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Dual Rulings on Abortion Pill; Vice President Kamala Harris Meets with Expelled Tennessee Dems; Violence Escalates in Middle East; Trump Charges Overshadow Republican President Race; Russia Charges American Journalist Evan Gershkovich Charged with Espionage; U.S. Investigates Leak of Classified Documents. Aired 4-5a ET

Aired April 08, 2023 - 04:00   ET

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

[04:00:00]

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PAULA NEWTON, CNN ANCHOR AND CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Hello and a very warm welcome to all our viewers watching us from the United States and around the world. I'm Paula Newton.

Ahead right here on CNN NEWSROOM, rival U.S. court rulings put access to a widely used abortion pill in jeopardy. We will tell you where the issue could be headed for a final resolution.

Two young Black men expelled from the Tennessee House of Representatives over their protest following the Nashville school shooting. Hear what their constituents have to say.

And separate attacks in the Middle East leave at least three people dead. We will go live to Jerusalem for the latest.

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

NEWTON: Two conflicting U.S. federal court rulings have thrust the abortion debate back into the spotlight. Access to mifepristone, a key medical abortion pill, is now up in the air, with one federal judge ruling to suspend its approval from the Food and Drug Administration and the other ruling to protect it.

CNN legal analyst and former Manhattan chief assistant district attorney explains what's at stake.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KAREN FRIEDMAN AGNIFILO, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: Most women now choose to do this medical abortion in the privacy of their own home rather than going into a doctor's office and having what's more like a surgery. And it's easier and you get to have it in the privacy of your own home. And it's really a personal choice.

And what I'm afraid of is that, I think first of all, there will be a rush for the next seven days of people stocking up on this.

But I also think -- I worry about, you know, we should all worry about the black market and have the safety of that, that women are going to be ordering this -- these drugs from overseas or places that aren't necessarily regulated properly.

And so there's a concern that women will potentially put themselves in harm's way.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

NEWTON: Now these two decisions are the most significant abortion ruling since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade last summer. As Ariane de Vogue reports, these new cases are likely to reach the nation's top court as well.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ARIANE DE VOGUE, CNN SUPREME COURT CORRESPONDENT: Two opposing rulings came down within minutes of each other. They both had to do with the FDA approval back in 2000 of a key medication abortion drug.

In the first ruling, a judge out of Texas, he withdrew the government's approval of this drug. He said that the government had not done enough to take into account the risks associated with the drug.

But here's what's important: he put his ruling on hold for a week so that it can be appealed. The Department of Justice all along has said that this lawsuit that was brought by opponents of abortion was unprecedented, mostly because this drug has been approved for so long.

In a second case that came down minutes later, a different federal district court judge came up with the opposite opinion. In this case, liberal states told the judge that they thought that the FDA wasn't doing enough to ease access to this medication abortion drug.

So the judge in that case, who was an Obama nominee, gave them a partial win and said that the drugs actually had to stay on the market. So two opposite rulings in circumstances like this. The issue is going to be resolved in an appellate court.

It will first probably go to the appeals court but then it's likely to return in very short order back to the Supreme Court -- Ariane de Vogue, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

NEWTON: Now not long after the Texas decision came down, Vice President Kamala Harris called it a dangerous precedent and had a message for women across the country. Take a listen.

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KAMALA HARRIS (D), VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: So the district court in the abortion medication, the decision came down today. I haven't read it yet, so I'm going to do an analysis of it.

But as a general matter, I'll say this, that there is no question that the president and I are going to stand with the women of America and do everything we can to ensure that women have the ability to make decisions about their health care, their reproductive health care, in the -- in the manner that is what they need and they decide that, not their government.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

NEWTON: Harris made those comments as she was returning from a last minute trip to Nashville, Tennessee, Friday.

[04:05:00]

NEWTON: And that was the day after two Black Democratic lawmakers were expelled for protesting for gun reform while on the statehouse floor.

Now a third lawmaker involved in the protest, a white woman, you see her there on the right, was threatened with expulsion but was spared. Tennessee Republicans reject allegations that their decision was racist. I want you to take a listen now to Brian Richey, a GOP state lawmaker.

