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Israel To Attend Next Cease-Fire Talks; Biden Backs Schumer's Criticism Of Netanyahu; Judge Delays Trump's Hush Money Trial; Chaos In Haiti; More Boeing Woes; Some Russian Voters Stage Defiant Acts Of Protest; Russia Claims Airstrike Killed Nearly 300 Ukrainian Troops; Royals Can't Escape Photo Controversy; Sports News. Aired 5-6a ET
Aired March 16, 2024 - 05:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
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LYNDA KINKADE, CNN ANCHOR AND CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Hello and welcome to viewers here in the United States and all around the world. I'm Lynda Kinkade.
Coming up on CNN NEWSROOM as desperately needed food aid slowly arrives into Gaza, we will look at the ways the Biden administration is sidestepping Netanyahu and his government to tackle the dire humanitarian situation.
And a judge rules that the prosecutor on Donald Trump's Georgia election case can stay on the trial but only if her former lover, the lead prosecutor, is removed. The details in that decision coming up.
Plus:
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Moving back about 15 feet from there to about right there in that debris. And I just held onto whatever I could grab a hold of.
KINKADE (voice-over): More severe weather on the way after a string of deadly tornadoes in the Midwest reduce parts of some towns to rubble. We will have the latest from the CNN Weather Center.
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE (voice-over): Live from Atlanta, this is CNN NEWSROOM with Lynda Kinkade.
KINKADE: A new warning about malnutrition in Gaza during the first week of Ramadan. UNICEF says acute malnutrition is affecting one-third of children under the age of 2 in northern Gaza.
In southern Gaza, surrounded by rubble, these people took to prayers on Friday. There are 1.4 million Palestinians in Rafah. And Israel is planning to conduct a ground offensive there. On Friday, prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office said he had approved a plan for action in Rafah.
It includes evacuating people from Rafah before the offensive but no word on how that would be done. The U.S. says it has not seen Israel's plan for Rafah but the White House says the U.S. is cautiously optimistic about ceasefire talks, which is slated to continue next week.
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ANTONY BLINKEN, U.S. SECRETARY OF STATE: We have conversations that are happening now as we speak here. And I'm convinced they'll go on into the coming days.
Israel has sent back a negotiating team to pursue this. And I think it reflects the sense both of possibility and emergency to get an agreement, to get a ceasefire, to get the hostages back, to get even more humanitarian assistance in.
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KINKADE: Well, the U.S. president is praising a speech that called for new elections in Israel. On Thursday, U.S. Senate majority leader Chuck Schumer, who is Jewish, slammed (ph) Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
He said many Israelis have lost their confidence in the vision and direction of their government. Top Republicans and Israel's ruling parties spoke out against the speech but Mr. Biden gave his support on Friday.
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JOE BIDEN (D), PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: He made a good speech. I think he expressed a serious concern shared not only by him but by many Americans.
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KINKADE: Mr. Biden met Friday with Ireland's prime minister. The White House says they emphasized their shared view for a two-state solution in the Middle East. After the meeting, the Irish leader expressed his concern about U.S. weapons being used in Gaza.
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LEO VARADKAR, IRISH PRIME MINISTER: The president was very clear that the U.S. would continue to support Israel, to assist Israel to defend itself. So I don't think that's going to change. What I think, none of us like to see American weapons being used in the way they are, the way they're being used at the moment is not self-defense.
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(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) KINKADE: Joining me now is Jonah Blank, a senior political scientist at Rand Corporation, a non-profit global policy think tank, research institute and public sector consulting firm. He also advised then- senator Joe Biden on issues concerning South and Southeast Asia, as well as the Middle East.
Jonah, good to have you with us.
JONAH BLANK, SENIOR POLITICAL SCIENTIST, RAND CORPORATION: Thank you for having me.
KINKADE: The U.S. president and the Israeli prime minister seemed at odds over the situation in Gaza right now, Joe Biden, literally looking at ways to go around the prime minister to get aid into Gaza.
How would you describe this conundrum?
