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Trump Predicts Arrest Tuesday, Calls For Mass Protest; Defiant Putin Visits Occupied Ukrainian City Of Mariupol; NATO Steps Up Efforts To Protect Europe's Energy Facilities; Aired 3-4p ET

Aired March 19, 2023 - 15:00   ET

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

PAMELA BROWN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Pamela Brown, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

[15:00:07]

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN HOST: Hello again, everyone. Thank you so much for joining me this Sunday. I'm Fredricka Whitfield.

And this just in to CNN, President Donald Trump's former attorney, Michael Cohen now says he has been asked to be at the Manhattan District Attorney's office tomorrow morning as a potential rebuttal witness.

The testimony would be part of the probe centering on Trump's alleged role in a hush money payment made to adult film star, Stormy Daniels before the 2016 election. Cohen has already pleaded guilty for his role in the payment and served a three-year sentence.

These developments come as Trump is calling for mass protests, claiming he expects to be arrested Tuesday over the alleged payment to Daniels' case.

In a statement on social media, he urged his supporters to "protest to take our nation back." Trump dialed up the rhetoric with a follow-up post saying, I'm quoting now, "We just can't allow this anymore. We must save America. Protest, protest, protest."

The posts are alarmingly similar to his calls for protests prior to January 6, 2021, and have New York Police officials bracing for whatever may happen.

CNN's Gloria Pazmino is joining us right now from Manhattan.

So Gloria, what more do we know about preparations for the week?

GLORIA PAZMINO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Fred, here behind me is New York Criminal Court where on any given day hundreds of people are processed through the criminal system. And next week, former President Donald Trump could be potentially one of those people creating a security and logistical challenge for the City of New York here in Lower Manhattan, one of the most congested areas of the city.

What we know is that law enforcement agencies, everyone from the NYPD to Federal officials to the Secret Service, as well as Court officers who provide security inside the Courtroom have all been working together to come up with a plan should this indictment come down next week.

Again, it is going to create a logistical nightmare of sorts to ensure that the whole thing can happen securely if the President is in fact facing a possible indictment.

Now, needless to say, this would be a historic event, not only a former President but also a current candidate for the White House. You mentioned Donald Trump's social media post yesterday, saying that he would be arrested on Tuesday and asking people to protest, that is adding another layer of security challenges here for the area because should people come in and protest or demonstrate in any way, local officials here will have to ensure that all of that can happen safely.

So local authorities are working together. You know, it is going to, if it happens be an indictment unlike any other, but we do understand from our sources that it is possible the former President's indictment would be somewhat expedited.

He would be quickly presented in front of a Judge, that's after he surrenders, after he is booked and fingerprinted here in Manhattan Criminal Court.

Now, because of that social media post asking for people to protest, District Attorney Alvin Bragg issued a memo to his staff this weekend ensuring them that he is working with local authorities to make sure safety is a priority.

I want to read a part of this of that memo, which we obtained saying that he "... does not tolerate attempts to intimidate our office or threaten the rule of law in New York. Our law enforcement partners will ensure that any specific or credible threats against the office will be fully investigated and that the proper safeguards are in place so all 1,600 of us can have a secure work environment," just underlining the fact that even with a potential indictment of a former President, this is still very much a place that will need to continue to operate processing everything that they do here, and it certainly seems like that is going to be a priority for the District Attorney.

But all law enforcement agencies working together, monitoring social media as well for any possible threats and looking ahead to this potential indictment next week -- Fred.

WHITFIELD: All right, Gloria Pazmino, thank you so much for that, in Manhattan.

For more now on this, let's bring in Dave Aronberg. He is the State Attorney for Palm Beach County, Florida.

Dave, so good to see you.

DAVE ARONBERG, STATE ATTORNEY FOR PALM BEACH COUNTY, FLORIDA: Great to see you, Fred. WHITFIELD: So while we have a statement coming from the Manhattan DA talking about, you know we do not tolerate attempts to intimidate our office or threaten the rule of law, there is no comment from the DA about whether there is some imminent arrest as the former President, you know, posted on his social media.

