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Trump Speaks at Conservative Political Action Conference; Another Norfolk Southern Train Derails in Ohio; Many Still Stranded After Historic Snow in South Carolina; Ukraine Holds International War Crimes Conference; Walgreens Will Not Distribute Abortion Pill in 20 States; China's Legislature Convenes Annual Meeting in Beijing; El Salvador's New "Mega Prison" Gets First 2,000 Inmates. Aired 5-6a ET

Aired March 05, 2023 - 05:00   ET

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


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[05:00:30]

KIM BRUNHUBER, CNN INTERNATIONAL HOST: Hello, and welcome to all of you watching us here in the United States, Canada and all around the world, I'm Kim Brunhuber. Ahead on CNN Newsroom.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, (R) FORMER U.S. PRESIDENT: With you at my side, we will demolish the deep state.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BRUNHUBER: He's back and making a splash at CPAC. What Donald Trump had to say to the enthusiastic crowd and the thinly veiled swipe he took at a potential rival. Another train derails in Ohio just one month after the hazardous material spill in East Palestine. What residents are saying about the two incidents. And the battle over abortion now being waged in drugstores, what the decision by leading chain could mean for women across the U.S.

ANNOUNCER: Live from CNN Center, this is CNN Newsroom with Kim Brunhuber.

BRUNHUBER: Former U.S. President Donald Trump got a rapturous reception from the Conservative Political Action Conference in Maryland on Saturday and some momentum for his 2024 presidential campaign. Trump spoke for nearly two hours. He said he wouldn't drop out of the presidential race, even if he was indicted in the state or federal investigations he faces and he alluded to some familiar conspiracy theories. Here he is.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: I will totally obliterate the deep state. I will fire the unelected bureaucrats and shadow forces who have weaponized our justice system like it has never been weaponized before. Sick, these are sick people. And I will put the people back in charge of this country again, the people will be back in charge.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BRUNHUBER: And unscientific straw poll of CPAC attendees found 62% want him to be the Republican nominee next year. Only 20% back Florida Governor Ron DeSantis.

CNN U.S. National Correspondent Kristen Holmes is there at the conference and has this report.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KRISTEN HOLMES, CNN U.S. NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: For President Trump talking to a very enthusiastic crowd here at CPAC, he pitched himself for another trip to the Oval Office. He talked about how he wanted to obliterate the deep state. He took on the establishment, particularly Republicans. Take a listen.

TRUMP: We're not going back to people that want to destroy our great social security system. Even some of our own party, I wonder who that might be, that want to raise the minimum age of social security to 70, 75 or even 80 in some cases, and that are out to cut Medicare to a level that it will no longer be recognizable.

HOLMES: Now, that was a thinly veiled a jab at Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, who while he was in Congress suggested changes to those Social Security and Medicare programs. This is something Trump has gone after him a number of times over.

The Florida Governor has not entered the 2024 presidential race, but he is seen as Trump's most formidable opponent should he decide to run for president. But it was interesting as we walked around during the event for the last several days, this used to be the premier event for conservatives instead, it seems now like the Trump show, all of the speakers were Trump centric. They were supporters. They're people who wanted to see him in office in 2024. And it showcased really the deep divide within the Republican Party, particularly as we noted so many of these potential 2024 hopefuls decided to skip the event this year and it really set up what is expected to be a very ugly Republican primary. Kristen Holmes, National Harbor, Maryland.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BRUNHUBER: Meanwhile, in the criminal investigation into Trump's efforts to overturn his 2020 election loss, sources tell CNN the former President is seeking to block testimony from Mike Pence on matters he says are covered by executive privilege. Finance requests was submitted secretly in a sealed proceeding. It's not clear how long it will take the legal wrangling to play out.

Pence has already announced plans to fight his justice department subpoena. He says he's shielded by the Constitutions Speech and debate clause.

Later today, U.S. President Joe Biden will commemorate a singular moment in civil rights history when he travels to Selma, Alabama to mark the anniversary of Bloody Sunday. He was there in 1965 that riot police attacked a peaceful march as they crossed the Edmund Pettus Bridge into town.

Today the bridge is a potent symbol of the Civil Rights legacy. This will be Biden's third visit to Selma for the anniversary and his first as president. He most recently attended a ceremony in 2020 when he was running for president. Biden also participated in a Commemorative March in 2013 when he was Vice President.

