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Americans Struggling to Leave War-Torn Sudan; Preparations Ramp Up as Ukrainian Counteroffensive Looms; Former U.S. V.P. Pence Testifies to Grand Jury; Griner Explains Resilience During Months in Russian Custody; 100,000 Rally in Favor of Netanyahu's Judicial Overhaul; Jerry Springer Dead at 79. Aired 12-12:45a ET
Aired April 28, 2023 - 00:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
JOHN VAUSE, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: Ahead here on CNN NEWSROOM.
[00:00:48]
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JAMES CLEVERLY, BRITISH FOREIGN SECRETARY: Now is the time to move.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: Stark warnings from the U.K. as well as the United States. The window to safely leave Sudan will soon close.
WNBA star and former political prisoner of Mother Russia, Brittney Griner, breaks down while speaking publicly for the first time.
And the ultra-right in Israel strikes back. Thousands rally in Jerusalem in favor of the government's plans to weaken the independence and authority of the Supreme Court.
ANNOUNCER: Live from CNN Center, this is CNN NEWSROOM with John Vause.
VAUSE: Another three-day ceasefire is underway in Sudan, and just like the one before it, seems unlikely this truce will bring an end to almost two weeks of urban warfare.
While there has been a marked reduction in violence in some parts of the country, witnesses tell CNN troops from the Rapid Support Forces have taken control of one and possibly more water stations in the North of the capital, which have been out of service now almost since the start of the fighting.
Repair crews have been unable to gain access because of sniper fire.
The U.S. warns Sudan's food supplies are running critically low, with reports of looting in some parts. For both the U.S. secretary of state and the U.N. secretary-general, the focus now remains on implementing a lasting cease-fire.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) ANTONY BLINKEN, U.S. SECRETARY OF STATE: We're working very closely together, to deal with the crisis in Sudan, hopefully working towards a more enduring cease-fire, cessation of hostilities and helping to put Sudan back on the track that it was on to civilian-led government, while dealing with, I think, an increasingly challenging humanitarian situation there.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: Meantime, thousands of foreign nationals are still trying to evacuate Sudan. Huge crowds have clogged Port Sudan, where they've been ferried across the Red Sea to the Saudi city of Jeddah.
The Saudi government says 2,700 people from 76 countries have arrived on its shores in recent days. Only about 100 of them are Saudi nationals.
Meantime, the U.K. foreign secretary says six flights have carried more than 500 British nationals to Cyprus since Tuesday. He had this warning for any holdouts.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CLEVERLY: Now, is the time to move. We have the aircraft. We have the capacity, and we have a ceasefire. So, we are saying to people, if you are -- if you want to have our support to fly out of Sudan, do so now.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: Meantime, the White House urging Americans who want to leave Sudan to do so in the next 48 hours. But making it clear the U.S. military will not be airlifting them out, even though other nations seem to have done -- have no issue doing that for their citizens.
CNN's Kylie Atwood spoke to frustrated Americans with loved ones in Sudan who are desperate to escape.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MUNA DAOUD, DAUGHTER OF AMERICANS TRAPPED IN SUDAN: Never in a million years did I imagine that, as American citizens, my parents would be left to fend for themselves in a war zone.
KYLIE ATWOOD, CNN U.S. SECURITY CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Muna Daoud describes the harrowing story of her parents, American citizens trying to make their way out of Sudan.
After a 12-hour bus ride from Khartoum to Port Sudan, during which her father was held up at gunpoint by one of the country's warring armies, they found no support for U.S. citizens.
DAOUD: No American presence, no Americans assistance. No signage anywhere to tell them where to go.
ATWOOD (voice-over): Arriving at the gates at this hotel, they showed their U.S. passports but received no shelter. DAOUD: They told her no. No, no, no. You have to wait, without
providing lodging assistance, food, water. My father is running low on his medication that he needs for both his heart condition and his blood pressure.
ATWOOD (voice-over): Other travelers have descended upon Sudan's border with Egypt, some finally finding water. But others, including Americans, not so lucky.
MAISOUN SULFAB, HAS AMERICAN FAMILY MEMBERS TRAPPED IN SUDAN: The wait time at the border is many days. Children are crying. And they're just laying on the ground. It's a desert.
IMAD, SON OF AMERICAN TRAPPED IN SUDAN: They're stuck at the border. There's no water. There's no food. The border is essentially a humanitarian crisis. And is -- they're not the only Americans who are facing this issue.
