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Vote to Expel Three Democrats from House Over Gun Control Protest; Dozens of Rockets Fired from Lebanon into Israel Intercepted; French Police and Protesters Clash in Paris. Aired 10:30-11a ET

Aired April 06, 2023 - 10:30   ET

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

[10:30:00]

SARA SIDNER, CNN NEWS CENTRAL CO-ANCHOR: You are seeing everyone, sort of, gets set and coming back up and talking into the mic, making their points made. Let's listen in to what is being said right now before they make this vote on expulsion.

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SIDNER: I can tell you from looking at the pictures that are coming out live from inside the chamber that there are people that are sitting just above the lawmakers. Many of them are holding signs, clearly upset. They feel like and we've heard from Ryan Young and his interview with the teacher this morning, there are a lot of people upset that this is not about trying to make kids safer, trying to make teachers safer, but they see this as another political move. That it's just a fight between Republicans and Democrats and not about trying to solve the issue.

This is another live shot. This is right in the State House. I am sure that you can hear these protesters inside of the chamber. They have come in from outside. There are hundreds of people outside as well, where our Ryan Young is. We are seeing those pictures right now as they have made their way in. What they are angry about, of course, is what has happened to our schools and the safety of everyone in our schools. They feel like that is exactly what should be talked about, not politics.

Ryan, can you tell us a little bit more about what you are hearing? We know, a lot of the crowd is surrounding you, but it looks like they tried to make their way inside now.

RYAN YOUNG, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Absolutely. So, look, Sara, people started queuing up here early this morning to get inside this building. They were actually told that it may take three hours for them to get inside. And they didn't care if it was writing (ph) like it has been all day long. They wanted to make it inside. They all said to us they want lawmakers to hear from their heart.

They want them to understand. Let's not think about just the vote in terms of what's going on with those three lawmakers. This is about the children. They have been shocked, and unfortunately just saddened by what happened here over the last a few weeks, especially with the shooting at that school.

And when you look up here, you can see all the folks who had been trying to press in to this building. Unfortunately, Sara, I've lost hearing with you guys at this point. But I can just tell you from what I've been told these people have been -- planned to be here all day long. They plan to actually go to some of the lawmakers' districts and actually talk to them one on one if they could, because they don't feel like (INAUDIBLE) lawmakers are human (ph). They want to see a change here. This really shook them in terms of what happened over the last few weeks with these children and that's what they want to stress.

SIDNER: Ryan Young, thank you for that. I can still hear how loud it is inside of the State House where the protesters are. There is breaking news, not only in the United States, but across the world from Paris. Let's now go to Israel. Kate.

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN NEWS CENTRAL CO-ANCHOR: Let's get back to Israel right now. There is news coming in on that dangerous and folding situation there. Israeli defense forces now say 34 rockets were fired from Lebanon into Israel today, and Israel's Iron Dome intercepting some of them, 25 of the 34. CNN's Hadas Gold is back with me.

Hadas, Lebanon also says as we were just -- as you just brought us in our last conversation that Israel retaliated, if you will, fired back in response to these 34 rockets. But what are you hearing from Israel about that?

HADAS GOLD, CNN JERUSALEM CORRESPONDENT: Yes, the Israeli military now actually saying that they did not respond with artillery, and staying -- saying that they will decide on the place and time of its response, because clearly that is what they're contemplating right now. We know the Israeli security cabinet is now -- is about to convene to likely decide on the response.

But 34 rockets, Kate, this is by far the largest barrage of rockets since 2006 when there was that massive war between Lebanon and between Hezbollah in Lebanon and the Israeli military. So, it has been decades since we've seen a barrage like this.

Now, 25 of them were intercepted and the rest of them likely fell in the populated areas. We are seeing images of one rocket that fell along what seems to be some sort of shopping center with banks. The windows are completely smashed out there, shrapnel all the way back to the wall. But luckily, actually, today is Passover, the first day Passover so people were not out. Everything was closed. People were at their homes. And so, it just seems to be stroke of luck that not more people were injured. The emergency services are saying that two Israelis were injured by shrapnel, but they were injured lightly.

It has since been calm. There hasn't been another more rockets being fired. We haven't heard of any more sirens going off.

[10:35:00]

In the north, of course, there is still the unanswered question of who ultimately fired these rockets. It could have easily been Palestinian militants, there's quite a few Palestinian refugee camps in the area where these were likely fired from. And the big question is, what is Hezbollah's involvement in this?

