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CNN International: U.S. Looking to Lower Tensions Between Israel and Iran; USAID: Famine Already Occurring in Parts of Gaza; Ukraine Reels From Thursday's Massive Power Grid Attack; Fumio Kishida's Address to Congress. Aired 4-4:30a ET

Aired April 12, 2024 - 04:00   ET

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

[04:00:00]

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BENJAMIN NETANYAHU, ISRAELI PRIME MINISTER (through translator): Whoever hurts us, we hurt him. We are preparing to meet the security needs of the state of Israel.

FUMIO KISHIDA, JAPANESE PRIME MINISTER: China's current external stance and military actions present unprecedented and the greatest strategic challenge.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Orenthal James Simpson not guilty of a crime of murder.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm sorry to have to say this on the day that he passed away. But someone asked me once, do you think O.J. did it? I said, yes. They said, why? And I said, because I live on this planet.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ANNOUNCER: Live from London, this is CNN NEWSROOM with Max Foster.

MAX FOSTER, CNN ANCHOR: Hello and a warm welcome to our viewers joining us from around the world. I'm Max Foster. And It's Friday, April the 12th, 9 a.m. here in London, 11 a.m. in Israel, which is preparing for a possible attack from Iran whilst the U.S. is working to prevent it.

Iran's foreign minister spoke by phone this week with his counterparts from Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. The U.S. has reportedly called those three diplomats, urging them to help lower tension in the region. Israel bracing for retaliation after a strike on the Iranian consulate in Damascus, Syria last week that killed a dozen Iranian military officials.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says he's preparing for all scenarios. Here's more of what he had to say during a visit to an Israeli air base on Thursday.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BENJAMIN NETANYAHU, ISRAELI PRIME MINISTER (through translator): We are in the midst of the war in Gaza, which continues in full force.

At the same time, we continue our unceasing efforts to return our hostages. But we are also preparing for scenarios of challenges in other arenas. And we established a simple principle. Whoever hurts us, we hurt him. We are preparing to meet the security needs of the state of Israel.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FOSTER: Meanwhile, the top U.S. humanitarian official says reports that famine is already occurring in parts of Gaza are credible. Samantha Power told lawmakers one in three children in northern Gaza are malnourished compared to nearly none before the start of the war.

Meanwhile, the Israeli military is planning to build a new land crossing from Israel to northern Gaza. The IDF says it will allow aid to flow directly to civilians in areas that have been difficult for trucks to access.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REAR ADM. DANIEL HAGARI, ISRAEL DEFENSE FORCES SPOKESPERSON: These new measures enable us to bring more aid and trucks destined for Gaza from overseas, including the via land crossing with Jordan, where we expect 50 trucks a day to pass through. All of these efforts are due to close coordination with international partners and aid organizations to maximize our combined humanitarian efforts.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FOSTER: Well, CNN's Scott McLean is tracking all of this life for us from Istanbul. Scott, first, those comments from Netanyahu saying Israel is preparing and making it a very visual sort of announcement as well. Take us through what he sees the threat as being and what's being done about that.

SCOTT MCLEAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hey Max, so look, the U.S. from the outset has said that it had nothing to do with this attack that's been blamed on Israel on that diplomatic compound in Damascus, but it may yet end up paying the price for it if Iran makes good on its promise to retaliate. Both Israel and the United States believe that Israeli targets, American targets in the region are all at risk. Most likely from Iranian proxies in the region.

And you have really a flurry of activity to prepare for this and also to try to prevent it. You have the U.S. defense secretary speaking with his Israeli counterpart, reminding them of America's ironclad commitment to Israel's security against Iranian threats.

You also have diplomatic efforts from Secretary of State Antony Blinken calling most recently the Turks, the Saudis, the Chinese, urging them to get the message to Iran, not to escalate. Arguing that it is in no one's best interest.

You also have American allies, the Germans, the Brits, speaking directly with the Iranian foreign minister. [04:05:00]

But according to Iranian state media, the message that, for instance, the British foreign secretary heard in response was that it was American and British silence on that attack in Damascus that is enabling Israel to escalate things throughout the region.

In fact, the Iranian mission to the U.N. said this on X, quote: Had the U.N. Security Council condemn the Zionist regime's reprehensible act of aggression on our diplomatic premises in Damascus and subsequently brought to justice its perpetrators the imperative for Iran to punish this rogue regime might have been obviated -- mean removed.

