Return to Transcripts main page

CNN Newsroom

Bodies Exhumed From Mass Graves At Al-Shifa Hospital; Parents Of Michigan School Shooter Get 10-15 Years In Prison; Arizona Court Upholds 1864 Law, Bans Nearly All Abortions; Immense Suffering Inside Gaza's Struggling Hospitals; Turkey Restricting Exports to Israel over Aid Dispute; Japanese Prime Ministers in Washington; Mexico Releases Video of Embassy Raid. Aired 1-2a ET

Aired April 10, 2024 - 01:00   ET

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


(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[01:00:30]

JOHN VAUSE, CNN ANCHOR: Hello. I'm John Vause. Coming up here on CNN Newsroom.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Situation here is intense. It's catastrophic.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: And getting worse even as more aid trucks are allowed to cross into Gaza. Human Rights Watch alleges children are dying because of his ready starvation tactics.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And now we're talking about whether or not we should that doctor in jail.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: Just like they did in the good old days of Arizona way back in 1864, when the total abortion ban was in effect, because now that law is once again enforceable.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The Court has recognized us and our fundamental right to a healthy climate.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: And Switzerland found guilty of violating human rights, for not doing enough to stop climate change. A landmark ruling with sweeping consequences.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Live from Atlanta, this is CNN Newsroom with John Vause.

VAUSE: U.S. President Joe Biden has delivered his sharpest rebuke yet to the Israeli prime minister and how he has conducted the war in Gaza. During an interview with "Univision News," President Biden was blunt, saying he disagrees with Netanyahu's approach and call for an immediate weeks long humanitarian ceasefire.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I think what he's is a mistake. I don't agree with his approach. I think it's outrageous. So I'm -- what I'm calling for is for the Israelis to just call for a ceasefire, allow for the next six eight weeks total access to all food and medicine going into the country. And I think there's no excuse to not provide for the medical and the food needs of those people. That should be done now.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: The biggest disagreement right now between both leaders is a looming Israeli offensive on the southern border city of Rafah, now home to almost one and a half million Palestinians. Netanyahu is under immense pressure from within his far right coalition government. Number of senior cabinet ministers are demanding a ground invasion go ahead, targeting the last Hamas fighters and infrastructure in Gaza.

But senior White House officials doubt that a date has ever been set for the Rafah offensive despite claims from Benjamin Netanyahu to the contrary, suggesting he may be all bluster at the moment. More now from CNN's Jeremy Diamond.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): As Palestinians pick through the rubble in the wake of a major Israeli withdrawal, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is vowing this reprieve in the fighting will not last.

BENJAMIN NETANYAHU, ISRAELI PRIME MINISTER (through translator): We will complete the elimination of Hamas's battalions, including in Rafah. No force in the world will stop us.

DIAMOND (voice-over): Netanyahu's bellicose rhetoric coming after he faced recriminations from his right flank. With Israel's National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir threatening to pull out of the government if the war ends without an invasion of Rafah.

Overnight, Israel's military focus on threats from outside Gaza, fending off the latest attack from Houthi militants in Yemen. For the first time, Israel's C-dome air defense system, a ship mounted version of the Iron Dome shooting down a Houthi drone over the Red Sea.

Tonight, Israel's security cabinet convening to discuss, start and stop negotiations over a potential ceasefire and hostage release deal. For now, a deal seems out of reach. In a statement, Hamas says Israel's latest position has not responded to any of the demands of our people and our resistance.

ANTONY BLINKEN, U.S. SECRETARY OF STATE: The ball is in Hamas's court. The world is watching to see what it does.

DIAMOND (voice-over): Hamas continuing to insist on the total withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza, an unfettered access for Palestinians seeking to return to northern Gaza. The ratio of Palestinian prisoners to be released in exchange for 40 Israeli hostages also still being negotiated. Amid the ruins of Gaza's largest hospital, Palestinian crews and U.N. agencies sift through mounds of dirt and shallow mass graves. Exhuming the bodies of dozens who were killed during the Israeli military's two-week assault on the hospital where Israel says it was battling Hamas militants.

Gaza's civil defense says 381 bodies have been recovered so far, in an effort to give some peace to the dead and their loved ones. Three weeks after Ghassan Qunaitta says his 83-year-old father was detained by the Israeli army, he has found what remains of his body.

[01:05:20]

We've been looking for almost a week since they withdrew from the area until this moment, he says. Five minutes ago, my nephew called me and told me they found the body over there.

That sense of closure is cold comfort for Ghassan and his family. But others, like Dr. Nuha Swailem, are looking for just that. I came to look for my husband, she says, explaining that he is a doctor who was detained by the Israeli military. Now she does not know if he is alive or dead. Where are they? She cries. We don't know if they are arrested or detained underground or above ground. Where are they? Tell us where they are. Tell me where my husband is. A search for answers that is far from over.

