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Joe Biden Expects His Reelection Bid; Sudanese Paramilitary Leader Announces a Humanitarian Ceasefire; Russian Warplane Drops Munition in Emergency; Ukraine Defense Contact Group Conducts a Meeting in Germany; U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee Head Invites Supreme Court Chief Justice to Testify on the Court's Ethics. Prosecutors Dismisses Charges against Alec Baldwin on a Temporary basis; New CCTV footage on the Attacks in Brazil was Released; SpaceX Starship Rocket Explodes After Inaugural Lift-Off; Roman Colosseum Opens a Facility with Excess Artifacts to the Public. Aired 3-4a ET
Aired April 21, 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]
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KIM BRUNHUBER, CNN ANCHOR: Hello and welcome to all of you watching us here in the United States, Canada and around the world. I'm Kim Brunhuber.
Ahead here on CNN NEWSROOM, putting months of speculation to rest, President Joe Biden is expected to officially announce the launch of his reelection campaign as soon as next week.
As one side in the conflict in Sudan announces a 72-hour ceasefire, the U.S. military is making plans to get Americans out of the country if it becomes necessary
And a new arrest in the investigation of the birthday party shooting in Alabama left four people dead.
UNKNOWN (voice-over): Live from CNN Center, this is CNN NEWSROOM with Kim Brunhuber.
BRUNHUBER: U.S. President Joe Biden has repeatedly hinted that he'll run for reelection next year, but soon it will finally be official. Multiple sources familiar with the matter tell CNN his campaign is preparing for a video announcement on Tuesday, exactly four years after he launched his last bid.
It's hoped that will ignite an aggressive fundraising effort to help democrats hold the white house. Biden biographer and CNN Contributor Evan Osnos weighed in on the timing.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
EVAN OSNOS, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: They've been content to say, look, we can stay on the sidelines here doing the people's business kind of staying in the -- on the governing side of things. Because the moment that you announce, it changes the nature of the conversation around President Biden. He becomes once again candidate Biden, and that's a different kind of spotlight.
So in a sense, they didn't need to rush it, and this four-year anniversary in some ways is, a kind of natural occasion if that's untrue, if that's in fact what they choose to do.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BRUNHUBER: Now, keep in mind the election is still more than a year and a half away.
CNN's Phil Mattingly has this report.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
PHIL MATTINGLY, CNN CHIEF WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: For months, President Biden's top advisers have privately made clear. He is going to run for reelection in 2024. What they wouldn't make clear is when exactly he was going to announce that.
The president repeatedly saying he intended to run in Ireland last week, saying that he had made the decision, an announcement would be forthcoming soon, but when it was very much something that people couldn't repeatedly figure out very small group of advisers kind of in control of that timeline of that process of building a reelection campaign?
And campaign officials now say is likely to be announced next week. Next week, marking the four-year anniversary from when president Biden launched his first campaign for presidency to defeat Donald Trump. He was successful in that endeavor, and in the years since he has these -- based on the view of White House officials, based on the president's political advisors built a very real, very substantive agenda, legislative accomplishments, accomplishments that are now being implemented across the country.
And that, more than anything else, so they say the president is going to be focusing on, in the months ahead. The model is kind of out in the open. The president has been making very clear those priorities, these accomplishments and also a very clear contrast between Republicans that he knows he will certainly be running against, whether or not that's Donald Trump or somebody else, advisors don't necessarily want to weigh in, but they feel confident that based on that agenda, and based on those contrasts, they have a winning formula. But it's a formula that will certainly take developing over time.
And they also underscore when you talk to White House officials and the president's political team that this will be a year of building, building up on their campaign, whether or not that's the president's travel, how they try and focus things but also building behind the scenes.
The infrastructure of the campaign has largely been put together behind the scenes over the course of the last couple of months, but they will spend 2023 testing digital strategies, testing data strategies, testing voter messages and watching the Republican primary play out.
And that last point is a critical one, because it was one of the drivers behind the president's decision to wait until next week to launch that campaign, recognizing that there's no real pressure on the Democratic side from any potential primary opponent. There's a recognition that the president was likely to run again, and certainly there was plenty of fighting that they were happy to watch from the sidelines on the Republican side of things.
