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President Biden Wants Israel To Be Focused On How To Save Civilian Lives; CNN's Clarissa Ward Presents An In-Depth Reporting Of The Humanitarian Crisis And Destruction In Gaza; Russian President Vladimir Putin Appears In His First Big News Conference Since His Invasion Of Ukraine. Turkey: U.S. Responsible for Ensuring Permanent Ceasefire. China's C919 Jet on Display At Hong King International Airport. Aired 2-3aET

Aired December 15, 2023 - 02:00   ET

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

[02:00:00]

KRISTIE LU STOUT, CNN ANCHOR: Hello and welcome live from Hong Kong. I'm Kristie Lu Stout. And ahead here on CNN NEWSROOM. Rare independent access inside Gaza. CNN team witnesses firsthand, the humanitarian catastrophe that's unfolding as the U.S. ramps up pressure on Israel to limit civilian casualties.

Putin carefully choreographed what the Russian President said in his first big news conference as the war on Ukraine began. And China shows off its home-grown passenger jet hoping it will soar like Boeing and Airbus.

And we begin in Israel, where U.S. and Israeli officials are looking ahead to what comes next in Israel's war with Hamas. This hour, the U.S. National Security Adviser, Jake Sullivan, is expected to meet with the Israeli President, Isaac Herzog. Now, this meeting comes after Sullivan says he had a, quote, intense, detailed conversation with the Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, and that the country's war cabinet in Tel Aviv on Thursday.

Now, the U.S. wants Israel to shift from a high-intensity phase to a more precise, targeted approach in the coming weeks. And following the talks in Israel, Sullivan is scheduled to meet with the Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas in the West Bank later on Friday. Prime Minister Netanyahu vows Israel will keep fighting until Hamas is completely destroyed.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BENJAMIN NETANYAHU, ISRAELI PRIME MINISTER (through translator): I told our American friends, our heroic soldiers have not fallen in vain. Out of the deep pain of their having fallen, we are more determined than ever to continue fighting until Hamas is eliminated, until absolute victory.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LU STOUT: Israel's Defense Minister says that he told the U.S. the war in Gaza will last, quote, "more than several months". Meanwhile, the U.S. President Joe Biden was asked what he would like to see from Israel's offensive.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOE BIDEN, U.S. PRESIDENT: I want them to be focused on how to save civilian lives, not stop going after Hamas, but be more careful.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LU STOUT: CNN's Melissa Bell joins us now live from Paris with more. Melissa, Sullivan is meeting with top Israeli officials at a time of this very public rift between the two countries. What is emerging from these meetings?

MELISSA BELL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's right. Clearly, a disagreement over how long this particular phase of the war should go on, and yet really attempts to paper over those cracks from several American officials and Israelis who've been speaking out about those series of meetings that Jake Sullivan's been having with the war cabinet, but also with Mossad leaders, about exactly what's happening inside Gaza.

He's been fully briefed, we understand, about the situation, the aims, the priorities, what's happening on the ground by Israeli officials. But that disagreement is really not so much we're told over timeframes but over the intensity of the war.

What the American position is, Kristie, is that they'd like to see the Israelis move towards much more targeted, intelligence-led raids against Hamas rather than the sorts of bombing campaigns that we've seen over the course of the last few weeks. We had heard from the Israeli Defense Minister that this phase of the war was likely to go on for many months.

What we're hearing from American officials is that they hope and believe that the Israelis may well shift to that more low intensity form of campaign sooner and possibly even before the end of the war. But this is, of course, we keep being reminded part of a constant back and forth between Israelis and Americans and again efforts to suggest that there is very little between them when clearly there is a difference of view over that shift of strategy, Kristie.

LU STOUT: And Melissa, there is a grim update about the fate of one hostage. What more have you learned?

BELL: A 28-year-old whose body was retrieved by Israeli officials and brought back to Israel taken from Gaza by the IDF. It comes as those efforts to continue to release those hostages that are still alive continue hour by hour we hear from American officials.

