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CNN International: NATO Foreign Ministers Meeting Focuses On Ukraine; Deadly 7.4-Magnitude Earthquake Hits Taiwan; Family Members Of Hostages Storm Knesset's Gallery. Aired 11a-12p ET

Aired April 03, 2024 - 11:00   ET

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

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[11:00:34]

RAHEL SOLOMON, CNN INTERNATIONAL HOST: Good morning or good evening, depending on where you're watching. I'm Rahel Solomon live in New York.

Dramatic pictures from Taiwan where rescue efforts are underway after a massive earthquake hit the island. Plus, NATO foreign ministers are meeting right now in Brussels. What this could mean for the future of Ukraine? And we are less than a week away from a total solar eclipse in North America. Let's see how eclipse mania has taken over.

Well, we want to begin with America's top diplomat attending a meeting of NATO foreign ministers, but his trip to Brussels started out rocky. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and the U.S. delegation had to drive from Paris because of a mechanical issue with his Boeing aircraft. Meanwhile, as Ukraine remains under Russian attack, NATO Secretary General is vowing that Ukraine will join the alliance. Jens Stoltenberg says that it's a question of when, not if, and he says that the alliance needs to give Kyiv a commitment to ongoing support.

Let's welcome in our International Diplomatic Editor Nic Robertson, who is tracking the story. He joins us live from London. Nic, always good to see you. Talk to us a little bit about some of the takeaways of what's been accomplished thus far for Ukraine.

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: Yeah. We've just heard from Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg speaking after meeting with the foreign ministers. The big takeaway, he says, is that they've agreed to move forward on the planning for security for NATO to have a better involvement in the security assistance, planning and training for Ukraine. Now, this kind of fits into the picture that we were hearing before, which was $100 billion commitment over four years. And he was asked about over five years, and he was asked specifically about that financial commitment. And he said, look, we're working out the details. I'm not going to get into those details, to the journalists that asked that question. You've been briefed, he said, but not by me. So, no numbers, no timeframe, no specifics.

But, this is sort of what we were expecting, because this is the foreign ministers meeting, and really what it does is push ahead to when the big final decision and the big final communique will come out when the actual leaders, the NATO member nation leaders, all 32 of them meet in Washington later this year. And this is what he is indicating that the plans are still moving forward for this mechanism that he says must change because until now all those sort of partner nations in NATO, 32 of them now, have been contributing from previous and existing stockpiles, and what is required now, those stockpiles have rundown. Ukraine needs more.

In fact, Stoltenberg said, and probably not for the first time, he said Ukrainians are not running out of courage, because he commended their courage, they're running out of ammunition. And this is what that plan does. It tells armaments manufacturers, yes, you can go ahead and ramp up production. There is a commitment from governments, and yes to Ukraine. You can plan to be having x number of artillery shells on your frontline if you want to have a counteroffensive next year, because we'll put them into production. You can count on that. That's the plan. That's the picture. That's the vision and the details. The devil is in it. Still to be worked out.

SOLOMON: And Nic, any sense of the response from perhaps some of the other NATO members about this type of proposal?

ROBERTSON: Look, I mean, when you look across the NATO member nations, you see Hungary. Right? They were on a holdout when the European Union was trying to make a big financial package for Ukraine. They have been holdouts on a number of issues in the past, particularly when it comes to giving military support. Some of the difficulties here, and this is what the big plan would be aimed at doing, which is what they call sharing the load, the financial load, the military load, of doing this. Some countries feel they've done more than others. The Baltic States, the Scandinavian nations, the Nordic nations, tend to have done quite a lot. Perhaps some in southern Europe haven't done as much, and others in the center of Europe think they've done a lot and their neighbors think not so much.

So, by getting this plan, you would then share that burden, that financial burden, the production burden, the organization of it in a much more formalized and agreed way that can make everyone happy. But, to make everyone happy, you've got to get commitments and they've got to balance against these nations' interests and what they've already committed.

[11:05:00]

So, that's -- that will be the difficult part, and some nations quite simply would drag their feet.

