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U.S., Salvadoran Leaders Made Clear that Kilmar Abrego Garcia Won't Return to the United States; Chinese President Kicked Off Southeast Asia Tour; Trump Freezes Grant Money to Harvard University; Blue Origin's All-Women Crew Back on Earth After a Successful Short Mission to Space. Aired 3-4a ET

Aired April 15, 2025 - 03:00   ET

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

[03:00:00]

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ROSEMARY CHURCH, CNN ANCHOR: Hello and welcome to our viewers joining us from all around the world and to everyone streaming us on CNN Max. I'm Rosemary Church. Just ahead.

Stuck in a mega prison over an administrative error, the fate of a wrongfully deported Maryland man hangs in the balance, as El Salvador's president and Donald Trump both claim they can't help him return to the U.S.

Confusion reigns amid Donald Trump's tariff whiplash and China is trying to capitalize on the chaos.

And Hamas is reviewing Israel's newest ceasefire proposal as the IDF ramps up its attacks on Gaza.

UNKNOWN (voice-over): Live from Atlanta, this is "CNN Newsroom" with Rosemary Church.

CHURCH: Good to have you with us.

U.S. President Donald Trump and Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele are making it clear that the Maryland man who was wrongly deported to El Salvador's mega prison won't be returned to the U.S.

Bukele met with Trump at the White House Monday, where he said it would be preposterous to quote "smuggle a terrorist into the United States." Kilmar Abrego-Garcia entered the U.S. illegally 14 years ago, but was granted protected status in 2019, which prohibited his deportation to El Salvador.

The Trump administration admits it had mistakenly deported Abrego- Garcia and the Supreme Court endorsed a federal judge's directive to facilitate his return.

But Attorney General Pam Bondi says her interpretation of the ruling is the U.S. has to provide a plane and ultimately it's up to El Salvador if they want to return him. Now Donald Trump says he's open to deporting U.S. citizens who were considered violent criminals to El Salvador.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, U.S. PRESIDENT: I don't know what the laws are. We always have to obey the laws, but we also have homegrown criminals that push people into subways, that hit elderly ladies on the back of the head with a baseball bat when they're not looking, that are absolute monsters. I'd like to include them in the group of people to get them out of the country.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH: CNN's Jeff Zeleny has more on the back-and-forth over the deported man's return.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JEFF ZELENY, CNN CHIEF U.S. NATIONAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: U.S. immigration policy took center stage on Monday when El Salvador President Nayib Bukele visited the White House. Just the latest in a string of leaders to pay a visit to U.S. President Donald Trump. But it's the prison in El Salvador that has become such a focal point of the Trump administration's deportation plans.

Of course, there's been much discussion of a 29-year-old Maryland father who was wrongly deported from the United States, has landed in the prison. The courts have intervened. The Supreme Court has said the U.S. government must facilitate his return, but in the Oval Office on Monday, neither president said they had any plans of doing so.

NAYIB BUKELE, SALVADORAN PRESIDENT: How can I return him to the United States? It's like, I smuggle him into the United States, or whether I do it, of course, I'm not going to do it. It's like, I mean, the question is preposterous. How can I smuggle a terrorist into the United States? I don't have the power to return him to the United States.

ZELENY: And President Trump also saying for the first time that he would like to see that El Salvadoran prison used to house homegrown criminals in America, that apparently would be American citizens who are convicted of crimes. He said he would only do so if the law allows. Of course, the law is very questionable on that front.

Convicted criminals are housed in the United States. In any case, this leader meeting between the El Salvadoran President and the U.S. President certainly sent a message of who President Trump views as one of his strongest allies. The Central American leader at 43 years old clearly looks up to the American president.

There is no doubt about it. He has called him one of his role models. And there is no doubt the prison in El Salvador has become central to the Trump immigration plan.

In fact, President Trump said he would like to send more deportees there as soon as he can.

Jeff Zeleny, CNN, the White House.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CHURCH: David Leopold is an immigration attorney, as well as a partner and immigration group leader at U.B. Greensfelder LLC. And he joins me now from Cleveland, Ohio. Good to have you with us.