[00:05:05]
ATWOOD (voice-over): Imad and Laila (ph) are an American couple living in California. Like Muna, they're deeply frustrated by the lack of U.S. government support in these dangerous and complex conditions, as they've tried to assist their parents' escape.
IMAD: We contacted them on numerous occasions, asking for just bare minimum help. Just let us know if you are going to help us, please let us known you are going to help us.
ATWOOD (voice-over): U.S. officials say it's more dangerous to carry out a government-led evacuation from the country right now than to have American citizens join the over-land caravans.
BLINKEN: We're in contact with Americans who have registered with us in one way or another, and very active contact.
ATWOOD (voice-over): But Daoud paints a different picture.
DAOUD: The only communication was to somehow make your way to Port Sudan. Because that seems kind of very vague. And it seems like different people, different Americans are getting different information.
ATWOOD (voice-over): And, in recent days, many other countries around the world, including the U.K., India and Germany, have flown their citizens out of the country.
DAOUD: I'm just appalled and frankly, disgusted that European nations are able to coordinate evacuations of their citizens. But somehow, Americans are left to fend for themselves.
ATWOOD: Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Thursday that the U.S. believes the best way to have an enduring capability to get Americans out of the country remains on those overland routes. Even while other countries are flying their citizens out of the country. We also got an update from one of the women that we spoke to for this
piece, Maisoun Sulfab. She told us that one of her family members, who is elderly and also an American citizen, has passed away after making that treacherous journey to the border to try and get out of the country.
Kylie Atwood, CNN, the State Department.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VAUSE: Joining us now is Nicole Widdersheim, deputy Washington director of Human Rights Watch. Thank you for being with us.
NICOLE WIDDERSHEIM, DEPUTY WASHINGTON DIRECTOR, HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH: Thank you, John.
VAUSE: So before the fighting erupted about two weeks ago this coming Saturday, almost 16 million people in Sudan, about a third of the population, were in need of humanitarian assistance.
Recent flooding and drought have driven up already sky-high food prices. The World Bank said inflation -- this was in 2021 -- was close to 400 percent.
A dengue fever outbreak was declared on the 14th of February by the health ministry. That's just this year.
On top of all of that now comes this power struggle between two generals with heavily-armed military sort of fighting at urban areas. It's not even really a civil war.
So it seems that no one really knows how dire, how widespread, how truly horrendous this crisis this humanitarian crisis is in Sudan right now. And the country doesn't really have the luxury for the rest of the world to wait and find out. So what needs to be done as of now?
WIDDERSHEIM: Right. I mean, you are exactly right in what you're describing. We have been documenting violence against civilians in Darfur -- in West Darfur, in particular, way before this current crisis started.
So it is truly a humanitarian situation that's now teetering on a catastrophe. You know, everybody is very hopeful about this cease- fire.
Of course, our main call right now is for the cease-fire to be extended indefinitely. And that humanitarian assistance is coming into the country. The people are able to flee the violence that still continues. There's still reports of violence continuing, even though there is this cease-fire. It's very fragile.
We have to see a full cessation of hostilities, or a full cease-fire, and humanitarian assistance, frankly, pouring into the country.
VAUSE: The immediate concern -- you mentioned this -- is for many governments around the world, is to get their citizens out. To evacuate everyone from Sudan, get them to safety. Listen to this. It was out of the U.K. foreign minister. Then we go to the White House spokesperson.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CLEVERLY: We're encouraging those who wish to travel to make their way to the airport today. We will continue to engage with our international partners to attempt to extend the cease-fire and bring a permanent end to the violence.
KARINE JEAN-PIERRE, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: This is a dynamic environment, and any option entails a degree of risk. But because the situation is unlikely to improve, we encourage Americans who want to leave to take advantage of the options that are available to them in the next 24 to 48 hours.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: Is there a concern here? Once those operations are over, once the majority of foreign nationals have managed to leave, it will mean Sudan falls down the list of priorities. It will be seen with less urgency in capitals around the world.
And these two generals, these two guys who are just slugging it out with citizens caught in the middle, will be at it, unchecked.
WIDDERSHEIM: I mean, that is a very likely scenario and a serious concern. We specifically are calling for international monitors to come into the country.
We understand personal security is something that is under threat for every single person.
