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Cafe Bombing In Russia Kills Pro-War Military Blogger; Trump Plans To Deliver Remarks At Mar-a-Lago Tuesday Night After Arraignment; Trump Attorney Vows To Challenge Charges; Interview With Rep. Ken Buck (R-CO); Arkansas Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders Tours Hard Hit Areas; Who Is Manhattan DA, Alvin Bragg; Russian Shelling Kills Six In Ukraine; Stocks Post Gains In March Despite Bank Failures. Aired 7-8p ET

Aired April 02, 2023 - 19:00   ET

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

[19:00:48]

JIM ACOSTA, CNN HOST: You are live in the CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Jim Acosta in Washington.

We begin with dramatic video, we're going to show it to you right here, showing the moment a bomb explodes in a cafe in St. Petersburg, Russia, killing a well-known Russian pro-war blogger and injuring at least 30 others. Russian state media reporting the bomb may have been presented to the blogger hidden inside a figurine. The dead blogger had more than a half million followers on his pro-military blog, where he aggressively supported the war in Ukraine. He had openly criticized the setbacks Russian troops face there.

CNN's Matthew Chance is in Moscow for us.

MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Jim, this explosion killed one of Russia's most prominent pro-war military bloggers, posting under the name of Vladlen Tatarsky. He accumulated more than half a million followers on his pro-war Telegram channel in which he was notoriously hard line. Enthusiastically, for instance, declaring on Ukraine, we will kill everyone, we will rob everyone, we will have our way. And, of course, like other prominent Russian military bloggers, criticizing aspects about how the war in Ukraine is being fought.

Tatarsky was the guest speaker at a pro-war gathering in that St. Petersburg cafe when the explosion ripped through the venue. Eyewitnesses have spoken about how it took place shortly after he was presented with a figurine in a gift box. State media quoting official sources are saying an explosive device may have been hidden inside the statue.

Already there's been a denial of responsibility from Ukraine with the presidential adviser there characterizing it more like an internal Russian dispute. But of course, Tatarsky is the second pro-war Russian activist to be targeted and killed in Russia since its invasion of Ukraine last year. In August, Darya Dugina, the daughter of a prominent nationalist here, was killed in a car bomb outside of Moscow. Russian officials back then accused Ukrainian saboteurs of the attack.

Ukraine insists it has nothing to do with it -- Jim.

ACOSTA: All right, Matthew Chance in Moscow for us. Thank you.

Now to former President Donald Trump, already announcing his plans for the night of his arraignment on Tuesday. Just hours after his appearance in a Manhattan courtroom, he says he will be back at his Florida estate in Mar-a-Lago and will deliver remarks.

CNN's Kristen Holmes is near Mar-a-Lago and joins us from West Palm Beach.

Kristen, is the Trump legal team concerned about any potential risk that may arise because of the speech he plans to give?

KRISTEN HOLMES, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Jim, as you know, this is the dilemma with representing former President Donald Trump. You can file all the motions. You can put everything in front of a judge. However he does not usually listen to his attorneys, particularly when they tell him not to speak out about something.

But I just got off the phone with a source who wanted to be very clear. There are two very different specific components of all of this. The legal team and the political team, and the speech that he is going to be giving on Tuesday night is very much in that political sphere. This is going to be the former President Trump's chance to really take control of the narrative. He's going to be delivering this primetime address, and it's the first time we're going to hear him respond since the charges will be announced.

Remember, no one in Trump's inner circle has actually seen what this indictment is, what these charges are, so that will be the opportunity for him to take that and provide his own narrative. Of course we expect it to be very similar to what we have already seen. The former president calling this a political a witch hunt, a political hoax.

But one thing to watch very carefully is how Republicans respond once those charges are unsealed because so far what we have heard from so many Republicans, even including Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, who was his chief 2024 presidential rival at this point or potential presidential rival, is that they are defending the president. They are saying that -- the former president, they are saying that this is political, that this is a hoax, that they are attacking the district attorney. But the thing to watch is whether or not that shifts or changes once we actually see these charges.

[19:05:05]

ACOSTA: All right. Kristen Holmes, thank you very much.

Media organizations including CNN are asking the judge in this case to unseal Trump's indictment early. They claim knowledge of its existence only fuel speculation. Some of that speculation is drummed up by the former president's own legal team. They've been making the rounds on the Sunday talk shows all weekend. CNN's Katelyn Polantz joins us now.

