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Dozens Killed In Iran Blasts Near Soleimani's Tomb During Ceremony; Passenger Jet Pilots Didn't See Smaller Plane; Japanese Rescuers Race To Find Survivors As Quake Death Toll Rises To 78; Jeffrey Epstein Documents Unsealed, Naming Prince Andrew And Former President Clinton; Trump Asks U.S. Supreme Court to Overturn Colorado Ruling Removing Him From Ballot; Imam Fatally Shot Outside a Newark Mosque; Ukraine: Russia's Attacks Raise an Alarm to the World; U.S. House Speaker Pushes Hardline Bill During Border Visit; Loud Condemnation Over Calls to Resettle Palestinians; New Antibiotic Targets Certain Drug-Resistant Bacteria; Teen Places Second after Incredible Tournament Run. Aired 1-2a ET
Aired January 04, 2024 - 01:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[01:00:00]
JOHN VAUSE, CNN ANCHOR: Coming up this hour on CNN, the deadliest terror attack in Iran since the Islamic Revolution, twin bombings at a memorial leave nearly 100 dead, stoking fears of a regional war.
Big reveal or big nothing burger. Unsealed court documents confirmed the big names connected to the sex trafficking pedophile. Now dead, Jeffrey Epstein.
And why weren't the runway warning lights working? And what role did that play in a fiery collision at a busy Tokyo Airport?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Live from Atlanta. This is CNN Newsroom with John Vause.
VAUSE: Who did it? And how will Iran respond? Two key questions right now after nearly 100 people were killed in two deadly explosions at the gravesite of the late Iranian military commander Qasem Soleimani.
Crowds had gathered to mark the anniversary of his assassination by a U.S. airstrike in Baghdad back in 2020. So far, no claim of responsibility but the U.S. has denied involvement and says there's no reason to believe Israel is responsible. Still, Iran's President was quick to blame the Israelis.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
EBRAHIM RAISI, IRANINA PRESIDENT (through translator): These gatherings that you will see held in the country, this flood of people that pour towards the grave of Qasem Soleimani these days, you come to scare the people with your criminal act. You're not strong enough to face the resistance. Your power has lost its effectiveness against the forces of resistance. Now you're targeting innocent people know that you will pay a heavy price for this horrible crime. (END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: Fears the war in Gaza could escalate we're already high after Israel is believed to have killed a senior Hamas leader in southern Beirut just a day earlier. CNN's Nic Robertson following these developments reporting in down from Tel Aviv.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DEPLOMATIC EDITOR: The casualty toll has continued to climb throughout the day and it is the deadliest such attack in Iran for years. Iran's President is very clearly blaming Israel, saying that they will pay a heavy price. U.S. officials say they believe it was a terror attack. They say they have no independent information about it and have no reason to believe that Israel was involved.
No one has claimed responsibility. A number of different groups could have been behind it. ISIS could be one of them. And Iranian opposition resistance group could have been another potential culprit for this particular attack.
The details that we do have however, two bombs the first one detonating 700 meters from where people had gathered around Qasem Soleimani's grave, that was in a suitcase and it was detonated remotely Iranian officials say.
But it was the second explosion about a kilometer from the grave side that killed and injured the most people according to Iranian officials. And it appears it was that second device that was timed and positioned to catch people that were coming in to help with the rescue and recovery effort after the first explosion.
This really does ramp up tensions in the region at the moment when they are already extremely high. But to have Iran openly saying that Israel was behind this not presenting any evidence for it and saying they will pay Israel will pay a high price certainly does give the government here in Israel. Another very serious concern. Nic Robertson, CNN, Tel Aviv, Israel.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VAUSE: And joining us this hour from Washington is Trita Parsi, Executive Vice President of the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft. He's also author of "Losing an Enemy." Welcome to the show. It's good to see you.
TRITA PARSI, EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT, QUINCY INSTITUTE FOR RESPONSIBLE STATECRAFT: Good to see you.
VAUSE: OK, so right now the key unanswered question is who done it, but Iran's President told a crowd in Tehran that Israel is to blame. Here he is.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) RAISI (through translator): I want the Zionist regime. Don't doubt it, you will pay the price for this crime. These crimes that you've committed, you will deeply regret.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: That accusation came without any evidence and right now is ready involvement seems incredibly unlikely. But I guess once we know who was behind the attack, will that essentially answer the other questions of why? And more importantly, what sort of response we can expect from Iran?
PARSI: Again, we don't know why as you pointed out, exactly who's behind it. The Iranians have not provided any evidence. However, what has preceded this, of course is a week ago the assassination of Iranian general in Damascus by Israel, the assassination of a Hamas official in Beirut two days ago, and earlier today another Hezbollah official who was assassinated in Beirut. We have clear evidence that the Israelis want to at least expand the war into Lebanon according to the Biden restriction.
[01:05:00]
That is what Israel was planning to do early on, but the Biden administration credits itself for having thwarted that early on in the war. But it seems like we're back to square one with the Israelis trying to do so. That, however, is not evidence that Israel is behind it, but you cannot rule it out. It could also be ISIS. ISIS has struck Iran in the past.
