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Soon: Biden To Speak In Baltimore On Deadly Bridge Disaster; IDF Releases Report On Strike That Killed 7 Aid Workers; Rare 4.8 Magnitude Earthquake Shakes The Northeast; Biden Speaks During Visit To Site Of Baltimore Bridge Disaster. Aired 3-3:30p ET

Aired April 05, 2024 - 15:00   ET

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

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BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN HOST: President Biden surveying the collapsed Francis Scott Key Bridge from the sky and meeting with the families of victims. The President is set to speak at any moment now. We're in Baltimore with more on his visit.

Plus, mistaken identification and errors, major developments after aid workers were killed in Gaza. What a new report from the Israeli military says went wrong and who is being held accountable.

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN HOST: Plus, did you feel the earth move under your feet? A 4.8 magnitude quake rattling several of America's major cities, the strongest to hit New Jersey since it became a state. We have reaction, including the muted reaction of some Californians.

And it's known as the cowboy capital of the United States. How one Texas town is going all out for the eclipse.

We're following these major developing stories and many more all coming in right here to CNN NEWS CENTRAL.

SANCHEZ: Right now, we are waiting to hear from President Biden, who is in Baltimore surveying the damage from last week's devastating bridge collapse. Last hour, he was given an aerial tour of the site to get a firsthand look at the destruction left behind. He's also set to meet with officials during a briefing to discuss the salvage and recovery efforts after that massive container ship collided with the Francis Scott Key Bridge.

Later, the President will spend time with the families of the six construction workers that were killed when the bridge came crashing down.

CNN Senior White House Correspondent Kayla Tausche is live for us in Baltimore.

Kayla, the President is expected to speak behind you at any moment now. What's the message we should expect to hear?

KAYLA TAUSCHE, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, Boris, ahead of him in the program right now is Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg speaking.

Then it will be Maryland governor Wes Moore. But when the President takes the podium, he's expected to talk about a few things.

First, pledge once again the full spectrum of federal government resources in this recovery effort. He has already said that the federal government will be paying for the full rebuild of this bridge, and he's expected to call on Congress to authorize that to be the case.

So far, the federal government has provided $60 million for this initial stage of recovery, and there's expected to be potentially billions more to come. He's also expected to praise the coordinated response thus far, the work that the federal government agencies and local officials here in Baltimore have worked together from the wee hours early last week as the Dali container ship collided with the Key Bridge and brought it crashing down.

Since then, there has been a very regular cadence of communication between officials at the federal, state and local level to get the recovery to this point. We also expect President Biden to talk about the importance of this court to him personally, but also to the national economy. In the briefing that he just received from local officials, he learned that it's the number one port for automobile exports and imports. There's also a lot of farm equipment that comes through here, as well as a lot of metals that come through here.

Certainly, the Army Corps of Engineers has been working day and night to figure out when it can reopen the channel to the Port of Baltimore to interstate commerce once again and they've now set that timeline for the end of May.

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So certainly, that is quite a bit of progress. Local officials have said that they have 50 divers here and 12 cranes to assist with getting the bridge off of the Dali ship. One official said, there's a lot of bridge on that vessel, and until they can get all of the metal and steel off of that boat, they can't move it out of the way, and they really can't get on with the rest of their work. So it's clearly a very multi-pronged effort, but we expect that President Biden is going to praise the work done so far, while still talking about the long road to a full recovery, guys.

SANCHEZ: We will be monitoring those remarks live from President Biden.

Kayla Tausche, thanks so much from Baltimore. Brianna?

KEILAR: In the wake of an Israeli drone strike that killed seven aid workers in Gaza this week. President Biden and top White House officials are demanding that Israel take concrete steps to protect civilians or face the consequences of a shift in U.S. policy toward the war.

Now, one day later, Israel has unveiled some new action. Two IDF officers have been fired as a result of the Israeli military's preliminary report on the deadly attack on the World Central Kitchen convoy. And Israel is opening two entry points for Gaza aid deliveries.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken says of that move that the real test will be the results.

CNN's Jeremy Diamond is tracking all of this from Jerusalem.

Jeremy, tell us about this initial report from Israel and the steps that are being taken.

JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Brianna, in six months of war, we have never seen the Israeli military carry out such a thorough and public accounting of its actions, of its killing of civilians in the Gaza Strip, as we are now over the killing of these seven aid workers. Six of whom were foreigners in this Israeli military strike earlier this week.

The Israeli military in its report today on its findings of its investigation saying that commanders involved in these strikes violated military protocols and made errors in decision making. They lay out a timeline of how this all unfolded, saying that it started when an Israeli drone picked up what they say is a gunman on top of one of these aid trucks that was part of this convoy.

