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U.S. Carries out a Retaliatory Strike in Syria; TikTok CEO grilled for hours by U.S. Lawmakers on privacy issue, affiliation with China; Former Trump Lawyer to Testify, Submit Documents over Hush Money scheme; President Biden to meet Canadian PM Trudeau; Israeli PM Netanyahu to move on with the Controversial Judicial Overhaul, Protests continues; Protests in France now more violent, Protesters Blocked Airport and Refineries; CNN Investigates Russian Denial of Forced Child Deportation; Prince William Visits Poland; Colorado Dentist Charged with Wife's Murder; Tom Brady Acquires Ownership Stake of Las Vegas Aces; Off-duty Pilot Help Lands Plane after Pilot Gets Ill. Aired 3-4a ET

Aired March 24, 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)

KIM BRUNHUBER, CNN ANCHOR: Hello and welcome to all of you watching us here in the United States, Canada, and around the world. I am Kim Brunhuber. Ahead on "CNN Newsroom".

The U.S. carries out an airstrike in Syria. drone attack, taking some heat.

The CEO of TikTok gets grilled by U.S. lawmakers

And legal peril for Donald Trump. Soon a federal grand jury will hear testimony from the former president's own lawyer.

UNKNOWN (voice-over): Live from CNN Center, this is "CNN Newsroom" with Kim Brunhuber.

BRUNHUBER: And we begin with tit-for-tat airstrikes in Syria, after a deadly attack on U.S. personnel deployed to fight ISIS. The Pentagon says it launched a retaliatory strike targeting a group affiliated with Iran's revolutionary guard in the eastern part of the country that followed a drone attack on U.S. forces in Syria, killing a U.S. contractor and wounding six other Americans.

Let's bring in CNN's International Diplomatic Editor Nick Robertson, live in London. Nick, what more are we learning?

NICK ROBERSTON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: Well this retaliatory strike on groups affiliated with the Iranian Revolutionary guard corps who are believed to be responsible for that drone strike that killed one contractor wounded five U.S. servicemen and another U.S. service contractor there. This retaliatory strike is being called proportionate, it's designed

to avoid read escalation, it's intended to avoid casualties, it appears or perhaps if the location is on buildings in a rural area.

But if it follows the pattern of what the United States has done when it's responded to this type of attack on its troops by the Iranian process in Syria and in Iraq before, what it tends to do is strike ammunition stores, and sort of collections of equipment used to sort of use if you will, to sort of sustain these property groups on the ground military equipment.

So this is perhaps what the target is this time, it isn't clear. But what Lloyd Austin, the U.S. Secretary of Defense has said very clearly and this isn't this is an ongoing and very clear United States position, he said, we take all measures to defend our people and will always respond. bond at a time and place of our choosing. No group will strike our troops with impunity.

So it has been a very quick response. A measured response in the past, retaliatory strikes like this have caused casualty -- casualties and deaths among Iranian proxy groups in this particular case again intended to send that very clear message to put off any further attacks like this.

The U.S. has about 900 troops in Syria right now, and this isn't the first incident like this. There have been 78 drone and rocket attacks on U.S. service personnel and their bases inside Syria, since the beginning of 2021. That's about one strike every 10 days.

BRUNHUBER: Interesting. All right, thanks so much, Nick Robertson in London.

A growing number of U.S. lawmakers want to ban the popular social media app TikTok, not just on government devices, but for everybody. They grilled the company's CEO for more than five hours on Thursday, claiming the app is a Chinese government tool to spy on Americans. One congressman called it a cancer.

TikTok CEO defended his company's policies to protect user data, and send a major effort is underway to move the storage and supervision of that data to the U.S. areas.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SHOU ZI CHEW, TIKTOK CEO: ByteDance is not owned or controlled by the Chinese government. There are more than 100 and 50 million Americans who love our platform, and we know we have a responsibility to protect them

REP. CATHY MCMORRIS RODGERS (R-WA): To the American people watching today. Hear this, TikTok isn't a weapon by the Chinese Communist Party to spy on you manipulate what you see and exploit for future generations.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BRUNHUBER: Alright we're getting reaction from the Chinese government.

