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Tornado Outbreak Batters South And Midwest U.S.; Trump Expected To Surrender Tuesday And Face Arraignment; Trump Loyalists, Gop Lawmakers Attack Manhattan DA Alvin Bragg For Trump Indictment; Pope Francis To Participate In Palm Sunday Mass; Defamation Case Against FOX News Will Go To Trial; Funerals Scheduled For Nashville Shooting Victims; Bucha Marks Solemn Anniversary Of Russian Terror; Arrest Of American Journalist In Russia Has White House "Deeply Concerned". Aired 5-6a ET

Aired April 01, 2023 - 05:00   ET

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

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LAILA HARRAK, CNN ANCHOR AND CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Hello and welcome to our viewers joining us from the United States, Canada and all around the world. I'm Laila Harrak and you're watching CNN NEWSROOM.

Ahead this hour, dozens of suspected tornadoes leave a path of destruction across parts of the U.S. In moments, we will take you to the hardest hit areas and tell you where millions of people are still at risk of severe weather.

Plus we're learning more about the plans for Donald Trump to surrender to New York authorities and appear in court on Tuesday.

And we get a look at how Republicans are now reacting on Capitol Hill. Later, you'll hear a transgender runner exclusively tells CNN about how a single decision may have ended her dream of capturing Olympic glory.

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UNIDENTIFIED MALE (voice-over): Live from CNN Center, this is CNN NEWSROOM with Laila Harrak.

HARRAK: People in parts of the eastern U.S. are waking up to the threat of severe and dangerous weather. Tornado watches and warnings are in effect from parts of Mississippi up to Kentucky, with powerful winds and large hail in the forecast.

And a new tornado watch has just been issued for parts of Alabama and Georgia. This comes as we're starting to see more of the damage from a series of massive storms. Two people were killed when a storm hit the town of Sullivan, Indiana, southwest of Indianapolis.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) HARRAK (voice-over): And this dramatic video shows a massive tornado bearing down on Little Rock, Arkansas. Three people were killed in Arkansas, one of those in Little Rock. One man talked about what it was like when the storm hit.

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UNIDENTIFIED MALE (voice-over): Everything happened, like five seconds, it's like it came home. It was a lot of -- you hear a lot of commotion and stuff, then it was just over. I go outside and it's crazy. People got blood all over their face.

And this lady named Nancy, she works at or was -- I met her at the beauty salon and she had a pipe piercing through her leg. So I was trying to help her out and stuff and I hope she's OK.

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HARRAK: About 100 miles east of Little Rock, the small town of Wynne, Arkansas, was perhaps the hardest hit by the extreme weather. Powerful storms blew through the city, trapping people in their homes and causing massive damage.

At least two deaths have been reported in Wynne and the mayor says the town was, quote, "cut in half" by damage from east to west.

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HARRAK: Iowa had at least eight tornado reports. Twisters were spotted in at least three counties on Friday. Forecasters have put the area at a high risk for severe weather throughout the day.

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HARRAK: Meanwhile in Illinois, at least one person was killed and dozens of others injured when the roof of a theater collapsed Friday night in the storms. More than 200 people were inside the Apollo Theater in Belvidere for a heavy metal concert at the time.

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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Absolute chaos. When officers are first on the scene, when the fire department, first responders get here, they do the best they can to control the chaos as much as possible.

But ultimately we go in and ultimately try and find people, save as many people as we possibly can and bring them to safety as best as we can.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's just really hard to see people and hear people being hurt and ...

I just really hope that everyone is OK.

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HARRAK: A Manhattan courthouse is now ringed with tight security ahead of Donald Trump's arraignment on Tuesday. That's when we expect the lengthy indictment against him will be unsealed. As CNN's Paula Reid explains, this will not be a routine court appearance.

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PAULA REID, CNN SENIOR LEGAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: Former president Trump is expected to make his initial appearance at this courthouse right behind me on Tuesday. And over the course of the day, he will go through a variation of the standard procedure for any defendant in New York.

