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Biden And Trump Set For Rematch In November; Aid Ship Sets Gail For Gaza As Famine Fears Grow; Countries Ramp Up Efforts To Deliver Aid To Gaza; Former Special Counsel Robert Hur Defends His Investigation on Joe Biden; Lawmakers Expected to Vote on Bill Banning the TikTok App in U.S.; Restaurant Blast Kills at Least One, Injures 22 in China; Space One's Kairos Rocket Explodes Shortly After Launch; NTSB to Hold Rare Public Hearing on Boeing Door Plug Incident. Aired 2-3a ET

Aired March 13, 2024 - 02:00   ET

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

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[02:00:32]

ROSEMARY CHURCH, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: Hello and welcome to our viewers joining us from all around the world and everyone streaming us on CNN Max. I'm Rosemary Church. Just ahead. The stage is now set for a Biden-Trump rematch in November, after both men secured enough votes to clinch their party's presidential nominations.

For the first time in years and age ship carrying humanitarian supplies is on its way to Gaza. But as alarm bells over a potential famine ring louder, will it be too little too late?

And the U.S. scrapes together a new multimillion dollar package for Ukraine, but warns it's the last military aid they can provide unless Congress steps up.

ANNOUNCER: Live from Atlanta. This is CNN NEWSROOM with Rosemary Church.

CHURCH: Good to have you with us. It is the rematch few Americans seem to want at least according to the polls, but they're getting it anyway. Biden versus Trump this November. That's after primary wins in three more states on Tuesday put both candidates over the top securing enough delegates to win their party's presidential nominations. A projected win in Washington state made it official for Donald Trump.

His last remaining Republican challenger Nikki Haley dropped out of the race last week. And President Joe Biden wrap things up with a win in Georgia. He will officially be nominated at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago in August. Poll show voters are concerned about Biden's age and many in his own party disapprove of his handling of the war in Gaza.

Meanwhile, Trump is facing 91 felony charges for his alleged efforts to overturn the 2020 election, mishandling classified documents and covering up hush money payments to adult film star Stormy Daniels. More now on President Biden's reelection bid from CNN Senior White House correspondent M.J. Lee.

M.J. LEE, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: President Biden saying in a statement Tuesday night that he is honored to have clinched the Democratic Party's nomination for president and echoing some of the language that we saw him use in his State of the Union remarks last week. He said that he believes that the country is in the middle of a comeback. But he also goes on to say in the statement of mid this progress we face a sobering reality, freedom and democracy are at risk here at home in a way they have not been since the Civil War.

Donald Trump is running a campaign of resentment, revenge and retribution that threatens the very idea of America. Voters now have a choice to make about the future of this country. Are we going to stand up and defend our democracy or let others tear it down? Now the Biden campaign going into Tuesday fully expected that the President was going to cross that delegates threshold.

But the fact that it was the state of Georgia that put the President over the top is basically a cherry on top for this campaign. Of course, President Biden ended up defeating former President Donald Trump in that state back in 2020. And that marked the first time that a Democratic presidential candidate had won that seat in 28 years. And there's no question that the Biden campaign continues to see that state as a battleground state going into November.

They would very much like to win that state. It's not a coincidence that the President traveled to Georgia this weekend as he kicked off his post State of the Union tour. Now zooming out, Tuesday night was not only just a symbolically important moment for the campaign, but campaign officials saying that they are hoping that the events of Tuesday night will help some voters who have so far been tuned out of the election, see and realize for the first time that the 2024 election is in fact going to be between Joe Biden and Donald Trump.

M.J. Lee CNN at the White House.

CHURCH: Larry Sabato is the director of the Center for Politics at the University of Virginia. He joins me now from Charlottesville. Great to have you with us.

LARRY SABATO, DIRECTOR OF THE CENER FOR POLITICS, UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA: Thank you so much, Rosemary.

