Return to Transcripts main page
CNN Newsroom
Myanmar's Military Wages Brutal Response To Protesters; Israelis And Palestinians Under Investigation For War Crimes; Benjamin Netanyahu Courts Far Right Ahead Of Upcoming Election; Former Royal Couple Henry And Meghan: Preview Of Oprah Interview; COVID-19 Update; U.S. Figures, Brazil, Venezuela; German Intel Agents to Monitor Far- Right AFD Party; Germany to Slowly Relax COVID-19 Restrictions; Outrage over Killing of Three Female Journalists; Pentagon Silent on Who Attacked Iraqi Air Base; OPEC + under Pressure to Increase Oil Production. Aired 1-2a ET
Aired March 04, 2021 - 01:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[01:00:00]
JOHN VAUSE, ANCHOR, CNN NEWSROOM: Live around the world, this is CNN NEWSROOM. Hello, everyone, I'm John Vause.
Coming up on this second hour.
They've been fighting for generations. And now the Israelis and Palestinians both under investigation by the international criminal court for war crimes. A move welcomed by the Palestinians, slammed as anti-Semitic by Israel.
The deadliest day of clashes in Myanmar since the military seized power. Security forces opened fire on pro-democracy demonstrators, dozens have been killed.
And for the first time in post-war Germany, a political party under official surveillance. The AFD considered a threat to democracy because of links to right-wing extremists.
A war crimes investigation is now underway into one of the world's longest running and most controversial conflicts; the seeming never ending battle between Israel and the Palestinians.
The chief prosecutor with the International Criminal Court open a case on Wednesday, after the court ruled last month that it has jurisdiction.
The 2014 war in Gaza, the bloodshed along the Gaza fence in 2018 and Israeli settlement activities in the West Bank are expected to be the focus of the investigation.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu accused the court of bias and anti-Semitism.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) BENJAMIN NETANYAHU, PRIME MINISTER, ISRAEL: The decision of the International Court to open investigation against Israel for war crimes is absurd. It's undiluted anti-Semitism and the height of hypocrisy.
Without any jurisdiction, it decided that our brave soldiers who take every precaution to avoid civilian casualties against the worst terrorists in the world, who deliberately target civilians, it's our soldiers who are war criminals.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: Despite allegations of war crimes carried out by militant groups like Hamas, Palestinians have welcomed this investigation.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
WASEL ABU YOUSEF, SENIOR MEMBER, PALESTINIAN LIBERATION ORGANIZATION (Through Translator): This decision is so important because it shows that justice will be imposed on those who carry out crimes against the Palestinian people or any crime in the world.
The Occupation thought that they were exempt from the crimes that they committed and that they won't be questioned for these crimes. Today, this decision will cut off the ways for Occupation to continue committing these crimes.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: Luis Moreno Ocampo is a former prosecutor for the International Criminal Court. He is with us this hour from Malibu in California.
Mr. Ocampo, thank you so much for speaking with us. It's appreciated.
LUIS MORENO OCAMPO, FORMER ICC PROSECUTOR: My pleasure.
VAUSE: First up, do you agree that the court has jurisdiction for this investigation? Because the U.S. secretary of state, for one, says that it does not have jurisdiction. Or did that ship sail a month ago when the ICC ruled that it did?
MORENO OCAMPO: Well, it took 11 years for Palestinians to now have three judges ruling on the matter.
So if the judges reach a decision, I hope this intervention could help to improve how we manage the violence in Palestine, Israel and in the Middle East in general, no.
Because I was listening to your previous news and it's amazing all the killings there. It's time to just stop killings. Just this (ph).
VAUSE: It's a great theory, great principle.
MORENO OCAMPO: Yes. VAUSE: The Israeli prime mister slammed the ICC's investigation though, he's saying it's unfair. Because other countries are doing bad stuff and they're getting away with it.
Here's Benjamin Netanyahu. Listen to this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
NETANYAHU: This court that was established to prevent the repetition of the Nazi horrific crimes committed against the Jewish people is now turning its guns against the one and only state of the Jewish people. It's targeting Israel, the only democracy in the Middle East.
But of course, it turns a blind eye to Iran, Syria and the other dictatorships that are committing real war crimes left and right.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
OCAMPO: (Inaudible).
VAUSE: Whataboutism may work in politics. Does it have much of a basis in war?
MORENO OCAMPO: Look, for politician, it's great to protect my people from foreign interventions. That normal. Sigmund Freud and Einstein, two Jewish, were talking about that in the beginning of 20th Century; nationalism is preventing to manage global problem, that's what they say.
So, look, it's a good time for political leaders in both countries -- it will be Palestine and Israel elections so both sides will talk about if it's in favor of that (ph) or against that.
[01:05:00]
The matter here is there's an International Criminal Court who can analyze what happened there. No one was yet investigated is nowhere indicted. So why they're talking about the lack of impartiality? On the contrary.
Until now, the court twice when I was the chief prosecutor, I rejected one Palestinian attempt in 2009 and '12 because they were not (inaudible) state in those days. Now after the U.N. considered them a state, the prosecutor took the decision.
