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Netanyahu Cancels Meetings With Biden Officials Over U.N. Ceasefire Vote; Putin Acknowledges Radical Islamists Carried Out Moscow Terror Attack; Four Men Showing Signs Of Severe Beating Charged Over Moscow Concert Attack; Homes Linked To Sean "Diddy" Combs Raided By Law Enforcement; Trump's New York Hush Money Case Is Set For Trial April 15; Boeing CEO to Step Down amid Ongoing Safety Issues; Ohtani: I never bet on Baseball or Any Other Sport; U.S., U.K. Sanction Chinese Hackers over Spying Allegations; Dengue Outbreak in Argentina; Royals and the Modern Media. Aired 1-2a ET
Aired March 26, 2024 - 01:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
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JOHN VAUSE, CNN ANCHOR: Coming up on CNN. Unconditional support, no more. The U.S. does not block a U.N. Security Council resolution calling for a ceasefire in Gaza.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
VLADIMIR PUTIN, RUSSIAN PRESIDENT (through translator): But there are really a lot of questions.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: A lot of questions like why does the Russian president keep blaming Ukraine without evidence of being behind Friday's massacre at a concert hall outside Moscow?
(BEGIN VIDE CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP, FORMER U.S. PRESIDENT: They have a lot of cash.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: And it seems from rags to riches. Last week, team Trump couldn't pay a $464,000,000 bond to a New York court. Now Trump says he's swimming in cash.
UNIDENATIFIED MALE: Live from Atlanta. This is CNN Newsroom with John Vause.
VAUSE: Relations between the United States and Israel, already badly strained over the war in Gaza, appear to have hit a new low after the U.S. did not use its veto power at the U.N. Security Council and allowed a resolution calling for a ceasefire in Gaza to pass. The Israeli prime minister criticized that decision by the U.S. to
abstain from the vote, saying it was a change in policy. And in protest, he cancelled a visit to Washington by an Israeli delegation. White House officials say they were perplexed by what they described as a major overreaction by Benjamin Netanyahu. Here's the U.S. ambassador to the U.N. explaining why the U.S. abstained.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LINDA THOMAS-GREENFIELD, U.S. AMBASSADOR TO THE UNITED NATIONS: We did not agree with everything in the resolution. For that reason, were unfortunately not able to vote yes. However, as I've said before, we fully support some of the critical objectives in this nonbinding resolution and we believe it was important for the council to speak out and make clear that our ceasefire must, any ceasefire must come with the release of all hostages.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: Right now, the Israeli defense minister Yaov Gallant is in Washington. He's held meetings with senior U.S. officials, including Secretary of State Anthony Blinken and national security advisor Jake Sullivan. Blinken once again explaining U.S. objections to a major ground operation in Rafah and insisted there were alternatives which would achieve the same results.
That delegation from Israel was made up of two of Benjamin Netanyahu's top advisors that were sent to discuss the situation in Rafah and a whole lot more before their trip was cancelled. CNN's Jeremy Diamond is in Jerusalem with details.
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JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, hours before they were set to depart for Washington, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu canceling a trip by two of his closest advisors to Washington to discuss U.S. alternatives to an Israeli ground offensive in Rafah. The Israeli prime minister's stated reason is the U.S. choosing to abstain rather than veto a U.N. Security Council resolution allowing that resolution, which calls for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza as well as the release of all Israeli hostages to pass.
The Israeli prime minister had previously threatened to not send that delegation or to cancel that delegation's trip to Washington if the U.S. did not veto it. And so he decided to follow through even though this resolution calls for both an immediate ceasefire and the release of all Israeli hostages, the Israeli prime minister said that it did not condition that ceasefire on the release of those hostages.
And in a statement, the Israeli prime minister's office arguing that this marks a change in the US's position as it relates to these resolutions before the U.N. Security Council, calling it a, quote, clear retreat from the consistent position of the United States, arguing in the same statement that the US's decision to abstain hurts, quote, both the war effort and the effort to release the hostages. This is obviously the latest escalation in tensions between the
Israeli prime minister and U.S. President Joe Biden. We have watched over the course of the last several weeks as the US's criticism of Israel's handling of the war in Gaza has been rising and the Israeli prime minister has been defensive as a result. And so this decision to cancel this delegation was clearly aimed at making a statement both to the United States but also, of course, to a domestic political audience in Israel.
Now, all of this coming as there are still ongoing discussions to try and reach a ceasefire agreement and the release of dozens of Israeli hostages. Over the weekend, Israel agreeing to a U.S. proposal that was trying to bridge the gap between Israel and Hamas's positions on the ratio of Palestinian prisoners to be released in exchange for some 40 Israeli hostages.
Israel agreeing to release some 700 Palestinian prisoners, including dozens of whom are serving life sentences. But it's clear that more issues still agreeing to release some 700 Palestinian prisoners, including dozens of whom are serving life sentences.
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But it's clear that more issues still remain. And Hamas in a statement on Monday evening indicating that it is not budging from its previous positions, making clear that it still wants to see the withdrawal of Israeli troops from the Gaza Strip and allowing displaced Palestinians to be able to return to their homes in northern Gaza.
