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tv   CNN Newsroom Live  CNN  March 20, 2023 11:00pm-12:00am PDT

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>> lawn welcome to our viewers joining us here in the united states and all around the world. you're watching cnn newsroom, and i'm rosemary church. just ahead, it may not be today, but a decision on a trump
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indictment could land soon. that has law enforcement in new york and washington beefing up security ahead of potential protests. but amid putin continues talks with his dear friend, she jinping, and moscow, in the coming hours. the white house says it's watching the meeting of russian and chinese leaders closely. how this visit could impact the war in ukraine. plus, shares and u.s. bank first republic tumbled to a new low, raising the question -- is the banking system in the u.s. secure, or is more turmoil coming? ♪ ♪ ♪ >> live from cnn center, this is cnn newsroom with rosemary church. >> good to have you with us. it's two a.m. and new york, with the city that never sleeps is getting ready for an unprecedented possibility. talk the indictment of a former
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president. a senior law enforcement official tells cnn donald trump could be charged as soon as this week. but that's for us close to trump's legal team say they don't expect any arrest or court appearance to happen before next week. new york mayor, eric adams, says there are no credible threats to the city. but police are taking precautions and case of protests. they're putting up big hits and surveillance cameras, and a police mama tells all officers to be in the uniform and ready to deploy in the day i had. and in washington, police have put up fencing around the u.s. capital to keep potential protesters away. a former legal adviser for trump's one-time fixer, michael cohen, says cohen decided on his own to pay $130,000 in hush money to adult film star stormy
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daniels. that payment is at the center of the case for manhattan prosecutors. cnn's paula reid has the report. >> manhattan da's investigation into trump's alleged role not money payments made to an adult film star ahead of the 2016 election is moving ahead full steam. >> i went in there today to tell these people the truth about who the real michael cohen's, and what he was actually saying at that moment in time. >> attorney robert costa appeared before the new york grand jury after trump's legal team requested he be called testify that the credibility of former trump fixer michael cohen. costa spoke to -- >> every three or four minutes, maybe talking to a small pacing like a wild playground cage. back in forth, back and forth. it's really frazzled. -- three, four, five days. it's a suddenly stop in the middle of talking, pointed us, and he'd say, i want you guys
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to know i will do whatever the f it takes. i will never spend one day in jail. you must decide that 20 times. -- castilla purposely represented cohen, who according to a letter, the trump team sent to the da -- attorney client privilege. cohen, was met with the da's office 20 times an appeared before the same grand jury twice as a key witness in this case, which centers around 130,000 dollar payment to adult film star stormy daniels to silence her about an alleged affair with trump. he was paid by cohen in the final days of the 2016 campaign. -- one of many's later, granbury is looking at crimes that include whether trump falsified business records when reimbursing cohen for that payment. cohen was sentenced to jail time after -- stemming from his involvement in the payment.
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>> this case is not gonna be predicated on any one individual, but rather, predicated on the documents -- emails. >> on truth social over the weekend, trump predicted he would be arrested tuesday, and in an echo of january 6th, called for his followers to protest. but a spokesperson said they received no indication from the da that he would be arrested tuesday. >> it's a client speculating about an arrest to incite political violence? >> i don't think he speculating it all. >> trump denies the affair and any wrongdoing. one of his attorneys -- winning that trump supporters will lash act if he is charged. >> if they choose to do so for a misdemeanor, which -- it's gonna cause mayhem. >> it's not clear if the grand jury will be hearing from any additional witnesses or when the grand jury may vote on a possible indictment. but we're hearing from sources
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that the former president's legal team does not expect anything to happen on tuesday, and if there is an indictment this week, they do not expect any surrender -- paul reed, cnn, new york. >> cnn legal defense analyst and defense attorney. he joins me from new york. always good to have you with us. >> nice to be here. >> so, robert costa, a trump ally, and michael cohen's former legal adviser, testified monday before a grand jury investigating donald trump's alleged role in a hush money scheme. essentially saying that cohen is a liar, and he's out for revenge. but cohen wasn't asked to give a rebuttal on that. so what impact will cause testimony like we have in terms of undercutting cohen's credibility, and of course, on the probe as a whole? >> yeah. so it's important by way of
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context to understand that this is a grand jury. and the grand jury consists of 23 members, a simple majority of which -- that is 12 -- are needed to fight out and indict him. and that process, it's not about proving their case beyond a reasonable doubt as if you are on trial. it's about whether there's a reasonable cause to believe that a crime was committed, the subject of that investigation, that is mr. trump, would've been the commissioner of those crimes. the one who committed the crimes. so i say that because you're going to have evidence, oftentimes -- and i've never really tried a case in over 20 years when i haven't been conflicts, one person says, i know this is b -- this gonna be credibility assessments. but in the context of a grand jury investigation, the issue simply is not whether donald trump did this, but if there is reasonable cost to believe he did, and that's the essence of it. well it could be damning -- that is the contrary evidence that was given --
