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Former President Trump arraigns in New York; Events prior to the Explosion at a Cafe in St. Petersburg now Caught on Video; Finland Raises their flag to Formally Welcome the country's NATO Membership; Taiwanese President set to meet U.S. House Speaker, China slaps a Warning Should the Meeting Push Through; Donald Trump Attacks Judge of His Arraignment; Gun Control March in Tennessee; Expect More Severe Weather; Hope and Faith at the Frontlines in Ukraine; Controversy of French Minister Playboy Cover. Aired 3-4a ET
Aired April 04, 2023 - 03:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[03:00:00]
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LAILA HARRAK, CNN ANCHOR: Hello and welcome to our viewers joining us from the United States and all around the world. I'm Laila Harrak.
We're just hours away from Donald Trump's arraignment in a New York court house, an unprecedented moment in history as the former president prepares to face criminal charges.
New video captures the moments before the blast that killed a pro-war Russian blogger. What we know about the woman in the video, now in the custody of Russian authorities.
And serenity amidst devastating nation, how one pastor delivers hope in a sustenance to Ukrainian residents caught on the front lines of war.
UNKNOWN (voice-over): Live from CNN Center, this is "CNN Newsroom" with Laila Harrak.
HARRAK: Donald Trump will surrender to authorities in New York in just a few hours. But the TV audiences here in the U.S., and around the world won't be able to see it live.
The judge in the case has rejected requests to televise the proceedings. Instead, several photographers will be allowed to take still pictures before the arraignment gets underway. An aid to the former president tells CNN, Mr. Trump has been huddling with legal and campaign advisers at Trump Towers.
Sources say he's facing more than 30 charges related to business fraud in connection to hush money payments to adult film star Stormy Daniels. One Trump attorney calls the case a bunch of garbage and says Trump won't be able to get a fair trial in New York City.
More now from CNN's Senior Legal Affairs Correspondent, Paula Reid. (BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
PAULA REID, CNN SENIOR LEGAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Former President Trump is back in New York ahead of his historic court appearance, as they prepare for the first ever arraignment of a former president, Trump's lawyers have been on the attack.
JOE TACOPINA, DONALD TRUMP'S DEFENSE LAWYER: The team will look at every potential issue that we will be able to challenge and we will challenge. And of course, I very much anticipated motion to dismiss coming because there's no law that fits this.
REID (voice-over): But those legal challenges will have to wait for the charges to be unsealed, which may not be until Trump's arrangement. As Trump faces criminal charges for the first time, he just added another white collar attorney, Todd Blanche, to his defense team. He previously represented former Trump campaign manager Paul Manafort. A grand jury returned an indictment Thursday after years- long probe into a hush money payments made to adult film star Stormy Daniels in the days leading up to the 2016 election.
CNN has learned the charges include more than 30 counts related to business fraud. Trump is expected to be fingerprinted just like any other defendant, but it's not clear if he will have a mugshot, according to sources, who say there are concerns about whether it could leak in violation of state law.
ALINA HABBA, ATTORNEY FOR DONALD TRUMP: Mugshots are for people so that you recognize who they are. He is the most recognized face in the world, let alone the country right now, so there's no need for that. There's no need for the theatrics
REID (voice-over): On social media, Trump has attacked Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, calling him corrupt. He even went so far as to attack judge Juan Marchan, who will oversee the case, alleging the judge treated Trump's companies viciously when they went to trial last year.
The judge presided over the prosecution of Trump Organization CFO Alan Weisberg, as well as the tax fraud trial in which the family's company was found guilty of conspiracy and falsifying business records unrelated to the hush money scheme. Trump's lawyers tried to clean up his attacks against the judge.
TACOPINA: I have no reason to believe the judges by. So I've not been before him on this matter.
JAMES TRUSTY, ATTORNEY FOR DONALD TRUMP: I think a fair minded judge is likely to recognize there's something fundamentally wrong that we're crossing the Rubicon with this political persecution.
REID (on-camera): On Tuesday, former President Trump will appear at the courthouse here in Manhattan for his arraignment and this will be a historic event. This is the first time a former president of the United States will make an official appearance in front of a judge on criminal charges. Paula Reid, CNN, New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HARRAK: Joining me now from Los Angeles. Ron Brownstein is a CNN Senior Political Analyst, and a senior editor at "The Atlantic."
Ron, always great to have you with us. When Mr. Trump's indictment was first announced, it was huge news, and it is even bigger news, right now. We're just hours away from his arraignment. As anticipation builds, how would you describe this moment?
[03:04:54]
RON BROWNSTEIN, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: It's historic. It's sad, and it may only be the beginning of the process. You know, I've said that, obviously, the indict -- criminal indictment of the former president takes the U.S. into uncharted waters.
Well, we are not nearly as far from shore as we may be in six or eight months. I mean, there are at least three other serious criminal investigations underway, and we may see this scene repeated multiple times before anyone begins to vote in the Republican primaries and caucuses next winter.