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BRYAN RICHEY, (R) TENNESSEE STATE REPRESENTATIVE: It was two energetic, youthful males that were a little bit more animated while they were up there. And Ms. Gloria Johnson, Representative Johnson, stood there.

She -- when the -- they played the video, it clearly showed her standing there not doing as much and I think that swayed other members to not vote for her. And that's why she's still there.

Had nothing to do with the color of their skin. I respect all three of them and their constituents that voted for them, I felt that they should stay.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

NEWTON: CNN's Ryan Young now has more from Nashville.

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LISA LEVINE, NASHVILLE VOTER: It's sad and pathetic to think that our democracy can be taken away from a voter.

RYAN YOUNG, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Today, two Tennessee districts are without representation. Voters like Lisa Levine are furious.

LEVINE: I was trying to look into whether filing a taxpayer suit and making it class action against these folks that stole my vote and took my representative away from me. YOUNG: Community up in arms over the expulsion of two Democrat representatives from the Republican-led state house on Thursday. Expelled because they took to the floor last week with a bullhorn standing up for gun reform after the school shooting in Nashville, where six people were killed, three of them children.

The three representatives accused of violating decorum and procedure rules for their actions.

STATE REP. GLORIA JOHNSON (D-TN): We are still three, Tennessee three.

YOUNG: Gloria Johnson, a White woman, was the only one to survive the expulsion. Representatives Justin Jones and Justin Pearson, who are Black, did not but they determined not to give up.

STATE REP. JUSTIN JONES (D-TN): I'll continue to speak up for district 52 and for Tennesseans who are demanding change.

YOUNG: Their constituents frustrated that expelling these Democrats was more important to Republican lawmakers than gun reform in their state, less than two weeks after another school massacre.

MORGAN BROCK, CONSTITUENT, DISTRICT 52: We need change so badly and these people are willing to give it -- willing to represent our perspective and willing to change things over a little girl who I will have to send one day to school.

And yes, I'm so optimistic that if these people are given the right platform, they actually can make change. So this is disappointing.

PHILLIP FERNANDO SHADE, CONSTITUENT AND VIETNAM VET: We are going to take these guns off our streets and save our children. We're losing too many of them, too many of them.

YOUNG: But so called Tennessee Three are intending to continue their fight.

JOHNSON: We need their voices in the legislature and I'll do everything I can to help them get back.

YOUNG: On Monday, the local legislative body, the metro council in Nashville, will meet to discuss Jones' fate and start the process of possibly reappointing the lawmaker.

There's a lot of focus on the state capital. Monday, there will be more protest plans. There will be actions that will be put in place to try to get the two members back into office, Pearson and Jones.

But there's a lot of questions how the state moves forward, especially when it comes to decorum rules and how they will move forward as a body in terms of a conversation when you have a super majority Republican -- Ryan Young, Nashville, Tennessee.

(END VIDEOTAPE) NEWTON: So you just saw there, we're talking about battles being fought at the state level. And these ones are resonating nationally. And we want to take a moment to remind you of a vote recently in the key swing state of Wisconsin. And it was the state supreme court.

Now normally, not many people would pay attention to this right but two things stand out first is that a win by the Democratic backed candidate flipped majority control on the bench in favor of liberals. This is a purple state, remember. And that's going to impact rulings on everything from abortion rights to election rules.

The second -- and this tells you where the trend is headed -- this shattered spending records on state judicial elections.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

NEWTON: Joining me now, CNN senior political analyst Ron Brownstein, he's also senior editor at "The Atlantic."

Here we go, Ron. It has been quite a few days. Let's start with this latest ruling right one judge. One ruling decides what is essentially a medical issue.

Ron, how extreme is the red and blue divide?

And in the U.S. specifically, the judiciary is still so framed by partisan politics.

RON BROWNSTEIN, CNN SR. POLITICAL ANALYST: Yes, you know, I believe it is unprecedented for a court, certainly to reach back 23 years and to say that the Food and Drug Administration incorrectly decided to approve the drug mifepristone --

[04:10:00]

BROWNSTEIN: -- which is used in -- as an abortion medication and, of course, a majority of abortions in the U.S. are now performed through medication abortion.