DAVID LEOPOLD, IMMIGRATION ATTORNEY AND CHAIRMAN OF IMMIGRATION, U.B. GREENSFELDER: Thanks for having me. Nice to be here.

[03:05:01]

CHURCH: Of course. So Donald Trump and El Salvador's President Nayib Bukele are joining forces, both now insisting they will not return the Maryland man that the Trump administration mistakenly deported to a prison in El Salvador.

And in a new court filing, the Trump administration says they no longer have the power to bring Kilmar Abrego Garcia home. And when the media asked Bukele if he would return this man, he said, quote, Of course not. I'm not going to do so.

It's preposterous. So what do you say to this?

LEOPOLD: Well, as the president of the United States, Mr. Trump delegated his authority to Mr. Bukele. Is Trump too weak? Is Trump too weak to stand up to Bukele? I guess that's my first question, because number one, under the law, the United States clearly has the power and is actually required because the court has ordered him to do so -- the president to do so.

And this, you know, they can play with the words that came out of the Supreme Court, effectuate, facilitate. But the United States Supreme Court said was that the United States government, the Trump administration must return Mr. Abrego Garcia to the United States.

CHURCH: Right. And let's look at that, because it does come after the Supreme Court said specifically that the government must facilitate, as you say, the release of Abrego Garcia from custody in El Salvador. If the Trump administration defies that Supreme Court order, what happens?

LEOPOLD: Well, we're in uncharted water is what happens. You know, they throw the term constitutional crisis around and I certainly don't want to use cliches, but you have an unprecedented situation where the administration is thumbing its nose at the Constitution by ignoring the United States Supreme Court, by ignoring the district court, the lower court, which agrees that Mr. Kilmar Abrego Garcia should come back.

The Trump administration itself admitted that this was an administrative error, that they made a mistake. Why can't they correct it? And for them to hem and haw and play games is appalling because they're defying their thumbing their nose at the U.S. Constitution and the rule of law in our country. CHURCH: And what happens going forward with these sorts of

deportations to El Salvador if due process is not followed, given President Trump is now talking about including American citizens in these deportations to this notorious prison?

LEOPOLD: Yes, well, that's just the thing. I mean, this is not just about immigrants, immigration and immigrants are the spear of the tip of the spear that's going after the heart of due process in the United States, after the Constitution and after our tradition of rule of law.

Never before have we had this kind of defiance, this kind of open disrespect by a president, by his administration, by his subordinates, the secretary of state, the attorney general of the United States, and of course, by his deputy chief-of-staff, Mr. Stephen Miller, openly disrespectful to the rule of law, to the Supreme Court of the United States and to the district courts. This is not anything that we've experienced in this country in modern times. And it's frankly dangerous.

CHURCH: And what does all this mean for Abrego Garcia in terms of his legal options? Does he have any?

LEOPOLD: Well, certainly his legal options are that the government follow the law. That's the legal option.

If the government doesn't follow the law, the government doesn't do what the court has ordered it to do. Unfortunately, Mr. Abrego Garcia is stuck in this hellhole of a prison concentration camp, whatever you want to call it, in El Salvador, an innocent man with a U.S. citizen wife who was in lawful status in the United States. I don't care what they say now, they being the administration.

Mr. Abrego Garcia was never convicted of -- being of anything. He was living in the United States in lawful status with his U.S. citizen wife. An immigration judge gave him that opportunity.

And then the administration, the Trump administration admitted that they deported him, that they rendered him to El Salvador by mistake. And when that happens, you correct the mistake. And for them too, for the administration to play this game about how we don't have the power to remove him, I will tell you, I myself have handled cases where people have been unlawfully deported and the judges ordered them back.

And there's never been questions asked about the judge's authority or about whether it should be done or about the foreign country's custody. These individuals were brought back to the United States because that's how it works when you follow the law.

