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Mass Shooting at a Louisville Bank, Five People Killed; Jason Pearson Reinstates after the House Expulsion; Justice Department, Pill Manufacturer asks Appeals Court to Freeze Texas Ruling on Abortion Pill; Pentagon Documents Leaked Online; State Department designates Evan Gershkovich as Wrongfully Detained by Russia; President Joe Biden Heads to Ireland; Migrants on Boats Rescued by Italian Coast Guard; More Clashes Between Israeli and Palestinian Forces in the West Bank; EPA Considering Stricter Emissions Guidelines. Aired 3-4a ET
Aired April 11, 2023 - 03:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[03:00:00]
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ROSEMARY CHURCH, CNN ANCHOR: Hello and welcome to our viewers joining us here in the United States and all around the world. You're watching "CNN Newsroom," and I'm Rosemary Church.
Just ahead. One more American city shattered by yet another mass shooting. This time, five killed after the gunman opened fire in a bank.
The attack unfolding the very same day that the Tennessee lawmaker expelled for protesting gun violence made his dramatic return to the statehouse.
Plus, the Pentagon shifts into damage control after classified documents ended up online, giving a glimpse at U.S. spying efforts on allies and enemies alike.
UNKNOWN (voice-over): Live from CNN Center, this is "CNN Newsroom" with Rosemary Church.
CHURCH: Two deadly mass shootings within two weeks in two American cities less than 200 miles apart. We are following the heartbreak and the fallout.
In Tennessee, a lawmaker kicked out of the state house for taking part in a gun reform protests on the chamber floor after a fatal school shooting in his community two weeks ago was just reinstated. The Nashville Metro Council voted to put Justin Jones back in office. The expulsion of Jones and another black Democrat from the Republican- dominated House has triggered major protests at the state capitol.
And in Louisville, Kentucky, an employee opened fire during a staff meeting on Monday before the bank opened to the public, killing at least five people. A law enforcement source says the 25-year-old gunman had been told he would be fired, and live streamed the attack. Afterwards, the U.S. president issued a statement on gun control, asking how many more Americans must die before Republicans in Congress will act to protect our communities.
The Louisville attack marked the 145th mass shooting in the United States this year. That's according to the Gun Violence Archive. The fifth victim died hours after the incident. She has been identified as 57-year old Deanna Eckert.
CNN's Omar Jimenez has further details.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JACQUELYN GWINN-VILLAROEL, INTERIM CHIEF, LOUISVILLE METRO POLICE: Officers were on scene within three minutes. The suspect shot at officers. We then returned fire and stopped that threat.
OMAR JIMENEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Police revealing the shooter was an employee at the bank and had live-streamed the attack.
GWINN-VILLAROEL: The suspect was live streaming, and unfortunately, that's tragic to know that that incident was out there and captured.
JIMENEZ (voice-over): A law enforcement source telling CNN the shooter had also learned he was going to be fired and wrote a note to his parents and a friend indicating he was going to shoot at the bank. Louisville's Head of Police solemnly reading the names of the victims at an afternoon press conference.
GWINN-VILLAROEL: Tommy Elliott, 63 years of age. Jim Tut, 64 years of age. Josh Barrack, 40 years of age. And Juliana Farmer.
JIMENEZ (voice-over): Among those injured in the attack, two police officers, including a rookie cop just days into the job.
GWINN-VILLAROEL: The officer who was in critical condition today, Officer Nicholas Wilt, 26 years of age, just graduated from the police academy on March 31st. I just swore him in, and his family was there to witness his journey to become a police officer. He was struck in the head.
JIMENEZ (voice-over): That officer out of surgery in critical but in stable condition. The shock of the attack also felt at the highest levels of the state's government. One of the victim is known to the mayor and governor.
MAYOR CRAIG GREENBERG (D), LOUISVILLE, KENTUCKY: One of them was Tommy Elliott, a very good friend of mine of the governor's.
GOV. ANDY BESHEAR (D-KY): Tommy Elliott helped me build my law career, help me become governor, gave me advice on being a good dad. He was an incredible friend.