It's worth noting that mifepristone, after it was approved, we went through eight years of a George W. Bush presidency, four years of a Donald Trump presidency and at no point did either of those Republican presidents or their FDA appointees argue that the drug had been improperly approved in the first place.

But now you get this single judge, a Trump appointed judge ruling in a way that knocks this out, not only in the red states that are banning abortion but in the blue states where it remains legal.

And it is really noteworthy, Paula, that 23 state Republican attorneys general joining this lawsuit to try to block the availability of this drug nationwide. And that is an important signal that, of all the rights rollbacks that we are seeing in the red states, they are unlikely to remain confined there.

The idea that what the red states are trying to do is limit abortion solely within their borders, I think, is blown up by this case. That is not where this is likely to end. It is likely to continue in an effort to impose the red state rules on the blue states as well.

NEWTON: That brings us so neatly, unfortunately, to what went down in Tennessee in the statehouse this week. I mean, in terms of what it has done, though, to actually pull the curtain back on what is going on in so many statehouses across the country.

Talk about Tennessee specifically, though, right now and the implications you think it will have going forward for national politics.

BROWNSTEIN: Look, the broader dynamic that we are seeing, as I have written, is that I believe that what we are watching in the red states is nothing less than an attempt to build a nation within a nation.

The general trend in American life from the 1960s on has been to nationalize more rights and to reduce -- constrict the ability of the states to limit those rights, everything from one person, one vote to the ending of state sponsored segregation to legalize abortion and contraception, Title IX, the Americans with Disabilities Act.

The general trend has been that we have raised the floor of rights that are available to citizens in every state. And what we are watching is a very clear effort in the red states, working through the courts, as we are seeing in the abortion case, sometimes, and working through their own control of legislatures and governorships, to reverse that.

And so we are -- we are seeing laws proliferating through the red states to limit abortion rights, LGBTQ rights, voting rights, censor what teachers can say in the classroom on race and gender, sexual orientation; make it easier to ban books.

And, at the same time, Paula, the red states are moving aggressively to preempt the ability of their more diverse blue metros to set their own course. It is unlikely the red states are going to be satisfied solely with setting the rules within their own borders.

In many ways, you're going to see efforts from Republicans, particularly for the winner of the White House in '25, to nationalize what we are seeing underway in the red states.

NEWTON: And this brings us to the truly purple state of Wisconsin and what went down there. I mean, look, Ron, you have written about this; you were in Wisconsin. Commentators have said two things about this right. It was the most expensive judicial election in American history.

Now you tell me, if they're right about this, it may become one of the most important elections of 2023 because of what it means for what was a supermajority. And now we'll be able to change what happens in the state again on the judiciary, an election that wasn't supposed to be partisan.

BROWNSTEIN: Right, it was more -- this race is more explicitly partisan than any judicial race in the state, maybe any judicial race in the country. And it does have enormous consequences. In Wisconsin, the 1849 abortion ban that's in place in the state will not will likely now be overturned.

And in addition, the severely gerrymandered maps that have given Republicans supermajorities in the state assembly and Senate, even though this is a pretty close to 50-50 state, are likely to be overturned as well.

Those are the consequences inside Wisconsin. The consequences for the country, though, are also profound, because, in many ways, this was a lab test, Paula, this election of the most powerful wedge issue for Democrats now, abortion, against the most powerful wedge issue for Republicans now, crime, which is what the conservative candidate emphasized in this race.

And in the end, it was no contest. I mean, this was a state that Donald Trump won by 20,000 votes in 2016, Joe Biden won it by 20,000 votes in 2020, closely divided. The Democratic candidate, the liberal candidate won by 200,000 votes.

There was a very clear indication from voters that they do not want those rights restricted. And that's what we saw again in Wisconsin.

[04:15:00]

BROWNSTEIN: And that's why what happened in this courtroom in Texas and what could be on the ballot in '24 is so significant, because I think -- there are bills that have been introduced by Republicans in Congress to extend the abortion ban nationwide.

It is -- it is going to be very fascinating to watch whether anyone can win the Republican primary next year without pledging to sign some form of nationwide ban on abortion.

