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Israel Splitting Gaza In Two With New Road; Israeli Protesters Try To Block Aid Trucks From Gaza; Nearly Two Dozen Dead In Gaza From Malnutrition, Dehydration; U.S. And Coalition Forces Shoot Down Houthi Drones Over Red Sea, Gulf Of Aden; Russia Converts Unguided Bombs Into Precision Weapons; U.S. Congress Holds Up Ukraine Aid Bill; Haiti Has Not Requested Interim U.N. Peacekeepers; Biden Ramps Up Campaign With Feisty State Of The Union Speech; Judge Blocks Biden Administration From Redirecting Trump Border Wall Funding; Nearly 300 Children Kidnapped By Nigerian Gunmen; Oil Spilling Off Southern California Coast; Pentagon Developing Portable UFO Detectors. Aired 3-4a ET
Aired March 09, 2024 - 03:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
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PAULA NEWTON, CNN ANCHOR AND CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): A very warm welcome to our viewers watching from all around the world. I'm Paula Newton.
Ahead right here on CNN NEWSROOM, a Israel-Hamas ceasefire so far has not materialized. Now some Palestinians are concerned that their movement in Gaza might be permanently restricted whenever the war does end.
U.S. President Joe Biden hits the campaign trail on the heels of his fiery State of the Union speech. And this time he doesn't hesitate to call his opponent out by name.
And nearly 300 school children kidnapped by gunmen in Nigeria. The latest on what authorities are doing to try and bring them home.
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NEWTON: As the U.N. warns of famine in Gaza, Gaza's health ministry says 23 people have died from malnutrition and dehydration. Meanwhile, Benjamin Netanyahu's plan for post-war Gaza appears to be going forward, despite U.S. opposition. A new road that splits Gaza in two is thought to be part of that plan. And I want you to take a close look at this satellite image.
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NEWTON (voice-over): Near the top left corner of your screen, moving toward the lower right corner, you'll see a road that cuts right across Gaza. Now this is what the area looked like last month. You can see what appears to be a road but it's much shorter.
It has some Palestinians worried that their freedom of movement will be restricted after the war. Now ceasefire talks appear to have hit a snag. Even U.S. President Joe Biden seems to have lost his past optimism about an agreement materializing by Monday. Listen.
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QUESTION: Will there be a ceasefire by Ramadan?
JOE BIDEN (D), PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: It's looking tough.
QUESTION: Are you concerned about violence in East Jerusalem without one?
BIDEN: I sure am.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
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NEWTON (voice-over): Meantime, in northern Gaza, an airdrop has reportedly killed at least five people. Now in this video, obtained by CNN, you can see a parachute malfunctioning and the pallet it was holding falling rapidly.
Now it's not clear which country conducted this airdrop. The Pentagon says it was not a U.S. operation.
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NEWTON: As the international community, meantime, works to get more aid into Gaza, some Israelis are doing everything they can to keep it out. CNN chief international correspondent Clarissa Ward shows what's happening on the ground.
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CLARISSA WARD, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): They march with determination to the Kerem Shalom border, as they have for six weeks. Their mission, to block international aid from crossing into Gaza.
The border police are waiting for them. "There's a danger of sniper fire and projectiles, the officer warns. I ask you to leave this place." But the protesters are undeterred, made up mostly of hostage family members, former reservists and settlers. They ignore the order and change course to move closer to the crossing.
WARD: So you can see the trucks with aid over there. The police had been trying to stop the protesters but then they've just cut through this field and they're pushing ahead.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: How can anyone check these trucks and see what's inside?
Where bags of rice that are meant to go to their children are filled with bullets. WARD: Under international law, it's Israel's obligation to make sure that the ordinary citizens of Gaza don't starve to death. And right now, they are starving to death.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Hamas is making it very difficult, because Hamas is not allowing this to provide --
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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: -- visitors.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: They're not holding it. They're not receiving it.
WARD: But they --
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We'll do it. I'm telling you here and now. If we knew it's getting to children of Gaza, we would do it. This does not arrive at their doorstep. This arrives into the channels of Hamas. They are fighting us and holding our hostages.
WARD: There was no evidence to support the idea that all of this aid is going to Hamas.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Not to the rest of the population. This is intelligence only for terror. That's why they're getting -- they should get only the minimum calories required to survive.
WARD: They're starving to death.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: They are not starving --
WARD: They are starving to death.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: May -- do you know what?
If they are starving to death, give us back -- give the hostages back.
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No single loaf of bread should go there till our hostages are coming back.
WARD: To many people in the world, listening to what you're saying and what you're protesting for, it sounds like, A, a contravention of international law; and B, incredibly callous in the face of an epic humanitarian catastrophe.
