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Haiti's Prime Minister Ariel Henry Resigns As Law And Order Collapses; Israeli Officials Say A Ground Operation In Rafah Is Not Imminent; Witness in Trump's Classified Docs Case Goes Public On CNN; Ex-Trump Employee Says He Unknowingly Moved Classified Docs From Mar- A-Lago. Princes of Wales Apologizes for Confusion Caused by Image; Dozens Injured in Sudden Mid-Air Drop on LatAm Flight; Breaking a Cycle of Debt and Poverty; Prisoner Exchange Plan Had Been Under Discussion. Aired 1-2a ET

Aired March 12, 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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[01:00:25]

PAULA NEWTON, CNN ANCHOR: Hello, I'm Paula Newton. Ahead here on CNN Newsroom. Haiti's Prime Minister resigns after weeks of violence with armed gangs plunging the country into a state of emergency. A bleak beginning to Ramadan in Gaza without enough food or time to avoid a potential humanitarian disaster and a looming Israeli offensive in the Rafah and the Princess of Wales tries to clear up confusion over a royal photo fiasco, but it's only leading to more questions.

ANNOUNCER: Live from Atlanta. This is CNN Newsroom with Paula Newton.

NEWTON: And we do begin in Haiti where the Prime Minister has resigned after weeks of chaos in the country. Now officials of CARICOM, a regional bloc, say Ariel Henry submitted his resignation Monday night. Now in a video address, Henry himself said he would only leave after the inauguration of a Transitional Council and says he will be in a caretaker government until a new prime minister and new cabinet are named and this comes just hours after regional leaders met in Jamaica to discuss a framework for a potential political transition.

Now the country plunged into a crisis after powerful gangs carried out highly coordinated attacks right across the capital Port-au-Prince last month. Haiti's gang leader says the people should decide who will govern them. Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JIMMY CHERIZIER, HAITI GANG LEADER (through translator): Today because today we're taking this opportunity to ask the international community to give Haiti a chance. Because in the situation that's in right now, it's up to us Haitians to decide who can govern the country and what kind of government we want, and how we're going to work to get the country out of the misery it's in.

It's clear that it's the inhabitants of the working class districts and the Haitian people who know what they're suffering at the moment. And it's up to them to choose the person who's going to lead them and the way he's going to lead them.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

NEWTON: Meantime America's top diplomat says the U.S. will contribute $300 million for a Kenya-led multinational security mission to Haiti. Antony Blinken's announcement came after a high level meeting as we were just discussing in Jamaica to try and resolve the political crisis. CNN's Patrick Oppmann has details of that meeting in Jamaica.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

PATRICK OPPMANN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken was in Jamaica meeting with Caribbean leaders on Monday and trying to shore up support for the idea of a transition government in Haiti. The U.S. is hopeful that a transitional government and call for new elections would break the political impasse that has fueled so much of the violence in Haiti.

Henry had secure the support of Kenya, the sending troops, but those troops is not clear yet when they will arrive. Meanwhile, aid workers and some foreign diplomats who are serving in Haiti have begun to evacuate saying and simply become too dangerous to continue to operate in that country. So helicopters have come in and taken out staff from various embassies.

The U.S. over the weekend evacuated its non-essential personnel by military helicopter, also bringing in additional security to guard the U.S. diplomats who will remain in Port-au-Prince as the embassy there will remain open, although with less staff after there were several incidents of gang violence near the embassy.

The U.S. Secretary of State and Blinken has said that the U.S. will contribute to the cost of these Kenyan troops arriving a Kenyan officials have said that they are in the pre deployment phase, but it's unclear when they will actually arrive in Haiti and take the fight to the gangs. Patrick Oppmann, CNN, Havana.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

NEWTON: For more we're joined by Jacqueline Charles, she is a Caribbean correspondent for The Miami Herald. Jacqueline, good to see you again. Listen, things are obviously dire in terms of not just what's going on in Haiti, but the solution to it. So, we have that meeting with CARICOM in Jamaica. They're calling for something that's broader and more inclusive. What does that mean?

JACQUELINE CHARLES, CORRESPONDENT, THE MIAMI HERALD: Well, it's very interesting because I've been following this meeting all day started about three hours late.

[01:05:02]

There were seven different proposals that were sent to CARICOM, practically overnight, they really wanted just one. And what seems to be emerging is kind of a piecemeal of some of the different proposals. But not everybody in these meetings is happy that he did at some time. And I understand that they've now asked for a postponement, but what we understand is that he's leaning toward a seven member presidential panel. And when you think about this, you know, this panel is going to have the powers of the presidency.

So it's like seven Presidents is what people are looking at this and trying to figure out what does that mean, I think what the international community learned today, that despite their criticism of the process, up until now that it's very difficult to get Haitians to arrive, you know, at a consensus, and you're not going to be able to make everybody happy.