JIMENEZ (voice-over): Officials say the gunmen used an AR-15 style rifle in the attack. Investigators are still trying to establish a motive, as the governor paid tribute to those lost today.
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BESHEAR: To honor those who have fallen and ask so many families grieve, I'm ordering our flags statewide, fly it half-staff, until Friday.
JIMENEZ (voice-over): Omar Jimenez, CNN, Louisville, Kentucky.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CHURCH: CNN's Ryan Young has more on the Tennessee vote now.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
RYAN YOUNG, CNN U.S. CORRESPONDENT: A lot of focus on the state of Tennessee and especially the city of Nashville. Nashville had a plan vote on Monday with their city council to see whether or not they could put Justin Jones back in his representative seat. Last week, of course, the Republican majority at the statehouse in
Tennessee kicked out two of its members, Justin J. Pearson and Justin Jones.
Justin Jones' case, he had the opportunity to go for the city council. They reappointed him and that vote was dramatic, you could see it in his face. In fact, take a look at this video, as you see just the exuberance of the crowd who was excited.
They went from that moment and then marched to the state capital.
On the capitol steps, he was back to getting red back in. He had his swearing-in service, right there on the steps. The crowd went crazy as he went back and definely addressed that state capitol assembly once again.
REP. JUSTIN JONES (D-TN): Today we send a clear message to Speaker Cameron Sexton, that the people will not allow his crimes against democracy, that happened without challenge. We are calling on House Speaker Cameron Sexton to resign as speaker of the house. He is an enemy of democracy.
YOUNG: If the focus really shifted now to Justin J. Pearson. He says he's hoping Shelby County puts him back in office. That can happen on Wednesday. So, both members who were pushed out of their seats may get their seats back. There will have to be a special election, so this is not over just yet.
Buut both members said today we should be focused on what's going on in this country, especially when it comes to gun violence, mixed them with the mashing it happened in Louisville. They're hoping that the country gets behind this and makes some changes to some laws.
Ryan Young, CNN, Nashville, Tennessee.
(END VIDEOTAPE) CHURCH: And earlier, I spoke with a member of the Nashville Metro Council who was a part of that vote, and I asked her for her reaction to the reinstatement of Justin Jones.
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KYONZTE TOOMBS, METRO NASHVILLE CITY COUNCIL: I'm thrilled about Representative Jones being restored to his seat. The constituents of District 52 elected him. They are his -- they -- he is their chosen representative. And so, he deserves to be restored to seat.
The protests that he staged on the House floor was just him speaking up for his constituents and getting into what Representative John Doors were called good trouble, and I think that when you feel like your constituents have been silenced and that they're not being heard, and it's your duty as their elected officials to stand up for them.
Representative Pearson, I'm hoping for the same result that the Memphis City Council will restore him to his seat because he's the elected representative of District 86 and he should be there as well because all he was doing again was representing his constituents and lifted up their voices.
CHURCH: Yeah, and we saw three Democratic state representatives up for expulsion last week to rule expelled by Republicans, but one was not, Glory Johnson, who survived her expulsion vote, says she thinks that might have a lot to do with the color of her skin. Do you agree with that?
TOOMBS: I think the optics are clear. You have two African-American male Representatives expelled, and the older White representative -- female representatives is not. You can't get past the racial undertones of that, and even, you know, in 2023, given the history of this country and of the state of Tennessee, it looks like it's very racial undertones there and I don't think you can get past it.
CHURCH: What did this political drama reveal to the nation about democracy in this country and racism, do you think?
TOOMBS: That democracy is not dead. When the explosions happened, I saw a lot of tweets and democracy is dead and people felt defeated and disillusioned and disenfranchised. And I think the vote today shows that democracy is not dead, that it lived and that it sends a message to the country, to the world that we need to keep fighting and make sure that the voices of the people are not silenced.
CHURCH: And what about racism in the country?