Now the U.N. secretary general condemned the attack, but the Security Council itself discussed a Russian drafted statement on this. But because the U.S., the U.K. and France couldn't agree on the details at that moment of what precisely had happened, ultimately no action was taken -- Max.

FOSTER: In terms of the U.S. official reporting these reports of famine in Gaza, saying they're credible, what more are you learning about the dire situation there?

MCLEAN: Yes. So, Max, this was Samantha Power, the administrator of USAID. And she was asked in a congressional hearing about this external analysis, saying that it was plausible or likely that famine, especially in the north, was already occurring.

And she said that USAID had gone through that, scrutinized it and believes that it's credible. And she was asked point blank whether famine is happening already. And she said, yes, in fact, she said that the lack of aid getting into the northern part of Gaza had already contributed to the deaths of children there.

Now, this is substantial. This is significant because this is likely to add fuel to the calls on the U.S. government to condition U.S. military aid or maybe cut off temporarily U.S. military aid to Israel.

Because American law states this, quote: No assistance shall be furnished to any country when it is made known to the president that the government of such country prohibits or otherwise restricts directly or indirectly the transport or delivery of United States humanitarian assistance.

Of course, the U.S. has already made abundantly clear to Israel, especially as of late, that it needs to do more to ramp up aid deliveries into Gaza. And it seems for the moment the Israelis are listening and starting to do that. The question that the Secretary of State, Antony Blinken, made clear is whether or not this is going to be a temporary blip or something that is sustained in the long run -- Max.

FOSTER: OK, Scott in Istanbul. Thank you so much.

Ukraine's power grid is taking fire for a second straight day. We received reports about two hours ago that Russia launched a barrage of drones overnight. Ukraine says it shot down almost all of them, but falling debris from one drone caused a fire at an energy facility west of Zaporizhia. So far, no reports of any casualties there.

It's happening after President Volodymyr Zelensky urged allies to walk the walk when it comes to military aid. At a regional European summit in Lithuania on Thursday, he said Ukraine's allies need to put their promises into action.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY, UKRAINIAN PRESIDENT (through translator): I can clearly outlined what Putin is planning to do this year. We have enough information from our intelligence. It is critical that each partner fulfills its promises regarding the supply of weapons and ammunition, as well as our joint production agreements.

Every day, Russian missiles are fired and every day the number of promises increases. Every day, Ukrainian soldiers at the front withstand the brutal pressure of Russian artillery and guided aerial bombs.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FOSTER: Mr. Zelenskyy spoke on the heels of Thursday's attack on the Ukrainian electric system. Ukraine's biggest power company says 80 percent of its power generating capacity is now destroyed.

As Fred Pleitgen reports, so is the biggest power plant near Ukraine's capital.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice- over): Kyiv's largest power plant destroyed the energy company, Centrenergo, declaring Thursday, quote, a black day. The dark smoke on the skyline, marking the end of the company's energy supply, all three of its power plants across the country, either destroyed or occupied.

Russian strikes systematically targeting power facilities have been a constant in Ukraine since late 2022 but have ramped up in recent weeks. DTEK, Ukraine's largest power company, saying two of their plants were also targeted overnight. They say their facilities have suffered their worst attacks this month since the war began, with 80 percent of their infrastructure already destroyed.

Employees trying to repair and to rebuild. The burnt out skeleton of their facilities needing to be back up and running as soon as possible, echoing each other's calls for the world to ramp up its weapons support.

[04:10:00]

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): We need more air defenses. If we don't have air defenses, there won't be anything left. A lot of missiles and drones get through and we get a lot of hits. PLEITGEN (voice-over): It's a call heard many times over with the Ukrainian president currently in Lithuania to meet European leaders and to ensure those calls do not become a white noise in this very long war.

Warnings by generals also becoming more desperate with the country's parliament voting on Thursday to overhaul mobilization rules, potentially allowing the military to call up more men.

GEN. YURLY SODOL, COMMANDER, JOINT FORCES OF UKRAINE (through translator): The enemy outnumbers us by seven to 10 times. We lack manpower. We are holding the defenses on the last breath.

PLEITGEN (voice-over): The bill still needing to be signed into law by Zelenskyy is a sign of an exhausted front line.

Civilians in Kyiv spending the night once again underground, a routine too familiar for a country resilient as ever.

