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U.S. Launches Retaliatory Airstrike After Deadly Drone Attack In Syria; U.S. Lawmakers Grill TikTok CEO Over Privacy Concerns; 1 Million March In France, Unions Call New Pension Protests; Israel Passes Law Shielding Netanyahu From Being Removed As Prime Minister; Netanyahu Doubles Down on Plans to Weaken Israel's Judiciary; Prince William Meets Troops And Refugees in Poland; U.S. Lawmakers Grill TikTok CEO over Privacy Concerns; Trudeau Lays Out China Approach Ahead of Biden Meeting; Interview with Canadian PM Justin Trudeau; Pyongyang Says it's Tested Underwater Nuclear Attack Drone; World Athletics Bans Transgender Women Athletes, Lifts Ban over Doping Violations. Aired 1-2a ET
Aired March 24, 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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[01:00:33]
JOHN VAUSE, CNN ANCHOR: Hello everyone, I'm John Vause, ahead here on CNN Newsroom. The U.S. carries out airstrikes in Syria, retaliation for a deadly drone attack. Also this.
Story on TikTok and then there's a tourist bungee jumping in Thailand. Don't try this at home. We'll tell you happens in a minute.
UNIDENTIIFED MALE: Live from CNN Center, this is CNN Newsroom with John Vause.
VAUSE: We'll have those stories in a moment. But first, the U.S. has launched a retaliatory airstrikes after a deadly attack on U.S. personnel in Syria. The Pentagon says the precision strike of a group affiliated with Iran's Revolutionary Guard in eastern Syria. The move came after a drone attack Thursday, targeting a facility used by U.S. personnel in northeastern Syria, killing a U.S. contractor who didn't six other Americans. CNN's Oren Liebermann told me a short time ago U.S. intelligence has identified the drones country of origin.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
OREN LIEBERMANN, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: The Pentagon says the drone is likely of Iranian origin, which suggests it would be an Iranian proxy in the region that carried out this attack. And that's why we see the follow on action from the United States carrying out what it called a precision strike, a proportionate attack against forces affiliated with Iran Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.
According to a Pentagon statement, the U.S. quote, took proportionate and deliberate action intended to limit the risk of escalation and minimize casualties. General Erik Kurilla, the commander of U.S. Central Command said if there were further Iranian attacks on U.S. forces, there might be further U.S. responses. In a short statement this evening he said we are postured for scalable options in the face of any additional Iranian attacks.
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VAUSE: A day after the French president said he wanted an increase in the retirement age by the end of the year, more than a million people turned out in protest.
Civil unrest has been building since the beginning of the year, when Macron announced plans to overhaul funding of state pensions. Most demonstrations were peaceful. But if you saw violent clashes at least 80 people were arrested according to government numbers.
Many are angry Macron's Prime Minister forced the law through Parliament by using a constitutional loophole, which meant no vote was held. She wrote this on Twitter. It is a right to demonstrate and make your disagreements known. The violence and destruction that we have seen today are unacceptable.
Labor unions that were convinced they had the support and the momentum to win this test of wills. Listen to one teacher who took part in Thursday strikes and protests.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GABRIEL BONNARD, HISTORY TEACHER (through translator): We have a completely illegitimate government which is almost defeated, which is already on its knees so the energy is there. We know we're going to when the government no longer has any strings so we know we're going to when. There's no need to look for energy. We have it.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: Here's CNN's Melissa Bell report again from Paris.
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MELISSA BELL, CNN CORRESPONDENT (through translator): More determined than ever, they set off. For a ninth, official day of protest after a week of unplanned ones. The scuffles almost nightly ever since the French government announced it would raise the retirement age from 62 to 64 without a parliamentary vote.
The government narrowly surviving two no-conference votes on Monday, but determined nonetheless.
EMMANUEL MACRON, FRENCH PRESIDENT (through translator): We will not tolerate any flare ups. We will make sure that life is as normal as possible in spite of those who are blocking normal life.
BELL: The very next morning normal life blocked from Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport to the country's oil refineries and depots, weeks of strikes becoming painfully obvious of gas stations and on the increasingly smelly streets of Paris. The numbers on the streets on Thursday also aimed at getting the government to buckle.
[01:05:00]
ADRIEN LIENARD, STUDENT UNION MEMBER: Historically, French people are always protesting favor goods or system this is why we have a good social system. This is why we have a good social system.
BELL: A battle of wills, neither side seems prepared to back down from. Melissa Bell, CNN, Paris.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: Dominic Thomas is a European Affairs commentator, and he joins us from Los Angeles. There's months of protests leading up to Emmanuel Macron TV interview on Wednesday. And as the government pushes on with this plan, there was always going to be more and more protests, but to have more than a million people on the streets on Thursday, 3 million according to one of the bigger labor unions, more than 100,000 in Paris. I wonder if Macron's demeanor and defiance during that interview? Were kind of like a multiplier effect?
DOMINIC THOMAS, CNN EUROPEAN AFFAIRS COMMENATOR: Yes, John, I think it absolutely was. I mean, we know that this has been a building. And I've been going back to the era before COVID, even with the legacy of the yellow jackets, then the 2022 election where he lost his majority. So he knew that this kind of controversial legislation was going to be an uphill battle.
