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Russia's Lavrov Hosts U.N. Meeting On International Peace; Sudan Factions Agree To 72-Hour Ceasefire As Foreigners Are Evacuated; Fox News Severs Ties with Host Tucker Carlson; U.S. Government Trying to Help Americans Who Want to Evacuate Sudan; Silence Fuels Speculation of Ukrainian Counter Offensive; Corruption And Russia's Elite. Aired 1-2a ET
Aired April 25, 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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[01:00:23]
JOHN VAUSE, CNN ANCHOR: Ahead here on CNN Newsroom, a three-day nationwide ceasefire now in effect across Sudan, with both warring factions agreeing to a truce, but for how long.
Baraza (ph) will come to the U.N. Security Council with the Russian Foreign Minister and serial liar, Sergey Lavrov chairing a meeting on international peace.
And one of the loudest mouths on cable news falls silent. Why did Fox fire Tucker Carlson? And could this just be the beginning?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Live from CNN Center. This is CNN Newsroom with John Vause.
VAUSE: Thank you for being with us. We'll begin this out in Sudan where a new three day truce between two warring factions has now been in place for seven hours. Multiple other ceasefire attempts last week collapse almost as soon as they came into effect.
This latest pause was brokered by the U.S. Secretary of State who is also working with regional partners for a permanent end to the fighting. Before the midnight deadline local time, clashes erupted around the capital Khartoum, thick plumes of smoke rose from charred buildings covering entire city blocks.
Over the past 10 days, fighting has been reported across the country, leaving more than 400 people dead and countless without basics, like food, water, and medicine. The U.S. says the warring factions must restore calm immediately.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ANTONY BLINKEN, U.S. SECRETARY OF STATE: We've also continued to engage directly with General Burhan and General Hemedti to press them, to extend and expand the ceasefire to a sustainable cessation of hostilities that prevents further violence and upholds humanitarian obligations.
The Sudanese people are not giving up on their aspirations for a secure free and democratic future. Neither will we.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: For the past few days, thousands of expats have been evacuated from Sudan by various governments. And if this ceasefire holds, it will be a chance for many more to leave safely. Many Sudanese are also on the move fleeing the violence by land and seeking refuge in neighboring countries. Others are hoping to reach safety via Port Sudan, including hundreds of U.N. workers who reached the city after three days on the road.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
VOLKER PERTHES, UN SPECIAL REP. OF SECRETARY GENERAL FOR SUDAN: I'm glad we are all here safe, coming Khartoum in a very, very long journey. But we did it together. We had some challenges on the roads. It wasn't first class airlift, but I think it was good that we all together.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: But the vast majority of Sudan's population is unable to leave. The cost of fuel has surged in recent days, so to the price of a bus ticket out of the capital, which means millions and are left behind, trapped in a war zone, short on food medicine, no electricity in places with fears the fighting will only get worse. For more CNN's David McKenzie.
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DAVID MCKENZIE, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (on camera): This is the awful impact of this conflict as violence in Sudan in the capital on Monday, people picking through the rubble of an aerial bombardment. Sudanese doctors say that there was significant casualties on Monday in more than 10 days now of fighting between the armed forces and a paramilitary group.
Now, there have been a sustained effort to get foreign nationals out and diplomats out of the country including the U.S., U.K., and other wealthy nations succeeding in getting money out more than 700, U.N. officials, aid officials and their dependents got out of the most dangerous areas. So the U.N., the U.N. Secretary General, though, says they're not abandoning Sudan.
ANTONIO GUTERESS, U.N. SECRETARY-GENERAL: Let me be clear, the United Nations is not leaving Sudan. Our commitment is to the Sudanese people in support of their wishes for a peaceful and secure future. We stand with them at this terrible time. We must all do everything within our power to pull them back from the edge of the abyss.
MCKENZIE: Now CNN spoke to a doctor in the capital they said they are dealing with the awful situation of running out of food, running out of medication and medicines and supplies. They say people are coming in often with multiple gunshot wounds. More than half of the hospitals in the capital according to the doctors union have now been shut down. This is a catastrophic humanitarian situation.
Aid officials really worry if this fighting continues that there'll be a deluge of refugees leaving the country and being displaced within the country.
[01:05:07]
And at this stage, the situation is Sudan is so volatile that aid flights and aid assistance hasn't really been able to get in. David McKenzie, CNN, Johannesburg.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VAUSE: Well, Sudan civilians who are able to leave the country and make it to safety, it can be a harrowing journey. Here's CNN's Eleni Giokos reports.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ELENI GIOKOS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (on camera): One week ago, I spoke to two residents who were visiting family and sheltering in Khartoum. At that time fighting had been going on for three days. This is what she told me.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This is where we're not prepared for that. We are civilians. We don't have anything in our hand or like to be prepared for something like that. We didn't even know that some -- something's got -- something like that is going to happen. We are in very anxious situation.
GIOKOS: Right. Well, today, this woman, a U.S. permanent resident and sent U.S. desperate message on WhatsApp. We are stuck between the two borders for more than seven hours. She writes. And we have very old family members on board and they are very sick. We tried everything to get to the other side, but we can't find a solution. Would you please shed a light on that so we can get an emergency assistance and help.
She sent these photos at the green border crossing Sudan's border with Egypt about a 13-hour bus ride from outside Khartoum. As far as we know, she and her family are still stuck at the border.
