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China Launches Military Drills Around Taiwan; Special Elections Taking Place Today for Florida's Two Congressional Districts and Wisconsin Supreme Court; French Far-Right Leader Slams Court Ruling; Indian Student at Columbia Targeted by ICE Shares to CNN. Aired 3-4a ET

Aired April 01, 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]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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

A stern warning to Taiwan. China launches military drills around the self-governing island. How Taiwanese officials are responding.

Donald Trump is set to announce sweeping new tariffs. He says they'll be amazing, but global markets suggest otherwise.

And in Myanmar, a devastating earthquake worsens an ongoing humanitarian crisis. We'll speak with an official about the urgent need for aid.

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

CHURCH: Good to have you with us.

Well, China has now launched drills involving its army, navy, air force and rocket force, with the military saying its forces will, quote, "close in on Taiwan from multiple directions during the exercises." The military says it's a stern warning and forceful deterrence against the island.

Taiwan's presidential office condemned the drills, calling China a troublemaker. A similar sentiment was echoed by the defense minister.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

WELLINGTON KOO, TAIWAN'S DEFENSE MINISTER (through translator): I'd like to point out here that such an action fully reflects it is damaging the peace and stability of the region. It is obvious that China is a very obvious troublemaker.

There have been a lot of reports related to corruption problems within the People's Liberation Army. I think they should properly resolve these internal problems instead of destroying peace and stability in the region.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH: CNN's Ivan Watson joins us live now from Hong Kong. Good to see you again, Ivan. So what is the latest on this?

IVAN WATSON, CNN CR. INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Right. Well, there's no doubt that the Chinese government and military are trying to send a message. And as you pointed out in the initial announcement that was made by China's Eastern Theater Command, part of the message is a warning and powerful containment of what it describes as Taiwan independence separatist forces.

And this, of course, comes to the crux of the tension here across the Taiwan Straits, which is that, yes, Taiwan is this self-governing democracy, but Beijing sees it as a breakaway region and calls any move towards independence an infringement on Chinese sovereignty.

So China announcing that all four branches of its military are involved in these exercises. We're still waiting for more details about what kind of assets it has brought to bear.

The Taiwanese Defense Minister has indicated that an aircraft carrier group involving the Shandong aircraft carrier has been operating to the southeast of Taiwan. The announcements coming from the Chinese military have included some propaganda videos, some of which we're watching, but also include some making direct mocking reference of Taiwan's president, Lai Ching-te, depicting him as a parasite that it accuses of colluding with foreign powers and saying that it's going to lead to his untimely end, basically.

The Taiwanese government has said that this is reckless. It's accused China of troublemaking. It also says it has dispatched its own ships and aircraft and deployed land-based missiles in response to what is taking place right now.

This is the first time we've seen the Chinese military conducting these types of maneuvers around Taiwan this year. It has been doing this in the past, but it has appeared to be more linked to events like the inauguration last year of the Taiwanese president. So this came -- did come as a bit of a surprise.

Taiwanese officials have tried to argue that this could be linked to a recent visit of the U.S. Defense Secretary to Asia, in which he talked about the need to respond to what he described as communist China's aggression in the region. Rosemary.

CHURCH: Alright. Our thanks to Ivan Watson bringing us that live report from Hong Kong. Many thanks.

Well we are less than 24 hours away from the day Donald Trump has been talking about for weeks now, a complete rewiring of the global economy with dollar-for-dollar reciprocal tariffs on all trading partners. He calls it Liberation Day.

[03:05:00] The plan seems to change every day, but we now know the president is planning a splashy announcement in the White House Rose Garden Wednesday, cabinet members in tow. Advisors say they have presented a variety of options and it's up to the president to decide on exemptions, delays or negotiations. One economist told CNN, we'll get an announcement, but we still won't have clarity.

Here's the President's take.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, U.S. PRESIDENT: It's going to be something that's going to bring a lot of wealth back to our country, tremendous wealth back to our country actually. And other countries are understanding it because they've been ripping us for 50 years longer, but they've been ripping us off for years, right from the beginning.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

The uncertainty has pushed the U.S. stock market to its worst quarter since September of 2022. A quick look at the futures there though in positive territory, but only just. We'll keep an eye on that.

