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Trump's Path Cleared by Supreme Court; UN Report on Sexual Violence by Hamas Fighters; France Constitutionalizes Abortion Rights; China Sets Ambitious Economic Growth Target; Violence Escalates Over Weekend in Haiti; Malaysia Willing to Renew Search for Missing Jetliner. Aired 12-1a ET

Aired March 05, 2024 - 00:00   ET

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

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

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DONALD TRUMP (R), FORMER U.S. PRESIDENT; 2024 PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: It's a very important decision, very well-crafted.

VAUSE: No surprises. Donald Trump has nothing but high praise for the U.S. Supreme Court after yet another ruling in his favor. UN investigators find evidence that Hamas fighters have, and still are, committing acts of conflict-related sexual violence on Israelis. And celebrations in France, where abortion has been legal for almost 50 years, now is a guaranteed freedom in the Constitution.

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VAUSE: On the eve of Super Tuesday, the biggest day of voting in the U.S. presidential primaries, a decision by the Supreme Court has cleared the way for Donald Trump to win the Republican Party's nomination. Polls open just a few hours from now, with primaries and caucuses in 15 states and one U.S. territory. And that includes Colorado, where legal challenges had successfully forced Trump's name to be removed from the ballot because of violations of the Civil War- era insurrectionist clause of the Constitution, which prevents anyone involved in an insurrection from holding federal office.

The unanimous ruling by the Supreme Court brings to an end similar bans now in other states like Maine, which moved within hours of that ruling to restore Trump's eligibility to run. Similar moves too in Colorado, even though senior state officials still disagree with the Supreme Court's decision.

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JENA GRISWOLD (D), COLORADO SECRETARY OF STATE: I'm disappointed. We believe that it's up to Colorado or any state to determine whether to disqualify oath-breaking insurrectionists from our ballots. Ultimately, the United States Supreme Court disagreed.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: And this decision by the Supreme Court is clearly a big win for Trump and his bid for the White House. And it comes after the Supreme Court ruled last week it would hear arguments over presidential immunity, a decision that will significantly delay Trump's election interference case. Another big win for the former president. On Tuesday, there was only gushing effusive praise for the justices of the Supreme Court, the highest court in a legal system which Trump has also described as corrupt, inept, out to get him, and politicized. CNN's Paula Reid has more on Monday's unanimous ruling, as well as areas where the justices disagreed.

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PAULA REID, CNN CHIEF LEGAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Former President Trump today claims the Supreme Court has unified the country by securing his place on the 2024 ballot.

TRUMP: The voters can take the person out of the race very quickly, but a court shouldn't be doing that. And the Supreme Court saw that very well, and I really do believe that will be a unifying factor.

REID (voice-over): In a unanimous opinion Monday, the Court ruled that Colorado could not remove Trump from the ballot under the Constitution's ban on insurrectionists serving in office. "States may disqualify persons holding or attempting to hold state office, but states have no power under the Constitution to enforce section 3 with respect to federal offices, especially the presidency." The justices warned that allowing states to each make different decisions about ballot eligibility would result in a patchwork, creating chaos around elections.

The victory for Trump was expected after February oral arguments, where justices from both sides of the aisle were skeptical of Colorado's case.

ELENA KAGAN, ASSOCIATE JUSTICE OF THE SUPREME COURT: I think that the question that you have to confront is why a single state should decide who gets to be president of the United States.

REID (voice-over): And the Chief Justice John Roberts, signalling where he would ultimately find consensus across the court.

JOHN ROBERTS, CHIEF JUSTICE OF THE SUPREME COURT: The whole point of the 14th Amendment was to restrict state power.

REID (voice-over): While the decision was 9-0 and applies to all 50 states, there was some tension below the surface, with four justices writing concurring opinions. The three liberals saying their colleagues went too far by finding only Congress can enforce the 14th Amendment. Justice Barrett, a Trump appointee, agreed but didn't sign on to the liberal justices' language, instead highlighting unity on the court.

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For present purposes, our differences are far less important than our unanimity. All nine justices agreed on the outcome of this case. That is the message Americans should take home. The liberal watchdog group and longtime Colorado Republican who brought the state lawsuit disagreed with the court's decision and argued that the issue isn't settled yet.

JASON MURRAY, ATTORNEY FOR THE COLORADO ANTI-TRUMP CHALLENGERS: The issue of Donald Trump's eligibility for the office of the presidency remains very much a live issue.

