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U.N. Report Says There's Credible Evidence Of Sexual Violence During October 7 Hamas Attack; Supreme Court Rules States Can't Kick Trump Off The Ballot; French Lawmakers Approve Bill To Make Abortion Constitutional Right; Ukraine's Frontline Becomes More Grim As Funding Dries Up; Haiti's Gang-Controlled Streets; Police Arrest Three Men in India Suspected of Raping Foreign Tourist; China & Russia Discuss Potential Military A.I. Use; MethaneSat Launches, Aims to Hold Emitters Accountable; The Eras Tour, Singapore's Version. Aired 1-2a ET
Aired March 05, 2024 - 01:00 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 ANCHOR: Coming up here on CNN Newsroom, U.N. investigators find evidence that Hamas fighters have and still are committing acts of conflict related sexual violence on Israelis.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP, U.S. REPUBLICAN PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Was a very important decision. We're very well crafted.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: No surprises from Donald Trump. He had nothing but high praise to the U.S. Supreme Court after yet another ruling in his favor.
Celebrations in France where abortion has been legal for almost 50 years, now it's a guaranteed freedom in the Constitution.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Live from Atlanta. This is CNN Newsroom with John Vause.
VAUSE: Another sign of a growing rift between the Biden administration and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Benny Gantz, a member of Israel's war cabinet and political rival to Netanyahu is currently in Washington for a number of meetings with senior administration officials, like Secretary of State Anthony Blinken, scheduled for the coming hours.
Netanyahu is making it clear again he's not representing the Israeli government and is not authorized the White House meetings like the one on Monday, when Gantz and vice president Kamala Harris talks one on one about the humanitarian crisis in Gaza and the urgent need for a six-week long ceasefire fill (ph) more aid to enter Gaza and the release of Israeli hostages. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
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.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: According to the White House, Harris and Gantz discussed the need for a credible humanitarian plan before any Israeli military offensive on Rafah, Gaza southern most city where more than a million and a half displaced Palestinians are now living.
CNN's Jeremy Diamond has details now about the meeting between Gantz and the U.S. Vice President as well as political fallout in Israel.
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JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, he's a member of the Israeli war cabinet, but he is also Benjamin Netanyahu's chief political rival. And that's why many guns his visit to Washington as far as controversy in some Israeli political circles, namely with Netanyahu and his political allies who view Gantz's visit as a breach of protocol effectively prompting an Israeli government official to say that Gantz does not represent the Israeli government during this visit.
Israeli ambassador to the U.S. Michael Hertzog also instructed not to participate in Gantz's meetings, which included a meeting with the U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris. Now those tensions really cast a spotlight on this very uneasy political marriage of convenience between Gantz and Netanyahu, who had been rivals for years, but are now both part of this wartime government.
And this is also of course, for the White House, an opportunity for them to peer into a possible future to look at who Benny Gantz would potentially be as Israel's next prime minister. That's because currently, if elections were held today, Gantz would very likely lead Israel's next government as prime minister.
And so as Netanyahu has increasingly frustrated the White House, this is an opportunity for them to size up who his potential successor could be, and also a potential partner, of course, for the day after in Gaza, but in order to reach that first there needs to be a ceasefire, and those negotiations are very much still ongoing as Gantz made his visit but potential roadblocks ahead as Basem Naim, a member of Hamas political bureau told us that they have no way to know what the fate of the Israeli hostages being held in Gaza actually is saying that those hostages are being held in different locations and by different factions, effectively saying that until there is a stop to the bombardment, a ceasefire, that Hamas won't be able to gather that information.
Now that's a major problem because the Israeli government has made clear that it needs a list of the Israeli hostages who would be released under this potential ceasefire agreements in order to get to a deal. Jeremy Diamond, CNN, Tel Aviv.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VAUSE: United Nations report has found clear and convincing information that Israeli hostages in Gaza were and possibly still are being sexually abused. According to the U.N. special envoy on sexual violence and conflict, that includes acts of rape, torture, and inhumane and degrading treatment. And there is reasonable grounds to believe that sexual violence maybe ongoing.
