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Judge Extends Travel Ban Freeze; Senate Intel Committee To Hold First Public Hearing; Top U.S. Diplomat Visiting Turkey With Focus On ISIS; U.K.-E.U. Divorce Negotiations Officially Underway; Melania Trump Makes Rare Appearance As First Lady; Formal U.S. Investigation Into Airstrike. Aired 1-2a ET

Aired March 30, 2017 - 01:00   ET

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


[01:15:10] JOHN VAUSE, CNN ANCHOR: You're watching CNN NEWSROOM live from Los Angeles. Ahead this hour, another legal strike against Donald Trump's travel ban. Why the President's own words have been used against him.

And so it begins, the U.K. starts the Brexit process which could see big changes in immigration trade, even football could be impacted. And later, British actress, Emma Thompson, slams what she calls Hollywood's evil obsession of being picked.

Hello everybody, great to have you with us. I'm John Vause. This is Newsroom L.A. A U.S. federal judge has decided to keep President Trump's travel ban on hold. The Hawaii judge blocked Mr. Trump's Executive Order two weeks ago, but that was just temporary. Late Wednesday, he said the changes to the President's original travel ban did not go far enough, and he extended his stay indefinitely. Here is Hawaii's Attorney General, Douglas Chin.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DOUGLAS CHIN, HAWAII ATTORNEY GENERAL: Ultimately, I think what is happening is time after time in the court that they're there pushing back and saying that the constitution is something that you have to look at. And that was one of the points that we actually made in court today was that there was a statement where Donald Trump talks about how Muslims are pouring into the country and Syrian refugees are converting our children to ISIS and to put a stop to that. And what one of the statements he then made was that "I refuse to be politically correct." And the statement that we made is that we're not actually criticizing Mr. Trump for being politically incorrect, we're criticizing him for being constitutionally correct. He is just not -- he is not making statements or instituting policy that's in line with the constitution of the west.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: Well, the first man applied to seven mostly Muslim countries. But the president removed Iraq from the revised Executive Order. The Justice Department can now appeal to the Ninth Circuit Court. Well, with the U.S. house investigation into Russia's election meddling now in shambles, the Democrats now seem to be relying on the investigation currently underway in the Senate. The top Democrat and Republican on the intelligence committees stood side by side on Wednesday. They promised to get to the bottom of all of it. But the question now, will their bipartisanship last? Here's Manu Raju.

(BEGN VIDEOTAPE)

MANU RAJU, CNN SENIOR CONGRESSIONAL REPORTER: The leaders of the Senate Intelligence Committee, vowing to answer this fundamental question. Did the Trump campaign coordinate with the Russians to meddle in the elections?

From what you have seen so far, can you definitively rule out that there was no coordination whatsoever between Trump officials and Russian officials during the election?

REP. RICHARD BURR (R-NC), SENATE INTELLIGENCE COMMITTEE CHAIRMAN: We would be crazy to try to draw conclusions from where we are in the investigation. I think Mark and I have committed to let this process go through before we form any opinions. And I would hope that that's what you would like us to do.

RAJU: In refusing to rule out, if there are any direct links between Russia and the President.

BURR: And we will take a snapshot in time and make any observations on it. But we know that our challenge is to answer that question for the American people in our conclusions to this investigation.

RAJU: The committee plans to interview 20 witnesses, including Jared Kushner, President Trump's son-in-law, as well as other Trump associates. And suggesting that Michael Flynn, the former Trump National Security Adviser, could face questions over his contacts with the Russian ambassador that led to his firing.

BURR: I think it's safe to say that we have had conversations with a lot of people. And you would think less of us if General Flynn wasn't in that list.

RAJU: The Senate leader saying the panel will go wherever the intelligence leads.

SEN. MARK WARNER (D-VA), SENATE INTELLIGENCE COMMITTEE VICE CHAIRMAN: I said it was the most important thing I had ever taken on in my public life. I believe that more firmly now than even when we started. We're going to get it right.

RAJU: The Senate probe gaining more prominence now that the House investigation is in gridlock. At least one House Republican has lost confidence.

