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IDF Raids Gaza's Nasser Hospital; Fani Willis Testifies Over Her Relationship with Nathan Wade at the Election Subversion Trial. World Leaders Gathered in Munich for the Annual Security Conference; Presidential Elections in Senegal Indefinitely Postponed; Greece Legalizes Same Sex Marriage. Aired 3-4a ET
Aired February 16, 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]
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
KIM BRUNHUBER, CNN ANCHOR: Hello, and welcome to all of you watching us around the world. I'm Kim Brunhuber. Ahead on CNN NEWSROOM.
Israel defends its decision to raid one of the last functioning hospitals in Gaza. We'll look at what led to the assault and the chaos inside the hospital.
The Georgia prosecutor investigating former U.S. President Donald Trump gets grilled in court as Trump learns whether separate charges in New York will be dismissed.
And while some are questioning the United States' future support of NATO, world leaders are gathering from Munich's security conference. We'll have a live report.
ANNOUNCER: Live from Atlanta, this is CNN NEWSROOM with Kim Brunhuber.
BRUNHUBER: We begin with another deadly day for Palestinians in the war between Israel and Hamas.
A hospital in central Gaza reports at least 12 people have been killed in what a spokesperson calls an Israeli airstrike on the Nusra refugee camp. Video from the scene shows heavy equipment digging through the rubble, looking for survivors.
In Khan Younis, the Hamas-run health ministry reports three people have died after an Israeli raid on the Nasser medical complex. Israel says it had credible evidence that the bodies of dead hostages would be found there. The IDF says it apprehended several suspects in the October 7th terrorist attacks, but no hostages were found.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REAR ADM. DANIEL HAGARI, ISRAEL DEFENSE FORCES SPOKESPERSON: We have credible intelligence from a number of sources, including from released hostages, indicating that Hamas held hostages at the Nasser hospital in Khan Younis, and that there may be bodies of our hostages in the Nasser hospital facility.
This sensitive operation was prepared with precision and is being conducted by IDF Special Forces who underwent specified training for this mission. A key objective as defined by our military mission is to ensure that the Nasser hospital continues its important functions of treating Gazan patients.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BRUNHUBER: Meanwhile, construction is underway on a new walled buffer zone between Egypt and Gaza. It'll stretch from the end of Gaza's border with Israel to the Mediterranean Sea. Now, construction comes as fears are growing that humanitarian conditions in Gaza could lead to a surge of Palestinians trying to get into Egypt.
More now on the Nasser hospital raid from CNN's Nada Bashir. We just want to warn you, her report does contain some graphic video.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
NADA BASHIR, CNN REPORTER (voice-over): Plunged into darkness, engulfed in smoke, this is southern Gaza's Nasser hospital, one of the few still able to treat patients in Gaza, hit in a direct strike overnight on Wednesday.
Is there anybody still inside, this doctor asks. The sound of gunfire in close proximity. Get down, he shouts. Others around him shout, get out.
Another hospital, now the target. More casualties are rushed to whatever safe space there is left. But there is nowhere to escape.
This message from a surgeon inside the hospital, shared with CNN, paints a terrifying picture of the situation on the ground.
UNKNOWN: Israeli army forced all the patients and all the refugees inside Nasser hospital and now they are forcing medical staff at Nasser medical hospital to evacuate immediately from the hospital. Israeli soldiers and tanks surrounding the hospital from all sides, shootings and bombings still continue.
BASHIR (voice-over): Outside, Israeli tanks etch closer within the hospital's grounds.
The Israeli military is heard ordering civilians to evacuate. The IDF says it entered the hospital after receiving credible intelligence indicating that Hamas held hostages on the complex, with deceased hostages possibly still present, though CNN is not able to independently verify this claim.
Israel's forces also say they have apprehended a number of suspects at the hospital and have opened a secure route for civilians to evacuate the area.
But doctors and medical officials tell CNN Israeli snipers shot dead a number of people as they tried to leave the medical complex. Among them, they say, this teenager, his lifeless body seen here, just in front of the gates of the Nasser hospital.
[03:05:08]
A short distance away, a Palestinian detainee appears, said to have been released by the Israeli military and used as a messenger, according to medical staff who spoke to a journalist working for CNN on the ground, to tell civilians here that they must leave immediately. But soon after, doctors say he too was killed under Israeli fire outside the hospital.
It is unclear from the video what happened. CNN has reached out to the Israeli military for comment on the incident.
As Israeli drones scour the ground beneath, civilians nearby gather whatever belongings they have left and begin to flee. For many, this is not the first time they have been forced to evacuate.
The vast majority of Gaza's 2.3 million strong population is now concentrated in southern Gaza, ordered by the Israeli military to move south. But as troops push deeper into the besieged region, with the looming threat of a ground operation in nearby Rafah, warnings from the U.N. of a potential slaughter of the Palestinian people grow more tangible with each passing day.
Nada Bashir, CNN, Cairo.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BRUNHUBER: And CNN's Paula Hancocks is following all the developments and joins me now from Abu Dhabi. So first, Paula, what's the latest on that hospital raid?
PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Kim, what we've heard at this point from the health ministry in Gaza is that three of their patients have died since these strikes took place. We had been hearing from eyewitnesses, also from doctors within the hospital, that there was a loss of power.
They were concerned because there was a loss of oxygen as well and a cessation of oxygen due to the strikes. And they said they had six people in the ICU, three in the nursery, that they were concerned about.
They say since that happened, three have died.
Now, what we've heard from the Israeli side is that they have not found any hostages at this point or the bodies of hostages. This was the reasoning they gave for carrying out this strike and this incursion into this hospital, saying that they had credible evidence that there were remains within the compound itself. But according to the Israeli military, the operation is still ongoing.
We understand from the IDF that they are still continuing to search the property. Many have been forced to leave.
We understand from Doctors Without Borders as well, saying that their staff has had to leave the hospital, one of them detained by an Israeli military checkpoint.
They are calling for the immediate cessation of this operation at the hospital and to know the whereabouts of their personnel. Kim?
BRUNHUBER: Still ongoing. Interesting. All right. And then, Paula, what more can you tell us about that border wall and buffer zone that Egypt's building?
HANCOCKS: So, this is something that we have heard both from looking at satellite imagery and also from one NGO, the Sinai Foundation for Human Rights, providing footage showing that between the Gaza border and a roadway on the Egyptian side, there has been significant bulldozing and excavation. So, a far wider buffer zone, it appears, is being prepared at this point.
Now, according to that NGO, they said that two local contractors working on this project had told them that it had been commissioned by the Egyptian security forces, saying that there were also concrete slabs, some five meters or 16 feet high, that are being put in place.
We can see from images there that cranes, multiple cranes, are putting these in place as well. So, really shoring up that border, showing the concern that the Egyptian side has about what the potential spillover effect could be if Israel does decide to invade Rafah.
Now, the Egyptian foreign ministry has said there would be grave consequences if Israel did decide to carry out an incursion in this area where some 1.3 million, potentially more Palestinians are sheltering at this point. But what we see here is the Egyptians trying to counter any potential spillover of Palestinians onto their territory. Kim?
BRUNHUBER: All right. I appreciate the update. Paula Hancocks in Abu Dhabi. Thank you so much.
I want to bring in Jason Lee now, who's the country director for the Palestinian Territories with Save the Children. He joins me now from Amman, Jordan. Thank you so much for being here with us.
So, I want to start with what we've been reporting, the IDF raiding Nasser Hospital, already reports of women and children being killed there. It's only the latest in a long string of incursions into hospitals. What kind of risk is that creating for already vulnerable, sick and injured children?
[03:10:08]
JASON LEE, COUNTRY DIRECTOR FOR THE PALESTINIAN TERRITORIES, SAVE THE CHILDREN: I mean, we've seen this conflict that is disproportionately impacting children. Of all the civilian casualties and deaths, seven out of 10 of them have been a woman or a child.
Children at the moment are more susceptible to the impacts of this conflict. Their bodies are smaller, their bones break easier, they have less blood and they bleed out easier. This is why we see, again, the disproportionate number of children being killed and injured. Now, when you've got the near complete collapse of the healthcare system, that children are not able to access primary healthcare. We see this already, diarrheal diseases on the increase, jaundice increase, but we don't know if it's hepatitis because we can't diagnose it.
Children are at risk of pneumonia because of the cold, being out in the open and the malnutrition rates are increasing. All of this, we will see increased morbidity and mortality of children, especially with the continued attack on healthcare.
BRUNHUBER: Yeah, and those risks are basically everywhere in Gaza. But I imagine exacerbated when you have, you know, as we just heard from Paula, there are 1.3 million people sheltering in Rafah. If the IDF launches an extensive ground incursion there, I mean, how much more of a risk will that be for all of the displaced children there?
LEE: I mean, there's at least -- at least 610,000 children in Rafah right now, and they're living in the streets. There are no sidewalks. When you walk around Rafah, you'd be lucky if you can walk 50 meters without hitting someone's shelter. The streets are full of tents. People are staying wherever they can.
With the ground incursion, there is absolutely nowhere else for people to go. Where do children go? Will they be pushed into the Mediterranean? There is nowhere safe for them to go. There is nowhere they can host them. There is no way that humanitarians can keep people alive when they're being pushed into areas that cannot sustain life.
BRUNHUBER: Yeah. There's a new report out from UNICEF. It estimates that some 17,000 children in Gaza are unaccompanied or separated. I mean, there's even an acronym, WCNSF, Wounded Child No Surviving Family. It's just, I mean, heartbreaking, 17,000 of them.
LEE: And this is an underestimation. Now there are certainly more children. When I was in Rafah in December last year, there was a four- year-old girl that turned up by herself to the Wadi Gaza checkpoint.
We have no idea who she is, how she got there, or where she's from. She was in such a state of catatonic shock, unable to speak. We don't know, again, when the last time she ate.
Now, this is just one story of the estimated 17,000 children. And again, it is an underestimation.