Well more now from CNN senior politics reporter Stephen Collinson.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

STEPHEN COLLINSON, CNN SR. POLITICS REPORTER: He's got the whole world hanging on his every word and that's just how he likes it.

Donald Trump said in an extraordinary White House Oval Office news conference, the Liberation Day is beckoning for the United States on April the 2nd. That's the date when he plans to unveil his promised tariffs on U.S. trade partners and foes, which promise potentially to rock the global economy.

But we don't know exactly what the president will say. He says that that will all be unveiled on Wednesday in the Rose Garden of the White House in an event that will be looked at around the world.

Will the president, for example, impose those across the board tariffs dollar-for-dollar against countries that put similar duties on U.S. imports? Will he go country-by-country, try to wring out deals with various U.S. trading partners and other trading blocs? We just don't know.

But the risks are huge. Many economists fear that tariffs will push up prices for American consumers who are still feeling the effects of that inflation that came into force during the pandemic years and that has not really dissipated for many Americans who are very frustrated about the price of groceries, of rent and of mortgages.

And the problem there is that if that hurts consumer confidence, that could put the U.S. economy into a cycle of recession. But tariffs are a weapon that Donald Trump has believed in for decades, ever since he was a businessman in New York in the 1980s, when he was warning of the competitiveness of the Japanese economy and said that that could hurt the American economy.

Now the trade foes are China and the European Union. But Trump's belief is still the same. Now, as the president who has few checks on his power, now he can put all of those years of economic orthodoxy into practice.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CHURCH: In the coming hours, an early referendum on President Trump's second term is set to play out in several high-stakes elections. In Wisconsin, mega donors, including Elon Musk, George Soros and Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker, are fueling what is now the most expensive judicial race in American history.

Voters there are set to choose a new state Supreme Court judge. The winner could tip the court's ideological balance, where liberals currently control a slim 4-3 majority.

This as Republicans are battling to keep a pair of congressional seats in Florida. Ordinarily, the deep-red districts vote conservative. But this year's races are closer than expected.

The competitive turn is giving Democrats a glimmer of hope that the vote will show dissatisfaction with the Trump agenda, even though their party's candidates are not expected to win.

And I spoke earlier with Larry Sabato, director of the Center for Politics at the University of Virginia. And I asked him about the more than $20 million Elon Musk has spent on the Wisconsin election and what effect it might have.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LARRY SABATO, DIRECTOR, UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA-CENTER FOR POLITICS: The total now has exceeded $80 million easily. It may exceed $90 million by the time we tote it all up.

And I suspect Musk has already given more. He's at $22 million and probably the final tally will have him higher. That is extraordinary for a single Supreme Court seat in any state, though Wisconsin is a very important swing state.

And this is the critical vote on the Supreme Court that will determine whether it has a conservative majority or a liberal majority.

[03:10:05]

So Musk is a double-edged sword. He's spending so much money that he's stirring up the Republican base, and they had not been terribly excited about this race. So I think he's helped Republicans there.

The overall problem for him, though, is that he's very unpopular in Wisconsin, as he is in most other places. He has stirred the ire of the Democrats and many independents who feel he's buying elections on behalf of Trump. CHURCH: And also Tuesday, two special elections in deep-red Florida House seats that have national implications with the GOP's very thin majority in the House. How do you expect these two elections to play out today?

SABATO: One of them is certain to go Republican because Trump carried it by 37 percentage points just last November. Maybe it's closer than that, but one vote or a million, you're still a member of the House of Representatives, and that's what the Republicans want and need.

The other seat is competitive, though I simply can't imagine a Democrat winning, because Trump carried that district by 30 percentage points, not quite as high as the other one. But it's awfully tough to make up 30 percentage points.

The Republican didn't raise enough money, wasn't a particularly aggressive campaigner. But all things considered, when you have territory that red, it's going to vote Republican in all probability. If Democrats win this, you'll be hearing about it from now until 2026 or 2028, because it really will be extraordinary.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH: Shortages, fear and a frantic search for survivors. The latest on the devastation from the deadly Myanmar earthquake and the obstacles hindering rescue efforts. Back with that and more in just a moment.

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[03:15:00]

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CHURCH: Four days after a deadly and powerful earthquake jolted Myanmar and parts of neighboring countries, the so-called golden window for finding people alive in the rubble is over, meaning those trapped in flattened buildings with no access to water are not likely to survive.

