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One Dead, 21 Wounded at a Super Bowl Celebration Mass Shooting in Kansas; Japan Now the Fourth Largest Economy in the World; Gang Violence in Haiti Worsens with January 2024 the Most Violent on Record; NATO Defense Ministers Tackle Support for Ukraine; Bollywood Actor Talks to CNN's Richard Quest on His Career; Taylor Swift's Eras Tour Heads to Australia; Fantastic Four Reboot Cast Revealed on Valentines Day. Aired 3-4a ET

Aired February 15, 2024 - 03:00   ET

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

[03:00:00]

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KIM BRUNHUBER, CNN ANCHOR: Hello and welcome to all of you watching us around the world. I'm Kim Brunhuber. Ahead on "CNN Newsroom."

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UNKNOWN: I was just telling everybody to get down, get down and then get out the way and the officers were coming around.

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BRUNHUBER: In their hunt for suspects in the mass shooting at a Super Bowl parade, authorities in Kansas City, Missouri are asking the public for tips and clues.

Plus, Russia strikes multiple cities across Ukraine as NATO allies meet in Brussels for aid talks.

And later, CNN's Richard Quest sits down with Bollywood's King Khan, the secret to his more than 30-year career as a world-famous actor.

UNKNOWN (voice-over): Live from Atlanta, this is "CNN Newsroom" with Kim Brunhuber.

BRUNHUBER: And we begin in the U.S. state of Missouri where police are trying to figure out why someone would open fire on the Kansas City Chiefs Super Bowl celebrations. Authorities say one person was killed, 21 others shot and wounded. Even more people were injured in the chaos that followed. Local hospitals tell CNN 11 of those being treated are children.

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So you heard it there, the sound of gunfire. Some spectators said they thought it was fireworks. Police say they took three people into custody for questioning. An estimated one million people were on hand for the chief's parade and celebration. Here's Kansas City Mayor Quinton Lucas.

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QUINTON LUCAS, KANSAS CITY, MISSOURI MAYOR: What you saw happen was why people talk about guns a lot. We had over 800 officers there, staffed, situated all around Union Station today. We had security in any number of places, eyes on top of buildings and beyond. And there still is a risk to people. And I think that's something that all of us who are parents, who are just regular people living each day, have to decide what we wish to do about it. Parades, rallies, schools, movies, it seems like almost nothing is safe.

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BRUNHUBER: Radio station KKFI identified the person killed as Lisa Lopez Galvan. She worked as a DJ and programmer who volunteered at the station. We have more now from CNN's Brian Todd.

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BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): In the middle of a city- wide celebration, panic.

Shots fired in Kansas City, Missouri as a rally for the Super Bowl champion Kansas City Chiefs was wrapping up. Multiple people were struck. Officials say one person is dead, more than 20 wounded. Police say the shots were fired near Union Station in Kansas City, in the vicinity of the garage.

CHIEF STACEY GRAVES, KANSAS CITY, MISSOURI POLICE DEPARTMENT: As soon as the rally concluded, there were shots fired on the west side of Union Station. Officers were on scene in the area. I know one of these suspects was immediately pursued on foot.

TODD (voice-over): Police say three people have been detained. Witnesses described scenes of chaos.

UNKNOWN: All of a sudden people started crushing forward. Everybody started running. There was screaming. We didn't know what was happening, but this day and age when people run, you run. And so I put my arms around her and we tried to push through so people wouldn't run on top of us. And there was a woman crying, saying something about somebody had been shot.

UNKNOWN: But when we were heading west trying to get back and away from it. We saw the police swarm a stairwell, and then we heard another pop from there. And that's when I was like, okay, we're gone.

TODD (voice-over): Police say they're still trying to determine what prompted the shooting. It's not clear whether the people struck by gunfire were specifically targeted or whether the shooting was planned in any way.

STEVE MOORE, RETIRED FBI SUPERVISORY SPECIAL AGENT: The crime scene becomes immensely larger if it's a planned attack. And I mean, you're talking a mile square sometimes for something like this. So they're going to be very quickly trying to identify who the shooters were and the motive for that shooting.

TODD (voice-over): Authorities are now appealing to the public for more information. They want people who are at the scene to share information, including any video they may have taken.

Brian Todd, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BRUNHUBER: Well as we just mentioned, police and the FBI are asking people who were at the celebration to send videos that might help in their investigation. Well, one woman recorded the scene as her father and other bystanders tackled a man just after the shots rang out. You can actually hear someone saying, when we tackled him, the gun came out. Listen to this.

[03:05:02]

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PAUL CONTRERAS, SUPER BOWL PARADE MASS SHOOTING WITNESS: I just heard somebody yelling to stop this guy, tackle him, and he was coming in the opposite direction. So I just, you don't think about it, it's just a reaction. He got close to me, I got the right angle on him, and I hit him from behind.

