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Ukraine Dominates Biden-Scholz Meeting; Alex Murdaugh Gets Two Consecutive Life Sentences Without Parole; Intense Fighting In And Around Bakhmut; Interview With Alexei Navalny's Daughter; At Least 10 Die In Extreme Weather; Some High-Profile Republicans Avoid Conservative Political Action Conference; Tom Sizemore Dies At 61; AI Creates the Presidential Mullet. Aired 3-4a ET
Aired March 04, 2023 - 03:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
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LAILA HARRAK, CNN ANCHOR (voice-over): Hello and welcome to our viewers joining us from the United States and all around the world. I am Laila Harrak.
The disgraced South Carolina attorney convicted of murdering his wife and son will now spend the rest of his life in prison. The latest on the sentencing of Alex Murdaugh.
Plus, U.S. President Joe Biden welcomes German chancellor Olaf Scholz to the White House, publicly solidifying their partnership to support Ukraine against Russia's war.
And severe weather wars across parts of the United States, leaving several people dead and more than 1 million without power.
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE (voice-over): Live from CNN Center, this is CNN NEWSROOM with Laila Harrak.
HARRAK: Disgraced former South Carolina attorney Alex Murdaugh learned Friday that he will spend the rest of his life behind bars, less than a day after he was found guilty of killing his wife and son. He was given two consecutive life sentences with no possibility of parole. The lead prosecutor said the jury saw through Murdaugh's testimony.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CREIGHTON WATERS, LEAD PROSECUTOR: Nobody who knew this man knew who he really was. He lies effortlessly, he lies convincingly and he looked into their eyes and lied to them about perhaps the most important fact of this whole case, about when is the last time he saw his wife and his son alive.
And only when he was backed into yet another corner did he come up with this latest version and obviously the jury saw through that. (END VIDEO CLIP)
HARRAK: CNN correspondent Randi Kaye is in Walterboro with more on the story.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JUDGE CLIFTON NEWMAN, SOUTH CAROLINA CIRCUIT COURT: I sentence you for the term of the rest of your natural life.
RANDI KAYE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Alex Murdaugh, convicted and given to life sentences for the murder of his wife inside.
NEWMAN: I know you need to see Paul and Maggie during the nighttime, when you're attempting to go to sleep. I'm sure they come and visit you.
ALEX MURDAUGH, CONVICTED MURDERER: All day and every night.
KAYE: After more than a month in the courtroom, jurors took about three hours Thursday to convict Murdaugh of murder for his wife Maggie and 22-year-old son Paul, who were found fatally shot on the family's property in June 2021.
CRAIG MOYER, JUROR: I didn't see any true remorse.
QUESTION: How do you know he wasn't crying?
MOYER: I saw his eyes. I was this close to him.
KAYE: Murdaugh, once a prominent lawyer in the area, took the stand last week in his own emotional defense, maintaining that he found the bodies after returning from a brief visit to his mother that night, despite cell phone video placing him at the scene.
NEWMAN: Remind me of the expression that you gave on the witness stand?
Wasn't it, oh, what tangle we weave?
What do you mean by that?
MURDAUGH: I meant when I lied, I continue to lie.
KAYE: The defense relied heavily on Murdaugh's opioid addiction to account for his deception and lies about his whereabouts. Something the judge and jury didn't buy.
NEWMAN: We've concluded that you continue to lie, lie and lie throughout your testimony. You're not credible, not believable.
KAYE: Despite all the circumstantial evidence against him, Murdaugh maintained he was not guilty.
MURDAUGH: I'm innocent. I would never, under any circumstances hurt my wife, Maggie. And I would never under any circumstances hurt my son, Paul-Paul.
NEWMAN: And it may not have been you. It may have been the monster you've become when you take 15, 20, 30, 40, 50, 60 opioid pills.
KAYE: Still, Murdaugh's defense team says they wouldn't have done anything differently.
DICK HARPOOTLIAN, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: He's a liar and thief. And he admitted. That he's not a murderer. We saw a relationship between Paul and Alex, it's just -- it's inexplicable that he would execute his son and his wife in that fashion.
