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Israel to Sen. Schumer - Respect the Netanyahu Government; Election in Russia to Determine Vladimir Putin's Presidential Fate; CNN Speaks to an Official from Hamas; X Severe Partnership with Don Lemon Owing to the latter's Comments on Elon Musk; Students from Around the World Took Action Against Slavery in CNN's My Freedom Day. Aired 3-4a ET
Aired March 15, 2024 - 03:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[03:00:00]
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ANNA COREN, CNN CORRESPONDENT AND ANCHOR: Hello and welcome to our viewers joining us from all around the world. I'm Anna Coren, in Hong Kong, just ahead.
Israel's government calling for U.S. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer to respect the Netanyahu administration after the senator called for new leadership in Israel.
And aid distributions in Gaza are getting more dangerous by the day. What Israel's defense force says about recent incidents that some say involved IDF soldiers.
Plus the polls are open in Russia and the outcome is all but certain. How long President Vladimir Putin could stay in power if he's elected again.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. CHUCK SCHUMER (D-NY), SENATE MAJORITY LEADER: The United States will have no choice but to play a more active role in shaping Israeli policy by using our leverage to change the present course.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COREN: The top Democrat in the U.S. Senate there, Chuck Schumer, piling on the pressure on Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and calling for new elections.
Mr. Netanyahu's Likud party responded, Israel is not a banana republic but an independent and proud democracy that elected Prime Minister Netanyahu. Contrary to Schumer's words, the Israeli public supports a total victory over Hamas and opposes the return of the Palestinian Authority to Gaza.
Meanwhile, the Palestinian Health Ministry again accuses Israel of targeting people waiting for food aid after a deadly incident on Thursday. At least 20 people are reported killed, more than 150 wounded.
Hospitals are struggling to deal with the volume and types of injuries coming through their doors. Witnesses say the aid distribution site was hit by what sounded like tank or artillery fire.
Israel's military denies it was responsible for the attack and says it's quote, "assessing the incident".
Well, let's bring in CNN's Scott McLean live this hour in Istanbul. Well Scott, we will get to those dramatic scenes in Gaza. But first, the reaction, I guess, in Israel to Chuck Schumer's comments. You know, this coming from the highest ranking Jewish elected official in the United States.
SCOTT MCLEAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yeah, it is certainly going to complicate things. But this is, you know, part of the evidence that we have seen for some time now of evidence of pressure, excuse me, piling up on American politicians to do more to end the war in Gaza, to do more to use their leverage to make Israel get in more aid, have more humane conditions, negotiate an end to this war. And that's what it seems like we're hearing from Chuck Schumer.
But certainly incidents like the one that you described that in Gaza on this food distribution site don't help the current course of events. So this was an area, Anna, called the Kuwaiti Roundabout. This is a well-known area in northern Gaza where people, the trucks that are bringing aid, gather and distribute their food. Obviously, they attract a crowd given the fact that you have widespread levels of hunger, even famine, and people dying of dehydration and malnutrition already.
We want to show you some footage from the hospitals that are taking in these people. But we should warn you first that this is some pretty graphic video that you will see.
The death toll is expected to rise because hospitals, we are told, are struggling to deal with the volume and the type of injuries that are coming in right now. And inside the hospital, you can see in the video, bloodied people being treated on the floor, waiting for treatment. Perhaps the video from the scene itself is even more gruesome, showing bodies, blood everywhere.
And we know that IDF soldiers are typically stationed near that roundabout. But as you said, the IDF is denying any involvement in this particular incident. They did not, though, deny striking a food distribution warehouse run by UNRWA, the U.N. Relief and Works Agency, on Wednesday that killed five people. Israel says that a Hamas commander was amongst those killed. But UNRWA says that this was one of the few remaining food distribution warehouses that it has in Rafah.
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And it's not like the Israelis didn't know where it was either. The coordinates of these sites are shared with both Hamas and the Israelis on a daily basis, including in this case. And yet throughout the course of the war, UNRWA says that there have been some 150 of its sites that have been hit in Israeli attacks. Anna.
COREN: And Scott, as we know, the Houthis are siding with the Palestinians, saying their attacks will continue for as long as this war goes on. What can you tell us about your newest report on the Galaxy leadership in the Red Sea?
MCLEAN: Yeah, so there are 25 crew members from this cargo ship called the Galaxy Leader. It was taken hostages way back in November. And we have heard precious little about that ship since then.
Most of the crew members, 17 of them are Filipinos. And we spoke to the Filipino diplomat who is responsible for negotiations with the Houthis, who essentially said that there is not much to negotiate at this stage except for the decent treatment of the hostages, because there is no indication that the Houthis are going to turn over these crew members or the ship, less importantly, obviously, until this war is over. And in fact, he said that there are indications that they may ask for some kind of an international recognition of their legitimacy inside Yemen before they will turn anyone over.
