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U.S. Tornadoes; Trump Hush Money Trial Resumes Tuesday; Egyptian Officials Trying To Jump Start Cease-Fire Talks; Rhetoric Heats Up In Iran against U.S. And Israel; Demonstrations Across The U.S. And Europe; U.S. Pledges $6 Billion In Aid For Ukraine; South African Elections; U.S. Sports. Aired 5-6a ET
Aired April 27, 2024 - 05:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
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KIM BRUNHUBER, CNN ANCHOR AND CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Hello and welcome to all of you watching here in the United States, Canada and around the world, I'm Kim Brunhuber. This is CNN NEWSROOM.
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: it was like a just a freight train, the noise was so loud. I'm not too afraid to admit it. I was crying like a baby because it's just the scariest feeling in the world.
BRUNHUBER (voice-over): Massive and destructive tornadoes ripping through the Midwest communities, now waking up to neighborhoods completely leveled. We're live on the ground in Nebraska with the latest.
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BRUNHUBER (voice-over): And it was an explosive first week of Trump's hush money trial. We'll look at how the nation feels about how the former president is being treated.
Plus --
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BRUNHUBER (voice-over): As protests on campus are spreading the colleges across the U.S. and now around the globe, we'll look at how these demonstrations are being viewed by those in Israel and Gaza.
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE (voice-over): Live from Atlanta this is CNN NEWSROOM with Kim Brunhuber.
BRUNHUBER: We begin this hour with the destructive tornadoes that tore through the central U.S. Friday. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BRUNHUBER (voice-over): The multi-day severe thunderstorm event will continue to wreak havoc from Michigan to Texas through the weekend.
In Iowa, a large tornado was reported Friday in the small city of Minden, according to the National Weather Service. Footage obtained by CNN shows mangled structures and widespread debris. Four people were injured in tornado activity across the state.
Severe weather also pounded Nebraska. The neighborhood of Elkhorn in Omaha is one of the hardest hit areas. A powerful tornado Friday afternoon flattened homes, knocked out power and toppled trees. First responders mobilized to search for anyone injured or trapped in the wreckage.
Here's how one Elkhorn resident described the devastation.
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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We got home (INAUDIBLE) I got my babies in the basement. We covered up with a blanket. We got her stomach (ph) down there. All of a sudden the lights went out. And we heard everything being thrown around above us. And it was -- it was so scary. It was so scary.
I was afraid those carried our neighbors, everybody, everyone's houses, are they gone?
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BRUNHUBER: And joining us now on the phone from hardhit Elkhorn, Nebraska, is CNN correspondent Ivan Rodriguez.
You just heard there how terrified the people are. You've been talking to folks there, seeing the devastating damage for yourself. But tell us what you've seen.
IVAN RODRIGUEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Kim.
It really is extraordinary when you look at the images, even from yesterday. Multiple videos coming in from several people here on the ground, residents, even storm chasers. It seemed that just incredible destruction that was left behind because of this tornado.
Now we're in the area of Elkhorn in Omaha, Nebraska. It's one of the hardest hit communities after these severe storms barreled through parts of the Plains and the south here yesterday and it's still obviously complete darkness.
But we get the sense based on the images that we saw yesterday just how much destruction we're going to be seeing again, going into this morning. First responders, we're told, are still combing through the wreckage left behind by the tornado, searching through those homes, as you mentioned, for anyone that may be trapped. There are a couple of things to mention here, though. Four people were
injured because of this storm in Iowa in Pottawattamie County -- excuse me. They received medical treatment there.
County emergency officials said that in a news release on Saturday. Now we also know that roughly 120 homes and businesses were damaged in that very county. That's where Minden is located, that's a small town, right about 90,000 residents. That was also severely impacted.
Two people where we are here in Omaha received treatment for their injuries. So as this warning goes on and that sun begins to come out, we're expecting more of those residents to come out, continued to inspect the damage to their homes as well.
We've heard from people who, for example, just moved in to their neighborhoods, maybe within the last month.
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And now they're going to have to deal with the process of having to rebuild after just moving in.
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It was like just a freight train. The noise was so loud. I'm not too afraid to admit it. I was crying like a baby because it's just the scariest feeling in the world.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That's my son's bedroom, yes. And I told him to go to his mom's house. And I'm glad he did.
