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CIA Report: Netanyahu Likely to Defy U.S. Pressure for Post-War Plan; "Violent Earth with Live Schreiber" New Episode Airs Sunday; Woman Files $170 Million Suit, Claiming "Baby Reindeer" Ruined Her Life; Umpire Survives Heart Attack with Help From Nurse in Crowd. Aired 3:30-4p ET
Aired June 07, 2024 - 15:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[15:30:00]
BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN HOST: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is likely to defy U.S. pressure for a post-war plan in Gaza. The June 3rd report gives clues into the Israeli leader's mindset, concluding that Netanyahu believes he can maintain support from both his top security officials and far-right members of the government by discussing the future of Gaza in, quote, vague terms.
Joining me now is former hostage negotiator and Middle East director for the International Communities Organization, Gershon Baskin. Gershon, great to have you on this. What's the consequence of a lack of or a vague day-after plan?
GERSHON BASKIN, FORMER HOSTAGE NEGOTIATOR: The consequence is that there's no agreement between Hamas and Israel on the hostages or on the ceasefire, because Hamas will not agree to any deal that doesn't include the end of the war. And Benjamin Netanyahu, Israel's prime minister, won't agree to anything that includes the end of the war. And it's primarily because if Israel were to end the war today, Hamas would remain in control of Gaza.
And the failure of Israel to deal with any day-after scenario, in which the keys of Gaza are turned to an alternative Palestinian leadership, leaves us in a situation where Netanyahu has a case to make to the Israeli public that we need to continue the war against the will of a large part of the Israeli public.
KEILAR: And so you have the U.S. Secretary of State Tony Blinken heading to Egypt, Israel, Jordan, Qatar next week, trying to ratchet up pressure on this ceasefire proposal. What exactly do you expect those conversations to look like or to accomplish?
BASKIN: Well, if it's true that Secretary Blinken is coming to the area to put pressure on Hamas, he's likely to fail, because Hamas has said since the very beginning of the war that they will not agree to anything that does not end the war. I've negotiated with Hamas for 17 years. I've learned very clearly that they say what they mean, and they mean what they say. They're very tough negotiators.
Israel, on the other hand, the pressure is gearing up, and we might see a resignation from members of the government tomorrow night over the fact that there is no deal to bring the hostages home or a ceasefire or the end of the war. Netanyahu is staying in the war for his own political reasons. The majority of Israelis believe that he's acting on his own political interest and not in the interest of the country. It might be that the United States actually needs to put more pressure on Israel to get this war over.
KEILAR: What would that look like? What would that pressure look like?
BASKIN: Well, I think the United States has severe leverage over the United States. The United States has been providing the weapons for which this war has been fought. The bombs that Israel drops on Gaza are provided by the United States, and we know that Israel is very dependent on the United States for all kinds of reasons, not just military support, financial support, and the political support provided by the United States in the United Nations Security Council.
The United States could easily abstain in the next vote in the Security Council that calls for a ceasefire instead of vetoing it, and that would put more pressure on Israel. The Israeli-American relationship is so deep, and Israel is so dependent on the United States that we really can't risk messing up that relationship.
KEILAR: I want to ask you about some reporting, Gershon, by CNN analyst Barak Ravid of Axios that the war cabinet member, Benny Gantz, will most likely be announcing his withdrawal from Netanyahu's emergency government tomorrow. You mentioned that earlier. This was coming after an ultimatum last month that he would resign if Netanyahu didn't devise a hostage and day-after plan for Gaza by June 8th.
I mean, do you see that actually changing anything?
BASKIN: It won't change the existence of the government. Netanyahu still has a majority with his right-wing coalition, but I think what will happen after Gantz leaves, if he leaves the government, is that much larger numbers of Israelis will be taking to the streets. We've been demonstrating 40 weeks before this war about Netanyahu's proposed judicial upheaval, and then after the war began, there was a period of lull when people were rallying around the flag.
But already for months now, today is eight months since the horrific Hamas attack against Israel. Eight months of this war is going on, and Israelis want the hostages home first and foremost. So I think we will see many, many more Israelis taking to the streets. And those demonstrations are not just calling for the hostages, they're calling for new elections.
KEILAR: Yes, very good point. Gershon Baskin, always great to talk with you. Thank you so much.
BASKIN: Thank you, Brianna.
KEILAR: And still ahead, a massive lawsuit over the Netflix hit Baby Reindeer. A woman claims the stalker depicted on the show is all about her. We'll have more on her allegations next.
[15:35:00] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN HOST: Right now, the United States is experiencing a rise in temperatures in the west as a dangerous heat dome and multiple wildfires play out. As we've seen in recent years, these fires can wreak havoc on communities, causing extreme destruction and the loss of lives.
KEILAR: CNN's Bill Weir explores the damage that these wildfires can cause on a community, as well as the individuals that live within them.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
[15:40:00]
BILL WEIR, CNN CHIEF CLIMATE CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Since climate change has helped create the most flammable earth in human history, every new wildfire season brings new reminders that resilience is everything. It determines which communities burn to ash and which ones survive and rise, like Paradise, California.
