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CNN International: Haley Vows to Stay in Race, Despite Two Losses to Trump; Haley Taunts Trump; UN: At Least 12 Killed in Strike on Gaza Shelter; International Court of Justice to Deliver Genocide Ruling; Moscow Accuses Kyiv of Downing Aircraft Near Border. Aired 4- 4:30a ET

Aired January 25, 2024 - 04:00   ET

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

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(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

NIKKI HALEY, U.S. REPUBLICAN PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Donald Trump got out there and just threw a temper tantrum. Bring it, Donald. Show me what you got.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Nobody wants to see fighting in a hospital, so it does add an extra burden on the Israelis to be more careful, more deliberate.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We fly safe planes. We don't put airplanes in the air that we don't have 100 percent confidence in.

JON STEWART, COMEDIAN: Welcome to the Daily Show, I'm Jon Stewart.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ANNOUNCER: Live from London, this is CNN NEWSROOM with Max Foster and Bianca Nobilo.

MAX FOSTER, CNN ANCHOR: Hello, a welcome to our viewers joining us from the U.S. and all around the world. I'm Max Foster.

Bianca has the day off, but it is Thursday January 25th, 9 a.m. here in London, 4 a.m. in New York, where Donald Trump is expected to return to a courtroom in the hours ahead and could testify in the E. Jean Carroll civil defamation trial.

The clear Republican front-runner in the U.S. presidential race has been clearly annoyed this week that his rival Nikki Haley is refusing to bow out of that race. Haley is back in her home state of South Carolina ahead of next month's primary there. She touted her recent fundraising success at a campaign event on Wednesday and mocked the former president.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HALEY: Got out there and we did our thing and we said what we had to say. And then Donald Trump got out there and just threw a temper tantrum. He pitched a fit. He was insulting. He was doing what he does. But I know that's what he does when he's insecure. I know that's what he does when he is threatened and he should feel threatened without a doubt.

We have raised a million dollars since I gave that speech last night. We have had 200,000 donors from all 50 states. 95 percent of those donations are $200 or less. This is about real Americans.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FOSTER: Meanwhile, one of South Carolina's U.S. senators has made it clear there will be no hometown loyalty to Haley because he's firmly in the Trump camp.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. TIM SCOTT (R-SC): What we have to do is just focus on South Carolina. Make the margins so wide, so devastating that the races over, the donors start turning their attention to Donald Trump.

I think it's the next two or three weeks. The polls, the margins are going to get wider over the next three weeks. We're going home to South Carolina to finish this race and start focusing on Joe Biden.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FOSTER: Setting Scott's political aspirations aside, Haley also seems to be lacking the home field advantage when it comes to South Carolina voters. CNN's Dianne Gallagher explains.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DIANNE GALLAGHER, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): At Coastal Coffee Roasters in Somerville, a cup of coffee this time of year comes with a splash of politics.

J.R. KRAMER, SOUTH CAROLINA TRUMP SUPPORTER: It's been a rough few years.

GALLAGHER (voice-over): The Palmetto State's Republican primary a month from today.

DONAL TRUMP, FORMER U.S. PRESIDENT, 2024 PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: We'll head out to South Carolina where I think we're going to win easily.

GALLAGHER (voice-over): Nikki Haley fresh off another decisive loss to former President Donald Trump looking to voters in the state that elected her governor twice to keep her in this race.

HALEY: But South Carolina voters don't want a coronation. They want an election.

GALLAGHER (voice-over): But voters here over and over again told us they've already made their choice.

MIGUEL MUNOZ, SOUTH CAROLINA TRUMP SUPPORTER: Donald Trump 200 percent.

JOY BARTHOLOMEW, SOUTH CAROLINA TRUMP SUPPORTER: I will be voting for Donald Trump.

GALLAGHER (voice-over): Support for Trump remains strong with Republicans in South Carolina, despite his legal troubles and the fact it's now a one-on-one race with their former governor.

BARTHOLOMEW: I just think that Trump is a stronger presidential figure than she is.

MUNOZ: I think she should drop out. Apologize to President Trump and join forces so we can try to save this country.

GALLAGHER (voice-over): Voters frequently citing Trump's long list of high-profile South Carolina endorsements.

SCOTT: This election is over.

GALLAGHER (voice-over): None more than Senator Tim Scott who was appointed by Haley in 2012.