[03:10:09]

Instead, what we have here is a president that's either too weak. Mr. Trump is too weak to stand up to President Bukele or they're just playing a game where they're trying to defy or they're defying an open defiance of the legal order of the United States and thumbing their nose at the United States Supreme Court.

CHURCH: David Leopold, thank you for joining us. I appreciate it.

LEOPOLD: Sure. Thank you for having me.

CHURCH: The Trump administration will begin looking into imports of semiconductors and pharmaceuticals this week, setting the stage for the U.S. to impose tariffs on those industries in the coming weeks based on national security grounds.

Right now, both are exempt from the 10 percent across the board tariffs on imports, which began April 5th. The U.S. relies on Taiwan for high-end semiconductors, an important component in today's auto manufacturing, one of the U.S. industries Donald Trump has vowed to support. And he continues to connect his tariff policies with the idea that the U.S. has been taken advantage of by the rest of the world.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: We're the greatest economic power in the world if we're smart. If we're not smart, we're going to hurt our country very badly. We lost with China over the Biden years, trillions of dollars on trade, trillions of dollars.

And he let them fleece us. And we can't do that anymore. And you know what? I don't blame China at all.

I don't blame President Xi. I like him. He likes me.

I mean, you know, who knows? Who the hell cares?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH: U.S. stocks rose Monday, boosted by the administration's tariff exemptions on smartphones, laptops and other electronics. But there's still uncertainty over how long the reprieve will last and how the trade war with China will play out.

Meanwhile, China's president is continuing his state visit to Southeast Asia, looking to capitalize on the chaos caused by Donald Trump's tariff whiplash. Xi Jinping heads to Malaysia in the coming hours after visiting Vietnam on Monday, where he aimed to cast his country as a more stable and reliable economic partner than the U.S.

CNN's Steven Jiang is in Beijing with more on the President's trip.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

STEVEN JIANG, CNN BEIJING BUREAU CHIEF: Xi Jinping's message to Vietnam and indeed many other countries is to join hands with China to resist Trump's, quote unquote, "unilateral bullying and work together to maintain the current global free trade system and supply chains."

Now, this is going to be repeated and amplified throughout his trip.

The goals of his trip very much twofold. Economically, China trying to continue to diversify its footprint. And it's no coincidence he started in Hanoi because Southeast Asian countries as a bloc has replaced the U.S. and European Union as China's biggest trading partner and Vietnam having the biggest share among all Southeast Asian nations.

That's why Xi Jinping has signed 45 different deals and agreements with Vietnam, not only trying to sell a lot of products now being shut out of the U.S., but also what trying to invest helping Vietnam build infrastructure projects. And this is happening despite the long running territorial dispute between the two countries in the South China Sea.

So that really speaks to the second part of his goal that is more strategic, more foreign policy related, with China trying to pull more and more country closer to its orbit, even those that may have disputes with Beijing on major issues.

The message here being if you've been unsettled by the terror whiplash from Washington, then come hang out with us instead of fear and pressure, as Trump has shown you, we are going to show you love. We are on your side.

Now, this message, perhaps a lot more resonant to a lot of countries compared to just a few weeks ago, as China continues to portray itself as the adult in the room with the intensifying trade war with Washington and trying to play the role of the upholder of international order and norms.

And a lot of these countries, though, including Vietnam, have to be a little careful in terms of how they tread. They don't want to be perceived too close to Beijing and risk provoking Trump at a time when they still have to negotiate with the president on their pending tariffs.

And the U.S. president very much noticing this meeting in Hanoi, characterizing it, in his words, as China and Vietnam figuring out how to screw the U.S.A.

Steven Jiang, CNN, Beijing.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CHURCH: And earlier I spoke with Carsten Brzeski, chief economist for ING Germany. I asked him whether China was the winner in the midst of all the tariff chaos.

[03:15:03]

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CARSTEN BRZESKI, CHIEF ECONOMIST, ING GERMANY: At least China is not blinking. And I think we also heard this morning that China said they might consider no longer exporting a rare earth to the Western world. So I think it's very hard to tell whether there is any winner.

