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CNN International: Putin Holding Annual Address to Russian Parliament; Investigation Reveals How a Massive Israeli Bomb Killed Half a Family in Gaza. Aired 4:30-5a ET

Aired February 29, 2024 - 04:30   ET

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

[04:30:00]

BIANCA NOBILO, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome back to CNN NEWSROOM. If you're just joining us, here are some of today's top stories.

The state of Texas has executed death row inmate Ivan Cantu, despite the lack of discovery of new -- despite the discovery of new evidence. Cantu denied murdering his cousin and his cousin's fiancee more than 20 years ago. His supporters believe that he did not receive a fair trial. Federal and state courts rejected appeals and the governor declined to intervene.

Illinois is now the third U.S. state to remove Donald Trump from its primary ballot. The judge is citing the 14th Amendment's insurrection clause that bans insurrectionists from running for office.

Colorado and Maine also removed Trump on those same grounds. Their decisions were paused while the Supreme Court rules on Trump's appeal.

And France is a step closer to enshrining abortion rights in its constitution. Yesterday, the French Senate overwhelmingly approved the amendment. The measure now moves to a joint session of both Houses of Parliament on Monday, where it needs to receive three-fifths of the vote to become law.

MAX FOSTER, CNN ANCHOR: Russian President Vladimir Putin currently speaking to Russian lawmakers for about 15 minutes so far. It's part of his annual address to bot of the Houses of Parliament there. Happening about two weeks ahead of the presidential election, for course.

Clare, after we've seen very clear momentum behind Russia on the Ukrainian front lines.

CLARE SEBASTIAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, like he's got the wind in his sails, I think. He went straight into talking about Ukraine, which is certainly significant. He said, interestingly, given the support we've seen recently for Alexei Navalny, given the burst of anti-war sentiment we saw around an anti-war candidate who's now been running in the elections, he said that from the start, it was supported by the absolute majority of the Russian population.

He spent a while sort of talking up the unity of Russians around this, how the entire economy has been mobilized around this, how it's shown flexibility and reliability, also talking up the strength of the economy. He did predictably attack the West. So far, he's saying the so-called West, as he put it, trying to hold back Russia's development, trying to weaken Russia from the inside.

He went on to say how, you know, Russia is willing to engage in dialogue on what he called strategic stability. This concerns the nuclear issue. But the U.S. is looking for Russia's strategic defeat. And he's again accused the West of provoking not only a conflict in Ukraine, but a conflict in the Middle East.

So, so far, nothing particularly newsworthy, but similar lines that we've heard from Putin so far.

FOSTER: Let's just have a quick listen in and see what we can hear.

VLADIMIR PUTIN, RUSSIAN PRESIDENT (through translator): ... national superiority and exclusivity, it blinds people and takes brains out of their heads.

The actions of the U.S. and its allies basically dismantled the system of the European security, and it's very risky. Of course, we have to work on the formation of new lines of the equal and unchallenged security in Eurasia. We are ready to talk to any countries who are interested in it.

And I want to emphasize, and I think that today it's very important for everyone, without sovereign, strong Russia, there won't be any strong peace in the world. It's impossible. We're trying to combine the efforts of global majority.

And we're talking about the transformation of the world's economy, finances, markets, when all monopolies are being ruined and stereotypes combined to those monopolies. Back in 2028, the BRICS countries with new members of this group of countries will be achieving more than 30 percent of global GDP, whereas G7 will be dropping below 28 percent. But those figures are very impressive, because even 10, 15 years, the situation was totally different.

But I was talking about this, the world tendencies, we cannot hide from them. They have an objective nature. Look at the world's GDP for the countries of G7 was 45.7 percent.

BRICS without even expansion -- well, I mean, I'm talking about there wasn't it wasn't existing. But the countries of BRICS had 16 and a half percent back in 92.

But in 2022, G7 had 30.3 percent GDP and BRICS 31.5 percent GDP. Well, GDP. And closer to 2028, the situation will change even better towards BRICS. We will have 36.6 percent ...

NOBILO: Clare, are we learning anything new so far from Putin's remarks at his annual address that we're listening into?

SEBASTIAN: So it's nothing that we haven't heard before. But I think he is looking very strident. The criticism of the West has been pretty relentless throughout the speech. You just heard him now saying that the actions of the U.S. and its allies basically dismantled the system of European security.

[04:35:00]

And I think the other thing that we're hearing in quite strong and quite sharp focus here is this sort of Russia under siege mentality. And this is something that plays very heavily in Russian propaganda, sort of us against them is a very powerful tool in sort of making sure there is public support for this war. He said that without a sovereign, strong Russia, there won't be any strong peace in the world.

We've heard him earlier in the speech saying that the U.S. is looking for Russia's strategic defeat, trying to weaken Russia from within, as it has in other regions of the world.

