Return to Transcripts main page

CNN Newsroom

Israel-Hamas War; Relief Operations in Gaza May Cease Without Funds, Says UNRWA; Qatar Must Urge Hamas to Return Captives, Netanyahu Says; IDF Accused of Abusing Several Palestinian Captives; Israeli Soldiers Continue to Face Difficulties on Hamas Tunnels; Houthi Missile Strikes Oil Ship Traveling to Safe Harbor; French Farmers Taking to the Streets, Blocking Major Highway Out of Paris; 2024 U.S. Election Race; Museums Reassess Native-American Displays; U.K. to Return Antiquities to Ghana, According to British Museums; Biden Hits Campaign Trail in South Carolina; Biden Calling Trump "Defeated and a Loser"; Biden Vows on Tougher Border Measures; Protesters Call for a Ceasefire in Gaza; Nikki Haley Refusing to Step Aside; Trump Campaigns on Immigration in Nevada; Trump Ignores $83.3M Verdict While in Nevada; Trump Entangled in a Web of Investigations; Utah Bans DEI Programs; Breakthrough Gene Therapy. Aired 2-3a ET

Aired January 28, 2024 - 02:00   ET

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

[02:00:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LYNDA KINKADE, CNN ANCHOR: Hello and welcome to all our viewers here in the United States and around the world. I'm Lynda Kinkade.

Just ahead on "CNN Newsroom", the U.N. chief calls on nations to rethink their decision to cut funding after disturbing allegations against some staff members in Gaza.

Plus, museums across the U.S. are set to look a lot different. Details on the new regulations that could soon finally set things right for native cultures, but will this change?

And the former president takes jabs on two fronts as Trump, Biden and Haley hit the campaign trail.

ANNOUNCER: Live from Atlanta, this is "CNN Newsroom with Lynda Kinkade".

KINKADE: The head of the U.N. agency helping Palestinian civilians in Gaza says, the group might have to end operations there. These nine countries stopped funding for U.N. Relief and Works Agency after accusations by Israel that a handful of their workers were involved in the October 7th Hamas terror attack. Israel has not publicly released its evidence, but it says it shared that evidence with UNRWA and the United States. The U.N. group fired nine accused staffers and launched an investigation into the allegations. It sent -- it said that one other staffer accused had died and that the identities of two others are being verified. Well, now the U.N. Secretary General is weighing in. Saying, the abhorrent alleged acts of these staff members must have consequences. But the tens of thousands of men and women who work for UNRWA, many in some of the most dangerous situations for humanitarian workers, should not be penalized. The dire needs of the desperate populations they serve must be met.

Well, 2 million civilians in Gaza rely on that aid from UNRWA. These needs are of course growing as Israel continues its military operation in Khan Younis. Families are evacuating but struggling to find shelter. Besides hunger, fierce rain and cold weather are making their escape even more miserable.

Well further north in Gaza City, Palestinians are rushing to grab sacks of flour that were delivered Saturday. The U.N. warned this week that parts of the territory are facing famine, and residents say the aid isn't reaching everyone.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): Today, I came to get flour, and I couldn't get any. Some people got three bags of flour, and some got four, and I didn't get any. I have three children, and I don't know how to feed them. God help us.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): Only the young men can take sacks of flour, but the elderly can't. The children, the orphans, and the mothers of orphans, only the strong young men can take a share, but the orphans don't have shares at all.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KINKADE: And Palestinian officials say, hospitals in Khan Younis are under siege by Israeli troops. According to the Hamas-controlled Ministry of Health, the Nasser Medical Complex is running out of anesthesia, drugs and other medication and blood for transfusions. A shortage that the ministry's spokesperson calls severe and dangerous. Doctors Without Borders say, the hospital's vital medical services have collapsed.

CNN's Paula Hancocks joins us now live from Abu Dhabi with more on the UNRWA controversy and the need for aid in Gaza. Good to have you with us, Paula. So, eight countries have stopped funding UNRWA because of the accusations against the 12 workers. Israel, of course, has long accused that agency of colluding with Hamas. What does this mean, really, for the people in Gaza who rely on this agency which employs about 13,000 people in Gaza?

PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Lynda, this is the biggest source of humanitarian aid for those in Gaza who desperately need it at this point. We heard from the U.N. Secretary General, Antonio Guterres, saying that there are some 2 million people who are currently relying on what UNRWA provides. It is the biggest group and it is the main way that some aid is getting into Gaza.