TOOMBS: I think that it shows that racism is not dead as well. And we all know that, you had your two African-American representatives expelled, and the older white female representative not expel, you can't get past those racial undertones, even if there's not an intent to do something that is racist. It looks that way. So you can't get past that, and it still shows that we have a lot of work to do in this country and its world.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CHURCH: And that was Metro Nashville City Councilwoman Kyonzte Toombs.
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All right. Now to new developments and a new deadline in a closely watched medication abortion case in the U.S. A federal appeals court says plaintiffs must respond by Tuesday night to request by the Justice Department and an abortion pill manufacturer.
They are asking the court to freeze a judge's order to suspend the Food and Drug Administration's approval of a widely used abortion pill. That order would make the pill unavailable nationwide starting Friday at midnight. California, Massachusetts and Washington state, all led by Democratic governors have announced they have secured emergency stockpiles of the abortion pills.
Well, the impact of the ruling from Texas could soon be filled across the United States, and that has some doctors already preparing for what may come next.
CNN's Elizabeth Cohen has details.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN SR. MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): At this women's healthcare clinic in Ohio, Dr. David Burkons is telling women who were expecting to get medication abortions next week that they should change their plans
DR. DAVID BURKONS, NORTHEAST OHIO WOMEN'S CENTER: They're scrambling to change their schedules to get in to see us earlier.
COHEN (voice-over): Dr. Burkons says his lawyer told him that starting Saturday he can't give the drug, mifepristone, for abortions or miscarriages, because of a federal judge's ruling in Texas last week.
Mifepristone and a regimen with another drug called misoprostol is FDA-approved for abortion in up until 10 weeks after the last period, and they've been used safely for more than 20 years.
Data analyzed by CNN shows mifepristone is even safer than some common, low-risk prescription drugs, including penicillin and Viagra. Misoprostol can be used on its own in a medication abortion, but it's not FDA-approved that way. Studies show it's not as effective and some doctors say it can make a woman feel much worse.
DR. ERIKA WERNER, TUFTS MEDICAL CENTER: Were more likely to see failures and therefore more likely to need surgical intervention after misoprostol alone.
COHEN (voice-over): Dr. Erika Werner is Chairman of the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology at Tufts Medical Center in Massachusetts.
WERNER: We trained to try to keep people healthy, give them the most evidence-based care, and this ruling really jeopardizes that we're feeling demoralized, we're feeling scared for our patients.
COHEN (voice-over): She's hoping that something will stop the Texas ruling from going into effect.
WERNER: We may get advice from lawyers as the week goes on about whether we really need to stop next week.
COHEN (voice-over): Monday, U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services Xavier Basara, vowed that the Biden administration would use every resource to protect a woman's right to reproductive healthcare.
XAVIER BASARA, HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES SECRETARY: And I say this for every woman in America, who may need mifepristone. Mifepristone is still legal for use. Mifepristone is still available today. And we are going to do everything we can within the legal process to ensure that that doesn't change.
COHEN (voice-over): But at clinics around the country --
BURKONS: It's a lot of uncertainty.
COHEN (voice-over): They don't know what will happen next if they'll be able to keep giving their patients the best possible care.
Elizabeth Cohen, CNN, reporting.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CHURCH: Still ahead. Intelligence secrets laid bare what a trove of leaked documents reveals about U.S. spying efforts and how America's allies are responding.
Plus, the U.S. State Department takes a significant step in the effort to bring back a detained American reporter from Russia.
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CHURCH: Welcome back everyone. Well, the Pentagon says it's working to determine the scale and scope of a document leak that's revealing some top secret U.S. intelligence.
Dozens of the 50 plus classified documents were still viewable on Twitter as of Monday. They first appeared on the social media site, Discord, where they went largely unnoticed for weeks.
CNN has reviewed 53 pages of documents produced between February and March, some of which marked top secret. They show the extent of U.S. spying efforts on allies, including assessments of the battlefield in the war in Ukraine, and intelligence reports on South Korea and Israel.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) JOHN KIRBY, U.S. NATIONAL SECURITY COUNCIL: I am not aware that they have come to any conclusions at this point about where they're coming from.
