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Blinken Calls For Urgent Steps To Restore Calm Between Israel, Palestinians; Suicide Bombing At Pakistan Mosque Kills At Least 88; 2 More Memphis Police Officers Suspended In Tyre Nichols's Death; New Zealand's Largest City Braces For More Rain And Flooding; Wagner Defector Details Brutal Executions He Witnessed. Aired 1-2a ET
Aired January 31, 2023 - 01:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
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LAILA HARRAK, CNN ANCHOR: Hello and welcome to our viewers joining us from all around the world. I'm Laila Harrak, and this is CNN Newsroom. Crisis diplomacy, the final day of Antony Blinken's tour is underway. Has his presence made a difference?
Blame game, the back and forth on who's responsible for a deadly mosque attack in Pakistan.
And the world ready to say goodbye to COVID? One nation is declaring an end to the emergency before summer.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Live from CNN Center, this is CNN Newsroom with Laila Harrak.
HARRAK: The U.S. Secretary of State is beginning the final day of his trip to the Middle East, where he's trying to help defuse tensions between Israelis and Palestinians. Antony Blinken is expected to continue his diplomatic visit this hour with a meeting with Israel's defense Minister, and then he will speak to the country's opposition leader, Yair Lapid, before heads to the West Bank for talks with Palestinian authority president Mahmoud Abbas.
Blinken's trip comes as the region faces a new wave of deadly violence. On Monday, a funeral was held for a Palestinian man who was reportedly shot by Israeli troops in the West Bank. The Palestinian health ministry says that so far in January, at least 35 Palestinians in the area have been killed by Israeli military and settler fire, making this the deadliest month in the West Bank since 2015.
And last week, seven people were killed near a Jerusalem synagogue in what Israel called one of the worst terror attacks in recent years.
The U.S. Secretary of State condemned the shooting and urged both sides to restore calm.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) ANTONY BLINKEN, U.S. SECRETARY OF STATE: In the context of this attack and escalating violence, it's important that the government and people of Israel know America's commitment to their security remains ironclad.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HARRAK: While Blinken delivered that message after meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Jerusalem, CNN's Nic Robertson has more on the visit.
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NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DEPLOMATIC EDITOR (on camera): Well, as soon as he got off the plane, one of the first things secretary of State Antony Blinken did was to reassure the Israeli people that they have the ironclad security, support and commitment from the United States. His mission, though, to reduce tensions with this ongoing spike in violence.
He met first with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, the pair discussing security but also discussing Iran. No mention of the overnight drone strike on an Iranian military factory. The Israeli prime minister very clear on his views about Iran.
BENJAMIN NETANYAHU, ISRAELI PRIME MINISTER: I can repeat again something that you've heard me say many times. Our policy and my policy is to do everything within Israel's power to prevent Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons and the means to deliver them.
ROBERTSON: On the issue of improving relations with the Palestinians, the Israeli Prime Minister said that he believed the best way to do that was improving, enlarging the circle of peace. That Abraham, of course, Israel's growing and improving relations with Arab states in the region.
The Secretary of State, however, saying that alone wasn't a substitute for actually direct engagement with the Palestinians, saying that the important and perhaps even a red line for the United States was the idea of keeping alive the possibility of a two state solution.
BLINKEN: We continue to believe that the best way to achieve it is through preserving and then realizing the vision of two states. As I said to the Prime Minister, anything that moves us away from that vision is, in our judgment, detrimental to Israel's long term security and its long term identity as a Jewish and democratic state.
ROBERTSON: Without reference to Israel and democratic values. Seem to be the Secretary of State hinting about his concerns about some of the decisions that Netanyahu's far right government is taking at the moment the possibility of expanding settlements and the possibility of revoking Israeli citizenship rights for Palestinian families of Palestinian gunmen. That is an ongoing concern.
Tuesday, however, the Secretary of State going to the West Bank to visit with the Palestinian authority president Mahmoud Abbas, likely there, the message will be for the Palestinian Authority to restart its security cooperation with Israel. Nic Robertson, CNN, Jerusalem.
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HARRAK: In Pakistan, the death toll is rising from a deadly bombing in the northwestern city of Peshawar. Hospital officials now say at least 88 people were killed after a bomb tore through a mosque located inside a police compound on Monday.
Pakistan's prime minister has condemned the attack. He went to Peshawar soon after the blast and met with the injured in hospital. Well after his visit, he tweeted, quote, the sheer scale of the human tragedy is unimaginable. While so far, it's still unclear who's behind the blast, but the Pakistani Taliban have denied any involvement in the attack. CNN's Ivan Watson has the details.