[05:05:07]

One month after a toxic train derailment in East Palestine, Ohio, there's been another Norfolk Southern derailment in the state. It happened on Saturday in Springfield in the western part of Ohio several hours away from East Palestine. According to Norfolk Southern there were no injuries reported and no hazardous materials were involved. One witness described what he saw.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SHAWN HEATON, WITNESS: I was watching it and people are just sitting there and you could kind of see it like off the tracks, kicking up gravel and stuff. But then once the cars start coming off and going sideways and collapsing on each other, it was just time to go and that's an take off and you just got to see everybody going backwards down the road and getting out of there.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BRUNHUBER: Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg tweeted that he has been briefed by state and federal officials about the Springfield derailment. He noted that no hazardous material release has been reported and the Transportation Department continued to monitor the situation.

Now, in East Palestine, officials are still trying to restore confidence and calm, fears among local residents. Even as the cleanup of the trains toxic cargo continues. Polo Sandoval has the story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

POLO SANDOVAL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yeah, over a month since the derailment disaster in East Palestine, Ohio and the frustrations have not faded for many of the residents there. On Saturday, however, authorities offering an opportunity for those residents to visit the town's water treatment plan. The hope is to -- they hope to answer any questions and concerns that they may have.

The state, however, they continue to insist that all sampling of municipal water wells have shown no contaminants that were that are associated to last month's derailment. Over the coming days, a lot of the focus will also include farmers as Ohio's Department of Agriculture will meet with area farmers at this point, they say there's no reason to believe that any of the crops that may be planted or harvested in East Palestine are unsafe, but nonetheless, Norfolk Southern, the company involved in this derailment or at least being held responsible. They are being asked to develop a soil sampling plan for not just residential areas but also agricultural as well.

Meanwhile, the Department of Health has released the results of an assessment survey, health assessment survey, saying that residents completed an after chemical exposure survey that basically laid out any unusual symptoms that they were reporting or experiencing. They include headaches, anxiety, coughing, irritation, also burning of the skin. All of this information will be used by local state and federal officials to determine how the derailment may have had any kind of health effects on some of the residents there.

Meanwhile, the cleanup that is far from over in fact, in the last few days, the process of replacing all that damage track, the gun, it's a process that will -- they're removing the damaged track and then replacing the contaminated soil underneath before laying down some fresh track, a process that could, according to officials, last until the end of April. Polo Sandoval, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BRUNHUBER: The head of the National Transportation Safety Board says a train derailment like the one that happened there in East Palestine can absolutely happen again. And our group of bipartisan lawmakers on Capitol Hill are pushing to prevent a similar disaster. They're proposing a rail safety bill, they say will make the rail industry safer. Pennsylvania Senator Bob Casey is a co-sponsor of the bill and spoke to CNN earlier. Here he is.

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BOB CASEY, U.S. SENATE DEMOCRAT: I don't want people in Darlington, Pennsylvania or East Palestine, Ohio to think that this bill would somehow supplant what we should all do, federal, state and local right now to help the people and to hold Norfolk Southern accountable. But going forward, we have to have tougher -- much tougher safety requirements for any train carrying hazardous materials. That's one of the problems here, not enough safety requirements for that kind of hazardous material being transported.

Also, more inspections, better and tougher inspections of these rail companies, and really tough fines right now under the -- under federal law. You could only impose fines on a company like Norfolk Southern in the tens of thousands. They should be hit with if they're culpable. They should be hit with multimillion dollar fines at a minimum. And that's what this bill would provide. So tougher safety, more inspections, audits of federal programs that do this kind of monitoring and also much tougher fines.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BRUNHUBER: All right. I want to bring you some live pictures now. This is Athens, Greece and you're looking at massive protests following that deadly train crash. The station master of the center of Greece's deadly railway crash will appear in court later today. Remember, 57 people died when the passenger train collided head on with a freight train. Authority say at first the station master blamed the disaster on a technical fault but then later admitted to making a mistake. [05:10:05]

Earlier today, Greece's Prime Minister apologized, writing as prime minister, I owe everyone but above all, to the relatives of the victims, a big story, both personally and in the name of all those who ruled the country for years. We cannot, will not and must not hide behind human error. Now, it remains to be seen whether those words will bring an end to these protests that you're seeing right there.