BLANK: Well, I think that the goals of President Biden and prime minister Netanyahu are fundamentally at odds. President Biden is trying to, at a bare minimum, make life better for the Palestinians in general.
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In particular, for the civilians in Gaza and trying to persuade Netanyahu to pull back from his harsh invasion.
Netanyahu, in my judgment, is really just looking to stay in power. And he is so beholden to his right-wing allies that he just has no way of moving out of the very harshest policies that he could possibly concoct.
KINKADE: Jonah, the U.S. has leverage. It sends billions of dollars to Israel every year. The intercept (ph) estimates that the total aid the U.S. will be giving to Israel in 2023 and early 2024 will be about $18 billion. That's the $3.8 billion that the U.S. typically sounds, plus about $14.5 billion in supplemental aid, already passed by the House.
No doubt will be passed by the Senate. You write in "Foreign Affairs," that getting tough with Israel might be politically toxic for Joe Biden but getting tough with Netanyahu is not. Just explain that for us.
BLANK: Sure. Traditionally in American politics, there are very few things that Democrats and Republicans agree on and aid to Israel is one of them. Until this year really it was almost unthinkable for any American politician to come out really strongly against aid for Israel.
However, Netanyahu has proven himself so extreme. The fact that we have 31,000 casualties, deaths in Gaza so far has really changed that equation. So a large portion of the Democratic Party is now quite willing to get tough with the current policy in Israel.
The Senate majority leader, Chuck Schumer, a stalwart defender of Israel for his whole career, just came out with a big speech on this. So getting tough with the Israeli people or government is still difficult but getting tough with Netanyahu may well be something that is now politically possible.
KINKADE: And politically speaking, I have to ask you how this is going to affect Joe Biden in the upcoming election and the latest opinion polls show he has a very small lead against Donald Trump.
And it seems likely that his support of the war against Hamas is it always with how people, especially young voters and Muslim voters think, right?
BLANK: That is right. There is a lot of discontent in the United States as a whole but particularly among Democrats upon whom Joe Biden really needs to rely for any hope of victory, not just Arab Americans and Muslim voters but progressives, young voters, anyone who really, who cares about human rights.
And the margin of victory that Joe Biden had in key swing states in 2020 is, in many cases, smaller than the number of these voters in each of these states, states like Michigan, like Georgia, Wisconsin, Arizona, Pennsylvania.
So Joe Biden has a really tough needle to thread. President Biden has to keep traditional supporters of Israel while avoid losing this base coalition that is profoundly alienated by Netanyahu's policies.
KINKADE: Yes, you make an interesting point. Jonah Blank, we appreciate your time. Thanks so much.
BLANK: Thank you for having me.
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KINKADE: Turning to Donald Trump's Georgia election subversion case now and Fulton County district attorney Fani Willis has accepted her lead prosecutor's resignation while praising his courage for taking on the case.
Nathan Wade's departure comes after the presiding judge ruled that either Willis or Wade must exit the trial for it to overcome a, quote, "cloud of impropriety" created by their romantic relationship.
Wade says he is stepping down to move the case forward as quickly as possible. Parties face a March 25th deadline to appeal the judge's ruling.
In New York, the judge in Mr. Trump's hush money criminal case is delaying that trial, further complicating the former president's legal calendar. CNN's Evan Perez has more from Washington.
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EVAN PEREZ, CNN SR. JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: The judge overseeing Donald Trump's criminal hush money trial in Manhattan is delaying the start of the trial while he resolves a dispute over tens of thousands of documents returned over in recent weeks to the defense. The trial was set to begin on March 25th and Judge Juan Merchan's
order on for a 30 D-Day delay throws more uncertainty into the legal calendar for the former president. The judge didn't set a new trial date but it's now unlikely to start before mid April.
The announcement follows a dispute between the Manhattan district attorney Alvin Bragg's office and Trump's legal team.
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Over tens of thousands of documents that were turned over this month by federal prosecutors in New York's Southern District. Now, a March 25th hearing will deal with the documents turned over this month as well as Trump's effort to dismiss the case and to sanction Bragg's office over the defense claims of delays in receiving potentially exculpatory information.