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michael cohen, it does not mean that the grand jury would not indict just by virtue of that conflict. so potentially, trial jerry, if it gets that far, could sort of die. >> given that trump has predicted already that he will be arrested today, in fact, in just a few hours -- and called on his supporters earlier you get a protest on his behalf -- if he is indicted, and mayhem will ensue. so, how likely is it, do you think, that trump will be arrested? >> so, you know, when you're indicted -- >> there's arrangement for a surrender. what does that mean? means again jerry, having indicted, and again, it's not convicting you, it's just an execution -- accusation that you did, that makes the case eligible to be sent to a trial jury fairness has been passed tear gas. and when that generally happens,
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there is unrest. but generally, also, courtesy is extended, particularly ill be expanded here, to a former president, to surrender yourself. it's, up the issue is, how that is done, whether it's done safely, of course, securely, of course, people have a first amendment right to protest. will be people finding that this is purely political, should not have happened. and it's nonsense, and will be protesting. there are others who will say that it's about time the president was found accountable for something, and therefore, they'll be counterprotests. so i think that's important. my hope is that they're peaceful, the people express their views as they should and any democracy, but without question, mr. trump will have to surrender himself up to answer to these charges. so, as we mentioned, trump think it's happening in the coming. hours one do you think is the possible indictment of the former president? that's significant, isn't. it >> it is majorly significant and we should note that the grand jury apparently
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reconvenes and at least that is the information, tomorrow. that would be wednesday. and, it seems to be, that if there's an indictment, it could be voted out as soon as. then, and if the indictment has voted out as soon as wednesday, then, of course, there would be an opportunity for mr. trump to surrender himself. it's also possible that the grandeur may want to hear from additional witnesses, which would prolong this particular investigation. and, the grand jury could go a lot longer than. that and, as we know, now, when they do reconvene, they could vote at that point or they could wait, call other witnesses and, certainly, issue out in indictment if they do so at sometime later. but, that, apparently as of, now is the timeline. >> and, how do you think this investigation compares with the other probes looking into trump? >> you know, the manhattan district attorney's office, i should, know i'm an alumni of that office, i've been serving as a prosecutor, there they are very in-depth that prosecuting
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the financial crimes because of where new york's. it is the financial mika of the world. and, so, certainly, mr. trump has a lot to answer for what we know about going in georgia, which many people believe, in that, case just for clarity, involving, five foot for me, was there some illegality? we know district attorney's office there is looking at investigating and convene, especially, a grinder to look at that. and, there are other investigations into mr. trump. but, you, know everything is significant as it relates to any investigation. and, so, people say this case is, week unlike some of the other cases. i am not prepared to say that yet. we should also note, a grander convenes in secret and so we don't know, specifically, what that grandeur really, did what they heard from, who they heard from and the nature of the crimes that they are actually considering. so, until i actually see an indictment, that is when i'll say and assess the strengths, the relative weaknesses, where it stands in conjunction with
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the other cases that mr. trump has to answer for. >> joey jackson, always a pleasure to get your legal analysis, many thanks for joining us. >> thank you, rosemary. >> all right, now, let's take a look at the politics of all of this. brown's dean's senior political analyst and the senior editor for the atlantic. he joins me now from los angeles. appreciate you being with us. >> hi, frozen. might as we wait to see if donald trump gets arrested today, as he predicted, there is concerned for what impact is called for protests might have been met hatton and of course elsewhere, his own lawyers saying it will cause mayhem so what are the political ramifications for this? >> well, first, protests obviously is protected by the first amendment. but the implicit threat of violence that is kind of the backbeat to trump's communication, and then from his lawyers, it is just important to recognize how different an era of american politics we are, in and we have
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really ever been before, where there is a leader of a national, political movement is constantly willing to court, if not incite the threat of violence as a way of advancing his goals. i think that the impact of this, politically, is likely to be cross cutting for trump and the republican primary. there are a lot of his allies that date that there will be an immediate rallying around him by conservative voters. and that they'll be responsible to his argument that he is being targeted by the deep state or by marxist prosecutors. and that in fact, he's being targeted. they're targeting him as a way to silence them. and there is a piece of the republican electorate that will respond to that. but that is not the whole story at all, rosemary, and as you see those are kind of the leadership level with the strategist elected officials but even also among the voters there is a significant segment, a slice of the party that is deeply concerned that trump