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IVAN WATSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voiceover): Dazed worshippers pulling themselves out from the rubble. A deadly blast hit this mosque during afternoon prayers, partially collapsing the building. The suspected attack targeting a police compound in Pakistan's northwestern city of Peshawar. The victims, likely mostly law enforcement, caught off guard in a place of worship.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): We took out the injured and sent them to hospital. The dead bodies should all be inside the mosque, buried under the rubble.
WATSON: Dozens are confirmed dead, Pakistani police say with more than 150 injured. Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif condemned what he's calling a suicide blast, saying, quote, the brutal killing of Muslims prostrating before Allah is against the teachings of the Quran. Terrorists want to create fear by targeting those who perform the duty of defending Pakistan.
Monday's blast was the worst the city has seen since March of last year, when a suicide bombing that ISIS later claimed responsibility for killed at least 61 at a Shiite mosque during Friday prayers. Leaders of Pakistan's rival political parties condemned the latest mosque bombing. A country with a long history of deadly political violence now bracing for the threat of more possible suicide attacks. Ivan Watson, CNN.
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HARRAK: For more, we're now joined by Raza Rumi. He's a Pakistani policy analyst and the director of the Park Center for Independent Media at Ithaca College. Mr. Rumi, thank you so much for joining us. A horrifying attack and a place of worship inside a mosque. What is the objective of such an attack?
RAZA RUMI, DIRECTOR, PARK CENTER FOR INDEPENDENT MEDIA AT ITHACA COLLEGE: Well, first of all, I think it is extremely tragic and, you know, condemnable. The purpose or the motive always is to create a state of fear, a state of panic. And you know, these militant groups have been doing this in Pakistan for, you know, at least in the last decade and a half. They've been carrying out similar attacks.
And the idea always is to create a state of fear, what terror does. But it's also a message to the Pakistani state, because, you see, this was a place which had a lot of police presence, and their target has been the police in the local area and the other security forces, because that's a direct hit on the Pakistani state.
HARRAK: Now, the main spokesperson for the TTP, the Pakistani Taliban, is saying they weren't behind at all. Earlier, one of their representatives have said that they were behind it. Put this into context for us, the Pakistani Taliban, what role do they play in Pakistan? What is their purpose, what are their demands?
RUMI: Yes, so you see, the Pakistani Taliban are a branch of the larger Taliban movement when it came up in Afghanistan and got traction there and unfortunately, Pakistan had been a supporter of the Afghan Taliban throughout.
And the Pakistani branch repeated the same demand that they had in Afghanistan, which is to create a Sharia based state in Pakistan. And they considered the Pakistani state and Pakistan's military as an Islamic, as an alliance with the Western powers, which they consider as hidden or non-believers.
And their aim is also to just the way the Taliban have taken over Afghanistan. They also have similar aims in Pakistan.
So, in Pakistan, they obviously face far greater obstacles because Pakistan as a well-developed state and state institutions, but they keep on targeting those particular institutions like the police, the military, the paramilitary forces.
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And, of course, they create a state of fear among the general population by targeting mosques, places of worship, market.
HARRAK: Now the security situation, as you described in Pakistan, a nuclear power is precarious. It has been and it continues to be. Simultaneously, the country's economic crisis is deepening, and there's obviously also political turmoil. How are these multiple crises affecting the people of Pakistan?
RUMI: I think this is exactly, you know, the real challenge facing the Pakistani state and its current government, because, as you mentioned, the security situation has really, really become alarming. But there have been 150 targeted attacks in the last three months, last three or four months. Now, that's a huge number.
And at the same time, there is immense political instability within the country, which has obviously impacted the way the economy has been acting up. So these multiple crises now -- have created a state of instability and as well as the real groundwork for public unrest, public turmoil. And we might even see some protests in the coming weeks if the inflation becomes more and more, you know, hard hitting for the average person on the street.
HARRAK: Raza Rumi, thank you so much for speaking to us.
RUMI: You're welcome, Laila.
HARRAK: We've learned two more police officers in Memphis, Tennessee, were removed from duty after the beating death of Tyre Nichols. It's unclear why their punishments weren't announced sooner. Only one, Preston Hemphill, has been publicly identified. He was seen on body cam footage firing a taser at Nichols at the initial traffic stop, but his attorney says Hemphill was not at the second site where Nichols was beaten.
Also, two emergency medical technicians and a fire department lieutenant have been fired for failing to conduct an adequate assessment of Nichols.
Funeral services for the 29-year-old will be held Wednesday in Memphis. The Reverend Al Sharpton will deliver the eulogy. Meanwhile, on Capitol Hill, prospects for bipartisan talks on overhauling policing laws remain low. Here's Republican Senator Tim Scott.
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TIM SCOTT, U.S. SENATE REPUBLICAN: I take the issue of policing in America seriously. I want our body to see it not as an issue of Republicans versus Democrats, but as good people standing in the gap, elected to do a job that we all ran to do. Let's do our jobs. We can make a difference in this nation. Had the duty to intervene been law of the land on the federal level, it could have made a difference in Memphis, Tennessee.
