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Strikes Strain Fragile Ceasefire Between Israel & Hezbollah; Deliberations Underway In Daniel Penny Manslaughter Trial; South Korean President Says He'll Lift Martial Law After Parliament Vote; NFL Suspends Azeez Al-Shaair 3 Games After Hit On Trevor Lawrence; Countries Fail To Reach Agreement In U.N. Plastic Talks. Aired 2:30-3p ET

Aired December 03, 2024 - 14:30   ET

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

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[14:30:10]

BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN HOST: There are some deep cracks forming in the fragile ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah. Yesterday was the deadliest day since the truce came into force last Wednesday.

Israeli airstrikes killed nine people in southern Lebanon on Monday. And that was after Hezbollah fired into Israeli-occupied land, blaming Israel for breaking the rules of engagement.

A U.N. peacekeeping force in Lebanon has said Israel has breached the ceasefire about 100 times. Now, Israel says it will target the state of Lebanon, not just Hezbollah, if this ceasefire collapses.

CNN's Jeremy Diamond is following it all from Tel Aviv.

Jeremy, how can this be called a ceasefire if both sides are violating it?

JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN JERUSALEM CORRESPONDENT: Well, that's a very good question, Boris. And it seems that it's only remains a ceasefire because of the political will that seems to exist on both sides to call it that and to allow it to maintain and not devolve entirely back into the state of war that Israel and Hezbollah were in until the beginning of last week.

For now, what we are seeing are exchanges of fire that have happened across the border. Hezbollah firing two rockets yesterday at Israeli- occupied territory.

Israel has been firing and carrying out airstrikes in southern Lebanon every single day that this ceasefire has been in effect.

But it is a question ultimately of narratives and of what each side is claiming when they carry out these actions.

Hezbollah said that when they fired those rockets, it was going after Israeli violations of the ceasefire over the course of the last week. Israel has said that every time it has carried out strikes in southern Lebanon, it was because Hezbollah operatives, they're saying, we're violating that ceasefire.

And Israel has vowed that it will enforce that ceasefire. That is obviously at odds with what the Lebanese government has said, in claiming that Israel is violating the ceasefire.

And we know that U.S. and French officials, who are part of this monitoring mechanism, have also raised questions with Israel about some of the attacks that they have carried out over the course of the last week.

But now there is also a warning from the Israeli defense minister, Israel Katz, who is effectively saying that if this does return to a state of war between Israel and Hezbollah, should this ceasefire end, then Israel will go further than it has before.

Both in terms of striking deeper inside of Lebanon -- he termed it as not distinguishing, for example, between the Dahiya, the southern suburbs of the Lebanese capital, which is a Hezbollah stronghold, and the rest of that city of Beirut.

And he has also said that Israel will not distinguish between Hezbollah and the Lebanese government, the Lebanese military, effectively suggesting that Israel will begin to strike at Lebanese government targets in addition to Hezbollah.

That would take things to a very, very different level. But for now, there is no indication that that is going to happen.

It seems, at least for now, that, you know, both sides would like to maintain the ceasefire. The question is, can they? Especially if Israel carries out this role, as they say, of enforcing through fire -- Boris?

SANCHEZ: Jeremy Diamond, live for us from Tel Aviv, thank you so much for the update, Jeremy.

Stay with CNN CENTRAL. We're taking a quick break and we'll be right back.

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[14:37:44]

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN HOST: Right now, a New York jury is deliberating the fate of former Marine, Daniel Penny, the man accused of using a deadly chokehold on a homeless man inside of a subway car.

SANCHEZ: Witnesses say the victim, Jordan Neely, was acting erratically and speaking loudly, which scared some passengers.

CNN national correspondent, Gloria Pazmino, is outside the courthouse in Manhattan with more.

Gloria, how did prosecutors end their closing argument?

GLORIA PAZMINO, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, that's right, Boris and Brianna. You know, the first part of this morning was Assistant District Attorney Dafna Yoran's completion of her closing arguments.

And the last portion of that was focused on the cause of death. And that was critical because their main witness said that Jordan Neely died as a result of compression to the neck caused by the chokehold that Daniel Penny put him in.

And the defense tried very hard with their own witnesses and their own testimony -- (TECHNICAL PROBLEM) -- to rather this combination of other facts, including Neely's sickle cell disease. So Yoran really tried to knock down that argument.

Lastly, she told the jurors that this whole case was absolutely tragic and that Penny did have the right intentions, she even described them as laudable, to try and protect his fellow passengers, but that. Ultimately. he simply went too far.

Now, jurors have just returned from lunch break and they have started deliberating. They have been deliberating through lunch. And now the fate of Daniel Penny is in these -- the hands of these 12 jurors.

Now, they were given some very specific and important instructions just before they headed out to lunch from Judge Wiley. Specifically, that they have to be unanimous in in their vote to -- in order to reach a verdict.

They also were told that they cannot convict Penny on both counts. And if they find in any of the evidence that Penny was justified in his actions, they must acquit him.