That includes having your fingerprints taken, a mug shot and an appearance before a judge. Tuesday is also the day we expect to learn the charges that have been filed against him in New York. Those remain under seal until your arraignment.

Now this is a really busy courthouse and there's an expectation that they will likely pause all the other hearings just to accommodate the former president's appearance. And if you're wondering how much of this you may be able to see, we've learned the cameras will be able to capture him entering the courtroom.

But there is an open question about whether there will be cameras inside the courtroom. That is up to the judge and this is a judge who historically has denied requests for cameras, even in high profile cases.

Now we have learned that, after this arraignment, the former president's attorneys intend to fight this indictment. They're going to file a motion to dismiss. They say they want to try to end this case before it ever gets to trial -- Paula Reid, CNN, New York.

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HARRAK: Well, Trump's court appearance will mark a watershed moment in U.S. history and no one can be sure what to expect. New York's mayor says there have been no credible threats to security. But law enforcement is keeping close tabs on possible protests.

One of Trump's attorney's thinks the entire process will go quickly.

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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think Tuesday is going to be relatively anticlimactic. Arraignments in a New York state court are pretty fast. I think the whole thing probably is going to take less than five minutes.

He's coming in voluntarily. He's under a Secret Service detail protection. So you know, handcuffing him for the protection of the officers is not really something that's necessary. So I wouldn't -- I would not expect that at all.

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HARRAK: Until the indictment against Donald Trump is unsealed, we won't know the exact nature of the criminal charges. We only know that they apparently relate to business records at the Trump Organization and may have covered up a hush money payment to adult film star Stormy Daniels.

Earlier I spoke with former federal prosecutor, Renato Mariotti, about how this case could impact other investigations into the former president. Here he is.

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RENATO MARIOTTI, FORMER FEDERAL PROSECUTOR: What we don't know is, for example, whether or not this is a campaign finance case or whether it's a tax case. We don't know whether there are, you know, racketeering type charges.

That you know, we don't know whether there's conspiracy charges, so I think there's a lot that's open and that will dictate what legal challenges will come next.

HARRAK: In terms of legal jeopardy, this isn't the only legal fight that Mr. Trump faces.

How could the outcome of this potential trial affect other legal proceedings that involve the former president?

MARIOTTI: Yes, it's a really good question. I think that's an important thing for everyone to keep in mind. Former president Trump is facing a number of different criminal investigations.

Up until recently, I think many people predicted that the Fulton County Georgia case would ultimately be the first case to result in an indictment. I think it's fair to say that a indictment appears to be highly probable in that case.

There's also a couple of very serious investigations by the United States Department of Justice, which are federal prosecutors, the entity that I used to work for a number of years.

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MARIOTTI: And so, all of those cases are going on at the same time.

And it makes life very difficult for Trump's attorneys. I have defended individuals who are facing criminal charges and criminal investigations in multiple jurisdictions. And it's sort of like three dimensional chess.

While the prosecutors get to focus like a laser, what would both, you know, best help them win that particular case, the defense attorneys, before they make any move in a case, have to consider how it impacts all of the cases at once.

And if you, for example, have testimony in that first case, it could potentially be used against the former president in the subsequent case. But conviction in an earlier case can be used against him in another case.

Contradictions in the positions that he takes to those cases are going to be used against him. So definitely a lot for his legal team to weigh. I think they are defending this -- this is legal defense on hard mode, so to speak.

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HARRAK: Meanwhile many Republicans are closing ranks and standing by the former president. Senator Lindsey Graham tweeted that Trump could avoid prosecution in New York by smashing windows, robbing some shops and punching a cop, suggesting that the district attorney ignores violent offenses.

Well, he then followed up with a tweet, claiming he was being ironic, saying only liberals wouldn't understand his remarks. CNN's Manu Raju picks up the story.

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MANU RAJU, CNN CHIEF CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: It didn't take long for House GOP leaders to rush to Donald Trump's defense.