In all honesty, I think history has told us that there are no winners in trade wars. There are only loses. The only question is which country, which region loses less and which one loses more. Currently, it looks as if China would lose less than other economies.

CHURCH: And we did see U.S. stocks rise Monday, despite uncertainty about what will happen with these various exemptions. And of course, these mixed messages from the Trump administration. How do you expect markets will fare Tuesday or U.S. markets will fare Tuesday? Because they need certainty and they're not getting it, not just U.S. markets, but global markets.

BRZESKI: I think volatility is pretty key. So there won't be any certainty coming anytime soon. We have this in the 90-days pause. We will now also then over the next couple of days and weeks finally get first traditional sentiment indicators, hard data showing or giving us a better gauge of what the real economic impact of this back-and-forth of the last two days, weeks has really made.

So for financial markets, it's clearly volatility until we get some kind of guidance where this trade tensions are going to. I personally don't expect that we will really get clarity over the next couple of weeks. It might take even until the summer before we have more and more clarity on where the global trading system is really heading to.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH: Our thanks to Carsten Brzeski there for his perspective.

Just ahead, Donald Trump blames Ukraine for Russia's invasion again after Russia launches a devastating strike on civilians.

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[03:20:00]

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CHURCH: More confusing comments from the U.S. president about which side launched the war in Ukraine. Donald Trump at one point acknowledged that the Russian president should have never started it, only to later suggest that Ukraine's president did, once again refusing to hold Vladimir Putin solely accountable for invading Ukraine.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: Listen, when you start a war, you got to know that you can win the war, you don't start a war against somebody that's 20 times your size and then hope that people give you some missiles.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH: President Trump's comments follow Russia's deadliest attack so far this year, the death toll from the brutal missile strike in the Ukrainian city of Sumy is now up to 35. More than 100 others were wounded, some of them seriously, in the Palm Sunday bloodbath.

Well, the Kremlin claims it was targeting senior Ukrainian military commanders. A local paramedic described what he witnessed.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ARTEM SELIANYN, PARAMEDIC (through translator): Blood was everywhere. I was walking in streams of blood.

I was simply walking over dead bodies. I saw that all of them were dead.

I ran out of thermal blankets because we used them to cover dead. There were many dead and we had nothing else to cover them.

I used all blankets I had in my backpack and medical kit. My colleagues came and brought more thermal blankets, but it was still not enough.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CNN's Frederik Pleitgen takes a closer look at the devastation in Sumy. A warning, though, some of the images in his report may be difficult to watch.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SR. INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Sumy, Ukraine, Palm Sunday, shortly after 10 a.m. As folks were heading to mass, two missiles struck, killing and wounding scores.

We live in the city center, this eyewitness says. There is no military base.

There are no soldiers here. It is simply a genocide. It is genocide.

After the explosions, mass carnage, first responders trying to help any survivors.

Ukrainian officials said preliminary information indicates Russia used a missile with a warhead packed with cluster munitions, weapons designed to harm people in a wide area. Ukraine's president livid.

Only filthy scoundrels can act like this, he said. Today, many state leaders, diplomats, regular people with big hearts, expressed their sympathy towards Ukraine. They condemned the Russian attack.

But while many world leaders denounced the attack from President Donald Trump, a muted response.

TRUMP: I think it was terrible and I was told they made a mistake. But I think it's a horrible thing. I think the whole war is a horrible thing.

PLEITGEN (voice-over): As mourners gathered in Sumy, laying flowers for the many victims, Moscow claims its army does not go after civilians and was instead targeting a high level military meeting.

There was another meeting of Ukrainian military leaders with their Western colleagues, the foreign minister says, who were either masquerading as mercenaries or I don't know who. There are NATO servicemen there and they are in direct control.

[03:24:59]

All this is the fighting on the front lines remains as brutal as ever, Russia claiming its forces continue to make steady progress, while President Trump's diplomatic efforts to broker a ceasefire appear to have hit a roadblock.

Unclear if any progress was made when Trump envoy Steve Witkoff met Russian leader Vladimir Putin on Friday, the Kremlin downplaying expectations.

