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Biden Signs $95 billion Aid Package For Ukraine, Israel, Taiwan; Police In Riot Gear Arrest, Disperse Pro-Palestinian Protesters At USC; Hamas Releases Video Of Injured Israeli American Hostage; Arizona Grand Jury Indicts Meadows, Giuliani, Other Trump Allies For 2020 Election Interference; Blinken Walking Diplomatic Tightrope During China Visit; New Video Undermines Pentagon Narrative of Kabul Blast; Flash Flooding in Nairobi at Extreme Levels; Japan Airlines New CEO Mitsuko Tottori Focused on Safety. Aired 1-2a ET
Aired April 25, 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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[01:00:23]
JOHN VAUSE, CNN ANCHOR: Ahead here on CNN.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOE BIDEN, U.S. PRESIDENT: A good day for America. It's a good day for Europe. It's a good day for world peace.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: And the bad day for Vladimir Putin and Russia with long range missiles and more deadly high tech weapons heading from the United States to Ukraine.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MIKE JOHNSON, U.S. SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE: Go back to class and stop the nonsense.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: Message not received at least on the University of Southern California, the latest college campus to see police move in and arrest dozens of pro-Palestinian protesters.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ANTONY BLINKEN, U.S. SECRETARY OF STATE: We'll be dealing with areas where we have real differences with China.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: And all that long laundry list of issues China's COVID health and rebuilding brushes military.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Live from Atlanta. This is CNN Newsroom with John Vause.
VAUSE: The coming hours renewed shipment of U.S. weapons are expected to arrive in Ukraine among them attackers, long range missiles which the Ukrainians had long demanded but have been repeatedly denied by President Biden. Over the years it could cause a major escalation in the conflict with Russia.
And after authorizing the financial assistance package passed by Congress, President Biden called out far-right conservatives for blocking that aid while praising lawmakers who voted in favor. Ukraine will receive nearly $61 billion in military aid, $26 billion will go to Israel, $8 billion for the Indo Pacific including Taiwan. President Biden says this was a good day for world peace.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BIDEN: It's going to make America safer. It's going to make the world safer. And it continues America's leadership in the world and everyone knows it. It was a difficult path. It should have been easier and it should have gotten there sooner. But in the end we do in America always does. We rose to the moment came together and we got it done.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: A shipment of us long range missiles secretly arrived in Ukraine earlier this month. The transfer was approved by President Biden in February, according to the Pentagon was kept quiet at Ukraine's request for operational security.
Billion dollars of military hardware is already on its way to Ukraine. The shipment includes ammunition for High Mobility Artillery Rocket systems or HIMARS, Bradley infantry fighting vehicles and Stinger anti-aircraft missiles, various logistics and tactical vehicles anti- armor systems and ammunition is also included.
And here's Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY, UKRAINIAN PRESIDENT (through translator): No matter what anyone says we are getting the support we need. We need to continue to protect lives from Russian attacks. These days, we have been working with our American friends at all levels to quickly fill this package from United States with the weapons our soldiers need. From ATACMS and artillery, from anti-tank weapons and missiles for the HIMARS to necessary air defense and equipment.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSEL All U.S. military assistance was stalled in Congress by Republicans. It is Ukraine which has paid the highest price. Russia gained more than 500 square kilometers of territory, including the town of Avdiivka. It was the result of a massive shortage of ammunition and other material. As CNN's Clare Sebastian reports Russia took advantage of the stall in military assistance.
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CLARE SEBASTIAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: This is what Ukraine's frontlines looked like last October. Around the time President Biden made this impassioned appeal to Congress for more aid.
BIDEN: When dictators don't pay a price for their aggression, they cause more chaos and death and more destruction.
SEBASTIAN: Well, this time lapse shows how we got there the first year of the war bringing three successful counter offensives the Kyiv region. And eventually we see in the Kharkiv region here. And then down in Kherson.
The second year, they're very different territorial gains or losses, grinding almost to a halt. Then from October last year, if we go back there, and you see the months go by if we zoom in on this crucial area of the Eastern Front, things start to gradually change the Russian advanced begins. And then by the middle of February, Ukraine had had to withdraw from the town of Avdiivka, a town that had resisted for the best part of a decade. And the Russian advance didn't stop there.
Well, if the red shaded area is Russian occupied territory, you can see that by the end of March, Russia had taken a few more villages down here tiny amounts of territory, but signaling an unstable front line and now the advanced continues towards Ocheretyne up here Novokalynove.
Again, just villages, critical higher ground and more potential Russian progress.
[01:05:00]
And it's not just there that Russia is attacking down in the south. It's fighting to regain villages like Robotyne that Ukraine took back last year and Ukraine second city of Kharkiv is under relentless attacks.
SERGEY LAVROV, RUSSIAN FOREIGN MINSITER (through translator): We need to move back to the line from which they can hit us. As I understand it, Kharkiv plays an important role here.
ZELENSKYY: Putin must be brought down to us, and our sky must become safe again.
