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Sudan Ceasefire Extended Amid Evacuations; Ya Ya The Panda Returns Home To China From Memphis Zoo; Three Killed When U.S. Army Helicopters Collide In Alaska; Brittney Griner Tears Up At Her First Press Conference; Erdogan Cancels Public Appearances after Falling Ill; Yoon Stresses U.S.-South Korea Alliance in Speech to Congress; Japanese Lander Likely Crashed on Lunar Surface; Preparations Ramp up as Ukrainian Counteroffensive Looms; Residents Fight Gangs as Crime Rate Doubles in One Year; Pope to Allow Women to Vote at Global Bishops Meeting; Giant Panda "Ya Ya" Arrives in China. Aired 1-2a ET
Aired April 28, 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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MICHAEL HOLMES, CNN ANCHOR: Hello, everyone. I'm Michael Holmes. Appreciate your company. Coming up here on CNN Newsroom, an extension on a shaky ceasefire in Sudan gives an opening to more evacuations to foreigners. But what about those left behind? I'll be talking with a U.N. envoy on the ground.
U.S. basketball star Britteny Griner first news conference since the prisoner swap that freed her from a Russian prison, what she's sharing about her detention and her future plans. And later, special delivery. Ya Ya, the giant panda returns to China amid online accusations she was mistreated in the United States.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Live from CNN Center. This is CNN Newsroom with Michael Holmes.
HOLMES: In Sudan, one ceasefire has expired and another has begun and there are fears that it too will be marred by continued violence and become a truce in name only. The latest clashes erupted in the Khartoum area on Thursday. Despite an agreement by the Sudanese army and Rapid Support Forces to extend the three-day truce by another three days. All the violence leading to dangerous shortages.
Witnesses telling CNN the RSF has taken over at least one water station and engineers trying to access the plant have been targeted by snipers. A U.N. humanitarian coordinator also wants Sudan's food supplies are running low, and that there is looting and fighting all over the country. The U.S. Secretary of State after a meeting with the U.N. chief spoke about efforts to establish a truce that actually sticks.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ANTONY BLINKEN, U.S. SECRETARY OF STATE: Working very closely together to deal with the crisis in Sudan. Hopefully, working toward a more enduring ceasefire, 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)
HOLMES: Meanwhile, thousands of foreigners are scrambling to get out of Sudan, huge crowds clogging Port Sudan where they can be ferried across the Red Sea to the Saudi city of Jeddah. The Saudi government says 2700 people from 76 countries have arrived on its shores in recent days and only about 100 of them are Saudi nationals.
Meanwhile, the U.K. Foreign Secretary says six flights have carried more than 500 British nationals to Cyprus since Tuesday, and he had this morning for any holdouts.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JAMES CLEVERLY, BRITISH FOREIGN SECRETARY: 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)
HOLMES: Meanwhile, the White House has urged Americans who want to leave Sudan to do so in the next two days. That is making it clear that U.S. military won't be airlifting them out, even though other nations seem to have no issue doing that for their citizens. CNN's Kylie Atwood spoke to frustrated Americans with loved ones in Sudan, who were 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 CORRESPONDENT (voiceover): 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 American assistance, no signage anywhere to tell them where to go.
ATWOOD: Arriving at the gates of this hotel, they showed their U.S. passports, but received no shelter.
DAOUD: They told her no oh 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: Other travelers have descended upon Sudan's border with Egypt, some finally find in water but others including Americans not so lucky.
[01:05:05]
MAISOUN SULFAB, HAS AMERICAN FAMILY MEMBER TRAPPED IN SUDAN: The wait time at the border is many days. Children's 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 the not the only Americans who are facing this issue.
ATWOOD: Imad and Layla (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 know you are going to help us out, help us.
ATWOOD: 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 joined the overland caravans.
BLINKEN: We're in contact with Americans who have registered with us in one way or another and very active contact.