And when I hit him from behind, I either jarred the gun out of his hand or out of his sleeve because as I'm taking him down to the ground, I see the gun on the ground. So I take him down and I put all my body weight on him and then another good Samaritan comes over and is helping me, because I kind of got him high and the other guy gets him around his waist and we're just putting our weight on him and he's just fighting to get up, but we're fighting to keep him down.

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BRUNHUBER: Police say they recovered several firearms from the scene but wouldn't specify how many. Also, no charges have been announced against any of the three people who were detained. Former FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe explains some of the next steps in the investigation. Here he is.

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ANDREW MCCABE, FORMER FBI DEPUTY DIRECTOR: Clearly the Kansas City Police Department has got a tangled mess on their hands to try to get to the bottom of and I would suspect that they're not really going to be able to do that until they get the sort of assistance from the public that they have now requested, which is to upload copies of videos and photographs that were taken at the scene in that area when this shooting started. So that will help them a lot, I think, not just place the players on the set, as it were but also to try to track it back to who was actually firing these shots.

But I think the most likely explanation here is that we have some sort of a conflict between two groups of people that erupted into gun violence and it's entirely more likely to happen in a place where many people are carrying firearms. So not so much premeditated attack as it were as a, you know, like a spontaneous event between kind of a two warring clans.

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BRUNHUBER: Well, reaction to the shooting is coming in from across the U.S. The Kansas City Chiefs say their hearts go out to the victims, their families and all of Kansas City. The NFL says it's deeply saddened by the central shooting that occurred near the end of the rally in Kansas City for the chiefs.

The U.S. President Joe Biden says Wednesday's events quote, "should move us, shock us, shame us into acting. How many more families need to be torn apart? It is time to act."

Now the president's comments come as the United States has now seen 49 mass shootings already this year. That's according to the Gun Violence Archive, which defines mass shooting as one in which at least four people are shot, either injured or killed in a single event.

Ukraine is reporting new Russian strikes across the country in recent hours. It says at least seven people were wounded in the attacks, which damaged residential buildings and infrastructure in the cities of Zaporizhzhia and Lviv. Now, the strikes also target the capital, Kyiv, but didn't cause significant damage there.

Now, the strikes come just a day after Ukraine sank another Russian warship. Military leaders say they used jet-ski power, drones to punch holes in the site of the Caesar Kunikov landing ship, destroying it. Ukraine says it's taken out a third of Russia's Black Sea fleet since the war began.

But as Russia takes losses at sea, it's reportedly stepping up its game in the skies. Moscow has used an advanced hypersonic missile for the first time in combat, according to a Ukrainian scientific group. It analyzed these missile fragments from a Russian strike on Kyiv last week.

Now the missile hit a residential building in the city, killing four people and leaving at least 38 others injured. The Ukrainian group says Moscow used the so-called Zircon missile, which is believed to fly eight times faster than the speed of sound. Experts say the weapon can evade even the best of Western anti-missile defenses.

Now some members of the U.S. Congress were briefed Wednesday about new and troubling intelligence about Russia's nuclear capabilities in space. The information prompted House Intelligence Committee Chairman Mike Turner to declare what he called a serious national security threat and he urged the president to declassify the intelligence, but other leaders are downplaying the urgency.

The new intel reveals details on Russia's capabilities to deploy a nuclear anti-satellite system in space. Some senior members of Congress with knowledge of the intel say the system is under development and isn't yet in orbit and they say it doesn't pose an immediate threat to the U.S. or its interests. Another official tells CNN the threat doesn't involve a weapon that would be used to attack humans.

[03:10:05]

We'll bring in Malcolm Davis, who's a senior analyst for defense strategy and capability at the Australian Strategic Policy Institute, and he's with us from Canberra. Thanks so much for being here with us. So I want to go back and start with the sinking of that Russian warship, just the latest, which seems to demonstrate just how effective these naval drones can be. Why is that?

MALCOLM DAVIS, SR. ANALYST, AUSTRALIAN STRATEGIC POLICY INSTITUTE: Look, they are essentially a new technology. And I think the way the Ukrainians are using them is to gather intelligence on the whereabouts, the locations of these Russian naval vessels. And then they're using the cover of night and the fact that these drones are very low to the surface of the water. So if you look at their design, you can just barely see them above the surface of the water to essentially close with their target and hit it at relatively high speed.

The Russians don't seem to have found a way to stop them. They haven't adapted to the use of these drones, so I think this is a battle of adaptation that you can into winning with his new technology and it is becoming a crime as very effective indeed

BRUNHUBER: Yeah, very effective obviously, you know it's a huge threat to Russia's fleet and Ukraine will be getting even more drones from a coalition of NATO countries. So, can these drones sort of compensate for the lack of weaponry caused by the lack of aid from the U.S.?

