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CNN This Morning
House Passes $96 Billion Foreign Aid Package; No Motion Yet To Vote To Possibly Oust Speaker Johnson; 2 Young Siblings Killed, At Least 12 Injured After Car Drives Into Building; Ukraine President Zelenskyy Thanks U.S. For New Funding; Jury Selection Ends With 12 Jurors, 6 Alternatives Seated; Donald Trump's Hush Money Trial; Supreme Court Will Review Trump's Request for Immunity; Trump's Criminal Trial Scheduled to Begin on Monday with Opening Remarks; FBI on Alert for Threats to the Jewish Community; More Than 55M Individuals in U.S. are Under Freeze Alerts in Various States; Over 10M People in the Midwest are Under Freeze Threats; Temperatures from Texas to North Carolina are 10 to 20 Degrees Below Average; Nuggets Pair Defeats Lakers Stars in Opening Game; Knicks Win Game one Against 76ers. Aired 7-8a ET
Aired April 21, 2024 - 07:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[07:00:00]
VICTOR BLACKWELL, CNN HOST: -- here tomorrow. The Supreme Court takes up also his claims of presidential immunity. We're sorting through it all. That's ahead.
AMARA WALKER, CNN HOST: And tragedy at a Michigan birthday party. We are alive with the new developments in a deadly crash that killed two young siblings and hurt a dozen others.
BLACKWELL: The FBI and Jewish communities across America are on high alert for any threats ahead of the start of the Passover holiday.
The House's $95 billion foreign aid package, plus other measures are now headed to the Senate for approval. Senators are coming in during their recess to get it to President Biden's desk.
WALKER: However, that bipartisan support could spell disaster for Speaker Mike Johnson, and now some GOP hardliners are calling on him to resign before they make a move on trying to oust him with a vote.
With us now is CNN's Chief Congressional Correspondent and host of Inside Politics Sunday, Manu Raju. Good morning, Manu.
MANU RAJU, CNN CHIEF CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning.
WALKER: So do you think we'll see that motion to vacate soon, if at all?
RAJU: Well look, Marjorie Taylor Greene has introduced it. She can call for it at any moment and the question is, if she does call for it, will she have the votes to oust him from the speakership? There is some belief among those detractors that, you know, that, you know, some people believe that this was the moment for them to go forward when really the pressure was boiling, when there was so much tension internally.
But now they're going home for a week-long recess. And then will those tensions subside? Will the anger subside? Will Mike Johnson benefit from some distance from his deal making? Marjorie Taylor Greene is betting that it will not.
She believes that voters back home will be furious at Republicans for cutting this deal, furious at Mike Johnson for moving ahead with this $95 billion aid package, that includes $61 billion in aid to Ukraine that does not include border security measures, even though Johnson himself had pushed, pledged to move forward on this.
Why doesn't he do that? Because he'd simply didn't have the votes in the razor thin Republican majority and ultimately decided it was time for him to cut a deal with Democrats and move forward with Democratic support as he went essentially stiff armed that right flank that had called for him to take a firmer line and push for the Republican and conservative proposals.
Now, there is this -- while there is significant opposition on that right flank, there also is significant support, including from some more Moderate Republicans, some more center right Republicans and Republicans who are in swing districts. One of them, Congressman Don Bacon, who comes from a district that Joe Biden carried in 2020, said that history will judge Mike Johnson's move kindly.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. DON BACON (R), NEBRASKA: They've undermined the norms of this place. We never had to vacate the chair in our history and they've done it right. They -- we went 18 years, I believe, without a rule vote going down. We got seven of them, most of them by them and now they're campaigning in other people's districts. So they've created a new norm that we got to respond to.
RAJU: Johnson came in as a very conservative member and now he's been having to cut all these democratic deals. What do you think it says about how the way he has evolved in the speakership?
BACON: You got to work together because consensus is how this place is built on. And if you can't get consensus, you fail. I think he's -- I think reality met Speaker Johnson, Speaker Johnson met reality. Is that -- and it's the only way you can govern. If you want to govern, you got to do what he's doing.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
RAJU: So the question will be, what does someone like Marjorie Taylor Greene do when the House does come back for -- from its one week recess? She was furious on the steps of the Capitol yesterday in the aftermath of that vote on Ukraine aid. A minority of Republicans supported that plan, a majority opposed that plan, about 101 supported it.
