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GOP Presidential Race Down to Haley and Trump Heading to New Hampshire; DeSantis Withdraws, Endorses Trump, Criticizes Haley; Hamas Ceasefire Terms Rejected by Netanyahu; Total of 185 Aid Trucks Arrived in Gaza Sunday; Ukraine Claims Drone Attack on Oil Depot in Russia. Ron DeSantis Ends Presidential Campaign, Endorses Trump; Indian PM Modi Inaugurates New Ram Temple In Ayodhya; Biden Campaign Watches GOP Contest As DeSantis Suspends Bid; Arctic Blast To Be Replaced With Heavy Rain, Warmer Air. Aired 2-3a ET

Aired January 22, 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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[02:00:00]

ROSEMARY CHURCH, CNN HOST: Hello and welcome to our viewers joining us here in the United States, around the world and streaming us on CNN Max. I'm Rosemary Church. Just ahead. Kissing the ring, Ron DeSantis throws his support behind Donald Trump after the Florida governor suspends his campaign. That leaves Nikki Haley as the last candidate standing between the former president and his third Republican nomination ahead of tomorrow's New Hampshire primary.

Despite growing pressure at home and from Israel's allies abroad, Benjamin Netanyahu rejects a plan from Hamas to release the remaining hostages in Gaza.

And controversy over the inauguration of a new temple in India, why the event, which many Hindus will celebrate, could also be a painful reminder for the country's Muslim minority.

Good to have you with us. And we begin this hour with New Hampshire's looming Republican primary now just over a day away and a major shakeup in the U.S. presidential race that leaves the GOP with just two main contenders, former President Donald Trump and Nikki Haley, who's hoping she can leverage the Granite State's moderate Republicans and independents.

But Trump has consistently dominated the GOP field in polling and in Iowa's caucuses, he beat his nearest competitor, Ron DeSantis by a margin of nearly 30 points. Now Trump has the endorsement of that former rival. DeSantis announcing Sunday that he's dropping out of the race and throwing his support behind Trump. But the former president is doing fine with New Hampshire Republicans already. A new CNN poll finds him with a comfortable 13-point lead over Haley. CNN's Alayna Treene has more now on DeSantis' surprise announcement, as well as Trump's reaction to his sudden endorsement.

ALAYNA TREENE, CNN REPORTER: Well, just hours after Florida Governor Ron DeSantis suspended his presidential campaign and endorsed the former president, Trump came out on stage in Rochester, New Hampshire, and congratulated him for running what he called a great campaign. He also said that DeSantis was being, quote, "gracious for giving him his endorsement." Take a listen to how Donald Trump put it.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, FORMER PRSIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: Before we begin, I'd like to take time to congratulate Ron DeSantis and of course, a really terrific person who I had gotten to know his wife, Casey, for having run a great campaign for president. He did. He ran a really good campaign; I will tell you. It's not easy. They think it's easy doing this stuff, right? It's not easy. But as you know, he left the campaign trail today at 3:00 p.m. and in so doing, he was very gracious and he endorsed me. So, I appreciate it. I appreciate that. And I also look forward to working with Ron and everybody else to defeat crooked Joe Biden.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TREENE: Well, what a difference just a few hours make. I mean, this is a complete 180 from the type of rhetoric we heard Donald Trump use just this weekend in Manchester, New Hampshire on Saturday. Trump was criticizing Ron DeSantis. And this is also the first time I want to note that he's actually referred to the Florida governor by his real name, instead of the nickname that he's given the Florida governor, which is Ron DeSanctimonious.

But look, I think one thing that we should be watching for is whether or not that this endorsement from DeSantis changes anything in the minds of Donald Trump. Already it appears it has, given the language we heard him use on Sunday. But, you know, over the past year now, Donald Trump has really viciously gone after Ron DeSantis, attacked him very heavily in the lead up to the Iowa caucuses.

And part of that was because the campaign was worried about DeSantis as a rival, but the other part was because it was personal. Donald Trump very much believes that DeSantis was being disloyal by running for president after Trump had endorsed him for Florida governor in 2017. And that's where a lot of those attacks stemmed from according to my conversations with Donald Trump's advisors and his allies.