And in that interview Wednesday, he showed absolutely no empathy. He just stuck to his economic argument. And to the argument that this was a necessary -- that was necessary that it was good for the country, in other words that he knows best.
And ultimately, what we're seeing from the street is that people disagree with that. And ultimately, he went into this with an opposition that was not united. Now, what we can see is an opposition that is completely united, not so much against his reforms, but actually against Emmanuel Macron as a president, John.
VAUSE: Yes, and the cities with violence actually erupted. There are accusations of police brutality. I want you to listen to the leader of the French Communist Party.
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FABIEN ROUSSEL, FRENCH COMMUNIST PARTY LEADER (through translator): In a couple of days we have gone from the debate on pensions to violence. And a couple of days we have gone from peaceful demonstrations to baton blows. We have gone from mobilizations inside companies to broken jaws. This is extremely serious, and the President is behaving like a thug and the Republic. This is why we are calling to continue the movement.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: OK, Macron the thug others have compared macron to King Louie XVI to (INAUDIBLE) King who was beheaded. Many protests is wanting Macron suffer the same fate. Is France heading towards sort of widespread civil unrest?
THOMAS: Well, I mean, there's a lot of that, obviously, that, you know, the indicators are there, John. I mean, you know, what's interesting is, of course, they know that Emmanuel Macron is term will end in 2027. I mean, that may see it seem a long way off.
But ultimately, what's I think ironic about this situation is that the Upper House, the Senate, voted in favor of this, which of these reforms, it was the lower house where Emmanuel Macron was unable to get the support that he needed, and ultimately then pushed it through with Article 49.3, but then ultimately, his government then survived two votes of no-confidence, right. So it's an interesting kind of situation.
Now, we're in a semi presidential Constitutional Republic here. And it's really less the office of the president that's at risk. It's his government, that at the end of the day, John, if Emmanuel Macron was to push for legislative elections, and not think that the configuration in Parliament would change in any way in his favor. And even if he wants to reshuffled his cabinet, or ultimately asked his Prime Minister, I don't see a president that is willing here to back down on his legislative agenda.
And at the end of the day, that will therefore mean that their focus will remain on him and on opposition to his to his legislative agenda, John.
But I think we also need to start looking to Emmanuel Macron, his own party, to his cabinet, and to those elected representatives of his movement and office party who are going to become going to come under increasing pressure from their own constituents moving forward.
And then ultimately, what people in his party will be arguing is that they will have to be a candidate in 2027. And is it worth the risk of this particular party being essentially obliterated, because of the way it's handled this? Or is there an opportunity here to kind of go about rebuilding by 2027. And that may require Emmanuel Macron to back down in order to mitigate that kind of damage.
But until he does, there's no way in which these kinds of tensions are going to dissolve, and we're just going to see it growing exponentially, John.
VAUSE: Yes, it's been growing so far. And as you say, we'll continue to grow. Dominic, thanks so much being with us. Appreciate it.
THOMAS: Thank you, John.
VAUSE: To Washington now where there's growing support among U.S. lawmakers for a ban on the popular social media app TikTok not just on government devices, but for everyone. The company's CEO was grilled on Capitol Hill for more than five hours Thursday. They said the app is a Chinese government tool to spy on Americans or they said his answers were evasive. It was combative to say the least. CNN's Manu Raju has our report.
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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Your platform should be banned.
MANU RAJU, CNN CHIEF CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voiceover): TikTok CEO Shou Chew getting a bipod berating.
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KAT CAMMACK, U.S. HOUSE REPUBLICAN: You damn well know that you cannot protect the data and security of this committee or the 150 million users of your app, because it is an extension of the CCP.
SHOU ZI CHEW, TIKTOK CEO: can I respond? Sure.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No. We're going to move on.
RAJU: In testimony that spanned hours to try to convince the House panel that the popular social media app is not exploited by the Chinese Communist Party, and that its parent company ByteDance is a private firm with 60 percent of it owned by global investors.
U.S. user data he maintained is walled off by what TikTok calls Project Texas, something the CEO argues cannot be accessed by the Chinese government.
CHEW: Now that's what we've been doing for the last two years, building what amounts to a firewall that seals off out protected U.S. user data from unauthorized foreign access. The bottom line is this. American data stored on American soil by an American company overseen by American personnel.
RAJU: But lawmakers are not buying yet.
FRANK PALLONE, U.S. HOUSE DEMOCRAT: I still believe that the Beijing communist government will still control and have the ability to influence what you do and so this idea this Project Texas is simply not acceptable.
CHEW: I have seen no evidence that the Chinese government has access to that data they have never asked us, we have not provided.
ANNA ESHOO, U.S. HOUSE DEMOCRAT: I find that actually preposterous.
RAJU: TikTok is used by more than a billion monthly active users worldwide, including 150 million in the United States. But U.S. officials believe the Chinese government can infiltrate by dens, since it is under its jurisdiction, even though there is no public evidence that the Chinese have used it to spy on Americans.
NEAL DUNN, U.S. HOUSE REPUBLICAN: So I asked you again, Mr. Chew, has ByteDance spied on American citizens.
CHEW: I don't think the spying is the right way to describe it.