Fred Pleitgen, CNN, Delphi, Greece.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

FOSTER: The head of U.S. European Command says Russia has been quite successful at rebuilding its military since invading Ukraine more than two years ago, despite severe losses and heavy sanctions from the West.

Moscow is replenishing its forces while Ukraine struggles with manpower and weapons. Officials say Russia putting its entire economy on a war footing is unsustainable, though, in the long run. But for now, General Chris Cavoli admits that Russia has grown back.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GEN CHRISTOPHER CAVOLI, COMMANDER, U.S. EUROPEAN COMMAND: The attrition that they've suffered so far has been very significant, but it's been localized. It's been mainly in the ground forces. They lost a couple thousand tanks in the ground forces. They've lost as many as 75,000 killed from the ground forces. But they've replenished those.

They've grown back to what they were before. They've got some gaps that have been produced by this war. But their overall capacity is very significant still, and they intend to make it go higher.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FOSTER: Well, earlier, CNN spoke with Peter Layton, a visiting fellow with the Griffith Asia Institute, and he shared his thoughts on this Russian force reformation.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

PETER LAYTON, VISITING FELLOW, GRIFFITH ASIS INSTITUTE: So they are, if you like, maximizing the production of tanks and armored vehicles. Now, bear in mind that the Russians entered the Cold War with literally tens of thousands of army vehicles. Most of those went into store. They were stored very badly, and they have taken -- well, some years now to return back into service. So these are perhaps not the sort of leading edge tanks and armored vehicles, but these are old Cold War ones. But they have been re-refurbished. And as the General said, there are thousands of them.

I think also that the West has been optimistic, I suppose, about casualty figures. The Russians have been highly successful in recruiting a lot more soldiers, especially those out of Central Asia.

They are also recruiting foreigners, of course, out of places like Cuba, Syria, etc. So they have a mix of Russian nationals and foreigners. And of course, the Russians, much to the surprise, you know, to our surprise these days, but historically normal for the Russians, have of course used very large numbers of the convicts and of prisoners as well.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

FOSTER: Poland's foreign minister says the U.S. should take a cue from Europe about delivering military aid to Ukraine. And in his view of CNN, he said U.S. President Joe Biden made a strong promise to help Ukraine when he visited Kyiv last year. And the Polish diplomat says it's time to deliver, just like Poland and the European Union do.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RADOSLAW SIKORSKI, POLISH FOREIGN MINISTER: We've been spending 2 percent of GDP on defense for the last 15 years. We are spending now close to 4 percent of GDP on defense. And in fact, I have to tell you, Europe, the European Union and its member states, have spent double what the United States has spent on helping Ukraine.

We are often suspected in the United States, including in Congress, of being free riders. Well, on this one, we have done the right thing. We now need the United States to do what the president of the United States has promised.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FOSTER: Sikorski also urged U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson to allow a vote on a $60 billion aid package for Ukraine.

U.S. officials have confirmed that hackers linked to the Russian government use Microsoft to target U.S. federal agencies. According to a top U.S. cyber official, Microsoft notified several government agencies that hackers may have stolen email correspondence that included usernames and passwords.

But the official says there's no evidence yet that hacked credentials were used to get into active agency systems. Microsoft first revealed the hacking incident in January. Russia has denied involvement in the security breach.

[04:15:00] Now, Japan's prime minister is urging the U.S. to reclaim a global leadership role ahead of a first of its kind summit. The allies key areas of cooperation and China's response coming up.

Plus, House Speaker Mike Johnson heads to Donald Trump's home in Florida for a joint news conference. Details of what they're expected to announce coming up after the break.

And later this hour, we'll go live to Lagos as Nigeria commemorates the 10th anniversary of the Chibok schoolgirls kidnapping, a tragedy that shocked and horrified the entire world.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

FOSTER: The Japanese prime minister didn't mince words in his address to a joint session of the extremely divided U.S. Congress. Fumio Kishida urged American lawmakers to rise above, quote, the undercurrent of self-doubt about the United States' leadership role in the world, especially when it comes to helping Ukraine survive the ongoing war against Russia.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

FUMIO KISHIDA, JAPANESE PRIME MINISTER: Without U.S. support, how long before hopes of Ukraine would collapse under the onslaught from Moscow? We have announced over $12 billion in aid to Ukraine, including anti-drone detection systems.

This is a part of NATO's aid package. And yes, we are even working with NATO.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FOSTER: Well, the Japanese leader's comments came ahead of an historic White House summit with the presidents of the U.S. and the Philippines as well.