REP. CHARLES DENT (R), PENNSYLVANIA: My sense is right now, that House is in a situation where there's -- the issue has become overly politicized. They're kind of getting into a stalemate position, a bit paralyzed. The Senate is moving on a better trajectory and I think we're going to have to rely on the Senate for a report in this Russian meddling in the election. RAJU: While the Senate appears to be moving forward, the House

inquiry into Trump campaign ties with Russians, now on effectively hold. They made Democratic accusations that Chairman Devin Nunes can't run a credible investigation because of a spate of recent controversies, including unexpectedly canceling a public hearing. And after he briefed the President on surveillance information, he received from a source on White House grounds, even before talking with Democrats on the panel.

Tonight, Nunes tells CNN he's done answering questions about the controversy, vowing to move forward with public hearings but not before Easter. He wants a ranking Democrat, Adam Schiff, to approve of a private briefing with FBI Director, James Comey.

[01:20:24] REP. DEVIN NUNES (R-CA), HOUSE INTELLIGENCE COMMITTEE CHAIRMAN: I'm not going to answer any more questions about this. You guys have answers to all these questions. I've been very, very clear with you.

RAJU: How are you doing this with the committee Democrats calling for you accused on Adam Schiff, not even agreeing to change Comey camp until there's a public hearing? How are you moving forward?

NUNES: Well, we'll continue to work through this, we hope that they'll-- I think they'll be active participants, will be my guess.

RAJU: But Democrats say, Nunes must go.

REP. JOAQUIN CASTRO 9D), TEXAS: The only way for the House investigation to move forward and be credible would be for the speaker to put in somebody else in the chair.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

RAJU: Now on the Senate side, I've got a chance to talk to Richard Burr, the Chairman of the Committee afterwards about the issue about those financial ties that may allegedly exist between some of the Trump world and some folks who are tied to the Kremlin. He -- I asked him specifically about the issue of Donald Trump's tax returns, if it will be necessary to look at as part of the investigation. He said this is not part of the scope of our investigation, at least not yet. Even if some Democrats and some Republicans suggest they may need Donald Trump's tax returns. So potentially, one flash point may exist on the Senate inquiry going forward. Manu Raju, CNN, Capitol Hill.

VAUSE: Well for more on the investigation by the Senate Intelligence Committee, also the legal setback to Donald Trump's travel ban, we're joined now by political commentator and host to the Mo'Kelly show here in Los Angeles, Mo'Kelly, also a Trump supporter and author of Taxifornia, James Lacy. I thank you, both for being here. So Mo, first on you. The travel ban and its legal setback from a judge in Hawaii, it seems that part of the decision-making process here for the court was some of Donald Trump's own words that he said during the campaign, that this is essentially a Muslim ban. It seems that -- to Donald Trump, he can't un-ring that bell. MO'KELLY, POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Right. He did say on the campaign

trail, he wanted a "Total and complete shutdown of Muslims," quote, unquote. Now, this comes down to letter of the law versus fear of the law. Many republicans in the Trump Administration arguing that the letter of law is that we're trying to protect America and travel ban is consistent with that. But the spirit of the law it seems that the Federal Courts are ruling that it's in contradiction to that and the spirit of law is more religion based than it is nationality based. That's where we are. And I don't think the Trump Administration can have it both ways. Well, you can't pay on idea and then try to sneak through another when you get in the office.

VAUSE: So James, how will the administration deal with this, obviously, deal with this, obviously that there's the option of an appeal and, you know, in the past, the President has said he will go all the way to the Supreme Court this time.

JAMES LACY, TAXIFORNIA AUTHOR: Well, the law is on the administration side. I'll take you back to the 1970's when there was public outrage in the United States because of the Ayatollah communities allowing Iranian students to take hostage dozens and dozens of Americans and hold them for a very long period of time and there was hostility throughout the United States. And at that time, president Jimmy Carter instituted a travel ban on any Iranian traveling to the United States and he used exactly the same law that Donald Trump is using. The president has the power, as the head of our nation, to determine what immigration policy should be and to implement that one. What we have are, basically, some judges who are really over reaching. They're trying to find animus in Trump's political statements. But there's a big difference between statements during a political campaign and what the law is. And the law is very clear that President has the power to determine what's in the nation's interest with respect to immigration.

Immigration into this nation is a privilege. It's not a right. And by virtue of that, Donald Trump has the law on his side. It's going to take some time, I think, to work through all the legal imaginations that the left is putting him through.

