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Boris Nadezhdin to Officially Join the Presidential Race in Russia; U.S. Moves to Re-impose Sanctions on Venezuela After Main Opposition Candidate Barred From Presidential Election; Possible First Wild Sighting of Newborn Great White Shark; Memphis Zoo Announces Birth of Rare Pygmy Slow Loris. Aired 2-3a ET

Aired January 31, 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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[02:00:38]

ROSEMARY CHURCH, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: Hello, and welcome to our viewers joining us from all around the world and streaming us on CNN Max. This is CNN NEWSROOM. And I'm Rosemary Church.

Just ahead, U.S. President Joe Biden, says he has decided on a response to the drone strike that killed three U.S. service members in Jordan. We're waiting to see what that response will be.

Israel is defending its undercover operation in a West Bank hospital that killed three Palestinian militants, and the U.S. reimposes sanctions against Venezuela after an opposition candidate is barred from upcoming presidential elections.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ANNOUNCER: Live from Atlanta. This is CNN NEWSROOM WITH ROSEMARY CHURCH.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH: Thanks for joining us.

U.S. President Joe Biden says he has decided on how to respond to the deadly drone strike on American forces in Jordan.

But with no further details, it's still unclear what that response will be.

His announcement on Tuesday came two days after the attack on a small U.S. outpost called Tower 22, which sits in the desert of northeastern Jordan near the border with Syria.

Three U.S. soldiers were killed, dozens more injured. U.S. officials blame Iran-back militants though Iran denies involvement.

The White House suggests any action would be aimed at degrading the group's capabilities, and sending a strong message to deter any further attacks.

Here is what President Biden told CNN.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Have you made a decision how you'll respond to the attack?

JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Yes.

I don't think we need a wider war in the Middle East. That's not what I'm looking for.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH: Meantime, the most powerful Iran-backed militia in Iraq, Kata'ib Hezbollah, released this statement following the drone attack, saying, "We are announcing the suspension of military and security operations against the occupation forces," meaning, U.S. troops, "in order to prevent embarrassment to the Iraqi government."

Here is how the Pentagon reacted.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MAJ. GEN. PATRICK RYDER, PENTAGON PRESS SECRETARY: We've seen those reports. I don't have a specific comment to provide other than actions speak louder than words.

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CHURCH: CNN's M.J. Lee is following all the developments reporting from the White House.

M.J. LEE, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: President Biden on Tuesday, telling reporters that he has made a decision on how to strike back after the death of three U.S. service members.

We know the president and his national security team have been weighing a number of options, including options that could be multipronged that could take place over the course of multiple stages.

And officials had made clear that what is likely to come will -- is expected to be more serious and more powerful in its force. Now, compared to the retaliatory strikes that we have seen from the U.S. in Iraq and Syria. And when the president spoke with reporters on Tuesday, he made clear that in his eyes, there is one country that is responsible for the deaths of these three Americans.

Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Mr. President, do you hold Iran responsible for the deaths of those three Americans?

BIDEN: I do hold them responsible in the sense that they're supplying the weapons to the people who did it.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: But directly responsible?

BIDEN: Well, we'll have that discussion.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEE: And those comments from the president really capturing the very tough juggling act for the president, as he is making clear that he doesn't want to see a bigger war. But at the same time, he wants to make sure that the U.S. response with serious force. The question, of course, going forward is how he can do that and how the U.S. can do that without further escalating the situation in the Middle East.

Of course, the president is facing the tough reality as well, that some of these strikes in the past have not been successful at deterring some of these Iran-backed proxy groups.

When the president was asked what will actually be different this time with the next set of steps that the U.S. will take? He simply answered, we'll see.

M.J. Lee, CNN, at the White House.

CHURCH: Joining me now is Malcolm Davis, a military analyst and senior analyst at the Australian strategic policy institute. Appreciate you joining us.

[02:05:06]

MALCOLM DAVIS, SENIOR ANALYST FOR DEFENSE, STRATEGY, AND CAPABILITY, AUSTRALIAN STRATEGIC POLICY INSTITUTE: Thanks, Rosemary.

CHURCH: So, President Joe Biden says he has decided how he plans to respond to the deadly attack on U.S. troops in Jordan. So, now, we wait to see what retaliatory action will be taken.

The complicated question, of course, is how that can be done without expanding the war in the region. How achievable is that balance?

DAVIS: It's a really challenging problem for the Biden administration. Firstly, I don't think the Biden administration can afford to delay for too long as your report indicated, days are going on, since that attack, and at some point, the U.S. does need to act.