WEIR: So this whole thing was like your home was burned to the ground?
HEIDI LANGE, PARADISE RESIDENT: House burned to the ground. I never made it home that day.
WEIR: It's been just over five years since a mile-wide blowtorch known as the Camp Fire came roaring over the mountains and into this town of 26,000. It took 85 lives, 90 percent of the structures, and two-thirds of the population never returned. But the people who rebuilt, like Heidi Lang, really want to be here.
LANGE: I kind of took an inventory of, you know, everything that was still here. My community and my neighbors and my friends and my church and my job was all still here. So my little village, my little village is here in Paradise.
WEIR: The native tree species of California had millions of years to adapt to wildfire, to survive and thrive. Now the people of California have to do the same in much less time. And here's a perfect example.
If you didn't know, you'd never know that this was once a neighborhood of hundreds of families, middle-class workers, retirees, mostly living in prefabricated, highly flammable homes, the kind that right now would cost more to insure than the home is worth. And this insurance crisis is creating sort of a perverse natural selection of survival of the richest.
So how old is this house?
CARL JOHNSON, PARADISE RESIDENT: I was born in 39. It was born in 40.
WEIR (voice-over): Carl Johnson's house survived the Camp Fire. But when he went to renew his $1,100 a year insurance policy --
JOHNSON: I got one quote from Farmers Insurance that said $14,702 --
WEIR: A year.
JOHNSON A year.
WEIR (voice-over): As major insurers decide that places like this are just too risky to cover, Carl is among those forced to go uninsured.
GARY LEDBETTER, PARADISE RESIDENT: A lot of people that were here the day of the fire never came back. But the people that chose to stay, I think that's amazing.
WEIR (voice-over): While Gary Ledbetter managed to find decent insurance after rebuilding what may be one of the most fireproof new homes in all of the West.
LEDBETTER: I had my own torch and my own Bic lighter and I tested materials these guys wanted to use.
WEIR: Is that right?
LEDBETTER: Yes.
WEIR: We're trying to burn their samples.
LEDBETTER: And as it's flaming in my hands, I throw it down and say, we're not using that.
WEIR (voice-over): During the Camp Fire, all the fire hydrants lost pressure. So Gary connected his swimming pool to a sprinkler system. That includes the roof. And every vent and window is engineered to survive an ember storm.
LEDBETTER: And it's fiberglass instead of vinyl. So it's not going to catch fire. It's not going to melt. And with these windows, the screen is on the inside.
LANGE: I did a metal roof and stucco Vulcan vents, which are engineered to close up when they're exposed to a certain degree of heat. So they don't let the embers draw in. And I have more gravel than any normal girl would.
WEIR (voice-over): Wildfire is as vital to a forest as rainfall. But human fear of it has shaped and reshaped entire ecosystems, often for the worse. But by shifting the way they think about nature, shelter and community, Paradise is out to prove to the rest of the overheating world how to live with fire. Because there's no other choice.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SANCHEZ: And Bill Weir joins us now. So Bill, what's the latest on this insurance crisis?
WEIR (on camera): Well, Gavin Newsom recently slipped some new provisions into some language around legislation, really calling for emergency lawmaking around this insurance crisis, giving more clarity to insurers about rate hikes, also giving incentives to homeowners like the folks you met there who harden against wildfire living in these wildland interfaces right now. It's hugely problematic. And the same thing is also playing out in Florida and Louisiana, only when flood insurance, hurricane insurance there as well.
And so protecting these places that we all agree are Paradise, where we would love to retire to, it's a whole new challenge in an age when wildfires are increasing exponentially.
KEILAR: All right, Bill, thank you so much. A really very good report.
And tune in to a new episode of "VIOLENT EARTH" with Liev Schreiber that will air Sunday at 9 p.m. We'll be right back.
[15:45:00]
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
KEILAR: The streaming sensation Baby Reindeer has not only generated blockbuster views for Netflix, but now a $170 million lawsuit for defamation. The show is touted as the true story of one man's experience with an alleged stalker. She's given the name Martha, and she bombards him with thousands of emails, hundreds of voicemails, and she sexually assaults him.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Six months, maybe.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Why'd it take you so long to report it?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think she needs help. She comes to my work, my house. She sends me emails, like, all the time.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Are any threatening towards you?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I wouldn't say that's particularly threatening.
[15:50:00]
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: There's a reason you're keeping her around, and maybe it's ...
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SANCHEZ: Now, a Scottish woman who says that she's been publicly outed as the real Martha is suing Netflix for mental anguish and loss of life and business. Fiona Harvey's lawsuit claims that the series star and writer Richard Gad told the biggest lie in television history, and she told Britain's Piers Morgan this last month.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
FIONA HARVY, SUING NETFLIX OVER "BABY REINDEER" SERIES: Some of the death threats have been really terrible online, people phoning me up. You know, it's been absolutely horrendous.
