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CNN International: Trump will Deliver Remarks at Mar-a-Lago Tuesday; Tight Security in and Around Manhattan Courthouse; Sanna Marin's Party Loses Parliamentary Vote in Finland Election; Pope Thanks Faithful for Prayers While He Was Hospitalized; Many Iranians Condemn Yogurt Attack on 2 Women Not Wearing Hijab. Aired 4:30-5a ET
Aired April 03, 2023 - 04:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[04:30:00]
BIANCA NOBILO, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome back to CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Bianca Nobilo.
MAX FOSTER, CNN ANCHOR: I'm Max Foster. If you're just joining us, let me bring you up to date with the top stories in the coming hours.
Donald Trump is set to arrive in New York ahead of a Tuesday arrangement. Trump becomes the first former or current president to face criminal charges. He faces more than 30 counts related to business fraud, but most notably the hush money payments made to adult film star Stormy Daniels.
CNN's Kristen Holmes has more on what we can expect to see in the days ahead.
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KRISTEN HOLMES, CNN U.S. NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: The logistics around former president Trump's trip to New York tomorrow, and his arraignment on Tuesday are still being sorted out. But we have learned that the former president plans to give a primetime address when he arrives back at his Mar-a-Lago home on Tuesday. We had heard from sources, security sources as well as member of President Trump's team that they wanted to get him in and out of Manhattan as quickly as possible. So he will be leaving the city right after that arraignment, coming back to his Florida home, where he will address the nation.
Now this will be a chance for him to really give his side of the story and spin his own narrative. As we have heard, he has called this a political witch hunt and a hoax. But the difference between those remarks on Tuesday and what we have heard in the last several weeks, is it will be the first time we hear from him since those charges have been made public. Currently no one knows what those charges actually are, and they won't be revealed until his arraignment on Tuesday.
Republicans have rallied around him. The former president spent much of the weekend calling his allies, calling his advisers and we saw a lot of them on the airwaves defending the former president. But the thing to watch as we head into this next week is how that messaging or it's that messaging actually changes, once we see what those charges actually are.
Now on the legal front we heard from Trump's lawyer, Joe Tacopina, who said that they are waiting to see that indictment, but that's going to impact their legal decisions. They are have not seen what the charges are, and they cannot make any game plan at this point yet until they actually see that. But they did make clear or he did make clear that everything was on the table.
Kristen Holmes, CNN West Palm Beach, Florida.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
FOSTER: New York's mayor says the city has seen no credible security threats against -- ahead of Trump's indictment. But it remains vigilant for possible protests and unrest. CNN's Shimon Prokupecz reports on the preparations in New York.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SHIMON PROKUPECZ, CNN SENIOR CRIME AND JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT (voice- over): With an unprecedented indictment comes immense security challenges. The NYPD, along with court officers, U.S. Marshals, and the United States Secret Service, are running through logistics of how Tuesday's historic arraignment of the former president will go down.
Law enforcement sources telling CNN officials are conducting a dry run of Trump's movements, including his motorcade route to the courthouse in downtown Manhattan where he is expected to be arraigned Tuesday afternoon. How he will get inside the courtroom flanked by Secret Service, and what will the arrest process look like. Will he be treated like any other defendant? The former president expected to be fingerprinted and photographed for a mugshot.
It's a massive effort starting when Trump arrives by plane Monday, securing Trump Tower, the court, and the motorcade route.
CHIEF KENNETH COREY, NEW YORK CITY POLICE DEPARTMENT (RET.): In this case, though, where you have a former president and certainly a president with as large a following as former President Trump there's a lot of unique concerns that are going to come into play. I think that the bigger unknown here is going to come in the form of protests or potential protests.
PROKUPECZ (voice-over): Officials are also bracing for protests after Trump urged his supporters to protest his arrest when news of the indictment reportedly neared. So far, the mayor's office says there are no credible threats to the city. And out of an abundance of caution every member of the NYPD -- some 35,000 officers -- are reporting for duty in uniform and prepared for mobilization.
COREY: Oh, the challenge for the NYPD is going to be protecting everybody's First Amendment right, allowing everybody to have their voice heard, and to do so in a way that keeps the peace.
[04:35:04] PROKUPECZ (voice-over): The big question -- will the public see images of Trump as he enters the court where many of his associates have already passed?