SEBASTIAN: And remember Bakhmut, Russia's only significant victory of last year. Well, it's now redoubled its efforts to advance west of there and take the town of Chasiv Yar. That would be a huge blow for Ukraine, opening up critical routes to towns like Kramatorsk and the north and Kostyantynivka and giving Russia more higher ground to fire on those military hubs.
And the bottom line Ukraine believes a major Russian offensive may be coming as soon as May so new U.S. aid can't reach these front lines soon enough. Clare Sebastian, CNN, London.
(END VIDEOTAPE) VAUSE: Speed of weapons shipments is now crucial and earlier I spoke to retired Australian Army major general Mick Ryan, if the U.S. had pre-positioned weapons ammunition in the region, even before congressional approval for military assistance was received.
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MAJOR GEN. MICK RYAN (RET.), AUSTRALIAN ARMY: I think it's highly likely that for months now, whilst there's been the negotiations in Congress, the U.S. military has been working hard to push forward the first aid package once it was approved by Congress and the president, particularly with the high priority items, which include artillery munitions, high munitions air defense, but as we've seen from this package, it also includes a variety of vehicles, including Bradley fighting vehicles.
So this is a really good outcome. And I expect the first day we'll probably be rolling out of the border very soon, indeed.
VAUSE: Yes. And the speed of that operation seems to be, you know, a sign of just how desperate and how quickly Ukraine needs this military support. It was -- it's almost down to the wire in some in some instances, right.
RYAN: In some places absolutely it is. There are Ukrainian brigades that are almost totally out of munitions to fight back that these Russian artillery barrages that outnumber them 10 to one. There might undermine the underground and this aid package comes at just the right time, both in munitions and for morale.
VAUSE: And even before the shipment arrives, Biden secretly approved the transfer of long range ATACMS of missiles in February for use inside Ukrainian territory. The ATACMS missiles were then quietly included in the $300 million aid package announced in March, ultimately delivered to Ukraine earlier this month.
So, the Pentagon says the secrecy was to maintain operational security and it was at Ukraine's request. Now these long range missiles have a range of up to 190 miles about 300 kilometers. We take a look at the map, we take a look at the territory which is now in range the Russian territory in range of these missiles. How much of a game changer will these missiles actually be?
RYAN: Well, this is a very significant change in the capability so Ukrainian armed forces, not a silver bullet, mind you, but it allows them to reach out and hit headquarters and logistics notes that the Russians move back after the injection of the first time HIMARS launches back in June 2022.
So this will force the Russians into a real quandary about supporting current frontline operations as well as the planning for any large scale offensive they want to undertake this summer.
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VAUSE: Our thanks to retired Australian Army Major General Mick Ryan. And this last night, on Wednesday, President Biden outlined the weapons Ukraine will receive at least some of them and where they would come from.
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BIDEN: This package is literally an investment not only in Ukraine security, but in Europe security and our own security. We're sending Ukraine equipment from our own stockpiles, then we'll replace those stockpiles with new products made by American companies here in America, Patriot missiles made in Arizona, javelins, made in Alabama, artillery shells made in Ohio, Pennsylvania and Texas. In other words, we're helping Ukraine while at the same time investing in our own industrial base.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: In fact, just a fraction of the $61 billion will go directly to Ukraine. Most will be spent on U.S. weapons, much of that for the U.S. military. And yet for months, MAGA Republicans in Congress have argued billions of dollars will be better spent at home on domestic problems. Here's House speaker Mike Johnson, speaking back in January.
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JOHNSON: Before we even talk about Ukraine, I'm going to tell the President when I'm telling all of you and we've told the American people border, border, border. We have to take care of our own house. We have to secure our own border before we talk about doing anything else.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: And yet not long after that, Democrats did strike a deal for funding Ukraine, which was linked to border security. And they did that by getting into almost every demand Republicans have ever had for tougher immigration rules. And it still was not enough.
Whatever the reason was for delaying military assistance to Ukraine, it wasn't over spending the money at home. And it wasn't border security.
[01:10:04]
Well, proof of life from Hamas of an Israeli-American being held in Gaza. Hersh Goldberg-Polin appears in the video live, but appears to have been badly wounded. Part of his arm blown off by a grenade attack during his kidnapping on October 7, according to another hostage, who was recently released.
Just when the video was recorded is not known, but he references Passover, and says he's been held for almost 200 days, which suggests it was recorded sometimes this week, Goldberg-Polin's parents are calling for immediate action to bring him at all the hostages home.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) JON POLIN, FATHER OF HERSH GOLDBERG-POLIN: Seeing a video of hers today is overwhelming. We're relieved to see him alive. But we are also concerned about his health and well-being as well as that of all of the other hostages and all of those suffering in this region.
RACHEL GOLDBERG, MOTHER OF HERSH GOLDBERG-POLIN: If you can hear this. We heard your voice today for the first time in 201 days. And if you can hear us, I am telling you, we are telling you, we love you stay strong, survive.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: Also Wednesday, protesters burned cardboard boxes outside the home of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, many carrying signs and posters of Golberg-Polin, and were demanding the Israeli government to secure the release of all hostages being held in Gaza.