So clearly, despite the fact that there has been progress, that there has been momentum over the course of the last week or so, major issues still remaining between these two sides and very unclear whether or not a deal can soon be reached. Jeremy Diamond, CNN, Jerusalem.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VAUSE: David Singer joins us this hour. He's a CNN political and national security analyst as well as New York Times White House and national security correspondent. Good to see you. Welcome back.
DAVID SANGER, CNN POLITICAL AND NATIONAL SECURITY ANALYST: Great to be with you, John.
VAUSE: OK. Here's more from the State Department on why the U.S. decided to abstain on this U.N. resolution.
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MATTHEW MILLER, U.S. STATE DEPARTMENT SPOKESPERSON: The reason we didn't veto it is because there were also things in that resolution that were consistent with our long term position, most importantly, that there should be a ceasefire and that there should be a release of hostages, which is what we understood also to be the government of Israel's position.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: But does this also reflect what Senator Chuck Schumer warned Israel about last week? It's a shift in policy towards Israel. The days of unconditional support are now over?
SANGER: Well, the shift is certainly underway. And I think that you could say that the Israelis, by defying President Biden so many times, John, and moving ahead with this military operation, ended up alienating some of their strongest supporters in Washington.
Now the State Department and the White House went out of their way today to say nothing had changed, but something really had because they abstained on this resolution, which meant the resolution went ahead. They didn't veto it, whereas a few months ago I think they would have vetoed it.
And the reason they would have vetoed it is that it was completely missing any condemnation of Hamas for the original attack that started all of this.
VAUSE: So I want you to listen to the response to the ceasefire resolution from Israel's defense minister. Here he is.
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YAOV GALLANT, ISRAELI DEFENSE MINISTER (through translator): We have no moral right to stop the war while there are still hostages held in Gaza. The lack of a decisive victory in Gaza may bring us closer to a war in the north.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: So it seems like Israel will not abide by the ceasefire. They've said just as much. So what are the consequences if they do, in fact defy the resolution?
SANGER: Well, they may not abide by the resolution. The ceasefire is being negotiated separately and we think there's been some progress on that. It would be temporary. The deal that we understand is taking shape would involve the release of 40 hostages, a very high number of Palestinians released for each Israeli. But we think the Israelis have now -- Israeli government has now agreed to that.
We don't know about whether there are other conditions and whether Hamas will be willing to go live with them. But what is clear here right now is that the Israelis continue to say that they will move ahead with the military action in Rafah, and President Biden and his aides continue to say that would be a mistake. But no one is laying out what the consequences for that mistake would be.
VAUSE: So in process, all this, Israel has now canceled a trip to Washington by two senior advisors to the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu. They're meant to discuss alternatives to that ground offensive on Rafah, among other issues.
And one of the reasons why the U.S. president hugged Israel so closely in those days after October 7, it was in the hope of having some influence over the Israelis and how they conducted this war that seems to have backfired badly on Joe Biden, both in relations with Israel, also domestically as well at home.
SANGER: Well, he was taking a bet, which was that you did not get anywhere with the Israelis by publicly criticizing them. So he hugged them in public, did the mild warning, don't make the same mistake we made after 9/11 and then hoped this would work out, and it has not.
Now there's a little bit of theater underway here, John, in canceling that trip because the defense minister, defense minister Gallant is in Washington today and he's been meeting with Secretary of State Blinken with Jake Sullivan, the national security advisor. He's going to meet with Lloyd Austin, the defense minister. There's no message that the administration isn't conveying to him that they wouldn't also convey to this delegation.
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VAUSE: David, thank you for being with us. We really appreciate your insights. As always.
SANGER: Great to be with you, John.
VAUSE: Three days after a massacre at a concert hall just outside Moscow, the Russian president finally acknowledged the attack was carried out by radical Islamists. For days, the U.S. and other countries have said ISIS was to blame. ISIS claimed responsibility, but Vladimir Putin was quick to add, without offering any evidence, the government were acting on orders from Kyiv, and Ukraine was still ultimately to blame.
Putin held a conference call with government officials Monday, telling them the attack fit into a series of attacks by Ukraine against Russia.
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PUTIN (through translator): And the question immediately arises, who benefits from this? This atrocity may be only a link in a whole series of attempts by those who have been fighting our country since 2014 at the hands of the neo Nazi Kyiv regime.
The goal, as I already said, is to sow panic in our society and at the same time show our own population that all is not lost for the Kyiv regime.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelenskyy responded to Putin's accusations, calling him sick and cynical. And Ukraine has strongly denied any involvement in the Moscow attack Friday. Much of the concert hall, though, is now in rubble. A gunman set it on fire during the attack.
Russian officials say hundreds of specialists are continuing to search the debris, looking for the remains of victims. Death toll right now, 139.
Four men accused of carrying out the attack have now appeared in a Moscow court, all of them bloodied and bruised, one in a wheelchair. New video recorded as they were taken into custody appears to show them being beaten, possibly even tortured. CNN senior international correspondent Fred Pleitgen has more on that and what Russia is saying about it.
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FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice- over): As search and rescue crews sift through the charred remains of the concert hall outside, a sea of flowers continues to grow as thousands mourn the victims of the worst terror attack to hit Russia in decades.
No one should remain indifferent in such moments, this woman says. We must honor their memory and understand we are all facing this tragedy. I say tears flow, but we're all here together.