We've heard these comments from him, as I said, multiple times. But interesting how much time he's dedicating to this as part of his speech, which on the face of it, he had previously said, was designed to set out Russia's strategic priorities for the next six years as he approaches elections in two weeks' time.

NOBILO: Clare, thank you.

We're going to get some more analysis now because we are joined by Alexander Baunov, a senior fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. He's speaking to us from Florence in Italy. Thank you so much for joining us.

I don't know how much you caught on that, but it was interesting hearing him talk about BRICS and really setting it up as an alternative to the G8 and effectively the West.

ALEXANDER BAUNOV, SENIOR FELLOW, CARNEGIE ENDOWMENT FOR INTERNATIONAL PEACE: It's one of the messages that Putin is delivering constantly, that he was able to change the world order. And partly, he really split the world on two camps.

In one, the war against its neighbor, with seizing its territories, is absolutely impossible and unacceptable. And there are a group of other countries, including very big ones, which are not in favor of this, but still continue to trade with the aggressor, for instance, or to make normal diplomatic relations, to keep normal diplomatic ties with the aggressor.

NOBILO: Alexander let's talk about the less obvious elements that might not be immediately apparent to people who aren't quite as seasoned as yourself when it comes to analyzing Putin. Is there anything that stood out to you, some subtleties, or even in the way that he's delivering this speech?

BAUNOV: Well, the very act of delivering this speech demonstrates Putin's increased self-confidence. Remember that in 2022, he missed this opportunity because he practically didn't know what to say to the people after a disastrous campaign, after the disastrous course of the war in 2022. Now, in 2023, he returned with the message that Russia and the West cannot live anymore together as it was before.

Well, basically, a mixture of geopolitical considerations he wants to share with the general public in interviews and everywhere, and what he has to say under Russian law, under the Constitution, something about the social and economic situation. Again, to show the confidence in his abilities, his forces.

FOSTER: What do you think he's going to say about Ukraine? Because, as you say, if he doesn't have something to say, he doesn't usually say it. But he's got something to say currently, hasn't he, on how he's pushing forward in Ukraine and has the momentum behind him?

BAUNOV: There is one category among Russian citizens who are waiting with hope for what he's saying. And there are Russian-mobilized soldiers, several hundreds of people who were taken from their normal life by force, or they were just unable to escape somehow. This, you know, when you are under pressure of the state, especially authoritarian state, it's not easy.

And they are on the front line. They were not thinking they will keep fighting for so long time. There is a movement of the wives of mobilized people, which bothered Vladimir Putin very much because he doesn't know what to do with the wives of his own soldiers. So they are hoping that he somehow will deliver a message about how he aims to end this war.

But my impression is that the message will be about how he will continue this war. Because the war in these two years reshaped Russia very much. It became a core of Russian political life, political system. It's a dictatorship waging a war. And it will be very difficult to get out of this situation.

NOBILO: Alexander Baunov, thank you so much for joining us this morning.

Still ahead, CNN investigates an Israeli airstrike that killed half the members of one family in Gaza. Civilians sheltering in a warehouse.

[04:40:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

NOBILO: Welcome back.

The Palestinian Health Ministry says the death toll in Gaza from Israel's war against Hamas has now climbed past 30,000 since the fighting began in October. It does not distinguish between civilians and fighters but has recently said almost three quarters of casualties are women and children.

The Biden administration has become increasingly critical of how Israel is conducting the war. President Biden is saying it's been over the top. FOSTER: Communications blackouts and restrictions on journalists make

it difficult to get a true picture of what's actually happening in Gaza. Jomana Karadsheh and a team of CNN journalists documented an attack that killed more than half the members of just one family and found a mystery that took weeks to unravel. We have to warn you that parts of our report do contain disturbing graphic images.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JOMANA KARADSHEH, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Every patient here has a harrowing account of survival. But it is the story of this one young woman that, as you'll see, would become key to uncovering an atrocity that until today had been hidden in the dark.

They're all gone. I have no one left, 18-year-old Dhruba Abu-Jabba (ph) told us. She offered few clues as to what had happened to her and her family.

But a week later, a cameraman working for CNN in Gaza was out filming, as he's done every day for months. He was one of the first to arrive in this area just after Israeli forces had withdrawn.

It was on that day, January 14, when he stumbled upon the scene of a horrific incident. At first, we had no idea this was connected to Dhruba, until they start pulling documents from the rubble. It's Gaza's grim routine of trying to identify the dead. Then, the startling discovery. Later that day, CNN producer Abeer Salman screens the footage and sees Dhruba's I.D. This is where she was critically injured, and the bodies are the remains of her family. The images tell of the brutal force that was unleashed here, and people speak of a massacre of civilians.