RAJU: The Biden administration wants TikTok's Chinese owners to sell their stakes in the company something the Chinese government opposes.
CHEW: TikTok is a subsidiary of ByteDance which is founded by a Chinese founder.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And ByteDance is a Chinese company?
CHEW: ByteDance owns many businesses that operate in China.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Is it or is it not a Chinese company?
CHEW: Congressman, the way we look at it, it was founded by Chinese so ---
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No, no, no. I'm not asking how you look at it.
RAJU: But lawmakers also attacking the content on the app, including disinformation and violent videos, even showing some that encourage suicide.
GUS BILIRAKIS, U.S. HOUSE REPUBLICAN: Your technology is literally leading to death.
CHEW: Congressman, I'll just like to respectfully if you don't mind, I would just like to start by saying it's devastating to hear about the news of yes, a father myself, this is disturbing.
BILIRAKIS: Sir, yes or no.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VAUSE: Glenn Gerstell is served as general counsel for the NSA, the National Security Agency. Right now he's a senior adviser at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. Thanks for being with us.
GLENN GERSTELL, FORMER GENERAL COUNSEL, NATIONAL SECURITY AGENCY: Thanks. Thank you.
VAUSE: So this hearing went for what five hours and almost right out of the gate. Representative Cathy McMorris-Rodgers said this.
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CATHY MCMORRIS-RODGERS (R-WA): Your platform should be banned.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: Did you get the feeling they'd already made it their minds here?
GERSTELL: Well, at least some of the members of Congress have. It was interesting that there was almost unanimity in their approach to TikTok, which is very adversarial, very hostile, frankly, not really open very much to hearing what TikTok had to say.
VAUSE: Yes, it takes up CEO, he put forward his case. He tried to explain what was going on and how he had his company plans to protect user data and protect it all. Here he is. Listen to this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CHEW: There are more than 150 million Americans who love our platform. And we know we have a responsibility to protect them. We will firewall protect the U.S. data from unwanted foreign access.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: And just to use his own words there, TikTok and its parent company ByteDance, the foreigners with the unwanted access right now?
GERSTELL: Exactly, I don't think TikTok really at all accomplish what they wanted to do at this hearing, which was to blunt the efforts of members of Congress to paint them as a as an almost evil organ of the Chinese Communist Party.
The prepared statement by TikTok CEO was a powerful one, and it set forth some of the steps they've taken, some of the ways they've made efforts to minimize data possibility that data could be siphoned off to China to minimize the possibility of disinformation coming from China. They took great pains in their prepared statement to say how they -- TikTok was an American company separated from its Chinese parent.
And so all the prepared things were the right things. But the hearing itself from TikTok's point of view was, I think, nothing less than a disaster. They failed to recognize the level of hostility and the unanimity of opinion among the members of the House Energy and Commerce Committee. It was unanimous, Republicans and Democrats and I think they failed to acknowledge that and say, Look, we understand the concerns we hear you.
[01:15:00]
We hear you we understand we'll need to do a better job. We're prepared to work with you.
VAUSE: Compared to Facebook or Twitter or Instagram, is TikTok just in of itself a bigger threat, does it -- could it do potentially more harm in any way than those other big tech giants?
GERSTELL: The simple fact of the matter is that almost all of these big social media platforms, Facebook, YouTube, Instagram, Snapchat, TikTok itself, all collect vast amounts of user data. And they do that because that's their business model. Their business model is to learn all sorts of information about each user and feed him or her the videos or content they want, all to get more and more advertising. TikTok had almost $7 billion of U.S. advertising last year.
VAUSE: What will be the ripple effects if the U.S. government's forces TikTok out of the U.S. market or forces the company to sell? What happens then?
GERSTELL: Well, it's not at all clear they could be successful. But even assuming they were successful, the ripple effects are very significant. First of all, from a sort of international public relations point of view, I don't think that makes the United States look good. China is the place where YouTube is banned, where the Wall Street Journal is banned, The New York Times, Facebook, Google, WhatsApp, et cetera. That's the country that has an authoritarian model and is seen around the world as having go to third that authoritarian model. In fact, it even bans TikTok in the country. There's a censored version of the app in in China.
And if the U.S. starts banning social media apps, because it doesn't like them, we start to look just a little bit admittedly, but it's a slippery slope, we start to look like those countries, at least in the eyes of other countries around the world, who will say, Gee, America says it's open and democratic. And yet here they are banning an app looks a little bit like some authoritarian countries.
So I don't think that's good internationally. Domestically, it starts us down potentially a tiny step. But it is a step towards taking action against social media platforms and online expressions of speech that the government doesn't like, and that's a rather dangerous slope to go down.
VAUSE: Well, the Congressional Representative from Alabama, Gary Palmer, he referenced an interview on CNN back in December when TikTok's Vice President Michael Beckerman. He's part of it.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JAKE TAPPER, CNN HOST: Do you acknowledge that the Chinese government has these Uyghurs and others and concentrated concentration camps?
MICHAEL BECKERMAN, TIKTOK VICE PRESIDENT: Well, it's not something that I focus on.
TAPPER: What do you mean it's not something you focus on? You work for a Chinese government company and the Chinese are accused of concentration camps and ethnic genocide.
BECKERMAN: You can you can look out you can find all this content on TikTok.