Another woman knew (ph), a Sudanese nationals shared her journey on a detailed Twitter thread to help others trying to make the journey as well. She sent us this video from that same border crossing. She then took the route from Khartoum to the neighboring city of Omdurman to one of the major bus stations she described being stopped twice by the military and once by the RSF and being quickly let go due to having elderly people with her.
From there, she took the long 13 hour journey before crossing into Egypt. Now it took another 20 hours after crossing the border traveling first to Aswan, Egypt and finally taking a train to the capital Cairo where she is now the trip in total was around $200 which may not sound like a lot to some people but keep in mind the GDP per capita in Sudan as of 2021 last year, data is available was only around $750 per person annually.
After detailing her journey, she offered this advice, put your money in different places so not all of it gets taken. If anything happens. If you are stopped by anyone at a checkpoint and they are asking for anything, please cooperate. Your life is more important. Stop to buy food and carry plenty of water as there aren't any shops or restaurants after you leave Khartoum and she said the trip was long it was scary and tiring, but worth it in the end.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VAUSE: Thanks to CNN's Eleni Giokos for that report.
And the U.N. rules the position of chair of the Security Council is a rotating position. Every month another member of the council takes over 15 members which means every 15 months, Russia chairs the most powerful body at the United Nations.
And so it's been all this month. Only on Monday the irony seemed to go into hyperdrive with the Russian Foreign Minister. The once respected now serial liar Sergey Lavrov flew to New York to chair a session on international peace and security. One U.S. official was quoted as saying they're trolling us. Richard Roth has details
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RICHARD ROTH, CNN SENIOR U.N. CORRESPONDENT (on camera): At the United Nations once again a meeting on Ukraine but this time the Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov was not only in the room, he was chairing the meeting since Russia is the president of the Security Council for April.
Harsh words lobbying at the big powers such as the United States, U.K. and France by Russians envoy, Sergei Lavrov said the countries are crossing a threshold perhaps soon.
SERGEY LAVROV, RUSSIAN FOREIGN MINISTER (through translator): The situation has been worsened by the loss of and faith in multilateralism, as the financial and economic aggression of the West is destroying the benefits of globalization, when the United States and its allies are abandoning diplomacy and demanding relations to be clarified on the battlefield.
ROTH: Despite opposition to Russia's policies, the U.S. ambassador and colleagues did attend before the meeting, the U.S. ambassador said there's something big in this room.
LINDA THOMAS-GREENFIELD, U.S. AMBASSADOR TO THE UNITED NATIONS: It's impossible to ignore the giant elephant in the room, Russia.
[01:10:03]
Russia, the convener of today's meeting, invaded his neighbors in Ukraine and struck at the heart of the U.N. Charter. And Russia, time and time again has violated universal human rights and fundamental freedoms both outside and inside its own borders.
ROTH: Western nations had a whole list of things they could complain about directly to the foreign minister. Elizabeth Whelan, the sister of imprisoned American, Paul Whelan was on hand, she watched the meeting from inside the council chamber. She again pleaded for Russia to release her brother and other American hostages.
ELIZABETH WHELAN, SISTER OF PAUL WHELAN: And who will be their next victim. It doesn't take a stretch of the imagination to see that Russia will continue to push the boundaries. I am here today to tell the global community that one way to engage in effective multilateralism is to confront those countries that resort to hostage diplomacy.
ROTH: Russia's Foreign Minister Lavrov was also here to work on improving the Black Sea Grain Deal as he met with the U.N. Secretary General. Richard Roth, CNN, United Nations.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VAUSE: Peter Yeo is Senior Vice President of the United Nations Foundation, and President of the Better World Campaign. Thanks for being with us, Peter.
PETER YEO, SENIOR VICE PRESIDENT, UNITED NATIONS FOUNDATION: Thanks for having me.
VAUSE: OK, so this was kind of the month of that the Department of (INAUDIBLE) got burned to the ground at the U.N. Security Council under Russia's leadership on April five. They held an informal briefing on Ukrainian children who kidnapped take into Russia with the woman who is in charge of the scheme Maria Lvova-Belova address the meeting remotely.
The International Criminal Court has issued a warrant for her arrest. Many diplomatic stages (ph) just simply walked out of the room in protest. A few days after that, Kevin's (ph) session on arms control with Russia accusing the west of endangering the world by supplying weapons to Ukraine.
So to have Lavrov chair of meeting of the Security Council, the man who repeatedly told the world Russia would not invade Ukraine, and when it did repeatedly said it hadn't. It seems to confirm a one U.S. official told POLITICO which is this. They're trying to troll us. They're picking topics where they know some of the most egregious actions in this war are centered. And they're trying to flip the narrative on its head. Not exactly what the U.N. Security Council was established to do, is it?
YEO: No, certainly not. I think today is certainly a nasty bit of diplomacy to the whole month with Russian presidency of the U.N. Security Council has been a nasty bit of diplomacy, to watch the foreign minister today preside over the U.N. Security Council, while Russia has engaged in illegal war that violates the U.N. Charter against Ukraine. It's all a little bit too much.
But I think that you have to look at what also happened today it was Linda Thomas-Greenfield representing the United States, the Secretary General of the U.N., and most of the permanent members of the Security Council lined up and forcefully denounced the Russian invasion of Ukraine in front of the foreign minister. So, I think they were successful, at least today and turning this a bit on its head.