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The report comes from a U.N. team which visited Israel to gather, analyze and verify information on conflict related sexual violence during the October 7 attacks as well as during the aftermath. CNN senior U.N. correspondent Richard Roth is with us out 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: OK, so it's been quite the day at the U.N., especially with this investigation, which was released in allegations of sexual violence on October 7. There's been a lot of outrageous accusations from both sides with very little conclusive so far. Here's what the U.N. 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 seventh of October attacks in at least three locations, namely the nova music festival site and its surroundings, Road 232 and Kibbutz Re'im. And in most of these incidents victim were first subjected to rape and then killed.
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VAUSE: So that's what the Hamas fighters did. The U.N. team says it 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 in the Israel-Hama 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 U.N. 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 U.N. 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 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 MENASHE ERDAN, ISRAELI AMBASSADOR TO THE UN: This year, the U.N. and U.N. Women's silence in the face of Hamas sexual violence, turn International Women's Day into a sick joke. This is the peak of the UN's hypocrisy, the U.N. claims to care about women. Yet as we speak right now Israeli women are being raped and abused by Hamas terrorists.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: So 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 and 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, the lack of public trust and confidence in national international institutions.
Question about the narrow focus of this yet they did go to various institution facilities inside Israel as they tried to build a case as best they could as to what happened on October 7. The report does say that people who were held hostage or might have been attacked on October 7, did not want to come forward. Still, the trauma was too fresh.
VAUSE: So within this report, they've confirmed a number of these very graphic reports of sexual violence conducted by Hamas fighters on October 7, 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 U.N. 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 7 attacks in multiple locations across the Gaza periphery including rape and gang rape in at least three locations, across the locations. The mission team that found that several fully naked or partially naked body from the waist down where recovered mostly women with hands tied and shot multiple times often in the head.
Although circumstantial, such a pattern of undressing and rent 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 combination at least from the U.N. as far as investigation.
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Richard, thank you for that. We appreciate you being with us. Richard Roth there in New York.
On the eve of Super Tuesday, the biggest day of voting during the U.S. presidential primaries, a decision by the Supreme Court has cleared the way for Donald Trump to orbit secure the Republican Party's nomination.
Polls opened just a few hours from now with primaries and caucuses in 15 states in one U.S. territory, and that includes Colorado, where legal challenges had forced Trump's name to be removed from the ballot of a violation of the 14th Amendment, a Civil War era amendment known as the insurrectionist clause, which prevents anyone involved in an insurrection from holding federal office.
The unanimous ruling by the Supreme Court brings to an end a similar ban which had been put in place by other states like Maine, which moved within hours of the ruling to restore Trump's eligibility to run. Similar move to now in Colorado despite senior state officials they're disagreeing with the Supreme Court.
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JENA GRISWOLD, 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 insurrectionist from our ballots. Ultimately, the United States Supreme Court disagreed.
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VAUSE: The Supreme Court decision is clearly a big win for Trump and his bid for the White House and it comes out of the Supreme Court ruled last week with his argument over presidential immunity. That decision will significantly delay Trump's election interference case. Another big win for the former president.
On Tuesday there was, on Monday rather, there was only gushing effusive praise for the Supreme Court, the highest court illegal system, which Trump has also described as corrupt, inept, out to get him and politicized. CNN's Paula Reid has more now on Monday's unanimous ruling, as well as areas where the justices disagreed.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) PAULA REID, CNN'S CHIEF LEGAL AFFAIRS 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 in the Supreme Court so 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 appeared 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 signaled 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 nine zero 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.
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 COLORADO ANTI-TRUMP CHALLENGES: 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: Earlier, I spoke with former federal prosecutor and law professor Jessica Roth about the timing of the Colorado ballot decision and what it could mean for Trump's presidential immunity case, which is now also before the Supreme Court.
