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New Day Saturday

Ukrainian Officials Say They've Discovered More Evidence Of Russian War Crimes: Mass Graves Outside Of Mariupol; Russia Sets Sights On Southern Ukraine; McCarthy Calls New Audio Revealing He Planned To Advise Trump To Resign After 1/6 "Overblown"; Mask Requirement Confusion Grows Amid Changing Federal and Local Rules; Johnny Depp Takes Stand In Defamation Trial Against Ex-Wife; Portuguese Prosecutors Identify Suspect In Missing Madeleine McCann Case. Aired 6-7a ET

Aired April 23, 2022 - 06:00   ET

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

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[06:00:33]

BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning, Buenos Dias. And welcome to your New Day. It is Saturday, April 23. I'm Boris Sanchez.

CHRISTI PAUL, CNN ANCHOR: Boris, it's good to have you back. I'm Christi Paul, thank you so much for sharing your morning with us. We do want to begin with what's happening in the war in Ukraine right now.

SANCHEZ: Yeah, Ukrainian officials say they've discovered more evidence of Russian war crimes this time, a mass graves outside of Mariupol. Officials are pointing to these satellite images from Maxar showing the ground in one part of the city that's recently been disturbed, and there are claims from a credible source indicating that the site has been used to dispose bodies. CNN is still working to independently verify those claims.

PAUL: Now, it's estimated more than 100,000 people have trapped there in Mariupol including soldiers and civilians. Now, Ukraine's Deputy Prime Minister announced a short time ago that a humanitarian corridor is now open after a brief delay that was due to security concerns. Officials are trying to evacuate women, children and the elderly for Mariupol.

SANCHEZ: Meantime, Russia has revealed a new goal in the conflict. Their plan is now to take full control of southern Ukraine and the eastern Donbas region to establish a land corridor to Crimea, that area in the southern part of the country that Russia annexed in 2014.

PAUL: Then take a look at this. It's new drone video, showing just a scene of utter destruction there in a small village of motion that's north of Kyiv, house after house flattened. Ukraine says the village played a major role in pushing back the Russian advanced toward Kyiv.

SANCHEZ: We want to take you to Ukraine now. And CNN Correspondent Scott McLean, who joins us live from Lviv. PAUL: Scott, what can you tell us about, what's happening? And about the possible mass grave outside Mariupol?

SCOTT MCLEAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hey, good morning. Yeah, Christi, so this is in a small village just east of the city. You can see from the satellite images that this looks to be a regular cemetery. But on the one end of it, there are several trenches dug. The earth is clearly disturbed in those areas. Those trenches are maybe 40, 45 yards long. As you mentioned earlier, CNN can't confirm that these are in fact mass graves. But the mayor's office is saying that that is exactly what they appear to be.

There is no doubt though, that the situation in Mariupol, as it's been for the last almost two months now is extremely dire with 10s of 1000s potentially more people still trapped inside of that city. But Ukrainian troops continuing to hold on.

There is a humanitarian corridor that's being arranged today. There was not one yesterday at least not a successful one that is leaving from a mall on the western part of the city. It should have got going about an hour ago, but it's unclear whether it's moving, whether it's successful whether and where exactly, it's going. It is supposed to end in the Ukrainian city of Zaporizhzhia. But authorities are also warning that the Russians may try to push people in the other direction towards Russia.

We are also seeing new video from the Azovstal Steel Plant where we know that there are women and children sheltering along with Ukrainian troops who are holding out in that area. This video which was shot by soldiers shows them bringing food to the children and the women who are underground quite deep underground. The kids look to be remarkably healthy considering where they've spent the last, you know, 50 -- 45, 50 plus days underground. And here's what one boy said to the camera.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translation): I hope we can leave here and see the sun. Because we sat here for two months already. I want to see the sun so that when our houses are rebuilt, we can live in peace. So we can live in Ukraine, because this is our native home.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MCLEAN: Just wanting to see the sun there, pretty simple requests, you'd think. One of the things that I don't want to understate here and that is the news that we got from a Russian military commander speaking to Russian state media, explaining what exactly Russia's goal is in Ukraine in this phase to operate, which is focusing on the eastern and southern part of the country. The Russians would like to control the entire Donbas region as well as the southern coast of Ukraine along the Black Sea.