HARRAK: What does this case due to Mr. Trump's reelection prospects, and his approval ratings? Is this going to help or hurt him with voters?
BROWNSTEIN: The answer is both. This is the dilemma for the Republican Party. There, I think, is no question at this point that the threat of indictment is strengthening him as a candidate for the Republican nomination, that there is a clear rally around the flag circling the wagons effect going on, plus all of the other Republican major -- possible Republican candidates have chosen not to use this to highlight potential vulnerabilities of Trump but to really kind of hug him and to echo his complaints that this is a witch hunt or a political hit jobs.
So, on the one hand, I think it is very clearly. The evidence I think is incontrovertible that it is strengthening him for the Republican nomination. Simultaneously, it may well be weakening him as a potential general election candidate, if he does win that nomination.
I mean, Laila, this indictment resurfaces all of the issues that caused so many swing voters and independent voters to pull away from Trump over the course of his presidency, even if they like some of the policies that he was pursuing, the chaos, the vitriol, the unpredictability, the scandal.
CNN poll out today, 60 percent of Americans say the indictment is justified and those are the favorable view of him have fallen to only 34 percent. It is, in some ways, the most difficult possible situations where the Republican skeptical of Trump, because this is both strengthening him in the near term against his Republican rivals but potentially weakening and if he does, in fact, win the nomination. HARRAK: Let's turn our attention now to President Biden. He has now
repeatedly declined to comment on Mr. Trump's indictment.
BROWNSTEIN: Absolutely. And look, Trump wants to frame this. And Kevin McCarthy, and even as I said, several other Republicans running against Trump in '24 want to frame this as a political contest that it is the Democratic party going after Donald Trump. And in, you know, Trump's formulation, they're only going after me because they disdain and want to silence you.
Biden is not going to do anything in his power to try to give that more oxygen. I mean, he is just not going to, I think, in any way, and perhaps maybe the most minimal way possible throughout comment on this because he does not want to give Trump any further ammunition to present this and a political frame.
And, frankly, you know, I think there is a broad view among Democrats after the '22 election. Maybe this will be wishful thinking. But after the Trump-backed candidates performed so poorly in the states of the absolute tipping point of American elections, Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin, Democrats generally believe that Trump is the easiest Republican for them to beat and in part because he's, you know, almost as old as Biden is.
So there's also an incentive for Democrats to stay out of the way given the dynamic that we were just discussing that this may make it more likely that Trump wins the nomination while simultaneously weakening him if he, in fact, does become that nominee.
HARRAK: And Ron, final question for you. A historic event, and probably the most important part of that event is the unsealing of the indictment.
BROWNSTEIN: Yes.
HARRAK: How do you look at this?
BROWNSTEIN: Yeah, I mean, you know, we -- we've in the way -- the way the modern, you know, political and media world works, we spent a lot of time speculating. We don't really know what's in the indictment. We were going to learn a lot more about that tomorrow.
I mean, there's been a lot of opinion and kind of chatter that this is potentially a weak case. It's a stretch. There's been a counter push back against that from experts on New York law who say, that they kind of the underlying principles in this case have in fact been applied and adjudicated and won by prosecutors, multiple times in the state of New York.
All of that tomorrow will kind of, you know, move into the rear view mirror and we will actually have a first sense of what the case is. We will not, however, probably for many months to come have a full picture of what the evidence is. And I would only say we have to go back to where we -- where we started this conversation that, you know, in six or eight months, this may be somewhat lower down on the list of legal challenges for the former president that we are discussing if he is indicted by a grand jury in Georgia over trying to overturn the election there or if he is indicted by the federal prosecutors over his handling of classified documents or his role in trying to block the certification of Joe Biden's victory.
[03:10:05]
You know, this may be the first, it may not be the most consequential of the legal challenges that he faces between now and when the first voters go to the polls next winter.
HARRAK: Ron Brownstein, thank you so much, as always.
BROWNSTEIN: Thanks for having me.
HARRAK: Security is ramped up across New York ahead of the arraignment. The mayor says there are no specific credible threats to the city. But he warned Trump supporters to behave, saying New York will not allow violence or vandalism of any kind.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MAYOR ERIC ADAMS (D-NY): While there may be some rabble rousers, thinking about coming to our city tomorrow, a message is clear and simple, control yourselves, not a playground for your misplaced anger.
As CNN's Shimon Prokupecz shows us how today's events are expected to unfold.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SHIMON PROKUPECZ, CNN SENIOR CRIME AND JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: The president's motorcade will come down this street. This is One Hogan Place, where the Manhattan DA's offices and that is where he's going to surrender.
He will walk through those doors and almost immediately be taken up to the seventh floor, where the police officers and other officials from the DA's office will take him into custody, and technically, he will be under arrest.