Now, we asked the Houthis for comment on this directly yesterday, and we finally got a response. And they said that actually the ship and its crew, and I'm quoting, "are in the hands of the brothers in the Hamas resistance movement and the Al Qasem brigades. We have no claims of our own regarding this vessel".
Now, just to clarify, there are no Hamas fighters physically in control of this vessel, but they have turned over essentially the decision-making and the responsibility for the crew to Hamas. So, this obviously complicates things. It adds one more actor into the mix there in what is already a complicated situation.
And so now it seems that it may not be quite as simple as simply the war is over, hostages are free to go home, Anna.
COREN: Scott McLean, we appreciate your reporting, joining us live from Istanbul. Thank you.
The U.N. is warning of the consequences from the war in Gaza for some time to come. A spokesperson for the Secretary General says it will take years to clear unexploded ordnances and the nearly 23 million metric tons of debris. For now, humanitarian groups say airdrops in the planned maritime corridor are simply not getting enough aid into Gaza.
A top European Union official and the head of the Norwegian Refugee Council say Israel must open more land routes. The US military says it could take up to 60 days to build a floating pier off the Gaza coast to bring in supplies.
Well joining me now from Jerusalem is Shaina Low, Communications Advisor for the Norwegian Refugee Council. Great to have you with us. Let's start with the attack on this group waiting for food aid in Gaza City that killed 20, injured over 150. The IDF is denying responsibility. What are you learning? SHAINA LOW, COMMUNICATIONS ADVISER, NORWEGIAN REFUGEE COUNCIL: You
know, we don't have any operations in northern Gaza, so it's really difficult for us to discern who is responsible and who isn't responsible.
But what is clear is that there have been far too many of these incidents where desperate Palestinian civilians seeking out aid and assistance in order to survive. People are quite literally starving to death in northern Gaza, are continuously coming under attack and dying while trying to seek out aid, whether it's being shot at these quarters or whether it is airdrops not having their parachutes come out and land and kill people.
Far too many people are dying in Gaza. We have over 31,000 reported dead already in the last five plus months.
And we really need to stress that all parties need to ensure that there's deconfliction and that it's working, that humanitarians can safely access Palestinians throughout all of Gaza who are in desperate need and that those coming to distribution points in search of aid and assistance will be protected as well.
COREN: There are reports, recent reports, Palestinian children are dying from malnutrition. You mentioned there is famine in northern Gaza. Explain more to us as to what the situation is on the ground.
LOW: The situation for the last five months, Israel has imposed a total siege on Gaza, limiting to an incredible degree what aid and assistance has been able to reach Palestinians in need.
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We've been warning for months that this would lead to a public health crisis, that people would begin dying from either malnutrition, dehydration or the diseases that they're not able to fight off because their bodies are so weak from lack of food.
And now we're seeing after five months of warnings, all of this come to fruition where we have over 25 people who've already been reported dead, the majority of whom are children, as a result of malnutrition, dehydration.
What we're worried about is that the longer this goes on and as aid has not been scaled up, that the numbers of dead could rise to more than the 31,000 killed in hostilities just by these either preventable diseases that people are too weak to fight off or directly from starvation and dehydration.
COREN: In an interview with "Politico", Netanyahu denied there was a hunger crisis in northern Gaza, saying that's not the information we have. It's not our policy. Our policies are to put in as much humanitarian aid as we could. Are you seeing evidence of that?
LOW: Absolutely not. That's quite frankly just a falsehood.
We have six staff who are trapped in northern Gaza who have been unable to leave for various reasons, sick parents, disabilities, fear of what awaits them south of Wadi Gaza, and those colleagues themselves are starving.
They have struggled to find food. They've even resorted to eating animal fodder like so many others in northern Gaza. I think it's a clear sign of how desperate the situation is when Israel's strongest ally, the United States, resorts to airdrops because it's clear not enough aid is getting in. We desperately need aid to be scaled up. The most efficient, fastest and cost-effective way to do that is for Israel to allow more aid through the land crossings.
There are hundreds of trucks waiting in Egypt to enter Gaza with the aid that could help save people's lives, and it's just waiting there. It is simply unconscionable that the international community has allowed us to reach this point.
COREN: Well the U.N. aid agency UNRWA, a lifeline for Gazans as you well know, Israel's been working very hard to weaken it. The U.S. and other donors withdrew funding back in January after Israel accused more than a dozen of its employees of taking part in the October 7 attacks. Interestingly, Australia has resumed funding, saying that it's not in fact a terrorist organization, as Israel claims. Do you expect other donors to follow suit?
LOW: Well we've seen many additional donors either resume or even increase their funding to UNRWA, including Canada. I think that as time moves on and these allegations which no evidence has yet been presented to UNRWA or to the public to demonstrate UNRWA's alleged connections, there may have been individuals who have participated in their personal capacity in the October 7th attacks, which is just simply deplorable and a complete violation of humanitarian principles, a complete betrayal of those principles, in fact.
