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CNN International: Tensions Over Taiwan; Dalai Lama Apologizes after Video asking Child to "Suck" his Tongue goes Viral; Ukrainian Defense Ministry Official Suggests Moscow has Altered Leaked Pentagon Documents; Northern Ireland Marks 25th Anniversary of Peace Accord; Meticulous Work Underway to Bring back Iconic Cathedral. Aired 8-8:30a ET

Aired April 10, 2023 - 08:00   ET

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

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BIANCA NOBILO, CNN HOST: Hello you're watching CNN "Newsroom". I'm Bianca Nobilo in for Max Foster in London. Just ahead, China ends three days of military drills around the island of Taiwan testing military capabilities under actual fighting conditions then potential damage to America's reputation and intelligence operations.

U.S. Officials have opened an investigation into how highly classified documents appeared online. And nearly four years after the horrendous fire that devastated Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris, CNN meets the carpenters on a mission to restore one of France's most iconic landmarks.

China has wrapped up its three-day military exercise near Taiwan after appearing to have carried out an aerial and naval blockade. The drills follow a meeting between Taiwan's President and U.S. House Speaker Kevin McCarthy last week. Taiwan says it has no intention of escalating the situation. But its Foreign Ministry is demanding Beijing "exercise reason and self-restraint". The increased tensions have some residents on edge.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BEN LIN, TOURIST FROM TAIPEI: Really shut down that and I hope it's not going to be a real world.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Are you worried at all?

LIN: Of course, we'll worry about that. But like, we see the world in the Russian and Ukraine everybody thinks that's impossible, but there's - just happened in one day. So we're still afraid that maybe be an example for us the situation from Taiwan and China.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

NOBILO: Selina Wang joins me now live from Beijing with the latest. Selina, it appears that China has undertaken unprecedented simulated strikes in around the waters around Taiwan. And also China referred to these exercises as a serious warning against the Taiwan separatist forces collusion with external forces. So is this really limiting what future options Taiwan has?

SELINA WANG, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well now look even though these were major military drills, experts are saying that these drills do not quite reach the scale of what China did after then U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi visited Taiwan back in August. China did say these drills simulate precision attacks on key targets in Taiwan. And for the first time it appears China simulated strikes with more planes that took off from an aircraft carrier.

Now while Beijing has not launched any missiles its military did releases animation, and it shows missiles fired from land, sea and air into Taiwan and two of them as you can see from the animation explode into flames. I also want you guys to take a look at this video released by Taiwan's ocean Affairs Council. Take a listen here.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You're now seriously damaging regional peace, stability and safety. Please turn around immediately and leave. If you keep proceeding forward, I will take eviction measures.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WANG: That video really highlights the real risk of any accident or mistake you're spiraling into something worse. Beijing now sees democratically ruled Taiwan as part of its territory and Beijing claims that these drills are warning and also are necessary to defend its national sovereignty.

Now, like last summer's drills, experts say that the drills this time around are about showing China's military might be showing that it has the capability to enact a blockade of Taiwan and to strike the target Senate wants to strike with very high precision. Now this meeting between Tsai and McCarthy was held on American soil and that was done purposefully to avoid overly provoking Beijing.

And also important here is that experts say Beijing has been normalizing military activity around Taiwan. Beijing already sends military jets and ships around Taiwan every day. The U.S. does not officially recognize Taiwan as a country but unofficial ties have been growing and that infuriates Beijing. So this kind of military intimidation of Taiwan is here to stay.

NOBILO: CNN Selina Wang live in Beijing, thank you. The Dalai Lama has apologized after a video that showed him kissing a young boy triggered backlash on social media. It happened at an event in Northern India in February. The video shows the Tibetan spiritual leader sticking his tongue out and then asking the child to suck it.

The Dalai Lama's officers that His Holiness quote regrets the incident. CNN's Vedika Sud joins me now live from New Delhi. Vedika, can you tell us what exactly we've heard from the office of the Dalai Lama and why the delay in the apology?

