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Escalating Violence in the Middle East; Growing Concern About COVID Variant in India; Refugees Devastated by Kenya's Decision to Close Camps; Biden Receiving Updates on Israel-Gaza Tensions; U.S. European Allies Stage War Games Amid Russia Tensions; Hollywood A- Listers Call for More Diversity in HFPA; South Sudanese Athletes in Japan Keep Olympic Dreams Alive. Aired 1-2a ET
Aired May 12, 2021 - 01:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[01:00:32]
JOHN VAUSE, CNN ANCHOR: Live from CNN's world headquarters in Atlanta, this is CNN NEWSROOM. Hello. I'm John Vause.
And coming up this hour --
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Allahu Akbar! Allahu Akbar!
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: No off-ramp. Overnight, Israeli airstrikes targeted Hamas building in Gaza, while militant groups fired an unprecedented number of rockets from Gaza deep into Israeli territory.
Going global. India's coronavirus mutation is spreading beyond the region, as concern grows about the effectiveness of current vaccines.
And would one less Hollywood award being so bad? The very existence of the Golden Globes now in doubt after yet another controversy. The latest sparked by a lack of diversity.
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VAUSE: In the past few hours, air raid sirens were heard over Tel Aviv triggered by a volley of rocket fire from the Gaza Strip, more than 70 kilometers away. Hamas, the military group which controls Gaza, says that attack was in response to repeated Israeli airstrikes. And there's another troubling sign that Israelis and Palestinians once again appeared to be inching closer to an all-out war the likes of which has not been seen since 2014.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
(EXPLOSION)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Allahu Akbar! Allahu Akbar!
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: At least 35 Palestinians, including 12 children have been killed by the Israeli offensive, according to officials in Gaza. Many died when this 13-story residential tower was leveled by Israel's air force on Tuesday.
The IDF claims the building was being used by Hamas for military research.
Israel says, the rockets from Gaza have killed at least 5 people, 5 Israelis. An energy pipeline near Ashkelon was hit, erupting in flames.
And for now, there's only defiance from both sides. Leaders of Hamas say they will not back down.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ISMAIL HANIYEH, SENIOR HAMAS POLITICAL LEADER: If Israel wants to escalate, we are ready for it. If it wants to stop, we're also ready. If they want to remove their hand over Jerusalem, we're ready.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: This all too familiar, escalating cycle of violence, intense rocket fire from Gaza, answered by Israeli airstrikes showing no sign of easing and that is raising international concerns.
Here's CNN's Hadas Gold.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Siren, let's go, let's go, let's go.
HADAS GOLD, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): In Ashkelon and other neighborhoods near the Gaza border, the warning sirens sound all day long. As Hamas and Islamic jihad launched rocket after rockets against targets in Israel, with more than 600 fired so far.
Senior member of Hamas political bureau, Dr. Maher Salah (ph), saying in a written statement Tuesday that Hamas' response is to stop the Israeli occupation's violation and to halt the implementation of its aggressive schemes in Jerusalem.
Undeterred by Israel's crushing air strikes in response, and vows of harsher retaliation.
BENJAMIN NETANYAHU, IsraelI PRIME MINISTER (through translator): After a situational assessment, we have made the decision to further increase both the intensity of the attacks and rate of attacks. Hamas will receive blows that it did not expect.
GOLD: Tensions have been building for weeks. A major flashpoint, protests over threatened evictions of Palestinian families in the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood of East Jerusalem, and clashes between Israeli police and Palestinians at Islam's third holiest site, the Al- Aqsa mosque has broadened into a level of anger and deadly violence in the region not seen in years.
The all-too-familiar sight of this long-standing conflict of grief and anguish returning as mourners bury their dead in Gaza, not only Israel's intended military targets but also the young. At least ten children among the dozens killed thus far in strikes. Israel says it's investigating any civilian casualties with more than 200 injured.
And while Israel's air defense or Iron Dome has intercepted most of the incoming rockets from Gaza, direct hits in Ashkelon left two Israeli women dead and dozens more injured, stoking the very real fear of the growing scope and reach of these weapons on Israeli civilians.
And while protests pop up in various cities around the globe against the force of Israel's air response on Gaza and against the possible evictions in Jerusalem, Western nations are uniformly condemning the rocket attacks and are calling for a de-escalation in tensions, a call that has so far gone unheeded.
[01:05:16]
And with Tuesday night's new rocket target of Tel Aviv and a retaliation all but certain to come, a death toll all but certain to rise.
Hadas Gold, CNN, Ashkelon.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VAUSE: Elliott Gotkine is live this hour in Dahamesh, Israel.
And, Elliott, you know, this has really escalated quickly. You know, from Hamas, a staggering number of rockets being fired. They appeared to be more traveling farther and apparently, they're more effective against Israel's Iron Dome missile defense system, especially if you compare it to 2014. All of six civilians back then, so far, we're at 5 Israeli civilians, and it's day two, day three?
ELLIOTT GOTKINE, JOURNALIST: Yeah, John, I mean, things are continuing -- I mean, was in Tel Aviv overnight where I live and the sirens are sounding quite about half a dozen times. You know, people scurrying for the safety of bomb shelters, I can't recall that happening since the 2014 Gaza wars.