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RODRIGUEZ: And this threat isn't necessarily over, although it might be here where we are in Omaha. But now more than 50 million people are under the threat of severe weather Saturday from the southern Plains all the way into the Great Lakes region.
So again, that threat still remains even though we're going to be dealing with a lot of that devastation here where we are in Omaha -- Kim.
BRUNHUBER: Yes, Ivan, looking at the pictures. I mean, it's a miracle more people weren't hurt. As you say, people are just waking up to all this damage.
Now what do the folks there do now?
RODRIGUEZ: It's going to be a long road to recovery. And this is something that we've seen in past tornadoes. I covered a tornado recently in Ohio as well. And everyone describes it the same way, where it just feels like that freight train -- you keep hearing that comparison -- comes through so strong.
And then it's over within a matter of seconds. And the damage that's left behind is incredible. And you'll see homes in one same neighborhood block that are completely destroyed and others, maybe you still have significant damage but are still standing.
And is that sort of the toughest part for a neighborhood as well to deal with, is just how unbiased these massive storms and tornadoes can be when they just rip through these neighborhoods.
BRUNHUBER: Just incredible. Stay safe, you and your crew out there. Ivan Rodriguez in Elkhorn, Nebraska, thank you so much.
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BRUNHUBER: Jurors in Donald Trump's hush money trial have a three-day weekend to reflect on what they heard during the first full week of testimony. On Friday, David Pecker, the former publisher of the "National Enquirer," wrapped up four days of testimony. Trump's former assistant also took the stand.
CNN chief legal correspondent Paula Reid has details.
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DONALD TRUMP, FORMER U.S. PRESIDENT & 2024 PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: So we have another day of court, freezing courthouse. It's very cold in here.
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PAULA REID, CNN CHIEF LEGAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Former President Donald Trump's still not warming up to the reality of being on trial in the New York hush money case.
Today in court, David Pecker, the former publisher of the "National Enquirer," was back on the witness stand, tying Pecker's non- prosecution agreement with federal prosecutors to an agreement he made to sell the "National Enquirer," a deal contingent on the investigation into his company being resolved.
From a timing standpoint, it would have added onto the stress of the transaction, Pecker testified.
They also tried to show how Pecker had other reasons beyond just helping Trump win the White House for running negative stories about Trump's opponents. Pecker testified that his magazine ran stories about Bill and Hillary Clinton prior to the 2015 Trump Tower meeting, where an agreement to help Trump was allegedly breached.
Running those stories was beneficial to AMI, Pecker testified.
After his testimony wrapped up, prosecutors used the last few hours of the day to call two additional witnesses. The first was Trump's longtime assistant.
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TRUMP: Rhona, let me have the calls, please. (END VIDEO CLIP)
Reid (voice-over): Rhona Graff was a fixture in Trump's office for decades. She testified how, before Trump became president, she was his gatekeeper, keeping close track of his contacts, emails, phone calls and meetings.
She told the jury it was a very stimulating, exciting, fascinating place to be.
REID: Court is not in session on Monday but the trial will resume on Tuesday, likely wrapping up a banking associate who worked closely with Michael Cohen to build the shell company he used to pay Stormy Daniels.
And then it's unclear who the prosecution's next big witness will be -- Paula Reid, CNN, New York.
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BRUNHUBER: Bernarda Villalona is a criminal defense attorney and former prosecutor and she joins me now from New York.
Thank you so much for being here so early with us. So no real bombshell revelations from yesterday but some compelling testimony.
What stood out to you?
BERNARDA VILLALONA, CRIMINAL DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Yes. So we did still get some compelling testimony from the remain of David Pecker's testimony, as well as those two other witnesses.
One thing that is clear from the week, witnesses that we heard from, is that there was this conspiracy to get this catch and kill scheme, the catch and kill scheme to affect the campaign, to affect the election.
In terms of the last two witnesses, we got confirmation from the banker that, yes, Michael Cohen did open up an account, did open a shell company in order to get payment to Stormy Daniels. That's as far as we got.