We've heard U.N. officials warning that there could be a looming famine and warning of catastrophic consequences if this aid does not get in.

[02:05:00]

There is a widespread understanding that not enough is getting in as it is. Now, we heard from the secretary general saying that at this point UNRWA has funding but won't -- it won't last until the end of February. So, given the extreme need that residents in Gaza have, there is a serious concern among UNRWA as to how they are going to continue to give this aid.

Now, they have been calling on these countries who have temporarily halted funding to reconsider their decision. The head of UNRWA itself, Philippe Lazzarini, issued a statement saying that these decisions were shocking. Saying, "It would be immensely irresponsible to sanction an agency and an entire community it serves because of allegations of criminal acts against some individuals, especially at a time of war, displacement and political crises in the region."

Now, the -- these same heads of UNRWA have pointed out that they have made immediate decisions into these serious allegations. As you say, nine staffers have been fired instantly, and there is an investigation that will be ongoing as well. Now, there are some countries, for example, Norway and Ireland, who say they will continue funding, knowing that it is needed and trusting in the U.N. to be able to investigate. Lynda.

KINKADE: And of course, Paula, the Israeli prime minister has criticized a protest by families of hostages held in Gaza, saying they're useless. He's clearly feeling the pressure. He's also calling on Qatar to use its leverage with Hamas. Just to explain what he said.

HANCOCKS: Well, back -- last week, last Tuesday on Israeli television, there was an alleged leaked audio of Benjamin Netanyahu that was aired on Israeli television, and at the time he had been criticizing Qatar for its links with Hamas and for not doing enough to try and free the hostages. This weekend, he doubled down on that message on Saturday saying that he's not taking back one word that he said. Let's listen to what exactly he said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BENJAMIN NETANYAHU, ISRAELI PRIME MINISTER (through translator): Qatar hosts the leaders of Hamas. It also funds Hamas. It has leverage over Hamas. Qatar committed to make sure that the medication will reach the districts of Hamas, to our hostages, and Qatar said that it can help bring them back. So, therefore, to put pressure on them, they positioned themselves as mediators. So, please, go right ahead and prove it. Let them be so good as to bring back our hostages.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HANCOCKS: Now, the CIA Director, Bill Burns, is going to be meeting with the intelligence chiefs of Israel and Egypt in the coming days, trying to hammer out a new deal to try and release some of these hostages. There are reports of a cessation in hostilities in Gaza in order to allow this to happen. Nothing publicly being announced at this point. Lynda.

KINKADE: OK. Paula Hancocks for us in Abu Dhabi, good to have you with us. Thank you.

Well, CNN has some new video out of southern Israel near the Gaza border showing armed Israeli soldiers guarding more than two dozen Palestinian detainees, wearing only lightweight disposable white coveralls despite the freezing temperatures. Sitting and kneeling on the ground, the men are blindfolded and barefoot, their hands are tied behind their backs. Israeli authorities say, the men are being held for what they called suspected terrorist activities after being detained inside Gaza.

The IDF says in a statement, "Relevant suspects are taken for further questioning within Israel. Individuals who are not found to be taking part in terrorist activities are released back into Gaza as soon as possible." The IDF claims the men are being treated in accordance with international law and that they were stripped to ensure they weren't carrying any concealed weapons.

The U.N. and rights groups have previously condemned Israel for alleged mistreatment of detainees. Many detainees have alleged abuse at the hands of Israeli forces, and that includes several Palestinian boys and men who told CNN in December they were detained for five days before being released, emerging with bruised and swollen wrists.

Well, an IDF official estimates that only 60 percent of the tunnels built by Hamas under Gaza have been found so far as the war with Hamas nears its fourth month. But as CNN's Jeremy Diamond reports, that's just one of the challenges facing Israel as they work to drive out militants and find the remaining hostages.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

OMRI ERENTAL, IDF MASTER SERGEANT (RES.): The bullet went in the cheek, got inside my jaw and took a piece of my jaw and on the corner, and then went down over here to my neck and stayed there.

JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Master Sergeant Omri Erental is lucky to be alive.

ERENTAL: That's the bullet here.