After a series of powerful winter storms dumped historic snow in California, another storm system is moving in. Winter weather alerts are in places for several parts of the West and snows forecast for both the higher and lower elevations. The heaviest snowfall is expected across the Sierras where an additional one to five feet is possible by the end of the weekend.

Now, this heavy snowfall combined with wind gusts up to 55 miles an hour will lead to whiteout conditions and difficult driving conditions across the Mountain West.

Meanwhile, some residents in the mountains of Southern California are still buried under several feet of snow and facing a difficult situation as they're running out of food, medicine and gas. CNN's Camila Bernal has that story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CAMILA BERNAL, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: We are seeing progress today. We've seen a lot of crews, firefighters, officials from the county going into the mountain with heavy equipment to try to clean the roads. We know members of the National Guard are there as well. That is their priority trying to clear the roads so that residents can come in and out of the mountain. But as of now, officials are saying that this entire process will likely take about five more days. And that's where a lot of the frustration is coming from.

There are people that have been stuck in the mountain already for days. And they're being told to prepare for even more time at home without being able to access a lot of basic necessities. I spoke to one woman who was able to come down from the mountain. She came down she says in order to buy supplies to buy food, because there's so much snow on her roof that she's afraid it's going to collapse. The problem is, she's not allowed back into her home and officials are telling her you're going to have to wait about five days to get back in. So she was extremely frustrated, even in tears as she was explaining her situation. Here's what she told me.

ILIANA VARGAS, STRANDED RESIDENT: Basically what we're trying to do save our home. That's all we want to do. We want to get home. They should let us up there. We actually bought a lot of groceries yesterday. Even a restaurant ask us for stuff. We have tons of food that had to go to waste because we had nowhere to store it. They need food, some ladies need diapers, some people need medicine, some people are -- cannot -- cannot get their insulin on time. The pharmacies are closed. I mean, this is crazy up there. And then they're not letting us go up. BERNAL: And officials apologizing for how long this process is taking. But they even said look, we're also dealing with wolves of snow. It has not been easy and they're doing everything they can to help the people that truly need it. They're bringing in food even using helicopters and just trying to get to the needs of the people that are stuck up in the mountain. But again, they're asking for patience. They're saying that this is going to take a while. Camila Bernal, CNN, San Bernardino, California.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BRUNHUBER: Ukrainian soldier says every outcome is on the table in Bakhmut. And the U.S. so far hasn't supplied fighter jets to Ukraine. But now we're learning Ukrainian pilots are in the U.S. to check out how quickly they can master flying jets like that one.

Plus, China's National People's Congress is now underway in the Capitol with potential implications for the rest of the world while the latest from Beijing, and a live report coming up.

And later, Walgreens pharmacies limit the distribution of abortion medication while the reasons behind the move and the impact it could have on millions of Americans, coming up, please stay with us.

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[05:17:45]

BRUNHUBER: CNN is learning that two Ukrainian pilots are here in the U.S. being evaluated for possible training on American made fighter jets. Three sources briefed on the matter say the goal is to see how quickly those pilots would learn to fly F-16s and other aircraft. There's no indication at this time that flight training is actually underway.

And soon into reporters official describes the exchange as part of the ongoing military to military dialogue with Ukraine. Kyiv has been pushing to acquire Western fighter jets. But the U.S. and some of its allies have been skeptical about the idea and all this as fighting rages for the control of the Ukrainian city of Bakhmut.

Ukraine says it's still holding the line in Bakhmut despite Russia trying to make a final push to encircle the city. This video was posted on Saturday showing Ukrainian troops exchanging fire with Russians on the streets. When Ukrainian soldier says the only certain thing right now is the uncertainty.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): I don't know what is coming tomorrow, or even this evening. The situation is changing every minute. There might be shelling even now. No one knows what will happen tomorrow. We will see.

(END VIDEO CLIP) BRUNHUBER: Our Salma Abdelaziz is keeping an eye on developments in Ukraine and she joins me now from London. So Salma let's start with that battle for Bakhmut. What's the latest there?

