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House Passes $95 Billion Foreign Aid Package; No Motion Yet To Vote To Possibly Oust Speaker Johnson; Biden Applauds Passage of $95 Billion Foreign Aid Bill; Bill That Could Ban TikTok Passes U.S. House, Heads To Senate; TikTok Could Have Up To A Year To Find A New Owner; GOP Hardliners Express Hopes Johnson Will Resign; Two Young Siblings Killed, At Least 12 Injured After Car Drives Into Building; Opening Statement Expected Monday In Trump Criminal Case; Full Jury And Six Alternates Seated In Trump Trial; Ukraine President Zelenskyy Thanks U.S. For New Funding; House Passes $61 Billion Ukraine Aid Bill; Aid Package Provides $26 Billion To Israel "To Defend Itself." Aired 6-7a ET
Aired April 21, 2024 - 06:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[06:00:43]
VICTOR BLACKWELL, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning and welcome to CNN THIS MORNING. It is Sunday, April 21st. I'm Victor Blackwell.
AMARA WALKER, CNN ANCHOR: And I'm Amara Walker. Here's what we're working on for you this morning. The $95 billion foreign aid bill sails to the Senate after clearing the House in a very divided vote. But House Speaker Mike Johnson's job is still left in limbo with a fellow Republican lawmaker calling for him to resign, and the motion to vacate picking up steam.
BLACKWELL: And the country is set to receive the tens of billions of dollars, that aid, and messages that they're sending to the lawmakers here in the U.S. We're going to have live reports from Ukraine and from the Middle East.
WALKER: Plus, we're just a day away from a sobering moment in U.S. history. For the first time a former U.S. president will have to hear opening statements in his criminal trial. What to expect in court tomorrow and what former President Trump's faithful followers are saying about it all.
BLACKWELL: And tragedy at a Michigan birthday party. Two young siblings are dead and a dozen others are hurt after an accused drunk driver crashes through the building where the party was happening.
WALKER: The Senate is coming back during their scheduled recess next week specifically to push through foreign aid measures. The House finally passed their whopping $95 billion aid package Saturday but reactions on the House floor were mixed.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. MARC MOLINARO (R-NY): The House will be in order. The chair would remind my colleagues to observe proper decorum. Flag-waving on the floor is not -- is not appropriate. The House will be in order.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BLACKWELL: So, this collaboration could cause Speaker Johnson his job. Now, the three GOP hardliners, they still have not made a move to force a motion to vacate. Instead, they want Johnson to resign. CNN's Lauren Fox reports on the chaos there on Capitol Hill.
LAUREN FOX, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: This aid package dividing conservatives but an overwhelming vote in the House of Representatives to pass additional aid for Ukraine, Israel, and the Indo-Pacific. Now this package of bills heads to the United States Senate, where we expected a key vote to begin on Tuesday.
Now, the question becomes, what is Speaker Mike Johnson's future after this vote? It became clear that conservatives are still deeply frustrated with Mike Johnson. And despite the fact that Marjorie Taylor Greene did not take steps in order to try to oust the speaker on Saturday, it remains very clear that this is something that is looming over Johnson in the weeks ahead.
Meanwhile, you had other Republicans mainly some of the key chairman and defense hawks in the House, who were applauding Johnsons actions. Despite the fact that he was under threat, under scrutiny from conservatives, he decided to move forward with this package for additional funding for Ukraine. Representative Mike McCaul saying that this was a defining moment for the new speaker.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. MICHAEL MCCAUL (R), TEXAS: He showed true leadership by what he did today. It took a lot and guts in the face of the opposition, but he knows that if we didn't do this the consequences would have been severe, not just for the United States but for the free world.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
FOX: And it wasn't just Republicans celebrating Johnson. I also spoke with one representative, a Democrat, Mike Quigley, who said that his view of Speaker Johnson had shifted in the last several weeks. That view, of course, will be very important for Johnson moving ahead if Marjorie Taylor Greene does ultimately decide to try to oust Johnson. The defining votes could come from Democrats. Amara, Victor.
