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Prominent Russian Military Blogger Killed In St. Petersburg Blast; 29 Killed, Dozens Injured By Tornadoes And Storms Across U.S.; Trump To Be Arraigned After Surrendering To Authorities Tuesday In New York; Francis Presides Palm Sunday Mass After Hospital Stay; Funeral Service Underway For Nine-Year-Old Victim Will Kinney; Interview With Rep. James Clyburn (D-SC). Aired 4-5p ET

Aired April 02, 2023 - 16:00   ET

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

[16:00:56]

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

And we start with dramatic video from St. Petersburg, Russia, showing an explosion at a cafe that reportedly killed a prominent Russian military blogger. Officials say at least 25 others were injured, six of them in critical condition. And you can see the blast causing part of the outside of that building to collapse.

CNN's Matthew Chance is in Russia.

Matthew what more can you tell us about this blogger and the circumstances of his death now?

MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Vladlen Tatarsky is his name and he's one of Russia's most prominent military bloggers, which means he's pro-war. He's got more than half a million followers on his Telegram channel, and he is notoriously outspoken, shall we say, about the need for Russia to do even more in Ukraine, to go in harder?

He was swept to notoriety after he appeared in one of his blogs from the corridors of the Kremlin after attending a ceremony there, saying that we will defeat them, talking about Ukraine. We will kill them. We will rob them. We will get whatever we want. He's also gone on record as saying that he believes or describing Ukrainians as mentally ill Russians.

So this is the kind of figure we're talking about, somebody who is at that sort of extreme end of the calls inside Russia for even greater military action. He was the guest speaker at this weekly speaking club being held in in St. Petersburg at this cafe near the center of the city. Supporters were there hearing what he had to say. He was given a figurine, a small statuette of I think it was of himself because he joked about it, you know, as he took it out of the box.

And sometime after that there was an explosion. Eyewitnesses have indicated that the explosion took place shortly after he held the figurine in his hands. Russian state media have quoted their sources in the Ukraine in the Russian Interior Ministry, sorry to Russian state media, quoting their sources in the Russian Interior Ministry, saying that it's possible that the explosive device was hidden inside that figurine. And so it looks more and more like a targeted killing by somebody who was opposed to him.

No one yet has officially pointed the finger of blame at the Ukrainians. But that's the implication because the Russian Foreign Ministry has come out and said this is an attack on a Russian journalist. There have been other people, Russian lawmakers as well, saying things like this explosion shows there's no one in Kyiv who Russia could possibly negotiate with to end the conflict in that country as well.

The death toll at the moment just one person, about 19 people we understand our hospitalized, some of them in very serious condition. So we're keeping, Fredricka, a very close eye on those figures.

WHITFIELD: And, Matthew, do we know anything about who was in closest proximity to him? You know, how long after he was handed that figurine that it exploded?

CHANCE: Yes, I mean, a lot of eyewitnesses are talking about a woman who is a supporter of his, apparently who gave him this sort of gift of this small figurine, and then she sort of left, you know, him after she'd given it to him. I mean, it's all sort of circumstantial stuff and obviously we're expecting to get some more clarity from the Russian authorities, the Russian investigators who have been sent to the scene.

But certainly that's what some of the eyewitnesses have indicated when they've been speaking to Russian state media saying that, you know, her giving this figurine to Tatarsky and then the explosion happening may have been linked. But that's still to be, as I say, confirmed by the investigators.

But there are certainly parallels being drawn with the other attack on a Russian pro-military activist, which is taking place in this country. A car bomb in August where someone called Darya Dugina was killed in that car bomb attack.

[16:05:06]

And she was very outspoken critic -- rather very outspoken advocate for the war in Ukraine as well.

WHITFIELD: All right, Matthew Chance, still the beginning stages of this investigation. Appreciate it.

All right. We're also watching the death toll rise after violent storms tore across this country on Friday. At least 29 people were killed in seven states with dozens more injured. At least 35 confirmed tornadoes carved a destructive path through the Midwest and south. And today, President Biden issued a major disaster declaration for hard- hit Arkansas where there were multiple reports of tornadoes touching down. Just take a look at these before and after satellite images of Little

Rock. A confirmed EF-3 tornado blasted the city with devastating 165- mile-per-hour winds, flattening neighborhoods.

CNN meteorologist Derek Van Dam is in storm-battered Wynne, Arkansas.

Derek, Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders just toured the area. What did she see?