But I think as time goes on and these allegations are against UNRWA specifically have not been proven, and as we see the level of desperation rising, I imagine that we will see additional donors resume their funding to UNRWA because they truly are, they have the largest footprint and they have the greatest reach throughout Gaza.
COREN: Shaina Low in Jerusalem, we thank you for your time.
LOW: Thank you.
COREN: Protesters in Tel Aviv are demanding the release of all remaining hostages held in Gaza. They marched from a city square and blocked a highway on Thursday.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says his government is doing all it can, but Hamas is clinging to unacceptable demands. Also in Tel Aviv, thousands of people gathered to protest the exemption of ultra- orthodox Israelis from military service. A legal deadline to come up with an alternative arrangement now looms at the end of March.
Well still to come, in another legal setback for Donald Trump, a judge denies the former president's motion in the classified documents case. Find out why after the break. Plus, holding parents accountable. A verdict in the trial of a
Michigan man whose son shot and killed four of his high school classmates.
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[03:15:00]
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COREN: Voting is underway across Russia in an election where President Vladimir Putin's victory is hardly even a question.
Voters are casting ballots in Moscow and elsewhere as polling stations gradually open across Russia's 11 time zones.
Mr. Putin is considered a shoe-in to win, with many opposition leaders either dead, jailed, exiled or banned from voting.
Despite that, a prosecutor in Moscow is warning that unauthorized public gatherings during voting can lead to punishment.
Well he spoke after an appeal by Yulia Navalny, the widow of late opposition leader Alexei Navalny. She urged voters to show up at the polls in droves on the final day of voting on Sunday in a show of defiance against Mr. Putin.
Well Clare Sebastian is monitoring developments and joins us now from London. Clare, as we all know, these are sham elections but tell us why this vote is so important to Vladimir Putin, and more importantly, the repercussions for any protesters.
CLARE SEBASTIAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, I think the events for Sunday will be important to watch. Obviously, we have seen emerging in recent months with the support that we saw from an anti-war candidate who failed to get on the ballot. And then the turnout that we saw laying flowers for Alexei Navalny attending his funeral has revealed this undercurrent of anti-Putin, anti-war sentiment.
So I think it will be crucial to watch who and how many people heed the call of Yulia Navalnaya to come out at noon on Sunday. She sort of presented it as kind of a gray area. She said it would be legal. She said, come and vote or come and just be there. She said the important thing is to come. The Russian authorities, though, as you note, have said that they would very firmly believe that it was illegal.
This is coming from the Moscow Prosecutor's office saying that this would violate the existing legislation of the Russian Federation. Protests are banned in Russia unless previously sanctioned by the authorities. So that sets up a potential clash and a litmus test of this sort of opposition sentiment and the level of crackdown that we end up seeing, if there is any, from the Russian authorities. So that's the short term.
In the long term, this is a legitimizing exercise, as strange as it may seem, without real opposition candidates for the Kremlin. It will at least on paper secure them a mandate to keep going with the war in Ukraine, to keep consolidating Putin's power. And I think interesting to note, Anna, this is the first election happening after constitutional changes brought in by President Putin, which on paper allow presidents to run only for two terms, but also reset his own term limits to zero. So if he is elected in this election, as seems very clear that he will be, that isn't even the last time that he could run. He could then run for another six year term after that. So this will be the sort of the beginning of perhaps another major long era of Putin's Russia.
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COREN: Yeah, President for life. Clare, the war in Ukraine, it really tarnished Putin's image inside Russia, because it wasn't over in a matter of weeks and still going more than two years on. What does an overwhelming win for Putin, which we know is what he wants, that 80 percent mean on the battlefield?
SEBASTIAN: I think it's not good news for Ukraine, Anna. Fairly obviously, Russia is on the front foot in the ground war in particular in this war. We've seen that they took the town of Avdiivka in the middle of February and have continued to move, albeit through very small villages and hamlets past that.
Ukraine, meanwhile, is not getting any more aid, at least not meaningful quantities from the U.S. at the moment, and is struggling with severe deficits when it comes in particular to ammunition.
So President Putin securing what he will at least say is a new mandate support from the Russian people to keep going will signal that Russia isn't going to stop here, that its goals are not just to sort of freeze the front lines where they are in place and to consolidate where they have territory, but also to move beyond that.
And I think the big question, certainly for the Russian people, is will there be another wave of mobilization? We know that Russia likes to use sort of waves of men in this war, that manpower has been incredibly important. But of course, the wave of mobilization that we saw in the autumn of 2022 was incredibly controversial and led to a mass exodus of Russian men, which is something that Russia at the moment cannot afford to do. So that is going to be a big question coming out of this election.