VAUSE: Well as for Israeli or U.S. involvement, he's a spokesman for the U.S. State Department.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MATT MILLER, U.S. STATE DEPARTMENT SPOKESPERSON: The United States was not involved in any way. And any suggestion to the contrary is ridiculous. And number two, we have no reason to believe that Israel was involved in this explosion.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: And the Wall Street Journal notes this, the style of the bombing doesn't fit the pattern of alleged Israeli attacks, which have usually been more precise targeting of individuals or infrastructure connected to Iran's security forces.
So, before the attack on mourners in Iran, concerns regarding that Israel's war with mass could escalate beyond Gaza. So to your earlier point, whoever is responsible for the twin bombings seems willing or perhaps maybe hoping to ignite a regional war.
PARSI: Certainly, and I think we have seen that inside of Iran inside the regime, there is increasing pressure for Iran to respond more directly to the assassination of Iranian generals and others. There's a bit of a belief inside the system, that Iran has not responded forcefully enough. And as a result, its deterrence has weakened.
On the other side are those within the regime that are arguing that this is a trap, the Israelis want to advance and respond in order for it to be able to enlarge the war, and that it is in the strategic benefit of Iran to conduct an indirect war with Israel, rather than to do so directly.
In all of this, however, one of the measures that would be most effective in really deescalating the situation would be to have a ceasefire in Gaza. We saw, for instance, that the attacks by Iraqi militias that are close to you are against U.S. troops completely stop, during the six days that there was a ceasefire in Gaza, the day before the ceasefire were six attacks by Iraqi militias against U.S. troops.
So if we truly want to deescalate this, instead of sending more troops, et cetera, I think we really have to think more closely about the effectiveness of actually having a ceasefire that has proven to be more effective than any other measures that has been done so far.
VAUSE: Right now the pressure is on Tehran for some kind of response to this. So what sort of timeline are we looking at here for Tehran to do something in response?
PARSI: I don't think the Iranians are going to respond directly to Israel in a quick way. What we've seen in the past is that they take their time, they respond in ways in which their fingerprints cannot be directly tied to it. They take credit for it in indirect ways.
If it works to be a direct response, rather, in short order, that would be a significant break with how the Iranians react to these things in the past. But then again, we are in the new world right now. There's a lot of different things that are happening that are breaking with previous parts.
VAUSE: You will say the least so you have a lot of risk and a lot of calculated responses using rockets and missiles. Trita, thanks for being with us. Appreciate your time.
PARSI: Thank you for having me.
VAUSE: Details continue to emerge, well, eventually up to the moment of a deadly runway collision at the Tokyo Airport. According to NHK, pilots of the Japan Airlines plane did not see the smaller Coast Guard plane on the runway. Record show the runway light warning -- warning lights while they had been out of service for a number of days, more details now from CNN's Will Ripley.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
WILL RIPLEY, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): A catastrophic collision in the heart of Tokyo captured from passenger Aruto Iwama's (ph) window seat as flames engulfed his Japan Airlines jet.
Honestly, I was scared to death, he says. At landing I felt strong shaking and when I looked out the window, I saw sparks flying, the plane burning when the planes stopped in less than a minute the cabin was full of smoke.
That black smoke below through the cabin. In this video the voice of a young child. Please let us off quickly, he says, a polite plea for help. Flight Attendants forced to use megaphones to direct passengers. The onboard communication system broken.
With just seconds to spare and some emergency exits blocked, the crew of 12 successfully evacuated 367 people including eight infants. Everyone survived with barely a bruise. The investigation of Tuesday's harrowing crash focusing on four crucial minutes 5:43 to 5:47 pm. Japan Airlines Flight JL516 making its final approach over Tokyo Bay cleared for landing Haneda airport just as the Japan Coast Guard turboprop was pulling onto runway see right into the path of the much larger Airbus A350-900.
[01:10:09]
The airliner hurtling down the runway as flames consumed the fuselage. The explosion and fireball fully engulfed both aircraft in a matter of minutes. The airliners fire resistant materials and emergency exits, allowing vital time for nearly 400 people to escape the inferno. At least five Coast Guard crew members died.
Japan's transport ministry releasing the official written transcript of those final four minutes suggesting possible miscommunication between air traffic control and the two planes. Cockpit audio confirms the tower telling the Coast Guard flight to taxi to a holding point giving the commercial flight clearance to land.
The transcript and audio raising key questions why was the Coast Guard plane in the wrong place? Why did the Japan Airlines pilots fail to see the other aircraft and abort the landing especially on a clear evening with good visibility, mangled metal and melted plastic a reminder of just how bad it could have been.
RIPLEY: And there it is what's left of the airliner still sitting on runway see here at Haneda airport a team of investigators are there including technicians from Airbus who are helping the Japanese investigators search for the missing blackbox which could provide crucial clues in this crash that has disrupted travel for some 20,000 people and claimed at least five lives. Will Ripley, CNN at Haneda Airport Tokyo.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VAUSE: Joining us now from Pensacola Beach, Florida is David Soucie, CNN safety analyst and former safety inspector with the Federal Aviation Administration. Welcome back to the show. It's been a while Good to see it.
DAVID SOUCIE, CNN SAFETY ANALYST: Hello, good to see you.