But now the president ready to engage major donors are expected in Washington at the end of next week to meet with the president's senior team. This is all building towards what people knew it was coming. I just didn't know when. The when appears to be next week.
Phil Mattingly, CNN, the White House.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BRUNHUBER: We're waiting to see if yet another ceasefire can bring an end to the fighting in Sudan, the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces has announced a 72-hour humanitarian pause to coincide with the Eid Al Fitr holiday.
[03:05:04]
Sudan's army chief released a video statement a few hours ago, but didn't mention the temporary truce to previous ceasefires this week collapsed within hours.
The World Health Organization reports more than 330 people have been killed. Many residents of the capital Khartoum, have been struck -- stuck in their homes for days without electricity. Medicine, food and water are running low.
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken says he's speaking with both military leaders in Sudan, urging them to uphold a ceasefire, but the U.S. military is making plans to get Americans out, just in case.
CNN's Oren Liebermann reports from the Pentagon.
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OREN LIEBERMANN, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: The Defense Department has positioned a number of additional forces near Sudan, and a number of additional capabilities in the event of an emergency situation and in preparation for different contingencies. According to DOD, some of those contingencies include the need to secure the embassy and perhaps the need to evacuate the embassy.
Now, the Defense Department wont say what additional forces or where, but we've learned from the U.S. Defense official, that there are now several hundred marines in Djibouti at Camp Lemonnier. Those marines have an aviation combat element with them, essentially aircraft that can move marines and other ground forces in if necessary, and those forces could be used again, both to secure the embassy and to evacuate if needed, given the situation. The U.S. and that includes the State Department, the Defense Department and the White House are watching the situation in Sudan and in Khartoum very closely.
According to DOD records, there are only about 14 troops based there, including 13 marines, and those would largely be embassy security in Khartoum in the capital of Sudan to move those out to secure them. It will take many more for this is and this is why we're seeing that build up in Djibouti.
In terms of when an evacuation might happen, a senior U.S. official says it's not imminent and that's because they're looking for an open window and active ceasefire that holds between the two warring factions here.
The best chance for that, the senior U.S. official says, might be the upcoming Eid Al Fitr holiday in the coming days, and that's what they're looking at again. That's not a guarantee it is simply the best window, it looks like the evac might be possible,
Oren Liebermann, CNN, at the Pentagon.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BRUNHUBER: Now to a CNN Exclusive. The Russian mercenaries accused of war crimes in Ukraine appeared to be getting involved in the conflict in Sudan.
Senior international investigative correspondent Nima Elbagir reports on the Wagner group's efforts to help the paramilitary forces.
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NIMA ELBAGIR, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL INVESTIGATIVE CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The Sudanese and the Libyan army celebrated a successful joint operation Wednesday, April 19th, near the remote desert border between Libya and Sudan, having captured the Chevrolet Garrison belonging to the rival Sudanese paramilitary Rapid Support Forces, the RSF.
But why is this military base so important, given how far it is from the existential fight in Sudan's capital, Khartoum? Because CNN can reveal that the fight in Khartoum is being influenced by what was happening at that Garrison, a Russian resupply campaign, backed by a key regional player, aimed at turning the tide in Sudan's war in favor of the RSF, who have been a key recipient of Russian training and military aid.
In collaboration with All Eyes on Wagner, a research group focusing on Russian proxy Wagner, CNN investigated the group's current presence in Libya. You can see here on April 16th, one day after the fighting began in Khartoum, a Russian illusion 76 transport plane at the Al Jufra Base in Libya, previously identified by American intelligence as a Wagner base.
Three days later, this same plane is spotted by flight tracker aviation expert Gourgeon, coming back from the Russian airbase in Latakia, Syria before returning to the Libyan air base in Hedin.
Images of that same plane began circulating online April 17th, heading in the direction of Sudan. Sudanese and regional sources tell CNN that weaponry was airdropped to the RSF within that time frame, April 15th to April 18th, to the Chevrolet Garrison during a period of face fighting, boosting the RSF.
The Al Hadin and Al Jufra bases where the Wagner planes departed from in Libya under the control of field marshal Khalifa Hafter, who commands territory in the east of Libya. Hafter and the commander of the Rapid Support Forces Mohammed Hamdan Dagalo aka Hemetti, having common strategic alliances.
