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Tornado hits Los Angeles; Manhunt Ongoing in Denver High School shooting; TikTok CEO to testify at the Congress amid calls for Nationwide ban; Stock Markets are Mixed a day after Fed's Interest Rate Hike Announcement; Grand Jury Reconvenes for Trump's Hush Money Scandal; Missile Slams Apartment Buildings in Zaporizhzhya. Aired 3-4a ET

Aired March 23, 2023 - 03:00   ET

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


[03:00:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KRISTIE LU STOUT, CNN ANCHOR: Hello and welcome to our viewers joining us from here in Hong Kong, the United States and all around the world. You're watching "CNN Newsroom." I'm Kristie Lu Stout.

And ahead this hour, a rare sight just outside Los Angeles, a tornado touches down and shocks unsuspecting residents, officials say it is the strongest one to hit the country in 40 years. Plus --

A manhunt is on right now in Colorado for student suspected of shooting two staff members at Denver High School. We'll bring you the latest developments. And later --

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BORIS JOHNSON, FORMER U.K. PRIME MINISTER: I'm here to say to you, hand on heart, that I did not lie to the House.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LU STOUT: Britain's embattled former Prime Minister Boris Johnson faces a grilling in parliament and his political future is at stake.

And we begin in California. Look, first, it was a snow storms and flash flooding. And now, two rare tornadoes have hit the state in just the past two days, and a severe weather nightmare that just won't end.

The National Weather Service says that the latest tornado touched down Wednesday in the city of Montebello. That's just outside Los Angeles. One person was hurt, more than a dozen buildings were damaged, many beyond repair.

Meanwhile, torrential rain created a muddy mess for these farm animals in San Bernardino County. Cows, horses and more had to be pulled from the mud in this rural community. And the cleanup continues at the site of Tuesday's tornado on California's southern coast. Some say that the storm was so powerful that the damage happened in the blink of an eye.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNKNOWN: You could hear the rooftops and the -- in the --

UNKNOWN: Metal

UNKNOWN: -- the metal flying up, and I think that's what made it create all those loud noise.

UNKNOWN: Within a few seconds, my carport disappeared. I turned to go in the house, piece of it hit me in the face. Luckily, it was a flat piece. It didn't cut me. And we went outside, it was gone.

UNKNOWN: Watched it come flying straight across there. Unbelievable, 150 feet tall just swirling around pieces of broken plastic.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LU STOUT: Well, CNN Meteorologist Eric van Dam has more in the U.S. weather from Atlanta.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ERIC VAN DAM, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Here's something you don't normally see nor do we want to be seen, is a tornado moving through a populated part of Los Angeles. This is just east of downtown. Look at the debris just being lofted into the sky. There's some two by fours and some pedaling as well.

Just incredible to see what happened. The National Weather Service on location determining the exact strength of this confirmed tornado. But one thing's for sure, it caused some significant damage to some of the buildings. You can see this aerial photograph of one of the warehouses there.

Now, when we think of March tornadoes, we typically hone in on the Lone Star state, right? They have 14 on average for the month of March. More of the same across the deep south, averaging about five or seven tornadoes from Mississippi to Georgia. Now, did you know that California averages one tornado during the month of March, and it just happened to take place in Los Angeles, incredible.

Here it is, radar loop, and you can see it just south and east. This is an area called Montebello and it flared up local time about 11.20 in the morning, and it was a very short-lived tornado but enough to cause, of course, the destruction you saw just a moment ago.

Now, the energy from the same storm system is going to be ejected east from the Rockies and it's going to move into the Ohio and Mississippi river valley over the next couple of days. And unfortunately, it's going to be encountering a blocking High Pressure system to the north. So, it's going to allow for heavy rainfall, more showers and thunderstorms moving over the same locations.

Weather Prediction Center picking up on this moderate risk of flash flooding. Lookout, Memphis to Louisville, anywhere across this area where you see the darker shading of yellow and oranges. We have the potential from 3 to 6 inches of rain through Friday.

National Weather Service picking up on that. Flood watches in effect for over 20 million Americans stretching from Indianapolis, Cincinnati through St. Louis, all the way to Oklahoma City.