[02:10:00]

DIAMOND (voice-over): Kneeling on the edge of this tunnel shaft, he says he was shot by a Hamas militant hidden inside. A ricochet off the tunnel wall likely saving his life.

ERENTAL: When I turned my flashlight out, I saw a gun light like flash. Yes, gun flash. And then I felt like five kilos hammer that was inside the hot lava, just like -- punched into my face.

DIAMOND (voice-over): As he crawled away from the tunnel shaft, the soldiers in his combat engineering unit killed the gunman. But his brush with death speaks to the enormous challenge Hamas tunnel still present to the Israeli military after three months of war.

NITZAN NURIEL, IDF BRIG, GENERAL (RES): There is upper Gaza and lower Gaza. There is upper Khan Younis and lower Khan Younis. It is a very tough mission.

DIAMOND (voice-over): General Nitzan Nuriel, a former member of Israel's National Security Council, estimates that Israel has only discovered about 60 percent of the hundreds of miles of tunnels below Gaza.

NURIEL: We blew up something like 20 percent. So, a lot of work ahead of us. It's not something that can be finished within a few weeks. It's a question of months.

DIAMOND (voice-over): Exposing and destroying these tunnels has been central to Israel's mission in Gaza where it has dropped enormous bunker busting bombs that penetrate deep underground, leaving enormous craters and often causing heavy civilian casualties. But there is also concern for Israeli hostages held underground.

NURIEL: We cannot just blow up all those tunnels, assuming that the hostages are there, at least 50 percent of them. So, we have to do it slowly, slowly.

DIAMOND (voice-over): That means sending troops deep into booby trapped tunnels, where Hamas fighters could be lying in wait before rigging and detonating them. In the meantime, many Hamas fighters are surviving in sophisticated tunnels, equipped with electricity, bathrooms, and stocks of food and water. But for how much longer?

NURIEL: How long they can stay there? It's a good question. Not for good. They will not be able to survive there because of all those conditions for -- let's say, more than two more months.

DIAMOND (voice-over): For now, at least, that means the battle rages on, both above and below the surface.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KINKADE: Well, the U.S. says an oil tanker hit by a Houthi missile in the Gulf of Aden on Friday was carrying a highly flammable cargo. Indian, French, and American ships responded to the distress call and helped put the fire out. Both crew members are reportedly OK, and the ship's operator says, it is sailing towards a safe harbor. Despite continued warnings and strikes from the U.S., Irani-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen continue to attack ships in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden, saying it's in support for the Palestinian people.

French farmers are taking to the streets, literally lining tractors blocking a major highway out of Paris. The farmers grievances include the cost of fuel and competition from Ukrainian farmers. France is Europe's largest food producer, but other E.U. nations have seen similar protests. And now, French farmers are threatening to use their tractors to barricade Paris on Monday.

Still to come. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, FORMER U.S. PRESIDENT AND U.S. REPUBLICAN PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: What Joe Biden is doing is a crime against our nation. It's an absolute betrayal of our country.

JOE BIDEN, U.S. PRESIDENT: And you're the reason Donald Trump is a defeated former president.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KINKADE: The latest from the U.S. presidential race as former President Donald Trump faces a two-front fight against Republican contender Nikki Haley and President Joe Biden.

And one of the most famous museums in the United States is taking down some of its displays this weekend. It's part of a nationwide change in the way museums treat indigenous culture. We'll have the story coming up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[02:15:00]

KINKADE: Welcome back. Museums across the U.S. are closing or changing their exhibits featuring cultural artifacts from Native American tribes. The move is in a response to new federal regulations aimed at obtaining consent from or returning the items to the tribes that consider them sacred.

CNN's Gloria Pazmino reports from the world's largest natural history museum about how they're adapting to the changes.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

GLORIA PAZMINO, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: So, this is an iconic location, not just here in New York City, but really in much of the world. The American Museum of Natural History is one of the most visited museums in the entire world. It draws about four and a half million people every year. So, the fact that they're making this change really sends a major signal to the rest of the field.

And here's what's happening. The museum is closing two major galleries this weekend, including the Eastern Woodlands and the Great Plains Gallery. And what they contain is several Native American cultural items. Some pretty sizable big objects as well, many of them recognizable to anyone who has visited this museum. And they are going to be covering up those display cases

Now, we actually asked to go inside the museum today to try and get some video of these displays that will no longer be viewed by the public. But we were not allowed because part of the whole point here is to no longer show off or display any of these pieces in any way.