[06:05:09]

And that military commander said, the reason why it's so important to control that southern coast is because it would link up with -- link Russia up with Transnistria. The problem there is that this territory is not located in Russia or Ukraine. It's actually in Moldova. It is a separatist part of Moldova, where Russian troops had been stationed since the 1990s. Obviously, these comments are not going over well with the Moldovans who say that they are an independent country in Russia ought to respect its borders, Christi, Boris.

PAUL: No doubt. Scott McLean, thank you so much for the update, really appreciate it.

David Satter is with us now. He's the former Moscow Correspondent for The Financial Times, also the former Special Correspondent on Soviet Affairs for the Wall Street Journal. Mr. Satter, we appreciate you being here, thank you so much.

I wanted to ask you, if when we talk about what's happening this morning that some corridors, some humanitarian corridors have finally opened up here to help get some of these people out. But at this point, we know that if the southern -- if Russia wanted to let people leave, they can do so. And now that we know the southern territory is their goal, why are they killing? Why are they torturing? And why does it feel like the world is just watching and not doing anything?

DAVID SATTER, FORMER MOSCOW CORRESPONDENT, FINANCIAL TIMES: Well, there's nothing unusual about these tactics. These are the tactics that they used in Chechnya, they used in Syria. They don't respect the kind of ethical and moral limits that a Western Power would respect. They consider since civilians to be legitimate military targets. And they understand that this is a way of putting pressure on the Ukrainians. And that's why this is going on. Russia -- Russia's behavior on the battlefield is consistent with the way it conducts its foreign policy, without real, real ethical limits.

PAUL: I want to ask you about the strategy here, because it started with Russia declaring that they wanted to take Kyiv. Shifted after they were -- they failed to do so, and now they're talking about just the southern territory, what is the benefit of Russia announcing their intention to take that territory?

SATTER: Well, first of all, it's important to bear in mind that their objectives can shift again, it's a question of how, you know, what kind of resistance they need. As for announcing their war goals, so- called, I think that's a reflection of the fact that inside Russia, there's a lot of confusion as to why Russians are fighting there.

And public opinion in Russia is not monolithic. There are doubts. People are loath to express them because of the repression, but they exist. So Russia has tried to enunciate something that they think will gain public support inside Russia doesn't mean that it's a real military objective. Those -- anything they say they can change tomorrow.

PAUL: So you wrote a really interesting op-ed for The Wall Street Journal, talking about President Biden and how he's called for Putin to be removed from power. And here's what you write, "President Biden's called for Vladimir Putin to be removed from power that only Russians can remove Mr. Putin. That is why, in addition to supplying arms to Ukraine, the U.S. needs to take steps to reach the Russian people." How does the U.S. do that? How do other countries do that?

SATTER: Well, they're -- one of the things that we should be doing. I mentioned a couple of things in that op-ed, of course, keeping a register and a detailed database of the Russian losses so that Russians have somewhere to turn to get honest information. They're lying again about the losses, for example, in the case of the cruiser Moskva, which was sunk in the Black Sea.

We need also to somehow demonstrate to the Russian people that we're potentially on their side, and will return stolen wealth. And of course, we have to start telling the truth and this is terribly important about how Putin came to power with a terrorist act against his own people, 1999 the Russian FSB and there's overwhelming and incontrovertible evidence for this, blew up of ordinary Russia and apartment buildings in order to justify a war in Chechnya, and that's why Putin -- why we've ever heard of Putin, that's why he became president. So all these things have to be done.

The other thing that is terribly important is cut off the flow of money to Russia so that Russians without violence understand there's a price for this kind of aggression. That means a boycott on oil and gas exports to trigger a recession. But that's the price for 30 years of incompetent foreign policy.

