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CNN International: Key Israeli War Cabinet Member In Washington For Talks; Ukraine Intelligence Says It Blew Up A Bridge In SW Russia; Russian Offensive Continues After Ukraine Leaves Avdiivka. Aired 8-9a ET
Aired March 04, 2024 - 08:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
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RAHEL SOLOMON, HOST, "CNN NEWSROOM": Good morning, and welcome to our viewers all around the world. I'm Rahel Solomon, and this is CNN Newsroom.
Just ahead, Gaza has become a "powder keg" which could spill over at any time, that warning from the United Nations as international calls for a ceasefire intensify. And in the next few hours, the U.S. Supreme Court could announce its decision on whether Donald Trump will be on the ballot in Colorado. And then a state of emergency in Haiti after thousands of prison inmates escape in a mass prison break.
A lot to get to through this morning. But, we want to begin this hour in Gaza as calls for a temporary ceasefire grow louder. Israel is absent from key talks underway in Cairo. A Hamas delegation arrived in Cairo on Sunday. Negotiators were discussing a potential deal to free hostages in Gaza and reach a ceasefire between Hamas and Israel by Ramadan. But, an Israeli official tells CNN that Israel has not sent negotiators because it says Hamas has failed to respond to two key demands. A Hamas source says that the militant group has its own sticking points.
Meantime, in Washington, a key member of Israel's war cabinet, Benny Gantz, he is going to meet later today with U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris. This comes as the UN warns that hundreds of thousands of people in Gaza are on the brink of famine.
Let's go to CNN's Paula Hancocks. She is live for us in the Middle East. Paula, good to see you. She joins us live from Abu Dhabi. Talk to us a bit more about the latest we're hearing on these talks in Cairo. Israel, as we said, says that it has not sent negotiators. What more can you share with us?
PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Rahel, we hear from an Israeli official that the reason they decided not to send a delegation to Cairo is because some key points and demands that they had put in these negotiations have not been resolved. They say they still don't have a list of the hostages that Hamas and other groups have taken into Gaza on October 7. They also say that that list should specify which of those hostages are still alive and which have died, also saying that the ratio of Palestinian prisoners that will be released to the hostages has not been confirmed as well. At one point, there was a report that it could be 10 Palestinian prisoners for every one hostage released.
And when it comes to Hamas, from that side, a source tells CNN that they have sticking points of their own. The three sticking points are they want to have a permanent ceasefire before they give this kind of information and agree to release hostages. They also say they want to see a withdrawal of troops, the Israeli troops from Gaza, and a return of the displaced residents of Gaza from the northern part. They have been displaced for many months now. And they want to make sure that they will be allowed to return from the south back home.
Now, we had heard on Saturday a senior Biden administration official saying that Israel had basically agreed to the six-week ceasefire and that they were simply waiting for Hamas to respond. But, this does show that there are still some key details to be hammered out here before a ceasefire, no matter how temporary can be agreed upon. Rahel.
SOLOMON: Yeah. We heard that Vice President Kamala Harris over the weekend calling for a ceasefire. I believe she said at least six weeks. Paula, what do we know about this meeting today in Washington between Harris and the Defense Minister Benny Gantz?
HANCOCKS: Well, Benny Gantz is one of the officials within the war cabinet, and he is really seen as a political rival to the Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. We've seen suggestions that if Netanyahu were voted out of power, it would be Benny Gantz who could be voted into power. So, what this does, in some ways, is it hints us -- hints at a split within the Israeli government at this time. But also, we know that he will be meeting with Vice President Kamala Harris later today. We know that she has been extremely vocal about the lack of humanitarian aid that is getting into the Gaza Strip. So, that is likely to be one of the most important issues that she will want to talk about.
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She spoke this weekend, saying that the Israeli government must do more to significantly increase the flow of aid, no excuses, pointing out that people are starving in the face of inhumane conditions, and this voice is getting louder around the world, from officials, from leaders, from NGOs, from UN agencies. We heard from the Ministry of Health in Gaza which is run by Hamas that some 15 children have now died from malnutrition and dehydration. Now, we have no way of independently confirming those numbers as international journalists are not allowed by Israel into Gaza at this point.
But, we are hearing these calls of desperation, UNICEF, for example, saying that this was manmade, predictable, and entirely preventable. And it had been predicted. It had been warned about for months by many of these NGOs, and we're now seeing a desperate scramble by some in the international community to get aid in as soon as they can. Rahel.
SOLOMON: Yeah. Those calls certainly growing louder around the world. Paula Hancocks live for us there. Paula, thank you.
Ukrainian intelligence, meantime, claims that it blew up a bridge 800 kilometers inside Russian territory. Defense Intelligence of Ukraine says that it destroyed the load-bearing structures on the railway bridge in the Samara region. Russian media report that it's causing major train service delays. On Sunday, Russian missile strikes hit a school and apartment building in the Donetsk region, injuring six people. Ukraine's President says that his country needs more aid to fight off the Russians, but also adds that the military did destroy 15 Russian aircraft last month.
