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Israeli Hostage Efforts Face Setback; Zelenskyy Seeks European Aid After U.S. Visit; Republicans Launch Impeachment Inquiry Against Biden; Gaza Humanitarian Crisis Deepens; Heavy Rain Adds to Misery in Gaza; Nine Israeli Soldiers Killed in Gaza Battle; Mossad Chief's Hostage Talks Trip Canceled; Biden Meets Families of American Hostages; Zelenskyy Gains Nordic Support in Oslo; EU Summit Debates Ukraine's Future; IDF Has New Plans to Flood Tunnels; Punched Referee Released from Hospital. Aired 12-12:45a ET

Aired December 14, 2023 - 00:00   ET

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

[00:00:00]

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PAULA NEWTON, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: Hello and a warm welcome. I'm Paula Newton, the head right here on CNN Newsroom. A setback in efforts to free more Israeli hostages. Hours after the latest pleas from families to bring their loved ones home. After leaving the United States almost empty-handed, Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy persuaded some of his European allies to open their wallets. And U.S. Republican lawmakers opened an impeachment inquiry against President Joe Biden despite the fact they have yet to come up with any evidence of impeachable offenses.

And we do begin this hour in Gaza, where a dire humanitarian crisis is deepening as Israel's war against Hamas intensifies and Israeli officials vow to fight until the end. New video shows what overwhelmed hospitals are now facing. And we do want to warn you, viewers may find the images disturbing. The video was shot at Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in central Gaza on Wednesday and shows those injured being treated on the floor amid chaotic scenes. Many casualties were brought in on Wednesday after a reported strike. Several other hospitals in Gaza also reported receiving a high number of civilian casualties that very same day.

And it's not just the expanding war, but also the weather. I mean, look at this. That's bringing more misery to Gaza's displaced population. Heavy rain has flooded makeshift tents, and some have had to dig trenches to try and keep that water out. Meantime, in Israel, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu spoke of the great pain felt there after nine Israeli soldiers were killed in battle in northern Gaza. Today's casualties are among the largest loss of life in a single incident for Israeli forces since the ground offensive began.

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REAR ADMIRAL DANIEL HAGARI, ISRALEI ARMY SPOKESPERSON: We are at the stage where large forces are operating in the Gaza Strip, making contact with the enemy. The more we widen our operations, the more there are clashes. And unfortunately, the more soldiers are hit. We're now learning from a source that the Israeli government has cancelled the Mossad chief's trip to Doha.

Now, the head of Israel's intelligence service, David Barnea, was set to restart talks on a possible second hostage release deal. The move has angered the families of Israeli hostages, while in Washington, the families of American hostages are praising the Biden administration after meeting with the president. CNN's MJ. Lee has details now from the White House.

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MJ LEE, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: For the first time, President Biden meeting in person here at the White House with some of the family members of those American hostages that are still being held captive in Gaza. About a dozen of those family members, we are told, were here at the White House. Several others tuned in virtually. When these family members came out to speak to reporters afterwards, they said that they were grateful for the White House's continued close engagement. And they said that the Biden White House understands that each of their loved ones isn't just a name or a face, but that they are somebody's son, somebody's mother, somebody's grandmother. Here's what one of those family members said.

JONATHAN DEKEL-CHN, FATHER OF HOSTAGE SAGUI DEKEL-CHEN: It was a terrific, terrific meeting and conversation. I think we all came away feeling that as families of hostages, of American Israeli hostages, which are eight out of a total of 100, and 38 hostages, we felt that, and we felt before, and we were only reinforced in seeing and believing that we could have no better friend in Washington or in the White House than President Biden himself and his administration.

[00:05:09]

LEE: And when I have spoken with some of these family members in recent days, they said, understandably, that they are starting to grow increasingly desperate for any news about their loved ones and any movement to get more hostages out. You'll recall during the seven-day truce in the Israel-Hamas war, each day of that truce, a small number of hostages was successfully getting out. But that truce, of course, ultimately fell apart.

