Return to Transcripts main page

CNN News Central

Israel Launches Strikes In Gaza, Lebanon After Rocket Attack; Police And Protesters Clash In Paris Over Pension Reform; GOP-Led TN House Expels 2 Black Dems Over Gun Reform Protest. Aired 11-11:30a ET

Aired April 07, 2023 - 11:00   ET

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

[11:00:00]

SARA SIDNER, CNN ANCHOR: Overnight a major escalation in the middle east. Israel hitting Lebanon and Gaza with retaliatory air strikes as deadly violence erupts. An Israeli colonel is now calling this very volatile times.

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: Important new jobs numbers this morning. 236,000 jobs added. The unemployment rate down to a three - to 3.5 percent. But there are signs things might be cooling off.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: Expelled and fighting back but is the dramatic ousting of two state lawmakers in Tennessee just the beginning and what does this really mean for the fight over gun reform? These stories and more right here on CNN News Central.

SIDNER: A major retaliatory strike in the Middle East. Israeli forces launching airstrikes overnight, which they say hit Palestinian militant targets in Lebanon and Gaza. These strikes are in response to the dozens of rockets launched from southern Lebanon into Israel yesterday. It is the most intense violence at the Israeli-Lebanese border since 2006.

And we're learning more about the two Israeli women who were killed in a shooting on a West Bank Road this morning. The two young women were sisters. They were just 16 years old and 20 years old. Their mother was also in the car with them. She is in critical condition at this hour. CNN's Hadas Gold is near the Israel-Lebanon border and CNN's Fred Pleitgen is near the Israel border with Gaza.

Hadas, I want to start with you. Has there been some reaction from Lebanon today after the airstrikes?

HADAS GOLD, CNN JERUSALEM CORRESPONDENT: Well as Sara, there has been no retaliatory rockets launched from Lebanon into Israel after those Israeli airstrikes that happened in the very early hours of this morning, the Israeli military is saying that they were targeting what they took pains to say were Palestinian militant targets and a Lebanese security source telling CNN that these targets were in mostly open areas where militias were holding weapons.

And so I think it's a clear message being sent that they were targeting mostly open areas, although they were militant targets, and that they are not specifically targeting Hezbollah because of course, any sort of confrontation with Hezbollah could become a much bigger war, more similar to what we saw in 2006.

And we're hearing from both Lebanese government officials as well as Israeli military officials that they want to deescalate the situation, they don't want to see anything further. So it is notable, situation here up north by the Lebanese border is still very tense, the airspace is still closed, but life goes on as normal.

The residents here have not been told to stay close to shelter. So still a very potentially volatile situation and also we should keep an eye on in the next couple of hours. The leader of Hezbollah, Hassan Nasrallah is expected to give a speech. So far, Hezbollah has not taken responsibility for these rockets that were launched, although the Israeli military will say nothing happens in southern Lebanon, without Hezbollah's at least tacit approval.

So it will be very interesting to see what the Hezbollah leader has to say about the events that have taken place over the last few days. Sara.

SIDNER: Hadas Gold there in Israel on the Israel-Lebanon border, we now go to Fred Pleitgen who is on - close to the Israel-Gaza border. Can you give us some sense, Fred of what is happening where you are?

FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR International CORRESPONDENT: Well, it's also an extremely tense situation down here further south at the border between Israel and Gaza. In fact, if we pan over there, you can see that we're actually really close to the border beyond those fortifications, that back there is already Gaza.

And one of the things that I'm hearing as I stand here, Sara, is Israeli drones, or what appear to be Israeli drones flying overhead the entire time. And that just gives you an indication on how high - on how high an alert the Israelis are at this point in time as again, the Israelis say that right now, the situation remains extremely volatile here on the ground.

There have of course been those Israeli strikes that took place overnight on what the Israelis say was some tunnel infrastructure, some research and development facilities, as they put it, for Hamas to make rockets, for instance, but then also some launching areas as well.