PROKUPECZ: And we've learned that there actually will be a camera on the 15th floor in the hallway to capture the former president walking through the hallway into the courtroom. Of course, everyone anticipating what this area will look like on Tuesday.
Behind me, is where defendants where people who are about to be arrested by the Manhattan DA's office surrender. It is certainly expected that that is the way the former president is going to go in here and be taken into custody by the Manhattan DA's office. But we have yet to see as the security officials and the Secret Service here continue to finalize the plans for the former president to surrender on Tuesday.
Shimon Prokupecz, CNN, New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
NOBILO: Just days before Finland is set to become NATO's newest member. The government in Helsinki is heading for a change.
FOSTER: Results in the Finnish Parliamentary elections indicate the Prime Minister Sanna Marin's center left party will lose and she'll be out of office. She conceded defeat to the opposition right wing national coalition party.
NOBILO: Its leader, Petteri Orpo, ran on a pro-business platform and has vowed to cut spending. But his party will have to join with others in order to form a government.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PETTERI ORPO, NATIONAL COALITION PARTY LEADER: This was great victory for Kokoomus. I think that Finnish people want change. They want changes, and now I will start negotiations, open negotiations with all parties. I want to build trust and cooperation between parties and build up the strong minority government.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
FOSTER: Well, whoever becomes Prime Minister will shepherd Finland into NATO. All 30 NATO countries have approved Finland's application.
NOBILO: And now there's an interesting wrangling process, which will take place. Obviously, Sanna Marin's party was center left. Kokoomus -- who they were just speaking about -- is a right leaning party, but their potential part and partner, which would be the Finns Party, the second biggest party is far right and has been called Trumpian before. In fact, some of their candidates have been called into question for using racist political advertising.
So it's whether or not he decides to take the potential reputational hit to essentially align himself with the second biggest party, which is far right or maybe look -- and look to working with some other parties.
FOSTER: And a lot of politics there is going far right. In Sweden has begun further right.
NOBILO: Yes, but it's also slightly deceptive because all three of the main parties, including Sanna Marin's actually increased their vote share a number of seats, but just because of the way it works out Sanna Marin is out of office.
FOSTER: And she'll be missed on the world stage, won't she? She was a towering figure actually outside the country.
NOBILO: A bit of a millennial role model as well. But I think that some of the party stories and also the public spending didn't go well. Digger down well --
FOSTER: Partying and lockdown.
NOBILO: Yes.
FOSTER: It never goes down well.
Switzerland's federal prosecutor has opened an investigation into the state backed takeover of Credit Suisse by the UBS group. That's according to the office of the Swiss Attorney General.
NOBILO: They're looking into potential breaches of the country's criminal law by government officials, regulators and executives at the two banks. Both had agreed on an emergency merger last month to avoid a meltdown in the country's financial system.
FOSTER: But the U.S. is pushing back against surprise cuts in oil production by Saudi Arabia and other OPEC plus countries. A spokesperson for the White House National Security Council called the move unadvisable due to uncertainty in the markets. Riyadh and other producers say they'll start reducing output by more than a million barrels a day from May to the end of the year.
Still ahead, women in Iran continue to face consequences for not wearing a hijab when many of them are now blaming the government.
FOSTER: It was awful.
Plus, Pope Francis had a special message for his well wishers as he led Palm Sunday mass at the Vatican after leaving hospital.
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FOSTER: Pope Francis is thanking all those who prayed for him whilst he was in hospital. The pontiff's remarks came during Palm Sunday mass at St. Peter's Square to kick off the holy week celebrations.
NOBILO: The religious leader was admitted to hospital last week. CNN's Delia Gallagher has more.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) DELIA GALLAGHER, CNN VATICAN CORRESPONDENT: Pope Francis seemed to be in good spirits for the Palm Sunday mass in St. Peter's Square just a day after being released from the hospital for bronchitis. He was sitting down. That had already been scheduled because of his knee problem. However, he did give a homily in which you could hear his voice was a little bit more horse than usual, showing some signs of tiredness. But perhaps that is to be expected.
The Pope spoke about some of those themes that are closest to his heart. About people who are abandoned by society, the elderly, the sick people in jail, migrants. In fact, Pope Francis will be going to a juvenile jail on Thursday in Rome for the traditional washing of the feet ceremony.