WATERS: No one who thought they were close to this man knew who he really was. And Your Honor, that's chilling.
KAYE: When I interviewed Alex Murdaugh's defense lawyers, they said they do plan to appeal; they have about 10 days or so to do that. They're going to appeal on the grounds of all these alleged financial crimes being included.
[03:05:00]
KAYE: They said they expected some of the financial crimes to go into the trial but not as much.
They said this was not a trial of Bernie Madoff, this was the trial of Alex Murdaugh. And of course, Alex Murdaugh will still go to trial for the 99 charges that he is facing in those financial crimes -- Randi Kaye, CNN, Walterboro, South Carolina.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HARRAK: Attorney and legal affairs commentator Areva Martin joins me now from Los Angeles. She is also a civil rights attorney.
So good to have you with us.
Can we start with the sentence?
And what did you make of the judge addressing Murdaugh in a very personal way before sentencing him to a life in prison?
AREVA MARTIN, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: Well, it wasn't a surprise, particularly given the history of his family in this county. His father, his grandfather, his great-grandfather, all very prominent prosecutors in this particular town.
The judge actually knew his relatives. In fact he had to take down a photograph of one of Alex Murdaugh's relatives before the trial began. So this is a family that had great roots and a really oversized reputation in the legal community.
So for the judge, he says, look, when a crime is committed, although there are individual victims, a crime is a crime against our society, against our state, against our county and against this town. So it was very personal for this judge. HARRAK: Very personal indeed.
Where does he go from here?
What legal options does Murdaugh have?
MARTIN: Not unusual in a case of this nature when someone is convicted of double murder for there to be an immediate appeal. And what we are hearing from the defense team is that they believe they have appealable grounds on the fact that the judge allowed the breadth and extent of Alex Murdaugh's financial crimes, that the judge allowed that evidence, that kind of testimony to be admitted into this trial.
So they're going to say that, yes, it was fair game for the prosecutor to have some -- and they're going to argue the most recent financial crimes admitted in the murder case -- but that the judge allowed in too much. And he crossed that line and that evidence became prejudicial to Alex Murdaugh.
We will see where, it goes most appeals in cases like this are not successful. But I cannot imagine that there was anything planned other than an appeal.
HARRAK: The fascination around this case, I want to talk to you about, that. It goes really far. The trial was televised, the family is a subject of a Netflix series. There are a number of podcasts.
Do these interfere with a trial when it is underway?
MARTIN: Well, jurors are people, right, and despite being admonished by the judge that they are not to listen to or take in any information other than the facts that are presented in the courtroom, you know, sometimes, something might seep into their psyches.
They may hear something or may see something and it may impact how they ultimately decide a case.
But when you, are a juror and when you take that oath, you swear that you are going to only be influenced by the evidence that is presented at trial. So, as a lawyer, I like to believe that the jury system still works and that jurors are capable of following those instructions and not be swayed by any kind of news media.
Or in this case, the extensive media that was happening at the same time.
HARRAK: But is there a danger, you feel, that it could desensitize audiences to the fact that, you know, we are dealing here with two people who have been murdered and now it is entertainment?
MARTIN: Well, that is the reality that we live in. We think about social media. When we think about how it has changed, how we consume information like these kinds of trials, cameras in the courtroom, the public has a really keen interest in cases like this, as we saw.
Millions of people around the world were watching, so you have to balance the individual's right to a fair trial with the public's interest and their rights to have access to this kind of public information.
But there is a certain, I think, ugliness about this, because we heard that people are going to the estate, where these murders happened, and taking selfies and treating the property as if it was some kind of tourist attraction, like an amusement park that is morbid in so many ways.
But we have seen that happen; think about OJ Simpson. I live here in Los Angeles and I remember with that trial, people went to the house where Nicole Brown Simpson was murdered and treated like it was a tourist attraction. So we have seen this happen before.
HARRAK: Why do you think there is such huge interest in this case?
Why did it grip people?
MARTIN: I think you had a combination of things that people find interesting. First of all there is just a huge swath of people in this country and across the world, I guess, who are true crime fans. They love crime genre, they love that crime genre.