And so far, we have not had any reaction from the Kremlin about Friday's funeral for Alexei Navalny. The prominent opposition figure died last month in a Siberian prison, and hundreds of mourners flocked to his grave in Moscow again on Sunday. The Kremlin also denied any involvement in his death. This comes as Navalny's main target, Vladimir Putin, will likely secure another six-year term in the presidential election next month, this month, I should say.
Let's bring in our Clare Sebastian, who is following all of these developments from London. Clare, good to see you again. Let's start with the situation on the battlefield in Ukraine. It does seem more and more likely as the weeks goes on that Ukraine is really struggling to hold the line there.
CLARE SEBASTIAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yeah, Rahel. I think there is a growing sense of concern, in particular, around the Eastern Front. Obviously, we saw the fall of Avdiivka on February 17. Since then, there were a string of very small, it should be said villages, almost hamlets that Russia managed to occupy west of Avdiivka. Now, there is concern around a few more villages. Some pro-Russian sources saying that they've already been captured. Ukraine is denying this.
But obviously, the problem for Ukraine, the significant lack of ammunition. They also have issues around personnel. The new Commander in Chief of the armed forces having to admit twice in the last week that there were miscalculations. He even suggested on Saturday that he'd had to make some personnel changes. And none of that really has any quick fixes, in particular, that ammunition crisis while we watch what's happening in Congress.
And so, you do see that Ukraine is trying to move the needle by these attacks behind enemy lines, the likes of which we saw in the Samara region in Russia hitting that railway line that Ukraine's Defense Intelligence claims is transporting military equipment. So, trying to ease the pressure, trying to take out some of these weapons before they get to the frontline, separately with those hits on aircraft, as you said, Zelenskyy claiming, that 15 military aircraft have been taken out by Ukraine in the last month, significant because we have seen an uptick in Russia using these aircraft to drop bombs on, in particular, that Eastern Front. It was widely reported that that was part of what was going on in Avdiivka.
So, significant successes for Ukraine in the sky, but it is not moving the needle on that frontline at the moment. As I said, there are no quick fixes to the problems that Ukraine is facing.
SOLOMON: And Clare, we've seen significant amount of Russians pay their respects to Navalny over the weekend, on Friday, of course, following his funeral, and yet, we haven't heard a response from the Kremlin. Talk to us a bit about that. I mean, are you surprised by that?
SEBASTIAN: Well, no. But, it's a good question, because we did see the Kremlin engaging more than they usually do. Obviously, the tried and tested tactic when it comes to Navalny over the years has been to simply ignore his existence altogether. We did see them engaging more with the topic after his death. There was talk of the investigation. The Kremlin sort of acknowledged it happened. And on cue, Russia's propaganda machine really picked up the topic and started insulting Navalny's legacy. They then turned on his widow. Now, we see radio silence. Again, the Kremlin refusing to engage with the topic today.
I think there is a sense that they don't want the news around this outpouring that you see there continuing into today, this outpouring of grief for Navalny to spread into a wider issue for people to see it on state TV. And so, they are sort of playing it down. But, we did see a heavy relatively intimidating police presence at the funeral and continuing.
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Lots of surveillance, according to our team who were there. So, they are keeping watch on this now. Look, I think there were thousands who turned out. Will that translate into any significant votes for anyone except Putin in the election? I think that's still relatively unlikely. There are no serious opponents on the ballot. Rahel.
SOLOMON: Yeah. Clare Sebastian, well put. Thank you.
All right. One of Donald Trump's longtime confidants is expected to plead guilty to perjury. Allen Weisselberg arrived at the Manhattan criminal courthouse a little earlier on Monday. And a source tells CNN that the charges stem from testimony he gave during the civil investigation into the Trump Organization's finances. Weisselberg had been the company's chief financial officer in 2022. He pleaded guilty to 15 counts of tax fraud, and served about 100 days in jail.
Let's bring in CNN's Kara Scannell who joins us from New York. Kara, of course, this is a case you've been following very closely. Remind us just of who Allen Weisselberg is? He does have a long history with the Trump Organization.
KARA SCANNELL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Rahel, Allen Weisselberg has been with the Trump Organization for nearly 50 years. He even first started working with Donald Trump's father, Fred Trump, long time ago, and he had been a close confidant of the former President until he left this organization after pleading guilty to those tax fraud charges. So, today, we are learning that Allen Weisselberg will be back in court. We see him there arriving at the Manhattan District Attorney's Office, and he is expected to plead guilty to perjury charges that relate to testimony he gave in the New York Attorney General's civil fraud investigation. He had testified during their investigation in 2020, and then he was also on the stand last year during that trial.
Now, it's not clear exactly what he will be saying under oath that he lied about, but there have been questions raised about his testimony and the accuracy of it as it related to conversations he had with an insurance agent. That was one of these charges, and then also what he said about his knowledge of the size of the Donald Trump's triplex apartment at Trump Tower. That was the key part of the civil AG's case. So, he is due in court this morning where he will then enter these guilty pleas and say what he did.