She came out and she said that she was happy with the way that voters and viewers saw Johnson's actions and believes that there will be backlash for him among his constituents. Listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. MARJORIE TAYLOR GREENE (R), GEORGIA: It's unbelievable. I'm thankful that America gets to see who this man is. I'm thankful that America gets to see who the people that voted for this is, because this is the only way it's going to change.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
RAJU: But again, if she moves forward, guys, will she have the vote? That is the big question here. Because at the moment, it seems that Democrats could come to Mike Johnson's defense. There are a handful of members who have come out publicly on the Democratic side to say that they would not support pushing him out from the speakership.
Others are mum in large part because of Hakeem Jeffries. The Democratic leader has not yet taking a position on this issue. But if he does come on and say it's time to kill that measure to vacate the chair, then you'll see Democrats vote in droves to save him. But is that a sustainable position for Mike Johnson to be essentially propped up by Democrats? That's another big question in the weeks ahead.
WALKER: Yes. But is there also an appetite amongst Republicans for more chaos with the speaker fight?
Manu Raju, great to have you. Thanks so much.
RAJU: Thanks.
WALKER: And don't forget to catch Manu this morning on Inside Politics at 8:00 a.m. Eastern right here on CNN.
[07:05:00]
BLACKWELL: All right, let's break it all down now. I have with me Brian Robinson and Tharon Johnson. Tharon, President and CEO of Paramount Consulting Group. He was the South regional director for the Obama 2012 campaign. Brian Robinson, Republican strategist and president of Robinson Republic PR. Gentlemen, good to see you.
Tharon, let me start with you. Got a political panel. Let's put in political context. Win for the president?
THARON JOHNSON, PRESIDENT & CEO OF PARAMOUNT CONSULTING GROUP, LLC: Yes. If you look at what everyone was saying, it was bipartisan support about that support to Ukraine was not just, you know, specifically for that country, but it's about making sure that we can protect our allies.
And if you look at how Iran, China and Russia have come together to basically try to form an alliance against the U.S. giving the support to Ukraine, which is much needed, it was so important. And the president, to me, got away with not too much damage done with this party because you saw Democrats join the Speaker and the Republicans to get this done. So now we got to continue to make sure that the voters understand that this is a one day in Washington where they'll come back on a weekend where you can actually see government at its best.
BLACKWELL: Do you agree with that political win for the president?
BRIAN ROBINSON, PRESIDENT, ROBINSON REPUBLIC PR: Well, it's a -- I think it's a political win for America. I mean, there are many Democrats and obviously many Republicans. I was -- and again, obviously not all of them.
BLACKWELL: Yes.
ROBINSON: It's a divide within the party, but many Republicans support what happened. And what we saw yesterday was that the will of the House was heard. And the House's representative of where the people are in this country.
We see the national security implications of defending Ukraine and Israel and Taiwan. And this was America leading in the world again. And that is a traditional Republican place to be. This is our role in the world and we are needed. And Mike Johnson stood up yesterday and he really made his mark on history by letting this move forward.
It was maybe what you would call a sister-soldier moment for him, kind of standing up to his base. Come on, here's the thing. Here's the thing. Here's the thing, though, is that the Democrats are going to have their own sister-soldier moment coming up because they're going to have to stand beside him and make sure that he can survive.
JOHNSON: Well, let me --
BLACKWELL: I had another question --
JOHNSON: But, you know, that's a good would be rob (ph). The sister- soldier moment, no, listen, that wasn't a sister-soldier moment for him. And I want to push back on this, that this is the Republican way. No, Democrats stand for democracy also. We, you know, stand with supporting Israel, Taiwan and Ukraine and we got to be more vocal about that.
But what you saw happen yesterday was a speaker, quite frankly, that was backed up in the corner. And yes, he did the right thing. But Democrats, we've been calling for more support for Ukraine for months and months and months. We're just happy that the Republicans finally came over. So no sister-soldier moment. It was just the right thing to do for America.
ROBINSON: I think it is because it is him standing up to a portion of his party to do the right thing.
BLACKWELL: Yes.
ROBINSON: And it was politically tough to do what he did. I think he's going to survive, though, Victor, because a lot of those Republicans who voted no yesterday secretly know that we needed to do this. They wanted to do it, but they didn't want to have to risk a primary. So a lot of them are like, thank you, Speaker, for standing up and doing it so I didn't have to.
BLACKWELL: But there are enough Republicans now. If Marjorie Taylor Greene forces a vote on this motion to vacate to essentially take the gavel, that he could lose without compensating from Democrats. Do you think she is going to make that move? Because so far she's saying I'm going to send them home. I let members of the conference go home and hear from the voters.
