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Brooklyn Public Library Fights Book Bans with Free Library Ecards; Judge Denies Trump's Attempt to Stop $10K Per Day Contempt Fine; Interview with Sviatoslav Yurash, Ukrainian Parliament Member: U.N. Chief's Comments that the U.N. Won't Give Up to Save Ukraine. Aired 3:30-4p ET

Aired April 29, 2022 - 15:30   ET

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

[15:30:00]

ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN HOST: But what I'm struck by is that, you know, "To Kill a Mockingbird" is 1960. "The Bluest Eye" 1970, why this year are these suddenly objectionable?

LINDA E. JOHNSON, BROOKLYN PUBLIC LIBRARY PRESIDENT AND CEO: Well, I mean, I think there's something clearly in the air, and I can't exactly say why it's happening now. But the alarming thing is that it is, and that it's affecting children and communities that desperately need to be able to read whatever they choose. It's at the heart of what every library stands for.

CAMEROTA: And so, tell me about your initiative to fight back.

JOHNSON: Yes, so what we've decided to do was to figure out a way to get books in the hands of especially teenagers who are searching for material and we have launched an initiative to put free library cards into the hands of people from 13 to 21 years of age for a year to give them access to our collections remotely.

CAMEROTA: So basically, these are e-library cards, and these kids, young adults can log on, and then have access to these books. And basically, they're never out of circulation. I mean, it's not like a book is checked out if you're looking for an e-book.

JOHNSON: Right. So certain books will have limitless quantities, but the idea is that you e-mail us in response to this, you know, initiative that's been launched. We've gotten some really extraordinary responses already, really poignant, and heartbreaking.

CAMEROTA: Tell us. Tell us about those. I'm interested in the response that you've gotten.

JOHNSON: I mean, I think that, you know, these books sort of fall into two categories. Dealing with either LBGTQ issues or critical race theory, and especially for the ones that are dealing with gender and sexual identity, you know, teenagers are looking for material, maybe don't feel comfortable going to their teachers or their library librarians or parents and they can't find the books. And so, they're writing these paragraphs about, you know, what a god send this is, and how much they appreciate the effort. And at the same time, we're connecting them with teens in Brooklyn and so we're setting up book discussions, and there's a whole outreach that's going on in addition to just providing the material and the material is substantial.

You know, we have over 350,000 e-books and 200,000 audio books that are available and also, you know, hundreds of databases.

CAMEROTA: Yes, well, I was interested to hear about how it's actually creating a community of connection even if they don't go to school together or live in the same state. Linda Johnson, thank you very much for explaining what you're doing.

JOHNSON: Oh, thanks so much for having me. It's an important issue.

CAMEROTA: Indeed.

OK. Less than a day after visiting Kyiv while the city was under Russian air strikes, the U.N. Secretary-General reaffirms his commitment to save Ukrainians from the frontlines. We have more on that next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CAMEROTA: OK, a judge has denied a request from Donald Trump's lawyer to end a contempt of court finding against the former president and is keeping in place that $10,000 a day fine over Trump's failure to comply with a subpoena. CNN's Kara Scannell joins us now. So, what happened here?

KARA SCANNELL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, so remember on Tuesday the judge set down the former president in contempt. What we learned is that Trump's lawyers filed an affidavit. They had one signed from Donald Trump, one page in which he said to the best of my knowledge I did not have any of the documents requested in the subpoena.

Now, the Attorney General's office said this is not good enough, you know, just saying you don't have these documents. And the same with Trump's lawyer, she filed an affidavit saying, you know, we've checked with the Trump organization, they had searched these terms but they said she didn't search the phones that they found that Trump had. They discovered he had a couple of flip phones. Those weren't searched. Also, his executive assistant's laptop and desktop were not searched. So, they're saying there is not sufficient.

The judge had a brief telephonic hearing this morning in which he said, no, you have not cured yourself of this contempt of court, this $10,000 fine stands. He can come back to them and try to fix this again. But for now, it stands. And the judge in the written order that just came out, he said Mr. Trump's personal affidavit is completely devoid of any useful detail. So, he wants them to try again, essentially, to see. And until then, Trump is going to get this daily fine of $10,000 a day.

CAMEROTA: Is he paying that $10,000 fine a day yet?

SCANNELL: Well, so his lawyer filed a motion to appeal, and generally when you appeal something like this you don't have to make the payments. Now, at the end of the day, will he get a bill for that? He might. But it's still playing out in this process, so we don't quite know yet.

CAMEROTA: OK, Kara Scannell, thank you very much for the breaking news. Really appreciate it.

OK, let's go to Anderson Cooper. He is live for us in Kyiv with the latest on what's happening in Ukraine -- Anderson.