VEDIKA SUD, CNN REPORTER: Well, it is a very unsettling video, isn't it? It's also extremely disturbing and that's been the feedback and the backlash that the 14th Dalai Lama has been receiving on social media. Now, this incident took place on the 28th of February, which is weeks before this press release came out today.

And in the press release, you have the Dalai Lama regretting the incident. I'm going to read out what that press release says and then I'm going to talk to you about what this could mean in the days to come.

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The press release reads a bit a video clip has been circulating that shows a recent meeting when a young boy asked His Holiness the Dalai Lama if he could give him a hug. His holiness wishes to apologize to the boy and his family, as well as his many friends across the world, for the hurt his words may have caused.

Bianca, it's very interesting to note here and we must, that he's only talking about the words the hurt the words may have caused, not the actions that you see in that video. You rightly pointed out that Dalai Lama first asks for a kiss when the boy goes up to him and asks for a hug. He says, come over give me a kiss and a hug.

Then he draws them closer and then asks for a kiss on the mouth. And moments later, he asks the boy to suck his tongue. Now this is extremely disturbing. Then the press statement goes on to say that His Holiness often teases people he meets in an innocent and playful way, even in public and before cameras, he regrets the incident uncaught.

Well, this is clearly more than teasing for so many people on social media. One wonders like even you just asked me why the statement comes out weeks after the incident has. Well, the only answer I have for you right now because we've - to the Dalai Lama's office, but we haven't gotten a response to this question.

The only response I could have at this point is that it's only after this clipping image. This part of that video of the interaction with the child appeared that people realize that this is not something they OK with, Bianca.

NOBILO: Vedika Sud live in New Delhi, thank you. Now to growing international concern about the leak of highly classified Pentagon documents on social media sites. South Korea says it will hold necessary discussions with the U.S. after the documents revealed a conversation between two senior South Korean National Security Officials.

The U.S. says an inter-agency effort is underway to determine the impact of the League, which could provide rare and critical insight into Washington's intelligence tactics as well as key information about the war in Ukraine. For more now, let's go to Natasha Bertrand who is live from the Pentagon.

Natasha, this is obviously very concerning for U.S. intelligence in terms of where the leak came from, and if they can expect further documents to leak, but what sort of issues of trust and operational difficulties? Is this creating for America's allies? NATASHA BERTRAND, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY REPORTER: Yes, Bianca, as you said, the Pentagon still doesn't know for sure whether we are seeing the full extent of the documents that have been leaked online. What we have seen is that a lot of these documents were posted, at least within the last month, if not longer.

And there are about 50 of them that CNN has reviewed and all of them appear to contain secret information, highly classified information, some even up to the level of top secret and they describe conversations essentially that the U.S. has been eavesdropping on with regard to allies like Israel, South Korea and even Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

Now some of these conversations, they do detail, very sensitive kind of accusations what the U.S. has accused the Mossad (ph) of doing for example, the CIA says that they intercepted communications from Israeli Intelligence Officials describing efforts to - on protesters in Israel something that the Mossad has vigorously denied just over the last day or so.

So already causing some friction between the U.S. and its allies as you mentioned there, South Korea is going to be having discussions with the U.S. about the conversation that the U.S. apparently eavesdropped on with regard to U.S. requests for ammunition from South Korea.

So this is going to be a major issue moving forward as they assess really what damage has been caused by the leak of these documents that appeared on a social media site called discord again within the last month. Now we're also learning a lot more in these documents about the depth and the level of the penetration that the U.S. has in terms of intelligence of the Russian Defense Ministry as well as the Russian mercenary organization, the Wagner group.

Things like the exact precise targeting plans of the Russians against Ukrainian infrastructure, conversations that Wagner group Officials have had with Russian Defense Ministry Officials. So a lot here that could compromise sources and methods and that is why U.S. Officials are taking this very seriously.

Some of those sources and methods could now go dark, because allies as well as enemies now have a better sense of what the U.S. is doing, Bianca.

NOBILO: Natasha Bertrand, thank you so much. The Ukrainian Defense Ministry is now accusing Russia of altering the leaked documents. Some of the documents reveal weaknesses and Ukrainian weaponry and air defenses right as keep gears up for a counter offensive against Russia.