The war has resumed, and no hostages have gotten out since then. And so these family members are all pressing both the Israeli government as well as the Biden administration to basically get creative, to do really anything, take any action to try to get additional hostages out. But the tough reality right now, according to CNN's reporting, is that there is no movement at the moment. There isn't even a formal negotiation to try to get Hamas back to the negotiating table as it relates to these hostages, our reporting is that in recent days, Hamas has actually been entirely unresponsive to various overtures that have been made to once again discuss some kind of deal, some kind of negotiation to get more of these hostages out.

So that certainly is not good news for these families. But they did say after this meeting at the White House and seeing the president in person that those meetings -- that meeting helped to refuel their hope that the White House is in fact trying to do everything that they can to get more of these hostages out of Gaza. MJ Lee, CNN, the White House.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

NEWTON: Steven Cook is a senior fellow for Middle Eastern Studies at the Council on Foreign Relations, and he joins us now from Washington. Good to have you with us. You know, the stories from those families of the hostages have just been so powerful, right? They've been, in fact, a potent political force. Maybe some of their family members wouldn't be free right now if it hadn't been for that potent political force. Now, I have spoken with some of those families. I know there is so much ambivalence. They want Israel to defend itself, and yet they've been put in this impossible situation. You know, at this hour, their loved ones could not just be captives, but could be under threat from the Israeli army that's supposed to be trying to free them.

STEVEN COOK, SR. FELLOW MIDDLE EASTERN STUDIES, COUNCIL ON FOREIGN RELATIONS: Yeah, this is perhaps one of the most difficult situations facing the Israelis, as well. As the United States in this operation. It's very unclear at this point how many of those hostages remain alive. There's a reason why Hamas has been so recalcitrant about restart negotiations for a hostage release. There is some speculation that some good number of those people are not alive.

And it's clear also that the Israel Defense Forces, as well as the government, although they have been speaking, quite openly about the rescue or return of hostages, are not willing any longer to subordinate their overall operation and their overall goals of destroying Hamas for the benefit of those families who are waiting to hear about their loved ones. In a conflict of impossible situations, this is high among the most impossible of them.

NEWTON: And, you know, our reporting now at CNN shows that the Israeli government has possibly cancelled the trip, of one of those officials from Mossad and going to try to go to perhaps Qatar and try and restart negotiations for a pause. What do you make of that?

COOK: Well, everything we know is that the Israelis have remained interested in negotiations with Hamas, but that Hamas has not been forthcoming and has led the Israelis to conclude that Hamas and the Qataris, by extension, are essentially wasting time by these negotiations. And as I said, it seems clear that the Israelis do not want to subordinate their overall goal to what they consider to be playing games with Hamas.

NEWTON: You know, when we talk about the United States and the fact that it's looking a bit isolated as well now on the international stage, you know, Biden's comments to donors the other day that Israel risks losing any international support it has left because of so- called indiscriminate bombing, in his words. I want you to listen now to our White House correspondent, MJ Lee, talk to a White House official about this and what his response was. Listen.

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LEE: I insist that the intent is there to minimize civilian casualties when the president himself said yesterday that Israel is bombing indiscriminately.

UNKNOWN: Sometimes in war, and again, I'm not speaking for the Israelis, sometimes in war, your best plans, your best execution of those plans doesn't always go the way you want it to go. It doesn't always go the way you expect it to go.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[00:09:59]

NEWTON: So, you and I both know a dodge when we see it, but in terms of what the president said and how they were trying to walk that back a bit, do you believe they would eventually get punitive with Israel if they didn't like the way this war was being prosecuted in Gaza?

COOK: I think at the moment, what we're seeing is a rhetorical divergence between the United States and Israel, but on the substantive level, the United States remains fully committed to Israel's overall goals of destroying Hamas or rendering Hamas unable to threaten Israel's security. I'll point out that there were, you know, 10 airplane loads of equipment for the IDF that were recently delivered to Israel. And the president at the White House Hanukkah celebration reiterated his firm commitment to Israel's right to defend itself.