Fire officials say more than 400 people have been rescued in Mandalay since Friday. The country's military junta puts the death toll at more than 2000 so far.

CNN's Ivan Watson takes a closer look at the hunt for survivors.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

WATSON (voice-over): Desperate cries for help. Two teenage girls trapped in an air pocket with their grandmother under the rubble of their home, trying to get the attention of the outside world by banging on concrete with a butter knife.

The trio trapped and terrified for 15 hours until rescuers pulled them to safety. Frantic rescue efforts repeated across Myanmar since a deadly 7.7 magnitude earthquake shook the country on Friday. These two women, who asked not to be identified, say they were also

trapped when their five-story hotel in Mandalay collapsed.

WATSON: Could you see outside? Could you see daylight from where you were?

UNKNOWN (through translator): We were trapped in total darkness, but the good thing is we had a phone and we could use its light to see. If we didn't have that, we could have died. We could see to clear rubble from on top of each other.

WATSON (voice-over): They say civilian volunteers from the neighborhood rescued them after five frightening hours.

Also in Mandalay on Monday, a Chinese rescue team pulled three people from the wreckage of a residential high-rise, including a pregnant woman and a little girl.

But now as more time passes, hope starts to dwindle. The majority of those still missing now thought unlikely to be alive.

Meanwhile, tens of thousands of people in quake-damaged cities and towns must now find food, clean water, and shelter. Myanmar's military ruler, Min Aung Hlaing, who rules over a closed society and rarely cooperates with the international community, is asking for international aid and help.

Already one of the poorest nations in Asia, Myanmar has been further devastated by four years of civil war, and the earthquake zone crosses the war's front lines. With its people in desperate need, some have been critical of the military junta.

YANGHEE LEE, FORMER U.N. SPECIAL RAPPORTEUR ON MYANMAR HUMAN RIGHTS: Why hasn't Min Aung Hlaing sent in all of his military assets for rescue and relief? We don't see any helicopters with rescue and relief team. We only see civilians digging into the rubbles.

WATSON (voice-over): Some lucky survivors in this majority Buddhist country are giving thanks to a higher power.

UNKNOWN (through translator): While being trapped, we learned that nothing is permanent, and the most important thing to do before death is to live a happy life and do many good deeds. Don't do bad things because karma will follow you.

WATSON (voice-over): They say they may become nuns to show their gratitude for their miraculous escape.

Ivan Watson, CNN.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

[03:19:55]

CHURCH: We go now to Yangon in Myanmar. Haider Yaqub is the Myanmar country director for the humanitarian organization Plan International and joins me now. Thank you so much for talking with us at this difficult time.

HAIDER YAQUB, MYANMAR COUNTRY DIRECTOR, PLAN INTERNATIONAL: Thank you for having me over. Thank you very much.

CHURCH: Of course. And you have just returned to Yangon after spending the weekend in hard hit areas. What can you tell us about the extent of the damage you saw in Mandalay and of course, in other regions of the country?

YAQUB: Yes, I was one of few who could travel and we did decide to go because we thought it is very important to get the information. As an organization, we can help and also share to the world what is happening here. So it was important for us to go and see and we did.

What your report had said is spot on. Situation is very bad, very bad for girls and children, especially because even if they have survived, their buildings coming down right in front of their houses, they still live on the streets. So very happy to know that people have survived.

But if help does not reach them sooner, they will -- you'll see more people losing their lives. So it's very important that the whole world should come together to support the cause, because it is important that people are given that hope when they need it the most.

CHURCH: And I wanted to ask you what medical care is available to the thousands who were injured in that earthquake and what shelter is available to those who lost their homes and perhaps don't have anywhere to go?

YAQUB: Yes, well, at this point in time, there are people who've been taken very well broken limbs or have severe injuries. They have been taken by their relatives to other places. But I was able to observe that a good social network was working, which was making people wherever to treat, take them for treatment.

De-facto government is trying its best in whatever capabilities it has, but it is understaffed and it requires a lot of support from everyone. And every player who wants to help is important for them to play its role. People who have come out of their houses, they have come out with nothing at all.

They walked out with their clothes on and maybe some papers which are important for them. They just brought them up and they're on the street and your pictures and I'm sure they picked their everyday life. They spent 24/7 hours of the day on those footpaths.