VAUSE: OK, well obviously, this is a thing which will be sorted out in the court. If it does get to the Supreme Court, that's a whole another issue with, you know, we're waiting for the confirmation of Neil Gorsuch to that vacant seat there. Whether or not that will happen, I guess it's another story. We'll find out about that in the coming weeks.

But let's move on to the Senate Intelligence Committee looking into alleged ties between the Trump campaign and Russia. We had this news conference with the chairman, the Republican Chairman, and the top- ranking Democrat. Essentially, you know, putting forward this image that, you know, they're not the House Intelligence Committee, that this is a bipartisan approach. Let's listen to the Chairman of the Committee here.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) BURR: Contrary to maybe popular belief, we're partners to see that this is completed and that we've got product at the end of the day, that we can have bipartisanship in support. (END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: So Mo, does this restore your faith a little bit? Maybe the system isn't totally dysfunctional?

[01:25:15] MO'KELLY: It's dysfunctional, it doesn't restore my faith, but I think it's a step in the right direction. Yes, there's going to be some partisan gains man ship which is going on, but this is an investigation, at least, on the FBI's side which has gone on for eight months, eight months Director Comey has told us it started in July 2016. So, if anything that is going to be private. The Senate Intelligence Committee investigation will be somewhat public and will be able to sway some of the fears that Americans can have some insight and see what is actually going on with our republic and democracy. There's nothing wrong with public hearings, if anything, it helps restore that same faith that you're talking about, John.

VAUSE: So, James, is this now, this Senate investigation is now a credibility test for the Republicans? Are they willing to ask them hard questions of the Republican President, even though the answers could cause the President some problems?

LACY: I think it's a credibility test of the Democrats and the U.S. Congress. You know, Mo knows the old story about the prosecutor. You know, the U.S. attorney in the district of Columbia could indict a ham sandwich. Now you've just said that there's been an eight-month investigation. There haven't been any indictments come out. Well, there haven't been any indictments that came out of the Benghazi situation as well, nor were there appropriate hearings in that case that resulted in any prosecutions. I don't think there's going to be any prosecutions here. I think all the action has been with the FBI and now what we have is a political situation that suits the narrative of liberal Democrats that want to hold Donald Trump back. They don't want the American people to have tax reform, they don't want to see Obamacare changed and what they want to do is they want to hurt him politically, hold back the Gorsuch nomination and the whole thing is about politics. How are Democrats being accused of holding back when health care failed because of the Republicans?

Yes well, you know, that Donald Trump has taken these 60 days to be able to get his government in place. The -- this administration has had the longest term of not having a Treasury Secretary in the history of America because of foot-dragging by Democrats that can't accept that Donald Trump won the election. So all this is, is just more road blocks. These aren't, you know, I hear this stuff about how Bernstein said today. He was talking about a cover-up. There's no evidence of a cover-up on Russia, there's absolutely none. All there is, is a statement that, perhaps, there were some people in the transition period after the election that might have had some sort of discussion with somebody about Russian hacking. And what did the Russian hacking do? I have to come back to this point. It revealed that the Democrats were cheating in the debates to help Hillary Clinton.

VAUSE: Well, OK.

LACY: That's it. It wasn't bribery, there wasn't money, there wasn't, you know, robbery. There wasn't murder.

VAUSE: OK, James. All these things -- sorry but we're running out of times. All of these things, I guess, will be revealed when these investigations are complete. And at that time frame, we just don't know about, which was also mentioned in the last couple of hours, we've heard from the FBI Director, James Comey. He was reflecting on the past year, listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JAMES COMEY, FBI DIRECTOR: If I had thought about it carefully, and I'm doing the right thing, making the right judgment, it doesn't matter what's going to follow because it's not about that. And honestly, the death of the independent FBI would lie down the path to considering impact. If we ever start to think about who will be affected in what way by our decisions in a political sense, we're done.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: So Mo, do you take Comey's word that he says he's about politics?

MO'KELLY: I would like to believe so, but the fact that there were two simultaneous investigations, one into Hillary Clinton, one going on with Donald Trump, in the days leading up to election but he only gave us an update on one of those candidates, that's a little bit disconcerting. But I believe in his heart of hearts he would like to believe that he's above politics, but I'm not so sure that the rest of the nation is above politics.

VAUSE: And James, last word to you. That does seem to be a fair point when the Americans went to vote back in November, there was only one candidate on the FBI investigation and it was not Hillary Clinton.