VAUSE: OK, so it seems a clear indication of what is most likely possibly to blame here for the collision came Wednesday, with the release of the official written transcript of communication between the air traffic controllers and the two planes. Only one plane had been cleared to use the runway.
Air traffic control gave the JLA passenger plane permission to land on Runway C at 5:43 p.m. local time. However, the transcript does not show clear takeoff approval for the Coast Guard plane instead telling it to taxi to a holding point less than two minutes later.
So it would seem that, you know, the human error here is most likely I guess, with the Coast Guard plane. But what else needs to be known (ph)? Where's this investigation have to go before they can be certain about what actually happened?
SOUCIE: Well, they'll need to still get the flight recorders off of the aircraft to verify that those commands were received. We know that they were sent. We just don't know if they're received yet. So that needs to be confirmed.
The pilot of the Coast Guard plane is claiming that he did get clearance. So they're going to have to verify whether that's true or not as well. So they're going to have to figure out a lot still has to go. It's not about singular communications going one way. And that's the thing that they people misconceive about the air traffic controllers. They're not just telling people where to go, their responsibility does not end there. They have to say, here's where you need to go. You're clear to do this, then they have to verify that that is indeed what happened.
VAUSE: So, where would this taxi to hold position be in relation to runway C, which is where the JLA flight had been clear to us?
SOUCIE: Yes, it's perpendicular to the runway. In other words, you come up to the runway and you stop there before you turn onto the runway to position for takeoff. There's -- you can be positioned to sit at the end of the runway and hold for takeoff if there's traffic in the area.
For example, an airplane that had taken off earlier so that you can be positioned there but if you say taxi and hold that means hold short of the runway do not cross onto that runway.
VAUSE: OK, because there is this reporting from Japan's NHK. The airline said none of the three pilots of the JLA Flight 516 had visual contact with the Coast Guard plane when it entered the runway, and did not discuss aborting the approach.
Can you explain that when what does that actually mean for the investigation?
SOUCIE: Well, what's interesting about that statement is that one of the pilots always needs to have their eyes out the window. They need to be looking out. Now in this particular aircraft, you have a heads up display that drops down in front of the pilot, and that can be used as you land. And they recommend that one pilot use that and that the other pilot doesn't. So that other pilot is watching where you're actually going. Now you can get ultra focus. There's a lot going on in that cockpit,
particularly as you're approaching and getting ready to land. There's a lot of things that need to be addressed. So it's easy for the attention to be diverted. The last thing they're expecting after given clearance is that there's somebody sitting on that airport ready to ready to be taking off in front of them.
[01:15:00]
So it's really -- it takes a very heads up person to be thinking about everything that goes on at that point. But to distinguish in cockpit resource management, we talked about this a lot, what pilot is doing what, what's the responsibility of each pilot, is one pilot looking forward and looking out of the visual concepts. And the other one is looking at the approach and the radios and what's going on inside.
So at this point, we can only speculate that that aircraft was visible, certainly it had to have been visible at some level, because of the fact that it was hit and when they landed, so it was physically on the runway is just they weren't looking for it, I believe.
VAUSE: There's also a word that the warning lights, which indicate if a runway is clear, we're not working. The notice or NOTAM was first publicly posted on December 25, Christmas Day, last year, and actually remains active to this point. It's still not known if that played a direct role of the cause of the collision. But on the surface, it seems hard to imagine it did not.
SOUCIE: I can't imagine that it didn't have some kind of country -- didn't contribute somehow, to what was going on that day. Those of collision lights that you're talking about the runway lights, the runway lights were working, it's important to clarify what it is. These are runway status lights. What that means is they automatically turn red if the runway is not safe to enter.
So they can be told for in this, if they were working, then the cargo or the excuse me, the Coast Guard plane that was told to hold short would have come up to that runway and seen a row of red lights that says stop, do not get onto the runway, because there's something dangerous going to happen on that runway. And that's what those lights do.
So I don't want to underpin this. I can't emphasize this enough. That is a critical piece of the pie. This is something that was put into place a few years back, it was a lot of studies that went on to try to prevent this exact thing from happening. That's the whole purpose of this runway indicator lights. And they were not operational. They didn't work. I suspect to that.
Remember, a few years ago, John, we talked about the NOTAM system and the entire system, the entire aircraft and airspace was shut down because the NOTAM system was not available for the first time. Do you remember that? That was just over maybe three or four years ago.
So, this is how important that NOTAM system is. So I'm curious to think that perhaps because this was a military operation, that the NOTAM which they have their own warning systems as well, in addition to NOTAMs, I wonder if that was just too much or too many things going on for them to understand that that NOTAM was super critical to look at and understand that that wasn't going on. But again, if those lights were on, I believe that could have prevented this from happening.
VAUSE: Just very quickly. It seems like you know for a week, like December 25 to January 2. Just week. How do you explain these lights not working for a week?
SOUCIE: Well, in fact, in the NOTAM it says there's no time for it to be back on again. I mean that's unheard of. I mean, if you have a NOTAM, saying this is going to be out you're going to say it's estimated to be back in service in three days or five days or whatever. But they need to know when are the parts going to be there, when will it be available.