One with Wagner, who have there is hosting in his territory in Libya, and whom a previous CNN investigation exposed as working with Hemetti to extract Sudanese gold.
(on-camera): A second with the United Arab Emirates, who tapped him at day to send forces to the conflict in Yemen and backed Hafter in the fighting in Libya.
[03:09:50]
What does it all mean for the ongoing misery and conflict in Sudan? It means that both a regional Libyan general Hafter and a global player Russia, putting their thumbs on the scale, which raises the stakes for the region, for the global balance of power and for the people of Sudan caught in the crossfire.
Nima Elbagir, CNN, London.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BRUNHUBER: Now, CNN reached out to both the Libyan general and the Wagner group about our investigation but didn't get a response. The RSF in a statement to CNN denied receiving aid from Russia or Libya.
Well, stormy Thursday across the middle of the country. There are more than 120 storm reports touching from Texas to Michigan, most of those reports were a hail and high winds. One tornado was reported in Tyler, Texas.
A storm threat diminishes a bit as the system moves east on Friday, so your thunderstorm watches are still up across parts of Texas and Louisiana. Flash flood warnings are up in parts of Texas, and flooding around Austin prompted a number of water rescues Thursday night. Flights bound for Austin were halted for a time, because of severe storms.
All right. We have updates this hour on some of the recent shootings that made headlines here in the U.S. Police in Alabama have arrested a sixth person in the killings of four people at a Sweet 16 birthday party this weekend in the town of Dadeville. An unnamed 15-year old has been formally charged with four counts of reckless murder, at least 32 other people were injured. And in North Carolina, the man police say shot a six-year old neighbor
and her parents after basketball rolled into his yard has been taken into custody in Florida. Police say 24-year old Robert Louis Singletary turned himself in to authorities.
A Russian fighter jet has an emergency in mid-flight and is forced to drop its munitions causing explosion that rattles the city of 400,000 people, that's ahead.
Plus, meeting is about to get underway in Germany that may affect further assistance to Ukraine. We'll explain, coming up. Stay with us.
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BRUNHUBER: We're just getting word of new Russian drone strikes on Ukraine's capital. Officials announced a short time ago that at least 12 drones were launched on Kyiv, but eight of them were shot down, Ukrainian statement says the other is -- the other four didn't cause casualties or damage. Meanwhile --
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A Russian city near the Ukrainian border was hit by a large blast Thursday, but from Russia's own air force. The state news agency says a Russian fighter jet dropped what it called aviation munition during a midair emergency.
The weapons fell near the center of the city of Belgorod, causing a large explosion. The blast caused a crater 40-meters wide, knocking down electricity poles and damaging an apartment building. One car was flipped over and thrown to the roof of a nearby store. Russian officials say two women were injured and some residents were moved out of their homes because of the damage.
In about an hour from now, Ukraine's allies begin a meeting to discuss next steps in providing assistance to Kyiv. U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin will host the 11th meeting of the Ukraine Defense Contact Group. It will be held at the Ramstein Air Base in Germany. Defense ministers and other officials from more than 50 countries will also be there.
Our Claire Sebastian is keeping an eye on those developments, and she joins us now from London. So Claire, take us through exactly what's at stake here.
CLAIRE SEBASTIAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: There's a lot at stake here, Kim. This comes at a pretty crucial point in this conflict when Russia
has so far failed really, to meaningfully mount some kind of winter or spring offensive. And Ukraine is said to be preparing its own counter offensive in the coming months.
The critical point for Ukraine in all of this is air defense. We know certainly from leaked Pentagon documents that they seem to have a degree of strength in terms of ground forces, perhaps even an upper hand on Russia, but when it comes to air defense and its air force capabilities, that is where the vulnerability is.
Take a look at this tweet from the Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov just on Thursday he says, our top priority is to quickly build a multi-level air defense-anti missile defense system. Patriots, IRIS-T, NASMS, and MiG-29 are the most recent, but not the final steps towards this goal. He says, given the Kremlin's barbaric tactics, we need NATO-style fighter jets.