In terms of the longtime assistant, all we heard is that we got confirmation that Donald Trump did have the contact information for Karen McDougal as well as Stormy Daniels and that Stormy Daniels was seen at Trump Plaza, at least on one occasion.
But nothing that really stood out that was so bombshell that was stood -- stand out to the jury.
BRUNHUBER: Documentary evidence that he produced sort of establishing the timeline and the importance of getting those payments done before the election, that will be crucial, right? VILLALONA: Absolutely the urgency. So we learned of urgency that Michael Cohen had in order to get the payments made during that short period of time, not to sit on these payments, not to wait until after the election.
But instead to get these payments done as soon as he requested it, which was shortly after the "Access Hollywood" tape had been released.
So we got to learn to urgency and the importance of this timeline that will later play out during the trial.
BRUNHUBER: All right.
So you've been a defense attorney, so any moments there you felt that the defense really did a good job puncturing the prosecutor's argument?
VILLALONA: Well, the defense attorney did what they could. You've got to think, with a witness like David Pecker, he used to be the longtime friend and knew Trump for over 20 years. So you know that there was a close relationship.
In terms of comparing his credibility to that of Michael Cohen, they don't compare at all. The most the defense was able to do was trying to attack David Pecker, that he entered into this non-prosecution agreement and that he entered into this non-prosecution agreement as a result of him trying to sell the "National Enquirer."
And that he needed to do that order to try to close this investigation into him and into the "National Enquirer."
And then he tried to say that that was the motivation for him to possibly lie about what he was saying to prosecutors. But I don't think the defense attorneys were able to make any major headway with David Pecker.
BRUNHUBER: All right. So we're three witnesses in. Still no sense, I guess, until it's over how it played with the jurors. But maybe just as important, how this is playing out with the public. Now CNN conducted a poll before the start of the trial and found 56 percent of respondents said the jury wouldn't be able to reach a fair verdict in this case.
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And to that point, former attorney general Bill Barr, who has said Trump is unfit for office but nevertheless plans to vote for him, he told CNN this yesterday.
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WILLIAM BARR, FORMER U.S. ATTORNEY GENERAL: I think a lot of the country sympathizes with him. So I think the longer the trial goes on, the more support he gets.
(END VIDEO CLIP) BRUNHUBER: So is that true, do you think?
VILLALONA: Well, to his supporters, now you know that Donald Trump has some vast array of different supporters. He has supporters that, no matter what he does, it doesn't matter what he does --
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BRUNHUBER: Let me let me jump in.
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BRUNHUBER: Let me jump in, though.
Yes, let me jump in, though, because those -- that poll number I showed you, I mean, it certainly seemed like a larger percentage of Americans than just his supporters, which usually stands around 30 percent of his hardcore support.
So some 60 percent of people -- of people think he won't get a fair shot here.
VILLALONA: Well, I mean, they selected a jury and those jurors did say that they can be fair and impartial. Of course, the only thing you can do is go by the promise that they made to the court under oath, that they can be fair and impartial.
We're still a long way out. I think we still have at least another three weeks of testimony before the jury will finally be able to go back and deliberate on the charges, deliberate on the evidence that has been presented to him.
So I think at this point, we just have to wait and see. More importantly, what I'm waiting for is just for a decision from Judge Merchan on whether Donald Trump violated the gag order.
And if he did violate the gag order, what are you going to do about it?
BRUNHUBER: Yes. Still plenty of twists and turns there. Bernarda Villalona, thank you so much for joining us. Really appreciate it.
VILLALONA: Thank you.
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BRUNHUBER: All right. And a quick programming note. You can watch CNN's special coverage of the Trump hush money trial. It resumes on Tuesday at 9:00 am in New York. That's 2:00 in the afternoon in London.
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BRUNHUBER: With six months go before the U.S. presidential election, it's not clear if Donald Trump and Joe Biden will actually debate each other before voters go to the polls. But on Friday, both candidates said that they were ready to go. First, President Biden spoke with radio host Howard Stern about it. Here he is.
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HOWARD STERN, TALK RADIO HOST: I don't know if you're going to debate your opponent.
JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I am, somewhere. I don't know when. I'm happy to debate him.