BLACKWELL: Lauren Fox, thank you. President Biden praised the House approval of the $95 billion foreign aid package. In a post on X, the president said that, "I urge the Senate to quickly send the package to my desk." Now --
WALKER: The Democratic majority Senate is anticipated to pass the measure as soon as Tuesday and then send it to President Biden as he is asking for his signature. CNN's White House reporter Camila DeChalus joining us now. Camila.
CAMILA DECHALUS, CNN WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: That's right. Amara, Victor, good morning. President Biden put out a clear message saying that lawmakers coming together to pass these foreign aid bills just really sends this message about American leadership and it sends it to the globe.
[06:05:09]
I want to read just a quick statement that the president put out. He said, "Members of both parties already in the House voted to advance our national security interests and send a clear message about the power of American leadership on the world stage. At this critical inflection point, they came together to answer history's call, passing urgently-needed national security legislation that I have fought for months to secure."
And it's a reminder in this statement that President Biden has been calling for months for lawmakers to come together to pass additional aid to provide to countries like Israel and Ukraine. And even when he invited lawmakers to the White House on several occasions, he always made sure to bring up the fact that he wanted them to pass this foreign aid to give to these countries that he feels that are in need, and it's in their best interests. And so, he's really urgently now calling on Senate to quickly pass this and send it to his desk so he can sign this into law. Amara, Victor, back to you.
WALKER: All right. Camila DeChalus, thank you very much. And a final note on the House's weekend work, one measure moved Washington closer to possibly banning TikTok in the U.S. It would give the hugely popular social media platform about nine months to replace the current Chinese parent company, ByteDance, with a new owner. It could get another 90-day extension if the president determines there is progress toward a sale.
Not many in Congress see the app as a national security risk but the company argues First Amendment rights are at stake and it plans to challenge measures to ban it. Now, President Biden said previously he would sign off on a previous version of this bill. So, it is likely if the Senate goes ahead and passes it, he will approve this one.
Joining us now is politics reporter Stef Kight from "Axios." Good morning to you. Let's start with this $95 billion foreign aid package. Wow, a bipartisan bill that finally passed. Imagine that.
You know, the fact that Speaker Mike Johnson -- I mean, he's getting a lot of praise, you know, for his courage to risk his political life to get this bill on the floor and passed it. It really just underscores because -- I mean, he was really just doing his job, right, I mean, as speaker he's supposed to move bills to the floor. It highlights just the fact that we're in such extraordinary times and how deeply fractured House Republicans are.
STEF KIGHT, POLITICS REPORTER, AXIOS: It's very true. And, you know, it has been striking to hear Speaker Johnson talk about this bill the way he has, because this is a change in tone when it comes to the way that he has talked about providing U.S. aid overseas. He did not come into the speakership a loud proponent of continuing to provide aid for Ukraine, in particular, but we've seen him come around this issue. We hear him point to, you know, internal intelligence that -- his view that has underscored to him the importance of these tens of billions of dollars worth of weapons for Ukraine in their fight against Russian aggression. And he is now doubling down saying that this was the right thing to do.
And yes, we have certainly heard from both Republicans and Democrats who are supportive of the fact that he did move forward on this package and bring it to the floor, despite kind of waiting for a few months to decide the right path forward. But again, as you point out, this is also a very contentious issue for Republicans and conservatives are not happy right now.
And it's not just Marjorie Taylor Greene, or Thomas Massie, or Paul Gosar. We are hearing increasingly from more Republicans who are upset by the fact that Johnson passed Ukraine with 100 percent of Democratic votes and not even half of Republicans votes. And that is putting his speakership in jeopardy not just -- right now, we're not just waiting to see whether Marjorie Taylor Greene does move forward with the motion to vacate, right now. That's going to put him in a precarious situation from here through the election.
WALKER: Where do you think this leaves him though then with the Republican electorate? You know, because Speaker Johnson, as you said, he has evolved on Ukraine aid. As a rank-and-file Republican in the House he voted against Ukraine aid, but he's also been this loyal follower of Trump. By getting this bill passed, he is embracing the internationalist policies of the traditional Republican Party as opposed to Trump's America first creed. So, I mean, where does this leave him with the MAGA supporters and the rest of the Republican base?
