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U.S. Justice Department Will Appeal Ruling of CDC Advises; U.K. Prime Minister Apologizes After Fine for COVID Breach; U.S. Bracing for Potential Migrant Surge at Border; Macron and Le Pen to Debate in Coming Hours; Julian Assange's Extradition Hearing to Begin Soon. Aired 4:30-5a ET

Aired April 20, 2022 - 04:30   ET

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

[04:30:00]

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DR. ZEKE EMANUEL, FORMER COVID-19 ADVISORY BOARD MEMBER: If someone's not wearing a mask, even if you're wearing a high-quality mask like this, an N-95 mask, they're infected, you have about an hour, 1:15 protection from them. On the other hand, if both of you are wearing good N-95 masks, that goes up to six hours and 15 minutes. That's good enough for a cross county flights.

DR. LEANA WEN, CNN MEDICAL ANALYST: In planes, this is quite good ventilation except during boarding and deplaning. These are high risk settings. But I'm really worried about buses and subways and places that don't have great ventilation. And a lot of people don't have the choice about whether to take public transportation to work. So, what I would say here is just because the government is saying you don't need to wear a mask, it doesn't mean that you shouldn't.

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FOSTER: The Centers for Disease Control is weighing whether a mandate is necessary. But it's advising people to wear masks in indoor public transportation settings for now.

Now, the British Prime Minister is apologizing to the House of Commons for the first time since being fined by police for his role in the "Partygate" scandal.

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BORIS JOHNSON, BRITISH PRIME MINISTER: I take this opportunity on the first available sitting day to repeat my whole hearted apology to the House.

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FOSTER: Boris Johnson was found to have broken his own government's COVID lockdown rules back in 2020. But on Tuesday he doubled down on his defense.

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JOHNSON: Let me also say not by way of mitigation or excuse but purely because it explains my previous words in this House. That it did not occur to me then or subsequently that a gathering in the cabinet room just before a vital meeting on COVID strategy could amount to a breach of the rules.

FOSTER: CNN's Nada Bashir is here with further details. It's bizarre, isn't it, that he is kind of saying he didn't do anything wrong, he was within the rules. But he's accepting the fine. A lot of people pointing out that he could appeal the fine if he doesn't think he broke any rules.

NADA BASHIR, CNN REPORTER: Exactly. The Prime Minister asked to last week when he was issued that fine. He respects the Metropolitan Police's decision. He accepts the understanding that he did break the rules, the laws that he put forward and put in place. But he has maintained that he didn't understand at the time that the actions of he and his colleagues in Downing Street could amount to a breach of this COVID --

FOSTER: That's a defense under the code. If he didn't intentionally, do it, it doesn't count.

BASHIR: Well, exactly, and that is the key thing here. That he is being asked whether or not he misled Parliament. He didn't know at the time. He didn't knowingly mislead MPs in the House of Commons, according to the Prime Minister. That is what he said. That is still of course, a debate. The leader of the opposition party Keir Starmer, the leader of the Labour Party, described the Prime Minister's defense there as a joke. Take a listen.

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KEIR STARMER, BRITISH LABOUR PARTY LEADER: What a joke. Even now as the latest mealy-mouthed apologies stumbles out of one side of his mouth, a new set of deflections or distortions pour from the other. But the damage is already done. The public have made up their mind. They don't believe a word the Prime Minister says. They know what he is.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BASHIR: The Prime Minister has gone from denying in Parliament that any parties to place, that any rules were broken. To of course, now being fined. He was on repeated occasions in Parliament seen filmed denying that any parties took place that he was involved. Now the Labour Party is proposing an inquiry, a parliamentary inquiry into whether or not the Prime Minister knowingly misled Parliament. That debate will take place on Thursday. But of course, there are still calls for the Prime Minister to resign as well.

FOSTER: OK, Nada thank you very much indeed. We'll wait to see what happens.

In Hong Kong nearly a dozen flights into the city are suspended right now due to China's strict COVID-19 restrictions. Commercial routes involving 10 airlines are on hold including those from London, Amsterdam and New Delhi, according to the government. Meanwhile, multiple cities in China remain under full or partial lockdown as authorities try to curb the spread of COVID-19. The lockdown has sparked widespread anger, crippled supply chains and resulted in shortages of food and essential supplies.