ATWOOD: 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: 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 (on camera): 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 May Sun Soofab (ph), 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)
HOLMES: Now amidst the overwhelming chaos, a heartwarming scene unfolded when Sky News correspondent Yousra Elbagir unexpectedly spotted her uncle in a crowd of ref evacuees. Have a look.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
YOUSRA ELBAGIR, SKY NEWS AFRICA CORRESPONDENT: Oh my God, that's my uncle. That's my uncle.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: Now Yousra is the sister of CNN Chief international investigative correspondent Nima Elbagir, and we're told their uncle is a Sudanese American surgeon who said he was too tired to talk.
Regions across Ukraine are taking Russian fire amid signs the stage is being set for a Ukrainian ground counter offensive.
That's the sound of air raid sirens in Kyiv the short time ago. Official say air defense system shut down more than a dozen missiles and drones over the capital. The city still took some damage but there are no reports of civilian casualties yet.
Overnight strikes have also targeted the Jakasi (ph) and the Dnipro region where five people were killed and eight others wounded. And as Nic Robertson now reports for us the attacks appear to be a preemptive move before Ukraine tries to turn the tide of this war.
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NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR (On camera): Was so much speculation recently about when and where Ukraine's counter offensive could come. The defense minister today said that he felt the conversations were getting overheated. Ukrainian officials are not saying anything about it when it could be, where it could be Russia seems to be giving indications of where it thinks it could come from in the south around Kherson is an area where Russia seems particularly concerned this counter offensive could come from and they shelled overnight.
Mykolaiv a town in that area, killing one person wounding 23 others. One of them a child when they fired for S300 surface to air missiles impacted one of the apartment large apartment buildings in Mykolaiv.
[01:10:00]
And again, there's Zaporizhzhia. Here the Ukrainian saying and that area again an area where Russia thinks Ukraine might launch is counter offensive from Ukraine saying Russia launched 83 different strikes. Seven air strikes. Most of the strikes though artillery strikes, two men killed in that barrage of fire.
The weather here is certainly not conducive to Ukraine launching a camera offensive, it was raining again heavily through the day. And as it has been over recent weeks, the mud tracks near the front lines very deeply rutted and full of mud and that certainly wouldn't help the Ukrainians very speedy counter offensive.
We know as well that Ukraine's top generals were briefing their counterparts in the United States about how the battlefield seems to be to them about concerns, about ammunition weapons supplies. NATO Secretary General said that he believes Ukraine has 98 percent of all the military armored vehicles that it has requested at the moment. 230 tanks, he said.
But the Ukrainians do have some concerns about ammunition. So, perhaps this is all what feeds into the defense minister saying this discussion of a counter offensive overheated. Russia, however, making strikes where it seems to think it might come from that counter offensive. Nic Robertson, CNN, Kyiv, Ukraine.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HOLMES: Turning now to the U.S. Capitol insurrection and Donald Trump's role in instigating it. Sources telling CNN former Vice President Mike Pence testified for more than five hours before a federal grand jury on Thursday.
Prosecutors want to know about Pence's direct conversations with Trump leading up to the riot. Trump repeatedly pressured Pence to block the certification of the 2020 election and keep him in the White House. The grand jury appearance by Pence marks the first time in modern American history that a vice president has been compelled to testify about the president he served under.
The suspect in the Pentagon leaks case will remain in jail for now as the judge considers bail. Prosecutors argued 21-year-old Jack Teixeira still poses a threat because of how many documents he allegedly access a trove of weapons they found in his room and his alleged history of violent threats. CNN's Jason Carroll reports.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JASON CARROLL, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voiceover): The detention hearing got underway with Jack Teixeira's father first taking the stand. He told the court he would not hesitate to report his son if he was released on bail in his custody and broke any rules the court impose.
The defense argued that 21-year-old Air National Guardsmen is not a flight risk nor a security risk and that Teixeira did not intend for the classified information to go beyond the chat room where he had shared it.