Judge Merchan wrote, "There are significant questions of fact which this court must resolve before it may rule on the defendant's motion." Merchan ordered parties, namely Trump, to avoid scheduling any commitments would compete with a new trial timeline that was based on this new 30-day delay -- Evan Perez, CNN, Washington.
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KINKADE: Former U.S. vice president Mike Pence says he won't endorse Donald Trump in the upcoming presidential election. He didn't say who he would vote for now that Trump is the presumptive Republican nominee. Pence did make it clear he wouldn't vote for Joe Biden and suggested that he wouldn't back a third party candidate, either.
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MIKE PENCE, FORMER VICE PRESDIENT: Donald Trump is pursuing and articulating an agenda that is at odds with the conservative agenda that we governed on during our four years. And that's why I cannot in good conscience endorse Donald Trump in this campaign.
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KINKADE: After Pence ended his own presidential bid in October, Trump accused him of being disloyal for not then endorsing him in the primaries.
Devastating scenes of destruction in the U.S. after tornadoes and severe storms tore across the Midwest. At least three people were killed, dozens more left injured.
CNN spoke with one survivor, who was washing dishes inside a now obliterated Taco Bell when the tornado hit. Have a listen to how his quick thinking saved his life when disaster struck.
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ANDY DAY, TORNADO SURVIVOR: -- walk-in cooler, I turned around and started holding the freezer door. And then it just started shaking and it blew me back about 15 feet from there to about right there, in that debris.
And then I just held onto whatever I could grab a hold of and held us down. She was screaming: "Oh, my God, Andy." And I was like: "Just hold on. That's all we can do."
WHITNEY WILD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: What were you thinking in that moment?
DAY: Just hold on.
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DAY: That's all you could think. I mean, it was a lot quicker than you think. It was about five seconds and it -- the worst of it was over.
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KINKADE: Well, Ohio governor Mike DeWine visited one of the harder hit counties Friday, saying nothing prepared him for the tremendous damage he witnessed.
Survey teams from the U.S. National Weather Service are combing through the aftermath of the severe storms across Indiana and Ohio, finding evidence of stronger tornadoes. And in southern Texas and parts of the U.S. Gulf Coast are facing the threat of flash flooding and severe weather this weekend.
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KINKADE: For more information about how you can help the victims of the Midwest tornadoes, go cnn.com/impact.
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Russian leader Vladimir Putin is pretty much certain to win the ongoing presidential election. But some voters are going out of their way to stage defiant acts of protest at the polls. We will have that story ahead.
Plus a spike in violence in Haiti as police search for a powerful gang leader.
And the U.N. warns of a hunger crisis. CNN is on the ground in Haiti and we'll have a report from Port-au-Prince.
And later missing pods and hazardous switches. More history issues for the airline industry amid a spate of recent incidents.
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KINKADE: Welcome back.
There's a major police operation underway in Haiti to find a gang leader known as Barbecue (ph). He's the most prominent figure behind the violence that has devolved into a political and humanitarian crisis.
On Friday, the U.N. World Food Programme says more than 4 million people -- that's about a third of Haitians -- are suffering from acute hunger. The U.N. is calling for urgent action to save the children there.
CNN is the first major news network in Port-au-Prince since the recent gang uprising began. Here's our CNN's David Culver.
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We're going to be flying to Haiti. It's going to take us one hour to get there.
CULVER: The logistics of this trip alone have been incredibly challenging, to say the least.
They're confirming with us something that we've been working on the entire day and that is the landing zone, trying to figure out where we'll touch down amidst a very dire situation in Port-au-Prince.
Gunshots.
Do you hear that?
There it is.
Already hearing gunshots just a few seconds into stepping out of the car after arriving here at Port-au-Prince.
Our pilot said they had been shot at at previous trips and yet they still intend to continue to make these missions as often as they can, not just to bring people in, who like us want to cover this and bring this story to the world, but more importantly, to bring those who are desperate to get out.
It's been a lot of diplomats in particular that have left. But others are on the list. In fact, some of the pilots that we've spoken with say they have lists that are hundreds of people desperate to get out.