[15:05:16]

WHITFIELD: So what are the possible charges, if indeed, there were to be an arrest? How do you see the culmination of this case and what it might result in?

ARONBERG: Well, the reports are that the charge will be falsification of a business report, it's just a misdemeanor in New York. It becomes a felony when the falsification leads to committing or concealing another crime. So what would that crime be? Because they're not doing all this for a misdemeanor, it's going to be a felony.

So perhaps the other crime will be a campaign finance violation, but that's a problem because that's a Federal offense. Remember the campaign that Trump had was for President. These are State prosecutors. Can State prosecutors piggyback on a Federal campaign violation? We don't know. It's an unsettled area of the law and we are dealing with an unprecedented action against a former President. So a lot of question marks.

I think there could be some surprises, Fred. There could be perhaps a financial crime added to it. Now, that would be a serious felony. It's what happened to Allen Weisselberg, it is what happened with the Trump Organization. We just don't know, because these grand juries are all done in secret. So stay tuned.

WHITFIELD: And then, you know, just kind of looking a bit ahead of that, based on the social media posts that the former President made asking people to protest, you know, take the country back and all of that, one would have to wonder whether he and his attorneys are thinking about the risks now of inviting new legal problems.

I mean, after all, the investigations involving the insurrection are still ongoing, much of it precipitated on his actions, his calls for protests, period.

So do you think his attorneys are a little bit worried about now his inflammatory remarks and what it might provoke next in terms of another legal problem?

ARONBERG: There's a broad First Amendment protection for free speech, and so Trump would have to do a lot more to be charged for incitement. You see, in January 6, he made some very inflammatory comments, and yet to this day, he has not been charged with inciting a riot, so I think he has a lot of leeway.

Where it could come into play is when it comes to the pretrial release, because Trump is going to be indicted in Manhattan. Then it will be up to the Judge to decide the terms of his pretrial release, whether he is allowed on the internet, for example, pending trial. That's where this kind of stuff could be relevant, but I don't think it's going to lead to a charge against Trump or incitement unless something more happens from here on out.

WHITFIELD: Okay, so you believe that there will be an indictment coming out of this Manhattan DA 's office. So if he is indeed indicted, we're talking about, you know, the first former US President to face criminal charges in US history. Help people understand the significance of what would be unprecedented.

ARONBERG: I mean, it's huge. We've never seen this before in American history, and that's why I thought that if you're going to be the prosecutor, the first one history to indict a former President, it probably should be the top prosecutor in the United States, the Attorney General, Merrick Garland, but his investigation has been taking so long, so you have elected DA's out there picking up the slack, looking at their own cases. And you know, they have to go when the evidence and the law requires it, and Manhattan is ready.

Now, I think of the four cases, Fred, this is probably the least of the four -- the other ones, the documents at Mar-a-Lago, the Fulton County case, with Fani Willis, the January 6th insurrection -- all of that present better cases than this one, but look, as long as the evidence is there, and the law is there, a prosecutor can go.

WHITFIELD: But it's the least of the four, but it's also perhaps the oldest of all the cases and remember, it was interrupted by the fact that you had someone who launched their presidential campaign, became President and so is the explanation, you know, now that DA's office can say, okay, let's pick up from where we left off when things were on hold, because now he is a free citizen.

ARONBERG: Yes. It is a great point. It's a great point. This is the oldest one. This has been going on for five years. This is called the zombie investigation because it won't die. It starts and stops.

And remember this, even though this seems like small potatoes to a lot of people, this is what sent Michael Cohen to Federal prison. He went to prison over the hush money payments to Stormy Daniels, and really the reason why Donald Trump didn't go to prison with him is because he was President at the time, and there is an internal DOJ policy not to indict a sitting President.

WHITFIELD: Wow. All right, that's a lot. Dave Aronberg, so glad you were with us. Thank you so much.

ARONBERG: Thanks for having me.

WHITFIELD: All right, thank you.