And I know for a fact that every airport that has this runway indicator system has backup lights, they have backup systems, they have backup generators for what needs to happen in these lights. It's that important that it's there. So the fact that this went for that many days without being addressed. Perhaps it was the holiday, maybe the guy that does this was off duty or something. I can't imagine that that didn't take a higher priority in this airport operation, particularly in Japan when they're so conscientious about everything, every bit of safety.
VAUSE: David, good to have you with us. Appreciate your insights. Thank you.
SOUCIE: Thank you, John.
VAUSE: The death toll from Monday's earthquake in Japan has risen to 78 with rescue and relief ever tempted by cold weather, frequent aftershocks and damaged roads.
More now from CNN's Hanako Montgomery report again from the quake zone.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
HANAKO MONTGOMERY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It's hard to believe that the city of Wajima used to be a tourist hotspot. Each year people would come here to enjoy the seaside town and this market that I'm standing in right now, but after a very powerful earthquake struck Ishikawa prefecture on New Year's Day, thousands were forced to leave.
Right now we're standing in a part of the city where hundreds of buildings used to stand but after that initial earthquake created a fire. All that remains are door frames and people's lives just among the incinerated debris. Those who do remain in the city are going house to house trying to find any remaining survivors and rescue operators who are coming to this prefecture are having a very difficult time because all the roads are either cracked or blocked off by landslides entry. Hanako Montgomery, CNN, Wajima City.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
[01:20:03]
VAUSE: Just ahead, the big reveal court documents unsealed are the Jeffrey Epstein case, Bill Clinton and Donald Trump among those named in depositions. We should note it does not mean they're accused of any wrongdoing.
Also, Trump's legal team heads to the Supreme Court appealing a ballot ban in Colorado. What could be a precedent make a grilling if they take it. Details of that appeal is next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
VAUSE: Bill Clinton, Donald Trump, Britain's Prince Andrew among the names appearing a newly unsealed documents in a legal suit related to the sex trafficking now dead pedophile Jeffrey Epstein. Most of the information has already been made public. It's also important to note just because someone's name is included in a deposition or is on this list is not an indication of any wrongdoing. More details now from CNN's Shimon Prokupecz.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SHIMON PROKUPECZ, CNN SENIOR CRIME AND JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: The documents released by the court stemmed from a lawsuit that was brought back in 2015 against Ghislaine Maxwell who was the former girlfriend of Jeffrey Epstein. It was a civil lawsuit for defamation. Eventually, they settled the case.
But finally after years, the documents have been released and some specific and pretty important information coming from depositions that were taken by the lawyers from an associate of Jeffrey Epstein, a woman who used to work for him, where she says that Jeffrey Epstein told her that former President Bill Clinton liked them young referring to girls, she says, and she said they had a conversation about the former president.
Now the former president has denied any wrongdoing and there are no accusations in the court filings of any kind of wrongdoing, or any kind of criminal activity on the part of the former president. A spokesperson for the former president said that a long as he did in 2019 that he denies doing anything wrong. He does admit to being on Jeffrey Epstein's plane. But he says that it's been nearly 20 years since the former President had any contact with Epstein. And of course, that Clinton has not been accused of any crimes or wrongdoing related to Epstein.
And also in that same deposition from the former employee, we learned that she says according to her deposition, that Jeffrey Epstein they were on a plane together on one of Epstein's plane heading to New York City and they couldn't land in New York. And so they had to go to Atlantic City. And she says while on that plane, Jeffrey Epstein told her that we'll call Trump and we'll go to Atlantic City and she says they want him going to a casino. She doesn't remember what that casino was. And again, the significance of this is that we're seeing, you know,
two former presidents' names here being mentioned. These names being mentioned are not necessarily new. It's certainly something that we expected.
[01:25:04]
And then now, you know, in the coming days, we do expect to see more documents as the court and the attorneys work through some more of those filings and plan to release more information in the coming days.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VAUSE: Our thanks to Shimon Prokupecz for that report. We should note again, just because someone's name is on this list does not mean that they are in fact, equated to doing any kind of wrongdoing and CNN has reached out to the Trump campaign for comment.
Meantime, now it will be up to the U.S. Supreme Court. Lawyers for former President Donald Trump has appealed a Colorado ruling disqualifying him from the state's Republican primary ballot. Various state courts election officials have reached different conclusion on Trump's eligibility to run. Some states has seen successful legal challenges and Trump's name was removed because of his involvement in the January 6 Capitol riot, arguing it was in fact an insurrection. And under a Civil War era constitutional amendment, Trump is ineligible to run.
The U.S. Supreme Court who now -- is now under pressure to decide once and for all if Trump can actually be disqualified from holding public office. CNN's Evan Perez has details.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
EVAN PEREZ, CNN SENIOR U.S. JUJSTICE CORRESPONDENT: Donald Trump formally asked the U.S. Supreme Court to overturn an extraordinary ruling from the state Supreme Court in Colorado that ordered his name removed from the primary election ballot because he's an extra insurrectionists based on his actions around January 6 2021.
Trump's lawyers say that the former president did not engage in insurrection, that the 14th Amendment of the Constitution doesn't actually mention the Office of the President and doesn't apply to Trump and that Congress, not the states should determine eligibility for the presidency.
