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U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken Travels to the Middle East Again; IDF Orders New Evacuation Orders for Gaza Civilians; North Korea Fires Artillery Shells Near South Korea; Russia Fires Cruise Missile, Ukraine Strikes Belgorod; Oscar Pistorius Released; Search and Rescue Efforts Underway After Monday's Massive Earthquake. Aired 2-3a ET
Aired January 05, 2024 - 02:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
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LYNDA KINKADE, CNN HOST: Hello and welcome to our viewers joining us from all around the world, I'm Lynda Kinkade. Good to have you with us. Ahead on "CNN Newsroom," America's top diplomat is heading to the Middle East. Part of his mission, to keep the war between Israel and Hamas from expanding.
North Korea fires hundreds of artillery rounds near the border with South Korea. We'll have a live report from the region.
And the search for survivors after a deadly earthquake in Japan. This elderly woman was pulled from the rubble alive, but dozens of people remain missing.
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken is about to begin his fourth trip to the Middle East since the October 7th Hamas attack on Israel. And his mission seems to be getting more complicated by the day. Among his top priorities as he visits eight countries across the region is to keep the war between Israel and Hamas from spreading. Fears are growing that Iran and its proxies are getting more involved.
And now ISIS has claimed responsibility for a terror bombing in southern Iran. They killed more than 80 people. Tensions are also flaring between Israel and Lebanon where a senior Hamas commander was killed on Tuesday. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he's committed to committing fundamental change so Israelis can live in peace along the border.
The U.S. is fighting back against pro-Iranian proxies in the region. A militia source says a top commander and the assistant were killed in Baghdad. CNN's Oren Liebermann has more now from the Pentagon.
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OREN LIEBERMANN, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): A U.S. strike in Iraq, second in a little more than a week, killing the commander of a pro-Iran militia, Harakat al-Nujaba. One U.S. official saying the target known as Abu Taqwa, had U.S. blood on his hands.
PATRICK RYDER, PENTAGON PRESS SECRETARY: Abu Taqwa was actively involved in planning and carrying out attacks against American personnel.
LIEBERMANN (voice-over): The attack comes amid fears of an escalation in the Middle East, far beyond the borders of the Gaza Strip where the war between Israel and Hamas is nearing the three-month mark. The U.S. has tried to separate the war in Gaza from the rest of the region, but the fighting has burst through political borders.
An Israeli strike in Beirut killed Saleh al-Arouri, one of Hamas' top leaders. Lebanese officials warning the attack threatens to spark a wider conflict in a region already on edge. U.S. forces have come under, attack approximately 118 times in Iraq and Syria since mid- October. Hezbollah and Lebanon has launched repeated missile and drone strikes on Israel, a key U.S. ally in the Middle East. And the Houthis in Yemen have fired on international shipping lanes in the Red Sea with calls growing for a U.S. response.
JOHN KIRBY, U.S. NATIONAL SECURITY COUNCIL: We don't telegraph our punches one way or another, but we take these attacks very, very seriously, the impact that they're having on international commerce and free shipping, and we're going to keep doing what we need to do to protect our interest.
LIEBERMANN (voice-over): The common thread here is Iran, which backs these groups. With U.S. Navy forces in the eastern Mediterranean Sea and in the Red Sea to protect international shipping lanes, the U.S. has tried to send a message of deterrence, carrying out strikes in Iraq and Syria. But the attacks across the region have persisted. The Pentagon once again laying out an open-ended threat of force.
RYDER: We maintain the inherent right of self-defense and will continue to take the necessary actions to protect our personnel.
LIEBERMANN (voice-over): But in a region where one conflict is already raging, U.S. officials are grappling with how to respond to widespread attacks by Iranian proxies without sparking a broader war in the Middle East.
Oren Liebermann, CNN, at the Pentagon.
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KINKADE: Israel has unveiled plans for the next phase of its war in Gaza. Israeli defense minister says forces in northern Gaza will focus on raids, special operations, and the destruction of Hamas tunnel networks. Israel's military objective of the new phase is to, quote, "erode the remaining terror hotspots in the area."
Israel says its goals in southern Gaza will be to continue to pursue Hamas leaders and to bring home more than 100 hostages still being held captive. The outline comes as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the defense minister meet in Tel Aviv with the special envoy of U.S. President Joe Biden to discuss the war. [02:04:55]
The IDF issued a new series of evacuation orders for Palestinians in part of central Gaza on Thursday. Many civilians say they're too exhausted to flee again. And even if they could, there's nowhere to go. One Palestinian man tell CNN, "This is not life. It's humiliation." CNN's Jeremy Diamond has more. But a warning, his report contains graphic images.