VAUSE: So with that in mind, you know, Sergey Lavrov really stuck to that Bazara (ph) world created by the Kremlin, up is down, night is day, black is white. He really never deviated from that. Here's part of what he said today.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LAVROV (through translator): Western countries not only preserve NATO, but contrary to their pledges, they move towards arrogantly absorbing spaces, including those territories where vital interests of the Russian Federation existed, and will always continue to exist.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: Diplomacy has been described as the patriotic -- a patriotic line for one's country. So Lavrov sort of taken that mix in a bit of Joseph Goebbels, if you tell a big lie enough and keep repeating it, people will eventually believe you. Is that the strategy here lie enough to at least muddy the international waters?
YEO: For sure, I would say that there's two goals, which is again, one is the domestic audience to make sure that the foreign minister is viewed as doing his job back in Moscow. But putting that aside, there is a battle for sure to the -- for the hearts and minds of a lot of developing countries that have been very affected by the global food shortages and other insecurity caused by the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
And so certainly, they're trying to reach that audience as well. And convince them that the U.S. is wrong, the Europeans are wrong, and the Russians are right. But we need to remember as well that the U.N. is the place where 141 countries voted right after the Russian invasion of Ukraine to oppose the invasion to declare it illegal against the U.N. Charter.
So the UN has really been the center point for a lot of the global coalition building against the Russians from day one, including with those countries in the global south that are most affected by the Russian evasion.
[01:15:00]
VAUSE: And as you said earlier on, you know, Lavrov was a diplomatic punching bag on this day, and here's sort of part of the attacks like this one from the U.S. Ambassador to the UN.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) THOMAS-GREENFIELD: This illegal, unprovoked and unnecessary war runs directly counter to our most shared principles, that a war of aggression and territorial quest is never ever acceptable.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: Yes, but two words that Iraq War and the words territorial conquest, that's not a Get Out of Jail Free card. You know, there were warnings before the 2003 invasion, that there will be irreparable harm to the United States, in moments especially like this, how much credibility is just the U.S. have given its history with Iraq, when it goes after Russia for what some comparison is something similar?
YEO: There's no doubt that other countries when they view the charges being made by the U.S. and the Europeans, as it relates to the Russian invasion of Ukraine have a rock in their minds, how could they not?
That said, it's important to remember that this is not just the U.S. that is making the case against the Russian invasion. It's our colleagues in Europe, the Brits and the French were incredibly forceful today, in their denunciations of Russia. 27 EU ambassadors signed a letter today indicating the strong united European opposition to the Russian invasion.
And, as I said, 141 countries and then voted in the U.N. General Assembly to oppose the Russian invasion. So, it's certainly part of the backdrop. But this invasion is so egregious, and it's the issue that we're dealing with now. And it seems that the global community is very much united in let's continue to,
VAUSE: Yes, let's have the will come soon. We don't have to put up with Lavrov again and another 15 months from now as chair of the Security Council. Peter.
YEO: Indeed, it's a rotate. It's a rotating chairmanship. We're very much hopeful that 15 months from now that this war will be over.
VAUSE: Absolutely. Peter, thanks so much for being with us.
YEO: Thanks for having me.
VAUSE: Since Russia's invasion of Ukraine, China has tried to portray itself as an honest broker. But it seems Beijing's ambassador of France may not have received the memo. The ambassador Lu Shaye was asked during a television interview if Crimea was still part of Ukraine, despite its illegal annexation by Moscow in 2014. He said former Soviet republics don't have quote, effective status in international law. Not exactly the type of pro-Russia. pro-Putin statement, which you'd expect from an honest broker.
Criticism across Europe was quick and widespread. Here's how Beijing responded.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MAO NING, CHINESE FOREIGN MINISTRY SPOKESPERSON (through translator): Since the establishment of diplomatic relations, China has always adhered to the principles of mutual respect and equal treatment to develop bilateral friendly and cooperative relations. The Chinese side respects the status of the member states as sovereign states after the dissolution of the Soviet Union.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: The Chinese Embassy in France later said the ambassador's comments are reflected his own personal point of view, not the official position of China's government.
Still to come, what might just be the car before the counter offensive and eerie silence was in southern Ukraine fueling speculation that long awaited push by Ukrainian forces may not be far off.
Plus, fast ways with its highest rated post. What may have been the straw that broke Tucker Carlson's back.
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[01:20:43]
VAUSE: Two of the biggest names in cable news are out of their jobs, Fox News Channel abruptly severed ties with its highest rated host Tucker Carlson. So far no explanation why. Carlson was pushing conspiracy theories about the COVID pandemic, the 2020 presidential election and the January 6 Capital insurrection.
Text messages revealed in a lawsuit brought by Dominion voting systems show Carlson made disparaging comments about senior Fox executives, as well as former President Donald Trump and CNN has parted ways with longtime anchor Don Lemon.
Earlier this year, he was widely criticized for inappropriate on air comments about women's age. Lemon apologize while also denying more reports about troubling behavior in the workplace.
Tucker Carlson was reportedly blindsided The Wall Street Journal reporting. He was sold just 10 minutes before Fox made the official announcement. His staff were reportedly planning his show for Monday night. CNN's Gary Tuchman reports on Carlson's controversial career.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
GARY TUCHMAN, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voiceover): Tucker Carlson is a broadcasting instigator. The 2020 election.