Still to come on CNN, why local leaders in Texas and elsewhere along the U.S. southern border are bracing for a new surge of migrants, possibly as soon as next month.

With the presidential runoff just days away, France's presidential candidates are preparing to debate each other in the coming hours. The issues they'll address just ahead.

[04:35:00]

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FOSTER: Thousands of Americans in the Northeastern U.S. are without power after a nor'easter bringing strong winds and heavy snow hit the region. The storm arriving late in the year have brought down power lines and tree limbs across several states. To the west a blanket of snow can also be seen in the state of Wisconsin, usually nor'easters affect mainly coastal areas. But this week's system tracked much further inland off the U.S. East Coast.

In Arizona a massive fire has been burning for several days northeast of Flagstaff. Residents near the so-called tunnel fire are under evacuation orders. Dozens of firefighters working to contain the blaze which is threatening about 200 homes. At last check the fire had grown to some 6,000 acres or some 2,400 hectors.

Republican governors from 26 states are joining force to create the American governors border strike force. It's billed as a way to fight drug cartels and share intelligence connected to border security. The Texas governor says states must step up in the federal government's absence. Republicans and Democrats alike fiercely oppose President Biden's decision to lift what's known as "Title 42" next month. The Trump era pandemic policy allowed for the quick deportation of hundreds of thousands of migrants citing a public health crisis. Now border officials are again bracing for a potential surge at the southern border once "Title 42" is lifted. More now from CNN's Rosa Flores in San Antonio, Texas.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) ROSA FLORES, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): This park in downtown San Antonio has turned into a waiting area.

FLORES: How many days have you been in San Antonio? Seven days.

FLORES (voice-over): For migrants who are exempt from Title 42, the pandemic order that allows immigration agents to swiftly return migrants to Mexico, among those who are exempt, an electric engineer, a paramedic and a professional artist.

FLORES: Can you live off that?

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FLORES (voice-over): They say they earn between two and four U.S. dollars a month in their home countries of Venezuela and Cuba. The city mayor, a Democrat, recently sending a letter to the Biden administration sounding the alarm about the unsustainable increase of migrants. His administration warning that if Title 42 lifts, the city's ability to meet the humanitarian need could be limited.

FLORES: DHS estimates that thousands of more migrants could arrive at the border. Would you be ready to serve that many more migrants?

KATIE MYERS, BUS STATION COORDINATOR, INTERFAITH WELCOME COALITION: It's daunting.

FLORES (voice-over): Katie Myers from Interfaith Welcome Coalition says that on average, between 150 and 200 migrants arrived at this bus station every day. Many with cell phones, the migrants say, issued and geolocated by the U.S. government.

FLORES: He said, take a picture of yourself.

FLORES (voice-over): Some migrants confused about how to use the devices to check in with immigration officials using facial recognition technology, an alternative to detention rolled out by the Biden administration.

Another 300 to 500 migrants being dropped off at the airport every day says Myers. The latest spikes, she says, started mid-March.

FLORES: How many of you had money to buy a ticket to get to your destination?

FLORES (voice-over): And it came with a new challenge, migrants are arriving with no plan and no money. The result, sleeping at the park.

FLORES: About how many of you have slept in the park?

MYERS: There might be 10, 20, 25 men --

FLORES (voice-over): Per night, says Myers.

That's why Pastor Gavin Rogers says he recently opened a shelter at Travis Park Church. You see mostly men here because women with children are placed in hotels, he says.

PASTOR GAVIN ROGERS, TRAVIS PARK CHURCH: They can shower. They can eat. They can receive the proper food and they can wait safely until they get through San Antonio.

FLORES (voice-over): On average, between 50 and 150 migrants sleep here every night, says Rogers, a nonprofit filling in the gaps for the federal government.

ROGERS: It falls on to nonprofits, the municipalities that are really indifferent to the local or national politics but have to find a local solution.

FLORES (voice-over): U.S. Congressman Henry Cuellar represents this area and he's bucking his party on Title 42, saying that the Biden administration's intent to end the policy --

REP. HENRY CUELLAR (D-TX): Would be a mistake.

FLORES: So, when you asked the White House for a plan, what did they say?