The whole journey consists of small steps to recreate an atmosphere of at least minimal trust, the Kremlin spokesman says, to strengthen this mutual trust.

But the Ukrainians say they are losing faith in the Trump administration.

VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY, UKRAINIAN PRESIDENT (through translator): I believe, sadly, Russian narratives are prevailing in the U.S. How is it possible to witness our losses and our suffering, to understand what the Russians are doing and to still believe that they are not the aggressors, that they did not start this war?

PLEITGEN (voice-over): And there are a few signs the war could end soon, just hours after the attack in Sumy, drones struck the port town Odessa, wounding several people and causing major damage to scores of buildings.

Fred Pleitgen, CNN, Berlin.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CHURCH: Sudan's paramilitary Rapid Support Forces have overrun a camp for displaced people, forcing hundreds of thousands to flee. This satellite image shows widespread devastation after the RSF seized control of the camp Sunday.

The U.N. says it followed a four day assault that left hundreds dead, including humanitarian personnel. The RSF denies the allegations and says the camp was being used as a base for army aligned groups. Two years of war in Sudan have displaced millions who now also face a growing threat of famine.

Still to come, Harvard is set to lose more than $2 billion in federal funding after the university refused to give in to Donald Trump's demands.

Plus, an Israeli airstrike has incapacitated the last fully functioning hospital in Gaza City. Why the IDF says it was hit and how Palestinian officials are responding.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) [03:30:00]

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CHURCH: Welcome back to "CNN Newsroom." I'm Rosemary Church, and here are some of the stories we've been watching today.

Hungary's Parliament has passed a constitutional amendment allowing the government to ban LGBTQ-plus events in public. Crowds protested the measure earlier this month. Critics and legal experts say the amendment puts Hungary's populist government another step closer to authoritarianism.

Mark Zuckerberg is expected back on the witness stand in Washington today to defend his social media empire against allegations of creating a monopoly. On Monday, the Meta CEO countered claims that his company sought to eliminate competition with Facebook by buying Instagram and WhatsApp. Regulators want Meta to restructure or sell those two hugely popular platforms.

The Vatican has started the process of naming a new saint and the person they're considering is the late Spanish architect Antoni Gaudi. He worked for more than 40 years on the unfinished Sagrada Familia Cathedral in Barcelona. Two miracles must be attributed to Gaudi's life for him to be declared a saint.

Well more now on our top story. The Trump administration and El Salvador's president are making it clear they will not return a Maryland man who was mistakenly deported to a mega prison in El Salvador last month.

Nayib Bukele insists he does not have the power to return Kilmar Abrego Garcia to the U.S. and Attorney General Pam Bondi says the Supreme Court's directive to facilitate his return means the U.S. would provide a plane for him but it was quote "up to El Salvador if they want to return him."

CNN's David Culver recently visited El Salvador and its CECOT prison complex and has the details.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DAVID CULVER, CNN SR. U.S. NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: He's not going anywhere. Those were the words from one Salvadoran government official who I met with last week with regards to Kilmar Abrego Garcia. That's the Maryland man who was mistakenly deported last month by the Trump administration and deported to El Salvador's notorious CECOT prison. That's the terrorism confinement center.

[03:34:58]

Now those words seem to be reiterated by President Donald Trump and President Nayib Bukele as they met Monday in the Oval Office saying essentially they were powerless in the case of Abrego Garcia.

Now why might they be pointing that direction? Well it was interesting being on the ground in El Salvador last week and speaking with officials including the Public Security and Justice Minister, that's Gustavo Villatoro, who also happened to be in the Oval Office on Monday.

Villatoro tells me that while not speaking specifically to Abrego Garcia's case but in general that they are very focused on deportees that are coming from the U.S. and going to El Salvador, particularly those who have a history in El Salvador.

He went as far as to say that they are actively requesting certain deportees be sent back to El Salvador based on criminal records. Villatoro is somebody who has compiled years of records and data that he has put even into a book that he shares with law enforcement including here in the U.S. and that includes everything from decoding gang language to tattoos to graffiti and it's something he says is a tool in fighting against the gangs.