Now, this will be -- what is important here is that although he is a longtime confidant of Trumps and he is pleading guilty for the second time, he is not going to be cooperating against Donald Trump. There had been pressure on him for years to what they say flip and testify against Trump, testify against him in that civil fraud trial and also with prosecutors. But, he is not going to do that. He is just going to give a straight guilty plea, but he is not cooperating.
Now, he is a central figure in the Manhattan DA's Office criminal investigation of the former President involving the hush money payments and the reimbursements that were made to Trump's lawyer Michael Cohen. Weisselberg was at the center of these financial dealings. But, again, he is not expected to be called as a witness by either side. He will not be part of the trial, although he is at the center of it. So, this is not necessarily negative for the former President. But, another guilty plea by Weisselberg, certainly for perjury, would make him a tough witness if Trump's team did change their mind and want to call him.
As we will learn more details about this, as you noted, Weisselberg had already served about 100 days in Rikers Island. That's this notorious jail in New York City. And it is likely that as part of this guilty plea, he will have to serve additional time. So, he could be heading back to Rikers. He is in his late 70s and has health issues. It's just another kind of fallout from this relationship with the former President that has lasted for decades, Rahel.
SOLOMON: All right. Well, keep us posted how it all shakes out. Kara Scannell live for us in New York. Kara, thank you.
All right. A simple one-line note on the Supreme Court's website has ignited speculation this morning that we may get a ruling today on a major case involving Donald Trump. The court says that it has at least one decision to announce today, but there are no clues about what that ruling is actually about. But, court watchers think that it could be the case involving the Colorado Supreme Court decision to ban Donald Trump from the ballot after finding that he engaged in an interaction on January 6. The Colorado Republican primary is tomorrow, and it is thought that the Supreme Court will want to issue a ruling before that vote happens.
Let's bring in CNN's Chief Legal Affairs Correspondent Paula Reid. Paula, just sort of step back for us for a moment and remind us of the issues that the court is grappling with when it comes to this Trump Colorado ballot case.
PAULA REID, CNN CHIEF LEGAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: Well, Rahel, it was about a month ago that oral arguments were conducted at the Supreme Court on this issue of whether former President Trump can be disqualified from the Colorado primary ballot because of the 14th Amendment's so-called insurrectionist bans. This was an effort to ban people from the ballot who had engaged in an insurrection, the post- Civil War provision that was mostly targeted at confederates. So, flash forward several 100 years, several states tried this novel approach. It was a longshot approach to try to get Trump off of their ballots.
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Three states actually have tried to remove Trump. And it's expected that whenever the Supreme Court decides here would apply across the country. But, those oral arguments back a month ago went pretty well for Trump's lawyers. It was notable that the justices appeared skeptical of Colorado's argument that a state could remove someone from the ballot under the 14th Amendment. Particularly when it came to Chief Justice John Roberts, he asked a lot of questions that I think gave us a preview of what we might see if this is the opinion that is issued today, which is that the 14th Amendment was not meant to give states the right to keep candidates off the ballot.
So, it is notable that it's taken quite some time. I mean, this was an -- this case was expedited with the consideration that primaries were coming. So, we'll be watching today to see if that indicates that they weren't able to come to a consensus or some folks wanted to write a dissent. But again, it is expected that if this is the opinion that is issued today, Trump is expected to win. This is expected to be a successful case for him, and it'd be quite surprising if it is not.
SOLOMON: Yeah. It could be the beginning of what is expected to be a pretty successful week for him, in general, at least politically.
Paula, let me ask, is it unusual (ph) if in fact the court does issue this ruling on this case, would it be unusual to issue that type of opinion ahead of a pretty big particular political event, in this case, Super Tuesday?
REID: Well, that's what both sides were kind of pushing for. Right? They wanted clarity on this issue. They didn't want people to go to the polls and not know if their vote was going to be counted. Of course, his name has been on the ballot -- will be in the ballot on Colorado, no matter what. But, Super Tuesday was the deadline. And I'm talking to sources and publicly both source -- both sides were, look, hey, we really need some clarity, particularly ahead of Super Tuesday, not only because Colorado participates in that, because that's really what kicks off the primary season. And people are going to want to know, hey, is the person that I'm voting for here going to end up on the general election ballot?
So, this is kind of a -- look, the Supreme Court, they answered to no one. They do what they want when they want, Rahel. But, this was a deadline that everyone was pushing for, for very logical reasons, which is why we expect this opinion to be issued today.
SOLOMON: Yeah. Well, we shall see. I mean, certainly legal observers have been looking for some clarity, just some contours of this amendment and sort of what the limits are. So, we will see a lot to watch. Paula Reid live for us in Washington. Paula, thank you. All right. Still to come for us, it could be Nikki Haley's last stand.
We will look ahead to tomorrow's Super Tuesday round of voting in the U.S., and also ask, what will it take for Haley to stay in the race against Donald Trump? We'll be right back.