COREN: Claire Sebastian, as always, we appreciate your reporting. Thank you.
Well, Russia is also gathering votes for its election in occupied parts of Ukraine, a move that has faced international condemnation.
That came from NATO, Britain and Kyiv, who all said the move violated international law. Meanwhile, pro-Ukrainian Russian volunteers are pledging to continue their cross-border raids into Russia itself. They said on Thursday their goal is to liberate Russia from its government. Russia claims it has inflicted heavy casualties among those groups.
The Biden campaign is focusing on battleground states in the Midwest, with the president stopping in Michigan and Vice President Harris paying a historic visit to an abortion provider in Minnesota. CNN's M.J. Lee has more.
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MJ LEE, CNN SR. WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): President Biden returning to the critical battleground state of Michigan for the first time since clinching his party's nomination.
The Biden campaign choosing to visit Saginaw County, a bellwether area in presidential politics, voting for Trump in 2016, then Biden four years later.
The president stopping by the home of one of his supporters as part of the campaign's efforts to highlight its on-the-ground organization and grassroots outreach. Thursday's Michigan stop rounding out the president's recent visits to a trio of Midwestern states. That includes Pennsylvania and Wisconsin, making up the so-called Blue Wall.
This voter, who supported Biden in 2020, telling CNN she won't vote for Trump in November, but is still undecided on Biden.
UNKNOWN: Would you say you're enthusiastic about Biden running again right now?
DEANDRA BOND, MICHIGAN VOTER: No.
LEE (voice-over): Vice President Kamala Harris, also in the Midwest Thursday, visiting a Planned Parenthood clinic in St. Paul.
KAMALA HARRIS, U.S. VICE PRESIDENT: We have to be a nation that trusts women.
LEE (voice-over): This marking the vice president's sixth stop in her so-called reproductive freedoms tour, as she leads the campaign's charge to use the issue of reproductive health care to mobilize voters.
HARRIS: How dare these elected leaders believe they are in a better position to tell women what they need, to tell women what is in their best interest.
LEE (voice-over): Meanwhile, the White House dispatching senior officials to Chicago to meet with Arab, Muslim and Palestinian American community leaders. This a part of the White House's ongoing efforts to reach key constituencies who are angry and concerned about the Israel-Hamas war. That anger on clear display in Michigan last month, when more than 100,000 people voted uncommitted in the Democratic primary, fueled by a campaign organized by critics of Biden's handling of the conflict.
But some activists in the Chicago area scorching the White House for the outreach, writing in a letter, there is no point in more meetings and demanding an immediate and permanent ceasefire in Gaza. LEE: And that Michigan voter that we saw in the piece, who said that
she had supported President Biden in 2020, but is so far undecided about this year.
[03:25:02]
It is only one person, one person that offers a good window into one of the big political challenges for the Biden campaign. And that, of course, is that the president does remain deeply unpopular. This is something that the campaign is hoping they can start to turn around, particularly as more voters start to realize that Donald Trump is going to be the other person who is on the ballot come November.
MJ Lee, CNN at the White House.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COREN: We're turning to the latest legal woes of Mr. Biden's likely opponent, Donald Trump. The judge presiding over Trump's federal classified documents case has rejected one of the former president's motions as his team tries to get the charges over Mr. Trump's mishandling of sensitive papers thrown out in Florida.
Well Trump's lawyers argued the laws around national defense were too vague to use against him. But Judge Aileen Cannon says that's an argument for the jury. And there is still yet another motion Cannon has yet to rule on in this case. Donald Trump asserts he has the authority to declare classified papers personal.
Well, meanwhile, New York prosecutors say they're open to delaying the former president's hush money criminal trial until late April, a major boost for Trump, whose defense teams frequently try to delay all of his trials past the election.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP, FORMER U.S. PRESIDENT: We don't know what's going to happen. We want delays. Obviously, I'm running for election.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COREN: The trial is currently set to start on March 25th.
In Michigan, a jury has found the father of school shooter Ethan Crumbly guilty of involuntary manslaughter. James Crumbly now faces a maximum 15 years in prison. CNN's Whitney Wilde has the story.
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WHITNEY WILD, CNN LAW ENFORCEMENT CORRESPONDENT: This is an historic moment. James Crumbly convicted of four counts of involuntary manslaughter and taken together with the case of his wife.
This represents a major moment for prosecutors. It is the first time that prosecutors have been able to hold the parents of children who kill directly responsible for those murders. The prosecutors really drilled in on two major concepts. And the first
was that James Crumbly should have seen, should have known that Ethan Crumbly had declining mental health, but instead he ignored all of these warning signs.
Meanwhile, he purchased him a firearm. He took him to the gun range. And further, he did not act in a way that was responsible with this firearm. Specifically, he failed to secure it properly. So those were some major pieces of evidence that prosecutors brought forward.