This was a 201 of Israel's war with Hamas and increased Israeli airstrikes have pounded northern Gaza for a second straight day. And in the south, and all that is really offensive on the border city of Rafah is moving closer, with two reserve brigades set to be deployed, according to a government spokesperson.
More than half of Gaza has 2.3 million population have fled to Russia for safety. Many now living in tents and makeshift encampments, Israel reportedly planning mass evacuations had any military offensive.
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DAVID MENCER, ISRAELI GOVERNMENT SPOKESPERSON: Israel is moving ahead with our operation to target Hamas in Rafah destroyed at least 18 or 19 of Hamas's 24 battalions but the four battalions which remain in Rafah cannot be shielded from Israel, they will be attacked.
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VAUSE: Despite international objections, including from Israel's closest ally, the United States, the Israelis insist only an all out assault can eliminate those four brigades of Hamas fighters, based in Rafah.
Well, the University of Southern California in Los Angeles is the latest flashpoint in student led pro-Palestinian protests, which have swept across college campuses nationwide. In the last few hours, police began arresting demonstrators for criminal trespass, and after they ignored in order to disperse.
Because this is a private university on private land, please be there at the invitation of the university's administration. Earlier the Council on Islamic -- American Islamic Relations condemned would have called a violent crackdown.
In New York, the president of Columbia University, Nemat Shafik is under pressure to stand down, it's coming from the House Speaker Mike Johnson. During a visit to Columbia University Wednesday, Johnson demolish Shafik resigned as he's unable to indicate the chaos on campus.
Johnson, he's facing his own onslaught of conservative criticism of his job performance, his House speaker was repeatedly heckled during a news conference.
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JOHNSON: My message to the students inside the encampment is it -- go back to class and stop the nonsense. Look, if we want to have a debate on campus about the merits of these things, let's do that. But you can't intimidate your fellow students and make them stay home from class. Think about that. Is that right? Do you think that's right? Stop wasting your parent's money.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: In the past week, the protests have become more confrontational, and not just in New York and California. State troopers in riot gear, some of them on horseback help break up a demonstration at the University of Texas.
Authorities say at least 34 people were detained on the Austin campus. The governor of Texas said the protesters belong in jail, and that students running what he called hate filled antisemitic protests should be expelled.
Protesters at Brown University on Rhode Island had been warned by university officials to remove their encampment as well. And CNN's Isabel Rosales was there.
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ISABEL ROSALES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: We just got a hold of an email sent to the student body from the president of Brown, who states that unlike what we've seen in other campuses, there have been no altercations here, there have been no reports of intimidation, of harassment of violence untoward behavior here on Brown's campus.
And in this lengthy email that we just got to hold up, she also spoke about censorship. And she said this I am writing to assure you all that this will not happen. A Brown freedom of expression is a right that guarantees the ability of individual members of the community to express their views period.
So she's saying they will not be expelling students firing faculty based on them expressing their views here on campus. And as far as what we've seen this encampment of just over 20 tents here this all came about since this morning.
[01:15:00]
All of these tents, a 100 plus protesters coming in and out of this green area throughout the day chanting singing, saying from Columbia to Brown, we will not let Gaza down. Let me have you look that way to the left right over here, that brick building right there. That is the administrative building. So you have school officials, being able to hear these chants being able to see this growing encampment from these windows.
We also know and we witnessed in the past couple of hours in a circle of these demonstrators right over here we saw University Police escorting school officials as they had this machine and started scanning school IDs one by one by one. We know that these students nonetheless face disciplinary action. And because it is against school policy to have an encampment here on these grounds.
But I spoke to several of them, including an organizer who is Jewish. And he said, time will show that we are on the right side of history here. I don't care that I'm facing potentially an arrest or disciplinary action. We will stay out here. We will not leave until our demands are met.
What are their demands, they are to divest in any of any companies here for Brown to divest of any companies that have ties to the Israeli government. And also they are asking for protection of free speech on campus specifically for charges to be dropped against 41 students who back in December and a pro-Palestinian protesters sit in inside of that building. They faced charges because of that incident back in December.
So a lot of passion here from the students saying they will not leave. They have a message that needs to be heard. Of course, we've heard around campuses around the nation, other Jewish students on campus that have certainly felt uncomfortable by what they're witnessing.
But this is a very nuanced conversation that's happening from all sides, the student movement, the youth leading this moment, and these protests spreading across different campuses across the United States.
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VAUSE: Our thanks to Isabel Rosales for that report. When we come back, the U.S. Secretary State for the tough sell in China improving relations between both countries, but also create some lines in the sand for Beijing have a live report on his visit.
Also, it's been nearly four years since Donald Trump was voted out of the White House that some of his closest allies now facing legal consequences for the plot to allegedly overturn that election. Details next on CNN.
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VAUSE: Four years on the (INAUDIBLE) new legal trouble for Donald Trump's key allies for their alleged plot to overturn the 2020 election. The Arizona grand jury has ended up an indictment against former White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows and Trump confidant Rudy Giuliani.
