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CNN International: Eight Children & A Security Guard Killed At A Belgrade School; Zelenskyy In Finland To Attend Nordic-Ukrainian Summit; Intense Exchange Of Fire Overnight After Prisoner Death; Iranian President Raisi In Syria For Talks With Assad; Kremlin: Two Ukrainian Drones Flown Towards Kremlin Overnight; Drought-Stricken Spain Is Running Dry. Aired 8-8:30a ET

Aired May 03, 2023 - 08:00   ET

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

[08:00:00]

MAX FOSTER, CNN ANCHOR: Hello everyone watching CNN "Newsroom". I'm Max Foster in London.

Just ahead, Serbian officials say a teenage boy opened fire at a school in Belgrade killing at least nine people. We'll have the latest.

Then Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is in Helsinki to attend a Nordic-Ukrainian summit while Russia launches a new wave of drone attacks in Ukraine.

And the Trump era Title 42 policy is set to expire next week, the Biden administration is sending 1,500 troops to the southern border ahead of an expected surge in migrants.

A school shooting in Serbia's capital, Belgrade, has left eight children and a security guard dead. Serbian officials say the alleged shooter is a 14-year-old student. He's now in custody. According to the Interior Minister, another seven people are hospitalized.

Scott McLean following all these developments for us. What happened here, it's not sort of story we hear from Serbia very often.

SCOTT MCLEAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Certainly not and especially not from this school, which is in an upscale part of Belgrade, one of the most famous schools in the city. But we know that this happened around 8:40 in the morning, according to the authorities.

Police -- there was obviously a massive police response when this 14- year-old boy walked into this school with two pistols, a 9 millimeter and a smaller gauge pistol and started shooting. Police also said that he had four Molotov cocktails with him.

When police got to him, he was actually in the school yard. So what we know about injuries right now is that there were nine killed, eight of them kids, one a security guard. There are seven people injured, six of them children, one of them a teacher, a 53-year-old, we understand, suffering from gunshot wounds to her stomach and her hands as well.

There is also one girl that at last word, was undergoing life threatening surgery inside of the hospital. As I said, this is a 14- year-old boy, so 7th grade. There was a picture of him coming out of the school. They've only identified him thus far by his initials, K.K. He had a jacket over his head, skinny jeans on. He got into an unmarked police car and was taken away.

Shortly after that, we also saw students, or at some point, we saw students also coming out. Some of them were quite visibly distraught as they were coming out of the school. One girl was in tears. A mother told our local affiliate there that her daughter is frankly in shock. She cannot get her to calm down right now.

There's a press conference happening right now with authorities from government and from police, and police have described this as something that was being planned for more than a month now. They said that the shooter had a plan as to which specific classrooms to go to.

Apparently, the history one was chosen because it was near to the door, which specific students to go after. And so this seems like something is pre-planned. One official blamed the influence of Internet video games so far as sort of an initial cause.

FOSTER: The gun came from where and how common are guns there?

MCLEAN: Yes. So initially -- or the initial report at least, is that these are guns that were taken by this 14-year-old student from his father. So guns are not nearly as common in Serbia as they are in, say, the United States, which is why you don't hear this kind of thing from Serbia. It's also a very small country, but there are also strict gun laws.

You -- in order to get one, you can only get a semiautomatic. Automatic guns are banned, but in order to get one, you basically have to go through a medical exam. You have to go through background check. You have to have a reason to have one, like sport hunting or a good reason to feel like you're under threat. And you also have to do a training course.

There's also lots of guns, though, left around from the civil war back in the 90s. And so one estimate from 2018 suggested that Serbia actually per 100 people, had the third highest rates of civilian guns floating around there. The number is 39 per 100 people. But just for comparison's sake, the U.S. number is 120 guns per 100 people.

So obviously, not nearly as common, but one of the more common places to find guns, certainly in Europe and the world.

FOSTER: OK, Scott, thank you. Back with you on more details from the press conference.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is in Finland in a rare international trip to pay an official visit to the NATO's newest member. He's set to meet with Nordic prime ministers at a summit hosted by the Finnish president to discuss Russia's war on Ukraine. Meanwhile, Russian state media claims a drone attack caused a large fire at a fuel depot near a crucial bridge linking Russia's mainland with Crimea. Ukraine isn't commenting on that. Now to a fierce exchange of fire in the Middle East after a prominent Palestinian inmate died at an Israeli prison following a hunger strike.

Israel said more than 100 rockets were fired from Gaza in the early hours of this morning. Meanwhile, its fighter jets hit a military post in Gaza, as well as a weapons facility and sites the Israel Defense Forces say were used by Hamas. Islamic Jihad says the round of confrontations with Israel has now ended. An Israeli military spokesperson says there's no official ceasefire with Hamas, but, quote, messages have been passed.