But the same prosecutor that's opening the investigation today, she rejected to open the investigation (inaudible) Myanmar (ph) a few years ago.
So it's nothing against someone here, it's a impartial court.
The issue for me is after the election will be the time that Israelis and Palestinians should really discuss how they can use the law to manage problems, no.
VAUSE: You say what will be looked at here is what happened. Well, part of the investigation will be possible war crimes committed during the 2014 Gaza War between Hamas and Israel.
When the shooting stopped and the missiles were no longer, more than 2,000 Palestinians were dead of which 1,500 were civilians; on the Israeli side, 66 soldiers and five civilians were killed.
11,000 Palestinians and 36 Israelis were wounded. 22,000 Palestinian homes were left unhabitable or destroyed, a handful of Israeli homes were damaged.
More than 100,000 Palestinians where displaced, thousands of Israelis spent long hours in bomb shelters.
The Israelis have always argued the Palestinian death toll was so high because Hamas used civilians as human shields. Is that the sort of claim that this investigation would look into?
MORENO OCAMPO: Absolutely. All the fact represented should be properly investigated. And that's what ICC would do.
VAUSE: The chief prosecutor tried to take politics out of this investigation, along the lines of what you were saying. This is a statement.
"In the end, our central concern must be for the victims of crimes, both Palestinian and Israeli, arising from the long cycle of violence and insecurity that has caused deep suffering and despair on all sides."
Given the much higher Palestinian death toll over the years -- and there's been a boatload of despair on the West Bank and Gaza -- in a way, does that make this investigation biased already towards the Palestinians?
MORENO OCAMPO: No. Look, the investigation is just starting. I say something new happened in the area.
This week a Palestinian court ruled on the Balfour Declaration and it's a group of 10 elders from Palestine making the application that Balfour Declaration should be re-discussed.
So it's a good interesting (ph) moment where judicial activities are reviewing what's happened Israel Palestine. Then we need political agreement but respecting its legal limits. So could not be crimes, should not be crimes.
And that is I think the most important aspect of this intervention of International Criminal Court. The idea, look, Palestinians, Israelis, you've got to find solution for the problem and these are the limits. That's it.
So justice should replace violence.
VAUSE: I hope you're right. I hope it happens that way. Luis Moreno Ocampo, thank you so much. We appreciate you being with us, sir.
This war crime investigation comes just weeks ahead of Israel's fourth election in two years.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was already facing corruption charges. It seems his challenges just keeps stacking up.
Here's CNN's Sam Kylie.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SAM KILEY, CNN SNR. INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: His government's run a world beating COVID vaccination program, heralding a vigorous return to near normality.
But it's done little to guarantee electoral success for Benjamin Netanyahu. So he's scraping for ballots from voters he shunned in the past. Israeli Arabs --
NETANYAHU (Through Translator): It is a chance to start a new era in the relations between Jews and Arabs.
KILEY: And extremist parties peddling racism and homophobia. Some using fake messages including a holocaust joke and admiration for Hitler.
For Netanyahu's Likud Party, courting the far right has become a political necessity.
ELI HAZAN, LIKUD PARTY SPOKESMAN: It looks that the election is going to be very tight and we need to maximize the potential to win the election.
KILEY: The arithmetic of opinion polls is dangerous to Israel's longest serving prime minister.
There's very unlikely to be a decisive result in the March elections which means there'll be coalition horse trading just as Benjamin Netanyahu heads back into court on corruption charges. If convicted, he could face several years in jail.
Even in such jeopardy, he still dominates Israel's political landscape.
EYAL ARAD, POLITICAL ANALYST: I think that what would eventually happen is that the criminal process would decide the fate of the political process.
KILEY: In the meantime, he's determined to win. ,.
UNKNOWN (Captioned): Listen, if was in gym clothes, we could have a competition.
NETANYAHU (Captioned): No.
UNKNOWN (Captioned): And I am sure I would win.
NETANYAHU (Captioned): At what? I'm very competitive. Don't bet on it. Thank you. KILEY (Voice Over): Sam Kiley, CNN Jerusalem.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
[01:10:00]
VAUSE: After keeping a low profile for months, Prince Harry and wife Meghan have sat down for their first big interview. Who else would they talk to, but Oprah.
Here's a clip.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
OPRAH WINFREY, CBS HOST, THE OPRAH WINFREY SHOW: How do you feel about the Palace hearing you speak your truth today?
MEGHAN, DUCHESS OF SUSSEX: I don't know how they could expect that after all of this time we would still just be silent if there's an active role that the firm is playing in perpetuating falsehoods about us.
And if that comes with risk of losing things, there's a lot that's been lost already.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: The full interview will air Sunday in the U.S. It's their first since stepping back from royal life last year.
So why now? It comes as Buckingham Palace announces an investigation into allegations that Meghan bullied several staff members back in 2018. A British media report quotes anonymous sources saying an official complaint was made the year she married Prince Harry.
Max Foster following the story for us from Hampshire in England.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MAX FOSTER, CNN ROYAL CORRESPONDENT: "The Times" newspaper published here in the U.K. published an article on Tuesday citing unnamed sources.