As we've been reporting Ukraine has already altered some of its military plans because of the leak according to a source. When Ukrainian Official insists the online documents are full of fictitious information. Nick Paton Walsh has the latest from Kyiv for us.

[08:10:00] Nick, you know, as I was just describing, this is a slightly mixed picture in terms of what operational significance these leaks might have if some are indeed fictitious. What's your assessment of the impact this is going to have on Ukraine's Defense?

NICK PATON WALSH, CNN INTERNATIONAL SECURITY EDITOR: I mean, look at its enormously confusing picture and I think it's important to remember the timing here. This glut of information be accurate or misleading, depending on who you listen to is emerging matter of days possibly ahead of expected Ukrainian counter offensive.

So it could be enormously damaging to that possibly, or it could also at the same time be exceptionally confusing and cause great anxiety amongst the ranks of Russian officers who are already seeing their forces depleted already know that the Americans who knew almost down to the hour when the offensive was going to begin way back last year.

And are clearly eavesdropping very well across Russian Officials communications for some time that will of course be causing them to assess exactly what they can trust as they try and talk to each other. We've now heard Ukrainian Officials saying that some of the versions of documents online have been altered.

We've heard that on a number of occasions. Now, since their emergence, clearly day after day, more documents appear to be emerging slowly that appear to show yet more sensitive information too some of it older than perhaps might be currently useful in this particular month.

But it's important to remember here too, I think that they may, possibly in some way, a part of this be a bit to leave the Russians off guard to perhaps cause them to rethink some of their current precepts about how Ukraine is performing or where Ukraine's weaknesses be.

But it also too will, I'm sure, make Russians deeply concerned about how penetrated their own intelligence services are at this particular point. It may be very hard to get to the bottom exactly how much of the information has been placed in public remember, oddly, on a gaming website.

This is not necessarily it seems something that's emerged into the hands of somebody who thought right, well, I'll give this to the Russian intelligence services. He put it on a gaming website; they put it on a gaming website. So that's important to put in context as well.

So a lot here that we don't know U.S. Officials to very vocal about how distressing they're finding these leaks. I personally find that odd, you might expect the government to use found is classified information to be leaked to try and play that down or suggest some of its outdated or incorrect or highly sophisticated fakes.

But instead, we're being very clearly told this is a problem and the timing of it too very interesting indeed. Particularly here in Ukraine where day by day people are waiting for exactly when this long planned counter offensive main deep again and all this information plays very much into that, Bianca. NOBILO: Nick Paton Walsh in Kyiv, thank you. A Palestinian teenager has been shot and killed by Israeli forces during an IDF operation at a refugee camp in the occupied West Bank. You can see part of that rate in this video Israeli forces say they were at the camp to apprehend a terrorist suspect and that they were met by violent riots.

The incident comes a day after thousands gathered peacefully in Jerusalem to mark various religious holidays. Jewish worshippers came together the Western worn Sunday for a traditional priestly blessing. And later on in the day, some 25,000 Muslims took part in nightly prayers at the Al-Aqsa Mosque.

Tensions in Jerusalem have remained high after Israeli forces stormed that mosque last week one of Islam's holiest sites. CNN's Salma Abdelaziz joins me now from Jerusalem. Salma, what is the mood like now? Obviously, there's a sense of it being a true political tinderbox from the violence and the loss of life over the last week. Are there efforts being made to stabilize the situation?

SALMA ABDELAZIZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Let's start by going straight to that breaking news Bianca in the West Bank, where the Palestinian Health Ministry says that a 15-year-old boy was shocked by Israeli forces. Now the Israeli Military has released a statement it did not confirm a death toll but it says that its soldiers were carrying out a raid to apprehend a terrorist suspect in a Palestinian refugee camp in the occupied West Bank.

The Israeli Military thing that individuals started throwing Molotov cocktails and explosive devices at those soldiers and they fired back we do also understand from the Palestinian Health Ministry, that there are a number of wounded in these clashes take place, again in the occupied West Bank, where nearby there was a demonstration being held by Israeli settlers.