They argue, in our system of government of the people by the people and for the people, Colorado's ruling is not and cannot be correct. The Colorado ruling came in a number of lawsuits tied to the 14th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution in the state of Maine. The Secretary of State's similarly ordered Trump's name removed for similar reasons, a decision that Trump is challenging. A number of other states have reached the opposite conclusion, and that increases the chances that the Supreme Court will take up the issue and try to settle once and for all for the first time whether the 14th Amendment applies to candidate for president. For now, Trump remains on the Colorado ballot while he continues this
legal fight. We don't know how quickly this issue will be resolved. Colorado votes in March, Evan Perez, CNN, Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VAUSE: Officials at least 23 states across the U.S. received email threats Wednesday, CNN obtained a copy of one of those emails in which the sender claimed to place explosives inside quote your state capitol. No specific state was mentioned. But it was enough to force evacuations from Capitol proceedings at least six states.
The FBI says it's aware of multiple hoax bomb threats, releasing a statement saying in part what we have no information to indicate a specific a credible threat we will continue to work with our local state and federal law enforcement partners to gather, share and act upon threat information as it comes to our attention. We urge the public remain vigilant, report any and all suspicious activity and or individuals to law enforcement immediately.
When we come back, controversial calls from far right extremist who are also Israeli government ministers to relocate millions of Palestinians from Gaza to another country and reaction from the U.S. is blunt.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[01:30:47]
JOHN VAUSE, CNN ANCHOR: Israel has reported intensive battles with Hamas militants in Gaza Wednesday. Fighting reported in several refugee camps according to both the IDF and sources in Gaza.
Thick smoking was seen rising over Gaza Wednesday with reports of a number of civilian casualties in the Jabalia refugee camp. The Hamas- controlled health ministry in Gaza says more than 23,300 Palestinians have been killed since the Israeli offensive began.
Clean water is now flowing in parts of Gaza after a damaged supply line in the center part of the Gaza Strip was repaired.
The on-again, off-again hostage negotiations appear to be back on but going nowhere. Sources tell CNN Hamas recently demanded a permanent ceasefire in exchange for all hostages. The demand rejected outright by Israel and while Hamas has now since resumed talks in Doha, sources say there has been little progress.
Hamas is holding more than 100 Israeli hostages, their families and supporters continue to push the Netanyahu government to bring them home.
There is one though who will not be coming home after being killed during a failed IDF rescue operation last month. We don't know if 25- year-old Sahar Baruch was killed by Hamas or by friendly fire from his would-be rescuers. On the day he died, Hamas released video of his remains. The IDF had no comment at the time. An imam who worked to keep his community safe has died after being
shot outside his mosque in New Jersey. Officials say there's no evidence at this point that the shooting was motivated by bias or an act of domestic terrorism.
Details from CNN's Miguel Marquez.
MIGUEL MARQUEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: This is the Masjid Muhammad Mosque where the imam was killed this morning. He was killed in his car say police, shot more than one time, just beyond where you have this police car here with the lights on. That's the parking lot of the mosque behind it, and then the mosque itself is here.
Police have been in the mosque and questioning people all day, and most of the people who attend mosque here have not been able to get in and this evening they are starting to gather.
We expect that there will be a vigil for Imam Hassan Sharif at some point as well. But just a shock. 6:00 a.m. police say he was arriving her for morning prayers. He was shot more than once, taken to a hospital that is very close, just a couple of blocks away from here, but at 2:20 in the afternoon, he was pronounced dead.
The prosecutors who've taken over this did something that they don't normally do here in New Jersey. It's that they came out to talk about an active murder investigation.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MATTHEW J. PLATKIN, NEW JERSEY ATTORNEY GENERAL: We do not yet know the motivation for this crime. And while we are not yet at liberty to discuss the progress of our ongoing investigative efforts, the evidence collected thus far does not indicate that this was an act motivated by bias or an act of domestic terrorism.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MARQUEZ: So officials felt the need to come out and talk a little bit about this case and make sure that people understood that there was so far no signs of bias or terrorism in this case.
They also made the point that since October 7th there have been heightened concerns among the -- not only the Muslim community here but the Jewish community across New Jersey as well.
There's a big police presence here tonight. But they wanted New Jerseyans to know that since October 7th, there has been increased police surveillance at houses of worship of all sorts across the state, and that will continue.
Back to you.
VAUSE: Just days after Russia invaded Ukraine, 132 Ukrainian soldiers defending a small island became national heroes, defiantly telling a Russian warship where to go. Initially it was thought all those soldiers defending Snake Island had
been killed defending the group from the Russian warship. But now it turns out they were taken prisoner and seven soldiers from that group are back home.
They're among 230 Ukrainian troops and civilians released by Russia. Also released, Ukrainians captured at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant.
In return, 248 Russian servicemen were released by Ukraine. Moscow had credited the U.A.E. for orchestrating the exchange.
[01:34:52]
VAUSE: Meantime Ukraine is preparing for the next stage of the war according to the foreign minister. Dmytro Kuleba is renewing appeals to allies for aid saying Russia's missile and drone attacks in recent should be an alarm for the for the rest of the world. It's also a reminder that something unprecedented is happening in Ukraine.
And he told CNN Wednesday his country will stay the course no matter what.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DMYTRO KULEBA, UKRAINIAN FOREIGN MINISTER: We don't have Plan B. We are confident and Plan A.