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BRUNHUBER: The Trump campaign heard that and posted on X, "Let's set it up."
Then a short time later Donald Trump responded outside the New York courtroom, where his hush money trial was being held. Listen to this.
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TRUMP: I've invited Biden to debate. He can do it anytime he wants, including tonight. I'm ready. Here we are. I invited him to the courthouse.
We're willing to do it Monday night, Tuesday night, Wednesday night, Thursday night or Friday night on national television. We're ready. Just tell me where. We'll do it in the White House. That would be very comfortable, actually.
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BRUNHUBER: This is the first time President Biden has explicitly said that he would debate Trump in this year's election.
Well, there's a new attempt to jump-start the Israel-Hamas ceasefire talks. That's ahead.
Plus the U.S. secretary of state weighs in on the possibility of a wider agreement, including a two-state solution.
And heated rhetoric in Iran, hardliners ramp up the anti-U.S. and anti-Israel sentiment. CNN is in Tehran next.
Plus how people in the Middle East are reacting to the pro-Palestinian demonstrations spreading across the U.S. Stay with us.
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BRUNHUBER: We're following potential developments in ceasefire talks involving Israel and Hamas. Just a short time ago, Hamas said it received Israel's response to its proposal and plans to review it. Now that development comes as Egyptian officials have traveled to
Israel, hoping to jumpstart the talks. Egypt is said to be concerned about a possible IDF ground offensive in Rafah that could push Palestinians into Egypt.
More Palestinians are trying to return to their homes or what's left of them in northern Gaza. Hamas is demanding those people be allowed to return to the north without restrictions.
Israeli demonstrators aren't letting up the pressure on their government. They were on the streets of Tel Aviv this week, demanding the hostages be released. U.S. secretary of state Antony Blinken says the current crisis offers a new opportunity for a possible two-state solution involving Israel and the Palestinians. Here he is.
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ANTONY BLINKEN, U.S. SECRETARY OF STATE: We've been clear about what the vision is and, beyond that, we've been working intensively to flesh it out, working with our partners, working with European partners on this as well.
And I think the more concrete it becomes and the more it moves from the hypothetical and theoretical to something that's actually possible, that's real, then everyone involved is actually going to have to make decisions and make choices.
And so we're doing this work and we're trying to make it as real as possible so that people do decide --
KYLIE ATWOOD, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: And maybe share it before cease-fire is in place?
BLINKEN: I think certainly that's possible. We've, again, been actively engaged on this. And ceasefire or not, we'll continue to make these possibilities known. But in order to actually realize this, there's going to have to be an end to the conflict in Gaza.
And as I said, there's also going to have to be a resolution to the Palestinian question or at least an agreement on how to resolve it.
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BRUNHUBER: U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, warned Friday that Iran shouldn't feel overconfident after its attack on Israel two weeks ago proved to be ineffective.
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GEN. LLOYD AUSTIN, U.S. SECRETARY OF DEFENSE: What the Iranians learned I'm not really sure. But what they should learn is that, first of all, their systems don't work as advertised, that they employed a lot of -- a lot of munitions with the intent on creating significant damage in Israel. And none of that worked.
(END VIDEO CLIP) BRUNHUBER: Austin also gave credit to Israel for defending itself. And he said allies were able to step in and assist Israel due to regular cooperation and joint training.
There are of course, concerns of a possible wider conflict involving Iran and Israel.
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CNN's Fred Pleitgen is the only Western reporter on the ground in Iran. He has more now from Tehran, where anti-U.S. and anti-Israel rhetoric has been heating up.
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FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice- over): Iran's hardliners flexing their muscles, screaming "death to America" and "death to Israel" at Tehran's main Friday prayers.
The staunchly conservative prayer leader saying the Islamic Republic will not back down.
PLEITGEN: Iran has warned it will take an even harder line toward the U.S. and toward Israel in the future, saying that, if Israel attacks Iran or its assets one more time, the Iranians will strike back from their own territory.
PLEITGEN (voice-over): Tensions in the Middle East remain at a boiling point after Iran launched a massive drone and missile attack against Israel in retaliation for the bombing of its embassy compound in Syria, killing several top Revolutionary Guard commanders.