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HARRAK: Nichols family is planning to hold a news conference Tuesday night at the church in Memphis, where the Reverend Martin Luther King Jr. gave his famous I've been to the mountaintop stage.
It's just after 07:00 a.m. in France, and the country's bracing for a second round of headaches and chaos as many workers are once again getting ready to go on strike.
Unions say more than 100 schools in Paris will be closed with 60 percent of teachers skipping work. The Paris Transport Agency says Metro service will be very disrupted and only 20 percent of the regional trains will be operating.
Workers are protesting government plans to raise the retirement age from 62 to 64. More than 11,000 police officers are being deployed for the protests.
Our next story contains graphic content that you may find disturbing. An Iranian man who was brutally beaten by security forces last year told CNN he had asked them to take a calmer and more compromising stance toward demonstrators, and then they attacked him without warning.
The young boxer nearly died, but has since become a hero to supporters of the protest movement. He spoke exclusively to our Jomana Karadsheh about his ordeal.
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JOMANA KARADSHEH, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voiceover): It was one of the most terrifying videos to emerge from Iran a protester surrounded by armed regime forces trying to send them off with a knife. Shots are fired before he falls to his knees.
[10:15:09
Ashkan Morovati later appeared intensive care, barely conscious, with his parents by his side.
ASHKAN MOROVATI, IRANIAN PROTESTER (through translator): I had a severed artery in my leg. I had around 200 shotgun pellets in my body. I had serious wounds even after I surrendered and they arrested me. They beat me around 100 times in the head and the rest of my body with batons. When they were transporting me to the hospital, they shot me from a very close range with a shotgun. They thought that I'll be dead.
KARADSHEH: But Ashkan survived, and with him a tale of unimaginable horror.
MOROVATI (through translator): I was a man who died and was brought back to life. As I am speaking with you, I still have 20 shotgun pallets still lodged in my body.
KARADSHEH: He escaped Iran, now a wanted man in hiding speaking exclusively to CNN for his safety. He won't say where he is.
MOROVATI (through translator): I got out of the country through mountains and deserts while heavily bleeding and in very, very bad condition. I died so many times before I got out of the country.
KARADSHEH: As he lay in hospital, hanging on to life by a threat, he was charged with Mo?arebeh waging war against God, a crime punishable by death in the Islamic Republic. Regime agents raided this hospital and dragged Ashkan to jail.
MOROVATI (through translator): When someone is taken from the ICU straight to prison, this is kind of a death sentence. In prison, I went through unbearable agony because all my wounds were open. I used salt to try to disinfect my wounds just a little bit. They badly tormented me. They sent me to an army hospital that was not equipped to treat me. I was there in that condition with both my hands and feet chained to the bed.
KARADSHEH: People of his Kurdish town of Sunandaj protested for his release. His family paid all they have to bail him out for medical treatment. With the help of friends, he made it out of Iran.
MOROVATI (through translator): I was a professional boxer, a fighter. I was so eager about my future and had a plan to pursue this sport as a career. But because my leg and the rest of my body has been severely injured, I can't do that anymore. Being away from my family and all the pressure that they have endured because of me is mentally tormenting me. I'm not feeling okay physically or mentally.
KARADSHEH (on camera): What do you want the world to know about what is happening inside Iran right now?
MOROVATI (through translator): There are so many like me who sadly gave their life but their voice didn't reach outside. There are so many brave girls and boys inside Iran. Our only crime is that we demand freedom and democracy and want our women to be equal to our men. We shouted, woman. Life. Freedom. Their response to us is only bullet, only torturing, raping prisoners.
I saw many young people, 16, 17-year olds, get killed. They killed so many. They blinded so many. I swear to God, I can't sleep at night thinking about those scenes.
KARADSHEH (voiceover): Ashkan remains undeterred. Once he recovers, he says he's ready to go back and continue the fight for free Iran.
MOROVATI (through translator): I have no regrets and I am proud of what I did. I will give my life for my people, for my Iran. Not one time, but 100,000 times.
KARADSHEH: Jomana Karadsheh, CNN, Istanbul.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HARRAK: The Iranian government did not respond to CNN's request for comment on Ashkan Morovati's case and the widespread allegations of protesters being mistreated, tortured and killed.
New Zealand's Weather Service has issued a red warning for Auckland, its highest alert level for heavy rain. While this comes just days after the highest daily rainfall ever recorded in the city, at least four people reported dead in the country amid dangerous flooding and landslides on the North Island, a state of emergency has been issued for Auckland.
Beaches are off limits, several main roads closed and all Auckland schools will remain closed until February 7. Prime Minister Chris Hipkins says helping Auckland recover is the government's focus.