[06:10:20]

PAUL: David Satter, we so appreciate your insight and your perspective here. Thank you for taking time for us this morning.

SATTER: Thank you. Glad to be with you.

SANCHEZ: Police here in the nation's capital say that a shooting suspect they believe open fire next to a college prep-school is dead. Four people were wounded in Friday's random sniper style attack, including a retired D.C. police officer. Two others were reported in stable but critical condition. Authorities have not yet identified the gunman but said that he took his own life as police began entering his apartment. Investigators found his body along with multiple firearms and ammunition inside, but say they don't know what sparked the shooting spree.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CHIEF ROBERT J. CONTEE III, WASHINGTON METROPOLITAN POLICE DEPARTMENT: We will get to the bottom of this, we will find out what the motive is. And right now we do not have that answer. But the answer that we do have is that our communities are now safe.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANCHEZ: And police also say they don't believe there are other suspects nor are they sure have any connection between the suspect and the school.

Still ahead this morning on New Day, new details about what former Trump's Chief of Staff Mark Meadows was warned could happen in the lead up to January 6. Plus, the lingering confusion over where and when to wear a mask. We're asking experts a key question, how effective are masks if no one around you is wearing them? Stay with us. We'll be right back.

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[06:15:56]

PAUL: New filings from the House Select Committee show then White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows was warned the rally on January 6 could turn violent. This is according to transcripts of testimony from a former White House official that say Meadows was advised about the potential for violence that day.

The filing is in response to a lawsuit filed by Meadows to block congressional subpoenas and avoid testifying in the Capitol Hill investigation. The filing also included text messages Meadows exchanged with Donald Trump Jr. as well as right wing hosts Laura Ingraham and Sean Hannity.

SANCHEZ: President Trump is standing with Kevin McCarthy even after leaked audio this week revealed the House Minority Leader planned on asking Trump to resign in the days following January 6.

PAUL: Yeah, speaking publicly for the first time since the scandal, Trump told The Wall Street Journal his relationship with McCarthy is not damaged. He called it a compliment that some of the Republicans who criticized him right after the insurrection are now on his side. CNN Capitol Hill reporter Daniella Diaz is with us now. Daniella, good to see you this morning. So talk to us about how McCarthy is responding to this whole situation.

DANIELLA DIAZ, CNN CONGRESSIONAL REPORTER: Christi, House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy has been maneuvering behind the scenes to contain the fallout from these newly resurfaced recordings of comments he made against former President Donald Trump in the days following the January 6 insurrection.

And it's just as you said, he had a call with Trump on Thursday night, where he said for now their relationship is doing well, he -- Trump in his first comments since these recordings came out told The Wall Street Journal that for now, he's doing well with McCarthy and McCarthy for the most part has been able to keep maintain nerves within his House GOP conference, especially among those more conservative members of his conference that are huge allies of former President Donald Trump.

Now, remember, House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, of course wants to be the House Speaker if Republicans take back the majority in the 2022 midterms, that's really what his eyes are on right now, which is why he's trying to maintain the relationships within his party, but he did break his silence last night when he was in California for an event. He spoke to reporters about these recordings for the first time and defended what he said. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) KEVIN MCCARTHY, HOUSE REPUBLICAN LEADER: What they said we did we never did. I mean, I've never asked President Trump to resign. Well, if you listen to the phone call, I got asked the question. They asked a question, the time period, about the 25th amendment. All I did was walk through like anybody would, what are the different scenarios that would happen?

And all we did was put out the different options. The reason why I never called to ask the president to resign, the more information you learned, you learned about how National Guards were offered to come to the Capitol beforehand, and the speaker declined those at the National Guard bend at the Capitol. This never would have happened.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

DIAZ: So as you can see there, he's really defending his comments saying he didn't actually ask the president to resign despite what he said on this GOP conference call that was leaked. The recording was leaked on Thursday. But look, he's expected to address the House GOP conference on this matter privately on Wednesday.