Jeremy Diamond, CNN, Jerusalem.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

VAUSE: For the first time the parents of a school shooter in the United States have been held accountable for their child's actions. A court in Michigan citizens James and Jennifer Crumbley to 10 to 15 years in prison, along they're criminally responsible for a mass school shooting committed by their son. The Crumbley's were found guilty of involuntary manslaughter earlier this year. Their son is serving a life sentence without parole for killing four students including six others and the teacher when he opened fire at Oxford High School in 2021. He did not testify at his parents trials. More details now from CNN, Jean Casarez.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JUDGE CHERYL MATTHEWS, OAKLAND COUNTY CIRCUIT COURT: It is the status of this court, Ms. Crumbley that you serve 10 to 15 years. As to defendant James Crumbley it is a sense of this court that you serve 10 to 15 years. JEAN CASAREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Historic sentences handed down for the parents of a teen who killed four students at a Michigan High School in 2021.

MATTHEWS: It is the goal of sentencing to act as a deterrent. These convictions are not about poor parenting. These convictions confirm repeated acts or lack of acts that could have halted an oncoming runaway train.

CASAREZ (voice-over): James and Jennifer Crumbley, were found guilty of involuntary manslaughter in separate trials earlier this year, the first time parents of a mass school shooter had been held directly accountable for an attack. On November 30th, 2021, their son killed Madisyn Baldwin, Tate Myre, Justin Shilling, and Hana St. Juliana at Oxford High School using a gun gifted to him by Jennifer and her husband.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The blood of our children is on your hands too.

CASAREZ (voice-over): Family of the victims gave statements ahead of the sentencing.

NICOLE BEAUSOLEIL, MOTHER OF SHOOTING VICTIM MADISYN BALDWIN: When you worried about what people thought of you and feeling threatened. I was learning your son threatened my daughter and fatally shot her in the head. While you were hiding, I was planning her funeral. And while you were running away from your son and your responsibilities, I was forced to do the worst possible thing a parent could do. I was forced to say goodbye to my Madisyn.

CASAREZ (voice-over): The older sister, a 14-year-old victim Hana St. Juliana says no punishment will ever be enough.

REINA ST. JULIANA, SISTER OF SHOOTING VICTIM HANA ST. JULIANA: I now have to live without Hana, my little sister, my best friend, my other half. To me that makes a maximum sentence being 15 years too short, Hanna even have 15 years to live.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: On this measure has destroyed a large portion of my very soul.

CASAREZ (voice-over): Both Crumbley spoke up on their own behalf, James Crumbley, for the first time since his trial began.

JENNIFER CRUMBLEY, MOTHER OF SCHOOL SHOOTER: To the victims and the families, a standard day not to ask for your forgiveness, as I know it may be beyond reach but to express my sincerest apologies for the pain that has been caused. I will be in my own internal person for the rest of my life.

JAMES CRUMBLEY, FATHER OF SCHOOL SHOOTER: I really want the families to know how truly I am -- how truly sorry I am and I'll continue to feel this pain for the rest of my life as well. If I could go back and change things, if I could go back and do things differently, and maybe none of us would be here today.

CASAREZ (voice-over): Jean Casarez, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

VAUSE: To New York now, Nick Suplina, he is a senior vice president with Everytown for Gun Safety, a nonprofit organization, which advocates for gun control and against gun violence. Nick, thanks for being with us.

[01:10:03]

NICK SUPLINA, SENIOR VP FOR LAW AND POLICY, EVERYTOWN FOR GUN SAFETY: Pleasure to be here.

VAUSE: So were you surprised that the Crumbleys receives such a lengthy prison sentences given this legal precedent which has been set, the judge seems to be sending some kind of message with this?

SUPLINA: Well, I think the judge explicitly said she was sending a message here. And it's a message that not only needs to be sent, it needs to be received. The fact is, is that the Crumbleys has put a loaded gun in the hand of an unwell child, and failed to take a number of other steps that could have stopped, could have prevented a tragedy from happening. And so I think the sentence really meets the level of negligence, that the prosecution proved at trial.

VAUSE: And the prosecutor pushed for the sentencing to exceed the sentencing guidelines. And that's obviously where the judge went with his 10 to 15 years in jail, which seems like quite a long period of time.

SUPLINA: This is meant to send a message across the country, to parents that are not securely storing their firearms, and that are otherwise acting irresponsibly, because you're not just putting your own kids lives at stake, you're putting the greater community at stake. I think the facts in this case were pretty exceptional. And warranted the, you know, the upper end of the sentencing range. But the fact of the matter is, is that a message needed to be sent one way or the other.

VAUSE: And the case was essentially about parental liability. And there have been some concerns expressed about where do you draw the line now. So on that, I want you to listen to Tom Hoyer, his teenage son was killed in the Parkland shooting, he's talking about why this case was so unique. Here he is.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TOM HOYER, SON LUKE KILLED IN 2018 PARKLAND SCHOOL SHOOTING: When you are as egregious as this family isn't just ignoring the signs and ignoring the transgressions and actually encouraging the ownership of a weapon. I think it'll send a message to families like that, that, you know, there's a consequence, you got to step up, and you got to face reality. You got to get your kid some help.