DEREK VAN DAM, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Yes, that's right, Fredricka. She literally just arrived on the scene here in Wynne, Arkansas, where she was flanked by so many federal personnel and volunteers from FEMA administrators to a National Weather Service representative.

I leaned into the conversation. Remember, it's very chaotic when all these people arrive, accounting in all the security personnel surrounding her, but I had an opportunity to listen to her and she -- the meteorologist actually told her that at their earliest estimate that this was an EF-3 tornado here in Wynne, Arkansas, and that is at its base. Right? So we're talking 136 to 165 miles per hour.

So I took it upon myself to ask Sarah -- Governor Sanders about this particular moment with this meteorologist. I said, you know, what is it like? What were the meteorologists from the National Weather Service adequate and giving warning time for the residents here in Arkansas, and I want you to take a listen to what she told me.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

VAN DAM: So it sounds just from your press briefing that you did -- you believe that the meteorologist gave adequate warning time for this particular tornado. Do you feel like that saved lives? And can you elaborate on that?

GOV. SARAH HUCKABEE SANDERS (R), ARKANSAS: Absolutely. There's no doubt that the warnings that came from meteorologist certainly save lives. You know, one of the things that I found pretty unbelievable as the folks on the ground in Little Rock certainly as the storms were moving through there, they were literally watching their own neighborhoods as they were reporting and warning people knowing that their families were right in harm's way.

They stayed on TV, they continued to warn people, they continued to give people notice, and did that as best they could throughout the day on Friday. And we're thankful for their willingness to keep stay on the air, even though when it was really difficult for them personally as well.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAN DAM: As a meteorologist who covers natural disasters regularly for CNN, this is some of the most devastating catastrophic damage that I have personally witnessed.

I want you to see one of the neighborhoods which is directly behind me. We're going to roll some footage to show you what we shot earlier this morning because we're getting this broader perspective, this scope of the magnitude of destruction here in Wynne, Arkansas, and I had an opportunity to speak to a residence that rode out this tornado and you've got to hear what she told me. Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: When all this went on my family couldn't get in contact with me. The cell towers were down. Everybody was scared. My sister thought I was dead. What I was saying, everybody, I'm alive, man. Thank God.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAN DAM: And we are indeed so thankful that Jesse Wilson is alive, but unfortunately her neighbor deceased during the storm, and she also told us that harrowing story as well.

We will continue to bring you those updates throughout the evening and into the day tomorrow, but traumatic scenes here in Wynne, Arkansas -- Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: All right. Derek Van Dam there in Wynne, Arkansas, hard hit Wynne.

All right. Tomorrow, former President Trump will fly to New York where he is expected to appear in a Manhattan courthouse on Tuesday and be the first former president criminally charged. His advisers and allies are already looking ahead to a potential trial and raising questions about whether Trump can get a fair hearing.

Today one of Trump's attorneys told CNN they will fight every charge and suggested they were likely file a motion to dismiss.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOSEPH TACOPINA, TRUMP ATTORNEY: We will take the indictment. We will dissect it. The team will look at every, every potential issue that we will be able to challenge and we will challenge and of course I very much anticipate a motion to dismiss coming because there's no law that fits this.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[16:10:03]

WHITFIELD: We have team coverage of this historic indictment. CNN's Polo Sandoval is in New York where security preps are underway for Trump's court appearance, and CNN's Kristen Holmes is in West Palm Beach, Florida, near Trump's Mar-a-Lago home.

So, Kristen, you first. What more can you tell us about Trump's legal team and the former president's preparations?

KRISTEN HOLMES, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Fred, you listened to former President Trump's lawyer there, you can tell that a lot of what they are going to do on this legal work is going to revolve around what they see in that indictment. But one thing we have to keep in mind here is that they do not know what these charges are, and we have talked to sources close to the legal team who say they are not making any decisions until they actually see those charges which they are expected to do on Tuesday when the former president is arraigned.

But we are already hearing from Trump's advisers and allies and the former president himself talking about how this could be an unfair trial if this does actually go to trial. We saw the former president on his Truth Social page posting about the judge who he is expected to appear in front of on Tuesday, saying that it was unfair that that judge, quote, "hated him."

And I talked to a number of allies and advisers who say that they're worried about a potential trial that it could be unfair, given the demographic political makeup of Manhattan, saying that it is mostly Democrats. How could that be fair to former President Donald Trump?