They said that this complaint claimed the Duchess of Sussex forced out two personal assistants from her Kensington Palace household and undermined the confidence of a third member of staff.
Now CNN hasn't been able to corroborate these claims. But the report goes on to say that these sources believed that the public should have insight into their side of the story ahead of the couple's highly anticipated interview with Oprah Winfrey on Sunday.
It'll be their first sit-down interview since they relocated.
A spokesperson for the Sussexes dismissed the report in "The Times" as a calculated smear campaign ahead of the couple's interview with Winfrey.
FOSTER (On Camera): Max Foster, CNN, Hampshire, England.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: A year into the pandemic we're still learning about how contagious and how harmful the coronavirus can be.
A new study from the World Obesity Forum has found death rates are more 10 times higher in countries where most of the population is overweight.
Over two-and-a-half million people who died by February, the vast majority came from nations with high obesity rates.
Even more research shows the coronavirus variant first found in the U.K. can lead to a surge of infections without proper containment measures. They found the strain accounted for most new cases in England last month.
And to stay ahead of the curve, researchers recommended 2 million vaccinations a week.
Now the country is seeing a drop in infections but experts warn the decline is starting to slow.
Meantime, in the U.S., the vaccination rate is at its highest level ever, roughly two million doses a day.
Officials say the country must continue to follow guidelines though to prevent another surge of the virus.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DR. ROCHELLE WALENSKY, U.S. CDC DIRECTOR: So much can turn in the next few weeks. On the one hand, cases in the country are leveling off at rates just on the cusp of potential to resurge.
And the B117 hyper-transmissible variant moves ready to hijack our successes today.
All the while, we are just on the verge of capitalizing on the culmination of a historic scientific success; the ability to vaccinate the country in just a matter of three or four more months.
How this plays out is up to us. The next three months are pivotal.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: Venezuela's president says the country has detected the first virus variant found in nearby Brazil, at least 10 cases have been reported so far. The president says officials will try to search for more.
The variant is considerably more contagious and poses a higher risk for re-infection. And for the second day, Brazil has reported its highest stage death
toll from COVID-19. Almost 2,000 people died Wednesday pushing the seven-day average to its highest level so far.
In Sao Paulo, the crisis is so bad, the nation's largest state is imposing tougher new restrictions.
CNN's Shasta Darlington has that report.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SHASTA DARLINGTON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Here in Brazil, more than 1,900 people died from COVID-19 on Wednesday, a new daily record in a country where the total death toll has already surpassed a quarter of a million.
The health ministry also registered more than 71,000 new cases, bringing the total number of cases over 10.7 million and pushing the health system to the limit.
ICUs across the country near or at capacity with one third of state governments reporting ICU occupation at over 90 percent.
The new wave of infections and deaths has been blamed on a more relaxed attitude with a rash of big parties around carnival time, as well as a more contagious variant.
The governor of Brazil's biggest state, Sao Paulo, announced on Wednesday that more restrictive measures known as the red phase would be imposed starting this weekend. That means all but essential businesses must close.
[01:15:00]
Governor Joao Doria warned that the state's health system was on the verge of collapse if drastic measures weren't taken.
He joins a growing list of mayors and governors who have imposed tighter measures in the hopes of slowing the spread of the coronavirus.
Brazil has vaccinated less than four percent of the population, and the national vaccination program has suffered from repeated delays and political in-fighting.
DARLINGTON (On Camera): Shasta Darlington, CNN, Sao Paulo.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VAUSE: Protesters in Myanmar are now risking their lives to demand an end to military rule.
(Noise: Clip)
Even so, they keep coming back. They're demanding a return to democracy. Details when we come back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
VAUSE: Welcome back, everybody.
After a brutally violent day, pro-democracy demonstrators in Myanmar remain defiant.
They are back on the street marching a day after the U.N. says at least 38 people were killed by security forces.
(Noise: Clip)
VAUSE: Witnesses say police and soldiers opened fire with live rounds and little warning. One activist said they are willing to take these risks to try and restore democracy.
Security forces were caught on video ordering three charity workers out of their ambulance and then beating them with their guns and batons.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CHRISTINE SCHRANER BURGENER, U.N. SPECIAL ENVOY ON MYANMAR: Today it was the bloodiest days since the coup happened on the 1st of February.
We had today, only today, 38 people died. We have now more than over 50 people died since the coup started. And many are wounded.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(Noise: clip)
VAUSE: Images on social media Wednesday showed security forces loading and firing their weapons. It's unclear what they were shooting at and whether they were under any kind of attack.
Some were 12-gauge shotguns, 9-millimeter Uzis -- could also be seen.
And this image of an armed solider looming over a detained man has captured what many protesters are facing every day.
Paul Hancocks is live in Seoul with the very latest. So these protests continue.
And do we know if they are growing in size or if the violence and the crackdown has had some kind of impact in deterring at least some others from returning to the streets?
PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, John, we certainly know that it's clear that the level of force that the security forces are now using has increased, the fact that the death toll has increased.