But I think the question now is will his endorsement change the game? Will you see Ron DeSantis become a potential surrogate for the Trump campaign? I know, as well from our conversations with Trump's team, that as of now there are no plans for DeSantis to show up on the trail with them, but again that could change in the coming weeks. Alayna Treene, CNN, Rochester, New Hampshire.

[02:05:05]

CHURCH: On the campaign trail Sunday, Nikki Haley doubled down on one of her main campaign messages. She is the best option for those who want to avoid a rematch between Trump and President Joe Biden, and who don't care for either candidate. She was also gracious in her comments about Ron DeSantis' exit while speaking with CNN's Dana Bash. Take a listen. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

NIKKI HALEY, REPUBLICAN PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I think that Ron ran a good race. I know it's personal to get into a race. It's personal to get out of a race. He's been a good governor and he added a lot to the campaign and we wish him well.

DANA BASH, CNN CHIEF POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: Okay, when he dropped out, part of what he said was he reminded everybody that he signed a pledge to support the Republican nominee. I'll honor that pledge. He, meeting Donald Trump, has my endorsement because we can't go back to the old Republican guard of yesteryear or repackage form of warmed over corporatism that Nikki Haley represents. That's tough stuff -- on his way out the door.

HALEY: You know and it's interesting because there's no proof to that. These fellows say this because they want people to believe it, but what's amazing to me is they think they can lie to the American people and the American people are going to believe it. Prove it. Prove one thing that they've said.

Prove the fact that Donald Trump says I want to cut social security or raise the age. I've never said that. Prove the fact that Donald Trump says I want to raise gas taxes. I've never said that or done that. Prove that Ron DeSantis says that I'm a corporate whatever he says I am. I've never done that.

I was in South Carolina. We fought for the people every day. There's a reason that you don't see the legislature lining up behind me in South Carolina. It's because I fought to get them to vote on the record. I fought to have them do ethics reform. I vetoed half a billion dollars' worth of their pork projects and then you see Congress.

The reason Congress doesn't support us is I've pushed for term limits; I've pushed for mental competency tests. I've said if they don't give us a budget on time, they don't get paid. I don't get that political elite. That's what we need to be talking about not the corporate stuff that they're talking about. The fact that they all side together against the people is what I'm doing. I'm going to continue to fight for the people.

There were 14 people in this race and now there are two. I'm going to finish this so Joe Biden and Donald Trump are not an issue at all, that we actually put them in the past and we go forward because our country deserves it and Americans want it. They're tired.

I don't think we need to have two 80-year-olds sitting in the White House when we've basically got to make sure that we can handle the war situation that we're in. We need to know they're at the top of their game. We need to know that they can take care of our national security and our economy. Right now, I don't know that people feel like that with either one. So that's why we're giving them a choice.

BASH: What's your message to Ron DeSantis' supporters who are still out there? Let's just start in New Hampshire. He, at our latest poll this morning, he was at 6 percent, so we're not talking about a big slice of the electorate, but they are out there. He just endorsed Donald Trump. What's your message to them about why they should vote for you?

HALEY: I think that they love America and I think they want a new generational leader. And so, I am telling them that I am that new generational leader and I'm the conservative that can get it done.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH: Larry Sabato is the founder and director of the Center for Politics at the University of Virginia. He joins me now from Charlottesville. Always good to have you with us.

LARRY SABATO, DIRECOTR, CENTER FOR POLITICS, UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA: Thank you, Rosemary.

CHURCH: So, Nikki Haley is now the sole challenger up against Donald Trump after Ron DeSantis ended his presidential campaign Sunday and endorsed Trump. But she is fast losing the support she enjoyed not so long ago in New Hampshire. And as DeSantis bailed out, he attacked her. Does this mark the end of her run too?

SABATO: If she loses on Tuesday, it almost certainly marks the end of her run. Now, she may continue through her home state of South Carolina, though I think she'd be hesitant to do it because she wouldn't want to lose her home state. That's really difficult to explain to people. But for all practical purposes, once DeSantis left and once the other candidates were knocked out of the race, it was Trump's to lose and Trump's to lose significantly, and he's not going to lose it.

CHURCH: And he's very emboldened now, isn't he? But back to DeSantis. Why do you think he endorsed Trump given it wasn't so long ago that he attacked those who kissed the ring and then did it himself, didn't he, with Trump commending him? What's in it for DeSantis? What's he after here?

