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President Biden Pledges Support In Baltimore Following Bridge Collapse; Rare Earthquake Hits Northeast, Biden Addresses Fallout From Israel's Strike On Aid Convoy; IDF Admits Fault In Strike Killing Aid Workers, Dismisses Personnel; Hamas Rejects Proposal In Hostage Release Negotiations; Call For Independent Investigation Into IDF Actions Amidst Conflict; Yankees Reschedule Game For Solar Eclipse, Major Cash Heist Under Investigation By FBI And LAPD; Coast Guard Searches For Man Overboard In Bahamas Cruise; Speaker Mike Johnson Faces Leadership Test Over Ukraine Aid Issue. Aired 2-2:30p ET

Aired April 05, 2024 - 14:00   ET

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

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BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN ANCHOR: President Biden arriving in Baltimore, meeting with officials over the bridge collapse, and also family members of victims who were killed in the accident. We're standing by for remarks from him.

BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN ANCHOR: And a rare earthquake hitting the Northeast, shaking people from Maine to D.C., snarling traffic on the ground and in the air as well. Plus, chasing the eclipse, how special NASA flights are going to follow the path of totality Monday as it runs across the United States. We're following these major developing stories and many more, all coming in right here to CNN NEWS CENTRAL.

KEILAR: Any moment now, President Biden will arrive in Baltimore. Well, he will soon speak as the city is recovering from the Francis Scott Key Bridge disaster. Biden will receive an aerial tour of the site to get a firsthand look at the destruction there. And then he'll be able to get a full picture of the building that was left behind. And then later, he's expected to meet with officials and first responders. The president will also spend time with the families of the six construction workers who were killed when the bridge came crashing down after a massive container ship hit one of its columns.

Last week's incident effectively shut down operations at Baltimore's port. And Biden has pledged the full support of the federal government with recovery efforts. His administration is asking Congress to approve paying the entire cost of rebuilding the bridge. CNN senior White House correspondent Kayla Tausche is live from Baltimore. Kayla, what's the message that we're expecting to hear from President Biden?

KAYLA TAUSCHE, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, President Biden, Brianna, is expected once again to pledge the full support of the federal government to the state of Maryland and to the city of Baltimore as they work together for what is expected to be a multi- year, multi-billion dollar recovery effort. Just a few moments ago, President Biden aboard Marine One was joined by Governor Wes Moore of Maryland, members of the Coast Guard, as well as the Lieutenant General, who is part of the team of the Army Corps of Engineers that is really leading the charge here in the Patapsco River with salvaging some of the destruction, recovering some evidence.

And then, of course, it's going to be a very long road to recovery. Later this hour, we're expecting President Biden to deliver remarks here on the banks of the Patapsco River, echoing that complete support of the federal government. His pledge to pay for the recovery effort. And the rebuild of this bridge, which he has said to many local officials is important to him personally because he commuted over that bridge for many years when he was serving in the Senate.

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He will also be meeting with families of the six victims who were working on the bridge and died when it collapsed early last week. Those families have been working with the government led by Tom Perez, who's the White House's head of intergovernmental affairs, to get some closure on the situation, asking for things like humanitarian parole so that they can come from other countries, from their home countries to the United States.

And in one case, Perez tells CNN he's been asked to repatriate the body. He says he's working with four different countries on those efforts and working with U.S. citizenship and immigration services. All in all, it is a all hands on deck, very robust, multi-pronged effort. So far, the Department of Transportation has greenlit $60 million, which CNN is told is just the initial tranche of what this is going to cost. But that they're trying to remove red tape and remove regulatory barriers to get that money in the hands of the officials who need it as soon as possible. Guys.

KEILAR: All right. Kayla Tausche live from Baltimore. Thank you, Boris.

SANCHEZ: Today, President Biden is also navigating the fallout from Israel's deadly strike on an aid convoy earlier this week, just after he demanded that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu drastically improve Israel's efforts to protect civilians and aid workers. The Israeli military shared its. Damning preliminary report on that killing of seven World Central Kitchen aid workers. The IDF says that a quote serious violation of protocols contributed and that a shoulder bag mistaken for a weapon was central to what happened. Two IDF personnel have since been dismissed as a result of the investigation. CNN's Jeremy Diamond has been following this for us from Jerusalem. So, Jeremy, walk us through the answers that this preliminary investigation provides and what questions still remain.

JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Boris, in six months of war, we have seen thousands of civilians killed in Gaza. We have seen a convoy struck before, nearly 200 aid workers have died in Gaza since the beginning of this war. But we have never seen the Israeli military carry out such a thorough and public accounting of its actions. And this report is quite damning. The Israeli military acknowledging that commanders involved in these strikes on this World Central Kitchen convoy violated military protocols and made errors in decision-making, fatal errors that led to the deaths of these seven aid workers.

The Israeli military gives a timeline of what happened. They say that this all started when humanitarian aid trucks left this pier where aid has been coming in by sea. Shortly after that, they identified a gunman on one of these aid trucks. And subsequently, as these vehicles, civilian vehicles belonging to the World Central Kitchen, joined this convoy, Israeli commanders made a grave mistake, misidentifying the vehicles as carrying militants. Believing that these militants were inside these vehicles, which, of course, was very much not the case. They also misidentified a bag that one of these aid workers was carrying as a weapon. All of this led to the decision by commanders to carry out these airstrikes on three vehicles.

