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Rockets Fired from Gaza, Israel Responds with Airstrikes; North Korea Test Fires Short-Range Projectiles; Venezuelan Teen Dies in Uprising Attempt; Thai King Grants Titles to Royal Court; Investigators Recover Flight Data Recorder from Boeing 737 that Slid into Florida River; Country House Wins Kentucky Derby. Aired 3-3:30a ET

Aired May 05, 2019 - 03:00   ET

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

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CYRIL VANIER, CNN ANCHOR (voice-over): After hundreds of rockets are unleashed by militants, Israel retaliates with a wave of attacks on targets in Gaza.

North Korea conducts a new round of weapons tests but President Trump doesn't seem worried, tweeting he is with Kim Jong-un.

And a teenager is among those killed in Venezuela clashes after a dramatic few days in the country.

We are live from the CNN Center here in Atlanta. I'm Cyril Vanier. It's great to have you with us.

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VANIER: A hospital in Israel reports an Israeli man has been killed by a rocket attack in the city of Ashkelon. Israel's military says more than 400 rockets have been fired from Gaza in this most recent escalation of hostilities. Two others have been wounded.

In retaliation, Israeli airstrikes hit hundreds of targets in Gaza. At least four people have died. And the U.N. says it is working with Egypt to try to restore a cease-fire. Oren Liebermann is near the Gaza border.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

OREN LIEBERMANN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It has been a day of escalation between Israel and Gaza as we've watched the situation deteriorate throughout the day into the evening and then into the night.

In terms of escalation, what were shorter range rockets at first fired from Gaza then became more powerful medium range rockets, targeting the cities of Be'er Sheva and Ashkelon, major Israeli cities in southern Israel.

That's what we mean when we say that has escalated. In terms of targets, the Israeli military has struck that, too, has gone from smaller Hamas military posts to larger multistory buildings inside of Gaza that the military says have offices above Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad.

So we've seen the situation escalate quite dramatically throughout the course of the day as the fighting has continued for more than 12 hours, heading into the overnight hours here.

Where does this go from here?

Egypt and the U.N. have in past months moderated and mediated between Israel and Hamas, Israel and Gaza, to try to restore some sort of cease-fire. We know from the U.N. those efforts are ongoing but as of now unsuccessful so far.

Meanwhile, this round of fighting shattered what had been weeks or a month or so of relative quiet between Israel and Gaza as the U.N., as Egypt tried to put in some sort of long-term cease-fire or long-term agreement between Israel and Gaza.

The U.N. urging both sides to step back from the brink, to step back from a larger round of fighting so they can get back to a cease-fire and get back to try to work some sort of larger agreement into here to make it better for both sides here.

Those efforts, as we have seen on Saturday night, not yet successful. We'll see where this situation goes and if it continues to deteriorate into Sunday -- Oren Liebermann, CNN, along the Gaza border.

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VANIER: A new round of weapon tests by North Korea could be a message for the United States. State media report the country's leader, Kim Jong-un, personally oversaw a Saturday strike drill. They say long- range multiple rocket launchers were tested along with tactical guided weapons.

South Korean officials say several short range projectiles were test fired by North Korea. They flew up to 200 kilometers before crashing into the sea. Here's how North Korea's state media announced the news.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RI CHUN HEE, NORTH KOREAN ANCHOR (through translator): Kim Jong-un, chairman of the Workers Party of Korea, guided the strength drill of defense units in the forefront area and on the Eastern front which took place in the East Sea of Korea. Watching the drill together with him were cadres of the central committee of the Workers Party of Korea, including Kim Pyong-hae, O Su-yong, Ri Kim-tern (ph) and Cho Yong-won.

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VANIER: CNN's Andrew Stevens is live in Beijing and has been monitoring the regional reaction to this. ANDREW STEVENS, CNN ASIA PACIFIC EDITOR: Looking at what Kim Jong- un's saying, he's saying he expressed great satisfaction at these tests and also said he spoke to front line soldiers and to keep their profile on high alert. This sort of getting a lot of publicity, not surprisingly, in North Korea. The Sunday newspapers, the main state newspaper, running pictures of Kim at that firing with the accompanying story.

So certainly, North Korea is celebrating this latest launch. As far as the regional reaction is concerned, it's been quite muted; probably the strongest words coming from South Korea, not surprisingly. Moon Jae-in, the president, saying that he had serious concerns that this was violating the --

[03:05:00]

STEVENS: -- agreement between North and South Korea on ways of de- escalating tensions on the Korean Peninsula.