In the face of children starving to death. People can't understand why anyone in their right mind would advocate for stopping aid.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Hamas has no fair play. Hamas has no rules. Hamas is holding civilians.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You know, even if there is a humanitarian crisis there and there is not, even if there is, it's my right and my duty to prioritize the life of Kfir Bibas, a one year old baby that deserve over any Gazan baby.
WARD (voice-over): And with that, the interview is over as the protesters press on. Previously, they've managed to block aid trucks from crossing. But on this day, the police had been given their orders and no one is getting through, prompting anger from the crowd.
You are confused. Go deal with the war, this woman shouts. We came to help you.
Unable to cross here, the protesters try their luck in another area but the authorities are just as quick to stop them.
WARD: So the police are now really starting to lose their patience. They've been trying to push these protesters away for hours now and still, they're not leaving.
The crowd on this day is small but their sentiment is shared by the majority of people in the country. A recent poll by the Israel Democracy Institute found that 68 percent of Jewish Israelis oppose the transfer of humanitarian aid into Gaza.
On the other side of the border, the situation could not be more dire; 7 year old Fadi Alsant (ph) is suffering from severe dehydration and malnutrition. Doctors at the Kamal Adwan (ph) Hospital say they don't have the resources to properly treat him. Fadi's (ph) mother says she's already lost two children and she doesn't want to lose him.
According to Gaza's health authorities, at least 17 children have died of dehydration and malnutrition already. And with the U.N. warning that famine is just a step away, there is hardly room for debate. More aid needs to get to more people as quickly as possible -- Clarissa Ward, CNN, Kerem Shalom, Israel.
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NEWTON: Joining me now is Jeremy Konyndyk. He is the president of Refugees International and a former senior official in the Biden and Obama administrations.
And, Jeremy, look, you've been at this a long time. Let's get to those airdrops first. They're clearly inadequate in almost every way, except for the fact that this is such a desperate situation.
In any measure, can it help to sustain what is clearly now a humanitarian catastrophe?
JEREMY KONYNDYK, PRESIDENT, REFUGEES INTERNATIONAL: The airdrops aren't harmful but they don't make an enormous difference in the scope of the crisis that Gaza is now experiencing; 0.5 million people or more or are heading toward famine.
Some share of that already experiencing famine. We're beginning to see children dying of malnutrition in some of the hospitals. In that context, a few airdrops every few days of a small amount of food does not make a difference.
NEWTON: It certainly is significant in terms of showing the desperation that aid agencies like yours must be feeling at this point in time. I want to get to Biden's idea now, this idea of an offshore aid port. Now the U.S. administration is clear it's going to take a while, weeks, maybe months to put together.
Can that help?
KONYNDYK: It could help. I'm slightly more bullish on the maritime corridor in the sense that at least that is a path to bringing higher volumes to Gaza than you can achieve with airdrops. But there are a few problems with this.
First, the U.S. has briefed that it's going to take one to two months to have this fully up and running. Gaza simply doesn't have that kind of time. We're beginning to see starvation deaths already. So waiting another month or two on the trajectory that Gaza is on is very, very dangerous.
Secondly, it doesn't solve the fundamental problem, which is the inability of aid agencies to operate within Gaza in the way that they need to. So a maritime corridor can bring the aid up to the periphery of Gaza and drop it off at the port but it doesn't resolve the bigger problem of internal distribution.
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And operations and programs at the aid agencies need to be running. For example, it's not enough to just hand over food parcels. When you're dealing with a famine, you need to be restoring water systems, delivering water, running nutrition programs and ensuring that the health system is working.
Because a lot of death in a famine is actually from disease, which takes advantage of people's weakened physical condition, not just from outright starvation. That sort of comprehensive package of assistance is what is needed right now. And a maritime corridor doesn't address most of that.
NEWTON: Jeremy, as you're speaking, we're looking at pictures of kids, scavenging for food the way they should be looking for marbles and playing games with toys. It is incredible how much this situation has gotten so much worse.
In fact, you, along with other organizations, wrote an editorial nearly three months ago, saying that this couldn't go on.
At this point, where do you put your faith that things could change, that they will change in the next few days or weeks, even?
KONYNDYK: Fundamentally, President Biden needs to decide what his red lines are. When we wrote that editorial in "The New York Times" in December, it was because we could see what was coming.
We knew that the outcomes that we're seeing now -- starving children, desperate people -- that was the trajectory that Gaza was very clearly on. And Gaza has stayed on that trajectory.
So far, President Biden, while he has complained privately and increasingly now publicly about prime minister Netanyahu, he's being more open about Israel's obstruction of the aid effort, as have other senior officials like Secretary Blinken and Administrator Power.
But fundamentally, that hasn't changed. And until that changes, we are not going to be able to -- we're not going to see a counter famine effort succeed inside Gaza until there is an end to the fighting and until there is space for aid agencies to operate.
Aid agencies are still being blocked by the IDF within Gaza and they are being obstructed in bringing things into Gaza by Israeli inspections. They are still occasionally being struck by bombardment by the Israeli military.