J.R. KRAMER, SOUTH CAROLINA TRUMP SUPPORTER: I think there's going to be a surprise where I think Trump's going to land side.

GALLAGHER: Wide support?

KRAMER: I do. With Tim Scott backing him, I do.

GALLAGHER (voice-over): But not everyone is ready to forfeit the race. Stephanie Bennett says she's technically undecided but likes Haley.

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STEPHANIE BENNETT, SOUTH CAROLINA UNDECIDED VOTER: Her track record as the governor here and then what she did in the United Nations.

GALLAGHER (voice-over): And yet she's worried in a month her vote won't matter.

BENNETT: I wonder if people aren't going to go into it with a preconceived notion, oh, she's already won. You know, I just -- that is a fear. Like, get out and vote. Don't think he's already won. Because I don't think he has.

GALLAGHER (voice-over): A similar concern about half an hour down the road from William Cogswell. The first Republican elected as mayor of Charleston in over a century.

WILLIAM COGSWELL, MAYOR OF CHARLESTON, SOUTH CAROLINA: There seems to be the attitude that it is a foregone conclusion. I think she brings a breath of fresh air, and I think our country needs that.

GALLAGHER (voice-over): He endorsed Haley back in November and still believes in her campaign.

COGSWELL: I think she is a fighter. She has beat the odds repeatedly.

GALLAGHER (voice-over): But Dorchester County Republican Party Chair Steven Wright, who says he's remaining neutral for now, believes even with a month to go, Haley may already be out of time.

STEVEN WRIGHT, REPUBLICAN CHAIR, DORCHESTER COUNTY: I think people like Nikki Haley, but South Carolina is Trump country. The polls indicate that. The enthusiasm on the ground indicate that.

GALLAGHER: Now, the Haley campaign insists they're not going anywhere. They have two ads up on the air already, part of a $4 million buy. They have a Wednesday night rally and several other campaign events over the next couple days.

Now, when we talked to her supporters, many of them said simple things like democracy and choice are part of why they want her to stay in. But they did admit that when they think about what could happen if she does lose her home state in a landslide, they worry it could negatively impact any sort of future political campaigns for her.

Dianne Gallagher, CNN, back to you.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

FOSTER: Well, despite Donald Trump's performance so far, some Republican lawmakers are concerned his tactics haven't changed since his first campaign and won't or possibly won't attract new voters. CNN's exit poll in the New Hampshire primary shows that though Trump dominated the Republican vote, 64 percent of undeclared voters chose Nikki Haley. Senators told CNN's Manu Raju that something needs to change if the Republican Party wants to secure the White House.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SEN. THOM TILLIS (R-NC): I'm going to support the Republican nominee. And that nominee is going to have to go after that middle ground or you don't win.

SEN. JOHN CORNYN (R-TX): After a primary, there needs to be a broader appeal than just to primary voters. You can't win with just your own base.

SEN. LINDSEY GRAHAM (R-SC): I think when you look at the structural problems of President Biden with the electorate versus that of Trump, I think Trump has a better hand. But there's a long way to go.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

FOSTER: Meanwhile, U.S. President Joe Biden trying to shore up his voter base as the race heats up. On Wednesday, Mr. Biden said he was proud the influential United Auto Workers Union had just endorsed him for re-election. Of course, union members are free to vote for whoever they like in November.

But the UAW's president said members can either, quote, stand up and elect someone who stands with us or we can elect someone who will divide us. CNN's MJ Lee has that story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MJ LEE. CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: President Biden on Wednesday receiving a coveted political endorsement from the United Auto Workers.

This coming just one day after the Biden campaign declared the unofficial beginning of the general election. This endorsement bringing into focus some of the blue collar union voters that both President Biden and the former President Donald Trump will be fighting for, particularly in some of these Midwest states where these kinds of voters could ultimately end up deciding which way those states break.

Now, in remarks that the president gave on Wednesday to these union workers, he explicitly called out the former president and what he said about their contrast. Take a listen.

JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: During my president, we've opened 20 auto factories and more to come. We've created more than 250,000 auto jobs all across America.

And while I stood in solidarity with you on the picket line, as your president said, I don't pick a line. Donald Trump went to a nonunion shop and attacked you.

LEE: Now, even though the UAW endorsement carries a lot of weight, that doesn't necessarily mean that all of the members will ultimately end up supporting President Biden come November.