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CHRIS HIPKINS, NEW ZEALAND PRIME MINISTER: My focus and the focus of central government is supporting Auckland through what is still, you know, a big challenge ahead of them. There's a big cleanup to go. And, of course, we know through the forecasts that there's more bad weather ahead.
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HARRAK: Well, meantime, in the U.S., a winter storm is continuing to impact areas from Texas to West Virginia. Nearly 1,000 flights have already been canceled on Tuesday, according to FlightAware, as a new round of freezing rain and ice will begin in Texas at daybreak and then head to Oklahoma, Little Rock, Memphis and Nashville.
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The National Weather Service says around 38 million people are under a winter weather alert, including millions under ice storm warnings.
Up next, the fighting intensifies in eastern Ukraine. We'll show you how drones are playing a critical role for Ukrainian troops on the front line. Plus, an exclusive interview with a former Wagner Mercenary Group fighter. Here is chilling account of how reluctant recruits were treated.
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HARRAK: A Ukrainian commander did not miss words when describing the constant fierce fighting around the eastern city of Bakhmut, calling it a living hell. The commander told Ukrainian TV the country's troops are doing an incredible job as Russian forces try to take control of a key highway. He also said the Wagner mercenary group is almost completely destroyed and are being replaced by Russian paratroopers who also suffer losses almost daily.
While in the south, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy was joined by the Danish prime minister during a visit to the Mykolaiv region. And Mr. Zelenskyy offered this stark assessment of what Russia wants now.
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VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY, UKRAINIAN PRESIDENT (through translator): I think Russia really wants its big revenge. I think it has already started.
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HARRAK: The Ukrainian president has been urging his Western allies to supply Ukraine with fighter jets. But U.S. President Joe Biden made clear where he stands on that issue.
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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Will the United States provide F-16s to Ukraine?
JOE BIDEN, U.S. PRESIDENT: No.
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HARRAK: Ukraine's defense minister says the country plans to spend about $545 million this year to purchase drones which have played a key role on the battlefield. CNN's Fred Pleitgen shows us how they're being used. (BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voiceover): Ukraine's entire eastern front is now heating up. This is Russian infantry in a massive fire fight in the forest near the town of Kreminna.
Close by we're creeping through the same forest with a Ukrainian frontline drone unit called Dnipro One (ph) and scouts out Russian positions and directs Ukrainian fire. Drone operator Ruslan says working in the forest is extremely dangerous.
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"RUSLAN," DRONE OPERATOR: All time working tanks, a lot of artillery from different directions, from east and from north.
PLEITGEN: But the team is often able to spot attempted Russian advances. Here, Russian infantry are moving through the thick woodland, and this tank leaves cover and opens fire towards Ukrainian positions.
The Ukrainians liberated towns and villages in this area last autumn, but the scars of battle are visible everywhere.
PLEITGEN (on camera): This village, like many of the ones in this area, was heavily damaged when the Ukrainians moved in here in fall. For a while, it was quiet, but now all that is changing. The fighting is coming back, and it's heavier than ever before.
PLEITGEN (voiceover): The few people remaining, those too poor or too old to flee. I asked Valentina if it's not too dangerous to stay here. Yes, it is dangerous, she says, but what can we do? Of course it's dangerous, but we endure. Sometimes we hide, but now it's too cold in the basements.
The Russians have massively beefed up their forces around Kreminna. They believe they have to prevent the Ukrainians breaking through here to sustain their own offensive against Bakhmut, and are now also launching fresh attacks near Vuhledar further south.
This video near Vuhledar shows Russian armor getting hit by Ukraine's artillery. The soldiers run away. A wounded comrade tries to crawl to safety.
In all these places, drones are critical to detect and to destroy the enemy.
Dnipro One (ph) has its own drone workshop, where NATO issue grenades are literally sawn and have to be carried on drones. Uri (ph) can manufacture drone munitions in 20 minutes, and they've proven very effective in the conflict.
Drone operator is one of the most dangerous jobs, the boss says, as soon as they locate a drone operator, they use all kinds of weaponry artillery, MLRS, tanks. We have a high rate of casualties among drone pilots. In the forest, Ruslan's mission is now over, but he sees a long battle ahead in a contest of wits and brute force.
"RUSLAN": Mostly last month, our army goes to but last, I think, two weeks maybe we stop and Russians making counter attack.
PLEITGEN: And all the time drones will shape the way this war changes. Fred Pleitgen, CNN, Zarichna, Ukraine.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HARRAK: A former fighter with the Wagner mercenary group, which has emerged as a key player in Russia's invasion is describing the brutality he says he witnessed on the front lines in Ukraine. Andrei Medvedev spoke exclusively with CNN's Anderson Cooper from Oslo, where he's seeking asylum after defecting.