UNKNOWN: Do you believe the leak is contained? Are there more documents out there that have not been released publicly? Is this an ongoing threat?
KIRBY: We don't know. We truly don't.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHURCH: So let's go react -- reaction now from South Korea. CNN's Paula Hancocks joins us live from Seoul. Good to see you again, Paula. So what more are you learning about reaction from Seoul to the Pentagon leaks?
PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Rosemary. We are hearing a fair bit of response from officials here in South Korea, and what they appear to be doing is questioning the validity of these documents.
We're hearing from a presidential office statement that they believe and they claim a considerable amount of the information is quote, "fabricated," although they give no more details as to that.
Now, what these documents appear to show is internal discussions between senior South Korean officials talking about a potential deal, selling ammunition to the United States and whether or not the United States would then send that ammunition on to Ukraine.
South Korea has a policy that they do not give or sell any lethal aid to a country at war. So this appears to be the crux of it, but what we've heard this Tuesday is that there was a phone call between the Secretary of Defense in the United States, Lloyd Austin and his South Korean counterpart here in South Korea this morning, and according to, again, this statement from the residential office, they say that the two defense ministers agreed that some of this appeared to be fabricated.
Now, we have not had a comment from the Pentagon at this point. We have reached out to them. There is no readout as to this phone conversation, so this is just coming from the one side at this point.
[03:20:04]
But it appears to be some kind of damage control from the South Korean side because the timing is tricky. There's just two weeks until the South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol heads to Washington for a state visit with U.S. President Joe Biden. So certainly this is not the sort of thing they want to be discussing or talking about at this point.
The opposition parties here, though, have said that they believe it is a clear violation of South Korea's sovereignty, if true. And also question whether this information is just the tip of the iceberg.
Also here in Asia, will -- as Australia I should say. We have heard from the Chief of the Australian Defense Forces, General Angus Campbell, he was speaking at a Sydney thinktank, the Lowy Institute this morning and he also addressed this issue.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ANGUS CAMPBELL, AUSTRALIAN DEFENCE FORCE CHIEF: The issue of maintaining the security of information is critical to the development of national capability, and to the trust and confidence across allies and partners by reports, is a serious leak. It is being investigated seriously by U.S. authorities, and they are engaging with partners in order to better understand the potential consequences of that information being released into the public.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HANCOCKS: Both Australian and South Korean officials say they are talking to U.S. officials to find out more. Rosemary?
CHURCH: Paula Hancocks, joining us from Seoul. Many thanks.
Well, the U.S. State Department has officially designated Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich as wrongfully detained by Russia. The designation backs up previous assertions that the espionage charges against him are baseless. It also gives the Biden administration authority to explore options like a prisoner swap to free him.
And for more on the story, I'm joined by Claire Sebastian live from London. Good morning again, Claire. So what is the latest on this? and of course what comes next?
CLAIRE SEBASTIAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yeah, Rosemary, this designation came 12 days after Evan Gershkovich, which was arrested in Moscow. That's actually pretty quick with the Brittney Griner last spring it took about two-and-a-half months from her arrest to reaching that wrongfully detained designation by the State Department. They have to go through a process to get to that point.
In this case, the Secretary of State had already come out and said that in his eyes Evan Gershkovich is wrongfully detained. So it was not unexpected. But now this means that his case is transferred to the office of the Special Presidential Envoy for Hostage Affairs. He, in the eyes of the U.S., is now essentially a political hostage, his case being handled at the highest levels of government. So that's certainly being welcomed certainly by his employer and presumably by his family and friends as well.
He does there have a more immediate problem, which is that the U.S. has yet to be granted, it says, consular access to him, which means that they really have to take Russia's word for the fact that he is being treated fairly and humanely in Moscow's notorious Lefortovo prison, where he is now being held.