It is now 100 hostages that have been allowed to leave Gaza as a result of the pause that we saw a short while ago. There are still 130 in captivity and intense efforts going on behind the scenes to try and secure the kind of pause we saw last time that might allow some of them to get out.

[02:05:00] For now, though, very little sign that the conditions are being met. The Israelis suggest in order that those talks may resume. Kristie.

LU STOUT: Tragic news for the family of the 28 year old hostage. Melissa Bell reporting live for us. Thank you. Now, as Israel warns that the war will last more than several months, the situation in Gaza will surely grow even more dire.

Nearly 10 weeks after the fighting began, CNN's Chief International Correspondent, Clarissa Ward and her crew were finally able to get independent access into southern Gaza. And she describes this rare glimpse at the devastation as a window onto hell. And a warning, her report contains some disturbing images.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CLARISSA WARD, CNN'S CHIEF INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): You don't have to search for tragedy in Gaza. It finds you on every street, strewn with trash and stagnant water, desolate and foreboding.

WARD: So, we've just crossed the border into southern Gaza. This is the first time we've actually been able to get into Gaza since October 7th, and we are now driving to a field hospital that has been set up by the UAE.

WARD (voice-over): Up until now, Israel and Egypt have made access for international journalists next to impossible. And you can see why.

WARD: Since October 7th, the Israeli military says it has hit Gaza with more than 22,000 strikes. That by far surpasses anything we've seen in modern warfare in terms of intensity and ferocity. And we really, honestly, are just getting a glimpse of it here.

WARD (voice-over): Despite Israel's heavy bombardment, there are people out on the streets. A crowd outside a bakery. Where else can they go? Nowhere is safe in Gaza.

ABDULLAH AL-NAQBI, DOCTOR, EMIRATI FIELD HOSPITAL: This used to be a stadium.

WARD: Right.

WARD (voice-over): Arriving at the Emirati Field Hospital, we meet Dr. Abdullah Al-Naqbi. No sooner does our tour begin when --

AL-NAQBI: Our ambulance -- that's the real life.

WARD: And this is what you hear all the time now?

AL-NAQBI: Yes. At least 20 times a day.

WARD: At least 20 times a day.

AL-NAQBI: Maybe more, sometimes. I think we got used to it.

WARD (voice-over): One thing none of the doctors here have got used to is the number of children they are treating. The U.N. estimates that some two thirds of those killed in this round of the conflict have been women and children. Eight-year-old Janan was lucky enough to survive a strike on her family home that crushed her femur but spared her immediate family.

WARD: She says she's not in pain so that's good. Her mother Hiba, was out when it happened. I went to the hospital to look for her, she says. And I came here, and I found her here. The doctors told me what happened with her, and I made sure that she's okay. Thank God.

They bombed the house in front of us and then our home, Janan tells us. I was sitting next to my grandfather and my grandfather held me and my uncle was fine, so he is the one who took us out.

WARD: Don't cry.

WARD (voice-over): But Dr. Ahmed Almazrouei says it is hard not to.

AHMED ALMAZROUEI, DOCTOR, UAE FIELD HOSPITAL: I work with old people, like adults, but the children -- something touching.

WARD (voice-over): Touches your heart and tests your faith in humanity. As we leave Janan, Dr. Al-Naqbi comes back with the news of casualties arriving from the strike just 10 minutes earlier.

AL-NAQBI: We just got a stable -- right now. Two amputated young men from just the bomb --

WARD: From the bomb we just heard.

AL-NAQBI: This is my understanding.

WARD: Okay.

WARD (voice-over): A man and a 13-year-old boy are wheeled in, both missing limbs, both in a perilous state. What's your name? What's your name? The doctor asks. The notes provided by the paramedics are smeared with blood. The tourniquet improvised with a bandage.

Since the field hospital opened less than two weeks ago, it has been inundated with patients.

[02:10:00]

One hundred and thirty of their 150 beds are already full.

WARD: So, let me understand this. You are now basically the only hospital around that still has some beds?