LACY: James Comey is following in the footsteps of J. Edgar Hoover. James Comey is about James Comey, the same J. Edgar Hoover was about J. Edgar Hoover.

VAUSE: OK, we'll leave it there. James, thank you so much, also Mo, appreciate you both being with us. Thank you. Well, the U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson is in critical talks with Turkish leaders. They're still trying to work out a plan to defeat ISIS in Iraq and Syria, we have you know, double meaning there between Tillerson and Turkish officials. But Tillerson is having a tough time to try to persuade Turkey that it's enemy, the Kurds, they'll actually be needed to defeat the terror group.

Let's go to CNN's Muhammad Lila who is in Istanbul. This could be a tough meeting for Tillerson. Turkey has a lot of reservations over the U.S. plan to retake Raqqa from ISIS.

[01:15:16] MUHAMMAD LILA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well John, It is not just the Raqqa situation, there's actually a lot of free tensions between the United States and Turkey. Many people are calling that Secretary Tillerson's most important foreign visit since being appointed Secretary of State. Look, the big division right now has to do with the battle against ISIS in Syria. United States has effectively partnered with Kurdish groups on the ground in order to attempt to surround Raqqa and force ISIS or dislodge ISIS from its de facto capital there. But of course, Turkey sees those Kurdish groups as militants, as an extension of the Kurdish movement for autonomy and sovereignty here in the region. Some of those Kurdish groups are afraid to operate in Turkey, and of course, some of those Turkish militant groups have launched attacks inside Turkey. So there's a big gulf there between Turkey and the United States as far as who should be involved in toppling ISIS from power in Syria. So Secretary Tillerson definitely going to have a very difficult convincing job on his hands ahead today as he's scheduled to meet with Turkey's leader, Erdogan, as well as foreign minister to talk about all of these things related to ISIS and several other topics, as well.

VAUSE: Yes, a full day ahead for the new Secretary of State. All this, of course, happening as a backdrop of Recep Tayyip Erdogan trying to cement or increase the power of the Presidency. Muhammad Lila, we know you'll be covering all of this in the coming hours, thank you.

Well, the U.K. and the E.U. have started their long two-year divorce. We'll look at some of the most pressing issues on their to-do list. Also, the first lady steps into the spotlight with the rare public appearance on the Capitol. Just ahead, what Melania Trump is actually doing in Washington?

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(WORLD SPORTS)

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[01:20:44] VAUSE: Brexit proceedings now officially on the way. The U.K and the E.U. have about two years to negotiate a plan to separate, but it could end with or without a deal. British Prime Minister Theresa May says there is cause for optimism.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

THERESA MAY, BRITISH PRIME MINISTER: This is a historic moment from which there can be no turning back. Britain is leaving the European Union. We are going to make our own decisions and our own laws. We are going to take control of the things that matter most to us. And we are going to take this opportunity to build a stronger fair regression, a country that our children and grandchildren are proud to call home.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: But the outlook from the E.U. is not quite so upbeat. European Council President Donald Tusk says, well rather, he didn't fight very hard to hide his feelings about crossing the point of no return.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TUSK, EUROPEAN COUNCIL PRESIDENT: There's no reason to pretend that this is a happy day neither in Brussels nor London. After all, most Europeans including almost half the British voters' wishes we would stay together, not drift apart. For me, I will not pretend that I'm happy today.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: Dominic Thomas chairs the Department of French and Francophone studies at UCLA. He joins us now live from Brussels. Dominic, good to see you. There are some certain issues to be resolved here over the next two years, notably immigration to the U.K., which was one of the key driving issues behind the breaks, but also part of this is the issue of a trade deal with the E.U. How difficult do you expect those negotiations to be?

DOMINIC THOMAS, DEPARTMENT OF FRENCH AND FRANCOPHONE STUDIES CHAIRMAN: Well, I think that the negotiations are going to be, you know, extremely difficult. They say they have two years, unfortunately, that's all that they have to be able to do this. The question of trade and immigration are extremely can be linked because the unless the U.K. -- the U.K. and it said they won't -- they are not going to be able to go down that road because of the question of immigration in order to get access to the single market, they would have to agree to the four freedoms which all have to do with the movement of capital, goods, services and of course, people, workers. And they're not willing to sign on for that precisely because they want absolute control over immigration. Now the U.K. never signed on to the Schengen freedom circulation movements as on, but in this particular case, they want the ability to control and I would say select those immigrants who are going to come into the United Kingdom. So that's a very important issue. And the other issue which is going to be crucial before even the negotiations begin on trade has to do with the three plus million European nationals who live in the United Kingdom and which the council and the commission at the European Union have said that they were not going to negotiate until we've got the secured deal over the future of those particular citizens. So immigration is absolutely key to all of these debates.