Once the convoy alongside three vehicles with these seven staffers arrived at a warehouse, from there the Israeli military commanders began making very wrong and very deadly assumptions, believing that the gunman was actually in one of these vehicles, that rather than humanitarian aid staffers, they believed that Hamas militants were inside these vehicles. That, of course, is despite the fact that the World Central Kitchen logo was plastered on two of these vehicles.

The Israeli military saying that its drones did not pick that up at nighttime. They also misidentified a bag that one of these aid workers was carrying, believing that it was a weapon. And so, what happened next, over the course of four minutes, three Israeli drone strikes carried out on these three separate vehicles, killing all seven of these workers. The Israeli military, for its part, has now dismissed two of the officers involved, reprimanded three more.

Questions now about how they will take the lessons learned from this and apply them in the future as they say they will. They have yet to actually provide details on any substantive policy changes, Brianna?

KEILAR: All right. Jeremy Diamond, thank you for that report. Boris?

SANCHEZ: We want to discuss these developments with someone who resigned from the State Department last fall in protest of the administration's ongoing arms transfers to Israel. Josh Paul joins us now. Josh, thanks so much for being with us.

What do you make of the IDF response so far: the firing of those two commanders, the opening of a couple more pathways to get aid in, do those steps gives you - give you confidence that the administration is persuading Netanyahu to alter his course?

JOSH PAUL, FORMER STATE DEPARTMENT OFFICIAL: I think they demonstrate that the United States has immense leverage here. I only wish they had used it earlier. Look, the opening of the humanitarian crossings is vital. This investigation is a step forward. But the issue is systematic and intentional.

Where are the investigations of the strikes that killed over 200 other aid workers? Where are the investigations of the strikes that killed a hundred journalists? Where are the investigations of the sniper fire that has killed children? Where are the investigations of the executions of doctors and patients at Al-Shifa Hospital? Where are the investigations of the torture of prisoners under Israeli custody? Where are the investigations of the destruction of universities? Where are the investigations of the pillaging of private homes? Where are the investigations of the attacks on churches and mosques? And I could go on.

SANCHEZ: Josh, in response to the announcement about the opening of those border crossings, the Secretary of State Antony Blinken said that the real test would be how much actual aid reaches people in Gaza. I'm wondering, given your view from having been in the State Department, whether you think the administration has a real mechanism in place to accurately measure the difference that these new steps would make.

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PAUL: Well, it's very difficult. And let's be clear, there is one issue to get the actual humanitarian assistance, the food, the medicine into Gaza. It is another to distribute it. And charities like Anera, the second largest distributor of aid in Gaza, the recently suspended operations, have been very clear that it is impossible to distribute food and medicine appropriately when there is fighting going on, when there is still conflict. So it is not enough to admit humanitarian assistance to Gaza. There needs to be an immediate ceasefire.

SANCHEZ: In response to criticism over the issue that you resigned over, the arms transfers, the arms sales, NSC spokesperson John Kirby argued that many of those deals have been in the works for a long time: deals for fighter jets, the 2,000-pound bombs. They're years in the making. They've been in motion since well before the war started. What do you make of that argument?

PAUL: So the U.S. has the authority under the law to suspend or delay any deal for any reason at any time prior to delivery. And given that the U.S. continues to approve arms transfers of various types to Israel on an almost daily basis, knowing what is going on, on the ground right now in Gaza, there is no reason that these cannot be stopped or suspended or used as leverage. But of course, there are also laws that apply here.

For example, we are not allowed to provide military assistance to a country that is restricting U.S.-funded humanitarian assistance. With Israel's admission that it is going to open these two new crossings, that is essentially an admission that they have been restricting humanitarian assistance. So there is much more that the U.S. could be doing, even if a deal was signed many years ago.

SANCHEZ: When you say there is a lot more that the U.S. could be doing, if Congress or the White House were to implement conditions on military aid, to restrict military aid, what would you like to see them put in place that would be effective, but that would still allow Israel to fight Hamas?

PAUL: Well, before we even talk about conditioning military assistance, we need to talk about following our own laws. Laws like the one I just mentioned, that we can't provide assistance where humanitarian assistance is being restricted, we can't provide assistance to units that are credibly alleged to be involved in gross violations of human rights.

Once we have done that, I think there are clearly sets of arms that are being used in Gaza, such as 2,000-pound bombs, which are inherently indiscriminate. These are bombs that destroy entire city blocks. We also know that the IDF is using firearms in ways that are deeply inappropriate to, for example, as The Guardian has reported in the last few days, sniper attacks against children.