So, yes, there is a significant amount of international pressure being brought to bear on President Biden. And while he's willing to say those kinds of things to donors, at least publicly, he's not yet willing to take the Israelis to task, nor has he been willing to take any action that would disrupt their military operations.

NEWTON: Yeah. And again, the key word there, not the words, but the actions. Before I let you go, Israeli internal politics, you know, as complicated as this is, I think it's important for us to understand that there are certain foreign countries and countries that are not going to be able to defend themselves in a way that would be difficult and perhaps returning to a point where they will be quite divisive again. What kind of impact do you think that will have on the prosecution of this war going forward?

COOK: Yeah. Israelis have really rallied around the flag since October 7th, but not Prime Minister Netanyahu and his government. And as this war moves into the next phase, as people expect it will in the over the course of the next month, politics seems to be returning. And Prime Minister Netanyahu himself has begun that process and is essentially going to run against the United States and the Palestinian Authority.

The United States wants to reinvigorate the Palestinian Authority and extend its authority to Gaza in the day after scenario. And Netanyahu is signaling that that's a non-starter for him. And that is essentially outreach to Israel's right wing, which would not support a reinvigorated Palestinian Authority or negotiations for a two-state solution, as the United States has proposed. So, politics is going to come back, and it's going to come back with a vengeance after this security disaster of October 7.

NEWTON: Yeah, which Benjamin Netanyahu has actually not proposed. Not quite faced yet in terms of taking any responsibility verbally or publicly. Steven Cook, we will leave it there for now. Thanks so much.

COOK: Thank you.

NEWTON: Ukraine's president is working to bolster ties with members of the European Union after a disappointing visit to the United States that resulted in no new military aid for its fight against Russia. Vladimir Zelenskyy met with Nordic leaders in Oslo Wednesday, with the Norwegian prime minister pledging nearly $800 million in additional subsidies. He said he's looking forward to the EU's support for Ukraine and the hours ahead, EU leaders will start arriving for the European Council summit in Brussels. And the EU chief is calling on members to give Ukraine a huge financial boost.

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URSULA VON DER LEYEN, EUROPEAN COMISSION PRESIDENT: We must give Ukraine what it needs to be strong today so that it can be stronger tomorrow at the table when it is negotiating a long lasting and just peace for Ukraine.

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NEWTON: The summit will also focus on Ukraine's security. Ukraine's bid for EU membership and whether to fast-track Ascension talks. But the Hungarian prime minister, an ally of Russian president, is opposed to Ukraine joining the bloc. Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY, UKRAINIAN PRESIDENT (through translator): First of all, it won't be an easy meeting. It won't be an easy summit, which will start on December 14. We are very content that 99% of the member countries fully support Ukraine and that they are ready to start talks on future Ukraine's EU membership.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

NEWTON: I want to bring in Daniel Treisman now, a political science professor at the University of California in Los Angeles. Good to have you. We have a lot of things going on in the coming hours. In addition to that European Council summit, we were just talking about, we are also just hours away from Vladimir Putin's annual press conference. You know, you and I have seen these before. They're long, freewheeling events. And in the past, Putin has actually tolerated pointed questions from foreign journalists. You know, I think it's a good thing. Even Zelenskyy right now predicts Putin is likely to be in high spirits. Is that warranted?

[00:14:59] DANIEL TREISMAN, POLITICAL SCIENCE PROF. UNIV. OF CALIFORNIA LOS ANGELES: I think he will be in high spirits. And I think he'll be really trying to project a certain image because this is, in effect, the start of his re-election campaign next March. Big surprise, of course. Nobody expected him not to. But he'll want to come out now, and in this joint press conference and call-in show, he'll want to demonstrate to ordinary Russians that he cares about them, that he's focused on their problems, as well as international affairs.

And so he's going to try and look responsive. He'll be taking calls from Russians around the country, offering the promising to solve all their problems. And we'll probably see a little bit of the old Santa Claus strategy of offering different benefits to different groups. So that'll be the big emphasis, I think. And then, of course, we may see some gloating over the divisions in the West. He's delighted at the failure of Congress to pass the additional aid for Ukraine.