And while they made it seemed or allowed them to believe that they were, you know, giving their opinions and they were coming at this, there was definitely a lot of nudging on the part of CARICOM leaders and the United States from individuals that I spoke to who were part of this process.

NEWTON: As you said, you know, a lot of controversy even about what's taking place at that meeting in Jamaica, and then they have to make it work on the ground. You know, the gangs and the international community actually agree on one thing, and that this needs to be a Haitian led solution.

Is that even possible, given that the gangs at this point in time the gang leaders are looking for political power?

CHARLES: Well, they're looking for political power. They're looking for amnesty. They're looking for you not to have a multinational security support mission. And one of the criterias that they had to agree to, you know, the Haitians as part of this panel was that, you know, to be supportive of this multinational security support mission.

And what's interesting is that there are a number of people or organizations that are in play, that, you know, will have gone on the record saying that they had oppose it. Now we're understanding that they've changed their position.

But the real question is, as you alluded to, is whether or not a political deal whether it's tonight or tomorrow, whether that's going to be suffice for the gangs that have basically been wreaking havoc with these coordinated violent attacks, you know, across Haiti's capital.

NEWTON: Yes. And again, we'll remind people that in Kenya, there are, of course, a police force that was apparently in pre-deployment mode to perhaps go to Haiti to help out the police there. I have to ask you, the aid agencies say they will run out of critical supplies food, medicine within just a couple of weeks.

How precarious is the situation in Haiti, given the fact that by air, land and sea now the gangs are completely in control it seems?

CHARLES: Well, you know, Haiti is such a strange place. I mean, it's volatile one minute it's up, one minute it's down. I mean, today, they were managed to get several trucks of fuel out into the capital, because they were running low with gasoline, and diesel, there was just only a couple of days left.

Yesterday, the World Food Programme managed to be 200 -- 200,000 in the -- World Food Programme has managed to provide 200,000 meals to individuals. But again, we don't know what's going to happen tomorrow. We don't know what's going to happen the next day. I mean, there was a recent rat talking both about targeting the National Palace as well as the hotel Port-au-Prince.

So again, a lot is riding on at least the international community has put a lot of weight under getting some sort of a political deal. One of the things that's clear is it isn't a seat for the gangs at the table. And you know, what does that mean and how they're going to interpret that.

NEWTON: Yes, and we will continue to watch this as you said, quite volatile, with things changing really by the hour. That meeting does continue in Jamaica. Jacqueline Charles for us. Thanks so much. Appreciate it.

CHARLES: Thank you for having me.

NEWTON: We now turn to Gaza, where Israeli officials say a ground offensive and Rafah during Ramadan is not off the table, but they also say it's not imminent. More than one million people are sheltering in the southern Gazan city. Israeli officials say plans to evacuate those civilians from Rafah are not yet complete and that evacuating them could take at least two weeks.

Those same officials also say Israel needs time to build up troops in the area before they're ready for an offensive. And as reports emerge of a widening rift between the leaders of Israel and the U.S., Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says he and U.S. President Joe Biden are of like minds on the need to root out Hamas. Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BENJAMIN NETANYAHU, ISRAEL PRIME MINISTER: The President and I have agreed that we have to destroy Hamas. We can't leave a quarter of the Hamas terror army in place. They're there in Rafah. If the president means by that, that we should first enable the safe departure of the civilian population from Rafah up before we go in, we agree with without we don't need any prompting.

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(END VIDEO CLIP)

NEWTON: Now you may remember Joe Biden was caught on a hot mic after last week's State of the Union address saying he's planning to have a quote come to Jesus meeting with the Israeli prime minister on Monday. He wasn't so committal. Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Have you scheduled to come to Jesus meeting with Bibi Netanyahu JOE BIDEN, U.S. PRESIDENT: No.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Do you plan to, sir?

BIDEN: We'll see what happens.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

NEWTON: Meantime, the World Food Programme chief says if aid to Gaza doesn't increase exponentially famine will be imminent. Cindy McCain says northern Gaza is already in the grip of a humanitarian catastrophe. Meantime, the first ship scheduled to bring aid from Cyprus to Gaza is now delayed. It was supposed to depart Sunday but a Cyprus official says it's on hold to quote practical issues. It's not clear what those issues are.

Now the situation in Gaza you know, it remains bleak, especially now for Ramadan. CNN's Nada Bashir shows us how some Palestinians in Rafah are marking the holy month but first warning, part of her report contains disturbing video.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

NADA BASHIR, CNN REPORTER (voice-over): Moments of joy like this are rare in Gaza now. As the holy month of Ramadan begins, this is a moment of togetherness in the very worst of times. Amid the horror, children across the strip are somehow able to escape their reality, even if only briefly.

In this refugee camp in Deir al-Balah, some Palestinians have decorated their tents, just as they once decorated bed now destroyed homes. But festivities here are muted under the constant buzzing of Israeli drones overhead. And the ever present threat of getting more airstrikes with hopes for ceasefire dashed.