Of course that is a luxury. Many of the Haitians don't have that opportunity, nor can they even consider it.
So for them, it's about having to deal with what is a worsening situation with each passing day and hoping that the U.N. or other foreign forces that might be able to bring aid can do that as strategically and quickly as possible -- David Culver, CNN, Port-au- Prince, Haiti.
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KINKADE: As the violence and chaos in Haiti gets worse, U.S. officials are bracing for a surge of boats carrying migrants along the Florida coastline. Law enforcement agencies are on alert. A Marine and aviation units are increasing patrols in the area.
A local sheriff's department says it's receiving daily intelligence bulletins that Haitian migrants are waiting for opportunities to enter the U.S. by sea.
After 13 years of civil war in Syria, millions of children there are in dire need of humanitarian assistance. UNICEF says hundreds of thousands of children are suffering from physical and mental trauma brought on by the violence, economic crisis and disease outbreaks.
Young lives have also been shattered by the earthquakes that devastated the country last year. Close to 2.5 million children are not in school. And more than 650,000 under the age of 5 are chronically malnourished.
A United Airlines flight with 145 people on board landed safely in Oregon Friday, even though the plane was missing an external panel. The airline said the missing part was on the bottom of the fuselage under the wing.
United says it discovered that only after the plane landed. The crew never declared an emergency and there was no indication of damage during the flight. An investigation is underway.
And the company says the aircraft was a Boeing 737-800. It's an older plane, not the 737 MAX planes that have been in the news lately.
United has had a string of recent incidents, including one flight that was forced to return to Sydney, Australia, after a maintenance issue. And in another, an engine caught fire midair after it ingested bubble wrap while a different flight lost a tire during take-off.
Trouble with Boeing planes impacted American Airlines too. The airline told its pilots it's identified a potential hazard with switches that control the movement of pilots' seats in the Boeing 787.
The warning comes after Boeing sent out its own alert to airlines, informing them of, quote, "unintended seat movement." One pilot spoke to CNN about the switches and their position in the cockpit.
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CAPT. THOMAS STEVENS, RETIRED BOEING 787 PILOT: Well, in all the times I've used that switch, it's entering the cockpit, it's to gain access to the seat more easily, it's placed where one can activate it, move the seat backward.
And then that allows for enough room to get in the seat. And then that's the last time that that switch is used. After that, there are switches down closer to one seat that moves the switch forward. And since it's a guarded switch one all need do is lift the switch and
activate it and it moves the seat back and then the cover closes. And then after, that it's no longer in use and at no time did it ever seem like it would be a problem for us. And it would be very difficult to accidentally raise that guard and activate the switch.
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KINKADE: The Federal Aviation Administration says its safety experts will review Boeing's alert and the switches in pilot seats.
Well, the second day of a presidential election is underway across Russia. But as voters head to the polls, some of them try to send a message to Vladimir Putin. We'll have that story ahead.
Plus Ukraine says a Russian missile strike was the deadliest attack on Odessa since the war began. Details and what made it so devastating -- next.
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KINKADE: Welcome back to viewers in the United States and around the world. I'm Lynda Kinkade, this is CNN NEWSROOM. Good to have you with us.
We're getting word of a new Ukrainian drone strike on a Russian oil refinery. Local officials say the facility in the Samar (ph) region caught fire Saturday but there are no casualties. Ukraine has struck at least three other Russian refineries this week.
It comes as Russia's presidential election is underway across the country for a second straight day. President Vladimir Putin is expected to coast to victory and win a fifth term. Many opposition leaders are either dead, jailed, exiled or banned from running.
Some Russian voters still staging small acts of defiance. Video showing them pouring dye into ballot boxes or even trying to set fires at polling stations. But for more, Sebastian Shukla joins us from London.
Good to have you with us Seb. So this is the second day of polling.
Given how many opponents were denied the chance to enter this race, how many people are coming out to vote?
SEBASTIAN SHUKLA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Lynda, the crucial thing that we'll be looking out for is what that turnout number will be.
[05:30:00] Given the situation in Russia and the war and the war economy that President Putin has flipped his country to being into becoming will be the thing to look out for as he looks to restamp his authority on the election.