Now, another threat with this round of rough weather across the nation's midsection is the potential for severe weather. We have a multi day Severe Weather center -- set up taking shape today, slight risk across central Texas as well as central Oklahoma.

[03:05:07]

And then an enhanced risk anticipated across parts of Louisiana, Mississippi and into southern Arkansas as storms start to flare up for the day on Friday, so an active weather period continues across the U.S.

Back to you.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LU STOUT: Thank you, Derek.

Now, after shooting of two faculty members at a Denver High School on Wednesday, authorities have found a male body less than a mile from a vehicle connected to the suspect. They have not yet identified the body.

But Colorado police believe that 17-year-old student, Austin Lyle, shot two school employees. Parents say this is only one of many violent events that have occurred in the area.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNKNOWN: I just want to point out that this is the third major -- fourth major incident here at East High. The Denver School Board is failing us. And it's really a problem. How much more is it going to take before people start realizing this place is a ticking time bomb?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LU STOUT: Now, both shooting victims are in hospital, where officials say one is listed in critical condition, the other in serious but stable condition.

Now, TikTok CEO will testify before the U.S. House just hours from now, amid a push from the U.S. government to ban the app across the country. His main talking point is that neither TikTok nor its parent company, ByteFace, are agents of the Chinese government.

The social media app has already been banned on government devices across multiple states and even at the federal level. CEO Shou Zi Chew took the TikTok to share his plan of action with users.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) SHOU ZI CHEW, TIKTOK CEO: Some politicians have started talking about banning TikTok. Now, this could take TikTok away from all 150 million of you. I will be testifying before Congress later this week to share all that we're doing to protect Americans using the app and deliver on a mission to inspire creativity and to bring joy.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LU STOUT: CNN's Anna Coren joins us now with more. And Anna, in just a few hours, we got the boss of TikTok taking the hot seat in Capitol Hill. How will this go down?

ANNA COREN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yeah, that's right, Kristie. 10.00 a.m. Eastern, the CEO, who we just saw then, he is preparing for a harsh grilling from U.S. lawmakers. This will be his first congressional hearing over the video apps' potential national security risks.

Now, the short-form video app there is owned by a Beijing-based parent company called Bytedance, has recently been banned by various governments around the world, as you mentioned on official government devices, the U.S., U.K., the European Parliament, E.U. nations and New Zealand. They've all enforced this ban.

But the CEO as we just heard then, Shou Zi Chew, who'll spend millions of dollars lobbying in Capitol Hill, says the app poses no threat, and he's denying allegations that it alludes, or has an improper relationship with the Chinese government. The U.S. government is not convinced.

And while TikTok collects roughly the same amount of data as Facebook or Twitter, its links with the Chinese government that has everybody worried.

Let's take a listen now to Admiral John Kirby, answering questions at a White House press briefing.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOHN KIRBY, NATIONAL SECURITY COORDINATOR FOR STRATEGIC COMMUNICATIONS: Certainly, we'll be monitoring the testimony. But as you know, there's a serious review going on. We're not going to get ahead of that. And as you also know, we have made very clear our national security concerns about that particular application, and that's why it's been banned on government devices.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COREN: The FBI director as well as the head of U.S. National Security Agency, they have both said that it poses a serious threat to national security and that it's a valuable tool for China to share public opinion, in regards to elections policy making, you know, even in the event of a potential war over Taiwan.

The Biden administration says the only way for TikTok to actually continue operating in the United States is if its parent company, ByteDance, sells its stake. That, Kristie, is highly unlikely, according to the analysts that we've spoken to because the Chinese government used TikTok's technology as sensitive and critical to Chinese national interests. And since 2020, the Chinese government has taken steps to ensure that it can veto any sale by ByteDance.

Now, in response to the potential U.S. ban, China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs last week said, quote, "The U.S. should stop spreading misinformation about data security, stop suppressing relevant companies and provide an open, fair, just and non-discriminatory environment for foreign business to invest and operate in the U.S."