He's going he's also going to be delighted if the Europeans in the summit you just mentioned fail to themselves decide on new aid for Ukraine with Hungarian President Viktor Orban, Prime Minister Viktor Orban strongly against that. So, he feels pretty good about his situation internationally at the moment and right at the moment at the front lines, too. He probably feels quite confident. There's been a big Russian offensive in the last few days on in the north, northeast and in the rest of the front lines fighting has more or less steadied.

NEWTON: And that is probably something he was hoping for. He is shrewd and patient and will wait for this kind of a stalemate. And yet CNN is reporting that Russia lost a staggering 87 percent of the total number of active duty ground troops in the war with Ukraine, two thirds of its tanks according to U.S. intelligence. Why does it seem that none of this matters to Vladimir Putin?

TREISMAN: Well, of course, it does matter. But in public, he's certainly going to skirt around questions to do with the military losses. So, we understand from Russian sorry, from U.S. and British and European intelligence that maybe 350, 000 Russian troops have been either killed or injured. The big problem that looms for next year for Putin is whether he's going to have to call for more conscription, another round of call ups of young men that would be deeply unpopular. And so, later today in this press conference, I'm sure he'll have prepared carefully to avoid questions. We'll have possible questions related to that.

NEWTON: Yeah, it is definitely tense, especially in the regions. I want to ask you about what's going on here in the United States. Some Republicans, most recently Senator J.D. Vance here on CNN, said that it was time for Ukraine to negotiate seed land. And they have two theories about this. One is that, look, Russia, this is a stalemate. It is something that has to be done. And secondly, they suggest that Putin wouldn't dare go any further into Europe and wouldn't dare try and capture Kiev again. Is he right on either point?

TREISMAN: Well, that's what they said before he invaded Ukraine. Right. He wouldn't dare. I think that's a very bad starting point in trying to understand Vladimir Putin at this point. I think we have to recognize that if the fighting in Ukraine goes Russia's way, if they, God forbid, have a breakthrough and manage to take more territory. First of all, we're going to see atrocities in the other areas of Ukraine that they haven't yet occupied. And then the mood in Moscow will be very buoyant. And the temptation will be great for them to take aim at some other places where there are ethnic Russians living such as the Baltic states, which are, of course, NATO members.

So, I think it's very short sighted to think that we can actually save money by refusing to help Ukraine as it fights to defend itself and instead just wait until we have to be more involved in a potential military conflict involving NATO states.

NEWTON: Yeah, it was a surprising turn, especially from the Republican side of the Senate. In terms of so many people now saying it is time to go to the negotiating table. We have to leave it there as we await this press conference, though. Daniel Treisman for us. Thanks so much.

TREISMAN: Thank you.

[00:19:49]

NEWTON: Now, how's Republicans unite behind their impeachment inquiry into Joe Biden coming up? Why they formally authorized the probe despite no evidence of wrongdoing. Plus, COP28 leaders are patting themselves on the back after making a landmark agreement to move away from fossil fuels. While critics say the deal is nowhere near enough.

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NEWTON: Despite no evidence of wrongdoing, U.S. House Republicans have now voted to formally authorize an impeachment inquiry into President Joe Biden. The probe into the Biden family's alleged foreign business dealings passed along party lines, with all Republicans voting for it and all Democrats opposed. President Joe Biden released a statement after the vote, saying, quote, Instead of doing anything to help make Americans' lives better, they are focused on attacking me with lies. Instead of doing their job on the urgent work that needs to be done, they are choosing to waste time on this baseless political stunt that even Republicans in Congress admit is not supported by facts.

