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CNN International: Prisoner Swap Plan for Navalny was Being Discussed; Wave of Highly Coordinated Gang Attacks in Port-Au-Prince; Communist Party Leaders in China Announce Their Vision for 2024; U.S. Could Ban TikTok Unless Chines Company Divests; Japanese Filmmakers Win big at The Academy Awards. Aired 4:30-5a ET

Aired March 11, 2024 - 04:30   ET

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

[04:30:00]

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MSTYSLAV CHERNOV, DIRECTOR, "20 DAYS IN MARIUPOL": This is the first Oscar in Ukrainian history. And I'm honored. I'm honored. But probably I will be the first director on this stage who will say, I wish I would never made this film. I wish to be able to exchange this to Russia never attacking Ukraine, never occupying our cities.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BIANCA NOBILO, CNN ANCHOR: Also at the award ceremony, Putin critic Alexei Navalny was remembered as part of the memoriam segment. He was the subject of last year's Best Documentary. The recognition comes as sources say there was a prisoner exchange plan being discussed for the Russian opposition leader at the time of his death.

CNN producer Sebastian Shukla joins me now to discuss this. Seb, what are you learning about this prisoner exchange that was in the works?

SEBASTIAN SHUKLA, CNN PRODUCER: Well, Bianca, what we're learning actually is that it was an incredibly complicated and in fact, a colorful nature that the way the deal was coming together. Initial conversations, which was all of this almost completely informal was taking place between Hillary Clinton and the Navalny team in the form of Christo Grozev, who at the Aspen Ideas Festival in summer 2022 met. And they initially came up with the idea of how Alexei Navalny could be traded.

Now, following that dinner, sources close to Hillary Clinton have told us that she then ran the information up the chain to Jake Sullivan, who was a former colleague and obviously now Joe Biden's national security advisor. But within that constellation and afterwards, talks developed and they progressed that two attempts had been made to get a message delivered to the Kremlin. And at each at each final step, the source chickened out, so to speak.

And it was then in the third and final attempt that Roman Abramovich became involved. And the Navalny team on the eve of his death had learned that in some way, Roman Abramovich had finally managed to deliver a message to the Kremlin. He had been shuttling back and forth between the Middle East where he lives now and Moscow, seemingly trying to act as an intermediary in this.

And the deal became very complicated. It involved the United States, it involved Germany and obviously it involved Russia. And there had to be a way to find to package up a deal, which included crucially the German -- the prisoner in Germany under the name of Vadim Krasnikov, who assassinated a Chechen dissident inside Berlin's main Central Park.

And so when we when we look at how this deal finally came together, we start to see a little more texture, which we don't get to see very often on just how all of this came together. And sources close to Abramovich even told us that they were flabbergasted, actually, that Alexei Navalny had died in prison. But all of this is it happens informally.

Bianca, one of the one of the quotes our sources told us was the offer can only be made once it's been accepted informally. That's how these negotiations work. And sources have said that the deal was a seven or eight out of 10 to being informally agreed.

The White House had pushed back and said, you know, there was no formal deal extended to Russia at the time of Alexei Navalny's death. But what seems crucial here, though, is that even though it was informal, even though that the it wasn't being done through the official channels, potentially between the White House and -- and Moscow, that nevertheless, deals like this and this is how deals like this are made -- Bianca.

Sebastian Shukla, thank you so much for that fascinating insight into what could have been. Thank you.

China's Communist Party leaders reveal their plans for the future as the annual gathering of the National People's Congress winds down. So we'll discuss their vision and how the U.S. presidential election may come into play.

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(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

NOBILO: Welcome back to CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Bianca Nobilo. If you're just joining us, let me bring you up to date with some of today's top stories.

At least four major news agencies have withdrawn an image of Catherine, the Princess of Wales, and her three children, claiming the photo has been manipulated. The picture was released Sunday by Kensington Palace, the first official image of the princess since her abdominal surgery in January.

Portugal's center-right democratic alliance narrowly won Sunday's parliamentary elections, getting nearly 30 percent of the vote. The results are not yet final and will take up to two weeks to validate. But the leader of the incumbent center-left socialist party has already conceded. The British-based cosmetics company The Body Shop has filed for

bankruptcy and is shutting down all of its stores in the U.S. It also plans to close dozens of stores in Canada. The Body Shop was founded in 1976 by environmental campaigner Anita Roddick.