REID: In less than two months, the justices will hear arguments in another major Trump case that could impact the outcome of the election. There, the issue is whether Trump has immunity to protect him from federal criminal charges related to his efforts to subvert the 2020 election. Most legal experts agree Trump is unlikely to win on that case, but the fact that the justices even took it up could help him delay that case until after the presidential election. Paula Reid, CNN, Washington.

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VAUSE: Joining us now is Jessica Roth, a former federal prosecutor, currently professor of law at Cardozo School of Law in New York. Thank you for being with us.

JESSICA ROTH, FORMER FEDERAL PROSECUTOR: It's my pleasure to join you.

VAUSE: There are a few odd things about this decision, apart from timing, which we'll get to in a moment. But it does seem to be at odds with the six of the conservative justices' personal stated belief in originalism. Or in other words, they do not believe the Constitution is a living document. They take it at its word. So also, as to what the state secretary of state said, the Colorado secretary of state, what happened to states' rights here? I also thought these conservative justices were champions of states' rights.

ROTH: Well, in many instances, they are champions of states' rights. Here, what they were interpreting was a very particular provision, the 14th Amendment, Section 3, which speaks to when an individual is disqualified from running for office. And what they held specifically is that the states are not authorized to make that disqualification decision when it comes to federal officers. And what's really intriguing about this opinion is that the justices decided that narrow question of whether states have the authority to make the disqualification decision for federal officers unanimously.

So, although when the opinion goes on to reach further questions about how that question might be adjudicated through federal officers in the form of Congress or through the federal courts, that's when the court starts to splinter. But on the question that was narrowly presented in this case of whether the states can adjudicate a federal candidate's eligibility for office under Section 3 of the 14th Amendment, all nine justices were in agreement. VAUSE: Okay, so let's get to the other matter, one of the other matters before the Supreme Court. That's Donald Trump's appeal on the question of presidential immunity. When Special Prosecutor Jack Smith asked the court for a pre-emptive ruling on a potential appeal back in December, they refused. And Trump's lawyers actually filed this appeal mid-February. It took two weeks for the justices to decide to hear arguments to determine, this is what they came up with: whether and if so, to what extent does a former president enjoy presidential immunity from criminal prosecution for conduct alleged to involve official acts during his tenure in office?

Two weeks to get to that point. They dismissed a 40-page appeal from Special Prosecutor Jack Smith, arguing to dismiss the Trump appeal because the public interest in a prompt trial is at its zenith, where, as here, a former president is charged with conspiring to subvert the electoral process so that he could remain in office. So, this is not to mention it's kind of unusual for the Supreme Court to take an appeal when the lower court with three judges were all unanimous, all- in agreement. So, my point here seems to be that Trump wants a speedy decision, as in the Colorado ballot decision, he gets it, when he wants a delay in a trial, as in the immunity one, which affects his election subversion case, two decisions both very much out of the ordinary, both very much in Trump's favor.

ROTH: So, it is true that at the end of the day, the decision that came today from the U.S. Supreme Court was in Trump's favor. It was important that that decision be rendered as quickly as possible, given that the primaries are underway tomorrow. There are a number of important primaries and big states underway. And actually, the parties had asked the court to rule as quickly as possible on the ballot qualification issue. So, it makes perfect sense to me that the Supreme Court would have taken the ballot eligibility issue right away and ruled as promptly as it could.

Now, when we turn to the immunity question, that is, you're right, that it is rare for the Supreme Court to grant cert on a case where there's no circuit split on the issue and where there was no dissent from the lower court. And for that reason, including also the reason that I thought the D.C. Circuit opinion was very thorough and very well-reasoned. I thought there was a very strong possibility that the Supreme Court would not take would not take the case.

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But that said, it is a novel issue, an issue of first impression, whether a president of the United States is immune from prosecution for acts committed while in office. And although the Supreme Court did not have to take the case, there is a good argument that it is important that the highest court of the land rule on such a significant issue of first impression.

VAUSE: I guess the question, though, is, could they have done this back in December when Jack Smith asked them to make that sort of pre- emptive ruling, if you like? And also, at the same time, you have Donald Trump publicly saying things like this. Here he is.