They're reportedly among those that the seat says to sieve (ph) the citizens of Arizona after the election. The charges range from conspiracy and forgery to engaging in fraudulent schemes.
[01:20:02] The former president himself is not among those charged in this case, but he is referred to as an unindicted co-conspirator. Still, Donald Trump has another big legal day ahead, the U.S. Supreme Court will hear argument over whether he should have absolute immunity for his efforts to overturn the 2020 election. Trump insists his actions were all part of his presidential duties.
It's an argument several lower courts have rejected time and time and time again, and this is required by law to pull you back into your courtroom for the continuation of his criminal hush money payment to a porn star trial. CNN's Kara Scannell has details.
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KARA SCANNELL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The judge overseeing Donald Trump's criminal trial could rule any day on whether the former president violated the gag order in the case. Prosecutors say Trump violated it 10 times for statements he's made about witnesses including Michael Cohen, who is expected to testify in the case.
Trump's lawyers argued that Trump was just responding to attacks by Cohen on Wednesday, Cohen said he would not make any more statements publicly about Donald Trump until after he testifies in this case, which Cohen said could be a month from now.
And meanwhile court is back in session on Thursday. David Pecker, the former publisher of the National Enquirer will be back on the witness stand. He's already told the jury about the catch and kill deals at the heart of this case, describing to them one about Trump's former doorman at Trump Tower. He is expected to get into one of the deals sender to this case involving a former Playboy model and how they did one of those catch and kill deals in that case. And then the one at the center of this case involving Stormy Daniels. His testimony is expected to last most of the day. Kara Scannell, CNN, New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VAUSE: The U.S. equity stake is in China with a to do list which seems a mile long. Right now Antony Blinken is set to meet employees at the U.S. Consulate in Shanghai, following his talks with Chinese officials and U.S. business leaders.
Soon he'll fly to Beijing for meetings with his Chinese counterpart. Washington is trying to improve relations with China or at least keep them improving which he'd started low last year.
Blinken also expected to push back on China's stance on Taiwan and support for Russia's arms industry.
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BLINKEN: Just arrived here in Shanghai in the People's Republic of China to work on issues that matter to the American people. And of course, we'll be dealing with areas where we have real differences with China, dealing with them directly communicating clearly.
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VAUSE: CNN's Beijing bureau chief Steven Jiang is with us now live from Beijing. So Steven, you know, this is, yes, it's a lot of diplomatic mission impossible, if you like for Blinken, certainly if you've got that long list of everything he's hoping to achieve.
STEVEN JIANG, CNN BEIJING BUREAU CHIEF: That's right, John. But I guess the important thing here is both sides the world's two superpowers are talking with regularity and at all levels of the government after years of deep freeze that is reassuring, not only for both governments but also for the global community.
And I actually just came back from the eastern port city of Qingdao where China hosted a western Pacific naval symposium, it was actually quite reassuring to see the Pentagon to sent its new head of the Pacific Fleet just shortly after a send a new missile launch system to the Philippines.
So I guess the message here is they want to keep talking despite all the differences. The Blinken visit should be seen in the same vein. This is happening at a time despite all the tension despite that growing list of grievances and complaints against each other similar to just mentioned, topping Washington's issues, of course, Beijing's continued support for Russia's defense industrial base that has allowed Moscow to continue to wage its brutal war against Ukraine.
This is something U.S. officials has been -- U.S. officials have been increasingly vocal about suggesting there could be serious consequences for Chinese entities that have continued to provide Russia with not just tools and technologies, but also financial support.
Also, of course, Taiwan, we're less than a month away from the island democracy's new presidency. And that, of course, is also happening at a time when tensions are rising across the Taiwan Strait.
Remember, in that massive foreign aid package, President Biden just signed into law. There is actually more than a billion dollars set aside for Taiwan and other U.S. allies in this region.
Now, so far, the Chinese response to all these issues have been relatively muted, perhaps because Blinken is in town, but behind the closed doors, they are going to talk about all these thorny issues, the Chinese have a lot to push back as well, especially on the economic front. They've been blaming the U.S. for a growing out, quote, unquote, crackdown on Chinese companies and increasingly stringent export controls.
But the concern here, of course, is both sides are talking past each other, instead of having truly meaningful and impactful dialogue.
But at the end of day, John, it is very difficult to see how any major breakthroughs can come out of these meetings given what the Americans asking for it really touched on the core, the very foundation of China's current political system and foreign policy under Xi Jinping, which of course is reasserting Communist Party's control in every aspect of Chinese society as well as reshaping the US led world order. John.
[01:25:04]
VAUSE: That's quite a statement, Steven. Thank you very much. Steven Jiang in Beijing. Appreciate that.
Earlier, I spoke with Jamie Metzl about blink and visit to China. Jamie is a veteran of the U.S. National Security Council, the State Department and the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. Here it is.
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VAUSE: A big tip for the U.S. is Russia, and China's backdoor support for rebuilding Putin's military. Again his secretary Blinken speaking last week.