(END VIDEO CLIP) VAUSE: Yes, and common sense would suggest that parents who do in fact, act responsibly, they lock guns away, they keep them away from minors, they're aware of their kids mental health are not the ones who should be worried here.

SUPLINA: Well, that's exactly right. Look, we're not asking too much of parents at all. But it might surprise you to know that right now, in the United States, there are 4.6 million children living in homes where at least one gun is secure -- is stored, loaded, and unlocked, which, and those parents should be waking up to this verdict and saying, OK, I'm going to change my practice, I'm going to lock up my firearms. What we've seen time and again, I mean, three and four school shootings in the United States are committed with a gun that was obtained from a parent or a relative. I mean that is that, that not just the nature of parental responsibility, but have a responsibility to the safety of the whole community.

And so the time has come for, you know, this to be a standard, responsible practice. We do a lot to protect our kids. You know, we cover up the plugs when they're babies and we make sure there aren't choking hazards. Well, if you're bringing a firearm into your home, you got to lock that firearm, lock it up, store it separately from ammunition. And certainly, as the, you know, the Parkland parents mentioned, don't buy your underage child a handgun and get -- and allow him to get access to it, that is beyond the pale.

VAUSE: I want you to listen a part of what Jennifer Crumbley said to the court, during sentencing. Here she is.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JENNIFER CRUMBLEY: The prosecution has tried to mold us into the type of parents society wants to believe, are so horrible, only a school or mass shooter could be bred from. This is a very fatal assumption to have. We were good parents. We were the average family. We weren't perfect, but we loved our son and each other tremendously.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: I'm sure she loves her son, but here the thing, she was not a good parent. Good parents don't do what she did. And her actions did create a school shooter at least helped create one as well. And as cool as that may sound, it's fact. And it seems, you know, one of the things that comes out of this is it how important is it to actually, you know, call out bad parenting to change attitudes and perceptions of what actually means to be a good parent.

SUPLINA: Right. I mean, I think that that really is the point, right? I mean, I think the norm maybe the cultural understanding or lack of understanding in the country is that you can be a good parent and keep a firearm, unsecured or give your unwell child a firearm. This case answers that as a legal matter but also as a cultural one as a social one. No, you are not a good parent if you are allowing your unwell child access to a deadly weapon.

VAUSE: Nick, thank you for being with us and thank you for what you do and appreciate your time. Thank you.

[01:15:05]

SUPLINA: Thank you.

VAUSE: There was no last minute reprieve for a double murder on death row in the U.S. state of Missouri. Despite a plea for mercy backed by more than 70 correctional officers and some members of the victim's families, Brian Dorsey was executed Tuesday by lethal injection for fatally shooting his cousin, Sarah Bonnie, and her husband Benjamin in 2006. The time Dorsey says he was a drug induced psychosis and alcohol induced blackout caused by years of substance abuse. His lawyer cited Dorsey's remorse rehabilitation behind bars and poor legal representation at his trial. It's reasons why he should not be put to death, as arguments do not hold.

A ruling by Arizona Supreme Court has set the state's abortion law back to 1864, literally. Its Civil War was still being fought and Arizona wasn't even a state when it passed in a total ban on abortion. The only exception being to save the life of the mother, doctors who provide abortion services faced up to five years in prison. The law was never repealed. And according to the Arizona Supreme Court, it remains enforceable and replaces a total abortion ban after 15 weeks. For now, though, everything is on hold for two weeks while a lower court considers certain constitutional issues. Arizona's attorney general, though, has no plans to enforce this law.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KRIS MAYES, ARIZONA ATTORNEY GENERAL: We're looking at everything, you know, that we possibly can to make sure that this ban never actually goes into place in Arizona. As Attorney General I will not prosecute any doctor, nurse, pharmacist or woman under the 1864 ban or the 15- week ban that we also had in place and that promise remains firm.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: More details now from CNN, Natasha Chen.

NATASHA CHEN, CNN U.S. NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Tuesday's ruling was supposed to offer clarity for Arizonans, but now it may spur further confusion. The ruling states that the state has to adhere to the older law dating back to 1864, where nearly all abortions are banned, except for cases where they need to save the life of the mother. Providers of such abortions can be imprisoned between two to five years.

Now there was a 15-week abortion ban passed in the state in 2022. But the courts logic is that that was predicated on Roe versus Wade. And when Roe was overturned in 2022, they say there's no longer a basis for that law. And so therefore, the older law is now back in effect. Now this ruling there's a stay on it for 14 days, that's when it'll go into effect. No one who provided abortions prior to this ruling will be subject to the penalty. You can imagine the strong reactions coming out now, here is a state senator, Ava Burch, who talked about the fact that she had an abortion just a couple of weeks ago, because it was determined that her embryo would not survive, and that she was trying to prevent having to go through a painful miscarriage. Here she is.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. EVA BURCH (D-AZ): Somebody gave me a procedure so they wouldn't have to experience another miscarriage, the pain, the mess, the discomfort. And now we're talking about whether or not we should put that doctor in jail. This is outrageous that we would even dignify the consideration of this type of ban. A ban drafted when women had no say, when Arizona was not a state.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHEN: The State's Attorney General has already said that she will not prosecute under this law. Planned Parenthood has said that they will continue providing abortion services for a short period of time. And in the meantime, there is a group gathering signatures hoping to put a ballot initiative forward in November to the voters to enshrine abortion rights in the state of Arizona.