SABATO: Well, I guess he saw some good examples of ring kissing and decided to imitate it. Look, who knows what was going through his mind other than the fact that he certainly wants to run the next time. Now whether he'll be credible as a candidate after this disastrous run, remember, he was originally supposed to be Trump's main challenger and most of the establishment in the Republican Party was betting on him. And his campaign crashed and burned. This was really a disgraceful enterprise in so many different ways.

[02:10:00]

But in his mind, at least right now, as he's coming to terms with the demise of his dream, he's thinking about running in 2028. Well, being associated with Nikki Haley is not going to help you because this party has already become the Donald Trump party or the MAGA party. And it will be in all likelihood even more so as the years go on. So, being associated with Nikki Haley is not a good thing for Ron DeSantis' future ambitions.

CHURCH: So, could he serve as a surrogate perhaps for Trump, do you think?

SABATO: Sure, although Florida is very likely to be won by Trump anyway. I don't think he necessarily needs DeSantis and there's some better feelings there. They'll say good things in public but in private it's already obvious that they're not the close friends they once were. Political allies, I don't think they were friends, but political allies and they're both there in Florida. So, you know, I think while he may be used, then Trump will use anyone during a campaign. If I were DeSantis, I wouldn't count on a cabinet position.

CHURCH: So how did DeSantis' campaign go so terribly wrong after starting out pretty strongly?

SABATO: You know, sometimes you can lose by winning. DeSantis won such a big second term victory, just swamped what other Republicans had done and secured a landslide, really, in places where Democrats normally don't do well. When you score a landslide like that, you say to yourself, partly because everybody else is saying it to you, boy, you're terrific. You're the greatest thing that's ever come down the pike, and you start believing your news clippings.

And so, I think that was the heart of it. And the secondary part of this, with all due respect to DeSantis, who's clearly a smart guy, and he's had a lot of experience and all the rest, but he doesn't have the kind of personality that sells in politics. For one thing, you genuinely have to like people to succeed in politics. There are a few exceptions.

But running for president, the light is on you constantly, and that light reveals who you really are. And people didn't particularly take to the Ron DeSantis they saw.

CHURCH: Right, and now, of course, with DeSantis out of the race and Nikki Haley not far behind, it is looking like a Trump-Biden matchup yet again. How will that likely end, do you think?

SABATO: You've got a lot of third-party independent candidates. It looks like four. And they're all names that at least some segment of the electorate would recognize and be attracted to. So, I think it's very tricky to say or to calculate what's going to happen in November until we see whether those candidates like RFK, Jr. and Jill Stein and others who are indicating they're running.

Whether they actually get on the ballot in the key states, it's not going to matter very much if they're on deeply red ballots or deeply blue ballots in the states. What's going to matter is if they're on the ballot in Arizona and Georgia and Michigan and Pennsylvania and Wisconsin. You know the states that are really close. Then we'll have a better idea of what will happen because it's certainly true whether it's good bad or indifferent that a substantial majority of Americans aren't excited about having a redo of the 2020 election.

CHURCH: All right, our thanks to Larry Sabato. Appreciate you joining us.

SABATO: Thank you. CHURCH: And still to come, protesters gathered near the Israeli prime

minister's home to demand a hostage deal. We will have his response after the break.

Plus, Ukraine strikes a Russian oil facility. What this could mean for Russian troops just ahead.

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[02:15:00]

CHURCH: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is outright rejecting Hamas' demands for releasing the remaining hostages in Gaza. He says Hamas wants the war to end and withdrawal of troops and Palestinian prisoners released.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BENJAMIN NETANYAHU, PRIME MINISTER OF ISRAEL (through translation): Let it be clear, I utterly reject the Hamas monster's capitulation terms. Were we to agree to this, our soldiers would have fallen in vain. Were we to agree to this, we would not be able to ensure the security of our citizens. We would be unable to safely restore the evacuees to their homes. And the next October 7th would only be a question of time.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH: Meanwhile, families and friends of Israeli hostages held a rally near Mr. Netanyahu's home in Jerusalem on Sunday, again calling for their release. This comes as a report in "The Wall Street Journal" says that the U.S., Egypt, and Qatar want Israel to join a new phase of talks with Hamas. And CNN's Clare Sebastian joins us now live from London. Good morning to you, Clare. So, what more are you learning about these potential talks and how vulnerable is Benjamin Netanyahu right now as domestic sentiment turns against him with these calls for a leadership change?