BLINKEN: If China reports on the one hand to want good relations with Europe and other countries, it can't on the other hand be fueling what is the biggest threat to European security since the end of the Cold War.
VAUSE: Can Blinken convey that message to Beijing that supporting Moscow is a losing bet, now's the time to stop. Can you do that effectively?
JAMIE METZL, SENIOR FELLOW, ATLANTIC COUNCIL: He can because the United States has the ability to sanction major Chinese companies and major Chinese banks. Many of the missiles that are slamming into Ukraine and murdering people have Chinese components, particularly Chinese computer chips, their Chinese machine tools, Chinese economic support for Russia. China is fully backing the Russian invasion of Ukraine. And if China continues it will be appropriate and frankly inevitable for the United States to inflict economic at least pain on China.
VAUSE: There's also the sell or ban law, which is now on the books in the U.S. for TikTok forcing the social media to Chinese parent company to sell or face a ban or the concern for U.S. national security. His reaction from the CEO of TikTok.
SHOU CHEW, TIKTOK CEO: It's obviously a disappointing moment, but it does not need to be a defining one. It's actually ironic because the freedom of expression on TikTok reflects the same American values that make the United States a beacon of freedom.
VAUSE: So Jamie, so all about free speech, freedom, expression, love and kumbaya over TikTok, right?
METZL: John, I know you're setting me up for this one that is so preposterous. The basic point is that TikTok is ultimately controlled by the Chinese Communist Party, per China's National Security Law.
So Tokyo rose didn't say you have First Amendment protection during World War II, the entire point is that TikTok poses a national security threat to the United States not every day. But when you look at what is being -- what the algorithm is promoting on TikTok, it's promoting pro-Hamas, pro-Iran, pro-Russia, pro-China pro-Putin, and it's blocking any consideration of Tibet, Taiwan, Xinjiang, South China Sea.
And even if it weren't the fact that this is a company like all major Chinese multinationals, ultimately by, again, by Chinese law controlled by the Chinese Communist Party means this has nothing to do with freedom of expression.
And if it nine months from now, or 12 months from now, TikTok is not sold and it is banned here in the United States, the American -- 170 million Americans using TikTok will do exactly what the Indians did when TikTok was banned there four years ago, very, very quickly and easily migrated to Instagram, to Google Shorts and other forums.
VAUSE: It's curious of what impact TikTok had on protesters currently on college campuses across the United States in support of ending the war in Gaza. But anyway, reportedly, here's what's on Blinken's agenda apart from Russia and TikTok. Billions of dollars in foreign aid to Taiwan, which Beijing considers a rogue province, tensions in the South China Sea, cheap Chinese exports costing American jobs, China's ramped up nuclear weapons program, also the export of precursor chemicals which are used illegally to make fentanyl in the U.S., the wrongful detention of three U.S. citizens. I mean, this list goes on.
Blinken is already halfway through a three-day visit. On the fourth day he rested and said it was good. But you know, does that list and obviously it's impossible to get through that list. But doesn't say that while the relations are improving? There's a long way to go. And there's a lot that could still go wrong.
METZL: So I don't know whether relations are improving. Relations are pretty bad right now between the United States and China. But the basic fact and the reason why Secretary Blinken is there is that China and the United States are the two most influential countries in the world. Whatever our differences, we need to keep talking, we need to be actively looking for common ground, we need to be working to minimize our differences.
That doesn't mean that the United States needs to roll over and let China be so aggressive and run roughshod over the Philippine in the South China Sea and doing all the terrible things that China is very actively doing around the world and both here in the United States. You mentioned fentanyl and everything else.
But we have to keep talking. We have common interests, climate change, preventing future pandemics and don't get me started on COVID-19 origins. There's a lot that China is doing that is very harmful and very dangerous.
[01:30:00]
And certainly China has critiques of the United States, but like in the height of the Cold War, we need to keep talking because if this relationship goes totally off the rails, it's going to be bad for everyone, including ourselves.
VAUSE: Jamie Metzl there, good to see you. Thank you, sir. Thanks for the insight and the analysis.
Still to come here on CNN, a bumpy landing, all streamed live on the Internet.
Oh, what happened after this Lufthansa Flight tried to land in Los Angeles. We'll tell you in a minute.
Plus a powerful CNN exclusive, video captured by a U.S. Marine GoPro camera contradicting the Pentagon' official report about the Afghanistan airport bombing in 2021.
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VAUSE: Now to a CNN exclusive report. As the Taliban's rapid takeover of Afghanistan in 2021 was in its final days and with U.S. forces scrambling to get out, a bomb exploded at Kabul's airport amid a crowd of Afghans desperate to be evacuated.
The official death toll, 170 Afghans and 13 U.S. service members. The Pentagon has insisted all along all were killed in the blast. But new video and eyewitness evidence obtained by CNN question that account.
CNN's chief international security correspondent Nick Paton Walsh has this investigation.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Are you guys in the right state of mind?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Let's go.
NICK PATON WALSH, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: This video not fully seen in public before reveals brutal facts long denied by the U.S. military.