But again, all of this is based on that indictment, and they have not seen that and will not see that until Tuesday. We did hear from Joe Tacopina talking to our Dana Bash about what some of the options were when they finally actually see that indictment.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DANA BASH, CNN ANCHOR, STATE OF THE UNION: The former president said that the judge hates him and was handpicked by the D.A. for this case for that reason. Are you going to ask for a different judge?

TACOPINA: We are going to take the indictment, evaluate all our legal options and pursue everyone most vigorously. This is a case of political persecution. I have no reason to believe the judge is biased. I've not been before him on this matter. So we have to let this process play out.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOLMES: And when he's talking about the process playing out, obviously there, as a lawyer, he is referring to the legal process, but there is a whole other section of Trump's world that is working overtime right now, and that is the political part of Trump's orbit. We know that the former president is expected to give remarks after his arraignment at Mar-a-Lago as we had heard Secret Service as well as Trump's team wanted to get him out of New York as quickly as possible.

When he lands at his Florida home, he'll deliver remarks primetime address and this is where we're really going to see that political side taking place. This is Trump's opportunity to spin his own narrative to take it over. And as we have seen, he has already called it a political witch hunt, a hoax. But the interesting thing about this will be it will be the first time we actually hear from him since we know what those charges are.

WHITFIELD: All right. Kristen Holmes, thanks so much.

Let's go now to Manhattan. Polo Sandoval is outside the courthouse.

So tell us about the kind of preparations underway there.

POLO SANDOVAL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Fred, here in downtown Manhattan the police presence certainly has not been visually overwhelming. But it has certainly been constant. When you look just down the streets, you might be able to see some of the flashing lights. We really have seen NYPD focusing here for the last several days preparing for this day as we expect that the highly anticipated arraignment to take place in the building that you see behind me. This is 100 Center Street. This is where you will likely see everything go down on Tuesday.

It's important to remind viewers why we've seen this sort of boosting up of resources. There is the obvious that the defendant in this case is the former president of the United States so that certainly comes with Secret Service security concerns, but also the intelligence officials have been monitoring online chatter, online posts to make sure that any potential protests would not potentially lead to violence.

So we should remind viewers that New York City officials maintain that they have not seen any sort of credible threat online. But that doesn't necessarily mean that they'll scale back on their presence. And finally, one of the other presence that we certainly have seen increase, well, the press. We've seen journalists from all over the world, Fred, that have descended here in Midtown Manhattan. This is a presence that's only going to grow larger in the coming day or so.

And I show you this because it really speaks to just the attention that will be focused on the building to my left come Tuesday -- Fred.

WHITFIELD: Indeed. All right, Polo Sandoval in Manhattan. Kristen Holmes in Florida. Thank you so much.

All right. He's been out of the hospital for only one day now, and Pope Francis is already back to work. How he's marking Palm Sunday, next. And Secretary of State Antony Blinken calls his Russian counterpart to demand the release of American journalist Evan Gershkovich. Details on that conversation, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[16:18:53]

WHITFIELD: Russia's Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov says the fate of a detained "Wall Street Journal" reporter is to be determined by Russian courts. Lavrov conveyed the message during a phone call with U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken according to the Kremlin release. The U.S. State Department said Blinken raised his grave concerns over the arrest during the conversation. Evan Gershkovich was detained last week on charges of espionage. The last time the Kremlin held a U.S. journalist on spy charges was during the Cold War.

Pope Francis today presiding over Palm Sunday mass at the Vatican. And it comes just a day after he was released from the hospital after suffering from a bout of bronchitis. The Pope thanked all of those who prayed for him during his illness. The 86-year-old pontiff sat for most of the ceremony, but he did deliver a prayer as he begins this week's events leading to Easter.

CNN's Delia Gallagher is in Rome.

DELIA GALLAGHER, CNN VATICAN CORRESPONDENT: Fred, Pope Francis looking definitely in good spirits today, even if a bit tired and his voice a bit softer than usual, but only to be expected, having just been released from the hospital yesterday for bronchitis.

[16:20:07]

I think the main point is that he was there. I don't think anybody on Wednesday would have said that he would be in St. Peter's Square today for Palm Sunday mass. He went around in his Pope mobile after mass through the crowds. The Vatican said some 60,000 people were present all the way down the Via della Conciliazione, the street leading up to St. Peter's Basilica, waving, giving a thumbs up to the crowd.