And then after that happens, he will be taken up to the 15th floor, which is attached to this building here, the courthouse that's attached to this building, and that's where he will be arraigned. That's where he will see the judge. The charges will be formally announced, and then we'll hear more information from prosecutors and obviously his attorneys.
Security all across this area now already tightened. We're seeing a lot of these metal barriers all across this building, surrounding this building as police officials, law enforcement officials, little concerned over who may show up some of the protesters, some of the supporters for the -- for the former president. And so, they're going to have all of these security measures in place.
Streets around there will be closed. Certainly, this street here will be closed while the former president is inside. And then once the arraignment is complete, once he's finished seeing the judge, we expect that he will leave, head to the airport and then, take -- go back to Florida. Back to you.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HARRAK: "Reuters" is reporting at least one person has died and several have been injured in a train derailment in The Netherlands. Emergency services now say a passenger train collided with construction equipment on the track in the western city of Voorschoten, causing the passenger train to leave the rails. At one point, rescue teams who are also working to put out a fire that erupted at the scene.
New images now from inside a St. Petersburg cafe, just moments before an explosion ripped through killing a prominent pro-war Russian military blogger. The latest video shows an interaction between Vladen Tatarsky and a woman who would later be arrested by Russian authorities in connection with the blast. Take a look.
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CNN's Fred Pleitgen has more.
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FRED PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The moment a massive blast ripped through a St. Petersburg cafe, wounding dozens and killing prominent Russian military blogger, Vladen Tatarsky. This video shows the run up to the blast as Tatarsky received a statuette authorities believed was laced with explosives, allegedly given to him by this woman, Daria Trepova, now in custody.
In an interrogation video released by Russian investigators, they asked if she why she was detained. Trepova says for giving Tatarsky the statuette.
It's not clear whether Trepova was being coerced to speak in the video, but Russian authorities released images showing a woman looking like Trepova entering the cafe before the blast.
After giving the box with the statuette to the host, Tripova went to a different part of the room, a witness says. Investigators asked her where she got the statuette from which she declines to answer.
The Kremlin called the killing an act of terror, and investigators say they believe Ukrainian Intelligence Agencies and the organization of jailed opposition leader Alexei Navalny were involved. Supporters of Navalny have denied that, while Ukraine has brushed off the allegations altogether.
Vladen Tatarsky's real name was Maxim Fomin. Military bloggers like him have become extremely influential since Russia's full-on invasion of Ukraine. Tatarsky was a staunch supporter of the war but sometimes critical of Russia's military leadership, which he felt was not effective enough. [03:15:02]
We will beat everyone, we will kill everyone, we will rob everyone who needs to be robbed. Everything will be the way we love, God is with us, he said inside the Kremlin after Russia annexed four Ukrainian regions last year.
The St. Petersburg cafe that was blown up was once affiliated with the head of the Wagner private military company, the spearhead of Russia's efforts to take Bakhmut in eastern Ukraine. Wagner boss, Yevgeny Prigozhin, even commemorating the bloggers' death.
Behind me is the Bakhmut City administrative building, he says. This is a Russian flag. It says on the flag in good memory of Vladen Tatarski. But Russia's pro-war establishment fields it's under attack. Vladen Tatarsky was acquainted with hard line political scientist Daria Dugena (ph), who was assassinated in Moscow last year. The Kremlin, then also pointing its finger at Kyiv.
This is a regime that has been behind killings for many years since 2014, the Kremlin spokesman said. This is why the special military operation is being carried out.
(on-camera): And Daria Trepova has since been moved to Moscow, where she is in detention, and she has another preventive detention hearing that is going to take place on Tuesday. Meanwhile, the Russian government has moved to award the Order of Courage of the Russian Federation to this military blogger for what they say is bravery in the line of his duty.
Fred Pleitgen, CNN, Berlin
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HARRAK: Russian State Media reports that detained American journalist Evan Gershkovich has filed an appeal against his arrest. So far, no date has been set for hearing that appeal. Gershkovich was arrested last week after Russia accused him of trying to obtain state secrets, an accusation denied by his employer, "The Wall Street Journal." He's being held in a pretrial detention center in Moscow until May 29th. He faces up to 20 years in prison.
Finland is said to be formally welcomed into the NATO alliance today. An empty flagpole mount sits among the other NATO nations' flags outside the headquarters in Brussels, where the Finnish flag will be raised in the coming hours. Finland's membership coincides with a meeting -- with a meeting among NATO foreign ministers. They include U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, who will hold one-on-one talks with Ukraine's Foreign Minister.
CNN's Nadir Basihr is monitoring this historic event for you as she joins us now from London.
Nadir, Finland in pole position about to become a full-fledged member of NATO but without Sweden. NADIR BASHIR, CNN REPORTER: Absolutely without Sweden. It was back in
may of last year, the two nations announced their intention to apply for NATO membership jointly and we have seen over the last few months intense negotiations between Finland, Sweden and crucially Turkey, which was one of the key hold downs when it came to approving and ratifying Finland and Sweden's application to join the alliance.