Ukraine will always fight with resources available to it. what is given to Ukraine is not charity. It's an investment in the protection of NATO and in the protection of also the prosperity of the American people.
Because if Russia theoretically prevails in Ukraine, other leaders across the world will be tempted to follow Russia's footprints. And securing and ensuring security in these parts of the world, and deterring these leaders and their countries, will require a much, much higher price tag for the United States.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: That plea for aid may fall on deaf ears in the United States. Lawmakers are set to return next week and will vote on a number of spending measures but there's no consensus on funding for Ukraine.
For instance, U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson is demanding any foreign aid package be linked to tightening security on the U.S. southern border with Mexico. Johnson and dozens of House Republicans visited the border Wednesday, trying to pressure the White House as well as President Biden.
CNN's Ed Lavandera has details now reporting in from Eagle Pass, Texas.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) ED LAVANDERA, CNN SENIOR U.S. NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Migrants cross the Rio Grande into the United States as Speaker of the House Mike Johnson looks on during the Republicans' tour of the southern border, to highlight a crisis, he says the Biden administration is doing nothing to fix.
Migrants have crossed into the United States by the thousands. More than 225,000 alone in December, the highest monthly surge recorded since the year 2000.
REP. MIKE JOHNSON (R-LA), SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE: America is at a breaking point with record levels of illegal immigration. And today, we got a firsthand look at the damage and the chaos the border catastrophe has caused in all of our community.
ALEJANDRO MAYORKAS, U.S. HOMELAND SECURITY SECRETARY: We have a broken and migration system, that is the one single fact about which everyone agrees.
LAVANDERA: Droves of migrants have come through this crossing in Eagle Pass, Texas despite the miles of razor wire, shipping containers and other barriers built up along the border.
A former Democratic state lawmaker in Eagle Pass, Texas says Republican efforts to deter migration aren't working either.
PONCHO NEVAREZ, FORMER TEXAS STATE DEMOCRAT: Anybody that's walked or ridden a train car 3,000 miles and been robbed beaten and raped to make it to that side right there, do you think this is going to stop them? And the answer to that as we already know is a big no.
LAVANDERA: The White House is increasingly facing pressure from both Republicans and Democratic mayors and governors, on the need for real solutions to the immigration crisis. And the Republican governor of Texas keeps ramping up the pressure as well transporting tens of thousands of migrants unannounced to urban cities in blue states straining their resources. Most migrants say they are just trying to escape the hardships they left behind.
like Kenny Contreras (ph) from Ecuador who says his country is plagued by violence and extortion. And this migrant from Liberian who says he spent $15,000 to reach the U.S. border.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The U.S. Has been my dream country since I was a young kid, you know.
JOHNSON: It's estimated that nearly 170 countries have people coming in and flowing across this border.
LAVANDERA: Meanwhile, in Washington D.C. Senate leaders are working toward a possible deal to change current immigration law including the possibility of expedited removals of migrants who crossed illegally, and tightening rules on granting asylum.
The House Speaker tells CNN's Jake Tapper the problem cannot be solved by allocating more money to the border. JOHNSON: These are policy choices, that got us in this situation and
what we're demanding is that the policies change.
LAVANDERA: What you did not hear from House Republicans in Eagle Pass, is a willingness to negotiate on immigration reform. And also many Republicans also saying that they are not necessarily willing to sign on to the Senate Border Security Bill compromise and that they're willing to shut down the government to get what they want in terms of border security.
Ed Lavandera, CNN -- Eagle Pass, Texas.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VAUSE: U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson and many House Republicans are also demanding the immigration bill they passed last year, called HR 2 has to be part of a final deal.
It would renew construction of the border wall and raise the bar on who is eligible for asylum and who is not. The White House and Democratic leaders called it draconian and have called it a nonstarter.
Speaker Johnson digs in and some senators are now seeking a middle ground. Two senior Senate negotiators from both parties say the hardline House bill will not fly in the upper house.
[01:39:51]
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. JAMES LANKFORD (R-OK): We still have to be able to secure the border. I mean we still have to be able to do something. We can't just do nothing and say we can't get everything in HR-2 so we can do nothing. We've got 10,000 people a day coming across. We have to do something.
SEN. CHRIS MURPHY (D-CT): I mean my understanding is that HR-2 doesn't have Democratic votes in the House or in the Senate. Ultimately we're going to work out a bill, if we're successful that will have Republican and Democratic votes. I imagine if you get a bill that has big numbers of Republican and Democratic votes in the Senate, if it's put on the House floor, it will pass the House of Representatives.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: Senator James Lankford says he's expected to update his fellow Senate Republicans next week, even if they don't have a text or a framework agreement.
Just gone 40 minutes pas the hour, we'll take a short break here on CNN. Back in a moment.
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VAUSE: Israel is expected to reveal post-Hamas plans for Gaza Thursday. Two members of the far-right wing coalition government are proposing the mass relocation of Palestinians to another country.
National security minister Itamar Ben-Gvir and finance minister Bezalel Smotrich, both extremists, anti-Arab bigots with one prominent rabbi, describing their plan as ethnic cleansing.