CHURCH: So, it is the rematch nobody wants. Super Tuesday to making it possible for both Joe Biden and Donald Trump to clinch their party's presidential nominations and go head-to-head in November. Out of the four primary races Georgia is seen as a must win course in the general election. What did Tuesday's results reveal about what might happen in that critical state come November?

[02:05:00]

SABATO: Well, of course, primaries really don't tell you that much about the general election. But I did notice in a couple of places in Georgia particularly in DeKalb County, which is a key voting area. Nikki Haley, who's already dropped out of the race was at various points, running even or even a little ahead of Donald Trump. Now, when all votes are in Trump may win there too. And he certainly won the state easily.

But there is still resistance for both candidates. Donald Trump has still not won over many of those Never Trump voters from 2016 to 2020. And Joe Biden has the problems we've all seen because of the Middle East war.

CHURCH: Yes. And let's look into that because many in President Biden's own party disapprove of his support for Israel's war in Gaza and polls show voters are still concerned about Mr. Biden's age despite being slightly older than Trump. And despite a very strong showing in his State of the Union address. What's it going to take to turn his approval ratings around? And does the Hur report hearing open up this wound or does it close it down and move on?

SABATO: I actually think we're going to move on from the Hur report because the whole day was spent on it. And basically, both sides were just spinning their wheels. We didn't really learn much that was new. Clearly, Hur is being criticized from both sides legitimately, so probably. But as far as age goes, there's no way for Biden to discard that completely. There is a way for him to tailor his message so that he appears young in idea as he likes to say, if not young, and age.

And that's what he's got to work on. If conditions get better though, Rosemary, what's really important for Biden is that he show he is in command, and he's making progress on the things people really care about, then age kind of falls to the side.

CHURCH: Right. And, of course, you did touch on Trump's vulnerabilities because he still has to show he can expand his base and pick up Nikki Haley's supporters because right now, many don't want to vote for him. So, how does he turn that around?

SABATO: He's going to have to be a little more conciliatory than he normally is. That's not a word that we associate very much with Donald Trump. At some point, it may be that Nikki Haley endorses them because she figures that's really in her interest long term. But so many of the people who voted for Nikki Haley clearly were not that interested in Nikki Haley. They simply found her an acceptable alternative to Donald Trump.

They seem so determined not to vote for Donald Trump, that they're going to go elsewhere. I don't think many of them really are going to go to Biden. But they're going to look, they're going to shop around for a third party or independent candidate.

CHURCH: And, of course, we all know Trump faces 91 felony charges for his alleged efforts to overturn the 2020 election. His mishandling of classified documents, and of course, the hush money payments to Stormy Daniels. But his legal woes have actually strengthened his support when it comes to his base. But what about those other Republican voters not impressed by his legal problems? What will they likely do? SABATO: I think it's critical that Trump go to trial somewhere about something and not the civil cases but the criminal cases before November, ideally, would be before the Republican convention. But I think that's asking too much. If Trump either looks like he's going to be convicted on some of the counts or actually is convicted, that's when for the first time some of his support could crumble away.

And this is not me, conjecturing. It's what people have been telling pollsters and party leaders all the way along. So, convictions matter. And sometimes you can look as though you're going to be convicted, that seems to be the way the trial is going. It can have that effect even without an end to the trial.

CHURCH: All right. Larry Sabato, thank you so much for joining us. Appreciate it.

SABATO: Thank you, Rosemary. As always.

CHURCH: U.S. President Joe Biden says he is devastated to learn of the death of an Israeli American citizen who Israeli officials now say was killed on October 7th. 19-year-old Itay Chen had been serving on the Gaza border when Hamas launched its attack. His parents released a statement saying their son was fun loving and a bright light for his family and friends. The Israel Defense Forces says Chen's remains were taken into Gaza after he was killed. His parents are urging Mr. Biden and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to do everything they can to bring him back home.