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JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN CORRRESPONDENT (voice-over): The lifeless body of yet another child, carefully pried from the rubble. Gaza civil defense says this is the aftermath of an Israeli airstrike in Deir el-Balah, a city where tens of thousands are seeking shelter, heeding evacuation orders like this one dropped by the Israeli military.
ABDUL RAHMAN, INTERNALLY DISPLACED PERSON IN DEIR EL-BALAH: There is no place to seek safety in this area. There is no water, there is no electricity. We are just surrounded by all the war and then bomb and attack us without any alarm.
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DIAMOND (voice-over): It's not just Deir el-Balah. Several cities where civilians have been told to flee have been hit in recent days including this camp for displaced Palestinians in the southern city of Rafah where the Hamas-controlled government media office says Israel has struck six locations over the last three days.
At Al-Nasir hospital, the dead lay waiting after an Israeli airstrike killed 14 people including nine children. According to the Hamas- controlled military of health.
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MAHMOUD SALEH, UNCLE OF ONE OF THE DEAD (through translation): Where is international law? There is no law. They killed children. Children that are getting shelled as they are sleeping. They are bombing them, killing them with what blood? What blood?
DIAMOND (voice-over): Even the emblem of the Palestine Red Crescent Society is no shield. The group's headquarters in Khan Yunis struck for the second time just this week killing one and wounding six. The IDF told CNN it was reviewing the previous strike. It held a, quote, "operational debrief" to draw immediate lessons. Amid the strikes, some are once again on the move. Mattresses and blankets carried however they can.
FULLA QADOUHA, INTERNALLY DISPLACED PERSON IN DEIR EL-BALAH (through translation): My house is gone. The houses of my sisters are also gone. I'd rather go back home and live in a tent than live in here.
DIAMOND (voice-over): For many, that exhausting elusive search for safety is over. ABU ADNAN, INTERNALLY DISPLACED PERSON IN DEIR EL-BALAH (through
translation): I tried to go back home twice, but my children pulled me back. There are no toilets, no food, no water, no clothes. With all this, I prefer to go back home and die with dignity than dying this way.
DIAMOND (voice-over): That pursuit of dignity is all that remains. Jeremy Diamond, CNN, Tel Aviv.
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KINKADE: Well, now to the latest tension on the Korean peninsula. South Korea's military says the North has fired hundreds of artillery rounds into a maritime buffer zone off its west coast near two South Korean islands.
Residents on one of them, Yeonpyeong Island have been told to head to shelters. More than 2100 people live there. So, far there are no reports of injuries or damage. But the South Korean Joint Chiefs of Staff issued this warning.
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LEE SUNG-JUN, SOUTH KOREA'S JOINT CHIEFS OF STAFF (through translation): We sternly warn North Korea that they are fully responsible for this escalation of the crisis and we strongly urge them to stop it. Our military is tracking and monitoring the latest situation in close cooperation with the U.S. and South Korea and we'll implement measures and response to North Korea's provocations.
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KINKADE: CNN's Marc Stewart is following this and joins us now live from Seoul. Good to have you with this Marc. So, North Korea is firing artillery towards a South Korean border island. What are the details?
MARC STEWART, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Linda, we are getting some specifics from the South Korean military. First of all, as far as the amount of artillery that's being fired, we are being told 200 rounds of artillery has been fired. We don't know exactly what that comprises of. It could be shells. It could be larger rockets.
It was fired into the northern boundary which is known as the northern limit line. Essentially the DMZ extending from land into the Yellow Sea. It fell into the northern part of that border. So, it did not enter South Korean territory, and that's important to note.
At this point, no reports of any kind of damage or any kind of injury but it is drawing a response already from South Korea, or likely drawing response. We are seeing a text message that was sent to people living on one of the nearby islands, Yeonpyeong. In this text message, residents there were told to take shelter at locations near their homes. Not necessarily to evacuate the island but to leave their homes and to go to some designated safe spaces.
[02:10:04] Now, exactly the extent of the South Korean response, how long it will take place and exactly when it will take place. These residents were told in the 3:00 hour, but at this point, Lynda, we are not seeing any kind of images are hearing any kind of descriptions, but it's something that we are on the lookout for in these minutes ahead.