It's a scene we've seen many times before, of course, but somehow today took on kind of a new meaning because of all he's been through in the past few days.

Of course, this is only the start of what is a very busy week for Pope Francis at the Vatican on Thursday. He will be in a juvenile jail here in Rome for the traditional Holy Thursday washing of the feet. We don't know if he'll actually be doing that because of course he has a knee problem. But then on Friday, he will be in front of the coliseum here in Rome for the Way of the Cross, and that's sort of an evening ceremony.

And then on Saturday for the Easter vigil, and then on Sunday, of course for Easter mass in St. Peter's Square. So a very busy week coming up for Pope Francis -- Fred.

WHITFIELD: Indeed. All right. Delia Gallagher in Rome. Thank you so much.

All right, in this country, more victims from the horrific school shooting in Nashville, Tennessee, are being laid to rest today. What we're learning about 9-year-old Will Kinney and how his life is being honored.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[16:25:58]

WHITFIELD: A Nashville, Tennessee, community is in mourning today as another young victim is laid to rest following a deadly school massacre. Monday's mass shooting at Covenant School killed three 9- year-old children and three adults. Funerals for the victims have been ongoing this weekend and the service for 9-year-old Will Kinney is now underway.

CNN's Dianne Gallagher is in Nashville today.

So, Dianne, give us a sense of how the community is doing. DIANNA GALLAGHER, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, the national

community continues to come out to the Covenant School to show its support in the wake of this tragedy, laying down flowers, balloons, most poignantly stuffed animals. There are so many stuffed animals just really driving home how young half of these victims are. One of the three 9-year-old who was killed, Will Kinney, his funeral services happening right now here in Nashville. It's a private service, but family and friends described him as a child with an unflappable spirits, saying he was unfailingly kind, quick to laugh and always inclusive of others.

Now we do know that Covenant Presbyterian Church held a worship service for its congregation. It's church family this morning, but not at its home church. They held a different private location this morning. It was closed off to media so that church family could be together.

Now tomorrow morning, March for Our Lives, the organization that was started by survivors of the Marjory Stoneman Douglas school shooting in Parkland, Florida, back in 2018, they are asking students to walk out of their classes at 10:13 a.m. That's when the first 911 call came in here at the Covenant School, and to walk to the state capital, Fred, so they can demand gun safety.

WHITFIELD: Dianne Gallagher, thank you so much.

All right. In the wake of last week's deadly school shooting in Nashville that killed three 9-year-olds and three staff members, a top House Democrat is reintroducing enhanced background check legislation aimed at closing a gun buying loophole.

South Carolina Congressman James Clyburn wants to end the so-called Charleston loophole that allows the sale of a firearm to proceed if the FBI does not complete its background check process within three business days. This new measure would give the FBI 10 days to complete the background check.

Democratic Congressman James Clyburn is the lawmaker who co-sponsored this new legislation that's being reintroduced, and he's joining me right now.

So good to see you. Did the Nashville shooting inspire this -- introducing of this legislation again?

REP. JAMES CLYBURN (D-SC): But first of all, thank you very much for having me. Yes, it did. The intricate introduction of it. We've passed this bill twice in the House as you know. It all started with the murder of those nine poor souls down in Charleston while in bible study. We looked into an investigation of it. We found out that this was a very hateful young man who said he wanted to start a race war. He did research to find out the most historical church that he could find to get this all started and they came with Emanuel. The church is in my district and of those nine people I knew, some of them personally. All of them professionally.

And so we introduced the bill and the bill passed in the House twice. But we couldn't get it through the Senate. And after this shooting of these nine children we introduced it again because something kind of felt different about that one. Even after all of the hate up in Buffalo, New York. There was something different about these children in that church school that just bothered me. [16:30:02]

So it's been reintroduced? I hope that we get some done with it.

WHITFIELD: I mean, most people, you know, after Sandy Hook Elementary in Connecticut after, Mother Emanuel AME Church shooting in Charleston and thought, there was this collective mission to stop these mass shootings.

But it seems that wedge, you know, between Americans is even more entrenched, and perhaps even wider than ever. So what in your view do you think is stopping people, you know, starting with on Capitol Hill from coming together on a solution?

CLYBURN: Well, the gun lobby is a very powerful lobby in our society. And it's not about keeping people safe. It's all about the economics of it. There are quite a few people who will make in a very good living off of gun sales. And they will do anything to keep gun sales off, including stoking fear throughout our society.