What is the Trump legal team saying? And I guess they've got to brace themselves for this indictment just like the rest of us. They don't know what's in it. We don't know what's in it.

KATELYN POLANTZ, CNN SENIOR CRIME AND JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: Right. So Kristen is talking about the political response, the legal response, we're already in it. We're already hearing it.

ACOSTA: Yes.

POLANTZ: And the legal team is out there basically putting in place the puzzle pieces to say we're going to go to court and we're going to challenge on a bunch of things. They're just laying the groundwork for whenever this indictment comes. As we've mentioned many times, we do not know what this indictment says. Trump does not know what the indictment says, his lawyers don't yet. We don't know the exact charges. We know there are many.

They're going to need to fight them on a lot of different fronts. They're already saying that one front is that they're probably very likely going to want to challenge the law, get the judge to throw out the case and exonerate their client. That is an option that they can have. It will be up to the judge whether it goes to trial. They're also saying they want to challenge potentially the timing of what the case might be.

We know this dates back to payments made in 2016, quite a long time ago. And so there's a question of whether they can raise some issues with the statute of limitations, whether it's too late to bring charges like that.

Here's Joe Tacopina, a defense lawyer for Donald Trump. He was speaking to Dana Bash earlier today.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOSEPH TACOPINA, TRUMP'S 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)

POLANTZ: And I'm glad you mentioned about the press wanting to unseal this because one of the things that we still don't even know whenever these charges are going to be revealed either Monday if the judge allows it early and agrees with the press or Tuesday when Donald Trump is formally read the charges, we don't know how much detail the district attorney's office is even going to be putting into these documents.

They can be very bare bones. They could reveal some of the evidence they have, what's called a speaking indictment, or they could save up much of the major stuff that they have for trial.

ACOSTA: Interesting. And what Michael Cohen's attorneys saying at this point? They had some something to say today.

POLANTZ: Right. Well, they need to respond as well because another point of attack that the Trump lawyers have made is to try and cut down Michael Cohen's credibility. We already know he's a major witness in this. He spoke to the D.A. many times. He's pleaded guilty to crimes around lying about this as well as campaign finance crimes around the hush money payments. And so he's a key person here.

This is the defense that his team has for him. Here's Lanny Davis, his lawyer, also speaking to Dana Bash today.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LANNY DAVIS, ATTORNEY FOR MICHAEL COHEN: Regarding credibility let me repeat. Everything Michael Cohen has said since he decided to tell the truth, he lied for 10 years for Donald Trump. He went to the American people in front of Chairman Cummings, and he said, I lied. I'm ashamed of myself. I own that. Now from that point on, he's never been shown to have lied. He has been forthcoming with every investigator.

He never took the Fifth Amendment the way Mr. Trump did, and the credibility between him and the jury in that courtroom is going to be based on corroborating evidence.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

POLANTZ: So there's Lanny talking about the credibility to build between him and the jury. They're looking the whole way to trial. But there's also the question of how the judge responds. That's going to be a really key thing to look for on Tuesday. How does the judge want to lay out a timeline, want to lay out the process? And does the judge even respond to Donald Trump attacking the judge and the district attorney in tweets so far or Truth Social posts? Excuse me.

ACOSTA: All right. Very good. Katelyn Polantz, thank you very much.

Let's continue this conversation with Republican Congressman Ken Buck of Colorado.

Congressman, thanks so much for being with us. We appreciate it. We learned today that just hours after his arraignment, former President Trump intends to deliver remarks down at Mar-a-Lago. I guess just to start things off, do you think that's a good idea?

REP. KEN BUCK (R-CO): You know, Jim, I was a prosecutor for 25 years. Anytime a defendant spoke it was a benefit to the prosecution, so I don't think it's a great idea. I think this case involves both -- as Katelyn Polantz was saying earlier, both politics and the law, and so I think that he will be talking on the political side. He may very well say things that could be used against him later.

I think his attorneys are going to do their very best to review his remarks and make sure that he does not incriminate himself in anything he says in that speech on Tuesday night.

ACOSTA: And do you join in what some of your Republican colleagues are saying and calling this a political persecution and political and so on? What's your sense of it?

BUCK: Well, my senses is, Jim, I would have a lot more confidence if this case were being brought in the federal system as opposed to the state system.