Judge Hennessy challenge that notion, someone under the age of 30 has no idea they put something on the internet that could end up anywhere in the world? Seriously? He had no idea that would go beyond the little people on the server that is like someone arguing I pulled the trigger but I had no intent to kill him.
Prosecutors argued Teixeira could still have access to hundreds of documents. The defense filing (ph) asserts Teixeira no longer has access to those documents, saying prosecutors are exaggerating their clients threat.
Four documents filed by the U.S. Attorney's Office Wednesday argued Teixeira should not be released on bail claiming he poses a serious flight risk writing, he could take refuge with a foreign adversary to avoid the reach of U.S. law.
Prosecutors claim the information Teixeira allegedly access far exceeds what has been disclosed on the internet. The filing also includes pictures from the search warrant executed on to share his bedroom. The photos show a gun locker next to his bed containing multiple weapons including an AK style high capacity weapon handguns, shotgun rifles, and a gas mask.
Prosecutors say law enforcement also found a smash tablet, laptop and a gaming console in a dumpster at the home. Prosecutors say Teixeira also obstructed justice by telling those he was communicating with online to delete all messages. And if anyone comes looking don't tell them expletive.
Prosecutors also questioned why Teixeira was a candidate for the Air National Guard given his history surrounding guns. The Pentagon is defending its procedures.
BRIG. GEN. PAT RYDER, PENTAGON PRESS SECRETARY: I think it's important not necessarily to take the actions of one individual and somehow paint a picture that that indicates a systemic breakdown. Again, this is under investigation and the investigation will tell us a lot more about this particular individual and what he did and did not do.
CARROLL: The court documents dates in 2018 he was suspended while in high school after a classmate allegedly overheard him making remarks about guns and racial threats. That same year prosecutors say he applied for a firearms ID card but was denied due to the concerns of the local police department over the defendants remarks at his high school.
[01:15:07]
Court documents mentioned his social media posts reviewed by the FBI. One post from last November reads, I hope ISIS goes through with their attack plan and creates a massacre at the World Cup. Going on to say if I had my way, I kill a ton of people. Jason Carroll, CNN, Wooster, Massachusetts.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HOLMES: And this just in to us here at CNN, the U.S. Army says that three soldiers were killed after two military helicopters crashed near Healy in Alaska. Another soldier was injured and is being treated at a hospital.
The army says the two AH-64 Apache choppers were returning from a training flight at the time of the crash. In Jerusalem tens of thousands of right wing protesters marched in front of Israel's parliament on Thursday in the first big public rally to support Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's controversial plan to overhaul the judicial system. Since January, there have been massive protests against that plan, which opponents say would weaken the independence of the Supreme Court. Here's CNN's Hadas Gold reporting from Jerusalem.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
HADAS GOLD, CNN JERUSALEM CORRESPONDENT (on camera): For months, hundreds of thousands of Israelis had taken to the streets of Israel to protest against the traditional 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 haven't been heard as much in the Israeli street. 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. 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. And some of the right wing ministers have said that no matter what these reforms will come back onto the table, no matter what the negotiations might be happening behind the scenes, and for these protesters here, they say that's what they want to happen. They say no matter what it is their votes that won the majority November and they want these reforms done now. Hadas Gold, CNN, Jerusalem.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HOLMES: Still to come on the program, sharing her story of Olympic gold medalist and WNBA star Brittney Griner opens up about being detained for 10 months in Russia.
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BRITTNEY GRINER, WNBA STAR: I'm no stranger to hard times.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
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[01:20:02]
(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 left behind right now.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: Brittney Griner drawing attention to the plight of dozens of American nationals currently detained abroad. And the WNBA star says she will never play basketball again overseas unless it's for her country of the Olympics. That's of course after spending nearly 300 days in Russian custody.
Now back on American soil, Griner is speaking about her experiences. CNN's Brian Todd reports.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voiceover): Brittney 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 how she found the resilience to finally speak out.