So, renewing that call for fighter jets so far, of course, we've only seen them getting MiG-29 fighter jets from Poland and Slovakia, not the newer sort of NATO-style jets that they have been calling for.
This is a very high-level meeting. We've just seen the NATO secretary general arrive there. He just straight for basically from his first ever trip to Kyiv since the start of the conflict, where he said that Ukraine's future would be in the alliance.
So I think that really underscores the two things that Ukraine is now looking for, one greater air defense capability, and two, security guarantees that would preface formal application of formal invitation to join NATO, which is, of course, what it hopes to come out of a summit in July. Kim?
BRUNHUBER: Alright. We'll keep covering this throughout the day. Thanks so much, Claire Sebastian in London.
Women in the U.S. are waiting to hear from the Supreme Court as it decides the fate of an abortion drug in a case that could affect reproductive rights. On details on what's at stake, after the break.
Plus, prosecutors dismissed the involuntary manslaughter charges against Alec Baldwin for now. All the latest in the accidental deadly shooting on the film set "Rust," ahead. Please stay with us.
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BRUNHUBER: And welcome back to all of you watching us here in the United States, Canada and around the world. I'm Kim Brunhuber, this is CNN NEWSROOM.
U.S. Supreme Court is expected to decide in the coming hours whether to take up the case of the abortion drug, mifepristone, or to uphold a lower court ruling, which placed restrictions on the drug, and rolled back Food and Drug Administration approval, which was granted more than 20 years ago.
Mifepristone is used in the majority of medical abortions in states that still provide access in the U.S. It's approved in more than 90 countries worldwide, but with last year's Supreme Court ruling that overturned Roe v. Wade, and now with the abortion drug on the chopping block, the United States seems out of step with the rest of the world on this issue.
Well, the race is on to keep the U.S. government from defaulting on its debt, and the Republican House Speaker is proposing a $1.5 trillion increase in the debt limit in exchange for deep cuts in domestic spending.
CNN's chief congressional correspondent Manu Raju has details.
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MANU RAJU, CNN CHIEF CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Kevin McCarthy is reaching a critical moment after months of internal negotiations to put together a debt ceiling plan that can win the support of 218 votes in the U.S. House. That means you can't lose more than four Republican votes.
At the moment, more than four Republicans are raising concerns. They'll still reviewing the details, but McCarthy and his team believe that they can ultimately get there even as they have added a slew of conservative priorities and spending cuts in order to win over Republicans.
As part of this $1.5 trillion increase or $31.4 trillion national borrowing limit, McCarthy is proposing a slew of cuts across the board and federal program, including an -- ending President Biden student loan forgiveness program, pulling back funding for the IRS that was enacted as part of the Democrats, Inflation Reduction Act. Also to impose new work requirements on Medicaid and also southern social safety net programs. All part of an effort, Republicans argue, will help save money.
But Democrats say that this is a recipe for economic disaster. They are pushing back on this issue. And the White House at the moment, holding firm, saying that there will be no talks whatsoever with speaker McCarthy and demanding he simply raise the debt ceiling without any conditions attached.
But talking to members in both parties, both parties are concerned with their leadership's approach to this issue.
REP. TIM BURCHETT (R-TN): I'm so still--
RAJU: So still struggling with it?
BURCHETT: Yeah, still struggling with the fact that were $32 trillion in debt
RAJU: Are you leaning now?
BURCHETT: It was right now, would be a no.
REP. JARED MOKOWITZ (R-FL): I think the Speaker of the House and the President, United States should always talk, right? And so should the leader of the Senate, they should always be talking. So I think -- I think Joe Biden should be talking to Kevin McCarthy, even if those conversations right now prove nothing productive, but I do think they should be talking.
RAJU: And what is your fear if there are these talks don't happen?
MOSKOWITZ: Well, my fear is that this gets pushed all the way to the last moment. And then if we're at the last moment and things fall apart, we go off -- we go off the cliff for the first time in default, which would be absolutely catastrophic.
RAJU: But despite the pressure among some Democrats like that, Congressman Moskowitz right there, the Democratic leaders are still holding firm, including Chuck Schumer, the Senate Majority Leader, who told me this afternoon that even if House Republicans passed their bill next week, they will not change their posture going forward and that any bill, he said, that must be ultimately enacted must be clean, meaning no conditions whatsoever.