Thousands of them gathering at an illegal outpost that they want to see legalized. And it's important to note here that Israeli settlers really feel empowered by what is the most far right wing government ever in Israel's history under Prime Minister Netanyahu.

And they also feel emboldened, Bianca, by who was in attendance at this demonstration and that is the far right National Security Minister Ben Gvir a very controversial figure, one could even say an inflammatory figure.

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A man who was convicted of supporting terrorism in the past of inciting anti-Arab - was with these thousands of settlers gathered at this illegal outpost. During this demonstration, he spoke to our journalist on the ground. He has very much become a voice, a symbol of these far right causes and it's this type of rhetoric that can escalate and push this conflict even further, Bianca.

NOBILO: Salma Abdelaziz in Jerusalem, thank you. Still to come, CNN travels to Northern Ireland as it reflects on 25 years since the end of the troubles. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

NOBILO: Residents of Ballina a small town in Ireland are preparing for a highly anticipated guest U.S. President Joe Biden. He's heading to Northern Ireland on Tuesday and the Republic of Ireland later this week. Locals are hoping he'll stop off at his ancestral home towns as he's done before.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He came back again the second time in 2017 when he was out of office, we actually came in to the pub to look at the pictures that I have on the wall and his own picture included and it was the --.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: With this great excitement going on at the minute. I mean, you've been downtown yourself say they've seen it the - is starting to go up in the flags and everybody is in party mode.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

NOBILO: Biden will be visiting Northern Ireland first and he's arriving amid heightened tensions. The country is marking 25 years since the signing of the Good Friday Agreement. The deal ended decades of deadly sectarian violence known as the troubles and it set up a power sharing government and devolved assembly.

It's been widely hailed as a success but police ramped up security this weekend over fears that demonstrations could turn violent. CNN's Nic Robertson was there when the historic agreement was signed. And he returned to Belfast to see how the peace deal has changed people's lives and how it hasn't.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ERIN MCARDLE, "PEACE BABY": Yes --.

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR (voice over): Erin McArdle is a peace baby.

MCARDLE:--

ROBERTSON (voice over): The first Catholic born minutes after Northern Ireland's 1998 Good Friday Peace Agreement was signed.

MCARDLE: I think it's really special. It's something that I'm very proud of.

ROBERTSON (voice over): Putting it in to decades of bloodshed, her mother hoping Erin wouldn't face the dangers known as the troubles as she did.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We were still very skeptical. Well, this work.

MCARDLE: They always stayed about home just because of the bombings and the shootings and that. So I think yes, for me personally the Good Friday Agreement has made my life very happy and very safe.

ROBERTSON (on camera): This is where the deal was signed. I was outside that night the ground was freezing underfoot. But inside here the mood thought Former U.S. Senator George Mitchell sent over by President Bill Clinton did what had been impossible for 30 years with more than 3000 lives last.

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They negotiated a peaceful end to the sectarian bloodletting. So what does it mean to you that your father used to paint murals like this here?

JOEL KEYS, POLITICAL ACTIVIST: I think it's great to get kind of, in a way let some love forever.

ROBERTSON (voice over): Joel Keys is another peace baby, a Protestant.

ROBERTSON (on camera): Has the Good Friday Belfast agreement delivered for you?

KEYS: I don't think so. What the Good Friday Agreement did was took away the bombs and bullets, but it did nothing. They addressed people's mindsets.

ROBERTSON (voice over): Despite helping the economy, the Good Friday Peace Agreement has so far struggled to shift historic divisions, Protestant, tending to be pro-British and some Catholics aspirations for a United Ireland.

KEYS: What pace Catholic looks like nowadays is, Oh, I'm Protestant. I've got Catholic friends, but we just don't talk about that stuff and that's pace. But I am not got pseudo peace, that's false peace. We should be able to have strong conversations with each other.