But you had this very wealthy white man, a man that for some people was above the law.
[03:10:00]
MARTIN: A man who had achieved the ultimate in terms of the American dream. And yet you also have allegations of drug dealing and money laundering and you, know theft of millions of dollars.
And just the fact that somebody could be accused of killing not one family member but two family members, I think, just made this case very intriguing for people across the globe.
HARRAK: Areva Martin, always good talking to you, thank you for coming on.
MARTIN: Thank you.
HARRAK: U.S. President Joe Biden hosted the German chancellor at the White House on Friday to reaffirm continued aligned support for Ukraine. It is the first time Olaf Scholz has been back at the White House since before the Russian invasion. We get more now from CNN's Phil Mattingly.
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PHIL MATTINGLY, CNN CHIEF WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: What was notable on Friday when German chancellor Olaf Scholz showed up at the White House, there was no traveling press corps on the German side.
There was no pomp and circumstance relating to the arrival of a joint press conference by the two leaders, certainly no state dinner, either. The reason why, when you talk to White House officials, they made clear, this was a quick visit but a business visit.
It was one that was supposed to delve into the substance continued coordination between two countries that have been very central to an alliance that has been behind Ukraine in its war with Russia, throughout and has certainly transformed how Germany has operated in the defense space over the course of the last 13 months.
Led almost entirely by chancellor Scholz. It was that effort by chancellor Scholz and what Germany has been willing to do in support of the coalition led by the, U.S. led by President Biden. That was something the president wanted to underscore and make very clear how much he appreciated it. Take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: You stepped up and provided critical military support. And I would argue that, beyond the military support, the moral support you gave to the Ukrainians, profound, it has been profound.
And you've driven historic changes at home and, you know, increased the defense spending and diversifying away from Russian energy sources. I know that's not been easy. It's very difficult for you.
OLAF SCHOLZ, GERMAN CHANCELLOR: At this time, I think it's very important that we give the message that we will continue to do so as long as it takes and as long as it is necessary.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MATTINGLY: And that statement by Chancellor Scholz was critical for two reasons. One, it is consistent, no question about, that it is a statement that echoes what President Biden says just about every time he is asked about Ukraine.
But it also underscores that, at a very difficult moment in a war that shows no signs of ending anytime soon, whether it is related to what the Europeans are dealing with on the economic side, their own domestic political issues, that the U.S. is staying in this and so is Germany.
And that is critical going forward, an alliance that cannot show cracks when you talk to U.S. officials, they made clear their biggest concern right now is that there will be fractures, the types of fractures they believe Russian president Vladimir Putin has been playing for, as this continues to grind on.
The president, the chancellor, making very clear those fractures do not exist, at least on a bilateral, basis certainly haven't broken out over the wide scale of the coalition and their coordination as this war grinds on, as more weapons are needed, as more ammunition is needed.
It is not going anywhere anytime soon -- Phil Mattingly, CNN, the White House.
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HARRAK: On the front lines, the Ukrainian army reports intense fighting taking place in and around the eastern city of Bakhmut. Russian forces continue to attempt to surround the city and officials believe more than 4,000 civilians are trapped by the fighting. CNN's Alex Marquardt has more from Eastern Ukraine.
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ALEX MARQUARDT, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT (voice- over): A lifeline for Ukraine's forces severed.
This destroyed bridge near Bakhmut, from the last main supply route to the front, bombed, a Ukrainian soldier told CNN by a Russian missile. Meaning, reinforcing troops or getting people out immediately becoming harder.
We were on that road near Bakhmut, military vehicles bombing toward the fight and coming back.
The V sign for victory.
Russian forces have made progress at encircling the city, leaving only the west open to Ukrainian troops.
The ferocious fighting has left thousands dead on both sides. The Wagner forces have fled the Russian charged have paid a particular high price.
Today, Wagner's leader, Yevgeny Prigozhin, on the outskirts of Bakhmut released a video claiming quote, the pincers are heightening. He called on President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to withdraw his troops, saying, give them a chance to leave the city.