[03:10:08]

Kristie, we should mention that to date, there has been no evidence that Beijing has used TikTok's data for intelligence or other purposes, but the deep mistrust between China and the United States and the awareness of Chinese espionage has certainly heightened fears of what TikTok represents. Kristie.

LU STOUT: Yeah. Deep mistrust and deep bipartisan concerns as well. It's going to be quite a grilling.

Anna Coren reporting. Thank you so much.

Financial markets here in the Asia-Pacific region are reacting to the U.S. Federal Reserve's decision to raise interest rates by a quarter point. The major indices have been in and out of positive territory all day.

And let's just take a look at how markets here in Asia have been performing. You could see the Nikkei's losing about two-tenths of 1 percent. Here in Hong Kong, the Hang Seng gaining 1.9 percent. Gains at the Seoul KOSPI, up almost a third of 1 percent, the Shanghai Composite gaining six-tenths of 1 percent.

Now, on Wall Street, the Dow fell more than 500 points on Wednesday. And if we could just bring up the live data for you just to get a glimpse of where U.S. futures stand at the moment, all green arrows Dow futures up about half of percent, NASDAQ futures gaining almost three quarters of 1 percent, S&P 500 futures of about six-tenths of 1 percent.

Now let's get more now on the rate hike from CNN's Rahel Solomon.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

RAHEL SOLOMON, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Wednesday's fed announcement concludes perhaps one of the most important fed meetings in recent history. That's because while inflation is still a major concern as of two weeks ago, so was bank instability. Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell announced that the Federal Reserve would be raising rates another quarter of a percent, as most expected, they would.

He also reiterated what we've heard a lot from the Biden administration since the fall of Silicon Valley Bank on March 10th, that Americans should feel confident in the banking system. JEROME POWELL, U.S. FEDERAL RESERVE CHAIR: I guess our view is that

the banking system is sound and it's resilient. It's got strong capital liquidity. We took powerful actions with treasury, and the FDIC, which demonstrates that all depositors' savings are safe in the banking system is safe. Deposit flows in the banking system have stabilized over the last week. And the last thing I'll say is that we've undertaken -- we're undertaking a thorough internal review that will identify where we can strengthen supervision and regulation.

SOLOMON: Since March 2022, the fed has raised rates in extraordinary amount, 475 basis points or 4.75 percent including this meeting. Now, when the fed raises rates, it makes borrowing more expensive for consumers, which leads to less spending, which ultimately brings down prices.

But higher rates also makes existing treasury bonds less valuable and that can create issues for banks that are holding a lot of these bonds if they need to sell them anytime in the near future. That's part of what happened to SVB, and there's also fear of banking concerns grow. Another bank could also fall.

So that's the tightrope for the fed to walk. That's widespread debate about whether the fed can walk the walk and talk the talk. Essentially, can they strike a balance and do both things simultaneously, prevent further damage with the banks but also address inflation?

Rahel Solomon CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LU STOUT: Now, I spoke last hour with Ryan Patel. He's a senior fellow at the Drucker School of Management at Claremont Graduate University. And I asked him why the fed decided to raise rates despite all the turmoil in the banking sector.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RYAN PATEL, SENIOR FELLOW, DRUCKER SCHOOL OF MANAGEMENT: If he didn't do it and went to zero basis points out, would have told the market told everybody that there is a deep crisis in the banking, which is something that they were trying to avoid. So, that means they're not going that way. And if they increased it further, you know, that would have been a mistake as well.

So they stayed the course and stayed committed to what they think is the right move. And obviously, there's a domino effect on that. And they had to do some adjustments from, you know, kind of recalculating what that interest rate will look like in 2024, which they slipped in there, which now they think is 4.3 percent, from 4.1.

So, it is a dumb, no facts, and no short term. We're focusing on this, but they're looking at cutting, you know, looking at the long term effect as well that we need to pay attention to.

LU STOUT: Yeah. The fed is staying the course. What about the Bank of England? It's set to make its interest rate decisions soon. What should we expect?