Now, why is this happening?

[02:20:00]

Well, they're trying to be in compliance with these new federal guidelines, which are now going to require museums and federal agencies to consult and obtain informed consent from descendants, tribes or native Hawaiian organizations before displaying or researching human remains or cultural items.

Now, this is actually an update to the 1990 Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act. And this law has been on the books for a while now. But there has been criticism from indigenous people that the experience of the nations and indigenous voices was not centered enough in the process. So, this is an attempt to rectify that. Take a listen to museum -- to the museum president who we spoke with early this morning, describing what is actually behind this effort.

SEAN DECATUR, PRESIDENT, AMERICAN MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY: The intent of the regulations, and I think the intent of this process is to make sure that the voices of indigenous peoples have a say, both in how their stories are told in museums and participate actively in the presentation of their narratives and museums.

PAZMINO: It's not just this museum here in New York City, but also other major organizations around the country, including the Field Museum in Chicago, the museum in Denver, and the Cleveland Museum as well. They have all taken measures to either remove or cover up their exhibits as they begin this process.

Now, the question is whether or not some of these exhibits will ever return and the museum president issued a letter to his staff here yesterday saying that while some items might return, others might not return after they are returned to their rightful owners.

Gloria Pazmino in New York, CNN.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KINKADE: Well, it's not just U.S. institutions that are reassessing how they display indigenous art and cultural artifacts. Other museums are unveiling similar efforts. The U.K. says it will send back gold and silver artifacts that were looted from Ghana nearly 150 years ago by British troops. Two British museums announced the move as part of a long-term loan agreement with the West African nation. Museum officials say the artifacts were taken from Ghana during the 19th century. They add that many of the objects, including more than a dozen pieces from the Asante Royal Court were looted during war. Some of the relics were believed to hold the spirit of past royal figures.

Geoffrey Robertson is a prominent human rights attorney and the author of "Who Owns History?". He joins us now live from Melbourne, Australia. Great to have you with us.

GEOFFREY ROBERTSON, HUMAN RIGHTS LAWYER, MEDIA ATTORNEY, AND AUTHOR, "WHO OWNS HISTORY": Yes, it's an important development because Britain, of course, is behind America, a long way behind America, because its museums are full of the loot of the colonial era. Much of the gold, for example, from the Asante tribes were seized by what would now be called war crimes. The local population, sneeringly regarded as natives and as inferior were killed by modern Mauser rifles and so on, and were -- their temples and their homes were stripped of anything with gold or silver and it was auctioned off. It frequently went to the British Museum or to one or other national museums.

And then as if to put in law the colonial mentality, which still exists in the British Parliament, they had a law which prevented any of this stolen property or seized property from being returned.

KINKADE: Yes. So, the -- it's --

ROBERTSON: And so, this is still the law. And so, the only way they can get them back is by giving them as a loan, a three-year loan will go -- this valuable cultural heritage property will be returned to Ghana.

KINKADE: Right.

ROBERTSON: But of course, it's pretty rich to have your cultural property return to you as a loan. And I think that the courts in Ghana will eventually strike this down because it was property obtained during a war crime.

KINKADE: And it includes 32 pieces, right, of gold and silver artifacts --

ROBERTSON: Yes.

KINKADE: -- that have been described as crown jewels. And as you point out, they're not going to return permanently, just a three-year loan that can be extended. Is it time to give them back permanently or do you see this as at least --

ROBERTSON: It is. It would be more honest --

KINKADE: -- some sort of step in the right direction?

ROBERTSON: -- to give them back permanently.

[02:25:00]

But the British Parliament and government is infected by this colonial -- post-colonial. I mean, once Britain had an empire and this is the last vestige of it that they can cling to. So, they have this absurd law that museums cannot de-access or give back any property that they've received. However, much it was stolen or obtained by criminal activity.

So, that's the problem to get around it. The museums who want to do the right thing do not include the British Museum, but other museums will in fact loan it back. And perhaps they won't seek in three years- time to collect on the loan, but that's --

KINKADE: Or Ghana could potentially -- (CROSSTALK)

KINKADE: -- extend it.

ROBERTSON: And I think the Ghanaians will be perfectly entitled to get a declaration from a court saying that it shouldn't go back because it was properly -- property that was stolen or obtained under pressure of war crimes.