What are your wishes for Ramadan? A journalist asks this young boy in Rafah. A ceasefire and that price is going back to normal, he says. It's very expensive. There's no gas, no water, nothing.

Official say hundreds of mosques in Gaza have been destroyed since the war began. And yet, night prayers have continued amid the ruin.

In the north, worshippers gathered at this makeshift U.N. school overflowing with civilians displaced by Israel's relentless bombing campaign. During Ramadan, observant Muslims refrain from eating from dawn to dusk. It is a month centered around faith and community, with worshipers traditionally breaking fast amongst family and friends.

With a quarter of Gaza's population now on the brink of famine, according to the U.N., many in Gaza will have nothing to eat. Even after sunset.

I came to the food market but I can't find anything to buy, Sophian (ph) says. There's nothing. There are no dates, no milk, nothing. People can't even find food for their children. No food and no peace, this Ramadan. The first day of the holy month, marked by yet more airstrikes on Gaza

and more civilians killed adding to a death toll already exceeding 31,000 over just five months. But while many are still being killed in Israel's ongoing bombardment of the besieged strip, others are now dying from starvation among them to newborn babies at the Kamal Adwan hospital. They died on the first day of Ramadan as a result of malnutrition and dehydration, and a lack of medical equipment at the hospital, Dr. Samer (ph) says.

But even as the situation in Gaza grows more desperate, Israeli officials warn that a ground offensive in Rafah in the south where more than a million Palestinians are now displaced has not been ruled out. And with ceasefire negotiations stalling, there seems to be no end in sight for Gaza suffering. Nada Bashir, CNN, London.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

NEWTON: Still to come for us, U.S. intelligence chiefs warned that Ukraine's military will lose serious ground on the front lines if it doesn't receive arms and ammunition soon. More on what they said after a break. Plus, speaking out about working for Donald Trump, an Mar-a- Lago staffer breaks his silence about the classified documents case and speaks exclusively with CNN.

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[01:16:57]

NEWTON: So we're continuing to follow developments in the Middle East. The U.S. believes Benjamin Netanyahu may be losing his grip on power. The new intelligence report says Israel's Prime Minister is losing the trust of the public and may soon face more protests and calls for his resignation.

Frank assessment came from U.S. intelligence chiefs who presented their latest report on national security threats to the Senate on Monday. CNN's Alex Marquardt has our details.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ALEX MARQUARDT, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Monday's worldwide threats hearing is a rare annual opportunity to hear from the most senior U.S. intelligence figures together answering questions. They hit on a whole range of topics including of course Russia and Ukraine.

The CIA director Bill Burns warning that now two years into Russia's war in Ukraine, Ukraine could gain the upper hand offensively if the U.S. sends more aid. Otherwise, he said Ukraine could lose a significant amount of territory this year. He said Ukraine is not lacking and courage or tenacity but in ammunition.

BILL BURNS, CIA DIRECTOR: I think down one road with supplemental assistance approved by the Congress lies the very real possibility of cementing a strategic success for Ukraine and a strategic loss with Vladimir Putin's Russia. Down another road, however, without supplemental assistance, it seems

to me lies a much grimmer future. Ukraine is likely to lose ground and probably significant ground and 2024.

MARQUARDT: China continues to support Russia's efforts in Ukraine and this year is unclassified threat assessment said that China has more than tripled its export of goods with potential military use to Russia since Moscow launched its invasion two years ago.

Here in the United States, the terror threat according to the FBI director has soared since the October 7 Hamas attacks in Israel. Director Chris Wray told the Senate Intelligence Committee that it's on a whole other level now a combination of different kinds of potential terrorist actors, both foreign and domestic.

CHRIS RWAY, FBI DIRECTOR: It's the first time I've seen in a long, long time, the threats from homegrown violent extremists that is jihadist inspired extremists, domestic violent extremists, foreign terrorist organizations and state sponsored terrorist organizations all being elevated at one time. Since October 7, though, that threat has gone to a whole another level.

MARQUARDT: And as a result of Israel's war in Gaza, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's grip on power is slipping, according to this intelligence report. His viability as a leader is in jeopardy because distrust has deepened across Israeli society. It says, according to the intelligence community, a different more moderate government is a possibility.

Monday's hearing was the first of two days on Tuesday morning the intelligence chiefs will face the Intelligence Committee of the House of Representatives for more questioning. Alex Marquardt, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

NEWTON: Now earlier I spoke with CNN political and national security analyst David Sanger, I asked him what are the intelligence chiefs a threat assessment might move the needle on U.S. aid to Ukraine.