I'm sure we will hear what he says depending on what happens during that meeting, but also Republicans are waiting for another shoe to drop because the New York Times is actually reporting that in the days after the insurrection, McCarthy privately lamented that some lawmakers should get their Twitter accounts taken away. And that audio recording is yet to be released. So there could be additional recordings that we are going to hear in the days to come. Boris, Christi.

SANCHEZ: Daniella Diaz, thank you so much.

Let's dig deeper now into the Trump, McCarthy dynamic with Politico's Rachel Bade. Good morning, Rachel. We appreciate you getting up bright and early for us. Even McCarthy's public comments often seem contradictory. Now, this private recording comes out and contradicts much of what he's said about his conversations with the former president after January 6. His credibility even within his own party appears to be shot, but yet he still remains the favorite become the new speaker if Republicans win the House, right?

[06:20:04]

RACHAEL BADE, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: Yeah, apparently this moment at least, it certainly looks like it and everybody obviously is watching President Trump for President Trump, to see what he says. And now that Trump has come out and said their relationship is fine that really is all that matters right now for Kevin McCarthy.

That goes a long way a lot of House Republicans look to the former president about whether or not they're going to vote for someone for leader. And so the fact that Trump right now is saying that they're fine that, you know, buys McCarthy a lifeline, even though privately I have had Republicans say to me, that this is just more evidence that he is a, "full faced liar," as one of them said to me. But look, that's all that matters. I will say he's not out of the woods. We've known President Trump, we've covered him for how long now, the guy changes his mind, depending on his mood. And so he might be hard on someone one minute hold on than the next. And I wouldn't be surprised if you see the president sometime between now and when McCarthy tries to get the gavel at the end of 2022, when Republicans are expected to take the House or beginning of 2023, that he could sour McCarthy for another reason.

So there are also a lot of Trump allies out there who really do not like McCarthy. And they're absolutely going to be trying to whip the former president and try to stir him up against McCarthy between now and then. So this is not over by any means. Right now he's OK. But as Daniella mentioned, more information could come out. And this could absolutely come back and haunt him.

SANCHEZ: No, no question about that, especially if he's on tape saying that there are Republicans who should get their Twitter accounts taken away, that goes head to head with the Republican line that social media companies are out to get conservatives and all of that. So in your mind, who perhaps has the best chance to run against McCarthy and potentially win the speakership?

BADE: Well, that's been a big question. I think for opponents who do not like McCarthy, Trump allies who are sort of skeptical of him. The big question is, OK, it's not him who, and the reality is that with House Republicans, they're going to be looking at the member who raised the most money, who helps them win back the majority. And there's no doubt in anybody's mind that, if that happens, as it is expected you it's going to be B because of Kevin McCarthy and a lot of the fundraising he's done to lead them back into the majority.

And so there's going to be a lot of goodwill. Because of that, even amongst Republicans who have problems with him, whether it's, you know, a truth issue, or they don't like the way he's handled Trump. But that I mean, there's a question. I mean, Matt Gaetz, who is a close ally of President Trump has said that he would vote for President Trump, for speaker and the former president said he has no interest in that. You will see a bunch of members, of course, vote for somebody else. The question is, does it really matter? Does McCarthy have the numbers to actually get the gavel? And that's yet to be seen at this point.

SANCHEZ: So Daniella noted House Republicans are set to have their weekly meeting on Wednesday, what do you imagine is going to come from it?

BADE: He's going to have to talk to his members about this. He's obviously gone public and said, you know, these comments, you know, they -- I was trying to protect the president, he's been telling people privately. He's tried to sort of downplay them and say that there were no big deal, I was just addressing potential scenarios.

I do think you will see him try to frame this in a way that what he was trying to do was, if the 25th amendment was going to be invoked in that people, were going to actively try to remove the president from office at that point, that he was going to be the one to tell Trump he needs to go.