PATEL: Oh, I mean inflation is really hard. I expect him to stick now. I want to stay the course but to be aggressively attacking it because they were a little bit behind the eight ball in the summertime. And so, I don't -- you know, inflation, I think, was projected to anywhere from 10 to 13 percent. I think they're going to be continue to be aggressively interest rates more so because I think they're a little bit behind for when the U.S. was attacking it. So, I expect them to be aggressive as well.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LU STOUT: Now, a New York grand jury is expect to meet again today in the case of Donald Trump's alleged hush money payment to adult film star Stormy Daniels. It is unlikely the hunt down any indictment, as sources tell CNN, prosecutors are considering calling more witnesses.

[03:15:02]

Prosecutors are weighing charges at Trump allegedly falsified business records and violated campaign finance laws, and another investigation to the former president appears to be gaining momentum. Now, this one involves classified documents that were found at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida.

CNN's Katelyn Polantz has more.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KATELYN POLANTZ, CNN SENIOR CRIME AND JUSTICE REPORTER: The primary defense attorney for Donald Trump, a man named Evan Corcoran, is set to return to the federal grand jury in Washington to answer more questions.

The questions that prosecutors want to ask him and the answers that they believe he will give are about whether or not Donald Trump was trying to break the law in the response to the classified documents probe at Mar-a-Lago. So, this is a crucial situation that is developed here over the past few hours and days.

A federal appeals court in Washington on Wednesday essentially ordered that Corcoran would need to go and testify again to that grand jury, answer questions he hadn't before about his conversations directly with his client, Donald Trump.

The appeals court also said that he would need to turn over documents that he had in his possession, handwritten notes and transcribed verbal notes to the grand jury investigation as well. This is the grand jury investigation into the potential mishandling of classified records at Mar-a-Lago and possibly obstruction of justice.

We don't know if there will be charges that emanate from this, but what the Justice department has done so far to get us to this point is really putting an emphasis on how close they believe they are to locking up this case. They believe that there was the advancing of a crime. It's quite significant, and Evan Corcoran really is the central person, the central witness to the conversations, what was -- what Donald Trump was thinking and wanting to do as the Justice department was trying to get classified records that he had at Mar-a-Lago back in their possession at the federal government and that they weren't just turning over all of the things that were there.

Katelyn Polantz, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LU STOUT: All right. You're watching "CNN Newsroom. And later this hour, from former allies to potential rivals for the Republican presidential nomination, we'll take a closer look at what Florida's governor is now saying about Donald Trump and how Trump is firing back.

Also still to come residential buildings in Ukraine hit once again by a Russian missile strike. We'll hear from those who survived the attack in Zaporizhzhya.

And more mass protests are planned today in France over radical changes to that country's pension system.

Keep it here. You're watching CNN.

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[03:20:00]

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LU STOUT: Welcome back. Now, a senior Ukrainian official is accusing Russia of a deliberate strike on civilians after missile slammed into residential buildings in Zaporizhzhya. Ukraine says it was one of six missiles fired at the city on Wednesday.

Ivan Watson is in Zaporizhzhya, and he spoke with some who survived the attack.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

IVAN WATSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (on-camera): Even now, at nighttime, you can see the destruction caused by what Ukrainian officials say was a Russian missile that hit these two nine- storey apartment buildings around midday here ends in Zaporizhzhya, killing, Ukrainian authorities say at least one person and wounding at least 32 more.

Now, this city is located just about a half hour's drive from active front lines, and it has been pummeled in the past by Russian missiles and rockets that have hit apartment buildings here with deadly results. These buildings kind of face towards the southwest, and that is in the direction of Russian occupied Ukrainian territory. So, you can kind of come to the conclusion that this deadly projectile would have flown from that direction.

We can hear at night now, under cover of darkness, some residents in some of the neighboring apartments that have been badly damaged, working in the dark, cleaning up rubble and shards of glass in what's left of their homes.

UNKNOWN: Missile hits his is here (ph). And my apartment is -- there is kitchen, my parent's room, and my room. When it happened, I heard a loud explosion. I saw a fire. And I covered my head.

WATSON (on-camera): Pavel (ph) and Ann Chorney (ph) are taking me up to their apartment there right next to -- I mean, they're part of the same building that was hit today.