Eyewitness videos show the brutality as the attackers swept the Crocus city hall entertainment complex. ISIS has claimed responsibility for the attack. The terror group released this video through the ISIS affiliated Amaq news agency, allegedly filmed by the attackers themselves as they killed more than 130 people, also setting the building on fire, leading to a massive blaze that caused the roof to partially collapse. The U.S. says it has no reason to doubt ISIS's claim. And Russia has been at war with the group during Moscow's brutal aerial campaign in Syria, supporting the Assad regime.
I traveled to Derezor in eastern Syria with the Russian military in 2017 as the battle raged.
PLEITGEN: Even though the Syrian and Russian armies have managed to push ISIS back, there still are a lot of ISIS fighters here in this area. That's why taking the helicopter is the safest way to get to Darizor.
PLEITGEN (voice-over): The alleged gunmen, all of them from Tajikistan, are now in Russian custody. Three of them pleaded guilty in a Moscow court this weekend. But the Russians still won't acknowledge an ISIS link, Vladimir Putin instead claiming the attackers had ties to Ukraine.
PUTIN (voice-over): We know that the crime was committed by the hands of radical Islamists, followers of the ideology that the Islamic world itself has been fighting against for centuries. Of course, it is necessary to answer the question why after committing the crime, the terrorists tried to go to Ukraine.
PLEITGEN: The suspects bore signs of abuse as they were arraigned, one seemingly semi-conscious in a wheelchair. And this video on social media seems to show Russian security services mistreating another one of the men when confronted with questions about possible torture of the detainees the Kremlin refusing to reply. No, the spokesman said, I leave this question without answer. Fred Pleitgen, CNN, Berlin. (END VIDEOTAPE)
VAUSE: Well, after the attack in Moscow, France raised its terrorist threat to maximum, placed thousands of soldiers on standby if needed by the country's counter terrorism unit. French Prime Minister Gabriel Attal tweeted, the enemy is known. It Islamist terrorism. The threat it poses to our country is strong and real.
Since the start of the year, two attacks have been foiled. We will never give a single second of respite to those who wish to attack France. In the coming hours, we will strengthen resources and staff on the ground, particularly near schools.
French prime minister added that extra troops could supplement the thousands already deployed across the country.
Colin P. Clarke is director of policy and research at the Soufan Group, which advises on global intelligence as well as security. Welcome back. It's good to see you.
COLIN P. CLARKE, DIRECTOR OF POLICY AND RESEARCH, SOUFAN GROUP: Thanks for having me.
VAUSE: Now, on Monday, the Russian president sort of changed the narrative here and for the first time acknowledged this. Here he is.
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(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PUTIN (through translator): We know that the crime was committed by radicalism whose ideology the Islamic world itself, has been fighting for centuries.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: But it came with a butt. He still went on to blame Ukraine for somehow being connected and ordering this attack in some way. So is Putin just exploiting this attack for propaganda, or is there more to this? Will this change the way they collect the war in Ukraine? Or what does Putin do after this?
CLARKE: Well, he's a master opportunist. And so even while Russian intelligence really whiffed on this one, because the United States warned of this plot in advance and the Russians failed to prevent it, he's still going to try to maximize this opportunity. He's going to use it to consolidate power in Russia. He's going to still try to blame this on Ukraine in some bizarre way.
And he's also likely to move closer to the Taliban, because Moscow is now very concerned about what's happening in Afghanistan. If these networks are directing attacks, linking up with extremists in Central Asia and directing them toward Russian soil.
VAUSE: Yes, the U.S. and other intelligence agencies, you know, have come out and said ISIS is responsible. They claim responsibility for it, but for many, it sort of came out of nowhere in many ways. Here's the French prime minister. Listen to this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GABRIEL ATTAL, FRENCH PRIME MINISTER (through translator): It reminds us of one point which is absolutely clear and important. The Islamic terrorist threat is real. It is strong. I say it never weakened.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: The common perception is that ISIS went away a long time ago. That doesn't seem to be the case. So how real is the threat they now pose?
CLARKE: Well, for some, it might have come as a surprise. The attack happened on Friday. Several days before. On that Tuesday, I actually tweeted out ISIS case knocking on the door in Europe, because I was so concerned about the steady uptick of plots that we've seen disrupted beginning around Christmas Eve. There's been three separate plots in Europe alone, including in Germany, one directed towards Sweden.
So this has been growing, this operational tempo. I was not surprised. In fact, when I saw it was sadly confirmation of what myself and many other terrorism experts have been predicting.
VAUSE: And this ISIS, which is based in Afghanistan, which is essentially at odds with the Taliban, which now is in control of Afghanistan. Right?
CLARKE: Exactly right. And so while the Taliban is the more dominant entity, the stronger of the two, it's not strong enough to completely extinguish the Islamic State. Ever since the withdrawal of U.S. troops in August 2021, the west has had a blind spot on what's happening in Afghanistan, particularly in terms of human intelligence.
And as we spoke several days, I think after the collapse of Afghanistan back then, I and many others predicted that we would see an exponential growth of terrorist groups in that country, not only al Qaeda, but ISIS-K. And that's exactly what's played out.