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SOLOMON: Welcome back. The U.S. presidential election campaign truly goes nationwide this week. Tomorrow is Super Tuesday. 15 U.S. states will hold primaries and it could be the last stand for Nikki Haley. So, so far, Haley has only won one primary. It's relatively small D.C. contest held over the weekend.
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In the other contests, Donald Trump has won and he has won mostly by large margins. Now, Haley has long said that she would stay in through Super Tuesday but she hasn't exactly commented about what happens after Super Tuesday.
CNN's Kylie Atwood is on the campaign trail with Nikki Haley. She joins us now live from Fort Worth, Texas. Kylie, good morning. So, what can you share with us? I mean, what message are we expecting to hear from Nikki Haley today? It's a pretty big week.
KYLIE ATWOOD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, listen, Rahel, this is the first time that we'll be hearing from Nikki Haley talking to voters after her victory was called yesterday in Washington, D.C. As you said, CNN projected that she is going to win the primary in D.C. That's the first contest as part of the Republican primary process that she has won. So, we assume that she'll say something about that. Her campaign saying last night that it's no surprise that those closest to the dysfunction in Washington have rejected Trump.
But, when it comes to Nikki Haley's overall message, she really hasn't varied it up through the course of the campaign all that much. Even when it's on the eve of these days when voters are heading to the polls, she does something where she encourages them, of course, to get to the polls, to bring their friends. But then she reiterates the centrality of her message, which is that she believes that she would do better in a general election against Joe Biden than Trump would do in that general election. And she has also made the case time and time again that it's time for America to have a new generation of leadership. She views herself as that person.
SOLOMON: And Kylie, let me also ask while I have you, the demographics of D.C. are not necessarily the most reflective of the GOP base. And so, you also have someone on the other side saying, all right, yeah, win is a win, but this is not necessarily indicative of any future success because D.C. is not the most representative of the GOP at large.
ATWOOD: That's exactly right. D.C. is a very Democratic district. There is more than 90 percent of the folks who voted for Biden back in 2020. So, as you say, it's not indicative of where the country would go in those battleground states when it comes to a general election. Those battleground states would be the states that would determine if Biden wins or if the Republican nominee wins. And of course, we saw one of those states vote just last week, Michigan voted in favor of Trump over Nikki Haley. So, that is more of an indicator of where these battleground states stand in terms of just how deep Trump's support is in those places.
But, we should also note that there have been these matchups between former President Trump and Biden, and Nikki Haley and Biden. And there are polls that show that Nikki Haley would do better in that general election. So, she has been making that pitch time and time again. But, it's not clear that it's really resonating with voters, because in our exit polls in a number of these States, voters do feel that Trump is better poised to beat Biden despite the fact that there are those polls that show that Haley would do better despite the fact that she has made the case that she would do better.
And as you said, Rahel, Super Tuesday is critical for Nikki Haley. She has said that she is not looking beyond Super Tuesday just yet. And so, it could very well determine the fate of her presidential campaign.
SOLOMON: OK. Kylie Atwood live for us in Fort Worth. Kylie, thank you.
And let's talk more about this, more analysis of the political headlines. We want to welcome in Nathan Gonzales. He is the Editor and Publisher of "Inside Elections". Nathan, so good to have you today. Let's start with Super Tuesday. I mean, Nikki Haley has always said she was in this through Super Tuesday. What now? I mean, it hasn't been the most suspenseful race as of yet. What can we expect moving forward?
NATHAN GONZALES, EDITOR & PUBLISHER, INSIDE ELECTIONS: Well, we can expect Trump to continue on this path to the nomination. I mean, it's pretty clear that if a clear path to victory was important to Nikki Haley, she would have dropped out a long time ago. But, ever since the night of the New Hampshire primary, it's become very personal. It's become, I think, a spite between Nikki Haley and Trump. She doesn't want to look like she is being bullied out of the race. This is personal to her.
And so, that's why, even though I think she is going to lose soundly on Super Tuesday, I'm not convinced that she is going to get out of the race, because again, this is personal. I think she is trying to prove a point in which she makes that -- Kylie was talking about that message of Haley saying that she would do better in the general election. The challenge for Nikki Haley is that Trump right now in the polls is beating Joe Biden. So, when she says, well, there is a danger for the party, the Trump supporters just say he is winning right now. He is beating Biden in the swing states. He is winning this race. And so, that's why the message falls flat.
SOLOMON: Yeah. I mean, it's interesting you say sort of she was looking for a clear path. I'm wondering, mathematically, if Trump does win most of these states tomorrow, more than a third of the party's delegates are at stake.
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Is there any path mathematically for Nikki Haley?
GONZALES: I think there will still be a path after Super Tuesday, but getting to March 12, and then by March 19, if we're on this trajectory, the trip will have the delegates that he needs within the next week or two.
SOLOMON: Talk to me about Thursday's State of the Union. This may be the largest audience that the President has before November. What do you think we'll see, I mean, just both in terms of the messaging, but also I think in terms of whether he tries to present with a certain level of vigor? I mean, what are you watching?