Now what hope, what future is there for these children? They have no families. More than half of the residential buildings in Gaza have been destroyed or damaged. More than half of the schools have been destroyed or damaged. There is no healthcare facility.
There is absolutely nowhere for children to be safe, not to mention the mental health consequences that children are experiencing now with this incredible escalation. Again, we are not asking for anything more than protecting the rights of children to be alive, the right for them to receive assistance, and the right for them to be safe. BRUNHUBER: Now, you just mentioned food there. According to the U.N.,
5 percent of children under five in Gaza are now acutely malnourished. I mean, their fate seems to depend entirely on timing here. How soon can more aid get into Gaza before it's too late?
LEE: This is why we need the immediate and definitive ceasefire.
It is, one, ensuring that the civilians' children are protected, that we're allowed to bring in the goods, not just the types of goods, but the quantities that are required to keep people alive. At the moment, what we are allowed to bring in is just a drop in the ocean.
We do not have enough quantities of food. We do not have enough supplies coming in. And we definitely do not have enough people, personnel, being allowed to come in to deliver assistance. And this is lifesaving assistance to keep people alive day by day.
BRUNHUBER: All right. I appreciate talking to you, Jason Lee, in Amman, Jordan. Thank you so much.
LEE: Thank you.
[03:14:54]
BRUNHUBER: The head of the CIA made an unannounced visit to Israel on Thursday to discuss the latest hostage negotiations. Bill Burns met with the Israeli prime minister and the Mossad director.
An Israeli official confirmed that the meeting comes during an active week for negotiators trying to bridge the gaps for a deal between Israel and Hamas. The Talks in Cairo failed to produce a breakthrough. A source familiar with the negotiations says Qatar is waiting for Hamas's response to Israeli feedback.
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken gave this update.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ANTONY BLINKEN, U.S. SECRETARY OF STATE: We believe it must be and must remain a priority to do everything we can to bring the hostages home, to get them back with their loved ones. And that's where our focus is. We've done a lot of work to try to get back to this point. That is where we think an agreement is possible, even if it -- even if difficult.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BRUNHUBER: The prosecutor leading the Georgia election interference case against Donald Trump took the stand. What she told defense lawyers accusing her of misconduct, and it got quite combative.
And despite all efforts to get the case tossed, Trump is headed to trial to face criminal charges for alleged hush money payments to a porn star. A date has been set. We'll bring you all that, coming up. Stay with us.
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BRUNHUBER: In Fulton County, Georgia, the election subversion case against Donald Trump and his allies took a stunning turn on Thursday when two top prosecutors testified about their former romantic relationship.
The district attorney, Fani Willis, will be back on the stand later today to refute accusations of misconduct. CNN's Nick Valencia has the details.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
FANI WILLIS, FULTON COUNTY DISTRICT ATTORNEY: I've been very anxious to have this conversation with you today, so I ran to the courtroom.
NICK VALENCIA, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): A defiant Fulton County D.A. Fani Willis, taking the stand today after weeks of fighting allegations that she personally benefited from a romantic relationship she had with Nathan Wade, the special prosecutor she handpicked to spearhead the sprawling racketeering charges against Donald Trump and his allies.
WILLIS: I probably had some choice words about some of the things that you said that were dishonest within this motion. So I don't know that it was a conversation. As you know, Mr. Wade is a Southern gentleman. Me, not so much.
VALENCIA (voice-over): Willis not hiding her anger over the allegations at one point being called a hostile witness by the defense.
WILLIS: I'm very much want to be here, so I'm not a hostile witness.
VALENCIA (voice-over): While both Wade and Willis have admitted to the relationship they had, they say it began only after Wade took the job. That timeline also a major point of contention in the hearing today.
Before Willis took the stand, the first witness of the day directly contradicted Wade and Willis' previous statements to the court.
WILLIS: You have no doubt that their romantic relationship was in effect from 2019 until the last time you spoke with her?
ROBIN BRYANT-YEARTIE, FORMER FRIEND OF WILLIS: No doubt.
VALENCIA (voice-over): That's three years earlier than when Wade said in an affidavit the relationship started.
But Wade holding firm to that date when he took the stand.
[03:20:08]
NATHAN WADE, SPECIAL PROSECUTOR IN TRUMP'S GEORGIA ELECTION INTERFERENCE CASE: 2022 was the start of any intimate sexual relationship with the district attorney.
VALENCIA (voice-over): As did Willis.
ASHLEIGH MERCHANT, DEFENSE LAWYER: When did you start dating?
WILLIS: When I started dating Mr. Wade, it was right around then.
MERCHANT: April 2020?
WILLIS: '22.
MERCHANT: 2022
WILLIS: Yes, it was around there. I don't know. Like, you know, it's not like when you're in grade school and you send a little letter and it says, will you be my girlfriend and you check it?
VALENCIA (voice-over): And then there's the money trail. Defense attorneys pressing on whether or not Wade paid for Willis when the two vacation together, trying to suggest that he used money he made from his taxpayer funded contract at the D.A.'s office on Willis. Both maintain that they split their vacation expenses.
MERCHANT: So all of the vacations that she took, she paid you cash for?
WADE: Yes, ma'am.