The Japanese have been fairly quiet on this, even though these are short-range missiles that we're talking about. That may have something to do with the fact that Shinzo Abe, the prime minister of Japan, is trying to secure a summit meeting with Kim Jong-un.

But it also stems from the fact that Mike Pompeo, the U.S. secretary of state, did speak to his counterparts, the foreign ministers of Japan and South Korea, and they agreed to have a prudent reaction to this, given the fact that Donald Trump does want a deal, that the Japanese want this meeting and the fact that the South Koreans want to maintain a peaceful Korean Peninsula.

It is perhaps not surprising that they're pulling back on a very strong reaction to these missile launches, which, it's important to note, Cyril, does not cross any red lines as far as the U.S. is concerned. They're much more concerned about intercontinental foreign missiles which would have the capacity to reach the mainland of the U.S.

VANIER: I was wondering if you could help clarify something, bring us some clarity on the fact that these weapons that are being described differently by the North and the South, with the North saying they fired long-range weapons and South Korea saying that, in fact, short- range weapons were fired.

Now this matters. Because, of course, it changes greatly the message sent to the United States.

So what do we know about that?

STEVENS: Yes, a projectile is, it's a dumb artillery flak. There's nothing smart guiding it. So if it's a projectile -- and it could well be a projectile coming from the multiple long-range rocket launchers that the North Koreans said were fired -- this is effectively a rocket artillery barrage.

And it seemed to be aimed at a rock, at an island just off the coast. But the North Koreans are also talking about a tactical guided system, which has been interpreted by many North Korean watchers in South Korea as being a short-range missile.

And that's important, because it's the first time we've seen missile launchers since November of 2017. And it's only the first time since Kim and Trump first met in Singapore. So that is interesting.

But, you know, it's important to stress the fact that it's short- range. It's not long-range. So the U.S. administration, Donald Trump, as he's shown in his tweet, he is not taking a hard line on the fact that it's a short range as opposed to long-range.

VANIER: Andrew Stevens, live from Beijing, thank you very much.

Meanwhile as U.S. national security officials meet to figure out what to do, President Trump says he has faith in North Korea's leader. Boris Sanchez reports.

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BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: A stunning response from the White House, especially when you consider the way that President Trump had previously responded to provocations from North Korea.

Remember Little Rocket Man or "fire and fury, the likes of which the world had never seen," this is a much more subdued response from the White House.

Part of it is that the president wants to maintain a good personal working relationship with Kim Jong-un. He believes that, by charming him personally with the promise of economic prosperity for North Korea, he can sway Kim to abandon this generations-long quest to arm North Korea with nuclear weapons.

Some experts believe that is unlikely. Nevertheless, it's what the president is trying to do on Twitter, making a personal appeal to Kim Jong-un.

Trump writing this, quote, "Anything in this very interesting world is possible but I believe that Kim Jong-un fully realizes the great economic potential of North Korea and will do nothing to interfere or end it. He also knows that I am with him and does not want to break his promise to me. Deal will happen."

Despite aggressive steps by Kim Jong-un, President Trump remaining optimistic that he could strike a deal to denuclearize North Korea, though we should pay attention to that portion of the tweet, where the president says that Kim Jong-un knows that he is with him.

It will be curious to see how some of the United States' allies in that region, Japan and South Korea, respond to that statement and also the parents of Otto Warmbier, that American that died, having been returned to the United States after having been held in captivity in North Korea for some time.

His parents have been very critical of President Trump's personal relationship with Kim Jong-un in the past -- Boris Sanchez, CNN, at the White House.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

VANIER: And as Boris just reported, the U.S. president is apparently trying to calm fears on Twitter and not escalate tensions with North Korea, all this while boasting about his diplomatic skills. I asked CNN's senior political analyst, Ron Brownstein about this.

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RON BROWNSTEIN, CNN SR. POLITICAL ANALYST: We've seen, I think, repeatedly, that the president, you know, views these foreign policy --

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BROWNSTEIN: -- challenges largely through the prism of his personal credibility. I think he feels he's invested a lot in this relationship and, obviously, it's going to take a lot before he changes course.