Nevertheless, a spokesman for the Israeli Defense Forces told me earlier that the Israelis don't want all of this to further escalate. Here's what he said.

LT. COL. RICHARD HECHT, INTERNATIONAL SPOKESMAN, ISRAEL DEFENSE FORCES: We want to deescalate. I mean, there's a very, very sensitive weekend ahead with Passover, Ramadan and Easter all aligning. And we're looking for - hoping for a quiet weekend although we had another attack right after the prayers in Jerusalem in the Jordan Valley. But we look - we're looking to deescalate.

PLEITGEN: That was Lieutenant Colonel Richard Hecht of the Israeli Defense Forces, the Palestinians for their side are condemning the Israeli strikes that took place here overnight, Sara. Hamas, saying that they will hold Israel accountable. And the Palestinian Ministry of Health said that during those strikes that took place by the Israelis, that a pediatric hospital was also hit.

[11:05:00]

It's unclear whether or not there whether or not there were any casualties. However, we do get the sense here from both sides on the ground that neither sides really wants to escalate the situation. Nevertheless after what's been going on in the past couple of days, of course, as you can imagine, there's still a lot of tension in the air. And you can really feel that down here at that border between Gaza and Israel, Sara.

SIDNER: Fred Pleitgen, thank you so much. Thank you also to Hadas Gold. We have been on either side of the Israel-Gaza border, Fred and I and for him to say that this is really tense is significant. Kate.

BOLDUAN: Let's talk more about this. Joining me right now is Ian Bremmer, he's the president and founder of the Eurasia group. It's great to see you. Let's start with you heard Fred had that conversation with the spokesman for the IDF earlier in the show. And the IDF spokesman saying today, we want to deescalate. What do you make of that, what is a pretty clear message?

IAN BREMMER, PRESIDENT & FOUNDER, EURASIA GROUP: Well, we haven't seen this kind of activity across the Israel-Lebanon border in almost 20 years, 2006. You know, you've got 10,000 U.N. observers/peacekeepers there. Both sides have wanted to keep the border, pretty quiet. So I think the surprise here is the fact that you've seen missile strikes.

This is not from the occupied territories, this is directly from Lebanon, it's hard to imagine that you'd see that many missile strikes without Hezbollah being aware and giving their at least tacit approval. So that - that's the surprise. But I mean, in our - is it going to be over in terms of you know, just this, you know, one back and forth? We don't know the answer.

But what we do know is that Israel has been through unprecedented domestic turmoil.

BOLDUAN: That's what I want to ask you. What? How does that fit? How does this fit in the context? How does it complicate, the domestic turmoil that is going on, the protests that we have seen over Netanyahu, his attempt and proposal to overhaul the judiciary? How does that fit in the context of what we're seeing and complicate it?

BREMMER: Well, what we know is that there is a lot of anger in the region with the nature of this far Right-wing government/coalition. We know that inside Israel, changing the judiciary led to an incredible amount of internal dissent. Now, the domestic threat to Israel is far greater than the international threat. If you think about, you know, the military balance of power. It's kind of like the way we think of the United States and ultimately, not China. It's not Russia. It's the damage we do to ourselves. And so if you are Hezbollah, or Hamas, and you see that weakness and vulnerability, you might be more willing to pile on a little bit right now. They'd love to see the back of Netanyahu.

BOLDUAN: It's a really great perspective and comparison there. I also want to ask you about the other, what we've also been seeing play out in France, we saw these protests, take people taking to the streets and some of them clashing with police. Yesterday it was playing out on our show.

They're continuing in Paris. It sounds like they're going to continue next week as well, taking over the train station, briefly taking over or at least kind of storming the offices of Blackrock yesterday, which was wild scenes. What does - Macron's not - Macron can do it?

BREMMER: He's not even in France.

BOLDUAN: He's not even - I want to get to that in a second. But where do you see this going? Because these reforms are moving ahead. He's the - he's - he's used the loophole. He doesn't look like he's going to make any changes.