There's a crater right next door in the side of the building. Pavel (ph) says this does not scare him. Please give us more weapons. Imagine how terrifying, how absolutely shocking it would have been if you were at home when this massive explosion took place, blowing in all the windows of the kitchen. And then to see just less than a stone's throw away a huge crater in the side of your neighbors building, and it leaves me with this question, what possible strategic military goal could there be to fire deadly long range missiles at people's homes?

Ivan Watson, CNN, Zaporizhzhya, Ukraine.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LU STOUT: Now, let's go live to London now where CNN's Claire Sebastian is standing by. And Claire, what more have you learned about the aftermath of these brutal attacks in Zaporizhzhya and elsewhere?

CLAIRE SEBASTIAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yeah, Kristie. We're getting a few more updates overnight. The emergency services in Zaporizhzhya say that the rescue efforts there at that building, where you just saw Ivan Watson, has now finished.

[03:25:02]

The death toll stands at one and 32 injured, including three children. They say they had to put out a fire covering some 250 square meters. So, clearly this was a fairly big operation. They are also quoting the national police as saying that they believe that the missiles, six of them fired in Zaporizhzhya in total, hit were from a smudge rocket launcher. That's a sort of multiple launch rocket system that the Russians use. That's what they're saying as of now.

Meanwhile, over in the Kyiv region, but we also saw a deadly attack affecting civilians, on Wednesday, there was a drone strike. One of five drones out of 21 fired that evaded Ukrainian air defenses, according to the air force that hit a sort of professional training school just south of Kyiv, including dormitory buildings.

The death toll there now stands at nine people, and they say that the rescue efforts there that's sifting through the rubble has now been finished. Big picture, obviously, we're still seeing Russia with that tactic of attrition that those barrages of drone strikes targeting civilian infrastructure. Although the numbers of drones that we're seeing have gone down

somewhat, we used to see numbers in the 60s and 70s, in these overnight attacks. Zaporizhzhya, meanwhile, a region that Russia claims as its own, having illegally annexed it, they do not occupy the town of the Zaporizhzhya at the moment, clearly trying to take more territory there.

President Zelenskyy on an unannounced visit to Bakhmut in the eastern -- or near areas near Bakhmut on the eastern front line said that Ukraine would not let this lie.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY, UKRAINIAN PRESIDENT (through translator): We will certainly respond to every blow of the occupiers on our cities. Today's Russian strikes in Zaporizhzhya, the nightly attack on the Kyiv region, all Russian strikes will receive a military, political and legal response.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SEBASTIAN: That visit clearly designed to boost morale as Ukraine continues the bloody defense of the city of Bakhmut. He handed out awards to soldiers there. He named the city of Kharkiv a hero of Ukraine city. That city, despite being an early target of Russia, has never fallen into Russian hands. Kristie.

LU STOUT: Perhaps with the intention of providing another morale boost, Prince William made a surprise visit to troops near the Ukrainian-Polish border. What message did he bring?

SEBASTIAN: Yes. So, obviously the royals are not political, Kristie, but I think you're absolutely right. This was designed to show unity, the ongoing commitment of the U.K., and the international community to supporting Ukraine, Poland, of course, right on the border with Ukraine.

Prince William himself, a former lieutenant in the British Army, visited troops, their troops that are part of a grouping of NATO forces on its eastern flank that was beefed up in response to the invasion of Ukraine. You can see him meeting with soldiers.

He also visited a building, a former office building designed to temporarily house Ukrainian refugees coming into Poland and praised the response of putting, which has, of course, taken in millions of Ukrainian refugees. So, his visit continues on Thursday, Kristie, he will lay a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, in Warsaw and will meet, of course, as well with the Polish President. Kristie.

LU STOUT: Alright, Claire Sebastian reporting live for us. Thank you.

You're watching "CNN Newsroom," and just ahead, Boris Johnson, still trying to shake off the party gate hangover. Britain's embattled former Prime Minister faces a grilling in parliament with his political future hanging in the balance.

Keep it here.