TAPPER: Why won't you acknowledge that? I mean --
BECKERMAN: I'm just not I'm just not an expert on what's happening in China. So it's not an area that I'm focusing on.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: How telling was that moment with regards to the possible influence the Chinese government has over this company even at a distance.
GERSTELL: So it's certainly true that TikTok wants to present itself as completely separate and independent from the Chinese government. And as a probably as a pure sort of technical corporate matter it is. But the fact of the matter is that under Chinese law, China, the People's Republic of China has the ability under domestic Chinese law to go to ByteDance, the corporate parent, and demand cooperation for intelligence purposes, which could include obtaining user data from its subsidiaries, namely TikTok, and it could also include pushing disinformation altering the content algorithms. So there's a genuine concern there about the connection.
VAUSE: Glenn, thank you very much being with us. You've got some great insights here. We really appreciate it. Thank you.
GERSTELL: OK, thank you.
VAUSE: Take care. It's just after 1:00 p.m. Friday in Beijing, and there is now a response to the potential TikTok banned by the United States. CNN's Anna Coren live in Hong Kong with those details. What are they saying?
ANNA COREN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, John. Strong that reaction from the Chinese government even before TikTok CEO faced a five-hour grilling from U.S. lawmakers in his first congressional hearing over the fate of TikTok in the United States. Hours before the hearing, China's commerce ministry spokesperson told the media that it would firmly oppose any forced sale of Tiktok, which is of course, what the Biden administration has demanded if the social media app is to continue operating in the US.
The Chinese government as we know can veto any sale it considers TikTok's algorithms and technology as we just heard, to be sensitive and critical to its national interest. But let's have a listen to China's commerce ministry spokesperson.
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SHU JUETING, CHINESE MINISTRY OF COMMERCE SPOKESPERSON (through translator): Ignoring the products and services themselves, and only proceeding from the identity of foreign investors. Forcing the sale of TikTok will seriously damage the confidence of investors from all over the world, including China, who invest in the United States.
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COREN: Now TikTok CEO Zhou Zi Chew repeatedly tried to allay national security concerns about the popular Chinese owned app. As we know it has 150 million monthly users In the US. He said, TikTok was an independent company that it wasn't influenced by China. He also tried in his testimony to distance himself from TikTok and China's stressing that he's in fact Singaporean. He lives in Singapore with his wife, who was born in Virginia, with their two children.
And that is, of course, the base for TikTok headquarters, you know, didn't really hear that from Congress to Congress and the lawmakers that yesterday but he also mentioned that he attended, you know, Harvard Business School, let's take a listen to Chew addressing some concerns.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CHEW: I would also like to talk about national security concerns that you have raised, that we take very, very seriously. Let me start by addressing a few misconceptions about ByteDance of which we are a subsidiary.
ByteDance is not owned or controlled by the Chinese government. It's a private company.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COREN: Now John, TikTok is likely to challenge any attempt to ban the app when the Trump administration tried back in 2020. TikTok was ultimately successful in crushing that ban. John.
VAUSE: Anna, thank you. Anna Coren live for us there in Hong Kong.
Russia is all about efforts to take the Ukrainian city of Bakhmut appears to have peaked may soon come to an end opening the way for a Ukrainian counteroffensive.
A senior Ukrainian general says Russian forces in Bakhmut have taken heavy casualties in recent months. And Ukraine though says there are still hundreds of attacks daily by Russian troops across the eastern frontline including Bakhmut.
And with the warmer weather and firmer soil, less mud, the leader of the Wagner mercenaries says Moscow can now deploy heavy weapons. Meantime, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy visited an energy facility in the Kherson region Thursday. He also addressed the European Council from a train saying Ukraine could win the war this year but under certain conditions.
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VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY, UKRAINIAN PRESIDENT (through translator): If there is no delay or stagnation in our cooperation. If our efforts are decisively direct towards Ukraine's victory then the victory will be already this year. Time matters not only months and weeks, but also days. The faster we act together, the more lies we save.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: One of the most dangerous jobs right now in Ukraine is farmer. Russian soldiers have planted a countless number of landmines and ever present threat to farmlands long after Russian forces have retreated. CNN's Ivan Watson spent time with some farmers who tell him they don't have a choice, but to put their lives in danger every day.
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IVAN WATSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voiceover): Vast stretches of Ukraine's famously fertile farmland, pockmarked with craters and the tail fins of unexploded rockets. Long after Russian and Ukrainian soldiers move on, they leave behind another deadly threat just below the surface.
So Alexandr (ph) is brought me here to see something that's actually frankly, a little uncomfortable because right over here on the side of the road, or I don't know, maybe 10 would appear to be tank mines. My guide is a local farmer named Alexandr Hadrliyok (ph).
WATSON (on camera): OK, we've got more anti-tank mines here. You can see there's one, two, three, four, five anti-tank mines right here on the side of the road.
He says I brought them out of the field and place them right here.
WATSON (voiceover): This 69-year-old farmer says he's desperate to plant seeds before spring, but can't because his fields are littered with landmines, some of which he found with this metal detector, and dug out with his own hands.
WATSON (on camera): He said I was afraid but I need to plant these fields.