So, certainly, in Israel, it does feel like that. Obviously, we're not quite in the state of ground incursion, but clearly, the Israeli government and IDF are taking a dim view of the scores, if not hundreds of rockets fired upon Israel in particular, on Tel Aviv as well.
And whether the rockets are more accurate or more effective, I think the militant groups in Gaza are playing a game of averages. They are seeing that the more rockets they can, the more volleys in one go, and then, inevitably, some will get through. And indeed, that's what happened here, at the village of Dahamesh, this is just outside Lod, in central Israel.
A rocket landed here, just a few meters actually just from where I'm standing. There are kind of dead animals over there but more tragically, inside, there's a father and his daughter, 52-year-old man and his daughter, 16-year-old, they were out here in the courtyard and they were killed as well, bringing, as you said, the death toll to five so far.
So, it seems that there has been no let up in violence, John. It was a long night and it looks like it's going to be a long day as well and that we are nowhere near to the end of this.
VAUSE: And within Israel itself, there appears to be growing clashes between the Israelis and Israeli Arabs. I mean, is there some kind of concerned of, you know, mass unrest of that side of things from the Israelis?
GOTKINE: There is growing concern about clashes which has been taking place in cities with large Arab populations or mixed Jewish and Arab population. In the city of Lod here in Central Israel, I passed through my way here, you could see rocks thrown along the grown. You could see the burned out carcasses of vehicles as well, and there were major clashes, so much so that the government has declared a state of emergency in the city and sent additional border police battalions to reinforce the police here, to try to restore.
But there have been clashes in Ramla. There have been clashes in Haifa. And there is a concern that, you know, what was initially limited to, you know, areas such as Jerusalem and East Jerusalem and Temple Mount or Haram al Sharif, and also the Gaza Strip is now spreading to other parts of Israel which have, you know, Jewish and Arab populations.
And this situation is kind of exposing perhaps, some of the -- some of the frictions and some of the resentments that just been under the surface for so many years. They seem to be coming to the fore now, there are concerns that the violence in the cities across Israel grow as well.
VAUSE: Elliott, thank you. Elliott Gotkine there with the very latest on what's happening across Israel.
Well, we'll head to Tel Aviv now and Michael Oren, who served as Israel's ambassador to the U.S. for four years.
Ambassador Oren, thank you for being with us.
MICHAEL OREN, FORMER ISRAELI AMBASSADOR TO THE U.S.: Good morning, good morning.
VAUSE: Quite the night there for you in Tel Aviv I guess, with the air raid sirens sounding.
What was it like from your point of view?
OREN: Well, right from the window to my left, I could see the rockets landing in Holon that hit the bus. The entire sky was lit up by rockets, one apparently fell about 100 meters from here because we can hear the screaming from people, and it went on all night. It was quite a long night.
VAUSE: Yeah. I want you to listen to the Israeli defense minister, Benny Gantz. He's also a retired army general, about the scope of this military operation.
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BENNY GANTZ, ISRAELI DEFENSE MINISTER (through translator): The IDF has been acting in full force over the past 24 hours, in hundreds of strikes, weapons production sites, tunnels and towers that have been serving terror organizations have crumbled. And they will keep crumbling. There are many more targets, this is just the beginning.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: You know, the defense minister talked about hitting production sites of weapons, as well as tunnels, and towers. The IDF also hit an apartment building, at least one of them, you know, home to militant leaders to be sure, but also civilians and children.
[01:10:06]
Surely, there are other ways to target those militant leaders, without such a high civilian death toll?
OREN: Actually, there isn't, unfortunately. Israel can blow up as many tunnels, bunkers, and storehouse as it wants to, it's not going to impact Hamas and Hamas's goal in this conflict, which is the show that Hamas is the strong leader of the Palestinian street. Now, Hamas desires well before destroying the state of Israel, it desires to take over the West Bank, and take over the Palestinians Authority and the PLO.
Those are the goals, and, frankly, Hamas is doing not a bad job up until now.
(CROSSTALK)
OREN: There's only one way for Hamas for doing that, and that is by taking the battle to Hamas' leaders. And here's the problem, Hamas leaders are hiding beneath hospitals. They're hiding beneath schools. They're using the civilian population and the most vulnerable civilian population as a human shield.
So, in fact, there is no way to get them other than risking high-level of civilian casualties.
VAUSE: Isn't that sort of the asymmetric nature of this warfare though? The powerful Israeli military, going at these militants in Gaza that have these rockets which are becoming, to be fair, more effective with each time. But still, grossly outnumbered and I guess out-powered if you like, were gunned by the Israeli military?
OREN: And they know how to use our power against us, as sort of a jiu-jitsu situation, isn't it?
VAUSE: Yeah.
OREN: For example, we have Iron Dome. Iron Dome remarkable system, about 90 percent effective. But Iron Dome in a certain crazy way, serves the goal of Hamas. I'll explain.
One of their goals is to create and to impact international opinion, to get us delegitimized. And one of the ways you do that is by creating this proportionality. So, on our side, after being hit by something like 1,000 rockets last night, we quite tragically have five dead. But on the Palestinian side, there is no Iron Dome. So one striking back in Hamas, we create civilian casualties. And it makes it look terrible, on the international media and international opinion.