Yes, Alisyn, one day after the Secretary-General of the U.N. visited here in Kyiv to meet with President Zelenskyy and witness the devastation firsthand, Antonio Guterres is vowing to ramp up support. He tweeted --

I was moved by the resilience and bravery of the people of Ukraine. My message to them is simple, we will not give up. The U.N. will redouble its efforts to save lives and reduce human suffering. In this war, as in all wars, the civilians always pay the highest price.

A short time ago Pentagon spokesperson became emotional, John Kirby, when asked if Putin was a rational actor.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

[15:40:00]

JOHN KIRBY, PENTAGON PRESS SECRETARY: It's difficult to look at the -- sorry. It's difficult to look at some of the images and imagine that any well-thinking serious mature leader would do that.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COOPER: Sviatoslav Yurash, Ukrainian Parliament Member: is a Ukrainian Parliament member joins us now live from Ukraine. The pace of diplomacy is obviously frustrating, maddeningly frustrating in a time of war. I am wondering what your reaction to the comments from the U.N. Secretary-General and his visit here.

SVIATOSLAV YURASH, UKRAINIAN PARLIAMENT MEMBER: It is just the reality of his admitting the U.N. has failed to prevent this naked aggression of one of the biggest nations attacks the biggest nation in Europe with the goal to obliterate it. And right now, speaking to you from Kharkiv in the east where basically 20 minutes away is the battle raging in the north of the city. And the city is being pummeled by rockets day in and day out, night in and night out. And the reality is that what he has seen in Kyiv what Kyiv has witnessed for the first few months of the war every single day and single night is just the question of waking up with the reality that he has done yesterday.

COOPER: Russia carried out strikes in Kyiv during Secretary-General Guterres's visit to the capital. I talked to the Mayor Klitschko in Kyiv today who said that was a middle finger essentially to the U.N., to the international community. What does it say to you that Putin would order something like that while he was here? YURASH: Well, Putin has done that many times before. For example, in

Lviv, my hometown in the west where all the supplies come from European Union, he has sent his missiles time and time again to showcase that he will not tolerate basically, West supporting and sending weapons into Ukraine. The fact of the matter is, again, Putin doesn't care about international law and international rules. He has done this in different parts of the world, time and time again. And for us, basically, it's for the world just to remind him, he needs to be thrown out of every international conference, every international forum and this institution.

COOPER: Excuse me, an air-raid siren is going off in Kyiv. We were in Bucha the other day, I talked to the prosecutor in Bucha who is gathering evidence for war crimes trial against Russian forces who were there. I know you've been to Borodyanka, other villages in town where Russian troops are accused of carrying out atrocities. Are you confident Russian forces will be held accountable for war crimes?

YURASH: This is very clear about this, this is very clear about a despot that that try to destroy other nations and impose their will and kill as many people as possible in the process. It shall destroy Mr. Putin, and we shall be the hand in that history. And I'm glad and thankful to the West and America for finding those means to do so. And we will punish him and punish his madness here in Ukraine with all the world's might, so thank you for this.

COOPER: You are not only a member of Parliament, you're also, a mobilized soldier. You've been to the frontlines. Has the fighting changed recently? What's the nature of the fighting now in the east that you've seen?

YURASH: Joining in the 15th of March near Kyiv the reality of fighting there basically was that Russians essentially were facing extremely hostile occupation they were enforcing. And what you see in Bucha is the reality of the respondent, and basically, they were defeated by all the forces there showing clearly that capital is not something we will bargain about. We will stand there to the last defending our capital.

The president has made that clear and every single member of Parliament and member of the total defense and the armed forces have shown that basically pushing Russians away from Kyiv, no matter how many tanks and APCs they were sending.

But again, the eastern battle is different. Mariupol is very clear about how Russians want to proceed. They want to destroy cities to their core, and then come in and declare they conquered a city. They've done this in Mariupol. They're doing this to Kharkiv right now when I'm talking to you. And the fact of the matter is this will continue on until the West intervenes and puts a stop to this madness.

COOPER: Sviatoslav Yurash, I appreciate your time. Thank you very much. We'll be right back.

YURASH: Thank you.

[15:45:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CAMEROTA: Carlton McCoy is a classically trained chef, master sommelier and excerpt traveler who has found himself everywhere from his grandmother's kitchen to the top restaurants in the world. Now in the all-new CNN original series "NOMAD" with Charlton McCoy, he takes us on a global exploration of food, music, art and culture to discover the universal threads that connect us all. First up, the suburbs of Paris.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CARLTON MCCOY, HOST, "NOMAD WITH CARLTON MCCOY" (voice over): I was first introduced to the art world exploring the museums in Paris. But one thing that came quickly apparent to me was the distinct lack of black and brown perspectives. I'm heading back to Saint-Denis to meet two people who are on the cutting edge of Paris' art scene looking to change that.

MARIANE IBRAHIM, GROUNDBREAKING GALLERIST: In France, you're exposed to the art. You're exposed to the domination of a culture of others.

[15:50:00]

What you are seeing are works of them. By them, by people like us.