Keep in mind, back in 2020, a lot of the rank and file members actually ended up supporting the former president, Donald Trump, even though back then President Biden received that endorsement as well.

MJ Lee, CNN, the White House.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

FOSTER: Getting some breaking news out of South Korea, a member of the country's parliament has reportedly been attacked. The news coming from CNN affiliate JTBC. The media outlet says the member of the ruling People Power Party was taken to hospital. No word on his condition.

It comes just a few weeks after an opposition party leader was stabbed in the neck with a knife.

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Stay with CNN, we'll get you the latest on that as we get it all confirmed.

UN officials reporting at least 12 people are dead, 75 injured by Israeli tank fire on a shelter for refugees in southern Gaza. Video shows thick black smoke billowing from a building in the Khan Younis training center where the UN was housing 800 people displaced by the fighting.

The IDF says it has currently ruled out that the incident was the result of an aerial or artillery strike by its forces. It says the strike may have been Hamas fire.

Israel has intensified its military offensive in and around Khan Younis, the second biggest city in Gaza.

Palestinian health officials and paramedics report that Israeli tanks and drones firing at people trying to flee the area around two besieged hospitals. CNN's Ben Wiedemann has more on that.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BEN WEDEMAN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): With what little they can carry they try to flee Khan Younis to safer ground. That ground doesn't exist in Gaza.

Israeli forces intensifying their offensive against Hamas ordered civilians to leave the western side of the city where three of the last few functioning hospitals in Gaza are located and where thousands of people have taken shelter. Another 800 were sheltering in a UN vocational training center hit, according to the UN, by two Israeli tank rounds.

THOMAS WHITE, DIRECTOR, UNRWA AFFAIRS: The reality is that these strikes are hitting protected installations, protected facilities. They're hitting facilities that are housing, sheltering civilians or, you know, where you have medical personnel tending to people who are wounded and injured and sick.

WEDEMAN (voice-over): This man managed to escape Khan Younis under shelling.

He asks his children, have you eaten today? No, they respond.

Hovering over the agony of this war is this specter of famine, warns Michael Fakhri, the UN special rapporteur on the right to food.

WEDEMAN: How would you describe the food situation in Gaza at the moment?

MICHAEL FAKHRI, UN SPECIAL RAPPORTEUR ON THE RIGHT TO FOOD: Every single person in Gaza is hungry. So that means 2.2 million people are going hungry. A quarter of the population are starving. They're struggling to find food and drinkable water. And famine is imminent.

WEDEMAN (voice-over): Since October, Gaza has become a land of nomads moving from place to place, desperate as the war moves further south.

For more than 100 days, I've been in the streets, says Muhammad. We don't know where to go. They say it's safe in one place, and then it's dangerous with shelling and shooting. We go to another place, and it's the same thing.

Hundreds of thousands have fled too, and more are fleeing every day to Rafah on the Egyptian border, now crammed with more than a million displaced. There are a few spots left in the sand. The only place after that is the sea.

Ben Wedeman, CNN, reporting from Beirut.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

FOSTER: The International Court of Justice in the Netherlands will deliver a key ruling tomorrow. The court is deciding whether to enact provisional measures to temporarily suspend Israel's military campaign in Gaza.

South Africa filed a legal action accusing Israel of committing genocide against Palestinians in Gaza. Israel has firmly rejected the claims, calling them false and grossly distorted. A final and binding ruling on the genocide claim would take the court years to determine. However, in practice, the court has no way of enforcing any of its verdicts.

I want to bring in Elliott Gotkine and Paula Hancocks also, to talk about some of these developments. Paula, let's start with you. What do we know about the attack on refugees in Gaza?

PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Max, we've had an update from UNRWA, the UN office that handles Palestinian refugees. And they say that there have been some UN personnel that have managed to reach that area of Khan Younis, where this took place. And they say that at this point they believe 12 people were killed, 75-plus were injured.

And they have managed to bring some medical supplies to that area and to take some of the more seriously, critically wounded just further south to Rafah, where it is a little safer.

But we have heard from Thomas White, the director of UNRWA, saying that the situation in Khan Younis underscores a consistent failure to uphold the fundamental principles of international humanitarian law. This is something we're hearing consistently from UN members on the ground, that a building with a UN flag should be protected, that hospitals should be protected as well. But we are seeing them come under fire on a fairly regular basis.