On August 26th, 2021, a moment of acute savagery at the end of America's longest war. Two Pentagon investigations insisted all 170 Afghans and 13 U.S. military who died here were killed by an ISIS bomber and nobody hit by gunfire.
GENERAL KENNETH F. MCKENZIE, COMMANDER, U.S. CENTCOM: No definitive proof that anyone was ever hit or killed by gunfire.
WALSH: But this new video, which begins outside the airport's Abbey Gate entrance, reveals much more shooting after the blast than the Pentagon said.
Combined with new accounts to CNN of Marines opening fire and gunshot injuries in Afghan civilians, it challenges the rigor and reliability of the two Pentagon investigations that declared no Afghan civilians were shot dead in the chaotic aftermath.
The bomb detonates. The footage then stops and picks up three seconds later.
{01:34:51] UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You good? You good?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Watch out, there's 12 men in the back.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Right here, right here.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: All right, hey.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I got that on film dude.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They're breaking through.
Is that all right, guys? Great job. We're doing security.
WALSH: Many Marines here were young, some on their first deployment. The gunfire starts. They run for cover.
This long burst is about 17 shots, bringing us a total of 20. We're tallying shots fired and episodes of fire based on two forensic analyses on screen.
You cannot see who is still firing here, and we never see Marines or anyone firing in this video.
Short, controlled bursts in isolation.
A CS gas canister has exploded in the blast, its gas choking this Marine. And in a moment, the total episodes of gunfire you've heard will start being more than the three the Pentagon has said happened.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hey.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You good?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They're still here.
WALSH: The gunfire continues. We leap forward 27 seconds as Afghans, arms raised, run into the airport.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No, they're just smoking dirt, bro.
WALSH: One burst, now another.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Ok. Is that the (EXPLETIVE DELETED)) TB bro?
WALSH: They wonder if the Taliban, the TB, is shooting. Two Marines told us they saw the Taliban just after the blast, looking as shocked as they were.
Multiple Marines we spoke to who were there said they felt they were under fire. But the Pentagon has insisted for two years no militant gunmen opened fire here. They've said the only shots fired here were two bursts by U.S. Marines and one from U.K. troops. Once in a big burst from a nearby tower. All bursts near simultaneous.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Let's (EXPLETIVE DELETED) get down. Are you good? WALSH: So, according to their investigations, we must be hearing Marines or the British firing here.
Jump forward nearly two minutes, during which there are three bursts, and they're heading outside to help. That's at least 43 shots in 11 episodes of shooting. Just short of four minutes of sporadic fire, most of which the Pentagon has said for two years did not happen.
This is how terrifying it was for Afghans outside minutes after the blast. So who was shooting?
For the first time, a Marine eyewitness has come forward and told CNN the first big burst of gunfire at the start of the GoPro video you just saw came from where U.S. Marines were standing near the blast site.
We're using a different voice to hide his identity as he fears reprisals for describing the gunfire.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It was -- it was multiple. There's no doubt about that. It wasn't onesies and twosies. It was -- it was a mass volume of gunfire.
WALSH: Down towards the Abbey Gate sniper tower from roughly an area not too far away from where the blast had gone off. That's where you heard the shooting emanate from?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It would have been around that area, yes.
WALSH: And there were U.S. Marines, right? This was likely emanating from Marines on the ground.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.
WALSH: You think they fired into the crowd?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I couldn't tell you for certain.
WALSH: But they wouldn't have fired into the air, right?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No, they would not have fired into the air.
WALSH: Because you had a specific no warning shots order, right?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It wasn't a direct order, but it was a common understanding. No warning shots. These are kids. They're young. And they've only been taught what they've been taught. Some of these kids have been with the unit for quite literally two, three months prior to deployment.
WALSH: We spoke to over 10 other Marines anonymously about gunfire. Some felt they were shot at. A couple even said they saw a gunman.
But two others stand out, who we were unable to reach ourselves. Both injured. Both admitting some memories were fuzzy. But one clear he heard orders to fire. The other, that he opened fire himself. ROMEL FINLEY, BLAST SURVIVOR: I see my platoon sergeant walk past us saying, get back on that wall and shoot back at those (EXPLETIVE DELETED). So I'm like, oh, we're in a gunfight too.
CHRISTIAN SANCHEZ, BLAST SURVIVOR: Like all I hear is ringing and (EXPLETIVE DELETED) flashes going on. And then I start hearing snaps.
[01:39:46]
SANCHEZ: And then I start realizing that's a (EXPLETIVE DELETED) dude shooting at me. I just started shooting at the dude.
WALSH: So what of the Afghans themselves, 170 of whom died. The Pentagon has insisted all injuries and deaths were from the bomb and its ball bearings.
But two years ago, CNN heard significant evidence from 19 eyewitnesses that Afghans were shot and from Afghan medical staff counting dozens of dead from bullets.
He was Sayed Ahmadi, head doctor at the Kabul Hospital treating most of the wounded. Back then, he was afraid to speak openly and his account was dismissed by the Pentagon.