WATSON (voiceover): Both the Russian and Ukrainian military's used landmines. Some designed to take out 40 ton tanks.
MAIRI CUNNINGHAM, HALO TRUST: Lifting anti-tank mines is extremely dangerous. There's often anti lift devices designed specifically to kill and injure people who try to do that.
WATSON: Mairi Cunningham of the demining charity Halo Trust says Ukraine is now littered with a terrifying variety of explosive devices.
CUNNINGHAM: We're seeing anti-vehicle mines or we're seeing anti- personnel mines and personnel binging and fragmentation mines on trip wires and grenades on trip wires and we're also seeing cluster munitions.
WATSON: The Ukrainian military estimates nearly a third of the country is now contaminated with explosive devices, but clearing them is slow and dangerous work.
[01:25:05]
And dangerous work and the war is still being actively fought, littering the countryside with new explosives every day.
Ukraine is one of the world's great bread baskets. Every week it seems there are reports of farmers like this man, badly wounded in a blast while trying to plant his fields. Alexandr Hadrliyok (ph). says he lost all of last year's harvest due to the Russian invasion. The fighting also destroyed his office silos and millions of dollars worth of farm equipment.
The most important thing now is to clear my fields, he says, so that I can plant the next harvest. If farmers like Alexandr (ph) can't do their jobs, the world could see another year of soaring global food prices. Ivan Watson, CNN, Velyka Komyshuvakha, Ukraine.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VAUSE: Still ahead here on CNN, protecting Bibi. Israel's ultra-far right coalition government passes a new law, which makes removing a prime minister from office next to impossible. Also ahead, on the second day of his visit to Poland, Price Williams meets with Ukrainian refugees.
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VAUSE: For a brief moment, Thursday, many in Israel believe Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was ready to hit pause on an overhaul of the judiciary which has sparked weeks of mass protests and drawn international criticism. Instead, Netanyahu softens his tone but continue to insist the reform was crucial to ensure democracy.
Critics, opponents, lawyers all say just the opposite (INAUDIBLE) Netanyahu who is protecting democracy. On Thursday, the Knesset passed a new law, which raises the bar to nosebleed altitude to remove a prime minister from office. Under the bill, only the prime minister himself will a super majorities in both the Cabinet and Parliament can declare the leader unfit.
Critics have slammed that bill so two protesters and CNN's Hadas Gold has the very latest reporting in from Jerusalem.
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HADAS GOLD, CNN JERUSALEM CORRESPONDENT (on camera):P Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says he is pushing forward with his plan judicial overhaul that would give the Israeli parliament power over the Supreme Court despite weeks of massive protests and concerns from his own defense minister over what the reforms would do to national security.
On Thursday afternoon, reports began to emerge that the Israeli Defense Minister who is a member of Netanyahu's own political party was going to give a speech calling on the legislation to be halted because of what it would do to Israeli security. Already hundreds of elite military reservists had announced that they would not answer the call to serve if the overhaul passed.
Now such a speech by the defense minister would have been a major, major blow to Netanyahu politically who has long touted that he is strong on national security.
[01:29:51]
But instead, Netanyahu gave a speech announcing that while he understands the fears of the opponents to the reform, and that he pledges to reach a solution somehow that the legislative process of these reforms will continue.
BENJAMIN NETANYAHU, ISRAELI PRIME MINISTER (through translator): We are determined to fix to advance with this pass (INAUDIBLE) the democratic reform that will bring back balance between the branches. And I remind you we dealt with one issue only out of many that we have not yet discussed.
GOLD: Netanyahu also vowed that the parliament would not be able to overturn every single court decision and vowed that the rights of all citizens, including minorities would be protected.
He also called on the opposition to negotiate, although the opposition has refused to do so unless they say the legislative process is stopped.
Opposition leader Yair Lapid slammed Netanyahu's speech telling Netanyahu to stop playing the victim and take responsibility, calling on him to quote "listen to the hundreds of thousands of patriots who have taken to the streets, listen to the minister of defense, to the economist and to security officials."
Protest leaders, meanwhile, called it a bizarre show of a dictator in the making, and vowed that the protests now in their 12th week will intensify.
Hadas Gold, CNN -- Jerusalem.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
JOHN VAUSE, CNN ANCHOR: Britain's Prince William thanked Poland for supporting the people of Ukraine during the second day of a rare trip to the country. He also met with Ukrainian refugees in Warsaw and paid tribute to fallen Polish soldiers.
Here's CNN's Max Foster.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MAX FOSTER, CNN ROYAL CORRESPONDENT: The tomb of the unknown soldier in Warsaw commemorates heroes of past conflicts. Prince William came here to pay respects to them, but also the current Polish military and the way they supported Ukraine.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It sends message to us that we have friends in Europe.
FOSTER: Prince William just arrived here at the presidential palace to express to President Duda his gratitude for everything the Polish people have done to support the people of Ukraine on so many different levels.
At a food market, he spoke to Polish well wishers.
OLGA MIERZEJEWSKA, POLISH RESIDENT: We appreciate his support for our nation and the Ukrainians.
MARTA ZEGAREK, POLISH RESIDENT: We are just grateful that he could see the Polish people who are absolutely fantastic in helping. And we are all in this together.