KIGHT: You know, I do think -- you know, you mentioned Trump, and I do think there was -- it was very important that Trump did not come out specifically against this bill. He has, obviously, raised questions about how much our European allies are contributing to Ukraine's war effort. He is certainly not -- you know, he does not see giving additional billions of dollars to Ukraine as a priority.
[06:10:01]
But, you know, I think the way that Trump responded to this package did give Johnson some room on this. But we're going to have to see that -- like the reality is that Republicans are very divided on this issue. There is a growing isolationist movement that has been driven by the former president and his allies. There's no question. But there still are, you know, more moderate traditional Republican voters who do believe it is important to continue to support our allies overseas like Ukraine, like Israel, like Taiwan.
And, you know, it's important to remember this was a bigger package. The Ukraine issue was the biggest issue and the most controversial issue for Republicans. But this was also a broader package now that provides needed funds to various allies around the world.
WALKER: Let's talk quickly about TikTok because I know you had a few pieces about this. So, you know, I missed all the noise. Some people may have missed this part. House Republicans inserted this TikTok ban into the foreign aid package which now heads to the Senate. So, you know, it puts Chuck Schumer and the Democrats in a difficult position to oppose this bill, correct?
KIGHT: Exactly. This really does kind of force Schumer's hand to bring this package to the Senate floor. Of course, you know, a very similar TikTok ban package passed the House with broad bipartisan support just last month. But then when it came to the Senate it kind of stalled.
There were concerns about the bill and Schumer was unwilling to commit to bringing it to the floor. And so, we saw momentum on that bill declined despite the fact that there is bipartisan concern about the national security threats around TikTok. There's bipartisan support for forcing the Chinese owner ByteDance to divest from TikTok. And so, by attaching a very similar measure with additional -- more time for ByteDance to divest by attaching it to this must pass foreign aid package.
Johnson is really forcing Schumer to bring this to the floor. And based on my conversations with senators, at this point, it doesn't seem that there will be strong enough opposition to that TikTok measure to block this package overall.
WALKER: Yes. And just quickly before we go, Speaker Mike Johnson's future, what are you watching for in terms of how it plays out? Because Marjorie Taylor Greene did not trigger that vote to oust him. She's calling for him to resign. Is he safe at least until the November election?
KIGHT: I mean, the big question is what happens when they come back from recess? Do Republicans kind of calm down over these next few days and weeks and come back unwilling to kind of stir up another controversial speaker fight? Or whether we're going to see even more conservatives come back hearing from angry voters and ready to, you know, put up a real effort to oust Johnson?
WALKER: Stef Kight, appreciate your time. Thanks so much.
KIGHT: Thank you.
WALKER: Relieved and ready for assistance, coming up. How Ukrainian officials are reacting to the passage of this crucial foreign aid bill.
BLACKWELL: Plus, Trump's hush money trial starts tomorrow in New York. We'll take a look at the important role the six alternates will serve as this trial begins.
WALKER: Pro-Palestinian protests at Columbia University. What the students and faculty members are demanding.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[06:17:54] WALKER: In Michigan, two young siblings are dead after a car crashed into a building where they were attending a child's birthday party. Authorities say the driver was drunk. At least 12 others were injured. Nine of them had to be transported to hospitals with serious to non- life-threatening injuries.
BLACKWELL: The driver of that car, a 66-year-old woman, was arrested. Now, authorities say she could face additional charges. We'll have a live report coming up next hour.
Opening statements are expected to start tomorrow in the New York trial. This first historic criminal trial of former President Trump.
WALKER: And the role of the alternate jurors could be crucial. CNN's Brian Todd has a look.
BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Victor, Amara, the title alternate juror may not sound very glamorous and it really isn't. But experts say in a trial this intense, don't discount the importance of the alternate.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
TODD (voice-over): Already two empaneled jurors have been excused from former President Trump's hush money trial, underscoring just how crucial the six alternate jurors are who've just been seated.
RENATO STABILE, JURY CONSULTANT AND ATTORNEY: In a case of this length and in a high-profile case, the alternates are as significant as the regular jury panel, because there's a very high likelihood and probability in this case that one or more of those alternates are going to end up on the jury.