GONZALES: Yeah. I think how he delivers the speech will be important. But, I think he is going to make the case about the state of the economy. And one of the tensions right now in the country is that economic numbers do not match the mood of the country on the economy, that the voters feel far more pessimistic about the economy than how the economy is actually doing. So, he is going to try to make the case of what the administration has done and that he is the right person to continue forward. I think we'll see some veiled attacks about President Trump. This isn't specifically a campaign speech. So, I don't think it's going to be overt. But, there will be references in ways that Biden will want to contrast himself with what a second Trump term would look like.
SOLOMON: Yeah. It's interesting you bring up that polling that shows that really set off some alarm bells over the weekend, at least right now Trump beating Biden in a head-to-head matchup. I'm curious what issues do you think Biden sees as winning issues for him? I mean, do we hear more about women's reproductive issues at the State of the Union? I mean, what do you think he is going to lean into?
GONZALES: Absolutely. I think he is going to talk about the economy and he is going to talk about access to abortion. And Republicans keep giving Democrats gifts on this issue. This isn't just about a Supreme Court Dobbs decision that happened two plus years ago. It's about state legislatures moving even further to restrict access to abortion. It's about IVF -- access to IVF. It's just continually things in the news that keep that issue front and center rather than in the background. So, we're going to hear about that. And I think we're going to hear the President talk about the border. I think he realizes that this is an issue where he is playing defense, but because of Republicans' inactivity on the issue, maybe there is a chance for him to pivot and get on offense.
SOLOMON: Nathan, lastly, I'm wondering, I mean, other than the actual election, I'm thinking about the Supreme Court decision that we may hear today. I'm thinking about Super Tuesday. I'm thinking about State of the Union. This sort of feels like the Super Bowl politics this week. Like this sort of feels like the big week.
GONZALES: Yeah. No, it's big. And there are also, on Tuesday, also a couple of big Senate primaries that are happening that will help decide who is going to be in the Senate next year, some big House primaries that will decide who is going to be in Congress on the House side. So, yeah. This is big. This is what we should all -- for those of us who like elections, this is what we should all be waiting for and looking for.
SOLOMON: Drink lots of coffee, is my advice.
GONZALES: Exactly.
SOLOMON: Nathan Gonzales, good to have you, of "Inside Elections".
GONZALES: Good to see you.
SOLOMON: Thank you.
All right. Still to come for us, surging gang violence, prison breaks, the security situation is worsening in Haiti. And CNN is on the ground with a firsthand report.
And we're also watching a major vote in France today. It could change the country's Constitution. We will explain. We'll be right back.
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SOLOMON: Welcome back. Haiti's government has imposed a state of emergency under curfew amid surging gang violence and a deadly gang assault on the capital's main prison that allowed thousands of inmates to escape. The U.S. Embassy in Haiti is urging citizens to leave the country. Haiti has been engulfed in turmoil for years, as our CNN's David Culver explains.
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DAVID CULVER, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: So, we're like a block away?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yeah.
CULVER (voice-over): It's as close as we can get driving. So, we layer up and walk.
CULVER: Oh, yeah. You can already smell it. Well, look at people who are just still making their commute as tires are burning right in the middle of the street here.
CULVER (voice-over): No police barricade, no firefighters, most seemingly unfazed. These flames have been burning for several hours. Haiti has been engulfed in turmoil for years.
CULVER: We don't have a home to live and we don't have food to eat. That's what they're shouting.
CULVER (voice-over): Many here now fear their country is on the brink of exploding.
CULVER: Does it feel safe right now?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No, no, no.
CULVER: It doesn't.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No, It doesn't. It doesn't. It doesn't seem. My country is broken right now.
CULVER (voice-over): These folks blame the current government and Prime Minister Ariel Henry, appointed following the assassination of President Jovenel Moise in 2021. They want Henry to go, but he says he is not yet ready to step down. This as panicked street shootouts like this one has become a near daily occurrence. It's often a clash between police and the gangs which have essentially taken Haiti hostage. They flaunt their weapons and wealth on TikTok, threatening police and basking in lawlessness. Many residents now living behind barricades.
CULVER: This is not the gangs doing this. The folks that live in these neighborhoods who are putting these up to prevent gangs from coming in and kidnapping.
CULVER (voice-over): Using whatever might stop or slow the kidnappers, efforts to protect families and preserve innocence. That innocence shattered for others. This 14-year-old says he was recruited by a gang at 11. He tells me he is often forced to burn the bodies of those killed by other gang members. I want to change my way of life, he says, with a heavy look of shame. At an early morning food distribution, we meet dozens of women who have felt the wrath of gang violence. At times we noticed a loss stare in their eyes.
CULVER: All of them had begging. So, there is nobody here who has not been affected.
CULVER (voice-over): This woman's sister shot and killed. This one's husband burned alive inside their homes. This woman tells us she was raped. She shows us the marks left behind. In recent months, gangs have seized more and more control over this country, including the roads leading to Port-au-Prince. Officials estimate that gangs now control as much as 80 percent of the capital. Even the U.S. Embassy and international airport are mostly surrounded by rival gang territories. It's led the Haitian National Police to create an undercover unit. We go with him to the frontlines.