Now with regards to Abrego Garcia, again Villatoro doesn't go specific into his case, but two government officials in El Salvador go on to say that they have further evidence that incriminates him. When I asked to see that evidence or for any other proof, they declined to provide it, and Abrego Garcia's attorneys have said that is a fabrication, it is a lie that is coming from not only the Salvadoran government as they see it, but also the U.S. government.

But I think one thing that stands out is the coordination and cooperation between the U.S. and El Salvador when it comes to the sharing and the active back-and-forth of criminal records between the two nations. It seems to be not only deliberate and intentional but also incredibly strategic.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CHURCH: A Palestinian student at Columbia University thought he was on the verge of becoming a U.S. citizen. Instead he's facing deportation. Mohsen Mahdawi was removed from a Vermont immigration office in handcuffs on Monday where he had gone for an interview.

He's been lawfully residing in the U.S. for a decade. Mahdawi was an organizer of pro-Palestinian protests at Columbia but stepped back before students started an encampment and occupied university buildings. He's the second Palestinian student from Columbia to be detained by immigration authorities.

Mahmoud Khalil, another permanent resident, has been detained for over a month. They appear to be part of a wider effort by the Trump administration to crack down on pro-Palestinian protesters.

The Trump administration says it will freeze $2.2 billion in grant money to Harvard University after the school refused to agree to policy changes. Among the mandates demanded by the White House is the elimination of Harvard's diversity equity and inclusion programs and reforms to the school's admissions process.

The Trump administration has made similar threats to colleges across the U.S. but Harvard appears to be the first to explicitly rebuke the government's demands. In a statement Harvard's president said, and I'm quoting here, "The university will not surrender its independence or relinquish its constitutional rights."

Hamas says it is studying the latest Israeli ceasefire proposal and will respond as soon as possible. A Hamas official says the plan calls for 10 hostages to be released in exchange for hundreds of Palestinian prisoners and detainees.

Meanwhile the humanitarian situation in the territory is becoming more dire by the day after a major Israeli airstrike over the weekend. CNN's Jeremy Diamond has our report.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN JERUSALEM CORRESPONDENT: Well what was the last remaining fully functioning hospital in northern Gaza has now been put out of service by that Israeli airstrike on Sunday at Al Ahli Baptist Hospital in Gaza City.

This is a hospital that once served about a thousand patients a day with a bustling emergency room that has only become busier as Israeli attacks have ramped up in Gaza, but now only a few dozen patients are still being treated in that hospital and the hospital isn't able to provide any emergency services whatsoever.

The Israeli military carried out an airstrike on this hospital on Sunday after giving about a 20-minute warning to that hospital. A boy with a head injury who was evacuated in those 20 minutes actually died in that rushed evacuation process.

We know of no other casualties as a result of that strike. The Israeli military said it carried out this strike because there was a command and control center, a Hamas command and control center at this hospital but they've provided no evidence to back up that claim.

[03:39:58]

And what they certainly haven't provided evidence of is the, you know, military necessity and value -- added value of carrying out this strike when compared to the impact that this is going to have on Palestinian civilians and their access to health care in northern Gaza. The Israeli military in just the last 24 hours or so has struck about 35 targets inside the Gaza Strip.

And what we are also witnessing of course is these continued evacuation orders that are pushing Palestinian civilians into an ever- shrinking portion of the Gaza Strip where they simply are not finding the resources that they need, and a lot of that stems from another layer of pressure that is being brought to bear on Gaza and that is the fact that Israel has not allowed anything into the Gaza Strip since March 2nd.

No food, no water, no medical supplies and humanitarian officials are warning that we are rapidly approaching crisis levels inside of Gaza.

Now as all of this is happening as we are seeing this noose being tightened around the people of Gaza, we are witnessing some reports of progress in these negotiations between Israel and Hamas to try and revive that ceasefire and to get more hostages out of the Gaza Strip. We know of course that there are 59 hostages still believed to be held in Gaza.