Prigozhin regularly exaggerates Wagner's gains, Ukraine blasted today's video as part of a disinformation campaign. But Ukrainian commanders admit, they're facing withering Russian attacks.
The eastern commander posted photos today of a visit to Bakhmut where he was briefed on the problems of the Ukrainian defenses.
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MARQUARDT (voice-over): Despite no announcement of a withdrawal, some possible signs have appeared. This Bakhmut rail bridge, strategically bombed by Ukrainian soldiers to make it impassable.
The head of a Ukrainian reconnaissance unit saying they received an order to immediately leave Bakhmut without given a reason.
In neighboring Chasiv Yar, soldiers from an artillery unit said they have no plans to stop fighting here, fearing what could then happen.
"The problem is not just Russia taking Bakhmut," Petovic (ph) says. "They will not stop and will keep destroying the next cities. We need to wait for reinforcements to come and them kick them out" -- Alex Marquardt, CNN, in Eastern Ukraine.
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HARRAK: Well, for more on the, fighting CNN Salma Abdelaziz is in London.
Good to see you, Salma.
What does -- perspective for us -- what is the importance of the battle in Bakhmut?
Is it of strategic importance?
What would it mean for the Russians if they took it?
And how important is it for the Ukrainians to hold on to Bakhmut?
SALMA ABDELAZIZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Very good questions. We have been speaking about Bakhmut, of course, on air for months now, because it has very much been a flashpoint city in this conflict.
One where we have seen fighting intensify in the last few weeks and that looks all but about to fall to Russian forces. To really get an understanding of why it matters, I just want to pull up the map to show you where it is first of all.
It is along, of course, in Eastern Ukraine in that all-important Donbas region, a region President Putin desperately wants to control, wedged between two cities, Luhansk and Donetsk, that are controlled by Russian-backed separatists.
So for President Putin, this would be a victory in the sense that it allows him to expand these regions that he claims are Russian territory; of course, illegally.
But to be frank here, beyond that, it has very little strategic importance. Again, this isn't a city that necessarily connects to any larger part of the country or provides any foothold for Ukrainian forces to fight further.
Really Bakhmut is important because Russia has made it important, because, for the last several months, Ukrainian forces say Moscow's troops have lobbed absolutely everything at it.
Because the Wagner mercenary group that you heard about there in that piece has thrown its most expert fighters on the ground to try to make that win for President Putin.
In fact, Western supporters, the partners of President Zelenskyy and the United States, NATO and others, say actually Ukrainian forces-- this is according to U.S. sources, speaking, of course, on the basis of anonymity.
U.S. sources say they have been pushing President Zelenskyy to actually pull away from Bakhmut, to pull their focus toward the south of the country, where a spring offensive is expected in the coming weeks and months.
But of course, for President Zelenskyy, backing down from any Ukrainian land is a red line. He has repeated over and over again that no blood will be spilled in vain, that every inch of his country will be won back.
But even President Zelenskyy has admitted -- his men have -- that they could have to strategically withdraw from the city. Again, looking on what is happening on the ground there, that could very likely happen soon. The one and only supply bridge that connects Bakhmut, largely besieged, of course.
Two areas outside where Ukrainian forces could be provided with supplies, where that small group of civilians just around 4,500 civilians inside Bakhmut, that road could give them humanitarian assistance.
That road now, of course, blown up, just in the last day by Russian forces. That leaves the city ever more isolated and ever more vulnerable to this ferocious assault from Moscow -- Laila.
HARRAK: And briefly, Salma, the U.S. attorney general Merrick Garland made an unannounced trip to Ukraine.
HARRAK: Yes, and this is important in a larger context. The U.S. attorney general had made a similar visit last year. The context of that visit is that the United States has very much tried to work alongside other Western allies.
And, of course, the government in Kyiv to hold Russia accountable, potentially for war crimes and other alleged human rights crimes, human rights violations on the ground in Ukraine. So the U.S. attorney general there to say those efforts will continue, of course, with Ukraine's assistance and support -- Laila.
HARRAK: Salma Abdelaziz, thank you.