Hadas Gold is monitoring events from Jerusalem. Some respite from this action, at least at the moment.

HADAS GOLD, CNN JERUSALEM CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Max, some respite from what was a rather intense round of fighting between Palestinian militants in Gaza and the Israeli military sparked yesterday by the death of Khader Adnan, who you mentioned was a prominent figure in Palestinian Islamic Jihad. He was once a spokesman for them.

[08:05:13]

He had become really the face of Palestinian resistance, in the face of Palestinian prisoners in Israeli prison. He had been arrested at least 10 times since the early two 2000s, and he had gone on hunger strikes in the past. But it was this hunger strike that lasted more than 86 days. He was found dead and unconscious in his cell on Tuesday morning, according to the Israeli prison authorities, who also say that he had been steadfastly, refusing medical treatments throughout his hunger strike.

But his death sparked not only a wave of strikes, general strikes across the West Bank in Gaza, but also we started to see rocket fire from Gaza. It started with just a few rockets, and then as the day went on, and especially in the evening, it was barrages of rockets.

Now, most of the rockets were focused on communities in southern Israel. These rockets didn't reach let's say, to the big cities like Tel Aviv or here in Jerusalem. And the Israeli military responding with airstrikes, at least two rounds of airstrikes. They said both fighter jets and helicopters were used, targeting, they said, everything from military outposts to weapons, depots, to underground tunnels.

The Israeli military saying it targeted 16 sites. Now, although Islamic Jihad is blamed mostly as being the ones behind this rocket fire, the Israeli military say they were targeting Hamas sites because, they say Hamas controls the Gaza Strip. And so Hamas is the one who essentially allowed Palestinian Islamic Jihad to engage in this.

In terms of injuries and casualties, we are hearing from the Ministry of Health in Gaza that at least one man in his 50s was killed as a result of these strikes and five others were injured. In Israel on Tuesday, three were injured as a result of rocket shrapnel. One of them, a man in his 20s was -- suffered serious injuries. That's according to medical workers.

But then in the early hours of this morning, we heard about this truce, Islamic Jihad saying the confrontation was over. The Israeli military saying, we don 'tactually have a ceasefire with Hamas, but they told me messages had been exchanged.

But there is actually a bit of political fallout now because some members of the rightwing of Israeli politics, including members of Itamar Ben Gvir, the National Security Minister's Party, boycotted votes today in the Israeli parliament because they said that the Israeli military response to these barrage of rockets they said was weak.

One member of even Benjamin Netanyahu's own party was saying he wanted to see, he said, terrorists dead, he said. He wanted to see an actual response versus what they saw. So we are actually even continuing to see follow up from this later -- latest, rather, intense round of fighting, not only for people on the ground in these communities, but also some political fallout as well. Max?

FOSTER: OK, Hadas, thank you.

The warring sides in Sudan have yet to comment on the announcement of a new ceasefire allegedly set to begin tomorrow. But we are getting reports of violent explosions today in Khartoum, along with airstrikes and antiaircraft fire in a nearby city.

On Tuesday, South Sudan said the Sudanese Army and the RSF agreed in principle to a seven-day truce. A string of previous ceasefires has failed to stop the fighting.

Meanwhile, the U.N. aid chief has arrived in Sudan to discuss relief efforts. Iran's president is now in Syria for talks with President Bashar al-Assad. Ebrahim Raisi arrived in Damascus earlier today to begin his two-day trip as the first visit by an Iranian president to Syria since that country's civil war began 12 years ago. Iran has been a key financial and military ally to Assad during the conflict.

CNN's Nada Bashir is in London. And these will be unsettling scenes, really, for some around the Middle East and indeed around the world.

NADA BASHIR, CNN REPORTER: Yes, absolutely. Iran has remained a continued backer and supporter of Syria throughout the civil war over more than a decade now. And of course, this is happening against the backdrop of what we are seeing in the Middle East, which is Syria growing increasingly out of isolation from its regional neighbors.

We are seeing Syria building up those ties once again with the likes of its Arab neighbors. There are questions as to whether Syria will send a delegation to the upcoming Arab summit. So there is a significant amount of concern around what this signifies for Syria's place in the Middle East. We've already heard from the Iranian side. They have remained a staunch backer of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad throughout the civil war. Now, according to state media, President Ebrahim Raisi is visiting Damascus in order to expand on those ties, focusing not only on the diplomatic front, but crucially on the economic and trade relations between the two nations.

And of course, Syria has now faced sanctions for the better part of a decade and has come under increased pressure financially, with Iran being a key financial backer as well as a military backer over the last decade. So this will be a key focus for both leaders during this two-day visit.

But of course, we've also heard from state media in Iran reporting that Ebrahim Raisi will also be visiting with Iranian and Syrian business leaders in the country, as well as visiting religious sites. And we'll be focusing on really expanding on those ties between the two nations, building on those relations.