AL-NAQBI: I guess so, yes. Or maybe I'm very sure of that because they are telling me one of the hospitals with a capacity of 200, they are accommodating 1000 right now and the next door hospital, I'm not very sure is like 50 to 100, have maybe 400 to 500 patients.

So, at one occasion he called me. He said I have three patients in each bed. Please take any. I said send as many as you can. WARD: I mean, we've been here 15 minutes, and this is already what we're seeing.

AL-NAQBI: And this is what you hear, you see.

WARD (voice-over): In every bed, another gut punch. Less than two years old, Amir still doesn't know that his parents and siblings were killed in the strike that disfigured him.

Yesterday, he saw a nurse that looked like his father, his aunt Nahaya tells us. He kept screaming, Dad, Dad. Amir is still too young to comprehend the horror all around him. But 20-year-old Lama understands it all too well. Ten weeks ago, she was studying engineering at university, helping to plan her sister's wedding.

Today, she is recovering from the amputation of her right leg. Her family followed Israeli military orders and fled from the north to the south. But the house where they were seeking shelter was hit in a strike.

The world isn't listening to us, she says. Nobody cares about us. We have been dying for over 60 days, dying from the bombing, and nobody did anything. Words of condemnation delivered in a thin rasp. But does anyone hear them? Like Grozny, Aleppo and Mariupol, Gaza will go down as one of the great horrors of modern warfare.

It's getting dark, time for us to leave, a privilege the vast majority of Gazans do not have. Our brief glimpse from a window onto hell is ending as a new chapter in this ugly conflict unfolds.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LU STOUT: CNN's Clarissa Ward there reporting from inside Gaza. Now, with the humanitarian situation in Gaza getting worse by the day, Benjamin Netanyahu is facing growing pressure from the International Community to ease the suffering.

And joining us now from Jerusalem to talk about it is Yaakov Katz. He's a senior columnist and editor for "The Jerusalem Post" and the paper's former editor in chief. Sir, thank you very much indeed for joining us. Prime Minister Netanyahu is under pressure on multiple fronts, including pressure from the U.S. President Joe Biden, and his administration have been pressing him to minimize civilian casualties. Will this move Mr. Netanyahu to de-escalate?

YAAKOV KATZ, SENIOR COLUMNIST AND EDITOR, "THE JERUSALEM POST": Well, Kristie, we're talking as a national security advisor for President Joe Biden in Israel, Jake Sullivan, held meetings just yesterday with the Prime Minister -- excuse me -- and with other top senior government officials and defense officials.

And basically what we're hearing is that the Americans, and I think it's no secret already, we've heard the comments made by the Vice President, the Secretary of State, the Secretary of Defense, and even the President himself would like to see Israel de-escalate. I would call it from the high intensity conflict stage, which we're in now to a more lower or a lower intensity conflict stage, which we've yet to arrive at.

And they are looking to see that Israel kind of wrap up this high intensity stage in the next few weeks. I'm not sure that the Prime Minister will heed that advice because there is a benefit to him potentially politically to stand up to be appearing as standing up strong to pressure from outside of Israel.

LU STOUT: Yeah, that's right. He's facing this intense domestic pressure inside Israel. Netanyahu is struggling for his political future. He's been trailing behind in the polls. Hostage families are losing patience with him. So, how is he handling all that domestic pressure that's building up?

KATZ: I don't envy the Prime Minister and the challenges that he's facing at all of these conflicting, sometimes interesting goals, right? One of the main goals, obviously the primary goal of this war is to degrade Hamas' capabilities, to bring it down from leadership over Gaza and prevent it from ever being able to threaten Israel again in the future.

At the same time, we have about 130 Israeli hostages who are still being held inside the Gaza Strip by Hamas. Sometimes those two objectives, and how do we get them back, those two objectives at times might appear to contradict one another.

[02:15:00]

But what we have to remember, like you said, Kristie, is the Prime Minister trailing in the polls, losing support. He wants to shore up that support because the assumption in the political system here is that there will be an election highly likely in the aftermath of when this conflict ends.