All right, more news now, just in to CNN.

Switzerland's biggest banking group, UBS has agreed to buy its rival, Credit Suisse in an emergency rescue. The purchase is aimed at halting financial market panic by two American bank failures this month.

[15:10:05] WHITFIELD: Investors and customers pulled their money out of Credit Suisse over the past several days as turmoil swept the global banking industry.

Credit Suisse lost 25 percent shares over the course of the week despite an emergency $54 billion loan.

Coming up, Ukrainian officials slammed Vladimir Putin's surprise visit to the Russian occupied City of Mariupol. We'll have a report from Ukraine next.

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WHITFIELD: As Russian forces continue their battle on the frontlines in Eastern Ukraine, there was a stunning sight in the south of the country last night.

Here now is CNN's Ivan Watson.

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IVAN WATSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Russian President Vladimir Putin made a surprise visit to the shattered Ukrainian City of Mariupol fresh from being issued an arrest warrant by the International Criminal Court, which has accused him of kidnapping thousands of Ukrainian children and taking them to Russia.

[15:15:09]

WATSON: The City of Mariupol, this time a year ago was encircled by the Russian military and being bombarded from land, sea, and air by Russian forces. There were tens of thousands of residents hiding in the basements of their apartment buildings terrified, drinking rainwater that was being collected in gutters.

I interviewed some of these people as they were shell shocked fleeing that city and described to me baring their neighbors who had been hit by shrapnel in the front yards of apartment buildings.

On this visit, the Russian President arrived by military helicopter, drove himself in a short distance to the outskirts of the city to see some apartment buildings that the Russian government has constructed over the course of the occupation over the last year, met with a handful of residents who thanked him for giving them new apartments when they had nothing due to the consequences, the devastating consequences of the invasion.

A top Kremlin aide described efforts to build new hospitals, kindergartens, and a new drama theater amid the Russian siege of last year.

Hundreds of residents had hidden in the Mariupol Drama Theatre, which was then subsequently shelled. We don't know how many people were killed in that bombardment.

The Russian President trying to show efforts to reconstruct a city that his own military destroyed in the first place.

Ivan Watson, CNN, Kharkiv.

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WHITFIELD: Putin's trip to Ukraine also comes just ahead of a planned three-day visit to Moscow by China's President Xi Jinping. The US is expected to keep a close eye on the meeting that could potentially have a big impact on the war in Ukraine.

CNN's White House correspondent, Arlette Saenz is joining us right now.

Arlette, China, you know, is already trying to frame this meeting as a peace making mission. So, what is the White House saying about that?

ARLETTE SAENZ, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Yes, that's right, Fred.

Chinese President Xi Jinping has really sought to portray himself as a possible peacemaker between Russia and Ukraine, but officials here in the US are viewing this meeting between the Chinese President and Vladimir Putin with some skepticism.

Officials will be watching it very closely at a time when China really has not outright condemned Russia's war against Ukraine. And this morning, John Kirby, a top official at the National Security Council, talked about some of those concerns the United States has especially their concern that any discussions, any actions taken after this meeting could come from just a one sided perspective from Russia.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ADM. JOHN KIRBY (RET), COORDINATOR FOR STRATEGIC COMMUNICATIONS AT THE NATIONAL SECURITY COUNCIL: If coming out of this meeting, there is some sort of call for a ceasefire, well, that's just going to be unacceptable because all that's going to do, Mike, is ratify Russia's conquest to date. All that is going to do is give Mr. Putin more time to refit, retrain, remand, and try to plan for renewed offensives at a time of his choosing.

We hope, and we've said this before that President Xi will call and talk to President Zelenskyy because we believe the Chinese need to get the Ukrainian perspective here.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SAENZ: Now, for some time now, the US has been working its diplomatic channels to try to encourage the Chinese President to speak with Ukrainian President Zelenskyy. That type of discussion between the two men has yet to happen.

But as you heard Kirby there, they do believe that the Chinese need to hear the Ukrainian side before making any further moves regarding this war.