ROBERTSON (on camera): But so many barriers to conversation remain most schools are still segregated. And remarkably, these peace walls are not only still here, they're taller and longer than they were before the peace deal. Real tensions exist.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: For one character here she could have been no it could have been tougher situation you were going to lose a daughter like you don't I mean--

ROBERTSON (voice over): In Derry, 12-year-old Ella McClay, a Protestant school girl tells us how a group of Catholic children beat her up.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: --like you're proud known.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Your products and that's what I was saying.

ROBERTSON (voice over): The video her parents share with us is brutal. Police say they're investigating the incident as a sectarian attack, a shocking reminder of life before the peace deal. There are other reminders too. These marches coming out to support a group that police believe tried to kill one of their officers in February. Parading through Belfast just days ahead of President Joe Biden's visit hardline groups that rejected the Good Friday Agreement haven't gone away.

ROBERTSON (on camera): It's because of groups like this one that the British government has recently raised its terror threat level here in Northern Ireland from substantial too severe from a threat likely to a threat highly likely.

ROBERTSON (voice over): For Erin and most people here despite imperfections. Northern Ireland's cup is more than half full

MCARDLE: And half a year so I'd like to stand over there and I'm --.

ROBERTSON (voice over): Nic Robertson, CNN, Belfast, Northern Ireland.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

NOBILO: Four years ago, the world watched in horror as Notre Dame Cathedral burned in Paris. After the break we'll update you on the work being done to restore.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

NOBILO: It's been four years since fire tore through Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris bringing down its iconic spire. Crews are working meticulously to restore the centuries old building to its former glory. Jim Bittermann updates us on their progress.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JIM BITTERMANN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice over): It was the most haunting image of a sickening afternoon.

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The spire of Notre Dame crashing through the cathedral roof as flames burned all around. In the four years since says giant oaks have been felled and they ashes cleared away. Shock and dismay has turned to confidence that the spire and the cathedral will rise again and soon if you believe the general who President Emmanuel Macron put in charge of rebuilding the monument.

JEAN-LOUIS GEORGELIN, HEAD OF NOTRE DAME RECONSTRUCTION: The President say we will rebuild this - and find you is the words - have said the face and the reputation of fancies that stayed.

BITTERMANN (voice over): At the general once the Chief of Staff of the French army went to visit an extraordinary woodshop in Eastern France to inspect how the work is going. Here carpenters are moving around tons of oak like children's building blocks to rebuild the spire that collapsed as well as the rest of the cathedrals roof beams which were destroyed in the fire, cutting and fitting precise down to the millimeter.

BITTERMANN (on camera): While much care and effort and money are being expended to make sure the reconstructed Notre Dame is just like the old one. The workers who are working on these giant pieces of wood say they are sometimes amazed at how they could have done all this 1000 years ago.

BITTERMANN (voice over): One person who's had a better view than most of the Notre Dame reconstruction is photographer Tomas Van Houtryve. His photos are going up along the walls of the Notre Dame worksite. He began taking pictures with the cathedral long before the fire, sometimes using an ancient wooden camera as old as the iconic spire itself.

Van Houtryve was then commissioned to document the work inside by National Geographic and the French establishment charged with the Notre Dame restoration and preservation as the monument slowly rose again from the ashes. He emotionally recorded the work inside and outside.

TOMAS VAN HOUTRYVE, PHOTOGRAPHER: When you're inside Notre Dame, you feel something. It's a place of reverence. And when you're inside it, and you see it in its damaged state, you feel something even more. I mean, it goes it goes straight to your heart.

BITTERMANN (voice over): Van Houtryve has watched firsthand, as not only the damage from the fire was cleared away, but as well centuries of grime that had accumulated before the fire. In some ways he believes the newly restored Notre Dame will be even better than what was there before.

HOUTRYVE: When they take the scaffolding out and they and were able to see everything I think it will look immaculate beautiful in a way we've never seen it before.

BITTERMANN (voice over): Jim Bittermann, CNN, Paris.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

NOBILO: Thanks for joining me here on CNN "Newsroom", I'm Bianca Nobilo. "World Sport" with Andy Scholes is up next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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