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TRUMP: They worked long, they worked hard, and frankly, they worked very quickly on something that will be spoken about 100 years from now and 200 years from now. Extremely important. Essentially, you cannot take somebody out of a race because an opponent would like to have it that way.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSEL That was his reaction to the Colorado decision about Abella. But he's talking about, you know, this praise for the Supreme Court. It's gushing in many instances. And when he talks about, you know, people talking about the decisions by the Supreme Court, maybe they will be talking about it 100 years from now for very different reasons. But you also have a problem now with the high court's approval rating. This doesn't help it. It's now at 40 percent. It's lowest ever, according to Gallup. So, this gets to my other question, which is, are the justices appearing more like politicians than jurists in these cases?

ROTH: It is true that the court could have taken the question of immunity at an earlier stage when the special counsel initially asked the court to weigh in. If they had done that then, a certain segment of the population, Donald Trump supporters, would have viewed that as political. There is value to an issue percolating. There is value to an issue percolating through the courts, through the ordinary process. Here, we had a very well-reasoned trial court opinion on the issue of immunity, followed by a very well-reasoned opinion from the D.C. Circuit. And I think that if the U.S. Supreme Court ultimately affirms the D.C. Circuit, and I think there are very good reasons why it should, that there is a sense in which the issue having been decided by a trial court against Donald Trump.

And then, again, by a three-member panel of the D.C. Circuit, and then affirmed by the U.S. Supreme Court, if that is in fact how they come out, that that actually lends legitimacy to the Supreme Court's opinion, as opposed to if they were perceived as swooping in out of the ordinary course and taking the issue immediately up from the trial court, that that could have been perceived by Donald Trump's supporters as illegitimate. So I think that there are risks. No matter how much you look at it, there are risks. to act given the stakes and the actors involved in these cases.

VAUSE: Jessica, thank you so much for being with us. We really appreciate your time as well as your insights. Great speaking to you.

ROTH: My pleasure. Thank you.

VAUSE: Thank you. Meanwhile, the former chief financial officer of the Trump organization has pleaded guilty to two felony counts of perjury. Allen Weisselberg admitted to giving false testimony to prosecutors about the size of Donald Trump's New York penthouse. For years, its value had been overstated by claiming it was three times its actual size. Weisselberg testified that he knew the actual size of the apartment and lied to prosecutors in a civil fraud trial against Trump. Under the terms of the plea deal, the former CFO will be sentenced to five months in jail.

Another sign of a possible growing rift between the Biden administration and the Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Benny Gantz, a member of Israel's war cabinet and political rival to Netanyahu, said he was not a member of the president. Netanyahu, who was a member of the president's administration, is currently in Washington and will meet with the U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken in the coming hours. On Monday, Gantz met with Vice President Kamala Harris, who expressed deep concern about humanitarian conditions in Gaza. According to the White House, Harris also discussed the need for an immediate six-week-long ceasefire to allow for more aid to enter Gaza and the release of Israeli hostages.

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KAMALA HARRIS, U.S. VICE PRESIDENT: The president and I have been aligned and consistent from the very beginning. Israel has a right to defend itself. Far too many Palestinian civilians, innocent civilians have been killed. We need to get more aid in. We need to get the hostages out. And that remains our position.

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VAUSE: According to the White House, they also discussed the desperate need for a credible humanitarian plan for Rafah before considering any major military operation there by the IDF. Meanwhile, a new United Nations report says there is clear and convincing information that Israeli hostages held in Gaza were sexually abused. The UN Special Envoy on Sexual Violence in Conflict said it includes rape, torture and inhumane and degrading treatment. The UN says there are reasonable grounds to believe the sexual violence may be ongoing against those still held there.

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The report comes after a UN team visited Israel to gather, analyze, and verify information on conflict-related sexual violence during the October 7th attacks and the aftermath. CNN senior UN correspondent Richard Roth is with us now from New York. Thanks for being with us. It's good to see you.

RICHARD ROTH, CNN SENIOR U.N. CORRESPONDENT: Good to see you, John.

VAUSE: Okay, so it's been quite the day at the UN, especially with this investigation which was released in allegations of sexual violence on October 7th. There's been a lot of outrage and accusations from both sides with very little conclusive so far. Here's what the UN found.

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PRAMILA PATTEN, U.N. SPECIAL REP. OF THE SECY. GEN. ON SEXUAL VIOLENCE IN CONFLICT: There are reasonable grounds to believe that conflict-related sexual violence, including rape and gang rape, occurred during the 7th of October attacks in at least three locations, namely the Nova Music Festival site and its surroundings, Road 232, and Kibbutz Reim (ph). And in most of these incidents, victims were first subjected to rape and killed.

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VAUSE: So that's what the Hamas fighters did. The UN team says they'd also found evidence of wrongdoing by the Israelis as well. Listen to this.