About two dozen of them are still believed to be alive according to Israeli authorities. This deal that Hamas and Israel are now negotiating would be for the release of fewer than 11 Israeli hostages, 11 is the number that the Israeli government has been demanding in exchange for a month and a half long ceasefire. Hamas has been willing to offer far fewer than that.

The latest we learned was that an Egyptian proposal was on the table last week that would see the release of eight Israeli hostages from Hamas custody. We understand that there is now perhaps a proposal for 10 hostages to be released, but it's not clear whether that is something Hamas will go for.

We know that there has been a Hamas delegation in Cairo since Saturday and Israeli delegation has not yet traveled there, and so while we certainly are seeing signs of optimism and momentum building once again until we actually see those more concrete signals of true meaningful progress, it's hard to tell right now if that momentum will actually lead to a deal.

Jeremy Diamond, CNN, Jerusalem.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CHURCH: The European Union is coming to the aid of the Palestinians. The bloc has announced a package of grants and loans worth nearly $2 billion to foster recovery and resilience. The aid will cover a two- year period including 650 million in grants to the Palestinian Authority in the West Bank. Another 600 million would go toward recovery and stabilization in the West Bank and Gaza once the situation on the ground allows.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DUBRAVKA SUICA, E.U. COMMISSIONER FOR THE MEDITERRANEAN: Our program aims to support the Palestinian people in building sustainable future. It's about governing capacity. It's about advanced economic recovery.

It's about strengthening the resilience of the private sector. Of course it's about creating jobs and contributing to long-term social and economic stability. A well-functioning and reformed Palestinian Authority must play a central role in the post-conflict governance of Gaza.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH: The E.U. says the program will focus on water, energy and infrastructure sectors.

No bail for the man accused of setting fire to the Pennsylvania governor's mansion. We'll have the latest on his first court appearance. That's just ahead, back in a moment.

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[03:45:00]

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CHURCH: Welcome back everyone.

The man accused of setting fire to the Pennsylvania governor's home has been denied bail over safety concerns. 38-year-old Cody Balmer did not enter a plea during his arraignment and will remain in jail for the time being. CNN's Danny Freeman has the latest on the arson investigation.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DANNY FREEMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The pictures are haunting. Part of the Pennsylvania governor's residence burned in an attack by an alleged arsonist.

Light fixtures, plates, a piano, couches, the fire damaging part of a dining room where Governor Josh Shapiro and his family had only hours before celebrated the first night of Passover with a Seder.

Among the charred items, pages of a Haggadah, the Passover prayer book used by Shapiro's family.

GOV. JOSH SHAPIRO (D-PA): This type of violence is not okay. This kind of violence is becoming far too common in our society. And I don't give a damn if it's coming from one particular side or the other.

UNKNOWN: Putting a large fire in the dining room on the first floor. They can see fire out the windows.

They're currently working on getting everybody evacuated. There's about 25 people inside.

FREEMAN (voice-over): Police say just before 2 a.m. Sunday, as the governor and his family slept, this man, 38 year old Cody Balmer, hopped a fence at the mansion armed with a hammer and beer bottles filled with gasoline.

LT. COL GEORGE BIVENS, PENNSYLVANIA STATE POLICE: I will tell you that he clearly had a plan. He was very methodical in his approach and uh, moved through it, without a lot of hurry.

[03:50:03]

FREEMAN: State police said that Balmer evaded security as he made his way over the fence from this part of the grounds of the residence to this particular building.

There, he broke a window and threw a makeshift Molotov cocktail inside. Then he broke another window, climbed inside himself and threw another Molotov cocktail. BIVENS: That was all playing out over a period of several minutes. It

was a very quick event that occurred. And again, troopers were actively searching for him at the time.

FREEMAN (voice-over): Yet despite public praise for law enforcement's quick response, a source familiar with the investigation told CNN that the incident is seen by many in the Pennsylvania State Police as a security failure.

Balmer escaped but ultimately turned himself in to police on Sunday and admitted to the attack, according to court documents. He told investigators he'd harbored hatred towards Shapiro.