TODD (voice-over): The alternate juror is there to take over a spot on the 12-member regular jury if one of the regulars has to drop out of the trial.
STABILE: One of the reasons could be illness. They could have a family emergency. Or something else could happen like they can't follow the court's instruction not to post things on social media.
TODD (voice-over): Court veterans say the life in limbo of an alternate juror can be strange, unsatisfying, and tougher than it may seem.
LESLIE ELLIS, TRIAL CONSULTANT, THE CAISSA GROUP: It's difficult to be very present and to really focus as much as jurors might need to with the idea in the back of their mind that they might not really need to deliberate at the end of it all.
TODD (voice-over): But as one alternate juror in police officer Derek Chauvin's murder trial said being an alternate doesn't mean the case weighs on you any less heavily.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Every night when I would come home, I felt exhausted. [06:20:00]
It was pretty draining, pretty emotional.
TODD (voice-over): And that juror didn't even know she was an alternate until the end of the trial. In some cases, the judges purposely don't inform the jury which of them are alternates and which are regulars until they start deliberating.
ELLIS: So, they don't have that issue of knowing, I might not have to deliberate. Do I really need to listen to this?
TODD (voice-over): There are six alternate jurors for Trump's trial, while that may seem like a lot for a complex and highly charged case, it may not be enough.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He appears to have pulled the gloves on, counsel.
TODD (voice-over): During O.J. Simpson's lengthy murder trial, 10 regular jurors were dismissed for failing to disclose something allegedly passing a note or considering a book deal, or simply telling the judge, I can't take it anymore. Ten alternates took their place. What happens if the Trump trial runs out of alternates?
STABILE: It would be up to the defendant whether or not he would want to consent to a verdict with 11 jurors, but I don't believe that he would do that in this case. And you would have a mistrial.
TODD (voice-over): The alternates are always in court during the actual trial but don't join the final deliberations unless they're needed. What happens if a regular juror has to leave the case during deliberations?
ELLIS: What happens then is the real jury has to basically start over their deliberations. They have to deliberate as though they hadn't done the deliberations they had done with the first -- with the original juror and start over with the alternate juror.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
TODD: What's the best advice for an alternate juror? Trial consultant Leslie Ellis says, try to forget you're an alternate, participate in everything with the other jurors, pay attention to every bit of the evidence, pretend that you're one of the first 12 because you very well may be at the end. Victor, Amara.
WALKER: All right. Brian Todd, thank you. Watch CNN's special coverage of the "TRUMP HUSH MONEY TRIAL" that begins tomorrow at 9:00 a.m. Eastern.
International reaction to the House passage of foreign aid bills was swift. Still ahead, how the leaders of Ukraine and Israel are responding to their billion-dollar lifelines.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[06:26:20]
BLACKWELL: Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy praised and thanked members of the U.S. House after they passed that $95 foreign aid package. Of course, $61 billion went to -- or goes to support Ukraine. Zelenskyy said that the decision to pass the bill will save thousands and thousands of lives.
WALKER: After monthslong resistance by House Republicans, the aid package is seen by some as a turning point in Ukraine's fight against Russia. Ukraine's foreign minister tells CNN the risk of a larger war in Europe has fallen following the vote.
CNN's Frederik Pleitgen joining us now from Kyiv. I mean, Frederik, you've been following this. Talk to us about how badly and quickly the aid, the -- you know, replenishment of weapons and such is needed.
FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, I think it's absolutely key for the Ukrainians and certainly you could see how relieved the entire political sphere was here in this country when that decision came through by the House yesterday.
If you look at some of the things that Volodymyr Zelenskyy said afterwards, he came out with a tweet -- I would say a couple of seconds after that vote came down in the House and he thanked House Speaker Mike Johnson personally for bringing this to a vote in the House because it's so very important for the Ukrainians.
I want to read you one little snippet of what Zelenskyy wrote in that tweet. He said, democracy and freedom will always have global significance and will never fail as long as America helps to protect it.