And obviously, Lynda, that goes without saying he has to win first. And as you said, this is the second day, day two of three of voting, which has been going on across Russia. It began in the Kamchatka peninsula out, way out in Russia's Pacific coast and will end on Sunday night with the final ballots closing at around 08:00 pm local time.
And then we will start to see exactly what the results and outcome may be. I want you to take a listen to what Dmitry Polyanskiy, the Russian ambassador at the U.N., had to say about the elections.
over those with somebody.
DMITRY POLYANSKIY, RUSSIAN FIRST DEPUTY PERMANENT REPRESENTATIVE TO THE U.N. (through translator): I call on all my fellow citizens in these three days to go to the polls and to participate to make their free choice.
But our foes and those who are envious arrive in their infinite rage. Our cause is righteous and we will triumph.
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SHUKLA: President Putin knows obviously the front-runner here and there are other candidates standing for other parties. President Putin himself stands as an independent but is backed by his former party, which is known as United Russia.
The other candidates though are without -- calling a spade, a spade -- are generally pro Putin themselves and they are also anti-war, which, as I said, is crucial in these elections. So, Lynda, we will have to wait and see exactly what the outcome is to be able to say definitively who wins. But we won't really hear that until Sunday. Lynda.
KINKADE: Yes, we won't here that but the outcome is pretty much known. Putin certainly on track to be the longest leader, have the longest reign since dictator Joseph Stalin, another six-year term.
Of course, his war in Ukraine is seeing huge losses. Hundreds of thousands of Russians estimated to have died in the battlefield.
Are people having to vote in occupied territory?
SHUKLA: Yes. Lynda, the four occupied regions of Ukraine, Kherson, Zaporizhzhya, Donetsk and Luhansk, of which that battle line intersects all of those regions in differing amounts, are allowed to vote in this election and are being encouraged to vote.
Polling and voting opened 10 days earlier than the start of the official election campaign in the Russian mainland for those citizens. And the 4.5 million of them roughly, who, who still live there, are allowed to vote.
And the Russian state has been going on an ambition -- an ambitious project to try to get these people to take Russian citizenship and passports. But the central election committee, which extensively runs the elections in Russia, has said that, if you are a Ukrainian and you have a Ukrainian passport, you are allowed to vote in this election.
Now crucially though we don't have any election observers, they're independent election observers there to be able to tell us what's going on. And so the thing that we will be looking out for is where exactly will President Putin make his final or first appearance as the newly elected or anointed Russian prime -- president.
When he did it in 2018, the first place he went was the other illegally annexed territory. That was Crimea.
KINKADE: All right. We'll be watching it closely. Thanks so much, Sebastian Shukla, there.
Ukraine says a Russian missile strike on Odessa Friday was the deadliest attack on the city since the war began. It killed at least 20 people and wounded more than 70. Ukraine's president says Russia used two missiles in what's known as a double tap attack, firing one missile to cause the initial casualties and destruction.
And then when first responders rushed to the scene, they struck again. Volodymyr Zelenskyy called it a despicable act of cowardice that would not go unanswered.
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VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY, UKRAINIAN PRESIDENT (through translator): Russian defense forces will certainly do everything to ensure that the Russian killers feel our fair response.
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KINKADE: Russia's military is claiming a significant attack on Ukrainian forces Russia's deputy army chief said, during a defense meeting few hours ago, that a single one of its airstrikes had killed up to 300 Ukrainian soldiers.
Officials say the device used was a 1.5 ton thermobaric bomb. The army chief did not say where or when the attack happened. And CNN can't verify that claim.
Joining me now live from Kyiv is Ukraine's format defense minister, Andriy Zagorodnyuk.
Good to have you with us.
ANDRIY ZAGORODNYUK, CHAIRMAN, CENTER FOR DEFENSE STRATEGIES: Thank you
KINKADE: So one U.S. official says Ukraine has months left on the battlefield, given a lack of ammunition.
Is that a fair assessment?
ZAGORODNYUK: That basically depends what that person thinks about the -- about the prospects of us receiving the weapons.