The defense, meanwhile, argued that James Crumbly had no knowledge of his son's severe declining mental health, had no knowledge that he was posing a risk to himself or others.
The defense in their closing argument said over and over, he simply did not know that James Crumbly had this potential to be so violent.
James Crumbly faces 15 years for each manslaughter charge. But the way the Michigan law is set up is that those sentences are to run concurrently. So the maximum time he faces in prison is 15 years.
His wife, Jennifer Crumbly, convicted on the same charges. She also faces a maximum of 15 years in prison. She is set to be sentenced April 9th.
Meanwhile, their son, Ethan, has been sentenced to life without the possibility of parole. We don't yet know what piece of evidence it was that pushed jurors in the direction of a conviction, but it is hard to overstate the significance here. This is a major moment and it is the end of an awful two-year saga that began November 30th, 2021, when Ethan Crumbly opened fire at his high school and killed those four students and injured several others.
Whitney Wild, CNN, Pontiac, Michigan.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COREN: Still ahead, CNN presses a Hamas official on the treatment of Israeli hostages and the status of ceasefire and hostage negotiations. That's next.
Plus, the top Democrat in the U.S. Senate says Benjamin Netanyahu has lost his way. What Chuck Schumer wants from the Israeli Prime Minister.
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[03:30:00]
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ANNA COREN, CNN CORRESPONDENT AND ANCHOR: Welcome back. Hamas has submitted a new response to negotiations for a ceasefire and hostage deal with Israel. It's the latest sign officials are still trying to bridge significant gaps between the two sides. It's unclear what Hamas has countered with in its latest message.
CNN has previously reported the first phase of a potential deal would include a six-week humanitarian pause, the release of around 40 Israeli hostages, including the remaining women and a large number of Palestinian prisoners. A U.S. official says the Biden administration is cautiously optimistic about the direction of the talks.
Well, for the first time since Hamas launched the October 7th attacks on Israel, CNN has conducted an on-camera interview with a Hamas official. CNN's Jeremy Diamond reports from Tel Aviv.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN JERUSALEM CORRESPONDENT: With negotiations to secure a ceasefire and the release of some 130 hostages seemingly at an impasse, I interviewed Basem Naim, a member of Hamas's political bureau who spoke to us from his office in Istanbul.
I spoke with him in order to press him on the state of these negotiations, Hamas's calls for violence during the month of Ramadan, and the U.N. report accusing Hamas of sexually abusing hostages. But I began by asking him about the fate of the hostages still held by his organization.
What conditions are those hostages being held in and what assurances can you provide their families of their well-being?
BASEM NAIM, HAMAS POLITICAL BUREAU: I cannot now reassure you anyone because all these war prisoners are facing the same bombardment and starvation our people facing on the ground.
Therefore, we have repeatedly called for a ceasefire to be able to care for them, to collect more data about them, and to go or to engage into a prisoner deal.
DIAMOND (voice-over): The Israeli government believes at least 32 of the hostages are dead, their bodies still held as bargaining chips. But now there is growing concern for the fate of the remaining female hostages.
DIAMOND: The United Nations said that it found, quote, "clear and convincing information" based on firsthand accounts that women being held hostage by your organization, Hamas, have been raped, have been tortured, have been subjected to inhumane and degrading treatment. What do you say to that?
NAIM: First of all, the lady Patton has said this is not an investigation committee, this is a data collection committee. She hasn't seen, she hasn't, she was not able to show any proof and solid evidence from an eyewitness in the report.
DIAMOND: These are firsthand accounts by former hostages.
NAIM: Yes, but she hasn't met any of the victims. She has heard from someone who has heard about this. DIAMOND: That's because they're still being held hostage by your organization.
NAIM: Look, I think the photos and the videos, the footages we have seen after releasing the women released inside Gaza are in contradiction with all what Ms. Patton has said.
DIAMOND (voice-over): But those images of hostages being released were pure propaganda, with some hostages instructed to smile and wave on the cusp of freedom.
[03:34:55]
And this is the United Nations report. Based on the firsthand accounts of released hostages, the mission team received clear and convincing information that sexual violence, including rape, sexualized torture and cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment, occurred against some women and children during their time in captivity.
DIAMOND: Do you deny that any women being held hostage by Hamas have been raped or tortured or subjected to sexual violence?
DIAMOND (voice-over): That absolute denial coming even as Naeem previously said he cannot account for the fate of the hostages, and his talks that could lead to their release appear to be at an impasse.
NAIM: I think we cannot talk about breaking down of the negotiations. There are still some talks, some communications. But we cannot talk about serious negotiations at this moment because we are waiting for the Israeli response about our proposals.
DIAMOND: And your proposal, as far as I understand it, is still calling for a permanent ceasefire and the withdrawal of all troops from Gaza. Is that correct?