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JESSICA ROTH, FORMER FEDERAL PROSECUTOR: It was important that that decision be rendered as quickly as possible given that the primaries are underway there are a number of important primaries and big states underway.
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And actually, both 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.
And the fact that we have actually a fairly brief opinion from the Supreme Court, by the usual standards of Supreme Court opinions speaks to I think there felt necessity of deciding the question as quickly as they could.
Now when we turn to the immunity question, that is 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 DC Circuit opinion was very thorough and very well- reasoned, I thought there was a very strong possibility that the Supreme Court would not take the case.
But that said, it is a novel issue and 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.
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VAUSE: Thanks to Jessica Roth there, Professor of Law and former federal prosecutor.
We'll take a short break, when we come back, we'll head to France and then historic vote, as the country becomes the first in the world to make abortion a constitutional right.
Also ahead with the war in Ukraine now into a third year, CNN's Nick Paton Walsh spent more than four days on the front lines with Ukrainian forces short on ammunition and under fire as the Russians move ever closer.
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VAUSE: Cheers and celebrations in France now the first country in the world to make abortion a guaranteed freedom in the Constitution. Take a look at the last parliamentary vote the amendment needed. Here it is.
The amendment easily reached the three-fifths majority. The French president says this amendment is a direct response to the U.S. Supreme Court decisions to overturn Roe vs. Wade. A lawmaker says the vote is a win for women all around the world.
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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 fighting for the right to have control over their bodies.
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VAUSE: Live down to Los Angeles and CNN European Affairs commentator, Dominic Thomas. Welcome back, Dom, good to see you.
DOMINIC THOMAS, CNN EUROPEAN AFFAIRS COMMENTATOR: Thanks very much, John.
VAUSE: So this move in France enshrined in the Constitution the right to abortion, or as the French call it, a voluntary interruption or pregnancy, they say comes to reacting to a rollback of abortion rights in other countries. So this is a one we'll make it now from the right wing, Les Republican Party.
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OLIVIER MARLEIX, LAWMAKER, LES REPUBLICANS PARTY (through translator): Not to mention the United States, here at home within the European Union, there are restrictions to the right to abortion in Poland, and in Hungary. This threat could not leave us indifferent. And even if this risk is far from us, we accept to book it in the face.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: True, abortion rights are under attack in the United States, also Hungary and Poland as well, even though Poland is sort of being reversed right now. Abortion has been legal in France for almost 50 years. Has there ever been any real legal challenge to that right, like we are seeing in those other countries?
THOMAS: So the answer, John, on that is really very straightforward. The answer's no. In 1975, when abortion was decriminalized in France, the country remained relatively divided on that policy on that legislation. But the reality is today that there is overwhelming support for abortion as it currently stands in France under the law, and apart from a few fringe and ultra-Catholic groups and pro-life groups, essentially, there is very little sort of, you know, outspoken opposition to this in France as things stand today and you can see the real kind of evolution in mindsets over the past half century.
VAUSE: Just before the final vote. The far right leader Marine Le Pen tweeted this. We will vote for the constitutionalization of abortion even if no one in France in dangers its access. This constitutionalization is perhaps the only victory, in inverted commas, that Emmanuel Macron will have to put on his record after 10 years.
Much like a broken clock is right twice a day. Did Marine Le Pen just a bear what's really happening here?
THOMAS: Well, she, you know, she sort of hit him where it hurts if you no one can say the reality is but since Emmanuel Macron was reelected in 2022, and lost his parliamentary majority. He has really struggled to legislate and when legislation has been forced through it has been incredibly unpopular.
But at the end of the day, this sort of commitment to Emmanuel Macron to enshrine abortion in the Constitution is a really important step one that enjoys massive public support. And it's not just an expression for sort of keeping abortion on the books but also to thinking further and additionally about the question of equity when it comes to access and so on.
