there where I can play.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WIRE: Tiger says he has the ability to win. But, Alisyn, the question is, does he have the sustainability. Walking all these mile and miles, a very hilly course here at the Masters.

I was just out there following him for first three holes. Once again, it's a fan frenzy following his every step.

There was one family who went to the first tee at 8:30 in the morning and, as Victor mentioned, he didn't tee off until almost 2:00.

I saw a man picking up his son every time -- chance Tiger was going to take a shot. He said, after three holes, his arm was already tired. But his young son was happy.

He was so grateful to be there to help him experience this moment because he remembers what it felt like for him to see Tiger in the Masters for the first time himself.

CAMEROTA: Cory, it's hard to understand how he did this 14 months, as you point out, after his leg was almost removed.

You say he's limping. What's the rest of his form look like? I mean, does he look good other than the limb? Is that the only indication of what happened to him?

WIRE: It really is. He has that mental fortress of focus that we see. You see it emanates from him. His belief in himself emanates.

From his swing, you asked about, it looks incredible. And he looks jacked up to be honest.

You can tell he has worked his butt off every day. He looks as good as he ever looked physically in his upper body in his career, Alisyn.

He said he worked out every single day. After those first three months when he was bedridden, he did not miss a single day until this point. And here we are 14 months later, and he's pulling off the unthinkable.

BLACKWELL: All right. Coy Wire. Good to see you, Coy.

CAMEROTA: Thanks a lot.

BLACKWELL: Thank you.

The Academy Board of Governors has made a decision on how to punish Oscar winning actor, Will Smith, for slapping Chris Rock during last month's Oscars telecast.

[14:55:07]

The board just released a statement and said that it has decided that, for a period of 10 years, Will Smith will not be permitted to attend any events.

CAMEROTA: OK, I didn't see that coming. Didn't see 10 years coming.

BLACKWELL: I didn't know what the options were.

CAMEROTA: I didn't either.

With us now is Patrick Gomez. He's the executive editor at "Entertainment Weekly."

What's the reaction? PATRICK GOMEZ, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, "ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY": You know,

you mentioned that you didn't anticipate it, at least 10 years. I don't think any of use anticipated it to be a full 10 years.

I will do a little shoulder brushing and say that I did think banning him from events is probably where we were going to land.

Of course, that was before he resigned from Academy, which is something that Will Smith did on his own in the days following the Academy Awards telecast, where this slap happened at.

After he resigned, I kind of thought they might come back and say, OK, he's taken responsibility and that's going to be enough. But clearly, they decided he will not be able to attend events for a full decade. And of course, that means not attending the Oscars.

It's traditional he would have presented the best actress award in the following year's telecast. So we won't see that happen.

But there's also many other events that happen through the year and in the weeks leading up to the Academy Awards.

Then there's, of course, the governor's ball afterwards. There's plenty of awards given out throughout the year that the academy does. But the big event.

This is definitely a hit in terms of things you normally see someone like Will Smith at over the next decade. It will have an impact and it already has.

BLACKWELL: All right, CNN's entertainment correspondent, Chloe Melas, is with us now.

Chloe, so 10 years, can't attend events. What does that mean for potential nominations in the future for -- I mean, he got to keep the Oscar. I don't think many people expected it would be revoked. What do we know about this?

CHLOE MELAS, CNN ENTERTAINMENT REPORTER: No, I mean, I don't think that was ever on the table. I mean, there's so many other people out there than have done far more egregious things than slap somebody on the Oscars stage, as terrible as that was.

But also, the Academy has not commented on whether or not this prevents him from ever being nominated in the future.

And if he is nominated -- for instance, his film, "Emancipation," for Apple TV, which is getting so much buzz -- there's no release date yet. What if he's nominated in the future? Does that mean he just watches it from home like the rest of us?

We're waiting the see what Will Smith will say about this. When he resigned a week ago, he said I will accept whatever the consequences will be.

CAMEROTA: Did the 10 years surprise you? MELAS: Yes, it did. But at the same time, I could have seen them doing

something like this forever.

Ten years, you know, in a way, I thought it was just going to be a blanket, expelled forever, not being able to ever be part of it again.

What's interesting to me though is that this decision took several hours to come out. So I'm wondering if there was any sort of a debate or a deadlock between the 54 Board of Governors.

CAMEROTA: We know you will get that reporting for us --

(LAUGHTER)

CAMEROTA: -- as that exists.

Chloe, thanks so much.

MELAS: Thank you.

CAMEROTA: Thanks for traveling up here to give us this breaking news.

OK.

BLACKWELL: And Patrick Gomez, thank you as well.

A quick break. We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)