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Because we have quite strong coalition right now, including Europeans and Britain and some other countries who are helping us to get the weapons while United States cannot provide the assistance it promised.
So basically, I don't think we -- I don't think situation is as desperate it is. Ukraine is going to fight regardless of words. And there's absolutely no, no intention of Ukrainian forces to back down because, basically, we don't have plan B. We need to defend our country and we need to -- we need to stand regardless of the circumstances.
KINKADE: It was interesting to se some data released on Friday by Kyiv's military, saying that Russian forces in Ukraine have lost more than 3,000 soldiers since March 10th. That seems incredibly high.
How does Ukraine's military verify that figure or estimate that loss?
ZAGORODNYUK: Well, there is a process. There's a video. There is various different intelligence analysis about the -- about the situation on the battlefield. It is actually one of the most transparent wars. Actually it is the most transparent war in the history of humankind.
So we have all kinds of ways to support the data. Importantly, these data are verified and supported by NATO forces, by independent observers, by journalists and by key governments. That includes United States and United Kingdom.
So generally speaking, they're all on the same page about the rate of casualties from the Russian side.
KINKADE: And from the Russian side, the deputy army chief said a volumetric detonation bomb was used in an airstrike that was said to have killed up to 300 Ukrainian soldiers.
Do you have any information about that?
ZAGORODNYUK: No, we'll see to that. This is a claim. We have seen lots of claims of Russians throughout this whole period of time. I would rather not comment Russian claims until we have any independent verification.
KINKADE: So you haven't heard of any major attack in Ukraine that would warrant those figures being put out by Russia?
ZAGORODNYUK: Ukraine is attacked on that sort of hourly basis by Russians on tens of different locations. So we have like extremely intense war right now as we speak so. We don't -- we have a position of not commenting on Russian claims until we have any independent verification. Because, otherwise, they're going to send those kind of stories on an
information space on a minute by minute basis. We just decided that we are verifying and on, after that, we are commenting.
KINKADE: Fair enough.
I have to ask you, how would you describe the so-called double-tap attack that Russia carried out in Odessa, striking and then striking again when paramedics got to the scene?
ZAGORODNYUK: Well, this is what we've seen sometimes in terrorist attacks around the world with -- this is not a new. People who are starting terrorism, they know this tactic very well for years, for actually decades.
And it's extremely brutal and extremely, I don't know, cynical, if this is the right word, because, indeed this is -- this is attack about the people who rush to help.
So what happened is that Russian sent a ballistic missile to the residential, purely residential location. There's nothing military around that area. And people start to rush to help, start to try to save people, try to get wounded people.
Ambulances came, rescue workers came, they started to work on this, on debris and so on and rubble. And then suddenly, the new rocket came and just -- and killed lots of these people. So, yes, it's just unspeakable.
And the question is that, why do you do that, generally speaking?
So if there's no military value, what is the purpose of that attack?
The only -- the only explanation is exactly same as terrorists, is to instigate the fear. So basically just people are fearing and people don't want to fight. And people, I like saying, OK, let's just give up.
And so that's not happening with Ukraine because, first of all, we've been through this many times, not with double attacks but with the other attacks. But generally, that's not going to work.
And the only thing is that we need to get back to the point of legal clarification of what Russia is doing because we've been talking about Russia as a terror state for a long, long time but it's still being ignored by international community.
There's a discussion about like getting the war done and then we'll have legal qualifications. But you see what what's happening. I think we should be very clear about qualifying Russian regime in this respect.
KINKADE: Yes. Fair enough. Andriy Zagorodnyuk, good to have you with us. We appreciate your time. Thank you. And we wish you all the best.
ZAGORODNYUK: Thank you. KINKADE: The royal photo controversy does not seem to be going away.
Still ahead, how the issue seems to be overshadowing efforts by the British royals to get on with their duties and opportunities.
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KINKADE: The public scrutiny is not dying down after an edited photo of the Princess of Wales and her three children was released last week. The royal family is trying to get back to business. But the issue keeps grabbing the headlines. CNN's Isa Soares is in London with more.