And so you make this big issue over the Second Amendment. This is not about the Second Amendment. The Second Amendment has no more efficacy than the First Amendment. And we always say that the First Amendment has limitations on it.

So why should the Second Amendment not have any limitations on it? And so this is more about a few people, very powerful people who make a lot of money of gun sales. And the more you can stoke fears, the more you can really, let's just say, have effective lobbying of the Congress, the better off you are.

WHITFIELD: Congressman, let me shift gears if I might, and let's talk about this Trump indictment, you know, to be arraigned on Tuesday. The former president making his way from Mar-a-Lago, you know, Florida, West Palm Beach, Florida to New York tomorrow.

And, you know, America is already showing that they see this indictment very differently. Through this legal process, is it your hope that a sort of transparency through the legal process, will allow America to be less polarized on how they see these legal cases and the former president?

CLYBURN: Well, just let me say this, I've been doing a lot of research recently, as you know, I'm a great lover of history. I spent a lot of time studying America -- American history. And in recent weeks, I had been looking at that period of history, just after Reconstruction. I always thought construction that haven't ended in 1876.

And if you look at what happened between 1877 in Plessy versus Ferguson, you can see the same kinds of things that happened back then happening today.

In fact, I'm convinced those people who research for this president to get him off on what he was attempting to do on January 6, I'm convinced that they took it from the Tilden-Hayes compromise of 1876, the identical thing took place, when you had three specific state, Senate up, two sets of electors, and the fight that took place in the Congress as a result of it, almost identical to what was being attempted here.

And so these indictments that come because of activities prior to the election, I think that what happened after the failure to get reelected is what is precipitating much of what is taking place today. And so I'm convinced that this process that's taking place is transparent.

I am convinced that the law will prevail as it did back in 1876. And I'm convinced that the people of America will come out of this experience a stronger nation than we were when we went into it. It may not seem that way now, but just imagine what was going on back in 1876 for that 20-year period before Plessy versus Fergusson and how we came out of all of that. I think we'll come out the same way this time a much better country and a much better electorate.

[16:35:01]

WHITFIELD: All right. A hopeful outlook. Congressman James Clyburn, appreciate your time. Glad you could be with us this weekend.

CLYBURN: Thank you very much for having me.

WHITFIELD: And this quick programming note tonight, at a new time, Eva Longoria's culinary adventure continues in the Yucatan Peninsula of Mexico. Here's a preview.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: So here we have clove, we have old spice, we have black pepper, we have cinnamon, a little bit of cumin. This is like very important part marinading, so all the spices and flavor can penetrate into the skin.

EVA LONGORIA, AMERICAN ACTRESS: The marinated pig is in tuned in a steel box before being put in the oven, which is literally a freshly dug hole in the ground.

What do you call the oven? What is -- PIB?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: PIB. That's why it's called cochinita pibil. Pibil is like pib-style.

LONGORIA: Pib-style.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It starts with wood. And then we put these rocks on top and -- well, you score it with the branches. Now we're going to start burying it.

LONGORIA: It is basically a crock pot in the ground.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, kind of. Yes, you can say any better. (END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: Yummy. OK. Tune in tonight for the new episode at 9:00 Eastern and Pacific right here on CNN. We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[16:40:25]

WHITFIELD: All right. After a dramatic final four round last night, the NCAA Men's Basketball Championship game is set. Number five, San Diego State, stunned number nine, Florida Atlantic, in the very last second right there to win, 72 to 71, and advanced to their first title game.

CNN's sports anchor, Coy Wire, is in Houston with more highlights from Saturday's games. Oh, that was just way too much excitement. My heart is palpitating, still.

COY WIRE, CNN SPORTS ANCHOR: I mean, way too much. I can't really sleep this time of year. We'll sleep sometime next month.

WHITFIELD: Who cares about sleep right now?

WIRE: San Diego State head coach, Brian Dutcher, just before the pandemic, Fredricka, he led his team to a 30 and 2 record. They would have been a one or two seed in the tournament, but they never got that opportunity to play because COVID shut down the sports world and beyond. As we know now, he's back and the Aztecs will play for their first ever national title, as you mentioned, and what a way to get there.

