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CNN International: Pakistan: Strikes Targeted Separatist Hideouts Inside Iran; Iran Says It Targeted Sunni Militants In Pakistan Tuesday; Qatar: Medicine For Israeli Hostages, Palestinians Arrives In Gaza. Aired 8-8:30a ET

Aired January 18, 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, CNNI HOST: Hello, and welcome to CNN Newsroom. I'm Max Foster in London. Just ahead, Pakistan launches strikes inside Iran, saying it targeted separatist militants inside the country. We will have the very latest from Islamabad. Then, we'll have a live report from Ecuador where a prosecutor leading the investigation into an attack on a TV station has been killed. Plus, Rishi Sunak might be celebrating a success as his controversial Rwanda asylum bill makes its way through the UK House of Commons. But, the British Prime Minister still has some hurdles to overcome before his promised "stop the boats and start the flights" becomes a reality.

Beginning with an unusual flare up in tensions between two neighbors, earlier today, Pakistan launched strikes inside Iran using killer drones, rockets and other weapons to hit what it said were separatist hideouts in Siestan-Balochistan province. Now, Pakistan says it took maximum care to avoid collateral damage. Iranian media report at least 10 people were killed in the strikes, including three women and four children. This comes two days after Iran fired missiles inside Pakistan, targeting what it says were Sunni militants.

CNN Producer Sophia Saifi joins us live from Islamabad. The area we're talking about is often described as lawless. But, there has been an agreement between the two sides in recent times, but that seems to have broken down.

SOPHIA SAIFI, CNN PRODUCER: I guess. Max, it's been a very friendly relationship that both Iran and Pakistan have had, and that was somewhat tested when Iran went ahead and took out those strikes deep within Pakistani territory on Tuesday night. Pakistan claims that those strikes led to the death of two children and three more injured. Now, at the same time when Pakistan went ahead and did those strikes this morning, on Thursday morning, Pakistan time, Pakistan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs came out and said that these were only Pakistanis that were targeted in these strikes that went out towards Iran.

Pakistan has a vast border with Iran as well. Pakistan's military has finally put out a statement ever since the Iranian strikes took place on Tuesday night. Pakistan's military hadn't said anything. That's finally ended. Pakistan's military has come out and said that they were targeting Baloch separatists who operate, according to the Pakistani military and the Pakistani state, on the other side of the Pak-Iran border within Iran, and that they were specifically targeting the BLA, the Baloch Liberation Army, and the Baloch Liberation Front, which are two groups that have been known for the deadly attacks here in Pakistan only in the past year as well.

So, Pakistan also ended that military statement with a line that it would be prudent in the future that both brotherly, friendly nations continue to have dialogue and correspondence when it comes to maintaining bilateral ties. So, it's an election year for Pakistan. Elections are due to be held in about two and a half weeks from now. There is a lot of tension already within Pakistan. A lot of Pakistanis are actually quite disappointed from what we're hearing from the Pakistani public with Iran striking Pakistan because there has been a lot of sympathy towards Iran's activities in the Middle East and to the groups it supports.

So, we're just going to have to wait and see whether this tit-for-tat situation is an end, or whether this escalates further from what's going on into the Middle East and will now bleed potentially into South Asia. Max.

FOSTER: Sophia, thanks for joining us with that.

The family of Israel's youngest hostage taken by Hamas on October 7 is marking his first birthday today. They plan to hold a public event in Tel Aviv later this hour, pleading for the release of Kfir Bibas. It's not clear if he is still alive.

And medicines have now arrived in Gaza for Israeli hostages and Palestinian civilians. That's according to Qatar which mediated the deal between Israel and Hamas. Doha's announcement comes just hours after the IDF says it doesn't have the ability to guarantee the medicine reaches the Israeli hostages. On the ground in southern Gaza, Reuters is reporting that at least 16 people have been killed after a strike hit a home in Rafah overnight.