BREMMER: That's right. I mean, what we're doing here is moving the pension age from 62 to 64, would still be among the lower ages for retirement for the advanced democracies, the French do not care. They're angry about it. They're out on the streets. Having said that, the level of disruption, the numbers that we've seen in the low hundreds of 1000s, compared to much higher a couple of weeks ago, the levels of police getting injured in the dozens as opposed to a few 100, a couple of weeks ago.

I mean, none of this is happy. But in the context of France, which really does have a very strong culture of out in the street and organization, I think we're towards the end of this.

BOLDUAN: That's interesting. So also, this is also a way that we saw NATO gain a new - new member with Finland. We have President Zelenskyy going to Poland for the first time since Russia invaded Ukraine. Macron in Beijing, pressing Xi to bring Russia to its senses is what we've heard from there. But also then Putin trying to blame the United States for the war in Ukraine.

BREMMER: Well, that's hardly new.

BOLDUAN: No.

BREMMER: That's, that's any week, right?

BOLDUAN: You think Macron being in China and speaking with Xi is one of the most important things that happened this week in the context of all of what we're looking at with Ukraine. Why?

BREMMER: Well, I'm so glad you didn't mention Taiwan because everyone's talking about that. And it's an overwrought headline. The big headline is the fact that people are increasingly going to Beijing. It's the French president with a lot of CEOs. It's Ursula von der Leyen. And they're both saying we'd like you to be more engaged in diplomacy, push Putin a little bit more.

You're a central figure here. That's very different from the United States, Europeans, NATO, all rowing together in every way on Russia, Ukraine.

[11:10:00]

Xi Jinping in putting out that 10-point peace plan as - as a 12-point peace plan he's called it, what he calls a peace plan that the Ukrainians would never accept, the Americans wouldn't accept it's a bit more central right now.

Former President Ma of Taiwan has just spent the week in Mainland China. The Iranians and the Saudis just made a return trip to China. They're the ones engaging and trying to get a peace plan there. Even though you're starting asked about Israel, Lebanon, the bigger moves right now in the Middle East are actually being driven more by Xi Jinping.

It's interesting that Xi is driving more geopolitical headlines today than any other major leader on the global stage. And that's not something that Americans are going to be ultimately happy about.

BOLDUAN: Absolutely not. It's great to see you, Ian. Thanks for coming in.

BREMMER: Sure.

BOLDUAN: John.

BERMAN: His job is risk. Ian Bremmer's job is risk.

BOLDUAN: He makes me fearful every time I see him.

BREMMER: I try not to.

BERMAN: He makes me feel less safe.

BREMMER: That's why they took away my chair. I see that what's going on.

BOLDUAN: We've got other things we're going to take from here.

BREMMER: OK.

BERMAN: It's a great view looking down on you guys there. New this morning two Tennessee Democrats expelled from office say they will be back at the Capitol on Monday even though they are out of jobs. Hours after the Republican-led House voted on their expulsions, the state legislators website shows their seats are now vacant.

This all comes after these lawmakers broke chamber rules to join protesters calling for Gun Safety. Representatives Justin Pearson and Justin Jones. They were both expelled. But Representative Gloria Johnson who also protested with them and is white was spared. CNN's Ryan Young live for us in Nashville. We've been talking about these Democrats, two out of the three expelled Ryan, what are Republicans who drove this train saying this morning?

RYAN YOUNG, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, as we've been talking to Republicans, they've been telling us look, they believe these two broke the rules and that they needed to be put out. Look, this conversation is quite interesting, especially since the fact that two members Justin Pearson, Justin Jones, are now stars across the country, especially after it pretty much went viral with their words yesterday on the floor.

Justin Jones speaking passionately on the floor, basically pointing out how members were going after him for a procedural moment. This is a break of decorum. And in the House where they've very rarely expelled members, people were surprised by what happened. Look at just the last half hour as well, we've had the black congressional Congress of Tennessee, give a statement about what they saw yesterday, and how they feel about how the state is moving forward. Take a lesson.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JESSE CHISM, VICE CHAIRMAN, TENNESSEE BLACK CAUCUSIDNER: Yesterday, it looked like a Jim Crow era trial, where we saw two black men fighting for their careers, fighting for their reputations, fighting for their political lives. The scene was so disheartening, as we were walking, specifically when we were walking representative Jones out of the chamber. Many of us were fighting back tears.