[19:10:04]

I was a federal prosecutor for 15 years, state prosecutor for 10 years, we couldn't get tax returns as an assistant U.S. attorney without permission from Washington, D.C. We couldn't file racketeering charges without permission from Washington, D.C. The federal system is set up so that there are layer after layer of review by sometimes registered Republicans, sometimes registered Democrats, but career prosecutors who are trained to look at issues without an eye towards politics.

The problem with having an elected district attorney review a case like this as the final arbiter of whether to go forward or not is he made statements during the campaign that he was interested in pursuing a case against Donald Trump. You just don't have the same level of comfort in a state prosecution that you do with a federal prosecution.

ACOSTA: But of course when the focus was on Hillary Clinton back in 2016, you and other prominent Republicans were taking it to the Democratic nominee at that time. We can bring up a comment of yours from a Trump rally in 2016. This was reported at that time. You said to the crowd, quote, and this is October 26th, 2016. "Lady Justice doesn't see black or white. She doesn't see male or female. She doesn't see rich or poor, but soon Lady Justice will see Hillary Clinton."

Setting aside the fact that Hillary Clinton was never charged with any wrongdoing, why not demand accountability in this Trump case, no matter who the prosecutor is?

BUCK: I think there should be accountability in this case. But this is a -- Hillary Clinton was being investigated in the federal system. And as I said, there are layers and layers of protection for defendants in the federal system to make sure that we're not just targeting somebody because of their former status as a government official. That same protection doesn't apply, so we're not dealing with a blindfolded Lady Justice in this situation.

We're dealing with a political prosecutor who has stated that he is going after President Trump. I haven't seen the indictment and I can't give an opinion as to the strength of the indictment at this point, but I am suspicious when the former federal prosecutor walked away from this case, the former D.A. Cyrus Vance, Jr. in Manhattan didn't prosecute this case and now this district attorney after making a campaign promise is prosecuting this case.

ACOSTA: But didn't -- wasn't there a grand jury looking at this? You're not saying that the grand jury was political?

BUCK: Absolutely. No, I'm not saying the grand jury is political at all. I have a great deal of respect for grand jury investigations. The grand jury only receives the information and only is able to really decipher the information that is given by the prosecutor. There may have been one or two witnesses on behalf of President Trump. But the defense attorneys are never going to put their full case in front of a grand jury.

The rules of justice don't apply -- I'm sorry, the rules of evidence don't apply, and that the grand jury only finds probable cause. It does not find proof beyond a reasonable doubt. That's going to be left up to a jury if this case in fact gets to a jury in Manhattan.

ACOSTA: Well, and you were saying you would prefer to see federal prosecutors handle perhaps whatever legal consequences may be coming Donald Trump's way. Obviously there's a special counsel that is looking into both the documents investigation and the events relating to January 6th. Those investigations may be coming down the pike in the form of indictments, as you know, down the road.

And I just have to ask you, Congressman. Do you want to see Donald Trump as the Republican nominee in 2024, or do you think it's time for your party to have a fresh face who doesn't have all of these clouds hanging over him from a legal standpoint?

BUCK: Well, if the clouds were brought to bear because of his actions as a criminal, I would absolutely say we need a fresh face. I don't see that at this point. I see recordkeeping violations. I see misdemeanors that are being bootstrapped into felonies. I want to see the nominee who has the best chance of defeating Joe Biden. And the best chance of making this country -- the price of gas at the gas pump lower, our interest rates for buying a home lower, our chance of seeing the stock market increase. Those are the things that I'm looking for in a Republican nominee.

ACOSTA: So it sounds like you're not sold on Donald Trump yet.

BUCK: I am not committed to any one candidate at this point in time. We don't even know who all the candidates are going to be, and I just think it's early to make that commitment.

ACOSTA: And speaking of the documents investigation, the "Washington Post" is reporting that the Justice Department has reportedly gathering more evidence of possible obstruction in the investigation of classified documents at Mar-a-Lago, specifically there are indications he looked through boxes, this is according to the "Washington Post," after the subpoena, possibly to keep from surrendering them.