With the stench of death in the air, they pull body after body, tiny corpses carried on blankets. And in the corner, a woman sits, covered in flies. In her decomposing arms a young man.

But we still didn't really know what had happened here.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It would be really hell, especially if we could go through the satellite images.

[04:45:00]

KARADSHEH (voice-over): This grisly discovery was the start of a week's long CNN investigation, complicated by Israel's ban on journalists entering Gaza without IDF escort and frequent communication blackouts.

We tracked down seven survivors, gathered video, satellite imagery, Israeli military press releases. We verified social media content and spoke with ballistic and forensic experts, allowing us to piece together the events of a bloody night of death and horror amid intense and indiscriminate Israeli military fire that left civilians dead.

We started by asking the IDF about the incident, giving them pictures and exact coordinates. The military said their troops had come under fire from that location on January 4th and responded with a, quote, precise strike to remove an imminent threat and cannot confirm if the bodies are linked to that strike.

Our investigation raises serious questions about the IDF's actions that day. This is where it all unfolded. There's a wide area of Salahuddin Street. Before the war, it was an industrial zone, but as Israel designated Salahuddin the evacuation corridor out of northern Gaza, business owners allowed hundreds of displaced people to stay in these warehouses. All of a sudden, in early January, those families could hear war creeping closer.

This was the scene filmed by a journalist in nearby Maghazi. The families decided they would leave when morning came, but it was Israeli forces who arrived first.

Eyewitnesses say the warehouses on both sides of the road we recreated in this 3D model were repeatedly struck from the ground and air. Families sheltering in the warehouses on the left broke holes through back walls, escaping into the farmlands. For the warehouse on the right, there was no escape for most. They were surrounded. They say the Israelis shot at anyone who tried to walk out.

SUMAYA ABU JIBBA, SURVIVOR OF ISRAELI ATTACK (through translator): My son, along with other relatives, said, started getting our belongings out the door. A bomb exploded. They struck him in the heart. He bled, ran, fell to the ground, and died. Our relative and another guy were also killed. Everyone was screaming and calling for an ambulance.

KARADSHEH (voice-over): Dhruba's mother, Sumaya, helplessly watched as her son Hamdi died in front of her eyes, but nothing could have prepared her for what would come next.

S. ABU JIBBA (through translator): As we were calling for help, another bomb hit. We were all knocked unconscious. When I woke up, I found my children and relatives killed.

KARADSHEH (voice-over): Dhruba was hanging between life and death. What knocked them unconscious was likely a massive 2,000-pound bomb, according to three ballistic experts who analyzed images of the crater. The blast's shockwave is so powerful that it can rupture the lungs, leading victims to drown in their own blood.

Two forensic experts who examine our video tell us this shockwave is what they believe killed the Abu Jibbas'. Dhruba's sister, Diana, survived. She ran out frantically searching for help.

DIANA ABU JIBBA, SURVIVOR OF ISRAELI ATTACK (through translator): The Israelis fired a bomb at us. I saw my siblings dying. Hamdi died in my arms. I went out to get an ambulance. The tank was close to us. We started running. They started shooting at me.

KARADSHEH (voice-over): While the Israeli military says these allegations of shooting at civilians are baseless, Sumaya and three of her children barely made it out. They wanted to get help for the others but couldn't return. Left not knowing if loved ones they'd left alive would survive their injuries. Five of the Abu Jibba children were killed, the youngest among them Ezzain. He was 10, and Ali, 13. Their bodies lay rotting in the warehouse.

What the family didn't know was that Dhruba was still alive, bleeding for four long days among the dead. After a January 7th interview, we tried to find her again. She was lost in the chaos of overwhelmed hospitals. After weeks of searching, we found her, miles away in Rafah, receiving treatment.

DHRUBA ABU JABBI, SURVIVOR OF ISRAELI ATTACK (through translator): The Israelis were outside shooting and started firing bombs. We were all injured and fell to the ground. The metal roof and wood collapsed on us. My mother and brother came to take me, but I couldn't get up because of the injuries to my arm and eyes. So, she left to get an ambulance.

KARADSHEH (voice-over): With Dhruba desperate for help with her little brother Ali fighting for his life for days, Israeli forces were right outside. Satellite images from January 5th, one day after the attack, show IDF vehicles by the warehouse and freshly bulldozed ground as close as 70 meters from where the siblings lay.

ROBA ABU JABBI, SURVIVOR OF ISRAELI ATTACK (voice-over): My family members who were still alive left. A relative and I stayed.

[04:50:00]

They started bulldozing the place and dumped it on top of the dead people, my siblings.

KARADSHEH (voice-over): She and her relative felt they had to get out of this shelter-turned- morgue. They decided to make a daring escape. They were questioned by soldiers about links to Hamas before making it to the relative safety of a local hospital.