NAIM: I think this is the natural or the minimum demands we can ask for after this long, six months aggression, that we reach a permanent, comprehensive, declared ceasefire, total withdrawal of the Israeli forces from the occupied territories in the West and the Gaza Strip, and the right of all Palestinians displaced from their houses to return back to their houses before October 7.
DIAMOND (voice-over): In a statement, an Israeli government official said Prime Minister Netanyahu's government has freed 112 hostages to date and is committed to free all the hostages. Once Hamas's delusional demands come down to earth, there can be another humanitarian pause for a hostage release deal.
Some Israeli officials believe Hamas is stalling, hoping to incite more violence during the month of Ramadan.
DIAMOND: Let me ask you this. In Hamas' latest statement, you call on the, quote, "brave masses of our people to continue to clash with the Zionist occupation", and you put it in the context of Ramadan, which you call the month of jihad and resistance. Are you holding out on a ceasefire because you hope to inspire more attacks against Israel? NAIM: What we are calling for is clear. We are people under
occupation. We are looking for our freedom and dignity. And we have all the right and all the tools to reach these walls, starting by political diplomatic tools up to armed resistance.
DIAMOND: But you're not answering my question. Are you hoping to inspire more attacks, including terrorist attacks against civilians during the month of Ramadan?
NAIM: Please don't talk about terrorism, because I think what is committed against us is state terrorism. If we have to talk about terrorism, we have to define it. What we are doing is resistance against the oppression, against the occupation. And again, I think this is a guaranteed right in the international law that all people under occupation have the right --
DIAMOND: Not when you target civilians.
NAIM: No, we are not targeting civilians. I don't think that--
DIAMOND: Hamas doesn't target civilians?
NAIM: I think a settler who is carrying an M16 or gun in TV studios or in the streets or who is burning our people in Hawara while they are sleeping or inside the West Bank are not civilians.
DIAMOND (voice-over): But Hamas does target civilians. On October 7th alone, Hamas militants stormed into Israeli homes, killing hundreds of men, women and children. A massacre that unleashed a devastating war.
Jeremy Diamond, CNN, Jerusalem.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COREN: The Palestinian Authority has a new prime minister. Its president, Mahmoud Abbas, appointed Mohammad Mustafa to form a new government. Well, that's according to a Palestinian news agency.
The appointment was quickly welcomed by the U.S. and Britain. The previous prime minister stepped down last month, but in his resignation letter, he opened the door to a formation of a Palestinian national unity government. He suggested it could include Hamas without specifically naming the group.
Israel's far-right national security minister is blasting new U.S. sanctions against settlers in the West Bank.
Itamar Ben-Gvir says it's further proof the U.S. government doesn't understand who is the enemy and who is a friend. The U.S. says the three sanctioned individuals and two farms are involved in undermining stability in the West Bank.
It reports one of the men has repeatedly harassed, threatened and attacked Palestinians and Israeli human rights defenders. Ben-Gvir says settlers build and bring security to the country and, quote, "deserve a salute, not a knife in the back". [03:40:00]
The top Democrat in the U.S. Senate is criticizing Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and calling for new elections. Chuck Schumer says Mr. Netanyahu has lost his way, allowing his political survival to take precedence over the best interests of the country. CNN's Manu Raju has the details.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MANU RAJU, CNN CHIEF CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Chuck Schumer, the Senate majority leader, stunned Republicans and Democrats alike when he took to the Senate floor and called for a new leadership, new elections in Israel, after for many years aligning himself, siding with Bibi Netanyahu and even going as far back as 2015 when Barack Obama tried to sell Congress on the Iran nuclear deal.
Chuck Schumer was one of its leading opponents, siding with Netanyahu at the time, who came and addressed a joint meeting of Congress and urged for that plan not to move forward. But nevertheless, things have changed, particularly the way this war has been waged. There's been growing anger within the Democratic caucus and among Democratic voters across the country about everything that has gone on, the lack of humanitarian relief going to the Gaza Strip, as well as growing calls for an immediate ceasefire.
Now, Schumer went and made his separate calls, calling for a new leadership altogether here, calling Netanyahu an obstacle for peace. And that prompted a sharp response on both sides of the aisle, as even some Democrats who have been aligned with Schumer for some time are open to what he is saying, but Republicans are furiously pushing back.
SEN. RICHARD BLUMENTHAL (D-CT): I think the current prime minister has to perhaps rethink some of his approaches, especially on humanitarian aid, which I think has to be done more robustly than he has encouraged so far. I think there are reasons that Israelis might want a different leader. And I think Senator Schumer has raised some of those reasons very powerfully and forcefully.
UNKNOWN: What is leader Schumer doing injecting himself into Israel politics? Again, I think it's just beyond the pale.
SEN. JONI ERNST (R-IA): I'm very upset. I don't think that leader Schumer should be inserting his ideas and throwing them at Israel when they are in the middle of a war.