[01:20:08]

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DAVID SANGER, CNN POLITICAL AND NATIONAL SECURITY ANALYST: Maybe a bit because the intelligence community is supposed to be, you know, fairly impartial here. I don't think anything that you heard from the CIA director Bill Burns, or the Director of National Intelligence, Avril Haines was a surprise on this point. They basically said, the Ukrainians are running low on ammunition. The Russians are producing it at a higher rate. If there is no aid, you can expect the Ukrainians to lose ground.

NEWTON: And to follow up on that, David, you know, CNN has reported that Russia appears on track to produce nearly three times more artillery munitions than the U.S. and Europe. Even more startling Ukraine's rationing. CNN has reported on that from the frontlines. Russia is firing five times more shells each and every day for now. Yes, we know the effect it has on the battlefield, but their political consequences aren't there.

SANGER: There are. Those numbers which are pretty consistent with what we've been finding in our own reporting at the New York Times and elsewhere, is that the Russians are shooting in the range of 10,000 artillery grounds a day that's pretty wild, to 2,000 by the by the Ukrainians. So there are a couple of factors that are in place here.

First of all, there's more production ramping up in the United States at the big facility in Scranton, which is right near where President Biden grew up. It's actually just a few miles from the house he grew up in. And in Europe, I've just been in Berlin for several months. And there's a new facility that is ramping up as well in Germany.

But these won't be coming online with significant production until probably early next year, maybe the middle of next year. And the question is do the Ukrainians have a future that's that long. And the problem is not just artillery. It's also that with the absence of funding, you can't get the air defenses to the Ukrainians, and that's what they need to take down the drones and missiles.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

NEWTON: Now, we'll see in an exclusive a former longtime employee of Donald Trump's Florida resort is speaking publicly about the classified documents case this for the very first time known in court documents as Trump employee five. Brian Butler worked at Mar-a-Lago for 20 years. He says he doesn't believe the criminal case against Trump is a quote witch hunt, as the former president is claiming, but Butler says he believes Americans should know the truth about his ex- boss. CNN's Katelyn Polantz has the details now from West Palm Beach, Florida.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KATELYN POLANTZ, CNN SENIOR CRIME AND JUSTICE REPORTER: Brian Butler is Trump employee five in the criminal indictment of the former President brought by the special Counsel's Office that indictment accuses Donald Trump of maintaining classified records, mishandling them at his Mar-a-Lago estate and the reason that Brian Butler is so pivotal in that indictment is that he heard things and he saw things.

One of the things that he saw he's now saying publicly to CNN he previously told investigators about that is June 3, 2022. That's the day that the FBI and the Justice Department visited Mar-a-Lago to get a hold of all of the classified records that Trump wasn't turning back over to the federal government putting them back into the federal government's possession after he left the presidency.

On that day, when the FBI and Justice Department visited Mar-a-Lago to pick up everything that was a day the boxes of classified documents essentially went out the back door. Brian Butler spoke about Walt Nauta, the body man to Donald Trump spoke about him to Kaitlan Collins, about how Nauta ask him oddly, to borrow an Escalade. A car that later was used to move boxes, and that Brian Butler, use that car at the airport here in Palm Beach to take boxes and put them on the plane. Here's a little more from that.

BRIAN BUTLER, FORMER MAR-A-LAGO EMPLOYEE: And then what happened is Walt left before me and he never goes directly to the plane. He's either in the motorcade when he goes there with the boss, which the former president. And I remember telling him he left the club with I didn't know what he had in his vehicle, but he waited for me at a nearby business and I told him I would tell him when I was leaving Mar-a-Lago.

So I left Mar-a-Lago, I texted him, Hey, I'm on my way. He followed me, he pulled out and got behind me, we got to the airport, I ended up loading all the luggage I had, and he had a bunch of boxes.

KAITLAN COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: You noticed that he had boxes?

BUTLER: Yes. They were the boxes that were in the indictment. The white banker's boxes that's what I remember loading.

[01:25:03]

COLLINS: And did you have any time -- any idea at the time that there was potentially U.S. national security secrets in this box?

BUTLER: No clue. No, I had no clue. I mean, we were just taking them out of the Escalade piling them up. I remember they were all stacked on top of each other, and then we're lifting them up to the pilots.

POLANTZ: So that's Butler speaking about the movement of documents here in West Palm Beach, Florida, onto the Trump plane in June, a pivotal moment in the investigation, but he then becomes privy to conversations after that, that were just as important conversations he was having with a best friend of his, someone he worked with at the Mar-a-Lago club for 20 years and now has had to cut off contact with because that man, Carlos De Oliveira is a co-defendant of Donald Trump's in this investigation.

Two times he had suspicious conversations with Carlos De Oliveira that are now part of the Trump indictment. That piece of paper that the Justice Department has taken through a grand jury and will try to get a conviction from whenever they take this case to trial, in that Brian Butler was speaking about how Carlos his dear friend told him that another man working with Trump, a third co-defendant of theirs, was interested in the surveillance tapes at Mar-a-Lago, how long they would be kept, potentially they're accused of wanting to delete them, those surveillance tapes of them moving boxes.