VANIER: Actually, that's one of the things that surprises me in the language of that tweet, with Donald Trump writing that Kim Jong-un knows that I am with him and does not want to break his promise to me, because that's really quite dangerous, politically for Donald Trump, because if it all fails, then it's all on him.

BROWNSTEIN: And also, it certainly gives a lot of leverage to the North Koreans, right, because the president's basically saying I can deliver this. And it certainly sends the signal to the other side that they have a lot of leverage here because he does not want to see this blow up.

He does not want the American public to conclude that he kind of, you know, walked down a dead end. Honestly, I think he probably has less to fear there politically than he thinks. People are willing to say it is worth trying something different after successive administrations have failed.

The question is whether he looks too credulous in stringing this process out when it gets to the point where it's clear that it's not going to provide results.

VANIER: How would you describe this White House policy after this latest Trump tweet?

Is it wait out the North Koreans and hope that the promise of a better economy will make them change their minds and adapt their demands?

BROWNSTEIN: We don't know exactly what they're offering, the United States' administration is offering behind the scenes. I think what we do know from these first two years-plus is there's often a divergence between the way the president talks about these issues and the way the government infrastructure and institutions talk about these issues.

I mean, look at what's happening in Venezuela right now. You have the secretary of state warning the Russians and the president taking Vladimir Putin, again, at his word, that they are not involved, in that remarkable phone call this week.

So there are two issues, really, what is the administration's strategy, what is the president's strategy?

Certainly, the president's strategy seems pretty straightforward, which is to kind of go all in on this relationship and to hope that that those kind of personal blandishments lead to the outcome he wants.

VANIER: He really sets the tone, though, because you say it's almost like there's two parallel tracks in diplomacy; there's the presidential diplomacy and then there's the apparatus of the Department of State.

But Mike Pompeo has been very clear about that. He says the decision- maker for us is Donald Trump. And, yes, those wheels of the Department of State may continue spinning in between tweets but ultimately, it's those tweets that set the policy.

BROWNSTEIN: Yes, and, ultimately, he is the decision-maker, although we have seen on the withdrawal of troops from Syria, we have seen the kind of the declarations of the president adjusted somewhat.

In the end, he does set the direction. And as we have said, he is all in on the case that his unique personal relationship can produce something that no other president has achieved.

And that, I think, in the end, the North Koreans correctly recognize, give them a lot of leverage because our president has climbed out pretty far on the limb of asserting that he can do something that no one else has done and he's going to be very reluctant to conclude or to affirm that that was a fool's errand.

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VANIER: Ron Brownstein there speaking to me earlier.

Venezuela's national assembly leader is again trying to convince the military to defect from president Nicolas Maduro. Juan Guaido called for more rallies on Saturday, hoping to win over the armed forces. His supporters gathered at military bases and handed letters to soldiers, urging them to switch sides.

But there was some resistance, as one service member burned the offered letter. Here's how one protester reacted.

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MARIA MARTINEZ, GUAIDO SUPPORTER (through translator): We are not at war. We, simply Venezuelan citizens, are in civil rebellion, which is different, civil rebellion. All Venezuelans are here because we have the need to make our claims. We have a right.

(END VIDEO CLIP) VANIER: Meanwhile, President Maduro spent part of the day at a military training base. He was rallying support from cadets loyal to him.

The rallies on Saturday were a followup to Juan Guaido's uprising attempt last week. At least five people died during the violent anti- government protests. Among them, a 14-year-old boy, who was shot in the abdomen. CNN's Rafael Romo spoke with the boy's father and the paramedic who tried to save the teenager's life.

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RAFAEL ROMO, CNN SR. LATIN AFFAIRS EDITOR (voice-over): It's the news Jose Hernandez and his sister, Janet, never wanted to hear. Josef Hernandez (ph), Jose's son and Janet's nephew, died --

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ROMO (voice-over): -- after being shot in the abdomen. The 14-year- old student was shot Wednesday during a violent anti-government demonstration in Caracas. His father says he wasn't far and heard the gunshots as well as the ambulance when they rushed his son to the hospital, not knowing the victim was his own son.

This is the moment when Green Cross paramedics take the seriously injured boy into the ambulance.

FEDERICA DAVILA, GREEN CROSS PARAMEDIC: It was very noticeable when he, that he was dying at the moment.

ROMO (voice-over): Federica Davila, a medical student and Green Cross paramedic, said first responders tried to save the boy's life but he was bleeding profusely and was already losing consciousness.