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[03:30:00]

, CNN HOST: Welcome back. As legal problems continue mounting for Donald Trump, one of his top rivals for the 2024 Republican nomination is striking back at the former president. It is a notable change for Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, who until now has generally avoided criticizing Trump by name. CNN's Brian Todd has this report.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Florida's governor, now taking stronger but still subtle swipes at Donald Trump. Ron DeSantis in an interview with Piers Morgan for his talk show that streams on Fox Nation, had some fun with Trump's nicknames for him.

DONALD TRUMP, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: Ron DeSanctus today, you ever hear of DeSanctus, DeSanctimonious.

PIERS MORGAN, FOX NATION: What is your favorite nickname that Trump's given you so far?

RON DESANTIS, GOVERNOR OF FLORIDA: I can't -- I don't know how to spell DeSanctimonious. I don't really know what it means, but you know, I kind of like it's long. It's got a lot of vowels. I mean, so we'll go with that. That's fine. You know, you can call me -- you can call me whatever you want. I mean, just as long as you, you know, also call me a winner.

TODD (voice-over): But DeSantis also got serious with a jab at the former president when Morgan asked him about the differences between him and Trump.

DESANTIS: And obviously, you know, the approach to COVID was different. I mean, you know, I would have fired somebody like Fauci. So, the way we run the government, I think, is no daily drama, focus on the big picture, and put points on the board.

TODD (voice-over): Analysts say the potential presidential candidates framing of himself as a leader who would have less drama in an administration and as a winner seems to be a recent calculation to go after Trump in an understated way.

RHONDA COLVIN, SENIOR POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT, THE WASHINGTON POST: It does seem that there has been an evolution this week where in this interview, you're seeing him come out harder. He's especially going after Trump's character.

TODD (voice-over): Like the moment at a news conference this week when DeSantis seemed to take advantage of Trump's legal jeopardy, specifically the possibility that the former president could be indicted soon in the Stormy Daniels case. DeSantis attacked the prosecutor investigating Trump saying he's pursuing a political agenda and weaponizing his office. But also said -- [03:35:01]

DESANTIS: I don't know what goes into paying hush money to a porn star to secure silence over some type of alleged affair. I just -- I can't speak to that.

TODD (voice-over): Donald Trump, not about to let DeSantis' remarks this week go unanswered posted on his platform Truth Social, "Ron DeSanctimonious is not working for the people of Florida as he should be. He is too busy chatting with the ratings challenged TV host from England." How risky is it for DeSantis to attack Trump?

RON BROWNSTEIN, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: The one thing he knows is whatever he does whether he tries to ignore Donald Trump or whether he confronts Donald Trump. Donald Trump is going to be in his face. Donald Trump is going to follow the Mike Tyson strategy that everybody has a plan until they get punched in the face.

TODD (on camera): And it's not just Trump himself who is striking back at Ron DeSantis. Trump's allies are getting in on it. Longtime Trump adviser Jason Miller responding to the Piers Morgan's interview, tweeted that DeSantis has, quote, "Finally shown his true colors, an establishment Never Trumper, who despises the MAGA base and was faking it the entire time," end quote. Brian Todd, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

STOUT: Now the hangover from Boris Johnson's Partygate scandal has put his political future in peril. For three hours on Wednesday, British lawmakers grilled the former prime minister over the alcohol- fueled parties held during COVID lockdowns under his watch. It's one of many scandals that led to his ouster last year.

And at the hearing, Johnson tried his best to defend his actions. CNN's Nic Robertson is in London. He joins us now. And Nic, it was quite the grilling. So, how well did Mr. Johnson defend himself and did he do enough to convince MPs?

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: You know, I think as in any situation like this, there's already a number of people that are disposed not to believe Boris Johnson whatever he says because it's got such a bad track record and I think that was reflected in the nature of the questions and the way that he was pushed. He himself was defensive at times. He was assertive when he really felt that he was in a corner.