FOSTER: Inside, he met Ukrainians who had settled here.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He was asking how we're keeping this positive attitude. One day you're feeling ok? One day, you just don't want to give -- to go out from your bed.
Prince William as a really famous person just another way to show that Poland doing a lot of different (INAUDIBLE) for us.
FOSTER: The Prince of Wales stepping up to his elevated new title on the world stage, showing how he's going to use it.
PRINCE WILLIAM, PRINCE OF WALES: Very nice to see you.
FOSTER: A global statesman protecting democratic values.
Max Foster, CNN -- Warsaw, Poland.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VAUSE: U.S. President Joe Biden is in Canada for talks with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. Coming up, we'll have a one on one interview with the Canadian leader, his thoughts on everything from China, TikTok to NATO to migration issues.
[01:33:21]
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
VAUSE: Welcome back, everyone. You're watching CNN NEWSROOM. I'm John Vause.
A move to ban TikTok in the U.S. is gaining bipartisan support in the U.S. congress. Lawmakers grilled the app's CEO on Thursday, accusing the Chinese government of using TikTok as a way to collect data and spy on Americans.
Meantime Britain's parliament has banned the app on all lawmakers' official devices and the wider parliamentary network, citing those same cyber security concerns.
And Scotland has followed suit prohibiting TikTok on all government devices. Neither ban extends to personal devices.
TikTok denies the Chinese government is collecting data or spying on Americans. The company says its policies are no different than other U.S. tech giants.
TikTok has a very big following around the world. It's hugely popular everywhere but China. That's because that's where it was first banned. Instead Mainland China gets a heavily censored version with a very different name.
CNN's Selina Wang has details.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SELINA WANG, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Pressure is building again in Washington to ban TikTok. All because it's owned by a Chinese company ByteDance.
In China, TikTok is banned, in fact, it never existed. Instead, there is a separate version of Byte Dances. App in China called Douyin boasting more than 600 million daily active users, Douyin is already a viral sensation in China before TikTok launched overseas.
So I've got TikTok pulled up on my U.S. phone and Douyin on this China phone. They've got very similar homepages and interfaces. The only reason why I can access TikTok here in Beijing is because this phone has got an overseas sim card in it and a VPN to get around China's internet firewall has some more.
But Douyin users under 14 can only the app for 40 minutes a day and (INAUDIBLE) safe content.
Plus Douyin automatically puts on the heavy beauty filter when I opened up this camera function.
Media is heavily censored in China so if I type in a topic sensitive to the Chinese government on Douyin, say like "Tiananmen 1989", nothing pops up and I get a text that says "No search results" available. Versus on TikTok. You'll see that a bunch of videos pop up about the massacre.
One of Washington's concerns is that because of its Chinese ownership, Beijing could use its propaganda and censorship methods on TikTok, too. The other fear is that TikTok could be forced to hand over data to the Chinese government.
But security experts say the national security risks are hypothetical at best. Beijing says the U.S. government has been abusing state power to suppress other countries companies. But the irony is that China has outright blocked countless foreign Web sites and apps, including Google, YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, WhatsApp, Netflix and more.
On Douyin, Chinese state media has been sharing TikTok videos from angry Americans.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Explain it to me, Joe. Why the sudden move to ban TikTok.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Joe, if the Chinese want our data, they could just buy the data on the free market that we love so much.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Joe Biden, I am 80 years old. I'm not a teenager. There are quite a few million people on TikTok who are not going to vote for you if you ban this app.
WANG: And while nationalistic influencers on Douyin are accusing the U.S. government of using national security. As an excuse to crack down on TikTok because of America's fears of China.
But it remains to be seen if TikTok can convince Washington that it poses no threat.
Selina Wang, CNN -- Beijing.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VAUSE: Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau tells CNN there is a significant threat of foreign interference from nations like China. He echoed concerns over Beijing using TikTok as a tool for misinformation.
Trudeau's comments came ahead of a much anticipated visit from the U.S. president. Joe Biden and the first lady arrived in Ottawa a short time ago, greeted by the Trudeaus there.
In the coming hours, the two leaders will meet to discuss a range of security issues. President Biden will address Canada's parliament in the afternoon.
Canadian officials say a deal has also been reached to resolve a decades' old disagreement over asylum.
[01:39:56]
VAUSE: And ahead of the summit Prime Minister Trudeau rather, told CNN's Paula Newton about his three pronged approach for dealing with China and a lot more in a one on one interview.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
PAULA NEWTON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: On China, we've seen balloons in the air over Canada. We've seen buoys in the arctic. What do you think are the Chinese motives in those issues specifically? And what do you hope to learn from the Chinese balloon now in U.S. hands?
JUSTIN TRUDEAU, CANADIAN PRIME MINISTER: Well I think one of the things we have to remember is China is the second largest economy in the world and continues to grow.
We are going to have to in some circumstances engage constructively with China, like we did around the conference and biodiversity that we co-hosted with them in Montreal. There's issues around climate change that we should be working as a world together.
There's other places where we're going to have to be stiff competition to China in terms of market access, in terms of investments in the global south. We need to be able to show that the west, the democracies are there to make those investments and there is competitive to China.
But there are also areas in which we're going to have to directly challenge China whether it's on human rights, whether it's on security behaviors, whether it's on cyber attacks or concerns like that.