ROBINSON: You know, who has a pretty good pulse on Republican politics and what Republican voters want? Donald Trump. What has he said? Don't do that.
BLACKWELL: Yes.
ROBINSON: He's doing a good job. Leave him there. That is smart. Donald Trump and the Republican --
BLACKWELL: I don't know he's gone that far. He said that Ukraine certainly needs this money.
ROBINSON: He did (INAUDIBLE) in Mar-a-Lago. That sends a really strong signal about where he stands on Mike Johnson. Mike Johnson's not going to be in the --
BLACKWELL: But he also did a news conference with Kevin McCarthy and where is he now?
ROBINSON: Well, that's true, but here's the difference. I do think Mike Johnson will get some Democrat support. He'll be able to weather it. McCarthy made it clear he didn't want any Democratic votes, and he kind of stalled his own fate there.
Look, Republicans need to get through this year without any more chaos. It's good politics to keep Mike Johnson where he is. We will look crazy if we get rid of the second one. We will look incapable of governing. Keeping him in there is good. It provides stability and Americans will feel more confident.
BLACKWELL: Can I back up? Did you all play yourselves? And I put it in this context because this conversation started in the fall with a $110 billion package that the White House had to include border security in because they thought there's no way we're getting this through without border security.
Mike Johnson said if they want this foreign aid money, you've got to secure the southern border. And somehow, all of the foreign aid passes, and Republicans got none of what they demanded be part of it.
ROBINSON: Mike Johnson and Mitch McConnell, they are in these top secret security clearance meetings. They know what's really happening.
[07:10:05]
For Mike Johnson to stand up and say, I am willing to risk my job, the pinnacle of my career, because I know this is right. That speaks volumes about what the need is out there. This is a guy who, as a rank and file member, voted against Ukraine time and time again to see this about face.
That should send a signal about how important getting this done is, that the world's security is at stake. We're in a tinderbox moment. He said he's absolutely right.
BLACKWELL: You could have had both, but because --
ROBINSON: And we should have both.
BLACKWELL: But you didn't because --
ROBINSON: We should.
BLACKWELL: -- Donald Trump texted or tweeted whatever you do on Truth Social. And the Republican conference abandoned the part that they demanded initially, the border security.
ROBINSON: You know, and I understand that. I sympathize with the conservative Republican members who say, you know, we've given up national security for our own and take care of everybody else. I understand that sentiment. We do need to get that done.
You know who it'll be good politics for to do something on it? Joe Biden. He needs to be seen as working on immigration because his brand on that is terrible and it'll be one of the top three issues this November.
BLACKWELL: He put it in the bill Republicans took it out. So I don't know that it hurts his brand because --
ROBINSON: His brand terrible.
BLACKWELL: -- he put it --
ROBINSON: But he did nothing for three years, make sure they did nothing for three years.
BLACKWELL: Tharon, let me ask you about the Israel vote. There were, I believe, 37 Democrats and 21 Republicans who voted against it, total 58 nays. Does this passage of this bill in some way hurt the president politically because those, you know, CARE urged a no vote on this? Some progressives urged a no vote on this?
JOHNSON: You know, I talk to a lot of my friends in the Israeli community and Jewish folks, and they say that this crisis that's going on really should not be a partisan issue.
BLACKWELL: Yes.
JOHNSON: I mean, it is a -- we got to call that it is a crisis that's going on in Gaza and Israel has the right to defend themselves. And so, no, I think the president has made it very clear where he stands on this crisis and he support the Israeli community. Now we will hear people who believe that there should be more of a pro-Palestinian approach to this.
BLACKWELL: Yes.
JOHNSON: But I'm seeing Democrats come together and make sure that we all gather and make sure we focus on Hamas, because that's where our focus needs to be.
BLACKWELL: All right, Tharon, Brian, thank you both.
WALKER: Still to come, Thank You, America. Volodymyr Zelenskyy says a new aid package for Ukraine will keep history on the right track. We will go live to Kyiv for more.
Plus, a fun children's birthday party turned out to be tragic after a car plowed through a building in Michigan. More on the victims and what caused this incident is next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[07:17:19]
BLACKWELL: Two young siblings are dead in Michigan after police say a drunk driver drove into a building where a child's birthday party was being held.
WALKER: At least 12 people were injured, nine of them seriously with non-life threatening injuries. CNN's Rafael Romo is here with the latest. Rafael, what happened?
RAFAEL ROMO, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Amara, Victor, good morning. It was a joyous occasion that instantly turned into a nightmare for multiple families with young children. It was about 3:00 in the afternoon when they were celebrating a child's birthday party at a boat club in Newport, Michigan which is located on Lake Erie, about 30 miles south of Detroit.