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simply cannot win again in 2024. and as chris christie said, the other, did the former governor of new jersey, and indictment doesn't really help anybody but the portion of a party that is dubious that he can win, this is going to be, i, think another reconfirming or reaffirming point of evidence to harden and deep in those concerns. >> and, ron, even before any charges are, announced house republicans are requesting manhattan district attorney all been -- to testify in an effort to discredit the trump investigation and defend the former president. what is really going on here, do you think? >> again, this is not normal. so many things in the trump era are such a dramatic and, in many ways, dangerous departure from the american, political tradition. that it's easy to lose sight of. it but, what is happening with house republicans in the last 96 hours or so in which they have moved from rhetorically threatening, to procedurally moving to unelected the a
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pursuing illegal investigation and in essence trying to intimidate him by these demands for documents of some discussion of trying to cut off funding for his office, for federal grants and it is a signal of just how far republicans remain, even after all that has occurred, even after january six, even after the losses in november 2022, how willing they, or how far they will go to try to protect trump from consequences for his actions. i, mean there was another route here. it was not that long ago, in american politics, that you would've heard voices say, look, no person in america is above the law. we've got to let the legal process by out and let the chips fall where they made. that's not at all what your. hang your king preemptive charges, in essence, trying to de-the investigation. and, again, before any of the evidence, they even said that we have seen the ad that, many of republicans threatening the
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prosecutor. that is a dangerous an ominous turn in american civic life. >> and, trump's defense team had apparently been pushing florida's governor, ron desantis, to weigh in on this investigation and that's exactly what he did, monday, but perhaps not in the way they would've liked. let's just take a listen to that. >> yes. >> i don't know what goes into paying hush money to a point start to secure silence over some type of alleged affair. i can't speak to that. but, what i can speak to is that if you have a prosecutor who is ignoring crimes happening every single day in his jurisdiction, and he chooses to go back many, many years ago to try to use something about porn star hush money payments, that is an example of pursuing a political agenda and weaponizing the office. >> and, trump responded to being mocked by desantis,
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lashing out in his truth social post. i just want to read it out. he said, rhonda sanctimonious will probably find out about false accusations and fake stories sometime in the future as he gets older, wiser and better known when he's unfairly and illegally attacked by a woman, even classmates that are under age or possibly a man. what does trump's response reveal to you about how he plans to attack desantis if he enters the 2024 presidential race? >> both of those statements, rosemary, in about a minutes time encapsulate each sides campaign. you know, i've said to you before that desantis, the core of his campaign in development is that he plans on offering republican voters, trumpism without trump. that he will fight all of the cultural wars that trump does but not trail all the personal baggage. and, you see that in that statement where he goes after
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what republicans would call will court liberal prosecutors. but, also, reminds people of the personal baggage that trump brings from ping hush money to a point star. kind of a symbol of all the scandals trailing. him and, then on the other side, you see donald trump scorched earth attack on anyone that smokes in this way. as we saw, in 2016, any republican who was operating under any illusion that trump would not do anything he can to tear down desantis, through any means necessary. and, referring to allegations about his behavior when he was a teacher, it's just the beginning of what will be an extraordinary turn in the blast furnace for rhonda scent is beyond anything that he's ever faced. i mean, running against donald trump is a little like the famous statement attributed to mike tyson, the boxer who once said that everyone has a plan until they get punched in the face. and, that is what running against donald trump's. like and we'll see how well
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desantis can handle it as this moves forward. >> yes, he made his -- we'll see what happens, ron brownstein, always a pleasure. joining us live from los angeles. many thanks. >> thanks for having me. >> and, still to come, the meeting in moscow, the leaders of russia and china to help their close ties as the west keeps a close eye on any developments. the latest on the talks, just ahead. mm. ...a "chow down" day... a "take a big bite" day... a "perfectly delicious" " day.. - mm. [ chuckles ] - ...a "love my new teteeth" da. because your clearchoice day is the day everything is back on the menu. a clearchoice day changes every day. schedule a free consultation. ♪ this feels so right... ♪ adt systems now feature google products like the nest cam with floodlight, with intelligent alerts when a person or famiar face is detected. sam.