And for him to climb back up, he needs to appear to be strong. He needs to regain that position of the Mr. Security, Mr. I can take care of America, I can run the country without hesitation. And right now, people don't see that.

One of the ways to potentially do that is to stand up to U.S. and international pressure. And my fear is that this could lead us to an unnecessary crisis with the Americans, right?

We've seen how Joe Biden has -- fair for the most part stood up strong alongside Israel. Made a historic visit to Israel. Has supplied Israel with munitions and supplies and equipments that it needs. Is pushing through Congress a $14 billion aid package for Israel. Has not called for a comprehensive ceasefire like some other world leaders have called for.

And on the contrary, has said, I don't want Israel stop. Israel needs to take out Hamas because they have no right to continue to exist after the horrific attacks of October 7th. We don't need a crisis with the Americans right now. And I would hope that politics don't get in the way.

LU STOUT: Yeah, and so in the face of mounting domestic pressure, international pressure, are you saying that ultimately, it's the domestic pressure that will guide and direct Mr. Netanyahu during these next few critical weeks? And so, what will that mean for his campaign against Hamas? How will that take shape?

KATZ: You know, Kristie, it was the late Henry Kissinger who just passed away, what, just about two weeks ago, who once coined the phrase, I'm paraphrasing here for a moment, that Israel doesn't have foreign policy, it only has domestic policy.

And I think that at the end of the day, like all good politicians, before they look what's happening across the Atlantic, they look what's happening in their own backyard, and they want to make sure that they can remain in office.

So, this is going to be a continued question and cloud that will hover above the decision-making apparatus that's making these decisions throughout the conflict and the war. Let's also just throw into the mix, Kristie, is the fact that there are mounting calls for many of the leaders, not only on the security side, but also on the political side, to step down in the aftermath of the intelligence debacle and the massive failure that led to those Khamas attacks on October 7th. And those include calls on Netanyahu to step down. So, this really will, for him, will be a fight for survival in the day after this conflict ends.

LU STOUT: Yaakov, Katz, joining us live from Jerusalem, we thank you for your analysis.

KATZ: Thank you.

LU STOUT: Take care. Now, eight people suspected on planning attacks on Jewish institutions have been arrested in several European countries. Germany's federal prosecutor says that authorities arrested three people in Germany and one in the Netherlands.

They are accused of being long-standing members of Hamas. Authorities say the suspects allegedly started searching for, quote, "underground weapons, cash, in Europe for Hamas" earlier this year.

And in what appears to be a separate incident, three people were arrested in Denmark and one in the Netherlands for terrorism offenses. Israeli authorities say that the suspects were, quote, acting on behalf of the Hamas terrorist organization, but did not provide any further details.

You're watching CNN NEWSROOM. And still ahead, the European Union hails European unity as it opens membership talks to Ukraine. But not everybody is happy with the decision. Plus, Russia's President addresses speculation that he uses body doubles, and state TV plays a deep fake video to help him make his point.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[02:20:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LU STOUT: Welcome back. Now, a subway accident in snowy Beijing has sent more than 500 people to the hospital. Officials say that the injuries include a lot of broken and fractured bones, but so far no known deaths. Now, according to a preliminary investigation, the weather caused signal and emergency breaks to malfunction.

State media reported that the carriages separated. Now, other parts of northern China have been bitterly cold, with temperatures of minus 46 degrees Celsius. And meanwhile, in southern China, people are dealing with record warmth, highs of some 32 degrees Celsius.

Now, a big day ahead for Europe's leaders as they wrap up a summit that has already produced a historic decision. The E.U. is opening membership talks to Ukraine, as well as Moldova. And this comes at a critical time in Ukraine's war as both its counteroffensive against Russia and the delivery of a major aid package from the U.S. have both stalled.

Ukraine's President is hailing the decision as a win, but recognizes it could be a long road ahead.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY, UKRAINIAN PRESIDENT (through translator): Today, we have the decision to start negotiations on joining the E.U. After this step there will be further ones. It's a big job to integrate the state, all institutions, all norms, all this to the European Union. But we'll do it.