So those are very important instructions for this jury to consider.

Now, I do want to note that, as part of her closing statements, Yoran also focused on the length of time that Daniel Penny held Jordan Neely in that chokehold.

[14:40:06]

And part of what she said was that, "The defendant puts him" -- meaning Jordan Neely -- "in a chokehold for about six minutes. And then when the defendant finally let's go, he's completely unconscious. He never revives and dies. Commonsense tells you he died as a result of that chokehold."

That was her closing argument to this jury.

They now get to decide if he is guilty or if he is innocent. And if he is convicted of these charges, he's facing a minimum of five to 15 years in prison on the first charge, the manslaughter charge. And three to four years on the second charge, the criminally negligent homicide.

But it's very important that they cannot consider one without the other. So we'll see. We have a few more hours left in the day. We'll see if there are any notes or questions from this jury in the next several hours. And there's a possibility that they might want to stay here later into the evening if they -- if they so decide. If not, we'll see if they return tomorrow or if they deliberate -- if they deliberate later into this week.

KEILAR: All right. We'll be watching.

Gloria, thank you for the report.

We have some breaking news. South Korea's president says he will lift the declaration of martial law after a parliamentary vote to block his decree. That's a decree that led to protests, like these, in the streets of Seoul. And it led the parliament to again vote to block it. We'll go live to Seoul after this quick break.

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[14:45:47]

KEILAR: And we're following our breaking news. South Korea's president says he is going to lift that declaration of martial law after a parliamentary vote to block his decree.

SANCHEZ: CNN's Mike Valerio is live in Seoul, South Korea, for us.

What's the reaction been there, Mike?

MIKE VALERIO, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: It's a sigh of relief. I think that that is certainly the understatement of the early morning hours before we hit dawn.

We, Boris and Brianna, are just a couple of yards outside of the National Assembly where this drama unfolded. So to take a look at what we have, just over my left-hand shoulder, protesters who are gathering to let the president of South Korea, Yool Suk Yeol, know that this is unacceptable, that South Korea has come such a long way since military rule last initiated martial law in 1980.

These protesters are saying, essentially, they are not going back to 1980. In fact, just over my shoulder, that bottom banner with the National Assembly in the background that says, "Impeach Yoon Suk Yeol," the president of South Korea.

So as you mentioned, Yoon Suk Yeol is saying, OK, we're going to lift martial law, not happening anymore.

Why there seems to be this sort of delay, so he institutes this declaration about 10:30 local time, takes the country by incredible surprise, this breathtaking announcement.

And then all of these legislators come back to the National Assembly and unanimously vote to say, you know what, we're going to suspend this crazy idea, paraphrasing what so many of them have said during the overnight hours.

It takes the entire cabinet of the presidency to come back and sort of rubber stamp the parliament's decision. So that's why we're kind of in this, you know, wait-and-see space of, is this official? Is it not?

But such a degree of relief now that the president has said, all right, as soon as we go through the motions of getting the cabinet together, martial law will no longer be in place across South Korea.

Just a stunning development when this place has been such a bastion of democracy across East Asia.

So what we're expecting to see in the next few hours, the main question, Boris and Brianna, what is going to happen to this president who is a huge ally of the United States?

No fewer than 28,500 U.S. troops, who are stationed throughout the country. U.S. military officials, of course, are saying no impact as of yet.

But of course, stability of the country is paramount when we're talking about all of our brave men and women who are here.

Expect this to grow in the coming hours. And demand that the president step down after this huge moment of unrest and martial law being instituted briefly across South Korea, Boris and Brianna?

KEILAR: And, Mike, why did he do it? We know, you know, why he said he did it. But what are the theories on why he may have done this?

VALERIO: He is a very weak president, you know. Can't blame you if you don't follow politics from this corner of the world every day with so much going on in America.

This is a president, Boris and Brianna, whose approval rating hovers around the low 20 percent range, consistently for the past couple of months.

Political observers have said it -- was this a way for South Korea's president to potentially quash dissent?

He had said that opposition lawmakers were trying to essentially sabotage the country, paraphrasing him. And this was his way -- again, I stress, his way of taking back control when he is in such a weak position.

But one must wonder, what was his exit strategy? What did he think was going to happen? We, hopefully, will hear from him. We expect that the least he can do is address the nation now that we've had this rise up against his declaration of martial law -- Boris and Brianna?

SANCHEZ: Yes, a head-spinning turn of events there. And now this latest move lifting martial law, met with celebration on the streets of Seoul.

Mike Valerio, thank you so much for your reporting.

So today, the NFL handing Houston Texans' Linebacker Azeez Al-Shaair a three-game suspension without pay after a brutal hit on Jacksonville Jaguars quarterback, Trevor Lawrence. [14:50:07]

Azeez Al-Shaair was ejected from Sunday's game after he hit Lawrence in the helmet with his forearm while the quarterback was sliding to the ground. Lawrence was knocked out of the game. And it was later revealed that he suffered a concussion.