SALMA ABDELAZIZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Ferocious battle for that city, Kim, where Ukrainian commanders say that Russian forces are hell bent on taking Bakhmut. They say for now they've been able to stabilize that frontline keeping Russian forces on the other side of body of water, small river and the city of Bakhmut itself still firmly under Ukrainian control but when commander seeing every single hour in that city is like how they've been able to repel multiple attacks but they keep on coming Russian shelling is near constant Ukrainian troops say, multiple artillery rockets are being used.

We have footage as well to show you. I think you're playing that on our screen now. These very tough, very fierce street to street battles between Ukrainian defenders and Moscow's troops and Wagner mercenaries on the ground who are getting lobbing everything they have to try to gain this city. For President Putin it would be a much-needed win after many, many losses in the last several months where Ukrainian forces were able to reclaim territory from the Kremlin's troops.

[05:20:16]

But it would be largely a symbolic victory for President Putin. The city holds very little strategic value. Yes, it does fall in that important Donbas regions, wedged between two major cities, Luhansk and Donetsk that are separatist control. So, it would expand that territory of control, that territory that was illegally annexed by President Putin. But again, very little strategic value there. That's why many are wondering why President Putin would expend so many resources to win the city but some arguing that this city, Bakhmut is important because Russia has made it important.

President Zelenskyy in the meanwhile, saying all options are on the table, even strategic withdrawal. But he absolutely does not want to back down from any Ukrainian land. Kim.

BRUNHUBER: Yeah, absolutely. And then in the meantime, Salma, it seems as though Ukraine has seen quite a few high-profile foreign visitors the past week or so. The latest, the Chief of the European Parliament, so what came out of that meeting in Lviv?

ABDELAZIZ: Yes, making an unannounced visit to Lviv, the President of the European Parliament. Now, this was in the context of the United for Justice Conference. What's important to know about this conflict and what's so interesting is that Ukrainian forces -- Ukrainian officials are simultaneously while conducting this war, while trying to regain territory are simultaneously trying to collect evidence they say, to prosecute war crimes that they allege Russia has committed on the ground.

Now, Ukraine's partners say they're going to help alongside Ukraine, alongside Kyiv to do this. That's why the European Parliament, President Roberta Metsola was there. Take a listen to what she said about holding Russia accountable. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ROBERTA METSOLA, EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT PRESIDENT: When we talk about peace, we need to talk about accountability. Whoever is responsible for these crimes needs to pay and that means that if we find jurisdiction, for the crime of aggression, then we need to find the legal means to do it. It is about bringing persons accountable, including Vladimir Putin to justice. Without that we will not have peace.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ABDELAZIZ: Now, Kyiv alongside its western partners is setting up a center in Hague, of course home to the International Criminal Court and what you're going to hear over and over again, from Ukrainian officials as they work to prosecute what they see as war crimes against Ukrainians. Which you're going to hear over and over again, is there can be no justice without -- sorry, there can be no peace without justice in Ukraine, Kim.

BRUNHUBER: All right. Thanks so much Salma Abdelaziz in London.

Well, the war on Ukraine is taking political brutality inside Russia to a whole new level, not that the Kremlin's crackdown on dissent has ever been anything less than harsh but as Matthew Chance reports, the suppression of political opposition is now surging.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: It takes a certain type of bravery to stand up to the criminal. Across the country, police using arrests and beatings to crush dissent against the Ukrainian. Some anti-war protesters even drafted into the army in a cruel punishment for pacifism.

Political opposition, always a risky business in Putin's Russia is now essentially outlawed, with prominent opposition leaders like Ilya Yashin recently sentenced to eight and a half years in jail for criticizing the conflict.

This will all end soon, he shakes in defiance, but there's little real reason for optimism. This was Vladimir Kara-Murza, another leading Russian opposition figure. In Moscow, back in 2015 after surviving a suspected poisoning at the hands of Kremlin agents, who was allegedly poisoned again in 2017 and survived that too. Only to be imprisoned last April on charges ranging from disobeying the police to treason.

The price of silence Kara-Murza wrote from jail was simply unacceptable. But the price of speaking out against Putin's Russia is extraordinarily high, too. Case in point, the former president of Georgia, the country lost a brief war with Russia in 2008.

MIKHEIL SAAKASHVILI, FORMER GEORGIAN PRESIDENT: My small nation will never give up freedom, will never give a square mile.