Whether that's intentional or not, it's still happening. Those are not conditions in which it's possible to mount an effective counter famine operation.
President Biden needs to decide, when is he going to draw a firm line with prime minister Netanyahu?
And that doesn't mean just scolding him publicly; that means beginning to cut off the flow of weapons, voting against what Israel wants at the U.N., putting some real leverage on the table.
NEWTON: And if he doesn't?
KONYNDYK: If he doesn't work, you know what we're seeing now, I fear, is just the tip of the iceberg of what's to come. Famines gain a momentum over time. We are beginning to see the front edge of Gaza's famine in the deaths of children's starvation.
We know from a lot of other famines, from very hard earned experience, what follows. And we know how difficult it is to reverse that once it gets a head of steam. It has a head of steam now.
The aid agency -- rather, the aid effort is way behind where it needs to be to -- I won't say avert this famine but even to control this famine. And we're losing ground with every additional day.
NEWTON: I don't have a lot of time left but, Jeremy, we also obviously have a very critical situation ongoing in Haiti right now. I was there middle of last year. I know how difficult it is to get food even to the areas that are peaceful right now.
Do you worry about the international community's capacity to handle all of this, especially when it just comes to the bare minimum, right, just feeding people?
KONYNDYK: The international humanitarian architecture is extraordinarily stretched right now. Not enough, of course, is happening in Gaza. There is more help needed in Haiti. I would also point to places like Darfur in eastern Chad and frankly all of Sudan. Sudan is on the brink of a famine in its own right. There's not enough
capacity and there are not enough resources in the system right now to cover all of these needs. Humanitarian resources dropped by about a quarter from 2022 to 2023. And they look set to decline further this year. So there is a tough road ahead.
NEWTON: Jeremy Konyndyk, thanks so much for your perspective. Really appreciate it.
KONYNDYK: My pleasure. Thank you.
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NEWTON: And turning now to the Red Sea where a U.S. and coalition forces shot down 15 drones launched by Yemen's Houthi rebels, that was just hours ago.
And U.S. Central Command says the Iranian backed rebel group conducted a, quote, "large scale uncrewed aerial vehicle attack into the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden."
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That was early Saturday morning. It says coalition forces identified the drones and determined they posed an immediate threat to merchant vessels as well as U.S. Navy and coalition ships.
Now from an outdated gravity bomb to a powerful weapon, still ahead, Russia gives an upgrade to its old fashioned aerial bombs to gain advantage on the Ukrainian battlefields.
Plus, the international community is urging Haiti's prime minister to act as the island continues its descent into chaos. The latest after the break.
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NEWTON: Ukraine says the number of women in uniform has skyrocketed since Russia began its invasion. More than 45,000 Ukrainian women now serve in the military, an almost 44 percent increase compared to before the war. The figures were released on International Women's Day on Friday.
Now on the same day, president Volodymyr Zelenskyy met with a Turkish counterpart in Istanbul, discussing joint military production and Black Sea navigation. France is also moving ahead with joint military ventures, saying its defense companies should begin operating in Ukraine by summer.
And the Czech Republic says it has raised enough money to buy 300,000 artillery shells for Ukraine from countries outside the E.U. But Russia is updating its military arsenal as well, bringing its old
dumb bombs into the 21st century. Russian engineers have found a way to turn those bombs into gliding precision weapons. As Fred Pleitgen report reports, their effect on the battlefield has been devastating.
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FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice- over): Massive explosions as the Russians were driving Ukrainian forces out of Avdiivka on the eastern front.
After their retreat, Kyiv's ground troops saying Vladimir Putin's air force has become a lot more effective, thanks to a special weapon.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): The enemy used there aircraft a lot, attacking with KAB bombs. Before they advance, they clean up the area ahead of them with KAB bombs.
PLEITGEN: KAB stands for correctable air bomb, old, unguided bombs, retrofitted with wings that unfold and a precision guidance kit using Russia's version of GPS.
JUSTIN BRONK, SENIOR RESEARCH ON AIRPOWER AT ROYAL UNITED SERVICES INSTITUTE: The impact has been to give Russia additional firepower, particularly very heavy firepower. So it's a lot more explosive than an artillery shell or rocket. So essentially, almost a kind of DIY style version of an American glide bomb kit.
PLEITGEN: You can see the bombs in flight here, their wings already extended. The wing kits allow the Russians to release the bombs further away from the front lines and out of range of Ukraine's short distance air defense systems the bombs then glide dozens of miles to their targets, with devastating effects, the Ukrainians say.
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, the Russians dropping large quantities of bombs weighing between 500 and 3,000 pounds, able to annihilate even hardened Ukrainian positions.
YURI IHNAT, UKRAINE AIR FORCE SPOKESMAN (through translator): Their goal is not only we to hit front line positions but guided glide bombs are also flying further behind our defenders to hit rear command posts, rear supplies, ammunition and so on.
