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CNN International: Qatar Slams Leaked Remarks Allegedly from Israel Prime Minister; 20 Killed in Aid Queue Attack in Gaza; Ukraine Contradicts Russian Claims About Belgorod Plane Crash; Ukraine Struggle to Hold Avdiivka Amid Russian Onslaught; Lebron James Named to Record 20th NBA All-Star Game. Aired 4:30-5a ET
Aired January 26, 2024 - 04:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[04:30:00]
MAX FOSTER, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome back to CNN NEWSROOM, I'm Max Foster. If you're just joining us, let me bring you up to date with the top stories this hour.
Closing arguments will get underway in the coming hours in the civil trial to determine the additional amount, if any, Donald Trump must pay in damages for defaming writer E. Jean Carroll. The former president has already been found liable for sexually assaulting and defaming her.
Plus, the International Court of Justice in the Netherlands is set to deliver an initial ruling in the genocide case against Israel. South Africa accuses Israel of committing genocide against the Palestinians in Gaza, a claim which Israel calls false and grossly distorted.
We'll have more on these top stories in the coming hours.
Meanwhile, the Qatari government is expressing outrage over a leaked recording allegedly of the Israeli prime minister criticizing the Gulf nation. The voice attributed to Benjamin Netanyahu is heard telling hostage families that Qatar is not putting enough pressure on Hamas to free their loved ones.
CNN can't verify the authenticity of the remarks, but our Nic Robertson picks up the story from there.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR (voice-over): During a testy meeting with hostage families Monday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu appears to have strained his one regional relationship with Qatar that matters most to those very families.
BENJAMIN NETANYAHU, ISRAELI PRIME MINISTER (through translator): You don't hear me thinking Qatar, because Qatar is essentially no different from the UN or the Red Cross. And in some ways, even more problematic. They have leverage because they're financing them.
ROBERTSON (voice-over): These comments caught off mic triggered a rapid and barbed diplomatic put down from Qatari officials who helped negotiate the release of almost 100 Israeli hostages in November.
Saying in a tweet: We are appalled by the alleged remarks attributed to the Israeli prime minister. If validated, are irresponsible and destructive to the efforts to save innocent lives but are not surprising.
Just days earlier, Qatar had been talking up relations with Israel and the potential for Hamas to release more hostages.
MAJED AL-ANSARI, QATAR FOREIGN MINISTRY SPOKESPERSON: We are engaging in serious discussions with both sides. We have presented ideas to both sides. We are getting a constant stream of replies from both sides.
ROBERTSON (voice-over): Qatar's frustration now seems personal with Netanyahu. Qatar concluding their criticism with a view increasingly suspected by some Israelis.
[04:35:02]
Netanyahu wants to keep the war going, saying in a tweet: The Israeli prime minister would only be obstructing and undermining the mediation process for reasons that appear to serve his political career.
Hostage families who were in the meeting with the prime minister released a terse statement appearing to blame Netanyahu for the leak, although he denies it.
The fact that the censorship was given permission to publish this audio recording is serious and indicates a loss of judgment.
This leaked audio also suggests he may be trying to draw the White House into confrontation.
NETANYAHU (through translator): I was very angry recently and I didn't hide it from the Americans that they renewed the contract on the military base they have with Qatar.
ROBERTSON (voice-over): President Biden hasn't openly spoken to the tensions, but this week, Secretary of State Antony Blinken criticizing Israel for taking Gazan territory to create a security buffer.
ANTONY BLINKEN, U.S. SECRETARY OF STATE: We've been very clear about maintaining in effect the territorial integrity.
ROBERTSON (voice-over): Nick Robertson, CNN, Tel Aviv, Israel.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
FOSTER: Yet another attack has killed desperate civilians in Gaza, this time as they line for food and bags of flour. The Hamas-run health ministry reports at least 20 fatalities, as many as 150 people injured, many of them critically.
They were queuing at a roundabout in Gaza City on Thursday when officials say they were hit by Israeli shelling. CNN has asked the IDF for comment on any military operations in the area. The attack is just the latest in an especially bloody day in Gaza, where the health ministry reports at least 200 people were killed throughout the territory on Thursday.
Torrential rain is adding to the misery for Gaza's displaced people. The UN says more than half of Gaza residents are now crowded into the Rafah area amid deteriorating sanitary conditions, as you can see.
Elliott's been looking at these latest developments. I mean, what do we know about this attack on the people queuing? I mean, it does feel like a particularly sensitive story.
ELLIOTT GOTKINE, JOURNALIST: I mean, it does. First of all, as you've said, you know, we haven't had a response from the IDF.