It's a work of fiction. It's a work of hyperbole, as I've always said. And there are two true facts in that. His name is Richard Gad, and he worked as a jobbing barman on benefits in the Holy Arms, and we met two or three times.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SANCHEZ: Richard Gad has not said who the real Martha is, and he's not yet commented on the lawsuit. We want to discuss with attorney Areva Martin. Areva, do you think that Harvey has a strong case?
AREVA MARTIN, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: Well, Boris, she makes some pretty significant allegations in her defamation lawsuit claiming that she is portrayed as someone that has been convicted of a felony that has served time for stalking, that has stalked a woman. But her name is not used in this docuseries, and her first hurdle is establishing that she is the person that is portrayed in this docuseries, since, of course, she's not known in this series as Fiona Harvey.
Now, she says that the image of the person that she used, that some of the language that she exchanged with Richard Gad is the same. So she says there's enough similarities here for people to believe that it's her, and that shortly after the series was aired, through a series of Google searches and online searches, people were able to identify her.
But we haven't heard from Richard Gad in terms of who this character is.
KEILAR: So you say there are three key questions in the case. What are they, Areva?
MARTIN: Well, the question is, one, is this Fiona Harvey person that is portrayed in this docuseries? And if so, did Netflix do its research to determine if the --
KEILAR: Areva, unfortunately, we're having -- Areva, we're having problems with your audio, unfortunately. So I think we're going to have to --
It's such a fascinating -- I wish we could finish that.
SANCHEZ: Yes, and there are really significant questions about personal identity being used in fiction and that sort of thing. It's unfortunate that we had these technical issues.
KEILAR: Yes, and also, if you aren't identified, but let's say there's something you put out on social media, the internet sleuths track down and identify the person. Is that enough? Who's culpable? So many questions.
SANCHEZ: Could you quote what someone has said on social media, even if you say that it's, you know, true and say, you know, it's an actual quote, does that ultimately mean liability?
KEILAR: Yes. SANCHEZ: Yes. It's a heavy, heavy, tough series to watch.
KEILAR: You've watched it. I haven't. I think I'm going to have to see it now.
SANCHEZ: We'll be right back. Stay with us.
[15:55:00]
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
KEILAR: An off-duty nurse jumping into action when an umpire at a kid's baseball game suddenly grabs his chest and falls to the ground.
SANCHEZ: CNN's Camila Bernal has the story.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CAMILA BERNAL, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It was just another day for umpire Rudy Lopez.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Two balls, no strikes.
BERNAL (voice-over): Until it took a turn for the worse.
RUDY LOPEZ, UMPIRE, CALIFORNIA BASEBALL UMPIRES ASSOCIATION: I stepped in to call another pitch and I was out, gone. Face first into the ground from what I understand because I don't remember anything after that.
BERNAL (voice-over): It was a heart attack, his seventh. Rudy says he suffers from congestive heart failure. The 72-year-old has been an umpire for over 50 years. And thankfully for him, on this day, Lakeysha Pack was on the bleachers. She was there cheering for her son.
PACK: LAKEYSHA PACK, REGISTERED NURSE, RONAL REAGAN UCLA MEDICAL CENTER: I look up and I'm like, did he get hit with the ball? And then like he's laying there and he's not moving. I'm like, what's going on here? And then that's when I ran around to the field to go check him out.
BERNAL (voice-over): Lakeysha says her instincts as a nurse kicked in and began chest compressions.
PACK: I realized he was in cardiac arrest. We helped get his belt and clothes and vest off and all that stuff off. I knew that I had to save his life because I didn't want 40 plus kids their last experience on the baseball field is experiencing something so traumatic.
BERNAL (voice-over): As a NICU nurse for over 24 years, Keisha says she had never performed life-saving measures on an adult or outside of the hospital.
PACK: I didn't even have time to think about it. Everything was just so fast. All I saw was me and Rudy. I didn't hear anything. I didn't see anything. It was just me and him.
BERNAL (voice-over): Rudy was eventually rushed to the hospital where he had stents placed in his heart.
LOPEZ: It takes a lot of courage to come out of the stands. I'm very blessed that she didn't give up.
BERNAL (voice-over): Keisha says it was meant to be.
PACK: When I think of Rudy, I'm like, oh my God, thank God. God put you in the places where you're supposed to be. And I think this is where I was supposed to be that day.
BERNAL (voice-over): And Rudy says he's gained a guardian angel. He's grateful for her and their new friendship.
LOPEZ: I thank her every day. I'll text her, send her little messages just to say, you know, I'm here because of you.
PACK: Hello, Rudy. Rudy, you look good.
LOPEZ: It's nice to see her all the time, every day.
[16:00:00]
And I'm just really grateful. Like I said, I'll say it over and over again. Thank you doesn't say enough. And I told her that it doesn't say enough.
BERNAL (voice-over): Camila Bernal, CNN, Los Angeles.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SANCHEZ: Thank you doesn't say enough. Well, she is incredible.
KEILAR: Really is. That is tough. And she was just in the right place at the right time. He is so lucky. And she's so amazing.
SANCHEZ: Yes.
Thanks so much for joining us this afternoon. It'll be sad to say goodbye to Pat Sajak. But you can say hello to Jake Tapper because "THE LEAD" starts right now.