According to Monroe County authorities, a woman later described as driving while intoxicated, crashed her vehicle against the building where the party was being held, went through a wall and finally came to a stop approximately 25 feet inside.
First responders who rushed to the scene described what they saw as extremely chaotic with a high level of emotions of those directly involved and those who witness this horrific incident. Monroe County Sheriff Troy Goodnough choked back tears at a press conference providing details about the tragic crash.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SHERIFF TROY GOODNOUGH, MONROE COUNTY, MICHIGAN: In tragedy, two of the victims were pronounced deceased at the scene. This includes an eight-year-old female and a five-year-old male who are siblings of each other. The 66-year-old female driver of the vehicle, excuse me, who will not be identified at this time, has been taken into police custody for operating while intoxicated, causing death, and she's lodged at the Monroe County Jail.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROMO: Very difficult to talk about it as it was evident there. And Victor and Amara, in addition to the two children who died, 15 others were injured. Nine people, including three children, were transported to area hospitals with what Sheriff Goodnough described a serious life threatening injuries. The two siblings were pronounced dead at the scene.
In addition to driving while drunk, officials also say the 66-year-old woman faces a digital charges. I would not be surprised if manslaughter charges are included.
BLACKWELL: Yes, heart breaks just for the parents --
WALKER: Yes.
BLACKWELL: -- of these two children. You drop them off at a birthday party and they both are hit and killed.
WALKER: Inside of a home.
BLACKWELL: Yes.
WALKER: It's just -- yes.
BLACKWELL: All right, Rafael, thank you.
All right, still to come, Donald Trump will be back in a New York courtroom tomorrow. And despite the former president's attempts to delay this hush money trial, opening statements are scheduled to begin tomorrow.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[07:24:25]
BLACKWELL: ?In Ukraine, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy praised and thanked members of the U.S. House after the passage of that $95 billion foreign age package that included close to $61 billion in Ukraine aid. Now, Zelenskyy said the decision to pass the bill will save thousands of lives.
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 after the vote.
CNN's Fred Pleitgen joins us now from Kyiv. Just give us an idea of how badly this aid and what the aid will buy is needed there on the battlefield. [07:25:08]
FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, first of all, Victor, I think that it was badly needed by the Ukrainian and continues to be badly needed by the Ukrainians. If you look at some of the situations on the battlefield, especially in the east of the country and in the south of the country, I would say right now the situation is still a stalemate, but certainly one where the Russians definitely have the momentum and the initiative on their side.
They have been making some gains on the battlefield. Those gains are not strategic yet. They're not threatening to take large cities in those areas, but certainly you can see that there could come a point where Ukrainian defenses could get into serious problems because of a lack of ammunition.
Especially, in fact, this morning, the Russians once again saying that they took yet another village from the Ukrainians in a key area in the east of the country. So the Ukrainians are saying essentially, they need to things very quickly and very badly.
One of them is 155 millimeter artillery ammunition. That's something that we've been reporting on really over the past months as this aid bill was stuck in the House of Representatives where I think the first time that I reported on it was in September, where the Ukrainians were already saying that they were running desperately low on ammunition.
Of course, that situation has gotten a lot worse over the past couple of months, and the Ukrainians are saying right now they're really starved for ammo. The other thing is surface to air missiles that the Ukrainians need really badly. The Russians are using their Air Force more effectively and also using missiles to target cities here in Ukraine.
And the Ukrainians say they simply don't have enough to replenish the American and international systems that they have. They need more missiles for that. They hope they're going to get that in that aid package.
But you're absolutely right, the president of this country, you could feel the sense of relief that he had, came out almost immediately with a tweet and then later also with the sound bite. Let's listen to what he had to say.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY, UKRAINIAN PRESIDENT (through translation): We appreciate every 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 speaking last night, really shortly after the decision -- or after the House passed that bill. The Ukrainians are now hoping, Victor and Amara, that especially the ammunition that the U.S. could give to Ukraine after the Senate also approves it, after it's signed by the President, could get here fairly quickly and then hit the battlefield fairly quickly as well, guys.
BLACKWELL: All right, Fred Pleitgen for us there in Kyiv. Thank you, Fred.
WALKER: Opening statements and former President Trump's criminal trial are expected tomorrow in New York. It is the first time in U.S. history that a former president is facing a criminal trial.
Joining me now to discuss CNN Legal Analyst and Former U.S. Attorney Michael Moore. Always good to see you.