But the lesson of the governor's races in Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin in '22, and certainly the state supreme court race in '23, is that that is going to be a very heavy lift to convince voters in those states to vote for a candidate who will threaten abortion rights within them.

NEWTON: And you just gave us so nicely there a preview of the primaries to come. Ron, it has been an incredible week of politics in the United States.

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NEWTON: Thanks for wrapping it up for us. Appreciate it.

BROWNSTEIN: Thank you.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

NEWTON: Now China says it is sending a message to Taiwan as it conducts military exercises. Now this comes as the president of the self governing island meets with lawmakers from the United States. And as Will Ripley tells us, Taipei has a message of its own for Beijing.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

WILL RIPLEY, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: It's not entirely unexpected that, just after Taiwan president Tsai Ing-wen arrived back from the United States and Central America, that 10 day diplomatic trip, which included that transit stop in California and that meeting with the U.S. House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, which infuriated China, that this would be happening.

The PLA Eastern Theater Command announcing United Sharp Sword, these military drills starting on Saturday, saying they're going to end on Monday, of combat ready patrols and exercises in and around the Taiwan Strait, to the north, south and east of Taiwan, both the sea and the airspace, as planned, the PLA says.

They put on a quote, saying that, "This is a serious warning against the Taiwan separatist forces' collusion with external forces," a reference to the U.S., "and a necessary move to defend national sovereignty and territorial integrity."

Dozens of PLA warplanes were also spotted in and around Taiwan's Air Defense Identification Zone beginning on Saturday morning. Now Taiwan's defense ministry of course they have -- they're monitoring this. They're on high alert if you will. But their statement seems to downplay the significance of this Sharp Sword exercise by China.

This is what the statement reads, in part, "In recent years, the Chinese Communist Party has continued to send aircraft and ships to harass the region, which has threatened the regional situation.

"It even used President Tsai's visit and transit to the United States as an excuse to conduct military exercises, which has seriously damaged regional peace, stability and security."

So here in Taipei, this act, that they believe is an attempt to intimidate them, they say will not cause Taiwan to react in a way that will escalate this situation. It seems to be China, you know, doing all of this, angry about President Tsai's transit through the United States.

Meanwhile President Tsai didn't even mention the military drills when she made comments on Saturday because she's meeting with yet another bipartisan group of U.S. lawmakers, including some of the men and women in Congress who will be making a decision about whether to sell Taiwan even more defensive weapons to defend against a potential Chinese invasion -- Will Ripley, CNN, Taipei.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

NEWTON: So Israel is seeing an escalation of violence. This time, tourists are caught in this turmoil. Details ahead on a deadly car ramming attack in Tel Aviv.

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NEWTON: Israel is investigating a suspected car ramming attack in Tel Aviv that left at least one person dead and seven others wounded. Now three of the victims are still in hospital. The others have been released.

Police say the attack happened when a car hit a crowd of tourists before flipping over on a beachfront walkway. An Italian citizen was killed and another was injured, along with three British nationals.

Police killed the driver. The attack was the latest act of violence in a week of heightened regional tensions. Here's how witnesses described the deadly scene Friday.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We were right across the street.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (INAUDIBLE) yes, right across the street, maybe 100 meters over.

QUESTION: And what did you see?

How do --

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What our --

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We heard --

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: -- we heard gunfire. We saw shots and then we saw people sprinting across the street. And then we heard sirens. And we decided it was time to get out of here.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

NEWTON: I want to get more now on the situation from CNN's Salma Abdelaziz in Jerusalem.

And some of that attack, I mean, it was truly chilling. And it was -- those tourists were so lucky, having seen so much of it.

But what's the latest, given that all sides still continue to insist that they want to avoid further escalation?

SALMA ABDELAZIZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It is a holy weekend here, where multiple faiths are converging, their holidays coming together, Ramadan, Passover, Easter all happening after three days of violence that culminated in those two separate terror attacks, one in the occupied West Bank, one in Tel Aviv yesterday.