According to an affidavit obtained by CNN when asked what he would have done had he found the governor inside, Balmer said he quote "would have beaten him with his hammer."

SHAPIRO: If this individual was trying to deter me from doing my job as your governor, rest assured I will find a way to work even harder than I was just yesterday for the good people of Pennsylvania.

FREEMAN (voice-over): While Balmer hadn't posted much on social media in recent years, CNN found posts that he had made in 2021 criticizing then-President Joe Biden. And the police have not released any more information as to why Balmer may have carried out this attack. Shapiro said his family would not be terrorized for their Jewish faith.

SHAPIRO: No one will deter me or my family or any Pennsylvanian from celebrating their faith openly and proudly.

FREEMAN: Now, at an arraignment Monday evening, a judge denied bail to Balmer. The judge said while she appreciated that he turned himself in, she still recommended he be imprisoned for the safety of himself and the community. Balmer currently faces charges of attempted homicide, terrorism, aggravated arson and aggravated assault.

His next court date is expected on April 23rd.

Danny Freeman, CNN, Harrisburg, Pennsylvania.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CHURCH: We are learning new details about the shutting down of the tour company whose helicopter plunged into the Hudson River last week, killing six people. The Federal Aviation Administration ordered the company to stop operations immediately. That came after an employee who had voluntarily agreed to pause flights during the investigation was abruptly fired.

The CEO of the company said the employee had no such authority and was no longer employed there. The FAA writes the agency says the apparent retaliation raised serious safety concerns.

Back on Earth after an historic trip. Still ahead, a look aboard the first all-female spaceflight in decades.

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[03:55:00]

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CHURCH: Billionaire Jeff Bezos greets his fiance after an historic spaceflight. Lauren Sanchez was one of an all-female crew launched into space Monday by Bezos.

His company Blue Origin, among the other space tourists were singer Katy Perry and T.V. host Gayle King. Here's a look at their 11 minute trip to the edge of space.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CHARISSA THOMPSON, BLUE ORIGIN: Now, Gayle King, you are officially an astronaut. How do you feel?

GAYLE KING, T.V. HOST: I still can't accept that word.

KRISTIN FISHER, SPACE JOURNALIST: Good luck and Godspeed, ladies.

ARIANE CORONEL, VICE PRESIDENT OF IN-SPACE SYSTEMS, BLUE ORIGIN: Let's launch this rocket.

AISHA BOWE, NS-31 ASTRONAUT: We lifted off everybody. You could just feel the energy.

THOMPSON: Those ladies right now are having an incredible view on their way to space.

BOWE: They'll just look at each other. There was a very special moment between all of us. And it's just beautiful, so beautiful.

KERIANNE FLYNN, FILM PRODUCER: I have almost no words. It was the most incredible experience of my life to be up there and see like the such vast darkness in space and look down on our planet.

LAUREN SANCHEZ, NS-31 ASTRONAUT: You look at it and you're like, we're all in this together. Like, that's all I could think about is like, we're so connected, more connected than you realize.

KING: It's such a reminder about how we need to do better, be better.

We are forever bounded. It really is a true sisterhood.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH: Back on Earth.

Well, the Harry Potter franchise is headed to the small screen with a new look. HBO has announced the first cast members for the new series, including John Lithgow, who will play Albus Dumbledore and Janet McTeer as Professor McGonagall.

Meantime, Paapa Essiedu, who shot to fame on the BBC show "I May Destroy You," will star as Professor Snape. And Nick Frost, best known for films like "Shaun of the Dead" and "Hot Fuzz," will play Rubeus Hagrid. HBO says the T.V. series will be a faithful adaptation of the popular books about the boy wizard.

Both CNN and HBO share the same parent company, Warner Brothers Discovery.

Thank you so much for your company. I'm Rosemary Church. Have yourselves a wonderful day.

"Amanpour" is next. Then stay tuned for "Early Start" with Rahel Solomon, starting at 5am in New York, 10am in London.

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