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Farmers Protest Economic, Regulatory Policies in Europe; Biden Faces Anger from Arab & Muslim Democrats in Michigan; Macron Raises Possibility of Troop Deployment to Ukraine; Sweden's Ascension into NATO Approved After Hungarian Parliament Vote; Navalny's Aide Claims Kremlin Sabotaged Prisoner Exchange Deal; Biden Aims for Ceasefire Deal in Gaza by Monday. Aired 12-1a ET

Aired February 27, 2024 - 00:00   ET

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

[00:00:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

JOHN VAUSE, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: Coming up here on CNN.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

EMMANUEL MACRON, FRENCH PRESIDENT: There is no consensus today to send ground troops. Nothing should be ruled out.

VAUSE: The French president goes there, opening the door to a possible troop deployment to Ukraine.

JOSEPH BIDEN, U.S. PRESIDENT: We're close. We're close. We're not done yet.

VAUSE: The U.S. president believes within a week, a deal should be in place between Israel and Hamas for a weeks long cease fire in Gaza as well as the release of Israeli hostages.

UNKNOWN: There is no food to feed my children, nor there is any bread.

VAUSE: Nor is there water or housing, medical care or teachers or classrooms or schools or hope. Life now for almost every child in Gaza.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: The French president, Emmanuel Macron, has raised the possibility of sending troops to Ukraine. With military assistance still stored in Congress, Macron urged Western leaders to increase their military aid. During a hastily convened summit in Paris, Macron also warned NATO they face a very real risk of a Russian attack within the next few years. Macron says a new coalition will be established to supply Ukraine with medium and long-range missiles.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MACRON: There is no consensus today to send ground troops in an official, endorsed or sanctioned manner. But in dynamic terms, nothing should be ruled out. We would do whatever it takes to ensure that Russia cannot win this war.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: After more than a year of delays and obstacles from Turkey and Hungary, there is now nothing standing in the way of Sweden's ascension into NATO. On Monday, the Hungarian parliament approved Sweden's bid to join the alliance, the military hurdle Stockholm needed to clear. Hungary's nationalist prime minister, Viktor Orban, dropped his month-long opposition after making a defense agreement with his Swedish counterpart. Sweden is now set to become NATO's 32nd member. Russia's war in Ukraine was one of the major reasons why Sweden broke its 200-year-long history of military neutrality.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ULF KRISTERSSON, SWEDISH PRIME MINISTER (through translator): As far as Russia is concerned, the only thing we can safely expect is that they do not like Sweden becoming a NATO member. They didn't like Finland becoming a NATO member either. The whole purpose was to emphasize that a country like Ukraine would not be allowed to choose its own path.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: Joining me now from Los Angeles, is CNN European Affairs commentator Dominic Thomas. Thanks for being with us, Dom.

DOMINIC THOMAS, CNN EUROPEAN AFFAIRS COMMENTATOR: Thank you so much for having me on, John.

VAUSE: Okay, so after opening the door to this idea of troops to Ukraine, Macron went on to make this point. Here he is.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MACRON (through translator): The people that said never ever today were the same ones who said never ever planes, never ever long-range missiles, never ever trucks. They said all that two years ago. A lot around this table said that we will offer helmets and sleeping bags, and now they are saying we need to do more to get missiles and tanks. We have to be humble and realise that we have always been six to eight months late.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: It's a good point. He's right. Germany is now one of the biggest donors to Ukraine. But when Russia invaded two years ago, Berlin sent Kiev's shipment of helmets. So, if every country had started at their current levels, this war would have probably been over a long time ago. The question is, why would Macron raise this publicly? Why now? How serious have those discussions been? How far along is this? And is this an attempt, sort of in a way, to pay the public? THOMAS: Well, John, I mean, all of those points are now relevant. I mean, for two years, we've been talking about this conflict, about the Russian invasion. And the red line at the very beginning was precisely the quest of the level of involvement and support, and particularly the red line around having troops on the ground. Simply mentioning that today as a possibility is therefore a very significant departure from that earlier position.

Now, I think one of the interesting things to look at is the sort of the context and the timing of this. I mean, for Emmanuel Macron, whenever he's on the foreign stage dealing with foreign policy and detracting from domestic policy, he thrives. And I think in this particular context, particularly around Russia and Ukraine, he does especially well because the public support is there for him. So, it's strategic.