KINKADE: But of course, this is just a very small number of artifacts, given that about 90 percent of African cultural property resides in European musicians (ph), that, of course, according to a report commissioned by the French President Emmanuel Macron.

ROBERTSON: Yes.

KINKADE: Who, of course, believes they should be returned. But I do have to ask you just quickly, the British institutions, like the British Museum, have long argued that they've preserved these items, they've taken great care of them, and that they can be widely studied in their museums. What do you make of those arguments?

ROBERTSON: Well, they're correct in some cases, but totally false in others. Certainly, the British Museum has taken care of the Rosetta Stone, and that's important because it's in the British Museum that the stone began to speak, that we actually discovered what it said.

But in other cases, like the famous Parthenon marbles that were looted by Lord Elgin, that's been a different matter --

KINKADE: Yes. And we --

ROBERTSON: -- they've been badly handled and they really --

KINKADE: Exactly.

ROBERTSON: -- should go back to Greece --

KINKADE: We --

ROBERTSON: -- because they're the greatest still extant --

KINKADE: We have -- yes, we have been covering that --

ROBERTSON: -- wonder of the ancient world.

KINKADE: We have to leave it there. Geoffrey Robertson, good to have you on the program. Sorry to cut you off there. We've got to wrap it up, but appreciate your perspective.

ROBERTSON: Sure.

KINKADE: Thanks so much.

And we're going to take a quick break. We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[02:30:00]

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BIDEN: You're the reason I am president. You're the reason Kamala Harris is a historic vice president. And you're the reason Donald Trump is a defeated former president. You're the reason Donald Trump is a loser. And you're the reason we're going to win and beat him again.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KINKADE: U.S. President Joe Biden there taking shots at Republican rival, Former President Donald Trump, from the campaign trail in South Carolina. Mr. Biden is also vowing to put tougher immigration measures in place, including the ability to shut down the U.S.-Mexico border as he tries to counter Trump's attacks. CNN's Priscilla Alvarez has more.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PRISCILLA ALVAREZ, CNN WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: President Joe Biden drew a sharp contrast from Former President Donald Trump here in South Carolina on Saturday in what was a preview of his general election arguments, casting the former president as "defeated and a loser." President Biden also making the case that Trump is only thinking about himself and not the country, saying, "What's Good for America is bad for him politically."

But the president also spent time making connections with what his administration has done on a range of issues to what communities are seeing on a day-to-day basis, be it investments in HBCUs, driving down insulin costs, and also student loan debt relief, which earned applause in the audience. But notably, the president also weighing in on border security and putting his support behind a border deal the Senate negotiators have been working on for weeks, saying that if given the authority, he would shut down the border and do it quickly.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BIDEN: If that bill were the law today, I'd shut down the border right now and fix it quickly. A bipartisan bill would be good for America and help fix our broken immigration system.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ALVAREZ: Now, as he has faced in other remarks in the last few days and weeks, there were also protesters in the audience calling for a ceasefire in Gaza. They were escorted out and President Biden did not engage with them, but it was yet another example of the fractures within the coalition that the president is having to navigate.

But the bottom line here was that he needs South Carolina. It's a state that he has credited for turning the tide in 2020, and it is one that's going to have its primary next week. It'll be the first after the Democratic National Committee overhauled the schedule with President Biden's support, the president reflecting on that.

And while this is not a competitive primary, it will be a test of his standing with black voters, a key constituency to clinch that win in November.

Priscilla Alvarez, CNN, South Carolina.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KINKADE: Also in South Carolina is Nikki Haley, who's mounting a monthlong stand against Donald Trump before the Republican primary there on February 24th.

Haley's attacks on Trump have escalated recently after she largely avoided conflict with the former president for almost a year. Her campaign is getting a boost by Trump's legal battles and heavy investments from political networks linked to people like billionaire Charles Koch.

