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CNN International: Putin Expected to Extend 24-Year Grip on Power in Kremlin; U.S. Monitors Violence and Migration Flows from Haiti; Growing Importance of Fish in Africa's Diet; Ex-Trump Official Mnuchin Assembling Team of TikTok Buyers; SpaceX Starship Reaches New Heights and Speed. Aired 4:30-5a ET

Aired March 15, 2024 - 04:30   ET

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

[04:30:00]

BIANCA NOBILO, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome back to CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Bianca Nobilo. If you're just joining us, let me bring you up to date with some of today's top stories.

The Palestinian Health Ministry again accuses Israel of targeting people waiting for food aid in Gaza City. At least 20 people are reported killed and more than 150 others wounded. Israel's military calls reports about the attack false and says it is assessing the situation.

Meanwhile, the top Democrat in the U.S. Senate is criticizing Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and calling for new elections there. Chuck Schumer says many Israelis have lost confidence in the vision and direction of the government and new elections are the only way to allow for healthy and open decisions about the country's future.

Plus, Russians are casting their ballots in a presidential election where the outcome is practically settled before it even began. President Vladimir Putin is considered a shoo-in to win with many opposition leaders either dead, jailed, exiled or banned from running.

And as CNN's Brian Todd reports, Vladimir Putin's iron grip on power is part of a long pattern and shows no signs of slackening.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): He's already the longest serving ruler of Russia since the dictator Joseph Stalin and he could easily eclipse Stalin's nearly 30 years in power.

Is there any intrigue over whether Vladimir Putin will manage to win yet another election?

EVELYN FARKAS, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, THE MCCAIN INSTITUTE: 100 percent certain that Vladimir Putin will remain the president of Russia.

TODD (voice-over): Analysts say the former KGB colonel has rigged the system, sometimes not so subtly, so that only he can emerge victorious. Starting with eliminating legitimate opposition like Boris Nemtsov who was gunned down at the foot of the Kremlin in 2015 and Alexei Navalny who recently died very mysteriously in an Arctic gulag though the Kremlin has denied any part in it.

RICHARD LOURIE, AUTHOR, "PUTIN: HIS DOWNFALL": What Navalny decided to do was, he was going to set a template, set an example for the Russian opposition that if you're going to play this game, have no illusions. This is a game to the death.

TODD (voice-over): One opposition candidate who did get approved later still got disqualified. Only three other candidates were ultimately allowed to appear on the ballot. Token opposition, analysts say.

LOURIE: Their numbers and their fates have already been decided and their presence on the ballot is willing to make it have the appearance of an actual election.

TODD (voice-over): Yet the Kremlin is making great efforts to promote the vote. Ads for Putin running on TV, polling stations set up nationwide. There's even voting in parts of Ukraine occupied by Russia, which goes against international law.

JILL DOUGHERTY, ADJUNCT PROFESSOR, GEORGETOWN UNIVERSITY: They're going around literally with ballot boxes to people's houses, in some places urging them to vote.

TODD (voice-over): The Kremlin may have little reason to worry with near total control of the media and the voting. But the turnout at the funeral for Navalny showed that there are still Russians willing to take great risks to support reform.

FARKAS: Navalny, before he died, said that everyone should go at noon on that final day and just stand in front of the polling station. That will be interesting to see how many people do that in what parts of Russia.

TODD (voice-over): Analysts say Russian voter apathy from decades of being worn down by fraudulent elections helps Putin, as do his messages to the public appealing to their paranoia.

DOUGHERTY: He has to alternately say we are surrounded by enemies and they are external and they're internal in Vladimir Putin's mind. And that he is the person who can protect Russia.

TODD (voice-over): Even if some votes against him gain critical mass.

FARKAS: If he has maybe too few ballots, they'll create some votes for him. So it's a very corrupt system. And three days gives them the leeway to do that.

TODD: Given how heavily Putin has tipped the scales, what are the most likely ways his rule will end? Analysts say the more realistic scenarios include a popular uprising, which is less likely, a coup or Putin simply dying on the throne. The most unlikely scenario, they say, is Vladimir Putin actually being voted out of office.

Brian Todd, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE) NOBILO: 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.

[04:35:00]

And the United Nations says it is reducing the number of non-essential personnel in Haiti because of the volatile situation there.