[05:25:00] CHANCE: Two years ago, Mikheil Saakashvili was imprisoned in Georgia and what his supporters say what trumped up charges. Now, this one- time Putin foe is at death's door, allegedly poisoned too and accusing Moscow of orchestrating his plight. The Kremlin rejects the allegation, but his family are adamant.

EDUARD SAAKASHVILI, SON OF FORMER GEORGIAN PRESIDENT: To put somebody in the state after just a year of imprisonment that's -- that was unexpected.

CHANCE: But for years Kremlin critics have been ruthlessly silenced. Like Anna Politkovskaya, Russia's most prominent investigative journalist until she was gunned down in her Moscow apartment building in 2006. Or Alexander Litvinenko, a former Russian FSB agent poisoned in London in the same year with a radioactive isotope. 2018, a former Russian spy Sergei Skripal, and his daughter were poisoned in Britain using a potent nerve agent, they survived.

Three years before, Russia's leading opposition figure Boris Nemtsov was shot dead within sight of the Kremlin. Of course, the Kremlin denies any connection to any crime. But exiled, jailed, poisoned or killed, is how so many of Putin's critics seem to end. Matthew Chance, CNN, London.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BRUNHUBER: Access to abortion medication is further limited in America. Ahead, why Walgreens pharmacies won't sell a government approved drug in 20 states.

Plus, anger and condemnation against Israel's right-wing government, we'll look at the controversial policies fueling weeks of protests. Stay with us.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

[05:30:16]

BRUNHUBER: And welcome back to all of you watching us here in the United States, Canada, and all around the world. I'm Kim Brunhuber. This is CNN Newsroom.

One of the largest pharmacy chains in the U.S. says it won't distribute abortion medication in 20 states. Walgreens has announced that mifepristone won't be offered in Republican led states where attorneys general have threatened legal action. The company's bowing to increased pressure from anti-abortion groups targeting the legality of the pills.

Now, according to the Guttmacher Institute and NGO which works to expand reproductive rights worldwide, abortion medication is legal in 31 states, but a Texas judge could soon blocked nationwide access to it if he reverses the government's approval of the drug. Here's how the White House reacted to Walgreens decision to restrict the pill.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) KARINE JEAN-PIERRE, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: This is all a part of a continued effort by anti-abortion extremists who want to use this arcane law to impose a door -- backdoor ban on abortion. The administration will continue to stand by the FDA expert judgment and approving and regulating medications. And in the face of barriers to access and concerns about safety of patients, health care providers and pharmacists. We will continue to support access to this critical medication within the limits of the law.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BRUNHUBER: I want to discuss this now with Rachel Rebouche, the Dean of Temple University's Beasley School of Law. Thanks so much for being here with us. So I understand a majority of abortions are now done using pills, not surgery and these drugs -- they're safer than surgical abortion. So Walmart's decision to stop distributing the medication in 20 states what effect could that have?

RACHEL REBOUCHE, TEMPLE UNIVERSITY BEASLEY SCHOOL OF LAW: So it's probably going to have pretty limited effect because most of those states ban all abortion, and that includes medication abortion, about four of those states do allow medication abortion, but Walgreens has taken the position that states like Kansas, which have had some legal turmoil over whether patients have to pick up pills directly from physicians, a law that's an is currently not enforce it, does that create too much uncertainty to seek certification in that state at the moment.

So I think that in those four states, Walgreens might be playing it a little safe. But we also need to remember that certification is a new process. It's a process that involves a lot of moving parts. And they've now been threatened by legislators in Kansas, that they would seek to apply the law that the White House mentioned, the Comstock Act against them where they seek certification in the state.

BRUNHUBER: So I'm wondering about the options here, then. So what are the laws when it comes to interstate commerce? Could a woman purchase -- purchase it from another state other than the one in which she lives?

REBOUCHE: She absolutely could. People are traveling or traveling to states to seek abortion, through medication, through procedures, medication abortions, a little tricky, because it's a two-drug regimen. So you could pick it up in one state and bring it back home and take it in another. And so I think we might see states try to target people who are bringing medications into the state that they receive legally from out of state. But there's no ban at the moment, no state has tried to ban people picking up medication abortion across state lines.