[02:10:00]

The CIA director is offering some hope of progress and the indirect negotiations between Israel and Hamas over a possible ceasefire and hostage release deal. Bill Burns said during congressional testimony Tuesday, that there's still the possibility for a deal but made clear the process is very tough. Burns has been a lead negotiator as the U.S., Qatar and Egypt work to broker a deal. But so far, Israel and Hamas have not agreed on key terms. A spokesperson for Qatar's Foreign Ministry says right now, they're nowhere near a deal.

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MAJED AL-ANSARI, QATARI FOREIGN MINISTRY SPOKESPERSON: We are right now engaged in constructive dialogue between both sides situation on the ground is very much difficult, and we are nowhere near ideal at the moment. However, we are working day and night to make sure that we have the right ideas going cross between both sides. There are those including Netanyahu who had the keys to securing a deal right now.

We urge them to consider doing a deal right now, because every day that goes by is a risk of the life of the hostages, is a risk of the life of civilians in Gaza. And it's not in anybody's interest, especially the people of Israel and the security of Israel for this wall to continue.

(END VIDEO CLIP) CHURCH: The U.N.'s World Food Program says it has reached northern

Gaza with much needed aid in the first successful food convoy to the area in three weeks. The WFP said it delivered enough food for 25,000 people but says more deliveries are needed with direct entry points into the north where people are on the brink of famine. The Israel Defense Forces says the six U.N. humanitarian trucks entered the area through a new route on Tuesday.

Countries are also working to get food into northern Gaza from the air. Jordan's Air Force conducted joint air drops with the U.S., Egypt and Belgium on Tuesday and more assistance is headed to Gaza this time by sea. A ship carrying aid from the World Central Kitchen is now on route to the enclave after leaving Cyprus on Tuesday.

CNN's Paula Hancocks is following all the developments and joins us now live from Abu Dhabi. Good to see you, Paula. So, what is the latest on all these humanitarian aid efforts for Gaza by land, air and sea?

PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Rosemary, it is a three- pronged attack at this point, as we've been hearing consistently from humanitarian aid groups and also from officials that the land route was simply not enough due to restrictions put in place by Israel. So, first of all, looking at the maritime issues at this point, we know that World Central Kitchen does have a barge on its way with open arms, a Spanish NGO that's expected to take around 60 hours from Cyprus to Gaza.

And onboard they say they have some 200 tonnes of food, which could be the equivalent of almost half a million meals. Now they are planning to distribute it independently. They say that they have thousands of contractors and locals on the ground who are at this very moment working around the clock to build some kind of a makeshift pier on a Gaza beach. They haven't specified the location, obviously for security reasons.

There have been concerns though, of course about distribution as we have seen some devastating incidents happen when it comes to distributing food within Gaza at this point. But they are hoping this is the first of many, they say that it is Spain. It's also the UAE and Cyprus involved in this effort. They've already had other countries, talk to them about how they can get involved in future efforts.

So, they're hoping that this will be something going forward. The U.N. says it is highly appreciative of this effort, but it is simply not enough and there does need to be more from these land crossings. Now we also heard from the E.U. policy chief talking to the U.N. Security Council about the lack of land access criticizing Israel for these restrictions.

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JOSEP BORRELL, E.U. FOREIGN POLICE CHIEF: This humanitarian crisis which is not a natural disaster. It's not a flood, it's not a health quake, it's a man made. And when we look for alternative ways of providing support by sea or by air, we have to remind that we have to do it because the natural way of providing support through rote is being closed, artificially close. On starvation it's being used as a war arm.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH: The U.S. also says that it is sending four U.S. Navy vessels to the area to help build a temporary pier because there simply isn't a port at this point in Gaza that is able to cope with these aids the main port having been damaged in Israeli air strike.

[02:15:14]

And they say that once that is up and running again, that could take about 60 days to be functioning. They believe that they will be able to bring about two million meals a day through that route. Rosemary?

CHURCH: Paula Hancocks joining us live from Abu Dhabi. Many thanks.