RAJU: Now, this all comes as an aid debate. It continues to be stalled in Congress. What to do about aid to Israel? That's tied up in a larger aid package that passed the Senate last month. But the House is not acting on it because it includes aid to Ukraine. There's divisions within the House GOP about moving forward aid to Ukraine. But the Speaker of the House, Mike Johnson, did indicate that he is interested in moving on a standalone Israel bill soon. But he's already tried to do that.
He failed to get enough votes to do that. He may try again under a different procedure that would require a simple majority support in the United States House.
But he has had so many hardships governing in a razor-thin House majority. It's unclear if that would be able to pass the House. And it almost certainly would not pass the Senate. Given the divisions within the ranks, particularly in the Democratic ranks over Israel, calls to cut off aid to Israel among some progressives, and somewhat conditions on any aid to Israel, all are going to be intensified now in the aftermath of Schumer's comments.
Manu Raju, CNN, Capitol Hill.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COREN: Still to come, Haiti extends a curfew and bans protests as gang violence and the political crisis worsens. Details after the break.
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[03:45:00]
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COREN: Surging gang violence in Haiti has prompted the government to extend a nighttime curfew until Sunday. Officials also banned all demonstrations on public roads in the western region during the state of emergency, which was extended through April 3rd. Even the home of Haiti's national police director is not safe.
On Thursday, armed men attacked, ransacked and burned his house. Meantime, the Biden administration may use Guantanamo Bay in Cuba to process Haitian migrants if they begin fleeing the country en masse because of the violence. Well CNN's Carlos Suarez has more.
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CARLOS SUAREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: A U.S. official tells CNN the Biden administration is discussing using the American naval base in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, to process Haitian migrants if there is a massive exodus to the U.S. The site, which is about 200 miles from Haiti, has been used to hold and process migrants before.
Now, according to officials, the U.S. Coast Guard has not seen an increase in the number of Haitian migrants making the journey to the U.S.
Since October, 131 Haitian migrants have been stopped off the coast of Florida and sent back to Haiti.
Now, despite those numbers, on Wednesday, the Florida governor's office announced more than 250 law enforcement officers and members of the National and State Guard will be deployed to southern Florida in anticipation of more Haitian migrants arriving.
As for the situation on the ground in Haiti, sources tell CNN that armed men attacked the home of Haiti's national police director. We're told that they ransacked and set fire to the place. It's unclear if anyone was hurt.
Now, CNN has also learned the country's airport could soon reopen. We're told repairs in areas that gang members broke through last month are almost complete and that 150 Haitian police and military officers are guarding the grounds.
Now, exactly when air traffic could reopen is unclear.
It is also unclear if outgoing Prime Minister Ariel Henry will return to the country after agreeing to resign on Tuesday. His office told CNN that Haiti's constitution states that only he and his cabinet can appoint a council for the transition of power.
Carlos Suarez, CNN, Miami.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COREN: The U.N. says the air bridge it plans to establish between Haiti and the Dominican Republic is not yet operational. A spokesperson had mistakenly announced that it was open on Thursday. The air bridge would use helicopters to move U.N. staff and humanitarian assistance in and out of Haiti safely. The U.N. has also said it's reducing the number of non-essential personnel in the country because of the volatile situation.
A so-called seat mishap might have caused a Boeing 787 plane traveling from Sydney to Auckland to suddenly plunge midair on Monday. That's according to the "Wall Street Journal".
Passengers were jolted from their seats after what LATAM Airlines called a technical event. Fifty of them needed medical attention. As the journal reports, a flight attendant might have hit a switch on the pilot seat that pushed the pilot into the controls, forcing the plane to nosedive. Well the paper quoted U.S. industry officials briefed on preliminary evidence.
The plane is back in Chile's capital, Santiago, where it's registered for further investigation. Chilean aviation officials say a preliminary report into the incident will be issued within 30 days.
Well Tesla CEO Elon Musk is under fire. The company, once touted as the future of the auto industry, is currently the worst performing stock on the U.S. S&P 500. But it doesn't stop there.
He's got troubles in Germany and continues courting controversy on his social media platform. Fred Pleitgen has this report from Berlin.
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FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SR. INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It seemed like a major win for Elon Musk, his company SpaceX managing to launch the world's most powerful rocket called Starship further than ever before while losing both the ship and the booster rocket in the test. But back on Earth, Elon Musk is in damage control mode, visiting his
Tesla factory near Berlin, Germany after an arson attack claimed by an activist group opposed to the plant knocked its power out for more than a week.
[03:50:06]
Musk unwilling to speak to the press, some reporters yelling questions through a fence.
ELON MUSK, TESLA CEO: Deutschland rocks. Dig in Berlin for the win.
PLEITGEN (voice-over): Near Berlin, hundreds protesting fearing the electric vehicle production could seriously impact the entire area's drinking water supply.