The daughter of Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny has sent a message to president Vladimir Putin. In an exclusive interview on CNN, Dasha Navalnya called on Mr. Putin to release her father, who is serving a nine-year prison sentence on charges that are widely seen as trumped up.
She also said Russia's opposition will keep fighting until Mr. Putin ends the war in Ukraine and releases all political prisoners.
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HARRAK: CNN's Erin Burnett asked her how hard it is for Russians to fight the Kremlin.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DASHA NAVALNAYA, DAUGHTER OF ALEXEI NAVALNY: Whenever I get to talk to my friends, they say that, economy -- the economy is crumbling and it's getting harder to live and it's an incredibly police state. Right -- one of my friends told me that, right now, when you go into the subway station, it's filled with policemen, trying to search for guys, to just take and swift off to the -- to the army, to send off to Ukraine.
ERIN BURNETT, CNN HOST: Yes.
NAVALNAYA: And it's terrifying. It's scary for my friends, for any other Russian, because you lose your job, you lose custody of your children, you lose a prospect of getting an education. People get killed over this. And it's incredibly scary to live in Russia, right now.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HARRAK: She also said her father will keep fighting for free elections whenever he is out of prison.
Still to come, extreme weather is still battering much of the country. We will bring more on what to expect in the next few days.
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HARRAK: At least 10 people have died across the United States in weather related incidents. Four of them were in Kentucky, one when high winds toppled a tree and it fell on a woman's vehicle.
Kentucky's governor declared a state of emergency Friday morning, ahead of the dangerous weather that included tornadoes, flooding and damaging winds. The storm system has left nearly 1.5 million homes and businesses without power. Kentucky, Tennessee and Michigan now reporting the highest number of outages.
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HARRAK: Former U.S. President Donald Trump is due to headline at CPAC later today. But who isn't attending this year's conservative conference is getting as much attention as the people who are on stage.
Plus, an update on President Biden's health after new details about his latest physical exam. That and much more just ahead.
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(MUSIC PLAYING) HARRAK: Potential and confirmed U.S. Republican presidential contenders have been taking the stage in Maryland. Former South Carolina governor Nikki Haley told the Conservative Political Action Conference that it was time for a new generation to step up.
Meanwhile former secretary of state Mike Pompeo increased speculation that he is ready to take a run at the White House, with his comments about a quote, "crisis of conservatism."
For many people, the headline act today is going to be former president Donald Trump. But as Trump dominates the conference, several big name Republicans are giving it a miss. Our Jeff Zeleny is there for us.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JEFF ZELENY, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It's long been a command performance for Republicans harboring White House ambitions.
NIKKI HALEY (R-SC), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: It's great to be back at CPAC.
ZELENY (voice-over): But at the annual Conservative Political Action Conference outside Washington, the parade of potential presidential hopefuls is far shorter this year. Former South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley --
HALEY: If you're tired of losing, put your trust in a new generation. And if you want to win not just as a party but as a country, then stand with me.
ZELENY (voice-over): And former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo gently called for a new direction.
MIKE POMPEO (R-KS), FORMER SECRETARY OF STATE: We shouldn't look for larger than life personalities but rather we should find power in the rooms like this one.
ZELENY (voice-over): But the long running, three-day gathering called CPAC is now seen as The Trump Show.
DONALD TRUMP, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: These are my people. This is beautiful.
ZELENY (voice-over): The former president is set to appear Saturday, joining a sea of loyal supporters and members of his own family.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Your president, President Donald Trump will be here.
ZELENY (voice-over): Who are rallying to return him to office. But other big-name contenders, who many Republicans see as the party's future, had other plans.
Last year, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis took to the stage as a rising star.
GOV. RON DESANTIS (R-FL): CPAC.
ZELENY (voice-over): But as he inches closer to declaring a presidential bid --
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ZELENY (voice-over): -- he attended a gathering of donors in Florida hosted by Club for Growth, an antitax group urging the party to move on from Trump. Several potential rivals also skipped CPAC and headed to Florida, including former vice president Mike Pence, South Carolina senator Tim Scott, South Dakota governor Kristi Noem and New Hampshire governor Chris Sununu.