Francis also thanked the people in the square and the people around the world for their prayers while he was in the hospital. He was able to go in his Pope mobile amongst the crowds. Some 60,000 gathered in St. Peter's Square -- according to the Vatican -- waving and giving a thumbs up.
It begins a very busy week for this Pope. On Friday he is expected to be in front of Rome's Coliseum at night for the Way of the Cross Ceremony. Then on Saturday, the Easter Vigil and on Sunday, Easter Sunday Mass in St. Peter's Square.
Delia Gallagher, CNN Rome.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
NOBILO: In Iran, many women are condemning a yogurt attack on two women for allegedly not wearing the hijab.
FOSTER: This viral CCTV video shows the moment when a man enters the shop confronts them, then proceeds to dump the tub of yogurt on their heads. The two women were arrested for failing to wear the hijab in public, according to Mizan News Agency.
CNN's Nada Bashir joins us now. I mean, it's just a horrible video to watch. Obviously the two women would have known that they were taking a risk in defying the, you know, obligation to wear the dress code. But it seems like almost what we witness is like a microcosm of the tensions going on right now in Iran. Because you have this awful attack, the women defying the dress code. I think the shopkeeper tried to stop the man because obviously he wasn't -- he wanted to defend the women. Wasn't happy with what he saw. What was your reaction?
NADA BASHIR, CNN REPORTER: Absolutely, I mean, this is what we're seeing day in day out in Iran. Women bravely defying the dress code, which has been mandated upon them by the law in Iran. Which is to wear the hijab and to dress modestly. Clothing that is in a figure hugging necessarily. And we are seeing women still bravely removing their hijabs.
[04:45:00]
Their choice to do so in train stations, in malls and schools. This is ongoing since the protests began back in September. And of
course, we are seeing these attacks in response not only from Iran's morality police, which has been known to be brutal in its response, but also of course, from locals from people walking down the street seeing these women who have removed their hijabs.
And this man in question has now been arrested for disturbing public order. And the shopkeeper, as you mentioned, has also faced a warning as well. But we've heard from Iran's President Ebrahim Raisi, who spoke on Saturday at a conference saying that regardless of your beliefs when it comes to the hijab, this is a matter of law. Take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
EBRAHIM RAISI, IRANIAN PRESIDENT (through translator): But the important matter is that today we have a legal mandate. The legal mandate makes it mandatory for everyone to follow the law.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BASHIR: Now look, we have seen women over the last few months facing severe repercussions not only for removing the hijab but also for taking part in these protests over the last few months. And while these demonstrations have now slowed down somewhat, they are still ongoing. We've seen videos emerging of demonstrations taking place over the weekend.
In fact, in these are well, very much focused on women's rights have now become a movement looking for regime change. This is a significant challenge for the regime and that crackdown either -- on a larger scale, all these sort of smaller incidences like this continues to happen every day in Iran.
NOBILO: And just briefly to clarify, so the shopkeeper potentially facing charges for essentially assisting the women and wanting to apprehend the man.
BASHIR: Absolutely, as you see there in that video, the man actually -- the shopkeeper actually pushes the man outside of the store and then off camera. We don't know what takes place next. But according to the authorities, the shopkeeper now has also faced a warning for disregarding Iranian law, in which case it could be imagined that he was standing up in support for those women who were peacefully trying to buy their goods from the store without their hair covered.
NOBILO: Nada Bashir, thank you.
FOSTER: Bowing to the demands of Israel's far right security minister, Benjamin Netanyahu's government has agreed to create a National Guard.
NOBILO: The controversial move comes days after Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir demanded action on the proposal in exchange for agreeing to a pause in the government's judicial reform plans. Mr. Netanyahu's cabinet did not say who would run the new police force. A committee will determine that. The guard would be tasked with dealing with emergency situations.
FOSTER: But the proposal has already set off protests. Critics fear it would target Israeli Arabs and if Ben-Gvir controls it could become an extremist private militia.
March Madness is almost over, and one of the new champions has already been crowned. We'll have the highlights ahead of the showdown between LSU and Iowa.
[04:50:00]
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
FOSTER: Let's have a look at the stories that people are talking about today.
In the day ahead, NASA will announce the astronauts will circle the moon for the first time in more than 50 years. The crew will include three Americans and one Canadian.
A mission, called Artemis II is scheduled to blast off next year. It will pave the way for Artemis III -- unexpected -- which will take astronauts back to the moon surface as early as 2025. And the price tag for NASA's returned to the moon is estimated at a cool $100 billion.