Smotrich on the right says Israelis should then quote, "make the desert bloom", that's according to multiple news agencies.
The White House says those public comments about relocation are inflammatory and irresponsible.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ADM. JOHN KIRBY, SPOKESPERSON, NATIONAL SECURITY COUNCIL: That statement does speak for the United States government and for this administration in terms of our complete refusal and rebuke of any forced displacement outside of Gaza of any Palestinians. We have made that clear to our Israeli counterparts in private sessions. We certainly have made that publicly. And that is not going to change.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: Ben Gvir is pushing back with a statement posted on social media read, "Very appreciative of the United States of America but with all due respect, we are not just another star in the American flag."
Well, to Tel Aviv now and Gideon Levy, a columnist for the "Haaretz" newspaper. Gideon, thanks for coming back.
GIDEON LEVY, COLUMNIST, HAARETZ: Thank you.
VAUSE: Do we know if these two far-right extremists, Smotrich and Ben- Gvir are speaking behalf of the Israeli government? Are negotiations underway with a third country? Or are they just mouthing off?
LEVY: Look, why should we ask all these questions? Those two politicians are senior ministers in this government.
I didn't hear the prime minister shutting them down or telling the opposite so that is the voice of the government. It is not the policy of the government not yet. Might get to be.
But nobody can ignore such voices, and say they are just, you know, some lunatics in the margins. No, minister of finance and minister of national security are very important positions. And if they speak like this, it means that there are serious elements in the Israeli government who call for ethnic cleansing.
[01:44:53]
LEVY: The world should know it. The United States should know it. And draw the conclusions.
VAUSE: You know, the response from the U.S. State Department was unequivocal, quote, "We are being told repeatedly and consistently by the government of Israel, including by the prime minister that such statements do not reflect the policy of these really government. They should stop immediately."
As you say, the problem here is that Benjamin Netanyahu has not publicly denied the relocations plan, nor has he refuted Itamar Ben Gvir or Smotrich for their hate speech. So are we looking at a situation where maybe it's not direct government negotiations with another country but there are negotiations underway if by some third- party and there's some kind of smokescreen there? What do we know about these negotiations? Because there is reporting that there are talks underway at some level.
LEVY: There are talks but they are totally unserious, because nobody is going to absorb 2.3 million people. And 2.3 million people of Gaza want to stay in Gaza in better conditions, in freedom. But none of them want to leave. And nobody can decide for them if they will stay or they will leave. For sure not the Israeli government. It has no authority and no justification to deal with it at all.
So even if there is a negotiation, it cannot be the Israeli government. Who is the Israeli government to decide the fate of 2.3 million Palestinians in Gaza. Gaza is not part of Israel.
So all this discourse is really -- excuse me for being so (INAUDIBLE) -- but all this discourse is sick because we are dealing with crimes of war, ethnic cleansing is a crime of war, a very, very severe one.
Now, if Netanyahu wants to tell the Americans that those people don't represent the government, he has only one choice, to fire them at once. If he doesn't fire those two ministers it means this voice is a legitimate voice of Israel.
VAUSE: Smotrich though is doubling down on all of this, the relocating of Palestine's. He tweeted, "More than 70 percent of the Israeli public today supports the humanitarian solution of encouraging the voluntary immigration of Gaza Arabs, and they're absorption in other countries."
I have no idea if that statement is true. But, you know, one of the countries that's been out as part of reporting is Congo. That is one destination. What about Madagascar? Which is where the Nazis wanted to send thousands of European Jews in World War II?
LEVY: That is a good comparison, a very relevant comparison. And look, they are covering with all those soft words, like "humanitarian solution". And it will be only by choice, nobody will be forced.
It's none of the Israeli government, the fate of the people of Gaza. This must be clear. Humanitarian or not humanitarian, if Israel cares for Gaza, it should liberate Gaza. And lift the siege. This is the only thing that Israel can do for the benefit of the people of Gaza.
And if the siege will be lifted the people of Gaza will have decent lives. And if the siege will continue, they will continue to live in a cage. And that's in the hands of Israel. All the rest is none of Israel's business. Israel cannot transfer
millions of people. You know, they sit in their meetings, and decide 200,000 will go here, 400,000 will go here. Who are you for God's sake?
Those people were -- their parents and grandparents were already deported from their land in '48, most of them are refugees. You can't do it to them again.
VAUSE: One thing which I don't understand is that, you know, Netanyahu, regardless of his views, regardless of what people think of him, he is essentially a sane, rational man. Surely he would be aware of the international damage that this is causing to Israel reputation, and to Israel's support around the world. And yet there is only silence.
LEVY: Look, the moment that Netanyahu added those elements into his government, he knew that this will be a terrible neo-fascist government. And he did nothing about it. He could've had a different government. He could've had a different government.
I'm sure that Netanyahu in person, personally does not support those crazy ideas. But the fact that he has those elements in this government, illegitimate elements, by the way, any other country those people would be defined -- in Europe, for example, they would've been defined as Neo-Nazis. And no government and no coalition in Europe would take them.
[01:49:47]
LEVY: But in Israel, Netanyahu legitimizes them. And once he legitimized them, he has to carry the damage. And for Netanyahu right now there's nothing more important than surviving power and therefore he depends on them.