He was out there to prove his points that he himself had not misled parliament because this is all about misleading parliament or not let it -- misled it knowingly or recklessly. That's the terminology that is being used. He did accept that he had misled parliament but only through the advice that had been given which he accepted and believed to be the best advice coming from his -- coming from his officials. And he did, even at one point or a couple of points actually apologize.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) BORIS JOHNSON, FORMER BRITISH PRIME MINISTER: I'm here to say to you hand on heart that I did not lie to the House. When those statements were made, they were made in good faith and on the basis of what I honestly knew and believed at the time. I apologize.

I apologize for inadvertently misleading this House. But to say that I did it recklessly or deliberately is completely untrue as the evidence shows.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROBERTSON: Points in there in the questioning where you really got the sense that Boris Johnson really had nowhere to turn. He was trying to make the point that they were following the guidelines, not the rules that the government had established for the whole country on COVID, distancing, social distancing, that the nature of Number 10 Downing Street, his residence, his office, an old building that was narrow that was small, he was pressed on well, where were the mitigating sort of social distancing equipment, if you will, in one of the photographs depicting a gathering and he was in the next room.

And then he was pressed, and this was quite a telling moment. He was pressed on one of the gatherings where there were photographs and the question from one of the MPs on the committee said, well, why was your wife there? Why was your interior designer there? I can understand the guidelines for a work environment and a compact work environment. But why would you have your wife and interior designer there?

And you know, to points like that, Boris Johnson did really not have a substantial answer. And I think there you can see the tone in the room a question, you know, what the points that Boris Johnson was trying to land? So, I think overall, you'd have to say he defended himself strongly, but he's not going to sway those people. I don't think that already disposed against them.

LU STOUT: Yeah. Nic Robertson, reporting live for us from London. Thank you, Nic.

Now, French union leaders are calling for another nationwide strike today while the government pushes ahead with plans to raise the retirement age from 62 to 64. Some 12,000 police officers will be deployed across the country including 5,000 police in Paris. But despite the growing unrest, President Emmanuel Macron is defending the new law as the only way to save France's ailing pension system.

[03:40:03]

And Mr. Macron says the new retirement age needs to take effect by the end of the year. But weeks of turmoil over the changes have snarled traffic, have closed schools, and left tons of rotting garbage, sometimes garbage aflame on the streets. You're watching "CNN Newsroom."

Still to come, condemnation from the White House for Uganda over its strict anti-LGBTQ+ bill. Details of what the U.S. is saying, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[03:44:58]

LU STOUT: Welcome back. Uganda's ambassador to the U.N. says a new anti-LGBTQ+ law could be the reason behind an attack on the country's embassy in New York. He says someone smashed the glass of a backdoor and fled, injuring a diplomat from South Sudan. The ambassador says the person was possibly angry about the harsh bill Ugandan lawmakers passed on Tuesday.

Uganda has a history of cracking down on LGBTQ rights, but this new bill, which Uganda's president is expected to sign goes much further. CNN's Larry Madowo has the details.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

LARRY MADOWO, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Joyous scenes in Uganda's parliament on Tuesday after lawmakers passed a sweeping anti- LGBTQ bill. Same-sex relations were already illegal in the conservative East African country with convicts risking a life sentence. Now, legislators have taken it to one step further.

Anyone who identifies as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, or queer now faces up to 20 years in jail. And the death penalty for, quote, "aggravated homosexuality," a broad term used in the legislation to define same-sex intercourse with children or disabled people, rape or incest.

Supporting lawmakers saying the aim is to, quote, "protect our Christian culture and traditional family values."

ASUMAN BASALIRWA, UGANDAN LAWMAKER: What we have done really is for the people of Uganda. It is beyond us as individuals.

MADOWO (voice-over): And some had quite a flippant attitude towards the issue.

UNKNOWN: There is nothing so sweet and so good for a man more than a woman.

MADOWO (voice-over): Only a few lawmakers disagreed.

RACHEL MAGOOLA, UGANDAN LAWMAKER: I do not agree with homosexuality in principle, but I don't agree with criminalizing it.

MADOWO (voice-over): The United Nations called the law among the worst of its kind in the world and it's passing a deeply troubling development. Human rights campaigners in Uganda have condemned the move, calling it barbaric and unconstitutional. Ugandan rights activists vowing to fight back. A human rights lawyer in Kampala told CNN that, quote, "This aggressive and draconian law promotes hatred and discrimination and institutionalizes homophobia."