Israel, the U.S. and other allies managed to take down most of the Iranian drones and missiles. But Israel then hitting back with a limited strike against an airfield in central Iran.
The hardliners flying massive Palestinian flags, ripping into Israel's operation in Gaza and the U.S.'s support for Israel. The message here, Iran is ready for a confrontation.
"That attack we are even happy about," this man says. "We are praying day and night for a second and third attack."
And he says, "We've had these threats for a long time but the difference is now the people are strong. The IRGC is strong and the army is strong. And we have strong tools."
And this cleric says, "If the Islamic Republic of Iran will have more conflicts in the future, it doesn't mean we are warmongering. We're just reacting to the bullies."
But on the streets of Tehran, concern that current tensions could escalate and even turn into war.
"I believe the situation will get worse," this man says, "as both sides are more combative and, in my opinion, it will lead to war and a calamity for people."
This woman says, "We are definitely concerned, worried. But what can we ordinary people do about it?"
Iran's leadership says its military is ready for combat even as they say war is not in their interest -- Fred Pleitgen, CNN, Tehran.
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BRUNHUBER: Rallies supporting Palestinians in Gaza continue to spread to college campuses across the U.S. Details on latest protests coming up.
Plus how people in Israel are reacting to the growing protests. We've got that perspective from a journalist in Tel Aviv. That's coming up after the break. Please stay with us.
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BRUNHUBER: Welcome back to all you watching us here in the United States, Canada and around the world. I'm Kim Brunhuber. This is CNN NEWSROOM.
Pro-Palestinian protests continue to spread across the United States following several days of at times violent arrests by law enforcement. Students from four universities in Washington, D.C., rallied in support of Gaza on Friday and call on their schools to divest from companies with ties to Israel.
Similar demands and anti-war protests also happened at other universities, from the East Coast, California and Arizona State University. Three people were arrested on trespassing charges after they tried to set up an unauthorized encampment.
But 40 people were arrested in Denver after they tried to do the same thing at the joint campus of three universities. And the University of Illinois is warning of consequences if demonstrators don't leave an encampment there.
Now here in Georgia, following the arrest of about two dozen people, Emory University faculty are calling for the school president to step down over the decision to call in law enforcement.
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BRUNHUBER: Linda Dayan is a correspondent for the Israeli newspaper, "Ha'aretz," and she joins us now from Tel Aviv.
Thank you so much for being here with us. So you've written about how these protests are being perceived in Israel. But before I get to that, I just want to ask you, from your viewpoint,
what do you make of what we're seeing now on college campuses around this country?
LINDA DAYAN, CORRESPONDENT, "HA'ARETZ": In my personal viewpoint, it's really hard for me to tell. I have friends at Columbia, I have friends who are in the general area. I've been calling them, asking what they've been experiencing. And I'm getting radically different portrayals of the protest movement from every direction.
Basically, as far as I know, it's an outpouring of frustration. And I think that that's not necessarily limited to the United States. You're seeing similar outpourings in Israel as well.
BRUNHUBER: I mean, Israel obviously a diverse country.
But broadly speaking, how do you think these protests are being perceived and portrayed there in the country?
DAYAN: Within Israel, the protests are being portrayed as less anti- war and more anti-Israel and anti-Semitic. The word "riot" has been used plenty of times within the news here. You're seeing a lot of stress on the more radical elements, the calls for an intifada from the river to the sea.
The anti two-state solution discourse and for a lot of Israelis that feels very threatening.
BRUNHUBER: You talked about people on the campuses sort of seeing things through two different lenses.
I mean in Israel as well, like, like many things these days, everywhere basically, there seem to be two distinct realities, depending on your personal politics.
DAYAN: Exactly. If you open up one feed, you're seeing this protest movement being portrayed as a utopia, where there are plenty of Jewish students and participants. Therefore, there can't have been any anti- Semitism at all.
Or you're seeing a Hitler youth rally. And it seems that there's pretty much no room in between and there is no room for either algorithm to start acknowledging that the way that they're viewing this might not be the entire picture.
BRUNHUBER: I mean, you're talking about algorithms, I guess that's being self-selected in a way by people depending on who they follow and their interests and so on.
I mean, is there any way to break through this?