WHITFIELD: And Arlette, the Biden administration has already raised concerns about an accelerating partnership between Russia and China. So what more can you tell us about that?

SAENZ: Yes. Officials here in the US have really been watching this relationship between Russia and China closely. They have that what they are calling a no limits partnership.

And one thing that officials are watching very closely is whether China makes any moves, any decisions about providing lethal aid to Russia in this war.

So far, they have not done so, but officials have evaluated Intelligence and believe that China is considering doing that, at some point. For China to provide lethal aid to Russia, it would certainly draw out the war at a time when Putin really has made no concessions at all about ending this war against Ukraine.

Now for President Biden's part, he said earlier in the week that he does expect to speak with President Xi Jinping at some point, though the White House has not outlined how soon that might happen.

WHITFIELD: All right, Arlette Saenz at the White House, thanks so much.

All right, for the second time this week, British and German fighter jets have intercepted Russian military planes near Estonia's airspace. Friday's incident was part of a routine NATO mission, which is protecting Baltic nations, but NATO has another concern in Northern Europe and it involves the continents vital energy supply.

Here now is Fred Pleitgen.

[15:20:07]

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice over): As tensions mount after the collision between a Russian plane and a US drone over the Black Sea, NATO's head tells me the Alliance stands firmly behind the US.

JENS STOLTENBERG, NATO SECRETARY-GENERAL: What we have seen is a reckless and irresponsible behavior by Russia that led to this incident in the Black Sea. The good thing is that the United States behaved with outmost professionalism.

PLEITGEN (voice over): And security on the seas is a huge issue for NATO.

We flew to one of Europe's largest gas fields with the Secretary General and the head of the EU Commission as NATO warships were guarding the rig, watchful for possible acts of sabotage.

PLEITGEN (on camera): The US and its allies understand full well that Russia's war in Ukraine is a threat, not just to the skies above the seas and on the seas, but also to critical infrastructure under the sea as well. That's why the NATO Alliance is beefing up its efforts to protect this critical infrastructure. PLEITGEN (voice over): These are the actual wells of the Troll Gas Field near Norway. Around 10 percent of the natural gas supplies for America's European allies come from this field alone, after most of them stopped buying gas from Russia.

Last year, the Nord Stream pipeline between Germany and Russia was blown up in what the US says was an act of sabotage. While some believe Ukrainians might be behind the explosion, Kyiv denies involvement, and the EU Commission head tells me, Europe will continue to support Ukraine.

URSULA VON DER LEYEN, EUROPEAN COMMISSION PRESIDENT: We know in the European Union that Ukraine is not only fighting for its independence, sovereignty, and freedom, but also for the wider values we share, like the respect for the international law.

PLEITGEN (voice over): And the Ukrainian say they will fight on. Kyiv saying the most intense battles are still taking place around Bakhmut, where the Russians claim they are gaining ground.

And Russian President Vladimir Putin is set to meet Chinese leader Xi Jinping in Moscow next week as the Russians are looking to further deepen ties and the US believes want Beijing to give them weapons.

NATO's leader says security in Europe will only be guaranteed if Putin ends the war against Ukraine.

STOLTENBERG: The best way to reduce risk of an instance like this is of course for the President to end the war. Wars are dangerous and they lead to dangerous situations like for instance over the Black Sea.

PLEITGEN (voice over): But as long as the war continues, NATO says its ships will stay on alert, shielding the Alliance members critical infrastructure from possible attacks.

Fred Pleitgen, CNN, Bergen, Norway.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: Still to come, just weeks after the conviction and sentencing of Alex Murdaugh, the body of a 19-year-old man who was found dead near the Murdaugh family home is going to be exhumed. What CNN has just learned, next.

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[15:27:30]

WHITFIELD: A new twist today in the mystery surrounding Alex Murdaugh. Stephen Smith's family says they are exhuming the body of the 19-year- old. Smith was found dead near one of the Murdaugh's properties back in 2015, and it comes just weeks after Murdaugh was convicted of killing his own wife and son.