Ukraine has proven more than once what it's capable of. There will be another victorious decision. There will be a time when we can celebrate Ukraine's accession to the E.U. Now, in Ukraine, many people are in high spirits and this is important. It is motivation.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LU STOUT: There's objection though from Hungary's Prime Minister who says Ukraine is in no position right now to begin accession talks. Viktor Orban also vetoed a $55 billion aid package for Ukraine earlier on Friday.

The Russian President showed no signs of backing down on Ukraine during a year-end news conference. Now, this event on Thursday was highly choreographed, but some surprising and thorny questions popped up on a video screen. And there was also a stunt involving a deep fake video and questions about Vladimir Putin's rumored body doubles. Matthew Chance says more.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): This was Putin's first big news conference since his invasion of Ukraine nearly two years ago. For hours, the Kremlin leader answered carefully picked questions, restating Russian objectives in what he calls his special military operation. VLADIMIR PUTIN, RUSSIAN PRESIDENT (through translator): There will be

peace when we achieve our goals. They haven't changed. This is the demilitarization and denazification of Ukraine and its neutral status.

CHANCE (voice-over): For the first time, Putin revealed more than 600,000 troops are currently in the conflict zone but he gave no indication of losses which U.S. intelligence estimates are extremely high. The Russian leader did however indicate he believed western resolve on Ukraine may be crumbling significant as American aid for Ukraine is held up in the U.S. Congress.

PUTIN (through translator): Today, Ukraine produces almost nothing. They are trying to preserve something but they produce almost nothing. They get everything, excuse the bad manners, for free. But this freebie may end someday. And apparently it is ending.

CHANCE (voice-over): One Russian reporter asked Putin about recent Ukrainian gains across the Dnipro River. They're just small areas, Putin said, in which Ukrainian forces are now highly exposed.

[02:25:00]

PUTIN (through translator): I don't know why they are doing it. They are pushing their people to get killed. It's a one-way trip for Ukrainian forces. The reason for this are political, because Ukrainian leaders are begging foreign countries for aid.

CHANCE (voice-over): This was a highly staged event with carefully vetted questions. But a live stream of public texts threw up a few surprising challenges. How many yachts does Putin have? Asked one anonymous message. Why is your reality different to our reality? Asked another. A glimpse behind the curtain, perhaps, into what some Russians are really thinking.

In a bizarre moment, a Russian child appeared in a video message asking if her family would ever be replaced by robots. Moderator then played an extraordinary video of what she said was a deep fake image of Putin asking the real Russian leader if he had many doubles. You're the first, Putin responded. Of course, there are rumors he has many.

PUTIN (voice-over): I see you can look like me and speak in my voice, but I thought about it and have decided that only one person should look like me and speak in my voice, and that person would be me.

CHANCE (voice-over): Meanwhile, as Putin held court, U.S. journalist Evan Gershkovich actually appeared in one, another appeal against his detention for alleged espionage denied, though Putin indicated talks to return detained Americans are ongoing.

PUTIN (voice-over): It's not that we refuse their return. We do not refuse. We want to negotiate, and the agreements must be mutually acceptable and satisfactory to both sides.

CHANCE (voice-over): What Russia wants, though, remains unclear. Matthew Chance, CNN, Moscow.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LU STOUT: Turkey's President urges the U.S. to use its leverage to stop the fighting in Gaza, and he spelled out how in a phone call with the U.S. President. That's next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LU STOUT: Welcome back. I'm Kristie Lu Stout in Hong Kong.

As the war between Israel and Hamas grinds on, Turkey says it's on Washington to stop the fighting by ensuring a permanent cease-fire. That's what Turkey's president, Recep Tayyip Erdogan said in a phone call with his U.S. counterpart Joe Biden. That's according to a readout from the Turkish government. And the Turkish leader said that the way to do that is to use American support for Israel as leverage.

Scott McLean is live for us in Istanbul. He joins us now.