We're going to have to continue to be wide eyed and clear about the threat that China poses and wants to pose to the stability of our democracies.
NEWTON: We've heard from U.S. officials quite categorically that they are thrilled that Canada is stepping up in defense, whether it's for NORAD or for NATO, especially on things like arctic security. Obviously the F-35 a huge portion of that.
They did say, though, that they would like to see Canada step up with more money and, crucially on a tighter timeline. Will you give that assurance to the president?
TRUDEAU: We've continued to invest massively in strengthening the abilities and the capacity of the Canadian armed forces. To do more, whether it's in Latvia, whether as you mentioned by purchasing 88 to F35s, whether it's strengthening up our arctic sovereignty and security investing in NORAD.
We're undergoing strategic reviews right now with our military, but we're always willing to do more.
NEWTON: One of the issues, of course, has been irregular migration. Do you think you'll have a deal with the president at the end of this visit?
TRUDEAU: I think the thing to remember around irregular migrations. First of all, we all have responsibilities to protect vulnerable people from around the world. Second, we have to make sure that our borders are strong and
respected. But third, we need to keep reassuring our citizens that a strong immigration system works and is able to contribute to the growth of our economy to fill jobs that need to get filled.
So getting all that together is something that we've been working on together for many months.
NEWTON: Do you think you'll have a deal, though? And when we drill down to the details do you expect that perhaps some migrants will be able to go to regular border crossings in Canada and be received that way because as you know, right now, they would be turned back to the United States.
TRUDEAU: There's a lot of work being done, and we hopefully be able to make an announcement to reassure Canadians and Americans that we continue to handle migration seriously.
NEWTON: And will that include taking migrants that sometimes even present themselves southern border or taking migrants directly from the United States?
TRUDEAU: Canada is always willing to do more. We're a country that has been built like the United States on welcoming people from around the world. We just need to make sure we're doing it in responsible, proper ways to continue to have our citizens. Positive towards immigration as Canadians always are.
NEWTON: I want to turn to Haiti for a moment. The U.N. again, you know, sounded the alarm this week said the violence is spiraling out of control. The United States, Joe Biden would like Canada to leave security force on the ground there. Will that be a part of your contribution going forward?
TRUDEAU: Canada has been deeply engaged in Haiti for close to three decades. Now we have very strong Haitian community in Canada, and we have very close ties with this country. And we have been there to help with multilateral missions, with
humanitarian missions with a range of things. What is clear now is as we move forward and yes, Canada is doing a lot and we're continuing to support in many different ways, and we're looking to do more.
But we have to ensure that Haitians, the Haitian people themselves, and the Haitian institutions are at the center of the path forward, and that's what our focus is, right now.
NEWTON: I've been following you know, you on this carefully and you went to CareCom (ph), the issue though is that Haitian-led solutions are not working right now. Will you put Canadian boots on the ground soon to try and stabilize what's going on there, even if there's a defined time frame around it. \ TRUDEAU: The conversations we're having with the Americans and with the Caribbean and with others are all around how we can best help. But I know from long experience in Canada that the simplest external solutions are not always the best way to help.
[01:44:57]
TRUDEAU: And making sure that the Haitian people themselves, the Haitian elite that are deeply invested in destabilizing the country, unfortunately political actors and you know, top economic and you know, wealthy families in Haiti are busy trying to destabilize that family (ph).
That's why we brought in significant sanctions. Why we know the world needs to bring in more sanctions against those Haitian elites who are responsible for the horrors and misery that the Haitian people are going through.
That has to be a first and foremost part of what we're doing. That's the conversations that we'll be having.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VAUSE: Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau through there speaking with CNN's Paula Newton.
Well, an emotional moment on Capitol Hill Thursday during a hearing on the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan. First the U.S. secretary of state and the Republican House Foreign Affairs Committee chairman recognized a weeping woman.
Her daughter in law was one of 13 U.S. service members killed in an attack on Kabul's airport.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. MICHAEL MCCAUL (R-TX): I'll never forget. Giving her a hug. And she said, I'm devastated to know -- to know that this tragedy could have been prevented. And my daughter could still be alive today.
ANTONY BLINKEN, U.S. SECRETARY OF STATE: I am humble in your presence. I think of the 13. I think of the 2,402 Americans who lost their lives over 20 years in Afghanistan serving and protecting our country.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: Committee chairman Michael McCaul says investigating the withdrawal is one of his top priorities. He's threatened a subpoena should the State Department not hand over a key document by Monday.
Secretary of State Antony Blinken says nearly 200 Americans are still in Afghanistan. The U.S. is working to assist about a few dozen who want to leave.
Still to come tensions in the Sea of Japan. North Korea says it's tested an underwater nuclear attack drone designed to unleash a radioactive tsunami.
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VAUSE: North Korea claims to have tested an underwater nuclear attack drone, which is designed to unleash a radioactive tsunami. According to state media, the drone was launched off the east coast and leader Kim Jong-un personally guided the test.
If this claim proves true it will a first for North Korea, according to officials in Seoul, who had no underwater nuclear explosions were detected in the region.