PLEITGEN: The aerial bombs are huge. This is a medium-size one that didn't explode when dropped on a house near the eastern front.
And the Russian say they're just getting started. Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu saying Moscow will drastically ramp up production of the wing and guidance kits on a recent visit to the factory, making them.
BRONK: It's a form of munition that Russia has potentially very large quantities. And it enables their fighter aircraft, which so far have been fairly ineffective in the war, to contribute really heavy firepower to the ongoing Russian push against Ukrainian line. PLEITGEN: The Ukrainian say, the only way they can stop Putin's glide bomb blitz is with more long-range air defense systems. And they hope soon with us made F-16 fighter jets that could help push Russian aircraft even further away from the front lines.
The Ukrainians say they have managed to shoot down some of those Russian jets dropping those glide bombs. But they also say the only weapon they currently have capable of achieving that is the U.S. made Patriot surface to air missile system.
Now of course, the Ukrainians need a lot of missiles to shoot down those Russian jets. However, getting additional missiles is a problem, as funding for additional U.S. military aid remains held up by Republican House leadership -- Fred Pleitgen, CNN, Berlin.
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NEWTON: Now for more, analysis on this, we're joined by Fabian Hoffmann, a doctoral research fellow at the University of Oslo. He's speaking with us from the Norwegian capital.
Thanks so much for being with us, especially given what Fred has just discussed in his report. Now you've pointed out that Ukraine is a testing ground for missile technology and strategy right now.
What have we learned and what is the state of play as you see it?
FABIAN HOFFMANN, DOCTORAL RESEARCH FELLOW, UNIVERSITY OF OSLO: Thanks so much for having me. Yes, this is absolutely correct. So the Ukraine war really is the first major interstate war where we see the large- scale use of modern missile technologies, both offensive and defensive on both sides.
I think we've learned a couple of key lessons. I mean, the first being, for example, that missile defense is probably quite a bit more effective and feasible than we had previously assumed.
For example, the experience prior, we had before from the Middle East, really indicated that even intercepting subsonic cruise missiles, for example, should be rather difficult. But what we're seeing in Ukraine is that these missile systems get intercepted at a fairly large rate. And Western missile defense systems are fairly effective at doing so.
This being said, of course, the missile wars still represents a huge challenge for both sides, especially for Ukraine, which continues to experience a true missile onslaught from Russia.
NEWTON: Absolutely. And I want to get to that point because, last summer, you assessed that Ukraine seemed to have the upper hand in a way, because the U.S. made Patriot air defense system really was a game changer for how they were lining up their defenses against that Russia -- the Russian onslaught.
Does that still stand?
I mean, when you look at what's gone on in the last few months, what's changed?
HOFFMANN: It wasn't just Patriots, it really was the mix of different types of Western air defense missile systems arriving in Ukraine. One of -- a key part, of course, is Patriot. But you also have the Norwegian American NASAMS or also the German IRIS-T (ph), for example, as well as a bunch of other shorter-range missile defense systems.
These systems still continue to be very effective. I think a key challenge right now for Ukrainians is to maintain a steady supply of interceptors that can be used to engage Russian missile systems.
And obviously with the deadlock that we see right now in U.S. Congress, this is very problematic, because that means, for example, that Patriot interceptors are just not arriving at the scale in Ukraine that they have to.
NEWTON: Yes. And that's key.
How do you see that affecting things on the battlefield in the months to come, if U.S. Congress does not approve this military aid?
HOFFMANN: That's difficult to say. I mean, that depends a bit on also how Russia continues to use its missile campaign.
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If they continue to engage civilian infrastructure at large scale then I expect to see an increase in suffering of the Ukrainian civilian population as a result of the deadlock, if Russia, what they've -- still they seem to be doing more now than in the past, engaging front- line targets but also industry.
And then there's a lack of suitable Western interceptors. That means that the industrial, the defense industrial situation for Ukraine, is going to become more complex. It's going to complicate a lot of military planning.
And then, of course, front line breakthroughs potentially are facilitated.
NEWTON: Sobering thoughts there. I want to get to some other sobering things that you wrote in a study published last month. You were analyzing this as we've discussed as a testing ground.
And you wrote that, "...these issues could put pressure on crisis and arms race stability in the medium to long term and increase the likelihood a strategic nuclear exchanges in future conflict."
Can you explain what you mean by that?
HOFFMANN: Yes, of course. I mean that really relates to some of the longer-term insights into the technological trajectories of these missile systems that we -- that we see in the Ukraine war.
In particular at a very -- well, a problematic thing that the Russians are seeing from Western missile technology -- and that's not necessarily something new that's been said.
That's something they've been concerned about for quite a while, is that Western states may use their conventional missile technologies to potentially threaten the survivability of their nuclear arsenals.