And just lost a week, Turkey's parliament finally approved Finland's application after we've seen policy changes in both Finland and Sweden. But at this stage, Turkey's position on Sweden has not changed.
The Turkish government accusing Sweden of harboring groups it considers to be terrorist organizations, namely Kurdish actors and organizations. At this stage, we are expecting today to see Finland formally welcoming the NATO alliance becoming the 31st member we've heard from the NATO secretary general, Jens Stoltenberg, speaking yesterday he still has hopes for Sweden but addressed Finland's accession, describing this as a historic moment for the alliance. Take a listen
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JENS STOLOTENBERG, SECRETARY GENERAL, NATO: This is a historic week. We will race the Finnish flag for the first time here at the NATO headquarters. It will be a good day for Finland's security, for Nordic security and for NATO as a whole.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BASHIR: For NATO as a whole and also for Sweden, according to Stoltenberg. We had last month from Sweden's own Prime Minister saying that wouldn't acknowledge the reality that it looked likely that Finland would gain accession ahead of Sweden but that it was a matter of when, not if, Sweden would join the alliance, and they are still in talks with Turkey as it stands.
HARRAK: And Nadir, any reactions from Russia now that Finland will become a member of NATO?
BASHIR: We're looking at the prospect of NATO expansion on Russia's borders has long been criticized by the Kremlin. Finland, of course, shares a border around 813 miles long with Russia, and this has been a key concern for the Kremlin.
[03:20:01]
We've previously had from the Kremlin, describing the prospect of Finland succession as a mistake that would have severe consequences, although there's no elaboration on what those consequences might be.
But, of course, Moscow has continuously and repeatedly incited the prospect of NATO expansion as a key justification in Moscow's view of its invasion of Ukraine, but it has to be said that its invasion of Ukraine has only gone so far as to bolster NATO's unity and strength along Russia's borders. And of course, the prospect of Sweden now potentially gaining NATO membership will be another key concern from Moscow, Laila.
CNN's Nadir Bashir reporting from London. Thank you so much, Nadir.
Still to come. The U.S. House Speaker is sent to meet with Taiwan's president this week. Details on the talks and how Beijing is reacting.
And we're learning more about what intelligence that Chinese spy balloon might have collected as it flew over U.S. airspace in February. Details next.
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HARRAK: U.S. House Speaker Kevin McCarthy has confirmed that he will meet with Taiwan's president, Tsai Ing-Wen this week. China is condemning the meeting, saying it's firmly opposed to any form of official exchanges between the U.S. and Taiwan, which Beijing claims as its own.
President Tsai will arrive in the U.S. after wrapping up a trip to Central America, where she has been shoring up ties with Belize and Guatemala, two of Taiwan's remaining regional allies.
CNN's Anna Coren is in Hong Kong for you with the latest. Anna, will this put an even bigger strain on already fraught U.S.-China relations?
ANNA COREN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yeah, Laila, we certainly expect so. We've just heard from China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesperson. They are protesting this upcoming meeting between Taiwan's President Tsai Ing-Wen and the U.S. House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, which has been confirmed by both parties. Let's have a listen to what the MOFA spokesperson said a short time ago.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MAO NING, CHINESE FOREIGN MINISTRY SPOKESPERSON (through translator): China firmly opposes the U.S.' arrangement for Taiwan's transit trip to the U.S., and any meeting between her and House Speaker Kevin McCarthy is the highest ranking official of the U.S. government because it seriously contravenes the One China principle and provisions in the three China-U.S. joint communique (ph), and that gravely undermines China's sovereignty and territorial integrity.
We urge the U.S. to abide by the One China principle and provisions in the three China-U.S. joints communique (ph), not to allow Tsai Ing- Wen's trip to the U.S., not to arrange for any meeting or contact between her and the U.S. political figures and officials. The Chinese side will closely monitor the situation as it -- as it's developed and resolutely defend our sovereignty and territorial integrity.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
[03:25:00]
COREN: Now, a few hours ago, we heard from Taiwan that said it's not for China to intervene in their affairs. A spokesperson for President Tsai said, it is the right of the 23 million people of Taiwan for a democratic Taiwan to have exchanges with other democracies. China has no say in this matter.
Kevin McCarthy's office, he also issued a statement confirming that this bipartisan meeting will take place on Wednesday, at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library, just outside Los Angeles. McCarthy, of course, will be the highest ranking U.S. official to meet with the Taiwanese leader on American soil.
Now, this will certainly inflame an already fractured relationship between the United States and China. Tsai has been in Central America for an official visit to Guatemala and Belize, and it was her stopover in New York last week that angered China during a speech.