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PATTEN: Information about cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment of Palestinians, men and women, in detention, also under the administrative detention, including sexual violence in the forms of invasive body searches, threats of rape and prolonged forced nudity.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: This is the most extensive independent report on sexual violence during the Israel-Hamas war. Is it likely to be the final word, though?

ROTH: It may not be the final word. We don't know what's going to happen. I can't tell you how many times I've now heard UN officials say, this deserves to be investigated. This requires an investigation. Not just about this report, but dozens of incidents that have come up with someone alleging a war crime or someone saying you violated international law. So, we believe there are UN agencies or affiliated UN entities, such as an international criminal court or others, who will be investigating what exactly has gone down on these 150 days.

VAUSE: I also want you to listen to the Israeli ambassador to the UN. He was speaking a few hours before this report was released.

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GILAD ERDAN, ISRAELI AMBASSADOR TO THE U.N.: This year, the UN and UN women's silence in the face of Hamas sexual violence turned International Women's Day into a sick joke. This is the peak of the UN's hypocrisy. The UN claims to care about women. Yet, as we speak, right now, Israeli women are being raped and abused by Hamas terrorists.

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VAUSE: Still, this report which was released, it is extensive to some degree, but there were challenges for the investigators, especially gathering evidence and trying to find out and piece together precisely what happened. So, what were some of those challenges?

ROTH: Yes. The investigative team talked about bad language skills of some of the forensic experts, that there were other challenges with inaccurate and unreliable forensic interpretations by non- professionals, extremely limited availability of victims, survivors, and witnesses of sexual violence, a lack of public trust and confidence in national and international institutions, a question about the narrow focus of this. Yet, they did go to various institution facilities inside Israel. They tried to build a case as best they could as to what happened on October 7th. The report does say that people who were held hostage or might have been attacked on October 7th did not want to come forward. Still, the trauma was too fresh.

VAUSE: And so, within this report, they've confirmed a number of those very graphic reports of sexual violence conducted by Hamas fighters on October 7th, at the same time debunking some of the other ones that were quite graphic, but turned out not to be true.

ROTH: Yes. Brace yourself. Basically, this UN investigative team, that is not a criminal investigation, that they insisted. They said, based on the information, we have reasonable grounds to believe that conflict-related sexual violence occurred during the October 7th attacks in multiple locations across the Gaza periphery, including rape and gang rape in at least three locations. Across the locations, the mission team found that several fully naked or partially naked bodies from the waist down were recovered, mostly women with hands tied and shot multiple times, often in the head.

Although circumstantial, such a pattern of undressing and restraining of victims may be indicative of some forms of sexual violence. And at that music festival, as you mentioned, multiple incidents of sexual violence taking place with victims being subjected to rape and or gang rape, and then killed or killed while being raped.

VAUSE: Yeah, the graphic, horrible details. I guess now we have that confirmation, at least from the UN, as part of this investigation. Richard, thank you for that. We appreciate you being with us. Richard Roth there in New York.

[00:20:09]

When we come back here on CNN, China sets some ambitious new economic targets for the coming year. We'll tell you what they are and what it actually means. Also ahead, hailing an historic vote, France becomes the first country in the world making abortion a constitutional right, a guaranteed freedom.

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VAUSE: Thousands of Chinese delegates are in Beijing for the annual parliament meeting known as the National People's Congress. On Tuesday, the Chinese premier set an ambitious growth target for the economy of around 5%. Here's a look at how markets are responding to that. We have Hong Kong's Hang Seng down by almost two and a quarter of 1%, whereas Shanghai, it's pretty much flat. CNN's Kristie Lu Stout, live for us this hour again from Hong Kong. So, you know, it looks like the days of economic growth of 8% or more are long gone. Clearly, sites are now set much lower. So, with China's premier now presenting the nation's work report, what's the message coming from Beijing?

KRISTIE LU STOUT, CNN CORRESPONDENT: You know, John, it's really interesting to see those losses here in Hong Kong. You know, Chinese markets stumbling as investors here question Beijing and its plans to stimulate the economy. We heard the work report was delivered this morning. China is targeting economic growth around 5 percent as it seeks to transform its growth model. Just a few hours ago, in that vast Great Hall of the People, Premier Li Qiang delivered his very first work report.

He set a growth target of around 5 percent for the year. That's the same as last year. In regards to defense spending for the year, it will rise to 7.2 percent from 2023. But China's top priority here is stability. And to get there, Li said this, as you see on your screen, quote, we must push ahead with transforming the growth model, making structural adjustments, improving quality, and enhancing performance. Now, transform is the important word to focus in on here.