VAUSE: Gideon Levy, sir, as always thank you for your time and thank you for your insights. We very much appreciate it.
LEVY: Thank you.
VAUSE: We'll take a short break. When we come back there's a new world darts champion, but it seems there's a lot more interested in who came second. We'll tell you about the 16-year-old taking the sport by storm.
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VAUSE: Scientists in the United States and Switzerland claim a breakthrough in the fight against antibiotic-resistant bacteria. It thrives in hospitals and nursing homes and it's responsible for 20 percent of all infections in intensive care units worldwide.
CNN's Meg Tirrell has details on this new type of antibiotic.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) MEG TIRRELL, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Antibiotic resistance is a huge problem. The researchers here actually refer to it as a silent pandemic. There are almost 3 million infections every year in the United States with microbes, either bacteria or other bugs that are resistant to drugs to treat them causing more than 35,000 deaths.
And worldwide the numbers are even bigger an estimated 5 million deaths associated with antimicrobial resistance and that's expected to double by 2050. And so there are desperate needs for new medicine to treat these drug-resistant microbes.
Now, this one particular bacteria is especially problematic. It's known as Carbapenem-resistant Acinetobacter Baumannii. There is an acronym for that and it's CRAB.
This is one that can affect patients in the hospital causing an estimated 8,500 cases per year in the U.S. and 700 deaths. And this is on the top of the list from the WHO and the CDC. A priority to try to find better drugs to treat it because as you can see there in the name it's resistant to an important class of medicines.
Now, this very early research just published in the journal "Nature", these researchers from both the drug company Rosche and Harvard, has shown that they've come up with a potential new class of antibiotics that essentially gums up the mechanism of how this bacteria works, so that it causes the cell death essentially.
And so it can overcome the problems with the resistance in this bacteria. So this is really early-stage research. It still needs to be borne out through many more years of clinical trials. But so far promising news, and we really need a lot more of it for this antibiotic resistance problem.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VAUSE: The world has a new darts champion. The title going to 28-year- old Luke Humphries on Wednesday beat. Despite his success, fans seemed a lot more interested in the 16-year-old who stole the show taking second place after a sensational run-up.
Luke Littler was relatively unknown before the event, now he's still unknown, but even Humphries praised his young rival.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LUKE HUMPHRIES, WORLD DARTS CHAMPION: Honestly in the back of my mind, for the whole (INAUDIBLE) I'm just thinking get this one now because he's going to dominate world darts soon.
So you know, he's an incredible player. And you know, when I was on the brink of sort of winning, he was just so relentless. You know, I was really, really proud of the performance. I was a bit tired in between a little bit. But he's an incredible talent and you know, I had to win this one tonight. He's going to win plenty, I'm sure.
LUKE LITTLER, SECOND PLACE, WORLD DARTS CHAMPIONSHIP: It's been unbelievable, the one negative was I lost too many legs to my (INAUDIBLE). So Luke will break me holes and obviously (INAUDIBLE) so that's the only negative. I just couldn't hold my own throw and every game has been good. (INAUDIBLE) just keep it going now for the crowd (INAUDIBLE). Congratulations Luke, he deserves it.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
[01:54:54]
VAUSE: Luke Littler there, now famous among dart fans worldwide and CNN's Don Riddell spoke with darts expert Paula James about the championship match. He said Luke the Nuke as Littler's nickname was a contender fit for the finals.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PAULA JAMES, DARTS EXPERT: The drama has just been second to none, I think that was the final that we all wanted and that we certainly deserved. Just a word on Luke Humphries though. Unfortunately he spoiled the (INAUDIBLE), that he more than deserves it, he's a lovely, lovely guy, and just an absolutely phenomenal dart player. It's truly astonishing, and of course, the world number one as well.
The only man who I think in the entire field that obviously end up stopping the Nuke. So brilliant night.
DON RIDDLE, CNN WORLD SPORTS ANCHOR: So it's Luke the Nuke Littler, who has made most of the headlines in the last few days. You've been getting to know him over the last couple of weeks. Tell us about him. What's his deal?
JAMES; Well, he's a 16-year-old boy and, to be honest he's like any other 16-year-old that you might know except he's got this phenomenal natural born talent, and he knows how to throw a dart. He knows how to throw them pretty precisely as well.
I think the secret to his success at the world's in particular is that he said from day one all he wanted to do with the world's was just win one game. He did that one game, and then the pressure was off the shoulders.
And that is a dangerous man, when there's no pressure and he's totally fearless, you can pretty much do anything, and that's exactly what he's done. He's been playing with freedom.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: Paula James, dart expert there. Thank you for your insights.
Impossible is a word found in a fool's dictionary, or so said Napoleon. And now for 34 years what many said was impossible, someone has finally beaten Tetris, on the Nintendo Entertainment System. And he was 13 years old.
Breath Willis, breathe. That's Willis Gibson and it took him 38 minutes to reach a level no human has ever reached before. And he played the game until it glitched out and it hit its kill screen.
So far the only player to beat the game was, artificial intelligence which got to level 236 by manipulating the game parameters.
Thank you for watching CNN NEWSROOM. I'm John Vause.
Please stay with us. The news continues with my friend and colleague Rosemary Church after a very short break.
See you back here next week.
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