We have to show that final shot again. Florida Atlantic was leading by one with just seconds to go, they missed the shot, and instead of calling timeout, Coach Dutcher let his players play, and Lamont Butler became an instant legend, the buzzer beater, securing the 72-71 win. It was an iconic moment in March Madness history last night. And I talked with coach just moments ago and asked what it was like being on that floor for that moment.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BRIAN DUTCHER, SAN DIEGO STATE HEAD COACH: They look more nervous than I do right now. And they're celebrating more than I did, because I didn't know how much time was going to be put back on the clock. What a moment.

WIRE: What a moment. Look at those faces. Coach, what was it like being on the court during that iconic moment?

DUTCHER: It's funny because when you're the coach, it goes in, but my mind instantly shifts, are they going to put a 10th of a second back on, two tenths of a second? And you sit there and everyone else is celebrating but you're in coach mode and all of a sudden they say, game over, basket good, and you're like a minute late to the celebration, but I love watching my kids enjoy that moment. (END VIDEO CLIP)

WIRE: Now, San Diego State, Fredricka, they're going to face UConn, the Huskies, for a chance to that one shining moment. UConn receiving the hero's welcome returning to their hotel last night after dominating Miami, 72 to 59. It's their first championship game since 2014.

And I talked with their outstanding leader, Coach Dan Hurley, just moments ago about what all this groundswell of support he and his Huskies have received means to him.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DAN HURLEY, UCONN HEAD COACH: They love their Huskies. An incredible community in stores. And, you know, the way that those kids have embraced, the players have embraced me, it makes me emotional. If you've ever been to a home game at Gampel, the way that they react when the players come out in the court and when I step out, come through that tunnel it's like a special greeting and I love those kids.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WIRE: I don't know if you could see it, Fredericka, but coach was holding back tears. That's how much --

WHITFIELD: Oh, I see it.

WIRE: -- this means to him and imagine how much it means to these young -- these young man playing. Just -- it's been an incredible Final Four. It's been called one of the wildest ever with the two teams who have made it and it is living up to all of the hype March Madness has spilled over to April amazingness.

WHITFIELD: Amazing April. March Madness, amazing April. I love that. You know, I'm sorry. I am in love with these coaches, the coaches of University of Miami, UConn there, and I mean which other one that we saw? San Diego. I just love the relationship that they are clearly exuding, how much they love and connect with these players.

I mean it is true family stuff that we're seeing and thanks for bringing that because you brought us that, you know, just the window of what it is to be in their world during March Madness. And now amazing April.

Coy Wire.

WIRE: (inaudible) Fredricka. Thank you.

WHITFIELD: They're yelling at me. Got to go. Love it. Have fun in Houston.

All right. Straight ahead, an unbelievable journey. Meet the man who hiked every single day for three years and shed 200 pounds in the process. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[16:45:10]

WHITFIELD: Welcome back. Senator John Fetterman is opening up about his struggle with depression. The Pennsylvania Democrat was released last week from Walter Reed Medical Center where he underwent weeks of treatment.

And in an interview with CBS News, he says he never attempted to harm himself, but that he felt indifferent about his life.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. JOHN FETTERMAN (D-PA): You know, you just won the biggest, you know, race in the country. And the whole thing about depression is that, objectively, you may have won, but depression can actually convince you that you actually lost, and that's exactly what happened. And that was the start of a -- of a down -- 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.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[16:50:04]

WHITFIELD: Wow. Powerful and very honest there. Fetterman is expected to return to the Senate when it reconvenes on April 17th.

And if you or someone you know is struggling with suicidal thoughts or mental health matters, please call 988 suicide and crisis lifeline or visit the hotline's website.

All right. Now to an incredible journey that change another man's life. This is Zach Cross of Atlanta, Georgia, and he has hiked the iconic landmark, Stone Mountain, nearly every day for the past three years. He started the one mile treks in 2020. And since then, he says he has shed 200 pounds.

And now, he has his sights set on an even bigger challenge, the entire Appalachian Trail, which will cover more than 2,000 miles.

Joining me right now is Zach Cross. Zach, there you are. Hey, great to see you. I want to hear about this story, this journey.

ZACH CROSS, HIKED NEARLY EVERY DAY FOR THREE YEARS AND LOST 200 POUNDS: Yes (inaudible) to talk to you.

WHITFIELD: Fantastic.

CROSS: Yes, absolutely.

WHITFIELD: OK. So what inspired --

CROSS: Absolutely. Yes, so -- WHITFIELD: OK. Stone Mountain, I've done that trek in Stone Mountain.

So, you know, I know how -- you know, it is tricky. You know, there are flat portions, it's very steep, but it is not for the faint of heart. So what made you say I'm doing this? And what inspired you to do it?