And what I have observed is that these aftershocks which are coming, that keeps on igniting the thought which each one of them went through at the time when the earthquake came. And these are so such a lot in number. When I was staying in Mandalay, we could not go in because there would be one aftershock after the other.

So it's a very difficult and traumatic situation for the public at large, and very specific for children. So it's very important that they are supported, provided with water, health, trauma reduction, protection, care, support. Well, society or a human being needs for survival.

CHURCH: And how difficult has it been to distribute aid supplies to those most affected by the earthquake? And what are the major challenges involved in ensuring all those impacted receive supplies, including those caught up in the country's civil war that by all reports continues in the midst of this national emergency?

YAQUB: Well, you touch upon two important points. Let me take the first one, that the places where we operate are the places where you have civil society -- functioning civil society organizations working, you can support or work through them to provide that support the areas which are out of our area of influence or control.

I think the most important is if for any society to function that there is peace, because it is prerequisite to development, it's prerequisite to everything else. And every player should come together to bring peace to the potential. But it's a midst of a conflict at this point in time.

[03:25:03]

CHURCH: Haider Yaqub, thank you so much for talking with us and for the work that you're doing there. We appreciate it.

YAQUB: Thank you very much for having me over.

CHURCH: Of course. Well, for more information about how you can help Myanmar earthquake victims, you can go to cnn.com/impact.

Still to come, the man known for the art of the deal is struggling to make any kind of peace deal between Russia and Ukraine. And now Donald Trump is angry at both countries. We'll explain.

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[03:30:00]

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CHURCH: Welcome back to "CNN Newsroom." I'm Rosemary Church. Want to check today's top stories for you.

The world is bracing for Donald Trump's latest tariff plans. The White House says the president will make an announcement from the Rose Garden Wednesday, what he calls Liberation Day. He's expected to impose dollar for dollar tariffs on all countries that put levies on U.S. goods.

China has announced the launch of military exercises around Taiwan. Its military says the drills are meant to serve as a stern warning and forceful deterrence against the self-governing island. Taiwan's defense minister condemned the drills, calling China an obvious troublemaker.

A gas pipeline has burst near Malaysia's capital, causing a massive fireball. Authorities say several homes caught fire and a number of people are being treated for burns. The full extent of the damage is still being assessed, authorities say the valve to the pipeline has been shut off, which will eventually put out the fire.

The White House has announced they're closing the case on last week's Signal chat scandal.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KAROLINE LEAVITT, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: As the president has made it very clear, Mike Waltz continues to be an important part of his national security team. And this case has been closed here at the White House as far as we are concerned.

There have been steps made to ensure that something like that can obviously never happen again. And we're moving forward.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH: The investigation centered around National Security Advisor Mike Waltz after he mistakenly invited a magazine reporter into a group message with top ranking U.S. officials. Despite the oversight, the chat went on to discuss highly sensitive information regarding U.S. strikes on the Houthi rebels in Yemen, all while using a commercially available messenger app. As President Trump looks to turn the page, key questions about the leak remain unanswered.

Donald Trump is threatening to impose secondary tariffs on Russian oil unless Moscow makes a deal to end the war in Ukraine. Over the weekend, the U.S. President said he was, quote, "pissed off by Vladimir Putin's lack of cooperation." But he struck a more conciliatory tone on Monday.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: I want to see him make a deal so that we stop Russian soldiers and Ukrainian soldiers and other people from being killed.

I want to make sure that he follows through, and I think he will. I don't want to go secondary tariffs on his oil. But I think, you know, it's something I would do if I thought he wasn't doing the job.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH: Meanwhile, President Trump accuses Ukraine of trying to back out of a rare earth mineral steal. But Ukraine says the U.S. keeps changing the terms.

CNN's Clare Sebastian has details.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CLARE SEBASTIAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: With efforts to get to the point of a ceasefire in Ukraine essentially stalled, the U.S. appears to be stepping up efforts to get a mineral deal over the line, a central part, of course, of President Trump's strategy to ensure the U.S. gets something in return for helping Ukraine. But sources familiar with the matter told CNN on Friday the U.S. has

put forward a new proposal and one that goes beyond the original arrangement that was set to be signed on February 27th, the day of that Oval Office spat between Presidents Trump and Zelenskyy.