DAVIS: No, they can't. And I think that's a crucial point to get across. The GOP in Congress potentially is about to make a horrendous strategic mistake if it decides not to support continuing aid to Ukraine. If that happens and the USA drops off and then the European aid drops off because Europe is not in a position to fill that gap, then by later this year or early into next year, Ukraine will not be in a position to counter Russia which will have had the opportunity to build up its forces and potentially turn the table turn the tide of the war in their favor.

So it really is absolutely vital that Congress does pass this aid budget and continues to support Ukraine with its much military equipment as it possibly can.

BRUNHUBER: Yeah, I've heard about soldiers having to ration, you know ammunition weaponry talk about the sort of ticking, you know, the time taking here is that also because Russia will be able to adapt to the use of these drones by Ukraine something which you mentioned it hasn't done so far but the longer this goes the more they might adapt.

DAVIS: But if you look at other domains in the war, you know, the ground domain, the air domain. The Russians are adapting theirs, so it's only a matter of time before the Russians work out tactics and capabilities to defeat these drones. And you know in addition, the Ukrainians can't win the war at sea

alone. They have to win the war on land. They have to defeat the Russian offensives that are going to come later this year, early into 2025. And unless the Ukrainians have the military assistance from the West to enable them to do that, they simply won't be in a position to defeat the Russians. So the clock is ticking as you say.

BRUNHUBER: I mentioned earlier that Russia has used its advanced hypersonic missile for the first time in combat. How significant is this, not just for Ukraine but also sort of as a threat to other nations because this missile apparently can evade anti-missile defenses?

DAVIS: Zircon is a range of Russian hypersonic weapons. Hypersonic, of course, means that the missile will travel at five times the speed of sound or greater. This one, the Zircon, travels at about eight times the speed of sound. The faster they go, the more difficult it is for Western military forces or Ukrainian military forces to defeat them.

And at a certain point, they can essentially blast through our defenses and deliver lethal payloads on target. So hypersonic weapons are seriously threatening. The Russians and the Chinese are well ahead in terms of hypersonic weapons. The West has some catching up to do.

BRUNHUBER: Also in the news and I want to ask you specifically about this because of your particular expertise in space and military technology there is new intelligence as I mentioned on Russian efforts to deploy a nuclear anti-satellite system in space now it's probably in its early stages it's not a weapon per se but what could it be exactly in what might it mean in terms of the weaponization of space?

DAVIS: Look, I woke at 5 a.m. this morning, Canberra Time and I saw this and I thought, what on earth has happened. And I think that what you are seeing is Russia essentially casting aside any pretense of supporting arms control in space, supporting space law.

[03:15:01]

This looks to be a nuclear-powered anti-satellite weapon. It's designed to generate electronic warfare effects at very long range and very high power. There was some concern that maybe it was actual nuclear weapons in orbit. I don't think that's the case. I think the consensus view of expertise and my colleagues in the strategic policy community in the U.S. and Australia is that it's nuclear powered. So it's got a reactor on board that powers an electronic warfare capability.

And that would be very worrying because essentially it would give the Russians a very powerful weapon that they could strike at satellites at long range. So if they deployed it in low Earth orbit close to the Earth, they could strike targets satellites up in what's known as geosynchronous orbit a much further away and they could generate lethal effects very quickly. So this represents an entirely new class of anti-satellite capability and as I say, it completely underlines any attempt towards arms control in space and preventing those weaponization of space. BRUNHUBER: All right so worrying but no immediate concern at least

we'll have to leave it there. Malcolm Davis, thank you so much for speaking with us.

DAVIS: Thank you.

BRUNHUBER: Israel has launched a new round of strikes in Lebanon and has warned the next one could be much worse. The IDF says its warplanes hit Hezbollah targets in five separate areas on Wednesday, aiming at military compounds, control centers and what it called terrorist infrastructure.

Now the strikes came hours after a deadly attack in northern Israel, which the IDF says came from Lebanon. Israeli officials say an Israeli soldier was killed and multiple civilians were wounded. Hezbollah hasn't claimed responsibility for the attack, but the IDF's chief of staff is warning that Israel's next campaign across the border will include quote "a very strong offensive." Here it is.

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HERZI HALEVI, IDF CHIEF OF GENERAL STAFF (through translator): In the end, we will be ready for war. If it doesn't end in war, it won't end by compromising the achievements. Hezbollah will not be present here on the fence.

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BRUNHUBER: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is vowing powerful action in Rafah, despite mounting international concern over an expected ground offensive in Gaza's southernmost city. Netanyahu says action in Rafah would come after Israel allows the civilian population to leave the battle zones.

Meanwhile, to the north, Medecins Sans Frontieres, or Doctors Without Borders, has condemned Israel's order to evacuate Gaza's Nasser hospital amid heavy fighting, crowds of civilians are fleeing the hospital in Khan Younis, which has been under siege for weeks. The Israeli military says it has opened a secure route for evacuations, but doctors and medical officials in Gaza say Israeli snipers have shot and killed at least two people trying to flee and wounded several others over the past few days.