But it all really started on Wednesday, this latest spat (sic) of violence, when the Israeli police raided Al-Aqsa mosque. Take a look at how all of this unfolded.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ABDELAZIZ (voice-over): Tensions high in the Middle East. Israeli authorities say two separate terror attacks, occurring just hours apart, claimed lives. A driver hit pedestrians along Tel Aviv's popular promenade, killing one and wounding several others.

In response, Netanyahu ordered Israeli police to call up all border reserve units. And in the West Bank two Israeli British sisters were killed and their mother seriously wounded in a shooting. Hamas praised the deadly attack in recent days.

A major escalation across the region has raised fears of a wider conflict. This is the latest catalyst. Israeli police twice stormed Al-Aqsa mosque Wednesday. Overnight footage showed the dramatic raid. Israeli forces hitting worshippers with rifle butts and batons.

[04:25:00]

ABDELAZIZ (voice-over): Israeli police say they entered the mosque after hundreds of rioters barricaded themselves inside and that their officers were attacked with stones and fireworks. Palestinians in the wider Muslim world see the raid on the mosque as a provocation, particularly during the holy month of Ramadan.

Condemnation quickly poured in, as well as rockets from two directions. Southern Lebanon and Gaza, fueling tensions, Palestinian fears that the status quo that governs the Noble Sanctuary, known as Temple Mount to Jews, could change under the most right wing government in Israeli history.

There have been calls by Jewish extremist groups to slaughter goats at the mosque compound during Passover. And in January an inflammatory visit by Israel's far right, national security minister Ben-Gvir drew international condemnation.

He is convicted of supporting terrorism and inciting anti Arab racism. Prime minister Netanyahu has insisted his government is not seeking to change rules at the holy site.

On Friday, tens of thousands gathered at the steps of Al-Aqsa mosque after a peaceful prayer service. Banners read, Al-Aqsa is a red line. Another said, do not test our patience.

The U.S., U.N. and other members of the international community have called for restraint and calm. But with two weeks of Ramadan left and the Passover holiday underway, it remains a sensitive time in a deeply sensitive place.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ABDELAZIZ: Now we are getting more information on that late night terror attack in Tel Aviv, as Israeli police have described it. They see that that car, the driver of that car, was able to ram over pedestrians in that very busy promenade right on the beachfront, that all the victims were tourists.

One Italian killed, it's sure to send shockwaves, again at a time of Passover across the Jewish community, fears, of course, now that the spiraling violence only escalates further, Paula, all of those hallmarks, all of the ingredients that have fed into this latest spat (sic) of violence, continue with that escalating rhetoric from Hamas and Hezbollah.

The Israeli military, saying that it is on high alert because of the volatile situation. Prime minister Netanyahu vowing retaliation in those tit-for-tat attacks that we've seen in recent days and calling up reservists for both the police and the military. True fears that this could continue to spiral.

NEWTON: Thanks so much for the update. Appreciate it.

Now dueling court rulings threaten to upend access to medication abortion pills in the United States. What the conflicting decisions say and what the Biden administration is vowing to do to protect abortion rights.

Plus watching what they say: Trump's Republican rivals are campaigning cautiously. Coming up, how the former president's alleged crimes are reshaping the race for the White House.

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NEWTON: And welcome back to our viewers here in the United States and all around the world. I'm Paula Newton and you are watching CNN NEWSROOM.

Now access to medication abortion in the United States is in jeopardy after two dueling court rulings. First, a federal judge in Texas decided to suspend the Food and Drug Administration's approval of mifepristone, a medication abortion pill.

Then a federal judge in Washington state ruled in a separate case that the FDA must keep abortion drugs available in more than a dozen Democratically elected states. Now the Justice Department and a drug manufacturer have already filed appeals against the Texas ruling.

All this, as you can imagine, being closely watched by the White House, along with the expulsion of two Democratic state lawmakers in Tennessee. And renewed calls now there for an assault weapons ban. CNN's Phil Mattingly has the latest.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

PHIL MATTINGLY, CNN CHIEF WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: White House officials have been watching very closely what has been happening in the Tennessee state house over the course of the last several days, fully aware that what they were watching didn't have a lot of precedent, certainly stunned them in many cases but also was not really something they were involved with at all until the day after the expulsion of those two Black Democratic lawmakers.