And before you know it, we're being condemned in the U.N. Security Council. That is precisely what Hamas wants. It wants the disproportionate. And it takes a tremendous level --
(CROSSTALK)
VAUSE: Just to interrupt, Michael, then why give it to them? Why not find a different way? I mean, this is the most moral army in the world, so you guys claim.
OREN: So, I've heard this but there's a lot of deja vu here you must understand, we fought exactly the same war now four, five times. I'm sitting now with a computer, but I participated in some of these campaigns as a soldier. And, by the, way since Iron Dome was developed in 2011, that suggestion has come up, repeatedly. Why doesn't Israel give Iron Dome to the Palestinians, to protect the Palestinians against our counter air raids for their rocket attacks? I think that leads us well into the world of the absurd.
Palestinians -- Hamas is on purpose not investing just an Iron Dome, it doesn't have a bomb shelter. I'm sitting in the bomb shelter at my home. Every home has to have a bomb shelter.
But the Palestinians have invested nothing in civil defense. They don't even have an air raid siren. So, they're doing this on purpose. It's not as if they don't have the money they certainly have money for tunnels, bonkers, and rockets. They decide where to put their money, they want for political, and diplomatic and even legal purposes. They want disproportionately.
VAUSE: But -- and this is the point. I mean, you've been fighting the same war over and over and over again. I've been there for a couple of them, and you're right, they never seem to change. Which would seem to me to suggest that maybe someone needs to think of something different, or start thinking differently through all of this.
But, very quickly, I want to move on, the Arab League is one at this military offensive could spark a much wider conflict. Listen to this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) AHMED ABDUL GHEIT, ARAB LEAGUE SECRETARY GENERAL (through translator): What is happening now is an alarm bell that we must pay attention to. It is no longer possible for the situation to continue as it is, nor of the perpetuation of the occupation and its disgraceful manifestations. I do not exaggerate when I say that it threatens international peace and safety.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: Is there a sense right now, within the Israeli government to reach these normalization agreements with a number of Gulf Arab states, it has a little more leeway in conducting this military operation?
OREN: It does because Hamas I think overplay its hand. When Hamas was focused on Jerusalem, and on the Muslim holy places in Jerusalem, it garnered tremendous amount of support even among those Arab countries that have recently signed peace agreements with Israel, the Abraham Accords, because these are Muslim countries, and the situation -- and the status and safe (ph) to Jerusalem is a great concern to those countries.
But once Hamas starts shelling Tel Aviv, once it starts killing Israeli civilians, then Hamas is going to have zero sympathy along these countries. So, Hamas is going to find itself I think isolated once again, with the exception of support from such countries as Iran and turkey, and maybe Qatar.
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VAUSE: Michael Oren, thank you. Still the definitive book on the Six- Day War, the author on the definitive book on Six-Day War. And it's good to see. It's been a long time. Take care, stay safe.
OREN: Have a safe day.
VAUSE: Thank you, Michael.
Well, Russia is moving to tightening gun laws after a shooter have been firings at a school on Tuesday, killing 9 people, mostly children. Some reports say the gunman was a teenager. Mass shootings are very uncommon in Russia. The tragedy has left the country in shock.
CNN's Fred Pleitgen now reports from Moscow.
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FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: What was a tragic day here in Russia, that in the end left nine people dead, at least seven of them children in that school shooting, all of this took place in the town of Kazan, which is about 850 kilometers the east of Moscow.
And we're hearing from authorities that all of this started to unfold around 9 30 a.m. when the gunman burst into that school, and started to open fire.
Now, one of things that we have to point out, is that for the children, this was actually the first day back at school after a public holiday. And there certainly are some horrible, harrowing accounts of what apparently happened in that school, with eyewitness talking about children running out of that school, some even jumping out of windows, as high as the third floor to try and make it to safety.
Now the Russian authorities are on the scene fairly quickly, state TV showed images of special police forces also a lot of ambulances as well.
Still very much unclear what exactly the motive of the shooter was, but one of things we have to keep in mind is that events like this, mass shootings, school shootings are very uncommon here in Russia. The level of gun ownership nowhere near as high as for instance, countries like the United States. And so, all of this of course, causing a lot of pain, a lot of outrage, especially in that community of Kazan.
Vladimir Putin was informed about what happened very quickly and took action very quickly as well. He dispersed some of the ministers to go there on the scene and help out. But the Russians are also already talking about making gun laws, and gun ownership laws more restrictive here in this country, to try and prevent events like that happening in the future as, of course, the city of Kazan and the parts of this country remain in mourning.
Fred Pleitgen, CNN, Moscow.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VAUSE: Well, still to come, we'll have the greatest grim numbers from India's COVID crisis, and we'll talk a look at what role that double mutation variant is playing.
Also, Kenya is facing a big backlash after deciding to close to massive refugee camps. Ahead, why did Kenya make this controversial decision, impacting more than 400,00 people?
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VAUSE: In the past hour, India released the latest official COVID numbers, and once again set a new record for new daily death toll. More than 4,200 people died on Wednesday from COVID-19, pushing the overall death toll above a quarter of a million. Total cases have now passed 23 million.
[01:20:06]
The big concern is that the variant first identified in India is fueling those spikes. The World Health Organization says this is a variant of concern, and it may be more transmissible.