CAITLIN HU, CNN SENIOR EDITOR: This unit actually goes into gang areas, looks for gang members, and fights them.
CULVER (voice-over): The officers ask us not to reveal our exact location. And they tell us to work quickly, given we're standing exposed on a windy hillside.
CULVER: As police have described it to me, basically everything behind me is occupied by the gangs. It's under their control. There are homes all around us. We're standing on the foundation of one home that had been abandoned.
CULVER (voice-over): They offered to drive us closer.
HU: And you can see they're getting ready.
CULVER: Yes, our drivers, all geared up now, ready for a potential gunfire to come our way. Stay away from the windows as we come in here. They describe this as the last defensive point, and beyond here is what they consider to be their frontlines.
CULVER (voice-over): From here you can see the battlefield, no signs of any suspected gang members for now. Police are not the only ones trying to gain the upper hand here. In a fractured state, alternatives to the gangs and government surface. We're headed to meet a commander of BSAP, Haiti's armed environmental protection agency that has splintered from the Henry government, challenging its legitimacy. We pull up to a gated compound.
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The man in the purple shirt leads us in. He then changes into his BSAP uniform. It's the commander. He is in hiding from police. His message echoes the anti-government protester. He flexes BSAP's strength in numbers and its potential to help bring stability. But, when it comes to his own family --
CULVER: You mentioned you have four kids. What do you think their future is in this country?
CULVER (voice-over): He fears their future is best served leaving Haiti. The desperation is felt beyond Port-au-Prince. In places like Jeremie, the UN chopper is the safest way to get there. It's about an hour ride. Members of the World Food Programme take us through this rural coastal community devastated by recent protests.
JEAN-MARTIN BAUER, WFP HAITI DIRECTOR: Right back there, you had five people who were killed last week.
CULVER: Right there?
BAUER: It was right there. Yeah.
CULVER (voice-over): We arrived at this agricultural consortium. The WFP buys food from these local farmers to then hand out. But, the recent protests have blocked distribution efforts, leaving some food to spoil. It's frustrating for the WFP officials, as they know, you don't have to look far to find hunger here. These farmers pointing to their stomachs, lifting their shirts to us.
CULVER: You're hungry?
BAUER: A lot of folks will look at Haiti and they'll say it's having issues for so long.
CULVER: The question that no doubt people in the U.S. will ask is, well, why should we help? BAUER: Well, there are two reasons why you need to help. First of all,
they're on humanitarian grounds. But then there is also wrong self interest in the U.S. So, the longer you wait to act on Haiti, the more migrants there will be on our southern border. It's that simple.
CULVER (voice-over): Many here search for normalcy where they can, even with the threat of violence, missing mass for some is not an option. They wear their Sunday best and unite in prayer. Places of worship are not immune from gang terror. They at least offer a moment of tranquility and hope for now.
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SOLOMON: And David Culver joins us now live from Los Angeles. David, just really incredible piece there. What can you share with us about what the latest is on the ground? We know of course over the weekend there was that massive prison break. I mean, what's the latest you can tell us?
CULVER: Rahel, we ended up piece there with the moment of tranquility and hope. It's been shattered. Over the past 72 hours, what we have seen is a surge in the violence there. You mentioned that prison outbreak, two prisons in particular were targeted there by gangs. And according to Haitian Police, I mean, this could be a game changer in sustaining any sort of stability that's left, because this outbreak has included what they believe to be more than 3,000 inmates who have gotten out. But, beyond that, you're looking at a country. If we take a step back here that has been dealing with natural disasters, political turmoil, all of this in recent years. And people there that -- as you saw in that piece, really say that they want to have their own choice in things and their own leadership.
And right now, there is a leader, Prime Minister Ariel Henry who has been appointed. They have not had elections since 2016. The Henry government says that the reason they have not had elections is because of the instability that we pointed out there. You've got dozens of gangs, and you see some of these images that we are airing from the past weekend that have basically taken over the entire country. And now, what's really concerning, Rahel, is just in the past 72 hours, these gangs are starting to coordinate with each other. And so, that suggests that there is this united front now that's really going to make things difficult for police.
SOLOMON: Yeah. And even more difficult for Haitians. And I just thought it was so striking, just your interview with the young boy, the 14-year-old, talking to some of the parents. Let me ask you, you have reported from Haiti before. How different does this unrest feel from what you have witnessed before?
CULVER: Well, from what we just saw on the ground just in the past couple of weeks when we were there, what we are seeing now and this kind of goes along with even as we were planning for this trip is that today go in there is safer than tomorrow. And those are the words for one contact on the ground when I was trying to figure out, OK, when should we logistically get on the ground when we were initially planning this trip? And that suggests that you really cannot understate the dire situation that's happening. And it's not only from a violence perspective, but just a humanitarian one.