As that's the death toll that we know of. The U.N. saying at least 50 have been killed so far but activists on the grounds are saying they believe that number is far higher.
[01:20:00]
We are still, though, seeing people coming out onto the streets. On Sunday, we had a particularly bloody day on the streets of Myanmar, and yet you still saw thousands of people coming out.
Calling for their democratically elected government to be reinstated, for the end of what they call the military dictatorship.
So even though we are seeing this level of force increase, we are also seeing protesters continue.
And those that I speak to say that the reason they're doing that is because they feel like this is the final battle. They feel that they have to win against the military leadership this time because if they don't then that means that they will be under military dictatorship forever.
So there's a real feeling of finality about this protest at this point.
Now one other interesting thing I wanted to say which was from the U.N. special envoy that you played a clip from a little earlier.
She also pointed out that she had spoken to some of the military leaders within the country and had said that there would be harsh sanctions and harsh repercussions against them. To which the military representative said that we are used to sanctions, we have survived them in the past.
So that's a really ominous warning from the military leadership that even international condemnation and sanctions at this point may not convince them to stop this crackdown against protesters. John.
VAUSE: There's also the situation with the Myanmar representative to the U.N., the diplomat who was sent there by the civilian-led government and then there's the one who's been appointed or deemed to be the envoy by the military leaders at the moment.
So who is the representative at the U.N. right now and what's happened to the other one?
HANCOCKS: It's a good question. The ambassador, Kyaw Moe Tun, he is the one that was elected by the civilian government and sent to the United Nations, he's the one that represents Myanmar.
And he gave a very impassioned speech just last Friday supporting the protesters and saying that the democratically elected government has to be put back in place and had a round of applause from other U.N. numbers.
He was then over the weekend fired by the military leadership, they said the deputy ambassador should take over instead. But now we know that that deputy has resigned overnight. So, clearly it appears as though the original ambassador is the one
who is in charge in the United Nations representing Myanmar. But it's an unusual situation, because the fact is he doesn't represent the military leadership right now back in the country, who has said that he's not representing Myanmar at all.
And in fact, the ambassador has been calling on U.N. member states to do all that they can by any means necessary to try and reinstate the democratically elected government.
We know that there will be a security council meeting on Friday called by the United Kingdom. So it will be interesting to see what happens there. John.
VAUSE: Absolutely. Paula, thank you. Paula Hancocks live in Seoul. Appreciate it.
To Washington now. And joining us this hour is the United Nations special rapporteur for Myanmar, Tom Andrews. Mr. Andrews, thank you for being with us.
TOM ANDREWS, U.N. SPECIAL RAPPORTEUR ON MYANMAR: John, thank you.
VAUSE: The coup leaders were reportedly surprised when these protests first began a few weeks ago. Initially, the military seemed to take a much softer approach.
Now as the demonstrations have continued and grown in size, soldiers are firing live rounds of ammunition, people are dying.
The archbishop of Yangon tweeted: "Today the country is like the Tiananmen Square in most of its major cities."
How much further will this escalate and do you suspect the violence and the crackdown is a lot worse than what we're seeing?
ANDREWS: Well, I'm afraid, John, it could very well. We're talking about a regime here and a military that is infamous for its brutality. We've seen what they're capable of doing, certainly in protests in the past.
And, of course, we're now seeing that brutality play out on the streets of not just the major cities but in smaller communities and townships. This is going on all over the country, it is escalating.
And the regime is demonstrating to the world just how brutal it's capable of being.
VAUSE: Has this gone beyond the point of no return in some kind of negotiated settlement here?
ANDREWS: It just -- it has to stop, John. It just has to stop. Because the gruesome reality that we're seeing unfolding every single day just can't continue.
Now we've seen police officers crossing lines, we've seen some evidence of some soldiers unable to continue with the brutality. We're hoping that that trend will take hold and continue.
But this is a protest movement that is very broad, very deep. There's just incredible opposition throughout the country to this coup and its aftermath. So the generals have very little support except for their weapons.
VAUSE: Well, the coup leaders have said that elections will be held in a year from now, there's no details of a timetable.
[01:25:00]
VAUSE: But what we're seeing playing out here is this roundup of all the prominent members of the democratically elected NDL Party, that's the party of Aung San Suu Kyi.
They're being convicted or charged on these trumped up charges and then ultimately it seems like it will lead to some kind of ban on the party.
Is this the strategy to leave the way open for these coup leaders to win a rigged election in 12 months?
ANDREWS: Well, no one believes -- and it's just incredible to me that they continue to make these statements.
Of course, Aung San Suu Kyi, the charges change, it seems every other day. She's not allowed to see her attorney. It's the same with the president. And same with people all over the country that are being literally taken from their homes in the wee hours of the morning, taken away.
Their families still don't know where they are, how they are, what they're charged with. So this is an incredible scene that's going on all over the country.
So when the generals say oh, don't worry, we'll have elections in a year's time and oh, don't worry, we'll make sure that they're fair, no one believes that.
And it wouldn't surprise me if very few people within the military believe that. They have zero credibility whatsoever.