But now we met him safe with asylum in Finland. He says he and his staff had the expertise to diagnose over 50 dead from gunfire that night.
DR. SAYED AHMADI, FORMER KABUL HOSPITAL DIRECTOR: 170 people were killed totally. But the register what we had maybe 145.
WALSH: And by your estimation about half --
AHMADI: More than half were killed by gunfire.
WALSH: So when you hear the American investigation say that you're just wrong, you don't know what you're talking about.
AHMADI: I wonder. I hope one day they ask me or they call me what you saw. Like you come here and ask me, you came to Kabul and ask me about the situation. They never asked me.
WALSH: Even though we described the video and our findings in great detail to the Pentagon, they said they would need to examine any new, unseen video before they could assess it.
They said their first investigation had thoroughly looked at allegations of outgoing fire from U.S. and coalition forces following the blast. They said their review, released earlier this month, focused not on gunfire but the bomber and events leading up to the blast, but found no new evidence of a complex attack and uncovered no new assertions of outgoing fire, having no materialistic impact on the original investigation.
Investigators have also not interviewed any Afghans for their reports, the Pentagon said, leaving the question of how hungry for the truth are they.
Nick Paton Walsh, CNN -- London.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VAUSE: Well, the days of heavy rain, flash flooding in Nairobi has reached extreme levels according to officials, at least 32 people have died. That's according to the United Nations Humanitarian Affairs Office. Some neighborhoods have been completely submerged.
CNN's Larry Madowo is in one village attempting to salvage what's left with more rain expected.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
LARRY MADOWO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Where I'm standing used to be somebody's house all this area used to be people's homes all swept away.
What's getting cleared back there? That debris that's left over that's what used to be their homes. In these informal settlements around Nairobi, the houses are made of wood, they're made of iron sheets, that are very easily swept away when there's flooding. Like what was experienced.
It's a cycle. If it's not the flooding, it's the fire. And then flooding and a fire and it goes on and on and on.
You see a lot of people trying to collect whatever little is left where their homes used to be some iron sheets maybe some valuables, trying to figure out how to rebuild their lives after a devastating situation where every single thing they owned was swept away at these flash floods.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Nothing has come from the government. We only help ourselves because nobody has come to the rescue.
You feel like you don't come from this country. You are maybe inferior because if it were some somewhere else maybe middle class or the highest class, government could have responded ASAP.
MADOWO: Residents in these areas, informal settlements or slums as they're better known often complain about emergency services not getting to them during disasters.
But here's the extra complication. It's starting to rain one more time. The Kenya Meteorological Department has warned of heavy to very heavy rainfall still to be expected. And the fear here is that that may lead to a new wave of flooding.
Larry Madowo, CNN -- Nairobi.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VAUSE: When we come back, we head to the Caribbean island of Barbados and a conservation project working to protect endangered sea turtles. [01:43:57]
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VAUSE: Three of the seven species of sea turtles are now classified as critically-endangered according to the World Wildlife Fund.
Today on "Call to Earth", we visit the idyllic and densely-populated Caribbean island of Barbados where a conservation project has been working for more than 25 years to rebuild sea turtle populations.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The island of Barbados boasts more than 80 picture-perfect, white sand beaches, making it a top Caribbean vacation destination.
But this stunning coastline is also home to some of the oldest animals on earth, sea turtles.
CARLA DANIEL, BARBADOS SEA TURTLE PROJECT: Barbados is unique in the Caribbean. Whereas many of the other islands have leatherback turtles nesting primarily, we have Hartsville. We actually have the largest nesting population of Hartsville turtles in the insular Caribbean.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Local biologists Carla Daniel is the field director for the Barbados Sea Turtle Project, which works tirelessly to save the critically-endangered hawks bills species.
DANIEL: If I could describe our Hartsville population, I would say precarious. While it is increasing, it is currently quite dependent on human intervention. And if at any point that intervention is not possible, I think there will certainly be a sharp decline in the population quite rapidly.
Its coming everywhere, but over here.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Today, Carla is responding to a call about an unexpected overnight guest in someone's pool.
DANIEL: One turtle up -- quick, quick, quick. almost there. Just off this (INAUDIBLE) here. And gently down. All in all a good morning.
Simple rescue. She's safely back into the water and she will live to nest again.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The Barbados Sea Turtle Project formed in 1987, a time when harvesting sea turtles and their eggs was legal on the island. It would take more than a decade for that legislation to change.
DANIEL: Everybody sees the turtles as being kind of critical to our island. An important aspect OF (INAUDIBLE) and they want to ensure they survive as much as we do.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: While the turtle population has been recovering, these ancient sea creatures are facing a new series of threats, habitat loss because of climate change and coastal development is a major problem.
But Carla says light pollution is the primary issue impacting hatchling survival.
DANIEL: When hatchlings emerge from the sun, they look around and they orient themselves in the direction that is brightest. On an undeveloped island that has dark the water will always be greater than the land. And that instinct draws them straight to the sea. On a heavily developed island like ours, with lots of lakes on the (INAUDIBLE), they put all of that same drape, but instead they're going inland.