VAUSE: Well, the French president is among many urging the Russian president not to use the massacre in Moscow as a pretext to expand the war on Ukraine. Here he is.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
EMMANUEL MACRON, FRENCH PRESIDENT (through translator): We have offered to increase cooperation with the Russian intelligence services and our partners in the region. We continue to fight effectively against these groups which are targeting several countries. We see it in Russia. a couple of months ago in Turkey, and not long ago, they made attempts in France.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: It seems unlikely that the Russian president will be interested in cooperating, you know, with France on intelligence matters. But what I thought was interesting about that quote from Macron, you know, they prevented the ISIS attack. So did the intelligence services in Turkey and many other countries as well. And it says a lot about the failure here by the Russian security services.
CLARKE: Yes, this is a big black eye for Putin. Again, he's going to try to spin this. They're going to do some public relations. But at the end of the day, the United States warned under the duty to warn that the U.S. intelligence community has, when civilians could be involved in an attack, and the Russians still missed it. So that means that Putin either dismissed it offhand or the Russian services were unable to figure out who the actors were.
Now they know after the fact there's all sorts of various conspiracies and disinformation flowing out of the Kremlin, which is really just part of the playbook there.
VAUSE: And part of that disinformation is turning that warning from the U.S. into a threat in some ways that this was the United States warning that this would actually happen and a threat to the Kremlin.
CLARKE: Completely bizarre behavior because it doesn't exactly make the United States want to continue to share this type of information if it's going to be turned against us. This was a legitimate warning about a legitimate threat that was carried out. And Russian civilians died. A lot of them did. So shame on Vladimir Putin. Even for him, I think this is reaching new depths.
VAUSE: Colin P. Clarke, thanks so much for being with us. We really appreciate it.
CLARKE: Thank you.
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VAUSE: Just ahead, federal agents have been seen raiding the homes of rapper Sean Diddy Combs. Details on why coming up. Also, a new trial date, a new dollar amount, new deadline for Donald Trump. His big day in court landed him a legal victory and a setback.
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VAUSE: From Sean Diddy Combs is under federal investigation for human trafficking, according to law enforcement sources, part of that investigation saw federal agents raiding the rappers Los Angeles and Miami homes on Monday.
Combs has been at the center of several lawsuits in recent months accusing him of sexual misconduct, including rape and sex trafficking. This report from CNN's Carlos Suarez was filed before some new information broke. Here he is.
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CARLOS SUAREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The search warrant activity at both of the homes belonging to Sean "Diddy" Combs is related to an ongoing sex trafficking investigation, a law enforcement source tells CNN now. The source would not specify whether Combs himself was the specific target, citing the sensitive nature of the investigation.
Agents with Homeland Security investigations searched two homes belonging to Combs, including an 11,000 square foot mansion here in Miami Beach. Monday night, agents were spotted carrying a cardboard box and several bags from the second story of the house.
An official with Homeland Security Miami said that agents arrived at the property at around three in the afternoon. And a neighbor here tells CNN that 30 to 40 law enforcement personnel lined the street out here. Now, across the country in Los Angeles, homeland security agents there were spotted walking the grounds of Combs home.
Mobile command vehicles were visible in both locations. It is likely that it will take some time to locate and process evidence given the substantial size of both properties. Now, CNN has reached out to representatives for Combs for comment. Carlos Suarez, CNN, Miami Beach.
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VAUSE: Jury selection begins in three weeks in the first criminal trial of a former U.S. president. On Monday, a New York court dismissed a motion by Trump's lawyers to throw out his 2016 election interference trial, also known as the hush money payments to a porn star trial.
But there was a legal win for Trump Monday and a lifeline from a New York appeals court, which reduced the nearly half a billion dollars bond that was due Monday to $175,000,000, giving Trump ten more days to pay. CNN's Paula Reid has details.
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PAULA REID, CNN CHIEF LEGAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Former President. Donald Trump narrowly spared from possibly having his assets seized by the New York attorney general.
TRUMP: A lot of things happened today. This is all about election interference.
REID (voice-over): An appeals court granting Trump ten additional days to post a $175 million bond, less than half the original amount, to cover his appeal of the $454 million judgment against him and his company in the New York for inflating the value of his assets.
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TRUMP: I greatly respect the decision of the appellate division, and I'll post either $175 million in cash or bonds or security or whatever is necessary very quickly within the 10 days.
REID (voice-over): The temporary reprieve coming just in time for Trump, who had seemingly been unable to come up with the nearly half billion dollars. If that bond is posted, any enforcement of the financial ruling against Trump, his sons or their company will be on pause until after the appeal is decided this fall. Trump blasting the judge who oversaw that fraud trial.
TRUMP: Why should I let a crooked judge make a decision to give $450 million that allows me to spend very little money on my campaign if I so choose?
REID (voice-over): Now, Trump has not spent his own money on his campaign since 2016.
TRUMP: Thank you very much.
REID (voice-over): But he was not successful in further delaying his first criminal case. Judge Juan Marchan ruled the New York hush money case will begin on April 15. Trump faces 34 felony counts for allegedly falsifying business records related to hush money payments made to adult film star Stormy Daniels ahead of the 2016 election.
Trump's former attorney and so called fixer, Michael Cohen, a key witness in the case, claims Trump reimbursed him for payments made to Daniels to keep the alleged affair secret.