But it also comes on the heels of ever-increasing uncertainty around the outcome of the presidential election. So, there's a lot of conflict in Congress and the lack of support at that level. And I think a concerted effort to demonstrate that Europe on this question of further engagement and involvement is united. The specifics are to be ironed out, that when it comes to sort of logistical movement, to trips on the ground, this is a very significant step in that direction. And just simply bringing it into the public space, John, shows that conversations have started in that particular realm.

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VAUSE: Well, you raise the situation in the United States with assistance from, for Ukraine rather, still stuck in Congress because of Republicans. The reality for Europe, though, is this. To fully replace U.S. military assistance in 2024, Europe would have to double its current level and pace arms assistance.

So is that politically possible right now in Europe, where governments are cutting public spending, and especially in France, where farmers have been protesting for months, in no small part, because of cheaper imports from Ukraine, which is benefiting from favorable trade terms from the EU? Is there a political will there across Europe to go that far, at least in terms of military assistance?

THOMAS: Yeah, it's complicated because, of course, we know that it's not just Europe, but the European Union is a vast organization. Achieving consensus is complicated. But time and time again, the European Union has proved that they are able to come together and to resist attempts by Putin to polarize these different partners. You're absolutely right that within the domestic realm, cost of living crises and so on and so forth are extremely relevant here.

But I think that there is, on the one hand, this sort of ambiguous situation of sort of fatigue with support for Ukraine. But I think there's also tremendous concern because of the uncertainty in the public realm, in the media, discussions around this. And when this happens, the role of leaders is therefore to demonstrate strength and solidarity, at least with words. But you're absolutely right to point out that the practicalities of it, the dollars and cents, are potentially issues in what are already fragile economies moving forward.

And I think that in some contexts, the will for increased political conflict, tension and engagement is problematic. But I do think that people on the ground in Europe recognize that the Russian threat is very real. And that's why we've seen countries such as the Estonian prime minister, the foreign secretary for Lithuania, speak so vociferously in terms of the importance of countering Russia here, because it's right there on their back door, John.

VAUSE: There's also this immediate challenge of making and shipping the weapons which Ukraine needs the most. On that, here's the Dutch prime minister.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MARK RUTTE, PRIME MINISTER OF THE NETHERLANDS: I think there was a great sense of urgency, particularly for the short term, on ammunition. And on air defense. But also for the somewhat more longer term, the production of more defense equipment for Ukraine, the necessity to work on cyber, but also to shore up the security situation, for example, in countries like Moldova.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: Which goes to your earlier point about concern in Europe. But this shortage of lack of production capacity for ammunition, especially artillery, that became a major issue within the first six months of the war. Why are they still talking about it now?

THOMAS: Well because John, I think that, you know, the reality is that for so many countries in Europe, sort of engaging in conflict in this particular way is a new, more recent phenomenon. And we see these depleted resources. And so, it undermines the narrative of strength, which is important at the level of words. But when we actually see on the ground the sort of the lack of coordination, dwindling resources in certain areas, unfortunately, it points to an underlying, undermines the fact that the military strength is perhaps not there, John. And that the will to invest in this and to develop this is one. But it's a long term strategy. And I think it raises and draws attention, increasing attention to the fact that this is really at the level of rhetoric that the European Union is speaking here, John.

VAUSE: Dominic, thank you for the insight. Thank you for the analysis. Good to have you with us. Good to see you as well.

THOMAS: Thank you so much.

VAUSE: Well, one of Alexei Navalny's closest aides claims the Kremlin killed the opposition leader to sabotage a prisoner exchange, which would have included two U.S. citizens. In a video statement, Maria Pevchikh says a final deal was close, which would see Navalny and the Americans released in return for Vadim Korsakov, a Russian hitman serving life in Germany. The Kremlin denies any such agreement was in the works or any involvement in Navalny's death. But according to Pevchikh, the idea of Alexei Navalny being set free was simply too much for the Russian president. CNN's Matthew Chance has more reporting in from Moscow.

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MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Mourners still paying their respects at makeshift memorials across Russia. But now another unexpected twist in Alexei Navalny's tragic saga. According to his close aid, negotiations for the release of the Russian opposition leader were reaching a conclusion. He was poised to be swapped, say his team, before he suddenly died.