Tesla's production is in a drinking water protection area, this protester says. They therefore endanger people's drinking water, not just here, but in this region and also in Berlin.
Musk is facing backlash after reported work safety issues at Tesla factories, the company rejecting such claims, saying worker health at its German plant is a top priority and the company's stock taking a nosedive.
Musk also regularly faces backlash for controversial posts and retweets on his social media platform X.
Woke ideology wants you to die, this one says.
DEI is just another word for racism, he writes here.
While another user claims Democrats are trying to replace the U.S. electorate by allowing migrants into the country, Musk calls it crazy in a tweet.
Pressed on his views by former CNN host Don Lemon in what was supposed to be Lemon's new show on X, "Musk Thin Skinned".
MUSK: I don't want to ask questions from reporters. Don Lemon has not been in this interview because you're on X platform, and you asked for it. Otherwise, I will not do this interview.
DON LEMON, FORMER CNN HOST: So you don't think -- do you think that you wouldn't get in trouble or you will be criticized for what they say--
MUSK: (inaudible) I could care less.
PLEITGEN (voice-over): X immediately axed its partnership with the show, Lemon says. Elon Musk's claims of being a champion of free speech called into question, Lemon told Erin Burnett.
LEMON: Free speech is only important when someone you don't like or I would say someone doesn't have your same point of view. Someone, if they're allowed to speak freely, and to say their point of view. Apparently, that doesn't matter to Elon Musk's --
PLEITGEN (voice-over): Fred Pleitgen, CNN, Berlin.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COREN: Students around the world mobilized to help fight slavery and forced labor of children. Just ahead, you'll hear what they had to say as CNN held its eighth My Freedom Day.
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COREN: Severe weather across the U.S. ranging from snowstorms to tornadoes is impacting millions of Americans.
In the Rockies, the strong winter storm has led to power outages for more than 100,000 homes and businesses in Colorado. The capital Denver has had a third of a meter of snow. Worsening conditions led to highway closures and triggered avalanche warnings around Denver.
Unsettling footage from Lakeview, Ohio, where a possible tornado hit the area on Thursday. The U.S. Storm Prediction Center recorded more than 300 storm reports from Texas to Pennsylvania on Thursday, as powerful storms left millions of Americans under tornado watch. Well strong tornadoes with considerable damage were reported in Indiana and Ohio.
Well CNN celebrated its eighth My Freedom Day on Thursday, a day-long student-driven event to raise awareness of modern slavery and forced child labor.
[03:55:02]
We had crews all over the world talking to students about their comments and projects. Children from as many as 100 countries took part, and here's some of what they had to say.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNKNOWN: So on My Freedom Day is about child labor (inaudible) and I think it's very good.
UNKNOWN: Freedom is not (inaudible) and forced into labor.
UNKNOWN: (inaudible) free from child labor. They are right to be free.
UNKNOWN: Lessen child labor today.
UNKNOWN: End child labor today.
UNKNOWN: To me, freedom is not judging people and having equity and equality.
UNKNOWN: So the poster shows the comparison between the companies that use child labor and the ones that don't.
UNKNOWN (translated): I study and play at school. I also attend a tuition class. I feel very happy. Happy Freedom Day.
KRISTIE LU STOUT, CNN CORRESPONDENT: They're also going to participate in a sweatshop simulation challenge so they can feel what it's like to be trapped in a forced labor situation.
UNKNOWN: I hope that through the simulation workshop today, I will gain a very valuable learning experience and learn about what is it like to work in a sweatshop workshop every day in my life.
UNKNOWN: Slavery in the chocolate industry is still a massive problem, but it's really important for us to check the sources of the chocolate we buy so that we know there's no child labor involved.
VEDIKA SUD, CNN REPORTER: At this table, you have students from a middle school who are busy making posters on a very relevant topic that has to do with modern-day slavery, which is child labor.
AGRIMA SAXENA, STUDENT: The burdens that child labor brings suppresses their dreams and these enchanting aspirations that young children have. So that's the message we're trying to get across.
LYNDA KINKADE, CNN ANCHOR: And the right to play. Who likes to play? What's the best thing about playing as a child?
UNKNOWN: I get to play with my sister.
KINKADE: Yeah. What do you like about playing?
UNKNOWN: I like to play tag.
UNKNOWN: So we did this timeline to show the landmark laws regarding child labor throughout the years and how it has been limited and eradicated through the whole world. We come here to 1901, which said that children under 12 years old could not work at factories anymore.
UNKNOWN: Hashtag My Freedom Day
UNKNOWN: My Freedom Day!
UNKNOWN: My Freedom Day!
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COREN: Fantastic initiative. Well, thanks so much for your company. I'm Anna Coren in Hong Kong. Have a wonderful day. "CNN Newsroom" continues with Bianca Nobilo, coming up next.
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