Israeli police say a 12-year-old Palestinian boy was shot and killed by a border officer in a refugee camp in Jerusalem. In a video obtained by CNN the boy can be seen holding a lit firework above his head before the sound of a gunshot is heard. In a second video he has seen lying on the ground and several people gather around him. A police spokesperson says forces responded to a violent disturbance at the camp and an officer of fire towards a suspect who "endangered forces while firing aerial fireworks in their direction."

Hospital officials say the boy identified as Rami Hamdan Al-Halhouli arrived in critical condition but died a short time later. CNN has reached out to Israeli police for further evidence of the alleged disturbances they say took place in the refugee camp.

Still ahead. Unexpected military aid for Ukraine. The U.S. announces $300 million worth of assistance but much more is needed. A report from the Pentagon next.

Plus, as Haiti hopes for some political stability, the country's gang say they won't recognize any new government. A look at the chaos in the country when we come.

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CHURCH: Ukrainian officials say at least three people were killed by a Russian attack in southern Ukraine on Tuesday. At least 40 people were injured including 10 children after Russian missile strike multi- storey buildings in the city of Kryvyi Rih. Officials say the missiles started fires and residential buildings and rescue workers had to dig through rubble to save people.

The U.S. announced a surprise package of $300 million in new military aid to Ukraine on Tuesday. After months of warning there was no money left. But President Joe Biden says it's not nearly enough and again called on the U.S. House of Representatives to pass a much larger supplemental bill.

CNN's Oren Lieberman has more on the U.S. aid package from the Pentagon.

OREN LIEBERMANN, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: This $300 million aid package to Ukraine includes some of the most needed arms and equipment for Ukrainian forces as they try to hold the line against Russia which is gradually advancing in the face of effectively a lack of us supplied ammunition and equipment.

[02:20:06]

So, take a look at the list of what's in here crucially, 155- millimeter artillery ammunition. This is some of the most needed basic weaponry to hold the line against the Russians, Russia able to fire a far greater amount of artillery ammunition because of its supply lines and its ability to put its economy on a wartime footing. Ukraine has had to rely on U.S. supplies and the last U.S. aid package was back on December 27th.

In terms of what else is in this package, it also includes anti- aircraft missiles. Those are needed to repel Russian air assaults, as well as more of the necessary weapons and equipment. But the U.S. made it clear, this is only a tiny fraction of what Ukraine needs. And this may only be able to help Ukraine for a matter of weeks, perhaps as little as a couple of weeks, according to the White House.

And that is why the U.S. pushed both the White House and the Pentagon to put forward a need for the supplemental $90 billion that's already gotten through the Senate. But it's stuck in the house. Critically, it includes $60 billion for Ukraine. That, the White House, the Pentagon and Ukraine have made clear is much needed, especially at this point in the fight when Ukrainian forces are having to ration some of their ammunition to make sure it doesn't run out.

They need us supplied weapons, essentially to be able to push back against these Russian advances. Some of the other countries in Europe have stepped up and tried to fill that gap. But it is the U.S. that has been the bulk of the provider here and it is the U.S. that is still very much needed in this case.

Oren Lieberman CNN in the Pentagon.

ANDERSON: Alexei Navalny's his former Chief of Staff has survived an attack in Lithuania. And a warning the images we're about to show of him after the attack are graphic. According to Navalny's spokesperson someone struck Leonid Volkov with a hammer and sprayed him with tear gas outside his home on Tuesday. The Russian opposition activist was taken to hospital. He says he has a broken arm and was also hit in the leg and head.

The attack comes less than a month after Alexei Navalny's death and a Russian prison. Volkov served as the chairman of his anti-corruption foundation until last year.

Haiti was hoping to have a Transitional Council in place after the country's prime minister resigned following widespread gang violence in the country. The council will be tasked with appointing an interim prime minister and establishing a provisional electoral council to facilitate elections. The U.N. has welcomed the new developments but says it's hard to predict if it will help end the violence.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

STEPHANE DUJARRIC, U.N. SPOKESPERSON: What is clear is there a political solution cannot be imposed on the Haitian people from the outside. This is a way -- a way forward.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Does the S.G. have any message to gangs and gang leaders in Haiti right now because they are threatening and Bloodbath?