Let's go to Tel Aviv speak to CNN's Jeremy Diamond. Thanks for joining us, Jeremy. What more do we know about the aid reaching Gaza and those medicines for the hostages?

JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN JERUSALEM CORRESPONDENT: Well, it appears that that aid and those medications have now entered the Gaza Strip, according to a spokesman for the Qatari Foreign Minister. Two plane loads of aid and medication, 61 tonnes in total arrived in Egypt yesterday after undergoing security checks by Israeli military officials.

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That aid was then able to enter the Gaza Strip. What we don't know is exactly when or whether that medication has actually reached the hostages themselves. There was supposed to be medication there for some of the -- some 40 of the more than 100 hostages still held in captivity by Hamas. The hostages, a family forum, has said that they believe that one third of the 132 hostages held by Hamas have some kind of chronic medical condition that requires medication. But, the Israeli military has no way of confirming that that medication has actually reached those hostages. But, it does appear that it has at least entered the Gaza Strip as has 61 tons of aid provided not only by the Qatari government but also by the French government, which is destined for some of the most-hard hit areas of Gaza, according to the Qatari government.

We know, of course, that hundreds of thousands of people in Gaza are currently facing famine. There are also shortages of medical supplies as well. So, this is certainly much needed aid making its way into Gaza. Max.

FOSTER: In Tel Aviv, thank you.

For the fourth time in a week, American forces have carried out a round of strikes on Houthis in Yemen. That's according to the Pentagon's Central Command. This comes hours after the Iran-backed rebels struck a U.S. owned ship in the Gulf of Aden, and the U.S. announced it is re-designating the Houthis as a global terrorist organization, looming over the U.S. strikes, growing fears that the Israel-Hamas war could escalate in the region.

Our National Security Reporter Natasha Bertrand is live for us in the Pentagon. Just take us through what we know about this, and the latest situation in Yemen, which is so worrying in terms of international tension.

NATASHA BERTRAND, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY REPORTER: Yeah, Max. This is the fourth round of strikes that the U.S. has carried out inside Yemen in just under a week, three of which have been unilateral, not in conjunction with American allies, and the U.S. appears to be taking pre-emptive action more often now. According to Central Command, they launched Tomahawk missiles last night against 14 Houthi missile launchers, and those missiles from the U.S. side were launched by warships as well as by a guided missile submarine. And according to Central Command, the reason why they decided to take out these missiles that the Houthis were preparing to launch is because they say "they presented an imminent threat to merchant vessels and U.S. Navy ships in the region and could have been fired at any time."

And so, the U.S. argument is still that they are carrying out these strikes in self-defense. The Houthis, for their part, say that they're going to continue launching these attacks on merchant vessels in the Red Sea. And in recent days, they have been increasingly targeting, and in some cases, even hitting U.S.-owned and operated ships in the Red Sea.

And so, the question now is, is this tit for tat going to continue, because the U.S. last week in this massive strike campaign against the Houthi said that they carried out alongside the UK. It only took out roughly a third of the Houthis' weapons capabilities. And since then, they have kind of been going ad hoc, taking out different weapons that the Houthis had been preparing to launch against targets in the Red Sea. But, is that a sustainable approach? And that is the question that the U.S. Military is grappling with at this point, especially given that the Houthis say they are not going to stop these attacks until the war in Gaza is over, Max.

FOSTER: OK. Natasha at the Pentagon, thank you.

The U.S. President urging Congress now to help Ukraine, and he is warning about "the strategic consequences of inaction". During a meeting at the White House on Wednesday, Joe Biden implored lawmakers to find a way out of months-long impasses and swiftly pass more funding for Kyiv. But, Republicans are demanding that any new spending for Ukraine be tied to passing tighter border control.

Meanwhile, Russia says it intercepted drones flying towards Moscow and St. Petersburg overnight.

CNN's Fred Pleitgen joins us now live from Dnipro. What are we learning about those interceptions then, Fred?

FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Hi there, Max. Well, especially that one apparently flying towards St. Petersburg and the Leningradsky area of Russia, which is right by the Finnish border, pretty far in the north of Russia, the northwest of Russia. That certainly seems to be remarkable, because that drone, apparently, if it was launched from Ukraine, and so far that seems to be all the indications, would have flown through obviously large parts of Russian territory, for hundreds of miles, but also territory way in the west of Russia that should have pretty strong air defenses, and apparently managed to get to the Leningradsky region or to the St. Petersburg region, pretty much undetected.

Now, we have varying accounts of all of this. The Russians obviously saying that they took this drone down to the crash near an oil terminal, which may or may not have been the target of that drone. The Ukrainians for their part are denying that and saying that this operation was successful, but they're not offering any further details of that.

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But, certainly, it does showcase the increasing capabilities of the Ukrainians as far as long distance drones are concerned. It's one of the things that the Ukrainians had said that they would be focusing on. They said they want to produce a lot of these drones that can fly longer distances and continue to hit the Russians in areas that are further to the rear, and they're potentially also strategic for the Russians as well. Of course, St. Petersburg, a very important city, it has a very important port as well. And of course, it's also one of the places where Vladimir Putin is quite frequently.

Then you have that second flight -- of the drone towards the Moscow area. We've seen the Ukrainians fly drones towards Moscow and even hit some buildings in central Moscow in the past. It's something that certainly Moscow appear to be used to. And one of the things that the mayor said is that that drone was intercepted towards the south of the city. So, it's less of a concern, I think, to the Russians, and that drone that made it all the way to the area around St. Petersburg. But, certainly it does show the increasing capabilities of the Ukrainians to launch those drones, and also the willingness of the Ukrainians to launch those drones towards Russian territory. And that really is something where we've seen a pattern of that. Over the past couple of weeks, we've been reporting a lot on Ukrainian

drone strikes on places on the Russian side of the border. Belgorod, of course, is one of those areas right across the border on Russian territory, the course area as well. It's what we've been seeing a lot from the Ukrainians. And this, of course, the Ukrainians say is in retaliation for a lot of the Russian air campaign that we're seeing here on this country. Of course, we do have a lot of air alerts here in the cities of Ukraine. I'm in Dnipro right now where we certainly have seen a lot of those over the past 24 hours, missile attacks by the Russians, but also, of course, using those drones, some of them are Iranian-made as well.

So, as we can see, that is continuing, and the Ukrainians certainly have said they want to produce a lot of drones, and they want to keep the pressure on the Russians as well, as the Russians, of course, continue to press their offensive in large parts of this country, Max.

FOSTER: Fred, thank you for joining us from there.

Now, in the U.S., the State of Texas is doubling down on the battle of the border. Its Attorney General saying that Texas will not surrender. The state has been blocking U.S. Border Patrol personnel from accessing a park near the southern border since last week. It misses a Department of Homeland Security deadline, which expired yesterday.

Republicans are blocking President Biden's Ukraine aid requests over strict border policies. House Mike Johnson says he won't bring a deal to the floor without those policies, even if it passes in the Senate.

Ecuador's Attorney General says the crackdown on organized crime will continue despite the assassination of a prosecutor. Cesar Suarez was gunned down in broad daylight on Wednesday on his way to a drug- related hearing, according to a CNN source. Suarez has been leading the investigation into the brazen attack on a local TV station. Last week, masked gunmen burst into the studios in the middle of a live broadcast. It happens as the country was rocked by unrest.

David Culver is in Ecuador, joins us now live with the details. It just really shows the sensitivities around law enforcement, and the two sides, frankly, in this.