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ISA SOARES, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): A new business venture and a social media comeback for the Duchess of Sussex.
After a six-year absence from Instagram, Meghan has launched American Riviera Orchard. Little is known about the brand but the timing of the announcement is raising eyebrows here in the U.K.
Across the Atlantic, on the very same day, Prince William honored the legacy of his mother, Princess Diana, at an awards ceremony. His brother and Meghan's husband, Prince Harry, joined live via video link and thanked those working for keeping her memory alive.
Despite the warm messages, the event was overshadowed by the relentless saga surrounding the Princess of Wales.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's the question that has taken over the internet. Where is Kate Middleton?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Everyone is still talking about this picture.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Wherever you stand on Katespiracy, there's no doubting its impact on the reputation of the British royal family.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They really, really messed up.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They really have messed up.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They have messed up, yes.
SOARES (voice-over): Which has been swirling in the media and amid the public for nearly a week. It all started with this photo to mark Mother's Day in the U.K. meant to calm fevered speculation over her health but in the end, only made things worse.
The image, put out by Kensington Palace, is the first glimpse of Princess Catherine since her last public appearance on Christmas Day. The only problem, it had been edited.
By the end of the day, major international news agencies had withdrawn the image.
[05:45:00]
Citing manipulation concerns, including the French-based AFP, where Eric Baradat is a photo director.
ERIC BARADAT, AFP PHOTO DIRECTOR: Everybody started at, you know, enlarging, zooming in the picture and noticing straight away that something was wrong. And after a few hours, all agencies in London decided to pull the pictures together.
SOARES (voice-over): With the palace in damage control, the princess issued an apology on social media saying, "Like many amateur photographers, I do occasionally experiment with editing. I wanted to express my apologies for any confusion the family photograph we shared yesterday caused."
She was spotted briefly on Monday alongside her husband, William, in the car leaving Windsor for a private appointment. But AFP's photo director, says her doctor photo raises serious questions about trust and transparency.
SOARES: You thought you were tricked. Did you feel you were tricked?
BARADAT: Yes. Our position now will be that every image still image coming out of Kensington Palace will clearly be scrutinized very thoroughly before we decide to put it out to our subscribers around the world.
SOARES: It's often said that the royal family has to be seen to be believed. But when you don't believe what you see, then a whole host of conspiracy theories start swirling online.
I did a search for Kate Middleton photos you can see here and there are so many just circling right now on social media from the insensitive to the outright outlandish.
SOARES (voice-over): Still, some in the British public believe Kate has a right to privacy.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There's a lot bigger issues to worry about in the world, really but people just leave her alone.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's blown out of all proportion. She did a little couple of tweaks at home. End of story.
SOARES (voice-over): Blown out of proportion or not, one thing is clear. With King Charles' ongoing cancer treatment and the mystery around Kate's health, the royal family is dealing with a PR battle on several fronts -- Isa Soares, CNN, London.
(END VIDEOTAPE) KINKADE: I talked with CNN royal historian Kate Williams last hour about the intense focus on the photo controversy and the widespread speculation about the Princess of Wales' whereabouts since her surgery.
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KATE WILLIAMS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Essentially, as soon as we were told in early January, that Kate was going into hospital that she will be in hospital for two weeks and wouldn't be seen until after Easter.
What the palace needed then to do was issue a few updates, a little message, perhaps some Kate saying thank you for the lovely get well soon cards, maybe perhaps a photo and a card as we saw as damage limit, which I completely think the car photo on Monday was a set-up, a little bit of damage limitation.
Instead, there was nothing, radio silence, which was a complete contrast to what we saw with the king. There was messages from the king, even though he's undergoing cancer treatment.
And into that radio silence, into that vacuum rushed all these conspiracy theories. I mean, some of them, I've never seen anything so extreme in terms of what these conspiracy theories were. And it became an international story.
And then the photo, well, royals always Photoshop their pictures. Henry VIII, he Photoshopped all his pictures. One of my favorite Henry VIII pictures, portraits, has Henry the VIII aged 40 next to his daughter, who -- he died -- he died when she was 12 but she's in the pictures. He's 55. And I love that picture.