REP. JAMES COMER (R-KY): I've said from day one, this is a political stunt.

RAJU: Attacking Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg over the unprecedented indictment of a former president and criminal charges.

REP. BRIAN MAST (R-FL): I have zero trust that this will play out fairly.

RAJU: Today, Bragg's office pushing back. In a scathing letter to three House GOP chairmen who have sought his testimony in internal records, accusing them of doing Trump's bidding and writing: As committee chairmen, you could use the stature of your office to denounce his attacks and urge respect for the fairness of our justice system and for the work of the impartial grand jury.

But House Speaker Kevin McCarthy says that Bragg will be held to account. Sources say. Trump is expected to be accused of falsifying business records to cover up 2016 payments to adult film actress Stormy Daniels to keep quiet allegations of an extramarital affair. But no one has seen the evidence prosecutors have uncovered.

REPORTER: Mr. President --

RAJU: Though that didn't stop one congressman to claim the prosecutor could have indicted the hand sandwiches he was handing out on Capitol Hill.

REP. BARRY MOORE (R-AL): So I know how to spot a pile of garbage. And this thing looks like a pile of garbage.

RAJU: Even without seeing the evidence, you're certain he's innocent.

MOORE: I'm not certain of anything, except this. This is the first time in the history of the country we've indicted president and the fact that, you know, he's just now announced and they rolled this thing out, it smells pretty fishy.

RAJU: House Republicans agree despite not seeing the charges.

Aren't you jumping to conclusions?

I mean, he might have broken the law.

Does that concern you?

REP. JIM JORDAN (R-OH): We don't think -- we don't think President Trump broke the law at all.

RAJU: But there has been silenced from Senate GOP leader Mitch McConnell and his number two John Thune, who told CNN earlier there were legitimate questions about Bragg, though he would not align himself with House GOP efforts.

Do you support House Republican efforts to call Alvin Bragg up here and get him to testify?

SEN. JOHN THUNE (R-SD): I'm not going to get into what the House is doing there.

RAJU: Now some members of Senator McConnell's leadership team did come out and criticize the prosecutor. Those two senators, senator John Cornyn of Texas as well as senator John Barrasso of Wyoming.

Cornyn, Barrasso, as well as senator John Thune, all seen as potential successors to Mitch McConnell down the line. Now there were other Republicans who sang a different tune, that one coming from senator Lisa Murkowski, one of the senators who actually voted to convict Donald Trump in his second impeachment trial.

She put out a statement saying that, even though everyone deserves a fair legal process, she warned against a rush to judgment and urged everybody look at all the facts and the evidence before forming an opinion -- Manu Raju, CNN, Capitol Hill.

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HARRAK: Pope Francis has been released from the hospital after being treated for a respiratory infection. We're live in Rome with the details.

Plus days after an American journalist was arrested in Russia, the U.S. president makes his first public comments on the matter. Hear his message to the Kremlin ahead.

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HARRAK: U.S. Senator John Fetterman has been discharged from Walter Reed Medical Center after being treated for depression.

The freshman Democrat from Pennsylvania tweeted a thumb's up, writing he is excited to be the father and husband he wants to be and the senator Pennsylvania deserves. He spoke about his struggle with depression to CBS News.

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SEN. JOHN FETTERMAN (D-PA): The whole thing about depression is that objectively you may have won but depression can absolutely convince you that you actually lost. And that's exactly what happened.

And that was the start of a downward spiral. I had stopped leaving my bed. I've stopped eating, dropping weight. I stopped engaging some of the most things that I love in my life.

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HARRAK: The senator says he wants everyone to know depression is treatable and treatment works.

Now less than an hour ago, Pope Francis was sent home from the hospital several days after he was admitted for bronchitis. And he stopped to speak with well wishers and journalists, including our Vatican correspondent, Delia Gallagher -- Delia.

All right, standing by in Rome.