Let's go live now to Hong Kong and CNN's Anna Coren. So another response from Beijing after yesterday's hearing in Washington, what are they saying?

[03:04:57]

ANNA COREN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: A strong response, Kim, from the Chinese government even before tick tocks -- I beg your pardon? TikTok's CEO faced U.S. lawmakers over the fate of TikTok.

Hours before the hearing, China's Commerce Ministry spokesperson told the media that it would firmly oppose any for sale which is what the Biden administration has demanded.

If the social media app is to continue operating in the U.S. the Chinese government considers TikTok's algorithms and technology to be sensitive. and critical to its national interest. Let's have a listen now to the China's Commerce Ministry spokesperson.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SHU JUETING, CHINESE MINISTRY OF COMMERCE SPOKESPERSON (through translator): Ignoring the products and services themselves and only proceeding from the identity of foreign investors, forcing the sale of TikTok, will seriously damage the confidence of investors from all over the world, including China to invest in the United States.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COREN: TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew, repeatedly tried to allay national security concerns. It has a hundred and 50 million monthly users in the United States. He said TikTok was an independent company. It wasn't influenced by China, and in his testimony, Kim, he tried to distance himself and TikTok from China, being associated with China, stressing that he is in fact Singaporean who lives in Singapore with his wife, his two children, and that, of course, is the base for TikTok headquarters. Let's have a listen now to Chew, having this exchange with one of the lawmakers.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CHEW: Congresswoman, I have seen no evidence that the Chinese government has access to that data. They have never asked us, we have not provided

REP. ANNA ESHOO (D-CA): But you know what, I find that actually preposterous. (inaudible)

CHEW: I have looked and I have seen no evidence of this happening. and in order to assure everybody here and all our users, our commitment is the move that data into the United States to be stored on American soil by an American company overseen by American personnel.

(END VIDEO CLIP) COREN: The commitment that Chew was talking about is Project Texas, a

$1.5 billion plan to store American user data on domestic servers run by Texas-based software giant Oracle.

Now TikTok is likely to challenge any attempt to ban the app, Kim, when the Trump administration tried this in 2020, TikTok was ultimately successful in quashing that ban.

BRUNHUBER: Alright. Thanks so much, Anna Coren. Appreciate it.

Now for more on this, I want to bring in Eric Noonan, who's a cybersecurity expert and CEO of CyberSheath Services International, and joins me now from Reston, Virginia.

Thanks so much for being here with us. So you know, we heard there, the goal of TikTok CEO was to convince lawmakers not to ban the app completely. But after some what 5.5 hours of testimony, it seems that that kind of fell on deaf ears. So from your perspective, how did he do?

ERIC NOONAN, CEO, CYBERSHEATH: What can I think that the hearing was very much confirmatory of TikTok in the cyber security threat that it does represent. I mean, essentially the answers that I think that we heard confirmed that TikTok is, in fact, a global forward deployed intelligence network for the Chinese Communist Party, and I don't think it helped the case that prior to the hearing, the Chinese Communist Party said that they would oppose any sale. I think in many ways it confirmed all of the belief and I think real and present danger that TikTok actually does represent.

BRUNHUBER: So when, when TikTok's Chief Executive was asked directly about ByteDance employees accessing the data, uh and sexually essentially spying on U.S. journalists. I mean, no one seemed to be buying his answer. What did you make of his assurances? I mean, if you were a TikTok user there, would you be less worried now or more?

NOONAN: Well again, I think he confirms all the concerns we had. and it was, I think a little ironic, given the fact that ByteDance has already confirmed, actually, the fact that they did um, access journalists, data, location, data and track journalists and then attempt to determine leaks inside of the company.

So I think it confirmed the fact that TikTok can be and has been, has actually very recently been used as a platform to spy on Americans. so I think that that answer very much again confirmed in its invasiveness the fact that it is in fact and has been weaponized as a spying network.