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DR. HYTHAM AHMAD, EMERGENCY DEPARTMENT, NASSER HOSPITAL (through translator): We are currently besieged in Nasr hospital for more than 22 days continuously. Currently there is a widespread presence of snipers and tanks. Intensive presence around Nasser Medical Center, facing difficulties in moving around inside the center between departments. And of course we cannot go outside the hospital from any gates of the hospital nor communicate with the world outside.

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BRUNHUBER: CNN's Paula Hancocks is following all the developments and joins us now from Abu Dhabi. So first Paula, on those Israeli strikes on Lebanon, what more can you tell us about those?

PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well Kim, this is of course a concern we've heard from the U.S. in particular that they are concerned about escalating tensions across the northern border between Israel and Lebanon. So what happened on Wednesday was that there were rockets that struck a base in Safed, this is in northern Israel, and as you mentioned one IDF soldier was killed, about half a dozen others civilians were injured in this particular strike.

Now Hezbollah at this point has not admitted to this particular strike. It has not claimed responsibility but what we did see immediately from the Israeli military was targeting some Hezbollah infrastructure in Lebanon using fighter jets for example to target military compounds, control rooms and infrastructure in that area. And we did hear from the chief of staff saying that this campaign could be a long one, pointing out that the next campaign will have a very strong offensive.

And this is what many in the region do not want to hear, that there is potentially another campaign that Israel could be contemplating. But we have been seeing this tit-for-tat strikes across the border. The question is whether or not what we heard from the chief-of-staff suggests that they believe that there will be more to come. Kim?

[03:20:01]

BRUNHUBER: Alright, and Paula, we're hearing more warnings, more international outcry over a possible massive Israeli incursion into Ra'afah. What's the latest there?

HANCOCKS: Well Kim, the number of world leaders that are stepping forward and vocalizing their concern is quite significant. We have heard just recently a joint statement from the leaders of Australia, Canada and New Zealand saying that it could be catastrophic if Israel were to carry out this invasion in Rafah, where there's some 1.3 million Palestinians at least, the vast majority in a sprawling tent city.

Germany's foreign minister saying it would be a human catastrophe. Ireland's leader on Wednesday saying that he believes that Israel's been blinded by rage and is not listening to other countries who are warning for this not to happen.

And as you mentioned just earlier, Kim, about the Nasser medical complex, there is a crisis there at the moment as some say they are being fired upon by Israel's military as they try and evacuate, which Israel's military wants them to do. We heard from an MSF project manager saying quote, "people have been forced into an impossible situation, stay at Nasser hospital against the Israeli military's orders and become a potential target or exit the compound into an apocalyptic landscape where bombings and evacuation orders are a part of daily life."

So a desperate situation for many in that particular area of Khan Younis of course that's just further north of Rafah, potentially an area where many of those who have been displaced to Rafa would have to move to. But of course, that's simply not possible at this point. Kim?

BRUNHUBER: Yeah, exactly. All right, Paula Hancocks in Abu Dhabi. Thank you so much.

Well, Japan had the third largest economy in the world, but not anymore. The land of the rising sun has sunk into a recession. We'll have a live report from Tokyo, next.

Plus. Gang violence in Haiti spins out of control as protesters demand change. We'll talk about how the gangs found new ways to make money and become even more powerful. That's coming up. Please stay with us.

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BRUNHUBER: Alright, just into CNN, the UK is now officially in a recession. That's according to the Press Association, which says government data shows the economy took another fall at the end of last year. GDP dropped by 0.3 percent in the fourth quarter. That followed a slight decline in the third quarter as well, and that's technically a recession, which is defined by two or more consecutive quarters of contracting output.

Well, Japan's once bustling economy is now also in a recession. The latest government data shows two consecutive quarters of a shrinking economy and it is no longer the world's third largest economy.

Live now to Tokyo and CNN's Hanako Montgomery. So Hanako, break down the significance of these new numbers for us.

[03:25:05]

HANAKO MONTGOMERY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yeah, of course, Kim. So the fact that Japan's GDP is now the fourth largest in the world is very significant, and it's a reflection of Japan's changing demographics. So as we know, Japan is facing a demographic crisis.

Over 10 percent of its population is over the age of 80, and nearly a third of the country is 65 and above, which is of retirement age. Now, what this means for the country is that it's less productive. There are less people making money in the country, less people spending money in the country. So naturally, the GDP shrinks and shrinks.

Now according to the latest government data from the Japanese government, the 2023 nominal GDP in Japan was 4.2 trillion U.S. dollars. Comparing that to Germany that was 4.4 trillion U.S. dollars so naturally Germany is now the third largest economy in the world.