Award winning actor and activist Sean Penn, who co-founded a relief effort response to the 2010 earthquake talked to CNN about the situation.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEAN PENN, U.S. ACTOR AND ACTIVIST: Some of the people, people who, you know, certainly oppose the gangs, are giving credit now to the fact that it was the gangs that were able to do this thing that so many wanted to have done.

Now, if that means that Haiti can look at it as a new beginning, then I would hope that the United States can look at it as a new beginning, in Canada and France and all those three in particular, so that we, you know, for the maybe for the all together for the first time, listen -- listen to what the Haitians, how they want to do it and what they need.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

NOBILO: In the U.S., Florida officials have launched an online portal for Americans in Haiti. It will allow them to input their names and contact information, but it's unclear what the state officials plan to do with that data.

Meantime, the Biden administration is considering using Guantanamo Bay in Cuba to process Haitian migrants if they begin fleeing the country en masse to escape the violence.

CNN's Carlos Suarez has more on that.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

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 that 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.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

NOBILO: A so-called seat mishap might have caused a Boeing 787 plane traveling from Sydney to Auckland to suddenly plunge midair on Monday, according to the Wall Street Journal. Passengers were jolted from their seats after what LATAM Airlines called a technical event. Fifty of those people needed medical attention.

The journal reports that a flight attendant serving a meal might have hit a switch on the pilot seat that apparently pushed the pilot into the controls, forcing the plane into a nosedive. The journal quoted U.S. industry officials briefed on the preliminary evidence.

The plane is back in Chile's capital, Santiago, for further investigation. Chilean aviation officials say a preliminary report into the incident will be issued within 30 days.

With a rapidly growing population, Africa needs to increase its production of food.

Many countries are turning to fish as an affordable food source. As of 2022, the continent caught 7 million metric tons of fish a year. To maintain today's levels, it will need to catch 13 million tons per year by 2030.

Among the nations turning to fish production is Zambia. The country is vying to become one of the largest producers of tilapia in sub-Saharan Africa. CNN's Eleni Giokos has more.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ELENI GIOKOS, CNN ANCHOR AND CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Zambia's Lake Kariba. It is among one of Africa's best-known lakes and the world's largest man-made lake by volume. It is also home to a flourishing enterprise.

FISHO PATRICK MWALE, CO-FOUNDER, YALELO ZAMBIA: Yalelo is a fish farm company. We farm fish, which we process and we put on the market within 24 hours. That's why we call it Yalelo.

Yalelo means the days catch.

GIOKOS (voice-over): Seeing a growing demand for fish, Yalelo set up business 12 years ago.

MWALE: We off with two cages. From those two cages, we grew to just under 100 cages.

[04:40:00]

Within this period, we've become the largest tilapia fish farm in sub- Saharan Africa.

GIOKOS (voice-over): At any one time, up to 250,000 freshwater tilapias can be growing in each of these cages.

KELVIN MBANGWETA, OPERATIONS MANAGER, YALELO ZAMBIA: Initially we used to grow fish in six months. But because of the efficiencies likely developed over the years, and skill that it's gained, improved out operations from six months to four months.

GIOKOS (voice-over): Producing fish to mainly meet the demands of the domestic market, Yalelo is increasingly exporting to countries across the continent.

MWALE: Currently, we are exporting fish to DRC, to South Africa. This fish, which is going to Tanzania, to Malawi.

GIOKOS (voice-over): But getting its fresh produce beyond Zambia's borders can create its own set of challenges.

MWALE: One of the hindrances to trade, or restrictions to trade, is the high tariffs and unnecessary taxes and the bureaucracies in terms of export. When we are dealing with a highly perishable product like fish, we want efficient transportation and processing through no barriers and no borders.

GIOKOS (voice-over): Overcoming these trade restrictions will be key to Yalelo's future growth prospects and its goal of feeding Africa's growing population.

MWALE: Fish provides the cheapest protein. It is easier to manage. As we increase our production, we will not only be contributing to our own GDP, but we'll be contributing to the reduction of poverty and malnutrition in Zambia and in Africa.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

NOBILO: You're watching CNN NEWSROOM live from London. Just ahead, not much to celebrate as a disappointing inflation report dampens the mood on Wall Street.

Plus, TikTok could be banned in the U.S. if it doesn't break with its Chinese ownership. But there are some who are interested in buying the social media giant. That is coming up ahead. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

NOBILO: The new trading day gets underway in the U.S. in a little less than five hours' time. And it's a volatile picture. But here's where stock futures stand right now. Changing quickly.