And so I do think, you know, McCarthy has been making that case to people privately. We'll hear him make that case to his members on Wednesday. But, you know, as Daniella mentioned, this Twitter issue was another thing that people are waiting to hear more about. There's a concern that if he really did say, some of his members should not be on Twitter that goes against what he has said publicly and criticizing a lot of social media companies for, "censorship," as he likes to call it.

And so that would be in contradiction to a lot of things he has said publicly and could cause a real problem with some of his members. So it's going to be a heated Wednesday, but let's see how he manages that.

SANCHEZ: We should also know that there are a lot of Republicans, just like McCarthy in very similar shoes that publicly say things defending the former president and privately have very different feelings. So he's not alone there. Rachael Bade thank you so much for the time.

BADE: Thank you.

PAUL: Still ahead, a major development in the disappearance of Madeleine McCann, investigators finally named the suspect 15 years after that, British girl disappeared. Stay close.

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[06:29:04]

PAUL: Well, for the second year in a row, Coronavirus, was the third leading cause of death in the U.S., just behind heart disease and cancer. This is according to the CDC, which notes more than 415,000 Americans have died from COVID in 2021. And the news comes amid this spike in cases nationwide.

In Boston, for example, health officials have renewed their recommendation for people to once again wear masks while indoors. They're citing a 65% increase in COVID-19 cases over the past two weeks.

Also Philadelphia is ending its indoor mask mandate just days after it went into effect. The city's Board of Health voted Thursday to rescind the mandate because hospitalizations are decreasing and cases are leveling off. As opposed to a mandate, Philadelphia is now strongly recommending masks in indoor public spaces.

Let's talk to Dr. Carlos del Rio about this.

[06:29:58]

He's the Executive Associate Dean at Emory University School of Medicine at Grady. Thank you so much doctor for being with us, we appreciate it. I do want to ask you about what happened this week with most major airlines as well as Amtrak, Uber, dropping their mask mandates for passengers. What is your assessment of the reality of that?

CARLOS DEL RIO, EXECUTIVE ASSOCIATE DEAN, EMORY UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF MEDICINE AT GRADY: Well, you know, I think that airlines actually had a mask mandate in place way before there was a federal mandate in place. Then a federal mandate came in place. And I think as the epidemic has evolved, we have seen a lot of problems. And one of the problems is that trying to enforce a mask wearing on planes has become increasingly hard, and for many of the flight attendants, it's really been very difficult.

They have essentially become the masked police in an increasingly blithering population of people flying. Many people take their masks off when they are, you know, eating, drinking. So I think overall, my suggestion is, you know, when the federal mandate disappears and the airlines really have no reason to continue to enforce, it's -- I think really going to be up to each one of us to decide what we want to do.

And some people may want to mask, some people may not want to mask. My recommendation is, you should probably wear masks especially during the boarding and unboarding, is when you go through the -- you know, when you go through the tunnel to get on the plane, when you're trying to get your luggage in and you're trying to get your luggage out and get off the plane, that's when the doors open, that's when the ventilation system is not working, and that's where I would say the highest risk.

Once you're flying and the ventilation and circulation occur in the plane, is happening, the risk decreases dramatically. The other thing I would tell travelers is, when you go into a city you visit, you're taking a trip, maybe it's not the plane that's the most risky place, maybe, it's the fact that once you get to the city, you go to the bar, you go to a restaurant, you go to a crowded concert or other places, and that's where you're going to risk getting infected.

PAUL: So, what about parents with young children? They have some real concerns about this particularly, since not all kids are able to be vaccinated yet.

DEL RIO: Well, I think the most important thing for parents of young children under the age of 5 who are yet to be able to get vaccinated is, everybody around those kids needs to be vaccinated. The best thing we can do is to create a barrier of immunity around those kids. So, parents ought to be vaccinated and boosted in order to protect their kids.

I have two grandchildren under the age of 2. They have not been vaccinated. We have traveled with them on planes, and we have -- all of us are vaccinated. And we put them in a place that then they're going to be at lower risk.