CUELLAR: Well, they said they have a plan and I saw --

FLORES: Did they share the plan?

CUELLAR: They said we're going to notify the non-for-profits that more people are coming in. That's not a plan, that's just a notification. They said we're going to bring the agents from the northern border over here. That's only temporary.

FLORES (voice-over): Most migrants stay in San Antonio a few nights. Jesse Amaya has been here 21 days. He says that he's awaiting for his wife who still in Mexico, waiting to cross.

FLORES: What's your biggest worry? Her physical safety.

FLORES (voice-over): He says he plans to wait for her in San Antonio, the place they hope to call home.

FLORES: So, what is the mayor of San Antonio asking the federal government for? First of all, more resources and also a heads up before the federal government drops off an increasing number of migrants in his city.

Rosa Flores, CNN, San Antonio.

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FOSTER: Well, in several hours France's presidential candidates will face off each other in a debate with voters making their final decision in Sunday's runoff. Polling on Tuesday showed incumbent President Emmanuel Macron widening his lead over far-right challenger Marine Le Pen. Both Mr. Macron and Le Pen are trying to track the voters who backed the far-right leader came in -- or far-left leader rather -- who came in third in the first round. Jim Bittermann is in Paris and joins us now with the very latest. Jim, this is huge, isn't it because this is the first debate. But it's also the last debate and crucial for both of these candidates.

JIM BITTERMANN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: The only debate, in fact. And debates in the past here have had an impact on the way people voted. Back in 2017 it was the same two candidates, Marine Le Pen and Emmanuel Macron who faced off each other in a televised debate. Marine Le Pen was widely believed to be the loser in that debate. She kind of lost her cool and even she admitted that she could have done much better. She said since she was tired because of all the campaigning.

This time around she's taken the last 48 hours off so that she's not so tired theoretically and she'll do a better job of it. We'll see on tonight's debate. About 1/4 of the French population was watching the debate last time around, 2017. So, there's a lot of people going to be watching this tonight and making their judgments because of it -- Max.

FOSTER: Issues with Macron appear to be his style, his, you know, his elite status, that's an arrogance. That seems to be the issue coming through in the polls.

[04:45:00]

And that sort of thing he would be able to address in a TV debate but he has to tone it right.

BITTERMANN: He has to tone right. That's a very important thing I think for Emmanuel Macron. And you know, unlike the last time in 2017 when these two squared off, the fact is he now has a track record. And there's a lot of people that are angry at him for the way he has handled his presidency. We'll see how much they play into this.

By the same token, Marine Le Pen has moderated her tone somewhat and not been quite as aggressive in terms of her positions. Her positions are there in terms of immigration, in terms of anti-Europe and in terms of being against the euro and things like that. They're still there in the policy statements that appear on the party website. But in fact, she has moderated at least her rhetoric somewhat -- Max.

FOSTER: OK, Jim, stay with you throughout the very exciting election. Thank you.

Now Britain's Prince Harry is sharing new details about his visit with Queen Elizabeth last week. He told NBC's Today Show, the Queen is on great form and that he wanted to make sure she's protected and has the right people around her. Harry and his wife Meghan went to Windsor Castle on their first trip to the U.K. since stepping away from her royal duties last year. That applies to her rather than him. He's been back a couple of times. But they're in Europe for the Invictus games in the Netherlands. As for the Queen, she turns 96 on Thursday and has largely stayed out of the spotlight after some recent health issues. That full interview playing later.

Still to come, basketball fans were treated to some exciting finishes in the NBA playoffs on Tuesday. But one team couldn't overcome a star player's injury.

[04:50:00]

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FOSTER: Our next story contains images that are hard to watch. The moments leading up to the death of an unarmed black man during a traffic stop in the U.S. The family of 26-year-old Patrick Lyoya they say the autopsy they commissioned shows he was shot in the back of the head following an altercation with police in Grand Rapids, Michigan.

Police footage released from that April 4th encounter shows the scuffle from multiple angles. The official certificate listing the cause of death is not yet released. The officer who shot him is on paid leave but will not be publicly named unless there is criminal charges. The killings prompted protests across the U.S. with demonstrators chanting justice for Patrick.