Meantime, European markets are up and running. Bit more of a pessimistic picture once again. But we have seen a mixed bag.

And now here's a look at how markets across Asia fared today. Once again, a bit of a mixed bag.

U.S. markets are looking to bounce back after a key inflation report pushed stocks lower on Thursday.

[04:45:00]

The February producer price index came in hotter than expected thanks to a jump in energy and fuel costs.

And Wells Fargo downgraded Tesla, which fell more than 4 percent for the day. The Dow lost more than a third of a percent. And the Nasdaq and S&P were down three-tenths of a percent.

And 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. It doesn't stop there.

Musk visited one of his factories near Berlin on Wednesday after an arson attack. It knocked power out for more than a week. An activist group claimed responsibility.

And on Sunday, hundreds of Germans came out to protest the plant. Claiming the factory's electric vehicle production poses a threat to the drinking water supply.

New labeling will be rolled out in the U.S. for gadgets and appliances that meet strict cybersecurity standards.

The label, which resembles a shield -- you can see it here -- is intended to help buyers pick out products that are resistant to online hackers. The Biden administration's plan has received its final approval. Shield labels will soon start appearing on common gadgets such as smart home devices, baby monitors and internet-connected refrigerators should they meet certain safety criteria.

Social media giant TikTok is having a bad week in the U.S. after the House passed a bill that could ban the app if the company fails to divest itself of Chinese ownership. There are multiple interested parties, including one former U.S. official. CNN's Anna Stewart has more.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ANNA STEWART, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, TikTok may have an interested buyer, even if it's not actually for sale. Former U.S. Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin told CNBC earlier.

STEVEN MNUCHIN, FORMER U.S. TREASURY SECRETARY: I think it should be sold. I understand the technology. It's a great business. And I'm going to put together a group to buy TikTok.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You're trying to buy TikTok?

MNUCHIN: I am.

STEWART: This comes a day after the U.S. House of Representatives passed a measure that would ban TikTok in the U.S. if it doesn't divest itself of Chinese ownership within around five months. The legislation heads next to the Senate, where the future is not yet clear.

Mnuchin hasn't revealed who the other potential backers are, but any possible acquisition would be under significant antitrust scrutiny. Other potential buyers said to be circling include Bobby Kotick, the former CEO of Activision. The Wall Street Journal, citing people familiar with the situation, reported that he floated the idea to buy TikTok to a table of people, including OpenAI CEO Sam Altman.

TikTok's powerful algorithm could, in theory, be used to train OpenAI if such a deal existed.

However, Dan Ives, senior equity research analyst at Wedbush Securities, told CNN ByteDance will never sell TikTok with the source code. The special source that makes the app so successful and valuable.

The algorithm has raised alarm on the other side of the Atlantic. Italian authorities issuing an $11 million fine for what they call unfair commercial practice. They say TikTok simply didn't do enough to stop damaging content spreading to young and vulnerable people.

TikTok disagree. The fine may not be the worst of TikTok's concerns right now, as the social platform is now facing scrutiny on both sides of the Atlantic.

Anna Stewart, CNN, London.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

NOBILO: Meghan, the Duchess of Sussex, has returned to Instagram six years after deactivating her account. The former "Suit" star appears to be launching a new business venture called the American Riviera Orchard. The new account shows her brand's new logo and the bio page confirms Meghan is behind the account.

CNN has contacted Meghan's representatives for more information on the new company.

And Meghan's husband, Prince Harry, and his brother, Prince William, took part in a charity night in their late mother's name, but did so separately. The Prince of Wales praised Princess Diana during a speech marking the Diana Legacy Awards 25th anniversary in London. His brother, the Duke of Sussex, joined the event via a video call once William had left. The brothers have had a fractured relationship since Harry publicly raised multiple complaints about the royal family, especially involving their treatment of Meghan.

The SpaceX Starship didn't make it back to Earth Thursday, but the company says it's still one step closer to carrying astronauts to the moon. That is ahead.

Plus, an unbelievable sight at the Indian Wells men's quarterfinal match. We'll bring you the details after the break.

[04:50:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

NOBILO: SpaceX and NASA are calling Thursday's Starship test flight a success after the world's most powerful rocket achieved multiple milestones before likely breaking apart. CNN's Kristin Fisher reports.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KRISTIN FISHER, CNN SPACE AND DEFENSE CORRESPONDENT: Starship flew further and faster than it did during any other test flight.