DUJARRIC: Silence the guns.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH: CNN's David Culver has more on the proposed Transitional Council.

DAVID CULVER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Mounting uncertainty in neighboring Haiti despite efforts by CARICOM, the regional bloc to craft a transitional Presidential Council. The Council would include seven members from different political factions within Haiti and it will appoint an interim prime minister. The goal is for it to stabilize the country enough for presidential elections which hadn't happened since 2016.

And this comes as current prime minister Ariel Henry has to come to the mounting pressure and announced his resignation. But he says he's going to stay in power until the Transitional Council is in place. Meantime, you've got gang and former coup leader saying they either won't recognize that transitional government or they say it won't work because it doesn't represent the will of the Haitian people.

They see this as put in place by an outside force. This comes after weeks of anti-government protests and gang violence. A lot of it directed towards Henry. We were in Port au Prince a little more than two weeks ago and you could feel the anger amongst folks who believed that Henry had overstayed his welcome and they wanted him out. At the same time, the country has been dealing with lawlessness and gangs taking more and more control, especially following the assassination of President Jovenel Moise in 2021.

Folks we first met a couple of weeks back have in recent days felt the growing wrath of gangs. Some have had their makeshift camps or homes torched. Others are sealing themselves in doors trying to hunker down. Police are feeling the pressure too. Now Haitian security source telling us they are frustrated. They've been holding the front line as they see it awaiting the Kenyan security forces.

But that deployment is now on hold much to the frustration of the U.S. And it's because Kenyan officials say with Henry resigning there is no anchor for the Kenyan forces to rest. Meantime the Pentagon is on alert for possible mass migration from Haiti. This is happening as the WFP, the World Food Program warns a million people in Haiti are one step away from famine.

[02:25:10] David Culver CNN, Santo Domingo Dominican Republic.

CHURCH: Coming up. Why TikTok's days on U.S. app stores may be numbered. We'll explain.

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CHURCH: Welcome back, everyone. The former special counsel who was behind the report that call Joe Biden an elderly man with a poor memory has been defending himself on Capitol Hill. Robert Hur said his assessment of the President's memory and cognitive skills was necessary and fair. After his report concluded the President was forgetful and lacks around sensitive information. CNN's Manu Raju has more now from Capitol Hill.

MANU RAJU, CNN CHIEF CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Now for hours, Republicans and Democrats sparred over the special counsel's investigation. Robert Hur's report looking into how Joe Biden handled -- mishandled classified records the decision by her not to prosecute Joe Biden and also the decision by Hur to invoke Biden's memory. Raising concerns about Biden's memory and portraying him as an elderly man who could not be prosecuted because he'd be viewed as a sympathetic witness in the eyes of jurors.

Something that Democrats in particular said was gratuitous, was unnecessary and something that he was not qualified to make that assessment. Also pointing out to add length exchanges that were detailed in the transcript that was also released just minutes before Hur's highly anticipated testimony that said -- they said should have been included in the report that was released a few weeks ago.

That report caused a firestorm and raised questions particularly among Republicans about Joe Biden's fitness for office because of the memory issues that her raise about the president. Now all of this leads to what's next? Republicans in the House are demanding more information, more records, audio tapes from all the witness interviews, and we'll press ahead on that. But in the aftermath of this, I caught up with a number of members on both sides.

[02:30:02]

Some of them making very clear that particularly the Democratic side that there was nothing to this investigation. Republicans however, said that they believed that Joe Biden was handled differently than Donald Trump.

SEN. RICHARD BLUMENTHAL, (D-CT): Special counsel's gratuitous comments about the president's memory are essentially worthless as a matter of prosecutorial matter (ph).

RAJU: What's your takeaway from Robert Hur's testimony today?

REP. HAKEEM JEFFRIES (D-NY): It was a non-event.