And when we went back into the chamber, many of our tears broke.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

YOUNG: There are people crying all across this floor yesterday. We saw (inaudible) as well outside on the floor as members who were here to talk about gun violence, were very upset about what they saw happened. The Republican Party has also put out a statement. They said if elected, if they come back, and would serve their constituents in the Tennessee House of Representatives, we hope they will act as 1000s have who have come before them with respect for our institution, their fellow colleagues and the seat they hold. We look forward to continuing to defend the voices of all Tennesseans.

I can tell you there has been some question about what will happen on Monday when everyone returns back here. We've been told there's been plans for further protests. I'm just talking to some of the folks who are walking around this area today. They are surprised by how this all went down. Especially since it seems to be split down racial lines.

They call it a black eye for the state, something they've never seen before this conversation will continue. John, all this played out on TV. As you saw we were on your show yesterday. And that was a part that some people were actually happy for, that this was able to be played out in a form that everyone could watch and see for themselves, exactly what happened yesterday, here in Tennessee. BERMAN: I saw it in real time. We'll be watching again on Monday when they come back. Ryan Young, great to have you on, terrific reporting. Thank you very much. Sara.

SIDNER: Still ahead. adult film actress Stormy Daniels says former President Trump's alleged crimes involving her are not worthy of incarceration but she says a lot more and asked them to make a promise plus, millions of Americans are right now at risk of losing Medicaid coverage. We'll tell you the states that are affected.

Also a California dermatologist is accused of poisoning her husband's tea with liquid drain cleaner. And prosecutors say they have video of her doing it.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[11:15:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BERMAN: In Florida this morning the Marion County Sheriff's Department announced it has arrested two minors in connection with the murders of three teenagers. Investigators believe that the victims were involved with burglaries and robberies and police are still searching for a third suspect.

China is retaliating after Taiwan's President visited the U.S. this week announcing sanctions this morning against two U.S. organizations who hosted her, the Hudson Institute think tank and the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library.

Jeremy Renner is speaking publicly for the first time about the snowplow accident that nearly killed him.

[11:20:00]

In a new interview with Diane Sawyer, the actor recalled the horrific incident on New Year's Day saying it was quote my mistake and I hate for it. He also recounted the thoughts that went through his head after crashing.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JEREMY RENNER, ACTOR: If I was there on my own, that would have been a horrible way to die. And surely I would have. Surely.

DIANE SAWYER: Do you remember the pain?

RENNER: Oh, all of it. Yes, I was awake through every moment. It's - it's exactly like you imagined it would feel like. If you - it's hard to imagine what that feels like. But when you look at the machine and you look at - and I was on asphalt and ice. I wish I was on snow.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: And as you know what it feels like. Renner suffered more than 30 broken bones in the accident. He says the next time he is on a red carpet, he wants to be walking. Sara.

SIDNER: It's pretty amazing. Adult film actress Stormy Daniels says she's absolutely willing to testify in Donald Trump's criminal trial. It is the first time we're hearing from her since the former president pleaded not guilty to 34 counts related to alleged hush money payment that she eventually received.

CNN's Katelyn Polantz joins us now. Katelyn, Stormy Daniels said a few things here. One that she did not think he should go to jail. Correct?

KATELYN POLANTZ, CNN SENIOR CRIME AND JUSTICE REPORTER: Right Sara so this was some hotly anticipated interview of Stormy Daniels. The very first time that she has spoken publicly since Donald Trump appeared in court and pleaded not guilty to those charges of falsification of business records related to the hush money payments, allegedly, that his lawyer paid to stormy Daniels to keep her quiet in 2016.