CNN's Isabel Rosales is following these new developments for us. So Isabel, what more are authorities saying about all of this?

ISABEL ROSALES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Fred, this is a major development.

Stephen Smith is one of the mysterious deaths surrounding the Murdaugh family. Now according to an incident report back in 2015, his body was found in the middle of a rural road, as you mentioned near the Murdaugh estate, with a force blunt trauma to his head.

Now, his family is exhuming his body for an independent autopsy immediately. That is according to a GoFundMe page that has been verified by CNN.

And while authorities have not announced any sort of connection between Smith's death and the Murdaugh family, back in June of 2021, the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division or SLED did announce that it was reopening an investigation into Smith's killing, and that Fred that was based on information that they gathered while investigating the double homicide of Maggie and Paul Murdaugh.

And to this day, there are still so many questions surrounding Smith's death. According to a SLED report, pathologist indicated and stated in this report that it appeared that Smith was hit by a car, but according to Highway Patrol responding officer who was there on site, they didn't find any skid marks, they didn't find any glass or debris or any injuries that would be consistent with Smith actually being hit by a vehicle.

In fact, both of his shoes were on and slightly loosened. So, that wouldn't be something very much consistent with getting hit by a vehicle, and investigators sought no evidence suggesting that he was hit.

We do have a statement today from SLED saying "SLED has made progress in the death investigation of Stephen Smith, however, this investigation remains active and ongoing."

Now Smith's mother has been fighting since day one, since his body was found to get some answers into her son's death. She started a GoFundMe with a goal of performing an independent autopsy to get those answers and an exhumation. She thought that that would be around $7,000.00. She set a goal of $15,000.00, and today has blown past that goal of nearly $60,000.00 that she has raised.

[15:30:07]

ROSALES: And she put up a post on GoFundMe saying: "Our family is so very grateful to all of you who came together to help us in our fight for justice for Stephen. We will pursue the exhumation immediately and provide updates along the way. Thank you for the kind words, prayers, and donations. You have made this possible and it means the world to us. This is Stephen's year."

Fred, still so many questions that need to be answered for Stephen and for his family and for justice to happen here.

WHITFIELD: Wow. A remarkable turn of events, and it keeps going. Isabel Rosales, thank you so much.

ROSALES: Thank you.

WHITFIELD: Coming up, education advocates say more Black male teachers are needed in the classrooms all across the country, but many schools face recruiting challenges such as low pay and racial bias in school systems, all of that is next.

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[15:35:03]

WHITFIELD: A new study reveals a shocking need for Black male educators in classrooms nationwide. Only 1.3 percent of public school teachers are Black men, while White women make up 61 percent. The findings come as school systems face political battles over curriculum, low wages, strikes, and low retention and experts say the presence of Black male teachers improves academic outcomes of Black students.

I want to discuss more of this with CNN senior race and equality writer, Nicquel Terry Ellis.

Nicquel, good to see you. So what precipitated this focus of this story and the study that comes along with it.

NICQUEL TERRY ELLIS, CNN SENIOR RACE AND EQUALITY WRITER: Thank you for having me, Fred. This is actually a very layered issue here.

I spoke with several advocates in the last week who talked about the challenges they're facing in getting Black men who want to teach in the classroom. The pay remains a huge issue here given the average national salary for a teacher in general is around $65,000.00.

For some Black men, that's simply not enough money for those who want to be the breadwinner for their families, for those who want to build generational wealth, they just simply want to make more money than that.

Also, for some Black men, returning back to the classroom just brings back some of the negative trauma they face even as students. There is research out there that says that Black children are disciplined at higher rates than their White classmates. They are referred to law enforcement at higher rates than their Black classmates.

Given these racial biases, some Black men do not want to teach in that same environment. Retention also remains a huge issue here. Schools are not equipped or even making the effort to try to retain Black men once they become teachers in the classroom at all.