GRINER: You know, I'm no stranger to hard times. You cry me, 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.
TODD: Griner was detained for nearly 10 months, much of it in a bleak remote penal colony about 300 miles from Moscow. She'd 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 war 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, met everything.
GRINER: That made me a little bit have hope, which is a really hard thing to have a really dangerous thing to have, because, you know, when it doesn't work, so crushing.
TODD: 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 on a little routine in stick to that routine, and the best you can I know that's what helped me.
TODD: Asked if she felt guilt for her release after a shorter time in detention than Whelan and some others. Griner said if she could have gotten them out herself, she would have. She pointedly made no specific mention of the conditions she faced in Russian detention. Except at one moment. GRINER: No one should be in those conditions. Like hands down. No one's to be in any of the conditions that I went through or they're going through.
TODD: Jason resigned. 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, WASHINGTON POST OPINION WRITER, HELD IN IRAN 544 DAYS: You know, once you've been isolated and confined and having have had choice taken from you for that long, you know, it's not really natural to just kind of come back to freedom. And then couple that with sort of not being able to understand, hey, why am I not happier about this.
TODD: 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 his release.
TODD (on camera) Brittney Griner's news conference also came the same 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 branch of Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps. Brian Todd, CNN, Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HOLMES: We now have video of the shooting attack we told you about yesterday that killed one of Iran's top clerics when not obviously going to show the moment that he was struck by gunfire but Iranian media say, this footage shows a gunman approaching and then firing at Ayatollah Soleimani at a bank in a northern Iranian town.
The government was quickly confronted by others at the bank. Iranian media say he is under arrest. Three other people were reportedly injured in the incident which some have called an assassination.
Soleimani is part of Iran's Assembly of Experts, as it's called a group that will play a role in selecting the country's next supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei dies.
Iranian activists in the U.K. are calling for a rally on Saturday demanding that the British government designated Iran's Revolutionary Guard as a terrorist organization. Activists and members of parliament have been pushing the U.K. to do for months what the U.S. has already done.
[01:25:00]
One British activist -- Iranian activist has become the face of the campaign after setting up camp outside the British Foreign Office and going on a hunger strike that is now entered its 65th day. Our Jomana Karadsheh with more.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) JOMANA KARADSHEH, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voiceover): Iran international powerful voice the Islamic Republic when silenced. It labeled the U.K. based opposition channel a terrorist entity, but it didn't stop there.
KARADSHEH (on camera): In November London's Met Police notified the channel of serious security threats against a number of its journalists armed police were placed outside its studios but the threat had become so severe. British authorities could no longer guarantee their safety. And in February, Iran International announced it had no choice but to relocate to Washington.
KARADSHEH (voiceover): This past year alone, the Met and intelligence services have foiled at least 15 plots they say, projected from Iran to kidnap or kill individuals, including U.K. nationals on British soil.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The IRGC have managed to infiltrate the UK to suppress our freedom of expression.
KARADSHEH: Many in the Iranian community say they're now living in a constant state of fear. Every time this couple go out to London protests, they tell us their children fear for their safety.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We don't want to check our locks every night set on alarms. We are scared.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We want a freedom of speech to be valued. We are living in the heart of democracy, and it doesn't look likely.
KARADSHEH: British Iranians who have been gathering outside the Foreign Office demanding their government do more. They want Iran's Revolutionary Guards, the IRGC to be designated as a terrorist organization, something the U.S. and a few other countries have done. Their demand is Vahid Beheshti's cause. The British Iranian activist journalist has been camped outside the Foreign Office on a hunger strike for more than two months. He was jailed twice and tortured before he fled his homeland. 24 years ago.
VAHID BEHESHTI, BRITISH IRANIAN ACTIVIST: They took everything away from us. But I can say I was one of those lucky people who could run away and come out of the country. But they are here now. Here where we are sitting in front of Foreign Office is the most safest place in London. I don't feel safe here.