Vice President Kamala Harris, putting together a hastily scheduled trip down to Nashville, meeting with the lawmakers, meeting with the state Democrats before giving eventual remarks and sending a very clear message, one, her advisor said, was intended not just to be directed at those lawmakers but also all of the protesters that have been gathering for several weeks ago.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KAMALA HARRIS (D), VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: And they understood the importance, these three, of standing, to say the people will not be silenced, to say that a democracy hears the cries, hears the pleas, who hears the demands of its people, who say that children should be able to live and be safe and go to school and not be in fear.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MATTINGLY: While the vice president was there in person, the president, President Biden, spoke to the three Tennessee lawmakers, two of whom were expelled, one of whom just barely survived by one vote, via conference call.

He invited those lawmakers to the White House at some point in the future and thanked them for their leadership on these issues and also their efforts related to an assault weapons ban.

That assault weapons ban is something the president is going to continue to advocate for, White House officials say, even though in candid moments they fully acknowledge they don't have any clear pathway on the federal level to get anything done.

They certainly don't see any pathway in Tennessee, where Republicans hold a supermajority in the statehouse. However, they understand, when you talk to advisors, that this is an organic moment, one that they didn't plan for but one they recognize the power of, a local story that has become very national.

And a president and a vice president, who are certainly willing to add their voices to what they've seen over the course of the last several days -- Phil Mattingly, CNN, the White House.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

NEWTON: After a year of aggressive rate hikes, meant to try and tame inflation, one key data point appears to show the Federal Reserve's strategy may be having the intended effect.

The U.S. Labor Department reports 236,000 jobs were added last month. Now that was slightly less than analysts had expected and signals the economy may be cooling off. As for inflation itself, we should get a clearer picture next week

when the latest Consumer Price Index is released.

So the road to the White House grew ever more complicated for Republican contenders after an historic week in the United States when it comes to politics.

[04:35:00]

NEWTON: Candidates are adapting their campaigns after former president and current party frontrunner Donald Trump was charged with dozens of felonies related to hush money payments. As CNN's Jeff Zeleny reports, Trump's Republican rivals are being very careful with their words for fear of angering his fervent supporters.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JEFF ZELENY, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: They plan to run against him.

GOV. RON DESANTIS (R-FL): The winners get to make policy. The losers go home.

ZELENY: And believed Republicans were ready to turn the page.

NIKKI HALEY, REPUBLICAN PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: If you're tired of losing, put your trust in a new generation.

ZELENY: Yet at the end of a historic week in American politics --

DONALD TRUMP, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: The only crime that I have committed is to fearlessly defend our nation from those who seek to destroy it.

ZELENY: -- Donald Trump's top GOP challengers are suddenly on his side after falling into line and blasting criminal charges against the former president.

DESANTIS: You see this guy in Manhattan, this district attorney, they're weaponizing the prosecutorial power to advance a political agenda. Maybe it's targeting a politician they don't like.

ZELENY: Republican rivals fear their opening against Trump may have closed a bit after Manhattan district attorney Alvin Bragg's indictment on 34 counts.

ALVIN BRAGG, MANHATTAN DISTRICT ATTORNEY: These are felony crimes in New York state no matter who you are.

ZELENY: Prompted a storm of outrage even from some of Trump's fiercest critics, like Senator Mitt Romney, who called it a dangerous precedent, saying, I believe President Trump's character and conduct make him unfit for office.

Even so, I believe the New York prosecutor has stretched to reach felony criminal charges in order to fit a political agenda. With Republican wagons circling around Trump or at least against his

indictment, it's unclear when the window to forcefully challenge his candidacy will open again or who will dare to try.

HALEY: We've got a liberal prosecutor that's doing political revenge against a former president. I mean, that's not a precedent that you want to have.

ZELENY: Not long ago, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis did tiptoe around a critique of Trump's predicament with Stormy Daniels --

DESANTIS: I don't know what goes into paying hush money to a porn star to secure silence over some type of alleged affair. I just -- I can't speak to that.