CLARE SEBASTIAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yeah, good morning, Rosemary. Look, I think the bottom line here is that it's now been almost two months since the start of that last truce combined with hostage releases, and since then we've seen the death toll in Gaza go up by more than 10,000 people. So, clearly you see domestically and internationally the pressure on Netanyahu is mounting.

If anything, his response though has been to toughen his stance, certainly publicly. That's what we're seeing, not just on the issue of talks to release hostages in exchange for some kind of truce, but on the issue of what the situation in Gaza will look like after the war, reiterating over the weekend comments that he also said last week, that he doesn't see any future for a two-state solution that he thinks Israel should control. He said all the territory west of Jordan, and being very open about the fact that is at odds with the U.S. position.

[02:20:00] The U.S. has been publicly pushing for a two-state solution. Netanyahu is saying that sometimes you have to even say no to some of your closest friends. So, clearly, he's setting out his store there.

But behind the scenes, this "Wall Street Journal" reports suggests according to officials briefed on the talks that they are at least engaging in talks with Hamas, which is still being brokered of course by Qatar, the U.S. and Egypt and that those broker countries are pushing for something that could be even bigger than what we saw at the end of November, a more sustained perhaps pause in fighting in exchange for the release in some kind of phased fashion of all of the hostages.

We're not close to a deal at this point. We have been in positions where elements of these talks have leaked out before many times. It doesn't necessarily mean that a deal is on the cards, but certainly this report suggests that they are at least engaging.

Is Netanyahu vulnerable? Yes, I think he was vulnerable before the war and certainly he's been facing mounting pressure certainly over the last few weeks, mounting calls for -- mounting accusations, I should say, that he's not just balancing, as he says publicly, the goals of bringing the hostages home with eradicating Hamas, but also balancing his own political survival in there and of course publicly saying that he is at odds with the U.S. is also politically risky. Rosemary.

CHURCH: All right. Our thanks to Clare Sebastian with that live report from London.

The Palestine Red Crescent Society says it received a total of 185 aid trucks in Gaza on Sunday. The trucks are carrying food, water, medical supplies and other relief assistance. Israeli officials are offering different numbers saying that 260 humanitarian aid trucks entered the enclave, which would make it the highest number of trucks in a single day since October 7th.

Before the conflict, between 400 to 500 trucks entered Gaza with supplies. But regardless of the number of trucks that did get in, the need for food, medicine and other critical supplies is enormous and the death toll continues to climb. According to the Hamas-controlled health ministry in Gaza, more than 25,000 Palestinians have been killed in the enclave since the war began, the vast majority of them women and children, according to the ministry. Tens of thousands more have been wounded.

We turn now to the conflict in Ukraine where Ukrainian troops have withdrawn from a small village in the Kharkiv region as Russian forces ramp up pressure in several locations along the front line. But Ukraine is striking back, hitting areas within Russia and potentially trying to disrupt Moscow's military operations. CNN's Fred Pleitgen has details.

FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: The Ukrainians once again demonstrating their long-distance strike capability, in this case, claiming to have hot an oil depot near the town of St. Petersburg. Now this depot is about 100 miles west of St. Petersburg on the Gulf of Finland.

And the Ukrainians are saying that it's a very important one for the Russians because there they make an array of products including jet fuel and the Ukrainians say that some of those products are used by the Russian military. In other words, the Ukrainians say they consider this to be a legitimate target.

Now if the drone was indeed flown from Ukrainian territory, it would have flown hundreds of miles across Russia to then reach that area. That area of Russia that it would have flown over also has a lot of very capable air defenses. So certainly, a big feat by the Ukrainians if indeed they flew that drone out of Ukrainian-held territory. And also, all this comes only days after the Russians also said that they had taken down a Ukrainian drone in an area around where the strike has now happened.

Now all this is going on while the war continues to be in full swing. The Russian-held area of Donetsk saying that many people were killed in Ukrainian shelling on Sunday. The Ukrainians are also saying that they are trying to defend against Russian pushes that are happening along the east and southeast of the front line. The Russians are saying that they managed to take a village from the Ukrainians in the Kharkiv area as the Russian military continues to push. Fred Pleitgen, CNN in eastern Ukraine.