KEILAR: CNN's sports anchor, Andy Scholes, is with us.

Hard to watch that, Andy. How is the NFL explaining the suspension here?

ANDY SCHOLES, CNN SPORTS ANCHOR: Well, Brianna and Boris, the league called the hit unacceptable and said it's not going to be tolerated.

Texans Linebacker, Azeez Al-Shaair, he had already been fined twice this year for incidents on the field so it's clear that the NFL did not believe the player had learned their lesson in this case.

In a statement about the suspension, Jon Runyan, the NFL's vice president of rules, said, in part, "To Al-Shaair, your lack of sportsmanship and respect for the game of football and all those who play, coach and enjoy watching it is troubling and does not reflect the core values of the NFL."

It went on to say, "Your continued disregard for NFL playing rules put the health and safety of both you and your opponents in jeopardy, and it will not be tolerated."

Now, earlier today, Texans general manager, Nick Caserio, he came to Al-Shaair's defense, saying that the league is being inconsistent in the way that they handle these incidents.

And he also slammed people questioning Al-Shaair's character.

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NICHOLAS CASERIO, HOUSTON TEXANS GENERAL MANAGER: For the league to make some of the commentary that he made about lack of sportsmanship, lack of coachability, lack of paying attention to the rules, quite frankly, it's embarrassing.

So I think the big thing from our -- and to talk about a player who's never been suspended, never been ejected. So now we're saying that he's going to be suspended for three games?

The picture that's been painted about his ease, his intentions, who he is as a person, I mean, quite frankly, it's bull (EXPLETIVE DELETED).

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCHOLES: Some strong words there.

So Al-Shaair, he posted a lengthy apology yesterday, saying, you know, he didn't see Trevor Lawrence sliding until it was too late.

The Texans, guys, they're on a bye week this this weekend. Al-Shaair are expected to appeal his three-game suspension.

KEILAR: All right. We'll be watching for that.

Andy Scholes, thank you.

Despite plastics turning up in everything from the air, the water, even inside our bodies, unfortunately, plastic production is expected to triple by the year 2015. And amid those concerns, countries failed to reach a deal last weekend after U.N. talks on an agreement stalled.

SANCHEZ: Yes, more than 100 countries had hoped to cap production, but a handful of others we're only prepared to tackle plastic waste.

CNN's Bill Weir joins us now.

Bill, why is there such a pull back on plastic? Why do experts think it's necessary?

BILL WEIR, CNN CHIEF CLIMATE CORRESPONDENT: Well, it is hugely hazardous to the environment and our health. As Brianna mentioned, its in the air. Microplastics are found in placentas, breast milk, our bodies, everywhere. It's estimated about a million plastic bottles are sold every minute around the world.

In these countries, led by Colombia, about 100 of them said, look, we got to -- we need a treaty to turn off the giant plastic spigot.

But countries like Saudi Arabia, petrochemical states, really resisted the production side of that, saying, we should focus on recyclability and those sorts of things.

It's interesting. California is suing ExxonMobil for false advertising around recycling. And saying that the whole three-arrow ruse is just giving the consumer a wrong idea about their products.

Meanwhile, this stuff is piling up among the -- the harmful chemicals that experts are worried about. In plastic, there's over 3,000 of those.

KEILAR: And how recyclable is it in the end? If there was this lawsuit, especially, with the idea, I think a lot of people hope they put the plastic into the bin, it gets taken care of. But then that's not really the case.

WEIR: It's not really the case. And they're being accused of intentional deceit. It goes back to the 1970s. I'm old enough to remember the crying Indian PSA -- do you remember this -- the Native American sees all the trash and says American's stop pollution, America can stop it.

It seems like something from the Sierra Club. Turns out that that was produced by bottlers and petrochemical manufacturers trying to offload the moral responsibility of waste onto the consumer, with the idea that they could recycle.

And people diligently have tried. But less than 10 percent of the trillions of tons of plastic that have been produced in generations have actually been recycled.

A lot of it ends up in landfills, more and more in the oceans. That's a major concern there as well.

But in the last three COPs, there was also a biodiversity conference, there was the big climate COP in Azerbaijan, and now this one. Earth repair is failing largely to these petrochemical states, like Saudi Arabia, that has literally trying to block every agreement on curbing the problem.

SANCHEZ: And, Bill Weir, thank you so much for that somber update.

Still ahead, more on our breaking news. South Korea's president saying he will lift his martial law order.

[14:55:01]

KEILAR: That order had plunged the country into political chaos. Well go live to Seoul next.

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SANCHEZ: Plunged into political chaos. We're following breaking news out of South Korea, where the president, moments ago, said he will lift the martial law he declared just hours previously. We'll take you live to Seoul.

Plus, a fight over the future. Beijing and Washington locked in a battle that could decide who controls the building blocks of the future global economy.

[14:59:59]

KEILAR: And police now say a Hawaiian woman they we're searching for actually went to Mexico on her own. The family, though, has its own questions about how and why she left.

We're following these major developing stories and many more, all coming --