Natasha Chen, CNN, Los Angeles.

[01:19:01]

VAUSE: When we come back, a landmark climate decision which could have ripple effects worldwide, an international court rules, the government of Switzerland violated human rights by failing to act on climate change.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

VAUSE: A landmark ruling from the European Court on Human Rights is found Switzerland violated human rights by failing to adequately address climate change. It's the first time the court has ruled on climate matters. The case was brought by more than 2000 Swiss women most in their 70s claiming heat waves were harming their health and quality of life. More details down from CNN's Clare Sebastian.

CLARE SEBASTIAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, the fact that three cases claiming government alleged inaction on climate change violates people's human rights made it to the European Court of Human Rights in the first place was already groundbreaking. But the fact that one of the cases was partially successful is another major milestone for climate activists. It explicitly links national climate change policies with a state's duty to protect the human rights of its citizens. And it bolsters of course the body of proof that litigation can be an effective tool, alongside global treaties, to force governments to do more to stop global warming.

Experts and activists say this will open the floodgates to more cases in Europe and globally where there is a growing trend of human rights cases being brought over climate change that of you shared by Swedish climate activist, Greta Thunberg.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GRETA THUNBERG, CLIMATE CHANGE ACTIVIST: This is only the beginning of climate litigation all over the world, more and more people are taking their government to court holding them responsible for their actions. And this means -- the results of this can mean in Norway that we get lean back. This means that we have to fight even more since this is only the beginning.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SEBASTIAN: Well, the two other cases, including one attempting to force 32 countries to do more to prevent global warming were dismissed for technical reasons. But the court's ruling in the Swiss case is binding with no option to appeal. Switzerland will now be compelled to act, including possibly reducing its greenhouse gas consumption. The Swiss government says it's analyzing the judgment and the quote measures Switzerland has to take for the future.

Clare Sebastian, CNN, London.

VAUSE: Joining us live is Stephanie Collegato, a lawyer with the Global Legal Action Network. Thank you for being with us and getting up early. It's appreciated.

STEPHANIE CALIGARA, LAWYER, GLOBAL LEGAL ACTION NETWORK: Hello, thank you for having me.

VAUSE: OK. So, well, the long term legal consequences from this decision are yet to play out. Here's the likely short term impact from one of your colleagues who was there when the decision was read out.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LUCY MAXWELL, CO-DIRECTOR, CLIMATE LITIGATION NETWORK: The biggest impact of today's ruling will be for the communities who already have climate cases against their governments to challenge their weak climate action. So there are a number of different cases in Europe already, where communities are taking their governments to court.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: OK, so cases which are already currently underway, but would you also expect to see a flurry of new legal action against governments which are not, for example, meeting their commitments on reducing carbon emissions under the Paris protocol?

CALIGARA: Yes, absolutely. So this decision is truly historic, because the court said that existential threat of climate change was the human rights of the citizens of the Council of Europe. And we therefore think and believe that different organizations and groups at the domestic level and all the members of the Council of Europe will take hold of that decision and try to bring their own litigation using the principles to what has just freshly enunciated yesterday.

VAUSE: If not take this one step further, does this legal precedent in a way make what was a voluntary commitment in the Paris deal, in some ways, now legally enforceable?

CALIGARA: Well, that's what we aimed at achieving. And in fact, you're right. This binding judgment is now enforceable against Switzerland, but as I said, the principle announced it in there are applicable to the entire council of Europe member states. So it means that any run state in fact that is to try to reduce the emission will have to take into account the statements that court made in disregard, one important statement for instance is the reference to do 1.5 degree target, which was not so clear from the Paris Agreement and often time could have been relying on the two degree targets, which is far less efficient. So that's the magic major win.

[01:25:23]

VAUSE: I want you to see the part of the verdict from the court in particular, what the Swiss government failed to do. Listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SIOFRA O'LEARY, PRESIDENT, EUROPEAN COURT OF HUMAN RIGHTS: The failure to quantify through a carbon budget or otherwise, national greenhouse gas emissions limitations, the respondent state had previously failed to meet its past greenhouse gas emission reduction targets, by failing to act in good time and in an appropriate and consistent manner.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: What struck me was just how specific the court was what was done and what was not done. I guess the question now is, how long does the government of Switzerland have to remedy the situation?

