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CNN International: British Foreign Secretary in Israel Following Iran's Attack; At Least 13 Killed after Strike on Gaza Refugee Camp; Zelenskyy Slams Congressional Stalemate over Aid; House Sends Mayorkas Impeachment Articles to Senate. Aired 4-4:30a ET
Aired April 17, 2024 - 04:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: On the one hand, it's this massive sense of gravitas and importance because you know that this is history in the making.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He's not going to get acquitted, but if he gets one of them, that's a hung jury in this trial.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The Israeli military believes this missile was likely intercepted but you can see the holes in the sides of this fuel tank. Now Israel says it must respond.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Another motion to vacate is an utter waste of time and frankly, a distraction from really important business.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The big thing is I want to vote on Ukraine.
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MAX FOSTER, CNN NEWSROOM: Hello and a warm welcome to our viewers joining us from around the world. I'm Max Foster. It is Wednesday April the 17th 9 am here in London and noon in Dubai, where the airline Emirates has suspended check ins for passengers trying to leave due to severe flooding and rain.
About 100 millimetres or nearly four inches fell on Tuesday, forcing flights to be diverted from the Dubai International Airport. It is the world's second busiest. Have a look at those scenes. It looks like an ocean. Emirate says passengers already in transit to the airport can continue but warns customers to expect delays.
Dubai has recorded a year's worth of rain in just 12 hours enough to turn roads into rivers. Dubai's desert climate means the city's infrastructure just can't cope with so much rain falling so quickly. The heavy downpours for some drivers to abandon their vehicles and slowly wade through the floodwaters while some homes and businesses so water flood their ground floors. CNN Meteorologist Chad Myers has further details on the flooding.
CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: It was just round after round of thunderstorms here in Dubai, four separate rounds, it would come in it would go in and come back again. And then it would go again. And look at the wind here not just heavy rainfall, but 99 millimeters in 12 hours created this.
Not only here on the roadways, but also at the airport, the world's second busiest airport with 87 million passengers every year. So there's the cloud cover thunderstorm, another thunderstorm rolling on by. And now this weather is actually into parts of southern Iran and even into Pakistan.
But here are the numbers as we go 99 millimeters in 12 hours, the annual average is less than that, which means for the entire year, they should have picked only up about 94 millimeters. And we got this in 12 hours so just a tremendous amount of rainfall for anywhere in the world.
But certainly in places that don't see that much rainfall at any one time. In fact, after 24 hours, we were at 159 millimeters of rainfall before it finally stopped and now that weather has finally moved into parts of southern Iran and also even into parts of Pakistan.
Some of that could be piling up quite deep. We could see at least another 100 millimeters of rainfall to the east of there into the slightly more mountainous areas of southern Iran and into Pakistan.
FOSTER: Severe weather has also killed more than 100 people in Pakistan and Afghanistan. Officials in Pakistan say at least 40 people have died after heavy rain and flooding in parts of the country with dozens more injured and thousands of homes damaged.
Pakistan's Met Office is also warning that more rain is on the way at least 23 provinces in Afghanistan are also dealing with heavy rains and flooding. Officials say at least 66 people and hundreds of animals have died due to the flooding.
Israel's war cabinet is set to meet again in the coming hours to try to decide how to respond to Iran's aerial assault last weekend without sparking a broader conflict. Sources tell CNN the U.S. is expecting a limited response by Israel's military, with U.S. intelligence suggesting a small scale attack inside Iran is most likely. But Israel is given no official word on its plans or when a strike could occur. The IDF though is again confirming its retaliation is only a matter of time.
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REAR ADMIRAL DANIEL HAGARI, ISRAELI DEFENSE FORCES SPOKESPERSON: We will respond the way that we will choose at the time that you choose. We don't just have defensive capabilities that were proven on Saturday night. We have offensive capabilities. We will know what to do and when to do and how to do.
(END VIDEO CLIP) FOSTER: British Foreign Secretary David Cameron is in Israel today for talks with the country's top officials in the wake of Iran's surprise attack. Iran fired more than 300 drones and missiles towards Israel in this overnight assault in retaliation for a suspected Israeli strike on an Iranian diplomatic complex in Syria earlier this month. Meanwhile the U.S. and European Union say they plan to impose new sanctions on Tehran as a result of those strikes.