TRUMP: They're running all of these different cases, so ridiculous. The cases, every one of them is ridiculous.
REID (voice-over): Before the trial date was set, the judge heard arguments from Trump's lawyers accusing the Manhattan district Attorney Alvin Bragg of widespread misconduct. The judge, however, seemed skeptical of the allegations and at one point even raising his voice saying, you are literally accusing the Manhattan district attorney's office and the people assigned to this case of prosecutorial misconduct and of trying to make me complicit in it, and you don't have a single sight to support that position.
Trump has long denied having an affair with Daniels and has pleaded not guilty. Trump claimed he would have no issues testifying in the case.
TRUMP: I would have no problem testifying. I didn't do anything wrong.
REID: Trump is required to attend this trial. It's expected to go for about six weeks, four days a week, with Wednesdays off. Now, if it wraps in early June, that still leaves five months for those other three criminal cases. But at this point, it's unclear if any of those will begin before the November election. Paula Reid, CNN, New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VAUSE: And amid all of this, somehow on Monday it seems Trump's net worth may have doubled in a deal, which will see his social media platform TruthSocial go public. Bloomberg estimates Trump's net worth spiked by $4 billion on Monday alone.
Experts, though, warn the market value may be over the top given of Trump media, since it's been operating at a loss so far and the number of active monthly users has plunged year over year over year.
Still to come, big changes in store for Boeing leadership, but even the top executives on the way out. Can the company bounce back from years of safety issues and concerns and multiple investigations?
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JOHN VAUSE, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome back. I'm John Vause, you're watching CNN NEWSROOM.
Boeing's CEO is standing down, announcing he'll leave the company by the end of the year. Kust one of a handful of executives on their way out after years of safety concerns.
CNN's Pete Muntean has our report.
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PETE MUNTEAN, CNN AVIATION CORRESPONDENT: this news comes as there have been calls for a major shakeup at Boeing. The only person to get the ax before this was the head of the 737 Max line, which many saw as scapegoat.
Now, CEO Dave Calhoun is leaving, along with Larry Kellner, the board chair; as well as Stan Deal, the head of Boeing commercial airplanes.
Remember, Dave Calhoun became Boeing CEO after the two 737 Max crashes of 2018 and 2019, 346 people were killed.
Nobody died in the January 5th Alaska Airlines door plug blow out, but it exposed a huge quality control issue at Boeing. Calhoun said this in his message to employees. "As you all know, the Alaska Airlines Flight 1282 accident was a watershed moment for Boeing. We must continue to respond to this accident with humility and complete transparency."
There is some surprise in the aviation community that Calhoun is not leaving immediately. His resignation takes hold at the end of the year. But Calhoun notes there are these investigations taking place. Not only the NTSB investigation that found Boeing workers did not re- install the door plug bolts at the factory in Renton, Washington, but also the FAA audit of Boeing's quality control and a Department of Justice investigation to see if passengers on that Alaska Airlines flight may have been victims of a crime.
The timing here is really telling and just last week, Boeing reported a huge financial loss in the first quarter.
Pete Muntean, CNN -- Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VAUSE: Live now to Denver and David Soucie, a CNN safety analyst and former safety inspector for the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration. Good to see you, David.
DAVID SOUCIE, CNN SAFETY ANALYST: Good to see you, John. VAUSE: So this isn't just the CEO stepping down. Along with Dave
Calhoun, who will leave by the end of the year, chairman Larry Kellner is not standing for reelection as a board director. The head of Boeing's commercial plane unit is out, effective immediately. Calhoun has been CEO for just a few years.
So is this simply clearing the decks because of poor management and Boeings safety issues or given the number of ongoing investigations from the FAA to the Department of Justice, to the U.S. Congress -- a whole lot of them.
Is there more to this. Is something else coming down the pike?
SOUCIE: No. Well, I think that there's changes that needed to be made. What this is a result of is when Calhoun came in, he basically told everybody, we're going to fix this. We're going to fix it through transparency. We're going to make sure this never happens again. And yet something else did happen. He didn't do enough.
And I think that's very telling. And I also think that it's time for a change in the fact that Calhoun really didn't have a lot of experience on the line with manufacturing, with doing manufacturing. He was a CEO. He was an executive, and he did that very well since 2009.
But when he stepped into this role of manufacturing and overseeing the manufacturing and be more hands-on, I don't think he was the right person to do that. But if you make a promise, you're going to fix something you darn well better fix it or you're going to be ousted. And that's what we're seeing now.
VAUSE: One of the -- that's been one of the criticisms in recent years of Boeing CEOs. They've had no aviation engineering background. They all came from the financial sector with the goal of maxing out profits. But under Calhoun, the problems at Boeing have led to multiple groundings with safety issues, more than $31 billion in cumulative losses.
Maybe it wasn't such a great idea to put a money guy in charge of building airplanes. And I guess when they're looking at a new CEO, are they going to go for aviation engineers, someone who knows what they're doing?
SOUCIE: Well, I think they needed to look at two things. One is the culture inside. That's where it has to begin.
[01:34:45]
SOUCIE: If Boeing is going to recover and come back from what they were and rebuild the trust on the end-users, they have to start with building the trust inside the organization.