MICHAEL MOORE, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: It's good to be with you.
WALKER: Thanks for coming in.
MOORE: Yes.
WALKER: It was pretty quick. The process getting the --
MOORE: Right.
WALKER: -- full jury, 12 jurors and six alternates. So the openings are -- statements are tomorrow.
MOORE: That's right.
WALKER: What will you be watching for, because you say it's really an art and they're going to have to find ways to really hook the jurors?
MOORE: Yes, it is good to be with you here on set. So the opening statements really are the road map that the lawyers lay out for the jury. It's important that they both maintain their credibility. In other words, you don't tell the jury things about the case that you can't prove or you're not going to produce at trial.
At the same time that you give them enough information to basically bait them to remain interested in the case. I mean, you think about things like recency and primacy and frequency, this psychological theory and that is you want to tell the jury things early on. So this is an important statement. This is important.
You want to tell them what I'm going to show you during the course of the trial. And then you're going to do that and then at the end you're going to say, by the way, remember that I told you at the opening statement that I was going to be able to prove that we showed X, Y, and Z.
So it's important, again, you don't really -- it's not evidence that the jury can consider, but it is the road map that they'll follow throughout the trial.
WALKER: Got it. OK, so now before the opening statements begin, I understand Judge Merchan is expected to rule on, you know, what prosecutors will be able to ask Trump if he does indeed testify and they're asking -- what exactly is it that they're asking because they want to bring up past civil lawsuits?
MOORE: That's right. I mean, so they're really looking for information and to know how much they can impeach him on things that have happened in the past and whether or not they can bring in evidence about his character and credibility based on certain things have happened in some other cases.
So if you think about it, a lot of times in a civil case, you bring in information from a criminal conviction. It's a little different when you have a criminal case bringing in information --
WALKER: Civil.
MOORE: -- from a civil case because it's a different burden, a different standard of proof that's required. But I expect they're going to want to -- if he takes a stand, they're going to say, wait a minute, but you've already -- it's been determined that you're not credible, a court has found certain things. And the judge is having to weigh that to decide whether or not the prejudicial effect of that is outweighed by the substantive value of that information that they seek to bring in.
[07:30:00]
And so, the judge is going to have to go through that balancing test for each of these things. So, each of the E. Jean Carroll case, the allegations of other ladies that he's been involved. All of that information, the judge is going to have to weigh and decide, is that too prejudicial to get in this case? Is it -- does it create a risk of an appeal? Does it give the defendants -- if there's a conviction, does it give Trump a chance to argue something on appeal?
In other words, the jury was presented with evidence that was improper, and they held that against me, and that wasn't relevant to this case. And so, the judge shouldn't have let that happen.
AMARA WALKER, CNN THIS MORNING WEEKEND CO-ANCHOR: Do you think Trump's defense team will be watching this closely and see what Judge Merchan allows the prosecutors to ask Trump in terms of whether or not he'll testify or do you think they already said, you're not testifying in this case?
MOORE: No, I mean, I think they'll be watching it. I think they've got a client that's probably hard to control. I think he would like to testify. And we see each day probably that they cringe when he goes before the cameras at the end of the court day. And so, they're thinking, are we going to be able to keep him off the stand? There's not much for him to gain, really, by testifying in this case because the facts are what they are.
WALKER: Yes.
MOORE: I mean, a payment was made. There's a paper trail. You know, and so the question is going to be, had the prosecutors overreached? And so, it's going to be interesting to me to see are the -- is the defense team looking to attack, sort of, the technical aspect of the case and talk to this jury, which is a very well-educated jury. You've got two lawyers and a lot of other folks are there. That's unusual, frankly, to have two lawyers on a jury.
So, you know, they're going to be sending signals to them like this case should have never been brought as opposed to necessarily just fighting and arguing about the specific facts of the case.
WALKER: Judge Merchan has been moving this case forward really quickly. So, what do you expect in terms of timeline, and also if there's a conviction, jail time?
MOORE: He has been moving it quickly. I mean, frankly, I was surprised that we had a jury this quick.
WALKER: Yes.
MOORE: I thought it would take another week and they've moved it through fairly quickly. So, I'm not surprised by that. I think, you know, we're talking six or seven weeks for a trial. I think that will be likely. I think you will continue to see these motions --
WALKER: From tomorrow?
MOORE: That's right.
WALKER: OK.
MOOORE: You'll see these motions that are attacked and they will be raising issues with the court, that's going to take time too. We know right now they're not holding court on Wednesdays, so that's a day that will be lost each week. So, the judge can do other business presumably. So, I just think it will take a little bit of time.
