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Netanyahu Cancels Israel Delegation To Washington; Israel Defense Minister Meets Senior U.S. Officials; Zelenskyy Calls Putin A Sick And Cynical Creature; Russia Receiving Starlink Terminals Despite Sanctions; Ukraine Urging SpaceX to Shut Down Russia's Starlink Use; Rapper Sean Diddy Combs Has Been the Target of Federal Investigation After Law Enforcement Raids His Homes; Media Coverage of Catherine's Controversies Tempered Since Her Cancer Diagnosis. Aired 2-3a ET
Aired March 26, 2024 - 02:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
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[02:00:55]
ROSEMARY CHURCH, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: Hello and welcome to our viewers joining us from all around the world and everyone streaming us on CNN Max. I'm Rosemary Church.
Just ahead. The White House says it's perplexed after Israel's Prime Minister abruptly canceled a planned delegation to Washington. More on what's led to this deepening rift between Joe Biden and Benjamin Netanyahu ahead in a live report.
Plus, Donald Trump's financial lifeline and appeals court drastically reduces the bond amount. The former president has to pay in his civil fraud case.
And a vital communications lifeline on the Ukrainian battlefield is finding its way into the hands of Russian soldiers giving them a battlefield advantage.
ANNOUNCER: Live from Atlanta. This is CNN NEWSROOM with Rosemary Church.
CHURCH: Good to have you with us. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has canceled a trip by two of his top advisors to Washington this week after the U.N. Security Council approved a resolution for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza on Monday. The U.S. abstained from the vote clearing the way for the measure to pass, but American officials say they're perplexed by Netanyahu's decision.
Meanwhile, Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant is in Washington meeting with senior U.S. officials. He met with Secretary of State Antony Blinken and National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan on Monday where Blinken repeated that the U.S. is opposed to a major ground operation in Rafah.
Gallant is expected to meet U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin at the Pentagon in the coming hours where officials say he's expected to ask for more weapons and equipment to support Israel's war in Gaza.
And joining us now is journalist Elliott Gotkine. He is in Jerusalem. And Elliot, the U.S. is perplexed by Benjamin Netanyahu's abrupt cancellation of a delegation to Washington after the UNSC resolution for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza passed. Why did the U.S. abstain from that vote? And how will this complicate ongoing ceasefire and hostage negotiations as well as U.S.-Israel relations?
ELLIOTT GOTKINE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Rosemary, the U.S. abstaining from this vote and thereby allowing it to pass. I suppose is indicative of a couple of things. One is the increased urgency with which a ceasefire is needed in the Gaza Strip given the dire and deteriorating humanitarian situation there. And the other is that this shows that the rift between Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government and the U.S. appears to be widening the U.S.'s Ambassador to the United Nations outlining why they abstain from this vote but still couldn't support it.
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LINDA THOMAS-GREENFIELD, U.S. AMBASSADOR TO THE UNITED NATIONS: We did not agree with everything in the resolution. For that reason, we were unfortunately not able to vote yes. However, as I've said before, we fully support some of the critical objectives in this non-binding 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.
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GOTKINE: Now the U.S. is insisting that its position vis-a-vis Israel's war with Hamas has not changed in any way. But certainly, the fact that it's allowed this resolution to pass when the language didn't seem to meaningfully differ from earlier resolutions that also called for a ceasefire and also called for Israeli hostages still being held captive by Hamas in the Gaza Strip to be released.
It's hard to see how that wording differs materially. Now, as you say Prime Minister Netanyahu as a result of this U.N. Security Council resolution passing and the U.S. abstaining allowing it to pass. Netanyahu made good on his threat to cancel a high-level delegation of two of his most senior advisors to Washington. But given that defense minister, Yoav Gallant is there anyway talking pretty much about the same things, in other words the Israel's planned operation for Rafah where it says it has to go in because that is where Hamas has its last remaining stronghold.
[02:05:09]
It's hard to see how that cancellation is going to meaningfully change the communication between the U.S. administration and Israel. Rosemary?
CHURCH: All right. Our thanks to Elliott Gotkine joining us live from Jerusalem. Russian President Vladimir Putin says the horrific terror attack on a concert hall near Moscow was carried out by radical Islamist, but he's also without evidence blaming Ukraine. Mr. Putin held a conference call with government officials on Monday. Drawing it, he said the attack fit into a series by Ukraine against Russia.