CALIGARA: Well, so as the Court said, rightly, the Swiss government has failed to meet its previous climate targets. But more importantly, the Swiss government will now have to adopt new climate targets that are much more ambitious, and that will require a very steep and rapid decrease in emission. So we expect the Swiss government, check as from today onwards and make these changes as soon as possible. And otherwise, if it doesn't act quickly enough, or if it doesn't fulfill the judgment, the Council of Ministers of the Council of Europe will be there to oversee the enforcement of the decision.

VAUSE: When it comes to Switzerland and environmental standards and climate change, it does have a reputation of being, you know, one of the leading countries when it comes to mitigating carbon emissions as well as, you know, we as gases are trying to live up to the promises that made during the Paris Agreement. It seems surprising that Switzerland was the one that was actually taken to court when there are so many other countries, which are in far greater violation when it comes to, you know, egregious action against the environment.

CALIGARA: Well, in fact, if you look at the science right now, the measures Switzerland has in place, if pursued as they are, they would lead if all countries were doing the same level of effort to a warming of 3 to 4 degrees in 2,000, which is enormous. And Switzerland, of course has established a lot of measures already. But in fact, it must do more due to its historic responsibilities and also principles of equity that are embedded in the fair ship in burden sharing principle that the Paris Agreement rest of them.

VAUSE: Stephanie Caligara, congratulations. It is a great legal ruling. Well done and reason to celebrate. Thanks for being with us.

CALIGARA: Thank you so much.

VAUSE: Take care.

Well, no fuel major damage and drastic shortage of doctors and medicine for most Gaza's decimated hospital system.

And Turkey cutting off key exports to Israel as the dispute continues to grow over aid delivery to Gaza.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[01:30:30]

JOHN VAUSE, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome back everyone. I'm John Vause. You're watching CNN NEWSROOM.

In northern Gaza, Bodies are being exhumed from mass graves around the al-Shifa hospital. A warning now, some of the images you are about to see are graphic.

Officials say the remains of nearly 400 people have now been recovered from the vicinity of the complex since Israeli forces withdrew April 1st, after a two-week long siege. Some of the bodies have been crushed by tanks, making identification difficult.

Other hospitals in Gaza are also struggling to keep patients alive and to keep the lights on.

CNN's Paula Hancocks reports on the ongoing suffering in Gaza.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: A nine-year-old girl cries out, "it hurts, it hurts". The doctor holds her hand as she lies on the floor and tells her it's going to be ok.

There's no pain medication for her burns and shrapnel wounds. He tells her to pray.

Nearby, another doctor tries to save one of his own, performing CPR on a paramedic who was injured by Israeli artillery fire. His heart eventually restarts, one life saved amid so much loss. His longer-term chances of survival in a decimated medical system are unclear.

These doctors are American, volunteers on a World Health Organization- coordinated mission to the north of Gaza, desperate to help in an ever more helpless crisis.

DR. FARHAN ABDELAZIZ, EMERGENCY MEDICINE PHYSICIAN: The situation here is intense. It's catastrophic.

I believe these words are hard to describe what we're seeing. I mean, you're talking about mass casualty events where people are coming in with limited staff and limited overworked staff, hungry staff, all working who've been displaced from homes and they're sitting here, and they're trying to do the best they can.

HANCOCKS: This is Kamal Adwan Hospital in the north, one of the few hospitals still open though they're barely functional.

DR. SAMER ATTAR, ORTHOPEDIC SURGEON: This morning we woke up and found out that four patients died in the ICU. One of them was about ten years old and the mom -- the mom just refused to refuse to leave the child's bedside, refused to believe that the child was dead, refused to let the staff cover her up. The child died of malnutrition and dehydration.

HANCOCKS: Patients here lie on the floor in their own blood. Electricity relies on solar panels, the fuel ran out some time ago.

The hospital's director says volunteer specialists traveling into Gaza are a massive help amid a shrinking medical staff, close to 500 medical personnel have been killed since October 7, nearly 300 others have been detained by the Israeli military, according to Gaza health authorities.

A U.N. backed report had warned famine could hit northern Gaza anytime between now and May.

Under U.S. pressure, the Israeli government announced last week, it would reopen the Erez Crossing to allow humanitarian goods to reach the area. Those plans have since been delayed according to an Israeli official, shattering what was a small but needed glimmer of hope.

DR. ATTAR: These people they just -- they just need help. They just want this to stop. Nobody talks -- nobody discusses politics here. They just -- they just talk about food and water and shelter. And they just want the war to end.

HANCOCKS: As the war enters its seventh month, the injured must be wondering if anyone is hearing their cries for help.

Paula Hancocks, CNN -- Abu Dhabi.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

VAUSE: Almost 500 aid trucks were allowed into Gaza Tuesday, the highest number since the war began according to Israeli officials. But just because the trucks have crossed the border doesn't mean the assistance is reaching those who need it.

A U.N. in spokesperson says distribution remains a serious problem.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

STEPHANE DUJARRIC, U.N. SPOKESPERSON: There's one thing which is counting trucks that are going through the crossing. Then there is the access to the -- for us to the point where all the goods in the trucks and not all the trucks that come through the crossing are full, right. For security reasons, they can't all be full as I understand it.