He also spoke about Carlos De Oliveira being loyal to Trump whenever he was asked by people around Trump, would he be loyal? Or is he good? And Brian Butler told the Trump camp that his friend Carlos would be loyal. Here's a little bit more there.

BUTLER: You know, he takes the call. We're standing in the food court, I think we went to sit down and he -- I can't remember how long the conversation was. But I know at the end of the conversation, when they hung up, Carlos said, he's going to get me an attorney.

COLLINS: Did he tell you anything else that Trump said to him?

BUTLER: I didn't ask. And I don't remember him saying anything else. But, you know, I was just told not that long, not, you know, too long before we're getting him an attorney by Walt and then he gets the call that he's going to get him.

POLANTZ: So now De Oliveira, Walt Nauta, the second co-defendant and Donald Trump are all headed to trial here in the federal court in Florida. Brian Butler is a likely witness to be called at trial to testify against these men. And he's saying that he's wanted to do this because he wants the truth to come out. Katelyn Polantz, CNN, West Palm Beach, Florida.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

NEWTON: Still become here, the Princess of Wales apologizes for a family photo that was digitally altered, but her comments have done little to quiet the speculation surrounding her.

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[01:30:19]

PAULA NEWTON, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome back. You're watching CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Paula Newton.

Catherine, the Princess of Wales, is apologizing for the confusion caused after releasing a photograph of her and her three children Sunday. Major news outlets quickly withdrew the picture after discovering it had been altered.

Now while Kensington Palace has released somewhat of an explanation for the mishap, it's done little to quiet concerns about Catherine's health.

CNN's Max Foster has more details.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MAX FOSTER, CNN ROYAL CORRESPONDENT: It was meant to quell the rumors. A smiling Princess of Wales with her three children looking the picture of health, but instead, it fueled them.

The photo released on Sunday by the royal family dramatically pulled from circulation by several major news agencies later that day, citing concerns that it had been manipulated.

The Princess of Wales apologized on Monday, taking personal responsibility for editing the image. "Like many amateur photographers," she said, "I do occasionally experiment with editing. I wanted to express my apologies for any confusion the family photograph we shared yesterday caused."

Kate was seen on Monday in a car with her husband leaving Windsor. Out of the public eye since her abdominal surgery in January, Sunday's family photo released for Mothers' Day in the U.K. was supposed to offer the public some reassurance of her health. But instead, it's raised more questions than answers.

A CNN analysis of the photo found at least two areas which appear to show evidence the photo has been potentially altered, including Princess Charlotte's sleeve, which seems to melt into nothing and then Kate's zipper, which appears to be cut short.

CNN is continuing to use the original photo in the context of the debate around its alleged manipulation.

A royal source told CNN on Monday, the princess made minor adjustments to the image as she shared in her statement on social media. But didn't explain why they weren't transparent about the edits when they shared the image with news media and picture agencies.

AFP, one of the international agencies to pull the photo, stood by its decision on Monday.

ERIC BARADAT, DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY, AFP: We have a duty of trust towards our subscribers, towards their viewers, and we have to kill the picture. It's absolutely red line that was crossed there in terms of journalism.

FOSTER: In the vacuum of information and without the regular on-camera appearances, conspiracy theories have been swirling about the status of Catherine's health.

First editions of British newspapers published before the image was pulled by agencies present the picture as happy proof of her recovery. But the subsequent unprecedented withdrawal by some agencies has sent speculation about her well-being into overdrive.

KATE WILLIAMS, CNN ROYAL HISTORIAN: People are worried and they're concerned and the speculation just grows greater and greater. And it's really -- it must be so hard for Kate. She's had this severe surgery. She just needs privacy and the Internet is panicking. People are saying we can't trust them anymore. We can't trust their photos.

With the trust between the royal family and the public being called into question? What was meant to be a reassuring family snap backfired spectacularly.

Max Foster, CNN -- London.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

NEWTON: And to discuss all of this, we again have historian Kate Williams live from London. Thank you so much for getting up bright and early and a new day dawns in Britain. But is this the end of the scandal?

I'm wondering, you know, how people in Britain are feeling about this. Do they believe too much is being made of it or that there is more explaining to do here. WILLIAMS: Well, Paula, it has been a real disaster of the last -- just

the last few days, a disaster for the royal family. They were, as Max was just saying there, attempting to quell all this wild speculation in the Internet or the where is Kate questions?

I mean, I've never seen such lurid speculations about the royals. Really off the wall stuff. They were trying to claw this saying she was fine, instead this photo, the manipulation -- the digital manipulation has created all these questions.

It's fueled the fire and the conspiracy theories are getting, I think actually worse and I think people, people are talking about it.

I've had all these messages about it. Lots of groups are discussing it. People are talking about it. It has become a real huge, huge event.