ZELENY: -- before quickly dropping any references to porn stars and hush money and simply going on the attack against the New York prosecutor. When asked Friday whether the indictment influenced his plans to run DeSantis answered like this.

DESANTIS: It's affected me in the sense that it's reinforced this problem we have in our country where we have the political left weaponizing the rule of law, actually abandoning the rule of law by weaponizing it and using gets people they don't like and that needs to stop in this country.

ZELENY: An unorthodox presidential primary becomes even more so. Advisors to Republican campaigns tell CNN the biggest risk of all is to get crosswise with voters deeply loyal to Trump, who once again is dominating and overshadowing the race.

TRUMP: This fake case was brought only to interfere with the upcoming 2024 election. And it should be dropped immediately.

ZELENY: Even though former president Trump has effectively frozen this Republican race into place, at least for now, the show must go on.

Former South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley, who's running against Trump is going to Iowa next week to campaign and Senator Tim Scott is also dipping his toe into the waters traveling to Iowa and New Hampshire as he decides whether to jump into this race.

There is no doubt the 2024 campaign has been changed dramatically by the Trump indictment. It's an open question, though, if that Trump exhaustion out there, among so many Republican voters does still exist -- Jeff Zeleny, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

NEWTON: The U.S. Supreme Court justice has issued a rare statement of defense. Critics say justice Clarence Thomas should have disclosed luxury trips he and his wife took for free. But justice Thomas said the trips were gifts from a close personal friend and not a conflict of interest. In a statement, Thomas said, quote, "Early in my tenure at the court,

I sought guidance from my colleagues and others in the judiciary and was advised that this sort of personal hospitality from close personal friends who do not have business before the court was not reportable."

Now critics say justice Thomas should have reported the travel anyway. He says judicial guidelines are being changed, which he will follow.

OK, ahead for us here on CNN NEWSROOM, the American journalist detained in Russia is formally charged with espionage. What it means for the case against Evan Gershkovich, as he denies allegations of spying.

Plus U.S. military secrets on Ukraine, apparently out in the open. U.S. agencies scramble to find out how classified documents ended up online.

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NEWTON: Russia has now formally charged "The Wall Street Journal" reporter Evan Gershkovich with espionage. Russian authorities detained the American journalist last week, accusing him of spying, which he denies. Matthew Chance reports on where the case against him goes from here.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: In some ways, it's just a legal formality. The authorities here in Russia have 10 days to formally charge a suspect before they have to let them go.

And it's exactly 10 days since Evan Gershkovich was arrested in the city of Yekaterinburg on suspicion of espionage. And so these very big, slow wheels of bureaucracy in Russia are turning.

And of course, it dashes any hopes that the Russians might change their mind, might think twice and might set Evan Gershkovich, "The Wall Street Journal" reporter, free. Certainly that's been the call of his newspaper.

They've issued a statement over the course of the past few hours, saying they categorically rejects as false the espionage charges against their reporter and they're calling them unjustified and again calling for his immediate release. In fact, that's incredibly unlikely to happen.

Gershkovich has been remanded in the Lefortovo prison in Moscow until May the 29th while the authorities build their case. It could be extended even longer than that, if the authorities decide they want more time. And of course, when this trial eventually starts -- and that could be

months away -- and reaches its conclusion, there's a 99 percent chance if statistics are anything to go by in Russia, there will be a conviction, which means that Evan Gershkovich will be facing a possible sentence of 20 years in prison.

[04:45:00]

CHANCE (voice-over): It's only after that process is over that there's a possibility of some sort of deal with the United States. In the past, there have been prisoner swaps. I think the expectation, at least the hope is, that something can be arranged to set Evan Gershkovich free as well -- Matthew Chance, CNN, Moscow.

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NEWTON: The U.S. Justice Department is launching an investigation into an apparent leak of classified documents, including some from Ukraine. Now the latest batch was posted online Friday. But other documents have been on social media for more than a month, where they didn't get much attention until this week.

Now among other things, they include U.S. estimates of Russian war casualties and a list of what Western weapons system given to Ukraine. The Pentagon and the CIA are also looking into the leak because some experts say it could hurt an expected Ukrainian counter offensive.

Ukrainian artillery is fighting to keep Russian troops at bay as they press ahead with their offensive in the east.