[00:10:29]

MARIA PEVCHIKH, HEAD OF INVESTIGATIONS AT NAVALNY'S ANTI-CORRUPTION FOUNDATION (through translator): Navalny should have been free in the coming days because we achieved a decision on his exchange. I received confirmation that negotiations were underway and were at the final stage on the evening of February 15. On February 16, Alexei was killed.

CHANCE: The Kremlin tells CNN it has no knowledge of any deal and had nothing to do with his death. But Navalny's team insists the Russian opposition figure was killed to prevent him from being swapped. Swapped along with U.S. citizens in Russian jails, like Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich, accused of espionage. Former U.S. Marine Paul Whelan serving 16 years for spying.

UNKNOWN: I am innocent of any charge.

CHANCE: The U.S. says both are unlawfully detained and has been negotiating for their release, including early talks on Navalny, one Western official tells CNN. But the Kremlin has regularly hinted it wants back this man, a former FSB agent Vadim Krasikov, serving a life sentence in Germany for killing a Chechen dissident. Navalny's team accuses the Kremlin of simply taking the opposition leader off the negotiating table by killing him. Allegations the Kremlin denies.

PEVCHIKH (through translator): It was clearly communicated to Putin that the only way to get Krasikov is to exchange him for Navalny. Hold on, thought Putin. I can't tolerate Navalny being free. And since they're willing to exchange Krasikov in principle, then I just need to get rid of the bargaining chip.

CHANCE: No person, in other words, no problem. The kind of ruthlessness that saw Alexey Navalny poisoned with the nerve agent Novichok in 2020. Recovering only to be arrested and imprisoned on his return to Russia the following After news of his unexplained death, hundreds of mourners were detained while laying flowers. Now Navalny's team says a public farewell, a potential flashpoint, will be held at the end of this week. In death, as in life it seems, Alexei Navalny continues to challenge the Kremlin's power. Matthew Chance, CNN Moscow.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

VAUSE: U.S. President Joe Biden is aiming to have a deal in place for a ceasefire in Gaza and the release of hostages by this coming Monday. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BIDEN: Well, I hope by the beginning of the weekend, I mean the end of the weekend. At least my national security advisor tells me that we're close, we're close, it's not done yet. And my hope is by next Monday we'll have a ceasefire.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: President Biden made those comments after a taping of the show with Seth Rogen, a late-night talk show in the United States. But sources tell CNN that Hamas has backed off some campaign. He demands in the ongoing hostage and ceasefire talks, bringing the negotiator parties closer to an agreement. CNN's Alex Marquardt has details.

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ALEX MARQUARDT, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Some progress does appear to have been made in recent talks to reach a deal to exchange Israeli hostages for Palestinian prisoners, as well as a truce, if only temporary, in the Gaza Strip. Negotiators met again on Monday in the Qatari capital Doha to discuss technical, more specific aspects of broader topics that had been raised during a meeting on Friday in Paris, with the CIA director, his Egyptian and Israeli counterparts, and the Qatari prime minister.

That meeting, according to the White House, yielded an understanding on the broad contours of a potential deal. Talks did appear to have stalled recently, after Israel called a Hamas counterproposal delusional. Now two sources tell me that Hamas has softened and backed off some of their key demands to get this agreement in place. Notably, they have reduced the number of Palestinian prisoners, they are demanding be released from Israeli prisons, that's for the first phase of a deal.

They have also dropped stipulations that the Israeli military leave Gaza, and that Israel agree to an end to the war. Now those were all part of an earlier Hamas proposal, this does not mean that Hamas no longer wants that to happen. There is an expectation that during the ceasefire of that first phase, discussions would continue and tackle more sensitive and complicated issues like IDF soldiers who are being held hostage by Hamas and other groups. Palestinian prisoners who have significant prison sentences, and those questions about an end to the war.

Now Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has made clear that regardless of a hostage deal, he intends for the Israeli army to carry out a ground offensive in Rafah, in southern Gaza. Sources familiar with the hostage negotiations warn that even with signs of progress, the talks remain remain fragile and fluid. One thing does appear clear, that the Biden administration would like to see a hostage deal in place by the start of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan which begins on March 10th. Alex Marquardt, CNN Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

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VAUSE: Still ahead here on CNN newsroom, desperation in Gaza. Swimming out to sea to recover airdrop ration packs. More on that in a moment. Also farmers across Europe protesting government policies which they say are keeping the price of produce low as the costs of farming continue to rise. Details in a moment.