The question is how they act in a way that essentially degrades the abilities of Iranian sponsored militia groups to attack the U.S. in the future, and at the same time, sends the message to Iran to basically stop all future attacks.

And, in particular, I think the conduit for that message has to be the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps. I don't think you're going to see attacks on Iranian soil.

I think the president has made that quite clear. But the risk is that, you know, the U.S. will do these attacks, there might be a bit more intense or widespread than previous attacks.

But if the Iranian-backed militias, then launch more attacks, potentially injuring more U.S. service people, then, President Biden is under immense pressure to do something far more destructive and widespread.

CHURCH: Yes, and of course, that pressure is building with some Republicans calling for tough and punishing strikes on Iranian soil. What would be the consequences of that more extreme response, do you think?

DAVIS: Well, if you have a situation where the U.S. is gradually escalating the pressure after a series of strikes that don't stop militia attacks, and I don't think we should take much notice of what could Kata'ib Hezbollah says, then, I think that the pressure will be on Biden, to do something quite decisive. And that could involve attacks directly against Iran itself.

And that could then see Iran retaliate against the U.S. militarily. And so, then you have your tit for tat escalation into a wider war.

We are probably at that wider war now, that it's just at a very low level. And I think that the challenge for the Biden administration is to keep it at that low level, rather than seeing it escalate, both in terms of intensity, and in terms of geographic spread.

CHURCH: And what about a response that fails to meet the moment by being too little, too late, as you mentioned, a response that risks making America look weak? How does President Biden and his national security team make the right call on that and work through all the possible options and ramifications? Of course, we know he's already decided what he will do.

But take us through that process?

DAVIS: Well, I think he's making a mistake by constantly stating that he doesn't want escalation, because that's actually playing into Iran's interests of playbook, they can then ratchet up the pressure on the U.S. and try and see where Biden's red line is.

But from terms of Biden's perspective on how this happens, I think that we'll see these strikes, go ahead and probably in the next day or so. If the -- if the Iranians, then, all the Iranian sponsor groups then strike back, then, I think Biden has to have a much more expansive target set rather than just the militia group.

So, it could be attacks on the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps, both on land and at sea. It could be cyber-attacks, on targets inside Iran. And at the ultimate stage, of course, if things keep going would be kinetic attacks on targets in Iran.

And they have to judge how those strikes are going. And they have to determine what sort of strikes to do, what sort of targets to hit and how intensely to hit those targets in order to force Iran to back down, in order to restore deterrence so far. The U.S. military strikes have seen deterrence fail. CHURCH: Malcolm Davis, want to thank you for joining us and for your analysis. Appreciate it.

DAVIS: Thank you very much. The U.N. Secretary General held a meeting with 35 donor nations, including the U.S. on Tuesday, amid the fallout over Israel's allegations that some members of the U.N.'s main relief agency in Gaza were involved in the October 7th Hamas attacks.

The U.N. says the secretary general is expected to brief donor countries on the actions being taken since the allegations. Listen to their concerns, and also stress the critical humanitarian work UNRWA does in Gaza.

[02:10:01]

It comes after more than a dozen countries halted funding to UNRWA since the allegations emerged. The U.S. envoy to the U.N. says the agency needs to make fundamental changes before Washington can resume funding.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LINDA THOMAS-GREENFIELD, UNITED STATES AMBASSADOR TO UNITED NATIONS: We need to look at the organization how it operates in Gaza, how they manage their staff and to ensure that people who commit criminal acts such as these 12 individuals are held accountable immediately, so that UNRWA can continue the central work that it is doing.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH: Meantime, the U.N.'s humanitarian coordination forum is warning that pause in funding to UNRWA could be catastrophic for more than 2 million Palestinians in Gaza.

In a statement they said, "Withdrawing funds from UNRWA is perilous and would result in the collapse of the humanitarian system in Gaza with far-reaching humanitarian and human rights consequences. The world cannot abandon the people of Gaza.

The Palestinian Red Crescent says Israeli military vehicles are stationed in a hospital's front yard in Khan Younis in southern Gaza, where thousands of displaced people had taken shelter.

The aid group says the Israeli military entered the al-Amal hospitals compound, "Firing live ammunition and smoke grenades," after surrounding the buildings for more than a week.

A hospital officials says Israeli forces were asking displaced people to "evacuate" the building at gunpoint.