VAUSE: There's now this agreement for most countries that something needs to be done and something needs to be done quickly to force the military to give power back to the civilian government. The question is what?
Singapore's prime minister raised this concern. Here he is.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LEE HSIEN LOONG, PRIME MINISTER, SINGAPORE: Outsiders have very little influence on this. You can ostracize them, you can condemn them, you can pass resolutions or not but it really has very little influence on what the Myanmars (ph) will do. It had zero influence the last time around and the only impact was for
lack of anybody willing to talk to them, they fell back on those people who were willing to talk to them. Which was China.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: One of the messages from both the U.S. state department and the U.N. has been for a global unified response. That response has to be unified but while we (ph) have Beijing, especially, as well as Moscow giving the generals a get out of jail free card, this response will be ineffective, won't it?
ANDREWS: Yes. I think that that's -- it's simply not true that they are not going to listen to the world.
We know that they did before and, of course, for the generals, money talks the loudest. And when there was coordinated sanctions back 10 years ago, they responded.
In fact, the developing democracy that was overthrown by these generals actually occurred precisely because of the generals succumbing to the pressure of sanctions.
So what I think is really important -- obviously it would be great if China could extend its influence, they have a self interest here, they don't want to see a conflagration right on -- over their border, right there, a neighboring country so they have a lot at stake.
But whether they do or not, if the world could unite together and have coordinated, focused sanctions -- we have right now a hodgepodge of sanctions regimes -- coordinate them, make them work together, toughen them not just on individuals but businesses and business interests.
And then if the Security Council could be so moved as to in their meeting this Friday consider a reference to the International Criminal Court or signal that that's coming.
Then if the generals understood that they were going to be held accountable for these atrocities, that might make a difference as well.
VAUSE: Absolutely. There's not a lot of cards to play here but there are a few.
Tom Andrews, thank you so much. Appreciate you being with us, sir.
ANDREWS: My pleasure. Thank you, John.
VAUSE: After months of pandemic restrictions, the German chancellor has caved to regional leaders announcing a step by step plan to get the country back to normal.
Details in a moment.
And a major political party in Germany officially under surveillance by domestic intelligence because it's considered a threat to democracy.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[01:31:33]
JOHN VAUSE, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome back, everybody. You're watching CNN NEWSROOM. I'm John Vause.
Germany's main opposition party known by its initials AFD has been placed under surveillance by the domestic intelligence agency because of suspected links to extremists.
For the first time in postwar Germany, members of a political party could now have their phones tapped, email monitored, even being spied on by informants of government sanction.
The AFD holds 88 of more than 700 seats in the Bundestag and wrote to prominence four years ago on a far right anti immigrant agenda.
Matthew Karnitschnig is "Politico's" chief Europe correspondent. He is with us at this very early hour in Berlin. Matthew, we appreciate you getting up early. Thank you.
MATTHEW KARNITSCHNIG, CHIEF EUROPE CORRESPONDENT, POLITICO: My pleasure.
VAUSE: Ok. This surveillance move, it's one of the safeguards which was built into the political system after the rise of Hitler and the Nazi party. It's protection against extremists rising to power through the democratic process, right. And then maybe try and destroy the democratic process from within.
So how does this work? Was there sort of an automatic trigger that made this will happen? What's the details?
KARNITSCHNIG: Well, it's interesting because in normal circumstances you would think it wouldn't be something that the authorities would do to warn the people that they are going to put under surveillance that they're about to do this.
But this is such a sensitive issue in Germany for the reasons that you've mentioned that it has been a very gradual process. Two years ago this authority, the internal security services in Germany. Said that they were putting this party under preliminary investigation meaning that they would just draw on public sources basically to evaluate whether they were a threat to democracy. And now after that two-year process, they are taking another step forward and saying well, we suspect that they are a threat, and so we are going to put them under full surveillance potentially.
It is not clear exactly what that will entail for the time being because the party is actually trying to stop this in the courts. The services said that they won't tap the phones of prominent politicians until judges decide whether they are allowed to go forward or not.
VAUSE: But this being not just an election year in Germany, but a super election year in Germany. Leaders of AFD say it is all about politics. Listen to this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ALEXANDER GAULAND, LEADER OF AFD PARLIAMENTARY GROUP (through translator): In the end the federal constitutional court will indeed have to decide whether or not a position that is fundamentally critical of government policy is permitted in our liberal democracy. And I'm very optimistic about that.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: Which raises the questions, what's the difference between an extremist viewpoint and one that is just legitimate opposition?
KARNITSCHNIG: Well, the way they the define extremist is if a group or a party is aiming to basically end German democracy. If their goal is to do away with democracy as it exists in Germany today, and it seems like this is a determination that this service -- you know, it could be in the realm of possibility.
And they have already applied this sanction to other parts of the party to the wing of the party that was disbanded last year. They said this faction within the party was so radical, that it threatened German democracy, and it was forced to disband.
So it is something that there is a pretty clear definition. It is obviously, you know, very subjective when you cross that line, but this is a process I think that will take years and will probably end up in the courts one way or another.