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♪ ♪ ♪ a feeling this powerful is invite only. ♪ fortunately, you're invited. experience the capability of the complete line of suvs at the invitation to lexus sales event. russian president, vladimir
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putin is now gearing up for a second day of talks with the chinese leader, xi jinping. the two leaders exchanged a handshake and smiles as they met at the kremlin, on monday. they later touted their close ties, a meeting for more than four hours with president xi calling putin his dear friend, this is president xi's first visit to moscow since russia's invasion of ukraine. well, the highest stakes, closely watched meeting has drawn skepticism from ukraine and its western allies, despite china's efforts to frame itself as a peacemaker in the ongoing war in ukraine. cnn's selina wang is following developments from beijing. the meeting of two friends, both set up to be leaders for life. showing off their vision of a post-american world order the. pomp and circumstance of
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credibility boost from russian leader, vladimir putin, displaying that he's got a powerful friend in chinese leader, xi jinping even asked the international criminal court as a warrant for his arrest for committing war crimes and allegedly shipping ukrainian children to russia. and, even as the west isolates him. amid a stalled invasion of ukraine. both xi and putin, writing globe wing op-eds about the country's relations. she, calling the relationship, an eternal friendship and putin saying that the two are standing shoulder to shoulder against america's increasingly aggressive efforts to deter russia and china. [applause] she jinping is trying to walk a delicate line. so, for stopping short of providing lethal aid to russia, though, the u.s. says he may be considering it while also refusing to condemn the invasion. meanwhile, beijing is also taking advantage of russia's isolation. trade between the two nations jumped to 190 billion dollars last year.
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, an increase of 30% to 2020. one undercutting the impact of u.s.-led sanctions. as chinese companies snap up cheap energy from russia, giving the kremlin, key funds to finance the invasion. but, beijing wants the world to focus less on their friendship and more on president xi's role of a global statement, you can broker peace deals. like, the historic deal he helped afford to restore relations between saudi arabia and iran. >> i've been talking to people in this all beijing residential alley to get a sense of what chinese people think about she jinping's visit. >> this man tells me, president xi's visit is good. it could further improve china russia relations. he says, he likes putting a lot because he is a cool tough guy. on the ukraine war he says that he hopes everyone can have a peaceful relationship. this woman tells me, she hopes russia wins the war but peace is best. another woman says the war in loss of life is heartbreaking and painful to watch. she, says it is wrong for
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america to send weapons to ukraine. , and she believes in president xi jinping's vision of world peace. when i asked her what she thinks of putin, she answers, that he's rice just, decisive, swiss and tough. but when i follow up and ask if she's heard of the icc issuing an arrest warrant for putin, she responds, i didn't know. he started the war after. all he should sit down with zelenskyy and talk. the shoe repairman says, why are they fighting? it doesn't do anybody good. but we don't know who started the war, he. adds it to ukrainians, right? president xi doesn't need to convince the audience in china where media is heavily censored of the merits of his tight bond with putin. but, the rest of the world is watching to see what comes of beijing's claims of neutralities. selina wang, cnn, beijing. we taiwan's president will transit the u.s. twice during an upcoming overseas trip. -- it's expected to leave taiwan for new york at the end of the
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month before going to guatemala and belize. then president xi will pass through los angeles on the way back home. earlier, this month, the u.s. house speaker kevin mccarthy said he will meet with the president in the u.s. but did not specify a date. and, still to come, shares of u.s. bank first republic tumbled despite a major rescue package more than a week ago. a live report on the global banking crisis, just ahead.