And PRCS earlier reported that gunfire from Israeli tanks had killed one displace woman and injured nine others. CNN is unable to verify the situation independently and has reached out to the IDF for comment.

Israel is defending its raid on a West Bank hospital that killed three Palestinian militants. With the military's chief of staff, saying they will not allow hospitals to become "a cover" for terrorism.

The IDF is coming under criticism because Special Forces disguised themselves as medical personnel, while carrying out the attack. Journalists Elliott Gotkine is following developments for us. He joins us live from London.

Good morning to you, Elliott.

So, what more are you learning about this deadly incident? And, of course, it's likely ramifications?

ELLIOTT GOTKINE, CNN JOURNALIST: Rosemary, quite stunning images, aren't they? I think if we weren't playing them out on a news channel, you might think you'd stumbled upon an episode of the hit Netflix show "Fauda".

Now, these kinds of raids aren't unprecedented but what is rare is to actually see them or part of them unfolding, thanks to this security camera footage. And from what we understand from both the Israelis and the Palestinian news agency, WAFA, is that about a dozen commandos from this Israeli special forces unit raided the Ibn Sina hospital in the Israeli occupied West Bank city of Jenin.

Now, they were disguised some as civilians, some as hospital workers. There were women among the commandos, wearing hijabs. One of the commandos was carrying a wheelchair, another a baby car seat, and they seem to know exactly where they were planning to go, and who they were targeting.

They went to the third floor of this building, they found the three -- the three Palestinian militants, and they killed them. Now, one of them had actually previously been injured in an earlier part of the war in a drone strike, and he was said to be recovering. And then, the commandos left the building, there were no other injuries. No one was any of the wiser until this footage emerged later on.

Now, according to Herzi Halevi, he is General Herzi Halevi, he is the chief of the general staff in Israel. He says that not only were these militants involved in terrorist activities beforehand, but they were planning, in his words, a serious attack.

And he had heard that we do not want to turn hospitals, into battlefields, but so that they won't allow them to be used as a cover for terrorism.

Now, as you say, Israel has been criticized not just for the disguising of their commandos, as civilians and as hospital workers, but also for killing these three men inside of hospital, one of whom was injured.

Now, it's debatable whether there was any breach of law or whether the protected status of this hospital would have been at risk if these militants were planning attacks from the hospital itself.

But I think the other ramification is perhaps twofold. One is going to be very hard for Israel to carry out a similar raid of this sort, now that perhaps people will be ready for this eventuality. And I think also psychologically, it will have an impact on militants who perhaps if they're injured next time, will think twice about going to a hospital because they will now know that nowhere is safe for them. Rosemary?

CHURCH: All right. Our thanks to Elliott Gotkine joining us live from London.

Now, to a new and even harsher sentence for four former Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan.

[02:15:03]

He and his wife had been sentenced to 14 years in prison after being found guilty of not disclosing information on sold gifts sent to him by foreign leaders when he was in office.

A day earlier, Khan was given 10 years for leaking state secrets.

Kristie Lu Stout is to lose doubt is following this live from Hong Kong. She joins us now. Good to see you, Kristi. So, what's going on here? And what's the latest on these sentences?

KRISTIE LU STOUT, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Rosemary, we learned that Pakistan's former leader Imran Khan as well as his wife, Bushra Bibi had been sentenced to 14 years in jail. Now, Khan has been behind bars since August. And we've learned that the former first lady has surrendered and she is now in police custody.

They were found guilty of not disclosing information on sold gifts that were sent to him by foreign leaders when he was in office. And this sentence comes just one day after Imran Khan was handed a 10-year jail term in another case.

Now, this new ruling, it extends Khan's ban on running for office to 10 years. Khan will be allowed to serve the sentences concurrently. And this all comes at a very, very critical time, just literally days before a general election in Pakistan.

Now, we have heard from Imran Khan's media team. They slammed today's sentencing, saying, this let's bring up the statement for you, "Another sad day in our judicial system history, which is being dismantled." While also adding, "This ridiculous decision will also be challenged."

On Tuesday, Khan was sentenced to 10 years in prison for leaking state secrets. He maintains that these charges against him are politically motivated and allegation that authorities deny and these harsh sentences out this week, one after another or just the latest in a string of legal battles for Imran Khan. He has dozens of pending cases against him.

And again, this is now a critical time, parliamentary elections are set to take place on February the eighth that is just over one week away. Imran Khan is not able to run due to a previous conviction. But on Tuesday, he took to X, the social media platform to urge his supporters to turn out to vote. He wrote this, "My Pakistanis! This is your war and this is your test that you have to take revenge for every injustice by your vote on February the 8th while remaining peaceful."