[01:34:49]

WILLIAMS: I think if people are really concerned about Kate and even people who said before, I'm sure she's fine are now saying what's going on. It is unprecedented that these agencies, these reputable, huge agencies, have withdrawn this photo.

We've seen royals' photoshop before. There was a Christmas photo in which Louis was missing a finger. And right from the beginning of royal time that you had these portraits in which they all look marvelous. And you know, Elizabeth I did not look like how her (INAUDIBLE) are portrayed in 1588, absolutely not. They all alter it.

And yet this seems so different, a very different situation because there's so much manipulation, so many changes on the photos, all these experts are even saying it's A.I. And also because people are so worried about Kate.

And I think that they have quelled the flames, but it's just going -- they do need to do more.

NEWTON: So here's the question to you and I don't know if you've had any inside information about this. Why not just release the original photo and clear up the controversy.

WILLIAMS: Exactly. Well, that's what people are saying. If they're saying it's just taken on a camera with a few little touch ups. We don't mind seeing maybe if Princess Charlotte's hair was a bit ruffled, just show us and they are adamant that they won't.

I think they feel very strongly that they don't respond to media pressure, that they do what they wish, they put up a photo if they've explained it.

But I actually think that we've often seen the royals do this. They won't explain. And as a consequence of that, people start absolutely panicking and there are people saying that it wasn't even original photo. It was different versions of photos that were taken last year and all conglomerated together. So what they're going to have to do, I think is they will have to

release a photo that is just a snap on the camera, unaltered of Kate, perhaps with no children.

Already there was I think I would say this was rather staged yesterday when we saw Kate coming out of Windsor castle in a car first time we've seen her. That I think was damaged limitation and I think in a week or so, we will probably see a picture of Kate. I would say perhaps with some of the cards and letters she's received from the public saying, thank you. We saw Charles doing that about his cancer diagnosis.

I think that's what well see because at the moment, there is this spiraling panic and a lot of reputable sources are doubting the photo. And there is this bond of trust between the people and the royals. We do expect them to tell them as much as they can. And this is what happens.

NEWTON: I want to talk to you about that because this really does diminish the royals, doesn't it? It goes to the very heart of their role in society there, to be seen as credible, trusted -- that is their role, if a monarchy can have a modern role at all.

WILLIAMS: You are right, Paula. And the British monarchy has always sold itself on being, being trusted, being popular, and also being seen.

The queen said, I have to be seen to be believed. So she was out there being seen all the time. And we remember that she met the next prime minister just before she passed away.

And so when you don't see a royal, people start to panic unless they get updates as they did with Charles has been very transparent. we've had photos, we've had updates.

It hasn't been the same with Kate. People have started panicking. And certainly it's what they are expected, as you say, to really give us the truth. They are public servants. They are funded by taxpayers' money. We don't expect them to tell us everything. We don't want to know. We don't need to know exactly what Kate's suffering, her recovery clearly very tough.

And it's really been a very painful, difficult surgery for her to go to. I mean, all surgery is hard or even minor this is clearly quite tough. We don't need to know the details, but we just want to know that she's fine and they could have just put out a statement on social media from (INAUDIBLE) saying she was fine.

They tried to create this perfect, beautiful idea or family photo and it has just backfired. And there is now this doubt about how the how much they can be trusted going forward with photos.

NEWTON: Yes. Especially as the Princess of Wales had released so many intimate family photos that she took herself and they didn't have a lot of the formal royal photographers around.

Kate Williams, we will leave it there, but we'll wait to see what happens in the coming hours. Appreciate it.

WILLIAMS: Thank you.

NEWTON: Now, authorities in New Zealand are investigating what's been described as a sudden mid-air drop on a LatAm Airlines flight which injured dozens of people on Monday. One man onboard tells CNN the pilot checked on passengers after landing. But this is interesting that after that, he actually told people that he lost control of the airplane after his gauges malfunctioned.

Here's how that passenger described what happened. Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BRIAN JOKAT, PASSENGER ON LATAM AIRLINES: It was -- it was -- it was like a scene out of a movie, Where actually you're actually in the movie. I had dozed off and luckily had my seat belt engaged.

And the next thing, you know, the plane, as I've kind of looked, kind of learned to understand, dropped something to the effect of 500 feet instantly, and then had the effect of it coming like a roller coaster and then started to point down.

[01:39:53]

JOKAT: And that's when -- and I opened my eyes and there was various individuals at the top of the plane just stuck to the roof and then they fell to the floor.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

NEWTON: Nick Truebridge is a senior journalist with Newshub. He joins us now, live from the Auckland International Airport.

I mean, Nick it is really chilling just to listen to that description. But what more are you learning about what actually happened on this plane and whether or not it actually was a turbulence?

NICK TRUEBRIDGE, NEWSHUB: Yes. Well, that's the question on everyone's mind, of course, this evening, Paula. We're coming to you Tuesday afternoon, our time here. This is where all the action happened behind me yesterday afternoon. Ambulances were flooding through here.