They then have to be transferred to smaller trucks. And then we have to have the ability to distribute them. The challenges on the other side have not changed.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[01:34:52]

VAUSE: Meantime, diplomatic tension continues to rise between Israel and Turkey after Ankara accused Israel of denying a request to airdrop aid into Gaza. Now, Turkey is restricting exports to Israel including steel, cement, and electrical cable. In turn, Israel is accusing Turkey of violating a trade agreement.

More details now from CNN's Scott McLean

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SCOTT MCLEAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Since the war in Gaza began, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has been one of the loudest voices against Israel, calling it a terrorist state, accusing it of genocide, and even making this comparison.

"Is there anything Netanyahu does that is less than Hitler? No," he said in December.

But despite the bark, there's been no bite until now.

"There can be no excuse to Israel preventing our attempt to send aid from the air to our Gazan brothers who are fighting hunger," said Hakan Fidan. "In response to this situation, we have decided to take a series of new measures against Israel."

After Turkey accused Israel of rejecting a Turkish request to airdrop aid to Gaza, Turkey's foreign minister promised consequences. Ankara has now banned the export of some metals, cement, industrial machinery more than 50 products to Israel until it agrees to a ceasefire in Gaza and allows for the uninterrupted flow of humanitarian aid.

Israeli foreign minister promised to retaliate with its own export bans aimed at Turkey's inflation-battered economy and said, "Erdogan is once again sacrificing the economic interests of the people of Turkey for his support of the Hamas murderers in Gaza."

Well, Turkish-Israeli political relations have been hot and cold through the years. Lately economic ties have only been warming with annual trade volume now into the billions.

And while there were some smaller organized boycotts of Israel and Turkey at the outset of the war, Erdogan government has long resisted calls to cut trade with Israel.

AKIF CAGATAY KILIC, TURKEY PRESIDENT ERDOGAN'S CHIEF ADVISER: Well, there's no talk about sanctions at this point.

MCLEAN: This was Erdogan's chief adviser in December.

KILIC: But of course, the relationship is strained.

MCLEAN: President Erdogan has called Israel a terrorist state. And I wonder why Turkey thinks it's ok to do business with a terrorist state?

KILIC: Well, I mean, you saying business but the fact is that there are certain companies that are based in Turkey. certain companies that are based in Israel. This is not a state-to-state issue.

MCLEAN: This week, police detained dozens of protesters on Istanbul's famous Istiklal Street, who were calling for Turkey to cut off trade with Israel. And in local elections less than two weeks ago, Erdogan was dealt a stinging defeat, with smaller parties promising to take stronger action against Israel siphoned off votes from his ruling AK Party.

You think that President Erdogan has heard the message from voters loud and clear?

SEDA DEMIRALP, PROFESSOR OF POLITICAL SCIENCE, ISIK UNIVERSITY ISTANBUL: Oh yes. This is a very clear message. Wherever you look, you see pro-government groups talking about how government failed to respond to domestic pressure, domestic demands about the Gaza war and about the economy, and how the government failed to notice that complaints were this big before.

MCCLEAN: Scott McLean, CNN, Istanbul.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

VAUSE: Still to come this hour, the Bidens welcome Japan's prime minister to Washington ahead of bilateral talks. Very latest on what they're set to discuss in a moment.

Also, Mexico releases video of the Ecuadorian police raid on its embassy in Quito as outrage grows.

[01:38:37]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

VAUSE: In the coming hours, the White House will host Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida on an official state visit. The U.S. president and first lady have rolled out the red carpet with official talks actually starting Wednesday. CNN's Hanako Montgomery has details on what's on the agenda.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

HANAKO MONTGOMERY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: On Tuesday, Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and U.S. President Joe Biden explored how the two countries could further develop their business relations with a specific focus on critical and emerging technology.

We saw the tech company Microsoft announce it would invest $2.9 billion over two years, focusing on its Cloud and A.I. development in Japan, making this Microsoft's largest investment in Japan in the 46 years it's been operational in the country.

Now, this investment would also help open its first Microsoft research Asia lab in Tokyo and further cybersecurity collaboration with the Japanese government.

Now, on Wednesday, according to a senior U.S government official I spoke with, we can expect Kishida and Biden to announce a joint defense council, which would explore further military exports.

We've already seen Japan agree to send U.S. designed Patriot missiles to the United States that were made in Japan. So this would be an expansion of such efforts.

Now, the government official I spoke with also said we can expect Kishida and Biden to announce a joint operations command in Japan, which is a move that the U.S. government has long pursued.

Right now, joined operations of U.S. personnel in Japan are directed by INDOPACOM, which is headquartered in Hawaii. So according to the experts I've spoken with, this would be much easier to coordinate military operations in real time.

Hanako Montgomery, CNN -- Tokyo

(END VIDEOTAPE)

O'DONNELL: The Organization of American States is condemning a raid by Ecuadorian police on Mexico's embassy in Quito as it kicked off an extraordinary session on the matter. Meantime Ecuador is calling for political asylum norms to be revised and updated.