Hollywood actor Johnny Depp has testified under oath on Tuesday that he never hit his wife or any other woman in his life. He made the comments as part of his three-hour testimony in the $50 million defamation lawsuit against his former spouse Amber Heard -- who's also an actor. This trial stems from a 2018 opinion piece Heard wrote for the "Washington Post" about her experience with domestic abuse.

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JOHNNY DEPP, ACTOR: There were arguments and things of that nature, but never did I myself reach the point of striking Ms. Heard in any way.

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FOSTER: Amber Heard posted a note in advance of the current defamation trial on the current social media account. She wrote in part, I never named Depp -- rather I wrote about the price women pay speaking against men in power. I continue to pay that price but hopefully when this case concludes I can move on and so can Johnny.

Julian Assange's fight against extradition to the U.S. may face another legal hurdle today. The founder of WikiLeaks has a hearing in a British court which is expected to begin very soon. More on this, CNN's Clare Sebastian joins me. What's the court considering today?

CLARE SEBASTIAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: So, today Westminster Magistrate Court, which is the court in the U.K. that deals with extradition. Cases there expect to issue an order to extradite him. So, this really does get him closer to extradition. This comes after his latest attempt to appeal the charges against him. These are of course, the U.S. charges relating to the document dump from 12 years ago, that shows potential evidence of war crimes in the U.S. wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.

And this order will then mean that the case goes to the Home Secretary Priti Patel. She will get the final decision. His team will have one final chance to appeal. The deadline for that is on May 18. FOSTER: In terms of what the U.S. side is seeking here, I mean, what

ultimately do they want to achieve?

SEBASTIAN: So, initially, I mean, they've been fighting for several years ever since the indictment was unsealed in 2019 where he was -- you know, famously those pictures of him being dragged out of the Ecuadorian Embassy where he had been seeking refuge for some seven years.

They are seeking to put him to trial in the States for what they've called in the indictment one of the largest compromises of classified information in the history of the United States. These are the hundreds of thousands of diplomatic cables that he's alleged to have got hold of thanks to the help of Chelsea Manning, the former U.S. intelligence analyst who has served prison time related to this. They want to put him on trial. He can then face his trial in the U.S., the maximum sentence is 175 years.

But we know -- according to the lawyers and his now wife -- whom he was married in prison less than a month ago -- that his physical and mental health is very fragile. The U.S. has given assurances about his treatment. That way he won't be held in maximum-security. That he could in fact serve out any sentence that's passed down in Australia where he is originally from. But of course, all that depends on whether he is extradited and that decision could come soon.

FOSTER: It's become so complex, hasn't it? This is a very simple freedom of speech case initially. What's it turned into? How would you describe his support team?

SEBASTIAN: I mean, it is a case that really sort of gets to the heart of the definition of a journalism in essence. It's still extremely divisive.

[04:55:00]

We hear from Amnesty last month calling the decision by the U.K. Supreme Court to not to hear his appeal, as the lawyer suggested. Meanwhile, there are those who still think that this really puts the U.S. national security at risk.

FOSTER: OK, Clare, thank you.

The NBA playoffs are in full swing. Some teams inching closer to making it through first round. The Miami Heat held off an improved Atlanta Hawks team to take a 2-0 lead in the eastern conference match- up. Jimmy Butler scored a career playoff high, 45 points. And Miami came out on top 115-105.

Meanwhile, the eighth seeded New Orleans Pelicans upset the top seed Phoenix Suns to even their series at 115 apiece. Brandon Ingram had 37 points to beat the Pelicans to a solid victory, 125-114. The Suns had to make do without their star Devin Booker for most of the second half. Booker put on a show in the first half scoring 31 points but left in the third quarter with a hamstring injury. And in Memphis the home team Grizzlies crushed the visiting Minnesota Timberwolves 124- 96. Their best of seven series is now tied at one game apiece.

Some good news for fried chicken fans around the world. Fast food chain Popeye's is on track to open more than 200 new locations in North America this year with plans to expanding even further around the globe. The chain restaurant has plans to set up shop in South Korea, France, India, China and even here in the U.K. Popeye's has seen modest growth since the start of the pandemic. But its parent company CEO says it's only the beginning for what lies ahead for the brand.

Thanks for joining me here on CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Max Foster in London. Our coverage continues on "EARLY START" with Kristin Fisher. You're watching CNN.

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