Well, the new proposal would apparently give the U.S. more access to Ukraine's mineral reserves and would apply to all mineral resources, including oil and gas, according to those sources, who also said it does not contain any promise of post-war security guarantees for Ukraine.

Well Zelenskyy, who has maintained he's open to signing a mineral deal in principle, let slip some frustration last week. He said on Thursday that the U.S. keeps changing the terms of the deal. And on Friday, he called the new proposal an entirely different document, which contains some things that hadn't been discussed and some things that had already been rejected.

On Sunday, President Trump hit back.

TRUMP: I think Zelenskyy, by the way, I see he's trying to back out of the rare earth deal. But if he does that, he's got some problems. Big problems.

[03:35:01]

SEBASTIAN: Well, the risks for Ukraine are clear. Last time Presidents Trump and Zelenskyy fell out, the U.S. paused military aid and intelligence sharing, though later reinstated it.

Now, the difference now, though, more than a month on is that Trump is signaling he's also willing to get tough on Russia and ramp up economic pressure to sign on to a ceasefire, without which, of course, the U.S. cannot start reaping the benefits of Ukraine's mineral wealth.

Clare Sebastian, CNN, London.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CHURCH: Retired General Wesley Clark is a former NATO Supreme Allied Commander. He's also the founder of Renew America Together. Thank you, General, for joining us.

GEN WESLEY CLARK (RET.), FORMER NATO SUPREME ALLIED COMMANDER, AND FOUNDER OF RENEW AMERICA TOGETHER: Thank you.

CHURCH: So as Donald Trump increases his effort to find a path to peace in Ukraine, he's now getting uncharacteristically tough on Russia's Vladimir Putin, threatening secondary sanctions if Putin doesn't get serious about a ceasefire. Why the sudden change in tone, do you think? And will it work on Putin?

CLARK: Well, I think he realizes that what's being played out is a typical what was a former Soviet and now a Russian play, which is basically it's a follow on from what the great German philosopher Clausewitz said.

He said war is politics by other means. And so you fight, you talk, you use diplomacy, you use your combat and you work to accomplish your objective.

And Putin's objective isn't to stop the fighting. If he wanted to stop the fighting, he could do that immediately. All he has to do is stop fighting. Just tell him to pull back, tell him to stop firing artillery and lobbying drones and missiles in.

No, he wants Ukraine. And so the talks are another avenue to put pressure on the government in Kyiv, on the allies and on the United States. I think President Trump is finally starting to see this.

He's going to put a little bit of pressure on Putin. But saying that you're angry and threatening sanctions, that's not real pressure yet.

CHURCH: So would you suggest he applies the pressure through sanctions now?

CLARK: Well, yes, sanctions now, but I think also you have to do more to support Kyiv militarily. Ultimately, Putin's in this to win.

And you won't get the agreement that's a stable peace so long as Mr. Putin believes he's winning and can win if he persists. So it's not just a matter of the sanctions.

Putin's done pretty well at dealing with sanctions. He's got strong support from China. They're putting in all the industrial equipment he needs, he's working his military complex 24/7.

These other stands in Central Asia, they're bringing in U.S. and European electronics and other things and then passing them right to the Russians. So those sanctions aren't working that well. And so saying you're going to put secondary sanctions on oil, sure.

Everything helps. Put it on and give Kyiv more military assistance.

CHURCH: So let's turn to another important issue. President Trump says that military force is not off the table when it comes to acquiring Greenland after the Danish foreign minister scolded Trump's administration for its inappropriate tone when speaking to an ally. Is this any way to negotiate Arctic security when dealing with such a strategically important autonomous territory in the Kingdom of Denmark?

CLARK: If I were advising the president, I would not advise him to do this. I'd advise him to go through NATO. If you want to strengthen security in Greenland, go to NATO.

You could even do this with NATO infrastructure funding. You can build those additional installations and you can have every member of the alliance contribute to paying for it.

Truth is that the United States is stretched thin already with its military. Truth is that the Chinese and the Russians are pushing in the Arctic. Truth is we do need to strengthen security in Greenland.

When I say we, I mean NATO. And it is a NATO responsibility and NATO should be held to account for this. And that means U.S. leadership with NATO.