A T.V. stations across Pakistan are banned from running his speeches. Many of his colleagues in the PTI party, they have been arrested. And despite not being able to stand at the upcoming election, Imran Khan still is very, very popular. He garners widespread support from voters.

Back to you, Rosemary.

CHURCH: All right, our thanks to Kristie Lu Stout, joining us live from Hong Kong.

A U.S. House committee voted just a short time ago to advance articles of impeachment against Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas. The rare and controversial step moves the articles out of the committee and sets up a vote by the full House, though it's unclear when.

The vote passed the Republican controlled Homeland Security Committee along party lines. Mayorkas could be the first Cabinet secretary in nearly 150 years to be charged with high crimes and misdemeanors by Congress.

Republicans accused Mayorkas of failing to enforce U.S. immigration policies at the southern border, though they have offered little evidence of wrongdoing.

Constitutional experts and congressional Democrats have argued the case is an abuse of the impeachment process. House Speaker Mike Johnson has promised to bring the articles up for a vote on the floor swiftly. But it's unlikely, Mayorkas would be charged in the Democrat controlled Senate.

Well, the farmers' protests continues to spread across France and Europe. What the leaders of France in the European Union are planning to do about them? We'll have a report from outside Paris after a short break. Stay with us.

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The U.S. and China are working together to stop the production and sale of chemicals used to make the deadly drug fentanyl. Officials from both governments met in Beijing on Tuesday to announce the China- U.S. counter-narcotics working group.

China's public security minister says the partnership shows both countries gain from cooperation and lose from confrontation.

Fentanyl has fueled a drug crisis in the U.S. in recent years. The CDC predicts more than 112,000 Americans died from a drug overdose from August 2022 to the same time last year.

France is a step closer to enshrining abortion rights in its constitution.

The French lower house of parliament passed an historic bill Tuesday, by overwhelming margins. Nearly 500 for and 30 against.

The bill now moves to the more conservative Senate where it is not guaranteed to pass. The push to constitutionalize abortion became a priority for the French government after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned the landmark Roe vs. Wade decision that legalized nationwide abortion.

Experts say that if this new bill becomes law, France will become the first country in the world to include abortion rights in its constitution.

Well, meanwhile, French President Emmanuel Macron is hoping to appease angry farmers, whose protests have now reached the outskirts of Paris. Mr. Macron is set to discuss the matter with the European Commission president on Thursday.

Farmers use tractors to block key roadways outside Paris on Tuesday to protest cheap imports, low wages and government policies. CNN's Melissa Bell filed this report near the French capital.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MELISSA BELL, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: And what we've seen, since yesterday are these farmers, who had been spreading their discontent fairly widely across France, blockading roads, with their tractors elsewhere around the country, dumping manure outside of local stores, setting tires and waste to light to try and draw attention to their anger.

It had begun in the south of France more than a week ago, and is now moved progressively closer to Paris. And we're now just on the outskirts of Paris. Their plan is to stay until they get what they want from the government.

Now, what they're complaining about are a combination of higher production costs as a result of the E.U. subsidy system and government efforts to bring down food inflation for people, coupled with an extraordinary amount of red tape, they say that makes it simply impossible for them to do their job.

For instance, what French farmers say is that it takes them an entire day each week, just to fill out the paperwork that they need in order to get their subsidies from the common agricultural policy.

So, it's a number of different issues that they say have driven them to this to trying to put a stranglehold around the French capital in order to bring it to a halt. It is a siege that they're threatening.

For now, just a few of these main roads into Paris, are being blocked. Their threat, though, is that this will get out. As you can see, well, just behind me, where they've had set up a little while ago, a big screen. They were listening to Gabriel Attal, the French Prime Minister make a series of announcements for the French farmer.

For now, I have to say it was a very broad speech, very fiery, he's new to his job. He's very young. And it was his job to try and show that he was determined to change the way the French state worked.

In terms of specific for farmers, it was fairly short on those, but we expect more measures to be announced today. Much more crucial, though, likely to be this meeting on Thursday, E.U. leaders will meet.

[02:25:01]

Remember that this is now a European-wide problem. Each set of farmers from the particular countries has their own set of grievances. But all together, European-wide, farmers are feeling the brunt of European regulations that are making their jobs harder.