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ANDERSON COOPER, CNN HOST: Jus talk a little bit about what it was like in the -- on the battlefield with the prisoners. How were they used? What were the tactics? What was it like?
ANDREI MEDVEDEV, FORMER WAGNER COMMANDER (through translator): We weren't receiving any tactical plans. We just got a command to capture the position of the enemy and by ourselves had to come up with a step by step plan of how to fulfill it. It was our problem to ensure that a command is fulfilled.
COOPER: You have said in the past that you saw Wagner troops getting executed for disobeying orders. Is that accurate?
MEDVEDEV (through translator): Such cases happen very often there. There was a question of how to persuade new recruits who arrived at the front lines and saw what is going on there and decided they don't want to fight, to still go ahead and fight. They would round up those who did not want to fight and shoot them in front of the newcomers to develop their self-preservation instinct.
COOPER: Why did you decide to leave the Wagner group?
MEDVEDEV (through translator): I planned to leave Wagner for a while, but I didn't have the opportunity. I was afraid I will be captured and shot as a traitor. I am ready for serious action, but I also want to live. By the end, I knew they won't let me go. I will return as part of the dead or the wounded. It was time to make a radical decision. If it wasn't for my guys, my comrades, I would have been buried at some training ground.
COOPER: There have been allegations and reports of the execution of civilians being shot just walking down the street, of abuse of civilians. Did you see any of that? Did you witness any of that yet?
MEDVEDEV (through translator): Yes, I cannot say I witnessed this because I was tasked mainly with forested areas and approaches to Bakhmut. I am not aware of such cases, no matter what we had a strict code of conduct for fighters. If those rules are breached, there will be punishment.
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COOPER: You escaped into Norway and the spot you crossed over -- where you said that you crossed over into Norway, it's very heavily guarded on the Russian border.
And some people have raised questions about how you were able to even get to the border because it's so heavily -- there's so many checkpoints on the way there. Why cross at that place where it was so heavily guarded?
MEDVEDEV: I will say that the border with Norway where I crossed is not as protected as much as the border with Finland. But in this case, I'm honestly very grateful for the training I received with the ministry of Russian defense where I did military service and grateful to Wagner.
The training I received there came in useful and I gladly put it to use.
COOPER: Did you have help getting across? Because aren't there many checkpoints even to get close to the border?
MEDVEDEV: I was helped by workers of human rights groups in Moscow and elsewhere. Even just civilians who heard my story. When I was approaching the last post next to the border, I was helped by a man from Ramansk (ph) who found a passport of a man who looked similar to me. I'm very grateful to him but cannot disclose his identity for his safety.
The passport helped me to get past the control post and I was able to get closer to the border.
COOPER: Why have you agreed to talk? Why do you -- what message are you trying -- do you want people to know about Wagner, about your experience?
MEDVEDEV: My idea was to tell the people what was happening there and my mates who died there, they died under orders. So my aim is that the people who are guilty of these crimes should be brought to justice.
COOPER: And when you say the people who are guilty, who do you mean and what are they guilty of?
MEDVEDEV: You know, I would like to take this opportunity of stating state publicly, maybe other folk have different views about this. But the first culprit is Prigozhin because he is the top leader.
COOPER: Prigozhin runs the Wagner group. He's in charge of it.
MEDVEDEV: Yes, him, absolutely. And the whole coordinating Wagner lot. And everyone knows it's subject to the Russian government's command -- the whole lot of them.
COOPER: Does that include Vladimir Putin? MEDVEDEV: Well, everyone knows that what is happening there is his
decision, of course.
COOPER: And just finally, Andrei, you lost a lot of, as you say, mates in the fighting. What should their mothers know? What should their families know about what happened to them?
MEDVEDEV: They were great people. Great because they were real human beings. And I can assure you that many were sober judges of what was happening out there. They were just people, normal folk, and that applied to the other side as well because I had occasion to see the bravery of the Ukrainian forces too.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LAILA HARRAK, CNN ANCHOR: Still to come, the World Health Organization looks to the future of pandemic response. What the group had to say about what we've learned from COVID. That's just ahead.
Plus a dire warning from the International Red Cross which says the world is dangerously unprepared for another pandemic.
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HARRAK: Welcome back to our viewers all around the world. I'm Laila Harrak. And you're watching CNN NEWSROOM.
Moments ago, the U.S. Secretary of State arrived for talks with Israel's minister of defense in Jerusalem. Antony Blinken is expected to discuss the recent wave of violence between Israelis and Palestinians. It comes a day after he met with Israel's prime minister and urged both sides to de-escalate tensions.
Later in the day, Blinken is also scheduled to meet with the Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas in the West Bank.
Earlier, I discussed all this with Martin Indyk, a distinguished fellow at the Council of Foreign Relations and a former U.S. ambassador to Israel. I asked him what the U.S. secretary of state hopes to achieve during his trip. Here's what he said.