You can see how important that was for the Ukrainians. The foreign minister also came out pretty much immediately and also thanked the United States. So, for the Ukrainians, they are saying this aid cannot arrive soon enough because, of course, right now the situation is extremely difficult for them on the battlefield.
I want to listen into some of what the Ukrainian president said last night. Let's listen in.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY, UKRAINIAN PRESIDENT (through translator): We appreciate any manifestation of support for our state and independence, our people and our lives, which Russia wants to bury in ruins. America has shown its leadership from the first days of this war.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PLEITGEN: That's Volodymyr Zelenskyy there speaking again just a couple of minutes after that -- after the House voted to pass that Ukraine aid. And for the Ukrainians themselves they, obviously, understand that they need this help very, very quickly. They hope that a lot of gear arrives quickly here to Ukraine. The two main things that they keep talking about, guys, are air defense missiles, to service their air defense systems to shoot down Russian missiles that are taking out a lot of the energy infrastructure here in this country. That's something -- it's a key importance to them. And they've said that in the past couple of weeks it has been very difficult for them to stop some of these Russian missiles hitting their power plants because they simply didn't have enough air defense weapons happens to try and fire at them.
And then also just artillery ammunition, 155-millimeter shells. The Ukrainians are saying, right now, they are badly outgunned on the front lines. And that is showing by some of the territorial gains that the Russians have been making as well, guys.
WALKER: All right. Frederik Pleitgen, thank you so much. Now, overnight, Israeli military -- the Israeli military carried out strikes of four locations in Lebanon, according to Lebanon's national news agency. Military official say they struck a number of Hezbollah targets, including two military structures.
BLACKWELL: Also, Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu thanked U.S. lawmakers after they passed more than $26 billion in aid to Israel. A spokesperson for the Palestinian authority, though, the president there contained the aid package for Israel and said it would lead to more Palestinian casualties. CNN's Paula Hancocks is joining us from Beirut now. So, what can you tell us about, first, the strikes in Lebanon?
[06:30:01]
PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Victor, there has been certainly an uptick in the cross-border strikes that we've seen from both sides, Israel and Hezbollah, over the past week. So, just as the region is -- seems to be breathing a sigh of relief the tensions between Israel and Iran are easing or at least direct conflict between the two, there is still the Iranian proxies to think about.
Now, we have seen that there were four strikes by Israel on Hezbollah targets overnight on Saturday. Hezbollah announced the death of three fighters, and they did launch about 10 strikes against Israel, accusing Israel of attacking civilian buildings in southern Lebanon. Of course, CNN can't independently verify that. But it just goes to show that even as those Israeli-Iran direct contacts appear to have ended, there are still a very real fear of the uh the increase in tensions and in conflict between Israel and the Iranian proxies.
Now, when it comes to the aid package that has been approved, Israel of course welcoming it. The Prime Minister welcoming it also. The foreign minister of Israel Katz saying that it does send a strong message to enemies. It will of course go towards those missile defense systems, many of which are along the northern border in Israel just across the border from here in southern -- here in Lebanon.
And we know that not everybody is happy with it though. In the States, for example, there were 19 members of the House Progressive Caucus who feared that this package could result in more killings of civilians. That is something we're hearing echoed in the Palestinian corridors of power. The spokesperson for Mahmoud Abbas, the Palestinian Authority President, saying that he worries that this will now correlate to the deaths of more Palestinian civilians, saying, that it could give Israel the green light to broaden the war across the region.
Now, there are concerns he says that this could constitute an escalation in this situation. And the situation as we see it at this point, Gaza for example, we know that the death toll has now gone over 34,000 Palestinians. This according to the Ministry of Health within Gaza itself. Many of them women and children. We don't have a breakdown from either side of how many are fighters and how many civilians but the overwhelming consensus is that the majority are women and children.
And also, in the occupied West Bank, I have to point out there has been an uptick in Israeli military operations. There was one in the -- in the occupied West Bank which has started on Thursday in one of the refugee camps. It's just ending this Sunday, we understand. The IDF saying they killed 10 fighters. But the Ministry of Health and the Red Cresent in the West Bank saying that 14 were killed including a child and a teenager. So, the violence does continue. Amara, Victor?