Now I've been living in Japan for over three years and the fact that it's a super age society I mean it's very obvious if you go to the doctor's office for instance most other patients are elderly people, beauty salons, on the street, wherever you go really, it's a constant reminder. And these demographic changes that we've been seeing in the last 10 to 15 years are reasons for Japan's shrinking GDP.

But it's not the only factor. We're also seeing that currency developments, currency movements are reasons for Japan's GDP getting smaller and smaller. So as we know the GDP is calculated in dollar terms and right now the Japanese Yen is very weak. Last year on average, it was about 141 Japanese Yen to the dollar. 10 years ago, it was 80 Yen to the dollar.

Now, the third and final factor affecting Japan's GDP is also to do with private consumption. So less people in Japan are spending money, which means that private consumption went down 0.2 percent in the last quarter. So all these factors, Kim, affecting Japan's GDP, it's now the fourth largest in the world.

BRUNHUBER: I appreciate that update. Hanako Montgomery live in Tokyo, thanks so much.

Haiti is grappling with skyrocketing gang violence and the problem appears to be getting worse. The U.N. says January was the most violent month in Haiti in more than two years with more than 1,100 people killed, injured or kidnapped. That's three times more than in January last year. The U.N. says more than 2,300 people had the same fate in the last three months of 2023 and more than 8,000 for the entire year.

Average Haitians are fed up holding anti-government protests and calling for new elections last week. The violence is driven by rival gangs which clash over territory. The president of neighboring Dominican Republic says that Haiti is on the verge of a civil war and that its collapse will be irreversible if a proposed multinational support mission isn't funded.

All right, for more, we're joined from Port Au Prince by Monique Clesca, a pro-democracy activist in Haiti. Thank you so much for being here with us. So one Haitian is killed every two hours. Give us a sense of how this violence is impacting Haitians day to day.

MONIQUE CLESCA, PRO-DEMOCRACY ACTIVIST: Thank you for inviting me. I think the violence is impacting everybody day-to-day in that you cannot go out to your normal activities. And if you go out, then you have to find different ways of actually going out different times. And then your life is complicated because you're totally stressed by everything that is going on, the violence. This is all you hear. So violence is insidious as well as it is real. So everyone absolutely is impacted in one way or the other and negatively.

BRUNHUBER: Yeah. And as I mentioned earlier, I mean, so much of the centers on the power of gangs and a recent report I read. Talk about how they've transformed from sort of these unstructured groups that depended on public or private patronage to these violent entrepreneurs. They're charging businesses, you know, thousands of dollars per week in extortion, not to mention money from things like checkpoints and kidnappings. They're so rich and powerful and now impossible for any entity to control them.

CLESCA: Well, it was created and I think it is important to know that because government and several reports, U.N. reports and other reports have shown that government -- the former president actually created some of the gangs and a different government, whether it was Jouvenel Mouillis, whether it was Michel Montelly, and now also with Aurelien Henry, they have financed some of the gangs.

And there have been links that have been shown with the Ministry of Interior.

[03:30:00]

So this is like a constructed violence and it has gone out of hand, meaning that they had their gangs as their militias to do their dirty work, and now it has gone out of hand totally. So I think it is important to show that.

The second thing that is important to show is that government has done nothing. There is a thing that is circulating in social media saying that Auriel Henry had said, we will resolve in this street will be, this highway will be opened up. This was three years ago. So nothing has been done. What is needed is the political will to get at this problem rather than saying, well, let us just call the international community or let us call the Kenyans, let us call people from Jamaica or Bahamas. That is not the solution. The solution is a Haitian solution.

KIM BRUNHUBER, CNN ANCHOR: Let me jump in because we were talking about the president of the Dominican Republic who is saying that Haiti was on the edge of civil war and he's among the many calling for international intervention in the form of the U.N. force led by Kenya as you mentioned. It's been held up by shortfalls and so on. You're calling for an internal solution, but with all the crime that's going on with, you know, not really having a president, so to speak, how are you going to come and form an internal solution? Isn't it necessary for international intervention here?

CLESCA: No, it is not necessary for international intervention. Now, what we need, that doesn't mean we do not need support, but what we need is for Haitians, you're going to spend $600 million to have foreigners come. What if that $600 million was spent on building the capacity of the police force? What if that $600 million was spent on outreach to the communities, to the slum areas, high-density areas so that youth could have school, could have professional training in them?

So I am not delusional. What I'm saying is that, yes, we need help. But we do not need a foreign intervention. We need Haitians. The Haitian government has done nothing to find a solution. They have not presented a security plan. They have not presented anything that looks like something to move forward with the youth.

Haiti is two-thirds of the population is under 24 years old. What they need is massive investment in healthcare, massive investment in schooling, in professional training. And if we had that, if we had people in power that considered that this was important, that this was the vision, perhaps we wouldn't be where we are.