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MARTIN INDYK, DISTINGUISHED FELLOW, COUNCIL OF FOREIGN RELATIONS: The objective is to calm things down as much as they can. But as you said, they're trending in the wrong direction. They're trending towards an explosion.
And the very real concern today is that this cycle of violence that we witnessed in the last few days will continue and move towards an explosion in the West Bank and Jerusalem.
So the secretary of state has to try to convince the leaders on both side, Prime Minister Netanyahu yesterday in Israel, President Mahmoud Abbas the president of the Palestinian Authority today in Ramallah that they need to act together to calm things down, to try to find a way to lessen to tensions rather than to ramp them up again.
HARRAK: That doesn't seem very likely at the moment. But how would you describe the Biden administration's handling of the current situation and their policy towards Israel and Palestine? Is there any appetite to launch a major initiative to end the conflict?
INDYK: Well look, as you say, it doesn't seem very likely but in fact it is quite likely because neither the Palestinian president nor the Israeli Prime Minister have an interest in having things blow up and get out of control.
And so as a result the effort of the secretary of state on behalf of the president is really to try to use his influence with both of them to get them to resume the security coordination and to find ways to reduce the tension.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HARRAK: Thanks to Martin Indyk for his input there. And we will have more on this developing story throughout the day.
The White House says President Joe Biden plans to end the national and public health emergencies for COVID-19 on May the 11th. Officials say the deadline is being extended one last time to give states, health care providers and patients enough time for an orderly transitions.
The announcement came in response to a pair of bills from Republican lawmakers seeking to end the emergencies. They've given Americans access to free COVID tests, treatments, and vaccines as well as other benefits.
Meantime the World Health Organization says COVID-19 is still a global health emergency. But the group also admits the pandemic has reached a, quote, "transition point". The WHO's director general made the statement on Monday at a committee meeting about COVID-19 which will continue to be labeled a public health emergency of international concern.
He says countries should continue to push vaccinations and keep an eye on new infections as cases and COVID-related deaths continue to rise.
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TEDROS ADHANOM GHEBREYESUS, DIRECTOR-GENERAL, WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION: Since the beginning of December, weekly reported deaths have been rising. In the past eight weeks, more than 170,000 people have lost their lives to COVID-19. And that's just the reported, as we know the actual number is much higher.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
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HARRAK: Well, now is the time for all countries to prepare for the next global pandemic because the world isn't ready to face another one. That warning comes from the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies. It's calling for better preparedness at the community level and urging countries to update their emergency plans by the end of the year.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JAGAN CHAPAGAIN, CEO AND SECRETARY GENERAL, IFRC: Since the next pandemic could be just around the corner, hopefully it's not but we don't know. We did not know three years ago that it was just next door. And it hit us very, very fast and it spread around the world rapidly as we know.
And if the experience of COVID-19 one we cannot (INAUDIBLE) toward preparedness, what will?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HARRAK: Well, for more on all this, I'm joined from Los Angeles by Dr. Jorge Rodriguez, a board certified internal medicine specialist and viral researcher. Dr. Rodriguez, so good to connect with you again.
DR. JORGE RODRIGUEZ, A BOARD CERTIFIED INTERNAL MEDICINE SPECIALIST: Thank you.
HARRAK: The Biden administration plans to wind down COVID public health emergency this spring., what kind of message does this decision send to the American public?
DR. RODRIGUEZ: I think it sends the wrong message to the American public. I think that we're tired of this pandemic but the pandemic is not tired of us. The virus continues to kill 3,000 to 5,000 Americans a week, approximately a million people a year worldwide.
But it's almost like, you know, closing your eyes and whistling in the dark and pretending that it is gone. It is not. So I think it's sending the message that everything is clear. And granted, it is better because we have options if you vaccinate yourself.
But you know, it sends the wrong message. It tells us that, hey, everything is ok and we let our guard down because of that.
HARRAK: What is the current COVID situation in the U.S., Doctor. What are you seeing?
DR. RODRIGUEZ: Well, what we're seeing right now, at least in my office and I think here in the United States, we're seeing a spike. We're seeing a spike of people, it was probably worst two to three weeks ago of people getting infected.
Luckily, we are not seeing people getting as sick as they were because they've been vaccinated. But people that have not been vaccinated are getting as ill. We know now how to treat it, we know how to mitigate the symptoms. So we are not seeing those ugly deaths that we did in the beginning but we are still seeing approximately 3,000 people a week die. We've just become numb to that number. That's the difference.
HARRAK: I'm going to ask you to widen our aperture for a second. I mean Chinese health authorities are reporting critically-ill COVID cases in China fell by some 72 percent from the peak earlier this month and daily deaths among COVID patients in hospitals dropped 79 percent from their peak. What do you make of these numbers?