So there are certainly a whole range of lethal weapon systems that the U.S. could be using both as leverage over Israel and anyway should be restricting, given Israel's use of those weapons in the current conflict.

SANCHEZ: Josh Paul, thanks for sharing your perspective.

PAUL: Thank you for having me.

SANCHEZ: Of course. Brianna?

KEILAR: Developing news out of the Northeast, a rare 4.8 magnitude earthquake rattling the tri-state area today. The epicenter was in New Jersey, but people felt shaking as far north as Maine all the way down to the Washington, D.C. area. So far, there appears to be no serious damage.

Let's go straight to CNN's Polo Sandoval in New York.

Polo, tell us about this.

POLO SANDOVAL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: So Brianna, if you take a stroll through Times Square, it'd be hard to believe that it was just a few hours ago that one of the most iconic parts of the city was rocked by that 4.8 magnitude earthquake. It is very much business as usual, and New York City officials have been asking that of the public to go about their day, being that so far, preliminary reports indicate that there were no damage, no - at least no noticeable damages, and also no injuries. So at this point, we're at the assessment stage of this really quite historic incident from earlier this morning when that 4.8 magnitude earthquake was registered.

Now, in terms of what the city has also said, they are encouraging people to certainly remain vigilant because of the possibility, albeit very low possibility, of any potential aftershocks. So, so far, we haven't noticed that.

In terms of what we're hearing from New Yorkers and tourists alike, some people noticed it this morning. If you're like me, we were on the subway, so I didn't really feel that earlier this morning, but it's certainly something that people are talking about throughout the day now, Brianna, as we get ready to send things back to you. That just gives you a general sense of this

event. It really isn't so much a destructive one, but more a potentially disruptive one as they continue their assessment of some of the bridges and roadways in and around New York City.

KEILAR: All right. Well, stay tuned to see what they find.

Polo, thank you for that.

Still ahead, burglary tourists entering the U.S., how they're getting in and why one couple says the thieves really hit the jackpot.

Plus, a bill in one state would give workers the right to disconnect. How the proposal could improve work-life balance.

And Bill Nye, the science guy, joins us live to break down the science of the eclipse.

We'll have those stories and many more coming up on CNN NEWS CENTRAL.

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KEILAR: Let's go now to Baltimore, where Gov. Wes Moore is speaking and is about to introduce President Biden there at the bridge collapse.

GOV. WES MOORE, (D) MARYLAND: ... businesses, sports teams, community champions have committed a combined $15 million thus far to support our workers and our neighbors in this moment.

The alliance is over 50 members strong, and we are only getting stronger.

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Maryland is building a table that is large enough to include everybody, from our federal partners to our nonprofit leaders, to our entrepreneurs, to our port workers. And this morning, I signed an executive order to provide $60 million in financial relief for workers and businesses that have been impacted by the Key Bridge collapse.

Now, I know our state's largest city is being tested right now, but Baltimore has been tested before. We get knocked down, we stand back up and we dust ourselves off and we move forward. That is what we do.

And the people of Maryland are grateful to have a full partner in this work like President Biden.

I received my first call from the White House at around 3 AM on the day of the collapse. And every hour since, we've worked hand-in-hand with this administration. President Biden might not be a Marylander by birth, but I tell you, he's proven what it means to be Maryland tough and Baltimore strong.

The President stood with us in the first 100 days of our administration to announce historic funding for the Frederick Douglass Tunnel. And he stands with us today to help the families, clear the channel, lift our people, and rebuild this bridge.

With the support of President Biden and his team, I know that Marylanders of this generation and the next will look up, and once again, they will see the Francis Scott Key Bridge, and they will see it standing tall.

The state of Maryland is honored to welcome the President of the United States to one of the most important cities in the United States.

Ladies and gentlemen, the 46th President of the United States of America, President Joe Biden.

JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Thank you, thank you, thank you. Please, please. Thank you.

By the way, folks, I say to my dad: Dad, they're mispronouncing Baltimore. My dad and the Biden - please, sit down - the Biden family goes all the way back to being watermen in this bay for a long, long time back in the mid-1800s. And my father was born and raised here in Baltimore. And there's a strong, strong connection. Still have family in the region as well.

Gov. Moore, Sen. Cardin, Sen. Van Hollen, Congressman Mfume, Mayor Scott, County Executive Johnny O - I like that - Johnny "O-ho-ho" - to all the military members and first responders and, most importantly, to the people of Maryland, I'm here to say: Your nation has your back, and I mean it. Your nation has your back.