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The U.S. National Security Adviser says President Joe Biden is coordinating a comprehensive response with allies and partners including the G7. The sanctions would target Iran's missile and drone programs, as well as group supporting Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps. Here's what the Head of the U.S. Treasury had to say.
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JANET YELLEN, U.S. TREASURY SECRETARY: The attack by Iran and its proxies underscores the importance of Treasury's work to use our economic tools to counter Iran's malign activity.
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FOSTER: Former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert is urging his country's government not to respond militarily to Iran's attacks. Speaking with an army radio network, he said, I think we have achieved what we needed to achieve. We have very much punished them in a humiliating and powerful way, which will echo across the world.
On Tuesday, Israeli military displayed what it says is part of an Iranian ballistic missile pulled from the Dead Sea after the weekend assault. CNN's Jeremy Diamond was there and has more.
JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN CORRESPONDENT: This is just one piece of an Iranian ballistic missile that the Israeli military says Iran fired towards Israel over the weekend at 36 feet long. This is just the fuel tank for that missile. The Israeli military says more than 120 ballistic missiles were fired at Israel in this attack only a handful of them actually making it through Israel's air defense systems.
And the Israeli military believes this missile was likely intercepted. You can see the holes in the sides of this fuel tank. This missile was actually found in the Dead Sea. It was recovered and it was taken to this base in southern Israel. But now Israel says it must respond it must reestablish deterrence. They say this attack cannot go unanswered. The only question now is how the Israeli military will respond and when?
And so when you see that video, you can really just get a sense of the size and the scale of these missiles and the destructive power that they could potentially deliver. I'm told that the warhead on top of that missile would typically weigh about a half a ton, a half a ton of explosives of destructive power.
And so you can just think if these missiles had indeed made it through Israel's air defense systems, the kind of destruction that they could have caused. We also spoke with the Israeli military's top spokesman Daniel Hagari. He told us that the timing and the mode of this Israeli response to this Iranian attack would be decided by them at a time of their choosing. But he did say that it would come Jeremy Diamond CNN, Tel Aviv.
FOSTER: At least 13 people were killed after a strike on Maghazi the refugee camp in Central Gaza on Tuesday; Al Aqsa Martyrs Hospital officials say the death toll includes seven children. This video obtained by Reuters shows emotional scenes in and around the hospital morgue families mourn the loss of their loved ones.
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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: My brothers were sitting by the door and my brother was wounded on his cousin too, and I lost my son. I do not have a house or husband or anything anymore.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh people of the world what is happening is wrong. Have mercy on us. Stop the war. Stop the war. Children are dying in the streets.
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FOSTER: CNN's Nada Bashir joins us now. What do we know about this and what happened?
NADA BASHIR, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Look, CNN has reached out to the Israeli military for comment, no response just yet. But this is not the first time that we've seen Maghazi refugee camp targeted and struck by Israeli airstrikes. In fact, we've seen strikes on the Maghazi refugee camp.
Many times now from the outset of the war this is an area that is still densely populated with civilians. And we've seen graphic video now emerging from the scene in the aftermath, including footage shot by our own colleagues on the ground in Gaza showing the chaos at the nearby Al Aqsa Martyrs hospital a continuous flow of casualties.
We've seen graphic video showing the bodies scattered around the area surrounding where the air strike took place. And there is, of course real concern around what this will mean for civilians across the area. This is not the first time we've seen the refugee camp struck.
And of course, we saw an airstrike on the refugee camp just a day before as well. Now on that occasion, the Israeli military told CNN that its forces had struck what they described as a combat tunnel. But again, we saw an entire block of residential buildings being taken out by an airstrike that this is an area filled with civilians.
And what we're hearing from members of the international community is that more needs to be done by the Israeli military to ensure that we aren't seeing these large scale civilian casualties that we have seen repeatedly now over the course of the war, particularly in areas where it is known that there is a huge concentration of civilians. And of course now we're hearing about the situation in the south as
well on Tuesday at least seven Palestinians were killed in an airstrike on another camp -- camp in Rafah in Southern Gaza of course Rafah remains a key focal point real concern of potential three grand incursions there.
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But of course, while the focus is on the potential for grand operation important to remember that we still are seeing airstrikes there as well.
FOSTER: OK. Nada thank you. To New York now where seven people have been selected to be among the 12 jurors and six alternates in the historic hush money trial of Donald Trump. The Former U.S. President the first ever to face a criminal trial is charged with 34 counts of falsifying business records.