In Barbados, nesting season for hawks bills is generally from May to October, a busy time for Carla and her team.
DANIEL: So first thing I did was to check to see what stage of nesting she was at to determine whether I could approach or not. And she already commenced laying, which is good.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This time of year also attract a lot of tourists to the island.
PHIL MAHY, DIVE INSTRUCTOR: People ask to see turtles almost on a daily basis. It is that popular. We will not be able to represent or carve our niche in tourism if it wasn't for the turtles. Thats how vital it has become.
[01:49:45]
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: They also play a vital for role in the overall marine ecosystem. Hawks bills, in particular, are among a few animals that feed on sea sponges, which in excess are detrimental to coral health.
DANIELE: Sea turtles are definitely our guardians when it comes to these vulnerable small islands. They are kind of a linchpin and they're interesting and they're helping to keep it together.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VAUSE: Let us know what you're doing to answer the Call to Earth with #CalltoEarth.
Back in a moment.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
VAUSE: Investment bank UBS apparently has a serious problem with new capital requirements being proposed by the government for its acquisition of Credit Suisse. In particular, government regulations which could force the bank to hold much more cash and other liquid assets.
Swiss (ph) government said UBS may have to find another $27 billion to cover potential losses as it absorbs the failed Credit Suisse. UBS bought its rival in March 2023 and a government orchestrated rescue aimed at preventing a global financial crisis.
The deal has proved controversial in Switzerland now, home to a bank with assets almost double the size of the nation's agile economic output.
Japan Airlines new president has achieved a rare feat in her country. Mitsuko Tottori is the first woman and former flight attendant to climb to the very top job. She assumed the role earlier this month amid fallout from the various safety incidents within the aviation industry.
CNN's Hanako Montgomery has more details.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
HANAKO MONTGOMERY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: An entire plane swallowed by flames, smoke and fear filled the cabin. These are the dramatic scenes from Japan that unfolded on screens across the world when a Japan Airlines flight collided with a Coast Guard aircraft on the runway.
But mass tragedy was avoided that January night. Five Coast Guard crew members were killed, but all 379 aboard Commercial Flight 516 escaped unscathed.
A miracle Mitsuko Tottori, Japan Airlines' incoming president, attributes to passenger cooperation and a well-trained crew.
MITSUKO TOTTORI, PRESIDENT, JAPAN AIRLINES (through translator): We are constantly updating our operations based on the lessons we have learned from past case studies. I think we were able to put these lessons to the test.
MONTGOMERY: But for Tottori, safety isn't just a priority, it's instinct. Starting as a flight attendant, she rose through the ranks in a country where women hold less than 13 percent of senior and leadership roles, the lowest among G7 nations, according to the World Economic Forum.
She's now the first woman and former flight attendant to become JAL's president. But her rise, she says, shouldn't come as a surprise.
TOTTORI: I hope that Japan will soon become a place where people are not surprised when a woman becomes a president.
MONTGOMERY: Tottori's remarkable career began in 1985, just four months before the deadliest single aircraft accident in aviation history. JAL Flight 123 crashed and killed 520 people on board leaving just four survivors. And Tottori with the haunting reminder that safety is irreplaceable.
TOTTORI: Safety must be a priority for everyone working at JAL. That important value has been engraved in my heart.
[01:54:50] MONTGOMERY: But her dedication to safety faces another critical test. Boeing, long a JAL partner, now grapples with mounting allegations of neglecting aircraft safety and quality following alarming plane incidents and this month's Senate whistleblower hearing.
MONTGOMERY: Are you concerned at all about the whistleblower complaints regarding the gaps in quality and safety of Boeing airplanes?
TOTTORI: Well, it seems that the CEO has just changed. So, I'm not particularly concerned. I believe they will overcome this, and I will continue to support, communicate with them.
MONTGOMERY: Her faith in Boeing's strong, but the manufacturer must prove that its aircrafts live up to her indispensable value.
Hanako Montgomery, CNN -- Tokyo.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VAUSE: If at first you don't succeed, then circle the airport and try again. Or so it was at LAX on Tuesday for Lufthansa Flight 456 from Frankfurt. Take a look.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh, oh.
Are we getting that. Holy-molly. Wow. Going around, what -- that is the roughest landing I think we've ever caught on our broadcast.
Holy molly.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: The commentary came from a YouTuber, assuming it's all live.
CNN affiliate KTLA reports the plane hit the runway hard, bounced causing the pilot to abort the landing and try again. All done safely on the second attempt?
Morning commute in London like no other. Two horses on the loose into central London. The British army says cavalry horses from the King's bodyguard detail escaped in a routine exercise early Wednesday. While on the loose, the horses injured at least four people, smashed a taxi window, shattered the windscreen of a double-decker bus. They've all since been recovered. Several injured horses are receiving treatment.
Thank you for watching. I'm John Vause, CNN NEWSROOM continues with my friend and colleague, Anna Coren in Hong Kong.
See you tomorrow.
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