TUCKER CARLSON, FORMER FOX NEWS HOST: The outcome of our presidential election was seized from the hands of voters.
TUCHMAN: The capital insurrection.
CARLSON: These were not insurrectionists. They were sightseers.
TUCHMAN: The former cop who murdered George Floyd. CARLSON: I'm kind of more worried about the rest of the country which thanks to police in action, in case you haven't noticed is like boarded up. That's more Mike is --
TUCHMAN: And even regarding the green M&M candy no longer wearing gogo boots.
CARLSON: M&Ms will not be satisfied until every last cartoon character is deeply unappealing and totally androgynous.
TUCHMAN: 53-year-old Tucker Carlson has worked at CNN, PBS and MSNBC. But it was his job at Fox News that made him one of the most powerful voices in conservative politics, and a leader of the modern conspiracy movement. Carlson told his viewers this right after the 2020 presidential election.
CARLSON: What happened last night could not have been worse for this country, for our children, for our grandchildren for our future.
TUCHMAN: And as Donald Trump continued to beat his drum of lies.
DONALD TURMP, FORMER U.S. PRESIDENT: This is a fraud on the American public, so we'll be going to the U.S. Supreme Court.
TUCHMAN: Carlson continued to enable him.
CARLSON: 72 million voters believe this election was fundamentally unfair, and they're right about that.
TUCHMAN: But behind Trump's back, Tucker Carlson was blasting him contradicting what he was saying on his TV show. According to private text messages released as part of Dominion voting systems lawsuit against box, Carlson said this to co-workers, Trump needs to concede. There wasn't enough fraud to change the outcome. He started to do real damage to the party. And we are very, very close to being able to ignore Trump most nights. I truly can't wait.
And two days before the January 6 insurrection, he wrote, I hate him passionately. I can't handle much more of this. Carlson became a vocal proponent of those who fought immigrants have been coming to the United States to ethnically and culturally replace white people. A racist conspiracy known as the Great Replacement Theory.
Which was illustrated in horrific fashion in Charlottesville, Virginia.
CARLSON: This is a voting rights question. I have less political power because they're importing a brand new electorate. Why should I sit back and take that?
TUCHMAN: And then there's the insurrection. This Carlson lie is still trotted out by conspiracy theorists.
CARLSON: FBI operatives were organizing the attack on the Capitol on January 6, according to government documents. TUCHMAN: Carlson ended up getting sole access to thousands of hours of January 6, Capitol security videotape from Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy, which Carlson selectively sanitized, angry many, including Republicans.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think it was, yes, it was an attack on the Capitol.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I thought it was an insurrection at that time. I still think it was an insurrection today.
TUCHMAN: And then recently, this Carlson take on the culture wars, cruel racist prison. He said this about Tennessee State Representative Justin Pearson, who was expelled from office but then got his job back.
CARLSON: Justin Pearson wasn't white. That's probably how we got into Bowdoin (ph) in the first place, but he did a fantastic impression of it. What a nice young man as he considered the apprenticeship program at Citibank.
[01:25:03]
TUCHMAN: And there is this about transgender rights.
CARLSON: Transgenders do not believe in the God of monotheism. They believe that they themselves are God with the power to control nature. And if you think about it, this should be a concern because it's a recipe for extremism.
TUCHMAN: Extreme is what many believe Tucker Carlson has become. But at least for now, his powerful megaphone is gone. Gary Tuchman, CNN, New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VAUSE: Lived out of Los Angeles Pulitzer Prize winner, Michael Hiltzik, who these days writes the business column for the LA Times and it's been a long time. Good to see you.
MICHAEL HILTZIK, BUSINESS COLUMNIST, L.A. TIMES: Good to be here.
VAUSE: OK, so the question here is, what did Carlson do? Axios is reporting that it's linked to Dominion lawsuit in that a slew of material was uncovered during pretrial discovery that implicated Carlson, more information could be out there that could be legally damaging for Fox, as it says down more defamation cases.
You know, it's telling he wasn't given a chance to say goodbye to the audience, which seems to raise the bar to Bill O'Reilly level type bad. Only there's only two cases of sexual harassment in Carlson's case. So join the dots here for us as best you can about why he may have been fired.
HILTZIK: Carlson's behavior and his words, and his acts have been so offensive for so long, that it's a little hard to put your finger on what was the last straw. I think it's certainly suggestive that just a week after the Dominion Voting System lawsuit was settled, Carlson was out. So that does suggest that there was some concern in among the Murdoch family, that he had become more of a liability than an asset to Fox News.
As he said, there's another defamation suit in the wings. This is the lawsuit from Smartmatic. Another voting machine company that's asking for more than Dominion even asked for. Smartmatic has sued for $2.7 billion. And I'm sure the Murdochs looked at this and said, if more comes out about what Carlson was saying. We didn't have some real legal liability here.
VAUSE: With that in mind, the person familiar with the matter tells CNN the decision to part ways with Carlson was made Friday evening by Fox Corporation chief executive Lachlan Murdoch and Fox News Chief Executive Suzanne Scott.