The Israeli military believes nothing happens in Southern Lebanon without Hezbollah's approval. How much were they involved? How much will they say they were involved? And then, of course, we are waiting to see what the Israeli military response will be. They say they did not respond with artillery fire, although, that's what Lebanese media was reporting.

But there will be some sort of a response from the Israeli military. The question will be, what will that level of that response be and who will they target?

BOLDUAN: Yes.

GOLD: Will they be targeting specifically these Palestinian militias if this is who it was, or will they target Hezbollah as well? And that really has the dangerous possibility of exploding into something much, much bigger.

BOLDUAN: Stick with me. I just want to give some context for our viewers. Come with me, Mike. So, this is what we're -- where we're talking about right here. The rockets firing, according to Israeli forces, from Southern Lebanon into the Northern Israel. And then over in this monitor, this is some of the new video coming in which is of the Iron Dome, intercepting some of those rockets, 25 of those 34 rockets.

Hadas, you said there were minor injuries reported. What does this mean for civilians on the ground right now? Because where we are in this moment, as you said, it's a moment of --

GOLD: Well, actually --

BOLDUAN: -- I will say, a moment of tense calm, right? Because we're waiting for the Israeli cabinet -- security cabinet to convene to decide their response. In the meantime, the Israelis standing by to figure out what's going to happen next.

GOLD: Yes, it's a very tense calm. And I don't think many people in the north were expecting this. I think people were more expecting what we have seen over the previous nights, militants from Gaza, from the south firing rockets into Israel. The north doesn't get a more, sort of, regular barrage of rockets in this way, and it's a holiday today.

And so, when those sirens go off, depending on how close you are to the border, you potentially have seconds, maybe 20 seconds, 30 seconds up to a minute or longer to get into a shelter of some kind. Now, the Israeli military is telling the citizens of the north that they don't have to take any more special precautions right now, because when things are very dangerous, they essentially tell people to stay home. Stay as close to your shelter as possible. They're not telling people to do that right now. So, that could be an indication that the Israeli military don't believe that there will be more rockets firing, and they believe it should be calm for now. Because when the home front, when the Israeli home front command tells citizens to stay as close to their shelters as possible, that's when you know things can escalate in a very dangerous fashion.

BOLDUAN: And people in that region, all over Israel, they're very familiar with what they have to do in those moments when those sirens go off. Hadas, standing by for us, 5:37 in Jerusalem right now. Lot that we're going to be picking up from Hadas in the coming hours. Hadas, thank you very much.

And as we see we have following breaking news on three fronts. We'll be right back to bring more of that to you.

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[10:40:00]

BOLDUAN: We're following several breaking news stories right now. The major escalation in the Middle East, Israeli military officials say dozens of rockets were fired from Lebanon into Israel. 34 rockets is the latest report. It marks the largest attack since 2006 from Lebanon. Israeli defense forces say they have intercepted 25 of those rockets. Israeli officials are also, just now, denying reports coming out of Lebanon that we're saying is Israel had returned fire with artillery rounds. We'll have updates on that story.

Also, violence and chaos in Paris. Crowds of anti-pension reform protesters are filling the streets of the city, clashing with police. We have been and it continues to be playing out live before our eyes right now. And also, we're watching very closely the breaking news out of Tennessee. Tennessee lawmakers, they're scheduled to be voting on whether they will expel three Democratic lawmakers over breaking House decorum rules in the state legislature during a gun reform protest. But things have come to a halt and seemed paralyzed as protesters have entered the building as well. John.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN NEWS CENTRAL CO-ANCHOR: Yes, so many things going on all at once, Kate.

BOLDUAN: Yes.

BERMAN: I'm going to take everyone back to Paris right now. Actually, let's go right to the pictures because I just saw some very fast movement there, from this group of law enforcement or I don't know if they're fire officials or what they are. But there have been confrontations on the streets of Paris now for several hours between protesters who have been out there for 11 days protesting pension reform in Paris, raising the retirement age from 62 to 64.

But the protests have become more violent over the last several days. Those are firefighters who moved into place very quickly. Why? Well, because there are these smoke bombs that have been going off and off and off, being thrown by protesters, largely. Again, this is what it's looked like now for some hours. These tense confrontations between, in this case firefighters, in other cases it was law enforcement.

Our Melissa Bell is standing by. A short distance away from where this standoff is taking place. We can see smoke behind you, though, Melissa. So, clearly this is happening over something of a wider area.