Lawyers for both sides questioned prospective jurors on Tuesday as they look for potential bias. After court was done for the day Trump was asked about his opinion about the jury.
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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: What kind of juror in you mind is an ideal juror in this trial?
DONALD TRUMP (R), FORMER U.S. PRESIDENT AND 2024 PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Anybody that's fair.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Do you believe that the jury did -- you know --
TRUMP: I'll let you know after -- after the trial.
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FOSTER: Well, CNN's Kara Scannell has details on the jury selection from New York.
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KARA MCGEE, DISMISSED POTENTIAL JUROR: It's this -- very like -- massive sense of gravitas and importance because you know that this is history in the making.
KARA SCANNELL, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The perspective from one dismiss potential juror as dozens more filed into a Manhattan courtroom Tuesday. Seven jurors have now been seated. The seated jurors include an Irishman in sales, a female oncology nurse, a female English teacher at a charter school, a female software engineer, a male owner of an IT business and two male attorneys.
The jury selection strategy for both parties taking shape Trump attorneys spending the afternoon digging into the social media posts of some potential jurors. To restrict for cause one for a social media posts referencing Trump and quote, lock him up. When a prosecutor asked the juror if he still believes Trump should be locked up the juror answered no.
Trump was seen craning his neck toward him and flashing a smirk. Judge -- issued a stern warning to Trump after he visibly reacted to a jurors' answer about a video she posted on social media. He warned Trump's lawyer your client was audibly uttering I will not have any jurors intimidated in the courtroom.
That juror was questioned outside the presence of the others about a video she posted on social media showing an outdoor celebration quote spreading the honking cheer around Election Day 2020. She said it was a New York celebratory moment. Trump's lawyers suggested she was biased.
The judge said he believed the juror could be fair and didn't excuse her Trump's attorney Todd Blanche, telling those in the jury pool quote, it's extraordinarily important to President Trump that we know we're going to get a fair shake.
One juror said he finds Trump fascinating because he quote walks into a room and he sets people off one way or the other. Blanche seemed amused with the response. Another juror said she learned for the first time Tuesday that Trump has been charged in three other cases.
Prosecutor Joshua's -- address prospective jurors asking them to set aside any strong feelings. He asked each to consider if they would be able to look defendant Trump in the eye and return a guilty verdict if the case is proven beyond a reasonable doubt.
Trump up here to look at the jurors tilting his head once or twice as they were answering yes, according to -- reports. Kara Scannell, CNN New York.
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FOSTER: Now here's some more about what we know about the jurors seated for the trial. The first juror, who will be the full person he's originally from Ireland, reads "The New York Times" and "The Daily Mail" and watches Fox News and MSNBC.
The second juror is an oncology nurse. She reads "The New York Times" and watches CNN. The third juror is a corporate lawyer originally from Oregon. He's never been married and has no kids. And he gets his news from "The New York Times", "The Wall Street Journal" and Google.
The fourth juror is a Puerto Rico man. He has a business and told the courts Trump quote makes things interesting and claims he has no strong feelings about politics. The fifth juror is a black woman and an English teacher. She told the court she's not a political person and really doesn't care for the news.
The sixth is a software engineer who recently graduated from college. She gets her news from "The New York Times", Google, Facebook and TikTok. And the seventh juror is a lawyer originally from North Carolina. He told the judge he has political views as to the Trump presidency and thinks that there were policies he disagreed with. So with seven jurors seated, there are 11 spots remaining five jurors
and six alternates. The judge hopes to fill those seats this week and begin opening statements on Monday. CNN's Legal Analysts explain what Trump's defense lawyers might be looking for in potential jurors.
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ELIE HONIG, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: This is not going to wind up in a not guilty verdict. You would need to all 12 to say not guilty. What Trump is playing for here is a hung jury and people have to under sent 11-1 is a hung jury so I want a wild card if I'm Trump's team.
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I want someone on that jury who's enamored with Trump, who finds him fascinating, who finds him charismatic.
JEFFREY TOOBIN, FORMER U.S. FEDERAL PROSECUTOR: He's a very outspoken person to say -- to say the least. He is famous for interrupting people. And he's got to sit there and only speak when the judge gives him permission to speak, which as the defendant will not be very often unless he takes the stand. So I think it's going to be extremely uncomfortable experience for him.