DAVID CULVER, CNN SENIOR U.S. NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Exactly, Max. And this is just the latest strike against the government from organized crime here. We're just learning in the past few hours that two men have been arrested in the assassination of Cesar Suarez. And as you point out, this was somebody who was heavily involved in the investigation of what perhaps is the most visible aspect of this latest surge in violence, and that was one that was broadcast on live TV, what you saw in those TC Television studios during a live news broadcast. The takeover of -- by 13 armed gunmen, of course, rocked much of the city, much of this country, quite frankly. And now, it's led to the assassination of the prosecutor who was investigating that case.

I think it raises a few questions, some that we've put directly to police at this hour. Firstly, if it's so sensitive, why is it that this individual who was investigating this, given how dangerous things are right now, didn't have security? We're told from the Attorney General's Office that there was security regularly assigned to him. However, on the day he was killed, yesterday, he had a virtual hearing. He wasn't supposed to leave his home. For some reason, he did end up driving to a court hearing, and then he was shot and killed inside his car.

Now, interestingly enough, the day before he was killed, he told a local news outlet that he did not have security. So, there is a lot of conflicting information. That security, by the way, was supposed to be provided by the National Police. We've asked the National Police for clarification on this. They say they're looking into it.

We've got to take a few steps back, though, because this, as I point out, part of string of violence. If you go back to that television takeover, that was just in response to a declaration of national emergency that happened the day before, under President Noboa.

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The day before that is what really kicked all of this off, and that was the suspected escape of a notorious gang leader here, known as "Fito", from one of the maximum security prisons here in Guayaquil. Now, I say suspected escape because I've spoken to one top military commander who says we're not really quite sure if he is actually out of the prison. And I was a bit confused by that. How do you not know if someone has left a prison? It shows the dysfunction and really lawlessness within the prisons themselves, which are massive complexes. I visited one yesterday, and it was really five prisons within one campus. You're talking about a capacity of some 5,000 people normally, and they're holding upwards of 9,000, if not 10,000.

Broadening this out, Max, though, the bigger concern is internationally. Noboa has said he needs international help. This is an international problem. He is speaking mostly to drugs that would flow from Ecuador into the U.S. But also, Max, as we know, at the U.S. southern border, they're dealing with a migrant crisis. And so, if you destabilize Ecuador, you're saying this is another country then where residents will at some point look around and say, well, we need to up and go. Where they're going to go, Max? To the southern border, likely.

FOSTER: Yeah. Absolutely. David Culver in Ecuador, thank you.

Still to come, the UK Prime Minister's plan to deport asylum seekers to Rwanda is a step closer to becoming law. And we'll talk about what might stand in this way, though. That's coming up next with Bianca.

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FOSTER: We have a plan and the plan is working. Those are the words of the British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak regarding his proposed plan to send some asylum seekers, who arrived in the UK without permission, to Rwanda.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) RISHI SUNAK, BRITISH PRIME MINISTER: It's time to take back control of our borders and defeat the people smugglers. It's time to restore people's trust that the system is fair. We are making progress to stop the boats. But now, it's past time to stop the flights.

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FOSTER: This comes a day after British lawmakers passed his controversial bill which now heads to the House of Lords. It overrides a decision by the Supreme Court that declared the policy unlawful last year. It's so complicated, isn't it, particularly if you live outside the country. I don't think people in the country can even understand it.

BIANCA NOBILO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Exactly. And that's a good point in terms of why the Prime Minister chose to hold this press conference today. I don't get the impression that this is a hugely significant issue for the electorate in terms of the political ping pong that ensues between the House of Lords and the House of Commons on this legislation. It's also not a victory for the Prime Minister. He has been facing a significant internal rebellion on this issue. So, why do this press conference? I think one of the reasons is the fact the Conservative Party is so far behind in the polls.

FOSTER: And there is an election this year.

NOBILO: There is. There has to be, before December. So, 27 points behind on the latest poll behind the opposition party, the Labor Party.