He's face -- she's facing an uphill battle, but former South Carolina governor is refusing to step aside.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

NIKKI HALEY, U.S. REPUBLICAN PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Only two states have voted. There are 48 more that have to vote. No matter what Donald Trump thinks, he can't bully his way to the White House. It's not going to work. And after he did that, we raised another $1.4 million. So, Donald, keep them coming, because it's great.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KINKADE: Well, Donald Trump campaigned in Nevada. It's a state Nikki Haley is not expected to visit. CNN's Alayna Treene is traveling with the former president and has more.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

[02:35:00]

ALAYNA TREENE, CNN REPORTER: Well, Nevada is a state that Donald Trump and his team feel like they've already won. And part of that is because Nikki Haley is not participating in the caucus here. Instead, she's on the ballot for the state's primary. But the caucus is really where the state's crucial delegates will be awarded.

And so, that was really a big part of Donald Trump's message on Saturday. He was telling voters to skip the primary altogether and make sure they get out for him on caucus day. But because Donald Trump and his team don't really see Nikki Haley as a player here, that allowed them to Donald Trump to pivot to more of a general election message. And a big part of that message was talking about the border.

One reason is because the border is a key issue for Nevada. It's a state with a large migrant population. But another part of it is the timing, and that's what I found really noteworthy. He spent a lot of time railing against Congress' bipartisan negotiations over securing the southern border, and he went farther than he had before in declaring that there is "zero chance I will support these horrible open borders betrayal of America." Take a listen to how he put it.

TRUMP: When you have a very small majority. Very tough. Mike Johnson, speaker, he just said it's dead-on arrival in the House. It's dead-on arrival. We want either a strong bill or no bill. And whatever happens, happens.

But this is the single greatest threat to our country right now, is the people pouring into our country because we have no idea who they are. The fact is that if Joe Biden truly wanted to secure the border, he doesn't really need a bill.

TREENE: Now, part of the reason Donald Trump spent so much time talking about this is because he wants to keep campaigning on immigration ahead of November, but he also sees it as a key vulnerability for Joe Biden. And so, I think you're going to continue to hear Donald Trump rail against the border, rail against this deal. And he also argued that he was happy taking the fall for its potential failure.

Now, one more thing I just want to point out that I found very noteworthy is that Donald Trump did not address the $83.3 million that a jury decided he owes E. Jean Carroll during a trial on Friday. It's something that angered Donald Trump very much from my conversations with his advisers, but he did not bring it up once or address it.

Alayna Treene, CNN, Las Vegas.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KINKADE: Well, Trump's defamation case is just one of his many legal problems facing this election year. CNN's Brian Todd is tracking all of the investigations and where they stand.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): From today's verdict in the E. Jean Carroll case, with the jury ordering Donald Trump to pay more than $83 million in damages to Carroll, to the Stormy Daniels hush money case, to the Mar-a-Lago documents probe, to the election interference case in Georgia, and the federal January 6th inquiry, Donald Trump has been entangled in a web of investigations targeting him from many directions.

ELLIOT WILLIAMS, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: It's pretty remarkable that you have multiple different states, the federal government, all investigating the same person at once, but that person is the former president of the United States.

TODD (voice-over): In addition to the Carroll civil verdict, Trump now faces 91 felony counts in two state courts and two federal districts. There's the indictment in the Daniels case in New York where Trump faces several counts related to business fraud. In Washington, special counsel Jack Smith has charged Trump with four felonies in a federal case, in connection with his attempts to stay in power after the 2020 election.

TRUMP: We're going to walk down to the Capitol.

TODD (voice-over): There's the Justice Department's Mar-a-Lago case, charging Trump with illegally mishandling classified documents when he brought them to his Florida estate after leaving the White House.

And in Georgia, Fulton County D.A. Fani Willis has brought a huge racketeering case against Trump and 18 other people, alleging a conspiracy to steal the 2020 election. There's also a civil lawsuit in New York filed against Trump and his adult sons, alleging that they fraudulently distorted the values of their properties.

Which case against Trump is the strongest? Analysts have gone back and forth, but some point to Georgia as a decent possibility for conviction.

TIA MITCHELL, THE ATLANTA JOURNAL-CONSTITUTION: Even if he didn't have a direct hand in some of the efforts, that he was part of the planning that he directed these efforts. And so, that's why in a lot of ways, it is the most serious, because when it comes to the election, it's the one with the most teeth.

TODD (on camera): Donald Trump has repeatedly rejected all of the allegations in each of these cases, characterizing them as facets of a witch hunt designed to take him down. He's called the Mar-a-Lago investigation the weaponization of the justice system, has slammed the New York and Georgia probes as being politically motivated, and on Friday, he called the E. Jean Carroll verdict "absolutely ridiculous," and said he'll appeal.