VAUSE: There's also the issue of law enforcement. Will the U.K. lose access to European databases which holds fingerprints, DNA records, even vehicle registration, that could have a big impact on, you know, law enforcement and antiterrorism operations?

THOMAS: Right. There are all sorts of technical things and you raise, you know a number of them that seem absolutely crucial. Of course, all of these are going to be up for negotiation so we don't know. But it's absolutely clear that the United Kingdom benefits enormously from being a major player. In Europol, it's not about negotiating continued access and so on, it's also unfortunately about being at the negotiation table and as the E.U., you know moves forward and sets up new policies. So it is possible they're able to negotiate access and use it. But they won't be able to shape future policy and so on. And this is really the case sort of with every aspect of it. I mean, you know one of them, of course, is, you know, new passports and so on. You know that there's a whole range of technical things that are going to have to be ironed out and they're going to be very difficult to do.

VAUSE: Look, I was reading a little earlier, that you know this could actually affect the importation of pink semen into the U.K. You know, this is just sort of something that which -- I guess nobody ever really thought about.

[01:25:07] THOMAS: Right. But I mean I think that critiques are being of course, on top of this immediately, you know extricating yourself from Brexit, from the European Union is a sticky messy business and that would be probably the greatest, you know example of that. If you want to produce livestock in the United Kingdom, that's fine. If you wanted to sell it to the single market, you're going have to abide by single market rules and regulation. And in fact which is the other aspect of trade that is going to be so incredibly complicated isn't yesterday, you know Tusk in his sort of brief response or actually quite lengthy response to some of the initial and of texts from Theresa May and actually pointed out, that the United Kingdom cannot engage in any bilateral negotiations with anybody until they figure out what the deal is going to be with the 27 E.U. countries. So no negotiating a deal with the United States or China or Brazil. So all of this kind of questions are going to remain in limbo for the next two years. As the United Kingdom, of course, they'll be a member of the European Union for the next two years. And I think even the use of the word the United Kingdom is becoming increasingly problematic. As Theresa May goes to negotiation table what we have in fact is a very divided United Kingdom, but the future of the Republic of Ireland and Scotland remains, of course, in the making and we'll have to see how that goes down as well.

VAUSE: Let's finish this off with the question of football. Because it could soon become in the next couple of years at least, about how it applies transferred from English to European Clubs and vice versa?

THOMAS: Right. Well, I mean, and if there's one thing that supporters, fans, managers and owners of football clubs in England like it's winning, and there's a reason why these workers let's not forget football players are workers just like nurses and teachers and so on that have been coming into the United Kingdom. And so placing restrictions on that and placing restrictions on that, specifically, with the aim of enhancing the amount of indigenous or domestic players, they've already got a homegrown protection rule. This is really another form of the climb that protectionist closed-mindedness, that is driving the Brexit agenda. And I think that, you know, these players work like a worker who brought other opportunities to go work in Canada, or in Australia or in the United States. Well, these football players will be quite happy staying in Europe and playing for teams like Barcelona and (INAUDIBLE). And they won't cross the channel to the United Kingdom and this will be great loss for one of the top leagues in the world.

VAUSE: And probably out of everything, that's what the fight's the most out from the Brexit. Dominic, as always great to see you, thanks for being here.

THOMAS: Lovely. Thank you.