REP. MATT GAETZ, (R-FL) : I don't believe that Joe Biden should have been charged in the Hur investigation that differs from some of my colleagues, but I also don't believe that President Trump should have been charged. I think there's kind of a problem with all of these boomers and classified information. Clinton, Pence, Trump, Biden, they've all screwed up in this regard, and I don't know that its criminal, and it seems to only be criminal as to President Trump.

RAJU: Of course, there are lots of differences between the Biden case and the Trump case. That was detailed, particularly on the Democratic side during the course of this day-long testimony, when one big part, the cooperation level. Joe Biden agreed to an interview for hours with the special counsel, allowed the FBI into his home, into his office space to obtain these records. That was not the case with Donald Trump, who has been accused of obstructing that investigation.

But nevertheless, that is the Republican argument now in the days and weeks ahead, that this is a two different situations here. Democrats so hope that this testimony, this event, they can sweep this under the rug and move on and focus instead on the general election and the contrast between Biden and Trump.

CHURCH: In just a few hours, you as lawmakers are set to vote on a bill that could make it very difficult for Americans to access TikTok. If it is passed, the law would remove the social media platform from U.S. app stores. TikTok is owned by the Chinese company ByteDance.

Cybersecurity experts believe TikTok could pose a national security threat, hypothetically, and some lawmakers argue the Chinese government could make TikTok's parent company hand over its data, which could then be used for disinformation, or perhaps to target you users. TikTok dismisses those claims and one Democratic congressman says it is really a matter of free speech. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. ROBERT GARCIA, (D-CA): All of our social media platforms need to be treated equally and need be treated the same way. To single out TikTok in this way, we believe is dangerous and certainly against freedom of expression.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH: Joining me now is Nick Wolny. He is Managing Editor of CNET. Thanks so much for being with us.

NICK WOLNY, MANAGING EDITOR, CNET: Thanks for having me.

CHURCH: So in the hours ahead, the House is set to vote on this bill that would ban TikTok from all U.S. app stores. In response, TikTok has been encouraging users to call their representatives to contest the bill. What impact will that likely have and how angry agree are the roughly 170 million Americans who currently use this app?

WOLNY: Well, they're already pretty angry and they've already started taking action after they received both a push notification and a full screen alert earlier this week, as well as last week, to call their respective representative. The phone lines on Capitol Hill were totally strangled for several days, angry teenagers, angry users saying don't take my TikTok away.

But the big concern is that TikTok might be handling data in line with China's national intelligence law. This is a law that requires a Chinese owned company to potentially make its data available to the Chinese government upon request. And with so much American data flowing through this app and it being under foreign control, what the House is going to vote on tomorrow is not necessarily to ban TikTok outright. They're really trying to walk back that statement.

What they're voting on is to force a sale of TikTok, to force TikTok and the parent company ByteDance to divest the U.S. arm of the app and have six months to do it in order to regain control from that foreign adversary.

CHURCH: And former U.S. Vice President Mike Pence called TikTok digital fentanyl and says it is a 21st century technological weapon. Are fears about TikTok justified or are they unnecessarily alarmist and overblown, do you think?

WOLNY: Well, one of the challenges is that we are not completely clear on how the data is being handled. Even when former President Trump tried to force the sale of TikTok via executive order in 2020, how that ended was that Oracle, a U.S. based data company, took over for handling all of the U.S. based cloud infrastructure, all of the U.S. data of TikTok flows through Oracle's U.S. cloud infrastructure. But, TikTok added a caveat that they would continue to produce a copy of that data for their company.

So, we just don't have a very clear picture on how this data is being handled and whether that applies to things like geo-targeting or perhaps mass social influence.

[02:35:00]

WOLNY: There was also a report that came out from the FBI regarding China's use of generative AI to peddle misinformation at scale in the 2022 mid-term elections. And now, we are in a presidential election year. So, there is concern that a lot of election interference can be happening on this app, in particular this year.

CHURCH: -- and data. And is there a better way though to counter these various concerns about TikTok rather than using a bill like this?