It suggests that China's economic focus, might be shifting here, away from growth and more towards value and quality. You know, China's economy has seen dazzling economic growth since reopening in the late 1970s, but that growth has really sputtered in recent years, thanks to a number of challenges. And it's a long laundry list. You've got the ongoing property crisis, weak consumer spending, high youth unemployment with numbers so bad that the government doesn't publish them anymore, mounting local government debt, stock markets that have fallen to five-year lows.

The situation has gotten so bad that the IMF, has called the Chinese economy a drag on world output. And the work report that was released today addresses all these economic risks, not in great detail, but it says, to summarize the following, let's bring up the bullet points for you. It says that China will prohibit vanity projects and wasteful local government spending. It will tighten oversight on accounting at local government levels, intensify efforts to attract foreign investment, and achieve greater self-reliance in science and technology.

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But that's not enough to pacify the markets, especially the markets here in Hong Kong. Now, one more thing, the Chinese Premier Li Qiang, we learned, will not be holding a press conference at the close of the conference, ending a tradition that dates back to 1993, a tradition that you witnessed when you were a correspondent in Beijing, John. And that just adds to wider concerns about transparency in China at this time of economic turmoil under Xi Jinping, John.

VAUSE: I watched, but I never got to ask a question in four years. I wonder why that was. Kristie, thank you. Kristie Lu Stout out there for us in Hong Kong.

STOUT: Thank you.

VAUSE: Jubilation in France, now the first country in the world to make abortion a guaranteed freedom in the Constitution. This was the last parliamentary vote the amendment needed to clear. Have a look.

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UNKNOWN: (FOREIGN LANGUAGE)

VAUSE: Easily reaching the three-fifths majority needed to amend the Constitution. The issue was raised in France as the direct response to the U.S. Supreme Court ruling, which overturned Roe v. Wade. One French lawmaker says the vote is a win for women all around the world.

MATHILDE PANOT, LAWMAKER, LA FRANCE INSOUMISE PARTY (through translator): We are celebrating a historic victory. Our vote is a promise made to the future. Never will our children, our grandchildren, our great-grandchildren have to relive the torment that has preceded them. Our vote is also a promise to all women around the world who are fighting for the right to have control over their bodies.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: For more now on reaction to this constitutional amendment, here's CNN's Melissa Bell reporting in from Paris.

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MELISSA BELL, CNN SENIOR PARIS CORRESPONDENT: Celebrations here at the Trocadero in the heart of Paris just after the joint session of Parliament that took place at Versailles and that was shown on that giant screen there voted overwhelmingly in favour of a woman's freedom to get access to abortion. And what the French government said as they tried to push this bill through was that in light of the reversal of Roe vs. Wade in the United States in June of 2022, but also the reversal of women's access to abortion elsewhere, it was important that this become a constitutional right.

What the French government had argued was that it was important that future governments not be able to roll these rights back and that this debate should at least in this country be settled once and for all. So, celebrations here at the Trocadero as France becomes the first country to place into its constitution that crucial freedom. Melissa Bell, CNN, Paris.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: We'll take a short break. When we come back, as violence surges in Haiti, CNN travels the country's gang-controlled streets.

UNKNOWN: As police have described it to me, basically everything behind me is occupied by the gangs. It's under their control.

VAUSE: David Colvins' (ph) report in just a moment.

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VAUSE: Welcome back, everyone. I'm John Vause. You're watching CNN NEWSROOM.

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The U.N. has warned Haiti is facing a rapidly deteriorating security situation, amid a new wave of gang violence, especially in the capital, Port-au-Prince.

On Monday, the U.N. secretary-general stressed the need for urgent action. Haiti has been engulfed in turmoil for decades with violence surged over the weekend.

The government declared a state of emergency after thousands of inmates escaped from the country's largest prison.

CNN's David Culver has this report after traveling across the country with Haitian police.

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DAVID CULVER, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: So we're like a block away?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.

CULVER (voice-over): It's as close as we can get driving. So we layer up and walk.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh, yes.

CULVER: You can already smell it.

Wow, look at people 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.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE)

CULVER: "We don't have a home to live in. 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: Do you feel safe right now?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No, no, no. 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's not yet ready to step down.

This as panicked street shootouts like this one have 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. This is 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's often forced to burn the bodies of those killed by other gang members.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE)

CULVER: "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 notice a lost stare in their eyes.

