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CNN International: Iran's Pres. Warns Israel Will Pay "Heavy Price" After Blasts; Funeral Held For Senior Hamas Leader Killed In Beirut; Israeli Military Says It Destroyed Hamas Tunnel Under Hospital. Aired 8-8:30a ET

Aired January 04, 2024 - 08:00   ET

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

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MAX FOSTER, HOST, "CNN NEWSROOM": Hello, and welcome to CNN Newsroom. I'm Max Foster in London. Just ahead, Iran is vowing revenge after explosions killed dozens near the graves of a reverend leader -- a revered leader, rather. So far, nobody has claimed responsibility. Russia and Ukraine have carried out what Kyiv is calling the largest prisoner exchange in the nearly two-year war. We will be live in Kyiv. And we'll look at the newly unsealed documents related to the sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. They named nearly 200 people, including prominent politicians.

Well, we begin with a threat of retaliation for a deadly bomb attack in Iran. This comes as Iran's state media revises the death toll from Wednesday's explosions to 84, as work gets underway to identify the victims. No one has claimed responsibility for the two blasts near the grave of Qasem Soleimani, one of Iran's most influential military leaders. Crowds had gathered to honor the general who was killed in a U.S. airstrike four years ago. Iran's President is blaming Israel for Wednesday's attack, saying it'll pay a heavy price. The explosions came at a time when tensions in the Middle East were already sky-high.

CNN's Paula Hancocks is in the region tracking this story from Abu Dhabi. Paula, just explain what we know who might have been behind these attacks, and the concern that it might just raise tensions in the region.

PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: So, Max, there has been no claim of responsibility, as you say, at this point. The Iranians -- the Iranian President has made it very clear that he believes that Israel is behind the attack. Let's listen to what he said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

EBRAHIM RAISI, IRANIAN PRESIDENT (TRANSLATED): I warn 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)

HANCOCKS: Now, no comments from Israel itself. We have heard, though, from a U.S. State Department spokesperson saying that there is no reason to believe that Israel would have been involved in this. And another U.S. official telling CNN that this really has the hallmarks of a terrorist attack, something like a group of the likes of ISIS may have carried this out. And this is something that's really being borne out by analysts as well, that this kind of attack is not generally that of a state player. It is generally a militia, a separate terror group that could have carried this out. But, there was a heavy death toll for these twin blasts which happened.

What we know from state media, from officials as well, is that one happened at three o'clock in the afternoon, and that one is believed to have been a bomb in a suitcase that was planted in a car and appear to be detonated remotely. And then, just 20 minutes later, once the emergency services would have got to that area, once others would have approached the area to help the initial casualties, a second explosion happened, and we understand from the Interior Minister telling state media that that was actually the more deadly blast, that second last.

But, there has been no claim of responsibility at this point. But, it does come, as you say, at a tense time for the entire region. It comes just one day after a top Hamas leader was killed in a Beirut suburb. That's attributed to Israel or Israel itself, not commenting. And of course, there have also been other leaders, Iran-backed leaders that have been killed in recent weeks as well. So, this all just builds up since the October 7 attacks by Hamas in Israel to increase tensions in the area.

The U.S. and other countries have been at pains to try and make sure that what happened on October 7 does not expand. But, of course, every day, with these increasing attacks, there is a concern that it could spill over. Max.

FOSTER: OK. Paula, thank you for that.

Well, at this hour, mourners are gathering for the funeral of that senior Hamas leader Saleh al-Arouri. He and at least three others were killed on Tuesday in an attack in southern Beirut. Lebanon's Foreign Minister tells CNN, the government is working to keep his death from sparking a wider war between Israel and Hezbollah. Arouri has been taking part in Qatar-mediated talks with Israel over a possible ceasefire and hostage release. It's not clear how his death might impact those talks.

Nada Bashir joins us from Beirut with the details. And we are waiting to see the response, aren't we, the amount of sympathy there is and the response there to the funeral, but also the response in Qatar.

NADA BASHIR, CNN REPORTER: Yeah, absolutely, Max. And of course, we have already heard that response here in Lebanon. As you can see behind me, I mean, hundreds have gathered here, mourners, outside the mosque where funeral prayers are being held for Saleh al-Arouri. Here it is -- it is quite loud here. It has drawn many mourners here. We can hear gunfire now behind us, people marking me the passing funeral of Saleh al-Arouri.