So okay, we are where we are. I do not care what the president of Dominican Republic says. I do not care what the president of Kenya says. What I care about is Haiti and what we Haitians and the way that we Haitians can come with solutions so that we can find it is solutions to the problems that we have --

BRUNHUBER: Yeah, unfortunately those--

CLESCA: -- invested in Haiti better than giving it to the Kenyans so that they can take home with them.

BRUNHUBER: Unfortunately, those solutions are in short supply. So much to discuss on this --

CLESCA: I'm sorry for example the Montana accord has come up with a solution two and a half years ago. Two and a half years ago we had presented that no but the U.S. which has it's me on the Haiti's neck and it is a and it is a real that the United States is the one with the core group that has put this government in power and they are the ones that can remove it.

Also, from power, because...

BRUNHUBER: Listen, we will have to leave it there. I'm afraid we are out of time. Haiti is a country that's very close to my heart, and I would love to speak with you more on this. We will get back to you another time to talk about this, because as I say, the problems are so deep. Solutions, clearly, are needed. Will have to leave it there though. Monique Clesca, thank you so much for joining us.

[03:34:51]

CLESCA: We have proposed solutions so that's what I wanted to bring about so, and I think one can hear about that solution if you all want to hear about it and part of that solution is investing in Haiti rather than invest in the police force, invest in a professional training for the youth.

BRUNHUBER: I do hear you. I do hear you. Unfortunately, we do have to move on. But again, thank you so much for joining us.

CLESCA: Thank you so much for having me.

BRUNHUBER: I Appreciate it.

CLESCA: Thank you.

BRUNHUBER: All right. Still ahead, we're live in Brussels where NATO leaders are discussing how best to support Ukraine as the Russian invasion is set to hit the two-year mark. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BRUNHUBER: And welcome back to all you watching us around the world. I'm Kim Brunhuber. This is "CNN Newsroom."

NATO defense ministers are gathering for a day of meetings in Brussels. They're discussing what the secretary general calls historic progress on defense spending. Jens Stoltenberg says he expects 18 allies to reach the target of spending at least 2 percent of their GDP on defense. Now defense ministers will also discuss their efforts to increase production of ammunition and their support for Ukraine. Stoltenberg urged the U.S. House to approve a major spending package for Ukraine that's already cleared the Senate. Here he is.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JENS STOLTENBERG, NATO SECRETARY GENERAL: I welcome the decision by the European Union to allocate 50 billion euros to Ukraine and I expect the U.S. Congress to agree a package of continued support to Ukraine because supporting Ukraine is not charity, supporting Ukraine is an investment in our own security.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BRUNHUBER: Alright, I'm going to go live now to Brussels and CNN's senior international correspondent Melissa Bell. Melissa, an important meeting happening there. What more can you tell us about it?

MELISSA BELL, CNN SR. INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Important meeting we've been hearing from the American Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, not physically here in Brussels this time, Kim, still recovering as he leaves hospital, making good recovery. He said, but he spoke to that issue you mentioned, whether the bill will make it past Congress and that money to Ukraine, and said that it was important that the United States would continue to support the country.

They will not surrender and neither will we, he told his counterparts via video conference ahead of the meetings here. We've also been hearing Kim from the British defense minister, Grant Shaps, who's here, who spoke to the fact ahead of these meetings that he believed that the strike against a Russian ship yesterday in the Black Sea by Ukrainian drones showed that with the proper funding Ukraine could still win this war.

[03:40:01]

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BELL (voice-over): The Caesar Kunikov moments before it was struck by Ukrainian drones. CNN can't independently verify what happened to the Russian warship, but the drone's own footage shows extensive damage, with Kiev claiming to have sunk the vessel.

Behind the attack, Group 13, a special forces unit within Ukraine's defense intelligence. The drones they used? The Megura. Not the fastest but maneuverable enough that they can get past Russian defenses.

UNKNOWN (through translator): Their weapons are not designed for such small sea drones. In most cases they use anti-ship guns.

BELL (voice-over): And the drones behind it, part of Ukraine's plan to shift front lines that have seen precious little progress for months now.

MYKHAILO FEDOROV, UKRAINIAN DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION MINISTER (through translator): Technology can really save us. It's already saving us today given a shortage of artillery around and the fact that we have much less manpower in terms of numbers.

BELL (voice-over): The strike on the Caesar Kunikov just the latest blow to Moscow's once formidable Black Sea fleet, a third of which has now, says Kyiv, been either disabled or destroyed.

STOLTENBERG: They have actually been able to push the Black Sea fleet away from the western part of the Black Sea. And this is a great achievement, a great victory for the Ukrainians.

BELL (voice-over): With important consequences also for Ukraine's ability to get grain in and out of ports. A lifeline for a country fighting not only a land war in the East and South, but an existential political battle to keep allies and funding on side, even as Kyiv ramps up the production of its own much-needed weapons.