BRUNHUBER: Well I mean, we heard just in that clip a moment ago, the CEO, saying there was no evidence that China was accessing Americans data especially, you know, in in terms of opposing a national security threat, and besides sort of what, we were just talking about there at the end of the day. Is he right in the sense that there doesn't seem to be much, you know, smoking gun evidence of a national security threat?

[03:10:01]

NOONAN: Well I think the evidence we have so far and it's very hard to get right when, when it's a company that we many believe is controlled by the Chinese Communist Party.

The evidence we have so far is the spying on U.S. based journalists, and then I think the great irony of the fact that we're having this debate here in the United States around the cyber security concerns with TikTok, and the fact that many of our social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter and others, are not actually allowed in China, so I think there's an amazing irony there, relative to how we perceive these threats and that we're here in the United States, warning and trying to do something to remediate these threats, but on the other side, they've actually just outright banned those very similar apps.

BRUNHUBER: Well, you just mentioned you know American social media apps Facebook, Twitter and so on. I mean, some of the testimony suggested that the TikTok is actually more transparent, insecure than, you know, the American companies like Facebook and Twitter and so on. Is that true? Is that accurate?

NOONAN: But I think -- I think, there's an interesting nuance there and that all of these social media platforms have cybersecurity and data privacy concerns inherently in them, um, the difference here the great differences that those companies Facebook, Twitter, others are not owned in this kind of golden chair arrangement by a any U.S. or any other nations come country who has the control ultimately in laws that would allow them to kind of directly control that data.

And the big difference here is that ByteDance, therefore TikTok, is ultimately, can be controlled through the laws of the Chinese Communist Party. And so that's the great difference there. So I think again that that argument also fell on deaf ears.

BRUNHUBER: Yeah and, you know, speaking of those ears, I mean, we saw a degree of bipartisanship we rarely see in congress. So what's your sense here reading the tea leaves, do you? Do you think we are a step closer to an outright ban?

NOONAN: I think we are, Kim. You know these things obviously moved very slowly here in a democratic country for sure.

We've seen bans, obviously at the federal level for government employee-owned devices. We've seen bans at the state level, so this is really a almost three years to the month story in the making relative to the implementation of a ban.

But I certainly think with the testimony yesterday and the bipartisan support as you rightly mentioned, we certainly seem to be moved much closer to a ban and addressing what is truly a cyber security threat.

BRUNHUBER: Yeah, it's a fascinating story that will continue to follow. Really appreciate your insights. Eric Noonan, thanks so much for joining us.

Alright, now to the unprecedented level of legal pressure surrounding the former U.S. President Donald Trump in the classified documents probe, a federal grand jury just hours away from hearing potentially significant testimony from Trump's Attorney Evan Cocoran.

A new order from a federal appeals court said Corcoran must provide more testimony and turn over documents about Trump and possible mishandling of classified documents. And the New York grand jury, expected to reconvene on Monday, after a week of intense speculation over whether Trump would be indicted and arrested for his alleged role in a scheme to pay hush money to the porn star Stormy Daniels, before the 2016 presidential election.

CNN's Paula Reid has more on what the New York grand jury has been hearing and what to expect in the coming days.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

PAULA REID, CNN SENIOR LEGAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: We've learned that the district attorney's office is in a holding pattern right now as they contemplate what their next move should be in this ongoing hush money payments investigation.

Now the grand jury did not meet to discuss Trump-related matters on Thursday, while they did convene it is not unusual for a grand jury to hear information about several different cases, and we know at this point on Monday, the grand jury will return and hear additional evidence in the Trump probe.

Then, they may even hear from an additional witness. They have to decide, we're told, whether they want to bring in a new witness to rebut testimony, for Monday, by attorney Robert Costello.

Costello's appearance was done at the request of Trump lawyers, and his role was to attack the credibility of his former client, Michael Cohen. Cohen is, of course, a key witness in this investigation. Now, I spoke with Costello, and asked him what happened in that grand jury room, that would force prosecutors to have to possibly bring back another witness to rebut his testimony.