We know that there are still five -- four people in hospital with injuries but as you asked, we still don't know exactly what has happened here. The -- really the consensus seems to be potentially some sort of issue with the autopilot, but not exactly sure how and exactly sure what happened with that.

There was a similar incident in Australia in 2008 on board onboard a Qantas flight, an issue with the autopilot. And in that case, 70 people were injured. But certainly that is the question on everyone's mind.

We still don't know. What we have learned this afternoon, as in the last couple of hours, Chilean investigators have said that they will be looking into this. They will be supported by their counterparts here, investigators here in New Zealand.

So still trying to piece together, Paula exactly what happened, but talking to people today and you said it yourself, that really there is a sense of fear, there is a sense of how could this happen mid-air. There is a sense of how did we get through this because certainly a lot of the people on that flight were fearing the worst. They thought it was all over for them.

And most certainly very, very happy to be touching down here an Auckland when they arrived around about an hour after that incident occurred, Paula.

NEWTON: And Nick, just before you go, I mean, this issue of the black boxes, those are clearly going to be in the custody there in New Zealand. Do you expect to learn more about that in the coming days?

TRUEBRIDGE: Certainly in the coming days, Paula. At this stage, we heard your guest up the top saying it appears something did malfunction. The pilot it is claimed did say to some of the passengers that he basically -- things went blank and he lost control of the aircraft.

We do expect to hear a little bit more in the coming days. But certainly not anything particularly substantial. We know in this part of the world, these investigations do tend to take some time. We've heard from the pilots union here basically saying that the immediate - attention must the paid to the passengers because certainly the one -- the ones I've spoken to today, Paula, I'm sure the ones CNN has spoken to as well are still in a state of shock, are still really caught up in the emotion of what occurred on that flight here to Auckland yesterday.

NEWTON: Yes. The details were just stunning and putting anyone can picture themselves on this airplane and understand exactly how terrifying it would have been.

Nick Truebridge for us in Auckland. Thanks so much. Really appreciate it.

Now, United Airlines flight meantime bound for San Francisco was rerouted back to Sydney due to a maintenance issue. About two hours after takeoff, Flight 830 had to turn back for an emergency landing Monday. None of the 183 people on board were injured.

The plane, a Boeing 777-300 is believed to have suffered hydraulic failure. That's according to CNN affiliate 7News. This is the fifth emergency for United Airlines in the past week alone.

On Friday, United Airliner bound for Mexico City diverted to Los Angeles after an issue with that planes hydraulic system.

Thousands of families in Nepal are thought to be trapped in an intergenerational cycle of debt and poverty. Next the CNN Freedom Project shines a light on this practice of forced labor. And what's being done to fight it. [01:44:02]

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NEWTON: For generations, thousands of low caste families in Nepal have been trapped in a form of bondage. Families are forced to borrow money from landlords at illegal and extremely high rates and they're stuck in what is a cycle of debt.

Now the CNN Freedom Project is shining a light on their situation.

Matthew Chance shows you what's being done to liberate these people and provide their children with better lives.

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MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN CHIEF GLOBAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: A heavy fog hangs over southeastern Nepal.

Phuletiya Saday (ph) is here early every morning tilling the fields and tending the livestock that's not his own.

Saday will see none of the fruits born from his sweat. His work is going to pay off a debt, first taken generations ago.

PHULETIYA SADAY, BONDED LABORER (through translator): The practice started during the time of our forefathers. My grandfather and my father continued it. And I have also been continuing it. I was told I had to work because my father and forefathers had not paid back what they had taken from the landlord.

CHANCE: Saday is a member of the Dalit community -- a specific group of people known as the Harawa-Charawa, the words translate roughly into English as tiller and cattle herder.

The ILO estimates there are more than 100,000 Harawa-Charawa across Nepal. And it's not just men working to pay off the loans.

Well, we've come to this village in southeastern Nepal where basically everyone is Harawa-Charawa. You can see that the buildings are made out of bamboo, covered in mud and people's handprints they put on the wall as, as decoration.

But it's also of course, incredibly poor. And everyone here is essentially in debt to a local landowner. And they have to work night and day, seven days a week just to pay off that loan and to survive.

KOSHILA SADAY, BONDED LABORER (through translator): We are bonded to work for our landlord. The whole family's working for the landlord.

We work for him and our children also work for him. We also want for our children to get proper education and for them to be able to earn and take care of themselves.

CHANCE: A London based NGO called the Freedom Fund, has been working with the Harawa-Charawa for more than a decade. They've helped the community organize and advocate for their rights.

In 2022, the Harawa-Charawa received a major victory. Nepal's prime minister announcing the liberation of the Harawa-Charawa people. It marks the first time the government formally acknowledged the issue of bonded labor affecting them.

Still despite the declarations, progress has been slow.