CHURCH: And I do want to ask you two about the recent scandal surrounding the Signal group chat involving top Trump intelligence officials and the accidental inclusion of a journalist. Now that group chat shared details of strike times and weapons involved in attacks on Houthi rebels in Yemen.

The White House said Monday that the review into this case has been closed. They're moving forward. What is your reaction to the Signal group chat and also the closing of this case?

[03:40:00]

CLARK: I don't think the White House has the power to close it because I think the U.S. Senate is still seeking an investigation. But I think at the base there are several issues.

First of all, you shouldn't be using Signal for classified information or secret information or national security information. And certainly getting members of the Principals Committee together, including the Vice President, to discuss potential action. That shouldn't be able to be overheard by adversaries' ears and yet if you use Signal, it can be.

Second thing is, obviously, you shouldn't put any specific military attack information on a network like that. And by the way, there was no military person on that network, so it wasn't really a Principals Committee. The acting chairman of the Joint Chiefs wasn't there. What was the purpose of it?

And third, the Secretary of Defense really needs to square it with the men and women in uniform. You know, in the United States military, we run on honor, integrity, tell the truth. If you make a mistake, own up to it and be held accountable. Secretary of Defense hasn't owned up to this yet and he hasn't set the example that the men and women in uniform are looking for.

CHURCH: General Wesley Clark, many thanks for joining us. I appreciate it.

Lebanon's health ministry says at least three people were killed and several more injured in an Israeli strike on Beirut. Today's early morning strike hit the top three floors of a building with two missiles, according to the country's national news agency. Israel's second attack on southern Beirut in recent days, testing the shaky ceasefire between Israel and the Iran-backed militant group.

It's a verdict that's upended the French political landscape. Far- right leader Marine Le Pen is speaking out after being barred from office for five years. More on the impact of that judgment just ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) [03:45:00]

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CHURCH: French far-right leader Marine Le Pen slammed a court's ruling that bars her from running for office as a, quote, "political decision."

Le Pen was found guilty in an embezzlement trial on Monday. She left court before her sentence was handed down, banning her from running for office for five years. That punishment eliminates the current frontrunner from standing in the 2027 French presidential election.

CNN's Melissa Bell has more on a verdict that's upended French politics.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MELISSA BELL, CNN SR. INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: It was a very combative Marine Le Pen who took to French airways in prime time in the wake of the verdict and sentencing that has seen her barred from seeking political office for the next five years. This was a trial that concluded in Paris in November.

The verdict and the sentencing handed out this Monday saw not just Marine Le Pen, but several of the national rally's MEPs found guilty of embezzling European funds that should have gone to funding parliamentary assistance and the court found were in fact used, the money was used to fund party political workers here in France.

That vast system, as the judge described it, spanned several years and was of such severity that she had decided to hand down the most severe sentence sought by the prosecution. Even before she heard it, once Marine Le Pen began to understand what kind of sentencing she was received -- about to receive, she left the courtroom and it was to that anger that she spoke on French television in the wake of the sentencing, announcing that she is a fighter, that she will not take this sitting down and that she will do everything she can to fight against what she described as a political decision.

The presiding judge in the case, as she delivered the verdict and the sentencing however, very clear to explain that it was precisely to protect democracy and the affront that had been done to it by this embezzlement of Marine Le Pen's party that she was seeking such severe sentencing.

Still, it is now a very political and very loud fight that the leader of the National Front intends to wage against this and in the name she hopes of being able to salvage her political career.

Melissa Bell, CNN, Paris.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CHURCH: Still to come, masked federal agents try to hunt down a foreign graduate student at Columbia University without offering a reason. She managed to flee the country and is now sharing her story with CNN.

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[03:50:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CHURCH: Welcome back everyone.

The Trump administration is threatening to revoke nearly $9 billion in federal grants and contracts from Harvard University. It accuses the school of failing to protect students from anti-Semitism in the wake of pro-Palestinian demonstrations last year. Protesters, including some Jewish groups, say the Trump administration is conflating criticism of Israel's war in Gaza with anti-Semitism.

Harvard's president says the university has addressed anti-Semitism on campus and will continue to do so, but he warns without government funding, life-saving research will be halted.

The Trump administration is casting a wide and indiscriminate net on dissent and on foreign university students in general. Some are being arrested and deported, accused of being terrorist sympathizers.