This is something that was brought up at a State Department briefing on Monday. They are clearly very concerned about this. Take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
VEDANT PATEL, U.S. STATE DEPARTMENT SPOKESPERSON: We believe that it is a matter of human dignity to ensure that Mr. Gershkovich can meet with consular officers.
UNKNOWN: What do they do? Do you have any recourse at all?
PATEL: We have a number of tools at our disposal, Matt (ph), hold the Russian Federation accountable.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SEBASTIAN: We don't know exactly what tools there are, Rosemary, beyond simply the U.S. continuing to bring this up with Russia. As for the next steps in Evan Gershkovich, which is case we know, according to state media that his lawyers have filed an appeal that will be heard a week today in court in Moscow.
Russia will say that this needs to play out in the courts. He has been charged with espionage, which carries a maximum 20 year sentence and until it can go through the courts, they probably won't given past president engaged in diplomatic discussions. But having said that, this new designation is wrongfully detained, does certainly put the onus on those political and diplomatic discussions. Rosemary?
CHURCH: All right. Claire Sebastian, many thanks for that.
U.S. president Joe Biden leaves on a foreign trip in the coming hours to celebrate a major historic event, and his own personal history. We'll go to Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland to find out why they're on the president's agenda.
Back with that, and more in just a moment.
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CHURCH: U.S. president Joe Biden heads to Northern Ireland in the coming hours to commemorate the silver anniversary of an historic peace accord, but his arrival will come just a day after mask vandals attacked police in the city of Derry, which saw some of the worst sectarian violence in the days before that accord was signed.
Monday's attack happened during an Easter march by the political wing of the so-called New IRA.
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Meantime, in Belfast, where President Biden will arrive, pro-union loyalists march Monday in their own parades. Those marches were peaceful. Mr. Biden plans to mark the 1998 Good Friday agreement, which the U.S. helped broker. It put an end to the decades of sectarian violence known as the troubles. Well, after Belfast, the President will travel to the Republic of
Ireland to explore some of his own personal history. And CNN's Kevin Liptak is in Belfast, Northern Ireland. He joins us now live.
[03:30:00]
Good to see you again, Kevin. So, what more are you learning about the president's planned visit and what he's hoping to achieve overall?
KEVIN LIPTAK, CNN WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: Well, it really is a personally significant visit for President Biden. Of course, he's a very proud Irish-American. He references those roots in a lot of his speeches. He likes to quote poets Yates (ph), Seamus Heaney in a lot of his remarks. And in fact, before his trip, the White House distributed quite an extensive genealogical table from the president dating all the way back to 1803.
His great, great, great grandparents who left Ireland to come to the United States, and it really does form a lot of his political identity, this identity of a descendant of working-class Irish folks who came to the United States for a better life. But of course, this trip is about more than just sentiment. The president will be here in Belfast to mark the 25th anniversary of the Good Friday Agreement.
That agreement came about with significant American investment, Democratic American investment in the form of President Bill Clinton and Senator George Mitchell. And that's certainly a legacy that the president, President Biden is very eager to highlight when he's here, particularly at a moment when America's role overseas is being questioned by some Republicans.
This is the kind of engagement that President Biden really wants to point out, can yield very significant results that do have a real effect on people's lives. Now, the Good Friday Agreement, it is still being tested in some ways. Certainly, the specter of violence has never completely disappeared and you saw that a little bit in the marches and dairy yesterday, some of the violence you saw there.
You also see a very significant police presence here in Belfast ahead of the president's arrival. Accordance of police around the president's hotel, and in fact, the threat level in Northern Ireland has recently been elevated after an assassination of a police officer. So, certainly the violence is never far from mind, but also the political solution in the Good Friday Agreement.
This power sharing government here in Northern Ireland has been paralyzed due to some disputes over Brexit trade rules, and that's something that I think the president will want to get resolved as well. And certainly, he has been encouraging the two sides to come together and resolve that, but the president will only be here in Belfast for around 24 hours before he heads south to the Republic of Ireland for some of those more family style visits in the next coming days, Rosemary.