VALENCIA (voice-over): Willis confirming the same in her testimony.
WILLIS: Because we went out multiple times, that probably went to the level of more than $100. But if we're doing tit for tat like that, I probably paid for as many meals as he paid for. And so I did not receive any gifts from him.
VALENCIA (voice-over): And at times forcefully pushing back with the defense attorney who first launched the allegations.
WILLIS: These people are on trial for trying to steal an election in 2020. I'm not on trial no matter how hard you try to put me on trial.
VALENCIA: Earlier, I spoke to Bishop Reginald Jackson, who prayed with Fani Willis before the hearing began. He said that on Thursday, Fani woke up ready to testify. And was eager to meet this head on.
There was times during Thursday's hearing that got deep into the personal lives of both Willis and Wade, with at one point Willis throwing Nathan Wade under the bus for allegedly making sexist remarks. Her testimony is expected to continue Friday morning at 9 a.m., but maybe days before we reach a decision here. The judge has already said he is not going to rule from the bench.
Nick Valencia, CNN, at Lansing.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BRUNHUBER: On Thursday, Donald Trump filed his final arguments with the Supreme Court asking justices to pause the federal election subversion case. He insisted it would be wildly unfair to let the case go to trial and that he deserves immunity. But two lower courts have already rejected that claim. The Supreme Court is expected to decide on Trump's request in a few days.
And in New York, a judge has rejected Trump's efforts to dismiss charges in the Hush Money case. He's accused of cooking the books to cover up payments to an adult film star. And as Kara Scannell reports, the historic criminal trial is now set to begin on March 25th.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
KARA SCANNELL, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): A New York state judge ordering Donald Trump to stand trial for criminal charges next month.
DONALD TRUMP, FORMER U.S. PRESIDENT: Instead of being in South Carolina and other states campaigning, I'm stuck here.
SCANNELL (voice-over): This case related to a hush money repayment scheme involving porn star Stormy Daniels and former Trump fixer Michael Cohen will begin on March 25th.
TRUMP: There is no case.
SCANNELL (voice-over): It's a historic first. A former president facing a jury and on trial in the middle of a presidential campaign.
TRUMP: How can you run for election to be sitting in a courthouse in Manhattan all day long?
SCANNELL (voice-over): The judge in this case, Juan Merchan, made the decision after consulting with Judge Tanya Chutkan, who is overseeing the election subversion case in Washington, D.C.
During a pre-trial hearing in New York, Trump attorney Todd Blanche seized on that unprecedented timing, protesting for a delay.
We strenuously object to what is happening in this courtroom, he told the judge, with Trump's eyes locked on his attorney. The fact that President Trump is going to now spend the next two months working on this trial instead of out in the campaign trail running for president is something that should not happen in this country.
Judge Merchan asked, what's your legal argument?
That's my legal argument, Blanche said.
That's not a legal argument, Merchan replied, telling the lawyers he'd see them on March 25th.
TRUMP: We'll just have to figure it out. I'll be here during the day and I'll be campaigning during the night.
SCANNELL (voice-over): This case stems from actions that took place in the days before the 2016 election, when Donald Trump, former National Enquirer publisher David Pecker and Michael Cohen allegedly schemed to keep Stormy Daniels from going public about an affair. According to the indictment, Cohen paid $130,000 in hush money to
Stormy Daniels, then submitted sham legal bills to the Trump Organization, which the former president reimbursed with a series of monthly checks.
MICHAEL COHEN, FORMER TRUMP ATTORNEY: I did it at the direction of, in concert with and for the benefit of Donald J. Trump.
SCANNELL (voice-over): Today, the parties debated questions to ask prospective jurors. An 18 person jury will ultimately be seated. Trump's lawyers wanted to delve into politics, telling the judge they need to know if people like Trump. Judge Merchan called it inappropriate, saying they need fair and impartial jurors.
TRUMP: I'm honored to sit here day after day after day on something that everybody says the greatest legal scholars say it's not even a crime.
[03:25:06]
SCANNELL: It will be up to a jury to decide whether Trump committed a crime and if convicted, he could face time in prison. It was nearly one year ago that a grand jury in the courthouse behind me handed up the first indictment of a former president and soon another historic first, the first criminal trial.
Kara Scannell, CNN, New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BRUNHUBER: Now, the current U.S. president isn't facing charges for his mishandling of classified documents, but the White House has been very unhappy about the special counsel's report on the investigation.
We've learned Joe Biden's lawyers wrote to the attorney general the day before Robert Hur's report was to be released, strongly objecting to, quote, multiple denigrating statements about Biden's memory. Now those repeated references to his inability to recall dates and details set off a political firestorm. But the Justice Department appears to be standing by the findings.
A huge setback for U.S. House Republicans in their effort to impeach President Biden, a former FBI informant whose story made up a key part of the GOP case, was arrested on Thursday. Alexander Smirnov is accused of lying to the FBI and creating false records. But Republicans seem undeterred.