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welcome back everyone, the global banking sector isn't out of the woods just yet. u.s., bank first republic, is fighting for its life despite a 30 billion dollar lifeline from 11 of the world's largest banks and a 70 billion dollar loan from jp morgan. its shares sank more than 45% to another record low on monday. and s&p global, downgraded it for a second time within a week. the wall street journal is reporting rival banks led by jpmorgan are trying to work on yet another rescue plan for
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first republic. and, cnn's clare sebastian joins us live now from london. good morning to you claire. so, how secure is the u.s. banking system? can we expect more turmoil ahead? >> you know, i think it's pretty secure, overall, rosemary, certainly more secure unquestionably than 2000. eight but, perhaps more turmoil ahead is possible. certainly, regional banks shares are under intense scrutiny, first republic was down almost half value on monday, that 47%, as you. showed but it wasn't the only regional bank to suffer losses, confidence is definitely shaken. people are scrutinizing these banks in terms of their interest rate exposure. look at those regional banks. they sum up most of some up and some down. this is despite the u.s. official, by the, way telling cnn that they believed the deposit of lows that we saw from the regional banks last week have stabilized, and in some, cases recovered. and they've been reversed. people are adding deposits to the. big, and the share prices are in no way correlated to the situation with deposit. but, look, as i, said the
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banking system is more secure than 2008. the regulations have made that very certain. suddenly, when it comes to the biggest. banks but this has been a crisis of confidence. and, it has infected the entire sicker. look at the march losses, for some of the u.s. biggest banks. you could see, all pretty much down double digits. even jpmorgan, perhaps the most secure of all done 11.3%, down to -- which has lost almost 20% of its values over the course of march. this is about confidence. but, it's also about a bit of a re-pricing of the sector. this is really brought home to investors that banks are now having to jack up the returns, they're offering to save depositors -- this is a crisis of confidence that could increase the brinks of having to borrow and things like. that, so this is sort of caused a bit of a wobble in the entire sector. and, now, of course, rosemary all eyes will be on the federal reserve meeting on wednesday, whether or not the turmoil in the banking sector will cause
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them to pause when it comes to fighting inflation. >> yes, we are waited with bated breath of that. one clear sebastian, joining us live from london. many thanks. >> and, still to, come california's flood threat rises as a storm system hits the state. why rain and snow are coming down with a vengeance across the u.s. west coast. we'll take a look. ♪ this feels so right... ♪ adt systems now feature google products like the nest cam with floodlight, with intelligent alerts when a person or familiar face is detected. sam. sophie'sot here tonight. so you have home with no worries.
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welcome back everyone, well, more than 15 million people in california are under an increased flood threat according to the u.s. weather prediction center, it's all due to an atmospheric river event set to dust the southern part of the state with up to four inches of water in some areas. cnn meteorologist, derek van damme, breaks down what west
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coast residents can expect. >> with the threat of flash flooding is increasing across southern california and the weather prediction center picking up on that threat as well. they have increased their excessive rainfall outlook, to include los angeles, san diego, into that level three or four moderate risk of flash flooding, so that incumbents is 15 million americans, it's from the coast through the adjacent interior with a slight risk extending northward towards the region. also, noted, a slight risk of flash flooding, or excessive rain exist for the day on tuesday as. well this is yet another atmospheric river event, lines, up and takes aim at the southern portion of california with the greatest threat of flash flooding through tuesday morning into the afternoon and evening hours. that's when we'll start to see some of the heaviest rainfall, impact of -- just south of san francisco. unfortunately, calling siding with the rush hour traffic, on tuesday, morning and then a secondary low will meet on the
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west coast, bringing more waves and moisture through the day on wednesday. now, we have the national weather service, hoisting flood watches. this includes a los angeles, san diego, portions of nevada, southern and central sections of arizona. , and millions of americans impacted by winter weather alerts as well, we are up to 2 to 3 feet of snow, could fall, especially into the higher elevations, just outside of los angeles into the coastal ranges there? anywhere from 7000 feet upwards. that's what we're expecting the heaviest amounts of snow. in terms of rainfall, generally, 1 to 3 inches of. rain anticipated, but, with the saturated soil in place the potential there exists for. runoff, and that of course, could lead to some ponding on the road. hence the localized flash flooding risk. and, often, with atmospheric river events, we get strong gusty winds, that could gust over 75 miles per hour across southern california. especially in those higher elevations. becky. >> thanks to that report. i'm rosemary church. for our international viewers, world sports is coming up next.