MELISSA BELL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's right, John. It is always towards the front of the march that it tends to get violent. But as you can see just a little bit further this way, this is what it looks like, just a little bit further down.

[10:45:00]

And this is something that you tend to see these protests. Things beings burned along the side of the road, along the media (ph) that you've seen over the last few weeks built up as results of these strikes. And, guys, how it looks going down, many tens of thousands of people walking down the streets, not just in Paris, but of other French cities.

With those elements you're saying at the very front of the march, the most violent and determined confrontation with the police, once again, facing off with them. There's an awful lot of tear gas lying around and projectiles being thrown one way and the other. And what we've seen these last couple of weeks, John, as these protests have become more violent are the police now accused of some pretty heavy under tactics (INAUDIBLE).

And what the people at the part (ph) of those protests are the most determined, hard core, hard left protesters are really aiming to do is to get that violence to the very center of the protest. And they seem to be doing it pretty successfully this Thursday afternoon for what is the 11th day of marching and protests and strike action against the country on a reform of the government says it's determined to boost here, John.

BERMAN: Melissa Bell standing by on the streets of Paris. Again, we have other views of people walking in a different part of the city. Actually, just a short distance from where Melissa is. We've seen smoke bombs. We've seen tear gas going off there. You can hear the bangs in the distance.

One thing I do want to make clear, we just saw that group of firefighters moving in unison, seeming to run at one point. It's not totally clear, at least to me, whether those firefighters were part of the protest. Often firefighters do care deeply about things like pension reform, raising retirement. So, I don't know if they were marching in support of the protesters, or they were there, perhaps, to help keep the peace as it were, especially with smoke bombs and things being lit on fire.

At one point, the banner of a cafe was lit on fire, causing concern but it was put out very, very quickly. You can see the smoke going off there. A lot of people, I mean, at one point over the last several days, a million people on the streets at once. There go the firefighters again, looking more and more like the firefighters might be part of this rather than trying to keep it in control. Melissa Bell, if you're back with me, I know we were having some audio issues with you. If you are back with me now, maybe you can tell us about these firefighters who appear to be behaving somewhat differently than the law enforcement. Are the firefighters with the protesters.

BELL: Well, what we've seen at protests in the past, I'm not sufficiently far in France to be able to tell you exactly. But what's tended to happen is that firefighters' unions do come out and they set out these controlled fires all around to protests themselves. So, it can be difficult to tell. My guess would be they're probably part of the protest movement.

Bear in mind that the -- what we expect to be many hundreds of thousands protesting across the streets of France today. They really represent public sector workers, private sector workers. You've got teachers out here. You've got firefighters. You've got many different walks of life. A lot of young people, a lot of students as well, that have been taking part in these protests and want to continue to bring the pressure on the government so that they will stand down.

And what they hope or seems like this, and specifically the ones you're seeing now at the very front of the protest, the most violent ones. Well, in the end, so crippled the country that the government will have to think about. You mentioned tourism a moment ago. John, I have to say that these last couple of weeks, I've seen many of them used tourists wander into these protests. Given how violent they get, you can imagine their astonishment. That, of course, ultimately will harm the image of the country.

The point of the unions is essentially, John, to cause as much trouble as they can so that the government is forced back to a negotiating table. It doesn't look likely that that's going to happen. We saw the talks between the unions and the government breakdown again yesterday. One side is determined to see the retirement rage -- age raised. The other is determined that it won't do so.

And I think another thing that's interesting here, John, is how much anger has coalesced around the person of the French president. What you'll see here at the front of the march where that violence is happening, but also further down here are a lot of signs and a lot of chants, very personally focused on Emmanuel Macron. Remember that his push to reform the country to change some of its labor laws, now to address its pension system have proven so controversial.

Also, bear in mind that these protesters are also picking up where the yellow vest movement left off. When Paris' extraordinary pictures we saw for a couple of years burning Saturday -- after Saturday in protest of the cost of living and inflation, that has only gotten worse. And that is also what these protests are about, not just the pension reform itself, but the cost of living, inflation, and the fact that a lot of people are finding it really hard to make ends meet. That's what's at the heart of so much of the anger that you're seeing here in Paris today, John.

BERMAN: Melissa Bell, thank you so much for that. Thank you so much for the context. It's great to have you there explaining exactly what we're seeing.

[10:50:00]

because these are extraordinary images, including we did see those firefighters there before and it wasn't clear, at least to me at first, whether they were there working the protest or with the protesters. And you can see this video again now of the protesters there and the firefighters marching. But they, apparently, are marching with the protesters. They are against the pension reform and they are there to voice their displeasure with the government of Emmanuel Macron. Now, you can see they're walking quite peacefully there.