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VAUSE: UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres is warning that an Israeli offensive on Rafah, which is now 12 days away, would bring an end to all aid operations in Gaza. To say food, water and medicine are scarce is a gross understatement. What's left is now the focus of outbreaks of violence. CNN's Jeremy Diamond has our report.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Today, Gaza's humanitarian crisis looks like this. Palestinians desperate for food paddling and swimming out to sea after at least one plane airdropping aid appeared to miss its target, sending pallets of food crashing into the sea. In central and southern Gaza, hundreds crowding the beaches, to try and secure their piece of the rations.

But this is the other side of desperation. Groups of men wielding whips and bats, steering crowds away from their precious cargo. Months of hunger and war triggering fights for survival, when there is not enough for everyone. This is what they are fighting over. Ration packs, a lifeline for the lucky few.

UNKNOWN: I was lucky and able to get one of these aids. But what about all those other people who were not able to get this aid? Look, this one didn't get any, and this one didn't get any.

DIAMOND (voice-over): But so much more is needed.

UNKNOWN: I'm asking from the Arab nations. We are thankful for the aid through the parachutes, but we need more, and we need it distributed in a better way. This will not stop our hunger. We don't need a capsule. Because when we eat this, we will eat it. And that's it. It's finished.

DIAMOND: But nowhere are people more desperate for food aid than in northern Gaza, where women and children wait in long lines for what now passes for food, a cloudy soup mixture made with dirty water and whatever grains can be found.\

AMAL MOHAMMAD NASEER, GAZA RESIDENT: There is no food or drinking water, no flour or anything. There was no cooking oil, not even drinking water. Death is better than this.

[00:19:59]

DIAMOND (voice-over): Humanitarian aid deliveries this month dropped by half compared to January, according to a United Nations relief agency, which blamed Israeli military operations and the collapse of civil order in Gaza. In northern Gaza, aid groups suspending aid delivery amid looting and attacks on aid trucks, leaving many with few options to stay alive.

UNKNOWN (through translator): Look, we are eating animal feed against our will, but have to eat it.

DIAMOND: Without food or clean water, their voices are all they have left.

AHMAD ATEF SAFI, GAZA RESIDENT (through translator): The suffering of Gaza is extremely difficult. Where are the authorities? Where is the government? Israel made us hungry and our government made us hungry and people are stealing. Shame on you, Arabs. Where are you?

DIAMOND: But after nearly five months of war, is the world listening? Jeremy Diamond, CNN, Tel Aviv.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

VAUSE: Janti Soeripto is the president and CEO of San Francisco. She is with us this hour from New York. Thank you for taking the time to speak with us. It's appreciated.

JANTI SOERIPTO, PRESIDENT AND CEO OF SAVE THE CHILDREN: Thank you, John.

Okay, so here's what life is like right now in Gaza. We'll hear first from a mother in Gaza City. Her name is Umm Al-Ameer Shamalkh. And then we'll hear from Jihad Al-Najjar who is in northern Gaza. Here they are.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UMM AL-AMEER SHAMALKH, GAZA RESIDENT (through translator): There is no food to feed my children, nor there is any bread. We came to the point where we are eating tree leaves. We are eating the food of this donkey.

JIHAD AL-NAJJAR, GAZA RESIDENT: All of northern Gaza is starving. No shelter, no drink, no food. There is nothing.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: It seems there will be less than nothing. According to the UN, aid deliveries in February are half of what they were last month, which was a fraction of what is needed. So Palestinians, especially in Gaza, are resilient people. Kids are used to hardship. But nothing like this. And the fear is that now it could get a lot worse if that Israeli offensive on Rafah goes ahead. Describe what worse looks like.

SOERIPTO: Yeah thanks, John. And it's almost inconceivable. Last month, I didn't think worse was actually possible. But clearly it is. You got to remember, there's now 1.4 million people in Rafah, which was a smallish city, housing 300,000 people before. Now there's three times as many. There are essentially tents and people everywhere, on every single

street, road. There are people sheltering under a piece of tarp in a tent, perhaps or in a makeshift shelter. And there is essentially, this is the last line, Rafah. There is nowhere to go. People can't leave. People can't go back to the north. They're still fighting there. They're probably not allowed to cross the Wadi Gaza in the middle. And as we heard, there is no food, none of anything anywhere in the north anyway, aside from a lot of unexploded ordinances.