It has passed many of its previous two flight tests in this third flight test, which lifted off from Boca Chica, Texas, right on the border with Mexico, or as SpaceX likes to call it, Starbase, or the gateway to Mars. Because this is the rocket that SpaceX hopes will someday land the very first humans on Mars, will someday be used to perhaps even colonize Mars.

But first, NASA is hoping that SpaceX will be able to deliver on its contract to land the first NASA astronauts on the surface of the moon since the end of the Apollo program back in 1972. So there are some big hopes for this Starship rocket.

What we saw was a successful stage separation of the Super Heavy booster and the Starship rocket spacecraft on top. It then flew for 49 minutes. And along the way it beamed back these incredible HD live images thanks to some Starlink terminals that were onboard Starship itself.

And we were able to see on entry as it was approaching the splashdown site this incredible footage of Starship like hitting the atmosphere and creating the plasma, this red glow, around the spacecraft.

I'd never seen anything like it. I don't think anybody had really ever seen anything like it. And then Starship broke up likely just above the Indian Ocean, falling short of its ultimate goal, which is a splashdown in the Indian Ocean.

But I should note that the overall objective, the primary goal of this mission, was for Starship to reach orbital velocity or orbital speed. It did that and then some. This splashdown in the Indian Ocean was always kind of like a dream

case scenario. In order to get your FAA license, you have to say what the ultimate target would be.

And so that was really the case here for folks that say, you know, is this a success or a failure? You have SpaceX, of course, calling this a success, but so is NASA Administrator Bill Nelson. And so is Blue Origin, one of SpaceX's primary competitors, headed by fellow billionaire Jeff Bezos.

So far more went right than went wrong on this third flight test, and now SpaceX says they have four more Starships ready to fly. They're hoping that the FAA can move quickly to work through this fairly routine mishap investigation and then grant it its next launch license.

Kristin Fisher, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

NOBILO: American soccer icon Megan Rapinoe will see her number 15 jersey retired by the Seattle Reign in August. Rapinoe will be the first Seattle player to receive this honor.

The former U.S. women's soccer captain played with the Reign from their inaugural season in 2013 until her retirement last year and is their all-time leader in goals. Rapinoe says she is humbled by this gesture.

[04:55:00]

And a bee invasion halted the quarterfinal match between world number two Carlos Alcaraz and number six Alexander Zverev at the Indian Wells tournament on Thursday. Players made a beeline for shelter as a handler from the Killer Bee Live removal company got the swarms off the court and off the TV cameras as well.

The crowd cheered. The delay lasted more than an hour and Alcaraz eventually won in two straight sets. His agent said the Spaniard was stung on his forehead, but he is fine. He faces Australian Open champ Jannik Sinner in the semifinals later on today.

And after weeks of intense speculation, Shohei Ohtani, the Japanese baseball star with the Los Angeles Dodgers, has revealed the identity of his new wife. The two-time American League MVP posted a picture of his bride, Mamiko Tanaka, on Instagram. Tanaka is also an athlete and has played in Japan's women's basketball league. The couple got married last month.

And now to some stories in the spotlight for you this hour.

Police from Pittsburgh, California, are on the lookout for thousands of bobbleheads. They look like the legendary Czech hockey player Jaromir Jagr, and he played for the Pittsburgh Penguins, as some might know. They planned to give the figurines away to fans ahead of Thursday's game with the San Jose Sharks, but the bobbleheads disappeared on the way to the game, with the club blaming cargo thieves.

Fans got a glimpse of Jagr in person at the game. He won two Stanley Cups with the Penguins in the 90s. The franchise says it's working with authorities to locate the bobbleheads and plans to distribute them at a later date. By the way, the Penguins won the game 6-3.

For the first time, two of the three headliners at Glastonbury Festival this year will be women. It's one of the biggest musical festivals in the world and takes place in southwest England in June.

British pop star Dua Lipa will headline the famous Pyramid Stage on the Friday night. She posted on social media that she's dreamt of that moment her entire life.

And American R&B singer SZA will headline the Saturday night, while country star Shania Twain will fill Sunday's Legends slot. Coldplay will become the first band to ever headline Glastonbury on five separate occasions.

That does it here on CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Bianca Nobilo in London. CNN THIS MORNING is next after a quick break.

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