CULVER: All of them have been victims. So there's nobody here who has not been a victim.

CULVER (voice-over): This woman's sister, shot and killed. This one's husband, burned alive inside their home.

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 them to front lines.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: 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 have been abandoned.

CULVER (voice-over): They offer to drive us closer.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And you can see they're getting ready.

CULVER: Yes. Our driver's all geared up now, ready for potential gunfire to come our way. Stay away from the windows as we come in here. They described this as the last defensive point, and beyond here is what they consider to be their front lines.

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.

[00:35:10]

We pull up to a gated compound. The man in the purple shirt leads us in. He then changes into his BSAP uniform. It's the commander. He's in hiding from police.

His message echoes the anti-government protester.

INSPECTOR ODRIC OCTINA, BRIGADE FOR THE SECURITY OF PROTECTED AREAS: (SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE)

CULVER (voice-over): 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 U.N. chopper is the safest way to get there. It's about an hour ride.

Members of the take us through this rural coastal community, devastated by recent protests.

JEAN-MARTIN BAUER, WFP HAITI DIRECTOR: Right back there, you had five people were killed last week.

CULVER: Right there?

BAUER: It was right there. Yes. Yes.

CULVER (voice-over): We arrive 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?

A lot of folks will look at Haiti, and they'll say, it's had issues for so long. The question that no doubt people in the U.S. will ask is, well, why should we go?

BAUER: Well, there are two reasons why you need to help. First of all, there on here humanitarian grounds.

But then there's also her only self-interest in the U.S. So the longer you wait to act on Haiti, the more migrants there will be on her 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 have, for a moment, tranquility and hope. For now.

David Culver, CNN, Port-au-Prince, Haiti.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

VAUSE: We'll take a short break. When we come back, almost a decade after MH-370 went missing, now comes talk of resuming the search for the missing Malaysia Airlines flight.

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Vause: Almost a decade has passed since Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 went missing. Despite the longest and most intensive searches by air, land and sea ever, the disappearance remains one of aviation's greatest mysteries.

Malaysia now says it's willing to reopen the investigation into the disappearance. Speaking on the sidelines of the ASEAN summit, the Malaysian prime minister said, if there is compelling new evidence, this country is willing to reopen the case.

[00:40:13]

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ANWAR IBRAHIM, MALAYSIAN PRIME MINISTER: On the 370, we have taken the position that, if there's a compelling case, evidence that need to be reopened, we will certainly be happy to reopen. Because I don't think it's an issue of a tactical technical issue. It is an issue of affecting lives of people. And whatever needs to be done must be done.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: Malaysia, Australia, and China reportedly spent at least $130 million trawling the waters of the Southern Indian Ocean for wreckage and any clues as to what brought down the flight. Meantime, Malaysia's transport minister says the U.S.-based seabed

exploration firm Ocean Infinity has made a credible new search proposal. Details now from CNN's Richard Quest.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

RICHARD QUEST, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT/ANCHOR: The announcement via the Malaysian government that it is open to reopening the search for MH-370 will be very welcomed by the families of those that perished on board.

But Ocean Infinity is doing it on a no-find, no-fee basis, it's believed. In other words, if they don't find the missing plane off the Australian coast where everybody believes it is, then they don't get paid.

There have been two previous attempts by Ocean Infinity to find MH- 370, and both failed. The hope is that new search techniques, new equipment, and better understanding of what happened to the plane will make this search successful.

Despite all that's happened over the last ten years, the real truth is we are no closer to knowing exactly what caused the plane to go missing.

Yes, we know roughly where it is off the Australian coast. The various bits that have washed up in Africa have confirmed that. But whether it was the captain, whether it was mechanical, whether it was some mass act of mass murder, that we simply don't know.

Richard quest, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

VAUSE: Finally here, move over, Elon. Amazon founder Jeff Bezos is once again the world's richest person.

Bezos's net worth is 2 billion -- $200 billion, rather, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, $2 billion more than Elon Musk, whose Tesla shares went down 7 percent on Monday.

Musk took the title back in May last year. That's after hears now Bernard Arnault, the CEO of the world's biggest conglomerate of luxury goods.

The three men often move up and down on the list of the world's richest based on market performance. And who really cares? They have a lot of money anyway.

I'm John Vause, back at the top of the hour with more CNN NEWSROOM. But first, WORLD SPORT starts after a short break. I'll see you back here in about 17 minutes or so.

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