BRUNHUBER: Yeah, I guess that could still come. But I spoke in the introduction about this major case, that's before a federal judge in Texas that could ban a major abortion drug. Some activists have said that that could have a greater impact even than the Dobbs decision. What are the stakes here? REBOUCHE: The stakes are high, but the court is limited. So this court, the decision could drop any day, at the court rules at mifepristone, the first drug and a medication abortion was not approved correctly by the FDA, it could seek to try to make -- to ban it by saying that the FDA shouldn't have approved it and it's an unapproved drugs. But what people should remember is that even if that happens, only the parties to that case, the non-generic manufacturer of the drug and the FDA are bound to the court decision. The generic manufacturer is not providers in other parts of the country, they're not bound by the decision.

We'd really then need to look to the FDA because the FDA has a lot of enforcement discretion, and only it by statute can withdraw a drug from the market. So it would be to the FDA to decide how broadly to enforce a decision like that, and it could use its enforcement discretion to not enforce it broadly at all.

Still, the court could issue a ruling that seeks to apply that very old law from 1873 that I mentioned, that's not been and use for 100 years, 100 plus years and if that happens that could create conversation among courts about how that law should be interpreted. It's been interpreted narrowly, it's not been in use, it would really be a surprising step forward to spring back into force. But that's essentially I think what that case tries to tee up.

[05:35:20]

BRUNHUBER: All right, we'll be watching that for sure. Most of the laws so far, they've been targeting providers, not the actual women using them but we have seen some states consider targeting women, sort of as if they've been, you know, are taking hard drugs, for instance. So take us through some of the other efforts to limit abortion that you're seeing.

REBOUCHE: I think that's right. Some of the other efforts have included prosecuting people using ordinary criminal laws of fetal endangerment and child neglect. We've seen people arrested for taking medication abortion on their own, ordering online, and so states might use their prosecution powers to try to target those people who are seeking out medication abortion because no matter what the law says, many people are seeking medication abortion online through a group called Aid Access that will mail medication abortion from out of the country into any state whether abortion is legal or not. So we might see states use anywhere, any number of laws to target that behavior.

BRUNHUBER: Yeah, such a vital issue for millions and millions of women out there. Thanks so much for your analysis. Rachel Rebouche, I appreciate it.

REBOUCHE: Thank you.

BRUNHUBER: Tough talk aimed at Taiwan from China's outgoing premier, that and much more as the Chinese National Congress gets down to business while live report from Beijing next, after a short break.

Plus, El Salvador begins transferring 1000s of prisoners to a new penitentiary, amid a controversial crackdown on crime. We'll have the details coming up. Please, stay with us.

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[05:40:01]

BRUNHUBER: I want to take you back to Athens, Greece. Now, these images coming to us just moments ago of the massive protests following that deadly train crash. A few minutes ago, those protests turned violent as you can see there with a small group of protesters clashing with police.

Remember, 57 people died when the passenger train collided head on with a freight train. Authorities say, at first the stationmaster blamed the disaster on a technical fault, the leader admitted to making a mistake.

Earlier today Greece's Prime Minister apologized writing, "as prime minister, I owe everyone but above all, to the relatives of the victims, a big story both personally and in the name of all those who ruled the country for years. We cannot, will not and must not hide behind human error."

Again, we're seeing pictures from just a minute ago from Athens, Greece. Protests turning violent as protesters clashed with police anger building over that deadly train crash. We'll have more later on.

Today marks the opening session of China's National People's Congress, its first since Xi Jinping sealed his place atop the Communist Party back in October. But friends and adversaries of China are very keen to see who rises or falls in power this week and which policies are formally adopted. China's premier who is expected to step down after 10 years in the post delivered an opening address on the state of the country, and Beijing's continued hardline towards Taiwan. Here he is.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

VOICE OF LI KEQIANG, OUTGOING CHINESE PREMIER (through translator): We should persist in implementing our party's overall policy on the new era on resolving the Taiwan question. Firmly adhere to the one China principle and the 1992 consensus and firmly take resolute steps to oppose Taiwan independence and promote reunification. We should promote the peaceful development of cross strait relations and advanced process to the motherland's peaceful reunification. Compatriots on both sides of the Taiwan Strait are one family bound by blood. We should advance economic and cultural exchanges in cooperation.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BRUNHUBER: Now, those tough words were backed up by a major boost in defense spending. CNN Beijing Bureau Chief Steven Jiang is tracking all this for us from the Chinese capital. So Steven, that increase in defense spending, making plenty of headlines, but a lot of the focus there in China is on China's economic growth targets. So take us through the highlights. STEVEN JIANG, CNN BEIJING BUREAU CHIEF: That's right, officially they have unveiled their target for the GDP growth this year would be, "around 5%." That's a relatively modest figure by Chinese standard. Remember, last year, the government said draconian zero COVID policy really wreaked havoc on this economy. But after that initial chaotic and deadly exit from that policy in December, we have seen a strong rebound in this economy with much of the disruptions to the supply chains and industries faded away by late January. And the latest official data is showing some very strong numbers in manufacturing, in services and construction.