So we are headed into a critical moment here, few weeks, potentially a couple of months, until the country could face its first ever U.S. debt default, instill the two sides, in a high stakes game of chicken with the -- with the U.S. economy, the potential of the world economy hanging in the balance.
Manu Raju, CNN, Capitol Hill.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BRUNHUBER: There's new fallout from recent revelations that financially-linked U.S. Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas to a Republican mega donor. The head of the Senate Judiciary Committee is asking Chief Justice John Roberts to testify in a hearing on the ethics rules of the nation's highest court.
Our Brian Todd has more.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The pressure on Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts to hold his court accountable is surging. Democratic Senator Dick Durbin, chair of the Judiciary committee, has requested that Justice Roberts or, quote, "another justice whom you designate," testify before his committee next month.
Durbin wants to press Roberts on what Durbin calls a steady stream of revelations of justices not living up to ethics standards.
SEN. DICK DURBIN (D-IL): The Supreme Court doesn't need to wait on Congress to clean up its act. The justices could take action today if they wanted to. And if the court fails to act, Congress must.
TODD (voice-over): Republicans on Durbin's committee are arguing Chief Justice Roberts should reject Durbin's request. Senator John Cornyn, saying, quote, "It would be a circus." It's rare for a Supreme Court justice to testify before Congress, but
the court is under rare scrutiny at the moment. A recent report by the investigative news outlet "ProPublica" revealed that Justice Clarence Thomas and his wife, Jenny, accepted luxury travel and gifts from Republican mega donor Harlan Crow.
JUSTIN ELLIOT, REPORTER, PROPUBLICA: We found this has been going on for more than 20 years, and, you know, stretches back to the 1990's.
TODD (voice-over): In another report, "ProPublica" reported that Justice Thomas had sold three of his family's properties in Georgia to Harlan Crow in 2014. "ProPublica" said Thomas never disclosed the travel or the real estate deal in filings.
Thomas responded that he was advised he didn't have to report them, but experts say some laws and ethics rules were likely violated.
DONALD SHERMAN, SENIOR VP, CITIZENS FOR RESPONSIBILITY AND ETHICS IN WASHINGTON: Here is this billionaire who's got lots of rich friends, and can court the justice and bring his friends who are CEO's, to potentially influence the justice with his -- with his lavish gifts and trips and other benefits.
TODD (voice-over): But some Supreme Court analysts say Chief Justice Roberts does not have the authority to investigate or punish Thomas or any other Justice, and no other body of government really does either.
[03:30:00]
JOAN BISKUPIC, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: You can remove a Justice to the United States from office only one way, and that is through impeachment and conviction. There is no way that they can actually be investigated with consequence that would change their behavior.
TODD (voice-over): And analysts say in the modern era of the court, it's shown no inclination to want to police itself. Given that and the revelations about Clarence Thomas, has the court's stature diminished recently?
BISKUPIC: I looked at public approval polls. I looked to commentary, I looked to watchdog investigations. I think, yes, the Supreme Court stature in the American eye has been decreasing.
TODD (on-camera): The Supreme Court has not responded to CNN's request for comment on Senator Durbin's request for Chief Justice Roberts to testify. The court has also not responded to multiple inquiries from CNN on whether Chief Justice Roberts will investigate Justice Thomas's activities.
Brian Todd, CNN, Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
KIM BRUNHUBER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: And joining me to talk about this is Scott Cummings, professor of legal ethics at the UCLA School of Law. Thanks so much for being here with us. So you know, Crow has put plenty of money behind groups and want to
push the court to the right like the federal society, for exam-- for instance what -- what's the fear in terms of what influence this might have had on Justice Clarence Thomas, or is it just the appearance of impropriety that matters the most here?
SCOTT CUMMINGS, LEGAL ETHICS PROFESSOR, UCLA SCHOOL OF LAW: I think both matter very, they're both very significant in this, in this situation. The appearance of propriety is pretty clear, I think, and it does affect the public's perception of the court, the legitimacy of the court, the public standing and people's views that the court can actually function and do its job and the way it's supposed to do so that's very serious.