CHURCH: All right. Kevin Liptak joining us live from Belfast. Many thanks. Annie May Reape is a counselor in Mayo County, Ireland, one of two counties where President Biden's ancestors were from and she joins us now to share the excitement about his upcoming visit. Great to have you with us.
ANNIE MAY REAPE, MAYO COUNTY COUNCILOR: Good morning. Absolutely fantastic speaking with you.
CHURCH: So, President Biden first heads to Belfast, as we said, to mark 25 years since the Good Friday Agreement, then to the Republic of Ireland Thursday, where he will deliver an address to celebrate the deep and historic ties between the two nations and also explore his family history. So, how significant is this and how the people in Ireland preparing for this presidential visit?
REAPE: Oh, my god. I wish you were here. It's just unbelievable. The excitement is just powerful. We can't -- I can't -- we can't just get over it. It's -- we've never, ever experienced anything like it. Honestly, we're the happiest nation. Of course, President Biden's visit to Belfast of the ultimate importance, but the fact is, coming to a small rural town in Mayo, Ballina, that's where the excitement for us is,
And ultimately, he's always relations on the other side and counting for the opposite side to us and County Louth. It's just -- I would love you all just to visit Ballina just to see the excitement.
CHURCH: We'll definitely have --
REAPE: What has been done after this.
CHURCH: Our reporter will definitely be there. So, as you mentioned, President Biden will visit Ballina. So, that is where his Irish ancestors originated and he's planning to meet some distant relatives, isn't he? Who will he meet?
REAPE: Yes. I understand he will be meeting with the Blewitts family whom now he has met on a number of occasions and the Burke (ph) family and obviously the extended family relations that were still all living in and around Ballina. We're all going to be friends at this stage. They could feel the we know him because he was with us as vice president in 2016.
That was also very exciting moment for us. He's absolutely just a lovely man. You feel that you would know him so well. I met him. I personally met him on that occasion.
[03:35:02]
And he was just so nice. He asked me about my workings on the council and, you know, being a politician himself, well, I just told everything, and has time to speak to people. That's the one thing we all noticed, and that's what really endeared us to him because I think, you know, his Secret Service have a hard job to keep him moving along because he wants to speak to everybody. And everybody wants to talk to now.
Just the media focus on Ballina at the moment is very exciting. Like, we walk the streets, you can't but notice staff from the White House and the president's Secret Service agents is very obvious when you walk the town of Ballina. So that -- it's just -- to be there. I'm heading there now against (ph) morning shortly. A lot of work has been done, short cases, beauty and its excellence on the world stage. This is an opportunity for us.
There's a working group with supporters from the community and the county council, the town council, working daily. And as we speak, a stage is being built for him. Fabulous stage. So, it's all hands on at the moment in Ballina.
CHURCH: So, why do you think it is that this presidential visit is so important to the people of Ireland and clearly to you and how complicated will it be to host him, do you think?
REAPE: Well, probably -- hopefully it won't be complicated, but the public -- it's a lot of work, a lot of work in progress at the moment, but you can see how he just loves Ballina and he mentions us every opportunity on the world stage. That makes us to be very proud. We're looking at your news and watching CNN on T.V., which we're lucky to be able to see nightly.
And the president comes out of (inaudible) where is speaking from and he mentions Ballina. That brings a tear to everybody's eyes. That makes it so (inaudible). I mean, I can't even explain how excited we're just are. He's a lovely, lovely man. And you know, I can see why it's so popular.
CHURCH: That is wonderful.
REAPE: And he got (inaudible) within Ballina. I have -- we have -- it's ironic that Ballina is also (inaudible) with Scranton. And that's where President Biden was born. And as a council, three of us traveled there this year for the Patrick's Day parade. It was (inaudible).
CHURCH: Wonderful.
REAPE: And we're celebrating 300 years Ballina. So, he's here for all that and incorporate a lot. You know, the visit to us is very, very important and very important, like it's equally as important as (inaudible) to be secured for us in terms of investment, because we have -- with value with very strong links with the U.S. We have three companies in Ballina, U.S. companies, Coca Cola, Hollister and Charles River. And that's a testament to the excellence of our labor force here in Ballina.