PAUL: So, I know that we're watching some of these new variants out there. What is the reality of the potency of the variants you're watching right now?

DEL RIO: Well, you know, the concerns that we all have is that Omicron and you know, Omicron sub-variants that have emerged, most recently, the BA.2 variant, they are highly transmissible. So, you're going to -- you know, you are going to get infected. Many people have said to me, you know, I don't know, I haven't done anything differently, and yet, I got infected. That's because you haven't done anything differently, but the virus has done something differently.

So they're much more highly transmissible. We have not seen them to cause more severe disease, and we have not seen them to evade immune system to the point of decreasing the risk of getting sick, getting very ill, ending in the hospital and dying. So, the most important thing you can do is to get vaccinated and to get boosted. If you're vaccinated and boosted and you get infected, you know, you're probably going to be uncomfortable for a few days, but you're not going to end up in the hospital, you're not going to end up dying.

Almost everybody we're seeing right now in the hospital, almost everybody we're seeing right now dying are people who are not vaccinated.

PAUL: OK, good point to make. Dr. Carlos del Rio, we appreciate your guidance, thank you so much, sir.

DEL RIO: Delighted to be with you.

SANCHEZ: Still ahead this morning, Johnny Depp taking the stand in the defamation trial against his ex-wife. Could his own words threaten the case? You'll hear the text messages and audio recordings exposed in court after a quick break. Don't go anywhere.

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[06:35:00]

PAUL: Thirty-eight minutes past the hour right now. Her name is Madeleine McCann, and authorities in Portugal say they've identified a suspect in the case of her. This missing British girl who disappeared nearly 15 years ago during a family holiday.

SANCHEZ: And this is the first-time prosecutors have named an official suspect since the child's parents were initially named suspects back in 2007. CNN's Nina dos Santos brings us up to speed.

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NINA DOS SANTOS, CNN EUROPE EDITOR (on camera): Portuguese authorities on Friday said that they had identified a suspect in the disappearance of Madeleine McCann, one of the most high-profile, mysterious missing person cases to have captivated the world's attention, and also a case that hasn't really moved forward for quite some time now.

Well, they didn't specifically name the individual in question, but the Portuguese authorities say that they had been liaising with German authorities, and that is where the case has been progressing for the last two years.

After in 2020, German authorities said that they had an individual in custody in German jails serving time for separate unrelated offenses who they believed knew what happened to Madeleine McCann all those years ago. That suspect was identified at the time as Christian B., but authorities say they didn't have enough evidence to charge him with a particular crime at the time. And he still hasn't been charged.

[06:40:00]

The latest move, what it does from a Portuguese legal perspective is to keep this case alive just before the statutes of limitations was set to expire on May the 3rd. That would have been the 15th anniversary since Madeleine McCann disappeared on a family holiday back in 2007. Having said that, though, sadly, German authorities already said two years ago that they were working on the assumption back then, that Madeleine McCann may no longer be alive. Nina dos Santos, CNN, in London.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SANCHEZ: Nina, thank you for that report. Following the announcement about the suspect, the McCann family released a statement that reads in part, quote, "even though the possibility may be slim, we've not given up hope that Madeleine is still alive and will be reunited with her family. All we have ever wanted was to find her, uncover the truth and bring those responsible to justice."

PAUL: We'll keep you posted on what happens in that case, of course. Now, let's talk about actor Johnny Depp, on the stand this week describing what he called a volatile relationship with his ex-wife, actress Amber Heard. He's suing her for $50 million, this is a defamation lawsuit.

SANCHEZ: Depp claims that Heard's public revelations of domestic abuse caused him financial losses. He did face tough questions over text messages and drug-use during cross-examination. Here's CNN's Polo Sandoval.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

POLO SANDOVAL, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Three straight days of testimony this week painted a disturbing picture of the relationship between actors Johnny Depp and ex-wife Amber Heard. Depp has been on the witness stand as part of week 2 of his defamation trial against Heard.