CHURCH: Coming up, an expert tells us where the campaign for Ron DeSantis went wrong and if Nikki Haley has a fighting chance against Donald Trump. Back in just a moment.

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[02:25:00]

CHURCH: Republicans have only had one nominating contest so far in the 2024 presidential race, but the field is already down to just two main contenders after Florida Governor Ron DeSantis unexpectedly ended his campaign. The announcement came Sunday afternoon on social media less than two days before New Hampshire's primary. CNN reporter Steve Contorno has more on how the surprise decision played out.

STEVE CONTORNO, CNN REPORTER: Florida Governor Ron DeSantis making the decision on Sunday to end his presidential campaign. He is bowing out of the race just days after Iowa dealt his campaign a devastating blow with the second-place finish there, far behind former President Donald Trump.

He had campaigned heavily in this state, visiting all 99 counties, but ultimately not winning a single one. The decision also comes just days before New Hampshire will vote in this GOP presidential primary. He was not expected to do particularly well there. However, he was supposed to visit the state on Sunday. Instead, he traveled to Florida and released this video to his supporters.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RON DESANTIS, FORMER REPUBLICAN PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Now, following our second-place finish in Iowa, we've prayed and deliberated on the way forward. If there was anything I could do to produce a favorable outcome, more campaign stops, more interviews, I would do it. But I can't ask our supporters to volunteer their time and donate their resources if we don't have a clear path to victory. Accordingly, I am today suspending my campaign. I'm proud to have delivered on 100 percent of my promises and I will not stop now.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CONTORNO: DeSantis wasted little time saying who he would get behind in the Republican presidential primary going forward. He's backing Donald Trump and he had some choice words for former South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley.

[02:30:02]

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DESANTIS: I signed a pledge to support the Republican nominee and I will honor that pledge. He has my endorsement because we can't go back to the old Republican guard of yesteryear, a repackage formed of warmed-over corporatism that Nikki Haley represents. The days of putting Americans last, of kowtowing to large corporations, of caving to woke ideology are over.

CONTORNO: A source close to DeSantis says he was approached by advisers in the days after the Iowa caucuses with options for winding down his presidential campaign. He rejected those believing that he still had a path to the nomination and he continued to fight on, including an appearance just Saturday in South Carolina where he continue to press his case. But he woke up Sunday in a different state of mind and ultimately decided to end his presidential campaign.

The big question is what comes next for the governor? Well, he has three years left on this second term as Florida governor. He will then be term limited out and his advisers say don't count him out yet in 2028.

Steve Contorno, CNN, St. Petersburg, Florida.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ROSEMARY CHURCH, CNN ANCHOR: Earlier, CNN's Jim Acosta spoke to Tom Nichols, staff writer at "The Atlantic" about DeSantis's departure. Tom was asked whether he was surprised to what happened and what he thinks about Nikki Haley's chances going forward.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TOM NICHOLS, STAFF WRITER, THE ATLANTIC: I'm surprised only that it happened in January but I a couple of days, you could have seen this coming. But Nikki Haley, does she have a chance? Sure. Does she have a good chance? Almost certainly not if you believe the polls and she is going to get beaten in New Hampshire and her own state in South Carolina. Could she pull multiple inside straight, somehow pull something out in

New Hampshire and South Carolina, break Trump's momentum? I just -- I think that's so remote as to be almost impossible. Not totally impossible but pretty improbable.

JIM ACOSTA, CNN HOST: Just to pick up on this question of tactics and strategy and how Ron DeSantis and Nikki Haley, they sort of gave it the juice there right at the very end and started going after Trump a little bit here and there but it was sort of nibbling around the edges and I'm just wondering, you know, what did you make of that? Is that also terribly not surprising? Would it have made a difference do you think? Had they gone after them?

NICHOLS: I don't know if it would have made a difference but it was 2016 all over again where all of these people ran against Donald Trump on the assumption that at some point, Trump would falter or be convicted or something and they would be the heirs to the Trump voters and it just doesn't work that way anymore. It is a cult of personality. It doesn't scale. It doesn't transfer, and they were also afraid of running against him that they basically just ran with him and that -- the implosion of the DeSantis campaign is no surprise.