And of course, the accusation from the Hamas-run health ministry is that this was Israel effectively gunning down people, queuing for aid. Now, again, we don't have all the details right now. What we do know, again, according to the Hamas-run health ministry, is at least 20 have been killed and at least 150 injured. And that death toll is probably going to rise, not just because of the injuries that some of these people are suffering, but also because of the dire state of the health system inside the Gaza Strip. Where we're getting reports that they're basically running out of anesthetic and other essential items in which they require to treat wounds.
So, there's no question that it's a desperate situation now. And of course, overall, we're now seeing since October the 7th, since Israel -- since this war began in the wake of the Hamas massacre of October the 7th, that's just shy of 26,000 people now, according to the Hamas- run health ministry, have been killed inside the Gaza Strip.
Now, I know there's all these caveats, you know, that this doesn't distinguish between combatants and civilians. And Israel says that it's killed almost 10,000 militants since the start of the war. But even if you subtract one number from the other, then that's still an awful lot of people.
And this could, again, it depends on the outcome of any investigation or what we hear back from the IDF, but this could lead to additional pressure on Israel to take more care when it comes to civilian casualties within the Gaza Strip.
FOSTER: Elliott, thank you.
A U.S. official says the CIA director will meet in the coming days with Israeli, Egyptian, and Qatari officials. Bill Burns is expected to travel to Europe to discuss a deal to secure the release of the remaining hostages held by Hamas in Gaza. He'll speak with the head of Israel's Mossad spy agency, Egypt's intelligence director, and Qatar's prime minister. The CIA declined to comment.
The Israeli prime minister's office says there are 132 hostages remaining in Gaza, including the bodies of 28 who it says have been killed. Still ahead, Ukraine is pushing back against claims it shot down a
plane full of its own POWs. You'll hear new information from Ukraine's intelligence suggesting Moscow's accusations don't quite add up.
[04:40:00]
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
FOSTER: Ukraine is pouring cold water on Moscow's claim that Ukrainian prisoners of war were killed in a plane that went down in western Russia. Moscow claims a Ukrainian missile shot down the plane in the Belgorod region on Wednesday, reportedly killing 65 Ukrainians headed for a prisoner swap, plus nine Russian service members.
But Ukraine's intelligence now suggests only five bodies from the crash site have been brought to a local morgue. That number, according to Ukraine, matches the size of the crew on the plane, which Kyiv says was transporting missiles, not POWs.
Russian videos from the scene, including this one, don't appear to show massive casualties, but Russian investigators still said on Thursday their primary probe showed the jet was attacked by a Ukrainian anti-aircraft missile. Data from the plane's so-called black boxes are now being analyzed in a military lab in Moscow.
Ukraine is fighting to a grinding battle to hold on to the town of Avdiivka, where Russia is holding -- is rather using tactics described as meat assault, sending wave after wave of soldiers to attack Ukrainian positions regardless of losses.
CNN's Fred Pleitgen got access to the heart of Ukraine's operations there, and a warning that some of the images you're about to see are graphic.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice- over): A U.S.-provided Bradley infantry fighting vehicle almost single-handedly stopping a Russian assault near Avdiivka in southeastern Ukraine, pelting the Russians with tracer rounds from its powerful 25-millimetre gun.
Vladimir Putin's troops pinned down, unable to advance. This is just one element of Ukraine's efforts to hold Avdiivka, run from underground command centers in secret locations.
The Ukrainians have given us access to their command bunker for this part of the front line. From here, they organize part of the defense of Avdiivka.
It's rarely calm here, they say, the Russians assaulting nearly all the time. A Russian tank with a small group of troops shows up. The Ukrainians track their movements.
And these two soldiers, probably from an already decimated unit, cowering in a trench aware the Ukrainians have spotted them. They hit the Russians with a kamikaze drone, but they survive for now.
[04:45:03]
The commander tells me Russian losses here are staggering.
They use a lot of equipment, we destroy a lot of equipment, he says. A lot of infantry assaults, they expend people, they step over each other, don't provide assistance. It's true. There's a lot of infantry equipment and meat assaults.
From the many drones monitoring the battlefield, we see the bodies of dead Russian soldiers frozen amidst their destroyed vehicles. The command post also directs artillery and rocket strikes, and even counterassaults with ground forces to clear trenches and stop the seemingly endless waves of Russian infantry attacks.
Fortunately, they have a lot of losses, he says, yet they do not stop. But Avdiivka will be ours, they will not succeed.
But Ukraine's American-provided guns could go mostly silent soon if Congress doesn't end its impasse and pass additional military aid, President Biden says.
JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I think the vast majority of members of Congress support aid to Ukraine. The question is whether or not a small minority are going to hold you up, it could be a disaster.
PLEITGEN (voice-over): And that could have major effects for the Ukrainian troops fighting here.
Fred Pleitgen, CNN in eastern Ukraine.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
FOSTER: Just in to CNN, Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich will remain in Russian detention at least until March 30th. The court in Moscow just extended his detention by two months, Gershkovich is facing espionage charges which can put him behind bars for up to 20 years.