[01:35:04]
VAUSE: Germany is not the only country in Europe trying to deal with these far right political groups and the rise of them. "The New York Times" reporting, Germany is among the most sweeping efforts yet to deal with the rise of far-right and neo-Nazi within Western Democracy which are attempting more vigorously to constrain, ostracize, or even legally prosecute those elements to prevent them chipping away at the foundations of democratic institutions."
As you say, this is a battle playing out in many, many courtrooms. Is there a trend line here? Which way is this heading?
KARNITSCHNIG: I think if you look at the past, over the last, you know, five -- ten years in Germany, there certainly is an indication that the establishment if you will is taking these threats much more seriously than it ever ha.
And in Germany in particular because they are looking to the 1930s and they are remembering what happened then and thinking probably well, if the establishment, if the democratic institutions had stepped up back then, and had banned the Nazi Party then we would have been saved, you know, this massive disaster. So I think, you know, it is worth remembering that history when looking at this.
VAUSE: History in hindsight is 20/20, I guess. So it is good to learn from the past I guess is the big thing here.
But the other big challenge for Frau Merkel, she had nine hours of talks with the regional leaders over the pandemic and restrictions. And now she has put forward this plan to ease up on those restrictions and slowly open the economy back up. Here she is.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ANGELA MERKEL, GERMAN CHANCELLOR (through translator): There should be opening steps without setting ourselves back during this pandemic. There are many example in Europe of a dramatic third 3rd wave, and this danger and we should not delude ourselves, also exists for us.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: She also said crucial to all of this would be like this emergency brake which will come into play. So what are the conditions that will bring that into play? And how much of this is Chancellor Merkel caving in to pressure during an election year.
KARNITSCHNIG: Well, I think she's caving in to a lot of pressure, partly because this is really out of her control in Germany. The regions are really in control of when they are going to, you know, relax the corona restrictions.
And so Merkel is really in a position where she has to try and convince them, and she has been doing this for months, trying to convince them to keep stricter measures in place. Under this plan they agreed last night, they said basically that the threshold for relaxing the restrictions such as opening shops and restaurants and so forth, will be an infection rate of 50 per 100,000 rather than 35 which is what they've had for the past several weeks.
It is worth noting that Germany has been on a pretty hard lockdown since mid December. And people here are just really tired of it, they are really bristling at these restrictions. And even though the infection rate has come down, it is now about 65 nationwide, it is nowhere near the 35 that Merkel had staked out previously.
And so they're putting that to 50 and they're saying that even if you are below 100, in a region or community is below 100 infections per 100,000 they can start introducing some relaxation of the restrictions.
They're still a long way though from opening up fully, and the elections you mentioned, the first round of these elections in two German states are going to be next weekend, March 14th.
So we're going to see pretty soon here what the political impact of these policies have been, especially because there's also a lot of frustration about the pace of the vaccination rollout in Germany, which has been a bit slower than it has in many other country.
VAUSE: Yes. Germany's still doing a lot better than many other places like the U.S.
But Matthew thank you so much. We appreciate the early start and the insight. Great to have you with us.
KARNITSCHNIG: Thank you.
VAUSE: Well, an update now on the Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny, the Putin critic's lawyer says he's being temporarily held in quarantine at a detention center east in Moscow. Now, he has not yet been sent to the (INAUDIBLE) prison colony although it's reported by state media.
And Navalny is under sentence for violating probation. He was arrested on return from Germany, where he was treated of poisoning from a nerve agent. Of course, the countries say, the Kremlin was responsible. The kremlin says "no we weren't".
A U.K. teenager's family is now allowed to go ahead with a civil case in the U.S. involving the traffic crash that killed him. 19-year-old Harry Dunn was killed outside a brick (ph) military base 18 months ago.
Anne Sacoolas was charged with causing death by dangerous driving. The U.S. government claimed diplomatic immunity for her and the State Department rejected U.K.'s extradition request.
Virginia court is allowing a claim to hold Sacoolas' husband liable for allowing her to drive his car.
Well journalists attacked in Afghanistan and the latest killings are especially shocking. That story when we come back.
[01:40:01]
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
VAUSE: The brutal killing of three female journalists in Afghanistan has left many shocked and others outraged. They were gunned down Tuesday in the eastern city of Jalalabad. The latest example of journalists being targeted in the Mideast of a surge of violence.
CNN's Nick Paton Walsh has the story.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
NICK PATON WALSH, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Among the terrifyingly regular assassinations in Afghanistan, this one stood out. Three female journalists in their twenties murdered with a silenced pistol outside the TV news channel where they work.
Shot at 4:30 as they walked home together. Saadia Sadat and Shahnaz Raufi, age 20 and 28, and then Mursal Waheedi, age 20 killed at the same time in another part of the city of Jalalabad.
Even in a city inured to daily violent as the Taliban's grip grows across the country where their woman's TV anchor/Colleague Malala Maywand (ph) age 26 wash shot dead in December, there was still shock in a ceremony in Darsi (ph).