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They will be moving down in a procession in a little while down to the Shatila refugee camp. That was a refugee camp set up back -- following the 1948 Arab-Israeli war. It is an area where the sentiments, support of the Palestinian cause is very strong. And of course, this is a man who was number two in Hamas' political bureau, considered one of the founders of Hamas' military wing, the al-Qassam Brigades. Now here, we have heard from Hamas leaders (TECHNICAL DIFFICULTY) political chief, Ismail Haniyeh, pointing the finger of blame squarely at Israel, describing the strike on Tuesday as, in his words, a cowardly assassination.

Now, of course, (inaudible) there has been no clear claim of responsibility nor denial from Israeli officials. A U.S. administration official has told CNN that the U.S. understands that Israel was indeed behind the strike. But, the U.S. was not informed ahead about strike in southern Beirut on Tuesday. But, it has severe condemnation not only from Hamas, but also from Iran-backed Hezbollah here in Lebanon. We heard yesterday from Hezbollah Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah, warning that if Israel seeks to wage a war in Lebanon or on Lebanon, if they target any positions in Lebanon, that would trigger response of equal severity, that a response from Hezbollah would be limitless.

But, as you mentioned, Max, we have also heard from the Lebanese government, Lebanon's Prime Minister yesterday telling CNN that Lebanon doesn't want to see a war break out, that it doesn't want to see these tensions that we have seen between Hezbollah and Israel escalating more broadly, and that it is working to convince Hezbollah not to wage war with Israel. But, again, we have seen those tensions mounting, particularly on Lebanon's southern border, and there are fears of attacks like this one. The killing of Saleh al-Arouri could certainly trigger a further escalation.

FOSTER: OK. Nada in Beirut, thank you.

Meanwhile, the fighting continues in Gaza. This was the aftermath of a major explosion in the Jabalia refugee camp in northern Gaza. The Hamas-controlled Health Ministry says Israel was targeting the home of a specific family. Meanwhile, Israeli Military is warning people moving from the north to southern Gaza to keep to the coast road to avoid all the fighting there. Israel has just released video recorded in November that it says shows its soldiers destroying a Hamas tunnel underneath the Al Shifa Hospital. That's prompted the U.S. to double down on its assessment that Hamas was using Gaza's largest hospital as a command hub.

Russia and Ukraine have carried out what Kyiv is calling the largest prisoner exchange since the war began nearly two years ago. Ukraine says more than 200 of its soldiers and civilians were released. In return, Russia says 248 of its servicemen were handed over. You can see the released Ukrainian POWs here, draped in their country's blue and yellow flag, singing the country's national anthem and shouting "Glory to Ukraine". The UAE helped mediate negotiations over the prisoner exchange. Fred Pleitgen is standing by for us in Kyiv. What does this mean, Fred?

FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, I think it means a lot to both sides, but especially to the Ukrainians, Max. On the one hand, we have to see, there has been a massive uptick in hostilities between the Russians and the Ukrainians in this already, of course, very tough war that's been going on, with the Russians launching some serious airstrikes here in the Kyiv area but in other areas as well over the past couple of days. The Ukrainians, of course, hitting back. But, at the same time, it seems as though this hostage negotiation or these negotiations to swap prisoners, I should say, those were still ongoing, and they did manage to get a deal done that the Ukrainians say is the largest exchange of prisoners since the start of the war.

And I think we can see here on our screen, some of the very emotional scenes that we saw on the ground in Ukraine as that prisoner swap took place. And for the Ukrainians, Max, this swap is extremely important, not just because of its size, but also because some of the people who were exchanged in all, some of them were defenders of the Azovstal steel plant, not of the Azov Brigade, but certainly of that Azovstal steel plant, who have been in Russian captivity for a long period of time. Also, some of them were people who were on duty guarding the Chernobyl nuclear power plant when that was overrun by the Russians in the first days of the war.

And I was one of the first reporters to get back to that place after the Ukrainians took it back. And certainly, the people who were kept inside that power plant, it was under extremely tough conditions, underground in a nuclear bunker for a very long time, and then taken to Russia. Also, some of those who were released now were the defenders of Snake Island, of course, very famous in the beginning days of the war when those defenders told a Russian warship that they were not going to surrender in no uncertain terms at all. So, for the Ukrainians, this is extremely important in a symbolic value, but of course also to both sides. This is a very important move to show that a prisoner swap can still take place even as hostilities continue to get worse, and of course the fighting itself continues to get tougher as the winter months go on, Max.