Earlier, I spoke with CNN medical analyst, Dr. Celine Gounder, and asked if there's any reason to believe if this variant is not more contagious, and will vaccines be less effective against it?
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DR. CELINE GOUNDER, CNN MEDICAL ANALYST: What we're seeing on the ground in India, also for that matter to some degree in the U.K. is a race between the Indian variant, the B.1.617 variant, in the U.K. variant, the B.1.1.7 variant. Both of them appeared to be more contagious, more transmissible, so they spread more easily from person to person. The U.K. variant, the B.1.1.7 variant is what prompted the very strict lockdowns in the U.K. over the winter holidays, then results in a surge of cases across Europe.
By the time it hit the U.S., we were actually somewhat fortunate that we are far enough along in vaccination that we were somewhat insulated from those effects. We have rapidly seen the U.K. variant become the dominant strain in the U.S. and in much of the world, because it is more contagious. And now in India, and in parts of the U.K., we're seeing now this race between the Indian variant and the U.K. variant to see which will actually dominate. It does seem the Indian variant maybe even more contagious than the U.K. variant.
VAUSE: Yeah, there's not just a threat from the mutation itself, but India was meant to be the vaccine producer if not the world, and certainly the developing world. Exports to those less wealthy nations, especially through COVAX, are now on hold. About 4 percent of the world's population has been vaccinated, which means the virus will keep spreading and it keeps spreading, it keeps mutating. This just ends up being a really bad version of whack-a-mole.
GOUNDER: This is a really important point. You know, I think many countries including the U.S. where I am, but also the E.U. countries have focused on vaccinating their own citizens. Not on scaling up manufacturing to vaccinate the rest the world, and this is really shooting ourselves in the foot because if you do allow the virus to spread unchecked in the rest of the world, you will see the virus continue to mutate. You will see eventually the virus find ways to evade our immune responses, even to the vaccine. And we will set ourselves back tremendously, by allowing that to unfold.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VAUSE: The treat alone of a more contagious form of coronavirus is enough for many countries across South Asia to impose new lockdowns, as well as taravel.
Thailand has reported two confirmed infections of the new variant, B.1167. The government is considering banning international flights from increasing number of countries over fears of this new strain.
Meantime, the pressure is growing on the medical system in Laos. And Nepal reported a record number of deaths on Tuesday, as the country struggles with the shortage of oxygen. And it's now extending a lockdown in around the capital Kathmandu, until May 27th.
Kenya refugees are expressing their shock and their fears for the government's decision to shut two massive camps which housed hundreds of thousands of refugees. They include many who fled war torn Somalia.
CNN's Jomana Karadsheh is following the story from Nairobi.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JOMANA KARADSHEH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: This is not the first time the Kenyan government has threatened to shut down these two sprawling camps, the Dadaab and Kakuma, that jointly house more than 40,000 refugees from Somalia, South Sudan and other countries.
They've done in several times over the years, back in 2016 after terror attacks in Kenya, the government said that Dadaab have become a source of insecurity in the country, a breeding ground for extremists and that they want to shut it down. They were offering cash incentives for refugees to voluntarily go back to their home countries.
Now, many are wondering, if this time the threat is real. The United Nations Refugee Agency says it has put a forward a proposal to the Kenyan government, that they're working with him to try and find sustainable long term solutions. The country's courts have put the brakes on any moves to shut down the camps right now, saying it's against the country's constitution.
And there are some who are warning about the timing of this, coming at a time of heightened tensions between Somalia and Kenya, and wondering if this is just politics at play here. But what is very worrying for human rights organizations, for aid groups is the fact that the government has set a date, June the 30th, of next year. They say, they want the campus shut down by that date.
What is going to happen to the residents of these camps, the Kenyan government says, some will be allowed to integrate into the local community, get work permits and stay here.
[01:25:09]
And that others will be sent back to their countries of origin, and that is a terrifying proposal for these refugees. People who have fled wars, instability, famines in their home countries, you've got tens of thousands who have no known other home other than these camps, generations that have been born in these camps.
So, right now, when they hear this news, it is shocking and it is terrifying.
Take a listen to what's some of the residents of Dadaab told CNN earlier.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It has shocked me, because not only disrupts my education, this is the only home I have. The only flag I have seen is the flag of UNHCR.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We'd have no place in Somalia, I don't know what is going on, my children were not familiar with it and there is no safe at all. KARADSHEH: That man you heard from right there has been in Dadaab for
30 years. He says his children have known no other home. These refugees have been living in limbo for decades waiting to be resettled in their countries, hoping for a better life and future for their children.
Right now, they are faced with this uncertainty. They just don't know what's going to happen to the next.
Jomana Karadsheh, CNN, Nairobi.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VAUSE: For months now, humanitarian crisis has unfolded in Ethiopia's Tigray region, with reports of atrocities and human rights abuses, emerging during a military conflict. Well, now, a CNN team is on the ground traveling across the Tigray region, to be the first journalist to enter a besieged sacred city. But it wasn't easy to get there.
Here's CNN's Nima Elbagir at one checkpoint.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
NIMA ELBAGIR, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): We get out of the car with our hands up and identify ourselves to the Ethiopian soldiers.
Hey, hello, hello, hello, CNN, CNN, we are CNN, journalist.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That's impossible.