[08:10:12]

This is a significant concern, of course, for some who will be looking on at this as an opportunity for Syria, of course, to tighten those relations as it begins to emerge from a lengthy period of isolation. But, of course, Iran is also doubling down on establishing ties and deepening relations with its regional neighbors.

We saw in March the reestablishment of ties between Iran and Saudi Arabia after a seven-year rift. This could certainly be a signal of further diplomatic attempts to come from the Iranian regime.

FOSTER: Nada, thank you.

This just coming into CNN. The Kremlin says two Ukrainian drones were flown towards the Kremlin overnight. It says no one was injured in what he called, or what it has called an attack, and that Russian President Vladimir Putin was not at the Kremlin at the time of the incident.

Let's speak to CNN's International Diplomatic Editor Nic Robertson. Obviously, we're relying on what's coming from the Kremlin here, but it does sound like a significant moment.

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: Well, always treat with caution what you hear directly from the Kremlin, only because their track record on speaking entirely the truth has been called into question many times. But what are they presenting at the moment? State media in Russia is saying that two unmanned aerial vehicles, UAVs, Ukrainian UAVs, were flown over the Kremlin, that essentially the defense mechanisms there disabled them, took them down.

They're saying that no one was injured from the falling debris. The Kremlin has followed up and said that this was an attack on President Putin. However, he wasn't there at the time. The video that state media and others play in social media is playing does appear to show a small puff of smoke over the Kremlin. Now, CNN cannot independently verify this video, and obviously when it's something as sensitive as the Kremlin, one needs to be really cautious and look into it very carefully. However, local residents do report hearing a loud clap or a bang at around the sort of time that this incident was believed to have played out.

But again, at the moment, all the facts aren't clear. But if the Kremlin is going to play these events as an attack on President Putin, it has a number of options to potentially use that as propaganda for increasing strikes or whatever against Ukraine. That would perhaps be the concern of many Ukrainians at this moment.

But what does it actually mean in terms of the war that is unfolding at the moment? It has no significance at the moment because there were no injuries, no casualties. But it's a very sensitive site, and I think we're going to have to look very closely, very closely at the details as we get more of them, Max.

FOSTER: Yes, Nic, thank you very much indeed. Back with you later.

We've just heard from the Kremlin press service calling the drone attack an attempt on the president's life and a terrorist act. Russia reserves the right to take retaliatory measures where and when it sees fit. So whether or not we confirm exactly what happened, a very strong response from the Kremlin and a very clear interpretation of what they think happened in terms of these alleged drone sightings. And we'll have more as we get it.

Now, what is the U.S. President's border policy? He promised a more humane approach to immigration upon becoming president. But his latest move is drawing criticism from some members of his own party who view it as too harsh. The White House has announced it's sending 1,500 troops to the southern border to deal with an anticipated migrant surge.

And this is why. Title 42, the controversial public health law, put into action under President Trump during the COVID pandemic expires on May the 11th. It has allowed the U.S. to turn away migrants at the border for public health reasons, including those seeking asylum.

Top Democrats aren't happy with the decision to send troops. Senator Bob Menendez is blasting it as unacceptable and calling it the militarization of the border. The Pentagon says the added troops will serve in administrative roles only and will be deployed for 90 days.

CNN's Rosa Flores has reported extensively along the southern border and joins us now from El Paso, Texas. You know, some concern, of course, in Washington about what we expect to see today, but what exactly is President Biden's policy and how does it differ from his predecessors?

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ROSA FLORES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: You know, Max, let me show you around because I'm in downtown El Paso, Texas, and take a look around. These are hundreds of migrants who are sleeping on the streets. They are lined, the sidewalks are lined by migrants all around the city block, and it spills over several streets.

Now, here's a situation. The city of El Paso is in a state of emergency right now. The city declared that emergency so that they can free up dollars to make sure that they can provide shelter, so that they can provide sanitation and extra public safety and security in this area.

Now, one of the big questions, of course, is, well, if there is a disaster declaration, then why are so many people sleeping on the street instead of in shelters provided by the city? Great question. Here's the answer. The city funds that are appropriated by the federal government only allow the city to help migrants who turn themselves into immigration authorities and that those immigration authorities process them.

The reality of the individuals that you see here -- and I just turned the corner, and you can see that the lining of migrants continues. The reality is that there's a mixed status here. There's individuals who turn themselves into immigration authorities and there's individuals who decided to enter the country illegally.

I can tell you from talking to migrants and officials on both sides of the border that there are tens of thousands of migrants who are in northern Mexican cities who grew impatient. A lot of them tried to cross through the CBP One app, which is a software application that was launched by the Biden administration in January that allows migrants to set up appointments to enter legally through points of entry.