The vote came on the same day the president's son, Hunter, defied a subpoena to appear for, for closed-door questioning. He says he's willing to testify publicly, but not in private. Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HUNTER BIDEN, JOE BIDEN'S SON: My father was not financially involved in my business, not as a practicing lawyer, not as a board member of Burisma, not in my partnership with a Chinese private businessman, not in my investments at home nor abroad, and certainly not as an artist.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

NEWTON: CNN chief congressional correspondent Manu Raju has more now on where things stand. MANU RAJU, CNN CHIEF CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT AND ANCHOR: The House

voters voted along straight party lines 221 to 212 to open up a formal impeachment inquiry into President Joe Biden. There actually had been an impeachment inquiry on the books really since September, since Kevin McCarthy, then the Speaker of the House, announced that it would move ahead. There doesn't actually need to be a formal vote, but Republicans contended that there needed to be a vote to give them more power if they had to go to court to get records, if they thought they had to fight people who were defying their subpoenas, that this vote could help them push back on any of those claims that this was an illegitimate inquiry.

But the reality is that they wanted to try to show that the conference was united behind the idea that an impeachment investigation needed to happen. But that's not to say that members are united about charging the president with high crimes or misdemeanors. In fact, many of them who I spoke with simply said that they have not seen enough evidence or proof that shows that Joe Biden acted corruptly in any way to benefit his son, Hunter Biden's overseas business dealings. Several of them said let's wait to see what evidence ultimately is gathered before we make the decision about charging him with a high crime or misdemeanors. Even some top Republicans indicated it is still possible that Joe Biden could get exonerated in the months ahead.

RICHARD HUDSON, U.S. HOUSE REPUBLICAN: Well, the vote today was a search for facts, and we're going to follow the facts wherever they lead. And if they exonerate the president, then we'll make that known to the American people.

[00:25:09]

RAJU: Could you guys really exonerate the president after all of this?

HUDSON: Well, we're following the facts, and a lot of these allegations are very serious, and you guys should spend some time looking into them. And if we're wrong, report that.

RAJU: Speaker Mike Johnson faces a real challenge in the weeks and months ahead because of the fact there are a number of Republicans who are pushing to get Joe Biden impeached. Yet there are several in those swaying districts who say that they want to see much more information before they're willing to vote for impeachment. And this drumbeat is going to get louder on the right to push for impeachment, while Mike Johnson, in that razor-thin majority, cannot afford to lose more than three Republican votes in order to move forward with impeachment. So, it remains to be seen where Republicans go as they are now moving ahead in this impeachment inquiry after this party-line vote. Manu Raju, CNN, Capitol Hill.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

NEWTON: Groups representing oil and gas-producing nations are calling for new investments into fossil fuel projects. It comes after the end of COP28, the climate summit where delegates made the unprecedented call for countries to move away from the use of coal, oil, and gas. CNN's Bill Weir breaks down reactions to the announcement at the summit.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BILL WEIR, CNN CHIEF CLIMATE CORRESPONDENT: Of the 198 nations that gathered in Dubai, any one of them could have derailed this global conference on climate change.

SULTAN AL-JABER, COP PRESIDENT: I must say that you did it.

WEIR: So for some, there was a sense of relief when Sultan Ahmed Al- Jaber gaveled in a groundbreaking agreement to transition away from fossil fuels.

AL-JABER: I see a request from Samoa. Samoa, you have the floor.

WEIR: But the small island nations most vulnerable to climate change saw no reason to cheer.

ANNE RASMUSSEN, AOSIS LEAD NEGOTIATOR FOR SAMOA: We didn't want to interrupt the standing ovation. We didn't want to interrupt the standing ovation. We came into the room, but we are a little confused about what happened. It seems that you just gavelled the decisions and the small island developing states were not in the room. We have come to the conclusion that the cost correction that is needed has not been secured. We have made an incremental advancement over business as usual when what we really needed is an exponential step change in our actions and support.

WEIR: The influence of petro-states is still evident in the half measures and loopholes included in the final agreement. Al Gore tweeted about the watered-down language and as OPEC congratulated the Sultan and called for oil field expansion, Climate Envoy John Kerry tried a more hopeful tone.

JOHN KERRY, U.S. SPECIAL PRESIDENTIAL ENVOY FOR CLIMATE: The message coming out of this COP is we are moving away from fossil fuels. We're not turning back. That is the future. And the United States is going to continue to lead the charge on this on the home front through investments in the Inflation Reduction Act. And bipartisan infrastructure law.