ELBAGIR: We are journalists, sir.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's impossible.
Before, ask our commander.
ELBAGIR: The soldier spot our camera, they're incredibly tense.
It's okay, it's okay.
The soldiers close in on us.
We asked, sir.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Why not asking our commander?
ELBAGIR: Sir, sir, we asked.
As we're pulled to one side, we turn on our covered camera.
Are we detained? Unless we are detained, we're not giving in the camera.
(END VIDEO CLIP) VAUSE: To see the rest of their journey and find out what they uncovered, tune in Thursday starting at 5:00 a.m. in London, at noon in Hong Kong for a report you'll see only here on CNN.
Well, as violence escalates between Israel and Gaza, the U.S. is calling for calm. But while the White House cannot sit this one out, we'll explain in a moment.
And military maneuvers in Europe. War games with the U.S. and NATO sending a clear message amid recent tensions with Russia. CNN has rare access to a team of U.S. Navy SEALs. That's ahead.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[01:30:33]
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BENJAMIN NETANYAHU, ISRAELI PRIME MINISTER (through translator): Hamas and the Islamic jihad will pay for this and they will pay a heavy price.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
JOHN VAUSE, CNN ANCHOR: Fair warning there from the Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu against the continued rocket fire coming from Gaza and what followed was another night of escalating violence.
A 13-storey high-rise collapsed in Gaza after being hit by an Israeli airstrike. The IDF say the building was targeted because it was used by the militant group Hamas. Palestine health officials in Gaza report so far at least 35 people including 12 children have died.
Hamas and Islamic jihad responded to the strikes overnight with rocket attacks on Tel Aviv. Many ran for cover as the sirens sounded. Reports say at least five people have been killed in Israel, all civilians.
The Arab League condemning Israel's airstrikes on Gaza calling on the international community to try and stop this escalating violence.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
AHMED ABOUL GHEIT, ARAB LEAGUE SECRETARY GENERAL (through translator): Without any prospects of a political resolution for a very serious move towards an end to the occupation and the establishment of a Palestinian state, this issue will continue to be victim to agendas of the Israel's right wing and the extremists and settlers will take over the situation and determine its direction with all the risk this involves.
I do not exaggerate when I say that it threatens international peace and safety.
AYMAN SAFADI, JORDANIAN FOREIGN MINISTER: Israel is playing with fire. The aggression of its actions, its morals and illegitimacy pushes the entire region towards further conflict.
Israel is limiting all the chances of achieving fair peace and it is threatening the safety and stability of the entire region. Its continued aggression will have an impact on many things including Jordanian-Israeli relations.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: From the White House, expressions of serious concerns about the violence and we're told the president continues to monitor the situation.
CNN's Phil Mattingly has details.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
PHIL MATTINGLY, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, as tensions continue to boil over, violence escalating in Jerusalem, the White House urging de-escalation.
White House officials making very clear Israel has every right to protect itself against rockets fired by Hamas. But also urging the Israelis to take care to pay attention to the treatment of the Palestinian people.
And it is a delicate balance, a delicate thin line to walk for the White House and White House officials acknowledge that. But they are making clear they are reaching out trying to do their best to ratchet back the situation. Take a listen.
JEN PSAKI, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: Since last week, he has directed his team to engage intensively with senior Israeli and Palestinian officials, as well as leaders throughout the Middle East. His team is communicating a clear and consistent message in support of de-escalation. And that is our primary focus.
MATTINGLY: Now, one of those officials, White House press secretary Jen Psaki referencing national security adviser Jake Sullivan speaking to his counterpart in Israel, also speaking to several other officials in the region trying to figure out if there are pathways to, if not put an end to the violence as it continues to escalate, at least, try and de-escalate things over the course of the next several days.
So far though, no clear pathway forward to that end. Still waiting for one clear statement, or at least public statement from President Joe Biden -- at least on camera, public statement, at this point in time.
One thing we did learn on Tuesday was that President Biden has sent a letter to Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas. This is a response to a letter Abbas sent to President Biden earlier this year. There are no details about what is in that letter but it's very clear now, the two sides are communicating, at least in some way, shape or form.
Whether that has any influence or impact on what is going on right now is unclear. But it is very clear that the White House is concerned about what they've seen. They are calling for de-escalation and they want something to change and change fast. And the reason that is forever problematic when it comes to how U.S. officials deal with the Middle East.
Phil Mattingly, CNN -- the White House.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VAUSE: Shibley Telhami joins me now. He is a professor of government and politics at the University of Maryland and a senior fellow at the Brookings Institute.
Professor, thank you for being with us.
SHIBLEY TELHAMI, UNIVERSITY OF MARYLAND: My pleasure.
VAUSE: You know, well, we've heard these calls for calm and de- escalation coming from the U.S. And it seems that that's diplomatic speech from Washington to Israel. You know, it has a green light to go ahead, just don't go crazy in all of this.
[01:34:51]
VAUSE: Because if the U.S. really wanted to bring an end to this violence right now, there's a lot of levers to pull, a lot of levers especially when it comes to Israel. It just seems the Biden administration is not ready to do that, at least not yet.
TELHAMI: Yes, I don't think that the Biden administration was expecting this kind of aggressions. They may have been thinking that this is not a priority issue for them, obviously for understandable reasons, the president is pre-occupied with things like the economy, the pandemic, racial issues.