CNN's Evan Perez has the latest.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
EVAN PEREZ, CNN SR. JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: U.S. prosecutors charged a former FBI informant with lying about corruption claims against President Joe Biden and his son, Hunter Biden, and business dealings with the Ukrainian energy company Burisma. The charges against Alexander Smirnov undercut a major part of Republicans' corruption claims against the president and the impeachment inquiry that they've launched against him.
Smirnov was behind two FBI memos in 2017 and 2020. The latter one came after Joe Biden launched his campaign for president, and it included explosive allegations that a Burisma executive claimed that the company paid Joe Biden and Hunter Biden $5 million each during the time that Biden was vice president in exchange for assisting the company's business interests.
The indictment in federal court says that Smirnov's allegations against the Bidens were, quote, "a fabrication, an amalgam of otherwise unremarkable business meetings and contacts that actually occurred, but at a later date than he claimed, and for the purpose of pitching Burisma on the defendant's services and products, not for discussing bribes to Joe Biden when he was in office."
Smirnov appeared for an initial court appearance in Las Vegas, where he was arrested and CNN has been unable to reach an attorney representing him.
Congressional Republicans have touted Smirnov's claims and they fought with the FBI to release the memos of his discussions with the FBI. The indictment against Smirnov cites those very same memos as proof that he allegedly made false statements and created fictitious documents.
James Comer, the Republican chairman who has been leading the investigation of the president, released a statement dismissing the importance of Smirnov to his inquiry and saying that there's more evidence that Republicans have uncovered.
The case against Smirnov is being brought by special counsel David Weiss, who is also prosecuting Hunter Biden on tax and gun possession charges. It's unclear why Weiss has taken nearly four years to bring charges on the allegedly false claims.
Evan Perez, CNN, Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BRUNHUBER: A familiar scene in yet another American community in mourning after a gun violence shattered a citywide celebration in Kansas City, Missouri. On Thursday night, people gathered for a vigil for the victims of the mass shooting at the Kansas City Chiefs Super Bowl Parade Wednesday, which left one woman dead and at least 23 others injured, half of them younger than 16.
Kansas City police believe a dispute between several people spiraled out of control. They say a shooting wasn't linked to terrorism and they've detained two people. Here's the police chief.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CHIEF STACEY GRAVES, KANSAS CITY POLICE DEPARTMENT: First and foremost, I want to stress that preliminary investigative findings have shown there was no nexus to terrorism or homegrown violent extremism. This appeared to be a dispute between several people that ended in gunfire. (END VIDEO CLIP)
BRUNHUBER: International leaders are kicking off the Munich Security Conference, which got underway in the past hour, but the U.S. delegation has a tough job ahead. A lot to do with the country's former president. We'll explain.
And concerns growing over why a Republican lawmaker publicized new U.S. intelligence that turned out to be about a Russian nuclear threat in space. We'll have a report from the Pentagon after the break. Stay with us.
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[03:30:00]
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KIM BRUNHUBER, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome back to all of you watching us around the world. I'm Kim Brunhuber. This is CNN NEWSROOM.
The U.S. will try to put the minds of its NATO allies at ease at an annual security conference that just got underway in Munich, Germany.
Leaders from around the world have gathered there with NATO Chief Jens Stoltenberg set to hold a press conference at the top of the hour. Now, that's happening after former U.S. President Donald Trump said that if he's reelected, he won't protect NATO allies which don't spend enough on defense. Officials say the U.S. delegation in Munich, led by Vice President Kamala Harris, will try to reassure NATO allies that Washington will stand by them.
For more, Nick Paton-Walsh joins us from Munich. So, Nick, plenty at stake. What tops the agenda and what are we expecting to hear there?
NICK PATON-WALSH, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: I think certainly most urgently there will be discussion here about the ongoing situation in Rafah, where, of course, you'll hear from European leaders here a much more forceful demand that Israel play more regard towards civilian life in the ongoing assault there, possibly something the Biden administration will hear very loudly here.
But the background topic is all about Ukraine and NATO, the ongoing security crisis for Europe, frankly, the largest land conflict they've seen since the 40s here.
Top of the agenda, we're seeing Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Paris, then Berlin, signing independent security agreements with France and Germany, possibly something of a substitution for their desire to get closer to NATO quickly. NATO here will clearly remind its members of how vital support for Ukraine is.
But it's America's role in this, Kim, that's frankly most at doubt. Yes, there are the comments by former President Donald Trump, which have led many deeply concerned that come the end of the year, there may be a very different American stance towards NATO and the Ukrainian conflict. But remember, too, tens of billions of dollars of aid for Ukraine are held up, are causing ammunition shortages on the front line in Ukraine.
We're hearing about a desperate bid to reinforce Ukrainian positions around the town of Avdiivka right now because of an ongoing dispute essentially between Republicans in Congress about whether $60 billion can be pushed through here. And so that dysfunctionality of American politics, something that Kamala Harris, the vice president, is going to have to address directly.
But everybody, I think, knows here behind the scenes there is clearly a clock ticking on the Biden administration, whether it will still be able to offer those assurances at the end of the year.
And so a conference here, there's always been more about European security and one where the war in Ukraine and Russia's looming aggression, frankly, persistent over the last decade, is a very real threat, Kim.