KINKADE: And Marc, just talk to us about the timing. Why now?
STEWART: Well, nothing happens necessarily by accident. As we have seen over the years, if North Korea does something, South Korea does something in response and vice versa, very much this tit-for-tat relationship. However, it was just days ago that we saw some military drills by the South Korean navy. That's something that North Korea, perhaps, frowned upon and is making this kind of response.
We have seen responses; we have seen these shells fired over these waters before. That's something that's very typical in the winter months. But as far as the latest cause a provocation, it could be these naval drill by South Korea. We also heard statements from North Korea just before the New Year saying that reunification of the North and South is off the table and that the North views South as a hostile neighbor.
In addition, Kim Jong-un's sister made some response and remarks saying that North Koreans really had no choice but to amp up and to beef up their military because they are being pushed by South Korea. That's just some of the rhetoric, some of the discussion that we have been hearing in the last few days, Lynda.
KINKADE: All right. Marc Stewart, we will check in with you again soon. Thanks so much for staying across those developments from Seoul.
Well, cross border strikes between Russia and Ukraine are racking up more damaging casualties on both sides. On Thursday, Moscow said Ukrainian drones and missiles hit the city of Belgorod again leaving two people wounded. Earlier in the day, Ukraine said a Russian cruise missile hit a city in central Ukraine killing one person and wounding eight others. The explosion damaged several businesses owned by a local energy company.
In down south, Russia claimed it shut down a swarm of Ukrainian missiles headed for Crimea. Falling missile fragments reportedly injured one person on the ground.
Ukraine is considering changes to mobilization laws that can open the door for more people to be conscripted into the military. Debates on a new bill began in a parliamentary committee on Thursday. The proposed changes include lowering the conscription age and introducing mandatory basic training.
Ukraine's military has recently requested up to half a million more troops as the country faces a protracted conflict with Russia. The proposals would have to be approved by the full parliament before being signed into law by President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. With more on that, we're joined by Peter Zalmayev, the Director of the Eurasia Democracy Initiative. He's speaking to us from Kyiv. Good to have you with us.
PETER ZALMAYEV, DIRECTOR, EURASIA DEMOCRACY INITIATIVE: Greetings.
KINKADE: Well, Ukraine's military is in need of a huge boost on the frontlines. We're hearing that they won half a million people. What's it going to take to mobilize that and what does it say about the current state of war?
ZALMAYEV: Well, the stark reality is that Ukraine's army is old age- wise compared to the enemy. While the average age of Russia's recruits is 35, Ukraine is 42. And compare that with the U.S. under age of 30. The men currently on the frontlines had been added since the very first days of the war and they clearly need a break. The government has regressed it, as you said, 500,000.
Maybe even more would be needed down the line and it would be a significant time and effort, not only to mobilize them, but to train and equip them and to do it all in a pretty short order. The outcome of this effort will no less than make or break Ukraine. This will be absolutely crucial for Ukraine's survival.
KINKADE: And Peter, of course, next month marks two years since Russia launched its invasion of Ukraine. It's been such a long slog, despite all of Ukraine's gains and its impressive will to fight back. How hard is it to maintain morale right now?
ZALMAYEV: Well, you just can imagine what an icy cold bath it has been for 25, 30, 40-year-old hipsters in Kyiv and other Ukrainian cities that after these two years of war, they have been living with pretty much old the urban creature comforts in almost pre-war condition, excluding obviously, the almost daily missile attacks.
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But after two years of wars, exclusively victorious rhetoric on national T.V., hard-core realization has something (ph), that unless, like you said, a half a million get mobilized in short order, gets super fast basic training and be thrown into battle around (inaudible). Then the very state, the very Ukraine may be lost.
So, instead of coffee in Crimea that some of our government officials promised to be able to do by last spring, we are now promised a long and deadly slog in the freezing trenches of the Donbas. So, obviously this is demoralizing, but also keep in mind that in any country, it's only a small fraction of men and women who are willing to contemplate sacrificing their life in the battlefield.
So, that minority, whether in the first weeks of war. So, now we're talking about efforts by the government to talk to their citizens as adults, and these efforts, have been long overdue.
KINKADE: And Peter, the West of course has provided billions of dollars in weaponry for Ukraine to take on Russia. Russia, of course is also been getting that (inaudible) from Iran and North Korea. What are the biggest challenges for Ukraine right now? ZALMAYEV: Well, like I said, weapons. Russia has ratcheted up its own
weapon production. It's getting supplies as you mentioned from Iran and North Korea, including a very ominous reports that North Korea may have been providing Russia with some of these ballistic missiles that have been used in the recent barrages against Ukrainian cities.