And to the extent that the administration is focused on the Middle East, they're really focused more on the Iran nuclear deal over which they have a disagreement with Israel already. The Israelis opposed returning to the Iran nuclear deal.
And that is one reason I think why the Biden administration was reluctant from the beginning to open another front with the Israeli government on Israel-Palestine. And they thought they can just deal with humanitarian issues, renew -- change some of the things that Trump did. But obviously this has been forced on them. And it looks like they were not prepared to deal with it. And I see that, not because they're doing nothing, they're doing a lot behind the scenes.
They're obviously trying to lower the temperature, to negotiate with the Israelis. To change certain actions that were taking place. But the fact is they have not taken a public posture that meets the moments. And that is really one of the big problems that they face right now.
VAUSE: The vast majority of U.S. lawmakers, if they criticize Israel, it's sort of almost a form of political suicide. So like criticizing someone's mom.
And during the Trump administration you wrote that the historic American commitment to Israel manifesting itself in unparalleled backing, means the U.S. has a responsibility to mitigate the resulting asymmetric realities through fair efforts.
That's the point though. Many Palestinian -- many (INAUDIBLE), say that there have not have been fair efforts being pushed forward by U.S. Administrations for a long time.
At this point, can Washington resume that traditional place as an honest broker, even if there is a new president there? And does it matter because the Palestinians have a lot of options?
TELHAMI: Well, it's not a question of being an honest broker. Let's put it this way. If the president says he wants to advocate human rights and democracy in the world, obviously, what we have here is issue of international law and human rights.
Obviously, the eviction process has been called by the U.N. potentially, war crimes. The E.U. Commission said this is a blatant violation of international law. The president faces that kind of issue.
But the problem is it's not just that this is another issue among issues for the U.S. The U.S. is implicated directly. The fact that you have such a big asymmetry of power, the fact that you have Israel, having such a dominance over the Palestinians, and not having to worry about a regional war is mostly of the U.S.' doing.
People talk about the $3.8 billion in aid to Israel. That's really not, you know, the most important part. That's an important part obviously. But it's not the key. The key is the U.S. shields Israel at the United Nations and international organizations.
It prevents -- uses the veto power to prevent any consequences for violations of international laws. It's done that multiple times more than the other issue. And the U.S. gives Israel the cutting edge technology to keep its military's (INAUDIBLE) in the region while at the same time working hard to make peace in Israel in the Arab States even without having to make peace with the Palestinians.
So the U.S. has a responsibility because it is implicated. VAUSE: I want to read part of a report from 31 years ago. It was in
"Newsweek", the date June 24th, 1990. "It was meant to shock, and it did. Needled by a congressman who blamed President Bush" -- that would be George H.W. Bush -- "for the collapse of the Middle East peace process. Secretary of state James Baker complained that Israel's new right wing government was posing more obstacles to talks. Then he offered the White House phone number, 202-456-1414. When you're serious about peace. Call us, he said."
TELHAMI: Yes.
VAUSE: It was a real moment. And a year later the Madrid Peace Conference was held. You know, the first face-to-face meeting between the Israelis and Palestinian leaders.
Of course, the victory in the Gulf War helped bring that meeting about, in now small part as well. But the timing cannot be ignored. But is a James Baker moment needed here, not just for Israel but for both sides?
TELHAMI: The honest truth is in order to be able to do something effective here, you have to have a sense that this is important, strategically. And I think that a lot of the problem for the U.S. since the end of the Cold War has been that there is no interpretation in the body politic of American history to (INAUDIBLE) an issue.
You know people think of it as something nice to do. Perhaps for a president it would be a legacy. But the reality of it has not been a top priority.
[01:39:51]
TELHAMI: And in the same way for example like the Iran nuclear deal was for President Obama where he went to bat for it and made it a priority in a way that enabled him to implement it despite opposition in the Congress at that time.
VAUSE: That's a very good point. And we'll end it there -- that's a good point to finish on.
Shibley Telhami, thank you so much for being with us.
TELHAMI: My pleasure.
VAUSE: Annual war games between the U.S. and NATO and European allies have always had an eye on deterring Russia. But this year's military drills are also sending a clear message to Moscow from a region where tensions continue to rise out of recent military moves by the Kremlin.
CNN's Alex Marquardt has been given rare access to elite U.S. special forces now taking part in these drills.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ALEX MARQUARDT, CNN SENIOR U.S. SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: At the same time that Russia is ratcheting up tension with Ukraine, the U.S. and its NATO allies have launched large scale military exercises all across Europe.
Now these exercises have been planned for a while, now, but this timing is not lost on anyone. Over the past few days, we've covered a number of these exercises at sea, on land, and in the air and got exclusive access to some of the most elite U.S. Forces.
(voice over): A team of U.S. Navy Seals, rifles drawn, move quickly through the pitch black of a warehouse on the Black Sea. Laser sites, invisible to the naked eye, finding and taking out enemy fighters.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Shoot her down. Shoot her down. All right. let's go.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Break up, break up. Break up.
MARQUARDT: Tonight the dead, wounded and bullets are not real but part of an elaborate series of NATO military exercises involving almost 30,000 soldiers from 26 countries.
