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At Least 16 Gaza Cemeteries Damaged by Israeli Military; Innocence Project Takes Up Case of Scott Peterson; Daycare Evacuated Moments Before Building Next Door Explodes. Aired 1:30-2p ET

Aired January 19, 2024 - 13:30   ET

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

[13:30:39]

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN ANCHOR: We're just learning that President Biden spoke with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu today, making this call a day after Netanyahu's outright rejection of the two-state solution, the idea of an eventual Palestinian state. Of course a top goal of the Biden administration.

BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN ANCHOR: Also today, Israel's war minister is saying that fresh elections are needed because the public no longer trusts Netanyahu's leadership. In an op-ed, former Israeli prime minister Ehud Barak also called for new elections, warning that Netanyahu's strategy would lead Israel in a, quote, "Gaza quagmire."

CNN's Jeremy Diamond joins us now live from Tel Aviv. And Jeremy, you have new reporting on the Israeli military's operations in Gaza that numerous cemeteries have been damaged. Tell us about that.

JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, that's right, Boris. Listen, last week I was embedded with Israeli forces inside the Gaza Strip, and as we were on our way out of Gaza, what I noticed is that we drove directly through a cemetery that had been freshly bulldozed. The road, a dirt road, freshly bulldozed right through it. And that led to this investigation where we found that 16 cemeteries across Gaza have been desecrated by the Israeli military.

I do want to warn our viewers that they may find some of these images disturbing.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DIAMOND (voice-over): In Gaza, even the dead cannot escape the indignities of war. More than a dozen cemeteries like this one in Jabalia desecrated by the Israeli military. Gravestones destroyed, soil upturned, tread marks leaving little left for the living to honor their dead.

This is that same graveyard before the war. One month later, a series of tread marks can be seen on the northwestern edge. It is no exception.

A CNN analysis of videos and satellite imagery found that 16 cemeteries have been damaged or destroyed by the Israeli military since it launched its ground offensive. As Israeli forces pushed deeper into Gaza, they crushed the graves of thousands of Palestinians between November and January.

Janina Dill, co-director of Oxford University's Institute for Ethics, Law and Armed Conflict, says destroying graveyards violates international law, except under very limited circumstances.

JANINA DILL, CO-DIRECTOR, OXFORD UNIVERSITY'S INSTITUTE FOR ETHICS, LAW AND ARMED CONFLICT: Cemeteries are not military objectives. They are in fact what international law would consider an object that is normally dedicated to civilian purposes, like places of worship generally. So this is protected from intentional attack. It can only be intentionally attacked or destroyed if it becomes a military objective.

DIAMOND (voice-over): In some cases, like this cemetery in the Shajaiye refugee camp, Israeli bulldozers turned cemeteries into military outposts, parking armored vehicles behind freshly raised berms. The damage is often deliberate and progressive. Over two weeks in December, the military bulldozed more and more of this cemetery east of Khan Younis, building defensive fortifications.

CNN witnessed firsthand the results of Israel's bulldozing of graveyards while embedded with Israeli forces last week. The armored personnel carrier CNN was traveling in drove right through this cemetery in Al-Bureij on a freshly bulldozed dirt road.

And then there's this. Tombs opened at a cemetery in Khan Younis this week and bodies removed from their graves. In a statement, the Israeli military acknowledged exhuming bodies from the cemetery as part of its search for the bodies of Israeli hostages.

An IDF spokesman could not account for the damage to the 16 cemeteries identified by CNN. But said that in some cases, there is no other choice, providing this photo of what it says is a Hamas rocket launcher at a cemetery in Gaza.

CNN could not independently verify where it was taken.

The spokesman could not account for the military posts over graveyards, but said, "We have a serious obligation to the respect of the dead, and there is no policy to create military posts out of graveyards."

In at least one case, the Israeli military appears to have taken pains to maneuver around a graveyard.

[13:35:02]

The Deir El Belah War Cemetery, which holds the remains of many Christian and Jewish soldiers from World War I, left intact despite devastation all around.

At the El Toufah Cemetery, a very different picture. Residents say bodies were uprooted by Israeli bulldozers. UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): We're currently retrieving the

corpses of the martyrs that are present in the cemetery. The occupation forces have run over most of them with their bulldozers, and we've only identified a small number of corpses and masses. As for the rest, their identities remain unknown.

DIAMOND (voice-over): South Africa cited Israel's destruction of cemeteries as part of its case, arguing Israel is committing genocide in Gaza. Israel denies the allegation but experts say cemetery destruction could be evidence of Israel's intent.