[19:15:00]

You have previously said his handling wasn't a concern and he may have just wanted the documents for a future book. Does this report change that view at all on your part? BUCK: Well, what changes my view of the prosecutorial where the

ability to prosecute this case is that Mike Pence also had classified documents, that Joe Biden had classified documents after he left the vice president's office. I think it's very difficult to prosecute a case against one person when there was -- when there are violations by a number of people. I think that when we get to the --

ACOSTA: You're not saying that all of these, the president, President Biden, Vice President Pence and Donald Trump all handled these documents in the same fashion? The facts don't seem to bear that out.

BUCK: I don't know how they handle them. All I know is the crime is having possession of classified documents at an unsecure setting. I believe all of them did that and I think that they are wrong, wrong in some respect, and I think we need to tighten the laws, but I think we need to tighten the procedures around the laws, but trying someone based on a "Washington Post" story is not exactly the level that I think we should take when we're looking at a president of the United States.

ACOSTA: And do you think that Donald Trump should be held accountable in a court of justice for his actions surrounding January 6th, his efforts to overturn the election of 2020?

BUCK: I think that if President Trump has committed a crime, I absolutely believe that from the knowledge that I have based on my reading of the information from the January 6th commission, as well as other information that I had available to me. I sat on the floor on January 6th. I'm well aware of what was going on. I'm also well aware that the president did not direct that, although he could have certainly done some things that may have stifled some of that. But I think a lot of the people that --

(CROSSTALK)

ACOSTA: Well, he was telling people to go down to the Capitol on January 6th. He was telling people to go down to the Capitol on January 6th.

BUCK: He was telling people to, you know, to seek peaceful redress with their government grievances. I don't think he was telling people to storm the Capitol, break windows, and try to disrupt the proceeding. But people did go to that rally on the mall on January 6th --

(CROSSTALK)

ACOSTA: He did say to fight like hell, be sure to fight like hell. I don't mean to interrupt, but he was -- I don't mean to interrupt, sir, but he was saying to fight like hell. He wasn't just saying to go be peaceful down at the Capitol. That's not accurate.

BUCK: No. Well, but it's not also not accurate to say he said to fight like hell with Capitol police officers or to fight like hell with congressmen or senators who disagree with the president. He wasn't saying that either. He was saying -- he was telling people to fight like hell for their rights in this country. I don't think the election was stolen.

President Trump does believe the election was stolen. That's one of those disagreements we can have in this country and move on, and let the voters decide the elections based on the credibility and the ability of our leaders to move this country in the right direction.

ACOSTA: All right, Congressman Ken Buck. Thank you very much for your time. We appreciate it.

BUCK: Thank you.

ACOSTA: Still ahead, the Manhattan district attorney and judge overseeing the case have become targets of Donald Trump. They'll have important roles to play in this historic moment. We'll dig deeper into exactly who those two key figures are. Plus, nearly three dozen people killed after severe storms cut across the south and Midwest. We're on the ground in one of the hardest hit communities. And later there is a new champ in women's college basketball. We'll talk about that coming up in a few moments.

You're live in the CNN NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[19:22:45]

ACOSTA: Right now some 10 million people in Oklahoma and Texas are under a tornado watch. Included in this watch the Texas -- big Texas cities of Dallas and Fort Worth and Waco. The National Weather Service warns that some of the tornadoes maybe intensive. Please be careful in that area. Other threats hail that could be as large as three inches and winds gusting to 70 miles per hour.

This is video. A quarter size hail falling near an apartment complex in Fort Worth. Large hail forced the Dallas-Fort Worth airport, the big DFW airport, to ground flights earlier today.

The death toll inched up again in this weekend's devastating tornado outbreak. 32 people are now confirmed killed from the storms that hammered the south and the Midwest. And an update from the deadly roof collapse during a concert in Belvedere, Illinois, Governor J.B. Pritzker toured that site earlier today and announced that of the 48 people hospitalized, five remain in critical condition.

CNN's Derek Van Dam is Wynne, Arkansas, and spoke to that state's governor, Sarah Huckabee Sanders, after she toured the devastation there.

DEREK VAN DAM, AMS METEOROLOGIST: That's right, Jim. Governor Sanders arrived on the scene of the badly damaged Wynne, Arkansas, where we find ourselves today. She was flanked by federal representatives from FEMA, but also from the National Weather Service. One of the representatives from the NWS actually telling her, I listened in on this conversation, saying at a bare minimum they believe that this is an EF-3 tornado. So they're having meteorologists come out and assess the damage here

and an EF-3 tornado is winds of 136 to 165 miles per hour. That is the bare minimum of what this place experience. But when we talk about the role that meteorologists have in forecasting this, I was able to ask Governor Sanders about if she felt like the warning lead times was adequate for warning the residents of Arkansas. Have a listen to what she said.