WOLNY: Well, the concern is that this bill coming out of the House, it sets a dangerous precedent because it singles out TikTok and ByteDance. It will likely sail through a House vote tomorrow. Where it is going to have a tougher time is in the Senate and one of the reasons for that is that you have two Democratic Senators who have introduced bills of their own, who have been working on bills of their own for the last several months regarding TikTok and apps like TikTok, but creating policy that is a little broader and doesn't single out specific companies.

And so, we'll see what happens with that. There's certainly a much higher hurdle that will take place if that bill ends up making it to the Senate, but it will just come down to the overall impression of how the United States government is going to handle data, particularly now when we have non-U.S. based tech companies creating some of the most powerful social media apps in the world.

CHURCH: And so, if the House and Senate both end up voting for this bill, as you pointed out, ByteDance, the China-linked parent company, will have about 165 days to sell TikTok or it will be illegal for any U.S. app store to make it available. How likely is it though that ByteDance will be able and perhaps willing to do that?

WOLNY: Well, I mean we'll ultimately have to see. We'll see if it ends up happening or not, whether they are actually in that situation. They would certainly fight a decision like that. President Biden has already indicated that he will sign the bill if it makes it to his desk. But then we saw an interesting political gambit earlier this week, when former President Trump indicated that he disagreed with the bill. He said that it set a dangerous precedent in terms of giving more power to a company like Facebook, a company like Meta Platforms and Mark Zuckerberg. So, it will ultimately remain to be seen.

What is also important to remember is that TikTok has already been banned in over a dozen other countries, India being the largest. This is not the first ban that TikTok has encountered. This is a global app with hundreds of millions of users. And so, while they will lose one of the most active countries, this is not the first ban that they have encountered or the first threat of a ban that they have encountered. They're probably going to keep doing what they're doing and they'll do everything possible to continue to monetize TikTok in the United States. But ultimately, they will likely be forced into a sale.

CHURCH: All right. We'll see what happens today. Nick Wolny, thank you so much for joining us. Appreciate it.

WOLNY: Thank you.

CHURCH: And we'll be right back

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[02:40:00]

CHURCH: New video shows the moment of a suspected gas explosion in northern China. State media says it happened at a restaurant on the ground floor of a four-story building in Hebei Province, east of Beijing. The powerful blast killed one person and injured 22 others. As you can see in these images from social media, the explosion destroyed the building and damaged other buildings and cars nearby.

Disappointment for a private Japanese space company after its Kairos rocket exploded shortly after takeoff. You're looking at pictures of the failed launch. The company behind it, Space One, had been hoping to become the first Japanese firm to put a satellite into orbit. Space One said the flight was interrupted after the launch and is investigating what happened.

Boeing officials could be subpoenaed to testify before U.S. investigators in the coming months in a rare public hearing over the door plug blowout on an Alaska Airlines flight back in January. On Tuesday, the airline released new information on the Boeing plane involved, revealing it was scheduled to be taken out of service for maintenance on the night of the incident, but it did not specify why.

The National Transportation Safety Board was aware the plane had pressurization issues prior to the door plug incident, but believes those issues were unrelated. But, the issues for Boeing don't stop there. On Monday, one of its planes experienced a sudden mid-air drop on a flight from Australia to New Zealand. Medical officials in Oakland where the plane landed, said about 50 people on the LATAM Airlines flight were treated for injuries. One passengers says the pilot admitted he lost control of the plane when his gages malfunctioned. Some of the passengers on that flight returned to Chile on Tuesday. Here is how one described the incident which is under investigation.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

VERONICA MARTINEZ, LATAM AIRLINES FLIGHT 800 PASSENGER (through translator): There was no turbulence. It was like suddenly everything went off and it went like on its face, like a roller coaster. What struck me the most was a woman who was with a baby, I saw the baby fly. Yes, it was terrible

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH: Thanks so much for joining us this hour. I'm Rosemary Church. "World Sport" is coming up next. Then, I will be back in 15 minutes with more "CNN Newsroom." Do stay with us.

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