She said that Taiwan's relationship with the U.N. has never been closer. You know, China last week accused the U.S. and Taiwan of collusion in planning Tsai's trip and threatened to quote, "Resolutely fight back," if this meeting between McCarthy and the Taiwanese President takes place. The White House, interesting, Laila, is yet to weigh in.
HARRAK: Anna Coren reporting for you live from Hong Kong. Thank you so much.
And we're learning more about the technical capabilities of the Chinese spy balloon that was shot down off the U.S. Coast -- East Coast back in February while the incident further escalated tensions between Washington and Beijing.
CNN National Security Reporter Natasha Bertrand has the details.
(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)
NATASHA BERTRAND, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY REPORTER: The suspected Chinese spy balloon that was hovering over the United States before being shot down off the coast of South Carolina back in February was able to take some images and collect some signals intelligence over sensitive U.S. military installations across the United States.
Now, the U.S. government is saying that they were able to take steps to mitigate the kind of intelligence that the Chinese were able to gather. But at the same time, we are told that the Chinese government was able to remotely erase the data on that spy balloon, making it possible that the U.S. government will not ever know for sure what the Chinese government was able to glean from that balloon.
In other words, the Chinese government may have been able to wipe all of the data on that device before the U.S. government was able to get its hands on it. So the U.S. government does have some idea here of what the Chinese were able to gather because they were able to determine that there were some pictures as well as some signs that there were some signals intelligence gathered by this balloon.
But at this point, the U.S. is saying that they do not believe that any of this intelligence at the Chinese gathered anyway was more sophisticated than what Chinese satellites are able to gather as they orbit above the country on a daily basis.
Now, it remains unclear how much longer the FBI is going to be investigating this balloon. They have had it, of course, now for well over -- for about two months now. And they have gleaned some important new information about the algorithms that power the balloon software, for example, and how it is actually able to be maneuvered across its targets.
So what we're reading for now, of course, is a fuller picture by the U.S. government about what the balloons capabilities actually are, and of course, about the kind of intelligence it was able to gather about the sensitive U.S. military sites.
Natasha Bertrand, CNN, at the Pentagon.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HARRAK: Australia is the latest country to announce a ban of the TikTok social media app on all government devices. Attorney General Mark Dreyfus says the move will go into effect as soon as possible. It comes amid a major push by the U.S. and other western countries to keep the Chinese-owned app off state devices over privacy concerns. TikTok tells CNN that it is extremely disappointed in the move, saying it's driven by politics, not by fact.
When Donald Trump becomes a criminal defendant today, he will be subject to a legal system he can't control, and he's already lashing out at the judge who will play a role in his fate.
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[03:30:00]
HARRAK: Donald Trump is do in court in the coming hours to face criminal charges after he became the first past or present U.S. president to be indicted. He arrived in New York on Monday for the upcoming arraignment with a huge security detail. The Secret Service, New York Police and court officers will all be coordinating security. Mr. Trump is believed to be spending the night at Trump Tower, but when he gets to court cameras will not be rolling. The judge ruled that only still photographs will be allowed prior to the hearing.
Meanwhile, Mr. Trump is already attacking that New York's Supreme Court justice who will soon -- who he we will soon face in court. He called Juan Merchan "a Trump hating judge" on social media without evidence. It's the latest in a series of attacks that could backfire in a legal arena. More now from CNN's Tom Foreman.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
TOM FOREMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): A billionaire former president and an adult film star allegations of an affair and hush money and in the middle judge Juan Merchan, born in Colombia, immigrated to the U.S. as a child, the first in his family to go to college. Merchan started in the Manhattan D.A.s office and has been tied to the New York State Supreme Court for years, handling big cases and earning big praise for his no nonsense approach. So, is that good enough for Team Trump? Sort of.
JOE TACOPINA, ATTORNEY FOR DONALD TRUMP: I have no issue with this judge whatsoever.
DANA BASH, CNN CHIEF POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, you client does. He says that he's --
TACOPINA: -- reputation. Well -- but my client has a right to have an issue with everything. He's been politically persecuted.
FOREMAN (voice-over): On his Truth Social app, Donald Trump, who says he's done nothing wrong, has posted, "The judge assigned to my witch hunt case hates me and railroaded my 75-year-old former CFO, Allen Weisselberg to take a plea deal." Merchan did preside over that case, sentenced Trump's longtime money man to five months in jail for a decade long tax scheme and fine the Trump organization more than a million dollars.
But the judge also said he would have made the sentence longer, only he had promised not to as part of the plea deal. So, Weisselberg's lawyer says, "The judge was efficient, practical, well-prepared, accessible and a man of his word."
Almost a dozen years ago, Merchan presided over the sensational case of the so-called Soccer Mom Madam. He's shown compassion to defendants with mental health issues, toughness to violent criminals.
STEVE BANNON, FORMER TRUMP WHITE HOUSE CHIEF STRATEGIST: They will never shut me up. They'll have to kill me first.