BLACKWELL: Paula Hancocks reporting from Beirut, thanks so much.
The friends and family of Damian Sobol, one of the seven aid workers killed in Gaza earlier this month, were together for his funeral in Poland on Saturday. He was killed when Israeli forces attacked a world Central Kitchen Convoy delivering food in Gaza, the IDF called the strike a grave mistake and it's fired two senior officers.
In a letter that was read aloud at Sobol's funeral, Poland's president said that we're saying farewell to a wonderful young man courageous and generous activist who followed the idea of solidarity.
WALKER: A day at an amusement park ended with more than a dozen people needing medical help. Still to come, what caused trams at California's Universal Studio Hollywood to collide?
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[06:38:44]
WALKER: Two men are dead and six others injured after a shooting at a Memphis block party Saturday night.
BLACKWELL: Police say they're working to identify at least two suspects who started shooting at a crowd of people up to 300 people in the orange mound area as they investigate video footage from the scene. Officials say at least one of the wounded victims is in critical condition. According to the Gun Violence Archive, this is the 115th mass shooting in the U.S. this year.
WALKER: More than a dozen people are recovering this morning after a tram crashed at Universal Studios in Los Angeles last night. The sheriff's office reports the tram driver said a mechanical failure caused one of the cars to collide with a rail and several passengers to fall out. Officials say the majority of the patients suffered minor injuries. The L.A. County Fire Department and State Highway Patrol are investigating.
BLACKWELL: A community cleanup is planned by students at Tybee Beach today after thousands returned to the Georgia island Saturday for the traditional spring break -- Spring bash known as Orange Crush. Last year, there were reports of gunfire, fist fights that led to more police and restrictions. Both officials and students said this year's party was different.
DORIAN WESTON, STUDENT: Last year it was a little bit unorganized truthfully, but nowadays, you know, we have brought gates, we have law enforcement, paramedics. Everybody here is a little bit much more organized.
[06:40:09]
WALKER: Critics said local officials who want who wanted to cancel the annual event were singling out Black visitors to a Southern Beach that was Whites only until the 60s.
Tensions remain high at Columbia University as pro-Palestinian protests continue into this week. More than 100 people were arrested and charged with criminal trespassing during a demonstration on campus last week.
BLACKWELL: Well, now students at several other universities are organizing rallies in solidarity with the protesters at Columbia University. CNN's Polo Sandoval joins us from New York.
POLO SANDOVAL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: We know much of this started on Wednesday when the Columbia University President Minouche Shafik was in Washington testifying before lawmakers responding to reports of Antisemitism on campus. Subsequently, there was also a presence of not just students but also faculty setting up tents and signs here on the campus itself.
The organizers of this event making their message quite clear saying that their hope is that they will pressure Columbia University to devest funds from companies connected to Israel. Now, CNN has reached out to the university to address for more on not just their investments but also to address the allegations that have been put forward by these organizers, but eventually this evolved into an encampment, a large one that the University president declared a disturbance so turned to the NYPD sending them a letter asking for police officers to essentially interject and forcefully remove some of the students who were participating in it.
The result was well over a hundred people that were detained, will be issued court summons. But really what this is now is the presence that still remains here on the campus, a peaceful presence of a mix of both current and non-students here hoping to continue with that message from last week here. For protesters, this may be a galvanizing moment to basically reinvigorate their cause, but for universities they're certainly going to -- this speaks to them having to grapple with the reality that we are likely going to continue to see more of these demonstrations from one campus to another both protests and also counter protests. And those universities really forced to walk that thin line between safety and Free Speech.
Polo Sandoval, CNN New York.
BLACKWELL: So, it's been called the most pro-Trump County in America. Coming up, what the Trump voters in one Texas County say about the criminal charges the former president is facing.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[06:46:56]
BLACKWELL: Opening statements in former President Trump's criminal trials start tomorrow. On Saturday, Trump planned to hold a rally in Wilmington, North Carolina but he canceled it before it started because of weather.