VAUSE: Well the Iraqi lead defense celebrates Mosul from ISIS militants seems to be wrapping up. U.S. central command says that 285 Iraqi troops have been killed in just over a month. Meantime, the Senior U.S. General says it will be difficult to avoid civilian casualties there. U.S. is conducting a formal investigation into a March 17th air strike. The top U.S. commander in Iraq said there a fair chance the strike killed civilians. Local officials say as many as 240 people may have died. CNN's Senior International Correspondent Arwa Damon is in Mosul. Later, she'll introduce us to a family she met at a hospital in Erbil. There were victims of an airstrike Mosul.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (FOREIGN LANGUAGE): There was shooting, they fled.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (FOREIGN LANGUAGE): You heard the sound of a plane and then what happened?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (FOREIGN LANGUAGE): There was dust everywhere and my mother started to scream. She said this to hit them. Rocks and debris were falling down on the house we were in. She said do you see what happened. I could just hear her voice, "Ahh" I ran. There was a block on here and a metal window and I pulled her out. I screamed for her mother but nothing.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: Arwa's report can be seen later on Thursday right here on CNN, and we'll be right back.

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[01:32:48] JOHN VAUSE, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome back, everybody. You're watching CNN NEWSROOM, live from Los Angeles. I'm John Vause, with the headlines this hour.

(HEADLINES)

VAUSE: Melania Trump has kept a low profile since becoming U.S. first lady, but on Wednesday, she made not one, but two public appearances in Washington. Mrs. Trump attended a women's empowerment event at the White House. She also delivered the keynote speech honoring women at the State Department.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MELANIA TRUMP, FIRST LADY OF THE UNITED STATEDS: We must continue to work towards gender empowerment and respect for people from all backgrounds and ethnicities. Remembering, always, that we are all ultimately members of one race, the human race.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: Legal analyst and victim's rights attorney, Lisa Bloom, joins now with more on this.

OK. So we've also heard from the president at one of these events. He said his cabinet was full of incredible women. Definition of full is interesting.

LISA BLOOM, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: Yes.

VAUSE: He also talked about empowering women. Listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We want every daughter in America to grow up in a country where she can believe in herself and believe in her future and follow her heart and realize her dreams.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: So how does this stack up so far again those words, for every woman in America whose first name is not Ivanka?

BLOOM: Right. Listen, I'm glad that Melania is back to copying Michelle Obama. Anybody who wants to speak out for women's empowerment, I'm all in favor of.

(CROSSTALK)

BLOOM: But let's be clear, this is a president whose actions and behavior brought out the biggest show of a women's rights demonstration in American history.

VAUSE: Around the world.

BLOOM: We know who he is, right? We know what he stands for. And, but listen, if he wants to mouth these words that somebody clearly wrote for him, good for him, keep it up.

VAUSE: Also is the multiple allegation of sexual misconduct against Donald Trump before he was president. One of his accusers, she's suing Donald Trump for defamation. His lawyers are arguing the president has immunity from any civil cases and I think they're using a previous case, which actually says the complete opposite of the president.

BLOOM: So this is fake law, the idea that the president has immunity from suit. In fact, the case, which was Bill Clinton against Paula Jones, held unanimously by our U.S. Supreme Court that no one is above the law and that includes the president. A president can be sued.

VAUSE: Because the argument the Clinton lawyers made is argument that Donald Trump lawyers are saying the president should be too busy by inquiring these kinds of things. BLOOM: He's very busy to going to Mar-a-Lago. Listen, he probably

will get some delays in the lawsuit, you know.

(CROSSTALK)

BLOOM: If there's a war or if there's a major issue going on, he has to talk about the Russians and being subpoena, he's very busy, that may come first. Ultimately, he's going to be answerable to this lawsuit.

VAUSE: His lawyers have filed for a 60-day extension. You say they might have good grounds for this.

BLOOM: They might. They might.

VAUSE: OK. But they say this is straight out of Donald Trump's real estate development playbook, to drag this out for as long as possible.

BLOOM: For 30 years, I represented women in sexual assault and sexual assault cases. I represented four of the Trump accusers. I know every defendant, whether he's the president or not, tries to stall and delay, and people like me have to push and push. This is no different. He's occasionally going to get away with it, because the judge will let him.

VAUSE: Let's finish with this, the president seemed to stun the room with his comment. Listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: We've had leaders like Susan B. Anthony. Have you heard of Susan B. Anthony?

(APPLAUSE)

TRUMP: I'm shocked you've heard of her. Who dreamed of a much more equal and fair future in America where women themselves, as she said, helped to make laws and elect the lawmakers. And that's what's happening more and more. Tough competition out there, I want to tell you.

(APPLAUSE)

(LAUGHTER)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(CROSSTALK)

BLOOM: Yes, absolutely. Listen, again, somebody clearly wrote these words for him.