FOREMAN (voice-over): And even as he also presides over a fraud case against Trump insider Steve Bannon, who says he too, is innocent, court watchers warn this judge has no tolerance for delays or grandstanding in his court.
TIMOTHY PARLATORE, ATTORNEY FOR DONALD TRUMP: I know Judge Merchan. I've tried a case in front of him before. He can be tough. I don't think that it's necessarily going to be something that's going to change his ability to evaluate the facts and the law in this case.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HARRAK: That report from CNN's Tom Foreman. Well, joining me now from New York, civil rights attorney and legal affairs commentator Areva Martin. Areva, so wonderful to have you here with us on this momentous day. There have been new developments on the eve of this -- of his arraignment.
[03:34:59]
Mr. Trump made a last-minute addition to his legal team. What does that signal to you?
AREVA MARTIN, CIVIO RIGHTS ATTORNEY: It signals that Donald Trump understands the seriousness of the charges that he faces and the unprecedented nature of these charges. We know that he has been publicly making very bold statements about this being a witch hunt, about this being political persecution, about him not really feeling as if this is going to damage him at all in his, you know, bid to be president of the United States again.
But we are learning that behind the scenes, his lawyers have been negotiating with the Manhattan District Attorney's Office, trying to negotiate everything from whether a mug shot will be taken. So, I think the public facing Donald Trump is very different than the private Donald Trump and his legal team.
HARRAK: And what can you tell us about the New York judge presiding over Mr. Trump's case?
MARTIN: Well, we know that this judge was the same judge that presided over the case brought by this district attorney's office as it relates to the Trump Organization. So, Trump is very familiar with the judge. We know Trump has been very critical of this judge. We are learning that the lawyers for Trump planned to file a motion to have the judge recused from the case, to have the case moved out of New York City to argue that he can't get a fair trial.
So, we know that Trump has been very critical of the judicial process, particularly when judges make decisions or rulings that are not in his favor. So, I expect that he will continue unless he decides to listen to counsel, but we should expect him to continue the kind of vitriol towards this judge and we know towards this district attorney.
HARRAK: Now, Mr. Trump is no stranger to a court cases as he gears up for this first hearing. What do you think his legal team's approach might be going by, you know, how he has managed other legal cases. I know this is unprecedented.
MARTIN: Yeah. I suspect that this new addition who is a former U.S. attorney who has represented several of the individuals in Trump's orbit, that they're going to tell him that he needs to be quiet basically, that everything that he says, every statement that he makes, every comment that he makes can be used against him. I would suspect that they are telling him that these are very serious charges.
There are some reports that he's not going to make any statements while in New York, although he is planning this press conference when he returns to Florida, but he is for the first time being held accountable in a court of law, and I cannot imagine that his legal team is not trying to impress upon him the seriousness of the charges that he faces.
HARRAK: Now, the reaction from Mr. Trump and some prominent Republicans to the indictment has been very straight and very critical of the D.A. going as far as denouncing Mr. Alvin Bragg. Could this backfire?
MARTIN: Oh, absolutely. Absolutely. One thing that you don't want to do as a defendant in a case, ongoing criminal case is be critical, either of the prosecution or the judge, and definitely not the judicial system and the jury. And we know Donald Trump, his criticism has no boundaries. It has no ends and all of the statements that he's making can potentially, you know, impact the jurors that are going to hear this case and could have a negative impact on those jurors.
So, that's why defendants are told not to give statements, not to engage with the press, not to talk about a case when they are facing a trial. But you know, Donald Trump doesn't tend to listen to good legal counsel.
HARRAK: And final question for you, Areva. How will the numerous legal woes facing Mr. Trump affect his reelection bid, if at all?
MARTIN: Well, according to him, and some of his most, I guess, avid supporters, it will help him that these charges are going to make him a martyr, that this indictment and any future indictments only strengthens the basis support of him. But I can't help but believe some of the reporting that's coming out that there are more independent voters.
They are more traditional, what I call traditional Republicans who are very concerned about having a president or someone be the top candidate for presidency who is under indictment, who was facing criminal trials. So, there are lots of folks, lots of experts who believe that these criminal trials are going to have a negative impact on his election and that they may cause him to in fact lose the GOP nomination.
HARRAK: Areva Martin in New York. Areva, as always, grateful for your insights.
MARTIN: Thank you. Good to see you.
HARRAK: The New York indictment is just one of several legal challenges facing Donald Trump.
[03:39:57]
A district attorney in Georgia is investigating election meddling, a special counsel is looking into the events leading up to January 6th, and Trump's handling of classified documents. CNN's Katelyn Polantz has new reporting on that investigation.
KATELYN POLANTS, CNN SENIOR CRIME AND JUSTICE REPORTER: The Justice Department in a federal criminal investigation around classified records is right now nailing down how Donald Trump himself handled classified records at Mar-a-Lago and people who may have witnessed Trump with those records at the clubhouse.