The thing is, you know, Carlson did what Fox wanted for a very long time he got the ratings. How badly will this hurt the network? Even he did become a liability, just (INAUDIBLE) Dominion lawsuit for almost $800 million. He was a revenue generator for a time.
HILTZIK: Yes, I think the brass at Fox and that includes Lachlan Murdoch and, of course, his father, Rupert Murdoch. I think their opinion is that Fox makes the stars, it's not the stars that make Fox and they have a history that validates that.
They saw of Bill O'Reilly, who at the time was their -- the biggest star on Fox News. They didn't really lose out when Bill O'Reilly was forced out. And in fact, it was Tucker Carlson, who took over. They fired Glenn Beck, who at the time was also one of their leading stars. They didn't really stutter or stumble even a bit after Beck was gone.
So I think they're looking at their lineup, and they're saying we can fit somebody new into the slot that Tucker Carlson occupied. And he or she will be just as powerful as far as Tucker Carlson wants.
VAUSE: Yes, I guess that's how life works at the Fox ecosystem. One goes and they just put another one in. That's why they were uniform. So you can't tell the difference.
I don't know if there's been no word from Carlson though, but he had a lot to say about a lot of things. And a lot of it was misleading to put it mildly. Here he is talking about the COVID vaccine. Listen to this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CARLSON: How effective is this Coronavirus vaccine, how necessary is it to take the vaccine? Don't dismiss those questions from anti- vaxxers. The administration would like you to take this vaccine. Joe Biden told you last week if you don't you can't celebrate the Fourth of July. But it turns out there are things we don't know about the effects of this vaccine.
(END VIDEO CLIP) VAUSE: You could go you could celebrate Fourth of July. I mean, you know it's impossible to know if those words actually cost lives during the pandemic but there's probably a good chance they did. They certainly weren't helpful.
It seems his stick (ph) was --
HILTZIK: it's certainly true. Sorry, it's certainly true that vaccine resistance and vaccine skepticism of the same sort that Carlson was prevailing there would cost lives and would make -- it would leave people more vulnerable to COVID. We know that to be the case. This is just a smarmy output of disinformation and if nothing else, this would have warranted taking Carlson off the air or any other legitimate news system.
VAUSE: Yes and basically that was his sticky. He lied to people who wanted to be lied to I think at the end of the day.
[01:30:09]
Michael, it's been way too long and it's good to see you. Thank you for being with us.
HILTZIK: Thanks for having me.
VAUSE: Take care. We'll take a short break. When we come back and update on Sudan's latest ceasefire. And if it's to help foreigners remain in the country.
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[01:29:49]
MICHAEL HILTZIK, BUSINESS COLUMNIST, "L.A. TIMES": We know that to be the case. This is just a smarmy output of disinformation. And if nothing else this would have warranted, taking Carlson off the air and any other legitimate news systems.
JOHN VAUSE, CNN ANCHOR: Yes and basically that was his sticky -- he lied to people who wanted to be lied to, I think at the end of the day.
Michael, it's been way too long. And it's good to see you. Thank you for being with us.
HILTZIK: Thanks for having me.
VAUSE: Take care. We'll take a short break. When we come back an update on Sudan's latest ceasefire and if it's helped foreigners who remain in the country.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
VAUSE: Welcome back. I'm John Vause. You're watching CNN NEWSROOM.
A three-day ceasefire in Sudan appears to be holding. Until now brief lulls in the fighting have allowed many foreign citizens to evacuate.
CNN's Kylie Atwood reports on the U.S. efforts to help Americans stuck in Sudan.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
KYLIE ATWOOD, CNN U.S SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: With the violence consuming Sudan only getting worse, the U.S. government is looking for ways to support American citizens who remain in the country, including positioning naval assets off the coast of Sudan.
JAKE SULLIVAN, NATIONAL SECURITY ADVISOR: We are actively facilitating the departure of American citizens who want to leave Sudan, as the State Department has been urging them to do for years.
ATWOOD: U.S. officials are providing details of the over-land convoys headed out of the country by U.S. allies to those American citizens, with dozens expressing interest in leaving the country.
But if they join those caravans, they're doing so at their own risk, according to emails to U.S. citizens reviewed by CNN. A chilling decision because of the bleak realities on the ground.
ANTONY BLINKEN, U.S. SECRETARY OF STATE: Some of the convoys have encountered problems, including robbery, looting, that kind of thing.
ATWOOD: Later in the day, Blinken announced that the warring parties had agreed to a ceasefire, providing brief relief if it holds.
On Saturday night more than 100 U.S. special forces flew into Khartoum to evacuate all the U.S. diplomats and their family members. A brisk operation on the ground under the cloak of darkness, leaving embassy operations temporarily suspended.
BLINKEN: My first priority is the safety of our people. And I determined that the deteriorating security conditions in Khartoum posed an unacceptable risk to keeping our team there at this time.
There is no us airlift for American citizens planned. The State Department has been telling Americans not to travel to Sudan since August of 2021. But the family members of Americans who are still in the country are frustrated by references to those comments.
FATIMA ELSHEIKH, SISTER OF TWO AMERICAHNS TRAPPED IN SUDAN: It makes me upset because there was no warning. I don't -- I think it's being painted as a country of -- that's been war-torn for a while, which isn't true. This is unprecedented what's happening.