(CROSSTALK)

BLOOM: Well, have you heard of her? He doesn't know a thing about her. Just like when he talked about African-American civil rights leaders. He's trying. Somebody is moving him in the right direction and --

(CROSSTALK)

BLOOM: Yes.

VAUSE: Lisa, thanks. Good to see you.

BLOOM: Thank you.

VAUSE: We'll take a short break. When we come back, Samsung's latest edition of its Galaxy phone series is jammed with features. Maybe this one won't spontaneously combust. More on that, in just a moment.

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[01:41:19] VAUSE: Samsung is unveiling the latest edition of Galaxy phone series, the S8 and S8Pplus. The phones come with new features, including what the software company is hoping for a better result than the Galaxy Note 7 that kept bursting into flames. Production was canceled. It cost the company billions of dollars.

Here's Sam Burke.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SAM BURKE, CNN DIGITAL CORRSPONDENT: Samsung has to get this roll out perfect. They're in absolutely no margin for error. Samsung has incredible brand loyalty from Android users but a company can only get things wrong once. They cannot screw it up twice.

We don't know how much the S8 or S8 Plus will cost. We do know all of the specks, the smaller model will be 5.8 inches, the larger model 6.2 inches. There's a much smaller frame around the phone so the screen will feel as if it fills the home fun. No more home button, that will be part of the screen, so the fingerprint scanner moves to the back. There's iris scanner so you can use eyeballs to access the phone. Front facing camera and rear facing and virtual assistant known Bizbee (ph) to compete with Siri and Alexa. Samsung has gone to great lengths to detail how they'll have more safety checks on this phone. One would hope many more than the Note 7. They all say, you never really know until they're in the hands of the consumers.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

VAUSE: For more now on Samsung's new phone, I'll talk to tech expert, Jessica Naziri.

OK, let's look at the early reviews that have come are positive, and some are glowing. From your perspective, what's the best thing about the new Galaxy?

JESSICA NAZIRI, TECH EXPERT: I am really excited about Bizbee (ph). It's a voice control. It controls the entire S8 and S8 Plus. Through voice recognition, you can control your phone without pressing the home button, which is no longer there. You might think of Siri and Apple where you have to press the home button for the functionality to work through the app. This is no longer the case. I'm super excited to just have voice command and for it to call you, to call my friend, tell me what's the news and send e-mails.

VAUSE: They've removed all the hassle of pressing a button. The last time Samsung released a phone this big, it set itself on fire. This time around, you know, they've got a smaller battery capacity, they're playing it safe, they didn't really have a lot of choice here. That seems about the only drawback.

NAZIRI: Sure, you're right. There were some drawbacks on the note phone, which actually blew up. But -- and the reason was because they wanted to extend the battery power, the engineers were focusing on extending battery power to make sure they could use their phone throughout the day. The new phone, that's no longer an issue. They didn't want to push the envelope and really try to extend the power, so this shouldn't be an issue this time around.

VAUSE: How is Samsung doing it, you know, with their customers. Once bitten, twice shy.

NAZIRI: That's a really good point. Some people keep noticing, yes this is not the flag ship that caught on fire. There's a lot of brand loyalty. It was the Note 7 that caught on fire. The S8, they're starting fresh and they acknowledged it in the announcement today. And the audience is really brand loyal. If this continued to happen then there might be some sort of issue there and be hard to come back. Samsung users are super excited. The functionalities are great this time around.

[01:45:17] VAUSE: The loyalty to a Smartphone is quite astounding.

Let's look at what's happening at Apple. How many of these features are like Apple, and how worried are they, are they hoping this goes under flames as well.

NAZIRI: 2017 is the year of the phone. We're looking at phones that are starting to become much larger, the screen -- I'm sorry the phones are larger in terms of the screen, but the actual phone size is smaller, so everyone is taking away with the Bizbee (ph) on the side and they want it to be a good user experience. Where everything is on your screen. It kind of feels like a computer in your hand, but smaller, with all the functionalities. So we will see a lot of the similarities because it is the tenth anniversary, right, with winter coming around and it will be exciting to see, you know, who is at the cutting edge now.

VAUSE: Finally, should Apple be worried?

NAZIRI: I think whenever someone comes up with a big announcement, you should always be worried.

VAUSE: OK, Jessica, good to see you. Thanks for joining us.