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and, for those of you here in north america, i'll be back with more cnn newsroom in just a moment. stick around. (vo) when you love the environment, you work to protect it. the subaru solterra electric suv. subaru's first all-electric, zero-emissions suv.. (man) we've got some catching up to do. (woman) sure do. (vo) built to help you protect the environment as you explore it. love. it's what makes subaru, subaru.
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my name is brian delallo. i teach ap and honors economics in pittsburgh, pennsylvania. financial well-being to me is knowing that i can be free to do the things that i love to do. i hope when i retire someday, they say, that guy made this place a special place to come to school and gave as much as he could to help the community. a massive fire in new jersey destroyed a church late monday evening. , and you could see the flames engulf the entire front part of the building, causing the roof to collapse. more than 100 firefighters and
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emergency crews battled the fire for hours. they also stopped it from spreading to an edge agent school building, no injuries have been reported. the cause of the fire is still unknown. well, new details, now in the investigation into the 2015 death of stephen smith in south carolina. smith was a classmate of buster murdoch, the surviving son of convicted murder, alec murdaugh. smith's death was deemed a result of a hidden. run, but in 2020, one state investigator, said they will reopen the investigation into his death based on information they learned while investigating the murders of maggie and paul murdoch. now, a new legal team for smith valley is seeking to launch a fresh probe into his death. and, his family has raised about $80,000 to half's body exhumed for a private autopsy. cnn's randi kaye has details.
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>> heartbreaking. you know, he was a human. , and he deserves justice. >> cindy smith, now, one step closer to what she hopes would be justice for her son. >> it's going to be hard to open an investigation after eight years. but, it has to start with an examination of his body. >> it's important to me because, i just love my son. and, since i couldn't protect him, i'm going to fight for. i'm >> stephen smith, a 19 year old with dreams of becoming a doctor was found dead about four a.m., july 8th, 2015 on sunday run road in hampton county. we >> at the time, a pathologist, said stephen was the victim of a hidden. run but, the south carolina highway patrol incident report noted they didn't find any vehicle debris or injuries consistent with someone being struck by a vehicle. according to the case, noticed even died from blunt force trauma to the head.
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he had no broken bones and evidence from the scene show stephen loosely tied shoes remained on his feet. >> if you get hit by vehicle, it's going fast enough, it's going to protect you. your shoes are just going to fall off under the best of circumstances. >> along with exhuming stephen's body, sandy's lawyers also hoped to gain access to her son's phone calls and text messages in the mountain hours, leading up to his death. a crime scene investigators also expected to take a fresh look at the forensics, and determine if he was struck by a vehicle or something else. sandy told me, last, year she has never accepted her son was the victim of a hidden run. >> what do you believe happened to your son? >> i believe he was beaten to death. >> the case file, obtained by cnn, shows even the lead investigator at the time didn't believe this was a hidden run. >> typically, you don't see the highway patrol work in a murder. , and that's what this is. there is no doubt, when we're not classifying this as
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anything other than a murder. >> yet, steven's case went cold, until, june 2021. that's when the south carolina law enforcement division, known a sled, opened up an investigation into steven's death based on information gathered while investigating the murders of paul and maggie murdaugh. sled has not said what was found. >> did your son know the murdaugh family? >> he went to school with buster. and they played little league ball together. >> during interviews in the case file, released by highway patrol to cnn, the murdaugh name is mentioned dozens of times by both the witnesses and investigators. including the name of alex murdaugh surviving son, buster. during one audio interview, then south carolina state trooper, todd proctor, says this. >> he was on our raider. the murdochs know that. >> why exactly buster was on the radar is still unclear. neither here nor anybody else has been charged in this case. and, now, for the first time,
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buster murdaugh is commenting publicly about the case. he released this statement, which reads in part, these baseless rumors of my involvement with stephen's death are false. i unequivocally deny any involvement in his death. and my heart goes out to the smith family. randi kaye, cnn, -- the los angeles unified school district has canceled school today. ahead of a three-day strike, set to begin in the coming hours. the service in plea international union, local 19, nine says monday, it would be proceeding with the strike after contract negotiations failed to reach a resolution. the strike is expected to impact hundreds of schools and 540,000 students. still, the district will try to support families with a services, including grab and go food sites. and schools that can provide student supervision. well, more than a dozen u.s. states have passed legislation,