And elsewhere, I will say over the last few minutes we have seen a somewhat more festive, less violent atmosphere on the streets. We heard some music, for instance, a second ago. You saw -- you can see crowds like this marching slowly and peacefully. A little less smoke, a little less fire than we saw just moments ago. And those are the types of images, I think, that law enforcement will be pleased to see. A calmer situation on the ground now there in Paris.

Melissa Bell, again, 11 straight days, the protesters say will be 12, 13, 14, this will go on indefinitely?

BELL: Well, what we're waiting to hear is what happens to the law itself. It's in front of constitutional council, and in the next couple of weeks, they will decide, John, on whether if the government wishes and without a parliamentary vote, and much of the anger of these people, it is said to become law and the retirement age is set to be raised.

In the meantime, the unions, what they do is on days like this, as you say, the 11th day of planned protest and strike action. At the end of the day, they'll announce what the next day of action will be. I'm just going to show you over here, maybe you can see the riot police lined up. It's a difficult job for them. They find themselves trying to control and police. These incredible violent demonstrations, week after week, with a lot of the protesters and specifically those who are the most extreme, specifically targeting them.

You can see the debris amidst -- in little amidst of they stand. And this is happening all along this march and all the way to the Place d'Italie where it's due to finish tonight. Week after week, the streets of Paris really left in pretty miserable state. They are on each side street along this march, expecting to intervene whenever they feel they need to, and things get more violent than they have. And again using, as I said, over the course of the last two weeks, according to certain allegations, too much force as they try and keep these events calm.

It's been an increasingly difficult job and one that they've been managing increasingly difficulty with great more and more difficulty to compete to achieve, and you just saw those images of the front. We had expected this march to be, perhaps, less well attended, John, but even more violent than they had been. And it appears to be what's happened. BERMAN: And, Melissa, you're standing right by, what I believe, is the Cafe La Rotonde, forgive my French, I got a D in high school, seriously.

BELL: That's right.

BERMAN: This cafe, I believe, at one point, had the awning set on fire. This was where some of the most-tense clashes we saw. That's where they were taking place. Can you give us a little more of a sense of the debris and the aftermath of this. It was fairly, extraordinary, how much just junk there wasn't the ground there.

BELL: Let me show you at La Rotonde, as you can see, pretty badly damaged. It's one of Paris's iconic restaurants associated with the celebration of presidents when they win elections, pretty chic, and you can see the status in now. Often, this is what we see at protests. Banks are targeted, restaurants that are considered pretty fancy. There is definitely a feel and when you speak to the black lots and those most extremist far left that this is about mostly taking on these symbols of the system that they would like to have overthrown.

And again, you can see here, John, the riot police waiting to make sure that the piece along this side continues to advance peacefully and that we don't see a repetition of these scenes that have not just caused this fire damage, but as you can see a lot of debris lying around. A lot of these paving stones gets thrown towards the police by the protesters, and that's been a feature of these protesters as well these last couple of weeks. These guys really trying, at this stage, to keep this protest going along the street as it's meant to and as peacefully as they can, John.

BERMAN: When you have the owners or the people working inside? I don't know La Rotonde, and I guess there's no (INAUDIBLE), so it's just La Rotonde, I don't know if the people are still working inside. Are these restaurant owners, these shop owners, are they trying to tell people to stop, stop. You're hurting our business.

BELL: They have. You see a lot of that. Some of them do close, but a lot of them stay open. And you've had this really improbable scenes in Paris these last couple of weeks, John. But essentially, the city burning, and people sitting in restaurants as they go about their daily lives. And it's a reminder, really, of how regular these have become week after week. Scenes of extraordinary violence, I think to the outside world, that we've almost gotten used to.

[10:55:00]

It's another day of protests, and again a day when you expect, not just these kinds of physical degradations of the city, but a lot of the direct confrontation that we've seen some of today. Paris and the rest of France has gotten used to, what the unions say, will be a movement that they say will last for many more weeks. I think with the government's counting on is that at some point this will run out of steam and order will be returned to the streets of Paris. This Thursday afternoon, there's no sign of that, John. BERMAN: Melissa Bell for us on the streets of Paris, where maybe things have calmed just a little bit over the last several minutes. Please keep us posted. A great deal of breaking news on several fronts.

"CNN News Central" continues after a quick break.

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