LEGENDRA SADAY, NATIONAL HARAWA-CHARAWARIGHTS FORUM (through translator): From the day the government announced our freedom. We have been facing more serious problems.

People like us now have nowhere to go to look for work and we are compelled to go back to the landlord to ask for work. When we go there, asking for work, the landlords now chase us away with sticks.

CHANCE: Well, we've just come down the road from the village at the house of the landowner and we're going to try and have a word with him about this Harawa-Charawa bonded labor practice.

[01:49:51]

CHANCE: Hello, sir. Namaste.

Are you the owner?

What do you say to those who accused you and people like you, landowners in this area of basically being slave owners, of using and exploiting these people for your benefit?

You don't agree.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No, no, no.

CHANCE: Why? That's what you're doing.

KRISHNA DEV YADAY, LANDOWNER (through translator): I tell them to go back home and stay there. I encourage them to go home. And their children will provide them medicine and that they will take good care of you.

But didn't go. They say they'll die if they go home. So what can I do?

They are staying here on their own will. They have no pressure whatsoever to continue to stay with me and work for me.

CHANCE: But for Phuletiya and Koshila it's a dilemma. Their concern, like that of so many parents around the world, has less to do with their own future than their children's.

Their hope is that with education and organization, the debt that should have been worked off generations ago will be shouldered by the next.

Matthew Chance, CNN -- Nepal.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

NEWTON: And be sure to join us this Thursday for My Freedom Day, a day-long student driven event for, pardon me, to raise awareness of modern-day slavery. That's My Freedom Day, Thursday.

Up next for us, new information about a potential prisoner swap that might have freed Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny before his death.

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NEWTON: India's government has announced that it plans to implement a controversial bill that excludes Muslims. The citizenship Amendment Act will provide a fast-track to citizenship for immigrants from Afghanistan, Bangladesh, and Pakistan, provided they are not Muslim. The law would apply to religious minorities who were persecuted.

Now the announcement comes ahead of India's general election in spring when Prime Minister Narendra Modi will seek a rare third term. The country's opposition parties are criticizing the bill saying its unconstitutional and marginalizes the country's Muslim population.

CNN is learning that an international prisoner exchange was being discussed at the time Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny died, one that could have resulted in his release. Multiple sources tell us that Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich was directly involved in those talks and that the fate of several high-profile prisoners was under discussion.

CNN's Sebastian Shukla has our details.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SEBASTIAN SHUKLA, CNN PRODUCER: The construction of the deal became triangular. It involved the United States, Germany and Russia with the potential swap of Evan Gershkovich, "The Wall Street Journal" reporter and Paul Whelan, the former U.S. marine, held in Russia.

But crucial to it was the German element and the component of Vadim Krasikov, who was a Russian assassin who was imprisoned for murdering a Chechen dissident in Berlin's capitol.

He's remained in prison since then, but the only way that Alexei Navalny would be freed was if the Germans would agree to swap Krasikov for Navalny in a wider constellation, which we learnt could have included up to seven people.

[01:54:54]

SHUKLA: There were multiple attempts to try to get that message delivered to the Kremlin through back-channels.

Then it was on the third attempt through Roman Abramovich that finally the message had been delivered because up until then, sources said that the final intermediary had "chickened out" to quote, before delivering that message to the Kremlin. On the 15 February the day before Alexei Navalny died Navalny's team

learned that the message had been delivered in some form by Roman Abramovich. They don't know when and they don't know how.

But that when Alexei Navalny was found dead in prison, Roman Abramovich himself was said to have been flabbergasted by the news, but also speaks to the informal nature of how these deals really start to come together.

Now, a U.S. source told us that the deal to free Alexei Navalny, albeit informal, had reached to perhaps seven or eight out of ten. And as one source told us, the offer can only ever be made once it's been accepted informally. That's how it works in these negotiations.

Now, the White House commented to CNN saying that there was no formal agreement to free Alexei Navalny, but the informality of these talks is what is crucial and that there are channels outside of the regular channels between government organs that help initiate opening up doors to prisoner swaps of all kinds.

And that Roman Abramovich's involvement in here albeit whether it was small, was definitely not insignificant.

Sebastian Shukla, CNN -- London.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

NEWTON: U.S. President Joe Biden on Monday released his annual budget proposal for next year. Now his plan asks for nearly $7.3 trillion to accomplish some big goals outlines in his State of the Union address last week.

In addition to reducing expenses for middle and low-income families and reducing the cost of community colleges, the president wants to give more assistance to those in need of affordable housing. He's calling for $258 billion to build and renovate homes.

Mr. Biden also wants to build on the progress made on lowering the cost of prescription drugs. Part of his proposal calls for more drugs to be subject to negotiation in Medicare as well.

And that does it for me. Thanks for watching.

I'm Paula Newton.

CNN NEWSROOM continues now with my friend and colleague, Rosemary Church.

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