[00:10:04]
But there are millions of Sudanese who can't leave, who are stuck in the middle. We're very concerned about the elderly population, who are not going to be able to move. And we already know they're not who's showing up at the borders.
So yes, that is a really highly likely scenario, that once the international community is safely out, and you know, Godspeed to them. I, of course, want to see everybody get out who can get out, away from the violence. But yes, we don't predict that this is going to just, all of a sudden, end quickly.
VAUSE: The focus right now seems to be on these two generals. Right now, there's 50,000 children in Sudan who do not have the nourishment to survive. They're not just hungry; they're being malnourished. Shouldn't the focus be on the people here now?
WIDDERSHEIM: I -- absolutely. I mean, first off, the international community and some of the biggest donors in the world have a long history of engagement with this country, of calling out a genocide 20 years ago, of having huge humanitarian operations, of being hopeful, and frankly not supporting the democratic movement. But being hopeful that the -- democracy would come to Sudan.
This isn't a country that people don't know where it's that or what's happening. And the United States, in particular, finally got an ambassador there after 25 years, which was wonderful to see.
So there is a level of understanding, of experience in this country across the international community. And so yes, we totally agree that there needs to be a much bigger response.
VAUSE: Nicole, thank you for being with us. We really appreciate your time.
WIDDERSHEIM: Thanks for covering this story, John. Thanks for having us.
VAUSE: Amid the chaos and desperation came an unlikely reunion and a reason for hope. Yousra Elbagir, a reporter from Britain's Sky News, is covering arrivals of refugees in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia when she spotted a familiar face in the crowd.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
YOUSRA ELBAGIR, SKY NEWS AFRICA CORRESPONDENT: Oh, my God. That's my uncle! That's my uncle.
(SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE)
VAUSE: Yes. Her uncle is a Sudanese-American surgeon, and we have this note. Yousra is the sister of our Nima Elbagir.
Well, in the past three hours, word of renewed Russian strikes across Ukraine.
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(SIRENS)
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VAUSE: The sound of air raid sirens were held in the capital of Kyiv. Officials say air-defense systems had actually been engaging targets. Ukraine also says Russian strikes have targeted the Cherkasy (ph) and Dnipro regions, where two people have died.
This happened after Russian missile strikes on the city of Mykolaiv and -- on Thursday, where one person was killed. Twenty-three others were hurt.
Meantime, social media is showing images and explosions and smoke in the town of Nova Kakhovka, which is held by Russia. That's the site of a major dam which can be used for crossing the Dnipro River.
Meantime, NATO says Ukraine has received 98 percent of combat vehicles promised by the alliance. That includes 250 tanks, more than 1,500 armored vehicles.
Ukraine's defense minister is trying to manage expectations about a Ukrainian counter offensive, suggesting the public is expecting too much.
Nick Paton Walsh reports.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
NICK PATON WALSH, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Spring is here after winter's frozen horror. And the buzz and sting of Ukraine's looming counter offensive is growing.
(SOUND OF ARTILLERY)
WALSH (voice-over): Aiming at Russian positions, within 30 seconds, the Ukrainian unit has moved away.
It may be a precise operation, but the Russian response is not --
(SOUND OF ARTILLERY)
WALSH (voice-over): -- slamming into the nearby town, edging closer to us.
WALSH: Impossible to tell what the Russians are trying to hit, but another example of the intense bombardment, their bid to stop the counteroffensive from starting.
WALSH (voice-over): It is ordinary civilians, caught in the rising dust behind us, who bear the brunt of Russia's frustrated rage.
Along and around the brutalized towns, where Ukraine says that it may launch its attack there are more signs that it is underway, lurking in the foliage than Ukraine has given publicly.
[00:15:08]
That's because Ukraine has said nothing at all about when, where or how it will attack.
But among machine gun fire in the nearby trenches the drone operators hidden in the rubble. The detailed intimate picture they have of their enemy just two fields away is startling. Watching and trying to kill each other every hour. They've noticed the Russians pulling back.
(SOUND OF ARTILLERY)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE)
GRAPHIC: I doubt with these noises they can hear the drones. They got smart, they took everything to the rear. Heavy armor and stuff -- they don't have it. Sometimes I notices some real professionalism. They precisely lock the drone with an anti-drone gun and then shoot it with all they got.
WALSH: Another drone team has seen the Russians, also left defending ruins, ridden by chaos in their ranks.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (SPEAKING NON-ENGLISH)
GRAPHIC: Often they shoot at each other. They fight amongst themselves, too. They live like they do at home. Helicopters shoot at them -- their own.