He described his experience in the grand jury room as being at times contentious, he said before his appearance he had given prosecutors hundreds and hundreds of documents. But when he was testifying, he was only asked about six of them, he says.

And during his examination, he asked the prosecutor, why aren't you asking me about more of these documents? They went back and forth, and at one point, Costello even turned to the grand jury and said, look, guys. you need to get your hands on all of these documents, and he says five or six grand jurors nodded in agreement.

[03:15:05]

Now, Costello says he has not heard from the district attorney's office since his appearance on Monday. and when I asked whether there was any witness that could go in and rebut or refute things, he said -- he replied to me and said that is impossible, so we'll see what happens on Monday. Paula Reid, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BRUNHUBER: In the coming hours, President Biden will get the Red Carpet treatment in Ottawa before addressing Canada's Parliament. He's visiting with talks for talks with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. They're expected to discuss a range of security issues

We get more now from CNN's Paula Newton.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

PAULA NEWTON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It is not an exaggeration to say that Canada and the United States, two of the closest allies that you will find in the world, having said that President Joe Biden and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau do have policy disagreements they are going to try and iron out some of those over the next few hours.

Key here, though, is the United States wanting Canada to step up when it comes to defense spending. As the United States has made clear this is not the same geopolitical reality that it was before Russia invaded Ukraine, and they are looking to Canada to do its part.

Also top of mind, though, is China and what both countries call a more aggressive posture from that country. Chinese interference has been top of mine in Canada, and I want you to listen now to my interview with Justin Trudeau just hours before he met, with Joe Biden. Take a listen.

On China, we've seen balloons in the air over Canada. We've seen buoys in the arctic. um, what do you think? are the Chinese motives in those issues specifically and what do you hope to learn from the Chinese balloon now in U.S. hands?

JUSTIN TRUDEAU, CANADIAN PRIME MINISTER: Well, I think one of the things we have to remember is that China is the second largest economy in the world and continues to grow.

We're going to have to in some circumstances engage constructively with China, like we did around the conference on biodiversity that we caught with them in Montreal. There's issues around climate change that we should be working as a world together.

There's other places where we're going to have to be stiff competition to china in terms of market access in terms of investments in the global south, we need to be able to show that the western democracies are there to make those investments and there is competitive to China.

But there are also areas in which we're going to have to directly challenge China whether it's on human rights, whether it's on security behaviors, whether it's on cyber attacks or concerns like that we're going to have to continue to be wide eyed and clear about the threat that china poses and wants to pose to the stability of our democracies. NEWTON: Both the President and Prime Minister, though, do intend to

make news during this visit, and one of them has to do with the regular migration hot topic in the hemisphere. It seems that there is a deal for Canada to take in migrants legally from the United States to try and shoulder some of the burden of the great migration going on now in the southern hemisphere.

Canada has been having trouble with irregular migrants, those across it illegal border points coming into Canada and as those numbers spike, they wanted the United States to be able to close its side of the border, but in exchange Canada has now agreed to take in migrants directly from the United States.

Paula Newton, CNN, Ottawa

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BRUNHUBER: As protests continue, Israel's ultra far-right coalition government passes a new law, which makes removing a prime minister from office next to impossible, while the line report from Jerusalem when we return. Stay with us.

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BRUNHUBER: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is doubling down on his government's plans to overhaul the judiciary, despite weeks of protests. Crowds again expressed their anger against the planned reforms as the demonstrations have been going on for months now.

And amid the protests, Israel's far-right coalition government passed a new law that shields the prime minister from being removed from office. The bill says only the prime minister himself or supermajorities in both the cabinet and parliament can declare the leader unfit.

Critics predictably slammed the new law. Former Prime Minister and opposition leader Yair Lapid, said Netanyahu is quote, "Looking out only for himself."