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VLADIMIR PUTIN, PRESIDENT OF RUSSIA (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 key regime. The goal as I already said, this is so panic in our society, and at the same time show our own population that all is not lost for the key regime.
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CHURCH: After those comments, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy called Putin "sick and cynical." Ukraine has strongly denied any involvement in the attack and ISIS has claimed responsibility for it. The death toll from the attack is now at 139.
The four men accused of carrying out the attack had visible injuries when they appeared in court. Now there's new video that appears to show them being beaten possibly tortured when they were taken into custody.
CNN's Chief Global Affairs Correspondent Matthew Chance has the story and a warning some of these images are disturbing.
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MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Bloodshed at the concert hall near Moscow. Gunman running amok before setting the crowded building ablaze. Killing more than 130 people inside.
Neither suspected attackers from Tajikistan in Central Asia have appeared in a Moscow court. Looking battered amid reports of a brutal interrogation. The Kremlin is refusing to comment on allegations of torture.
Disturbing video has emerged. The suspects being run down by Russian security forces and listlessly beaten. What appears to have had parts of his ear cut off on camera during questioning. Electrocution and beatings have also been shown.
Meanwhile, eyewitnesses are recounting the terrifying ordeal they endured last weekend. I didn't scream or tell anyone to take cover recalls Anastasia. They were just walking around and gunning everyone down methodically and in silence, she says. It's an outrage that's left many here shocked and questioning just how safe in this country. They really are.
CHANCE (voice-over): But as Russians more the victims of this attack, the Kremlin is defending its own security services amid criticism it failed to heed intelligence warnings from the United States and others. And while ISIS has repeatedly said it carried out the attack, the Kremlin is still trying to implicate Ukraine, raising concerns it may use this tragedy to rally support for its war.
CHANCE (voice-over): And divert attention from the fact that Russia these days feels deeply insecure.
Matthew Chance, CNN, Moscow.
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CHURCH: A dramatic day of legal developments for Donald Trump. A trial date has been set in the hush money case which marks the first criminal trial of any former president in U.S. history. Jury selection will get underway in three weeks, despite Trump's efforts to get the case thrown out. Meanwhile, Team Trump is praising a New York appeals court for slashing his bond and the civil fraud judgment.
Trump's attorney calls that a great first step toward reversing a baseless and reckless judgment. The nearly half a billion dollars bond that was due Monday has been knocked down to 175 million and Trump has been given 10 days to post it.
CNN's Paula Reid is following both cases and has this report.
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PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Former President Donald Trump narrowly spared from possibly having his assets seized by the New York attorney general.
DONALD TRUMP (R) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: A lot of things happened today. This is all about election interference.
[02:10:04]
HANCOCKS (voice-over): An appeals court granting Trump 10 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 civil fraud trial for inflating the value of his assets.
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.
HANCOCKS (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 today 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.
HANCOCKS (voice-over): Now Trump has not spent his own money on his campaign since 2016.
TRUMP: Thank you very much.
HANCOCKS (voice-over): But he was not successful in further delaying his first criminal case. Judge Juan Merchan ruled the New York hush money case will begin on April 15th. 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.
HANCOCKS (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 cite 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.
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REID: Trump is required to attend to this trial. It's expected to go for about six weeks, four days a week with Wednesday's off. Now if it wraps in early June, that still leaves five months for those other three criminal cases. At this point, it's unclear if any of those will begin before the November election.
Paula Reid, CNN, New York.
CHURCH: Joey Jackson is a CNN legal analyst and criminal defense attorney. He joins us now from New York. Always great to have you with us.
JOEY JACKSON, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: Good to be here, Rosemary.
CHURCH: So, good news and bad news for Donald Trump Monday and two New York cases and appeals court offering a last-minute lifeline by reducing that bond by more than half cutting it down to $175 million. But trouble so got hit with a new court date set for his hush money trial. So, let's start with that whopping bond getting slashed in half and Trump receiving an additional 10 days to post it.
It's a reprieve in his civil fraud judgment. But Trump is spinning this as a win. Is it?
JACKSON: So, I think it is a win. And it is a win because there's a significant distinction, Rosemary, between a half billion dollars and $175 million dollars in terms of a bond. And so, I think that there's a measure of fairness in this and I think that it perhaps would renew people's faith in a system, particularly those who think they're out to get Trump everyone's around Trump looking to get them, you know, the evil empire.