Turning now to the ever-worsening situation in Haiti, where escalating violence prompted diplomatic evaluations from Port-au-Prince this weekend.

Our Patrick Oppmann brings us the details, including what the future may hold for the embattled Prime Minister Ariel Henry.

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PATRICK OPPMANN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Under the cover of darkness, a U.S. military helicopter evacuated non-essential personnel from the U.S. embassy in Port-au-Prince. The embassy will remain operational and that same helicopter brought in extra security, presumably U.S. Marines, to help guard the embassy as the increased gang violence that has paralyzed Haiti continues.

Other embassies, including the German and European Union embassy, also evacuated diplomats by helicopter. And this is really for foreign diplomats essentially the only way to get out of the country at this point because the airport remains closed after fighting from the gangs. Attacking police came very close to the Port-au-Prince airport. One plane was actually damaged by the gunfire.

I'm told by diplomats that trying to leave over the land border to the Dominican Republic is simply too dangerous at this point because of all the checkpoints that gangs have set up. So for the lucky few diplomats who were able to go out by helicopter, that is really the only way out. Other diplomats who have remained behind in country have said that their storage of food and water are running low.

Of course, for the thousands of Haitians who have been displaced by the gang violence, it is a much, much more difficult and dangerous situation.

All eyes are on Prime Minister Ariel Henry, who it is believed remains in Puerto Rico, unable to return to his own country and under increased pressure from the U.S. and from political parties in Haiti to come up with a diplomatic solution to announce the formation of a transitional government to say when elections could be held.

Up until now though, Henry has kept largely silent and has not stated what his intentions are.

Patrick Oppmann, CNN Havana.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

[04:10:02]

NOBILO: We're following a developing story out of New Zealand where 50 passengers aboard a LATAM Airlines flight have received medical treatment after the plane experienced a, quote, technical event in the air. It happened today on a flight from Sydney, Australia to Auckland, New Zealand. The airline says the event caused a strong movement.

Passengers aboard the plane are describing scary scenes saying there was a mid-air drop and people, quote, flew through the cabin. One woman said that the force of people flying around actually broke the ceiling of the plane. Most of the injuries were said to be minor to moderate thankfully with one patient though in serious condition.

China's National People's Congress wrapped up a short time ago. The annual meeting of the country's legislature is one of the two major political sessions happening in China this month. The other held by its political advisory body ended on Sunday.

And CNN's Marc Stewart is live in Tiananmen Square with more on the sessions and what they mean for China. And Marc, it's very rare to see you in that location Tiananmen Square or any journalist.

MARC STEWART, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It is Bianca, good morning. This is one of those every so often moments because international journalists in most cases are prohibited from being here on Tiananmen Square from reporting from here let alone broadcasting live. It's a reflection of the politics or the security, the surveillance that we have seen develop in China over the years. However the National People's Congress is seen as one of those exception events and we are able to be here live today.

As far as this gathering the 3,000 delegates of China's rubber stamp legislature very much according to script but we did get some ideas as to where China may be going in the future. First of all it was here that we learned of an economic target a growth target of around five percent for the year ahead.

We heard lots about China doubling down on science and technology as part of its future focusing on things perhaps such as artificial intelligence and its electric vehicle industry. We also learned of China's future ambitions -- military ambitions to again increase military spending.

We also got a look perhaps behind what Xi Jinping himself may be thinking in the future. This is a gathering that normally ends with the premier giving a news conference. It's a tradition that we have seen for the last 30 years but this year that did not happen. It was cancelled.

Some analysts feel it's a way for Xi Jinping to show his strength, to show his in-charge reputation as China moves into a new era dealing with an economy that has been murky as well as a whole other host of domestic issues. Bianca, this is going to be perhaps a guide map a road of some of the things themes that we'll hear from China in the year ahead.

NOBILO: Marc Stewart in Beijing for us. Thank you so much.

TikTok could be banned in the U.S. unless its Chinese owners divest themselves of the social media site. Some U.S. lawmakers say the app could compromise American users data and manipulate public sentiment.

CNN's Manu Raju explains why some on Capitol Hill are convinced that TikTok poses a danger.

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MANU JAJU, CNN CHIEF CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: TikTok may be one of the most popular apps in the country but it's possible it could be banned in the United States. That's if a new bill that is steaming through the house ultimately becomes law.