[03:34:51]
BRUNHUBER: Yeah, Nick, you've talked about Donald Trump's incendiary comments and how the U.S. has a lot to do to restore confidence there. They have already taken some steps to do that. I mean, how are they planning to do that? Is there a lot of skepticism there or do people realize that this is just internal politics and the U.S. can be relied upon here?
PATON-WALSH: Look, I mean, fundamentally, the Biden administration, as I say, has a very limited amount of assuring it can do. It may no longer be in the White House by January. That's down to the actual campaign.
And I think this is probably one of the last chances we'll see the Biden administration able to speak to its European and global allies outside of the frame of an election campaign that's going to get way more seriously underway in the coming month.
Donald Trump, was he just being Donald Trump, essentially threatening NATO allies with him goading Russia on if they didn't contribute more towards their own defense budgets? Remember, NATO doesn't have a mandatory sort of subscription fee to be a member of it. You essentially promise to try and pay two percent of your own GDP towards defense.
So he was kind of wrong about that, but he was essentially pushing Europe in a direction it's already been going in. And there are increased noises here. There are every year about European nations paying more towards their own defense.
But the Biden administration will sound again how much they feel it's vital the U.S. is part of NATO. We've heard NATO Secretary General saying that the U.S. will always be a staunch ally of NATO. But the mere fact this can even be in question is deeply, I think, disturbing for many European nations here, particularly at a time of increased Russian aggression.
Remember, we're seeing Russia not just necessarily taking small parts of Ukraine here, they're militarizing their entire economy for a potentially longer conflict. And I think that has many European nations behind me here, particularly those closer to Russia, deeply concerned and nervous. And that's something the Biden administration are going to try potentially and assuage fears about.
But as I say, there's a clock ticking on their presence in the White House and the possibility of deep and disturbing change where former President Donald Trump to be re-elected, Kim.
BRUNHUBER: All right, we'll have more on this with NATO Chief Jens Stoltenberg set to do a press conference in -- at the top of the hour. I Appreciate that. Nick Paton-Walsh, thank you so much.
Now, Trump's statements on NATO were also met with pushback at the meeting of the alliance's defense ministers on Thursday. Melissa Bell has more from Brussels.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MELISSA BELL, CNN SR. INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Fresh commitments being made to Ukraine here in Brussels at the NATO meeting of defense secretaries, pledges of a million extra drone training center that's be opened to be opened in Poland to help train Ukrainian armed forces.
But perhaps more importantly, a commitment to continuing to press not just for the further support of Ukraine, but for the foundational principles of NATO and the importance of its strength now more than ever. That's what we've heard a great deal of here in Brussels in the wake of the comments by the former American President Donald Trump over the weekend, going so far as to suggest that Moscow may be encouraged to come and test a NATO member.
Those who didn't pay, he said, clearly rattled a number of European officials have been speaking out these last few days. And here in Brussels, it was the turn of Jens Stoltenberg to address head on the question of whether the United States would remain an unwavering supporter of NATO or not.
JENS STOLTENBERG, NATO SECRETARY-GENERAL: When you look at the opinion polls, there is record high support for NATO, both in North America, United States, Canada and in Europe. And I'm confident that NATO will remain the strongest and most successful alliance in history. And I expect the United States to continue to be a staunch ally.
BELL: Jens Stoltenberg there reassuring in a press conference at the end of the meetings what he says will be the continued importance of NATO for all of its members.
This was also the opportunity for a meeting of the Ukraine contact group. This is when NATO defense ministers speak directly to their Ukrainian counterpart, who spoke to them from Kyiv by video conference, giving them an idea of what's been happening on the ground in Ukraine and again urging his counterparts now more than ever to stand firm.
Melissa Bell, CNN, Brussels.
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BRUNHUBER: Three civilians were killed after a Russian missile hit a car in Ukraine's Kharkiv region. That's according to a Ukrainian official who says the attack killed a married couple who were inside the vehicle and a 17 year old girl who was next to it. Two others were also wounded and a nearby home caught fire.
The U.S. and its allies have disrupted a large Russian cyber espionage operation, according to FBI Director Christopher Wray. He says the Russian military intelligence agency was using a network of more than a thousand hacked Internet routers to target the U.S. and other governments, military, security and corporate organizations to gather intelligence. Wray also repeated warnings that hacking teams backed by Russia and China have been seeking a foothold in U.S. energy and telecommunications networks for a long time.
[03:40:06]
More fallout Thursday over the Republican House intelligence chairman's warning about what he calls a serious national security threat from Russia. Chairman Mike Turner caused an uproar on Wednesday when he revealed there was new U.S. intelligence that turned out to be about Russia's abilities to place a nuclear anti-satellite system in space. But Biden administration officials are downplaying the threat.
CNN's Oren Liebermann has more on the story from the Pentagon.
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OREN LIEBERMANN, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: The White House acknowledged that the national security threat that was made so public by a member of Congress was indeed a Russian anti-satellite capability. As CNN reported one day earlier, the White House in a press briefing said this is something the U.S. has been aware about for months, perhaps years.