What we see right now in Ukraine war is that Western cruise missiles, like Storm Shadows, SCALP-EG; they're tremendously effective. They're very accurate. They are very potent weapon systems.
And I do believe that this may reinforce some of the fears that Russia has experienced before when it comes to strategic stability. Doesn't necessarily mean, right, that the likelihood of a nuclear war is strongly increasing.
But it definitely, I assume, will put some or will force the Russian leadership to reconsider and continue to think about their survivability of their nuclear arsenal.
And that may, of course, then also result in them taking measures to increase that survivability, either by qualitatively improving it or potentially acquiring more nuclear warheads and missile systems in order to prevent a disarming strike from the West.
NEWTON: Yes, it certainly sounds like the character of a new arms race altogether. Fabian Hoffmann, really appreciate your insights. Thanks so much.
HOFFMANN: Thanks so much for having me.
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NEWTON: Now the future of Haiti's government hangs in the balance as rampant gang violence continues and the security situation deteriorates. Armed individuals attacked two police stations near Haiti's national palace Friday night. That's according to a security source.
Meantime, questions remain over the future of Haiti's prime minister. Our Patrick Oppmann brings us the latest now.
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PATRICK OPPMANN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: U.S. State Department officials said that, on Thursday, secretary of state Antony Blinken spoke with embattled Haitian prime minister Ariel Henry and urged him to form a transitional government to see if that helps end the ongoing political stalemate in Haiti and the out of control violence.
Henry still has not said what his plans are and is believed that he remains essentially stuck in Puerto Rico.
Unable to return to his country after gangs rose up, demanding his resignation and saying that they would not allow soldiers that Henry had negotiated with the government of Kenya to arrive and try to put the uprising of these gangs under control to try to end the cycle of gang violence in Haiti. These gangs have blocked off roads, have committed sexual violence
against women, have displaced thousands of people. And there has been widespread looting, including at a key port terminal in Port-au- Prince.
So even though the government in Haiti that remains has called for a state of emergency, very clearly the gangs have the upper hand here. And they are not giving in at all.
They appear to be willing to wait out Haitians who are running low on food, low on water. These gangs have for years had a very lucrative business of kidnapping people for ransom.
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And now it appears they're holding an entire country hostage -- Patrick Oppmann, CNN, Havana.
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NEWTON: Joe Biden is keeping the feisty energy of Thursday's State of the Union speech alive as he goes after Donald Trump on the campaign trail. Details ahead on his visit to battleground state of Pennsylvania.
Plus Hungary's authoritarian leader Viktor Orban visited the U.S. Friday. He wasn't invited by the current president, instead meeting with Donald Trump. We will have some details after the break.
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NEWTON: U.S. President Joe Biden is ramping up his reelection campaign and riding the momentum from his feisty speech, that State of the Union speech. Now he kicked off a tour of battleground states with a visit to Pennsylvania Friday.
It was effectively his first rally of the general election campaign after Super Tuesday set up a rematch against Donald Trump. Now Mr. Biden called out Trump by name for hosting Hungarian autocrat Viktor Orban and for his anti-Democratic tendencies. Listen.
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BIDEN: You know who he's meeting with today and down to Mar-a-Lago?
Orban, Hungary, who's stated flatly he doesn't think democracy works. He's looking for dictatorship. The only member of NATO. That's who he's meeting with. I see a future where we defend democracy, not diminish it.
(END VIDEO CLIP) NEWTON: As CNN's MJ Lee reports, the Biden campaign is going on the offensive and Friday's rally in Pennsylvania was apparently just the beginning.
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MJ LEE, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): President Biden hitting the road the day after delivering one of the most pivotal speeches of his presidency in his first campaign stop after his State of the Union address.
BIDEN: Our freedoms really are in a ballot this November. Donald Trump with the MAGA Republicans are trying to take away our freedoms. That's not an exaggeration.
Well, guess what?
We will not let him.
LEE (voice-over): The Biden campaign announcing a flurry of upcoming travel, promising to send Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris to every battleground state in the coming weeks.
Other top surrogates, including the first lady and the second gentleman, also preparing to hit the road. Also coming for the campaign in the month of March, 100 new offices and 350 new staff.
BIDEN: I'll always be president for all Americans.
LEE (voice-over): Plus a brand new digital and TV ad campaign to the tune of $30 million over six weeks.
BIDEN: The state of our union is strong and getting stronger.
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LEE (voice-over): All of this part of a major push by the Biden campaign to build on the political momentum coming out of the State of the Union in a fiery and highly political speech.
BIDEN: This is a moment to speak the truth and to bury lies.
LEE (voice-over): The president repeatedly invoking his 2024 GOP rival, though not by name.
BIDEN: Now my predecessor --
-- my predecessor --
-- my predecessor failed.
LEE (voice-over): And, at times, taunting the Republican lawmakers in the chamber.