And I think he's also in a way scoring points against Marine Le Pen even though this is not in her manifesto to roll back as other far right parties have done. He's nevertheless linking the far right kind of agenda with detractors knowing that that is unpopular. And at the same time, I think he's actually scored some points by enshrining abortion in the Constitution, which is something that left wing voters have been asking for. John.
VAUSE: Crafty politics indeed it sounds like, but under this amendment, access to abortion is not a right, let's describe rather, as a guaranteed freedom. So I guess what that was watered down a little. And also CNN has reported the vote marks the 25th time, the French government has amended its constitution since the founding of the Fifth Republic in 1958.
Compared to other Western democracies, like the U.S. and Australia where a constitutional amendment sort of requires the equivalency of an act of God. How submitted is this guaranteed freedom in France, because the next right wing government should have wished to do so remove this freedom from the Constitution?
THOMAS: Well, I think that first of all, there is no right wing government in France, or there is no major leading political party leader in France today that has any intention of changing legislation pertaining to abortion. So really, it's a non-issue in that regard.
But of course, all of these constitutional clauses can be amended. And I think that in that respect, it's important to distinguish between the Constitution and the judicial. In terms of the law, abortion is decriminalized in France and permitted up to 14 weeks. There's a greater likelihood of that legislation being tweaked as time goes on, and whatever shape or form.
Now, when it comes to enshrining it in the Constitution, in many ways, it's an important gesture. It's a symbolic gesture. And as Emmanuel Macron has done here and invoking Article 89, he's gone down the executive path, which has required a two-thirds, or sorry, a three- fifths vote on both houses. So it's -- it would be a tall order to go about altering it in the in the other direction.
And similarly, a legislative vote would require a referendum, so there's really no will to alter this in France as things currently stand, and certainly that younger generation and shifting mindsets, historically, John pointed the fact that this enshrined in the Constitution means that it's here to stay as it currently stands.
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VAUSE: Dominic, we appreciate you being with us. We appreciate the explanations and the insight. That's why we feel to you. Good to see you.
THOMAS: Thank you very much.
VAUSE: You're welcome. Well, Iran just had his low voltage the lowest voter turnout since the country's 1979 Islamic revolution. The election before this one was already low. This one was even lower. 41 percent of voters showed up to the polls for last Friday's legislative elections.
This despite the regime making multiple pushes to try and get people to the polls. Early results show mostly hardline politicians that were actually winning. It follows around the Guardians (ph) counsels decision to disqualify thousands of candidates.
Some in Tehran told CNN many did not vote because of the country's poor economic conditions, as well as crackdowns on dissent. And there's a lack of trust in the leadership.
Almost every measure the situation in Ukraine's eastern front is bleak. Frontline towns are in danger of falling into Russian hands. Ukrainian forces are struggling to hold the lines of defense. And the sound of silence is just as deafening and just as scary as the noise of Russian shelling. CNN's Nick Paton Walsh explains why.
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NICK PATON WALSH, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It's a lonely path ahead. The Russians have never been louder or closer. Occupied Bakhmut is just up the road. But now some Ukrainian tank guns are silent just when they're needed most here, they don't have enough shells.
WALSH: Sometimes they just won't fire at all for a whole day. Other days they'll be shooting constantly and it is loud on the other side of that hill and it's sort of surreal to hear that sort of noise over there and see this tank unit having to ration their ammo.
YAROSLAV, 42ND MAECHANIZED BRIGADE: We have people, but without weapons, this is not a war you can win the a sword.
WALSH (voice-over): We learned they didn't fire a tool that day, or the day before or the next day. The silence here is what losing sounds like so to is what these soldiers had to say.
WALSH: If the American's don't' give money, what's going to happen?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think we're all good to die. Everybody who is here. We will be no more.
WALSH: Is this the worst you've seen it?