Now, this is new reporting through sources. My colleague, Evan Perez and I have been able to nail down that some of the witnesses have provided information to a federal grand jury things like notes, texts, e-mail, photographs, all of the things that will allow the Justice Department to potentially button up a case and put it into its final stage as they wrap up an investigation into Donald Trump, his handling of classified records after the presidency and possible obstruction of justice.
Another thing that's significant here is that we now know through Kaitlan Collins reporting here at CNN that Molly Michael, an assistant to Donald Trump, she turned over her notes to the grand jury investigation showing what Donald Trump was doing and also whom he was meeting with at Mar-a-Lago at key moments when the Justice Department is looking into the handling of records over the past year or so.
We also know on top of that, that there are witnesses being forced into the grand jury now to tell a story for the second time, stories that they have already told to the FBI. So that is the sort of thing where the Justice Department is locking in testimony under oath at the grand jury. And I hear that the grand jury activity in the coming weeks is going to be at a pretty significant clip.
All of this taken together. We don't know where this will lead and if Donald Trump will be charged or if others would be charged with a crime in this federal criminal investigation, but we do know that this is very serious legal jeopardy for the former president of the United States, even while he's facing this totally separate case in New York City for his indictment. Katelyn Polantz, CNN, Washington.
HARRAK: Crowds in Tennessee gathered at the state capitol on Monday calling for stricter gun control laws just one week after a deadly school shooting in Nashville. Hundreds of parents, students and faculty from schools in Nashville walked out of classes to participate in the March for Our Lives. Many were dressed in red to honor the victims killed at the Covenant school.
Marchers held signs with messages directed at lawmakers like, why are your guns more important than my life, and it ends with us. Here's what one of the rally's organizers had to say.
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EZRI TYLER, NATIONAL ORGANIZER, MARCH FOR OUR LIVES: But if legislators really wanted to protect our kids, they would take action against what is killing every single day. So, our message to everyone here today is we know it's not drag queens. We know it's not books that is harming our children. It's guns and we need action today.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HARRAK: Meantime, police say the Nashville shooter, quote, "acted totally alone" when opening fire at the Covenant school. The FBI and local police are still reviewing writings left behind by Audrey Hale, but they say it's clear the shooter spent months planning to, quote, "commit mass murder."
Three children, a school custodian, a substitute teacher and the head of the school were killed as the shooter fired 152 rounds during the attack. No motive has been released by authorities so far.
The U.S. National Weather Service says at least 50 tornadoes ripped across parts of the midwestern and southern U.S. from Friday to early Saturday alone, and they're still trying to get the official count for the entire weekend. More bad weather is in store for those regions as well. CNN meteorologist Derek Van Dam has more on the severe weather from Arkansas.
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UNKNOWN: Holy (BLEEP).
DEREK VAN DAM, CNN METEOROLOGIST (voice-over): More severe weather forecast to areas already hammered by deadly storms. Over the weekend, more than 50 tornadoes ripped through the South, Midwest and Northeast, leaving at least 32 dead.
UNKNOWN: We have had tornadoes in Wynne, Arkansas before, but it was never (inaudible).
VAN DAM (voice-over): According to the storm prediction center, another widespread severe weather outbreak is expected Tuesday afternoon into the overnight in the Mississippi valley and parts of the Midwest, threatening to bring more strong tornadoes, large hail and damaging winds.
Many of the tornadoes are expected after dark, making this even more dangerous.
SARAH HUCKABEE SANDERS, GOVERNOR OF ARKANSAS: Pay attention to the notices and the weather alerts that are coming and listen to your city and local officials that are giving you guidance.
[03:44:58]
VAN DAM (voice-over): Residents in Sullivan, Indiana salvaging precious belongings after narrowly escaping death.
UNKNOWN: I just had her a week ago so; it was really scary.
VAN DAM (voice-over): Madison Collins hid in the bathroom with her newborn.
UNKNOWN: This is where we were at right here in this bathtub. She was in her car seat and we're all kind of just hunkered over for, you know, and we could feel our neighbor's house suddenly crashing against ours. It was terrifying.
VAN DAM (voice-over): New satellite images show tornado damages in the town of Wynne, Arkansas essentially splitting it in half. And the damages to this high school football field.
UNKNOWN: You didn't realize and you had no idea it was doing this much damage out here. It was so fast.
VAN DAM (voice-over): Residents in Tennessee picking up the pieces.
UNKNOWN: This is surreal. You know, you just -- we've lived in this house 44 years. And, you know, everything we worked for and paid for is gone.
VAN DAM (on camera): The number of tornado related fatality so far this year is more than double than the entire year last year, with the threat of more severe weather and violent tornadoes looming over the residents' minds here in Wynne, Arkansas and across the nation, it is time to take the peak of tornado season seriously. I'm CNN meteorologist Derek Van Dam in Wynne, Arkansas.