WALSH: It won't be long until that cunning, or chaos, meets a decisive test in this flat, open and perilous space.
Nick Paton Walsh, CNN, Zaporizhzhia region, Ukraine.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VAUSE: Now to another first from the Trump administration, and not in a good way. For the first time in modern American history, a former vice president has been compelled to testify about the president he served with.
Mike Pence spoke Thursday with a federal grand jury investigating the U.S. Capitol insurrection and Donald Trump's role in instigating it. CNN's Katelyn Polantz has details.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
KATELYN POLANTZ, CNN SENIOR CRIME AND JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: Former Vice President Mike Pence testified before a federal grand jury on Thursday for more than five hours. That testimony would have been about what happened after the 2020 election leading up to January 6th, all of those conversations he directly would have had with Donald Trump, the president at the time, at a time when Donald Trump was pressuring him to overturn the vote. Pence refused to do so.
Pence has also spoken about those conversations publicly. He's written about them in his book that he has been on a tour about now. He's talking about them regularly.
But never before has an investigation, has a grand jury and have prosecutors gotten Pence under oath to reveal exactly what he thought, what he felt, and what was said between him and Donald Trump on those crucial days, part of this investigation.
So this is a really significant moment in the January 6th criminal investigation being led by Special Counsel Jack Smith at the Justice Department.
It is also quite a momentous moment in history. There has never before been a vice president called to testify under subpoena about the president they served alongside. That didn't happen in Watergate with Richard Nixon. It didn't happen in Whitewater with Bill Clinton, which both had very active grand juries. So this is different.
It also is a very crucial moment, putting Mike Pence here, because the Justice Department had to fight for this testimony. They went to court over this. Donald Trump tried to block the testimony. He tried to limit what
Pence could say about the direct conversations. He lost those court battles.
Mike Pence also went to court to fight on this and did not want to testify under subpoena, but he did get a little bit of leeway from the court, being able to protect what he was doing when he was the presiding officer on January 6th.
But today, that federal grand jury did hear from Mike Pence for more than five hours, one-on-one. The grand jurors would have been able to ask him questions. They would have been able to piece him into the investigation, a very active investigation that they have heard from many, many witnesses on.
And now, the prosecutors will take that testimony and see how it fits, try and fit it into potential charges as they look toward the future. It will become, at least, part of the record of what will not be known about January 6th to the Justice Department and potentially to the public later on.
Katelyn Polantz, CNN, Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VAUSE: The suspect in the Pentagon leaks case will remain in jail for now. A judge is considering bail.
Prosecutors claim 21-year-old Jack Teixeira is a flight risk, still poses a threat because of how many documents he allegedly accessed.
Investigators found an arsenal of weapons in his room, uncovered a history of violent threats. Court filings show that he once said he hoped ISIS would attack the World Cup. He wanted to turn a minivan into an assassination van.
Investigators also found a pennant with a Russian military insignia in Teixeira's room.
Many of the documents he posted online included top-secret assessments of the war in Ukraine. Teixeira was a member of the Massachusetts Air National Guard. He obtained top-secret clearance in 2021.
[00:20:09]
His attorneys, though, say prosecutors are exaggerating his risk to national security.
Still ahead, speaking out and sharing her story. Olympic Gold medalist and WNBA star Brittney Griner opens up about being detained for ten months in Russia.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BRITTNEY GRINER, WNBA STAR: I'm no stranger to -- to hard times. So --
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GRINER: Just keep pushing, because we're not going to stop. We're not going to stop fighting. We're not going to stop bringing awareness to everyone that's -- that's left behind right now.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: After being detained for ten months in Russia, Brittney Griner now wants to draw attention to dozens of other Americans still detained abroad. And the WNBA star says she will never play basketball overseas again unless it's for Team USA at the Olympics.
CNN's Brian Todd has our report.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Britney Griner unveiling a mural of American detainees held abroad. The 32-year-old American basketball star speaking to the media for the first time since her release from detention in Russia in December. Griner got emotional when asked about how she found the resilience to finally speak out.
GRINER: You know, I'm no stranger to -- to hard times. So you cried, and you made me cry. Just digging deep, honestly. You know, you're going to be faced with adversities throughout your life. This was a pretty big one. But I just kind of relied on my hard work, getting through it.