BIDEN: I will -- that's the proposal.
I don't know.
You guys don't want another $2 trillion tax cut?
I kind of thought that's what your plan was.
LEE (voice-over): Biden's 69 minute speech, heavy on economic populism.
BIDEN: I see a future for the middle class as finally has a fair shot and the wealthy have to pay their fair share in taxes.
LEE (voice-over): A vision of strong American leadership abroad.
BIDEN: History is watching. The United States walks away, it will put Ukraine at risk.
LEE (voice-over): And protections of individual freedoms and rights, including access to reproductive care.
BIDEN: I promise you, I will restore Roe v. Wade as the law of land again.
LEE (voice-over): The evening, appearing to rally the president's supporters and national Democrats as they all anxiously anticipate a Biden-Trump rematch in November.
And this banter caught on a hot mic after the speech, speaking volumes about the president's increasingly strained relationship with Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
BIDEN: I told him, Bibi -- and don't repeat this -- but you and I are going to have a "come to Jesus" meeting.
LEE: And President Biden did address that hot mic moment, telling reporters and joking with them that they were eavesdropping on his conversation.
But on a more serious note, he did say that prime minister Netanyahu does need to do more to alleviate the humanitarian crisis in Gaza. The Israel war does remain a tough issue for President Biden politically.
As we were coming into this event, in the suburbs of Philadelphia, we spoke with a protester, who said that she would like to see the president call for a permanent ceasefire. Of course, a position that the president has yet to take -- MJ Lee, CNN, in Wallingford, Pennsylvania.
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NEWTON: Though Trump's campaign meantime says he met with Hungary's authoritarian prime minister Viktor Orban to discuss many issues, including the importance of border security.
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NEWTON (voice-over): They shared these photos of the meeting at Mar-a- Lago Friday. Now Trump has praised Orban's leadership, saying, quote, "it's good to have a strong man at the head of a country." CNN's Kristen Holmes has more now from West Palm Beach, Florida.
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KRISTEN HOLMES, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Sources told me that Trump and the Hungarian prime ministers met for about 45 minutes to an hour and then Donald Trump took him to a tribute concert on the Mar-a-Lago property. It was an event that was going on.
Now I do not have any details yet about what exactly happened, what exactly was talked about during this meeting. Was just described me as a quote-unquote, "social media," essentially saying, the sources, that they were sitting down, two men without any agenda.
But of course, it is hard to imagine Viktor Orban and Donald Trump sitting down without any agenda. Now the reason why this is so significant is twofold. One, the White House did not issue any sort of formal invitation.
Two, Orban did not reach out to the White House. And I am told that he did reach out to Trump's team to set up this meeting.
The other part of this is that Donald Trump is not only a former president but he is also the presumptive Republican nominee. And he could potentially be president again. And this gives you a look at the kind of leaders that he might align himself with on the world stage.
Orban is an authoritarian. He has fought against the free press, calling it fake news. He has been rigid on immigration. He has been rigid on LGBTQ rights. He is, for all intents and purposes, he believes and steady believes that democracy doesn't work.
Donald Trump has praised Orban. He has said that he believes his policies are good and at one point even said, some people don't like him because he is a strong man. But it's good to have a strong man controlling your country.
Again, this could be an example or at least a reading of the tea leaves of the kind of leaders Donald Trump would align himself with if he is reelected to the White House in November. Now we're still talking to sources, trying to figure out what exactly was said if there was any business that was talked about as these two leaders met.
We of course, we'll get back to you to see if there was in fact an agenda as soon as we hear from them -- Kristen Holmes, CNN, West Palm Beach, Florida.
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NEWTON: A U.S. federal judge, has blocked the Biden administration from redirecting money for a border wall to other border-related purposes.
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The funding was set aside by Congress during the Trump era. And the language in the spending bill specifically calls for a barrier system.
The Biden administration came up with a plan in 2022 that found various other border-related projects to use the money. But the judge in the Southern District of Texas says the government has not met its obligations.
He paused his ruling for a week to allow the White House time to appeal.
A U.S. military helicopter crash near the border with Mexico on Friday, killing two soldiers and a Border Patrol agent. A local judge tells CNN the helicopter was following migrants before going down in an open field near Rio Grande city in Texas.
Most of the soldiers who died were National Guardsmen. Another soldier was injured. The cause of the accident is now under investigation.
There's much more to come here on CNN after the break. Hundreds of school children in Nigeria have been kidnapped by gunmen, we will have that that story straight ahead. Plus, Hong Kong is working on a controversial new security law amid a Beijing crackdown. All of this and much more after the break.
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NEWTON: Authorities in Nigeria are telling CNN at least 287 children were kidnapped Thursday after gunmen overran their schools. CNN's Stephanie Busari has more now from Lagos.