They have to make sure that everyone in that organization knows that they are free to say that there are safety issues, that there are problems. And to be able to say, here's a way of improving it.
You know, it's smart to have a company that makes money. They'd been faulted (ph) revenue engineers that look for ways to do things cheaper, but that's what business is. You do have to do that.
But you also have to make sure that when something goes wrong, when there's something identified that can either improve it or that has gone wrong. They need to have that channel, the whole culture needs to understand that they go up this way and they can come up around.
And that's where the new manager, Elizabeth Lund, that's now in charge of quality comes in. I think we needed that touch. We need someone that is, I hate to say it but -- well I don't hate to say it, they've needed a feminine touch in this company for years, and especially someone who has the engineering background and the quality and control issues or control experience that Elizabeth has. And she's bringing that there.
I wouldn't be surprised if they look for someone -- a woman leader that can do this properly, that's going to really not have that hubris and say this is the way we do it. That's not the right way to manufacture airplanes.
VAUSE: Well, in his farewell letter to staff, Calhoun wrote this, "We are going to fix what isn't working, and we are going to get our company back on the track towards recovery and stability."
You know, again a big boast the end, but you know, how much damage has been done to Boeing's reputation over the years by simple things, like mistakes. Like we've heard from Brian, the Ryan Air CEO saying you know, spanners and tools were left, you know, lying in the 737 Max and when they received them there was just not proper accounting and not the low-hanging fruit stuff wasn't done if you like, when it came to safety.
SOUCIE: Well they need to focus through that. Here's the situation. Once you start looking for some, it's called confirmation bias. If you start looking for reasons that Boeing is screwing up, you're going to find them. If you start looking at Airbus, you're going to find them.
It doesn't matter where you go. You're looking at how the sausage is made here and you don't want to see a lot of the stuff.
I've worked on the line. I've worked manufacturing airplanes before on an assembly line. I know how they work.
I've inspected Boeings. I've inspected Airbus. This stuff happens. It does happen, and you have to stay focused on the bigger picture.
Why is it happening? Because it will continue to happen. We are human beings and there will be mistakes. If you focus just on those individual things, you'll never fix anything. You'll be chasing your tail for years.
You have to over -- take an overarching look, build a culture that every person in there understands how they participate in making a safe airplane at the end. Not just what they did today, but what they're doing and how it affects safety at the end of the picture.
That's the kind of vision that they need. They need to incorporate the safety vision in their vision statement and in their mission statement.
It's not even there. It doesn't say safety in their vision statement. You have to have that line of sight to safety or it's not going to happen.
VAUSE: It's a really good point. Yes, a really good point to end on, David. Thanks so much for doing this, David Soucie there. Appreciate your time.
SOUCIE: Of course. Thank you, John.
VAUSE: Los Angeles Dodgers superstar Shohei Ohtani has broken his silence on theft and gambling allegations against his former interpreter. The highest-paid player in Major League Baseball insisted he's never bet on baseball or any other sport.
CNN's Nick Watt has details.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
NICK WATT, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Shohei Ohtani came out and spoke hoping to lay to bed all the rumors and the stories that have been circulating since this story first broke nearly a week ago. Ohtani spoke through a new interpreter and basically said that his longtime interpreter and friend Ippei Mizuhara is basically a liar, a gambler, and a thief.
Take a little listen to what he had to say through that interpreter.
SHOHEI OHTANI, L.A. DODGERS (through translator): I never bet on baseball, any other sports or never have asked somebody to do it on my behalf. And I have never went through a bookmaker to bet on sports.
Up until a couple of days ago, I didn't know that this was happening. Ippei has been stealing money from my account and has told lies.
WATT: Now, some suspicion had fallen on Ohtani because of dueling narratives and also because the bookmaker at the center of all this, he had apparently been telling people that Shohei Ohtani was his client, not Ippei Mizuhara the interpreter.
Now, I spoke to the lawyer for that bookie. The bookie is Mathew Bowyer. The lawyer is Diane Bass. She said, listen Bowyer, sure he might have said that but he was just bragging, boasting.
You know, it was a good marketing ploy to say that Shohei Ohtani, perhaps the greatest baseball player to ever live, was your client. But she reiterated that Ohtani and the bookie had zero direct contact whatsoever.
Now, why this is such a big story? Well, this is Shohei Ohtani's opening week here at the L.A. Dodgers. He came on a $700 million, 10- year contract.
[01:39:52] WATT: He's a two-way player. He pitches, he hits. He is spoken of in the same breath as Babe Ruth. And you know, there was a poll of MLB players asked, who's the best player right now. Two-thirds of them said it was Ohtani.
So Ohtani and the Dodgers clearly trying to put this to bed so that the focus can be on him at the Dodgers and opening day Thursday.
Nick Watt, CNN -- inside Dodgers Stadium.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VAUSE: A group of Chinese hackers has been sanctioned by the U.S. over years-long cyber espionage campaign. Seven men were indicted in U.S. federal court Monday accused of targeting critical infrastructure and government officials, including lawmakers on behalf of Chinas top spy agency. Authorities say, millions of Americans may have also had their data compromised.