SOLOMON: Fascinating. OK. Nic Robertson live for us there in London. Nic, thanks so much.

And we are also following recovery efforts in Taiwan after a massive earthquake hit the island. Drivers stopped on highways and bridges as roads started shaking during the morning commute, as you can see in this video here. Taiwan's fire agency reports that the death toll stands at, at least nine people, with injuries nearing 1,000. The 7.4 quake toppled buildings and triggered this landslide on the island's eastern coast.

Joining us now from Taipei is CNN's Ivan Watson. Ivan, give us a sense based on what you know, what you've been able to see, and what you've been able to witness on the ground there.

IVAN WATSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Right. Well, I think what is surprising is that people here are very accustomed to earthquakes, but this alarmed residents of Taiwan. It was around eight o'clock this morning. And Taipei, the capital, is about 160 kilometers away from the epicenter. And yet, my colleagues behind the camera, one of them shaken awake in bed and ran to hold the books up on his bookshelves, and another one ran to hold on to his children. And there was crockery that was shattering. A frightening moment for people who are accustomed to this.

Meanwhile, the epicenter is in this kind of rugged, remote mountainous area on the eastern coast called Hualien. That's a popular area for tourists who go there for the typography. But, that makes them all the more vulnerable when you have a historically powerful earthquake. So, the roads south from here to there have been cut off by landslides and ambulant and avalanches. Some of the nine people killed around, they're hit by falling rocks. There are buildings that have collapsed there, though, we've heard about successful rescues of people from some of those buildings in the town itself of Hualien, also from some of the highway tunnels that had been carved through mountains to reach that area. There were dozens of people trapped in different highway tunnels. They've been largely successfully rescued.

But, the authorities say there are still around 130 people -- 140 people that they're trying to rescue. We do not know what the circumstances are for those individuals. As you pointed out, more than 900 people injured as a result of this disaster. And then, there is the fact, the real frightening factor of the aftershocks that are still shaking Taipei here, as well as the epicenter area. The Taiwanese authorities are warning that this could continue for three to four more days, and you could have aftershocks as powerful as six and seven magnitude. Meanwhile, the U.S. Geological Survey, they have detected at least 29 aftershocks in the 12 hours after the initial quake, some of them as powerful as six and five magnitude. Back to you.

SOLOMON: Yeah. So, clearly the concern is still there, as we watch these really stunning videos there. Ivan Watson live for us in Taipei. Ivan, thanks so much.

And for more now on the earthquake, CNN's Hanako Montgomery reports.

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HANAKO MONTGOMERY, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Morning commuters in Taiwan shaken by strong tremors, drivers stopped on highways and bridges, live broadcasts interrupted and people ducking for cover, as a 7.4-magnitude earthquake struck the island around 8 a.m. Wednesday. All the things fell off. Everything damaged. It was the strongest earthquake to hit the island in 25 years, Taiwan's weather agency says. It was very strong. It felt as if the house was going to topple. It prompted tsunami warnings in Taiwan, Japan and the Philippines, which were later lifted, its epicenter near the tourist city of Hualien on the island's eastern coast.

Social media video shows the moment it triggered a massive landslide, with dust clouds swallowing a road. This multi-storey building partially collapsing, as scooters and motorbikes watched from a distance. Around 100 buildings have been damaged. Rescuers racing to save people trapped, including dozens in tunnels blocked by debris. Wednesday's quake is the strongest to hit Taiwan since 1999, when a powerful 7.7-magnitude quake struck, killing more than 2,000 people. Authorities said Wednesday the military has been deployed to help with the aftermath. President Tsai has asked her administration to work with local governments on assistance.

TSAI ING-WEN, TAIWAN PRESIDENT (Interpreted): I would like to ask you to continue to pay close attention to the situation in various places and initiate various contingency measures to protect the safety of the people.

[11:10:00]

MONTGOMERY (voice-over): Many now find themselves in darkness, navigating the ruins of their homes, and bracing for the relentless aftershocks.