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Crucially, 12 percent of that poll goes to the Reform Party in the UK. For our international viewers and even some of our UK viewers perhaps, that is a right-wing populist party that sprung out from the Brexit debate, that all about national sovereignty, about Germany (ph) anti- immigration, a much stronger policy on that. And I think that was the point of what Rishi Sunak was doing today, take back control of our borders, reaffirming those points, because he needs those votes that are going to that party to come back to the Conservatives.

FOSTER: Is anyone actually ever going to get on the plane even if the law is passed?

NOBILO: That's the big question. To be honest, even if all went well, the earliest sort of flight could probably take place, would have to be off to the summer, because now what happens is this goes to the House of Lords. They can stretch out the debate process pretty interminably. Then if it went back to the House of Commons, let's say in March, even if it got Royal assent, then it will take quite a few more months to actually put into practice.

But, the problem that loads of people have with this legislation is essentially going to ask Border Force agents and people who work in immigration to be forced to make a decision sometimes between what a minister tells them to do, what the European Court of Human Rights tells them to do, or resign. So, it's going to put them in a really difficult position here, and that's part of the problem that people have with this legislation.

FOSTER: How is Rishi doing?

NOBILO: Well, 27 points behind the polls as Prime Minister, you're not doing well. And he definitely seemed deflated today. He hasn't been tested on the campaign trail. We're now in the long campaign for the election. He is struggling. The Tories have been in power for so long that that pendulum is always going to swing back to the other side, and considering the amount of prime ministers, the amount of controversy, he can't seem to shake all of those associations from the party. And clearly, the Conservative Party, from everyone I've spoken to, I'm sure people you've spoken to as well, a lot of them will say we need that time and opposition to regroup, rebrand and figure out what our message is going to be, because frankly, it looks very messy.

FOSTER: Yeah. Bianca, thank you so much.

Still to come, what the British royal family is saying about the health concerns surrounding two of its most senior members.

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FOSTER: Queen Camilla says King Charles is fine and looking forward to getting back to work. She was asked about him today ahead of his treatment next week for an enlarged prostate. The Princess of Wales is also dealing with health concerns. She and King Charles have both postponed their public engagements. Here is what we know about their conditions.

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FOSTER (voice-over): From her recent engagements, the Princess of Wales has looked well and been in good spirits. The first suggestion that she may have been unwell came on Wednesday when Kensington Palace announced she was in hospital recovering from abdominal surgery. It was successful.

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And a source told CNN it wasn't cancer related. She would need to remain in hospital for up to two weeks, though, and up to three months recuperating at home in Windsor. All engagements and travel have been put on hold, as they have for Prince William, as he takes care his family. Then news that King Charles would also be going to hospital next week with an enlarged prostate. We're told it's benign, and it was announced on the same day because it meant he had to cancel a meeting with government ministers on Thursday in Scotland. In total, three out of four of the most senior British working royals out of action, and no further updates expected until the Princess leaves hospital or takes a turn for the worse.

Kate is keen on fitness and enjoys playing sports. So, she is expected to recover well. The palace has rarely released private medical details, which is why they haven't explained what the surgery was actually for. But, she could have been spotted leaving the hospital, and questions would have been asked why she was canceling engagements. A source told CNN that the King took the view that sharing his condition would encourage other men to have their prostates checked.

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FOSTER: Well, staying in the UK, the country is celebrating the 18th -- or 80th, rather, anniversary of Colossus, the world's first digital computer. It was created in 1944 and used in World War Two to decode German messages which helped pave the way for D-Day to happen. Many experts credit the computer was shortening the war. The two-meter tall machine cut the time it took to decode messages from weeks to just hours. Despite its important role, Colossus remained a secret until early 2000s when its existence was actually officially confirmed.

And before we go, take a look at these pictures from Chile where customs officer sees five baby monkeys on Wednesday. According to officials, the Bolivian squirrel-type monkeys were hidden in a man's backpack. Officers got suspicious when he tried to avoid being inspected. The animals were reportedly hungry and dehydrated. Only four survived and they are now in the hands of the Agriculture and Livestock Service.

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

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