CHURCH: All right. Well, good luck. I hope it all goes very smoothly. Annie May Reape, thank you so much for joining us. Appreciate it.
REAPE: Thank you very much. Have a good day. Bye-bye.
CHURCH: You, too. Bye-bye. And still to come, tensions flare in the West Bank as thousands of Israeli settlers and even members of Benjamin Netanyahu's cabinet march to an abandoned settlement. The details, next.
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CHURCH: The Italian coast guard is working to rescue more than a thousand migrants adrift on separate vessels in the Mediterranean. Coast guard crews are now escorting one boat with around 400 people on board to the shore. According to officials, there is also a second boat with around 800 people on board. And for more we want to bring in Barbie Nadeau. She joins us live from Rome. So, Barbie, what more can you tell us about these rescue efforts?
BARBIE NADEAU, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: Yeah. You know, that boat with 800 people, we are also hearing now that the Coast Guard is accompanying that boat. That comes from some NGOs who have recently said that. Now, one of the reasons the coast guard out there have not actually unloaded the people onto their coast guard vessels is because the seas are very, very rough, and we've seen time and time again these delicate operations in rough seas.
People are overcrowded on these boats. Imagine a boat with 400 or 800 people on it trying, you know, boat comes up to rescue, everybody rushes to one side of the boat. The boats capsized. We've seen that time and time again over the years in the Mediterranean. So, the coast guard is being extra careful. They're going to accompany that boat. They are right there by their side, those two boats, right there by their side in case something does go wrong.
Of course, this is just a symptom of a larger problem. We've seen so many arrivals, 28,000 or more so far this year. That is an incredible number. Rosemary, we don't usually see that sort of a number before the spring weather, and you know, we're just talking -- we're not even in the middle of April yet. And this is when the season generally starts when the boats start to come, when the sea start to calm down. So, it's just an extraordinary year here in Italy and puts a lot of pressure on this new government, Rosemary.
CHURCH: Yeah. These numbers are amazing, aren't they? I mean, we're talking about 1,200 additional migrants now with these rescue efforts, and this coming as Italy is seeing an increase in arrivals like this. So, what's the plan to deal with these incredible numbers?
NADEAU: Well, you know, the Italian government under Georgia Meloni, she won, of course, last September on an anti-immigration platform, saying they're going to, you know, stop the departures and stop the arrivals and that hasn't happened. One of the issues here, there are kind of two things at play. A lot of boats are coming from Tunisia.
[03:44:58]
Those are generally making it all the way to Lampedusa. Over the last 48 hours more than 1,700 people arrived on the island of Lampedusa. Now, that's separate from these two boats being -- these people being rescued right now. Those boats are larger boats, coming from Libya. So, you've got things happening in two different parts of the Mediterranean, and that's putting pressure. You know, all of the people will be processed. Those who acquire --
who will apply for asylum or who qualify for asylum will become refugees. They will be taken care of by the state, but a lot of people will be sent back to their country of origin. And you know, it just becomes a cycle that at the back of all of this is, of course, the multi-billion-dollar industry of human trafficking. The people who sell the, quote, unquote, "safe passage over" that is so often not safe, Rosemary.
CHURCH: Yeah, indeed. Barbie Nadeau joining us live from Rome. Many thanks for that report.
Well, simmering tensions in the Middle East boiling over as clashes break out between Israeli forces and Palestinians in the West Bank. The Palestinian Red Crescent says more than 200 people were injured near the town of Beita including 22 who were hit by rubber bullets. The Israel Defense Forces say they responded to a riot where rocks were thrown at soldiers, slightly injuring two.
This clash happening as Israel's national security minister joined thousands of settlers Monday in a march to an abandoned Israeli outpost. The crowd called on Israel to legalize the outpost, which is on land the Palestinians say they own. So, let's go live now to Jerusalem and journalist Elliott Gotkine. So, Elliot what's the latest on this and also comments made by Prime Minister Netanyahu Monday about his decision to keep his defense minister in his post? A lot to cover there.