But she's saying now a couple of different things. One, she would be willing to testify against Donald Trump, when this case is set to go to trial in January in Manhattan. She also says nobody should be untouchable. Those were her words here that even if he were the president of the United States, he should be held accountable under the law.

And then on top of that, she also says she doesn't believe necessarily that he should serve jail time is if he's convicted in this. But that's not all she said. Here is a little clip of her speaking to Piers Morgan.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

STORMY DANIELS, ADULT FILM STAR: Specific to my case, I don't think that his crimes against me are worthy of incarceration. I feel like the other things that he has done if he is found guilty? Absolutely. Because a bigger problem is that if these allegations against him or whatever else that we don't know yet, he is found guilty, or the evidence suggests that he is or whatever and he doesn't, that it's going to just basically, I mean, it opens the door for other people to think they can get away with doing that.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

POLANTZ: So Stormy Daniels isn't specifying what those other cases are. But we know that Donald Trump is under investigation for multiple things separate from what happened related to the hush money payments and Stormy Daniels in 2016. He's being investigated by the federal system in DC for after his presidency in January 6, as well as a Georgia investigation looking into crimes potentially, that they could charge related to the 2020 election. Sara.

SIDNER: And Katelyn, should be made clear that Stormy Daniels does not get to decide whether or not Donald Trump gets jail time in cases like this, but she said something I thought that was significant. She said I told the truth. And now she's demanding that Donald Trump tell the truth about what happened. Not only between them but with those payments. Thank you so much live for from us, for us from Washington, DC. I'll get it out right soon. Kate.

BOLDUAN: And this just in, Supreme Court, Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas has now issued a statement, the first comment from Thomas or the Supreme Court after the report by ProPublica, laying out how Justice Thomas and his wife went on many trips over the years, paid for by his friend and big Republican donor Harlan Crow and importantly, did not disclose that in any disclosures.

Ariane de Vogue is back with us with more on the statement. Ariane what is the justice saying now?

ARIANE DE VOGUE, CNN SUPREME COURT REPORTER: Right, you're absolutely right. The first time we hear from him after the release of that bombshell report that really detailed over the years that he took these trips to places like New Zealand, Indonesia, on private yachts, private jets, never disclosed it and it was all paid for by this mega Republican donor named Harlan Crow.

I'm going to read you the statement and it's kind of long but keep in mind we do not usually hear a statement like this from Clarence Thomas. He said, "Harlan and Kathy Crow are among our dearest friends and we have been friends for over 25 years. As friends do, we have joined them on a number of family trips during the more than quarter century we have known them. Early in my tenure at the court, I sought guidance from my colleagues and others in the judiciary and was advised that this sort of personal hospitality from close personal friends who did not have business before the court was not reportable.

[11:25:00]

I have endeavored to follow that counsel throughout my tenure and have always sought to comply with the disclosure guidelines. These guidelines are now being changed, as the Committee of the Judicial Conference responsible for financial disclosures for the entire federal judiciary, just this past month, announced new guidance. And it is, of course, my intent to follow this guidance in the future."

What's interesting about that statement is he wants to make clear that Harland Crow had no business before the court, he wanted to highlight that, but as you know, this comes this story comes as the court itself is under this harsh spotlight. So many people are beginning to think that it's beginning to look like another political branch after we've had those contentious confirmation hearings of late and as the justices have been more and more on those hot button issues dividing along these familiar ideological lines.

So this comes at a time Thomas wanted to respond very quickly, and he's trying to explain why he didn't report these trips before those ethics rules were changed.

BOLDUAN: And as you said it is rare to hear a statement from one of the justices in responding to a news report especially that's out there. An important and full statement coming from Justice Thomas right here. Ariane, thank you so much for jumping on to bring us that. John. BERMAN: All right, Thanks, Kate. The Biden administration says mistakes were made in the chaotic withdrawal from Afghanistan but they're not taking all the blame. Who they say is responsible. And happening now with the Vatican Pope Francis presiding over mass on Good Friday. But he will not be present at another event tonight. We are live from Rome.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)