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HARRAK: Tell us, what did the pope say?

DELIA GALLAGHER, CNN VATICAN CORRESPONDENT: Well, he stopped the car first of all and got out, which we weren't really expecting. And I asked him how he was feeling. And he said, "Still alive," which is typical Pope Francis.

He likes to joke. I also asked him if he was afraid when he had breathing difficulties and he told another story about a man who had some problems breathing and said to the Holy Father, well, you know, I didn't see death but I saw it coming and it's ugly.

So the pope gave some nice words about his stay in the hospital, which, as we've seen, he was able to baptize a baby. He went to the children's oncology unit, had pizza with some of the medical staff.

But as we were standing there, obviously it's right at the entrance of a major hospital here in Rome, people were coming up to him; a young boy with a cast on his hand. A couple who had lost their daughter last night in tears and the pope hugging them. So always moving moments with Pope Francis, especially if you consider

that he's just getting out of the hospital for bronchitis. And yet in such good spirits and talking and caring for other people, as we've seen is his way.

He is headed back to the Vatican and he also confirmed to us that he will be present tomorrow, as the Vatican had said, but that he will be speaking tomorrow. His voice was a bit low, a bit soft as you might expect from somebody getting over bronchitis but otherwise absolutely looked in good shape.

HARRAK: He definitely looked in good shape.

So does this mean the pope will participate in all Holy Week activities?

GALLAGHER: Well, we'll have to see we'll have to see it's a very busy time. Certainly that seems to be all indications that he will. I mean, there are events nearly every day, including next Friday outside in the evening at the Colosseum here in Rome for the Way of the Cross.

Saturday evening and Easter vigil; Sunday at Easter, mass. They are long and demanding events. Now if you consider that he is in a delicate moment with his health, having just gotten out of the hospital, probably his advisers and doctors would like him to dial back a bit.

But I don't think that's what he wants to do. Certainly, at least starting tomorrow, he's going to be present. And we'll be watching. This is what's happened now that he's had this hospital stay put the spotlight back on his health.

We already saw he had mobility issues with his knee. Now we'll be watching his voice and his breathing and hoping for the best for him, Laila.

HARRAK: Definitely hoping for the him. Delia Gallagher in Rome, thank you so much.

Now a judge in the state of Delaware has ruled that Dominion Voting Systems' historic defamation case against FOX News will go to trial after all. The high stakes legal battle is moving forward after the judge dismantled several of the right wing networks' key arguments.

FOX's top executives and most prominent hosts could be called to testify about the 2020 election lies that were promoted on the channel. Dominion is suing FOX for $1.6 billion in damages.

It says it is, quote, "gratified by the court's thorough ruling, soundly rejecting all of FOX's arguments and defenses and finding, as a matter of law, that their statements about Dominion are false."

Jury selection is set to begin in two weeks on April 13th.

A U.S. judge is hitting pause on a law that would ban many drag shows in Tennessee. He put the measure on hold for at least two weeks on Friday, a day before it would have gone into effect.

The reason: the judge said the state didn't show a compelling interest to regulate drag performances so strictly. The law would limit drag shows on public property, purportedly to protect children from overtly sexual performances.

But opponents who filed the lawsuit say the law violates First Amendment rights.

Parts of the U.S. could get hit by more severe and dangerous weather in the coming hours, just a day after a string of deadly storms barreled across the central and southern U.S. A look at some of the damage next on CNN NEWSROOM.

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HARRAK: Welcome back to our viewers in the United States and Canada. I'm Laila Harrak and you're watching CNN NEWSROOM.

Dangerous weather is heading toward parts of the eastern U.S. In the coming hours, forecasters say more than 70 million people from the Southeast to New England are at risk of more severe weather with strong thunderstorms likely and a few tornadoes possible.

Tornadoes are being blamed for three deaths in Arkansas on Friday, two of them in the small town of Wynne, where the mayor says the community was basically cut in half by damage from the storms.