Ukraine though continues to depend on western allies while clearly, and I would say disastrously falling behind and maybe even losing focus in some parts. This war once again prove that weapons quality superiority can be -- I'm sorry -- quantity superiority can be converted into quality advantages. Russians do have the mobilization potential also that exceeds Ukraine by a factor of at least five.
I'll also mention the disparity in the average age. Once again, our currently fighting men are pretty exhausted. They need to be replaced. They need to be demobilized. It's also a question of justice, you know, as a reason in Ukraine. Why do some men have to fight and freeze in the trenches while others seem to be somehow exempt?
And there's also problematic sort of return of politics in Ukraine that have been kind of there's been lid on politics. And finally, you know, it's out in the open. There's a quickening of a sort of internal strife due to the underwhelming counteroffensive and a flagging resolve that I mentioned by the allies. Zelenskyy, our president, and Zaluzhnyi, the chief general, must make a plausible show of reconciliation and make it -- we can make it public.
KINKADE: All right, Peter Zalmayev, it's really good to get your perspective, joining us live from Kyiv. We appreciate your time. Thanks so much.
Well, the long saga of convicted murderer, Oscar Pistorius, has now reached what is likely the final chapter. Just ahead, the former Paralympic track star who killed his girlfriend more than a decade ago is now out of prison.
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KINKADE: Welcome back. Good to have you with us. Former Olympic and Paralympic sprinter and convicted murderer, Oscar Pistorius, has now been released from prison in South Africa. He was granted parole in November, nearly 11 years after killing his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp. During his trial, he testified that he thought he was shooting an intruder in his bathroom.
Pistorius left this person near Pretoria a little while ago after serving nearly nine years for Steenkamp's murder. The country's correction department said he will remain under its supervision until his sentence ends in 2029.
Well, joining me now is CNN's international correspondent David McKenzie. Good to have you with us, David. So, this man was known as the Blade Runner, sentenced over the murder of his girlfriend, now released on parole today. Just remind our viewers of his case. DAVID MCKENZIE, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Lynda, it's certainly an extraordinary case that gripped this nation and the world. Oscar Pistorius was a household figure here in South Africa and across the globe because of his exploits on the track and field tracker given his huge amount of adversity, growing up as a double amputee. But that all changed on Valentine's morning years ago and his story has gripped the nation and the world.
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MCKENZIE (voice-over): Back in 2012, this was Oscar Pistorius. A world-class athlete and role model. Overcoming incredible odds, his legs amputated below the knee at 11 months because of a birth defect. The Blade Runner competing at the abled body London Olympics in 2012.
UNKNOWN: He's done magnificently well and I think everybody is proud of him.
MCKENZIE (voice-over): Months later, Oscar Pistorius' global fame became a sorted global notoriety.
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MCKENZIE (voice-over): On Valentine's Day 2013, he killed his up-and- coming model girlfriend, Reeva Steenkamp, shooting four times through the locked bathroom door. The police found him bloodied and in shock. Pistorius said it was an accident an he thought Reeva was an intruder. The state charged him with premeditated murder. His trial, a riveting courtroom drama followed by millions.
GERRIE NEL, PROSECUTOR: I will vote my case to say that when you got up you had an argument and that's why she ran away screaming.
OSCAR PISTORIUS, FORMER PARALYMPIAN: She wasn't breathing.
BARRY ROUX, PISTORIUS'S LAWYER: Is the state saying that within two minutes of the state's version on the shooting or five minutes of our version, in that traumatized state of mind he worked up this grand scheme? Doesn't make sense, my lady.
MCKENZIE (voice-over): The defense claimed Pistorius was a vulnerable, now broken man who deserved leniency.
ROUX: He suffers from an anxiety disorder. We know that uncontested evidence was that he -- when he was on his (inaudible) balance was seriously compromised. And without anything, he would not been able to defend himself.
NEL: You killed a person. That's what you did, isn't it?
PISTORIUS: I made a mistake.
NEL: You killed Reeva Steenkamp, that's what you did.
BARRY STEENKAMP, REEVA STEENKAMP'S FATHER: I don't wish that on any human being. Finding that, what happened, it devastated us. MCKENZIE (voice-over): After and nearly 50-day trial stretched over
seven months --
THOKOZILE MASIPA, JUDGE PISTORIUS TRIAL: The accused is found not guilty and is discharged. Instead, he is found guilty of culpable homicide.