That piece of legislation would force the Chinese firm ByteDance to sell it. If it doesn't sell TikTok then the popular app would no longer be allowed in the United States.

This has wide support in the House. In fact passing overwhelmingly 50 to 0 in the House Energy and Commerce Committee just last week. That is unusual. You rarely see that level of bipartisan support and quickly after the House majority leader Steve Scalise announced it would be on the floor of the House this week. So it could certainly pass.

Then it would go to the United States Senate which would have to take up the bill pass it. See if it passes the same version. Ultimately see if it goes to the president's desk which and whether the president would sign the final version of that legislation into law which the White House has indicated it does support this measure.

Now that doesn't mean that TikTok isn't trying to stop this legislation. In fact they are trying to kill it.

That's what the top Republican who chairs the Energy and Commerce Committee told me on Friday that our office is being flooded with phone calls.

REP. CATHY MCMORRIS RODGERS (R-WA): Yes we've been flooded with calls, a record amounts of calls. Any member of the Energy and Commerce Committee that voted yesterday has been flooded.

TikTok actually put up a notice where they blocked an individual to actually get on TikTok unless you called your member of Congress and told them, you know, not to vote for this legislation.

[04:15:00]

But that's just an example of how they can manipulate data and influence Americans for their agenda.

RAJU: Now the lawmakers are trying to force ByteDance to sell TikTok because they are worried they say about the Chinese government interfering in the popular social media app taking data and the like in Americans private information and they're trying to stop them from doing that. TikTok has denied Chinese government interference in all of this but that doesn't mean that it won't become law. We'll see how quickly the Senate would take it up after the House is expected to pass it later this week. The president did say though if they pass the bill that's before the

House he will sign it.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

NOBILO: Our thanks to Manu Raju for that report.

Still to come "Godzilla" spotted in Los Angeles walking away with an Oscar but the film wasn't the only big winner from Japan. We're live in Tokyo next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE, "THE BOY AND THE HERON": A lot of strange things happen in this place.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE, "THE BOY AND THE HERON": I just hope we stay safe.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

NOBILO: You're watching a clip from Studio Ghibli's "The Boy and The Heron," which won the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature Film last night. But Japanese filmmakers had more reason to celebrate with the kaiju action movie "Godzilla Minus One," also winning for Best Visual Effects.

CNN's Hanako Montgomery joins me now from Tokyo with more. Hanako, tell us more about the reaction in Japan to this amazing Oscar success.

HANAKO MONTGOMERY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Bianca. I mean, this was a huge, huge win for Japan and fans across the country have been celebrating these wins as though they personally have won the awards. And you can't really blame them. It makes sense because Studio Ghibli's works, Godzilla's films, they are hugely culturally significant here in Japan. Many people grew up watching these movies.

So really, these Oscar films were more of a nod to the international acclaim that these films have been garnering in recent years. And on Sunday night, we know that "Godzilla Minus One" made history by becoming the first film in the franchise's 70 years to win an Oscar in the Best Visual Effects category -- like you mentioned. You see the director there with his crew members collecting those golden statuettes while also holding the Godzilla figurines. Very on brand, very adorable. I wish I had one myself.

And as for Hayao Miyazaki, who previously won an Oscar back in 2003 for his beloved film, "Spirited Away," this is just another jewel in the crown for him. The 83-year-old director actually came out of retirement to make "Boy and the Heron" and it took seven painstaking years. But I think it's safe to say it paid off.

The film is actually the highest grossing film for Japanese box offices of all time, making nearly 13 million U.S. dollars in the opening weekend alone.

[04:20:00]

And what was different about this film and its marketing campaign was that there was practically no campaign. There were no trailers. You didn't know who was going to voice these characters. And you only knew what the movie was actually about once you were actually sitting in the theater. But it worked.

It drew in those crowds. It drew in people like myself. I myself was there on opening day because as we all know, if it's a Studio Ghibli film, it's probably going to be great entertainment -- Bianca.

NOBILO: And Hanako, Hayao Miyazaki is 83 years old, but there's already rumors that he's on to his next movie. What can you tell us?

MONTGOMERY: I know it's astounding, really, an 83-year-old director, and he just keeps pumping out more and more films. So these rumors, we can't confirm them.