As for the planned judicial overhaul that sparked the protests, here's what the Prime Minister had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BENJAMIN NETANYAHU, ISRAELI PRIME MINISTER (through translator): What challenge fix to advance with this possibility that democratic reform that will bring back balance between the branches, and I remind you we dealt with one issue only out of money that we have not yet discussed.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BRUNHUBER: Journalist Elliott Gotkine joins me now from Jerusalem. So Elliot, the anger on the streets isn't going away.

ELLIOT GOTKINE, JOURNALIST: It isn't, Kim, and there'll be more of it on the streets on Saturday evening, as there has been for the past three months or so, because yesterday afternoon there were reports in the Israeli media. They were awash with reports that the Defense Minister, an ally of Netanyahu, he's in Netanyahu's only could party that he was going to give a press statement, and called for a halt to this judicial overhaul.

Then came official word from the prime minister's office that Netanyahu himself would deliver a quote, "Important Announcement" at eight p.m., which was then delayed till 8:40 p.m. local time.

The defense minister's statement to the press was canceled. He was summoned to Prime Minister -- meet with Prime Minister Netanyahu, who then came out to speak to the press.

Now during that time, there was hope, there was a lot of suggestions that not only would gallon called for a halt to the judicial overhaul, but that Netanyahu's announcement later on would be to that effect that this was going to be some kind of pause or some kind of compromise.

[03:24:59]

And financial markets also seemed to have that expectation. The Israeli Shekel strengthened by more than 2 percent against the U.S. Dollar, which is a very big move.

But in the end all of those hopes, perhaps optimistic hopes, were dashed Netanyahu. He came out and he did say yes. in a nod to those protesters, that in his words, there won't be an unlimited override law reference to plans to prevent the high court in future from striking down laws passed by parliament.

But he's still planning to pass an override law. He's still planning to give the government powers to choose judges and this is something these are two of the main prongs if you like that the protesters are dead set against so effectively, What he came out and said is that judicial overhaul continues and as long as that process continues, Kim, there's protests on the street will continue as well. The prime minister, meanwhile, is in London.

BRUNHUBER: Alright. We'll keep watching as this story develops throughout the day, Elliott Gotkine, thanks so much appreciate it.

One day after the French president said he wanted to raise the country's retirement age by year's end, more than a million people turned out to protest. Civil unrest has been building since the start of the year when Macron announced plans to overhaul funding of state pensions. Most demonstrations on Thursday were peaceful, but there were a few violent clashes.

The Interior Minister says more than 120 officers were injured in confrontations with protesters, at least 80 people were arrested, and with sanitation workers on strike, the garbage as you can see, there is piling up.

CNN's Melissa Bell has the latest from Paris.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MELISSA BELL, CNN PARIS CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): More determined than ever, they set off. For a ninth official day of protest after a week of unplanned ones.

The scuffles almost nightly ever since the French government announced it would raise the retirement age from 62 to 64 without a parliamentary vote. The government narrowly surviving two no- confidence votes on Monday, but determined nonetheless.

EMMANUEL MACRON, FRENCH PRESIDENT (through translator): We will not tolerate any flare ups. We will make sure that life is as normal as possible in spite of those who are blocking normal life.

BELL (voice-over): The very next morning, normal life blocked from Paris' Charles de Gaulle airport to the country's oil refineries and depots. Weeks of strikes becoming painfully obvious at gas stations, and on the increasingly smelly streets of Paris.

The numbers on the streets on Thursday, also aimed at getting the government to buckle.

ADRIEN LIENARD, STUDENT UNION MEMBER: It's not likely French people are always protesting for a good social system. This is why we have a good social system.

BELL (voice-over): A battle of wills, neither side seems prepared to back down from.

Melissa Bell, CNN, Paris.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BRUNHUBER: Ukraine is indicating a major change in its strategy run by Bakhmut, and one general suggests the plane defense may not be the top priority any more . That story is straight ahead.

Plus, Prince William meets with Ukrainian refugees in Poland during the second day of a rare unannounced trip to the country.

Stay with us.