WALKER: And with the trial set to begin just months before election day, could it changed any minds about the President's staunchest supporters? CNN's Gary Tuchman went to one county in Texas, the Trumpiest in the nation to hear what they think.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
GARY TUCHMAN, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voiceover): Kaye and Ron Schwart settled in along with us in their living room to watch coverage of the Trump trial jury selection.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: One group went through the effort to make a large parade-style banner reading no one is above the law.
TUCHMAN (voiceover): They've both voted for Trump twice.
TUCHMAN: What is your feeling today about Donald Trump's moral character.
KAY SWART, RESIDENT, ROBERTS COUNTY, TEXAS: It's terrible. I can't get much lower than it is.
TUCHMAN (voiceover): They live on a Hilltop Ranch in Roberts County in the Texas Panhandle where 96 percent of the voters chose Trump over Joe Biden in 2020, the highest Trump percentage of any county in America.
K. SWART: He continues to make crazy comments about being a dictator in his first day and repercussions against people who have -- he feels have wronged him.
TUCHMAN (voiceover): We met this couple during a visit to Roberts County last year. They told us then they liked Mike Pence and Ron DeSantis. But with Trump the only Republican left standing, things have gotten complicated.
TUCHMAN: If Donald Trump is found guilty of one of these crimes whether it's in this trial happening right now or one of the trials happening in the future, do you think he's fit to be president of the United States?
K. SWART: I don't think he's fit but I'm voting for him.
RON SWART, RESIDENT, ROBERTS COUNTY, TEXAS: I really feel like that we're not going to be able to survive another four years of the Democrats in charge.
TUCHMAN (voiceover): Rick McDow is someone else we met last year in Robert's County. He told us then he liked Ron DeSantis.
TUCHMAN: If Donald Trump found guilty of a criminal charge, do you think he's fit to be president of the United States.
RICK MCDOW, RESIDENT, ROBERTS COUNTY: He's as fit as the current president.
TUCHMAN: Why is that?
MCDOW: Because nobody investigates Joe Biden. Nobody's going to investigate Joe Biden.
TUCHMAN (voiceover): In Roberts County, the current president is often prominently mentioned when you ask questions about the former president.
TUCHMAN: You think Donald Trump is of low character. and poor morals and poor ethics?
R. SWART: Oh, definitely. Most, most definitely.
TUCHMAN: You don't think he's fit to be president if he's found guilty yet you're going to vote for him. How do you address that conflict? How do you vote for a man who you feel so --
R. SWART: I feel like it's wrong as it's going to be to have him for president. He's still going to be a lot better president for the United States than what we got with Joe Biden and the Democrats.
TUCHMAN (voiceover): Here in Roberts County, in the 2016 election between Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton, Clinton received a grand total of 20 votes. Four years later, Joe Biden received 17 votes.
TUCHMAN: This is the 1929 model --
SUSAN BOWERS, RESIDENT, ROBERTS COUNTY: (INAUDIBLE).
TUCHMAN: And was this actually used here in Roberts County?
BOWERS: Here in Roberts County.
[06:50:05]
TUCHMAN (voiceover): Susan Bowers is the curator of the Roberts County Museum in the county seat of Miami.
TUCHMAN: In 2020 here in Roberts County, only 17 people in the entire county voted for Joe Biden. Were you one of them?
BOWERS: Yes, I was.
TUCHMAN (voiceover): She says she has quibbles with some of what President Biden has done and not done. But unlike almost all of her fellow county voters, Susan Bowers is not giving Donald Trump any benefit of the doubt when it comes to this trial or the one still to come.
BOWERS: He's unethical. He's a criminal. He belongs on reality TV if that.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
TUCHMAN (on camera): There are certainly many people here in Roberts County who don't think any Trump trials at all should be happening. That being said, nearly everyone I've talked to is aware that the proceedings have begun. The awareness level would be much higher here though as well as elsewhere if the proceedings were allowed to be televised which they are not.
Gary Tuchman, CNN in Miami, Texas.
BLACKWELL: Gary Tuchman, thank you for that report.
The House Foreign Aid Package is now headed to the Senate. Still to come, while one lawmaker says Speaker Mike Johnson is betraying his party?