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FOSTER: Fred Pleitgen in Kyiv, thank you.

Now, Bill Clinton, Donald Trump and Britain's Prince Andrew are amongst the names that appear in newly unsealed documents from a lawsuit connected to the Jeffrey Epstein case. Epstein was the multimillionaire indicted on sex trafficking charges before his suicide in jail in 2019. It's important to know the persons is named in the documents doesn't necessarily indicate that they had any role to play in wrongdoing. But, we've got more now from CNN's Shimon Prokupecz.

(BEGIN VIDOTAPE)

SHIMON PROKUPECZ, CNN SENIOR CRIME AND JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT (voice- over): Long-awaited documents finally released. The first batch of sealed court filings pertaining to the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein were made public Wednesday. The document stemmed from a civil defamation lawsuit brought in 2015 against Epstein's former girlfriend Ghislaine Maxwell, prominent figures including Prince Andrew and former presidents Bill Clinton and Donald Trump included in a 2016 deposition of Johanna Sjoberg, a former employee of Epstein. She says in the document that she and Epstein had a conversation and "He said one time that Clinton likes them young", referring to girls.

When asked if Clinton was a friend of Epstein, she said she understood Epstein had "dealings with Clinton". Clinton has not been accused of any crimes or wrongdoing related to Epstein, and has denied any kind of criminal activity. But, in 2019, he admits to having flown on Epstein's private plane, but knew nothing of the financier's "terrible crimes". Sjoberg also recalled a time she was with Epstein on one of his planes, and pilot said he needed to land in Atlantic City. Jeffery said, great. We'll call up Trump and we'll go to, I don't recall the name of the casino, but we'll go to the casino. She says in the deposition she never gave a massage to Trump. This is the first reference to Donald Trump, but he is not accused of any wrongdoing.

LISA BRYANT, DIRECTOR, "JEFFREY EPSTEIN: FILTHY RICH": Right now, the only person who has been prosecuted is a woman, Ghislaine Maxwell, who certainly should be behind bars. But, it's interesting in this network of all these men who've been trafficking young women and underage women for decades, and yet the only person that's been prosecuted is a woman. There are many, many other people that should be held accountable as well.

PROKUPECZ (voice-over): The documents also contain excerpts of depositions taking a Virginia Roberts Giuffre, who previously reached an out-of-court settlement in her sexual abuse lawsuit against Prince Andrew. Giuffre alleged in her deposition that Maxwell directed her to have sexual contact with people, including former New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson, Prince Andrew, and tech guru Marvin Minsky. Attorneys for Ghislaine Maxwell said in a statement on Wednesday, she has consistently and vehemently maintained her innocence.

This is the first set of documents to be unsealed under a December 18 court order with more expected in the coming weeks. The documents are expected to include nearly 200 names, including some of Epstein's accusers, prominent business people, and politicians.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

FOSTER: Shimon Prokupecz there. Buckingham Palace responding to CNN, telling us it will not comment on Prince Andrew's name appearing in those unsealed documents. The Palace says it's not in a position to comment as Prince Andrew is not a working Royal. Also, Donald Trump is not accused of wrongdoing related to Epstein in those documents. CNN has reached out to the Trump campaign for comment, though.

Still to come, twin explosions killed dozens at the grave of a revered commander in Iran, just one of many incidents in the Middle East which are sparking fears of a wider war. We'll have analysis when we return.

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(COMMERCIAL BREAK) FOSTER: Returning to our top story, a series of incidents in the Middle East are adding to fears of a wider war in the region. Just in the past few days, we've seen twin blasts in Iran, near the grave of Qasem Soleimani, killing more than 80 people near the general's grave. There has been no claim of responsibility, but Tehran is blaming Israel and is vowing to retaliate.

In Lebanon, Hamas leader Saleh al-Arouri was killed in an attack in Beirut on Tuesday. Israel neither confirms nor denies it was responsible. And just today, Iraq says a drone struck a militia base in Baghdad. The commander of a pro-Iranian armed group was killed. And there have been repeated attacks on commercial ships in the Red Sea by Yemeni Houthi rebels. All this happening is the Israel-Hamas war rages on. Awful lot to unpack.