GARRISON FOSTER, U.S. VOLUNTEER FIGHTER: Yes. Yes, definitely. I think this year is going to be the worst year in the war. All I do know that there's certain units they're running out of tanks.
WALSH: How angry does it make you?
FOSTER: Yes, I'm pissed. I'm absolutely pissed off. There's no point in trying to paint this in any sort of light where it's good for us that Russia takes Ukraine that's going to be very, very, very bad for us geopolitically.
WALSH (voice-over): It's here, Chasiv Yar, that already looks like defeat. Those left sounding like they'd be just about okay, when Russia comes.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I want to see my granddaughter. She's in Moscow. My sister is in Kaliningrad. Half of Russia are my relatives. But I'm here alone.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No water, no gas, no power, no nothing. They drive straight to the house where people live. And they fire right from the house. They hide behind the civilians backs.
WALSH (voice-over): Further south near Avdiivka, homes that dealt with about 10 years of war just up the road are finally emptying out.
VALENTINA, ZHELANIE RESIDENT: You know, the house shook four times already. It's made of clay and straw. They shell so hard, that every time I think that's it. We are done. The most scary would be if that horde come here. There can be no trusting people whose hands are covered in blood.
WALSH (voice-over): The skyline is bleak enough as it is but now rumbles with Russia advancing. Ukraine said it would hold steady at three villages near here after it left Avdiivka that hasn't happened. All three are now heavily contested at best and the noise of the Russian approach is louder.
VICTOR, OCHERETYNE RESIDENT: Donbas was Ukraine, we were living a normal life. We had jobs. I will turn 70 soon. I've been married for 52 years. We will be buried together. Right here. Right in the ditch there.
WALSH: Did you expect the Russians to get so close?
[01:29:45]
EUHENE, OCHERETYNE RESIDENT: We didn't expect it. We thought it would somehow settle, calm down.
WALSH: Some units had enough shells. They said firing American rounds in a donated Paladin but still less than before. We didn't see much in the way of heavy defenses around here. And the worry is, was and will be that Russia does not stop.
It may not be huge and southern (ph) enough to make the west pay urgent attention but that's exactly what Putin wants anyway.
Nick Paton Walsh, CNN -- Chasiv Yar, Ukraine.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
JOHN VAUSE, CNN ANCHOR: When we come back here on CNN, David Culver is in Haiti amid a surge of gang violence and the escape of thousands of prisoners now threatening the survival of the Haitian government.
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VAUSE: Welcome back everyone. I'm John Vause. You're watching CNN NEWSROOM.
The United Nations has warned Haiti is facing a rapidly deteriorating security situation with a new wave of gang violence in the capital, and the escape of thousands of prisoners.
On Monday, the U.N. Secretary-General stressed the need for urgent action. Haiti has been engulfed in turmoil for decades, but violence surged over the weekend. The government declared a state of emergency after thousands of inmates escaped from the largest prison in the country. And right now the whereabouts of the Haitian prime minister is reportedly unknown.
CNN's David Culver has this report after traveling across the country, escorted by Haitian police.
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DAVID CULVER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: So we're like a block away.
Yes, it's as close as we can get driving. So we layer up and walk.
Oh yes. We can already smell it.
Wow, look at people still making their commute as tires are burning right in the middle of the street here. No police barricade, no firefighters, most seemingly unfazed. These
flames have been in burning for several hours. Haiti has been engulfed in turmoil for years.
We don't have a home to live in. We don't have food to eat. That's what they're shouting.
Many here now fear their country is on the brink of exploding.
They don't feel safe right now?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No, no. No, it doesn't. No, it doesn't. My taxi is broken right now.
CULVER: 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.
[01:34:55]
CULVER: 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.
This is not the gangs doing this. It's the folks that live in these neighborhoods who are putting these up to prevent gangs from coming in and kidnapping.