And, Scott, along the agenda, between these two leaders, but how did Erdogan and Biden discuss the conflict in Gaza?

SCOTT MCLEAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: So, Kristie, this is actually the first time at least that were publicly aware of that the two have spoken since the war began, a war in which the U.S. has become Israel's biggest backer. And Turkey has become one of its biggest critics.

And when you compare the readout to the call, it's striking to see how little crossover there is. In fact, there is no clear indication that they agreed on anything. The Biden version of the call says that the U.S. continues to support Israel's right to defend itself. The Turkish version of the call says that Erdogan pushed Biden to withdraw the U.S. is unconditional support of Israel as a way to get a cease-fire. And that the U.S. has a historical responsibility to do that.

And the difficulty here, Christie, is that the U.S. and Turkey see Israel and Hamas fundamentally differently. I spoke with Erdogan's chief advisor for security and foreign policy this week, Akif Cagatay Kilic, and I asked him about unconfirmed reports for example that the Hamas leader was actually in Turkey on October 7th and he said he might have been.

But again, this is not a problem for Turkey because they don't view Hamas as a terror group. They think it's better to engage with Hamas.

In fact, killers told me that it was Israel that asked Turkey more than a decade ago to engage with Hamas and try to work with him.

LU STOUT: Scott, Erdogan and Biden, they also discussed Sweden and its NATO bid. Is there still resistance from Turkey?

MCLEAN: So Turkey has reached the somewhat of an agreement with Sweden already, but the issue right now is with the Turkish parliament and it seems like they want to get one more thing out of this deal, and that is what they want the U.S. Congress to approve the sale of F- 16 fighter jets to Turkey at the same time as the Turkish parliament approves Sweden's bid. This was all supposed to happen according to the Turkish foreign minister by the end of the year.

I asked Erdogan's advisor Mr. Cagatay Kilic whether or not that was still the timeline. Listen

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

AKIF CAGATAY KILIC, TURKISH PRESIDENT'S CHIEF ADVISER, FOREIGN POLICY AND SECURITY: Depends on how the working together and how certain I think requirements and demands regarding a NATO ally are met or not met.

MCLEAN: If the Americans sell you F-16s, we can get it done quickly.

CAGATAY KILIC: Well, it's not if you can sell us F-16.

MCLEAN: If they approve the sale.

CAGATAY KILIC: I think the question there is not if, because that's a NATO ally, we actually should not be in a position to ask if or if not. So we want to see rather than if. We want to see how quickly.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MCLEAN: And, Sweden, Kristie, was also discussed between Biden and Erdogan. The American version of the readout says that they discussed the importance of approving Sweden's bids as soon as possible. The Turkish version though just says it was discussed -- Kristie.

LU STOUT: All right, Scott. Thank you for parsing both versions of the readout.

Scott McLean reporting live room from Istanbul.

You're watching CNN NEWSROOM. Still to come, taking on Boeing and Airbus. We're going to be looking at China and it's expanding foray into commercial aviation worldwide, and what that could mean for the industry.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[02:36:08]

LU STOUT: Welcome back.

Now, here in Hong Kong, China marked a major milestone as it seeks to position itself as a global player in the commercial aviation game on China's homegrown passenger aircraft, the C919, made its first voyage outside of mainland China on Tuesday, landing at Hong Kong International Airport.

Now, the jet is built by the state-run Commercial Aircraft Corporation of China and it's designed to compete with Boeing in its 737 and the Airbus A320. Now, the C919 is scheduled for flight demonstration above Hong Kong tomorrow before returning to Shanghai on Sunday.

Now let's go live to Perth, Australia, where I'm joined by Geoffrey Thomas. He's the editor and chief and managing director of AirlineRatings.com.

Geoffrey, good to see you again. Thanks for joining us.

China has big dreams. China has big ambitions to rival Boeing and Airbus and the single aisle jets base. But can it succeed?