He's been involved in many civil lawsuits over his locker -- long career. But he has not been in the courtroom for most of those lawsuits for any length of time. And I think sitting there having to be silent and behave himself is going to be excruciating for him.
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FOSTER: Well, CNN Political Commentator and Former Member of the Trump White House, Alyssa Griffin was asked if a hung jury would be as politically good for Trump as an acquittal.
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ALYSSA FARAH GRIFFIN, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: I think Donald Trump would be able to free him it is basically a vindication and exoneration. That's what he does. He's a brander if nothing else. And I think that he knows how to market something to his favor, especially to the core audience that he's trying to reach this Republican voting bloc that he needs to win over.
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FOSTER: About 50 million people in the U.S. are under threat from severe storms today from Mississippi to Michigan. Large hail tornadoes and scattered thunderstorms that could produce wind damage are all possible. The same storm system hit the Central Plains and Midwest on Tuesday, there were at least 17 tornado reports including this one in Central Iowa.
Today's storm threat covers Iowa parts of Michigan, Indiana, Kentucky, West Virginia, Pennsylvania, Kansas and Missouri. The first findings from an investigation into the deadliest U.S. wildfires in more than a century will soon be released.
The Hawaiian Attorney General, who's leading a review of the state's response to the -- fires will adjust the report at a news conference later today. Findings are expected to include a timeline of how the catastrophic wildfires spread during the first few days.
The death toll from the August tragedy grew to at least 100 after crews spent days digging through rubble for remains. No official cause has been revealed yet. Now coming up, Ukraine's President wants what Israel had over the weekend full air defense support from the U.S. and NATO in the face of a massive aerial assault.
Plus, U.S. President Joe Biden returns to his hometown in Pennsylvania, where he's looking to drum up support for his economic strategy and taking potshots at his rivals financial troubles. And later an inside look at Benito Mussolini's a World War II bunker which is now open to the public.
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FOSTER: Ukraine's mobilization rules are now changing. On Tuesday President Volodymyr Zelenskyy signed into law a new piece of legislation.
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It requires all men between 18 and 60 to register with the military and to carry their registration documents with them at all times. Ukrainian men living abroad will not be able to renew their passports without showing up to date registration paperwork. The law does not address demobilization for soldiers.
We've already spent a long time in front -- in the front lines of the country is facing a serious shortage of fighters. And Ukraine's commander on the Eastern Front warning that Russian troops out number there's by up to 10 times.
Right now a bill that would provide some $16 billion in aid for Ukraine is languishing in the U.S. House of Representatives one person who's ready to make those lawmakers get to work as the Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. He spoke with PBS News, and said that the political stalemate proves nobody cares how many people are dying in Ukraine right now.
Mr. Zelenskyy repeated his earlier warnings that without U.S. aid to Ukraine risks losing the war. He says Russia is targeting Ukraine's critical systems, and the lack of air defenses meant Ukraine was powerless as Russian missiles destroyed the biggest power plant in Kyiv region last week.
Mr. Zelenskyy pointed out that the U.S. and others jumped in to shoot down hundreds of Iranian missiles against Israel just days ago whilst leaving Ukraine out to dry.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY, UKRAINIAN PRESIDENT: When someone says that our allies cannot provide us with this or that weapon, or they cannot be in Ukraine with this or that force, because that would be perceived as if Ukraine is engaging NATO in the war.
Well, after yesterday's attack, I want to ask you a question. Is Israel part of NATO or not? Here's the answer. Israel is not a NATO country. The NATO allies, including NATO countries have been defending Israel. They showed the Iranian forces that Israel was not alone and this is a lesson. This is a response to anyone on any continent, who says you need to assist Ukraine very carefully so you don't engage NATO countries in the war.
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FOSTER: Meanwhile, far right Republican lawmakers are blasting House Speaker Mike Johnson's plan to advance several foreign aid bills without tying them to border security and some are beginning to discuss who could potentially replace him and at least one hardline conservative is threatening to ask the speaker if he brings military aid for Ukraine up for a vote. CNN's Manu Raju has the latest from Capitol Hill.
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I asked him to resign.
MANU RAJU, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Republican Congressman Thomas Massie announcing today he would support Congressman Marjorie Taylor Greene's resolution to out Speaker Mike Johnson is accusing him of betraying the conservative cause Johnson firing back.