[01:35:00]
ATWOOD: And while the Americans in the country determine their safest next move, some of them, including an American teacher and her young daughter, are losing touch with their family members monitoring the situation from the U.S. REBECCA WINTER, SISTER IN LAW OF AMERICAN TEACHER IN SUDAN: We were able to communicate over Facetime earlier on, but internet has been out in Sudan for a while now. Unfortunately in the last 18 hours or so, we've completely lost contact with Julianne (ph).
ATWOOD: Now CNN spoke with a doctor on the ground in Khartoum, who said that most of the victims coming into the hospital have multiple gunshot wounds. Also says that that hospital is running precariously low on medical supplies and food. And doctors at that hospital, according to this doctor who spoke to CNN, had been working around the clock for the last 10 days.
Kylie Atwood, CNN, the State Department.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VAUSE: Jacqueline Burns is a senior policy analyst with the Rand Corporation, a former advisor to the U.S. special envoy for Sudan and South Sudan.
Thanks for being with us, Jacqueline.
JACQUELINE BURNS, SENIOR POLICY ANALYST, RAND CORPORATION: Thank you for having me.
VAUSE: Ok. So the European countries they have managed to evacuate just over a thousand of their nationals. Other countries have also carried out evacuations.
As far as the U.S. is concerned, here is the former U.S. defense secretary, Leon Panetta speaking to CNN. Here he is.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LEON PANETTA, FORMER U.S. DEFENSE SECRETARY: Our mission right now is to protect U.S. citizens who are there in Sudan. We ought to try to make use of the ceasefire to try to develop routes of departure so that those who want to leave the country are able to leave in a secure fashion.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: Would you expect that to be happening right now? And why is the U.S. moving so slowly, at least compared to other countries here?
BURNS: I think there's a lot of factors at play here. One of them is the United States was one of the first countries to embark on the evacuation of its embassy personnel, and we were not sure how well that was going to go.
We were not sure if they were going to be able to get in without incidents. They had an AC130 gunship in case they did receive fire. And so I think at that point they were just interested in a very limited operation to make sure that we could get those U.S. diplomatic personnel out of the country. Since then, again the situation has been very dynamic. And the U.S.
has been focused as they said on providing information to help U.S. citizens find other ways out of Sudan through over-land routes and then providing assistance once they get to Port Sudan to go on for further travels.
But I do think that there were a lot of risky factors at play when the U.S. first began planning and then executed its evacuation of the embassy staff.
VAUSE: So as far as Panetta is concerned, this is a good time to organize meeting points for those American citizens who are there and want to leave, and this will be the time to get them out. Do you think that's going to happen?
BURNS: Yes, I think that the State Department and the Department of Defense are working really hard to provide information to U.S. citizens, and it's hard to say exactly how the things are going to unfold over the next three days.
If the ceasefire does indeed hold, I think there will be a lot more efforts on the part of all organizations and states to get people out while they can in case the violence does resume.
But I think there will be a period of waiting to see how things go while again also providing as much information to those who are trying to get out of the country on ways that they can do so right now.
VAUSE: Yes. As bad as the conflict is already, the evacuation of diplomatic personnel as well as foreign nationals seems to bring a whole new level of fear for those left behind.
I want you to listen to this man. His name is Ahmed. Here he is.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
AHMED: Sudanese people are afraid that there might be unethical practices in the war against civilians and using civilians as human shields. These are our fears after the evacuation of expats.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: Are his concerns justified? Do you think that could happen?
BURNS: Sure I think they're absolutely justified. It's heartbreaking what is happening. And it was heartbreaking I'm sure for all of the diplomatic personnel to be evacuating, leaving behind their Sudanese friends, the contacts of people that they care very deeply about. And there is some truth to the fact when there are less foreign nationals present. There are less people to witness the violence, to witness possible atrocities, and there's also less chance for engagement in a productive way.
I think that's why you saw so many countries wait so long. The violence was bad from the beginning. But they waited nine days before they started evacuating their personnel. But I think the situation got so bad and they were so worried about it
getting worse that countries felt like they didn't have a choice. But I do think it is a major concern, and I understand why Sunnis people feel left behind.
And concern over the civil war in Sudan was expressed by the U.N. Secretary General Antonio Guterres, as well as the White House National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan. This is on Monday. Listen to them both. Here we go.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ANTONIO GUTERRES, U.N. SECRETARY GENERAL: I strongly condemn the indiscriminate bombardment of civilian areas, including healthcare facilities.
SULLIVAN: We continue to condemn in the strongest possible terms the violence between the SAF and the RSF.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
[01:39:55]
VAUSE: Is that the equivalent of thoughts and prayers?
BRUNS: This is a critique that diplomats and diplomacy get all the time that condemnations aren't really doing anything. They are important, but more is needed than just condemnation, right.
We have to be out there. We have to be saying something. We have to be public. But we also have to follow that up with actions.
VAUSE: Absolutely. Jacqueline, thank you so much for being with us, your insight and your experience is great. We appreciate it a lot. Thank you.
BURNS: Thank you.
VAUSE: Well, tough economic sanctions, they could lose (ph) people it seems, despite one of the toughest sanctions regime ever imposed by the E.U., a Kremlin connected socialite is living it up in Paris.