WHITFIELD: And you know, first of all, male teachers in general, I mean, that's a very small number, right? Disproportionately, there aren't a whole lot of male teachers. And now you're talking about Black male teachers, and all of us who have boys -- Black boys, I mean, you always wish and want there to be more male teachers in the classroom, let alone Black male teachers. So talk to me about what efforts are being made to try to recruit more male teachers, more Black male teachers, and what a difference it's going to make in the classroom.

ELLIS: Yes, so there are several nonprofits that I've interviewed in the last week, who are actually making efforts to go out and recruit these young Black men to become teachers. They have a training program where they are bringing the men in to train them to become teachers, giving them that on-the-job training in the classroom, teaching children of all ages.

Student experience is just really important here, Fred, and I think that the key here is getting Black men at a younger age, getting them at the middle school and high school age, and not waiting until they're in college or finished with college to try to recruit them, when many are just not interested in even going to teaching at all.

WHITFIELD: And you talked to a lot of experts, and what are they saying about the difference that will be made in the classroom?

ELLIS: So I think it makes a huge difference. There was a research that came out last week saying that children who were taught by someone of the same race performed better in the classroom. They graduate at higher levels. They have higher test scores. They just do better overall. So that's one reason why they want to get more Black men teaching in these classrooms, just to have that example there.

There is also a big national fight -- political fight right now over teaching Black History in the classroom, that has actually created some distress among a lot of Black families.

WHITFIELD: And then I mean, what about distress among teachers? Because, you know, there are a lot of curriculum changes being made, you know, across the board across the country, and a lot of teachers are already frustrated with that. And now as you talk about teaching of American History, Black History, you know, is this further, I guess, alienating, you know, Black teachers, Black male teachers, and dissuading them from wanting to stay in the classrooms?

ELLIS: I think could be part of the challenge, Fred. I think the challenge in getting teachers to even wants to teach, so the hope is that, you know, hopefully there are districts that will be able to get through this and still be able to teach some Black History in the classroom.

There is a district in Tulsa that we're looking into that is actually teaching, you know, this AP Black History course to students right now, so the hope is that you know, that teachers will be able to continue to include this in the curriculum, and make them more comfortable teaching.

WHITFIELD: All right, Nicquel Terry Ellis, thank you so much. Appreciate it.

ELLIS: Thanks, Fred.

[15:40:00]

WHITFIELD: All right, and this new just in to CNN, Switzerland's biggest banking group, UBS, has agreed to by its rival, Credit Suisse in an emergency rescue.

The purchase is aimed at halting financial market panic by two American bank failures this month. Investors and customers pulled their money out of Credit Suisse over the past several days as turmoil swept the global banking industry.

Credit Suisse lost 25 percent in shares over the course of the week despite an emergency $54 billion loan.

Joining me right now is CNN's Anna Stewart and Ryan Patel, Senior Fellow at Claremont Graduate University. So glad you could both be with us. Anna is on the phone.

Anna, let me go to you first, what more are you hearing about this purchase?

ANNA STEWART, CNN REPORTER (via phone): Well, we're just learning a little bit more about some of the details behind this takeover, and let's be fair, I mean, all of last week, some of the share price moves we saw in terms of Credit Suisse were extraordinary.

The Central Bank of Switzerland tried very hard to restore confidence by extending a 50 billion Swiss franc loan, that's over $50 billion to Credit Suisse, but that wasn't enough.

And actually, what was so interesting is liquidity hasn't really been the issue with this bank. This bank not only faces the pressure that the whole sector has faced following the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank, but also this is a bank that was in the midst of a turnaround. It wasn't doing a particularly good job of it. It has lost a lot of investor confidence already. And there was impatience, you know whether that transformation plan was ever really going to right itself.

And looking at the share price on Friday, which dipped again, having taken that massive loan from the Central Bank, it was quite obvious that this weekend, something was going to happen. And one of the options on the table was certainly a takeover.

This is huge. UBS, the rival bank in Switzerland is paying three billion Swiss francs. So that is about $3.25 billion for Credit Suisse. It's a lot, but actually, that's about 60 percent less than the bank was worth when markets closed on Friday.