Griner was detained for nearly ten months, much of it in a bleak remote penal colony about 300 miles from Moscow. She received a nine- year sentence for drug smuggling, after being arrested at a Moscow airport carrying cannabis oil in vape cartridges just before the Ukraine or started.
Griner said she'd packed the cartridges by accident. She said during some of her more desolate moments in detention, seeing pictures of her family and images of the efforts to get her out meant everything.
GRINER: It made me a little bit -- have hope, which is a really hard thing to have, a dangerous thing to have because, when it doesn't work, it's so crossing.
TODD (voice-over): And she spoke of what she'd tell Paul Whelan and Evan Gershkovich, two Americans now held in Russia and all the other wrongfully-detained Americans abroad.
GRINER: Stay strong, keep fighting. Don't give up. Just keep waking up, find a little routine and stick to that routine, just as best you can. I know that's what helped me.
TODD (voice-over): Asked if she felt guilty for her release after a shorter time and attention then Whelan and some others, Griner said she could have gotten out them herself, she would have. She made no specific mentions of the conditions he faced in Russia detention, except at one moment.
GRINER: No one should be in those conditions. Like, hands down, no one should be in any of the conditions that I went through or they're going to.
TODD (voice-over): Jason Rezaian, "The Washington Post" writer who was held in Iran for nearly a year and a half, told us about what Griner may be going through emotionally right now.
JASON REZAIAN, WRITER, "THE WASHINGTON POST": Once you've been isolated and confined and have had choice taken from you for that long, it's not really natural to just kind of come back to freedom. And then couple that with not being able to understand, hey, why am I not happier about?
TODD (voice-over): Griner's news conference came the same day as The Wall Street Journal," Gershkovich's employer, "The Washington Post" and "The New York Times," ran full-page ads of a joint letter demanding's release.
TODD: Britney Griner's news conference was looking to see him day as the U.S. imposed new sanctions on groups in Russia and Iran that are accused of taking Americans hostage or wrongfully detaining them. The sanctions target Russia's federal security service, and the intelligence brands of Iran's Revolutionary Guard corps.
Brian Todd, CNN, Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VAUSE: An update now on what's being described as an assassination of a senior clerk in Iran with the release of video of the actual shooting.
Iranian media says the video shows a gunman approaching Ayatollah Soleimani while he was in a bank and then opening fire. We've decided not to show those final moments.
The gunman was quickly confronted by others at the bank, and according to media reports, is now under arrest.
Soleimani was part of Iran's assembly of experts, a group that will play a role in selectin the country's next supreme leader, after Ayatollah Ali Khamenei dies.
When we come back, tens of thousands protest outside Israel's Parliament in favor of a controversial plan to overhaul the country's judicial system. We'll take you to Jerusalem after the break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
VAUSE: Welcome back. I'm John Vause. You're watching CNN NEWSROOM.
In Jerusalem, tens of thousands of right-wing protesters have rallied in front of Israel's Parliament, the Knesset, in favor of the government's widely-criticized plans for an overhaul of the judicial system.
After 16 weeks of nationwide protests against the controversial overhaul, this was the first mass turnout of public support in favor of the reforms, which aim to weaken the independence of the Supreme Court and empower lawmakers to overturn certain court rulings.
Here's CNN's Hadas Gold, reporting in from Jerusalem.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
HADAS GOLD, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: For months, hundreds of thousands of Israelis have taken to the streets of Israel to protest against the judicial overhaul plan the Israeli government has put forward. That would give unprecedented power in the hands of the Israeli Parliament over the Supreme Court.
But this protest is something different. These protesters, they are in favor of the judicial reform. They say their voices have not been heard as much in the Israeli streets, and so that's why they're coming out here in front of the Israeli Supreme Court and the Israeli Parliament, because they want their voices heard by the Parliamentarians. They want these reforms to pass. They want these reforms to go through.
They say that this is what they voted for in those November elections. They say the right-wing parties won the majority, and this is what they want heard.
For the people out here, they say this, for them, is democracy. They want more power in the hands of the people.
Now, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had suspended the legislative process on these reforms after the most massive general strike in Israeli history.
But the Israeli Parliament is coming back into session next week. Some of the right-wing ministers set, no matter what, these reforms will come back on to the table, no matter what the negotiations might be happening behind the scenes.
And for these protesters here, they say that is what they want to happen. They say, no matter what, it is their votes that won the majority in November, and they want these reforms done now.