The murders claimed by ISIS in Afghanistan a level of savagery a notch above the violence of the Taliban, who condemned the attack.
Whether it was because the women were journalists, or women journalists, ISIS did not specify. They worked in a dubbing department for foreign language translation. Their relatives begged for the violence to stop.
"She was my little sister," he says. "A shy but active girl. She'd always fight for women's rights. She hopes to go to university and study law but as you see, we buried her with all her hopes here.
You can see in the aftermath how they worked in a man's world. Rights for women, something embryonic even after the nearly billion dollars the U.S. has spent on it.
And now, a likely casualty of America's rush to the exits. Two of the dead would never have known Afghanistan without U.S. troops in it.
But now as an agreement with Washington looks set to give the Taliban a grip on some of the levers of power as well as land, two decades of war may lead Afghans back where they started before 9/11. Not that these three young brave women will be there to find out.
Nick Paton Walsh, London.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VAUSE: Fatima Gailani (ph) is a women's rights activist and former head of Afghanistan's Red Crescent. She spoke about these recent murders with CNN's Becky Anderson.
[01:44:44]
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
FATIMA GAILANI, WOMEN'S RIGHTS ACTIVIST: It is heartbreaking. it is shocking and as many as these killings that we see we do not want to get used to it, we should not get used to it.
Yesterday were these journalists. The other day it was the judges, female judges. And they were targeted. I mean really -- they were targeted exactly where they were going and how it had to be done.
BECKY ANDERSON, CNN HOST: Government authorities pointing the blame at the Taliban. They have denied involvement and at this point the site, the website is suggesting that the local ISIS branch has claimed responsibility. I mean look, who do you think is responsible at this point?
GAILANI: Well, suppose we give this the benefit of the doubt. Suppose it is not the Taliban. But it is because of the war that someone else or whoever is coming and is able to do that.
If we had peace, if we had stability, why would anyone do such a thing? How could anyone be able to do such a thing? I believe that our side of the negotiation table, the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, as well as the Taliban movement, we have responsibility to the people of Afghanistan to come to a proper cease-fire, and finish these talks and come to the peace, so the people of Afghanistan will have to see an end to all of this.
42 years -- more than actually 42 years. Isn't it enough?
And now this new thing. Targeted, men and women who matter, who are educated in such a difficult time, they are targeted. This has to stop. It should not be tolerated by us, or people who are helping us.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VAUSE: An American civilian contractor suffered a heart attack and died during a rocket attack on an airbase in Iraq on Wednesday. Damage assessments are under way after at least 10 rockets were fired at the El-Asad Base just outside Baghdad.
Accused by U.S.-Iraqi and coalition troops, the U.S. Secretary of State says there will be a response to this assault from the U.S.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ANTONY BLINKEN, U.S. SECRETARY OF STATE: The first thing we have to do is get to the bottom of it. And find out to the best of our ability who in fact is responsible.
And then I think the president has been very clear that we will take appropriate action in a place and at a time of our choosing. In the case of the earlier attack the first thing we did was to make sure we understand who was responsible. And that took some time.
And then we worked very closely with our Iraqi partners, to make that determination, and then to take clear action to demonstrate that these things could not go forward with impunity.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CNN correspondents are covering the attack from Washington as well as from the Middle East. CNN senior international correspondent Ben Wedeman is reporting from Iraq. But we begin with Oren Liebermann reporting in from the Pentagon.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
OREN LIEBERMANN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: This is the fourth rocket attack in recent weeks against U.S. and coalition forces in Iraq. And crucially it comes less than a week after the military carried out its first known airstrike under the Biden administration.
Less than a week ago, the U.S. carried out an airstrike on Iranian- backed Shia militias in Syria killing at least one Iranian militant according to the Pentagon.
It was meant to send a message of deterrence, a warning to other Iranian backed Shia militias, but it appeared at least for now, with this most recent rocket attack that that message had not gone through. Multiple officials told us here in the Pentagon that a larger style of rocket was used this attack on Al-Asad Airbase, 122 millimeter rocket and they say that maybe an indication that those militias there are trying to send a message of their own.
The Pentagon hasn't sent in or put forth an unofficial attribution for who carried out this attack. They've been careful on that saying that they're giving time for the investigation to move forward here.
We do know that one U.S. civilian contractor died during the attack as a result of a heart attack. Now, what will the Biden administration do now? Will it carry out another strike against forces in Iraq, or perhaps in Syria, against some of those militias? That remains an open question.
Secretary of State Blinken, says that the U.S. will respond at a time and a place of it's choosing.
Oren Liebermann, CNN -- at the Pentagon.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VAUSE: Maybe a negotiating peace for something else but --
BEN WEDEMAN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: 22 millimeter broad rockets which are a rocket often used by Kata'ib Hezbollah which is one of those groups that was targeted last Friday, early last Friday by that U.S. air strike just on the other side of the border in Syria.
We have however seen a message from Abu Ali el-Askeri (ph) who is the head of Kata'ib Hezbollah who said that he -- basically he congratulated when he called the brave resistance for targeting what he called, the evil base.