WEIR: Those laws have uncorked billions in clean energy investment. And the price of renewables has dropped so dramatically, Texas leads the nation in wind power. But the U.S. is still producing and exporting oil and gas at record rates.

John Kerry was trying to frame this as somewhat of a win. It's historic. They're finally using the F-word at a COP in a meaningful way. But he has to come back to a White House that has approved massive, liquefied natural gas infrastructure and drilling in Alaska and other places. How will those words work going forward into holding countries to account?

MICHAEL E. MANN, AUTHOR OF OUR FRAGILE MOMENT: Unfortunately, the reality is that it was a disappointing agreement because there was no agreement reached to phase out fossil fuels. There's much weaker T language of transitioning away from fossil fuels. The analogy I use is it's like, you know, your doctor telling you have diabetes and you promising him or her that you will transition away from eating donuts. Professor Mann is among the many climate scientists eager to remind us that to meet the goals of the Paris Accord, that carbon pollution needs to decrease by over 40% by 2030. Right now, the current trajectory is only 10%. Bill Weir, CNN New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

NEWTON: Israeli forces are testing out a new approach to degrade the vast Hamas tunnel network in Gaza. And they're doing it with seawater. We'll explain.

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NEWTON: You are watching CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Paula Newton.

[00:32:08]

A U.S. official says Israeli forces are testing a new strategy to try and degrade the Hamas tunnel network in Gaza by flooding them with seawater. Now it's been done on a limited basis for now, just to see if the operation could be scaled up. But it also comes with risk.

CNN's Nic Robertson has our report.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR (voice-over): The tunnels themselves are big. Big enough for fighters and their weapons. Seen here in this Hamas propaganda video, which was almost posted by the Israel Defense Force. They are reinforced with concrete, too.

Two years ago, Hamas claimed to have built 500 kilometers, more than 300 miles of them. The tunnels are spread all over Gaza. This map over two years old.

The IDF says that they've discovered 800 tunnel shafts so far. And have destroyed 500 of them. The entrances are often well-hidden.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is a 20-meter tunnel.

ROBERTSON (voice-over): As I wish was shown by the IDF near a Gaza hospital, really well-hidden. Which means the tunnels can be really hard to find.

ROBERTSON: The idea of flooding the tunnels, using the abundant seawater that's along the many miles of Gaza's Mediterranean shore, is apparently a creative idea, not just to destroy Hamas, and quite literally flush them out, but also to reach the parts of tunnels that might never be discovered from above ground.

Now, it's not without its risks. There could be hostages in those tunnels.

There are very few details about how precisely the water is getting into those tunnels, how much water, how fast it's going in, or what you do, if you suddenly discover you're flooding hostages. Other than the IDF say they have begun carefully testing it and that this method is being trailed on a limited, limited basis.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is a tunnel --

ROBERTSON (voice-over): Some of the tunnels, thought to be five floors deep. Some of the hostages who were freed have described them. This elderly hostage helped by her daughter.

YOCHEVED LIFSHITZ, FORMER HOSTAGE (through translator): We began walking inside of the tunnels with the wet ground. It was moist all the time.

There are huge -- huge networks of tunnels underneath. It looks like a spider web.

ROBERTSON (voice-over): The IDF says it will proceed cautiously to make sure they are not flooding tunnels, where the hostages are being held.

ROBERTSON: It's significant that more than six weeks into the ground campaign, this full scale of the tunnel problem is only now really becoming apparent, even controlling the streets above.

It's not enough to locate all the tunnels. So flooding seems to be the new best option to really probe the extent of the invisible subterranean network. Both destroying Hamas, hiding there, and denying it their use.

Of course, a key caveat in success here is, if you can't find the tunnel, and it's not connected to a system you're already flooding, how affected can you be about flooding it and knowing that you're hitting, destroying the whole of the tunnel network?

Nic Robertson, CNN, London.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

NEWTON: After the attack on a Turkish football referee. Officials say they hope this is a turning point on preventing violence against them. New details, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

NEWTON: A woman once dubbed Australia's worst serial killer has finally cleared her name.