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[03:30:00]

KIM BRUNHUBER, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome back to all of you watching us here in the United States, Canada and around the world. I'm Kim Bruhuber. This is "CNN Newsroom."

Ukraine could go on the offense in Bakhmut as Russia's all out push on the city runs out of steam. (Inaudible) Ukrainian general says Russian forces in Bakhmut have taken heavy casualties in recent months. Ukraine warns Russia is still mounting hundreds of attacks every day across the eastern front line, including in Bakhmut.

Meanwhile, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy says Ukraine could win the war this year if there's enough support from Europe. He made the comments in an online address to the European Council after visiting the Kherson region on Thursday.

CNN has tried to check Moscow's claim that no Ukrainian children have been forcibly deported to Russia. President Vladimir Putin is facing an arrest warrant from the International Criminal Court based on allegations that it did happen.

David McKenzie went to an orphanage in Southern Ukraine to find out more.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DAVID MCKENZIE, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Approaching the southern front line in Kherson, in the liberated city, many have fled. It's deceptively quiet until the relentless terror, the often indiscriminate, almost daily Russian shelling. We've come to investigate a very deliberate horror of the Russian occupation.

(on camera): So, the children who stayed here were under 5 years old mostly. This orphanage had more than 40 children here.

(voice-over): Elena (ph) was a nurse here for 17 years, not a single child is left.

I feel emptiness, emptiness. Everything has just stopped, she says. The children had everything. They were so happy. The children were happy. Now, it's just silence and small reminders of them. Their names still on each locker. The Kherson Children's Home is now a crime scene.

[03:34:58]

They warned us to collect their clothes, says Elena. The Russians and collaborators called in the evening and said to prepare the children for the morning. The busses arrived at eight. The heartbreaking scenes captured for Russian propaganda, shared on a Russian Mps telegram channel. The bewildered children taken from their beloved nurses in October, transported to Russian occupied Crimea or Russia itself, say Ukrainian investigators.

But instead of hiding this alleged war crime, Russians advertised it. Children will be taken to safe conditions in Crimea, he says. I'll definitely go and visit. Investigators said it was part of a premeditated Russian mission to take Ukrainian children. They even targeted hospitals.

There was a lot of pressure by the Russians to take these children, weren't you afraid? It was scary. Very very scary. So much pressure says Ola Piliaska (ph). Twice a day they demanded we show them lists of the kids to take to Russia. So, Ola (ph) and her team came up with an extraordinary deception. The hid orphans in the ICU, and they forged medical assessments, saying healthy children were severely sick, even faked an emergency ventilation, she says. We understood that the Russians and collaborators would not forgive us, she says. We knew there would be serious retribution. We understood this, but they took the risks and managed to save children.

And a critical care nurse took it a step further. Tatiana (ph) says she fell in love with one of the orphan children. She worked desperately to keep the child off the list.

UNKNOWN: Hi.

MCKENZIE: How are you?

Now, she's adopting Kira (ph).

Hi. Nice to meet you?

We met them at home, a Ukrainian mom with her treasured Ukrainian child.

UNKNOWN: Kira (ph).

MCKENZIE: Kira (ph) is almost ready to walk. What does she mean to you? She means everything to me, says Tatiana (ph). I don't even know, to be honest, I can't imagine my life without Kira (ph).

This awful war has given her a precious gift.

David McKenzie, CNN, Kherson.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BRUNHUBER: Britain's Prince William thanked Poland for supporting the people of Ukraine during the second day of a rare unannounced trip to the country. He also met with Ukrainian refugees in Warsaw and paid tribute to fallen polish soldiers.

CNN's Max Foster reports.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MAX FOSTER, CNN HOST (voice-over): The Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in Warsaw commemorates heroes of past conflicts. Prince William came here to pay respects to them but also the current polish military and the way they supported Ukraine.

UNKNOWN: It's a strong message to us that we are -- have friends in Europe.

FOSTER (voice-over): Prince William just arrived here at the Presidential Palace to express to President Duda his gratitude for everything the Polish people have done to support the people of Ukraine on so many different levels. At a food market, he spoke to Polish well wishers.