DAYAN: I certainly think so. And I think from the fact that, I've personally been seeing both narratives within my feed, shows that it's possible.
[05:35:00] But what we really need from the media is to be reporting on the full gamut of activities. And we need ourselves to be a little bit more open to accepting this opposite messaging.
BRUNHUBER: Yes, that's a tall order these days. The fact that these protests are so widespread and indeed spreading to other countries -- we've seen them in France, the U.K. and so on.
Do you get any sense that this will have any tangible effect in Israel, either on the decision-making, if there seemed to be more pressure on President Biden, or in generating maybe more support there domestically for the protests against the Netanyahu government and its handling of the war?
DAYAN: If anything, I think it'll turn people away from that particular movement because they're seeing the particular calls and they're seeing the particular messaging of the protests abroad, especially within the Israeli media.
They're really shining a light on blatant anti-Semitism, very problematic chants, calls to disestablish the state as a whole. And that can actually do more harm to protest movements here within Israel, if they're seen as anti-Zionist, anti Israel, rather than just anti-war.
BRUNHUBER: Interesting. So if people are rallying together, banding together against a perceived common enemy, I guess.
The point that you've made and the sad reality of it is that the ironic outcome of the protests is that now many people here in the U.S. may be paying more attention to those protests than the war itself.
DAYAN: Exactly. Within what I've been seeing in the news, it has basically eclipsed the war as it's happening, especially with the Rafah intensive (sic) likely soon to come.
Right now, the attention is being paid on the way that police are handling protesters, the protesters' demands, and less so on what the protesters themselves are trying to shine a light on.
BRUNHUBER: Linda Dayan, it's been a pleasure speaking with you. Thank you so much. Really appreciate it.
DAYAN: Thank you.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BRUNHUBER: South Africa is celebrating 30 years of democracy but some South Africans say there's a new inequality in the country. We'll have the story coming up here on CNN NEWSROOM.
Plus, the U.S. is promising even more aid for Ukraine after approving nearly $61 billion this week. Details on a new aid package just announced. Stay with us.
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BRUNHUBER: Two hospitals in Kyiv rushed to evacuate patients on Friday, worried about a potential attack after Belarus claimed Ukrainian forces were inside. One was a children's hospital.
The scramble to move patients came after the head of the Belarusian KGB said soldiers were, quote, "hiding behind the backs of children."
Ukrainian officials pushed back, calling it an absolute lie. Kyiv's mayor said all of the patients have been moved to other facilities.
The U.S. Defense Department is pledging $6 billion in long-term military aid for Ukraine. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin made the announcement on Friday, calling it the largest security assistance package to date.
It will include interceptors for Ukraine's air defense systems, counter drone systems and other critical equipment. Here he is.
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GEN. LLOYD AUSTIN, U.S. SECRETARY OF DEFENSE: My Ukrainian friends, we know the burden that you all carry and you should know that all of us have your back. And we still do and we won't back down. Ukraine's struggle for freedom matters to us all.
If Ukraine fell under Putin's boot, Europe would fall under Putin shadow.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BRUNHUBER: Austin's announcement comes days after President Biden signed off on a massive foreign aid package that included nearly $61 billion in assistance for Ukraine.
South Africa is holding a ceremony to mark 30 years of the country's democracy. The nation's first all-race democratic election in 1994 was a huge milestone in post-apartheid South Africa. It's no doubt what president Cyril Ramaphosa is talking about right now, live pictures from Pretoria.
Well, with evidence that inequality still exists and crime and corruption is running rampant, the once hopeful promise of democracy may be losing its appeal ahead of next month's critical elections. Now those elections pose a serious threat to Mandela's party, the African National Congress. Our David McKenzie is live in Johannesburg.
So David, politicians like Cyril Ramaphosa, the president there, that we're seeing live now, talking about this, using this anniversary as an occasion to mark how far the country's come. But given the country's current troubles, it's not lost on the many
voters how far there still is to go.
DAVID MCKENZIE, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: I think you're right, Kim, but today is certainly a day of celebration and reflection.
Cyril Ramaphosa just a short time ago saying that thanks need to be given to all those people who made a sacrifice to get this country over the line of a democratic transition, which certainly wasn't assured 30 years ago.