FEDOROV (through translator): This year we'll produce thousands of drones. I cannot say how many exactly, but I will say this, there is no limit.

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BELL: Now of course that continued support to Ukraine very much at the heart of the meetings here in Brussels today, but so also is the question of ongoing NATO unity. This after the comments that were made over the course of the weekend by Donald Trump. More comments on Wednesday regarding what he describes this long-standing gripe he has with the funding of NATO.

And we've been hearing about that from Jens Stoltenberg, the head of NATO, as he went into the meeting saying, look, this year NATO expects that for the first time there will be 18 of its 31 members who will meet. That pledge made 10 years ago now of spending two percent of GDP on military spending and that includes Germany. In fact, he points out that it is now and for the first time the combined, when you take European allies combined as part of NATO, they will be meeting that target. So a direct countering of that message that's been coming from Donald Trump. Kim?

BRUNHUBER: You know those comments causing such a huge stir both here and overseas. Melissa Bell live in Brussels. Thank you so much.

All right, coming up, Greece's LGBTQ couples are daring to dream. We'll tell you what's giving them hope. That's coming up. Stay with us.

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BRUNHUBER: India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated the first Hindu temple in Abu Dhabi on Wednesday. The UAE is home to the largest population percentage-wise of Indian citizens outside of India. Now this is Modi's seventh trip to the country, indicating its importance as he seeks to boost his credentials as a global statesman months before the election, where he's seeking a rare third term in power.

But back home, Muslims in India say they feel marginalized and threatened by the Hindu national's policies. his ruling party, the BJP. The Indian Prime Minister is set to visit Qatar next.

One of Bollywood's biggest stars took center stage this week at the World Government Summit in Dubai, where he sat down with CNN and reflected on his career.

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Shah Rukh Khan was voted one of the world's most influential people by "Time" magazine readers. He's acted in dozens of movies and TV series and hosted a popular game show in India. After some self-described plops, Khan returned last year to blockbuster glory. He discussed his career with CNN's Richard Quest and he mentioned he really wants to play James Bond.

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SHAH RUKH KHAN, BOLLYWOOD ACTOR: I've said this honestly but nobody believes it. So I'm going to say it to you very, very honestly. Nobody's ever offered me any work crossover of substance. I may have had conversations with people. I know lots of lovely people from the West, from the English film industry, from the American film industry. But nobody's offered me any good work. You know, I hear actors talk about, oh yes, I want a crossover. I want to take Indian cinema.

I think I still have to learn how to be able to deliver to the audience that likes me and instead of spreading myself too thin. And then yeah, of course, if you've not been offered a job, how do you take it? So really, I've never been offered a film in Hollywood or in England. Yeah, Slumdog was there, now that you mention it. And I spent a lot of time with Mr. Boyle, he's very sweet.

But I was doing "Who Wants to be a Millionaire" on television.

RICHARD QUEST, CNN BUSINESS EDITOR-AT-LARGE: Successfully.

KHAN: Successfully at that time. And I just felt in the story that was being told, the guy who was hosting was very mean in the story that was being told and I'm like, you know, I'm here doing "Slumdog Millionaire" and the guys who were producing the show wanted me to do the film. I just found it, you know, these guys, I was cheating and being dishonest as the host.

So I just found that it's very strange that I'm being a host and I'm cheating in the film so I explained to Mr. Boyle that I wouldn't like to do it please and they're way better actors than me and I think Mr. Anil Kapoor did it and he was fantastic as the host.

QUEST: What is left that you have not done that you would like to do? And by that I, that's not a Hollywood question, that is a general, you know, even within your own, within Indian films, within production, within, what still remains on your list? KHAN: My whole job has become more and more motivated towards bringing

a new one, technology into Indian film industry. I want to end my career, which is far from ending right now. I have another good 35 years to go.

I really, really want to make that film which is loved by the whole world and then nobody on a big stage like this asks me, why haven't you crossed over? That film should cross me over. That's my dream.

I'd want you to learn Hindi and Urdu and Arabic to be able to understand that film.

QUEST: Between 2018 and 2023, you just had two or three films that were not as successful. Suddenly he disappears and everybody thinks, oh, he's licking his wounds, he's feeling sorry for himself. And then he comes back in '23 with three blockbusters. What was going on in that interim period?

KHAN: So you're very kind, yes I had massive flops and they did very badly and I was doing all of that, I was licking my wounds. I was not in -- you know what I did?

QUEST: Yeah.

KHAN: For four years.

QUEST: Go on.

KHAN: I've never said this to anyone though I've mentioned it but today here I'll tell everyone. I learned how to make the best pizza in the world. That's what I did.

Honest to God. I stopped listening to stories, I stopped wanting to tell stories, I found myself and made myself a small kitchen and I started learning how to make pizzas.