I think a lot of folks realized that to know Ron DeSantis on the trail, I don't mean this in a personal sense but for voters who met him, the more they met in the more they didn't like and that he just had no compelling message, wasn't trying to run against Donald Trump. I mean, you don't get anywhere by running and saying you know the guy, the front-runner he is a good guy, he should have been president. I'm just like him. That's not -- that's not actually a primary, and Nikki Haley, I think, has realized too late that she should have taken the gloves off and just let the chips fall where they may because I think no matter what she does, it's going to be the same result.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH: And that was Tom Nichols, staff writer at "The Atlantic", speaking with our Jim Acosta.

Well, Donald Trump is expected back in a New York City courtroom today, the former president is asking for a mistrial in the defamation case involving writer E. Jean Carroll. It's not clear if Trump will take the stand in the case, the trial is to determine how much money Trump owes Carroll over defamatory statements. Later in the day, Trump is scheduled to hold a rally in New Hampshire ahead of Tuesday's primary.

And we're back in just a moment. Please stay with us.

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[02:37:33]

CHURCH: Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated a new multimillion dollar Ram Temple in Ayodhya today. The construction for the temple fulfills his long- standing promise in an election year. The controversial Hindu temple stands on the site of a 16th century mosque that was destroyed by Hindu nationalist in 1992, triggering riots that killed about 2,000 people.

Vedika Sud joins now live from Ayodhya.

So, Vedika, what is the latest on this?

VEDIKA SUD, CNN REPORTER: Rosemary, I'm standing about 2.5 kilometers away from where the Ram. It was consecrated between 12:20, 12:30 p.m. local time, India. Now, this is a historic moment, it's a controversial moment, as well, and I'm going to tell you why.

Let's start with the historic moment. It's a historic moment for Hindus across India and the world because this is a moment they have been waiting for. It's the culmination of the push by the Hindu nationalist organizations over the last four decades to build a Ram Temple at the site, which they believe is the birthplace of Lord Ram. But for Muslims that we spoke with here in Ayodhya, it is reopening old wounds because these are people that lost family members in the 1992 communal rise that we spoke of with 2,000 people died after a lot of them were family members and the Muslims they feel like second- class citizens is what they have to say. Most of them that we spoke to said that we'll be watching the ceremony from a distance.

Now this is significant for one man that you would have seen in the frame, and the inner sanctum of the Ram temple, I'm talking about the leader of India, the Indian prime minister Narendra Modi, it's an election year and Narendra Modi is seeking a third record term as a leader of India as the prime minister and this opening comes just months before the elections? What the opposition party members are saying is that he has politicized this along with his party, the Bharatiya Janata Party. They believe that he is using this as an opportunity ahead of the elections to cash in on more to consolidate the Hindu vote based that they currently also have a huge share of, and that is where it stands.

Now, let's talk about the celebrations, as well. As soon as the consecration happened, Rosemary, there was troubles left over the temple as well as this area. I'm actually holding one of those rose petals that fell on us here, that was part of the chopper that flew rose petals out as part of the celebration.

[02:40:07]

It's not only India that's celebrating this, but Indians overseas, as well. Times Square, New York, has also been celebrating this moment in the lead up to the consecration, you had scores of Indians at Times Square celebrating the moment we had images to show how that was done last night. So in conclusion, this is the moment that prime minister was waiting for, a promise he had delivered on but there is a minority community, the Muslims, who are watching this a bit nervous, sad, and like I said, it has reopened wounds for them from the past, from 1992.

Back to you.

CHURCH: All right. Our thanks to Vedika Sud joining us live from Ayodhya, in India. Well, another health concern for Britain's royal family, Sarah

Ferguson, the duchess of York has been diagnosed with malignant melanoma. That is according to the UK press association, citing her spokesperson. It's an aggressive warm of skin cancer, which was discovered after several moles were removed when Ferguson was treated for breast cancer last June. The 64-year-old duchess, who was previously married to Prince Andrew, said to be recovering at home and is in good spirits.

I want to thank you for joining us. I'm Rosemary Church. For our international and CNN Max viewers, "WORLD SPORT" is coming up next.

And for our viewers here in the United States and in Canada, I will be back with more CNN NEWSROOM in just a moment. Do stay with us.

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[02:45:35]

(WORLD SPORT)