Courts have to assess the relative merits of a case, have to determine whether or not a reduction of the bond in this case again, from a half a million to 175 million is appropriate. I think the judges evaluated the equities and said listen, let's extend 10 days, you know, certainly the ability for him to get any type of bond and let's reduce it. And so, I think that that, in this particular case is a significant win for him considering that he went to 30, three-o, insurance companies to attempt to get a bond and all said no, perhaps he will have better luck getting it now that it's significantly been reduced.
CHURCH: So, from a reprieve to a massive setback in a different New York courtroom, Trump Burt lost his bid Monday to further delay his hush money criminal trial. And now set for April 15th. It is of course the first to ever criminal trial of a former U.S. President.
[02:15:03]
Trump responded saying he didn't know how they could get away with having a trial in the middle of an election but there's clearly no legal problem with that. Is there? So, how bad could this get to -- for Trump once this gets going?
JACKSON: So, it could get very bad. I mean, to the first point, courts are about justice, and they do not really concern themselves with election schedules, campaign schedules. They concern themselves with whether you can get a jury, selected jury fairly and appropriately. And carry out the matter at hand which of course, would be a fair trial. And so, ultimately, that's what we're going to do, right? Meaning the judicial system.
And so, you know, it's not really a surprise, Rosemary, that the judge said, listen, no, as to the issue of a further delay. And no as to the issue of a dismissal. Right? We know that there were delays in discovery with respect to what prosecutors turned over to his defense team. But the judge considering that said, listen, if I extend the trial for a couple of weeks that will give you as defense lawyers, the ability to digest read, review this material, otherwise support and defend your client.
And therefore, that German is, you know, is appropriate. And I think that the matter will move forward. In terms of the risk, Rosemary, listen, he could face incarceration in the case. You know, certainly it's an E felony, the way felonies work in New York state, it goes from a felony most severe 25 to life, the E felonies where you, you know, certainly can do steal jail time. And so, a judge could, indeed, in the event of a conviction, we're not there yet a unanimous jury has to determine beyond the reasonable doubt his guilt, but a judge certainly can put him in.
CHURCH: So Joey, how likely is it that Trump would testify in this criminal trial? And how risky could that be if he if he decides to do that?
JACKSON: So it's always a risky proposition to have your client testify. Why? Because in a normal situation, the way the system works is a prosecution has the burden of proof. And we know we've heard a lot about proof beyond a reasonable doubt, very high standard. Now, the relevance of that is that defense lawyers continually in a trial winnable way and try to create doubt and spin the facts and tell their own story.
And if you do that successfully, that's a big deal. In the event, your client testifies it goes from the burden of proof and you whittling away to do we believe your client? Is your client credible? Is your client's testimony compelling? In this case, of course, it's the president of the United States, a little bit different. I think his attorneys would want to keep him off the witness stand. But you know what, I think Trump keeps his own counsel.
He's indicated he wants to testify, and perhaps he will testify. But it's a documentary case, meaning it's a paper case. And to the extent that prosecutors can establish that there were payments that were made, and they were not retainer payments paying back his lawyer who's fixing Michael Cohen, but instead they were going to pay off Stormy Daniels, who of course is the centerpiece of the case, then I think it creates significant problems. So, we'll see.
CHURCH: Joey Jackson, always appreciate your legal analysis. Thanks for joining us.
JACKSON: My pleasure. Thanks, Rosemary.
CHURCH: Still to come. A win for democracy in West Africa as a political newcomer is set to become Senegal's next president. A live update on the election results just ahead.
Plus, Shohei Ohtani denies involvement in the scandal that cost his longtime interpreter his job. His first public comments since the scandal broke just ahead.
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CHURCH: Welcome back, everyone. A little-known opposition candidate is set to become the next President of Senegal after his rival and former Prime Minister Amadou Ba conceded defeat on Monday. Early unofficial results show Bassirou Diomaye Faye was leading with 57 percent of the vote while Ba was far behind with 31 percent. That's according to an independent radio station in the West African country. Official results are expected by the end of the week.
CNN's Larry Madowo joins us now live from Johannesburg. So, Larry, what is the latest on the Senegal presidential elections and now that Bassirou Diomaye Faye appears set to become the country's next president?
LARRY MADOWO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Rosemary, the Electoral Commission of Senegal says they will announce the official results Wednesday. But this is a done deal. It looks like Bassirou Diomaye Faye will be the next President of Senegal. And what he's accomplished is extraordinary. This man was in jail until 10 days before the election. So, he ran a successful presidential campaign in exactly 10 days.