REP. MIKE JOHNSON (R-LA): I am not resigning. It does not help the House Republicans advance our agenda.
RAJU (voice-over): All in the aftermath of a series of deals Johnson cut with Democrats, including to keep the government open reauthorize a key surveillance law and now brushing aside warnings from his right flank as he seeks to advance billions in aid to Ukraine. And now Congresswoman Greene is on the attack.
REP. MARJORIE TAYLOR GREENE (R-GA): There are others behind Massie as well.
RAJU (voice-over): Johnson's defenders warning Greene and Massie.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It'd be a very bad idea.
REP. MARCUS MOLINARO (R-NY): The concept of another motion to vacate is an utter waste of time.
REP. CARLOS GIMENEZ (R-FL): I think it would be horrible, I think be horrible -- horrible for our conference. I think it's horrible for the country too.
RAJU (voice-over): Johnson soon can only afford to lose one GOP vote along party lines, meaning he would almost certainly need Democrats to save him.
REP. ADAM SMITH (D-WA): I think it's unlikely I would support vacating. We'll see. I mean, the big thing is I want to vote on Ukraine.
RAJU (voice-over): The GOP revolt comes as Johnson announces long awaited plan to advance a foreign aid package after sidelining the Senate's $95 billion plan for more than two months. Johnson's new plan split up Ukraine, Taiwan and Israel aid into separate bills and add to it other policy measures such as a potential ban on TikTok.
But through an arcane procedural move, the House could end up sending those bills to the Senate in one big package angering hardliners who don't want to spend a dime more on aid to Ukraine.
REP. JIM JORDAN (R-OH): I'm not a big fan of this -- you know well, I like the individual votes, not a big fan of putting them all back together.
RAJU: It doesn't makes sense to just put all these up and cobble it all together.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: In a word, no. What are Republicans getting out of this?
RAJU (voice-over): Plus anger on the right since the plan won't include border security measures the Speaker previously demanded.
REP. CHIP ROY (R-TX): The fact is not having the border in this plan is a wholly unacceptable, it's just it's not acceptable.
RAJU (voice-over): Yet despite these words from Donald Trump last week at Mar-a-Lago.
TRUMP: I said with the Speaker.
RAJU (voice-over): Greene says she still wants Johnson out.
RAJU: His comments on Friday didn't change your approach?
GREENE: No, no. And as a matter of fact, there are more people that are probably going to be angry from whatever happens this week.
RAJU (voice-over): Manu Raju CNN Capitol Hill.
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FOSTER: Meanwhile, Donald Trump is being totally non-committal about Speaker Johnson's political fate.
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TRUMP: Well, we'll see what happens with that.
(END VIDEO CLIP) FOSTER: Trump did however; say I think he's a very good person. The former president recently expressed support for Johnson when the Speaker visited him in Florida. U.S. Senators are expected to be sworn in later today as jurors in the historic impeachment trial of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas.
House Republicans deliver two articles of impeachment to Democrat controlled Senate on Tuesday. The upper chamber is expected to either quickly dismiss the charges or hold a speedy trial, but either way it ends without conviction. Mayorkas is the first Cabinet Secretary to be impeached and maybe 150 years. He and the Democrats say the case is politically motivated, and meritless.
House Republicans voted to impeach him in February over the flow of undocumented migrants crossing the southern border. Most constitutional experts say the evidence does not reach the bar of high crimes and misdemeanors despite that, and the lack of support in the upper chamber some Senate Republicans are vowing to see this through.
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SEN. MIKE LEE (R-UT): It can be no doubt, but that a case for impeachment can be made and has been made here and that we must convene a trial to find these facts and reach an ultimate verdict as to guilt or innocence.
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FOSTER: Well, still to come, another night of clashes between police and protesters in Georgia why critics say the country's parliament is taking a page out of the Kremlin's book? Plus why prominent American universities cancel the commencement speech -- this lady here I think.
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FOSTER: Welcome back to CNN Newsroom. I'm Max Foster. Here are some of today's top stories. Operations at Dubai International Airport have been significantly impacted by massive flooding. Many flights have been delayed or diverted and Dubai's Emirates Airline has canceled all check ins for today.
A bill aimed at phasing out smoking in the UK cleared its first parliament You heard a lot on Tuesday the bill would make it illegal to sell cigarettes to anyone born after January 1st, 2009.