So it is really, you know, quite, it bears no thinking what would happen if there would be an incursion now into Rafah, where people are completely stuck, essentially locked up, with nowhere to go. And because people are so close together, it is inconceivable that you would go in there with a lot of bombs and shelling and violence. Because children will, you know, will absolutely be beaten. And they will bear the brunt of that violence.

VAUSE: It is such a difficult situation to even think of the words to how to describe what is possible there, because so much has already happened. So, yeah, it is unthinkable. This is from an opinion piece by, for CNN rather, by UNICEF CEO Catherine Russell. At least 90% of Gaza's children under the age of five are affected by one or more infectious diseases, and that 70% have had diarrhoea in the past two weeks. At least 17,000 children in Gaza are now unaccompanied or have become separated from their families. They are now orphans. Their parents are dead.

Now, this is the view from above Khan Yunis, which is a little bit north of Rafah. And, you know, as you can see, as the shot slowly moves in, as it gets closer and closer and closer, if you look at that, you see people are just going about their daily lives. They are living life. And this is what life is now like for more than a million and a half Palestinians. This is reality. They are cramped into these tent cities everywhere. And they are living in close quarters. It is perfect for the spread of disease, to say the least. In many ways, are you surprised that the disease is so severe? Has it not spread faster and worse than it already has?

SOERIPTO: To some extent, yes. I mean, it's also fair to say that it's hard to really get a full picture of all the numbers, the diseases. You know, there is no opportunity to test people necessarily for a lot of things. But, yes, also don't forget, it's very hard to get clean water in Gaza. It was hard to get clean water. The water situation before the conflict wasn't great. Since October 7th, it's been completely dismal. Water plants, desalination plants are not working.

[00:24:59]

Water comes in literally in drips and drabs in bottled water in the trucks if they come in, which is, and there's not enough of that happening either. So no clean water. I think, what is it, one shower for every thousand people or so. So people, -- there's no way to do proper hygiene. So yeah, it is not surprising that many, many children present with diarrhoea. And that infectious diseases will spread.

VAUSE: So, in terms of man-made disaster, which this is, it could end tomorrow. Either Hamas could stop using the population in Gaza as human shields, or the Israeli government could decide to stop killing children. Is there anything comparable to what's happening in Gaza right now and the outsized impact it's having on children?

SOERIPTO: You're absolutely right. And both things need to happen. It can't happen soon enough. No, I have never seen anything like this man-made at this scale that has such an impact on children. And civilians writ large. And neither have the many, many humanitarians who made this their life's work either. It's unprecedented.

VAUSE: Yeah, it's tragic. It's unprecedented. And it defies words in so many ways. Thank you for being with us. Appreciate it.

SOERIPTO: Thank you for having us.

VAUSE: So, to come here on CNN, Ukraine's secret weapon against Russia. Now it seems the Russians have developed countermeasures, effectively reducing the effectiveness of those Ukrainian drones. What CNN saw while observing one unit. That's next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

VAUSE: Farmers across Europe again on the streets protesting over government economic and regulatory policies, mostly ones which are aimed at reducing food prices amid high inflation.

And now they're demanding that lawmakers take action to actually do something about their list of grievances.

CNN's Clare Sebastian has details.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CLARE SEBASTIAN, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Anger piercing through the streets of Europe's diplomatic hub (ph). Farmers across the continent traveling to the European Union headquarters in Brussels on Monday as agriculture ministers meet to discuss Europe's farming crisis.

Police meeting the protesters with water cannons as patience begins to wear thin. For weeks, farmers in over a dozen countries have been disrupting highways, border checkpoints, and city centers, an uproar over unfair competition from outside the E.U. and what they dub as restrictive environmental policies.

This, in part, a consequence of E.U. leaders waiving duties on Ukrainian food imports following Russia's full-scale invasion in 2022. Over the weekend, farmers in Poland who have been blocking Ukrainian border checkpoints destroyed 160 tons of Ukrainian grain, spilling corn across train tracks, a move Ukrainian officials described as vandalism.

[00:30:17]

Meanwhile, in Spain, convoys of tractors continue to clog Madrid

While in France, motorways hidden by truckloads of hey, union leaders calling for more noise.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): In any case, we have to keep up the pressure because I have the impression that we're going to be hearing a lot of speeches, and we want action, facts, and today we're not making any progress.

SEBASTIAN: Back in Brussels, an acknowledgment Russia stands to benefit here.