The iconic election of 1994, with all those people waiting in line to vote, of all races, colors and creeds, was is a defining moment of the 20th century. And now we face a country that -- South Africans face a country where there are significant challenges.
Inequality is growing; corruption, crime a significant issue; there has been rolling power blackouts and other major issues that we've reported on extensively. And the next month's election will certainly be the most closely watched election, I think, since that '94 iconic election -- Kim.
BRUNHUBER: Yes, speaking of the polls, I mean the ANC poll numbers going into this election are relatively low. And it speaks to the disillusionment and frustration that many are feeling with the ruling ANC.
Is there a sense that this election could actually bring a measure of change?
MCKENZIE: Well, there is a real sense that the ANC might lose its majority in parliament -- the simple majority, that is. And if they do, if they go below 50 percent, that will mean they'll have to join up with smaller parties to form a coalition most likely.
Now this would be an epoch defining event in South African politics. The ANC, the party of Nelson Mandela, defined politics since 1994, is seen as the liberation party of this nation of course. So if it slips below 50 percent.
[05:45:00]
Or even further, as some polls suggest, it will be a significant moment of change and uncertainty. There is a lot of nervousness I think amongst some voters about what the future holds in this country.
Coalitions at the local level have hardly been a success on the universal front. And it will be a very symbolic and very real political thunderclap should the ANC actually lose its majority in next month's election.
BRUNHUBER: Yes, there's lot of loyalty in certain areas.
I want to know where in the country are you watching?
Who will benefit, who will pick up the votes if indeed the ANC does lose some of its support?
MCKENZIE: It's a very good question. Big major cities, like Johannesburg, Cape Town, other parts of metropolitan areas in South Africa have seeing the biggest challenges to the ANC's hold on electoral politics. They still have a very significant support, of course, particularly in rural areas.
Many people tie the ANC government's use of social grants to prop up the poorest of this country and see if -- and expect -- and this is false, of course -- that if the ANC were to lose power, those grants could go away.
But it's a very effective tool for keeping loyalty amongst the population. I think you've seen the ANC split, as it were, in a certain way. You have Julius Malema, the former anti youth league leader, who comes from the Left, and former president Jacob Zuma, who is now running for a rival party, could be a spoiler in this election.
All of it means that this country, which has had a very vibrant democracy for 30 years, is potentially entering uncharted waters, that the liberation movement that is really part and parcel of politics here could lose significant support.
BRUNHUBER: Fascinating, essentially a momentous election. We'll, be watching David McKenzie. Thank you so much.
King Charles is expected to return to public duties next week, according to Buckingham Palace. And the announcement comes two months after the 75 year-old British monarch revealed he's being treated for cancer.
On Tuesday he and Queen Camilla will visit a cancer treatment center. It's apparently not where the king has been receiving his own treatments. It's expected to be the first of several engagements leading up to the first anniversary of Charles and Camilla's coronation.
On Friday the palace also released a new portrait of the king and queen to mark the commemoration.
All right, still ahead here on CNN NEWSROOM, Indiana's Pacers left it all on the court against the Milwaukee Bucks Friday night. "CNN SPORT's" Carolyn Manno joins me live to look at the overtime heroics by one player that clinched the game. Please stay with us.
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BRUNHUBER: In sports an epic overtime ending in the NBA playoffs between the Milwaukee Bucks and Indiana Pacers. "CNN SPORT's" correspondent Carolyn Manno joins me now. So, Carolyn, game back-and-forth came down to the final seconds,
right?
CAROLYN MANNO, CNN SPORTS CORRESPONDENT: Indeed, we've been really lucky that way. The playoffs are where legacies are made, there's no better place to be than Indiana to do something like that.
The home of basketball, let's go straight to overtime, pick it up in this game. Bucks and Pacers tied at 115 with 20 seconds to go. Aaron Naismith (ph) hitting his only three-pointer of the night, putting the Pacers ahead, what a time to do it.
But the Bucks would answer back after this. Kris Middleton, who made a three in the seconds of the fourth quarter to force overtime, hitting another one to tie it back up. Middleton had 42 points, so any calls a time-out in the huddle. You can see Tyrese Haliburton telling his team, we're winning the game right now.