You heard that gentleman there with the World Food Programme explain to us that this is beyond trying to help Haiti. This is trying to sustain regionally what could be another country that if it falls into shambles, which really Haiti right now is a broken state, you then have people who are so desperate they're going to go elsewhere. And we've already seen that having covered immigration at the border. The number of Haitians that have been trying to come over has increased significantly in recent years.
[08:40:00]
And the warning is that that's going to continue because quite frankly they have nowhere else to go.
SOLOMON: Just incredible reporting. David Culver, thank you so much for bringing it to us. David, thanks.
CULVER: Thanks, Rahel.
SOLOMON: Thank you.
All right. Well, just ahead, the French Parliament is expected to make a major move to keep access to abortion in France from going the way of Roe v. Wade in the U.S. We'll be right back
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SOLOMON: Welcome back. France is set to become the first country to explicitly enshrine the freedom to have an abortion in its Constitution. In less than an hour, an extraordinary session of Parliament is set to meet to make that happen. Now, this follows last week's vote in the French Senate endorsing the constitutional change. The move has been seen by many in France as a reaction to the attacks on women's access to abortion in the U.S. following the overturning of Roe v. Wade.
CNN's Melissa Bell reports.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
(CROWD CHANTING)
MELISSA BELL, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): A heartfelt cry on the streets of France just days before the U.S. Supreme Court reversed Roe v. Wade in the summer of 2022, a ruling that was to impact women in the United States but reverberate around the globe.
SARAH DUROCHER, PLANNING FAMILIAL (Translated): With what happened in the U.S., there was a strong reaction in France by politicians. Several laws were proposed and the prime minister came to see us here at Family Planning to tell us how worried she was about the right to abortion.
BELL (voice-over): A right as hard won in France as it was elsewhere, the procedure only legalized in 1975 after a battle led by the lawmaker and then Health Ministers Simone Veil, a woman speaking to a Parliament of men.
SIMONE VEIL, FRENCH HEALTH MINISTER (Translated): This is an injustice that must be stopped.
BELL (voice-over): Now, France is looking to go further by enshrining freedom of access to abortion in the Constitution.
EMMANUEL MACRON, FRENCH PRESIDENT (Translated): This will enshrine the freedom of women to choose abortion and to be a solemn guarantee that nothing will ever limit or abolish this right because it will have become irreversible.
BELL (voice-over): Among those supporting the move, the singer Barbara Pravi, her own experience of abortion at 17 so traumatic that she wrote a song about it.
BARBARA PRAVI, SINGER/SONGWRITER: I felt very alone because the woman who took me wasn't very good, actually. She was very judgeful. Like, she was like, how old are you? Why are you here? You're not ashamed?
BELL: What difference do you think it'll make to have it inscribed in the Constitution?
PRAVI: Having the rights to do abortion cannot be like a condition of politics.
[08:45:00]
It has to be something we have and no discussion.
BELL (voice-over): Recent polls suggest that over 80 percent of the French population supports safeguarding abortion rights. But, France too has its anti-abortion movement, with both sides taking to the streets in (inaudible).
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'm really against it, and for the doctors practicing it, for the ladies leaving it for the babies dying and even for the fathers.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (Inaudible).
BELL (voice-over): But, for those in favor of the change, it's about putting an end to the argument once and for all.
PRAVI: If you put something in the Constitution, it automatically change people's mind. It could take maybe years, like five, six, seven, maybe 10 years. But, I know that my children will never think about the question about abortion.
BELL (voice-over): Barbara says she was able to put her loneliness and shame into song, but believes that France's Constitutional change might help women in the future to feel neither.
(END VIDEOTAPE) SOLOMON: And let's bring in Melissa Bell now. Melissa, we know that Macron is holding today's session in Versailles, a location many tourists probably recognize and have been to. Talk to us about why this way?
BELL: Well, this is what the government is trying to do here, Rahel, is change the Constitution. And here in France, that requires the whole of the French Parliaments, for both the National Assembly and the Senate to meet in a joint session, and that tends to be held at Versailles. There is the room for it. It has, of course, the symbolic nature as well in the French psyche. The idea is that all 925 members of the French Parliaments, Upper and Lower House combined, are on their way there. They will then debate this for several hours.
But, the arithmetic for now, and having seen the progress of this bill, both in the assembly and in the Senate leads us to believe that this will lead at some point today to that vote of two or three fifths of that joint assembly in favor of the change. And essentially what the government is saying is that, look, abortion and contraception have been accessible by women here in front since 1975, since that law named after Simone Veil, that you saw there addressing the Parliament back in the day.
The point about this change is that it will prevent future governments from ever rolling that back. And the government has been very specific about pointing to what's happened in the United States as being a part of the impetus of what led them to consider this change, and that will make France the only country in the world where this freedom to terminate a pregnancy is enshrined in the basic law in the country's Constitution, Rahel.
SOLOMON: Yeah, certainly sending a message. Melissa, I thought it was interesting, the public support for abortion that you pointed out in your piece. How might this change things for people in France, for the French?