But adoration for Trump was on full display at CPAC, where Evie Phillips (ph) took a seat at a replica Resolute desk against a backdrop of a faux Oval Office.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Trump first.
ZELENY (voice-over): OK.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And then DeSantis, let's do that in '28.
ZELENY (voice-over): Colleen Hoffman is from Jacksonville, Florida. She wore a DeSantis hat even as she sported a Trump sticker. She said she's torn but believes Trump is the stronger choice for 2024.
COLLEEN HOFFMAN, CPAC ATTENDEE: I really love this hat because it's like, let us alone, you know?
It's -- I love it. But as of right now, I'm going to vote for Donald Trump.
ZELENY (voice-over): At the early stage of the campaign, it's hardly a two-man contest, as Vivek Ramaswamy, an Ohio businessman who jumped into the race last month, made clear on the CPAC stage.
VIVEK RAMASWAMY (R-OH), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: When we rallied behind the cry to make America great again, we did not just hunger for a single man. We hungered for the unapologetic pursuit of excellence. That is what it means to be an American.
ZELENY (voice-over): Yet even as the Republican field grows, the conversations at CPAC and the comparisons between candidates always came back to Trump.
KRISTEN FORBES, CPAC ATTENDEE: I think Governor DeSantis is wonderful. I think he's amazing. I just don't think it's his time quite yet. I think if he could just give it four years, I think he'd be a great successor to Trump.
ZELENY: As former president Donald Trump comes for the final day of this convention, all eyes clearly are on his message.
Will he distinguish himself between his growing field of rivals?
His aides say expect him to do just that, particularly going after Ron DeSantis. But of course, this is far more than a two-person race. This campaign is just getting underway -- Jeff Zeleny, CNN, Oxon Hill, Maryland.
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HARRAK: CNN senior political analyst Ron Brownstein joins me now from Los Angeles. He's also a senior editor at "The Atlantic."
Hi, Ron. CPAC mired in controversy and some conspicuous absences.
Is CPAC still the place to be?
RON BROWNSTEIN, CNN SR. POLITICAL ANALYST: Not really, in the Republican Party. It has its internal problems with the person who runs it being accused of sexual misconduct by another Republican.
But it's also seen as, essentially, a Trump subsidiary at this point. And it is reflected in one way of an interesting kind of evolution and narrowing of Trump's appeal in the Republican Party.
When he won the first, time there was surprisingly little differentiation in his support from very conservative voters to more moderate voters. That wasn't really the dividing line.
This time, if you look at the early polling about 2024, he is much more dependent on the most conservative voices in the party, the most conservative voters in the party. And you see that reflected in the fact that he is dominant at CPAC.
Meanwhile, most of the field is in his back yard in south Florida, auditioning for the Club for Growth, which is a conservative group that focuses on economic issues.
HARRAK: Meanwhile, Ron DeSantis is visiting Southern California this weekend instead of attending CPAC.
Were you surprised by that?
Was that a missed opportunity for him?
BROWNSTEIN: No. First of all, I think Ron DeSantis is first going to be at the Club for Growth meeting in South Florida and then coming out to California and speaking to Orange County Republicans at the Reagan Library on Sunday.
I think DeSantis in general is someone who is very determined to set his own path and not really kind of follow organizations' dictates and lead on how he should be spending his time.
But I think he has calculated, as have many of the others, that CPAC really reflects a Trump constituency.
The other event going on, this Club for Growth event, is interesting because it reflects the continuation of what we saw in 2016, which is that a lot of the big institutions in the Republican Party want to stop Donald Trump.
They want to find someone else. When they could not do that, when they could not unify behind an alternative in 2016 with Trump at the lead, they all fell in line very quickly, from the elected officials to the big donors.
And it will be interesting to see whether the opposition this time, from institutional forces in the GOP, is either more effective or more durable than it was in 2016.
HARRAK: Nikki Haley at CPAC said Friday that she is running to, quote, "stop the downward spiral toward socialism" and to end the self loathing that has taken over our country.