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STEPHANIE BUSARI, CNN SENIOR AFRICA EDITOR: Gunmen stormed a school in Kuraka (ph) village, northwest Nigeria, early Thursday morning, kidnapping more than 300 students, some as young as 8 years old, authorities told CNN.
Police spokesperson Mansour Hassan (ph) told CNN Friday that armed bandits raided the LEA (ph) primary and secondary school on motorcycles, taking away the students. While some have been rescued, 287 students remain in captivity, including 100 from the primary school and 107 from the secondary level, Hassan (ph) said.
CNN has not been able to independently verify these numbers. Nigeria's president Bola Ahmed Tinubu says he's determined to return the children safely to their community, saying, quote, "I am confident that the victims will be rescued. Nothing else is acceptable to me and the waiting family of these abducted citizens. Justice will be administered." The shocking incident is a reminder of how vulnerable schools are in
this part of the country. Amnesty International slammed authorities for their, quote, "consistent failure to protect citizens from abduction."
Kaduna state, which borders the Nigerian capital, Abuja, has grappled with a current incidence of kidnapping for ransom by bandits. And has witnessed several mass abductions in recent years, including in the district where LEA primary and secondary school is located -- Stephanie Busari, CNN, Lagos, Nigeria.
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NEWTON: Hong Kong has drafted a controversial new security law but, with Beijing watching, there may not be much of public pushback. CNN's Kristie Lu Stout has more now.
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KRISTIE LU STOUT, CNN ANCHOR AND CORRESPONDENT: The Hong Kong government has published its draft of a controversial new homegrown security law. And this law could have deep ramifications for the city's status as a global business hub.
Known as Article 23, the bill outlaws crimes, including treason, insurrection, theft of state secrets, sabotage and external interference. It includes sentences of up to life in prison for treason, 20 years for espionage and 10 years for state secrets.
And Hong Kong officials say that it will fill loopholes in a sweeping national security law that was imposed by Beijing in 2020 after mass anti-government protests. They also point out that many Western nations have similar legislation.
Around two decades ago, Article 23 was shelved after an attempt to enact it drew 0.5 million residents onto the streets in protest. No such scenes of public opposition are expected this time around. Beijing's national security crackdown has fundamentally transformed Hong Kong.
Dozens of political opponents have been arrested, civil society groups disbanded and outspoken media outlets shut down. On Thursday, Hong Kong's top leader, John Lee, said he urged the legislature to vet the bill at full speed.
In a statement, he said this, quote, "Completing the legislative work, even one day earlier, means we can more effectively safeguard national security one day earlier. The HKSAR can then focus its efforts on developing the economy, improving people's livelihood and maintaining the long-term prosperity and stability of Hong Kong."
The draft comes a little over a week after a month-long public consultation period for it ended. The city's legislature started debate on the bill on Friday and there will be several rounds of debate and the convening of a special meeting. The process could take weeks -- Kristie Lu Stout, CNN, Hong Kong.
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NEWTON: Now as the world marked International Women's Day, U.N. secretary general Antonio Guterres declared global crises are, quote, "hitting women the hardest." For instance, according to the Gaza health ministry, at least 9,000 women have been killed in the Israel- Hamas war.
Officials say mothers in Gaza are also giving birth without proper health care and are not able to feed their children. The U.N. warned of deteriorating conditions, meantime, in Haiti and women facing sexual violence and displacement because of the ongoing violence fueled by gangs.
Meantime, a United Nations report says Iranian efforts to repress protesters and to discriminate against women amounts to, quote, "human rights violations and crimes against humanity."
Still ahead for us, we'll tell you about a new effort to find answers 10 years after the Malaysia Airways flight vanished, stay with us.
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NEWTON: About 85 gallons of oil have been recovered following an oil spill off the coast of Southern California Friday. That's according to the U.S. Coast Guard. Now the spill is near the Los Angeles suburb of Huntington Beach.
The Coast Guard said one bird with oil on it has now been recovered. And while the exact source has not yet been determined, officials say it may be from an oil platform. The spill is not considered a threat to residents, at least for now.
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After 10 years, it is still one of aviation's greatest mysteries, the fate of Malaysia Airlines Flight 370. It vanished shortly after takeoff on what should have been a routine flight from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing.
Now there's a new move on for another search with newer technology. Richard Quest reports.
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ERIN BURNETT, CNN HOST: And we have breaking news right now. Malaysia Airlines confirms it has lost contact with the plane carrying 227 passengers and 12 crew members.
RICHARD QUEST, CNN HOST (voice-over): And so began one of aviation's greatest mysteries. NAJIB RAZAK, MALAYSIAN PRIME MINISTER: The plane just vanished from the radar screen. You know, we -- when -- we went totally dark.
QUEST: The Boeing 777 took off from Kuala Lumpur on its way to Beijing. It was less than an hour into the flight when the captain said --
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Good night, Malaysia 370.