A CNN investigation is coming up.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CLARISSA WARD, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: How was it possible that she can continue to do this?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's a very simple trick that they play.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
VAUSE: Police in Kenya have now exhumed 73 emaciated bodies from mass graves and fear they may have only scratched the surface of what appears to be a starvation cult. All the dead appeared to be members of the Good News International Church, which allegedly persuaded them to starve to death to reach heaven before the end of the world.
CNN's Stephanie Busari has more.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
STEPHANIE BUSARI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Kenyan police have recovered dozens of bodies from shallow graves in the forest in eastern Kenya. They're thought to be followers of a Christian cult who believe they would go to heaven if they starve themselves, the state broadcaster reports.
Paul Mackenzie Nthenge, the leader of the cult known as the Good News International Church, was arrested after police received a tip off that his vast land on Shakahola Forest contained mass graves.
For over a week, police clad in overalls have been scouring the site in the coastal town of Malindi, and they have found an increasing number of bodies each day.
There are fears the numbers could rise as the Kenya Red Cross said 112 people had been reported missing in the area.
Kanye's president, Ruto branded Mackenzie, a quote terrible criminal whose actions were quote akin to terrorists. The case has sent shockwaves throughout Kenya and the government has vowed tighter regulations on religious bodies and organizations.
Kenya is a deeply religious country and has had problems in the past with unregulated churches and cults.
Stephanie Busari, CNN.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VAUSE: Homes, schools, commercial buildings, infrastructure, all being reduced to rubble around the besieged Ukrainian city of Bakhmut. Ukraine's deputy defense minister calls Russia's military assaults Syria-like tactics.
[01:44:52]
The military says Russia has mounted almost 50 airstrikes in the region in the past day, more than 30 grand assaults which were repelled, but they still did damage.
In northern Bakhmut, a Russian missile slammed into a school in Kramatorsk, leaving a giant crater behind.
Ukraine says Russian forces -- or focus rather in the region appears to be shifting slightly, but Bakhmut and the surrounding towns are still being pummeled. Despite that, Ukrainian forces' defensive lines are said to be holding. An eerie quite has settled over southern Ukraine and with it speculation about a possible upcoming Ukrainian counter offensive. It would likely be focused around Zaporizhzhia where a Ukrainian push to the Sea of Azov could defy Russian forces, cut off land access to Crimea.
This report from Nick Paton Walsh.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
NICK PATON WALSH, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Now one Russian official in occupied parts of Ukraine has suggested, not saying what evidence he has, that maybe 10,000 Ukrainian troops are massing around the southern town of Juliopol (ph), not far from where I'm 0standing. That's essentially on the front lines between Ukrainian held territory and Russian held territory and an important frontline, too, because most analysts think that if Ukraine is to attain the strategic success it clearly needs during this long heralded counter offensive in the spring and summer, it essentially needs to try and cut off the Crimean peninsula held by Russia since 2014, occupied by them since then to the rest of occupied Ukraine and the Russian mainland too.
That could be a significant blow to the Kremlin's plans for Ukraine. Now we don't know exactly how far advanced Ukraine's military maneuvers are here, and there are some restrictions as to what we are allowed to tell you without ramifications.
But at the same time, it's important to point out that we have also heard Ukrainian officials suggesting the reallocation of Russian troops, one official suggesting that perhaps they've moved in greater number towards the coast of the Azov Sea out -- on the outskirts of the town of Melitopol, a key place that Ukraine is going to have to recapture, if indeed it has success in this counter offensive.
And growing suggestions, information from various pro Russian sources of increased shelling along parts of the west of occupied areas of Kherson Russia controls and also along the front line in Zaporizhzhia, too.
So a lot of suggestions that things maybe a foot very little conclusive evidence that territory has permanently changed hands, but above all, enormous expectation I think from the western backers and armors of Kyiv and Ukraine that they will be able to affect some sort of strategic change in this forthcoming summer because, frankly, the unity we're seeing from Ukraine's western backers is something they can't guarantee on seeing a year from now.
So a lot of pressure for results but quite as these begin to occur, what evidence we'll see, exceptionally hard at the moment.
Nick Paton Walsh, CNN -- Zaporizhzhia, Ukraine.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VAUSE: Both the United States and the E.U. insist the economic sanctions slapped on Moscow are the toughest ever. Try telling that to the ex wife of the Russian deputy defense minister who is living it up in France and across Europe. She's spending lavishly and partying at elite resorts.
CNN's Clarissa Ward investigates how she's getting away with it.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
WARD: Svetlana Maniovich is a woman of expensive tastes, diamonds and couture, extravagant parties and European vacations. Just last month, she was seen shopping and dancing in the elite French ski resort of Courchevel. But Maniovich is no ordinary Russian socialite. She is the other half of Russia's deputy minister of defense Timor Ivanov, one of the most senior architects of Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
And according to a shocking investigation Maniovich to gallivant around France more than a year into Russia's bloody war, despite the fact that Ivanov was sanctioned by the E.U. in October.
The explosive report put out by the anti corruption foundation and investigative outfit founded by Russia's jailed opposition leader Alexei Navalny is based, they say, on a leaked archive of more than 8,000 of Maniovich's emails the last 12 years and has racked up more than six million views on YouTube.
It claims that on March 25th, 2022 as dozens of missiles rained down on the Ukrainian city of Kharkiv, Maniovich spent more than $100,000 in a top Paris jewelry store on the Place Vendome.
How was it possible that she can continue to do this.