As for jail time, it's just hard for me to imagine that even with a conviction in this kind of case, this is really a record keeping case. And it's been made a felony because of what I think is a little bit of a stretch and mangling up of the law. And that is that they're trying to use a state law to enforce a federal law and they're claiming that the federal law is the reason they get to call it a felony. That's a -- that's an unusual and sort of an unprecedented use of this statute here.
This is really about -- you know, you've got the state of New York saying, well, wait a minute, but there were federal election laws that were broken. Well, that's not really a state law. And so, that will be interesting going forward. And that is an issue, I think, at the end of the day, that if there's a conviction, I think you'll find an appellate court that takes some interest in that.
WALKER: Michael Moore. Great to have you.
MOORE: It's great to be with you.
WALKER: Thanks so much. CNN's special coverage from the start of the opening statements, Monday, starts at 9:00 a.m. eastern. Tomorrow right here on CNN and streaming on Max.
VICTOR BLACKWELL, CNN THIS MORNING WEEKEND CO-ANCHOR: Still to come, the FBI is concerned about violence against Jewish communities across the country as they get ready to celebrate Passover.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[07:35:00]
BLACKWELL: Federal law enforcement is keeping a close eye out for any potential threats to the Jewish community as Passover approaches, especially with the reported increase in antisemitic threats across the U.S.
WALKER: CNN's Camila Bernal spoke to a family in California on how they're preparing.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
RABII SARAH HRONSKY, TEMPLE BETH HILLEL: Can you help me?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Can I help?
HRONSKY: Yes, roll it down.
CAMILA BERNAL, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): These are the Passover preparations at the Hronskys.
HRONSKY: You got your blue waves?
BERNAL (voice-over): As a mother and a rabbi.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Some people call them Lego people. We call them Israelites.
BERNAL (voice-over): Sarah Hronsky knows this year, the holiday will be different.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Matza (ph).
BERNAL (voice-over): Not only are many leaving empty seats at the table --
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We have a host here somewhere.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: These are for the hostages his year.
BERNAL (voice-over): -- but those celebrating are also being told to be on alert.
HRONSKY: Threats are every day. They're all the time and they're very, very real.
BERNAL (voice-over): According to the FBI, anti-Jewish hate crime cases tripled in the wake of the October 7th attack, and they are currently on alert for threats ahead of Passover.
RABBI NOAH FARKAS, PRESIDENT AND CEO, JEWISH FEDERATION LOS ANGELES: We put out an alert to congregations, to schools, to organizations, agencies, anywhere where Jews gather, for us to be a little bit more vigilant this year.
BERNAL: Rabbi Noah Farkas is the president and CEO of the Jewish Federation Los Angeles. While he's also preparing for the seder, the organization he leads is recommending people know who they invite into their homes, keep outdoor lights on, and report any incident or crime.
FARKAS: One of the saddest things about being a Jew in America today is that we have to pay for private security to express our First Amendment right.
BERNAL (voice-over): For large gatherings, cameras and extra security have become the norm.
EITAN BAZAZ, PRESIDENT AND FOUNDER, DAVID SHIELD SECURITY: In recent years and especially since October 7, the demand for our services increased at least like 300 to 400 percent.
BERNAL (voice-over): The increase, says Eitan Bazaz with David Shield Security, is in part because of protests, campus threats, and Middle East tensions, causing angst in the U.S.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Good afternoon, sir. How can I help you?
BERNAL (voice-over): In 2023, almost 9,000 antisemitic incidents have been tracked in the U.S. The highest number of incidents reported since the anti-defamation league began tracking them in the 1970s.
[07:40:00]
HRONSKY: It has increased phenomenally in a way that we can't even count anymore, the hundreds of percentage points that it's increased.
BERNAL: What have you seen?
HRONSKY: I'll give you an example. Today, a woman drove by my synagogue filming and shouting antisemitic slurs.
BERNAL (voice-over): But despite the threats, the worry, the sadness, there will also be joy.
HRONSKY: grounding and having a seder and being celebration of your roots and your core and your heritage, this is a sign that we too will get through to the other side.
BERNAL (voice-over): Camila Bernal, CNN, Los Angeles.
(END VIDEO CLIP) BLACKWELL: Camila, thank you.
Still to come, the NBA playoffs are one day old and LeBron James and the Lakers are already behind the eight ball against the defending champions. Highlights from that game, next.
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[07:45:00]
WALKER: It's like the weather has been all over the place this year. More than 55 million people are under freeze alerts across parts of the U.S. Temperatures could be 20 degrees cooler than normal from Texas to North Carolina this morning.