[03:50:03]

And I learnt what you asked me to begin with, perseverance. Because to get the perfect pizza, it takes millions of square pizzas before you are able to make it completely round. So I learned perseverance and I will make the best, best pizza in the world.

QUEST: Was it difficult to know now is the time to go back?

KHAN: You know, I'd become indulgent. I'd started becoming too innovative. I was looking for perfection and I started feeling I needed to look for excellent. I needed to be unique, but I needed to look at the audience, what they want. And I'd stop hearing the crowds.

I used to go where there are thousands and lakhs of people waving at me, but I wouldn't hear or feel what they wanted to see of me. You know, I was going there and waving and I'm thinking, whatever I make, I'll be innovative. So I did a film about a vertically challenged guy. I did a film about a manic psychopathic fan and I'm like, no, people just like to see me giving hope and happiness and love. So let's get back to that.

QUEST: And as a result, the movies that you came back to make, and there were three of them last year, were huge successes. Therefore that introspection clearly worked. That clearly did the trick.

KHAN: Yes, Mashallah, I think it just helped me realize that whatever you do, you have to do for the people or your consumers or your audiences. And yeah, it also made me realize one very main thing, that don't forget to pray. You have to pray and you have to get back to work.

QUEST: Sir, I'm going to leave you with one. I'm sorry, I've forgotten. What was your name again? Your name is Bond?

KHAN: Bond, James Bond.

QUEST: He's available for the offers. Thank you sir.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BRUNHUBER: After a 24-hour delay, a private company's lunar lander heads for a historic touchdown near the moon's south pole. That details after the break. Stay with us.

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BRUNHUBER: Well, about three hours ago, NASA, SpaceX, and a company called Intuitive Machines launched Intuitive's lunar lander Odysseus atop a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket. The company expects Odysseus to touch down on the moon next Thursday, and if this mission is successful, Intuitive will be the first private space company to land on the moon, and the first moon landing for the U.S. since the last of the Apollo missions in 1972.

There are several NASA science experiments on board and it's paying the company $118 million to deliver them to the moon.

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The classified U.S. space mission that has been in the works for many months has finally gotten off the ground. It launched on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida on Wednesday. The payload has six satellites, including two for the Missile Defense Agency that will improve missile warning, tracking, and defense. The other four missiles are part of the U.S. Space Force.

Mark Zuckerberg has something to say about Apple's new mixed reality headset and -- surprise, surprise, he thinks his company's tech is better. The Meta CEO posted a critique of the Apple Vision Pro headset, which retails for a modest $3,500. Zuckerberg says after using the Apple device, he's convinced Meta's headset is not only a better value, it's a better product. And he took on Apple's history of tight controls over apps and product development. Here he is.

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MARK ZUCKERBERG, META CEO: Now, look, I know that some fanboys get upset whenever anyone dares to question if Apple's gonna be the leader in a new category, but the reality is, is that every generation of computing has an open and a closed model. And yeah, in mobile, Apple's closed model won. In this next generation, Meta is gonna be the open model, and I really want to make sure the open model wins out again.

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BRUNHUBER: Now the MetaQuest 3 retails for just $500, though it also has a more expensive pro model as well.

Agent Teddy Bear captured an alleged drug dealer in Peru. Have a look at this.

A Peruvian police officer dressed as a teddy bear. There, you see him there, he was posted outside a suspect's house in the northern part of Lima. The teddy bear held a heart-shaped balloon and a sign reading, You are my reason to smile. While the female suspect appeared to take the bait, another officers rushed in and once the police got into the house, they found what they say were bags containing illegal substances stored under a mattress.

Taylor Swift is ready to kick off the next leg of her record-breaking Eras Tour. The singer landed in Melbourne, Australia early Thursday according to CNN affiliate Nine News. Plenty of frequent flier points for Swift of course over the weekend flying to Tokyo, to the U.S. to watch boyfriend Travis Kelce win the Super Bowl with the Kansas City Chiefs and fans lined up at the airport in Melbourne to catch a glimpse of the Grammy Award winner who just made history with a fourth Album of the Year win and Swift will spend this weekend performing in Melbourne and then next weekend in Sydney before heading off for a series of shows in Singapore.

Well Marvel Studios gave an unexpected Valentine's Day gift to fans on Wednesday, revealing the cast of its long-awaited "Fantastic Four" reboot film on social media. Now, the studio posted this image, a rendering of the new cast members posing as their super alter egos. The film will feature Pedro Pascal, Vanessa Kirby, Yvonne Moss- Bacharach, and Joseph Quinn as the "Fantastic Four" family. This will be the third cast to tackle the role since 2005 and set to hit theaters in July of next year.

All right, that's it for me, Kim Brunhuber in Atlanta, but the news continues with Bianca Nobilo in London, next.

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