NAZIRI: Thank you.

VAUSE: We'll take a short break. When we come back, one actor calls Hollywood's obsession about being thin evil. After the break, Emma Thompson's threat to a movie producer.

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(WEATHER REPORT)

[01:50:21] VAUSE: Emma Thompson is speaking out over Hollywood's obsession with women being thin. In an interview on Swedish television, the actress said she nearly quit a movie after a confrontation she had with the producer.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

EMMA THOMPSON, ACTRESS: There was wonderful actress I was working on and the producer said to her, will you lose some weight. She was absolutely exquisite. I said to them, if you speak to her about this again on any level, I will leave this picture. You are never to do that. It's evil, what's happening and what's going on out there, it's getting worse.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: Well joining me now for more about this is psychologist, Dr. Ashley.

Thanks for coming in.

Why does this continue to be raised. This issue had been raised years ago. There were commitments made by movie producer that the obsession of body image will come to an end. So Emma Thompson said it's getting worse.

DR. ASHLEY CURIEL, PSYCHOLOGIST: I'm not surprised. This is a very deeply rooted problem. And despite the best intentions and promises, it takes a long time to change these perceptions, these values, and this behavior.

VAUSE: We also have now a lot of criticism about the official poster for the film festival. The original photo was taken back in 1959, which is the one on the right of your screen. The new one is on the left of the screen, and they Photoshopped her, and she's a lot thinner, you can tell, than the original photograph. The original was 1959. What does this say about how perception has changed over the years?

CURIEL: I think perceptions are everything. That is body image, how we see ourselves. We look at that poster, we look at television. I even think 20 years ago we can watch sitcoms that are in syndication, people seem to get thinner and thinner, particularly women, not exclusively women. But there does seem to be this trend.

VAUSE: The argument that we hear being made, the movie producers and the studios, they're just hiring actors and actresses people want to see. If you want to see Dan on screen, if they did want to see them, then these thin actresses wouldn't get it. Is that what's driving this or is it the idea that Hollywood has? CURIEL: I think it's a perpetuated problem, one thing leads to the

next. So people have these internalized perceptions and believes that thin is beautiful. And in America, also have the idea of thin and young is beautiful. It gets more complicated. People believe that and then they'll feel like, oh -- they will like a thinner, younger person and they may not even know why, but they've internalized that belief. So they might go to a movie and they might want to see that thinner person.

VAUSE: Where's the responsibility to change that perception?

CURIEL: In each one of us. I think we have to monitor how we speak about ourselves, how we speak about other people. We start with ourselves.

VAUSE: You know, it's rare for, you know, to talk out about this. If you're in an interview, she also had, you know, some members as well with this. Listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

THOMPSON: Sometimes there was some subject you have to make noises about it, it's so tedious it's gone on and on, when I was young writing comedy absolutely about this. I wrote a sketch about the best diet you can do, which is also cannibalism --

(LAUGHTER)

-- where you eat yourselves.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: How important is it for, you know, someone like Emma Thompson to talk about this in both in amusing and engaging why, and why is she the only one doing it? Surely there are other actresses who have gone through similar experiences?

CURIEL: She has some clout in Hollywood. She's very well respected. So she has a bit of a platform to make these statements. I think, a lot of times, women may not feel they have the power if their body image and their view of themselves is their power, they make the statement. Maybe they feel their jobs are at risk, they may not feel able to make these statements.

VAUSE: If you're a young woman, teenage girl, and, you know, you're a role model that you come to on the screen and they come out and say, this obsession with being thin is nuts. That clearly has an impact.

[01:55:04] CURIEL: Absolutely, I think people are saying it. We've seen it like Amy Schumer using humor to comment on this social issue. People are doing it more and more. It's really deeply rooted problem. It's going to take a lot of time and consistent effort over time to really make a dent in it.

VAUSE: The problem too is you'll hear a very thin actress talking about body image is a terrible thing. CURIEL: True. Even the thin folks are dissatisfied. They're

underweight, normal weight or overweight.

VAUSE: Good to talk to you. Thank you.

CURIEL: Thank you.

VAUSE: You've been watching CNN NEWSROOM, live from Los Angeles. I'm John Vause.

Stay with us. I'll be back with more news right after this.

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[02:59:53] VAUSE: This is CNN NEWSROOM, live from Los Angeles.

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