Using whatever might stop or slow the kidnappers. Efforts to protect families and preserve innocence.
That innocence shattered for others. This fourteen-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.
"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 lost stare in their eyes.
All of them have been there. So there's nobody here who has not been affected.
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 made the 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 the front lines.
CAITLIN HU, CNN SENIOR EDITOR: This unit actually goes into gang areas, looks for gang members and fights them.
CULVER: 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.
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.
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 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.
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 in government surface. Were 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, 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 protesters.
He flexes BSAP's strength in numbers and its potential to help bring stability. But when it comes to his own family.
You mentioned you have four kids. What do you think their future is in this country?
He fears their future is best served leaving Haiti.
The desperation is felt beyond Port-au-Prince in places like Jeremy the U.N. 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.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Right back there, you had to fight. People were killed last week.
RCULVER: Right there?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It was right there. Yes. Yes.
CULVER: We arrive at this agricultural consortium the WFP buys food from these local farmers to then handout 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.
A lot of folks will look at Haiti and they'll say, it's had issues for so long. The question no doubt people in the U.S. will ask, is well why should we help.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE, WORLD FOOD PROGRAMME: Well, there are two reasons why you need to help. First of all there's on humanitarian grounds. But then there's also our only 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: 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.
[01:39:52]
CULVER: Places of worship are not immune from gang terror. They at least offer a moment of tranquility and hope for now.
David Culver, CNN - Port-au-Prince, Haiti.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VAUSE: To India now where three men have been arrested over the alleged rape of a foreign tourist and the assault of her husband. As CNN's Vedika Sud reports, this case highlights India's decades' long struggle with extreme sexual violence against women.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
VEDIKA SUD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The alleged gang rape of a female biker and a violent assault on her husband in India's eastern state of Jharkhand has led to outrage. The incident came to light after the couple, both foreign nationals, posted a video over the weekend on their Instagram page describing their ordeal. They had stopped for the night in (INAUDIBLE) district when the alleged attack took place.
CNN is not naming the female victim, who is of Brazilian-Spanish dual nationality. In accordance with Indian law that prevents the naming of victims of sexual violence. It's unclear if the alleged attackers have lawyers.
Here's an excerpt from their post.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Something happened to us that I do not wish on anyone.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We got assaulted in the store. We were beaten. We had a knife to our throats. I thought they were going to kill us.
And (INAUDIBLE) was raped by seven men, sons (EXPLETIVE DELETED).
SUD: CNN has watched a series of videos posted by the couple. In one video, the rape survivor shows her bruises. She says she thought she was going to die.
In another video her husband shows the deep cuts around his mouth. Some videos are no longer up on their page. Sharing details at a press conference Saturday, the police told reporters the couple was found on Friday night by police officers on patrol. They were then to a hospital where the woman told the doctor she had been raped.
In a statement to CNN, the Brazilian embassy said they are working closely with the Spanish and Indian authorities on this case. CNN has reached out to the Spanish embassy for comment.
According to government data, more than 31,500 rape cases were recorded in the year 2022. An average of 86 cases per day. Break that down further and that's a rape almost every 17 minutes in the country.
And experts warn that the number of cases recorded are just a small fraction of what may be the real number in a deeply-patriarchal country.
Despite amended rape laws and the Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modis government saying it is committed to tackling sexual violence, India has struggled for years to tackle high rates of violence against women with a number of high-profile rape cases involving foreign visitors drawing international attention to the issue.
Vedika Sud, CNN -- New Delhi.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VAUSE: When we come back here on CNN, a collision course in the South China Sea, the latest incident between China and the Philippines. Details on that in a moment.
Also ahead, the world's worst polluters may soon have nowhere to hide as a methane detecting satellite heads into orbit.
[01:42:50]
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VAUSE: The Philippines and China are blaming each other after two coast guard ships collided in the South China Sea. Manila says its ships sustained minor damage and accuses the Chinese ship of dangerous maneuvers. In turn, China's coast guard said it took control measures against what it called illegal intrusions by the Philippines.