ELLIOTT GOTKINE, JOURNALIST: Plenty going on here, Rosemary. That's right. Well, the settlers and the marches who were there in Evyatar on Monday they have left. Evyatar remains an illegal outpost and the settlers, including National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Givr will continue to push for its legalization, something that's actually the process of which has been going on for some time.
Now, it wouldn't be unprecedented to legalize an illegal settler outpost. The Israeli government has already announced that it was doing so for nine such outposts in February it says, which were in response to violence from Palestinian militants against Israeli citizens. At the same time, though, it promised the Biden administration that it would not legalize any more secular outpost for the coming months.
So, at some point, obviously, that somewhat ambiguous time clock will run out, and perhaps they will proceed with further legalization. But for now, that particular settlement of Evyatar remains an illegal outpost. But as you say, the other thing that we were watching very closely on Monday was a (inaudible) an unprecedented news conference from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, which he did for three main reasons, I think.
First of all was to show that his hands are still on the wheel. He is still in control and to reassure his supporters and also Israel's enemies, militants in the West Bank in Gaza, in Lebanon and Syria, who have been attacking Israel over the last few weeks that Israel will continue and it's still very able to defend itself, despite protests from hundreds of thousands of Israelis, including people who are saying that they won't do their military reserve duty, to show that Israel is still able to defend itself and attack when necessary.
The other reason was to blame the last government, the opposition for the deteriorating security situation. That government, of course, was in power for a year. Former Prime Minister Naftali Bennett, describing those comments from Netanyahu as un-leader-like and shameful. And the final reason, as you mentioned, Rosemary, was to officially rescind his firing of his defense minister Yoav Gallant.
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BENJAMIN NETANYAHU, PRIME MINISTER OF ISRAEL (through translation): There have been disputes between us, even difficult disputes on certain subjects, but I have decided to leave these disputes behind us. Gallant remains in his post and we will continue to work together for the safety of the citizens of Israel.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GOTKINE: And you'll recall that it was the firing of Gallant that prompted mass protests and finally persuaded Netanyahu to press pause on those plans for judicial overhaul. Rosemary?
CHURCH: All right. Elliott Gotkine joining us live from Jerusalem. Many things for that.
New emissions standards may be in the works for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. If adopted, the guidelines could drive up the sale of electric cars. That story after the break.
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CHURCH: The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is floating the idea of stricter emissions regulations. If implemented, electric vehicles could make up the majority of new car sales in the next decade. CNN's Bill Weir has more now from New York.
BILL WEIR, CNN CHIEF CLIMATE CORRESPONDENT: If this announcement is delivered as reported, it would be the most ambitious environmental regulation perhaps in American history and would have to completely reimagine the U.S. auto industry. Right now, electric vehicles make up less than 6 percent of U.S. sales. The ambition here is to get it to 66 percent in less than a decade starting with increasingly stringent pollution regulations on the 2027 model year and then ramping up to 2032.
The state of California has already voted to ban the sale of new gasoline cars in 2035. Europe, Canada, the U.K. will probably match that and this might attach U.S. federal ambitions to California's usually more progressive environmental laws.
[03:55:04] But this would demand an entire reimagining of auto assembly lines and charging stations and smart grids and power supplies. Right now, Tony Blinken, the State Department has forged deals recently with countries like the Congo and Zambia where cobalt is mined and needed for these new vehicles, and the amount of copper that needs to be mined to meet these goals is astronomical compared to that of human history.
So, a lot of comments to happen before the EPA enacts any of these rules, probably a lot of pushbacks from industry groups as well. But it looks like the Biden administration is planting the flag to go all electric as soon as possible. Bill Weir, CNN, New York.
CHURCH: And thanks so much for your company. I'm Rosemary Church. Have yourselves a wonderful day. "CNN Newsroom" continues with Bianca Nobilo next.
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