(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?

[19:25:01]

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: You can hear in the distance the sound of chainsaws, the all- too-familiar sound within natural disasters like this. We've got an opportunity to tour some of the neighborhoods in Wynne, Arkansas, and let me tell you, it is some of the worst devastation that I have ever seen. Using the word catastrophic is not out of the question here. And some of the harrowing stories coming out of this area quite dramatic as well.

Speaking of residents sheltering inside of their homes and inside of the innermost center part of their houses to ride out the storm, unfortunately some were not so lucky and there were fatalities here in Wynne, Arkansas.

Jim, it's going to take weeks, if not months to recover, but it's hard to believe that there's actually yet another potential of severe weather and tornadoes later this week on Tuesday, specifically -- Jim.

ACOSTA: All right, Derek Van Dam in hard hit Arkansas. Thanks so much for that.

Now to another freight train derailment, this time in a remote area of western Montana. It happened this morning near Paradise, Montana, about 70 miles north and west of Missoula. Officials say at least 25 freight cars derailed. It's unknown what the train was carrying but according to the sheriff's office, it does not appear any hazardous materials were on board.

The historic indictment of former President Trump has put the Manhattan district attorney in the national spotlight. A look at how D.A. Alvin Bragg became such a central figure in Trump's case. That's next.

You're live in the CNN NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[19:31:32]

ACOSTA: So who is the man behind the indictment of former President Donald Trump?

CNN's Brian Todd shows us how Alvin Bragg got the job as Manhattan DA and his prior run-ins with the Trump Organization.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

REPORTER: Mr. Bragg, is there any significance of yesterday's indictment?

BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Alvin Bragg keeps his eyes straight ahead focused on the task at hand, which now happens to involve a significant amount of history surrounding the 49-year-old prosecutor.

SHAN WU, FORMER COUNSEL TO US ATTORNEY GENERAL: Not only is he the first ever prosecutor to bring charges against a former President of the United States, he is also the first Black prosecutor to lead the Manhattan DA's Office.

TODD (voice over): In February, Bragg spoke to CNN about his approach to the Trump hush money case.

ALVIN BRAGG, MANHATTAN DISTRICT ATTORNEY: The same type of rigor and professionalism, ethics that was on display in that public courtroom is at work, you know, behind the scenes.

TODD (voice over): Former President Donald Trump and his supporters are now attacking Bragg at a blistering pace.

DONALD TRUMP, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Prosecutorial misconduct is their new tool.

TODD (voice over): But Bragg has weathered Trump's storms before, successfully getting convictions in a major tax fraud case last year against the Trump Organization. He has also claimed to have helped sue the Trump administration more than 100 times, but one former prosecutor who worked with Bragg says his judgment will not be clouded.

DARYA PERRY, FORMER FEDERAL PROSECUTOR, WORKED WITH ALVIN BRAGG: I imagine Alvin to be putting his head down and just looking very carefully and methodically at all of the facts of the case.

TODD (voice over): Alvin Bragg graduated from Harvard Law School, worked as a Federal prosecutor in New York and as a Civil Rights attorney.

He represented the family of Eric Garner, who died after being placed in an unauthorized chokehold by New York City police in 2014. But what Bragg seems to be very in touch with is his upbringing in Harlem, where he recently spoke at an event.

BRAGG: I grew up not too far from here, ducking from gun bullets.

TODD (voice over): In a victory speech after he was elected, Bragg said: "I think I'll probably be the First District attorney who's had police point a gun at him."

What kind of pressure is Bragg under now?

WU: For Bragg personally, this is really a tremendous amount of pressure for him because in that office where I interned once, the day-to-day work is just crushing, and he has already taken a lot of flak by being labeled more of a progressive prosecutor.

TODD (on camera): One example of the pressure Alvin Bragg is facing, sources have told CNN the New York Police and the FBI have begun focusing on the possibility of increased threats to Bragg and his staff in the wake of the Trump indictment.

BRAGG told his staff recently his office won't tolerate any efforts to intimidate them or to threaten the rule of law.

Brian Todd, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ACOSTA: Former federal prosecutor Shan Wu, the star of that Brian Todd piece you just watched joins us now.