And Max, they simply grew impatient, and so they decided to enter the country illegally. And so, that's why we're seeing masses of individuals right now. And if you just look all around me, I mean, this spills over to multiple streets. Max?

FOSTER: OK, Rosa Flores, thank you very much indeed for showing us that on this key day.

Now, after the break, we'll go back to Serbia for an update on that horrifying school shooting that has left eight children dead. What we know next.

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FOSTER: I want to update you on our top story. At least nine people are dead after authorities say a 14-year-old boy opened fire at an elementary school in Belgrade, Serbia. According to the Interior Ministry, police have arrested the alleged shooter.

Let's go to Belgrade now. Andjela Milivojevic, she's a journalist there, and she joins us live. Thank you for joining us. Obviously, new information coming in all the time, but what's the very latest that you've heard?

[08:20:00]

ANDJELA MILIVOJEVIC, JOURNALIST: Yes, the latest is that the press conference of the minister of police, minister of education and the minister of health showed us more details of what happened before this attack. We heard that the boy itself called the police to say that he has shot several children in his own school.

What we also heard is that the boy has been planning for this shooting for over a month now. A police chief from Belgrade pretty much showed his plans. He said that he made a plan of list of children that he wanted to kill, as well as the plans of school classrooms where he wanted to enter.

And he also mentioned that the boy came to the school in the early morning with one gun, three ammunition chargers, as well as three Molotov cocktails.

FOSTER: A very shocking incident. Obviously, it happens anywhere. But particularly unusual in Serbia with very tight gun control.

MILIVOJEVIC: Exactly. So Serbia has a really tight gun control, and there is no way for you to get a gun easily. You have to apply, you have to register exactly what you have in your own home. So it is really shocking for all of us to hear that this has happened.

And what we heard from the police is that the boy used his father's gun. He took it from his home and brought it to school, and he used it to kill the children around him.

FOSTER: OK. Thank you so much for joining us from Serbia with the latest on that. We'll be following updates throughout the day on that shocking incident in Belgrade.

Coming up, a severe drought in Spain has left its reservoirs looking like this. The water crisis is putting crops at risk. We'll take a closer look at that for you.

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FOSTER: Spanish farmers are facing a crisis because of a lack of water. Record heat and prolonged drought mean reservoirs in affected areas are now running low.

CNN's Fred Pleitgen joins us with the impact on one region.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice- over): From afar, even a natural disaster can look majestic. But up close, the full impact of the global climate emergency is clear to see.

This is the Sau Reservoir near Barcelona, normally one of the largest bodies of freshwater in this part of Spain, but months of drought and the water levels are so low and the entire medieval village usually underwater has come to light.

(on camera): The folks here say normally you'd barely be able to see even the tip of the medieval church because it would be almost fully submerged. But now as you can see, the church is very much on land and the authorities here fear things will get much worse once the summer's heat really sets in.

(voice-over): The Sau Reservoir is already at less than 10 percent capacity. And that's causing hundreds of thousands of acres of farmland to dry up. All of this wheat is probably lost. Farmers, Santi Caudevilla shows me why.

The grain should be milky, he said. We're in a critical moment. If it doesn't rain, this will end up empty. We should be seeing the grain come up to here but it's only like this. If it doesn't rain in the coming week, the crop will be zero.

[08:25:00]

But there is no rain in sight and temperatures in Spain have skyrocketed. Just like the crops, the people in this area are also in survival mode. Dozens of towns are without water and need to get it trucked in.

The village Castellcir hasn't had any for about a year and residents say they can't even remember the last time it rained.

I don't recall, Juan, tells me. It's been a long time a year or more without proper rain, nothing.

This region of Spain is a breadbasket for all of Europe. And while the authorities say they're building desalination plants to combat the water crisis, the head of the region's water authority says life here might change dramatically soon.

SAMUEL REYES, DIRECTOR, CATALAN WATER AGENCY: Is this a country where we can handle with the increase of citizens, tourist, industry, farmers, agriculture, or we should stop?

PLEITGEN (voice-over): That point might be closer than some believe.

Back at the Sau Reservoir, authorities are actually draining most of the remaining water to prevent this precious and ever scarcer resource from getting contaminated by the sludge at the bottom of this once mighty lake.

Fred Pleitgen, CNN, Barcelona, Spain.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

FOSTER: Following news this hour out of Russia, Russia says two Ukrainian drones were flown towards the Kremlin overnight. The Kremlin says no one was injured, but called the incident an attempt on the president's life, President Putin's life.

A statement from the Kremlin says Russia reserves the right to take retaliatory measures. Russian President Putin was not at the Kremlin at the time of the incident. We'll have much more on this in the coming hours.

Thanks for joining me here on CNN Newsroom. I'm Max Foster in London.

World Sport with Amanda Davies is up next.

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