There were at least a dozen tornado reports in Arkansas, including in the Little Rock area, where two young brothers talked about the scary moments when the storm hit.

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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I was in the living room. We were all doing something. And then we heard the wind. And then our dad, he immediately -- he immediately woke up from his nap and told us to go to the bathroom quick.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I know we came out the back way. We saw that our whole house we destroyed.

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HARRAK: Donald Trump is expected to voluntarily surrender to the Manhattan district attorney on Tuesday for arraignment on multiple criminal charges related to his business operations. Security is already tight in and around the courthouse. Media cameras

inside the building are expected to show the former president when he is escorted to the courtroom on Tuesday afternoon.

Well, the case revolves around a hush money payment to adult film star Stormy Daniels just before the 2016 election. While that itself was not illegal. But prosecutors are investigating whether the Trump Organization tried to cover it up with falsified business records, which is a crime.

Trump's legal team claims the prosecutor is only pursuing a political vendetta. Well, Trump and his allies have been quick to label Thursday's indictment is nothing more than a baseless political witch hunt by Democrats.

But as CNN senior legal analyst Elie Honig explains, an indictment is a serious matter and Trump has no control over what happens next. Take a listen.

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ELIE HONIG, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: Donald Trump is about to get a cold slap of reality here because, over the years, he has seen many people around him get indicted and, in some instances, actually sent to prison.

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HONIG: Allen Weisselberg, Michael Cohen, Paul Manafort, yet he's always seemed to sort of dodge between the raindrops. But this is the criminal justice process. This is different. There's no amount of politicking. It doesn't matter what the count is in the Senate between Republicans and Democrats.

It doesn't matter what people tweet, you cannot influence this process. It ultimately will come down to what happens in that courtroom; 12 jurors, one defendant, table of prosecutors.

And if they find him guilty, he's going to be a convicted felon and there's just no dodging it. So this is a real moment, I think, of reckoning for Donald Trump.

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HARRAK: Well, joining me now is CNN presidential historian Tim Naftali. He's also a former director of the Nixon Presidential Library.

Very good day, sir. Let's start with the most essential question. You were a historian by trade.

What is at stake?

TIM NAFTALI, CNN PRESIDENTIAL HISTORIAN: Mr. Trump is the first individual, first former president in American history, to have been indicted for something he did while he was not in office. In his case, it was something he did before he was elected.

There was a president in the 19th century, Ulysses S. Grant, who was mixed up in a controversy -- actually a fraud in New York City -- that occurred after he left office. He was not responsible for the fraud. There was no real legal jeopardy for him.

But it looked bad for him. Donald Trump is the first person about whom there's a probable cause of a crime committed before he was president.

And so what's being tested here is not whether the American people are capable of judging a president who has survived a political scandal in office; it's whether the American judicial system will treat someone, who has once been president, can treat them as any ordinary American after they've left office.

So that is the test and that's what's so interesting about what's going on now. An American president, once they've left office, should be as susceptible to an indictment, as should anybody else in the United States if a grand jury so chooses.

And we've seen that happen. At the moment, there are actually three grand juries that are looking at various aspects of president Trump's alleged corruption. New York is the first to have come to an agreement or a decision.

We have another grand jury that has been impaneled in the state of Georgia, which is looking in to president -- then president Trump's behavior during -- just after the 2020 election, where he tried to influence the count in Georgia.

And then there is a third grand jury that is seated in the District of Columbia. That's looking at apparently -- at perhaps charges against the former president for acts that he committed after he left office with regard to his presidential records.

So there are three different grand juries that are looking into him. The very fact that Americans feel free enough to render judgment on someone who was once the most powerful person in the world is a strength of the American system.

So it's something I think people ought to keep in mind. In the United States, it's very important, I believe, as a matter of good government, that the powerful know that they could be indicted and that presidents know that they might be held, that they will be held accountable for any criminal acts that they might have undertaken before they became president or after they were president.