ROMO: In what condition was this 14-year-old boy by the time you got him?

DAVILA: Well, when the team got him, he was conscious. And he said to the doctors that took him first, "I'm going to die."

Those were his last words.

ROMO (voice-over): Hernandez was one of five people who died during two days of protest that also left more than 230 injured, according to the United Nations. The U.N. also says that more than 40 people have died in violent demonstrations so far this year.

ROMO: Venezuela has seen several waves of deadly protests over the last few years; during an especially violent four-month period in 2017, more than 120 people died. Then as now, most of the victims were young people.

ROMO (voice-over): After years of clashes with security forces, some young protesters say the stalemate is beyond frustrating.

"They're tossing tear gas bombs at us and shooting against us," this protester says. "We're the ones putting our lives at risk for our country and some other people only come here to take selfies."

The Venezuelan ministry of defense declined comment about the deaths but President Nicolas Maduro has often referred to protesters in derogatory terms, suggesting they're nothing but "vandals."

DAVILA: You're not the same person after you see a 14-year-old kid die in front of you.

ROMO (voice-over): Beyond the political polarization, Federica Davila, the paramedic, says her heart breaks to see young people die, especially when she realizes parents like Jose Hernandez won't get to see their children grow into adults.

ROMO: If you had an opportunity to talk to his father, what would you like to tell him?

DAVILA: I would just like to hug him and say I'm so, so, so, really sorry, that we did the best we could. It was out of our hands.

ROMO (voice-over): Davila says she often wonders how many more young people she will see die in her role as a Green Cross paramedic before peace returns at last to Venezuela -- Rafael Romo, CNN, Caracas.

VANIER: We'll be right back.

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VANIER: Pope Francis has just landed in Bulgaria. He is kicking off a three-day visit there in North Macedonia, hoping to improve relations with the Eastern Orthodox Church there. Now this is a sensitive task. The two church bodies do not get along. And Catholics are only a tiny minority in the two Balkan nations.

While he is in Bulgaria, he will visit a refugee camp and visit with Orthodox leaders. In Macedonia, he will visit the birthplace of Mother Teresa and focus on outreach to the poor.

The three-day coronation of Thailand's King Maha Vajiralongkorn resumed on Sunday with an elaborate ritual at the palace before a large audience in the throne hall. The king granted ceremonial ranks to the members of the royal court. Later he will present himself to the Thai public in a grand parade through the streets outside the palace.

Julian Assange will be back before a British judge at the end of the month as he prepares to fight extradition to the United States. The WikiLeaks founder was sentenced last week to almost a year in jail for skipping bail in 2012.

He is currently being held in a maximum security prison. His extradition to the U.S. is not as straightforward as it night appear. As Isa Soares reports, a British computer hacker who successfully avoided prosecution in the U.S. may provide the road map for Assange.

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ISA SOARES, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Before Julian Assange faced extradition, it was his friend, Lauri Love, who fought to avoid American justice.

LAURI LOVE, ASSANGE FRIEND: On a October evening in 2013, a large troupe of gentlemen turned up to the door. I got handcuffs and an arrest warrant thrust in my face.

SOARES (voice-over): Love was accused of hacking several U.S. government agencies, stealing data from the U.S. Army, NASA and even the Missile Defense Agency.

SOARES: Do you consider yourself a computer hacker?

LOVE: I am a hacker, yes. Those skills can be put to more constructive or malicious ends and I would consider myself more on the constructive or ethical side.

SOARES (voice-over): But the Americans didn't see it that way. A U.S. indictment detailed crimes that carried a U.S. prison sentence of up to 99 years.

SOARES: How did you react?

What did you think?

LOVE: It was very scary and almost mind-boggling as well.

SOARES (voice-over): Love, who lives with his parents in rural England, is diagnosed autistic. At his extradition hearing, he argued he would not survive the U.S. prison system, given his health and should instead be tried in the U.K.

LOVE: I really worry for the toll it's taking on my health and my family's.

SOARES (voice-over): A British judge ruled in his favor after a four- year battle. His case struck a nerve among the British public wary of American justice and could provide a road map for Julian Assange.

SOARES: You've said publicly that Julian Assange has been put on a sacrificial altar.

Why do you say that?

LOVE: He is up for this quite horrific treatment that he would face in the USA. It is a pretext to send a message that, if are you going to report on things, there is a line that you do not go beyond that line.