Hadas Gold, CNN, Jerusalem.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VAUSE: We'll go live now to Jerusalem. We're joined by Yaakov Katz, senior columnist and editor for "The Jerusalem Post," as well as author of "Shadow Strike: Inside Israel's Secret Mission To Eliminate Syrian Nuclear Power."
Welcome back. Good to see you. YAAKOV KATZ, SENIOR COLUMNIST/EDITOR, "THE JERUSALEM POST": Thank you,
John.
VAUSE: There's always one very big problem when you bill something as a million man march. There's a very strong chance of falling short at that number.
Still, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu boosts the numbers a little with this tweet: "I thank the hundreds of thousands of Israelis who came to Jerusalem tonight to support our government. Your passion and patriotism moves me deeply."
To be fair, this was one at the, if not the biggest right-wing protest since, what, the Gaza disengagements back in 2005, even though Israel now has the most right-wing conservative government in the history. it seems many on the right are still not happy with that.
So walk us through how this all plays out, what they want and where this is now heading.
KATZ: Well, I think, you know, John, this is coming on the eve of the Knesset, the Israeli Parliament returning to session, after the Passover and independence Day break that took over the last month or so.
So they're coming back at the beginning of the week, and this is the way of the people and also of the government showing a force that we have support. It's not just people who are opposed, right?
We've had 16 weeks, where you've had about two and a half percent of the Israeli population that weekly have been coming out to protest against the judicial reform.
And now, you have a few hundred thousand, whether it's 200 or 300, it does not really make a difference at the end of the day. This was a show of force and the largest, as you said, and maybe 20 years almost at the right coming out to protest and to show its support of something that the government is doing.
So this is what they're doing, and the question really comes down to, OK, what are they going to do with this force now? How is it going to translate into what the Knesset does when it comes back into session? Does this mean the judicial reforms are back on the table, or are the compromise talks being hosted by the president continuing?
VAUSE: OK, so to that end, I want you to listen to Israel's justice minister, who was there. This is what he said.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
YARIV LEVIN, ISRAELI JUSTICE MINISTER (through translator): More than 2 million Israelis went out six months ago and voted in elections. They voted for judicial reform.
(END VIDEO CLIP) VAUSE: OK. So "The Times of Israel" reported just after the election, "the non-Bibi block grew its vote by 5 percent, to 2.33 million. The Netanyahu bloc grew by 11 percent to 2.36 million."
So in other words, the Netanyahu coalition won the popular vote -- and this is all very dodgy, I know -- by 30,000 votes.
It doesn't seem much of a mandate, given the incredible opposition to these reforms since the election, even lesser now. So is this -- is this turnout right now, is this big enough to try and claim that mandate, to try and reclaim the momentum for this coalition government to say that they do, in fact, have popular support?
KATZ: Look, it's all about public perception, and it's all about the narrative that you can roll out and tell your people. And this was a show of force that does show that it's not just opponents who were taken to the streets.
But also, you do have supporters, supporters who believe strongly in the judicial reforms and believe that it is important to keep doing it, to keep moving them ahead.
So what that is meant to do is to show that there are people. Now, with Yariv Levin, the justice minister, this was his baby. He was the -- the grandfather or the godfather, let's call it, of these judicial reforms.
He was the one that believed strongly in pushing them through. He's been pressuring Netanyahu to keep them going, as Netanyahu has been trying to backtrack because of the political pressure, because of the public outrage, because of the downgrading in relations with the United States, with Europe.
Moody's report, which took Israel from a positive economic forecast to just a stable economic forecast.
[00:35:08]
Altogether, I think Netanyahu realizes the way this was done was a mistake. But he does have pressure from within his ranks. And at the end of the day, he needs to keep his coalition together.
So this was a -- was a force that was meant to show, also Netanyahu, the media, the left, the protesters who are against -- we still have support in the country to move ahead.
VAUSE: So on the other side of the divide, those opposed to this judicial overhaul, they're now saying they'll answer this mass protest with more and bigger demonstrations in the weeks ahead. So that pressure on Netanyahu, it's only going to grow.
KATZ: Right. No, this isn't going away. You know, once the talks, once the legislation, sorry, was suspended a few weeks ago, and the compromise and negotiations begin at the president's residence, you could have thought, John, that this would be an opportunity for protesters to say, OK, we're going to take a break. But they haven't taken a break.