So there have been some expectations that they could set this goal higher this year, something closer to 6%. And the fact the gool is only, "5%" may be a reflection of the government's hesitancy in terms of how sustainable this rebound is and also perhaps their realization of the strong headwinds. They continue to face both at home and abroad domestically, of course, they're faced with a severe downturn in the real estate sector and also persistently high youth unemployment that internationally, you have the war in Ukraine and also rising interest rates everywhere, not to mention growing U.S. restrictions on technology transfer to one to China.

But whether or not it's the economic growth target and spending proposed spending increase. One thing is clear that is the nearly 3000 legislators they're going to endorse everything in front of them by the communist leadership under Xi Jinping, because as you mentioned, this is the role of these lawmakers are very different from their counterpart in liberal democracies. They are here to be part of the political pageantry and to rubber stamp decisions that have already be made by the communist leadership under Xi Jinping. Kim.

BRUNHUBER: All right, thanks so much Steven Jiang in Beijing. For the ninth straight week, protesters in Israel have staged massive rallies against their country's far-right government.

In Tel Aviv, some demonstrators breached a barricade and temporarily blocked the highway before they were dispersed by police. Authorities say more than 150,000 people marched through that city on Saturday. Most were protesting against the Prime Minister's plan to weaken the independence of the judiciary. Some are also there to condemn Israeli settlers for attacking a Palestinian town.

Israel's finance minister said last week that the town "needs to be erased" but he later walked back his comments, say the Prime Minister thanked him for taking his words back.

[05:45:00]

Earlier CNN spoke with the opposition to Israel's government with Aaron David Miller, a former U.S. State Department, Middle East negotiator. And we asked him what was behind these large protests. Here he is.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

AARON DAVID MILLER, FORMER U.S. STATE DEPARTMENT, MIDDLE EAST NEGOTIATOR: That protests are unprecedented in size and scope and intensity and in duration. So that's new. Israel's never had a government like this. Two of its ministers are proudly and openly homophobic, racist, anti-Democrats, and you have a Prime Minister who wants to use the judicial override that estates to undermine the power of the Supreme Court and favorite the legislature in order to figure out a way to beat his trot ongoing trial for bribery, fraud and breach of trust.

And there are other motives as well that serve the interests of his coalition partners, someone who uses a judicial override in order to pass legislation that would find a way to permanently bind the West Bank to Israel proper. So there's a lot at stake here. And the fact that you have one of the ministers Itamar Ben-Gvir is the Minister of National Security with broad authority over the police also means that you have new and unprecedented tactics on the part of the police to quell these demonstrations. So, it's combustible, and I suspect it's not going to end unless a compromise can be found.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BRUNHUBER: El Salvador has started to transfer 1000s of prisoners mostly suspected gang members to its newly opened mega prison. The facility considered to be the largest in the Americas as part of the President's controversial crackdown on crime. But human rights groups are criticizing it. CNN's Rafael Romo has more.

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RAFAEL ROMO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Stripped down to their boxers and barefoot, they're forced to run with their hands behind their back or neck. Up on a rival they're leading to the new facility handsome feet in shackles. This is how the government of El Salvador transferred the first group of 2000 prisoners to its new mega prison with capacity for 40,000 unveiled a month ago. The transfer was shown widely on national TV and social media. The message is unmistakable gang members will get the iron fist treatment.

Salvadoran Justice and Security Minister Gustavo Villatoro said his government won't stop until the last member of what he called terrorist cells is caught.

The game crackdown started last March when Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele declared a state of emergency with the support of his country's Legislative Assembly, which allowed the government to suspend constitutional rights including freedom of assembly, the tension of no more than 72 hours without being charged and wiretapping by warrant only.