This time next week, an official ban by world athletics goes into effect on many transgender women athletes, which will prevent them from competing in female track and field. At the same time, the sport's governing body has lifted a suspension on athletes from Russia and Belarus over doping violations.
Details now from CNN's Patrick Snell.
[01:49:49]
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
PATRICK SNELL, CNN SPORTS WORLD: Two key developments from the world of athletics brought to us on Thursday by the sports chief powerbroker Sebastian Coe. Coe taking center stage in Monaco. Coe himself, of course, the two time British Olympic gold medalist in the early 1980s.
It was back in late 2015, Russian athletes were banned from athletics competition following allegations of state-sponsored doping schemes, allegations denied by Russia. For years, though we had this failure to meaningfully address the doping related issues, that meant the suspension stayed in place.
Until this very week though the Russian Federation reinstated now after meeting conditions set by World Athletics Russia task force. On Thursday Coe revealing that ban had been lifted, but that athletes, officials and support staff from Russia and in fact Belarus, too are still to be excluded due to Russia's ongoing invasion of Ukraine with no timeline either as to how long the exclusion is to remain in place. And another really significant development on Thursday, and we'll get to some reaction from this in just a few moments, but world athletics also deciding to exclude transgender women who have gone through what it called male puberty. This from female events in international competition.
At the heart of this argument, (INAUDIBLE) they're trying to strike a balance between inclusivity and making sure there is no unfair advantage when it comes to competition.
Also important to point out that Coe himself pointing out there are currently no transgender athletes competing internationally in the sport. World Athletics saying the exclusion would apply to male to female transgender athletes and that a working group will be set up to conduct further research into the transgender eligibility guidelines.
SEBASTIAN COE, PRESIDENT, WORLD ATHLETICS: We want to be able to discuss and communicate directly to the trans community. I'm going to ask transgender athletes to chair that working group.
We're not saying no forever and prevailing understanding changing science, but I think our instinct was that while there is uncertainty about that science we don't know enough, we do now Need to know more. And that is the journey that we're on. But we weren't prepared to risk the female category on that basis.
SNELL: The announced regulations will come into force in just days from now on March 31st as you can imagine, reaction has been coming in. We've been keeping across it this tweet from former British swimming star Sharon Davis. "Thank you, Seb Coe and World Athletics for standing up for female athletes across the world who are worthy of fair sport."
While Stonewall U.K. providing this reaction "It is so disappointing to see World Athletics announce a unilateral ban on trans women in track and field events. Their own statement recognizes that there are no trans women competing at an international level, and that they have no specific evidence to justify the ban."
Reaction and analysis, of course, still to come right throughout this day here on CNN. We'll stay across the very latest for you. But for now, though, it's right back to you.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VAUSE: Patrick Snell. Thank you for that.
Now bungee jumping not for the faint of heart.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Wow. Yes.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: Ahead a bungee jump gone very, very, very, very wrong. Wrong, very wrong.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
VAUSE: Bungee jumping, apparently it's all about the thrill. Sometimes though, there's a little bit too much thrill like this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Whoa.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
[01:54:59]
VAUSE: That happened in Thailand back in January. The footage went viral this week when the 39-year-old from Hong Kong went public with the story.
As you can see, it was a good time for the bungee cord to snap because he was pretty close to the water, which broke his fall. He was taken to hospital, suffered some pretty bad, bruising, but that was about it.
Some days it's just harder to wake up than others. Tell me about it. It's not just people that want to hit the snooze button and stay inside.
Jeannie Moos introduces us to a cow that pretends to be asleep.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JEANNE MOOS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Do you hate getting up in the morning? So does Doris. All the cows at Reeds' farm on the Owl of White in England got up and left for milking.
JOHN BRODY, FARMER: Except for Doris. Doris is actually pretending to be asleep.
MOOS: And for faking sleep, Doris has gone viral. People relate.
I am Doris was a typical comment.
BRODY: Doris just got a fantastic personality. She is definitely more person than cow.
MOOS: She's one of John Brody's favorites.
BRODY: You're a mischief maker. Leave my coffee alone, please.
MOOS: When Doris pretended to be asleep, John called her out.
BRODY: Doris. Come on. I see your ears moving. Come on. I can see your eye here. How did he know she was faking?
BRODY: Around 30 seconds beforehand she had her head up and was looking straight at me, and she put her head back down, thinking that she was going to get away with it just to push her luck, be cheeky.
MOOS: Now Doris has fans online. "I think I've found my spirit animal. Leave Doris alone."
But Doris doesn't leave john alone. And why was she licking the back of your head?
BRODY: Grooming. She's grooming me. It means as far as I'm concerned, she accepts me as a member of the herd.
MOOS: She grooms him. He grooms her.
BRODY: What's this all over your face?
MOOS: Jeanne Moos, CNN -- New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VAUSE: Bollywood fans have been left without access to hundreds of their favorite tunes on Spotify over a licensing dispute. The streaming giant says it removed the entire catalog of Z Music, India's second largest domestic music label, after the companies were unable to reach agreement. Z Music says it buys the rights to more than half of the newly released Bollywood music. The company has nearly 94 million subscribers on YouTube. Lot of subscribers.
I'm john Vause. Please stay with us. Next hour, 100 percent more me. See you in a bit.
[01:57:34]
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