But I think there are also more specific concerns about a potential influence on Thomas. Harlan Crow has lavished gifts upon Justice Thomas. He has not had cases in front of the court specifically. But as you mentioned, he has been a significant donor to the conservative movement. He has tried to influence political institutions and the court specifically. And it doesn't look good to have the justice being this close and in a situation in which he's getting a lot of economic benefits.
BRUNHUBER: Yeah, other than the benefits that we mentioned in that report, we just heard there have been plenty of other questions of financial impropriety swirling around both Thomas and his wife, Jenny.
I was struck by a line in that report we just heard that neither Chief Justice Roberts nor any government body has the authority to investigate or punish Thomas outside of impeachment. Is that right?
CUMMINGS: That is right at this particular moment, and that is the fundamental problem that the court is facing right now. There is a judicial code of conduct. It applies to every other federal judge in the United States, except for the justices on the Supreme Court.
Under that code of conduct, had Justice Thomas accepted the gifts that he did from Harlan Crow, it would have been a violation of the code of conduct. The problem is that that code doesn't apply to the justices, and there's no mechanism to enforce it against them.
BRUNHUBER: Who -- who --
CUMMINGS: And this is something that the justices could voluntarily adopt, but have chosen not to.
BRUNHUBER: Yeah, why is that? How is that the Supreme Court is basically exempt from all the ethical guidelines that apply to basically every other branch of the judiciary?
CUMMINGS: I mean, the argument goes to the Supreme Court's unique stature. Under the constitution, it is the only court that is empowered under the constitution to act. It has been endowed with the judicial power under Article three. The lower federal courts are actually acts of Congress, and so the idea is that Congress has the ability to govern them and to set rules and regulations for their conduct but at the Supreme Court.
BRUNHUBER: And we heard there, I mentioned, impeachment, I mean, more than a dozen federal judges have been impeached, but historically trying to remove a Supreme Court justice that way, I mean, it's extremely rare, putting aside the fact that it will be politically unlikely because you'd never get any Republicans to vote to remove him. I mean, how might it work?
CUMMINGS: Well, the standard for serving as a justice of the Supreme Court is on good behavior. And so, the idea would be that the mounting evidence of potentially allegedly bad conduct by the justice would violate this good behavior standard.
Then the impeachment would have to proceed in the way that it normally does through the House but the conviction in the Senate. You're right, but that has not happened in American history. Only one justice has actually been impeached by the House but was not convicted by the Senate.
Abe Fortas was famously pushed out in the late 1960's after revelations that he accepted a $20,000 consultancy agreement and he resigned, he got -- he left, and he did -- he did the right thing, essentially. And here we have a situation that in some respect as far more egregious but there's resistance and there's not. There's not a clear path forward.
[03:35:09]
BRUNHUBER: Yeah, that's the problem in this era of extreme polarization of the court, its reputation seems to have been sinking for a while now, and this certainly won't help. What consequences might that have?
CUMMINGS: Well, I think there are really significant short and long- term consequences. I think that you know the short-term consequences just there is a pall cast over the court right now, and there are cases that are going to reach the court on that people might not have confidence and because of questions about this relationship between Justice Thomas and Harlan Crow and the deeper, the deeper issue really of his wife, Jenny Thomas, is the deep involvement and conservative politics and at the actions around the 2020 election that may make their way in some form or fashion up to the court.
If Thomas is unwilling to recuse himself in those cases, that's going to have an immediate short term impact in terms of people's belief that the system is working properly.
I think over the long term, there is just an erosion of trust as some of the other commentators on the piece right before this, alluded to this. It's a public confidence in the courts at an all-time low. And I do think it's going to raise a significant question over time, whether or not the court can act according to neutral norms of adjudication and not be viewed as an entity that can be bought and sold.
BRUNHUBER: Yeah, it's those long term consequences are particularly troubling. We'll have to leave it there, but really appreciate your expertise. Scott Cummings, thanks so much for speaking with us.
CUMMINGS: Thanks for having me.
BRUNHUBER: Charges are being dropped against actor Alec Baldwin over the deadly shooting on the set of the movie "Rust." Prosecutors in New Mexico say they're dismissing the involuntary manslaughter accusations for now, pending further investigation.