DAVID CLARINVAL, BELGIAN DEPUTY PRIME MINISTER (through translator): There are also aspects of the market which are important. And we see that the grains market is collapsing. The prices are going down. This is a dirty game which Russia is putting in place to put pressure on Ukraine, but also on the single market. We are in a global geopolitical context. We have to keep all these aspects in mind.

SEBASTIAN: The response to these protests, a test for European unity, as anger continues to grow louder.

Clare Sebastian, CNN, London.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

VAUSE: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy says Russia must suffer its key defeat in Crimea. Those comments came as he marked a day of resistance to occupation of Crimea and Sebastopol.

Zelenskyy says Ukraine has achieved significant results in the Black Sea and is working to achieve what he said are the necessary results in Crimea.

The day of resistance marks exactly ten years since Russia annexed the peninsula. In a speech Monday, Zelenskyy urged, quote, "real counteraction to Russian evil." He says the fight must continue for the people in Crimea and in other parts of occupied Ukraine.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY, UKRAINIAN PRESIDENT (through translator): Today, we recall the events that took place ten years ago in the Ukrainian Crimea, when our peninsula was stolen by Russia. And when, along with the Russian army of occupation, our Crimea was invaded by humiliation and abuse of people like repression and fear.

This cruel war, which is now being waged against Ukraine, was spawned by Russian revanchism, precisely when it felt that the world could turn a blind eye to such crimes, such annexations, such abuse of people.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: Some of those achievements in the Black Sea have come from Ukrainian drones, which have been incredibly effective in leveling the battlefield with Russia.

But now, as CNN's Nick Paton Walsh reports, Russian troops have a growing number of kilometers (ph).

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

NICK PATON WALSH, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): They flit around fast, hiding each week in a new abandoned shell.

Drone operators have been Ukraine's secret weapon for months. But now, but it is getting harder we saw this unit in December, but their base back then has been bombed, yet still, they hunt every day for a single mistake: a Russian who gets himself spotted.

They say the Russians are better at hiding themselves. Although sometimes obviously not yet.

WALSH: They've just spotted a Russian soldier carrying groceries, and the dog came out to greet him. So I think it's quite possible that's where some Russians are hiding.

WALSH (voice-over): So it begins. The first strike on the window. One drone watching the other flies into the target.

And quickly, they prepare another. The hunt is no game, but has the tools of one. They lose about a quarter of their drones to Russian jamming.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE)

GRAPHIC: It's affecting us more. But we won't give up. We have to evade like snakes. Invent things. Experiment.

WALSH (voice-over): They see the Russians running into the blue house, its roof clearly hit before, a while ago. It becomes their next target.

They go in again. It could be a mortar position, they think. Watch how smaller explosion send fragments flying out.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE)

GRAPHIC: Nice one. Not sure it's a kill. We'll see.

WALSH (voice-over): The Russians often have to stay injured inside the damaged building to not draw in more drones.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE)

GRAPHIC: They usually wait. They don't run out immediately.

WALSH (voice-over): They go in again. It could be a mortar position, they think. Then suddenly, the power goes out. The Internet down and screens black, but remarkably, they barely miss a beat.

The commander sparks up his cell phone, 5-G, with the drone feed in a chat group, directing the entire attack just from an iPhone.

[00:35:11] The smoke grows in intensity. They think they might have hit a weapons store.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE)

GRAPHIC: There's something inside. Should be ammo.

WALSH (voice-over): They never see Russian faces or taste the smoke. The blast noise takes a few seconds to travel to them. But this is still killing, up close, yet far away. Strike, launch, repeat all day.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE)

GRAPHIC: Nice! Nice!

WALSH (voice-over): Sometimes it's cheers here, screams there. Other times, the other way around.

Nick Paton Walsh, CNN, Kherson, Ukraine.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

VAUSE: When we come back, how U.S. support for Israel and its war in Gaza could potentially cost the U.S. president a second term.

In a moment, we head to the U.S. state of Michigan.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

VAUSE: Police in Australia investigating an assault complaint against Taylor Swift's father. Photographer Ben McDonald told CNN he learned the pop superstar was aboard a yacht after her final show in Sydney Monday.

He said once Swift left the boat, a security guard forced an umbrella into his face and then Swift's dad punched him.

A spokesperson for Swift said threats have been made against a member of her staff. McDonald denies that claim. And what it called Swift's entourage aggressive and unprofessional.