And U.K. says the same hacker group likely breached the British Electoral Commission, as well as spying on British MPs.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
IAIN DUNCAN SMITH, BRITISH CONSERVATIVE MP: The West has to wake up to the fact this is a challenge to the very way that we live our lives. To our belief in democracy, human rights, freedom of expression, freedom of worship.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: CNN's Kristie Lu Stout in Hong Kong with more details.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
KRISTIE LU STOUT, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The U.S. and U.K. are taking action after accusing Beijing of malicious cyber activity against billions of targets from Washington to Westminster. On Monday both U.S. and British officials, they filed charges. They imposed sanctions against Chinese-state linked hacking groups and China has dismissed the allegations.
Now, officials in both countries, they called out the hacking group. It's called Advanced Persistent Threats 31 or APT 31, saying that it's an arm of China's ministry of state security and targets include White House staff, U.S. senators, British MPs and officials around the world who are critical of China.
And in an indictment that was unsealed on Monday against seven of the alleged Chinese hackers, U.S. prosecutors said that they targeted emails, they targeted online storage, and the phone call records of millions of American.
We have a statement for you. Let's bring it up. This is from the FBI director Christopher Wray, who said this, quote, "Today's announcement exposes China's continuous and brash efforts to undermine our nation's cybersecurity and to target Americans and our innovation.
Now officials in the U.K. call this group APT 31, accused them of hacking British lawmakers who are critical of China. And the U.K. also said a second group of Chinese spies targeted the U.K.'s electoral watchdog that separately compromised the data of millions more people across the U.K.
This is what we heard from the British Home Secretary James Cleverly, who said this. Quote, "It is reprehensible that China sought to target our democratic institutions. China's attempts at espionage did not give them the results they wanted," unquote.
Now, the U.S. identified the hackers with the help of the Five Eyes. This is the intelligence-sharing alliance between the U.S., U.K., Canada, Australia and New Zealand.
And we did hear China's response. We heard from the embassy in London, China's embassy saying it strongly opposes these accusations. And then the question was raised on Monday, Ministry of foreign affairs briefing. We heard from Lin Jian, the spokesperson saying "Sufficient and objective evidence are required when investigating a cyber incident and coming to a conclusion as opposed to smearing other countries about facts or politicizing cybersecurity."
But we do want to point out that China has also accused the West of hacking campaigns. Back to you.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VAUSE: Thank you, Kristie.
With that, we'll take a short break and when we come back, a lot of cases of dengue fever soaring to record levels in Argentina. A lot more on that deadly outbreak in a moment.
[01:43:38]
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
VAUSE: Newly-elected president of Guatemala, Bernardo Arevalo was in Washington Monday for meetings with President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris. Discussions on reducing migration from central America top the agenda.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BERNARDO AREVALO, GUATEMALAN PRESIDENT (through translator): The importance of the fight against corruption for the rescue of our democratic institutions has been primordial and it is the background to the conversation where we are very clear that the main challenge is to reach concrete development measures.
Because ultimately both Vice President Harris' strategy and our own government plan understand that one of the root causes of migration is the lack of work opportunities for the population.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: Meantime, hundreds of migrant known as the caravan have departed from Mexico's southern border of Guatemala hoping to reach the United States. They're doing this despite a Texas law that would allow state authorities to arrest migrants suspected of crossing the border illegally.
In Ecuador, police have announced the murder of the country's youngest mayor, 27-year-old Brigitte Garcia, served as mayor of a small coastal town and her body was found Sunday at a car alongside her communications director.
Police say both were found dead from gunshot wounds. Early investigations suggest the shots were fired from inside the car.
Ecuador has been grappling with a recent surge in gang violence. The president had this reaction to her death.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DANIEL NOBOA, ECUADORIAN PRESIDENT (through translator): The assassination of the mayor of San Vicente and her communications director also reminds us that this fight is not over. It has only just begun.
It also gives us a warning and precise information that there is narco terrorism within public institutions. And there's narco terrorism among public officials, which we are cleaning up.
Still very soon this will come to light.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: Argentina is experiencing its worst ever outbreak of dengue fever. The mosquito-borne disease is typically found in tropical climates. But more outbreaks are occurring around the world and climate change could be to blame.
Stefano Pozzebon reports.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
STEFANO POZZEBON, CNN JOURNALIST: The lines are back at Argentina's hospitals with confirmed cases of the notorious infectious disease soaring to record level. Inside, patients received treatment in a waiting room because the wards are full.
The vibe is very much 2020, the virus is different.
GABRIELA LEDEZMA, DENGUE PATIENT (through translator): It started with a headache. I thought I had migraine, then the fever, and then I've decided to come to the hospital to do the exams and confirm the virus.
Dengue causes fever and pain. It can be lethal. Most worrying, there is no cure for it. Patients should hydrate and can take painkillers but must wait to ride out the symptoms. The scenes of hospitals overflowing with patients have brought back for many Argentinians the nightmares of the COVID-19 pandemic. The difference this time, many experts are saying, is that tropical diseases like dengue will be more and more common. And scenes like these will become the new normal.
The mosquitoes that carry thrive in hot, humid environment common in the tropics but research suggests these conditions are spreading to more temperate climates because of global warming. And mosquitoes are following.
In the U.S. the majority of cases are in Puerto Rico, but last year Miami-Dade County was placed under alert after a handful of cases tested positive.