BELL: I think the popular support has been an important part of this, of course. And in fact, when you looked at when the -- as it made its progress through the Parliaments, both the lower and the upper house, there were a few objections from the far right. But, on the whole, there is pretty broad support for this. Those that argued against the change said, look, these rights are not really under question. There is no need to go this far as to put in the Constitution. But, there was a fairly overwhelming majority both of legislators and within public opinion that this change actually go ahead. And, I think that's simply because people have been pretty shaken by how fragile the right of American women to abortion have proven to be.
The idea is that this will mean that they simply can't be changed in the future. I think that will then in turn, Rahel, change the experience of women, that woman you heard in our report, Barbara Pravi, explained how difficult it would have been. You get to a doctor who doesn't particularly agree with abortions, where it can be made much harder if you're young and arriving alone without your parents in a hospital. The idea is that this change could change in very concrete terms the way practitioners, doctors and even the public go about considering what abortion means and how easy and normal it should be (inaudible), Rahel.
SOLOMON: Yeah, really fascinating. Melissa Bell live for us in Paris. Melissa, thank you.
Well, still to come, Singapore is stirring up some controversy over Taylor Swift and the Eras Tour. Why neighboring countries are crying bad blood? We'll be right back.
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[08:50:00]
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SOLOMON: Welcome back. Tech giant Apple is facing a massive $2 billion fine from the European Union for breaking competition laws. The EU says that it is imposing the fine because Apple "abused its dominant position as a distributor of music streaming apps". It claims that Apple prevented rival streaming services like Spotify from advertising potentially cheaper prices to iPhone users. Apple says that the EU has "failed to uncover any credible evidence of anti-competitive practices".
All right. Taylor Swift's Eras Tour has landed in Singapore but not without some controversy. So, nearby countries are apparently upset with Singapore for reportedly paying Swift up to $3 million a show if she did not play anywhere else in Southeast Asia.
Kristie Lu Stout has the details.
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KRISTIE LU STOUT, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Taylor Swift's Eras Tour is wrapping up its Asia leg in Singapore, the pop star's only Southeast Asian stop, and fans across the region are making a pricey pilgrimage to the city state, including the head of Swifties, Philippines.
CHARLYN SUIZO, SWIFTIES PHILIPPINES HEAD: I am still happy and very excited to see Taylor later on, and really, really overwhelmed with amazing things and cities around me and very excited for the experience.
CHRISTEL KAYE KUAN, 25-YEAR-OLD SWIFTIES: We came from the Philippines and we are super fans since we were in grade school. We're 10-years- old. I feel I am Taylor Swift.
STOUT: But, nearby Asian governments are seeing red amid allegations that Singapore paid up to $3 million a show for an exclusive deal to secure Taylor Swift and her Eras Tour. This is the backstory. Last week, a lawmaker in the Philippines called on his country to pressure Singapore for an explanation. Joey Salceda said this. "This isn't what good neighbors do. It was at the expense of neighboring countries which could not attract their own foreign concert goers, and whose fans had to go to Singapore." But, the allegations were made public earlier by the Thai Prime
Minister Srettha Thavisin at a business forum in Bangkok on February 16. He said that Singapore paid Taylor Swift up to $3 million per show, allegedly on condition of exclusivity of a Singapore-only arrangement in Southeast Asia. And Srettha added this. "If I had known this, I would have brought the shows to Thailand."
Now, Singapore said it did award Taylor Swift a grant to perform there, but it did not confirm the exclusivity clause. And on Monday, its Culture Minister Edwin Tong made new comments about the grant. Speaking to Parliament, he said this. "There has been some online speculation as to the size of the grant. I can say that it is not accurate and not anywhere as high as speculated." Citing confidentiality reasons, he did not reveal the size or the conditions of the grant.
This week, Swift is playing six sold-out nights to 300,000 fans in Singapore, her only stop in Southeast Asia. And according to an economist that Maybank, seven in 10 concertgoers are coming in from overseas, spending up to $370 million in the city state.
SUIZO: For me, this is not the biggest amount that I have spent for her concert. I never really spent like six-digit amount for someone else's, just Taylor Swift.
STOUT: Singapore is getting a big economic boost from Swiftonomics, which its Asian neighbors know all too well.
Kristie Lu Stout, CNN, Hong Kong.
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SOLOMON: All right. And finally this hour --
[08:55:00]
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Two, one, ignition, engines full power and lift off. NASA crew eight, go Falcon. Go space. Go NASA.
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SOLOMON: You're watching NASA's latest mission to the International Space Station. The Space X Falcon rocket lifted off Sunday night from the Kennedy Space Center. On board are three astronauts from NASA and a Russian cosmonaut. Now, if all goes well, they will reach the space station Tuesday and stay there until the end of August. Two earlier launch attempts were scrubbed due to weather conditions. Very cool. Always loved seeing that.
All right. Thanks for joining me here on CNN Newsroom. I'm Rahel Solomon live for you in New York. Connect the World with Becky Anderson is coming up next.
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