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Now, he also says that the other hospitals in Khan Younis, the Al- Amal, the Al-Nasr hospital, are surrounded at this point by Israeli tanks, by Israeli troops.

We have in recent days been seeing thousands of people fleeing from that area, because it's not just the injured that are at the hospital, it's also many internally displaced people believing it could be a little safer there, having been moved on from their own homes.

Now, he said the next concern is, of course, for Rafah, which is a little further south, where most of the people fleeing the violence have gone to. He said it's a city of some 280,000 people. Usually, there's 1.3 million people who are displaced, who are trying to find any kind of shelter there. He said there's simply no spare room to put up a tent anymore. It is bursting at the seams, a sea of humanity, he called it.

And he said the greatest concern is that this military operation by the Israeli military will start to move south. Once they have completed what they feel they need to do in Khan Younis, it can then come to an area where there are even more people that are homeless and living on the streets.

Now, the situation we keep hearing from the UN is dire. There's not enough food, there's not enough medical supplies, and there are many injured in a dwindling amount of hospitals that are actually able to keep functioning -- Max.

FOSTER: Paula in Abu Dhabi, thank you so much. Elliott's with us here. It does seem as though that is the way it's moving more and more southwards, meanwhile hopes for some sort of truce. So, you know, a lot of those refugees are able to get some respite, as it were.

ELLIOTT GOTKINE, JOURNALIST: Right. And look, I mean, I think the focus of Israel's operations, and it's made no secret of this right now, is Khan Younis. That is what it sees as a kind of epicenter and a hotbed of Hamas militant activity. That's where it believes that deep underground in part of this extensive tunnel network that runs cumulatively to hundreds of miles are the top leaders of Hamas, such as Zahar, Sinwar and those responsible for the October 7th massacre that provoked this war in the first place.

So that's very much the focus of the operations. Interestingly, I was speaking to a former Israeli general yesterday, and he was telling me that the negotiations that are happening -- or let me backtrack there -- not negotiations, but the talks about negotiations happening, because there is no firm deal on the table just yet -- can be done kind of around about now. Because by the time it's implemented, that will give Israel probably the weeks that it needs in order to finish its operations in and around Khan Younis, so that it can kind of sell that to the Israeli public as being more or less job done in terms of the crushing of Hamas, which it said was one of its primary war objectives.

FOSTER: This court judgment that we're expecting tomorrow, they do have the ability, don't they, to enforce a binding ruling, but that wouldn't come tomorrow, that would take a long time. So what real impact would any sort of ruling tomorrow have?

GOTKINE: I suppose in this information war and this war of words and the battle for international public opinion, if you like, then that's where it will have the impact. In terms of the actual war on the ground, I don't think it's really going to have any impact either way. It will certainly, if it goes against Israel and it does say that provisional measures or say that Israel needs to stop fighting, never mind the fact that it can't say the same to Hamas, because Hamas isn't a party, isn't a state and therefore isn't a party to the Convention on Genocide. So you'd effectively be telling only one party in a war to stop fighting. So leaving that aside for the moment, I think it's clear that Israel

would not pay attention to a ruling that would say provisionally that it needs to stop fighting.

FOSTER: And they've probably got American support on that, haven't they?

GOTKINE: Well, certainly that we heard from the U.S., we heard from the UK and other allies of Israel beforehand when South Africa made this accusation saying that it was baseless and that Israel isn't committing genocide.

That's not to say that the U.S., UK and others don't have strong reservations about the way Israel is conducting this war. And we've heard just from David Cameron, the U.K. foreign secretary in Israel this week, again, calling for, you know, more care to be taken in terms of civilian casualties in the Gaza Strip. But as far as this particular ICJ provisional ruling goes, if it goes against Israel, it will give succor, I guess, to those who have been accusing Israel of genocide.

And if it doesn't go against Israel, then Israel will certainly feel justified in what it has derided as a blood libel, in its words, against the state of Israel for this allegation of committing genocide.

FOSTER: Elliott, thank you so much.

U.S. officials say Houthi rebels in Yemen fired three ballistic missiles at commercial ships operating around the Red Sea on Wednesday. U.S. Central Command said a nearby Navy ship shot down two of them and the third missile landed in the water. They say the missiles were aimed at a U.S.-flagged and owned and operated container ship in the Gulf of Aden. No-one was injured and the ship wasn't damaged.