In the course of four minutes, three of these World Central Kitchen vehicles, were struck, resulting in the deaths of these seven aid workers. Now, in terms of consequences, the Israeli military's chief of staff has decided to dismiss two of the officers involved in this, the chief of staff of the Nahal Brigade, Colonel Nohi Mendel, as well as an unidentified major who was serving as the brigade's fire support officer. Three other senior officers, the brigade commander, the division commander, and the head of southern command have been reprimanded by the chief of staff in this instance.

SANCHEZ: Jeremy we're also learning more about the next phase of negotiations to release hostages from Gaza. We've learned that Hamas has just rejected another proposal.

DIAMOND: Yeah, that's right. The Israeli government submitted a counterproposal of sorts earlier this week, which we now understand that Hamas has rejected. This is not the first counterproposal that Israel has put on the table over the course of the last couple of weeks. But once again, it has been rejected by Hamas, which appears to be sticking to its demands. One of the key sticking points in these talks is that Hamas is calling for totally unrestricted access for Palestinians to go from the southern part of the Gaza Strip back to northern Gaza.

The Israeli government in its counterproposal, as I understand it, has proposed limiting the return, but has started to move its negotiation position to no Palestinians returning to northern Gaza, to saying now that some can return with security checks with the limit on the number of Palestinians per day. But Hamas appears to be rejecting that. This doesn't mean the end of talks altogether, though.

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As we understand it, the CIA director, Bill Burns, as well as the director of the Mossad, they are set to meet with mediators in Cairo over the weekend. So these negotiations will indeed continue. But this is certainly a fraught moment for these talks, as the Israeli government has threatened to move in to Rafah, what the Israeli prime minister has described as Hamas's last bastion, if indeed a deal is not reached.

SANCHEZ: Jeremy Diamond, live for us from Jerusalem. Thank you so much, Jeremy. Brianna.

KEILAR: We're joined now by Democratic Congressman Gerry Connolly of Virginia. He is a member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee. Congressman, thanks for taking time to be with us. What is your reaction to this IDF initial report?

REP. GERRY CONNOLLY (D-VA): I continue to be horrified by what happened. And while I am glad that the IDF has found this attack on aid workers who were providing humanitarian assistance, to be unjustified and a terrible breach of protocol. It's not the only breach of protocol in this war by the Israeli Defense Forces. They killed three of their own hostages who were speaking Hebrew and waving white flags. They've killed innocent people seeking shelter in a Christian church, in mosques, in hospitals, in civilian refugee shelters. The IDF has proved to be undisciplined in many cases and trigger-happy. And the accountability, now that it's begun with this tragedy, has to be extended to the entire course of the war.

KEILAR: We heard Secretary Blinken initially calling for an impartial investigation. That was the word he used, impartial. Then earlier today, he called for an independent investigation, which, the White House notably walked back. What do you think that this tragedy calls for? An impartial investigation, which could mean a range of things, or an independent investigation, which would mean by an entity that is outside of and separate, independent from the IDF?

CONNOLLY: Well, I believe Israel historically has been capable of examining itself and coming to hard truths. I think it has a record of doing that. But I do believe Israeli credibility in this war has been so damaged, especially by its prime minister and his government, Prime Minister Netanyahu, that an independent inquiry into what happened is probably warranted and is the only kind of inquiry that's going to have international credibility.

KEILAR: The term independent is fraught. In 2015, when the U.S. military struck a Doctors Without Borders hospital in Kunduz, Afghanistan, where, as you're well aware, they killed more than 40 people. They didn't conduct an independent investigation. The American military did it, trying to be impartial, but nonetheless, it wasn't independent. How does that inform what the U.S. can reasonably request of Israel here?

CONNOLLY: Well, maybe we should have had an independent inquiry then, too. But certainly, given the course of this war and the issues it's raised, and the fact that 33,000 Palestinian lives have been lost, I believe, Israel has to move swiftly and comprehensively to try to restore its credibility in the international community that has been very badly damaged.

KEILAR: Yeah. And I know that you've seen this reporting, Congressman, about AI and how Israel is using it, and the fact that it appears, in many cases, according to some reporting, you had human involvement in it not really sifting adequately through it, that they were kind of just rubber stamping what AI was finding about targets. Do you have any questions about whether AI may have been used in this strike. Did you get any answers about that from this initial report? CONNOLLY: I haven't seen that report in any detail. I would caution that AI is still in its sort of adolescent stages of development. So putting a lot of faith in the algorithms generated by AI is a very dicey way to run a war. And ultimately, it's about the guidance, the policy guidance given to the military forces in Gaza that are going to matter, which is, it seems to me, protect civilians at all costs. When in doubt, hold back. Make sure, double check that the targets we're looking at are, in fact, the targets we want to go after and that we have minimized collateral damage in property and lives, especially.

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And I think that's really what's been missing throughout the course of this war.