Hanako Montgomery, CNN, Tokyo.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SOLOMON: All right. To Israel now where Israel's military says that an attack that killed seven aid workers in Gaza was quote "a mistake" that followed a misidentification. It is apologizing as the word learns new details about the victims and how they died. World Central Kitchen has released the names of all seven, one Palestinian and six foreigners, saying that they are quote "not faceless or nameless and not generic aid workers or collateral damage of war." Now, CNN has geo located video from Monday's attack, finding that there were repeated strikes on the convoy. Despite prior coordination with the IDF, three vehicles were hit over a span of more than two kilometers. It's more than a mile apart.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is facing a storm of international criticism over this attack, but also growing criticism at home over his government's failure to bring back all of the remaining hostages in Gaza. The family members of the hostages disrupting parliament today, storming the public gallery.

Let's bring in CNN's Melissa Bell, who is in Jerusalem for more. Melissa, you are at the protests, as we can hear behind you. Talk to us a little bit more about what's happening.

MELISSA BELL, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Rahel, this is really a handful of people who are making a lot of noise because they have a megaphone, but this is really the end of what had been planned for four days of protests. And what we saw were many, thousands of people take to the streets on several nights in a row. Tents were set up. They've now been dismantled. The idea of this protest was to stay here, just outside the Knesset, until today because the protests were aimed, Rahel, at saying to the politicians who go off on their spring recess for several weeks this afternoon, don't go and not while our loved ones are still in captivity.

In fact, what we saw are some family of the hostages (inaudible) the public viewing area of the Knesset there with yellow painted on their hands to urge the politicians not to go, with some of the opposition politicians joining in their chants. There is a great deal of anger and much of it has been expressed by family members of those who are still inside the Gaza Strip. We saw it again last night. There were thousands here outside the Knesset, again, Rahel.

And what we saw were very angry scenes where some of those family members actually managed to make their way towards the residence of Benjamin Netanyahu, the residence also of the Israeli President, with really angry scenes between the police and the protesters, and this morning, Benny Gantz, one of the wartime cabinet members, urging unity after the extraordinary scenes that we've seen in these last few days, Rahel.

SOLOMON: And also, what about the Israeli strike that killed the seven aid workers? What more are we learning about the fallout from that?

BELL: Well, much more details, first of all, of course, about the aid workers themselves where they were from, the fact, for instance, Rahel, that the three British aid workers were part of the security team that were traveling with the aid workers. They knew well the dangers. We've been hearing from their family members. And yet, they chose to go towards danger. These workers rather than shy away from any part of the world, that this horrible strike and this tragedy only reminds us of its dangers.

And I think what you've seen as well is the Israeli military, the Israeli officials as well taking this extremely serious in the face of that international condemnation and outrage that's been so clearly expressed, not just by the family members and other people from the world of humanitarian care, but also from the American President, really a very strong language describing his outrage and his heartbreak. And I think in some of the most pointed language that we've seen on the part of the American President, an important reminder of the growing frustration in Washington at the way this war is being waged, and this is something that we're hearing and seeing in front of the Knesset as well in this country too, Rahel, despite that unity that we saw after the October 7 attacks.

There is a growing anger, disgust, frustration with the fact that this government appears intent on waging this war relentlessly further into Rafah, we hear, to try and take out Hamas every time, linking very closely, it says, the eradication of Hamas with the rescue of the hostage. What these family members and protesters are saying is, look, nearly six months on, more than 130 hostages remain inside Gaza, and they have -- are seeing a dwindling hope that they're ever going to see these hostages come back. Rahel.

SOLOMON: Yeah. As we say -- as you say there, Melissa, as we approach the six-month mark since October 7, certainly a grim milestone for many.

[11:15:00]

Melissa Bell live for us in Jerusalem. Melissa, thank you.

All right. Well, coming up, Florida is on track for a six-week abortion ban. Just ahead, restrictive state laws and the impact on the presidential race. Is abortion a winning issue for either party? Plus, people across the U.S. are finalizing travel fans to see their last total solar eclipse until 2044. We will discuss.