CNN's Kristie Lu Stout is live for us in Hong Kong. I mean, when we look at the wider threats to the world and what people are worried about in future, this was actually a really key meeting.

KRISTIE LU STOUT, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, it was a very key meeting, both meetings, the bilateral meeting between Japan and the U.S. on Wednesday and the trilateral meeting on Thursday between the Philippines, Japan, the United States.

And of course, that speech that was delivered by the Japanese prime minister addressing Congress when he called China the greatest strategic challenge. China loomed very large over the proceedings, especially over the trilateral summit between the U.S., Japan, the Philippines, a move to counter China and its increasing pressure in the South China Sea. And China is pushing back.

We have learned that today, Friday afternoon, China's foreign ministry summoned a Japanese diplomat to express serious concerns and strong dissatisfaction. We've also learned, according to state media this morning, that China's Coast Guard conducted a patrol near disputed islands that the Chinese call the Diaoyu, the Japanese call the Senkaku. Now, at this trilateral summit, President Biden said U.S. defense commitments to both countries remain ironclad. Watch this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

[04:20:00]

JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: The United States' defense commitments to Japan and to the Philippines are ironclad. They're ironclad. As I've said before, any attack on Philippine aircraft, vessels or armed forces in the South China Sea would invoke our mutual defense treaty.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LU STOUT: Now, the three nations also announced plans to bolster the Philippines with new investment, new infrastructure projects in the following, in ports, in rail, in clean energy, semiconductor supply chains, as well as wireless communications. They also pledged to deepen cooperation in disaster response and humanitarian aid.

China's foreign ministry, just within the last hour or so, issued fresh comments criticizing Japan and the U.S., pointed words directed at Japan in particular.

On Friday, we heard from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesperson, Mao Ning, who said this -- let's bring it up for you.

She said, quote: The real challenges facing regional peace and stability are the United States and Japan forming gangs, forming cliques and instigating group confrontations, unquote.

Now, Japan has a dispute with China over islands in the East China Sea. The Philippines has had disputes and several very tense encounters that CNN has witnessed with China in the South China Sea.

And China's provocative moves across the Indo-Pacific region have drawn regional allies, in this case, the Philippines and Japan, closer together and closer to the United States -- Max, back to you.

FOSTER: OK, Kristie in Hong Kong, thank you for that.

Now, Iowa has taken a page out of Texas's playbook to the dismay of Mexico's foreign ministry. Governor Kim Reynolds signed a bill into law on Wednesday that allows for the arrest of some undocumented migrants taking effect on July 1st.

It's similar to the controversial Texas law currently on hold in a federal appeals court that allows state officials to detain suspected illegal immigrants. The Mexican government says the Iowa law criminalizes Mexican migrants and will explore legal resources to defend their rights.

The controversial U.S. surveillance bill is now heading for the full House of Representatives, which is expected to begin debate on its reauthorization sometime this morning.

Last night, the House Rules Committee cleared the way for a revised version of the so-called Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act. The current law expires on April 19th, but Republicans sank an attempt to reauthorize it on Wednesday after a call by former President Donald Trump. Under a new proposal, the law would be extended for two years instead of five.

The vote to bring the bill to the floor came hours after the FBI director made a strong appeal to lawmakers to renew the law.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CHRISTOPHER WRAY, FBI DIRECTOR: Let me be clear. Failure to reauthorize 702 or gutting it with some new kind of warrant requirement would be dangerous and put Americans' lives at risk.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FOSTER: Well, barring any unforeseen last-minute legal maneuvering, jury selection is set to begin on Monday in the New York hush money trial against Donald Trump, despite the former president's numerous attempts to delay. This would make him the first former president in U.S. history to go on criminal trial. He's also now the presumptive Republican nominee for president in November, making this a remarkably unique situation.

An appeals court judge ruled on Wednesday the trial can go ahead whilst Trump challenges a gag order imposed in the case. Here's what Trump had to say about it.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, FORMER U.S. PRESIDENT, 2024 PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Another corrupt New York judge, Juan Merchan, gagged me. That's gagged like you can't talk. But he gagged me with respect to a case that everyone, including the DA, felt should never have been brought. It only happens to me because I'm able to tell people what's happening and those people get extremely angry with what's happening.

This judge should be recused and the case should be thrown out.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FOSTER: Well, law enforcement and the Secret Service are beefing up security. Trump is expected to be there since, as a criminal defendant, he doesn't have the option of skipping any of the trial, which is set to last six weeks.