KEILAR: I wonder, Congressman, have you had any conversations with Chairman Meeks about F-15 approval, if there's any consideration of holding that up?

CONNOLLY: I have not. I think it is important to distinguish F-15s from other kinds of munitions. The F-15s will have to be constructed, and it's going to take about five years for any delivery of the F-15s, as I understand it. So the F-15s are not part of the immediate situation. What is of more concern, certainly for me and I think for a lot of other people, is more weaponry that can be used on the battlefield right now. What are the conditions, what are the guidelines around that kind of offensive weaponry to ensure that the concerns President Biden raised very forcefully with Prime Minister Netanyahu just yesterday are met.

KEILAR: All right. Congressman Gerry Connolly, we do appreciate your time as we are trying to get answers, many of which we can't from this initial report. Thank you so much.

CONNOLLY: Thank you, Brianna.

KEILAR: Ahead this hour on CNN NEWS CENTRAL, a 4.8 earthquake, 4.8 magnitude earthquake, in the Northeast. But just how rare are these tremors? Plus, a critical meeting today between House Speaker Mike Johnson and the colleague who is trying to expel him. The one-on-one could be the difference in whether Ukraine gets much-needed aid. And a new sexual assault lawsuit naming Sean Diddy Combs and his son as co- defendants. We'll have the allegations coming up.

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SANCHEZ: Some developing news out of the Northeast. A rare 4.8 magnitude earthquake shaking up the tri-state area today. The epicenter was in New Jersey, but people say they felt shaking as far north as Maine, all the way down to here, the nation's capital in Washington, D.C. So far, fortunately,. there appears to be no serious damage. Let's go straight to CNN's Chad Myers. Chad, 4.8 on the Richter scale, grand scheme of things, not a huge earthquake, but it is rare to get them in the Northeast. CHAD MYERS, METEOROLOGIST: Absolutely. It was the strongest earthquake in New Jersey since New Jersey became a state. So that's where we are. And the old ones were 5.1 before they became a state, and I'm not sure what kind of equipment they were using to get the 5.1. But it was a shallow quake, and it was just like ringing a bell. The whole place just rang and moved away from the epicenter, unlike a western shake where we could be hundreds of miles deep, where it just kind of sways back and forth. But there are the two bigger ones, 5.1s, but look at it, 1755 I mean, come on. So about 100,000 people felt some pretty strong shaking, but we'll go somewhere in the middle here, moderate to strong. About a quarter of a million picked up that shaking, and 165,000 people reported it to the USGS. Normally, we see like 20 reports. But everybody was reporting this one, because they obviously did feel it. Shaking felt in New York City, Philadelphia, DC.

The seismic waves go farther in the east, because there are fewer cracks in the soil, cracks in the bedrock, so when it rings, it just goes for miles and miles and miles, and there you go. We probably will get one aftershock somewhere in the ballpark of about 3.8 or so. It was a shallow quake right there, just about three or four miles below the surface. That was part of the problem. I saw some pictures, Boris, online, where they showed cracks in the city streets of New York. I kind of chuckled, and I said, well, you are a tourist, because that crack has been there for a very, very, very long time.

KEILAR: This Californian has had some thoughts that she has kept to herself, Chad. I will say, that's not an earthquake. This is an earthquake as sort of-

SANCHEZ: No need to hurt feelings here

KEILAR: No, no, I mean, you have to be careful. You do. There could be damage. It's true. But it's just-

MYERS: Off course

KEILAR: the novelty of it. We're sort of like, ah, we know that. SANCHEZ: Well Chad Myers, thanks so much for the perspective.

MYERS: You bet.

KEILAR: So now to some of the other headlines that we're watching this hour. The Yankees are pushing back the start of Monday's game after realizing players would be on the field during the eclipse. What's the matter with that? I don't know. Well, they were originally set to take on the Miami Marlins at 2 p.m., so now the game is going to start at six. The team says the first 15,000 fans to show up will get a free Yankees' solar eclipse shirt, maybe they thought they couldn't compete with the sun.

SANCHEZ: Yeah, I'm shocked they didn't see that on the calendar. Perhaps not surprising for the Miami Marlins. Nevertheless, also, the FBI, along with the LAPD, they're still looking for burglars who managed to pull off one of the biggest cash heists in L.A.'s history. Investigators believe the suspects were sophisticated. We're told they focused on whether the thieves had inside knowledge of the money storage facility they robbed. You're looking at aerial footage of it now.

They were able to steal some $30 million without setting off a single alarm. Meantime, the U.S. Coast Guard is searching for a man who went overboard during a cruise in the Bahamas. Officials say the 20-year- old victim fell into the water about 57 miles from the great Inagua Island. Crews have been looking for him since 6 a.m. Thursday morning.

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Still to come on news central will Ukraine aid be the price that Mike Johnson has to pay in order to keep his speakership. He's set to meet with far right party member Marjorie Taylor Green today and she is threatening to oust him. And humans have been looking toward the sky since the dawn of time and making all sorts of determinations about what is happening here on earth based on the stars. We're going to talk to an astrologer about the solar eclipse when we come back.

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