European attempts to import cheap food, both grain, and meat, milk, from outside the European Union, where they say, the measures, the requests, the demands being made of farmers, they're far less stringent. So, there is an injustice they say at the heart of the system that they are no longer willing to tolerate.

And they say, very much like you'll remember, the Yellow Vest Protests where few years ago here in France, they were kicked off by that straw that broke the camel's back, it was a rise in fuel taxes. Similarly, the drop really here that caused all of this to explode here in France, was the announcement that there would no longer be subsidies on the crucial diesel that many of these farmers use to run their farms.

So, all of this combined now, a major headache for the French government, and not only for European governments, and for Brussels by the time they meet on Thursday, trying to figure out how they can bring this sort of disruption to an end.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CHURCH: Still to come, dashed hopes for democracy in Venezuela as new political turmoil takes hold. We'll explain.

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CHURCH: The head of Ukraine's Defense Intelligence Agency is making a bold prediction for the months ahead. He claims Russia's offensive will run out of steam by early spring.

The Intel chief says Russia's military has not achieved its goals in the Donetsk and Luhansk regions, and the offensive did not live up to Moscow's expectations.

Ukraine's counter offensive which ended last year failed to produce any major gains and Ukrainian officials blamed it on delays in ammunition supplies from the west and heavily mined frontlines. Well, the race for president in Russia is about to get its first opposition candidate.

[02:30:03]

Boris Nadezhdin is expected to submit the 100,000 signatures needed to qualify in the coming hours. He says he has collected twice that number. The Kremlin has dismissed his candidacy saying he is not a rival to President Vladimir Putin. Nadezhdin says, if elected, he will guarantee safety for Putin, keep him away from a War Crimes Tribunal in The Hague, and make sure he gets his pension. The election begins March 15.

The U.S. has started re-imposing sanctions on Venezuela after an opposition candidate was barred from running for president. So far, only a state-owned mining company has been sanctioned, but the U.S. suggested Venezuela's lucrative oil and gas sector could get hit by April if President Nicolas Maduro does not allow credible opposition candidates to compete in this year's election. His vice president called the move blackmail and warned of retaliation via migration policies.

Meanwhile, the main opposition challenger, Maria Machado, is refusing to exit the presidential race, even though the Maduro-controlled Supreme Court disqualified her from holding any public office for 15 years.

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MARIA CORINA MACHADO, VENEZUELAN OPPOSITION LEADER: We knew that this road was going to be full of obstacles because Nicolas Maduro knows that running against me means he will lose that those elections. But Venezuela has been changing. He has lost total support of the base. The Chavista movement, once had over 80 percent of the population, rejects the regime and wants change. And now, we are receiving more and more and more support of international allies, pushing for free and fair election. So, we have time in front of us that we need to use to build as much citizens' strength (ph) and organization to reach a point in which Maduro will have to accept that he will have to face me.

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CHURCH: The political turmoil comes just a few months after an agreement between the Venezuelan government and the opposition that may now be unraveling. Stefano Pozzebon has details.

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STEFANO POZZEBON, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It seemed a rare victory for diplomacy in a year of conflict.

(APPLAUSE)

POZZEBON (voice-over): October last year, the Venezuelan government and the opposition signing a deal that opened the door to a peaceful transition and brought hopes of an end to years of political crisis in the South American country. Authoritarian leader Nicolas Maduro pledging to release political prisoners and allow free and fair elections, and the United States assisting the opposition, offering to life sanctions in exchange for a return to democracy. Five days later, an opposition primary with more than 2 million votes selected Maria Corina Machado to challenge Maduro for the presidency as a unitary candidate.

Then in December, a prisoner swap brought home ten U.S. citizens detained in Venezuela in exchange for a close ally and alleged personal financier of Maduro himself, National Security Adviser Juan Gonzalez showing cautious optimism that Venezuela could finally turn the page.

JUAN GONZALEZ, DEPT. ASST. SECRETARY, BUREAU OF WESTERN HEMISPHERE AFFAIRS: Part of the deal was releasing U.S. prisoners and Venezuelan political prisoners. They are respecting the deal and doing even more. We know this is a long process, but we are committed step-by-step with democracy in Venezuela.

POZZEBON (voice-over): But with the New Year, things started to sour.

NICOLAS MADURO, VENEZUELAN PRESIDENT: Nothing will stop me. I will keep campaigning and protecting the people. And just so it hurts them the most, I will keep ruling this country.