GEOFFREY THOMAS, EDITOR-IN-CHIEF & MANAGING DIRECTOR, AIRLINERATINGS.COM: Well, it's very good question. Yes, indeed. I -- over the next 20 years, it is forecast for China's going to need 8,000 single aisle aircraft. It's almost the largest domestic airline market in the world. And the Chinese, of course, naturally want a bigger slice or big slice of that market. They're looking for 30 percent of that market, about 2,000 -- 1,500 to 2,000 aircraft over the next 20 years.

But they've got some challenges. They've got to prove the reliability of the aircraft. They've got to prove the after sales support and spares and engineering support because that's two tremendous strength of Airbus and Boeing is the after sales support for -- for their aircraft.

LU STOUT: Yeah, it does enjoy a huge domestic market. We know that already it has had more than 1,000 orders for the C919. It seems to assume those are for domestic buyers.

But what is it going to take given those challenges that you just laid out, what is going to take for a foreign buyer to purchase this Chinese homegrown jet?

THOMAS: Yes, well, a lot of those buyers, by the way in China is about 24 of them are 16 of them are leasing company. So we don't have a lot of clarity on exactly how many are going to end up with what airline. But as far as foreign buyers are concerned, that's going to be the really -- that's going to be cherry they really want.

It's going to require quite a few years of successful service in China, proven reliability, proven after sale support, proven spare support before any foreign -- major foreign airline will purchase the aircraft. They have sold some to Gallop Air in Burma and so there is -- there are -- there is some slight traction.

But, it's going to take a lot more time before foreign airlines are going to queue up to buy it.

LU STOUT: Yeah, short term, China C919 as you just mentioned, it needs to prove its reliability to entice foreign buyers. It also needs to prove it has some sort of an after sales infrastructure in terms of engineering, what have you.

But what are the long term prospects for C919, especially given aviation trends as you see it, globally, as well as inside the China market.

THOMAS: Look, I believe the long term prospects are very good. I mean, China now is a world-class producer of a raft of products, whether it's component tree or the finished product. [02:40:02]

The quality there really is very, very good. So the long term prospects for China to emerge as a major player I think is very good indeed. They are planning to have a larger version of this aircraft with 50 more seats, taken the capacity up to 240. They're also planning a smaller version of the aircraft, more like 120 seats.

So, they are planning more versions. And I think as time goes by, more and more people are going to be very impressed with the aircraft, much the same way as we are with the car industry. The Chinese carmakers are making big inroads around the world as people sort of, try and like it, and word of mouth gets around. And people are really happy with the quality of the product.

LU STOUT: And, Geoff, are you impressed by this aircraft from the specs that have been circulating in, what you've been able to see so far as it stands right now, how does the C919 stack up against its rivals, rival planes by Boeing and Airbus?

THOMAS: Look, it stacks up very well. It has a slightly lower payload, a few thousand kilos. And it has shorter range, but they're again for most domestic applications the range is fine. And it's also priced a little cheaper as well.

So it stacks up very well, the big issue as I mentioned earlier is after sale support and spares if the Chinese can really get behind this aircraft and prove to potential buyers that they are absolutely committed to it with support, then I think it's going to certainly get into the Boeing and the Airbus market for the A320 and the 737 and start to eat away at it.

LU STOUT: Hmm, interesting.

Geoffrey Thomas, join us live from Perth, always appreciate your insight, sir. Thank you very much and take care.

THOMAS: It's a pleasure. Thank you.

LU STOUT: Now before we go, it's quite the wild delay for morning commuters in New Jersey. You've got to check this out. That as the bull started running along the tracks at Penn Station in Newark on Thursday, a bull. Now, trains to and from New York City, they were delayed for some 45 minutes as the authorities tried to wrangled them. They tried to move the bull.

There were reports that the bull could've escaped from a local slaughterhouse. The bull has been moved to an animal sanctuary to live out the rest of his days, and the sanctuary named him Ricardo. And we absolutely wish him well.

I'm Kristie Lu Stout in Hong Kong. I'll be back at the top of the hour the more CNN NEWSROOM.

But first, "WORLD SPORT" starts after the break.