Shan, great to see you.

Let me ask you, what about the fact that we're not seeing this indictment or at least at this point, media organizations have asked to see it sooner rather than Tuesday, but that we might not just see all of this until Tuesday, and that the Trump team is sort of in the same boat as everybody else.

Is that the usual way of things down there at the Courthouse? Is that pretty normal? Or do you think that the Trump team should have had maybe a bit more of a look at what this indictment entails?

WU: No, I mean, if it's a sealed indictment, it's sealed until it's unsealed. So it's not necessarily uncommon and although they'll get to see it, when it is unsealed, it's hard to imagine they aren't prepared. They might have been surprised by the timing, but they certainly knew this was coming especially after Trump had been invited to testify which under the New York process is sort of a last step. [19:25:06]

ACOSTA: Right, and let's play a bit of what Bragg's predecessor said about some of the inflammatory comments that Trump and some of his team have made about Alvin Bragg. Let's take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CY VANCE, FORMER MANHATTAN DISTRICT ATTORNEY: I've got to say that I was disturbed to hear the former President speak in the way he spoke about the District Attorney Bragg and even the Trial Court in the past week, and I think if I were his lawyer, and believe we no one has called up to ask for my advice, I would be mindful of not committing some other criminal offense like obstruction of governmental administration.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ACOSTA: Do you agree with the former DA there? What do you think?

WU: Yes, I think normally, the reaction would be, maybe the Judge will impose a gag order, but I think that's just so difficult to do with him actually out campaigning.

ACOSTA: Right.

WU: But if he keeps this up, I mean, he certainly could end up with some other charges against him for some type of obstruction of justice.

ACOSTA: And Trump is also lashing out at the Judge presiding over the case. I mean, at some point, doesn't this work against him?

WU: Well, lashing out at the Judge is going to certainly work against him at the sentencing.

ACOSTA: Yes.

WU: If he gets to that point.

I do think if he continues to like post threatening photos and stuff, I'm remembering when the Roger Stone case when Stone had posted a picture of the Judge with sort of crosshairs and the Judge was very careful in how she tailored that order, which was he couldn't post things anymore.

So you might sort of see a reactive step by step approach to trying to rein him in.

ACOSTA: And this sort of dovetails off what I was asking earlier -- media organizations, including CNN are requesting more transparency on the indictment. They want to see the indictment unsealed to avoid, you know, additional speculation and, you know, I guess we keep talking about what's in the indictment without even seeing what's in the indictment. It would be nice to know what's in the indictment. But also, a lot of media organizations would like to see these proceedings and I think a lot of Americans would like to see these proceedings televised.

WU: Right.

ACOSTA: Trump -- his arraignment, the trial, and so on. Is there a good case to be made there? And do you think that we might see that?

WU: I think there is. I know the Federal Courts will have that blanket rule, no television. I'm not as familiar what New York Courts do. It certainly seems like a case which is worthy of televising, and I think a lot of the concerns about TV affecting the Judges and the lawyers, I don't think that's true anymore.

It might have been true back in the day with OJ Simpson's case.

ACOSTA: Right. Which was televised.

WU: Right, which was televised, right, but it has really moved on a lot, and I think everyone's a lot more savvy about TV. I don't think you're going to have a situation where the entire atmosphere will change just because it is televised.

ACOSTA: Yes, we need to tell some of these Judges, you know, television is not a new invention. It has been around -- the cameras have been around a long time.

WU: Exactly.

ACOSTA: All right, Shan, we're going to be watching. Thanks. I know you will as well.

WU: Right.

ACOSTA: I appreciate your time.

WU: You, too.

ACOSTA: Still ahead, new Russian attacks in Eastern Ukraine as we meet the volunteers helping residents survive in a place where there hasn't been running water or electricity since the beginning of the war. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ANDRE ANDERSON, RETIRED BUILDING CONTRACTOR FROM OREGON: It was just a calling that I couldn't refuse to do. I can't sit at home and allow this to happen without helping the people who need help.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[19:42:18]

ACOSTA: On the ground right now in Eastern Ukraine, Russian shells are blasting homes and apartments killing at least six just today in its campaign to seize large swaths of the country and as difficult as this may be to comprehend, it is now Russia's turn to assume the presidency of the United Nations Security Council putting our country led by an accused war criminal in charge of maintaining global peace and security. Ukraine's Foreign Minister calling it "The world's worst April Fool's joke."