Journalist Stefano Pozzebon has details.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

STEFANO POZZEBON, CNN JOURNALIST: The Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador has accused Ecuador of launching, and I quote, "an authoritarian assault after Ecuadorean police forced their way into the Mexican embassy in Quito on Friday to arrest the former Ecuadorian vice president Jorge Glas on charges of embezzlement.

On Tuesday, Lopez Obrador presented security footage from inside the embassy that shows how the mission chief, Roberto Canseco tried to resist and prevent the arrest, but was manhandled by Ecuadorian police officers who lifted and physically carried Glas outside the embassy to conduct the arrest.

Glas had previously been convicted twice for corruption and he maintains that those charges are politically motivated. He was seeking asylum inside the Mexican embassy

Ecuador had justified the operation on Friday saying that Mexico was abusing its diplomatic powers by sheltering a convicted criminal the operation has been almost universally condemned across Latin America.

But it's interesting that on Tuesday Lopez Obrador urged the United States to also set their position and the response from the White House arrived shortly after.

JAKE SULLIVAN, WHITE HOUSE NATIONAL SECURITY ADVISER: We've reviewed the security camera footage from the Mexican embassy and believe these actions were wrong. The Ecuadorian government disregarded its obligations under international law as a host state to respect the inviolability of diplomatic missions and jeopardize the foundation of basic diplomatic norms in relationships.

POZZEBON: The Organization of the American States is conducting meetings this week to discuss the matter. Today will be Mexico's turn to the polls.

However, Lopez Obrador has already said that his country will seek legal action at the International Court of Justice as well.

[01:44:53]

POZZEBON: Glas, instead has been in returned to maximum security prison in Guayaquil after he was taken to hospital on Sunday as he fell ill while in detention.

For CNN, this is Stefano Pozzebon -- Bogota.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

VAUSE: Donald Trump's hush money payment to a porn star trial is still on track, expected to begin on Monday as scheduled after New York appeals court denied a request for another delay. Trump's lawyers made the request to challenge a gag order preventing the former U.S. president from publicly commenting on witnesses, as well as court workers.

Judge Juan Merchan later expanded that order to cover his family members as well. That's after Trump made unfounded allegation about the judge's daughter on social media.

Newly-released police bodycam footage is revealing the mayhem that unfolded during a deadly traffic stop in Chicago when officers fired 96 shots in less than a minute.

Early investigations suggest 26-year-old Dexter Reed opened fire on police first, but questions remain as to why the plainclothes officers stopped him in the first place.

CNN's Omar Jimenez has details and a warning, this report contains disturbing video.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

OMAR JIMENEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: March 21st, 2024. Chicago police are initiating a traffic stop on a driver reportedly for not wearing a seatbelt, according to the Civilian Office of Police Accountability. A traffic stop being conducted by five tactical officers.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Roll the window down.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: What are you doing?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Roll this one down.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Roll that one down too.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What's going on?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Hey, don't roll the window up. Don't roll the window up.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Ok, Ok.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Do not roll the window up.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Ok.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Unlock the doors now.

JIMENEZ: The temperature quickly escalates. One officer puts what appears to be his gun on the windshield. Reed then fires first, hitting an officer in the forearm, according to the initial investigation. Then chaos.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hey.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Drop your gun. Gun fire.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Shots fired.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Shots fired.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Shots fired. Pick it up.

JIMENEZ: Reed goes down. Then, three final gunshots. 96 in total, according to investigators. A gun was later recovered from the front seat of Reed's car.

Porscha Banks had just been on the phone with her brother, in the minutes before it all happened. Then she turned on a police scanner at her shop.

PORSCHA BANKS, SISTER OF DEXTER REED: Listening to the police talking like saying, shots fired, but I can hear all the shots on the scanner. I can hear so many shots, so many shots, so many shots. But didn't know that it was my brother.

So then to know later on that night that those shots that I heard and then the MLMs (ph) going past my shop was my brother, was the most heartbreaking thing that I could ever feel in my life.

JIMENEZ: One of the family's attorneys argues this never should have happened in the first place.

ANDREW M. STROTH, ATTORNEY FOR THE FAMILY: There was a weapon recovered in his car. However, it started with an unconstitutional, pretextual, and unnecessary stop of Dexter Reed. And that's what precipitated the entire incident.

JIMENEZ: And questions remain over why tactical officers initiated a traffic stop for a supposed seat belt violation.

As part of a brief statement, Chicago police says this incident is still under investigation. But the stop is where it all began.

ROOSEVELT R. BANKS III, UNCLE OF DEXTER REED: If you don't stop my nephew, he'll be alive today.

JIMENEZ: Reed's uncle sitting alongside his father.

R. BANKS: When this happened to my nephew, I hope the police can understand that this is the same pain that they feel when an officer is killed in the line of duty.

JIMENEZ: It's a pain that manifests in memories and pain that manifests in despair.

NICOLE BANKS, MOTHER, DEXTER REED: They took my son away from me. We don't got that no more. I don't know what I'm going to do without him.