But they wouldn't say if there was a nuclear component to this, which is something we've heard from multiple sources familiar with the intelligence, though it's unclear if it's nuclear powered and uses some sort of electromagnetic pulse to try to disable other satellites or whether it actually uses nuclear weapons, that is to say a warhead fired from in space to disable other satellites. Either way, the White House made clear this is not an imminent threat. It is not a threat that is to be used against the United States or even against people.
It is an anti-satellite capability, something Russia has been developing, something the U.S. has also been developing in the past, as have other countries. Now, the U.S. said they're in the process of undergoing outreach to their Russian counterparts to talk about this capability.
One of the reasons this is such a big deal is because, first, the U.S. views this as Russia trying to militarize space, but it also could theoretically, if it were ever operational, which it's not at this point, but it could, if developed to that point, pose a threat to U.S. nuclear command and control satellites, which are a critical constellation of satellites that the U.S. uses to manage its own nuclear arsenal.
The U.S. also could see this as a threat to its early warning satellites, which allow the U.S. to monitor what's going on around the world and know how to respond properly. Any ability or any threat to blind those early warning satellites would severely limit the U.S.'s ability to understand a global or critical situation, and that's why the U.S. views this as such a threat, even as the White House and the Pentagon said this isn't a system that's been developed fully yet, it is not an operational system here.
One of the key questions, of course, why was this made public in such a way, and was this effectively a leak? That's something the U.S. is now grappling with.
Oren Liebermann, CNN at the Pentagon.
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BRUNHUBER: All right, after the break, we'll have the latest updates on Senegal as the country reels from an attempted presidential election delay. That's coming up. Please stay with us.
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[03:44:57]
BRUNHUBER: The AFP news agency reports that Senegal's Constitutional Council has overturned a delay in the nation's presidential election, calling the move unconstitutional. The postponement triggered disruption and turmoil in Senegal with deadly protests in the country's capital and repeated mobile Internet outages. The February 25th election was suspended after the outgoing president said there were disputes over the final candidate list that excluded dozens from the opposition.
Gilles Yabi is the founder of the West Africa Citizen Think Tank and a nonresident scholar at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, and he joins us now via Skype from Dakar in Senegal. Thank you so much for being here with us.
So, first of all, this decision by Senegal's court, good news for democracy?
GILLES YABI, FOUNDER, WEST AFRICA CITIZEN THINK TANK: Yes, good morning, it is an excellent news for democracy and for those who believe that institutions, separation of power, democratic principles, freedoms are important.
And in the context of West African region, where you have a military coup and you have more people thinking that democracy, it might not be that important. I think it is it is a very significant decision by the Constitutional Council of Senegal.
BRUNHUBER: So this might set up a showdown of sorts. I mean, what do you think happens next?
YABI: Yeah, I think what is important to understand is that the Constitutional Council basically did its job, which is to make sure that the letter and the spirit of the Constitution is preserved and decide that the decision by Macky Sall, the president, to postpone the elections would result in an extension of his own term, which is just not possible under the current constitution. So the council recognized that it is now impossible to hold the election as initially planned on 25th February in just 10 days.
But he asked the government to basically set a new date for election so that in April, President Macky Sall leaves power and respects his mandate, his term.
BRUNHUBER: So I'm wondering, how did it come to this? You know, you alluded to so much trouble right now happening in West Africa. I mean, Senegal was considered a success story, the only mainland West African country to never have a military coup.
What we've been talking about, the president trying to delay elections that was being considered by his opponents and the people who were protesting, that was considered a constitutional coup. So what led to this backsliding?
YABI: Yeah, well, I think, first of all, it is important to recognize that when we talk about model, of course, it's always relative. You have a country like Cape Verde in West Africa, which, in my opinion, has a more democratic governance than Senegal historically.
But it is true that Senegal used to have elections and to respect fundamental principle of democracy. But it's also true that in the last few years, we have a lot of indications that the institutions were being weakened by the superpowers of the president. And I think that is the main issue.
And it will be important after the election, again, I think, to strengthen the institution, probably to try to reduce the power of the presidential power and to give more freedom and more powers to other institutions that make sure that you have a balance of power, which is at the head of any democratic country.
BRUNHUBER: We've alluded to the several West African countries have recently experienced coups. So if Senegal should experience serious problems with its democracy, whether a coup, maybe even civil war, I mean, what effect would that have on the region?
YABI: Yeah, I think, again, the good thing is that I think we are not going to see that. I think this decision by the Constitutional Council is really restoring the image of Senegal and will allow elections to happen, I think, anytime soon.
But it is clear that it gives an important and positive signal to other countries in the region that probably the best way to ensure peace and stability in a country is to have strong institutions and also to try to build ethics in politics, which is, I think, is a challenge not only in Senegal and Africa, but a challenge actually globally.
BRUNHUBER: Well, yeah, quite right. But going back to the region, I mean, it sort of leaves the regional alliance ECOWAS. I mean, it's in tatters basically after the three coup leaders from the country's Niger, Mali, Burkina Faso, said they were going to pull out. It had been trying to promote democracy and good governance. So where does this leave all of those efforts, do you think?