We cannot confirm the Israeli military's claim that their troops came under fire. And yet survivors we spoke to tell us there were no militants in the warehouses. Some witnesses say they heard what they called resistance fire and local journalists that day reported clashes in the area.

CNN found that the Israeli military has separately alleged there were Hamas weapons facilities nearby, but never linked them to the warehouse where the Abu Jibbas sheltered, which we've highlighted here on this IDF map.

However it began, there's no doubt the Israeli military used ferocious firepower. The size of the bomb was by its nature indiscriminate, and survivors say they were not warned to leave by the military, as it claims it always tries to do.

In response to extensive questions from CNN, the IDF claimed it told civilians to leave in the days before the deadly incident but provided no evidence when asked. The first time the military publicly said this part of Gaza was no

longer a safe evacuation route came in this post on X at 11.28 a.m. on January 4th, hours after the attack.

S. ABU JIBBA (through translator): They knew we were civilians. Their drones saw everything. We had big white flags up. They said it's a safe area. The south is safe. We came to the south for nothing. They bombed us and killed our children in the south.

KARADSHEH (voice-over): The events of that January day, only a small window into the vast undocumented suffering that the Israeli military's inflicted on civilians in Gaza, with tens of thousands already killed. Leaving so many, like the Abu Jibba family, grieving, traumatized, with no recourse to justice and accountability.

R. ABU JIBBA (through translator): They died in front of me. I couldn't do anything. We would laugh, be silly, and play together. Now those memories are gone.

KARADSHEH (voice-over): Jomana Karadsheh, CNN, London.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

NOBILO: In the wake of CNN's reporting, the United Nations has called for an investigation into the events detailed in Jomana's report.

You can find much more about Roba's story and CNN Jomana's investigation on our website, cnn.com. We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

NOBILO: College basketball phenom Caitlin Clark has added another record to her illustrious career. The University of Iowa star surpassed Lynette Woodward for the most points scored in major women's college history.

FOSTER: Amazing.

The 22-year-old also shattered the record for most three-pointers in a single season. She led the Iowa Hawkeyes to a blowout victory against the University of Minnesota. She needs just 18 points now to pass the all-time scoring record, men's or women's.

She can do that when the Hawkeyes host Ohio State on Sunday in the regular season finale. I think they're going to get some good viewership on that one.

NOBILO: I'd say so. Even I'm intrigued.

FOSTER: The Saudi Pro League's Cristiano Ronaldo has got himself benched for performing a lewd gesture just after a match.

[04:55:03]

NOBILO: The obscene motion, which we will not be showing, appeared to be directed at fans of rival Saudi club Al-Shabaab after they started chanting Messi.

The Saudi Football Federation's Disciplinary and Ethics Committee suspended Ronaldo for one match and ordered him to pay a fine of around $2,700.

FOSTER: And the stories in the spotlight this hour.

Jimmy Butler meets Fall Out Boy.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

(FALL OUT BOY VIDEO)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FOSTER: Yes, that is the NBA star sporting an emo hairstyle and purple cowboy suit in the new Fall Out Boy video. So much for stardust. Butler shocked fans when he showed up at the Miami Heat media day in October of last year in the same hairstyle.

NOBILO: At the time, he said, this is my emotional state. I'm at one with my emotions. Butler was back to his usual look once the season had started. No word on how his hair will look when the Heat takes on the Nuggets tonight in Denver.

FOSTER: Do we normally get word?

NOBILO: We'll all be on the edge of our seats. No, I don't think we usually get word.

And now here is a scene straight out of a superhero action movie for you. The world's first jet suit race took place in Dubai's harbor on Wednesday.

FOSTER: Yes, eight pilots wearing the slick outfits competed over several hours by zipping around an obstacle course. Each suit fitted with five gas turbine jet engines that can be powered by jet fuel, diesel or biofuel. The winning pilot says the feeling was so alien, but also very freeing.

NOBILO: Oh, that looks like so much fun.

FOSTER: Do you think that looks really physical?

NOBILO: I think it probably would be because I'm imagining the thing that's most similar to, have you seen those indoor skydiving things?

FOSTER: Yes, I've done it.

NOBILO: You do have to use like a bit of core stability.

FOSTER: Yes, I wasn't very good at that.

NOBILO: Maybe, I was going to say, maybe not if you managed that.

FOSTER: No, there was a, I won't say, but the guy that went before me. That does look fun though.

NOBILO: It really does.

FOSTER: I think that should be the new commute.

NOBILO: Yes.

FOSTER: Thanks for joining us here on CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Max Foster.

NOBILO: And I'm Bianca Nobilo.

CNN "THIS MORNING" is up next after a quick break. And we -- no, I will see you tomorrow.

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