CROSS: Absolutely. So when I was in college, I was, you know, not the biggest guy, but most people put on the freshman 15. I unfortunately had closer to the freshman 150, probably a few too many All-Star Breakfast from Waffle House or something like that.

But that just affected my mental health, which just kept pouring on the weight and kept -- just putting me in the first place, and that carried over until COVID when COVID shut down the world. That was a, you know, a dark time for everyone. And it hit me especially hard because it was a really dark place.

So a few months later, I kind of, you know, thought I need to make a change in my life. And I'd never really done a lot of hiking before. It was -- I went to a school in western North Carolina where hiking is plentiful, but I just never really done it.

So I thought, you know, there's this mountain a few minutes from my house, why not go check it out? (inaudible) every single day.

WHITFIELD: And you do it by yourself?

CROSS: So I went out there with a friend for the first time and --

WHITFIELD: OK.

CROSS: -- kind of dragged me up. It took me about 90 minutes to get to the top that first time. And today, I could probably do it in about 15.

WHITFIELD: Oh, my god. So, obviously, it was invigorating. There was something that happened even in that 90 minutes, and you said, I want to do this again, and you kept doing it over and over and over again. And then the next thing you know, you know, you drop what, 200 pounds. And tell me how you're feeling now.

CROSS: Yes. After that first 90 minutes, it probably took me a few days to sit back and say, I want to do that again, but it did eventually come. It was something about being surrounded by nature. That was what honestly was soothing me mentally and then curing my depression at the time.

Now, I feel amazing. I feel incredible. And I'm seeking that next challenge, which is the Appalachian Trail, as you mentioned, point 200 miles Georgia to Maine. I'm looking for a challenge. I am happiest when I'm (inaudible) which is hiking. And it's going to be the most mentally tough battle of my life, but I'm ready for it.

WHITFIELD: Oh, it's beautiful. It's a beautiful journey that you're sharing with everybody. And it really is a great recommendation that you're making to everybody too. So this 2,200 miles Appalachian Trail, when do you think you're going to get started on that?

CROSS: So I start May 1st, and I'm going to start in Springer Mountain, Georgia. If you want to follow along on my journey, they can follow me on YouTube at at_zach. And I'm looking forward to meeting a lot of people on the trail. I've had a lot of people reach out to me and say that have inspired them, which is great. I mean, that's awesome. And I hope I can use this platform to inspire others to get out in nature. It's truly, you know, it's God's gym for us. It's a beautiful thing to be in nature.

WHITFIELD: Oh. I think you've already inspired so many. Thank you so much, Zach.

CROSS: Thank you.

WHITFIELD: All the best to you. May 1, what a great start -- starting point and date to make for the Appalachian Trail. Thank you so much. All the best to you. We'll be cheering you on and following you as well.

CROSS: Thanks, Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: All right. Thanks, Zach.

All right. Last December, Nelly Cheboi was voted CNN Hero of the Year for her efforts to break intergenerational poverty in rural Africa.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ANDERSON COOPER. CNN HOST: The 2022 CNN Hero of the Year is Nelly Cheboi.

NELLY CHEBOI, 2022 CNN HERO OF THE YEAR: You can only imagine, like, how crazy it was when I was named CNN Hero of the Year. I thought I was like about to fall down. I looked at the audience. You know, it was my mom screaming back at me. Like most women that come before her, they die in poverty, like, that's all they know, poverty. I don't think it can get any bigger than that. So it's really heartwarming to see that the work was bigger than me now.

[16:55:13]

WILLIAM RUTO, PRESIDENT OF KENYA: We also Congratulate Nelly Cheboi.

CHEBOI: The president of Kenya congratulated me. Talked about TechLit. It has become a household name. In Kenya, everyone knows that we are teaching kids, computer skills.

What I'm really excited about is a future in Kenya, and in the rest of the continent, where kids are going to be learning about the tech word.

This hope, like, poverty has an expiration date, right? When you are growing up in poverty, you think of yourself as less than. I knew just how powerful the kid celebrating this award was. I wanted to turn that into like, hey, yes, this can happen for you too. Yes. (END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: All right. To learn more, go to cnnheroes.com. And while you're there, nominate a hero of your own.

Thanks so much for being with us this weekend. I'm Fredricka Whitfield, the CNN NEWSROOM continues with Jim Acosta, in a moment.

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