Brian Todd, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KINKADE: Well, the State of Utah has passed a bill banning diversity, equity, and inclusion programs commonly known as DEI. On Friday, Utah lawmakers voted to effectively prohibit DEI programs from state public schools and in government.

[02:40:00]

Republican Governor Spencer Cox is expected to sign the bill into law. This is the latest in a growing movement among conservative lawmakers across the U.S. to ban diversity and equity efforts, which they argue are forms of indoctrination.

The father of a Palestinian-American teenager killed in the West Bank last week is demanding answers from the United States, saying the country is indirectly responsible for his son's death because of its continued support for Israel.

He told CNN earlier that his son, Tawfic Abdel Jabbar, was shot in the back 10 times while trying to have a picnic on the family farm near Ramallah.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HAFIZ ABDEL JABBAR, PALESTINIAN-AMERICAN SON KILLED IN WEST BANK: There was going there to have fun, to eat, to barbecue, and go home. My son was -- he grew up in New Orleans. He went to schools in New Orleans. He was born in New Orleans for 16 consecutive years. He does not know anything about the conflict here. He does not participate in anything here. Simply, my son was a victim of these guys that kill children for no reason.

And my shot -- my son was shot. I have the videos that will be supported to everybody. I sent these videos to the consulate, to some senators, to -- I'm trying to reach out to every person in charge, to Secretary Blinken to let them know that my son was simply executed by someone loves to kill people, loves to kill children.

My son was executed from the back. He was shot 10 times. The car was -- 10 bullets in the car from the back. He was driving away from anything. He didn't see anybody. He wasn't a threat to anybody. He didn't impose any threat to anybody. They didn't even see anybody.

My son was just, I think, at the wrong place, wrong time. And these people was just -- I'm trying to reach out to any government official, to any American there, children shouldn't be shot and killed, 16 and 17 years old, for no reason like this.

And they -- from the first minute, from minute one, they start claiming these stories that he was throwing rocks or he was throwing something. I sent videos where the car was, how far it was from Highway 60, where they're claiming he was. It was 200 meters away from the Highway 60. And he was driving away, going back to the village. How can you be throwing rocks while you're driving away and you get shot?

We are under an occupation, a government that is -- we are supporting, the western world is supporting -- my government, my tax dollars, my tax money. I am paying for bullets and machine guns to kill our own citizen now. To kill a 17 years old U.S. citizen that came here to spend time to see his dad and his great-granddad heritage. Now, he's dead.

My daughter is seven years old last night at 2:00 a.m. Me and my wife spent two hours, two hours with my daughter. She's seven years old, asking me, I don't understand what's going on. Where's my brother? So, I'm asking Blinken, the secretary of state, I'm asking Biden, Biden administration, the whole White House, give me the answer I should answer my daughter. She's seven years old. What should I tell her? What should I tell my wife? She's crying every night on the pillow right next to me.

It takes us to 2:00, 3:00, 4:00 o'clock in the morning. I'm barely getting sleep because of the situation we're in.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KINKADE: Well, it's not yet clear who fired the shots, but police said the incident is under investigation. Abdel Jabbar says he has video evidence of that shooting, which he just described there, which he has sent to the U.S. consular and to a number of U.S. senators.

We're going to take a quick break. We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[02:45:00]

KINKADE: Welcome back. One man is dead after a tanker truck plunged off a bridge in Summit County, Ohio, on Saturday morning. The truck was carrying about 7,500 gallons of diesel fuel and exploded on impact. Police say the driver lost control of the rig while attempting to merge from one highway to another.

A nearby creek was contaminated with fuel and briefly caught fire. Contaminant booms are being used to control the environmental damage.

Taking a look at weather across the U.S., the threats of flooding are expected to ramp up on the West Coast as they're winding down in the east. CNN Meteorologist Elisa Raffa has the latest.

ELISA RAFFA, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Our eyes go to the West Coast this week where an atmospheric river could unfold. We're looking at potentially hazardous rainfall where you see those orange dots. Southern Oregon, Northern California over the next couple of days.

Look at all the Pacific moisture headed towards the West Coast. It starts to shift south a little bit as we go into the work week. With parts of Northern California feeling the brunt of some of the threat of flash flooding by Tuesday and Wednesday.