MAJOR GENERAL JOE JARRARD, DEPUTY COMMANDER, U.S. ARMY IN EUROPE AND AFRICA: It's just showing everybody that we have a capability ability and we can use it when necessary.
MARQUARDT: CNN got rare access to some of the most elite U.S. troops in the world taking part in a unique training called Trojan Footprint. It is across eastern Europe, working with forces from Spain, Georgia, Romania, Ukraine and more.
It could not come at a more tense time for this region, with Russia recently ratcheting up its aggression, sending tens of thousands of troops and a massive deployment of equipment to the border with Ukraine. Prompting fears of an invasion and harsh condemnation from Europe and Washington.
Back in Romania, this display of strength and cooperation, clearly hoping to send a powerful message.
DAVID MUNIZ, CHARGE D'AFFAIRES U.S. EMBASSY IN ROMANIA: When we are strong, when we are united, it has a real chilling effect on shall we say, the kinds of things that can happen. And so in this way you cut down on the chance for mischief.
MARQUARDT (on camera): Even as Russia pulled back some of its troops from the land border with Ukraine, they've been stepping up their activities out here in the Black Sea. Their warships have been carrying out exercises, they have been harassing Ukrainian vessels, and closing down parts of the Black Sea to other foreign ships as well.
(voice over): The Navy Seals lead the training in those waters while Ukrainian soldiers practice alongside these American Green Berets whose faces we aren't allowed to show.
(on camera): When you talk to troops from other countries like the Ukrainians, like the Romanians, how important do you think it is for them to feel that American support? UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think it is pretty significant. It shows that we
are serious, working in an exercise like Trojan Footprint. It is important whether whatever is going on around the world --
MARQUARDT (voice over): Which is why these massive exercises take place at sea, in the air, and on land.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Alpha Zero 5, correction, 50 meters north, over.
MARQUARDT: A dynamic display of partnership and firepower, punctuating the loud message of a united front in troubling times.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: 34 one, good hits, target destroyed.
MARQUARDT: This is a military base for NATO's newest and 30th member, North Macedonia, a small country in a growing military alliance that Vladimir Putin is determined to undermine. Two other countries that are taking part in these exercises, Georgia and Ukraine, which are not yet NATO members have been invaded by Russia in recent years. So that threat from Russia is very real.
And everybody I've spoken with over the past few days, has talked about the importance of projecting strength and solidarity.
Alex Marquardt, CNN -- Skopje, North Macedonia.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VAUSE: When we come back, how could the Hollywood Foreign Press Association be so oblivious to the never-ending scandals which now threatens the very existence of the Golden Globes?
[01:44:27]
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VAUSE: In hindsight, it now seems a little bizarre when earlier this year actor Jane Fonda after receiving a lifetime achievement award at the Golden Globes spoke about the importance of diversity. She said let's all of us, including all the groups who decide who gets hired, what gets made, and who wins awards -- let's all of us make an effort to expand that tent so that everyone rises and everyone's story has a chance to be seen and heard.
It's bizarre given the scandal over a lack of diversity which has now rocked the Hollywood Foreign Press Association for the past few weeks and now threatens the very existence of the Golden Globes with some of the biggest hitters in the movie industry expressing outrage over an almost constant stream of controversies and growing outrages as well.
Perhaps the biggest blow so far has been landed by megastar Tom Cruise who returned his three Golden Globe awards in protest. Cruise is one of the most powerful, influential names in Hollywood and rarely gets political. The other hit comes from NBC which has pulled the plug on broadcasting next year's ceremony. Well, for more, we are joined no by Rebecca Sun, senior editor of diversity and inclusion at the "Hollywood Reporter". Rebecca, good to see you.
REBECCA SUN, "HOLLYWOOD REPORTER": Hi, John. Good to see you again.
VAUSE: Yes, it's good.
Ok. So if this is in fact the end of the Golden Globes, who struck the fatal blow? Was it Tom Cruise or was it NBC for pulling next year's broadcast of the ceremony?
SUN: I would say because of its unprecedented nature, probably more Tom Cruise, even though he is just one actor and nobody -- none of the other recipients so far have returned their awards.
I don't think NBC, only because they've done this before. You know, NBC has carried the Golden Globes since 1958, and actually, like in the 60s, in 1968, the FCC accused the HFPA of basically handing out awards based on lobbying, based on attendance, saying if you don't come to the ceremony, we'll award, you know, to somebody else.
And so NBC stopped carrying them for about six years and then, sort of, you know, quietly came back. So this isn't the first time that NBC has refused to carry the Golden Globe Awards. I'm not saying it's insignificant, but it's also not unprecedented.
VAUSE: Yes, until recently, you know, the vast majority of people if they'd even heard of the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, almost no one had any idea about the major role they played with the Golden Globes.
Here is the view from across the Atlantic. Your colleague Scott Roxborough.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SCOTT ROXBOROUGH, EUROPEAN BUREAU CHIEF, "THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER": It's a very sort of small, contained group. There are only a couple of dozen members. And they are very unique and somewhat odd association of people because they are all foreign journalists living in Los Angeles. They live in their own little bubble in a lot of ways. And I think the scandal took them all by surprise.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: Actor Gary Oldman who called for a boycott back in 2014, said during an interview with "Playboy Magazine", "The Hollywood Foreign Press Association is kidding you that some thing's happening. There is nothing going on at all. Everybody's getting drunk and everybody's sucking up to everybody. Boycott the f-ing thing."