And you've got, without exaggeration, one of the finest delegations in the Congress of any state in the Union. And they know how to get things done, and we're going to get this paid for. Aren't we?

PARTICIPANTS: Yes.

BIDEN: All right. I was just briefed by the United - Unified Command about the ongoing impact of this tragic collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge last Tuesday.

The damage is devastating, and our hearts are still breaking. Eight construction workers went into the water when the bridge fell. Six lost their lives. Most were immigrants, but all were Marylanders - hard-working, strong and selfless.

After pulling a night shift fixing potholes, they were on a break when the ship struck.

Just seconds before, one of the men named Carlos, who was only 24, left a message for his girlfriend. Here's what it said: "We just poured cement, and we're waiting for it to dry," he said.

Well, to all the families and loved ones who are grieving: I've come here to grieve with you. We all are.

It's not the same, but I know a little bit about what it's like to lose a piece of your soul - to get that phone call in the middle of the night to say family members are gone. I've been there.

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It's feeling like having a black hole in your chest, like you're being sucked in, unable to breath. The anger, the pain, the depth of the loss is so profound.

And we know it's hard to believe, and you're probably not going to believe me, but I can tell you now from personal experience: The day is going to come when the memory of your loved one, as you walk by that park or the church or something that you shared together, it's going to bring a smile to your lips before it brings a tear to your eye.

It's going to happen. It's going to take a while, but I promise you, it will happen. And that's when you know you're going to be able to make it. I promise you it will come. And our prayers for you is that at time it comes sooner rather than later - but it will come.

We'll also never forget the contributions these men made to this city. We're going to keep working hard to recover each of them.

And my vow is that we will not rest, as Carlos said, until the cement has dried on the entirety of a new bridge - a new bridge.

Earlier this afternoon, we took an aerial tour to survey the wreckage. From the air, I saw the bridge that's been ripped apart. But here on the ground, I see a community that's been pulled together.

I want to thank you all - the first responders, the port workers, state and local officials - who sprang into action before dawn, who've been here ever since.

And we did talk at, I think it was 2:00 or 3:00 in the morning. You were out here. You were here.

Within minutes of the collapse, the U.S. Coast Guard arrived on the scene. Within hours, I ordered personnel from the Army Corps of Engineers, the Navy, the Department of Transportation to assist in every way possible.

Within a day, we stood up a Unified Command. In the weeks to come, I want you to know: We're going to continue to have your backs every step of the way. I guarantee you. I guarantee you.

First - our first is our priority to reopen the port. This is one of the nation's largest shipping hubs. And it's the top port in America both in importing and exporting of cars and light trucks - the number one.

Simply put: The impact here has a significant impact everywhere - up and down the coast and around the country.

Thousands of tons of mangled steel remain lodged in the water, blocking ships from moving in and out of the harbor.

I've directed the Coast Guard, the Navy, and the Army Corps of Engineers - who are, by the way, the finest engineers in the world - and the state officials to work together to help remove this steel as quickly as possible and as safely as possible.

So far, our team has been able to clear two small channels for essential ships helping clear the wreckage.

And, yesterday, the Army Corps announced that by the end of April they will be able to open the third channel for some commercial traffic, including car carriers. And by the end of May, we'll open the full channel - the full channel.

My task force on Supply Chain Disruption has been able to - been engaging with union, rail, trucking, shipping, state and local leaders to minimize the impact on our supply chains.

And I'm proud to announce that the federal government will provide over $8 million in grant funds to make the infrastructure improvements at Sparrows Point, as the only port unaffected by this collapse, which will allow Sparrows Point to take on more ships. And that's happening now - will happen shortly.

Second, we're focusing on protecting the workers and businesses. Folks, 20,000 jobs depend on this port. Twenty thousand families depend on this port to buy groceries, to make rent, to pay their bills.

Today, my administration is announcing the first tranche of Dislocated Worker Grants - fancy phrase to - which is dimed - all of it is there to make sure it - it helps create jobs for workers involved in the cleanup of this incident - additional jobs.

My Small Business Administration has also issued a disaster declaration, which will allow the SBA to offer low-interest loans for small businesses impacted by the collapse in order to keep things moving.

The state, the city, the county are also stepping up in impressive ways to help workers and businesses who have been affected by this disaster. But, folks, we all need to step up. Amazon, Home Depot, Domino Sugar, and many other companies all rely on this port. And they have committed to keep workers and payrolls on their - and their businesses in Baltimore and move as quickly and clearly as possible to clear the channel.

I'm calling on every company at and around the port to do the same thing - the same exact thing: commit to stay.

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And to the customers who use this port, we're coming back, and we're coming back soon.