And he was right. Halliburton driving, draining the game winner, finishing with 18 points and his first career playoff triple double as the Pacers outlast the Bucks to take a 2-1 series lead.
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TYRESE HALLIBURTON, PACERS GUARD: I just knew I was shooting it no matter what, didn't know what I was going to get to. It was just kind of was based off of feel. I live for these moments. So that's why I'm here. They have a lot of trust me, this organization does.
So I just felt like -- it was six seconds. That was enough time for me to get a good look and, you know what happened.
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MANNO: Elsewhere, things getting chippy late in game three between the Mavs and Clippers. Russell Westbrook doing the twist and shout to Luka Doncic, grabbing him, spinning the Dallas superstar. And then you saw him give him that little push when Doncic said something.
PJ Washington and Westbrook exchanging shoves and, before you know it, Brooks (ph) actually shoved one of the officials. Both he and Washington got ejected. The Mavs would go on to win by 11 to go up 2- 1, wild scene.
The New York Rangers are also a game away from sweeping the Washington Capitals out of the NHL playoffs. Chris Kreider with a goal in the first, moving him into a tie for third on the Rangers' all-time playoffs points lists.
And Igor Shiserken (ph) was absolutely stellar too, after allowing an early score, New York's net minder finishing with 28 saves as they go on to win 3-1, good news for the guys in blue. Only four teams have gone up 3-0 and gone on to lose a series in NHL history. So they are in pretty good shape.
And lastly for you this morning, Kim, if you need any evidence that Chicago Bears fans are pending their hopes on Caleb Williams as their team savior under center, here it is. Less than 24 hours after taking him with the first pick in the NFL draft, the quarterback's gear has already almost sold out, according to fanatics.
The only jerseys left are the orange adult XXL and the youth navy blue. And for fans who maybe pre-ordered the number 13, the number you were in college, that is a bit of a tough break because he is going to instead wear 18 in the Windy City.
And Kim, keep in mind this record was set only 10 days ago with Caitlin Clark of the Indiana Fever. Her jersey just went crazy and now it seems like Chicago fans following suit. They've got their guy. We'll see if it works out for them.
BRUNHUBER: Yes. I know producer Catherine's hopes and dreams are being pinned to his sweater. So we'll see. It's a bit of a shame that that record fell so quickly.
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It would be kind of cool to have it -- have her to have it. But yes, what can you do.
Listen, we'll have to leave it there, Carolyn Manno in New York, thank you so much.
Well, if you're in the market for a gold watch, a very special one will hit the auction block today. The timepiece belonged to John Jacob Astor IV. It was found with his body after the Titanic sank.
Astor was the richest man on the doomed ship, one of 1,500 who died in the disaster in 1912. And the watch is among a number of items being auctioned. They include the case that held the violin famously played by the band leader as the ship went down and a pocket book that documents the Titanic's scheduled voyages.
The watch is expected to fetch up to $188,000.
A 60 year-old woman is making history by running to represent Argentina in the Miss Universe competition. Judges crowned Alejandra Rodriguez as Miss Universe Buenos Aires on Wednesday. Now she's on her way to compete for Miss Universe Argentina, which takes place on May 25th.
The lawyer and journalist was able to pursue the crown after the competition dropped strict age limits ahead of this year's pageant, according to the "Buenos Aires Times."
All right. Well, if you been living in a galaxy far, far away and never saw the Star Wars movies, the website financebuzz.com has an exciting job opportunity for you.
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BRUNHUBER (voice-over): The site's offering $1,000 for someone to binge the nine movies, all 25 hours and seven minutes of them. The lucky Jedi winner must be new to the force, who's never seen any
related movie or show or played any Star Wars video game. The effort comes ahead of the 25th anniversary of episode one, "The Phantom Menace." Organizers are throwing in an extra $100 for streaming snacks and, of course, a light saber.
And you should apply by May 4. Get it May 4th. May the 4th be with you.
That wraps this hour of CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Kim Brunhuber. For viewers in North America, "CNN THIS MORNING" is next. For the rest of the world, it's "AFRICAN VOICES: CHANGEMAKERS."