DR. RODRIGUEZ: I think those numbers need to be taken with a grain of salt. I think coming from China, we really don't know the real numbers. How bad they were, how they are now.
News that we get as physicians from other physicians in China and people that are able to send out videos on Instagram, it's still a dire condition especially now in the Lunar New Year where people are going, you know, back to their homes and their small villages, we don't know the truth.
But we just have to have an educated guess that in probably the most populous country in the world, the situation is critical and that it spreads from there to other nations and other people.
HARRAK: Doctor, the World Health Organization's director general earlier described the pandemic as having reached a transition point. Are we at an inflection point and what does it mean from a public health perspective?
DR. RODRIGUEZ: That's a good question. what does it mean that it's in a transition point? I think the transition point is because the whole world more or less, the large governments have basically decided, you know what, we're not going to beat it so we might as well join it. We might as well live with it.
I think that's the transition point that he's talking about. I don't think the transition point is that the pandemic is gone and the virus has disappeared. On the contrary, the message is quite clear. This virus is here to stay indefinitely among humans, among other animals. And what we need to do is protect ourselves.
Unfortunately, that is not happening to the degree that it needs to be.
HARRAK: Doctor, a final thought from you. How prepared is the United States for the next public health emergency?
DR. RODRIGUEZ: We're not. The United States is not prepared. The world is not prepared. And the simple reason is that there's not a plan that everybody will adhere to thinking that we're going to stop a virus that knows no boundaries by having different regimens, by having different policies in different states, let alone in different countries, I think is foolish.
[01:44:54]
DR. RODRIGUEZ: Plus, it isn't just that we don't have that, the science may be there, but we don't have a population that is willing to any great degree to accept science anymore. And that's what's disheartening to me.
HARRAK: Dr. Jorge Rodriguez, thank you so much. Good to connect with you again.
DR. RODRIGUEZ: Thank you.
HARRAK: The International Monetary Fund slashed its economic growth outlook for the United Kingdom on Tuesday. Britain's economy is now expected to shrink by some 0.6 percent in 2023.
That is a downgrade from the previously expected growth forecast last October of 0.3 percent. And Britain is the only G7 nation to have its economic outlook cut and the only G7 economy not to have recovered its pre-pandemic size with Brexit viewed as a factor.
Ahead, the debate over America's national debt. The top House Republican is getting ready to meet with the U.S. president. Why it could be quite a while before they reach a deal.
Plus, Donald Trump hit s the campaign trail and takes aim at his favorite target in the 2024 race for the White House.
And coming up later in the newscast, we finally know who's going to portray Michael Jackson in the new biopic about the late superstar.
That story and more when CNN NEWSROOM continues.
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HARRAK: Jair Bolsonaro is applying for a six month tourist visa to stay in the United States. The former Brazilian president arrived in the U.S. in December reportedly on what's called an N1 visa and that's granted to heads of state is only valid while they are in office.
But dozens of U.S. House Democrats want Bolsonaro's visa revoked since he is now under investigation over the January 8th attacks in Brazil's capital when thousands of his supporters stormed two government buildings.
America's national debt is more than $31 trillion and talks are underway on raising the limit even higher to avoid a default. Well, top House Republican Kevin McCarthy is getting ready for his first meeting with the U.S. president since becoming house speaker and says he's looking for common ground. But it's not clear what the Republicans actually want.
CNN's Jessica Dean explains.
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JESSICA DEAN, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: House Speaker Kevin McCarthy and President Joe Biden is scheduled to meet at the White House on Wednesday. It will be the opening act of sorts on this debt ceiling situation and we will expect to be a very long and drawn out process as the House GOP and Speaker McCarthy try to get together on what exactly they want to ask for. [01:49:48]
DEAN: The White House is saying this is nonnegotiable, they do not want to negotiate lifting the density with essentially allows the U.S. to go ahead and continue paying what they've already signed up for. It's no new spending. This is paying for things that have already happened.
Meantime, House GOP and Kevin McCarthy the speaker saying no, no, no, hold on a second. We want to negotiate some spending cuts and we're not going to agree to raise the debt ceiling without the spending cuts. So the question becomes now what will the house GOP asked for? That's what they're grappling with right now.
At this point, it appears it would be cuts to domestic spending, perhaps even cuts to military spending but we know that they want to stay away from Medicare and Social Security -- there's two entitlements that they believe are so key that they do not want to touch because they are afraid they may face voter backlash on that.
But this meeting on Wednesday will be the first time these two men has sat down since Speaker McCarthy became the speaker. And again there's a big difference, remember, between just sitting down in a meeting and actually negotiating. We don't expect any sort of negotiating to start until at least the House GOP can name exactly what it is they want and that is -- what we're continuing to hear from both the president and also Senate Democrats which is we want to see a plan first before we'll even begin speaking to you about it.