P. BANKS: And I just wish that I could talk to him one more time. But to see him gunned down, I never ever thought that it would be him. I never thought that it would be him. I never thought that it would be him.

JIMENEZ: Just hearing the amount of shots is incredibly difficult for anyone but especially this family. And that's a lot of what we talked about. They're dealing with pain on the inside but from the outside looking in initial reports do indicate that Reed did fire first.

So the initial response from police is less of what's in question here. What's in question is why this traffic stop happened in the first place and why the shots continued in the way that they did.

[01:49:54]

JIMENEZ: The Office of Police Accountability has recommended the police department relieve these officers of their police powers while this investigation plays out and it's an investigation the police department says they are fully cooperating with. Omar Jimenez, CNN -- Chicago.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

VAUSE: Security has been ramped up for this week's Champions League matches after threats from the terror group ISIS.

More than 1,200 security personnel are expected to be deployed in Paris on Wednesday when Paris St. Germaine plays Barcelona.

Tuesday match between Arsenal and Bayern Munich in London went off as scheduled at Emirates Stadium despite the threats. London's Metropolitan Police say the U.K. terrorism threat level remains at substantial, meaning an attack is likely.

In Madrid, Spanish security forces reinforced security measures ahead of Real Madrid's match with Manchester City. A source with Spanish police tells CNN that since last month's attack in Moscow, terrorists are trying to maintain a climate of alarm and fear.

When we come back, could Boeing's Dreamliner be the company's next nightmare. New allegations from a whistleblower of dangerous shortcuts and shoddy workmanship. More on those allegations next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

VAUSE: A Boeing engineer is accusing the company of taking dangerous shortcuts, while constructing some Dreamliner widebody jets. Boeing is already under federal investigation after a series of catastrophic incidents, including when a panel of the fuselage ripped off one plane midair.

CNN'S Gabe Cohen has details.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

GABE COHEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Boeing is back under the microscope with this alarming FAA complaint filed by one of the company's engineers, a man named Sam Salehpour, alleging that Boeing has been cutting corners in its assembly of two of its planes, the 787 Dreamliner and the 777, roughly 1,400 planes between them.

Now, he makes several claims in this complaint, including that crews have been forcing together parts of the fuselage, the main body of the plane, that are misaligned, basically jamming those parts together.

Here's how he described one today.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I literally saw people jumping on the pieces of the airplane to get them to align basically by jumping up and down. That's not how you build an airplane.

COHEN: And he says the shimming process, which is how they fill all the tiny gaps when they put pieces of the plane together has not been done properly, which could put a lot of added stress on those parts and dramatically reduce the lifespan of the plane. To quote a dire warning from the complaint, they say these defects

could ultimately cause a premature fatigue failure without any warning, thus creating unsafe conditions for the aircraft with potentially catastrophic accidents and passenger fatalities.

Now Boeing, for their part, is vehemently denying these claims, saying that they are inaccurate and do not represent the work that Boeing has done to ensure safety and that the issues raised here have been subject to, as they put it, rigorous engineering examination under FAA oversight.

To be clear, these allegations are not entirely new. The FAA halted temporarily deliveries of the Dreamliner back in 2021 because of similar issues with those gaps in-between parts of the plane. Boeing at that point said it had made changes to fix the problem.

[01:54:50]

COHEN: But the allegation here is that they never really fixed it. So the FAA is now investigating this, but not saying much about the complaint in the meantime.

And we have also learned that Sam Salehpour, this whistleblower, is going to testify in front of a Senate subcommittee next week for a hearing focused on Boeing's safety.

Gabe Cohen, CNN -- Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

VAUSE: For the first time ever, the national championship game in women's college basketball in the U.S. drew a larger television audience than the men's final, by a long way.

Almost 19 million people tuned in Sunday for the women's game between South Carolina and Iowa. That's 4 million viewers more than the men's championship game between UConn and Purdue on Monday.

Well, a shortlist for this year's International Booker Prize has been announced. The award honors the best novels and short stories collections from around the world that have been translated into English and published in the U.K. or Ireland?

Here are the titles. This is shortlist that features work from six countries. The winner will be announced at a ceremony in May. $63,000 in prize money is split between the author and the translator.

Fans will have a chance to lose themselves once again in the trials and tribulations of Bridget Jones. Renee Zellweger is set to return in the title role of "Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy".

This is actually the fourth installment of the film franchise, picks up 14 years after Bridget landed Mark Darcy played by Colin Firth. Hugh Grant will reprise his role as Daniel Kliger, her former boss. "Bridget Jones: Mad about the Boy" expected to hit theaters internationally on Peacock in the U.S. (INAUDIBLE) say next year. Renee Zellweger looks really different with dark hair, doesn't she?

Anyway.

Thank you for watching. I'm John Vause.

CNN NEWSROOM continues after a very short break with my friend and colleague, Rosemary Church sitting in the chair.

I will see you right back here tomorrow.

[01:56:42]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)