Every week, you're still getting hundreds of dozens of Israelis on Saturday nights who are taking to the streets of Tel Aviv, Jerusalem, Haifa, Be'er Sheva, Netanya, across the country. It's not just isolated even to one city.
They're continuing because, A, they feared that the legislation will come back. B, they're concerned with other issues about this government, right? We can't forget the fact that this is a very religious, right-wing radical government that is pushing other legislative agendas that are also something that the protesters who come from the center or the left have issues with.
So those protests haven't gone away. And I think that that's the big storms right now, is how can Netanyahu walk this fine line, keep his coalition in check, not lose his government, but at the same time, not instigate greater protests and greater international pressure on him to stop what's happening?
VAUSE: It's hard riding two horses at one. Yaakov Katz, as always, good to have you with us. Thank you, sir.
KATZ: Thank you.
VAUSE: South Korea's president and part time torch singer addressed the U.S. Congress on Thursday. Yoon Suk Yeol was welcomed with enthusiastic applause from lawmakers as he marked 70 years of South Korea's alliance with the United States.
He accused North Korea of threatening peace with its nuclear program and missile tests and said Pyongyang's obsession with nuclear weapons has thrown its people into an economic and humanitarian crisis.
Yoon rallied lawmakers to his cause by referencing former U.S. President Ronald Reagan.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
YOON SUK YEOL, SOUTH KOREAN PRESIDENT: To deter his reckless behavior, the alliance must stand united with determination. As President Reagan once said, there is a price we will have paid. There is a point beyond which they must not advance. We must make his words clear to North Korea.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: Before adjusting Congress, the White House held a state dinner for the South Korean president Wednesday night, and there was some unexpected entertainment from the South Korean president himself. Here it is.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
YOON (singing): A long, long time ago --
(APPLAUSE) YOON (singing): I can still remember how the music used to make me smile.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: Yes, "American Pie." One of Mr. Yoon's favorite songs and a classic, a golden classic. The audience cheered along. Joe Biden goaded Mr. Yoon to sing the Don McLean hit and then presented him with a guitar signed by Don McLean.
And Don McLean spoke to CNN's Michael Smerconish about the moment. Here he is.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DON MCLEAN, SINGER (via phone): I intend to go over to South Korea next year and sing it with the president. So that's probably going to be another news story. He wanted me at the White House to sing the song, but I'm in Australia right now on tour.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: When we come back, a legendary U.S. talk show has died -- host has died. When we come back, a look back at the life of Jerry Springer. Stay with us.
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[00:41:95]
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
(APPLAUSE)
JERRY SPRINGER, FORMER TALK SHOW HOST: We'll be back.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: He was one of the most controversial, influential, longest- reigning talk show host on American television. Now Jerry Springer has died at the age of 79.
He was once a broadcaster and briefly the mayor of Cincinnati, Ohio. But he's best known for his tabloid talk show featuring outrageous arguments, physical confrontations. Always something to do with "That's my baby. Did you know?"
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I am not a (EXPLETIVE DELETED).
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No. Now you're a (EXPLETIVE DELETED) and a (EXPLETIVE DELETED)!
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You don't got to talk to her like that. Stop talking -- UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Jerry, Jerry, Jerry!
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Jerry, Jerry, Jerry!
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Jerry, Jerry, Jerry!
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: They don't make TV like that anymore.
Springer once told CNN he did not mind being called the grandfather of trash TV. His show aired for more than 4,000 episodes, ending in 2018. Wow.
After a 20-year loan, the giant panda Ya Ya is back home in China. She arrived in Shanghai in Thursday after a 16-hour flight. She went there by FedEx.
Ya Ya has been at the Memphis Zoo in the U.S. since 2003 as a symbol of Chinese-American goodwill. But Ya Ya became an unexpected symbol of deteriorating relations.
In recent months, the 23-year-old giant panda appeared thin, clumps of fur missing. Activists in China allege she was mistreated. So, people in China demanded she come home.
Memphis zoo officials denied any mistreatment. Chinese and U.S. scientists agree she had excellent care. But said she had a genetic skin and fur condition, as Giant Pandas sometimes have.
I'm John Vause. WORLD SPORT starts after the break. Then Michael Holmes will be in at the top of the hour with more CNN NEWSROOM. Have a great weekend. Hope to see you back here next week.
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[00:45:29]
(WORLD SPORT)