He and The Wall Street Journal strongly deny the accusations. The U.S. considers Gershkovich to be wrongfully detained, he's been in detention since his arrest during a reporting trip last March.
A case that could test the limits of responsibility in a mass shooting has begun. Ethan Crumbly killed four students after he opened fire at his high school in Oxford, Michigan in 2021, and now his mother is on trial. On Thursday, the prosecution argued that while Jennifer Crumbly did not pull the trigger, she is responsible. They say she ignored her son's mental health struggles and brought him a gun just days before the shooting.
But her defense attorney says the mother couldn't have reasonably foreseen the mass shooting and blamed Ethan's father for the purchase. The first witness also took to the stand, one of them a teacher who
was shot. Ethan's parents are standing trial separately and pleading not guilty to four charges of involuntary manslaughter. In 2022, Ethan Crumbly pleaded guilty to the shooting.
A time now for a quick break, but when we return, LeBron James sets another new record in his 21st year at the NBA, surpassing another legendary player. That story's next.
[04:50:00]
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ANNOUNCER: This is CNN breaking news.
FOSTER: Buckingham Palace saying Britain's King Charles has been admitted to hospital for prostate treatment. We were expecting this of course but we've had confirmation of the timing.
He would like to thank all of those who've sent their good wishes over the past week. He's also delighted to learn, he said, that his diagnosis is having a positive impact on public health awareness. This was off the back of a huge rise in inquiries to the National Health Service about prostate enlargement after he shared that information about his treatment.
Also, I'm being told by a royal source, we won't be getting any further guidance of how long the King will remain in hospital or any details of the treatment that he'll be receiving beyond those that have already been shared because they do believe that he has a right to privacy. They're pleased that they shared the information so it raised awareness but they've drawn a line really about how much information they are going to share. I expect we'll be told when he leaves hospital but we won't be told when he's expected to leave hospital.
Turning now to our sports headlines. Another year, another record for basketball superstar LeBron James. The Los Angeles Lakers forward has been named to his 20th NBA All-Star game, passing the legendary Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. That's who had the most of all time. James is in his 21st year in the league. This season he's averaging about 25 points, that's seven rebounds and seven assists per game.
Earlier this season he became the first player in the history of the NBA to score 39,000 career points and less than a year ago he broke the scoring record held by Abdul-Jabbar. The NBA All-Star game is set for February the 18th in Indianapolis. What a legend.
Now to the NFL where two teams have hired a new head coach. Raheem Morris will take over the top spot for the Atlanta Falcons. He spent the past three seasons as defensive coordinator for the Los Angeles Rams where he helped the team win the Super Bowl in 2021.
And the Carolina Panthers have named Dave Canales as their head coach. According to the Panthers he'll become the only active Hispanic coach in the league. Canales spent the past season as the offensive coordinator for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
No regrets, that's the one die-hard Detroit Lions fan is saying right now after he had Super Bowl champs 2024 tattooed on his upper arm. Alex Chepeska says he was inspired by the new direction his team was taking and got the tattoo way back in August actually.
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The Lions are facing their first NFC championship since 1991 on Sunday, the last stop before the big game and even if the Lions don't win the Super Bowl, it's OK. Chepeska has no intention of removing the tattoo and says it's within him now really -- it's within for life.
And the stories in the spotlight this hour. First to Mars where after surviving 72 flights, three emergency landings, dust storms and the frigid Martian winter NASA's Ingenuity helicopter mission on the red planet is actually no more. The news comes after at least one of the chopper's carbon fiber rotor blades was damaged whilst landing on January the 18th. Ingenuity is the first aircraft to operate on another world and was originally launched as an experiment in 2021 before becoming an aerial scout for a Mars rover.
The helicopter flew over the red planet's treacherous terrain capturing images used by NASA to determine its next targets for analysis.
Justin Timberlake dropped his new single "Selfish" and music video yesterday.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JUSTIN TIMBERLAKE, SINGER: So if I get jealous, I can't help it ...
(END VIDEO CLIP)
FOSTER: He debuted the song last week at a special concert in his hometown of Memphis. The song is reportedly the first single of his upcoming album "Everything I Thought It Was." Timberlake's frequent collaborator and producer extraordinaire Timberland told "Variety" in April he was working on the singer's first album since 2019's "Man in the Woods."
Thanks for joining me here on CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Max Foster in London. "EARLY START" next here on CNN.
What are you doing? I'm making chocolate, of course. How do you like it? Dark, white, nutty, absolutely insane. I always think like that.
I think every movie's a miracle. It was challenging and it was unlike anything I worked on and it's something I definitely hope I get to do again. Every good thing in this world started with a dream.