KARADSHEH: We met Beheshti on his 59th day of surviving on a handful of brown sugar cubes and water. He says he's lost more than 17 percent of his body mass. Too frail to get himself out of the wheelchair.
BEHESHTI: You feel your body start eating your muscles. But mentally, unintentionally. I'm getting strong.
KARADSHEH: Beheshti's voice is being heard. More than 100 parliamentarian signed a letter to the Prime Minister urging the government to designate the IRGC with his wife, a British politician by his side. Beheshti is vowing to keep up the pressure. It's not only about Iranians, he says, this is about standing up for the most basic of British values. Jomana Karadsheh CNN, London.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HOLMES: Now, Iran did not respond to CNN to request for comment about it has condemned similar designations in the past. A U.K. government spokesperson told CNN they have sanctioned more than 300 Iranian individuals and entities including the IRGC.
The spokesperson says they do not comment on future designations but quote, we do not tolerate threats to life and intimidation of any kind towards individuals in the UK. And we'll continue to use all the tools at our disposal to protect against any threats from the Iranian state.
People in Haiti say gangs have invaded their peaceful neighborhoods. Now they're fighting back against widespread gang violence. We'll have a report for you when we come back.
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MICHAEL HOLMES, CNN ANCHOR: You're watching CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Michael Holmes. Thanks for being with us.
Now with just over two weeks until a critical election, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan canceled several campaign events for health reasons. On Tuesday he abruptly ended an interview in the middle of a question, returning later to say he had a, quote, "serious stomach flu". Several public events were scrapped so that he could rest.
Mr. Erdogan did appear via video link at the inauguration ceremony for a nuclear power plant on Thursday. Russian President Vladimir Putin also attended the event virtually.
South Korea's president delivered a passionate speech to the U.S. Congress on Thursday. Yoon Suk Yeol was welcomed with enthusiastic applause from lawmakers as he marks 70 years of South Korea's alliance with the U.S.
He accused North Korea of threatening peace with its nuclear program and missile testing.
CNN's Paula Hancocks with more from Seoul.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: South Korea's President Yoon Suk Yeol started his address to Congress by saying, no matter where you sit, you stand with Korea. Now that was met with applause, also a standing ovation, one of many standing ovations that he received while speaking in Congress this Thursday.
One of the main focuses was the alliance, the fact that this is the 70th anniversary of the alliance between the U.S. and South Korea. YOON SUK YEOL, SOUTH KOREAN PRESIDENT: Today, our alliance is stronger
than ever, more prosperous together, more connected like no other. Indeed, it has been the linchpin, safeguarding our freedom, peace and prosperity.
HANCOCKS: There were a few key themes which went throughout the whole speech -- freedom democracy and the rule of law. Now he did say that he believed that democracy was still at risk. He spoke of disinformation and propaganda as being those risks.
He also spoke of the emergence of the economy of South Korea, the fact that just after the Korean War it's one of the poorest nations in the world. And now it is the tenth largest economy in the world.
He did later in the speech also referenced North Korea, saying it is a threat to the region, to the world saying that North Korea has abandoned freedom. And also referencing what he and U.S. President Joe Biden had announced the day before.
This was a new security agreement that the two sides have announced. President Yoon went to Washington hoping for the strength and extended deterrence when it comes to North Korea. And that appears to be what he has got.
In particular, one thing we focus on is the fact that there will be a new U.S. nuclear submarine that will be deployed into Korean waters. According to a presidential official that could be within a few weeks.
Now, interestingly, Washington did say that they warned Beijing ahead of time about this Washington declaration, as the security agreement is called. They said it is a preventative measure to stop and deter North Korean missile and nuclear threats. And Beijing shouldn't be concerned.