BLACKWELL: Spring fight back. Meteorologist Allison Chinchar tracking it all for us this morning. How long is this going to last?
ALLISON CHINCHAR, CNN METEOROLOGIST: It won't be very long. So, spring will make a comeback here. You just got to get through about another day or so. So, yes, many waking up this morning to some frost on the grass and some freezing temperatures, especially across the Midwest and the Ohio Valley. But yes, you may be thinking to yourself, gosh, it's just really cold for this time of year. And it is.
All of these cities in blue here, Charlotte, Birmingham, New Orleans, they're looking at temperatures for their high today to be more similar to what they would see in February. And Midland, Texas, high of 60 today, that's their average for January 25th.
But again, there is light at the end of this very cold tunnel. We will start to get some of those warmer temperatures back in once we get towards the upcoming week. But other than the cold, the only other thing we really have to talk about is some extra rain across portions of the southeast.
And for a lot of these areas, it's been a very soggy past couple of weeks. They don't really want the extra rain. But the good news is, even though it's moving through now, all of that rain finally exits this area once we get to this evening. So again, you'll finally start to see some clearer, drier conditions.
Off to the north, we've got the next system that arrives beginning tomorrow in the Midwest. It will cross over the Great Lakes on Tuesday before entering into the northeast, late Tuesday, early Wednesday. And yes, it has a chance to bring back some snow to portions of interior New England. Probably the last thing they want to see.
Also too, some rain across Pittsburgh, that's the last thing this area wants. They're already sitting at their second wettest April on record, guys. They could end up reaching that number one mark by the end of the week.
BLACKWELL: All right. Allison Chinchar watching it all. Thanks so much.
All right. Sports now, the NBA Playoffs are underway and the Lakers are already in a bit of a hole against the Nuggets.
WALKER: Carolyn Manno is with us this morning. Hi, Carolyn.
CAROLYN MANNO, CNN SPORTS CORRESPONDENT: Hey. Well, if the rest of the series goes like this for the Lakers, it's going to be a problem. You never need to worry about LeBron James. He did a little bit of everything last night. And you also never need to worry about Anthony Davis. These two future hall of famers were absolutely exceptional.
Again, they racked up 59 points to keep things close. It was really L.A.'s guards that weren't doing the job. The front court did all that they could do, but really the bigger issue for L.A. outside of these two is just how good Nikola Jokic and Jamal Murray are.
I mean, Denver's duo, combining to score 54 and both finishing with double doubles as Jokic, the reigning finals MVP with a chance to steal things here, ends up getting the steal from LeBron James and then lays it in at the other end. The Nuggets win by 11, their fifth straight postseason win against the Lakers.
Elsewhere in the Sixers postseason, their hopes may have just been dashed. Joel Embiid landing awkwardly late in the second quarter against the Knicks, reaggravating this knee injury that has sidelined him for two months. To his credit, he was able to gut it out the rest of the way, but he was clearly in pain, and Coach Nick Nurse did not seem confident about his availability moving forward.
Philly kept fighting. They played a really good game. They could not stop Josh Hart late. He scored 13 of his 22 in the fourth quarter as New York rallies for the win.
To the rink now, a playoff series featuring two of the original six NHL teams, the Toronto Maple Leafs and Boston Bruins in game one may have turned on this sequence early in the second. Bruins' goalie, Jeremy Swayman making a mad dash for the puck, he misses. He leaves Auston Matthews to the chance to tie it, he would miss. And then a minute later, it was Brandon Carlo bearing the one timer there. So, a massive swing and momentum.
And you have to feel for Matthews. 69 goals this season. The most by anybody in 30 years and clanking it right off the post. So, Boston rolling from there, winning five to one.
And eight playoff games on the schedule, guys, today between the NBA and the NHL. So, if you're dealing with the snow and the rain and all that stuff that we're hating right now in spring, just stay inside and sit on the couch.
WALKER: Yes, I agree. Carolyn Manno, thank you.
MANNO: Sure.
WALKER: Still to come, a tram collision at the Universal Studios theme park in California has left more than a dozen people with injuries. BLACKWELL: A record factory in Asheville, North Carolina is banking on the vinyl comeback. And today's "Start Small, Think Big", see how Citizen Vinyl is bringing music and people together.
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GAR RAGLAND, FOUNDER, CITIZEN VINYL: Citizen Vinyl is a celebration of music and community. We make music here.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Gypsy came to see me.