The statement we had is bleak. It says Credit Suisse and UBS have entered into a merger agreement with UBS being the only surviving entity. And this was very much done with the intervention of the Swiss government, the Swiss Central Bank, the Swiss market regulator, FINMA. And what's really interesting is that Swiss National Bank is pledging a loan of up to 100 billion Swiss francs. That's double the loan from last week, that's over $100 billion to support the takeover, i.e. they are throwing the kitchen sink at this to ensure that the joined banks survive.

WHITFIELD: Oh, my gosh, so Ryan, I mean, I'm just, you know, as stated, this is a big deal. How big of a deal, is it? I mean, is it the bigger deal that it's being purchased? Or it would be even a bigger deal if you were to allow, if the world were to see Credit Suisse fail?

RYAN PATEL, SENIOR FELLOW, DRUCKER SCHOOL OF MANAGEMENT, CLAREMONT GRADUATE UNIVERSITY: Well, there are two part parts to this, is that the fact that this occurred, meant that it means it was worse than it was. This is an emergency rescue. Let me be clear, emergency rescue, to ensure that there is some stability in the global banking system, this is why it occurred.

And just think about how fast the transaction happened, that you had to go through all these skipped steps that they skipped on getting all shareholders approval. I mean, it's a huge deal, because the failure of that, like you just mentioned is something that we don't want to see.

WHITFIELD: Right, because Ryan, I mean, people were still trying to digest two American banks, you know, failing or -- yes, failing. And now you've got a really big global bank. I mean, there were feelings or you know, rumblings leading into the weekend of like, you know, how is the banking industry? Okay, rest assured, everything is okay.

But now, you've got this gigantic global bank that just got a giant rescue. So what is going on right now with all of these banks, American or global?

PATEL: Yes. And you pointed out that even in the isolated systems, right, the global banking system has been better since 2007-2008, so I will say that, but here is the problem, and we live in this world where you know, you see a Silicon Valley Bank have a high raise and deposits couldn't cover them with the cash because the you know, obviously the bond interest rates and then the global -- this problem is not interconnected. actually funny enough there. They were already having problems, Credit Suisse already doing that.

And so when we start seeing, this guess what happens? The trust from consumers asking questions about banks, should they be taking their money and then all of a sudden, things that -- the risks that many of these executive teams on banks look at, they didn't come up with this, they didn't think there was going to be run or sprint to get their money out of the banks. They were not able to cover it and then it starts to put holes in many of these balance sheets and this is what happened.

WHITFIELD: And Anna you know, quickly, will the purchase of a rival bank, you know, purchasing Credit Suisse, will that kind of reset the market?

I mean, what will that ultimately do just for the industry?

STEWART: Well, this is going to be really interesting.

So Monday morning, if any of us get any sleep, we will be looking for that market open and what share prices do.

[15:45:09]

STEWART: And I think be looking for that market open and what share prices do, and I think really key to the story of what is happening for some bondholders of Credit Suisse? Because we haven't got all the details, but they is certainly a suggestion that some people will find that their bond holdings are wiped out.

Now, if investor confidence is further dented, and people start to worry, what could happen to the value of their bonds in certain banks, well, we could see again, more contagion around the European banking sector.

I can tell you right now that we are getting a lot of comments from the likes of the President of the European Central Bank, Christine Lagarde, also the Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen and the Fed Chair Jay Powell and honestly the statements are almost identical. They welcome the announcement and they say that that their positions, that the US or the European banking system are strong and resilient. We will see tomorrow.

WHITFIELD: Wow, we will.

Okay, we're going to leave it there. Anna Stewart and Ryan Patel, thanks so much.

We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:5025]

WHITFIELD: All right, welcome back.

You're going to really be inspired by this.

Three-year-old Henry Saladino loves dancing, books, and giving people kisses the moment that he meets them. Well, Henry also suffers from a rare neurological disorder, which is a severe type of AHC, in which patients are referred to as a human time bomb.