[01:34:53]
HANCOCKS: That is not the way Beijing sees it, though. A spokesperson for the ministry of foreign affairs said, quote, "The actions of the U.S. reeks of Cold War mentality."
Interestingly, there hasn't been any reaction so far from North Korea to the past few days and the state visit.
Paula Hancocks, CNN -- Seoul.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HOLMES: The White House state dinner for the visiting South Korean president Wednesday night was treated to an unexpected entertainment session from Mr. Yoon himself.
(MUSIC)
HOLMES: As you hear there, he sang "American Pie", one of his favorite songs to a cheering audience. U.S. President Joe Biden goaded Mr. Yoon into singing the Don McLean hit before presenting him with a guitar signed by the artist.
McLean actually spoke to CNN's Michael Smerconish about that moment.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DON MCLEAN, SINGER: I intend to go over to South Korea next year and sing it with the president. So that's going to be another news story (ph). He wanted me at the White House to sing the song. But I'm in Australia right now on tour.
I get a kick out of the fact that the song is still alive. Music is live. Musicians are dealing with the thing called alchemy. We deal in magic.
And some of the things that we do are you know, fall on their face and others are very, very fortunate are magical and live forever.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: A Japanese company is assuming its attempt to put a lander on the moon has failed after losing communication with the vehicle.
iSpace said its Hakuto-R mission's one lander likely crashed. The spacecraft possibly accelerated toward the moon's surface as it was running out of fuel.
Four months after the spacecraft launched from earth, engineers waited anxiously for word of touchdown on Tuesday. It would have been the world's first lunar landing for a private company of a commercially- developed space craft. But it never happened. iSpace said its system may have miscalculated the last distance to the surface.
Takeshi Hakamada is the founder and CEO of iSpace. He joins me now from Tokyo. And thanks for doing so.
Now you've said that you are not ultimately disappointed in what happened. That you are proud of the mission. And of course, the journey itself did provide you with a lot of data. So, what lessons were learned for next time?
TAKESHI HAKAMADA, FOUNDER/CEO, ISPACE: Well, even though we did not complete the successful landing on the lunar surface however, we have already completed eight of the (INAUDIBLE) successfully. We said ten. And then also, we almost get close to the surface. And then we gained many of the flight data, half (ph) the flight data during the mission.
That is very great asset to improve our system for the next missions.
HOLMES: Yes. And I guess it's not just the, you know, the loss of the spacecraft, but the payload, you know, the rovers and other equipment that were on it. How big of a setback is it in terms of what iSpace ultimately wants to achieve? Or is this part of the process?
HAKAMADA: Yes it was part of the process. I really appreciate their work on a couple of these payload (INAUDIBLE). But essentially, our first mission and second mission is our (INAUDIBLE) mission to complete our development for the lunar landing.
And then because the first mission we have already gained many of the flight data that is a success for us to include the second mission and then next year the successful landing next time.
HOLMES: Yes. You've got one next year and I think one the year after that. I mean there are a number of other private attempts to land on the moon this year alone. Why is it important for private companies to be attempting such things?
HAKAMADA: Well, we believe that the (INAUDIBLE) becomes the important place to sustain the space activities. And then there is -- a vast (ph) potential market in the future, especially the initially U.S., United States going back to the moon by the Artemis program. And then the government was to utilize (ph) commercial capability to deliver the scientific payload or other payload to the lunar surface -- much frequent -- higher frequency and then go across.
[01:40:00]
HAKAMADA: So, there is much opportunity for the commercial company to contribute such as the transportation system.
HOLMES: Yes I guess private companies, by definition, are about, you know, making a profit. What is the profit potential of the moon? I mean, not just in terms of payload delivery and so on. But I guess also in terms of resources on the moon.
HAKAMADA: Correct. In the long run -- (INAUDIBLE) the space resources is key for a sustainable ecosystem in space especially water resources (INAUDIBLE) is very valuable. Because it uses hydrogen as oxygen which becomes preference (ph) for the spacecraft or growth deck (ph).