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But the Iran-backed Houthis say they engaged with a number of U.S. warships and claimed to inflict a direct hit on a commercial vessel.

Authorities in China say a building fire that killed at least 39 people on Wednesday was caused during the improper renovation of a cold storage unit. And that's according to Chinese state media. Video from the scene in the city of Xinyu in the country's southeast shows huge plumes of smoke pouring out of the building as some people inside jumped to get to safety. Workers were refurbishing the basement area when the fire broke out and spread to other floors.

The workers were reportedly using the building as a fire illegally in some manner, which officials didn't really explain. But authorities are holding 12 people in connection to that fire.

Still to come, Moscow says Ukraine is responsible for a deadly plane crash in Russia. We'll have Kyiv's response to the allegations next. Plus, the U.S. state of Texas is determined to keep migrants out of

the country. It's essentially fencing them in with razor wire. Asylum seekers are finding themselves stuck with few options and very little hope.

And also, from Argentina to Germany and France, workers go on strike. Why they're taking a stand and how it's causing headaches just ahead.

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[04:25:04]

FOSTER: Kyiv is calling for an international investigation into a deadly plane crash in Russia near the border with Ukraine.

Moscow is accusing Kyiv of downing the military plane in the Belgorod region, calling it a terrorist act. Russia claims 74 people were on board, including 65 Ukrainian soldiers being transported for a prisoner swap and all of them were killed in that crash.

You can see here the plane hurtling towards the ground before it erupts in a ball of fire behind some buildings.

Ukraine says it regards any Russian military aircraft approaching Belgorod as legitimate targets, but it's not confirming if it shot down the plane.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY, UKRAINIAN PRESIDENT (through translator): It is obvious that the Russians are playing with the lives of Ukrainian prisoners with the feelings of their relatives and the emotions of our society. It is necessary to establish clear facts as much as possible, given that the plane crash happened on Russian territory that is beyond our control.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FOSTER: Russian state media reporting the plane's two black boxes have been recovered and are being sent to a special defense ministry laboratory. CNN's Fred Pleitgen has the details from eastern Ukraine.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice- over): The final moments of the Russian military plane's flight, diving to the ground, seemingly out of control. After the impact, the jet explodes in a giant fireball.

I heard only two explosions, this eyewitness says. The first one was a dull bang, then an explosion, then big flames.

Russian media showing debris scattered across a large area at the crash site. Authorities say no one on board survived, including 65 Ukrainian prisoners of war set to be exchanged the same day. Moscow blaming Kyiv for the incident. The Ukrainian side launched an air defense missile from the Kharkiv side, Russia's foreign minister said, it targeted the airplane and was a fatal strike.

The Ukrainians haven't denied shooting the plane down, but Kyiv says the Russians never told them they'd be flying the Ukrainian POWs to Belgorod, holding Moscow responsible for the loss of life and the failed exchange.

Landing a transport plane in a 30-kilometer combat zone cannot be safe and in any case should be discussed by both sides, because otherwise it jeopardizes the entire exchange process, a military intelligence statement says.

Based on this, we may be talking about planned and deliberate actions of the Russian Federation to destabilize the situation in Ukraine and weaken international support for our country.

Ukraine says Russia often uses the IL-76 cargo jets to transport missiles used to target Ukrainian cities and civilian infrastructure. A recent attack killing and wounding scores in Kharkiv in Ukraine's northeast.

When the missile attack started, I kneeled down near the washing machine, this woman says. Look, something hit me here. Glass, glass, but I'm alive. Some people died and my flat is gone.

The Ukrainians have vowed revenge for missile attacks like these and say they consider Russian cargo planes transporting missiles to be legitimate targets.

Fred Pleitgen, CNN in eastern Ukraine.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

FOSTER: North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has destroyed part of his father's legacy. These are satellite images showing the demolition of what was known as the arch of reunification in Pyongyang. The late leader Kim Jong-Il had the nine-story structure built in 2001 as a sign of hope for future reconciliation with South Korea.

But earlier this month, Kim Jong-un made it clear that is no longer the goal, calling for his country's constitution to redefine South Korea as a permanent enemy.

Boeing's 737 MAX 9 jets may be back in the air as early as this weekend, but that doesn't signal the end of the problems for Boeing. More on that in just a moment.

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