MCCOY (voice over): Mariane Ibrahim is an art world powerhouse. She has a beautiful gallery in Chicago, and she's opened a brand-new one in Paris. Mariane has an incredible roster of uber talents of artists from Africa and it's diaspora. Including her friend artist Raphael Barontini.

RAPHAEL BARONTINI, ARTIST: This picture was taken in a kind of exotic land of Western people who are colonizing Africa.

IBRAHIM: As a black person, or as a mixed, as a brown, thinking to make art requires a lot of audacity and a lot of confidence because what you are motivated, is what you see that looks like you.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CAMEROTA: Host of "NOMAD" Carlton McCoy joins us now. Carlton, great to meet you.

MCCOY (on camera): You as well.

CAMEROTA: So, from your grandma's kitchen in southeast Washington, D.C., to master sommelier and world traveler. How did this happen?

MCCOY: It's a long story -- much longer than we have time for -- but it's been quite a journey and seems like I'm just starting a new one, so.

CAMEROTA: You are starting a new one. And I was just asking you, is your show really going to piss me off the way that Stanley Tucci's does. Am I going to be envious the whole time?

MCCOY: I would say there's a bit of fomo, but in this case we actually get to share the journey with you all. Unfortunately, we couldn't bring you all along to eat the food. But, yes, I can say There's a lot of pent-up desire to travel for a lot of people, so hopefully this just sort of motivates them to jump back on the plane and start exploring again.

CAMEROTA: Because you are going to be having these culinary adventures.

MCCOY: Absolutely.

CAMEROTA: Yes, so give us an example of some of the things that you're going to be doing in, for instance, the Paris suburb.

MCCOY: Well, you know, what we try to show was not that the stereo typical Persian experience is incorrect, but there's more to the story. And we show that through, you know, going out to the Baniyas (ph) and having dinner with a Vietnamese family -- 3rd/4th generation and eating very traditional Vietnamese food. And that same night, driving back to the city and cooking in the kitchen with a two-star Michelin chef. Cooking food that, you know, I used to cook when I was in culinary school.

And for me, it was very personally gratifying and you know, what you didn't catch is we set there and ate and drank until pretty much the crew was like this is enough, Carlton. You can't see straight and we're out of food. But, yes, I mean it was as exciting for me personally, as it is, I'm sure, for people watching and vicariously live through it.

CAMEROTA: I can't wait to live vicariously through you and through your travelers. Thank you for previewing it with us. Be sure to tune in, the all new CNN original series "NOMAD" with Carlton McCoy premieres Sunday at 10 p.m. Eastern and Pacific, only on CNN.

OK, meanwhile, we're watching a steep sell-off in the final minutes of trading. Look at it. It's down more than 900 points. This is capping off a rough month for the stock market. So, we have a live report for you next.

[15:55:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CAMEROTA: This week's CNN hero, DeAnna Pursai, grew up doing everything with her sister, Angel. When DeAnna went off to college, she noted that Angel, who has downs syndrome, did not have the same opportunity. So, she founded a college for students like her sister.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DEANNA PURSAI, CNN HERO: Hi, everybody.

College of adaptive arts is a lifelong equitable collegiate experience for adults with special needs of all different abilities who historically haven't had access to college education.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You hit that right there.

PURSAI: We have ten schools of instruction, and they get the same access to the array of classes that any college student can select.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Out, reaching toward the sun.

PURSAI (voice over): I want for every student that walks through our doors to be treated like the thinking intellectual that they are.

PURSAI: I love you.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I love you too.

PURSAI: My experience with my sister, Angel, has helped me be a better, more authentic transparent person. I am so humbled each and every day by their depth and ideas and ways to make the world a better place.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CAMEROTA: To see the full story about DeAnna's program, go to CNNheroes.com and while there, you can nominate a hero in your own life.

OK, we're up to the final minute of trading on Wall Street, and stocks are tanking. CNN's Matt Egan is back with us. Matt, I thought it was bad last hour when you were here on set, and then this happened. What's going on?

MATT EGAN, CNN REPORTER: Yes, this is just a brutal end to an ugly month. The Dow down almost 1,000 points, around 3 percent. At session lows pretty much as we're speaking. Tech stocks are getting hit much harder. The Nasdaq down about 4 percent, a little more than 4 percent on the day. This is the worst month for the Nasdaq since October of 2008 during the height of the great financial crisis.

CAMEROTA: What's driving this?

EGAN: Well, Amazon today is really falling sharply, down about 15 percent. Tech stocks have unwound a lot of their gains.

[16:00:00]

So much about this is concerns about high inflation and what the Fed has to do to get inflation back down. Remember, low rates were great for stocks. Higher rates, that's going to be a challenge.

CAMEROTA: OK. Matt, thank you. Thanks for setting us off for the weekend on this. Great to see you.

And "THE LEAD" with Jake Tapper starts right now. Have a great weekend.

END