At any moment, Henry can stop breathing on his own, sometimes for up to 15 minutes. He can also have up to 30 life-threatening seizures a day. But Henry can even become paralyzed, which can last for days at a time and there is no way to know when it will happen or if he will survive.

No treatment or cure exists for AHC, which affects one in a million people globally. But last year, Henry's parents, Mary and Anthony Saladino launched the nonprofit foundation for Henry to raise $3 million to develop a genetic treatment. And if it works, this type of therapy could be the first to treat AHC as well as several other neurological syndromes, including a rare type of Parkinson's disease.

Well, Mary Saladino joins me right now from Burlington, Vermont. Mary first off, you know, how is Henry doing?

MARY SALADINO, HENRY SALADINO'S MOTHER: Thank you so much for having us to share Henry's story, and to really shine the light on AHC.

Henry is having, I would say a good morning, which is all we can hope for and we never take it for granted. As much as he wished he could pop in to say hello, simulation can be triggering, so my husband is taking care of him, but he says "Hi, and thank you to everybody."

WHITFIELD: Wow. Well, you all are all hands on deck, you know, and you know, you can't go anywhere, you know, without oxygen, rescue medication for him, which don't always work. And I understand that you all have nurses to care for Henry.

But how do you cope? How do you deal with -- handle all of these constant anxiety? And then looking at his pictures, I mean, he just looks like, you know, he rises above all of it with his smiles. I mean, I'm sure that brings you a lot of energy and that is inspiring you to keep going. But how do you do?

SALADINO: You're absolutely right. I think Henry, first and foremost is the most joyful, resilient little guy. And for those who have met him, or who see him daily on our Instagram, we try to chronicle you know, the ups and downs of AHC @ForHenryAHC, he's a little lovebug.

And his joy is infectious. You would never know what he endures. I think beyond that, we really have an incredible support network of family and friends and nurses. And beyond that, we have our incredible AHC community.

So our organization For Henry is just one of three in the US that we work really closely with. The others being AHCF, CURE AHC and HOPE for Annabel, and we have just a really robust support network and we really owe the work that all of these families have done for years to get us to this point where we can focus on the treatment.

WHITFIELD: So Henry is inspiring you; as a family, you are inspiring, your whole medical team. But then, you know, adding to all of that is yet another layer of inspiration. Because, you know, our CNN piece about your family story, which was published on Monday also elicited quite their response. So tell me what has happened?

SALADINO: Well, prior to our piece airing on Monday, and we had raised about $500,000.00 on our own through our organization For Henry, our nonprofit, we fundraise on two platforms, on GoFundMe, and through our website. And if you combine those, we now have over a million,. Thanks to the CNN article that aired Monday. So it's raised us about $550,000.00 and the outpouring of love and support from the world has been so overwhelming.

We are just so grateful to everybody for sharing, caring and donating.

WHITFIELD: And that money then translates into advancements in research. Tell us quickly about that. SALADINO: Yes, so our foundation is set up to create a treatment for Henry, but it will pave the way for others to have this treatment type not just with AHC, but other related diseases. However, we need two more million dollars in order for Henry to be treated in a year.

WHITFIELD: Oh my goodness and what do you think the prospects of that are?

SALADINO: We remain forever hopeful. We've said when we started this journey, if the challenge is the money, we will find it.

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SALADINO: To hear when you're diagnosed that there is nothing that can be done, and then to realize that actually, the science exists, you just have to work together to identify the right leaders, fund it, and organize the project.

We're happy to get it done, but we couldn't do it without all of you and to our community. So thank you to everybody for showing up for Henry.

WHITFIELD: Well, you all have been unstoppable thus far. Mary, thanks.

SALADINO: A lot of us are moving.

WHITFIELD: Wonderful. Well, Mary, thank you so much, and of course, I know you've piqued the interest of a whole lot of new audience members, so you can find out more about the For Henry foundation by going to www.ForHenry.org.

Thank you so much for being with me today. I'm Fredricka Whitfield.

The CNN NEWSROOM continues with Paula Reid after this.

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