YABI: No, I think we still have to be cautious. We are still in a very difficult situation in West Africa in terms of fragmentation of the region, in terms of divergence between the countries of the Sahel and the other countries. And it's not only about military coup, it is about the lack of democratic culture in some members of the political class in many countries of the region.
[03:50:07]
So the fight to restore the ideal of democracy is still very, very urgent. And again, I think we need to be more ambitious in the kind of democratic governance that we want to build.
BRUNHUBER: Yeah, well said. We'll have to leave it there. Gilles Olakunle-Yabi, thank you so much for speaking with us. I really appreciate it.
YABI: My pleasure. Thank you.
BRUNHUBER: Well, the Greek parliament voted on Thursday to legalize same-sex marriage, making it the first majority Orthodox Christian country to establish marriage equality. CNN's Elinda Labrapoulou brings us the latest from Athens.
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ELINDA LABROPOULOU, JOURNALIST: It's been a historic day right here in Greece and the parliament right behind me. A very significant legislation for human rights has just been voted in.
Same-sex marriage has been approved. Same-sex couples now have the same rights as heterosexual couples in Greece, and they're also allowed to adopt and have full parental rights. The bill stops short of providing surrogacy to same-sex couples.
This is a very controversial issue in Greece. And the prime minister who introduced the bill initially made it clear that he will not be tackling this issue. As a result, some activists say that more could have been done. But overall, there's huge relief about having this right for the first time.
We spoke to people here who said that for the first time they felt visible. They felt that they existed. They feel that now society is much more on their side. And it was something that they were not necessarily expecting to see from a center-right government like the one that Greece has now, but something that the prime minister has managed to have voted in.
Elinda Labrapoulou, CNN, Athens, Greece.
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BRUNHUBER: And Peruvian same-sex couples held a symbolic wedding ceremony on Valentine's Day. The annual event was held to call attention to marriage equality in Peru, which doesn't permit same-sex marriage. 11 couples exchanged vows and rings in Lima's Love Park, which overlooks the Pacific Ocean. A largely Catholic country is one of a handful of nations in Latin America that doesn't recognize same- sex unions.
South Korea's football association is shaking things up after the national team's loss in the Asian Cup semifinals. The KFA has fired head coach Jurgen Klinsmann after what they call a comprehensive review. Now comes in the wake of a fight between the team's captain and one of its midfielders during a dinner in Qatar the night before the match. The KFA criticized Klinsmann for his lack of leadership and not spending enough time in South Korea since taking the job.
The climate crisis has hit polar bears especially hard just ahead. What scientists learned when they strapped cameras to the bears and tracked their behavior, that's coming up. Stay with us.
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BRUNHUBER: As ice in the Arctic melts, polar bears are retreating to land. Scientists with the Alaska Science Center confirmed this when they measured the movements and behavior of polar bears in a study conducted from 2019 to 2022. Now, in the study, researchers strapped cameras around collars of 20 polar bears from August to September as the ice free period increased. Their cameras recorded 115 hours of footage and found the bears were indeed spending more time on land.
[03:55:03]
The bears ate berries, vegetation and birds, but the findings say there is still a risk of starvation.
Now, earlier, I spoke with Anthony Pagano, the scientist behind that study, and I asked what his research found about the bears' ability to adapt and their risk of starvation. Here he is.
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ANTHONY PAGANO, RESEARCH WILDLIFE BIOLOGIST, USGS: Polar bears are increasingly relying on summer land use across many parts of their range due to climate warming. And we wanted to evaluate if land-based foods could potentially supplement the period that they're on land.
BRUNHUBER: All right. So why did you decide on this particularly innovative method, the bear cam?
PAGANO: Yeah, so there's been a bit of research on polar bears and their behavior on land, and we've had sort of anecdotal information about what they do. Some of the historical documentation indicated that they primarily rested well on land. Some more recent observations have suggested that some bears are feeding on a variety of foods on land.
But we wanted to actually study certain individuals and quantify what their behavior was using these video collars, where we could document what they were doing on land, how active they were, what they were eating, and simultaneously measure their energy expenditure and their changes in body weight to determine whether or not those land-based foods might serve as a benefit to them.
BRUNHUBER: All right. So before I get to the results, now to the logistics, I mean, how difficult was it to capture them and then outfit them with this device? I mean, what were the biggest obstacles besides, obviously, you know, handling 900 pounds worth of teeth and claws?
PAGANO: Yeah, they're quite large. They're the largest land carnivore. They're pretty challenging to work with. They occur in pretty remote areas. We were fortunate to be able to study these individuals that we were able to work with.
They can be pretty intense on equipment. We had to come up with a collar and a device that we felt was durable enough that the bears wouldn't destroy it. And we were very pleased when we were able to recover the collars and find that they recorded the data. We hoped they would.
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BRUNHUBER: All right, that wraps this hour of coverage. I'm Kim Brunhuber, in Atlanta. CNN NEWSROOM with Max Foster and Bianca Nobilo is right after the break. Please do stay with us.
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