"The Pirates of the Caribbean" star suing Heard for $50 million in a Virginia court over a 2018 "Washington Post" opinion piece. In it, Heard wrote about her experience with domestic abuse, but Depp was not named in the piece. The actor claims it caused him financial losses.

JOHNNY DEPP, ACTOR: I felt the responsibility of clearing the record.

SANDOVAL: This week, Depp told the jury, his romance with Heard was seemingly perfect early on, but the relationship became volatile and quickly hit bottom after they married. Depp denied various allegations from Heard that he physically harmed her in 2015.

DEPP: There were arguments, and things of that nature, but never did I, myself, reach the point of striking Miss Heard in any way, nor have I ever struck any woman in my life.

SANDOVAL: He also testified that he was the one subjected to mental and physical abuse.

DEPP: It could begin with a slap, it could begin with a shove. It could begin with, you know, throwing a TV remote at my head. It could be throwing a glass of wine in my face.

SANDOVAL: Depp testified that on one occasion in 2015, Heard threw a Vodka bottle at him, severing his fingertip, which she has denied. And that during a separate incident, she put out a cigarette on his face. On Thursday though, Heard's attorney attempted to cast a different light on the Oscar-nominated actor using his history of substance abuse.

BEN ROTTENBORN, AMBER HEARD'S ATTORNEY: And you would sometimes drink Whiskey in the mornings too, right, during this time period?

DEPP: I -- you know, I mean, isn't happy hour any time?

(LAUGHTER)

ROTTENBORN: One of your good friends that you've taken drugs with before is Marilyn Manson, right?

DEPP: We've had cocaine together maybe a couple of times.

SANDOVAL: Testimony turned even more crude when the defense used Depp's text messages to a friend to show rage towards her.

ROTTENBORN: After you said, let's drown her before we burn her, Mr. Depp --

DEPP: Yes --

ROTTENBORN: You said, I will -- her burnt corpse afterwards to make sure she's dead.

SANDOVAL: And this video showing an irate Depp was played in court Thursday by the defense.

DEPP: Here's crazy, all your crazy.

SANDOVAL: Depp responded saying, he did not assault her during the recorded tirade.

SARA AZARI, CRIMINAL DEFENSE ATTORNEY: There's evidence on both sides that they have also perpetrated domestic violence. So at the end of the day, this jury is going to be tasked with deciding, is this a relationship of mutual combat? And how does that impact Heard's statement in this op-ed, that she's merely a victim of domestic violence. It sounds like we have two perpetrators.

SANDOVAL: The jury heads back to court on Monday to hear more testimony. Heard is yet to take the stand in her own defense. Polo Sandoval, CNN, New York. (END VIDEOTAPE)

PAUL: You know, for a lot of Olympic athletes, nothing is as good as gold obviously. One member of team Ukraine though has sound a greater calling in service of his war-torn country.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:45:00]

SANCHEZ: The new CNN film "Navalny", takes you inside the investigation into the shocking and brazing assassination attempt against Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny who also, who was behind it. Through his years long campaign against corruption among Russia's elite, Navalny has developed powerful enemies. Here's a quick preview.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ALEXEI NAVALNY, RUSSIAN OPPOSITION LEADER: You know that Christa(ph) calls it Moscow 4. You know what is Moscow 4?

[06:50:00]

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No, what is that?

NAVALNY: Well, the e-mail of their Veritov (ph) brass guy from intelligence was hacked several times, and his first passport was Moscow 1, and they hacked him. So, second, his passport was Moscow 2, and they hacked him as well. And so, the third time, he had passport, Moscow 3, and just guess what was his fourth passport? So Moscow 4 is the explanation of the stupidity of the system.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANCHEZ: Don't miss the Sundance award-winning CNN film, "Navalny", airing tomorrow night at 9:00 p.m. Eastern right here on CNN. In the two months since Russia's war on Ukraine began, we've seen countless stories of strength and courage from the Ukrainian people, and that includes some of the country's biggest sports stars.