SOARES: They're making an example of him.

LOVE: They're making an example of him, yes. SOARES (voice-over): The U.K. has long wrestled with sending hackers to the U.S. for extradition. In 2012, then home secretary Theresa May controversially blocked the extradition of Gary McKinnon. He was accused of breaking into U.S. military computers.

NICK VAMOS, SOLICITOR: She said his health and, in fact, his life was in danger because he was threatening to commit suicide if he was extradited.

SOARES (voice-over): Nick Vamos is the former head of extradition for the Crown Prosecution Service. He worked on all three cases, McKinnon, Love and Assange, and says there's a key difference with Assange.

VAMOS: Really, when it comes down to it, the U.K. does not have any skin in the game with Assange. He didn't commit any offenses here; he's not a U.K. citizen. So there's no great national interest to say we need to protect Julian Assange.

SOARES (voice-over): Lauri Love says he visited the WikiLeaks founder in the Ecuadoran embassy just weeks before his arrest.

LOVE: And it's some person (ph) experience, knowing that your situation is about to go from difficult to extremely difficult, this was weighing heavily on his mind, that's all (ph).

SOARES (voice-over): It's a weight Assange may be bearing for a long time. It will likely be years before there's a final ruling on his extradition -- Isa Soares, CNN, Suffolk.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

VANIER: U.S. investigators are looking at the flight data recorder from a plane that crash-landed in Florida. They're trying to figure out what caused the Boeing 737 to skid off the runway into a river. It was carrying 143 people from the U.S. military base in --

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VANIER: -- Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. Everyone on board survived. Rosa Flores has more from Florida.

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ROSA FLORES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The NTSB is on scene here in Jacksonville, Florida. And they say that their preliminary assessment indicates that this flight coming in from Guantanamo Bay overran the runway, impacted the low-level seawall and ended up in the shallow waters of the St. John's River.

Now the NTSB is looking at multiple factors. First of all, the aircraft. The flight data recorder has been recovered. The cockpit voice recorder has not been recovered because it is submerged underwater and it is still unclear when that aircraft will be removed from the waters of the St. John's River. Those two pieces of equipment are key in telling the story of what

happened. They will also be looking at some human factors. They will be investigating the crew and the pilots.

What were they doing in the past 72 hours?

And then finally also the environment, the weather, what was happening at that time?

We do know that there were reports of thunderstorms and lightning.

In about two weeks, the NTSB is due to release a preliminary report and we should know more at that point in time. The good news here is that the 140-plus passengers are safe.

The bad news is that while authorities are not saying that the pets on board have perished, they are saying that none of the crates or kennels are above water -- Rosa Flores, CNN, Jacksonville, Florida.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

VANIER: The Kentucky Derby has been around for 145 years but it's never had a finish quite like the one this year. The famous race ended in dramatic fashion Saturday after the winning horse, Maximum Security, was disqualified for committing a foul on the track.

Second place finisher Country House was then declared the winner. CNN's Patrick Snell explains what happened.

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PATRICK SNELL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It is without question one of the biggest occasions on the U.S. sporting calendar. The 145th running of the Kentucky Derby which took place on Saturday, the famous all race, it dates all the way back to 1875.

It's known as the greatest two minutes in sport. But as it turned out, this year's version would not only prove to be highly controversial in its outcome but truly historic as well.

Here's what happened amid all the soggy conditions at Churchill Downs. It appeared as though one of the pre-race favorites, Maximum Security, ridden by the Panamanian jockey, Luis Saez, had won this, the first leg of America's famed Triple Crown series.

The jockey, who thought he'd won, already declaring his apparent victory a dream. But then came the real controversy here that would change the outcome completely with race long shot Country House, who had actually crossed the finish in second place, eventually being declared the winner after Maximum Security was disqualified.

Officials had taken around 20 minutes or so to investigate the incident, ruling Maximum Security had actually committed a violation by moving out of his lane and cutting off another horse, meaning heartbreak for Saez and joy for the 65-1 long shot, Country House. This the second time a winner has been disqualified by the way in this

famous old race. But the first time it's actually happened due to a foul claim during the race itself -- Patrick Snell, CNN, Atlanta.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

VANIER: All right, thank you for watching CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Cyril Vanier, I'll be back with the headlines for you in just a minute. Stay with CNN.

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