Ron DeSantis also painting himself as a potential candidate to take on the so-called woke elect.
Is tackling wokeness the theme emerging for Republican candidates?
BROWNSTEIN: Yes, I think it. I mean, certainly in a Republican primary, as one Republican consultant said to me this week, if you look at what they are watching on conservative media, it is not the Reaganite issues of strong national defense, balancing budgets and cutting taxes.
They are talking about attacking the Left. And pretty much any agenda that is seen as advancing the causes or advocating for greater racial equity, gender equity, more inclusion of LGBTQ, all of that is being condemned as well.
And there is clearly a lot of power in that inside Republican primary electorate. It is largely why Ron DeSantis has rocketed to a position, going toe for toe with Donald Trump in many of these polls.
It's an open question to me, though, whether this can sell beyond red America in those white collar swing counties outside of Detroit, Philadelphia and Phoenix and Atlanta and Madison and Milwaukee that Republicans have to win back to gain the presidency again.
Is this really an agenda that is going to bring back some of those suburban voters, who thought Trump was too polarizing?
DeSantis may be defining himself too much in a Trump-like manner to truly be competitive for those voters, if he gets that far.
HARRAK: Now Donald Trump will deliver the keynote address on Saturday.
Is he still a front-runner to become the Republican nominee for president?
BROWNSTEIN: I think he is. I think DeSantis is in a stronger position against him at this point than any of the other candidates were in the 2015-2016 period. But, yes, I think Trump is still the front-runner, primarily because
he has such a hold on the blue-collar side of the party. The basic dynamic in 2016 was that Trump won the nomination because he's consolidated the blue-collar half of the party to a much greater degree than anybody consolidated the other half, which is the white- collar half.
Which was very dubious of it him even then. If you look at the early polling about 2024, you see something of the same dynamic, where Trump is still very strong among Republican voters without a college degree.
He is still facing a lot of resistance among Republican voters with a college degree. But they, at this point, are splintering more among many of the alternatives.
DeSantis does have the ability to put together a cross class, cross ideology coalition and pose a bigger threat, I think, to Trump than anyone did in 2016. But that is still on paper.
Trump still has a big piece of the party. And someone is going to have to solve the Rubik's Cube of putting together just enough of the blue collar side and the white collar side to get past his really dominant position with those working class Republicans.
HARRAK: Ron Brownstein, thank you so very much.
BROWNSTEIN: Thank you.
HARRAK: We've now learned that U.S. President Joe Biden had a cancerous lesion removed from his skin during last month's annual exam. According to the president's physician, a biopsy confirmed the lesion was a basal cell carcinoma, a common and easily treatable form of skin cancer.
The doctor added that all cancer cells had been removed and no further treatment was needed. He also revealed that first lady Jill Biden had similar lesions removed earlier this year.
[03:40:00]
HARRAK: Some people in Ohio and Pennsylvania may be starting to pay the price for a toxic train derailment. Still ahead, residents complain about health effects, one month after the fiery incident.
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HARRAK: Family, friends and movie fans are remembering "Saving Private Ryan" actor Tom Sizemore, who passed away Friday.
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HARRAK: Sizemore often played tough guys and is best known for roles in the movies "Heat" and "Black Hawk Down," along with the TV series "China Beach." His representative says Sizemore died peacefully at 61 with his brother and sons at his side.
He'd been hospitalized in a coma since last month, when he suffered a brain aneurysm that was triggered by a stroke. His brother called him larger than life.
Adverse health effects are starting to show among residents following a train derailment in East Palestine, Ohio. A train carrying hazardous materials jumped the tracks and caught fire on February 3rd.
Now a state health survey says many residents are complaining of headaches, anxiety, coughing, fatigue and skin irritation. However, officials say water testing is so far not showing dangerous levels of any contaminants related to the derailment.
The rail operator, Norfolk Southern, has been ordered to fully clean up the site. But a source says the Environmental Protection Agency has not accepted the company's plan yet and it expects an update next week.
Some demonstrators at a June 2020 protest over the death of George Floyd will get thousands of dollars from New York City. Around 320 people who were arrested or subjected to force that day will receive more than $21,000 each after a settlement was reached this week.