This is the latest escalation in an area claimed almost entirely by China, disputed by the Philippines, Malaysia, Brunei and Vietnam.
Concerns are growing about how China and Russia could incorporate A.I. into their military capability. Moscow says officials from the two countries have recently met to compare notes.
CNN's Will Ripley has more on what that could mean given the state of global affairs right now.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
WILL RIPLEY, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Two nuclear superpowers forging what some call a dangerous alliance that could reshape modern warfare. China and Russia, long time U.S. rivals, meeting in Beijing, strategizing a new battleground -- the military use of artificial intelligence.
Detailed discussions the Russian foreign ministry says, potentially delving into A.I.-powered weapons systems. A top military priority of Russia, China, and the U.S.
Autonomous submarines and warships, fighter jets, and ground combat vehicles, even testing swarms of A.I.-powered drones, as shown in this Chinese state media video, weapons that could deliver increased firepower.
Experts say A.I. could even influence military decision making, analyzing vast amounts of satellite, radar and online data, giving commanders better and faster understanding of the battlefield.
President Joe Biden and Chinese leader Xi Jinping agreeing to hold talks on A.I. in the spring at their San Francisco summit last year.
JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We're going to get our experts together to discuss risk and safety issues associated with artificial intelligence.
RIPLEY: The world's major military powers, all investing heavily in A.I. The U.S. State Department warns there are risks and military A.I. use has to be done responsibly -- a warning in the West and the Far East.
SENIOR COL. WU QIAN, CHINESE DEFESNE MINISTRY SPOKESPERSON (through translator): China is opposed to using A.I. advantages to undermine the sovereignty of other countries.
RIPLEY: Chinese state media picking up reports on OpenAI's policy change, potentially allowing cooperation with the U.S. military. The report says: beware of the U.S. military's collusion with tech giants.
Moscow and Beijing conspicuously absent from a U.S.-led coalition promoting responsible military use of A.I. and autonomy, raising questions about their intentions at a critical time.
Military experts warn the risk of a major global conflict no longer a distant threat, but a looming crisis. Ongoing wars in the Middle East and Ukraine threatening to spill over highly sensitive technology moving at lightning speed.
WU: China pays close attention to security risks posed by military applications of A.I. technologies.
RIPLEY: China's military capabilities, expanding at an unprecedented pace, simmering tensions over Taiwan and the South China Sea, setting the stage for a catastrophic showdown as the world teeters on the brink of a new era of warfare, machines making life and death decisions on the battlefield.
Will Ripley, CNN, Taipei.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VAUSE: The Environmental Defense Fund is putting oil and gas companies on notice with the launch of MethaneSat, a satellite meant to sniff out pollution and hold the world's biggest methane emitters accountable.
CNN's chief climate correspondent, Bill Weir, has details.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: 3, 2, 1, ignition and lift off.
BILL WEIR, CNN CHIEF CLIMATE CORRESPONDENT: Paid for by the likes of billionaire Jeff Bezos and other donors, the non-profit Environmental Defense Fund just launched a new kind of eye in the sky. MethaneSat is designed to circle the earth every 95 minutes or so and with cutting- edge detail spot plumes and leaks of planet cooking pollution, long associated with the production of natural gas.
If carbon dioxide is a blanket of average thickness overheating the earth for centuries, methane is like a blanket seven feet thick with over 80 times the heat-trapping power of CO2 for about two decades after its release.
Sometimes it leaks from old equipment or orphan wells, and sometimes when there's no one to buy it, companies just burn it in a practice known as flaring.
[01:49:52]
KELSEY ROBINSON, ENVIRONMENTAL DEFENSE FUND: What we found here in the Permian Basin is that operators are wasting enough gas to heat about 2 million homes a year.