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NEWTON (voice-over): Ukraine says Russia launched more than 40 attacks across the eastern front lines in the past 24 hours alone. Officials say Russian forces are not giving up their attempt to take full control of Bakhmut.

And as Nick Paton Walsh reports, they could be making some headway.

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NICK PATON WALSH, CNN INTERNATIONAL SECURITY EDITOR: The battle for Bakhmut has been one of lengthy and deadly attrition for months, most of the winter, frankly. The key focus of Russia, be it its mercenary group Wagner, trying to stake a symbolic victory there to prove its military mettle, or the traditional, rational military in the background there as well.

But the U.K. intelligence assessment not entirely clear what it's based upon, suggesting they believe that Russia now has the momentum inside Bakhmut may be making progress. And it does cite greater cooperation between those Wagner mercenaries and the traditional Russian military as perhaps being behind that.

But on the ground level, it does appear to be vicious street-by-street battle near the railway station in the center of the city, near Bakhmut market, according to videos we've seen emerging in the last 24 hours. And Ukrainian forces holding on in the west of the city, possibly in less territory than the weeks in the past.

But it's been hard, frankly, to definitively make statements about the progress of that battle territory, changing hands back and forth so consistently. And Ukrainian forces now relying very much on, it seemed, a singular supply route in and out of there.

But putting aside, frankly, Russia's statements about how what it's doing there, the question for them is certainly how many resources they expended over the winter to try and take a city, which most analysts considered to be of limited strategic value.

But it has also provided for Ukrainian forces essentially a bit of a pause. Many of their men have been sent to Bakhmut and fought bitterly there. But across the rest of the front line, that has, some suggest, been a moment in which they've been able to focus, think about the counter offensive coming forward.

A lot of speculation this day about that counter offensive after an apparent leak possibly of documents have yet to be authenticated that may have suggested elements of what NATO and the U.S. know about Ukraine and Russia's positions ahead of this potential counter offensive.

The Pentagon are looking at these documents and probing the situation. Ukraine has made a very emphatic denial that this is anything other than a Russian misinformation operation, pointing out why, if Russia had this confidential information, would it place it out on the social media where these documents have been found?

But still these papers genuine or not, again, tightening focus and anticipation of Ukraine's counter offensive. So much riding on it in the summer and spring months ahead. And certainly those documents providing tantalizing glimpses of what one side may or may not know about the other -- Nick Paton Walsh, CNN, Kyiv, Ukraine.

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NEWTON: North Korea claims to have tested a new type of underwater drone, capable of carrying a nuclear warhead and that's according to state media on Saturday. The drone was reportedly tested earlier this week, cruising in waters off the country's east coast for more than 70 hours.

State media says the drone successfully detonated its test warhead underwater on Thursday. This is the second time in weeks Pyongyang claims it has tested a nuclear capable drone. And it comes just days after the U.S., South Korea and Japan held joint anti submarine drills in the region.

A developing story now: rescue efforts are underway in Honduras after a boat with 20 tourists sinks. The Honduran fire department says it happened in Playa la Cabana. That's in the San Lorenzo area. So far, there have been no reports of deaths or injuries. We will bring you more details as soon as they become available.

Pope Francis is expected to preside over holy Saturday services later today. But there was a change of plans on Good Friday.

[04:50:00]

NEWTON: Just ahead why he missed the traditional Way of the Cross procession.

And Tiger Woods is struggling in this year's Masters tournament. Play resumes in a few hours after some menacing weather yesterday. We'll have the latest.

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NEWTON: Pope Francis is expected to lead Saturday's Easter vigil service and that's after a last minute change of plans during the traditional Good Friday procession. The pope was wheeled into St. Peter's Basilica and remained seated during prayer services.

But he missed the traditional Way of the Cross procession at Rome's Colosseum due to cold weather. Now the pontiff, you'll remember, has been struggling with his health. The 86 year old was released from hospital in Rome just last week after a bout of bronchitis.

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[04:55:00]

NEWTON: I'm Paula Newton. I want to thank you for your company. I'll be back in just a moment with more CNN NEWSROOM.