Since the war began last year, this is what life looks like for the people there. Basic necessities like clean, fresh water have become scarce. Now, a retired American contractor is among those jumping into help. He has been delivering clean water to people in battered Ukrainian towns.

CNN's Ben Wedeman reports.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BEN WEDEMAN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Without water, there is no life, and the clean water pouring into these plastic jugs is a vital lifeline for people in the battered Eastern Ukrainian town of Siversk, just six miles from Russian lines.

Retired building contractor Andre Anderson from Oregon is an unlikely carrier of water.

ANDERSON: It was just a calling that I couldn't refuse to do. I can't sit at home and allow this to happen without helping the people who need help.

WEDEMAN (voice over): He is part of a volunteer group called Aqua Ducks, their routine simple, but essential.

ANDERSON: We turn up, they turn up with their little jugs and we just fill up their jugs or the buckets or their cow pails, and they go away happy and we empty our tank, we drive home and then we come back in the afternoon and we do the same thing and we repeat on every day.

WEDEMAN (voice over): The few remaining in Siversk tell the usual story, dogged attachment to their land and no other options.

(TANYA speaking in foreign language.)

WEDEMAN (voice over): "How can I leave," asked Tanya. "My son is buried here and where would I go with my small pension?"

Andre's colleague, Silvia Pavesi from Austria was a tour guide.

WEDEMAN (on camera): Why are you doing this?

SILVIA PAVESI, AUSTRIAN VOLUNTEER: To help. It is just the right thing to do.

WEDEMAN (voice over): Seventy-three-year-old Mikola appreciates the water, but thirsts for quiet.

(MIKOLA speaking in foreign language.)

WEDEMAN (voice over): "I'm fed up with his shelling. Nobody needs it," he says.

What passes for daily life ended long ago. The center of Siversk is a wasteland. The early spring snow softens, but can't hide the jagged edges.

(ANDRE ANDERSON speaking in foreign language.)

WEDEMAN (voice over): Andre shouts out water, "voda" in Ukrainian. Soon residents emerge from their basements, their bomb shelters.

WEDEMAN (on camera): Basic humanitarian services like this are critical. There hasn't been any running water or electricity since the beginning of the war.

[19:45:10]

WEDEMAN (voice over): With no end to this war in sight, they are resigned to a fate, bleak.

(VALENTINA speaking in foreign language.)

WEDEMAN (voice over): "It's fine," says Valentina. "We put up with everything. What can we do?"

Yet, 70-year-old Nina despairs at what has become of her town.

(NINA speaking in foreign language.)

WEDEMAN (voice over): "What do we feel?" She asks? "Pain, pain. When you see something destroyed, you tear up, we cry, we cry."

Bottles now full, they return through streets, cold, muddy and ravaged to their shelters.

Ben Wedeman, CNN, Siversk, Eastern Ukraine.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ACOSTA: And if you want to help those affected by the war in Ukraine, please go to cnn.com/impact.

Still ahead, there is a new Champ in women's college basketball and tomorrow, the men wrap up a month of madness. CNN's Coy Wire is covering it all.

Hey, Coy.

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[19:50:34]

ACOSTA: Investors are eager to turn the page on a wild month in the markets and the economy. The major averages rose in March with a critical week and month ahead.

Christine Romans has more. CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN ANCHOR AND CHIEF BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Hey, Jim.

Gains for stocks in March despite the failure of three US banks, a historic rescue of a globally important Swiss bank, and a ninth Fed rate hike. It was the Fed's tough medicine after all that revealed stress in the banking system. But there are also new signs the medicine may be working to cool inflation. Here is why.

The Fed's preferred inflation gauge cooled back down in February after ticking up in January. The Personal Consumption Expenditures Price Index it's called, it rose five percent in February and monthly, February prices rose half of what they did in January, and so-called core PCE stripping out volatile food and energy prices, that also was cooler than expected.

We also learned the US economy grew a little bit more slowly than first thought in the fourth quarter, 2.6 percent, and consumer spending slowed just a little bit, something the Fed would like to see.

After a decade of runaway gains in home prices, US home prices fell for the seventh month in a row in January, but home sales picked up in February as homebuyers adjust to mortgage rates that are up sharply from a year ago.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: ... home sales were up 14-and-a-half percent, that's really good. But that's because rates dipped in January.