WEIR: In 2021, EDF took us up over the oil and gas fields of Texas to sniff out methane leakers with a specially-equipped airplane.
So this is carbon dioxide down here and this is methane. But now they can fly over every oil and gas basin in the world where
80 percent of global supplies are fracked and pumped.
STEVEN HAMBURG, ENVIRONMENTAL DEFENSE FUND: We can basically create a movie of what's going on with respect to methane emissions. Before we could just take snapshots when we had a plane in the air and we can get permission to fly. This is a whole new game.
It really creates an enormous leap forward in our ability to really understand greenhouse gas emissions.
WEIR: While other satellites can spot methane, what they find is often kept private but EDF says that in about 18 months their data will be open and free on Google Earth Engine for anyone to see.
HAMBURG: You just have a real clarity now, A clarity we've never had before. And I think people realize you don't have to accept what somebody says, whether that's a government or a company, you can actually directly look at it, see what it is. And that is completely different than anything we've ever had for greenhouse gases.
What I referred to as we're going to have radical transparency.
WEIR: And what has been the response from the oil and gas companies that you're doing this?
HAMBURG: Well, I think many of the companies see this as a real opportunity because they really do believe and I suspect that they're doing a good job, but many of them aren't.
It gives countries and companies the tools to select who they buy gas from and where that gas comes from. For the first time they'll have the ability to make really informed decisions. And those informed decisions will have enormous positive impact on the climate.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VAUSE: Our thanks there to Bill Weir for that report.
We will take a short break.
When we come back, Swift-onomics, how Singapore is cashing in on the economic boom of a Taylor Swift concert and the rest of Southeast Asia missing out.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
VAUSE: The world's now second richest man, Elon Musk, is being sued for unpaid severance. Twitter's former CEO, CFO and chief legal officer are among the group of executives formerly at Twitter, who claim they're owed $128 million by Musk.
They alleged he refused to pay the severance as a way of getting revenge because he was angry about being forced to go through with Twitter acquisition. So far, no comment from the world's second richest man. Fans of Taylor Swift have converged on Singapore for a series of sold- out concerts. It's already stopped in Southeast Asia, sore point for other countries missing out on that economic boon from Taylor Swift's concerts and her tours.
CNN's Kristie Lu Stout has details.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
KRISTIE LU STOUT, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Taylor Swift's Eras Tour is wrapping up its Asia leg Singapore, the pop star's only Southeast Asian stop. And fans from across the region are making a pricey pilgrimage to the city state including the head of Swifties Philippines.
CHARLYN SUIZO, HEAD OF SWIFTIES PHILIPPINES: I'm so happy and very excited to see Taylor later on. I'm really, really, you know, overwhelmed with amazing places and (INAUDIBLE) around me and very excited for the experience.
[01:54:47]
CHRISTEL KAYE KUAN, TAYLOR SWIFT FAN: We came from the Philippines and were super fans since we were in grade school yes. Like we were 10 years old? We love 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, quote, "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 the 16th.
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 quote, "If I'd known this, I would have brought the shows to Thailand. And on Monday, its culture minister Edouard Thong, made new comments about the grant, speaking to parliament, he said this. Quote "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," unquote.
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 at Maybank 7 in 10 concert goers are coming in from overseas, spending up to $370 million in the city-state.
SUIZO: This is the biggest amount that I have spent for a concert. I never really spent big like (INAUDIBLE) on one air fare, just Taylor Swift.
STOUT: Singapore is getting a big economic boost from Swift-onomics, which its Asian neighbors know all too well. Kristie Lu Stout, CNN, Hong Kong.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VAUSE: But why was she dressed as a banana. Don't worry, Southeast Asia, at least you won't have to worry about the traffic from a Taylor Swift concert. That's got to be a bonus.
Thank you for watching. I'm John Vause. CNN NEWSROOM continues with my friend and colleague Rosemary Church after a break.
See you tomorrow.
[01:57:06]
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