HARRAK: Villagers who remain in the war-ravaged towns of eastern Ukraine are barely surviving, but they're finding strength in a traditional way through faith. We'll meet a fearless pastor who was trying to keep their hopes alive.
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HARRAK: We're following developments in Ukraine where its armed forces say 14 out of 17 drones launched by Russia were shot down overnight. Most of them were over the Odessa region. Meantime, the military is reporting little change to the eastern frontlines, but says Ukrainian troops have repelled dozens of Russian attacks in the Donetsk region in just the past day. The city of Bakhmut remains a key focus with Ukrainians saying Russian forces continue to storm it in an attempt to take control.
But Ukrainian officials are dismissing a claim by the head of Wagner that in legal terms, Russian forces hold Bakhmut. Meantime, we're learning a very tragic milestone more than a year after Russia's unprovoked invasion. UNICEF's executive director says at least 501 children have been killed in Ukraine but warns the real number is likely much higher.
For the few who remain in the battered villages on the eastern front lines, almost all they have left is their faith. Many are elderly or disabled or shell shocked by war. But every week, a pastor comes to give them what they feel they need the most, bread and hope. CNN's Ben Wedeman went along.
[03:50:00]
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BEN WEDEMAN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Donning his flak jacket, Pastor Igor Yershof of the Protestant Bethlehem Christian Church prepares for his rounds. Today, he is conducting services in the village of Maximilianivka just a few miles from Russian lines. Church is a hurried affair, just 45 minutes of no- frills sermon and prayer, to tarry is dangerous.
A Russian artillery shell recently landed next door, spraying shrapnel on the walls, destroying the roof, shattering the windows. Yet when the faithful emerged, there is momentarily a sense of serenity. It calms your soul, says Natalya. We feel that we are with God and that he protects us. But for the handful of residents, Maximilianivka is a ghost town. The few still here depend upon the kindness of others for their sustenance, including bread brought by Pastor Igor, one loaf per person.
(On camera): Once a week every Sunday this is the only time these people can get fresh bread, fresh bread, it's still warm.
WEDEMAN (voice-over): But man cannot live on bread alone. Today, says Pastor Igor, hope is the most precious thing for people here on the front lines. Afterwards we went with the pastor to a nearby bomb shelter, an abandoned tuberculosis sanatorium. At the shelter entrance, Alexi shows us where parts of the rocket struck a month ago.
That day, he recalls, when rain began to fall and others went below, then the rocket hit. Ii it had been five minutes earlier, he says, no one would have survived. Down below, they have electricity, even satellite television. Ana distracts herself by cooking. She never leaves the shelter.
It's horrible, she tells me. Three times shells exploded next to me once when I was at home, one exploded nearby. I was alone. Everything was smashed. Now, I can't go outside, even for five minutes. Here there is shelter, but no peace of mind. Ben Wedeman, CNN, Maximilianivka, Ukraine.
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HARRAK: She has long been a vocal advocate for women's rights. Well, now this French minister appears on the cover of "Playboy" magazine and some of her supporters are upset. Why she says doing it, ahead.
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[03:55:00]
MELISSA BELL, CNN PARIS CORRESPONDENT: -- been changed quite a lot these last few years. This is an article about promoting, says Marlene Schiappa, women's rights and gay rights and attracting attention to those causes. Marlene Schiappa who rose to prominence when Emmanuel Macron was first elected and made equality minster, had been known as feminist author before that.
That is part of the questioning that's come around her decision to grant the interview and to appear on the cover as has the forthcoming question of the reshuffle that we expect here in France on the back of the social protest that we've seen over pension reform with many on her own side taking the opportunity to lay into her decision.
It is a time of great political uncertainty here in France, but also people point out an ill-timed decision in terms of how it looks in the context of those ongoing protest over pension reform. It is on Thursday that the unions will be back on the street for another day of mass strike action and protests. Melissa Bell, CNN, Paris.
HARRAK: NASA has named the four astronauts who will orbit the moon for the first time in more than half a century. Reid Wiseman, Christina Koch, Victor Glover and Jeremy Hansen are scheduled for blast off next year. Koch will be the first woman. Hansen will be the first Canadian and Glover will be the first person of color to conduct a lunar mission. Glover says it should serve as an inspiration back here on Earth.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
VICTOR GLOVER, NASA ASTRONAUT: I pray that God will bless this mission, but I also pray that we can continue to serve as source of inspiration for cooperation and peace, not just between nations but in our own nation. Thank you and God bless us all. (APPLAUSE)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HARRAK: Well, at least a year after that mission, NASA hopes to return astronauts to the lunar surface, something which hasn't -- which hasn't been done since the Apollo program ended in 1972. Notably, none of the astronauts named on Monday were alive the last times humans walked on the moon.
And that wraps up this hour of "CNN Newsroom." I'm Laila Harrak. See you then. "Newsroom" continues with Max Foster and Bianca Nobilo. Do stay with us.
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