OLGA MIERZEJEWSKA, POLISH RESIDENT: We really appreciated his support for our nation and the Ukrainian.

MARTA ZEGAREK, POLISH RESIDENT: We're just grateful that he see the polish people who are absolutely fantastic in helping and we are all in this together.

FOSTER (voice-over): Inside, he met Ukrainians who had settled here.

UNKNOWN: He was asking how we're keeping positive attitude. One day, you're feeling okay. One day, you just don't want to give -- to go out from your bed.

UNKNOWN: Prince William is a really famous person. It's just another way to show that Poland is doing a lot of different (inaudible) for us.

FOSTER(voice-over): The Prince of Wales stepping up to his elevated new title on the world stage, showing how he's going to use it.

PRINCE WILLIAM, PRINCE OF WALES: Very nice to see you.

FOSTER (voice-over): A global statesman protecting democratic values.

Max Foster, CNN, Warsaw, Poland.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BRUHUBER: North Korea says it's tested an underwater nuclear attack drone designed to unleash a, quote, "radioactive tsunami." State media claimed the drone was launched off the eastern coast of the country. Pyongyang says leader Kim Jong-un personally guided the test. But officials in Seoul say no underwater nuclear explosions in the area have been reported. According to South Korean media, this is the first time North Korea has said it's developed and tested underwater nuclear weapons.

One of the world's most wanted fugitives has been arrested in Montenegro. South Korean national, Do Kwon, is a crypto developer accused of defrauding investors and causing more than $40 billion in losses. He founded blockchain platform, Terraform Labs, and developed to cryptocurrencies, which shook world markets when they failed last year.

[03:40:06]

Kwon is wanted by multiple countries, including the U.S. Montenegrin officials say he was arrested at the airport with fake documents.

A Colorado dentist accused of poisoning his wife's protein shakes has been formally charged with her murder. We'll have more on that coming up after the break. Please stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) BRUNHUBER: A Colorado dentist accused of fatally poisoning his wife with arsenic has now been formally charged with her murder.

CNN's Kyung Lah has the details.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KYUNG LAH, CNN SENIOR U.S. NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Colorado dentist James Craig appeared for the first time in court, charged with the first degree murder of his wife, shackled, having traded in his dental scrubs for a jail uniform. Prosecutors say the Denver suburban area dentist murdered 43-year-old Angela Craig, his wife of more than 20 years, by making and feeding her poisoned protein shakes.

JAMES CRAIG, CHARGED WITH KILLING IS WIFE: My name is Dr. Jim Craig, and I practice that Summerbrook Dental Group.

LAH (voice-over): For nearly 20 years, Craig had been a licensed dentist. A joint Facebook page shows the couple sharing images of a happy family on vacation, the busy parents of six children. Investigators say beneath this veneer, Craig's dental practice had been in financial trouble, and the marriage was long troubled. An affidavit saying Craig had engaged in a new extramarital affair.

UNKNOWN: This makes me sick.

UNKNOWN: It seemed real.

UNKNOWN: Yeah.

UNKNOWN: It seemed like something that he could ever do to her.

LAH (voice-over): But police believe the murder was planned. Craig search history on his computer show phrases like how many grams of pure arsenic will kill a human and top five undetectable poisons that show no signs of foul play.

Police say on March 4th, a package with arsenic was delivered to the Craig's home. Two days later, Angela Craig was in the hospital with dizziness and difficulty focusing her eyes, symptoms consistent with arsenic poisoning, say investigators. Angela Craig texted her husband, I had my protein shake. I feel drugged. Her husband texted back, for the record, I didn't drug you.

Three times this month, Angela Craig checked into the hospital where doctors struggle to understand why she was so ill. On her final stay at the hospital, police say James Craig had ordered another poison from the computer at his dental practice, potassium cyanide. It was delivered to Summerbrook Dental, where a staff member opened the box and reported what she had found.