Kathleen Folbigg spent 20 years in prison after being convicted of killing her four young children over a ten-year span. On Thursday, she received a formal pardon after an independent inquiry found reasonable doubt about her conviction.

Now, new scientific evidence showed the deaths may have been caused by genetic factors.

Folbigg, who's been out of prison since June, says the initial lack of science was not the only problem with her kids.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KATHLEEN FOLBIGG, CLEARED OF MURDERING CHILDREN: I am grateful that updated science and genetics has given me answers as to how our children died.

However, even in 1999, we had legal answers to prove my innocence. They were ignored and dismissed. The system preferred to blame me rather than accept that sometimes children can, and do, die suddenly, unexpectedly and heartbreakingly.

I think the system and society need to think before they blame a parent for hurting their children.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

NEWTON: So Folbigg's attorneys and others are now pushing for the creation of an independent review commission in all Australian states.

The Turkish football referee who was punched by a club president after a game earlier this week has now been released from hospital. The chief doctor of the hospital says the referee has some swelling in his eye, but overall is fine and in good spirits.

Turkey's football league is set to resume matches Tuesday. CNN's Scott McLean has more now on the incident and its fallout for Turkish football.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SCOTT MCLEAN, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): A moment of rage from a top-tier club boss becomes a moment of shame for Turkish football.

After his Ankaragucu club concedes a goal late in the match on Monday, Faruk Koca storms onto the pitch and punches the referee in the face. Two others kick him while he's down.

[00:40:03]

Shortly after, the referee emerges from the scrum with a very noticeable black eye. The ref is escorted off the field, under police protection. The club president, though, needs none as he waves to the crowd.

On Tuesday, Koca was arrested in Ankara, charged with entering a public official. He told Turkish state news agency Anadolu his violent outburst was because of the ref's decisions during the match.

A day later, he stepped down.

The incident has attracted nationwide condemnation. Even the Turkish president called the ref in his hospital bed. His doctor explained the prognosis.

"There is a small crack," he said, "but what makes us happy is that there was no brain damage."

The Turkish Football Federation has suspended all professional matches until next week. But it Istanbul, some fans are more shocked by that decision then the violence itself.

Several pointed us to this incident in 2015, when shots were fired at the Fenerbahce team bus after a match injuring the driver.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Both Fenerbahce's car was literally shot by firearms. And the league wasn't suspended. Now, it's suspended just because one referee is attacked? I don't support it. I think it's very wrong.

MCLEAN (voice-over): The referee association called a black mark on Turkish football, and the culmination of an increasing level of abuse directed their way.

"We hope that this incident, to which the entire public should react and condemn, will become a turning point," it said in a statement.

While fans in Turkey widely condemned the violence, some also insist there is another serious problem.

MCLEAN: You think the problem is the referees are not very good?

MCLEAN (voice-over): "They are not trained very well," he says.

And, it's not just Turkey soul-searching. The incident has sparked a wider debate across Europe about respect for referees.

DARREN LEWIS, CNN SENIOR SPORTS ANALYST: This is a criminal act within a sporting occasion. But I don't think any country in European football is blameless in terms of the lack of respect for the people who officiate our games.

MCLEAN (voice-over): Scott McLean, CNN, Istanbul.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

NEWTON: And now to the NBA, where Golden State Warriors forward Draymond Green has done it again. He has just been suspended, indefinitely this time, following an altercation during Tuesday's loss to the Phoenix Suns.

Now, you take a look here. During the third quarter, Green was being guarded by Phoenix Sun center Jusuf Nurkic. He spun around wildly, and you can see there, his arm struck Nurkic in the face, knocking the Suns player to the ground.

Now, Green apologized and said it was an accident. But he was thrown out of the game, his third ejection, I will add, this season and his second suspension.

The NBA says it considered Green's, quote, "repeated history of unsportsmanlike acts. "

All, right. I am Paula Newton. I'll be back at the top of the hour with more CNN NEWSROOM. But WORLD SPORT is next.

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(WORLD SPORT)