We actually cleaned that up a lot from the original.
The reality is that this group of 90 all not black people had plenty of time and plenty of opportunity to right this ship, they just didn't. Why?
[01:49:55]
SUN: You know, I think that they honestly just didn't care. Like even with, you know, after "The L.A. Times" investigation came out and you know, a week later the Golden Globes happened, three members of the HFPA took the stage and gave this extremely brief and perfunctory statement that was like yes, we'll get some black people.
And that that was their take away shows they have like a fundamental misunderstanding of what the true spirit of inclusion means, you know. Every move they have made so far is sort of very clear that it's a superficial type of band-aid that they are looking to put on.
I think that that's why they've never done it before. They have not -- truly not seen the need. They've truly not seen the need.
VAUSE: Yes. Awards season is already a soul-destroying series of self- congratulations, navel-gazing, and backslapping. If the Golden Globes wants to go away, does it really matter?
SUN: You know, I don't think so. To be honest, I think people will adjust, you know. I think that, you know, the general public, you know, who kind of just watches this fun like kind of weird awards show every year, you know there is so much content, they will be fine.
The industry, there is such a glut of awards nowadays that even though the Golden Globes has been sort of afforded this weird sense of import, it's like the pre-Oscars, at the same time everybody in the industry knows that as my colleague Roxy very astutely put is kind of the HFDA is kind of like this weird small little club that people will get used to it. If the Golden Globes goes away, people will get used to it.
VAUSE: Life will go on. The sun will rise.
SUN: The show will go on.
VAUSE: And we will all be -- exactly. No shortage of award ceremonies. Rebecca, it's been too long, but it's good to see you. Thank you.
SUN: Likewise. Thanks, John.
VAUSE: Well, the U.K. celebrated music's top performers and honored frontline workers at the Brit Awards on Tuesday. 2,500 health workers and their guests were invited to attend. One of the first big indoor events in London since the beginning of the pandemic.
The government used this event as a test for the need for some COVID restrictions. Masks were not mandatory. There was no social distancing. Everyone was tested for COVID and their details recorded for contact tracing.
Well, still to come, the delay in the 2020 Olympic Games is crushing for athletes around the world. One group from South Sudan though is seizing on the opportunity. We'll explain in a moment.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
VAUSE: Well, even though the Olympics have been postponed and violence back home, a group of South Sudanese athletes is not giving up on winning gold in Tokyo.
CNN's Blake Essig reports on efforts by Japan to keep their Olympic dreams alive.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ABRAHAM MAJOK MATET GUEM, ATHLETE: : I'm doing it for my country, not for myself.
BLAKE ESSIG, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Abraham (INAUDIBLE) has been running his entire life -- running from violence, running for survival. And in just a few months, running to united a nation at the summer Olympic Games in Tokyo.
GUEM: All I need The need from my people that is the South Sudanese is love and peace. And all this comes with forgiveness. When they are able to forgive one another, this peace can come in.
[01:54:50]
ESSIG: Since becoming an independent nation in 2011, South Sudan has been embroiled in constant conflict. The most recent, a six-year long civil war which left nearly 400,000 people dead and millions more displaced.
GUEM: Seeing all these people dying, seeing people suffering, people worried, and they fear that we will always have suffering.
ESSIG: While the effects of war are long-lasting, Guem, his teammates and coach have found a peace and a safe place to train roughly 7,000 miles from home in Maebashi, Japan.
(on camera): For most athletes and South Sudan food is hard to come by. Shoes are uncommon. And facilities like this simply don't exist.
(voice over): The team has been living and training here for nearly a year and a half. They go to school daily to study Japanese and computer skills, have immersed themselves in Japanese culture, and even sampled the local fair.
Overtime, Michael Machiek (ph), South Sudan's first Paralympic athletes says they've become part of the community.
MICHAEL MACHIEK, PARALYMPIC ATHLETE: My favorite thing is that the way these Japanese treat us very nice. Yes. They treat us as if we are citizens of Japan.
ESSIG: Through taxes and donations, the city of Maebashi raised about $300,000 to host and support the athletes. City officials say their stay was extended by a year because of COVID-19. SHINICHI HAGIWARA, MAEBASHI CITY SPORTS DIVISION: They've become one
of us now. I think people don't feel surprised when they see the athletes. They just want them to do well at the Olympics.
ESSIG: While Olympic organizers remain adamant that the games will be held as scheduled, whether or not they actually take place remains to be seen, as a fourth wave of infection in Japan continues to swell.
GUEM: Right now I still worry sometime because the (INAUDIBLE) seems to be increasing and the worries are always there, but I am sure that Olympics will take place.
ESSIG: And if it does, Guem and his teammates will be ready to run. Run not for themselves, but to bring pride to the people of South Sudan, still struggling to recover from ongoing ethnic violence.
Blake Essig, CNN -- Maebashi, Japan.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VAUSE: Thank you for watching. I'm John Vause.
I will be back with another hour of CNN NEWSROOM after a very, very short break.
That is hour number three. Don't miss (ph) out, we're just getting started.
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