Here's a look at the series of storms that just continues with a fire hose of the heavy rain. Monday morning, another storm there by. Tuesday morning, bringing some of that rain into Seattle and Portland. Then notice that front starts to drape into California. Some of that heavy rain, making it as far south to San Francisco. Some of the showers getting in to Southern California. And then look at the white too, looking at some snow up in the higher elevations of the Sierra Nevadas.

So, we're looking at some four to six inches of rain possible around the Seattle area this weekend. And as we go through the next couple of days, that heavy rain swath works its way south, looking at some two- to-four-inch totals down to San Francisco. And then again, the Spine and the Sierra Nevada is where you can find some of that heavy snow.

Here's that flash flood threat as we get towards Wednesday, as that really starts to work its way down the West Coast. That yellow is that area where we could find some flash flooding. We're looking at much above average amounts of moisture in the air for this time of year from Eureka down to San Francisco. So, something to watch out for.

All of this coming with some really warm air temperatures, 10 to 15 to 20 degrees above average. And a lot of this area as we go into the work week, temperatures in the 60s and 70s from San Francisco to Sacramento, some 60s up in Seattle. We're looking at multiple records possible by Sunday and Monday. KINKADE: Our thanks to Elisa.

Well, still to come on "CNN Newsroom," from silence to sound. How an experimental gene therapy treatment introduced a young boy to a whole new world.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[02:50:00]

KINKADE: Welcome back. A breakthrough in gene therapy has allowed a young boy to experience the sensation of sound for the first time in his life. The 11-year-old was born with an extremely rare form of deafness due to a mutated gene. CNN's Danny Freeman walks us through the experimental treatment that has changed the boy's life.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DANNY FREEMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Aissam Dam was once a stranger to sound. Deaf since birth in both ears. But now after 11 years of life, Aissam can hear, hear noises, speech, his dad's voice for the first time.

DR. JOHN A. GERMILLER, ATTENDING SURGEON, CHILDREN'S HOSPITAL OF PHILADELPHIA: He was actually a little scared when I first got his hearing back because he wasn't sure what all this new information was all of a sudden. So -- but it's exciting. He's loving it.

FREEMAN (voice-over): Aissam is the first patient in the U.S. to receive gene therapy as a treatment for hereditary hearing loss. In October, doctors at the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia replaced his mutated gene with copies of the functional version. Four months later, Aissam is finally able to hear what sound sounds like.

DR. GERMILLER: Now, he can hear at a level that we say is mild to moderate hearing loss, which is quite good. It's actually remarkably good for someone because it's the first patient treated in this country.

[02:55:00]

FREEMAN (voice-over): There are more than 150 genes that can cause hearing loss at birth, Germiller says. ISOMs, which is rare, is the first doctors in the U.S. have been able to treat. The breakthrough has researchers eagerly working towards the same technology for some of the more common genes.

DR. GERMILLER: It's not likely you have this gene, and it's not for every gene, it's just this one gene that we can treat now on this clinical trial. But stay tuned for more in the next five to 10 years.

FREEMAN (voice-over): Children's Hospital Philadelphia is one of several teams around the world doing clinical trials with gene therapy. And it's needed. The hospital says about 1 in 500 infants is born with some sort of genetic hearing loss.

But it's just a matter of time before Aissam is among several deaf children given a chance at what many of us take for granted, hearing.

Danny Freeman, CNN, Philadelphia.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KINKADE: Well, in Italy, the Venice Carnival is paying tribute to one of the city's greatest travelers, Marco Polo, to mark the 700th anniversary of his death.

Today is Carnival Day in Venice and hundreds of boats are set to take part in a parade along the Grand Canal to officially open this year's festivities. Events will run through February 13th. Carnival celebrations in Venice draw millions of people and date back to at least the 14th century.

And you could say it was quite the circus that unfolded on an Indiana highway early Saturday. Camels, zebras, and a miniature horse suddenly ended up on the side of the interstate after the trailer they were traveling in caught fire. The sheriff's office says all the animals were rescued safely and none of their "furry friends" were hurt. They add that officers gave the animals some hay before being loaded back up and back onto the road. Good to hear.

Well, thanks so much for joining us. I'm Lynda Kinkade. Another hour of "Newsroom" is just ahead. Stay with us. You're watching CNN.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[03:00:00]