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WILLIAMS: And even in the Christmas photo, Louis had a missing finder and there was a spare foot. But this photo was very doctored. And then it comes at a time when everyone's panicking that Kate's disappeared, that may be something bad has gone on. A Spanish journalist said she was in a coma. There've been all kinds of drama.
And the drama has just increased.
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KINKADE: Our thanks to Kate Williams.
Coming up on CNN NEWSROOM, a neck massage on the 14th tee. That sounds right, doesn't it? "CNN SPORT's" Andy Scholes joins me next to look this viral moment golf's world number one is having.
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KINKADE: Welcome back.
It is a magical time for college basketball fans. The conference tournaments are in full swing, all leading up to Selection Sunday for March Madness, "CNN SPORT's" Andy Scholes joins me now.
It has been a week of excitement.
ANDY SCHOLES, CNN SPORT CORRESPONDENT: Yes. Nothing matches the emotions of March Madness. No matter what, every single year, we get buzzer beaters. And for some, heartbreak in NC State. They need to win the ACC Tournament in order to make the Big Dance. And it wasn't looking good.
Virginia at the line with the chance to go up four and win the game with six seconds left. But Isaac McKneely missed that free throw. Michael O'Connell brings it up, throws up a prayer, a buzzer and that prayer was answered. It somehow banked.
And so we would go to overtime and the Wolfpack, taking advantage of the second chance. They'd outscore Virginia 15-7 in the extra period to get the win, 73-65, the 10th seeded Wolfpack will now face North Carolina tonight, the ACC championship game. They're a win from an epic five wins in five days to make the NCAA Tournament.
Remember the Peacocks? Saint Peter's is now one win away from making the NCAA tournament field again. They were tied with Quinnipiac, time winding down. Mouhamed Sou comes up with a rebound then put back here to win the game at the buzzer.
Players just go absolutely nuts. This is the second time in three seasons Saint Peter's has made it to the MAAC championship. Last time was in 2022 when they made that incredible run all the way to the Elite Eight in the Big Dance.
The buzzer beaters weren't limited to college basketball on Friday night. Check out Pelicans star Zion Williamson in the end of the third quarter against the Clippers, takes this inbound pass and then he's just going to sprint down the court in 3.5 seconds, finished off a layup before the buzzer sounded.
Zion finished with a game high 34 points and a 112-104 win. New Orleans now just two games behind the Clippers for the number four seed In the Western Conference.
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Spurs And Nuggets meanwhile, they're playing at Austin, Texas, last night. They played in front of a sellout crowd of more than 16,000 at the Moody Center where the Texas Longhorns normally play.
Now despite the sell-out, Denver head coach, Mike Malone, he said the game had a preseason type feel to it since they were in a city in an arena that doesn't normally host NBA games. Victor Wembanyama, though he gave the fans, there something to cheer about near the end. Look at this huge put back slam.
But Nikola Jokic scored 31. Nuggets adjusted just fine to the arena. They would win 117-106.
Finally not even a neck injury could keep golf's world number one, Scottie Scheffler, from staying in contention at the Players Championship. The defending champ received a midground neck massage from a physical therapist, hoping he could get it stretched out.
And Scheffler, he managed to fight through that pain to shoot a 3 under 69. He'll start Saturday's third round at eight under, six strokes behind leader Wyndham Clark.
My neck is a little sore from a workout yesterday. I would love if we could just get a massage therapist in here for me, because --
KINKADE: I need one, too. And I'm telling you how, how good would our shows be if we had a midshow --
SCHOLES: Commercial breaks, you know, we've got time.
KINKADE: What about those five-minute angels?
Do they still exist?
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SCHOLES: Oh, man.
KINKADE: That is what I need. Andy Scholes, good to see you as always, have a great weekend.
And that wraps this hour of CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Lynda Kinkade. Hopefully I'll get a massage at some point this week. For viewers in North America, "CNN THIS MORNING" is coming up next. For the rest of the world, it's "AFRICAN VOICES: CHANGEMAKERS."