DILL: There is huge symbolic meaning to the notion that not even the dead are left in peace. It suggests that disrespect towards the kind of spiritual life of your enemy, their cultural property and heritage, it's an evidence of an animus against your enemy that is unhelpful in this context.

DIAMOND (voice-over): The Israeli military is still desecrating graves in Gaza.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through text translation): They dug up the graves, these are the graves.

DIAMOND (voice-over): At the Khan Younis Cemetery where the military dug up bodies this week, the damage is extensive and all too familiar. Tombs destroyed, shrouded bodies sticking out of the soil, the dead roused from their final rest.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

DIAMOND (on-camera): And the Israeli military pointed to Hamas using some of these cemeteries for their military purposes to explain some of the destruction that we documented here, but we're not just talking about targeted attacks on cemeteries. Instead, what we have seen here through satellite imagery, through some of the videos we've collected on the ground, is large-scale bulldozing of certain cemeteries.

Sometimes vehicles just driving right over these graves and taking little care effectively to preserve the dignity of the dead. This speaks to something far more systematic than what the Israeli military acknowledged.

KEILAR: Yes, hard to see those strategic or tactical value in that.

Jeremy Diamond, thank you so much for that excellent report.

A Republican-led House panel has asked Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin to testify about his recent hospital stay. The White House, Congress and the public did not find out that he was in the hospital until several days after he was admitted, and it took even longer for Secretary Austin to disclose that he was being treated for prostate cancer. The hearing before the Armed Services Committee is now set for February 14th.

SANCHEZ: We have some news just into CNN. President Joe Biden has signed into law a short-term funding extension. Remember that lawmakers raced against the clock to pass the bill before part of the government would have shut down at midnight tonight. Lawmakers have been confronting not one but two government shutdown deadlines. One today, another on February 2nd.

This now, the short-term funding extension, sets up two new funding deadlines on March 1st and March 8th. We should point out part of the reason lawmakers wanted to do it yesterday instead of today is that there is a recess next week, so they wanted to get out of town before that weather you saw hit D.C.

Still ahead, the Innocence Project has helped free many wrongly incarcerated inmates, but their newest client is raising eyebrows. Ahead, why the group is taking up the case of Scott Peterson, a man convicted of killing his wife and unborn child.

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[13:43:03]

SANCHEZ: There is a new twist in an infamous murder case. The L.A. Innocence Project says that it's now representing Scott Peterson. He was convicted, of course, of killing his wife and unborn son nearly two decades ago. Peterson's pregnant wife, Lacey, was eight months pregnant when she disappeared on Christmas Eve back in 2002. Her body and the body of her unborn child were found months later in San Francisco Bay.

KEILAR: Peterson has maintained his innocence as he serves a life sentence without the possibility of parole.

CNN's Jean Casarez is joining us now with details on this.

Jean, of course the question is why? You know, what are attorneys for this nonprofit group saying about why they're getting involved?

JEAN CASAREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, first of all, he's indigent. And he can't get funding to go any further. And so the Innocence Project has stepped up, they will pay for everything through Department of Justice funds. And they are saying that they want to see if there is actual innocence here. And they want to do a lot of testing that they say was not done back in 2003.

But the storyline of this is fairly simple. But it starts in 2002. And actually let's start in November 2002. Scott Peterson married to Lacey. They were about to have their first child. He started dating Amber Fry. And Amber Fry, according to the trial evidence, she initially asked him, are you married? He said, no. He said my wife is deceased. I'm single. One month later, Lacey, who they don't believe knew anything about that, she disappeared on Christmas Eve.

And Scott Peterson said he last saw her about 9:30 in the morning. He left. He went out in his boat in San Francisco Bay to go fishing. Forensics showed he wasn't there for very long. Came back. Lacey was gone. He finally reports her missing later that evening. And then the search begins. They can't find her. In April of the next year, so a few months later, her remains washed

up on shore along with their unborn child which is legal language from the California courts, Connor. They had already named the child.

[13:45:03]

The remains washed up on shore two miles away from where he had gone fishing. Much more to this very lengthy trial. But this is what now the Innocence Project wants. They want to do DNA testing of items that they believe the prosecution has. And those items were never tested. And you really -- if you look at the list it's a lot of things that washed up onshore when her remains and Connor's remains washed up onshore, things from duct tape recovered from her pants.

Interesting, a 50-inch-long tape twine tide in a bow around the neck of Connor Peterson. That is curious because she was eight months pregnant when she disappeared. And now they say a bow of twine was found around her neck.