RAGLAND: We press music downstairs on our presses and we celebrate music in our public space along with food and drink and community.
[07:50:00]
We are a cafe and vinyl themed craft cocktail bar, and we have an onsite record and art store. Every day, our team curates a playlist of vinyl records so you can shop for records. Listen to music. All while watching records being pressed.
The Citizen-Times building where Citizen Vinyl is located was built by the owner of the newspapers in 1939. There were printing presses in the basement. And we fell in love with the fact that we could bring manufacturing back to downtown Asheville.
I've been in the music business for 30 years. Many people describe listening to records as there's the warmth that you don't get when you listen to music digitally. The communal experience of listening to music, of celebrating art, it's very alluring and it's something that I think that we humans need more of in our lives.
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[07:55:00]
WALKER: Two people are dead, six others injured, one in critical condition after a large Memphis block party last night. Officials say, they are working to identify a pair of suspects who fired on a crowd of up to 300 people. As they investigate video footage from the scene, the Gun Violence Archive reports that this is the 115th mass shooting in the U.S. this year.
BLACKWELL: 15 people are recovering from minor injuries today after a four-car tram crashed at Universal Studios Hollywood last night. Police say, the tram driver blames a mechanical failure. One car collided with the rail and several passengers fell out. The L.A. County Fire Department and State Highway Patrol are investigating.
It's a war you probably have not heard about, and it's killing people, also killing elephants every day. It's happening in Sri Lanka, where rapid development has pushed people farther out into the wild where the elephants once lived freely. WALKER: The iconic Asian elephant is fighting back against the people encroaching on their land. This week on "The Whole Story," CNN's Nick Paton Walsh travels to Sri Lanka to document this deadly battle.
NICK PATON WALSH, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Victor, Amara, this is an extraordinary story to report. And it takes you to areas of remarkable natural beauty to see some of the most extraordinary creatures on our planet. And it's a story about how we're continually depriving them of the greenery, the space, the vegetation that they need to live because the human species continually wants to expand, to grow more in number, to find more land to grow food upon. The story of growth that seems to dominate our lives entirely.
But it's also something of a metaphor for all the conflicts we're seeing around the world between humans, on borders over land and really something that brings home writ large visually the enormous confrontations now on this crowded planet for basic resources.
Now, there are about 6,000 elephants in Sri Lanka. And in just last year alone, according to the government there, 476 of them were killed, and they in turn killed 169 people. And so, this isn't some sort of gentle dispute over boundaries. It's violence that plays out often every night. Here's how we got a small experience of that.
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WALSH (voice-over): These are this conflict's weapons, firecrackers, thunder flashes.
WALSH: Suddenly, the numbers have grown from a couple here, possibly, to 10, maybe 20, over by the tree line over there. Possibly coming in this direction.
WALSH (voice-over): This is already too close. If they charge, it would all be over. A torchlight used to always be enough, or they would bang pots and pans. Now, nobody wants to risk going soft, so they reach straight for gunpowder. Usually, the elephants just run. But sometimes they charge. And it's us who have to run.
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WALSH (on camera): Now, it is extraordinary, because the one thing you take away from being with these Sri Lankans, dealing with this issue all the time, is the sleeplessness. That they barely ever seem to get -- to go to bed at night. They're always up, terrified that at night the elephants will come in and trample, eat the vegetation, the crops that they rely on to feed their own families.
And so, that's the reason for the fireworks. And at any particular moment, too, I should point out, if an elephant turns, that can be deadly. And so, it was an extraordinary week or so for us observing this, sort of, dark, new front line between species, hungry for the same space on this planet.
And what that really shows for where we as humans are going, because those same tensions you see there, writ large between elephant and human are very much the ones that play out between people every day. Victor, Amara?
WALKER: Fascinating look. Be sure to tune in to an all-new episode of "The Whole Story with Anderson Cooper". One whole hour, one whole topic. Airs tonight at 8:00 pm Eastern and Pacific, only on CNN. And that's for tonight --
BLACKWELL: Well, thank you so much for watching CNN this morning.
[08:00:02]
I wanted, before we go though, highlight Allison Chinchar, who is always dressed for the weather, these beautiful shoes that have -- what on them?
CHINCHAR: Oh, pretty much every kind of weather you could imagine, and Earth's Day tomorrow, by the way, so (INAUDIBLE).
WALKER: Of course, you do. But you've got the raindrops on your shoes.
CHINCHAR: Everything.
WALKER: Show that we are having a rainy day here in Atlanta.
Thanks for being with us.
INSIDE POLITICS is next.