MARIA PEVCHICKH, HEAD OF INVESTIGATIONS, ANTI CORRUPTION FOUNDATION: It's a very simple trick that they played number one, Svetlana has an Israeli passport through her first -- through her first husband.
[01:49:54]
PEVCHIKH: And second of all six months into the war they have filed for divorce. They haven't they haven't split any assets. Nothing has changed in terms of like, you know, daily life. Whatever they owned, they keep owning together. But technically they're not legally married anymore.
WARD: Equally shocking are the opulent lifestyle and lavish spending that the leaked emails document. According to Russian business publication RBC (ph) Ivanov's official income was once declared to be around $14.2 million rubles a year, less than $175,000.
Yet the Navalny Group's report calculated that the couple spent more than a quarter of a million dollars in just one summer. CNN has not been able to independently verify those numbers.
How is he funding this lifestyle?
PEVCHIKH: Well, the answer is corruption, corruption and specifically kickbacks. WARD: According to the Russian government, Ivanov overseas construction for Russia's ministry of defense, including what the Anti Corruption Foundation describes as lucrative contracts to rebuild the Ukrainian city of Mariupol which fell to Russian forces under punishing bombardment last May.
PEVCHIKH: The Russian army has destroyed -- demolished 70 percent of the apartment blocks in town. They had to build new ones, and they did so. That company that built those display houses in Mariupol, it says the same company that pays for Timor Ivanov's personal bills.
Despite claims of such brazen corruption, Putin toured the construction project last month, a request for comment on the investigation from the Russian ministry of defense received no reply.
In France, though the pressure maybe mounting and Sunday afternoon, the Anti Corruption Foundation organized a small protest outside the Paris apartment it claims Maniovich still rents demanding to know how she is allowed to spend the profits of Russia's war in the heart of France. A question so far without any satisfactory answer.
CNN has reached out to the French foreign minister who responded, saying we do not comment on individual situations. France with its E.U. partners has ended visa facilitation for Russian citizens and has also adopted targeted individual sanctions against 1,499 Russian officials and their supporters.
We also attempted, of course to reach out to Svetlana Maniovich sending her an email. But as of yet, we have not received a reply.
Clarissa Ward, CNN -- London.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VAUSE: Well, up next, spoiler alert. U.S. president Joe Biden. Maybe close to announcing. Yes he plans to run for a second term. He knocked me over with the sledgehammer.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
VAUSE: Italy says it has rescued 1,200 migrants arriving from Tunisia in just one day. The Coast Guard released dramatic video of migrants swimming to them and calling for help after their boat sank in the Mediterranean.
At this hour there still migrant boats at sea and in distress. The Italian government says more than 36,000 migrants have arrived on their shore's so far this year, more than triple the number compared to the same time last year.
[01:55:01]
VAUSE: It's not exactly a nail biting cliffhanger. No will he or won't he? U.S. President Joe Biden expected to officially announce a bid for a second term at any time now. Sources tell CNN he's chosen a campaign manager. An announcement video
could be released Tuesday. He has no challenges from within the Democratic Party.
As CNN's Phil Mattingly reports 80 year old Biden would be facing a grueling reelection campaign which could be a rematch with Donald Trump.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
PHIL MATTINGLY, CNN CHIEF WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: After months of waiting, of speculating, of everybody knowing it was coming, but not necessarily knowing when it was coming President Biden may, and I stress may, be announcing his run for reelection. Now that may is contingent on the president himself.
There's no question over the course of the last 10 days, his closest advisors and outside allies have been laying the groundwork and accelerating efforts for a reelection announcement to come on Tuesday morning.
That announcement comes four years to the day after the anniversary of his first presidential announcement in 2020. Now during that campaign, he took on and defeated incumbent President Donald Trump. Donald Trump, who is now the front runner for the Republican nomination once again.
And there in lies some significant challenges for both, but in particular President Biden, who is 80 years old and would be 86 at the time of his second term, coming to an end.
Americans very clearly in poll after poll after poll are enthused about the matchup. According to an NBC poll. Only 26 percent of Americans actually want to see Biden run again. If you look deep into the cross tabs of these polls, Democrats by a majority don't want Biden to run again, and those are some of the headwinds that the president will face.
They're headwinds however his team is confident he can overcome, overcome in part doing the sweeping legislative agenda he was able to get past Congress in his first two years, an agenda he will spend much of the next year selling, and able to overcome because of who he will be facing, whether it's Trump or some other Republican where advisors are very clear, they believe they will have a crystal clear contrast message that will resonate with the American people.
Now the president himself still not committing to announcing reelection, saying to reporters on Monday at the White House when he was asked about it. It would be coming really soon. But it is very clear that after months of closely guarded secrecy when it came to personnel, when it came to timelines when it came to what they were actually planning moves are being made.
Donors will be in town later this week. Personnel announcements are starting to come into the forefront. Campaign manager appears to be Julie Chavez Rodriguez, a senior advisor for the president here at the White House, other personnel likely to be announced as well.
All that is necessary at this point is the announcement, which is still expected on Tuesday.
Phil Mattingly, CNN -- the White House.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VAUSE: Thank you for watching CNN NEWSROOM. I'm John Vause. Please stay with us.
News continues on CNN after a short break with my friend and colleague Rosemary Church.
See you tomorrow.
You're very vocal.
[01:57:51]
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