And then once we can deploy gas station in space, we can go (ph) -- transportation port in space. And then we can support more (INAUDIBLE) space activities to keep this is sustainability over the (INAUDIBLE) at the end.
HOLMES: Takeshi Hakamada, thank you so much, the founder and CEO of iSpace. I'm sure much was learned. And you will be back up there next year. Thanks so much.
HAKAMADA: Thank you very much.
HOLMES: We'll take a quick break. We will be right back.
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HOLMES: NATO says Ukraine has received 98 percent of combat vehicles promised by the alliance. That includes 230 tanks and 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 too soon.
CNN's Nick Paton Walsh with more.
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NICK PATON WALSH, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Spring is here after winter's frozen horror. And the buzz and sting of Ukraine's looming counteroffensive is growing.
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.
Slamming into the nearby town edging closer to us.
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.
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WALSH: 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 it may launch its attack there are more signs it is underway lurking in the foliage than Ukraine has given publicly. That is 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 have noticed the Russians pulling back.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: 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.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Sometimes I noticed 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 the ranks.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Often they shoot at each other. They fight among themselves too.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They live like they do at home.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: 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)
HOLMES: And we want to show you these live images coming into us here at CNN. And what you are seeing there is the aftereffects of a Russian missile attack.
This is a residential block of apartments in the city of Uman, this is in the Cherkasy region. Authorities reporting at least three people have been killed, rescue operations as you can see there are underway. But yet another residential target of Russian missiles.
We will keep an eye on developments. Ok.
Already struggling with extreme poverty, a humanitarian crisis and overwhelmed police forces, people in Haiti are now forced to defend themselves against rampant gang violence. And new data reveal Haiti's crime rate has more than doubled since last year.
CNN's Patrick Oppmann has the story.
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PATRICK OPPMANN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Desperation on the streets of Haiti's capital as a mob beat and kill about a dozen alleged gang members in Port-au-Prince, leaving their bodies to burn in the streets.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: it was simply the sound of gunfire that woke us up this morning. It was 3:00 a.m., the gangs invaded us. There was shooting, shooting.
This neighborhood is a peaceful area. All the people in the surrounding area are peaceful citizens.
OPPMANN: The police, the U.N. says, are largely under resourced and understaffed, leaving frustrated and terrorized residents in charge of their own safety. Activists say 60 percent of Port-au-Prince is controlled by gangs.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The gang members have invaded the area. We want the police to go ahead and confront them. We are on our own, we have nothing.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: If the gangs come to invade us we will defend ourselves. We have our own weapons, we have our own machetes. We will take their weapons. We will not run away. Mothers who want to protect their children can send them elsewhere.
OPPMANN: Elsewhere in the country, violent crime is on the rise, too. The U.N. says crime has more than doubled in the past year with gangs controlling in large parts of the country, including residential areas.
The U.N. says that sexual violence, exploitation, kidnappings, homicides are rampant. Sparing no one, not even children. MARIA ISABEL SALVADOR, UNITED NATIONS ENVOY TO HAITI: Children are
among the victims of the most heinous crimes, including killings, kidnappings and rape. Over the last three months, school children have been hit by bullets while sitting in their classrooms and kidnapped when being dropped off at school.
OPPMANN: Many schools closed last year because of the violence, but parents fear sending their children to ones that have reopened. Furthering frustration over a potentially bleak future for the next generation of Haitians.
Patrick Oppmann, CNN.
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HOLMES: You're watching CNN NEWSROOM, we'll be right back.
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HOLMES: U.S. talk show host, Jerry Springer, has died at the age of 79. Once a broadcaster and also for a time the mayor of Cincinnati, Ohio he is best known, of course, for his tabloid talk show which featured outrageous arguments and no shortage of physical confrontations.
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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I am not a (EXPLETIVE DELETED).
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No. Now you are a (EXPLETIVE DELETED).