So when that happens, buyers get out there and they buy homes and so I think people are adjusting to this. This is the new landscape.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROMANS: A potential trouble spot for the Fed though is still a very strong jobs market. Weekly jobless claims show outside of tech, layoffs are still rare in this economy. So, it's an unsavory trade off: A weakening job market would help cool inflation.

It makes this week's economic data on job openings and the big March jobs report especially critical -- Jim.

ACOSTA: All right, Christine Romans, thanks for that.

Also tonight, the LSU Tigers are your new Women's College Basketball National Champions, this after trouncing the Iowa Hawkeyes and scoring the most points ever in a women's final. Let's go straight to CNN's Coy Wire in Houston.

Coy, they crushed it.

COY WIRE, CNN SPORTS ANCHOR: Domination, Jim, led by a Hall of Fame coach, players are full of confidence and swagger, LSU, as you said dominating Iowa, historic fashion to win the program's first NCAA Women's Basketball National Championship in Dallas.

Speaking of fashion, LSU Coach Kim Mulkey flashing fashion, so unique, so infectious, taking on the National Player of the Year, Caitlin Clark and Iowa, the Hawkeyes generational talent once again, unreal. Hitting threes from way downtown dropping the game high 31 points, eight three pointers setting a new record for most threes made in a tourney.

But this was no ordinary performance by the LSU Tigers, who the buzzer beater before the half by unexpected hero, shining for the Tigers, Jasmine Carson coming off the bench, scoring 22 points. She hasn't scored a single point in their previous three games, Jim.

The Tigers filled buckets, pouring in a championship record, 102 of them. High profile, tough as nails, Angel Reese, their star, dominated 15 points, 10 rebounds, another double-double. Mulkey just keeps on winning showing that she can motivate and win.

Her players played with a fire and a passion and coach who is from Louisiana couldn't hold back the emotion, Jim, afterwards thinking about what it'll be like to take that trophy back home.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KIM MULKEY, LSU WOMEN'S BASKETBALL COACH: This is a fourth time I've been blessed. Never in the history of LSU basketball men or women have ever played for a championship and to win it. I think my tears are tears of joy. I'm so happy for everybody back home in Louisiana.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WIRE: Incredible stuff, Jim.

Coach Mulkey just a true leader and motivator. She won three national titles at Baylor and here she is now taking LSU to the top. Just two seasons after coming home to Louisiana, the team had won just nine games of the season before she got there -- Jim.

ACOSTA: Wow. What a run. Unbelievable and of course, the men's national game is now tomorrow. The fourth ranked UConn Huskies taking on number five San Diego State Aztecs. I mean first of all, it is so strange that it's down to these two teams, but it's been incredible, just a weird wild March Madness. I guess this is what you get when that happens. But UConn is going to be tough. They're going to be hard to beat.

[19:55:15]

WIRE: Exactly right. They've been dominating. There have been double digit wins all tournament long. It's incredible. They're going to take on a tough San Diego State Aztecs team. Coach Brian Dutcher has that team playing lights out.

Check out these highlights: Florida Atlantic was actually leading by one with seconds to go in the Final Four, they missed the shot and instead of calling timeout, Coach Dutcher let his players play and Lamont Butler became legend. The buzzer beater securing the 72-71 win. It was an iconic moment in March Madness history last night.

I talked with Coach just moments ago and asked what it was like being on that floor. He said it was unreal.

Now, San Diego State is going to face the UConn Huskies for that chance at one shining moment. UConn receiving a hero's welcome, when they returned home to their hotel last night. They dominated Miami in their semifinal match 72 to 59. They're led by an outstanding leader as well, Dan Hurley. We'll see who wants it.

March Madness had turned into April Awesomeness. I can't wait to see what the final holds in that stadium tomorrow night -- Jim.

ACOSTA: And that buzzer beer last night, I mean, it was just -- for kids out there who play basketball, that shot was just -- the form was just pure perfection. I mean, the way he nailed that buzzer beater was just incredible.

Coy, it's been wild. Thanks so much.

WIRE: Incredible time.

ACOSTA: All right, still ahead, historical, legal and political perspective on what we will see, in just a couple of days, the arraignment of a former President.

You're live in the CNN NEWSROOM.

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