So if you take the long view, this is a very important step for the American republic. And is an historic step.

HARRAK: How do you think we will look back at this?

I mean, we've had, you know, Watergate; we've had the Iran contra, Whitewater. Where does this fit in?

NAFTALI: Those scandals were presidential scandals. They occurred under the harsh light of the presidency and, therefore, it might have been very difficult to find impartial juries for Clinton and Nixon.

In Trump's case, while many people have talked about the Stormy Daniels scandal, there hasn't been the intense scrutiny of it. And indeed, if the government -- I'm talking about the City or State of New York -- if New York has a 30 count indictment, there will be details about those indictments that a jury won't know in advance.

And therefore an impartial jury is much easier to achieve in this instance than it would have been for Clinton and Nixon. And that's why this is a real test of what the Founders said and the Founders' expectation, that former presidents could indeed be tried for a criminal offense.

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NAFTALI: This is a test because I believe a fair trial is possible for Donald Trump in a way it might not have been possible for Richard Nixon, for example, in 1974.

HARRAK: Tim Naftali, thank you so much. Very insightful. Thank you.

NAFTALI: My pleasure.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HARRAK: For her part, Stormy Daniels is celebrating the indictment of Donald Trump, calling it monumental and a vindication. But she says it's also bittersweet, partially because, after the announcement, she began receiving threats against her well being. Here is what she told "The Times" newspaper in the U.K.

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STORMY DANIELS, ADULT FILM STAR: The first time it was like gold digger, slut, whore, you know, liar, whatever. And this time it's like, I'm going to murder you. Especially scary because Trump himself is inciting violence and encouraging it.

and getting away with it. And I don't I'm not afraid of him or the government but it just takes one crazy supporter who thinks they're doing, God's work or, you know, protecting democracy, a and it's I mean, I'm just looking at a couple of things that have come through in the last two hours and there way more violent and graphic.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARRAK: Ukraine remembers the victims of Russia's suspected atrocities in the town of Bucha. Still ahead, President Zelenskyy marks a somber anniversary and makes a prediction about the future of Russia's invasion.

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HARRAK: Funerals are scheduled for later today for some of the six victims in this week's mass shooting at a private Christian school in Nashville, Tennessee.

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HARRAK: A service will be held in the coming hours for 9 year old student Hallie Scruggs as well as a funeral for Cynthia Peak, a beloved substitute teacher at the school. On Friday, the community remembered 9 year old Evelyn Dieckhaus at a local church. Funeral services for the other victims will take place in the coming days.

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HARRAK: Ukraine has marked a somber anniversary in a town that became synonymous with suspected Russian atrocities. On Friday, President Zelenskyy led a ceremony in Bucha one year after its liberation.

Russian troops are accused of brutally killing hundreds of civilians there in what international investigators call possible crimes against humanity. Mr. Zelenskyy said at the ceremony Moscow is bound to lose in Ukraine.

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VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY, UKRAINIAN PRESIDENT (through translator): Russian evil will collapse right here in Ukraine and will never be able to rise again. Humanity will prevail.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARRAK: All right. David McKenzie joins us now, live from Kyiv with more.

David, tell us more about this anniversary.

DAVID MCKENZIE, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: It's an important moment here in Ukraine, the anniversary of the liberation of Bucha and areas surrounding it.

That's just a small, short drive northwest from where I'm standing. And the allegations are profound and deeply disturbing. Several hundred Ukrainians believe to being killed in that town center. And more than 1,000 killed in the Bucha greater area.

Multiple allegations of possible war crimes, crimes against humanity that the Ukrainian and international investigators are still piecing together to try eventually to prosecute those responsible.

You had that, as you called it, somber moment of the president there. And it's worth remembering, you know, a lot of attention is put on Bucha but there have been similar crimes alleged in towns and cities that are now occupied by Russian forces and very difficult to get independent information out of, like Mariupol and parts of the eastern front and even in cities like Kherson, which we were in a few days ago, where Russians are still shelling civilian areas.