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banning trans gendered athletes from participating in girls or women sports. the small politically progressive state of vermont is doing exactly the opposite. allowing transgender athletes to participate in sports, consistent with their gender identity. we will, now a christian school from vermont has been banned from all sports competitions. we after its girls basketball team refused to play against another school with a transgender athlete. cnn's brynn gingrass has the story. vermont, one of the country's most progressive states, publicly debating a controversy involving kids that one state lawmaker says, elector with -- >> disappointment in the adults. >> it happened in state senator rebecca white's district. mid vermont, christian school, forfeited a girls basketball game because the opposing team had a transgender player on its roster. the school are doing a, quote,
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very real issue of safety was a plea. what followed, a swift and sweeping penalty against the schools athletic program by the state governing body, the vermont principal association. it bend the high school from all competition in all sports moving forward. >> is that a bridge too far? >> no. >> i don't think it's a bridge too far, the athletes that we're talking about are unlikely to go on to some of the elite professional athletics -- , but that concept of discriminating against another young person, it causes long term outcomes for 20th. because they are hearing rhetoric that is telling them that they're not valuable, that in fact, they are dangerous. >> the vp ace at the high school violated the state policy of support of transgender student athlete. and building an inclusive community for each student to grow and. back in response, mid-vermont christian school wrote it would be appealing the decision, adding, canceling our membership is not a solution.
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and has nothing to do with the very real issue of safety and fairness facing women sports in our beloved state. >> these are kids. kids should not feel like they're being ostracized, pushed away, we because of who they are -- just figuring out what they. are that is absolutely the worst thing you could do to a child. no matter if they are eight or 18. >> in their case, it's more than an opinion. it is more of a religion. i, mean there are a christian school. and they feel that their beliefs are being pushed aside. >> the mid form of christian school refused an interview with cnn. as did the school they originally refused to play against. but, the encore controversy has reignited debate about the inclusion and equity of transgender athletes. >> if they choose not to play that team. then, they should absolutely forfeit. but, it is wrong to carry that over to other members of their community and other teams of the school. >> last, year the ncaa, the
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governing body for collegiate athletics updated its policies on the issues, landing on a sport by sport approach. at the high school level, guidance on participation changes state by state according to the latest data from the advocacy group, g l s c and. with 25 states are placing bans on non-binary athletes from planning. >> for months, one of the only ten states which are fully inclusive. something he says the states worked hard for it. >> we are an inclusive state. we're welcoming. state, so it doesn't surprise me that we've had a situation where folks are pushing back against some of that inclusive work that we have done. because, it is innovative. it is bold. and, it's important. >> brynn gingrass, montpelier, vermont. >> the cast of apple tvs, ted lasso, met with u.s. president joe biden and first lady joe biden on monday. the actors discussed mental health with the bidens.
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a topic the president has made part of his unity agenda. he also discussed in the past two states of the union addresses that the topic has also played a large role in the popular tv show. and, here's what actor jason sudeikis had to say on the subject. if you can ask for that help from a professional, fantastic, if it needs to be a loved, an equally as. good all in a lot of ways. because, it's sometimes just needs to let that pressure valve release. the president is working on, in his own, team although his own team is real, our team is make believe. >> cnn's jake tapper sat down with jason sudeikis to talk about the journey of his character from american football to european football and beyond. with surprising details about the actors on rise to fame. cnn primetime meet ted lasso for phenomenon, jason sudeikis, one on one is this friday at 9 pm in new york only on cnn. and thank you so much for your
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company. i'm rosemary church. i'll be back with more cnn newsroom in just a moment. so, hope you can stick around.
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hello. welcome to our viewers joining us here in the united states and all around the world. you are watching cnn newsroom. and i'm rosemary church. just ahead, it may not be today. but a decision

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