POZZEBON (voice-over): Until Friday, when the supreme court stacked with government allies ruled that Machado is banned from holding public office on corruption charges. Machado denies the charges as well as accusations that she conspired to forcefully remove Maduro from power. Instead, she accuses Maduro of breaking his word and called on the support of the international community.

Republicans in the U.S. urging President Biden to restore the sanctions lifted last year, including oil sanctions which could impact gas prices back home. And the White House on Monday saying Maduro still has until spring to commit to what he pledged in October. With both Venezuela and the United States set to go to the polls, this poll (ph) one presidential campaign already leaking onto the other.

Stefano Pozzebon, CNN, Bogota.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CHURCH: Still to come, you are looking at rare footage of what experts believe to be a newborn great white shark in the wild. I will speak with the photographer who captured this footage when we come back. Stay with us.

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[02:42:05]

CHURCH: New video appears to show what could be the first recorded sighting of a newborn great white shark in the wild. A wildlife filmmaker took this footage with a drone near the California coast. Researchers say the shape and size match that of a newborn and they believe it was shedding its embryonic layer. But some experts are calling the finding highly speculative. Others say, regardless of what we know, it remains an exciting observation, giving more clues to where an actual breeding ground might be.

And joining me now is the filmmaker who took those pictures, Carlos Gauna is a photographer and wildlife filmmaker. He joins me now from California. Great to have you with us.

CARLOS GAUNA, WILDLIFE FILMMAKER & PHOTOGRAPHER: Thank you. Thanks for having me.

CHURCH: So, you captured this spectacular footage off the coast of Southern California, showing what could potentially be the first ever glimpse of a newborn great white shark in the wild. Why do you think that's what we are seeing here and how significant could this prove to be?

GAUNA: Well, first of all, there's no precedents for this. We don't know exactly what a newborn white shark it looks like. That's kind of wild to think about, right? So, we believe that this is a newborn for a few reasons. One, the specific size and shape of the dorsal fin and all the fins, they are rounded. If you look at a white shark that's young, developed adult, they have very pointed dorsal fins. This one has a very rounded dorsal fin, underdeveloped. That's one of the reasons. The second is that it is losing or peeling off a layer of white coating that we believe could be uterine milk lining from the mother.

CHURCH: So, what do you say to those experts who call this finding highly speculative and how is it possible to confirm that this is a newborn great white shark? Is it possible?

GAUNA: Well, in our manuscript, in the journal, we've published two hypotheses. One that it is in fact a newborn and we have our set facts that, and then the second is that it may be a skin condition, this white layer that's coming off as the shark swimming. The problem with the second hypothesis in what folks who say it's a skin condition is, is that that does not explain the unique shape of the dorsal fin and the pectoral fins and the size of the shark. So, we are open to the criticisms. We are open to that being an explanation for it. However, most shark experts, most shark scientists will not -- will agree that this is a very, very young shark.

CHURCH: So, how useful is a sighting like this for shark science, if it is confirmed to be a newborn great white?

GAUNA: Well, I'll be the first one to say that I am not a marine biologist or a shark scientist. I'm a filmmaker. However, I do know that the holy grail of shark science is the birthing location of a great white shark. Nobody has ever seen one. It's always thought that it has been deep and offshore. The significant part of this is that it was filmed near shore in very shallow water. And I happen to be observing over the last three years, very large, presumably pregnant sharks in that exact area. And on that particular day, one dove down and a couple of minutes later, this shark came up. CHURCH: Interesting. And of course, I'd like to ask what you're planning to do with this footage?

GAUNA: Well, the footage is there for scientific use. I'm sharing it with scientists all across the world, giving some really good feedback. But personally, I plan to film it again. The problem is we do have only a sample of one here, so that makes it very hard to prove. But the probability that this is a newborn shark is significantly higher than if it wasn't.

CHURCH: Well, a spectacular footage. Whatever is confirmed in the end, Carlos Gauna, thank you so much for sharing it with us. We do appreciate it.

GAUNA: Thank you.

CHURCH: Well, the Memphis Zoo is announcing the birth of a rare and endangered species of primate that's native to Southeast Asia. He's a pygmy slow loris. He was born in December and needed some extra assistance in order to survive. So, veterinarians are feeding him every two hours around the clock and now he is doing quite well they say. He doesn't have a name yet, but zookeepers plan to pick one that matches his personality. Very cute.

Thanks so much for watching this hour. I'm Rosemary Church. I will be back with more "CNN Newsroom" at the top of hour. "World Sport" is coming up next.

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