So now it's up to the speaker and the House GOP to really drill down into what they're asking for.
Jessica Dean, CNN -- Capitol Hill.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HARRAK: The "Washington Post" reports Florida Governor Ron DeSantis is actively preparing for a possible U.S. presidential run. The paper cites Republican sources who describe meetings at preliminary staffing moves (ph).
Well that surely won't sit well with Donald Trump, the only candidate who's declared for the 2024 race. He's now taking aim at his one time ally.
CNN's Kristen Holmes reports.
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KRISTEN HOLMES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Donald Trump hitting the campaign trail and pushing back on criticism of his months long hiatus since announcing a third presidential bid in November.
DONALD TRUMP, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I'm more angry now and I'm more committed now than I ever was. HOLMES: The former president not only taking AIM at his critics but
potentially 2024 rivals as well, specifically Florida governor Ron DeSantis.
TRUMP: Ron would run for governor when I hear he might run -- you know, I consider that very disloyal but it's not about loyalty. But to me it is. It's always about loyalty.
HOLMES: One time allies --
GOV. RON DESANTIS (R-FL): Is this Trump country or what?
TRUMP: You have only one choice, Ron DeSantis for governor. He is going to be a great, great governor.
HOLMES: Trump and DeSantis now appear on a possible collision course in a 2024 presidential primary. A rising star in the Republican Party, DeSantis is coming off a 19-point landslide reelection win in November.
GOV. CHRIS SUNUNU (R-NH): Obviously Ron DeSantis is looking to run for president, Which is fine, and he'll probably win New Hampshire right now, without a doubt.
HOLMES: As DeSantis makes inroads with conservatives, Trump trying to disrupt that momentum claiming the Florida governor is now trying to rewrite history when it comes to his handling of COVID-19.
TRUMP: There are Republican governors that did not close their states. Florida was actually closed for a very long period of time. They're trying to rewrite history.
HOLMES: But DeSantis isn't the only former Trump allies signaling they might take him on.
MIKE PENCE, FORMER VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: There maybe somebody else in that contest, I's prefer more.
MIKE POMPEO, FORMER U.S. SECRETARY OF STATE: It won't matter to the Pompeos (ph) who else decides to run. We'll make that decision based on whether we think this is our moment.
NIKKI HALEY, FORMER U.S. AMBASSADOR TO THE UNITED NATIONS: Can I be that leader? Yes, I think I can be that leader.
HOLMES: Yes. not every potential rival sparking a similar attack from Trump.
TRUMP: He called me the other day to talk to me. I talked to her for a little while, but I said, look, go by your heart if you want to run.
HOLMES: As he embarks on his third run for the White House, Trump is facing mounting legal woes and called by some Republicans to move on from lies about his 2020 election loss that incited the attack on the U.S. Capitol.
On the trail in South Carolina, Trump offering a different message.
TRUMP: This campaign will be about the future. This campaign will be about issues.
HOLMES: Still, the former president making clear he was ready for a nominating fight even as he remains the lone GOP candidate in the field for the moment.
TRUMP: We don't do prevent defense, we just keep defending and we are going to win, and we're going to win very big.
HOLMES: I was with him, traveling with him this weekend on what was the official launch of his campaign. It was interesting to see for the first time that I could remember him participating in a traditional political campaign. He was clearly listening to his advisors.
He stuck to the script. He didn't focus too much on those 2020 election lies. He even participated in a small retail stop. He went to an ice cream shop in Columbia, South Carolina to talk to people there.
This is not the Donald Trump that we are used to and the advisers I spoke to they were ecstatic to see him do this and actually pull this off.
But there is a little bit of fear in some of them that this is just not going to last, that ultimately, Donald Trump is going to want to do what he wants to do and many of them are kind of bracing themselves for that moment.
Kristen Holmes, CNN -- Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HARRAK: You're watching CNN NEWSROOM. We will be right back.
[01:54:54]
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HARRAK: Actress Eva Green arrived at London's high court on Monday. The French star is suing the producers of the movie "A Patriot" which was supposed to be made in 2019. She's demanding her fee even though the film was never made. Previously, Green starred in "Casino Royal" and "The Dreamers". White Lantern Films is countersuing Green claiming breach of contract.
We now know who will play Michael Jackson in a movie on the King of Pop.
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HARRAK: The late superstar's 26-year-old nephew, Jaafar Jackson, will portray him in the biopic "Michael" and Lion's Gate Studio says production will start later this year.
Well, after the news was released, Jaafar Jackson said in a tweet that he is both humbled and honored to bring his uncle's story to life.
And this wraps up this hour of CNN NEWSROOM.
I'm Laila Harrak.
Rosemary Church picks up our coverage after a quick break.
See you next time.
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