MCKENZIE (voice-over): Pistorius placed in a private cell in this prison's medical wing. Released after just a year, one-sixth of his sentence, to his uncle's mansion and a house arrest.
But Pistorius's legal woes didn't end there. An appeal his conviction converted to murder. He was sent back to prison. His sentencing for murder then extended by the same appeals court. Reeva's family saying she could now rest in peace. Oscar Pistorius, for years, in the public eye for the right and very wrong reasons faded from public view until now.
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(On camera): Now, Lynda, the Correctional Services say that he is now at home. They would've spirited him away from his prison cell, away from the glare of the assembled media.
[02:24:59]
He has a strict set of requirements for his parole, including giving no media interviews not allowed to drink alcohol and has to do counseling as well as do community service. Just a short time ago, June Steenkamp, the mother of late Reeva Steenkamp released a statement saying in part that the pain is raw and real. Her husband tragically died late last year.
She said that the law must take its course and she's happy that he -- Pistorius will be taking anger management courses and gender-based violence initiatives courses as well. This has been the case that has somewhat faded from public view. But, you know, during that many days trial, gripped the attention of many across this nation and the world. It will be some time, I think, before we see Oscar Pistorius after these many years or several years in prison. Lynda?
KINKADE: All right, David McKenzie for us reporting from the Western Cape, South Africa. Good to have you with us. Thanks.
Emergency crews have rescued a survivor from the wreckage days after a massive earthquake ravaged western japan. The 80-year-old woman was pulled from the rubble of a collapsed house in Wajima late Thursday afternoon. Emergency personnel are racing to find any more survivors following Monday's 7.5 magnitude quake.
Officials say at least 92 people are dead, hundreds more remain unaccounted for. Well, much of the affected area set to look like a war zone. Survivors who haven't evacuated say basic necessities can be hard to find. CNN's Hanako Montgomery is there on the ground with more.
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HANAKO MONTGOMERY, CNN CORESPONDENT (voice-over): Once an idyllic seaside town. In just minutes, parts of Wajima reduced to rubble. The life Kyoko (ph) built gone in an instant.
KYOKO IZUMI, LIQUOR SHOP OWNER (through translation): It's hard. I've never seen anything like this. It's my first time experiencing something like this.
MONTGOMERY (voice-over): With phone lines down, Kyoko can only hope her friends are alive as she reckons with her new reality.
IZUMI (through translation): The aftershocks are really scary. They happen multiple times throughout the night. Last night was really intense.
MONTGOMERY: What happened last night? (SPEAKING IN FOREIGN LANGUAGE).
IZUMI (through translation): Last night, I think there were two magnitude five aftershocks and it felt like the entire ground was getting pushed up beneath me.
MONTGOMERY (voice-over): Some in Kyoko's hometown remain stuck under their collapsed homes.
Just behind me, dozens of police officers are trying to pull a woman they believe is stuck underneath the rubble of her house. The police are from Aichi, a prefecture over 300 kilometers away, which just goes to show the scale of rescue operations in Ishikawa prefecture.
MONTGOMERY (voice-over): Racing against time, emergency personnel began working last night. The constant aftershocks and fires hamper rescue operations making its take days. Dozens still missing in Ishikawa prefecture. Entire communities cut off by landslides, fallen trees, and broken roads.
This is just one of the many roads that have been completely destroyed in Wajima City, making it nearly impossible for aid to get in.
MONTGOMERY (voice-over): We arrived in Wajima last night after driving all day navigating these roadblocks. Alongside, the dozens of fires and aid trucks on their way while bypassing fallen debris. But what little helped does get through is far from enough. Water, food and blankets are in short supply. Essential goods Japan says must get to survivors.
At evacuation centers reports of people dying according to city hall officials.
FUMIO KISHIDA, PRIME MINISTER OF JAPAN (through translation): The situation is terribly challenging, but until those 72 hours crucial for saving lives past, we must do our utmost to save and rescue as many people as possible with everything we have on the ground.
MONTGOMERY (voice-over): But the full scale of devastation still unknown. Those who have the means to flee their home towns have gone. While others tried to find remnants of their lives, scattered among the rubble. Hanako Montgomery, CNN, Wajima City.
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KINKADE: A close knit community in Iowa is in mourning after a deadly shooting at a high school. What we know about the attack when we return.
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