[01:49:45]
WEDEMAN: And he said that the so-called resistance will continue -- should continue its fight to expel, in his words, the riffraff and the murderers from the holy -- our holy land, referring of course to Iraq.
Now, the Pentagon seems to be hesitant to name who may be behind it but it is pretty clear, from sort of the circumstantial evidence that this is probably a response to that U.S. airstrike in Syria last week.
And it does appear that the United States and the Iranian-backed militias here in Iraq are slipping into a tit-for-tat attack pattern, as a result of the growing tensions.
VAUSE: Thanks to our Ben Wedeman there and Oren Liebermann for that report.
Well, will they or won't they? Oil producers under pressure to raise output demand expected to increase in the coming weeks. What's at stake if they don't?
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
VAUSE: Welcome back, everyone.
OPEC and Russia under pressure to start pumping more oil as demand is expected to increase in the weeks ahead. OPEC and its allies are meeting Thursday to decide whether they will or whether they won't.
John Defterios is live in Abu Dhabi for us.
You know, had - you know the pandemic which has caused havoc for oil producers, demand collapsed. It was down what $20 a barrel at one point. It was like less than $2 a gallon here.
And now it seems like it is the opposite problem they've got with prices going up what 70 percent since November. Too much of a good thing?
JOHN DEFTERIOS, CNN EMERGING MARKETS EDITOR: Yes, that is the danger here, John. They don't want to overheat the market and then you have demand collapse again.
And what a difference a year makes, right. The old cliche here because I was at the OPEC meeting in March of 2020 and there was a fierce debate about how much to cut because it was just the start of the pandemic.
So if you look back at the year in prices we had what $51 a barrel when they're mad (ph). And then a month later the market just collapsed as you were suggesting here. It was kind of made worse by disagreement between Saudi Arabia and Russia about how much to cut and when and they had a price war.
We actually went negative on the U.S. Benchmark, West Texas Intermediate for about a month there. So the major players came back. Abdelaziz bin Salman (ph) who's the minister of energy in Saudi Arabia, the elder brother of the Crown Prince, by the way, in the kingdom.
Alexander Novak now promoted to deputy prime minister in Russia, they came in and cut in a big, big way nearly 10 percent of supplies something that has never been seen before and they're still cutting, John.
This is something that is overlooked by many outside the market if you will. As a group they are cutting 7 million barrels a day, the 23 producers. And then Saudi Arabia came in ad added another million barrel of cuts to secure the rebalancing of the market.
So it's a total of 8 million barrels. Now they have the market guessing if you add back in the million that Saudi Arabia is cutting, did you leave well enough alone and see if this is a true economic recovery.
But their expectation of prices could rise to $75 to $85 a barrel in the third quarter. They don't want to appear being greedy at one side of it, but also if you get that price very high it kills off demand at the pump. And this is the prime balance they're trying to find.
VAUSE: It's a fine balance. It is also a balance when there is a lot of pressure, external pressure, which they are facing right?
[01:54:49]
DEFTERIOS: That is a fantastic point. There is an economic pressure. For example overnight we had the minister of petroleum of India, at CERAweek a major oil and gas conference saying this is not normal production when you're taking 8 million barrels off the market a day. $64, $65 a barrel puts a lot of pain on India. It is also the number 3 importer.
And then there's the geopolitics. There's a reset going on between the U.S. and Saudi Arabia. We know the position of Joe Biden with the Crown Prince. Do they really want to get on the bad side of the United States to see gas prices spiking up.
Also if prices rise so does the shale production. So again, they're looking for this Goldilocks price, I think it is around $60 to $65 a barrel, but OPEC says they just want to make sure the market is balanced.
And we will find out what that means and what they do with production later today.
VAUSE: One guarantee is that eventually it will probably go up sooner or later.
John, thank you. John Defterios in Abu Dhabi.
We don't know yet if climate change had a role but a massive iceberg has broken off an ice shelf in Antarctica. It is so big, twice the size of Chicago, a little under 1,300 square kilometers. The images you are looking at come from NASA and scientists are not exactly sure where the iceberg will end up.
Japanese billionaire inviting eight people to join him on a six-day trip around the moon, why not. Fashion mogul, Yusaku Maezawa first floated the idea back in 2018. He is now asking for applications, the dear moon mission, as he calls it is supposed to happen aboard a massive SpaceX rocket, still in the early stages of development.
But it's never too soon to sign. Takeoff is set for 2023. The billionaire had initially said he wanted artists to be with him, now he says it is open to everyone as long as they consider themselves an artist.
More on those starship rockets now that SpaceX is working on at the moment.
That all started off so well for this Mars rocket prototype during Wednesday's test flight, nailing its landing for the first time, but that was right before this happened.
The rocket exploded on the landing pad three minutes after touching down. It is unclear what caused the explosion but apparently that is not good.
I'm John Vause, thank you for watching. CNN NEWSROOM continues with my friend Rosemary Church after a short break.
Please stay with us. You're watching CNN.
[01:57:12]
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROSEMARY CHURCH, CNN ANCHOR: Hello and welcome to our viewers joining us.