Buenos Aires seats on the banks of the Rio dela Plata. These wetlands perfect for the mosquitoes now that it's the end of the summer. Confirmed cases on more than five times what they were just five years ago. One of them on our own team.
CNN journalist Veronica Paez (ph) recovering from the virus.
"It sucks the energy out of you. You can't get out of bad or even say hello."
[01:49:48]
POZZEBON: Dengue has a low mortality rate. For now, authorities have ruled out emergency measures to prevent the spread. Argentinians are advised to use insect repellents and wear long sleeves and light trousers. Also get rid of standing water where mosquitoes can gather and breed.
But for someone who lost a dear one, that is not enough.
Giselle (INAUDIBLE) died on March 17. She was diagnosed with dengue six days before.
What Vallejos would like to see is a widespread information campaign, warning the population about the disease.
"We need to learn how to live with it. And the first step is taking it seriously," she says.
Stefano Pozzebon, CNN -- Buenos Aires.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VAUSE: A new reason, as if one was needed, to stop using plastics with a new study raising concerns about the impact from microplastics that it could have on archaeology. Tiny pieces of plastic about the size of a sesame seed form when larger plastics breakdown. Their presence in oceans and rivers poses a danger to human health as well as the environment.
Now archaeologists have found them in soil from the first or second century CE. And it was evacuated during the 1980s -- excavated rather.
The new study suggests they could compromise artifacts and organic material and change the way archaeologists preserve their discoveries.
Stop using plastics. It's good for everyone.
Still to come, when it comes to wild baseless conspiracy theories about the royal family, move over Fleet Street, you've got nothing on social media. That's where the truth goes to die and the crazy, absurd and outrageous run free.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
VAUSE: Given their toxic history, it seems almost hard to believe that when it comes to the Princess of Wales and her health, the tabloids in Britain had been relatively tame. At least compared to social media where rumors, lies, and conspiracies run amuck like never before.
CNN's royal correspondent Max Foster has our report.
Maybe he does not have our report. We will try and get back to that. Maybe next hour you'll see it then.
In the meantime, we'll move on. Saudi Arabia is building a new theme park. It's based on the popular Japanese manga series Dragon Ball. The park near Riyadh will span more than 500,000 square meters with 30 rides, themed hotels, and landmarks from the animated series, including a roller coaster, 70 meters high, which resembles a magical dragon. There we go. We have pictures after all.
Hey. This is part of the kingdom's push to create more tourist destinations south of the capital.
But not everyone is happy. As always, there will be critics and fans of the series have said that the plan on social media, because they're critical of it, because of Saudi Arabia's dismal human rights record.
Let's go back down to Max Foster and his report on how social media has outrageously treated Catherine, the Princess of Wales and her health. Here we go.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MAX FOSTER, CNN ROYAL CORRESPONDENT: Since Princess Catherine's announcement of her cancer diagnosis and even in the run-up there's been a markedly restrained response from the British newspapers. By and large, sticking to the facts, careful not to speculate. Lots of sympathy for Kate and her young family.
It's a departure from a past when the tabloids were accused of deep invasions of privacy, illegal tactics, and complete insensitivity.
It's been a different story on parts of social media which filled a vacuum of information with rumor and lies.
[01:54:53] FOSTER: The palace found itself unable to control the narrative. And it twisted out of control.
For three months, all Kensington Palace would confirm was that the princess had abdominal surgery, then recovered well, and wouldn't be appearing again before Easter.
On social media, content creators filled the void, racking up millions of views and followers. No matter how wild and grotesque their claims were, they were cashing in.
When Kate finally came out and explains they suddenly went quiet.
CATHERINE, PRINCESS OF WALES: In January, I underwent major abdominal surgery in London. And at the time, it was thought that my condition was non-cancerous.
The surgery was successful. However, tests after the operation found cancer had been present.
FOSTER: Throughout the weekend, guilt stricken social media users apologized for buying into the conspiracies, others just carried on.
Mainstream media, hit back at how social media provided a platform for unfounded conspiracy theories. TikTok pointed us to their transparency center where they say quote, "Like others in our industry, we do not prohibit people from sharing personal experiences, simply inaccurate myths or misinformation that could cause reputational or commercial harm in order to balance creative expression with preventing harm."
For Instagram, Meta shared information about their existing third- party fact-checking process and how they deal with misinformation.
X forwarded a post from a senior business operations executive, criticizing the way mainstream media has covered the story, saying every news outlet should apologize.
There are chilling echoes of the way Kate has been dehumanized and commoditize with the way her husband's late mother was hounded by some newspapers.
In a 2017 documentary Prince William shared an insight into the difficult and continuous dance with the U.K. press.
WILLIAM, PRINCE OF WALES: You've got to maintain a barrier and a boundary because we cross it at both sides, cross it. A lot of pain and problems can come from it.
FOSTER: Prince Harry has gone further cutting ties with certain parts of the media and challenging tabloids in court. He doesn't have official social media accounts.
We don't expect to see Kate or the King out in public for some time. It's down to William and Camilla now to do the more whilst caring for their spouses.
Max Foster, CNN -- London.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VAUSE: Thanks for watching. I'm John Vause.
Please stay with us. CNN NEWSROOM continues with Rosemary Church after a break.
See you tomorrow.
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