Several people at the center of this hush money case could be called to testify, including former Trump attorney Michael Cohen and adult film actress Stormy Daniels.

Trump is also facing multiple charges of trying to overturn the 2020 election, is expected to hold a news conference later today on what he says are election-related issues. Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson will join the former president at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida. More details from CNN's Kristen Holmes.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KRISTEN HOLMES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: We've just learned what exactly they're going to be talking about at this so-called press conference tomorrow. Again, this is between Speaker Mike Johnson and former President Donald Trump.

They had billed this as, quote-unquote, election integrity. We are told by sources that they plan on using this as a, quote-unquote, opportunity to draw attention to what they say are state proposals, legislation, lawsuits that would allow non-citizens to vote.

[04:25:04]

Now, just to be very clear, federal law bans any non-citizens from voting at this time. But it's really become a rallying cry for Republicans, including the former president, who has even gone as far as to say that Democrats want undocumented migrants coming across the border because they think it will help them in the 2024 election.

It's not just the former president. We've heard from a number of Republicans across the country, including one congresswoman out of New York, who's saying that they want to bring legislation forward that would stop non-citizens from voting.

But again, there is already a federal ban on non-citizens from voting. Now, just to give a little bit of nuance here, there are some local laws, this is in cities, in states across the country, that allow non- citizens to vote in certain local elections, not federal elections. That would be something like the school board.

But that is not what they are talking about here. They are trying to link their pet issue, which is election issues, election fraud, to a very real issue, a very real concern for voters, which really is one of the top concerns for voters, immigration. And so they are doing that through right now, talking about non-citizens voting, how they are going to sway the election.

We are also told that the two of them, Trump and Johnson, are going to use this as an opportunity to re-litigate the 2020 election, not surprising there, since both of them really tried to overturn that election back in 2020.

Kristen Holmes, CNN, West Palm Beach, Florida.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

FOSTER: Donald Trump is hoping to -- well, hoping a more aggressive trade agenda will help put him back in the White House, meanwhile. He's turning to a strategy from when he was president before, calling for steep tariffs on foreign goods. Trump, who once labelled himself Tariff Man, has floated these proposals for his second term, a 10 percent across-the-board tariff on imports, a 60 percent tariff on imports from China, and a whopping 100 percent tariff on foreign cars, including from Mexico. Some economists warn Trump's trade agenda and ensuing retaliation from

America's trade partners could hurt the economy by worsening inflation, killing jobs, and may lead to a recession.

But there are still so many unknown factors to all of this. CNN global economic analyst Rana Foroohar breaks it down.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

RANA FOROOHAR, CNN GLOBAL ECONOMIC ANALYST: You can spin the numbers either way. And by and large, most economists think that tariffs do raise prices. Now, one thing I will say is that both the Trump administration, when he was in office, and the Biden administration today are taking a different tact in terms of thinking about trade. I mean, they're thinking about not just prices for consumers, but what it means for workers when so many jobs go abroad to cheaper labor countries.

So tariffs are basically about keeping Chinese goods out of America and thus potentially increasing U.S. industrialization. You can model that as a gain, but you can also model it as a loss. The bottom line is we don't know. We haven't been here in 100 years.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

FOSTER: Well, the new trading day, getting underway in the U.S. in a little less than five hours from now. Here's where stock futures stand right now. You can see the Dow and futures are looking up, but the tech stock's slightly down.

Meanwhile, European markets are up and running, and that's pretty positive news, which should add some momentum to Wall Street. You can see most of them are up more than 1 percent apart from the Swiss shares.

And here's a look at how markets across Asia fared today. Pretty negative, frankly, apart from in Japan, where they're up one-fifth of 1 percent.

Tech stocks helping lift the Nasdaq on Thursday, though, with several companies posting gains. Apple and Nvidia both added more than 4 percent. Alphabet picked up 2 percent, but the Dow had troubling problems through the day, gaining any traction, finishing the day pretty flat. The Nasdaq was up more than 1.5 percent. The S&P 500 added three-quarters of 1 percent.

People are reacting with a mixture of emotions to the death of a disgraced U.S. football legend. Coming up, a look back at the life of the turbulent times of O.J. Simpson.

And later, images of damage and destruction. A severe weather system sweeps the parts of the U.S., bringing with it tornadoes and flash flooding.