PAUL: Yes, some have taken up arms to protect their homes. There are others that have kept competing, hoping to inspire. Coy Wire joins us now with the story of the athlete who's used the world's biggest stage now to warn the rest of us of the dangers that he saw back home.

COY WIRE, CNN SPORTS CORRESPONDENT: Yes --

SANCHEZ: So, Coy, I understand that he has not stopped trying to help since then, yes?

WIRE: No, he's not content. That's for certain. And we're highlighting 23-year-old Ukrainian skeleton racer Vladyslav Heraskevych, he grabbed headlines at the Beijing Winter Olympics when he held up a banner with the message "no war in Ukraine." Well, two weeks later, his nightmare became a reality. And after being turned away by the military and still wanting to find some way to be a difference maker for his country, Vladys and his father converted some of the team Ukraine's vans to mobile aid units to deliver supplies to those in need.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

VLADYSLAV HERASKEVYCH, SKELETON RACER: I try to work, try to provide some help for people who really needed it. So, my family and my dad, we worked as a team in our sports, and now, we also work as a team, they guys that do this job and try to do our best to save our people and try to help our people. We have our cars, our sports cars, what we used in season, like when we compete, we start to do volunteering and deliver some supplies.

We worked with factories, our great factories and we provide for restaurants who cook food for the military -- the military forces. It's absolutely terrible, and it's here, and you just can't believe it. And understands that two and a half months ago, people were living normal lives. People lost everything. One thing they don't -- lost is hope for a better future. And we on our side, we try to provide this help to do the future of Ukraine better, but it's absolutely terrible to see it.

I'm glad that my voice can be heard, and I can provide this, like help, and I can tell the truth for the world, and I can use this platform to save our people, to save lives. It's also a mission, like for me, because as an athlete, like my mission of like sports at all is to bring peace and unity to the world. It's very important, and I'm glad that I have this opportunity, and I can do it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WIRE: Thanks to Vlad for taking the time to share more of that story with us so that we can share it with all of you. You know, Boris and Christi, we're living in a time where perhaps more than ever, sport is influencing everything. Our favorite teams, athletes, they're turning into these powerful vehicles for inspiration and hope.

SANCHEZ: And we appreciate you bringing those stories to us. Coy Wire, thanks so much. Up next, we're going to tell you what areas are under threat of severe weather today. Your forecast coming up in just a few minutes.

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[06:55:00]

SANCHEZ: Spring storms could usher in a new round of severe weather for parts of the United States today, and that means that some states could be seeing heavy rain, hail, and even tornados.

PAUL: All right, CNN's Allison Chinchar, we need you to give us the latest. We need this heads up.

ALLISON CHINCHAR, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Yes, that's right. And it's all part of this big system that's right here, and it's contributing to a lot, not only an increased fire risk, but we also have some snow, blizzard conditions, very heavy rain, and yes, the potential for some severe storms. Here's a look at what's going on right now.

You can see a lot of lightning out there already ongoing, not only for some of these states in the central U.S., but also into the upper Midwest too. The main focus for the severe storm today is going to be a pretty large swath stretching from northern Minnesota all the way back down to the Texas-Mexico border. In that line, you're looking at hail, damaging winds and some isolated tornadoes, pretty much from top to the bottom of the line.

The storm system will gradually make its way east, so even on Sunday, we're also looking at a severe threat, but it's just going to shift a little bit farther to the east. Now, the focus for Sunday becomes Michigan all the way back towards Texas. But the threats themselves remain the same. Now, we are looking at snow and pretty heavy snow across areas on that back side of that system, you could be looking at 12, 16, even 18 inches of snow. But the rain is actually going to be heaviest along the southern tier of this, Boris and Christi, especially around Oklahoma, Texas and Arkansas.

PAUL: I cannot believe in April, this late in the game we're talking about blizzard conditions. Allison --

SANCHEZ: Yes --

PAUL: Chinchar, thank you so much.

SANCHEZ: Thanks so much, Allison. Don't go anywhere, the next hour of NEW DAY starts right now.