I talked to people that were intimately involved in this case in the legal area. They know nothing about twine and tape that was around the neck of Connor. But moving on, a Target bag from where Lacey's remains were found. Clothes and duct tape, a black tarp. And then also, there was a van that was set on fire close to the time and in the vicinity of where Lacey went missing. And they want to do some DNA testing of those areas.

It will be very interesting to see if they get this because also they may want some renewed testing because sophistication of DNA is now, obviously, not what it was back in 2003. And so this is, to them, important. But this was a case that was a death penalty conviction. It was overturned a couple of years ago based on the process rights. Now it's life in prison without any possibility of parole. They want to get this conviction vacated to have a new trial ordered.

KEILAR: Very interesting. Jean, thank you so much for that. We'll continue to pay attention to it.

A gas leak gave a daycare and everyone who was inside of it just moments to evacuate before an explosion leveled the building next door. Ahead we're going to speak to the Washington fire chief about what happened, how they narrowly avoided a huge tragedy here.

This is CNN NEWS CENTRAL.

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[13:51:49]

SANCHEZ: An incredible and timely escape to tell you about now. A gas explosion above a Washington, D.C. daycare center happening just minutes after 16 small children were rushed out to safety. It was quick-thinking daycare staff and firefighters that managed to get the children between the ages of 2 and 4 in their coats and out the door. Fortunately none of them were hurt. We now see the moment a second gas explosion at the convenience store

next door sent debris into the air and firefighters running to put out the flames.

KEILAR: There were no serious injuries but one person was taken to the hospital after being hit by some debris that had flown because of that explosion.

We have Washington, D.C. Fire Chief John Donnelly who's here with us.

Chief, if you look closely in this video we can see the aftermath of that first explosion above the daycare. Just take us through what happened here and how they got all those kids out so quickly.

CHIEF JOHN DONNELLY, WASHINGTON, D.C. FIRE AND EMS: So the fire department was dispatched for an outside gas leak. That's pretty normal call for us. The units arrived on the scene. They stopped short because you don't want to drive in front of a gas leak. And when they got there they realized there was a big problem. They called the gas company and they started evacuating the buildings around them.

But when they got to the daycare, the daycare staff was already putting coats and blankets on the kids 2 1/2 months to 4 years old. So they encouraged them to hurry up. They got them out of the building. And then a few minutes later that is when the first explosion happened.

SANCHEZ: Among the things that went well here, went right, was the fact that the daycare center and its employees had a plan, right?

DONNELLY: Oh, absolutely. Emergency planning in school facilities, daycares, libraries, any of these buildings, no matter where you live, you should have a plan to get out. It's one of the things we teach in fire prevention starting in elementary school.

KEILAR: So the -- how did they get word, initially, that there have been a leak?

DONNELLY: So they smelled it. It was the building next door.

KEILAR: They could smell. It's pretty bad.

DONNELLY: They could smell it. It was pretty bad. You could probably hear it and there may have been some people the knock on the door even. It's a busy street.

KEILAR: Thank goodness.

DONNELLY: I mean, it's a very busy street.

SANCHEZ: When it comes to the kids, I wonder how they initially reacted to it. I mean, an explosion like that rocks you. And even though it's cool to watch the video now, this could've gone a very different direction. I'm wondering how the kids reacted. How are they doing now? DONNELLY: So the kids were over a block away when the explosion

happened. So -- and they're pretty young. They were with some people that I think they're used to taking care of them. The great news is that all of them were reunited with their families within an hour, hour and a half. And I think that's the important part.

KEILAR: So let's take this bigger picture here because I think we can all learn something from this, right? The importance of calling in a gas leak, of taking it seriously. What do we need to keep in mind?

DONNELLY: So there's two -- there's a couple of things. Gas has a distinct odor. It's something they put in, a chemical called mercaptan, and it gives you a distinct odor. If you smell what you know to be natural gas, or you think you do, you should always call 911 and notify the gas company. You should get away from it as well. That's the most important part. The second important lesson is, have a plan.

[13:55:02]

KEILAR: Amazing how quickly the gas company calls when you -- or comes when you call in a leak, too. They are very speedy.

DONNELLY: Yes. Yes.

KEILAR: Chief, thank you so much. We're so glad that this is a good ending to the story.

DONNELLY: So are we. Thank you very much.

SANCHEZ: Of course.

KEILAR: A cargo plane forced to make an emergency landing in Miami after sparks and flames started flying from one of its engines. And we have some breaking news into CNN. A small commuter plane landing on a road in Virginia. We will have more on this story after a quick break.

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