CNN's Shimon Prokupecz has the story of one Columbia University student who suddenly found herself the target of federal agents.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SHIMON PROKUPECZ, CNN SR. CRIME AND JUSTICE REPORTER (voice-over): This new cell phone video captured by a roommate and obtained exclusively by CNN shows masked Homeland Security agents inside Columbia University housing, searching Ranjani Srinivasan's apartment after the Trump administration revoked her student visa, targeting her for deportation.

The search inside the apartment in mid-March lasted just minutes. This was the third time federal agents came to her door. By then, Srinivasan, an Indian national, was already gone, having fled to Canada in a panic, leaving her home of nearly 10 years.

RANJANI SRINIVASAN, FORMER COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY STUDENT: It still doesn't feel. Really.

PROKUPECZ: Do you miss being there?

SRINIVASAN: Yes. All my friends are there. My home like my cat.

I don't know that I'm going -- actually be able to go back.

PROKUPECZ: Do you think you will?

SRINIVASAN: I mean, I won't. All my friends and family like (inaudible) was there right now.

PROKUPECZ (voice-over): It all began when the State Department abruptly cancelled her student visa, triggering a disturbing set of events. Immigration agents started showing up at her door. She and her roommate didn't allow them in.

SRINIVASAN: They basically started yelling in the corridor, saying, my name, saying (inaudible). And she just said, she asked them, do you have a warrant? And they had to say no. And she was like, sorry, bye.

PROKUPECZ: Did you have any reason to understand why they were doing this?

SRINIVASAN: No, I was stunned and scared. I -- when she told me, she turned back and told me ICE at the door. And I was just shivering.

PROKUPECZ (voice-over): Within days, she heard of the high-profile arrest of Columbia graduate student Mahmood Khalil. Scared she was next, she went into hiding.

[03:55:00]

PROKUPECZ: Were you afraid that they were going to take you and then detain you and hold you in an ICE detention center?

SRINIVASAN: Yes, I was very afraid. But that fear was not born out of something I had done, because I had done nothing wrong.

It was more about the other things that were happening around us. There have been disappearances, there have been random arrests. So I could not predict what would happen next.

PROKUPECZ (voice-over): Srinivasan's troubles trace back to two summonses she received during protests outside Columbia University on April 30th of 2024. DHS said she never reported them on her visa renewal.

Srinivasan says she was trying to return home and wasn't part of the protest. Those summonses were dismissed months before she applied for renewal, and there should have been no record of their existence.

NATHAN YAFFE, ATTORNEY FOR RANJANI SRINIVASAN: When people aren't fingerprinted, when they're not charged with a crime, convicted with a crime, that's information that New York City and New York State has said they don't make available to the federal government. And this raises very serious questions about those representations.

PROKUPECZ (voice-over): The question that Srinivasan's lawyers are grappling with now, how did she even get on the radar of federal authorities? For one, records reviewed by CNN show she was not in New York City during the peak of the campus protests, and never participated in the encampments.

That didn't stop Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem from posting this video of Sreenivasan at LaGuardia airport on March 11th, and calling her a terrorist sympathizer.

SRINIVASAN: I'm not a terrorist sympathizer. I'm not a pro-Hamas activist. I'm just literally a random student. It just seems very strange that they would spend so much, you know,

like vast resources in like sort of persecuting me.

PROKUPECZ (voice-over): The former Fulbright scholar, who earned her master's degree from Harvard, was just two months shy of achieving a lifelong dream, getting her PhD from Columbia University. For now, that's all in jeopardy.

PROKUPECZ: What are you worried about?

SRINIVASAN: I mean, without a degree, I mean, all of this is, you know, it's not going to be recognized, any of this work. My five years is completely wasted.

PROKUPECZ: Now, CNN has reached out to all of the agencies named in our story, the Department of Homeland Security, the NYPD, Columbia University, the New York City mayor's office, which told us they would look into this. They never got back to us. All of the agencies have not responded to our requests for comment.

Shimon Prokupecz, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CHURCH: I want to thank you for spending part of your day with me. I'm Rosemary Church.

"The Amanpour Hour" is coming up next, then stay tuned for "Early Start" with Rahel Solomon, starting at 5 a.m. in New York, 10 a.m. in London. Have a wonderful day.

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