(on camera): This was Craig's first appearance. He has not yet entered a plea. He has been assigned a public defender. He is next scheduled to be in court next month.

Kyung Lah, CNN, Los Angeles.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BRUNHUBER: Now, to an auction for items from the home of convicted killer and former lawyer Alex Murdaugh, a large crowd gathered on Thursday for the chance to bid on possessions from the family's South Carolina home.

According to Liberty Auction House, the first item sold for an animal trap and collection of animal horns. Both went for more than $700. While many people were there to bid, others just wanted to peek at items linked to the notorious murder case. Murdaugh was convicted earlier this month of shooting and killing his wife and son.

All right. Still ahead, Tom Brady makes a new announcement about his future. No, he's not unretiring, but he is heading somewhere you may not expect.

Plus, who landed the Southwest Airlines plane after its captain became ill. One of the latest details when you come back. Please do stay with us.

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[03:50:00]

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BRUNHUBER: After retiring again from the NFL, Tom Brady has another big announcement that might catch some fans off guard. Here he is.

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TOM BRADY, SEVEN-TIME SUPER BOWL CHAMPION: I'm excited to announce I'm going to become part of the Las Vegas Aces Organization.

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BRUNHUBER: Now, the Las Vegas Aces are the reigning WNBA champions. The seven-time Super Bowl champ says he's always been a huge fan of women's sports, and that buying a partial stake in the Aces is, quote, "an incredible honor." The WNBA still needs to sign off on Brady's partial acquisition of the team. The Aces opens the season against the Seattle storm on May 20th.

The identity of an off-duty pilot who stepped in to help fly a passenger jet after its captain became ill remains a mystery. We are learning more about the high altitude emergency.

Here's CNN's Pete Muntean.

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PETE MUNTEAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The scene on board the Boeing 737 sounds like something out of a movie, an off duty pilot and the passenger cabin swooping into the flight deck after one of the original pilots fell ill.

UNKNOWN: The captain became incapacitated while en route. He's in the back of the aircraft right now with the flight attendant.

MUNTEAN (voice-over): Southwest Airlines says the incident started on Flight 6013 from Las Vegas to Columbus, Ohio. Flight tracking data shows 27 minutes into the flight at 37,000 feet, the flights started to turn back for Las Vegas. Southwest says that's when one of the pilots needed medical attention and the credentialed pilot from another airline, entered the flight deck and assisted with radio communication.

UNKNOWN: We need to get him on an ambulance immediately.

PETER GOELZ, FORMER NATIONAL TRANSPORTATION SAFETY BOARD DIRECTOR: The modern aircraft, a single pilot can fly it and handle communications. But it's a very heavy workload.

MUNTEAN (voice-over): Off-duty pilots being pressed into service has been the subject of fiction.

UNKNOWN: By the way, is there anyone on board who knows how to fly a plane?

MUNTEAN (voice-over): In fact --

UNKNOWN: What is the situation with the pilot?

UNKNOWN: He is incoherent. He is out.

MUNTEAN: Just last year, a passenger without piloting experience landed a charter flight from the Bahamas with help from air traffic controllers when the lone pilot became incapacitated.

In 1989, an off-duty United pilot volunteered to help wrestle United Flight 232 into Sioux City, Iowa, when a major mechanical issue was more than the crew could handle.

In this latest incident, the flight made a safe landing back in Las Vegas, but the helpful pilot's identity remains a mystery.

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GOELZ: That he was willing to step in and did a good job is really quite commendable.

MUNTEAN (on-camera): The nature of the Southwest pilot's medical issue is still not clear. Experts tell us having two pilots is best, even though it's 737 can be flown by one pilot. There is a push to get rid of the second pilot. It would be a cost cutting move by airlines. The largest union of pilots puts it like this, the choice is between saving money, or like in this case saving lives.

Pete Muntean, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDOETAPE) BRUNHUBER: I'm Kim Brunhuber. I'll be back in just a moment as "CNN Newsroom" continues. Please do stay with us.

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