QUEST: Minutes later, the transponder stopped transmitting identification and position.
Military radar and data from the pilot's cell phone revealed that the plane had changed course, was now flying back across Malaysia and the satellite data revealed MH370 continued flying for around seven hours when the plane likely went down of the western coast of Australia.
RAZAK: Flight MH370 ended in a southern Indian Ocean.
QUEST: That statement extinguished whatever hope the families still had.
Those families are still hoping for closure.
When the plane went missing, planes, ships and submarines from dozens of countries took part in the most expensive search in aviation history. And despite all these efforts, nothing was immediately found.
It would be more than a year before a piece of the wing washed up on the coast of a Union Island near Madagascar.
What happened to the plane remains unclear.
Some observers believe Captain Zaharie deliberately crashed the plane, as part of a murder-suicide.
The families of the pilots harshly reject that idea. And truth is there's little hard evidence to support it.
Other nefarious theories say someone entered the cockpit and hijack the plane. Then, there are mechanical issues. All then perhaps some kind of far in the cargo hold or a sudden decompression, that forced the pilots to change course before they were no longer able to control the plane or became unconscious.
DAVID SOUCIE, CNN SAFETY ANALYST: At this point, the only thing we do know is that it did hit the water, that there are pieces of the airplane that washed ashore. Other than that, we have no other clues as to what actually happened.
QUEST: Now a decade on, the Malaysia government says it's considering a new search.
An American firm Ocean Infinity says new technology may allow it to find the missing aircraft after two previous searches failed. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We've spent a lot of time talking to a lot of different people. It's a question that deserves to be the answer, not least just for the families but for everybody.
QUEST: Ten years on, finding the plane remains crucial, to bringing closure to the families of the victims.
K.S. NARENDRAN, HUSBAND OF PASSENGER CHANDRIKA SHARMA: I would have a sense of relief, I guess, that, at least we know now they found something.
QUEST: And also for you and I, some of the billions of people who fly every year, because, in the world of aviation, no mystery must be allowed to go unsolved.
That's also vital for you and me and the billions of people who fly each year; 10 years on, they have to find the plane and retrieve the black box data recorders because a mystery like MH370 simply cannot be allowed to go unsolved -- Richard Quest, CNN, New York.
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NEWTON: Finally, for us this hour, the Pentagon says it hasn't found any evidence of aliens among all the reports of unidentified aerial phenomena, what we used to call UFOs. That's the technical term. But the Pentagon is developing a UFO detection kit, just in case. Kristin Fisher has our story from Washington.
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KRISTIN FISHER, CNN SPACE & DEFENSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, this portable UFO or UAP detection kit is called Gremlin. It's being developed by the U.S. military in an effort to respond faster to reported UFO sightings and to collect better data once they get there.
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Timothy Phillips, who is the acting director of the Pentagon's all- domain anomaly office, the Pentagon's office that investigates UAP sightings, explained these Gremlin sensor kits like this.
Quote, "What we're doing is developing a deployable, configurable sensor suite that we can put in Pelican cases. Since the UAP target -- the signature is not clearly defined -- we really have to do hyperspectral surveillance to really try to capture these incidents."
Now hyperspectral means across the entire electromagnetic spectrum. So they're trying to collect everything from X-rays and ultraviolet rays to microwave and radio waves, things really outside the normal signatures of flying objects.
Most flying objects, things like jets, produce a big heat signature from their hot engines. Some of these UAPs do not. So that's one thing that these Gremlin sensors are going to help try to do, collect better data. And they're currently being tested at a big range out in Texas. And
the Pentagon is especially interested in deploying them at sensitive national security sites, places like U.S. military bases, Navy ships, places where a lot of these UAP sightings have been concentrated.
Now the Pentagon initially sharing this news about the Gremlin sensor kits at a briefing with a select group of reporters. CNN's Oren Liebermann was one of them. And at this briefing, the whole point of it was to kind of preview a report that dropped on Friday.
And this was a report that the Pentagon put together. And it was mandated by Congress. And what this report concluded is that, quote, "The AARO found no evidence that any U.S. government investigation, academic sponsored research or official review panel has confirmed that any sighting of a UAP represented extra terrestrial technology."
So the report concluded that most sightings were ordinary objects and phenomena and the result of misidentification. But the reports still does not explain the UAPs that were caught on camera by U.S. military pilots, who testified under oath on Capitol Hill that the UAPs that they saw were behaving in ways that defied the laws of physics.
So still a lot of questions here. But the Pentagon is hoping that these Gremlin kits, these portable UFO/UAP detection kits, will help them collect better data, which can then help them get some better answers -- Kristin Fisher, CNN, Washington.
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NEWTON: I'm Paula Newton. I want to thank you for your company, Kim Brunhuber picks things up from here. We'll have more CNN NEWSROOM in just a moment. NEWSROOM in just a moment.