And on his 44th birthday he was elected the youngest ever President of Senegal, just 44 years old. This looks unlikely just two weeks before this and now he has to govern this country which has taught a lesson to Africa and the rest of the world about democracy. When President Macky Sall tried to postpone the election with three weeks to the election, the people of Senegal said no.
And the constitutional court there agreed with them. When President Macky Sall tried to run for the third term the people of Senegal said no. And their constitutional democracy stood. And I think the election of Bassirou Diomaye Faye really underscores how proud they are of that democracy and how far they have come. He has made his first comments about his unlikely when and how he intends to govern.
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BASSIROU DIOMAYE FAYE, SENEGAL PRESIDENT-ELECT (through translator): Senegalese people have chosen to break with the past to give substance to the immense hopes raised by our vision of society. I hope that our vision has given substance to their aspirations. I pledged to govern with humility and transparency and to fight corruption at all levels. I pledged to devote myself fully to rebuilding our institutions and strengthening the foundations of our way of life together.
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MADOWO: President-elect Diomaye Faye I also thanked President Macky Sall for respecting the will of the people and have the Constitutional Council. President Sall's term ends on April 2nd. And now he has to govern. He was a popular opposition candidate even when he was in jail on what he believed in pre-aware, politically motivated charges and he's promising that one of the things they will do is to review and look at the CFA franc, this currency pegged to the euro that many criticize as a sign of France's good influence in these former colonies and the continent. Rosemary?
CHURCH: Larry Madowo in Johannesburg. Many thanks for that live report.
Shohei Ohtani says he has never bet on baseball or any other sport. The Los Angeles Dodgers superstar is addressing the theft and gambling allegations against his former interpreter for the first time. CNN's Nick Watt has details. NICK WATT, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, show a Otani 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.
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SHOHEI OHTANI, LOS ANGELES DODGERS DESIGNATED HITTER (through translator): So, I never bet on baseball or any other sports or I 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. There has been stealing money from my account and has told lies.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WATT: Now some suspicion had fallen on Ohtani because of dueling narratives and also because the bookmaker or the center of all this, he had apparently been telling people that Shohei Ohtani was his client not Ippei Mizuhara, the interpreter.
[02:25:09]
Now I spoke to the lawyer for that bookie, the bookie is Matthew Boyer, the lawyer is Diane bass. She said, listen, Boyer, 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 with 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 $700,000,000 million 10-year contract. He's a two-way player. He pitches, he hits. He is spoken of in the same breaths 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 Dodger Stadium.
CHURCH: And I spoke earlier with best-selling author and award-winning journalist Keith O'Brien. And I asked him what kind of mechanisms professional sports leagues have in place to combat athletes betting on games.
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KEITH O'BRIEN, AUTHOR, CHARLIE HUSTLE: Since the legalization of sports gambling here in America in 2018. And since every professional sports league has begun to partner with illegal gambling platforms. There are security systems that are setup. These security systems are in many cases being run by third-party contractors. And they can monitor wagering traffic in real time through all the legal gambling channels.
In other words, if a player or someone close to him were to place a bet through legal channels, they can flag it potentially within minutes, certainly within hours, you know, and there's a reason for that, as you say, Rosemary, and that is the integrity of the game. You know, when gambling legal or illegal gets too close to the game itself, the danger is that the players who are supposed to be trying to win may not do that.
The problem that's been revealed here through the current situation in Los Angeles. Is that -- there still remains a vibrant illegal betting culture here in America. According to the American Gaming Association, about $60 billion is legal -- gambled illegally in America every year. And if you are placing bets in the illegal gambling underworld, these are not being monitored by the leagues, oftentimes it's not being monitored by anyone.
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CHURCH: And you can see my entire interview with Keith O'Brien next hour on CNN NEWSROOM.
Coming up. How Russian soldiers are using Elon Musk's Starlink terminals in the battlefield despite sanctions in place to prevent them from doing so. Back with that and more in just a moment.
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CHURCH: Welcome back everyone. Russia appears to be using Starlink satellite communications terminals, despite sanctions. It is the same technology that Ukraine relies on to guide its drone warfare. Starlink, which is created by Elon Musk's SpaceX company is now giving Russian forces a battlefield advantage. CNN's Nick Paton Walsh shows us how Ukraine is responding
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NICK PATON WALSH, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Ukraine's newest target is something they've long cherished themselves, small white rectangular satellite internet terminals from Elon Musk's Starlink, apparently in Russian hands and hit by Ukrainian drones. They are not supposed to be there at all according to Musk and the U.S. sanctions.