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[06:55:41]
BLACKWELL: Grammy-nominated D.J. and environmental toxicologist Jayda G's love of music and marine life creates an interesting intersection of her passions.
WALKER: CNN Chief Climate Correspondent Bill Weir sits down with her in the new CNN film "BLUE CARBON: NATURE'S HIDDEN POWER."
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BILL WEIR, CNN CHIEF CLIMATE CORRESPONDENT (voiceover): Jayda G is not your average scientist, though it started that way.
JAYDA G, ECOLOGIST, GRAMMY NOMINEE: I got my undergrad in biology and ecology and my masters in environmental toxicology.
WEIR: And what did you think you wanted to do with your life?
JAYDA G.: Gosh, I wanted to be a professor. Like, I want to go the full academic route.
WEIR: And then the clubs got you or what happened with music?
JAYDA G.: Yes, I take a hard right turn and change my life. WEIR (voiceover): Music was the other love of her life. And when she
began making it as DJ Jayda G, a whole new career took off. She worked with mega stars and book gigs and festivals all while finishing her masters on the effects of toxins on killer whales. The two loves merge in her film Blue Carbon: An Immersive Journey Through the Watery Landscapes that serve as massive allies in fighting the climate crisis.
JAYDA G.: So, Blue Carbon is basically these ecosystems that are amazing at pulling carbon out of the atmosphere and putting it deep into the ground.
You're saying this is blue carbon?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is blue carbon. So, yes, it's not blue, it's round, but it is blue carbon.
JAYDA G.: They're like 10 times better at it than the Amazon rainforest for example. Those ecosystems are mangrove forest, seagrass meadows, and salt marshes. We were taking field recordings throughout the whole film. And then I took all those field recordings and made a song out of it essentially, and you get to hear that song at the end of the film.
I want to make a new anthem for nature by recording the sounds of coastal habitats that we don't value enough.
WEIR: Do you play these in festivals?
JAYDA G.: Yes, yes.
WEIR: How do you connect your music audience with what you care about as a biologist, as an ecologist?
JAYDA G.: Incorporating those sounds automatically gives me something to talk about. Because people really care. and they're interested.
WIER: There's your Jayda G, the D.J. persona, but then there's Jayda the biologist and that's a paradox at times given the footprint, the energy use at festivals, and all of that.
JAYDA G.: Well, it definitely is a paradox. Like, I'm a touring D.J. I have to fly to my gigs, and so I have a big carbon footprint. And then there's this other part of me that's the environmentalist and has studied in nature for so many years. How I reconcile that is by using my platform to talk about climate change and the environment. And also, I want to lead as an example that we all have that paradox within ourselves. We all live on this planet. We all have things that we do whether we're conscious of it or not that hurt the environment just by existing in the society, and we're always kind of at odds. And that's OK. We can still be at paradox and still want to help and save the environment.
WEIR: Right. And maybe instead of getting defensive, say maybe there's a better way to fill this want or need.
JAYDA G.: Exactly.
WEIR: In a way that's better for all life.
JAYDA G.: Exactly. When we bring down the defensiveness, it really opens everything up to have more discussions and you know, solutions.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BLACKWELL: Be sure to tune in CNN Films presents BLUE CARBON: NATURE'S HIDDEN POWER." It premieres tonight at 9:00 Eastern and Pacific only on CNN.
Another hour of CNN THIS MORNING WEEKEND starts right now.
And by right now, we mean right now. Good morning and welcome to CNN THIS MORNING WEEKEND. It's Sunday April 21st. I'm Victor Blackwell.
WALKER: And I'm Amara Walker.
Here's what we're working on for you this morning. The $95 billion foreign aid package could get President Biden's signature as early as this week but a Republican rebellion in Congress could cost the GOP House Speaker his gavel. Where his parties push to oust him stands?
BLACKWELL: High-stakes opening statements. Former President and GOP frontrunner Donald Trump's hush money trial kicks into high gear tomorrow. The Supreme Court takes up also his claims of presidential immunity. We're sorting through it all. That's ahead.
WALKER: And tragedy at a Michigan birthday party.
[07:00:00]