NAYIB BUKELE, SALVADORAN PRESIDENT (through translator): We're going to intensify this war against the gangs. And if they thought that the force of the state had been unleashed on these criminals, well, now they're going to really see what it means to unless the force of the state on these criminals.

ROMO: Amnesty International's Erika Guevara-Rosas calls the decision to publicize the prisoner transfer, a media circus and the new Salvadoran mega prison, a horror jail.

ERIKA GUEVARA-ROSAS, AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL (through translator): By basing a policy on the dismantling of the rule of law, the only thing that's generated is a perfect storm. That means the human rights of the entire Salvadoran population are put at risk.

ROMO: Families of many of the detain have been protesting for months, claiming their loved ones have been arrested and accused of being gang members simply for being in the wrong place at the wrong time.

(Voice-over): My daughter has never done anything wrong, this mother says. She's always been a good and humble woman. The wildly popular Bukele denies accusations of human rights abuses and due process violations and says sharp drops in homicides and crimes like extortion prove his policies are working.

But human rights groups and the families of many of the detain say, Bukele's rush to try to arrest his way out of a Salvador's endemic gang problem is creating new innocent victims. Rafael Romo, CNN Atlanta.

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BRUNHUBER: Some of Tunisia's neighbors are repatriating their citizens living in the North African nation after a controversial statement by Tunisia's President, Guinea, Mali, Gabon and Ivory Coast are helping their nationals return home. The Tunisian president described illegal immigration from Sub-Saharan Africa into his country as, "a criminal enterprise hatched beginning of the century to change the demographic composition of Tunisia." The aim he said is to turn Tunisia into a country that is neither Arab nor Muslim. The African Union call the comments racial and shocking. We'll be right back.

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BRUNHUBER: The late drug kingpin Pablo Escobar's exotic pets could soon be Colombia's latest export. A local governor says there are plans to send 70 of the so-called cocaine hippos to sanctuaries in Mexico and India. Escobar created a private zoo at his ranch in Colombia, and included just one male hippo and three females but in the years since their numbers have ballooned, they're now seen by many as an invasive species. Now, hippos aren't native to India and Mexico, but it's hoped these countries can control the hippo population.

Well, you never know what you'll find at Walmart. A Penn State researcher found this outside of an Arkansas Walmart in 2012. He misidentified at the time but recently discovered, it was actually a Jurassic-era insect from a family that predates the dinosaurs, a species of giant lacewing thought to be extinct. It makes his discovery the first sighting of a giant lacewing ever recorded in Arkansas is now on display at the frost entomological Museum at Penn State. Pretty pumps, please step to the side it's time to shine a light on men's most unattractive best friends, the world's ugliest dog contest is taking applications until June 21. According to his website, the competition celebrates imperfections that make all dogs special and unique, plenty of imperfections there. Last year's winner was an almost hairless 17-year-old named Mr. Happy Face. Organizers say the contest is really about having fun with beautiful animals. They're loaded with character, actually kind of comical.

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Well, it's a question even Siri, Alexa, and Google can't answer at least for now. And that question is, what time is it on the moon? The European Space Agency is hoping to answer that by possibly giving the moon its own time zone. The ESA says an international effort is being launched to come up with a lunar reference time, an accurate Moon time zone will become increasingly important over the next decade. That's because dozens of missions are planned for the moon and beyond.

And finally, Sydney Harbour Bridge in Australia, transformed into a rainbow of humanity. Earlier today, an estimated 50,000 people marched across the famous span. They were celebrating the final day of the World Pride Festival. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese was there. Here he is.

ANTHONY ALBANESE, AUSTRALIAN PRIME MINISTER: This is just a great celebration that symbolic of bringing people together. The unity, that's what a bridge does. And over the last 17 days, it has been a great moment of unity and celebrating the diversity in Australian society and also sending a message to the world that were enriched by.

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BRUNHUBER: Sydney is the first city in the southern hemisphere to host the international event, was started 23 years ago and it coincided with the fifth anniversary of marriage, equality, legislation in Australia.

Well, that wraps this hour of CNN Newsroom. I'm Kim Brunhuber. You can follow me on Twitter at Kimbrunhuber. For viewers in North America, CNN This Morning is next, the rest of the world, it's Connecting Africa.

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