(Foreign Language)
Here, a Russian soldier explains frontline damage to one of their Starlink units connecting attack drones and command centers. While Russia has officially denied their use, their army of crowd funders openly flaunt Starlink purchases in the third countries.
Here is one key supplier showing off store-bought drones and five Starlinks too.
(Foreign Language)
The look on their faces does not suggest they are too confident in coming home.
(Foreign Language)
She has posted other images of Starlinks and drones bought. Ukrainian troops we met across the eastern south of the frontline said Russia has near copied their system of attack drones using Starlink's internet signal to control dozens of single-use, first-person view devices to swarm Ukrainian positions. Here, as even an intercepted signal of one unit told us they had hacked from a Russian drone. You can see it maneuvering into Ukrainian target.
Near the heavily contested village of Robotyne, down in the bunkers where the drone wars are fought, this change is huge and has come with an apparent complication for the Ukrainians too. Their Starlinks' speeds have been getting slower said this commander.
ANTON, UKRAINE'S 65TH MECHANIZED BRIGADE: (Foreign Language)
PATON WALSH (voice-over): Another operator in the same area reported problems in the last month.
MISHA, COMMUNICATIONS OPERATOR, UKRAINIAN ARMY: (Foreign Language)
ELON MUSK, FOUNDER AND CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER, SPACEX: 9,000 active space lasers, so (inaudible).
PATON WALSH (voice-over): A lot rests on Musk. While Ukrainian officials went public with their concerns six weeks ago, they've since gone silent. They are perhaps quietly pressuring Musk, who experts think can vet who uses terminals even if that's trickier in contested areas.
OLEG KUTKOV, SOFTWARE ENGINEER AND STARLINK EXPERT: It is possible SpaceX can pinpoint each terminal and they know who is who, but the problem is to identify extra owner (ph) of the account. Musk is a big child (ph), so it is important to talk to him and to befriend (ph) him here because he may do some good decisions, apparently (ph) not very good for everyone.
[02:35:00]
PATON WALSH (voice-over): Musk's SpaceX and Starlink did not respond to requests for comment. They said previously they do no business with the Russian state or military and if a sanctioned party uses Starlink, we investigate the claim and take actions to deactivate the terminal, if confirmed. But as Ukraine's other lifelines wobble or dry up, space-based internet is one they cannot afford to see slow, lose to the Russians, or lose at all (ph).
Nick Paton Walsh, CNN, London.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CHURCH: Still to come, social media content creators are changing their tune after cashing in on conspiracies about the Princess of Wales. We will look at the complex relationship between the British royals and the modern media. That's next.
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CHURCH: Federal agents raided the Miami and Los Angeles homes of Musician Sean Diddy Combs on Monday. Senior law enforcement sources tell CNN the search is related to a sex trafficking investigation and federal agents were authorized to search for documents, phones, computers, and other electronic devices. This comes after months of controversy for the rapper. He's been the subject of at least four lawsuits that include allegations of rape and sex trafficking, all of which he has denied. A statement from the lawyer representing two of the rapper's accuses says, hopefully, this is the beginning of a process that will hold Mr. Combs responsible for his depraved conduct.
Well, it is no secret the British royal family and the tabloid media have had a toxic history together. But when it comes to the Princess of Wales and her health, the tabloids seem tame compared to social media where the most scandalous rumors and conspiracies can run amuck like never. Our Royal Correspondent Max Foster reports
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MAX FOSTER, CNN ROYAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): 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 is a departure from the 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. 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.
[02:40:00]
FOSTER (voice-over): No matter how wild and grotesque their claims were, they were cashing in. When Kate finally came out and explained, 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 (voice-over): 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, "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 commoditized 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 maintaining a barrier and a boundary because if you cross it -- if both sides cross it, a lot of pain and problems can come from it.
FOSTER (voice-over): Prince Harry has gone further, cutting ties with certain parts of the media and challenging tabloids in court. He doesn't have active official social media accounts.
We don't expect to see Kate or the king out in public for some time. It is down to William and Camilla now to do more, whilst caring for their spouses.
Max Foster, CNN, London.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CHURCH: And thanks for joining us this hour. I'm Rosemary Church. "World Sport" is coming up next. Then, I will be back in about 15 minutes with more "CNN Newsroom." Do stick around.
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