Let's bring in Sanam Vakil. She is the Director of the Middle East and North Africa Programme at Chatham House, and joins us now from London. Thank you so much for joining us, Sanam. Obviously, we may never get to the bottom of exactly who is responsible for all of these incidents, but they're all coming at once. Fingers being pointed oftentimes to Israel. How concerned are you about just the optics here, inflaming tensions that are clearly already there?

SANAM VAKIL, DIRECTOR, MIDDLE EAST & NORTH AFRICA PROGRAMME, CHATHAM HOUSE: Thanks for having me on, firstly. But, yeah, you're quite right. The attacks, the timing and the sequencing are very concerning. And of course, it's raising tensions across the region. Tensions have already been high with many states calling for a ceasefire without any progress as the Gaza war rages on, and over 21,000 people have been killed in that military campaign. This makes it a very difficult moment. I don't see currently, while we wait for evidence and formal release of evidence from the Islamic Republic, full connectivity between all of these events.

The strike in Beirut against al-Arouri, the strike a few weeks ago in Damascus that killed an Iranian IRGC general, and perhaps the one in Iraq today are much more targeted and have a pattern of Israeli targeted strikes, whereas the bombs that we saw go off yesterday in Kerman really had mass casualties, and don't really play into the pattern of Israeli targets against Iran.

FOSTER: What will -- I mean, a lot of people are obviously looking towards Iran, the big fear of Iran-Israel war, which should bring in America. What will be their thinking? They're blaming Israel, and they vow retaliation of some kind. But, what's the reality of that? How do you separate action from words?

VAKIL: Well, the Islamic Republic has not yet formally blamed Israel. I think they're going to be quite careful, and they're going to be looking for evidence as to who is behind these attacks. Rhetorically, and that's where the Islamic Republic packs the strongest punch, they will always blame the United States and Israel, maybe not for being specifically behind these attacks, which both countries have, by the way, denied being behind. But, they will be critical of Israel's campaign in Gaza, the destabilizing influence of both of these states across the region. And that will be part of the broader effort at perhaps blaming terrorist groups or dissident groups that could be behind the bombings in Kerman. But, Iran is much more of a cautious beast, a cautious state than is often presented.

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Iran is the patron behind the Axis of Resistance, Hezbollah, Hamas, groups in Iraq and the Houthis, coordinate and are ideologically aligned. But, they don't all move at the same pace. And the Islamic Republic as a state is ultimately looking to preserve its own security and its own stability and will not gamble on that for Hamas, Hezbollah, or any other group in the region.

FOSTER: OK. Sanam Vakil, really appreciate your insight today. Thank you.

VAKIL: Thank you.

FOSTER: All right. Still ahead, we are learning new details about what may have caused that deadly runway collision in Japan, the latest on the investigation, next.

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FOSTER: We have new details about events leading up to Tuesday's deadly runway collision at a Tokyo Airport. According to NHK, the pilots on the Japan Airlines plane didn't see the smaller coastguard plane on the runway, and records show runway warning lights may have been out of service. More now from CNN's Will Ripley.

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WILL RIPLEY, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): A catastrophic collision in the heart of Tokyo, captured from passenger Arutho Yuvama'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 plane stopped, in less than a minute, the cabin was full of smoke. That black smoke billowed 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 p.m. to 5:47 p.m. Japan Airlines Flight JL 516 its final approach over Tokyo Bay, cleared for landing at Haneda Airport, just as a Japan Coast Guard turboprop was pulling onto Runway C, right into the path of the much larger Airbus A350-900. 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 airliner's 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.

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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 C here at Haneda Airport. A team of investigators are there, including technicians from Airbus who are helping the Japanese investigators search for the missing black box, 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)

FOSTER: Finally, Tetris can be beaten. After 34 years, someone has finally beaten the addictive video game on the Nintendo Entertainment System, and he is just 13.

(VIDEO PLAYING)

FOSTER: It took Willis Gibson 38 minutes to reach a level no human has ever reached before, and to play the game until it glitched out and hit its kill screen. So far, the only other player to beat the game was an AI program which got to level 236 by manipulating the game parameters. Lesson.

Thanks for joining me here on CNN Newsroom. I'm Max Foster in London. World Sport with Patrick Snell is up next.

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