CNN's Chloe Melas reports.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ALEC BALDWIN, ACTOR AND PRODUCER, RUST: So, my only question is, am I being charged with something?
CHLOE MELAS, CNN ENTERTAINMENT REPORTER (voice-over): Alec Baldwin soon will no longer be accused, after New Mexico prosecutors plan to file a motion, dismissing involuntary manslaughter charges against the actor. A move they called, quote, "temporary, pending further investigation."
Baldwin reacted on Instagram, posting a photo of his wife saying, quote, "I owe everything I have to this woman, and to you, Luke," his attorney.
DEPUTY: You were in the room when the lady wants --
BALDWIN: I hold the gun, yeah.
MELAS (voice-over): Baldwin admitted to holding the gun that fired a bullet, killing Helena Hutchins, the cinematographer on Baldwin's film "Rust," but told police he did not know he was handed a loaded gun. Baldwin resumes filming on "Rust" this week, the production moved to Montana.
This was Baldwin last year.
BALDWIN: Someone is responsible for what happened and I can't say who that is, but I know it's not me.
MELAS (voice-over): The dismissal is a win for Baldwin's legal team, which challenged the motives and politics of one of the original prosecutors.
ANDREA REEB, FORMER NEW MEXICO PROSECUTOR: It doesn't matter if he's a liberal Democrat, and I'm a conservative Republican. My job has always been to prosecute crimes.
MELAS (voice-over): In February, Baldwin's lawyers filed a motion to remove special prosecutor Andrea Reeb, who at the time of the investigation was running for State Representative in New Mexico.
In an email later revealed in "The New York Times," Reeb suggested being involved in the case, quote, "might help in my campaign." Both Reeb and the District Attorney who hired her ultimately recused themselves. Their replacements dropped the charges against Baldwin. His attorneys saying they, quote, "encourage a proper investigation into the facts and circumstances of this tragic accident."
UNKNOWN: Is there live and well, that's kept on that?
UNKNOWN: No, never.
MELAS (voice-over): The film's weapons handler, Hannah Gutierrez-Reed is now the sole defendant in the case, facing 18 months for involuntary manslaughter. Her attorney says she will plead not guilty and that Gutierrez-Reed, quote, "has been emotional about the tragedy but has committed no crime."
MATTHEW HUTCHINS, HUSBAND OF HALAYNA HUTCHINS: Are we really supposed to feel bad about you, Mr. Baldwin?
MELAS (voice-over): Halyna Hutchins' husband has been a vocal critic of Baldwin, saying he should face charges.
M. HUTCHINS: The idea that the person holding the gun, causing it to discharge is not responsible is absurd to me.
MELAS (voice-over): But now justice for Halayna Hutchins moves forward without a star defendant.
BALDWIN: And she was great at her job and she died when she died, and that's -- that hurts me every day.
MELAS (on-camera): Prosecutors released a lengthier statement Thursday evening, revealing that this move to dismiss the charges is only temporary, pending a further investigation. So CNN has reached out to Alec Baldwin's legal team for further comment.
The attorney for Hannah Gutierrez-Reed, the armorer on "Rust," has spoken out, saying in a statement to CNN that they believe that she, too, will have her charges dismissed and be fully exonerated.
Now, a preliminary hearing is set for May 3rd, and the trial is expected to begin this summer, and we will just have to see what the D.A. ultimately decides back to you.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
[03:40:08]
BRUNHUBER: New video of Brazil's political riots in January, suggests the police did nothing to stop the protesters and may have left them into government buildings. We'll have the report in just a few moments, please stay with us.
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[03:44:52]
BRUNHUBER: We're learning new details about the political protests in Brazil that left the capital in shambles back in January.
Newly released footage appears to show security forces letting rioters into the presidential palace to ransack the building.
CNN's Isa Soares has the story.
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ISA SOARES, CNN ANCHOR AND CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It was the darkest of days in Brazilian democratic history, supporters of Former President Jair Bolsonaro taking the capital, Brasilia, by storm, breaking into the presidential palace, and other government buildings.
Now, new CCTV footage exclusively obtained by CNN affiliate, CNN Brasil, of what transpired inside the presidential palace appears to bolster the claims of people who have accused the police of failing to act. Chief among them, current president Lula da Silva.