Now to the state of Michigan, where the U.S. president is facing growing anger from Arab and Muslim Americans who make up the central voting bloc in the swing state and helped elect Biden back in 2020.

But now there are real questions if that support will be there again. Many are angry over the president's unwavering support for Israel in the war with Hamas.

CNN's Dianne Gallagher has more now, reporting in from Dearborn, Michigan.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Free, free, free Palestine.

DIANNE GALLAGHER, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): A pivotal November battleground.

LAVORA BARNES, CHAIR, MICHIGAN DEMOCRATIC PARTY: The road to the White House runs through Michigan. You don't win without Michigan.

GALLAGHER (voice-over): But some Democrats are using Tuesday's primary to put President Joe Biden on notice.

LEXI ZEIDAN, PALESTINIAN-AMERICAN ACTIVIST: A warning to Biden and his administration that they need to hear our calls and heed our demands and respond to what it is that we're asking for, which is an immediate and a permanent ceasefire.

GALLAGHER (voice-over): Using their ballots to protest the president's handling the war in Gaza by voting uncommitted in the Democratic primary.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's a humanitarian vote. It's a protest vote.

GALLAGHER (voice-over): The grassroots Listen to Michigan campaign.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Vote uncommitted.

GALLAGHER (voice-over): Launched by members of the state's large Arab American community just three weeks ago has expanded to count progressives and young voters among its supporters like Pontiac City councilman, Mikal Goodman.

MIKAL GOODMAN, PONTIAC CITY COUNCIL MEMBER: Because we are often told many times that the power that we have as citizens in the U.S. is through the power of the ballot. And this is us using that power.

[00:40:06]

No one who is voting uncommitted wants Trump. They want what is happening in Gaza to stop.

GALLAGHER (voice-over): More than 30 state and local elected officials endorsed the campaign, as did Rashida Tlaib, the first Palestinian- American woman to serve in Congress.

REP. RASHIDA TLAIB (D-MI): If you want us to be louder, then come here and vote uncommitted.

GALLAGHER (voice-over): Organizers say for most, today's message is about the primary, but there's a lingering warning.

ABBAS ALAWIEH, SPOKESPERSON, LISTEN TO MICHIGAN: You need to call for a ceasefire, because it will save lives and because it's the necessary thing to do politically. Otherwise, you, President Biden, will be handing the White House to Donald Trump.

GALLAGHER (voice-over): The Biden campaign has acknowledged Michigan's importance in this election, but allies of the president aren't quite sounding alarms over the uncommitted primary strategy. Yet.

BARNES: I'm hoping and expecting that these folks will come vote for Joe Biden in November. But right now they have an issue they want to brought attention to, and it's working. That's why we have an early presidential primary.

GALLAGHER (voice-over): The uncommitted campaign's goal is modest.

LAYLA ELABED, CAMPAIGN MANAGER, LISTEN TO MICHIGAN: Our threshold is 10,000 uncommitted votes. Because that strategy is based off of the numbers that Trump won in 2016 against Hillary Clinton.

GALLAGHER (voice-over): In 2020, Biden won Michigan by more thana 150,000 votes. But some Biden supporters, like former congressman Andy Levin, say the president's prospects this November are uncertain.

ANDY LEVIN, FORMER U.S. HOUSE DEMOCRAT: I mean, I'm going to do everything I can to get him elected in November. All I'm saying is I don't know if we can succeed unless we change course. And by the way, it's the right thing to do.

GALLAGHER (voice-over): He says he voted uncommitted in the primary, not because his support for the president is wavering.

LEVIN: Well, I think the great danger for Joe Biden here in the Michigan primary is that he would win with no indication that he has a problem, with no visibility of how angry people are.

GALLAGHER (voice-over): Dianne Gallagher, CNN, Dearborn, Michigan.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

VAUSE: Sad to say, Antartica's so-called Doomsday Glacier began rapidly melting three decades earlier than initially thought, since the 1940s.

They Doomsday nickname refers to a catastrophic rise in sea levels if it melts.

New findings matched data on a neighboring glacier, which started melting around the same time. Neither glacier has shown any signs of recovery. It's sad to say that's significant, because if both glaciers are retreating simultaneously, it means they're being forced by something.

Further evidence of human-caused climate change.

I'm John Vause. Thank you for watching. Back at the top of the hour with more CNN NEWSROOM. In the meantime, though, stay with us. WORLD SPORT starts after a short break. See you in a bit.

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