(EXPLETIVE DELETED).
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You're not to talk to her like that, man.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Stop talking. (EXPLETIVE DELETED)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: 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.
For the first time ever, Pope Francis will allow women to participate in an upcoming meeting of Catholic bishops. Traditionally only bishops are allowed to vote on the proposals for the Pope, but the pontiff is expanding participation this year.
CNN's Delia Gallagher reports.
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DELIA GALLAGHER, CNN VATICAN CORRESPONDENT: Pope Francis' decision to allow women a vote at an upcoming meeting of bishops in October has been called an important step, but not a revolution by the cardinal in charge of that meeting, Cardinal Hollerich of Luxembourg.
The Pope has decided that at this meeting which involves several hundred bishops, there will also be 70 non-bishop voting participants. Half of them, he says, should be women. He also wants young people included. What these meetings do is they look at recommendations to make to the Pope and they vote on those proposals.
Now this is something that has been going on since 2021 in the Catholic Church all around the world, listening to lay people, that is, people who are not priests and nuns, what are some of their concerns. Those concerns now come to the Vatican in October and from that the proposals are made to the Pope.
It is something that women's groups within the Catholic Church have been pushing for for some time to have a vote at the table. The Women's Ordination Conference called it a significant crack in the stained glass ceiling.
What remains to be seen is just what the proposals will be. The Vatican says that the agenda will be published in May and then they will go for a month long meeting this October and again in October of 2024 before they put the proposal before Pope Francis.
Delia Gallagher, CNN, Rome.
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HOLMES: After a 20-year loan, the giant panda Ya Ya is back in Shanghai. she had been living in the U.S. at the Memphis Zoo. Her loan in 2003 was a symbol of a positive relationship between China and the U.S. but as CNN's Will Ripley now explains, her return is a symbol of how far that relationship has fallen.
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WILL RIPLEY, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: In China, a hero's welcome for Ya Ya the panda at the end of the 16 hour flight from Memphis to Shanghai.
Crowds gathered outside the airport, trying to catch just a glimpse of Ya Ya's crate, her first moments back on Chinese soil.
She will spend the next month in quarantine at the Shanghai Zoo, where a media feeding frenzy is in full swing.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Many Chinese have been working closely looking forward to see Ya Ya's return.
RIPLEY: This geriatric giant panda is a household name in China for all the wrong reasons. When Ya Ya's panda playmate died of 0heart disease in February, pictures of Ya Ya with scraggly (ph) fur and sagging skin sparked online pandemonium, a Chinese social media frenzy fueled by false claims.
Rampant rumors, denied by the zoo, of panda abuse and neglect in the U.S. Outrage amplified by anti-American sentiment.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Ya Ya come back home.
RIPLEY: Bring Ya Ya became a rallying cry for millions of Chinese, the panda's picture plastered on billboards from Beijing to the Big Apple. It is true, Ya Ya was young and fluffy when she arrived at the Memphis Zoo 20 years ago. On a long-term multi million dollar lease from China.
The U.S. and Chinese scientists say she has a genetic condition affecting her skin and fur, a condition that worsens with old age. No impact on her quality of life, just her looks.
They even issued a joint statement saying the fact is, Ya Ya had excellent care.
But facts do not always matter in a world full of fake news. Anti- American panda propaganda is filling the feeds of Chinese social media users, no mention of the healthy pandas at two other American zoos, but plenty of pictures of an active and playful panda in Russia. A panda, Chinese state media, praises for improving bilateral ties.
Ya Ya's saga will end where it began, the Beijing Zoo where she will live out her final years. She just might be the world's most politicized panda, a beloved bear that brought the U.S. and China closer, now being used to divide.
Will Ripley, CNN -- Taipei.
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HOLMES: Thanks for watching CNN NEWSROOM and spending part of your day with me. I'm Michael Holmes.
The news continues on CNN with Kim Brunhuber right after this.
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