FOSTER: Is it going to change the way we look at the world?
NOBILO: Obviously, it'll be groundbreaking.
FOSTER: Absolutely.
NOBILO: I know that you're always on the edge of your seat when it comes to intergalactic stories.
Residents in Paris have voted overwhelmingly to ban rental electric scooters from their city. Nearly 90 percent of Parisian supported the ban in a public referendum. It comes after a spate of fatal accidents involving these devices.
FOSTER: I bet a lot of those people were older. Because you see young people on scooters. The city once embraced the use of e-scooters, but now it's set to become the only major European capital to outlaw them. Operators say they're being singled out unfairly. I mean, there are a lot of them.
NOBILO: And potentially hazardous, though I just read that Parisian scooters can go up to around 24 miles an hour, which is four times the walking speed.
FOSTER: Yes, in your around pedestrians. And they do clutter up the pavements. But it's everywhere. I mean, Madrid, Stockholm, they've all got them. And it is interesting to see, you know, it always felt like there was a limit on how many there should be.
NOBILO: Exactly, but then what's the answer to getting around efficiently in environmentally friendly way?
FOSTER: Walking or cycling? Reverting back. I don't know. I think it's going to annoy a lot of young people, and you can see how it has annoyed a lot of older people by having them all over the pavement zipping by.
College basketball is about to go away until November, sadly, but not until they play the ultimate March Madness game. San Diego State and Connecticut will face each other for the men's championship tonight. It will be the first men's championship game for the Yukon Huskies since 2014.
NOBILO: San Diego State will be in the finals for the first time ever, as Coy Wire reports, it follows a high scoring women's final that wasn't as close as many had expected.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
COY WIRE, CNN SPORTS: It was domination in Dallas. LSU led by a Hall of Fame coach with players full of confidence and swagger, dominating Iowa in historic fashion to win the program's first ever national title.
Speaking of fashion LSU coach Kim Mulkey with passion as flashy as her fashion. She's unique and infectious. They're taking on the national player of the year Caitlin Clark in Iowa. The Hawkeyes generational talent, does it again. Unreal hitting threes from way downtown, dropping a game high 30 points 83 pointers, setting a new record for most threes made in the entire turni.
But this was no ordinary performance by the Tigers. How about the buzzer beater before the half by unexpected hero Jasmine Carson coming off the bench to score a team high 22 points when she hadn't scored a single point in their previous three games. Tigers filled buckets championship record 102 points in the end. High profile tough as nails, Angel Reese, their star dominated 15 points, 10 rebounds, another double, double.
ANGEL REESE, LOUISIANA STATE UNIVERSITY FORWARD: Breathe and believe that's all we did all year.
[04:55:00]
Just take a deep breath and just keep believing in each other. Nobody thought we were going to be here. Nobody. As long as we believe in each other -- I don't even know what to say right now. I'm just so happy.
WIRE: Much respect to Iowa, an incredible season. You just can't help but think that they had left everything on the court in the national semifinal against South Carolina, likely, emotionally and physically drained from having taken down the bigger, stronger defending champs.
CAITLIN CLARK, UNIVERSITY OF IOWA GUARD: I hope this team brought them a lot of joy. I understand we came up one win short, but I think we have a lot to be proud of, and a lot to celebrate. WIRE: Coach Kim Mulkey crying tears of joy. She just keeps on winning.
Her players play with fire and passion. And coach -- who's from Louisiana -- couldn't hold back the emotion afterwards, thinking about what it'll be like to take a title back home.
KIM MULKEY, LOUISIANA STATE UNIVERSITY COACH: This is the third time I've been blessed. Never in the history of LSU basketball men or women, have they ever played for a championship to win it. I think my tears are tears of joy. I'm so happy for everybody back home in Louisiana.
WIRE: Kim Mulkey is one of the greatest motivators in sports. She won a college national title as a player herself. Then won an Olympic gold as a player in 1984. She went on to coach Baylor University to their three national titles and now takes LSU to the top just two seasons after arriving. Congrats to the Tigers, national champions for the first time.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
FOSTER: Interesting to see the coach becoming one of the real stars out of all of the March Madness. Thanks for joining us here on CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Max Foster.
NOBILO: And I'm Bianca Nobilo EARLY START with Omar Jimenez is coming up next, and we'll see the same time tomorrow.
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