But Suzuki, his producer, his longtime producer, has hinted that Miyazaki is already working on his next work. So we don't know what it's about. We don't know when it's going to be released.

But I think it's safe to say if it's going to be a Studio Ghibli film, there's probably going to be a lot of acclaim, a lot of interest around this movie -- Bianca.

NOBILO: Hanako Montgomery in Tokyo for us, where everyone is celebrating. Thank you so much.

Jurgen Klopp faced Manchester City for the last time as Liverpool's manager. The highlights and Klopp's reaction to the clash of the two football titans. That is just ahead.

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NOBILO: The biggest game of the English Premier League season so far took place as Liverpool faced Manchester City on Sunday. And this one was special because it was Jurgen Klopp's final match against Man City as Liverpool's manager. You can see him here hugging Man City's Pep Guardiola.

Our Patrick Snell shows you what happened before the hugs.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

PATRICK SNELL, CNN WORLD SPORT: It was billed as the English Premier League's match of the season so far and it did not disappoint. Sunday's blockbuster between powerhouse rivals Liverpool and defending champs Manchester City.

Both teams going into the game playing catch-up with new leaders Arsenal who'd beaten Brentford on Saturday. This, remember, Jurgen Klopp's farewell season at Liverpool. Huge respect between Klopp and counterpart Pep Guardiola as the pair locked horns for the last time in the Premier League.

This was an absolutely superb contest between two great sides and it would be the champions ahead after just 23 minutes. A well-drilled corner routine as defender John Stones who opens the scoring. The injury-hit Reds though were transformed in the second half Darwin Nunez's foul by City keeper Ederson after a poor back pass. And World Cup winner Alexis Mac Allister making no mistake from the penalty spot for one all.

It would be all Liverpool at this point just past the hour mark. It's the sub Mo Salah with a wonderful through ball and Luis Diaz certain to score you think but the chance is squandered. And then more drama to come a minute from time as City's Jeremy Doku has a good chance himself but his effort hits the inside of the post right in front of the cuff there and then the young Belgian player at the center of a highly controversial moment deep into stoppage time, the contact, the high boot into the chest of Mac Allister. No penalty given though.

An absorbing match ends on his evening and just look at the emotional hug there between Klopp and Guardiola the mutual respect between these two rival head coaches. Once again on full display. What a game this was.

JURGEN KLOPP, LIVERPOOL MANAGER: So I said after this game probably nobody should opening the champagne bottles because it's a long way to go for all of us.

[04:25:00]

But there's a performance which really showed OK if you can play football like this against Man City that's a statement and I love that.

SNELL: Arsenal now level on 64 points with Liverpool but the Gunners lead the way on goal difference only. City just a point back. All three teams have played 28 matches. And a huge fixture to come on March the 31st when City and Arsenal go head to head. And with that it's right back to you.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

NOBILO: Our Patrick Snell.

These are our stories in the spotlight this hour.

For the third year in a row American College Basketball star Caitlin Clark and the University of Iowa have won their conference title. The Hawkeyes bested the Nebraska Cornhuskers in a 94-89 overtime showdown on Sunday.

Clark was also named the Big Ten Conference tournament's most valuable player for the third straight year. She's already the leading scorer of all time for women and men in the NCAA division basketball. After the game Clark told reporters that she's, quote, super proud of us.

Jaw-dropping footage from a GoPro camera -- (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

(HELMET CAM CAPTURES SKIER'S DROP INTO HIDDEN WATERFALL)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

NOBILO: Oh, a Kiwi man was skiing through mountainous terrain in Japan last week when he tumbled nearly 20 feet down into a natural hot spring. Fortunately, he wasn't hurt and was able to climb his way out with the help of his skis. Now that was genius.

And finally, proof people will pay anything for a viral trend. These are mini tote bags sold by U.S. grocery chain Trader Joe's. They sell for about three dollars there but after videos about the bags gained more than 11 million views on TikTok they're now a precious commodity. A set of all four colors you see here is being offered for more than five hundred dollars including shipping on eBay. Some stores are reportedly placing limits on the number of totes that customers can buy with one employee telling CNN they might not be replenished until September.

And that proves that an item's worth is just how much someone's willing to pay for it.

So that does it here on CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Bianca Nobilo in London. And CNN "THIS MORNING" is up next for you after a quick break.

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