LULA DA SILVA, BRAZILIAN PRESIDENT (through translator): There are a lot of people colluding. It's important to say there were a lot of conniving people from the military police and there are a lot of conniving people from the armed forces.
SOARES (voice-over): The hours of CCTV footage showed police forces seemingly retreating as protesters marched on the palace, and leaving their post as rioters entered the building. Once inside, the ransacking begins.
Priceless antiquities, tables, phones, almost nothing is left untouched.
At the time, former policeman Cassio Thyone told me some of the criticism wasn't warranted.
CASSIO THYONE, FORMER POLICE OFFICE AND PUBLIC SECURITY RESEARCHER (through translator): Some policemen ended up not acting because they didn't think there was a risk of invasion. I don't think it was incompetence.
SOARES (voice-over): The Institutional Security Office or GSI, which handles security for the presidential palaces has also defended its officers, saying they evacuated some areas, concentrated demonstrators on the second floor and waited for reinforcements to arrest him.
Despite those assertions, the bureau acknowledging its offices are being investigated, and those proven to have collaborated with rioters will be held responsible.
But heads have started rolling. General Goncalves Dias, Lula's government minister in-charge of security, has resigned. CCTV footage shows him walking with some of the rioters, just feet away from the presidential office. He says he was trying to lead them away so they could be arrested. But critics say his demeanor was complacent and complicit.
Back in Brazil after three months in self-imposed exile in the United States, Bolsonaro is enjoying some respite. The video league seen as a momentary win, as he continues to dodge blame for the January riots. Yet doubt remains, the new footage raising more questions than answers it provides.
Isa Soares, CNN.
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BRUNHUBER: Well, storage facilities and warehouses might not look like much on the outside. But in Rome, there were ancient treasures can be viewed by lucky members of the public. We'll show you ahead, stay with us.
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BRUNHUBER: Well, SpaceX couldn't have asked for a better inaugural lift-off of its super heavy rocket and Starship spacecraft. The most powerful rocket ever book successfully took off from a launch pad in south Texas on Thursday, but then have a look.
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UNKNOWN: everything after clearing the tower was icing on the cake.
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BRUNHUBER: It's well about four minutes into the flight, several engines fizzled out. The Starship began to tumble. And as you can see there, the whole thing blew up or SpaceX creatively pulled -- put it a rapid, unscheduled disassembly. The company still says the mission is a success because they learned a lot and they're planning another test in a few months.
Millions of people who visit Rome's Colosseum each year. And now, a select few can get an immersive experience tucked inside storage facilities at the historic monument.
CNN's Barbie Nadeau reports the payoff and ancient treasure is worth it.
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BARBIE NADEAU, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: Under the shadow of the Roman Colosseum, millions of people immerse themselves in ancient Roman history each year.
Here in Rome, museum curators are spoiled for choice. What do you do with 500 roman-era coins?
With limited space in the site's new museum, the Colosseum is trying a new hands-on approach. Warehouses and storage facilities brimming with artifacts are currently open to visitors. These former shops and market stalls have been converted into temporary museum space to hold the leftover artifacts that didn't quite fit into a new museum that opened in 2021.
Until the end of July, eight visitors at a time can reserve a special tour guided by an archaeologist, who will let them hold these important historical finds. Many of which have not been on display in 30 years.
In this way, the people have direct contact with the ancient culture and materials, archaeologist Roberto L. Terry (ph) says.
After that, their fate is unknown. The popular pieces will upgrade to the museum and the rest will go back to collecting dust in the warehouse.
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Alfonsina Russo, the director of the Colosseum Archaeological Park, says she hopes the project gives people a better understanding of daily life in ancient Rome.
These artifacts tell the story of daily life, how they carried out activities and above all, to bring these objects that would otherwise have remained hidden in our warehouses.
She also hopes other historical sites open up their warehouses to let people see all history has to offer and to bring the past into focus.
Barbie Latza Nadeau, CNN, Rome.
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BRUNHUBER: All right. That wraps this hour of CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Kim Brunhuber. We'll have more just ahead with Max Foster and Bianca Nobilo. Please stay with us.
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