So these alleged crimes continue and these investigations are going on in real time as this war continues.

HARRAK: Meant to ask you also on another subject. Ukraine received some much needed aid to help with its devastated economy.

What more can you tell us?

MCKENZIE: Well, this has been under discussion for some time by the International Monetary Fund. And while we focus, of course, on the civilian and military impact of this invasion, it has devastated in many ways the Ukrainian economy, which has contracted by at least a third.

Now this latest news from the IMF is they've agreed to extend more than $15 billion on top of the already more than $100 billion in multilateral loans and grants to this country. Now it's important to note this is in two pots.

And why that's important because there's a short term funding that will come to this government to prop up its balance of payments and the long term is to get this country more in line, possibly with the European Union.

And it is -- while it's not a political move, this move by the IMF, it can be seen in the political framing because part of this funding is to reform the country, its institutions, to limit corruption, all things that would be required to eventually join the European Union or become closer to the European Union, when and if this war does eventually wrap up.

So it is an important moment and certainly critical just to the functioning of this economy as the war drags on.

HARRAK: David McKenzie, reporting from the Ukrainian capital.

Thank you so much, David.

The U.S., meanwhile, says that sending Ukraine the so called Army tactical missile system is off the table at least for now. Kyiv has long requested the weapon, which has a range of 200 miles.

But the top U.S. general says Washington just doesn't have many of those missiles to spare.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GEN. MARK MILLEY, CHAIRMAN, U.S. JOINT CHIEFS: It was a policy decision to date, not too so far. And I would never predict anything on the table or off the table for the future. But from a military standpoint, we have relatively few ATACMS. We do have to make sure that we maintain our own munitions inventories as well.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARRAK: Milley says that the U.S. is looking into other options to give the Ukrainian military a longer reach on the battlefield.

[05:45:00]

HARRAK: And that could include aerial drones or British made weapons systems.

The U.S. President Joe Biden is speaking publicly about the arrest of an American journalist in Russia. The president on Friday demanded the release of Evan Gershkovich, who's being detained on suspicion of espionage, a claim that the U.S. denies. Well here's what Mr. Biden said about the matter.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

QUESTION: (INAUDIBLE) right now, as they're detaining the --

JOE BIDEN (D), PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Who?

QUESTION: -- Russia as they're detaining "The Wall Street Journal" reporter.

BIDEN: Let him go.

QUESTION: (INAUDIBLE) Russian diplomats or journalists?

BIDEN: That's not the plan right now.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARRAK: While the U.S. says it's trying to secure consular access to the journalist but so far no one from its embassy has been able to meet with him.

Well, Gershkovich's employer, "The Wall Street Journal," says it's doing everything in its power to secure his release. Earlier, the newspaper's editor in chief, Emma Tucker, spoke with CNN about the jailed reporter and his crucial work in Russia.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

EMMA TUCKER, EDITOR-IN-CHIEF, "THE WALL STREET JOURNAL": Evan was doing what reporters do and what he did very well. He was out there, gathering news, talking to people, reporting, providing an eyewitness account of what's going on inside Russia.

He felt very strongly that it was important to keep telling people; it's difficult to report from Russia these days but he was very committed to telling that story. And he was going about his job. He was -- it's completely -- complete nonsense what this spokesman is saying. The best of our knowledge, we know where he is. He's in a prison in

Moscow, a very notorious prison, one that had -- has always had a -- since the Soviet times has had a very bad reputation and still has.

But we haven't been able to reach him. We haven't been able to get any messages to him and we certainly haven't heard anything from him.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARRAK: Still ahead, the women's college basketball championship is now set after historic Final Four. And the two remaining teams are both vying for their first ever title. Details when we return.

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HARRAK: And that wraps up this hour of CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Laila Harrak. For our viewers in North America, "CNN THIS MORNING" is next. For the rest of the world, it's "HIDDEN TREASURES: CHINA."