An additional $2,500 will be paid to those given desk appearance (ph) ticket. The plaintiffs' attorneys believe it is at the highest per person settlement in a mass arrest class action suit in the city's history. Those affected will have six months to accept or oppose the settlement.
Still ahead, King Charles and Camilla make their first international trip as Britain's monarch and queen concert. Details on where they are going and what they will do -- coming up.
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HARRAK: The discovery of spices 500 years old underwater off Sweden's coast is being called extraordinary. The savory food items were found in the Baltic Sea in the silt of a royal ship that sank in 1495.
Divers discovered the ship in the 1960s and have already recovered items, such as timber and figureheads. But this time they found spices, such as saffron, peppercorns and ginger.
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MIKAEL LARSSON, ARCHEOLOGICAL RESEARCHER: To find spices like this in one sediment (ph) is quite remarkable. If we look at the exotic spices, it is quite -- it is very unique; saffron, particularly.
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HARRAK: Researcher Mikael Larsson says this is the only excavation area he knows about, where archaeologists have discovered delicate saffron threads. His colleague, Brendan Foley, says these spices good have come from the Far East but remained well preserved in the frigid water.
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BRENDAN FOLEY, ARCHEOLOGICAL SCIENTIST: The Baltic is strange, it is low oxygen, low temperature, low salinity. So many organic things are well preserved in the Baltic where they wouldn't be preserved elsewhere in the world oceans system.
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HARRAK: Foley plans to continue searching in the Baltic for more unique items.
King Charles and the queen consort, Camilla, are scheduled to make their first official state visit. Buckingham Palace announced the royal couple will travel to France and Germany at the end of this month.
The international trip will promote the close relationships between the nations and they will show solidarity in their fight against climate change and their support for Ukraine.
From ChatGPT to deepfakes, many of us are concerned about how artificial intelligence will affect our future. But AI can also bring a smile to your face or a grimace, depending upon whether you remember the mullet. CNN's Jeanne Moos explains.
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JEANNE MOOS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It is enough to warm --
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MOOS (voice-over): -- all of America's presidents getting the Billy Ray Cyrus treatment.
DAVID SPADE, ACTOR, "JOE DIRT": What?
MOOS (voice-over): Treated like "Joe Dirt," from LBJ to JFK --
CAM HARLESS, PODCASTER AND COMEDIAN: These presidents look dope in a mullet.
Podcaster and comedian Cam Harless better think so. He created them, inspired by the movie "Roadhouse." Cam used an artificial intelligence art generator called Midjourney.
It took him like three hours. There is Joe Biden looking like a new and improved "Dog, the Bounty Hunter," and Abe came out looking like a babe.
From Teddy Roosevelt to Bill Clinton, the U.S. may be hopelessly divided.
HARLESS: All it takes is a few mullets and a few pair of sunglasses and we are more unified than we have ever been.
MOOS (voice-over): Some presidents, like Richard Nixon, tested the intelligence of artificial intelligence, as did Dwight Eisenhower.
HARLESS: The AI's attempt to give that bald man a mullet was commendable.
MOOS (voice-over): Ike ended up with a mohawk, not so much a mullet as a skullet.
And to think that 20 years ago, instead of artificial intelligence, we had to resort to wigs to see what we would look like in a mullet.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You look beautiful. Now come on.
MOOS (voice-over): The AI had trouble with Woodrow Wilson and George Washington, though one fan urged, "Put that on the dollar bill."
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MOOS (voice-over): For $16, you can get a poster of all of the mulleted presidents, the "Hell Yeah Edition," it is called. A teacher ordered one for a social studies class.
HARLESS: And I was like, yes!
MOOS (voice-over): As a child born in the 80s, Cam experienced the mullet first-hand. It grew on, him literally. Hail to the mullet, bop your head to this -- Jeanne Moos, CNN, New York.
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HARRAK: Hail to the mullet.
That wraps up this hour of CNN NEWSROOM. I am Laila Harrak. Kim Brunhuber picks up our coverage after the break.