(On camera): Homosexuality is illegal in more than 30 of Africa's 55 nations and Uganda's move is just the latest in a series of setbacks for LGBTQ+ rights here on the continent. (Voice-over): The legislation now waits for the Ugandan president's

signature.

YUWERI MUSEVENI, PRESIDENT OF UGANDA: The homosexuals are deviations from the normal.

MADOWO (voice-over): And no one is expecting a surprise from him. Larry Madowo, CNN.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

STOUT: You're watching "CNN Newsroom." And up next, the final chapter of the hit TV show "Succession" begins this weekend.

And coming up, hear from the show's leading man, Brian Cox.

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[03:50:00]

LU STOUT: Welcome back. Now, the HBO series "Succession" will kick off its fourth and final season on Sunday. And CNN's Becky Anderson sat down with the show's leading man, Brian Cox.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BRIAN COX, ACTOR: Everything that I tried to do people turn against me. I'm 100 feet tall.

BECKY ANDERSON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: You've said it can be almost distressingly easy to play Logan Roy --

COX: Oh, yeah.

ANDERSON: -- your character in the HBO series "Succession." You've said if Logan met me, he wouldn't stand me for two minutes. Just explain where we're at with Logan Roy.

COX: Well, Logan is a man of very few words and I am not a man of very few words. In fact, I used far, as you can -- witnessing even now, I use far too many words, which is not always happy. But it's also because you know, I'm in love with language. Logan is, he doesn't talk. He's a really unhappy man.

And his problem (inaudible) would be much easier if he didn't love his children. That's his problem. That's his achilles heel, is he loves his children. So, that's always been the difficulty of dealing with these children who are and it's again, it's a satire. It's such a reflection of our life at the moment, that sense of entitlement that those kids have.

Logan doesn't feel that because for logan and this is what's so important and people going and competitive. It's like, you know, they're like the -- in the Murdaugh's. So, they're like the Trump (ph). So, they're like the black family and you know. And the big difference between Logan and all those guys is he is self-made. He didn't inherit anything. It all came from nothing. And it came through disillusion. And so, I see his background as one of meant tremendous disillusion.

UNKNOWN: We consider at least a call.

UNKNOWN: Was he apologizing?

UNKNOWN: I mean, did he ask?

UNKNOWN: I mean, if you were to call then I guess we would see.

ANDERSON: I don't think you're going to tell me what's going to happen in series four, but everybody wants to know. So, what happens to Brian Cox in series four?

COX: Oh, I go on, you know, just continue on in my -- in my misanthropic self.

I have you beat.

Dealing with the fallout. Episode three when I told them to make their own effing pie (ph) as what I -- my last instruction --

ANDERSON: It says also normally that you were saying, but that's --

COX: Yes. Therefore, I mean --

(CROSSTALK)

COX: But I do say make your own effing pie (ph). So, that's, you know, where we've got and then there's a lot of ramifications from that. And season four will deal with those ramifications, and that's all I can say on that subject because I have signed endless --

[03:55:01]

ANDERSON: Are we going to love it?

COX: I think you will love it. I think you will love it. I think you know; I think it's going to be extremely surprising and probably quite exciting.

(VIDEO PLAYING)

ANDERSON: Are you loving it?

COX: I've always loved it and let's face it. I'm playing a leading role in the best series in television. I mean, it doesn't get better than that. I mean, why -- what's there not to love, you know? I mean, it's been a great opportunity for me at my age. You know, I mean, I've been -- and when people used to say, you know, Brian, it's be the long haul for you. They used to say that to me. That was the older actors. Oh, it's going to be the long (inaudible). I didn't know I was going to be this long.

(END VIDEOTAPE) STOUT: I cannot wait to devour the final season and it will be available this weekend and, of course, Warner Brothers Discovery is the parent company of HBO Max and CNN. Thank you for joining us. I'm Kristie Lu Stout in Hong Kong. "CNN Newsroom" continues with Christina McFarlane in London next. Keep it here.

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