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SOLOMON: Well, happening right now in a U.S. federal appeals court, the battle over how to handle the migrant crisis at the Texas-Mexico border. The court is hearing arguments on controversial state immigration law. The law allows law enforcement in Texas to arrest people suspected of crossing the border into the state illegally, and it gives state judges the power to deport them. Today's hearing will focus on whether the law is constitutional. Now, Donald Trump is making the case that he and only he can fix the immigration crisis in the U.S. Campaigning in the swing state of Michigan on Tuesday, Trump said that the millions of people crossing the border are destroying the country.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP (R), FORMER U.S. PRESIDENT AND 2024 PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: But, I stand before you today to declare the Joe Biden's border bloodbath -- and that's what it is. It's a bloodbath. They tried to use that term incorrectly on me two weeks ago. It's all about misinformation. That's all they do, is cheat on elections and disinformation, misinformation, fairly closely related those two words. But, they basically mean that it's all talk. But, it's a border bloodbath and it's destroying our country. It's a very bad thing happening.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SOLOMON: Now, immigration isn't the only contentious issue in the race for the White House. Abortion is also expected to be a major factor for many voters this November. The Florida Supreme Court brought the issue back to the forefront this week, delivering a ruling that paves the way for a six-week abortion ban to take effect in the state. Now, of course, the precursor to restrictive abortion bans, like the ones in Florida, was the fall of Roe v. Wade. And Trump can claim some responsibility for that. But, is that an asset or is it a liability?

CNN Senior Political Reporter Stephen Collinson has just written about that in his latest piece. He joins me now. Stephen, good to have you. You write in the piece that --

STEPHEN COLLINSON, CNN POLITICS SENIOR REPORTER: Hi.

SOLOMON: -- "His equivocating shows that he knows restrictive abortion policies are deeply unpopular and could weaken his already fragile appeal to suburban and women voters. But he can't quite disown his big win in becoming the Republican President who sent Roe v. Wade crashing down." Stephen, as you lay it -- I mean, as you lay out there, it creates quite the political dilemma for Trump.

COLLINSON: Right. And I think the rather fuzzy statements that Trump has been making show that he really understands that this could be a big issue in the election. Democrats are trying to make it the issue in a lot of these swing states because overturning Roe v. Wade was very unpopular in those areas.

[11:20:00]

And Trump is trying to have it both ways. The building of the conservative Supreme Court majority was one of the greatest achievements by any Republican President in the modern age. So, of course, he wants credit for that. And it's been a glue that's helped him with Republican voters in the primary race, and is one of the reasons why he was able to win so quickly. But, in the more moderate electorate that we see in general elections in states which are going to be decided by a few thousand votes, this could be a very difficult issue. So, he is struggling to come up with a solution as the Biden campaign tries to pin him down.

SOLOMON: Yeah. I mean, to that point, I mean, the Biden campaign is trying to pounce on this, and not just in the presidential election, but Democrats perhaps hoping that this might even get them a Senate seat in Florida.

COLLINSON: Right, and I think that is quite a big danger for Republicans. While Florida in recent elections has been trending towards Republicans and you could argue that Trump's rather equivocating position on abortion might help him out further down the ticket, there is a very competitive Senate race. Rick Scott, the incumbent, only won by less than one percent six years ago. If there is even a small shift against him because of abortion, and he is quite a hardline conservative on abortion, his seat could be in danger. This is really significant because Democrats are defending a lot of vulnerable seats themselves in the Senate, most people think what's most likely to happen is that Democrats lose control to the Senate.

So, if they can put one or two seats on the table, which probably weren't going to be competitive, that's going to help them. And the fact that this abortion constitutional amendment is now going to be on the ballot, it gives them a lot of hope that if they can't necessarily get to the 60 percent they need to enshrine abortion rights in Florida law, they will get so much turnout from Democratic and moderate voters that they could put that Senate seat in play.

SOLOMON: Yeah. Senator Rick Scott's challenger saying that this decision out of the Florida courts there was a game changer.

Stephen, let me ask, Democrats are sort of banking on this being a real mobilizing issue. But, do they run the risk of overplaying their hand here? And what I mean is that there are other issues that seem to be at the very least as important to certain groups. You think about immigration. You think about the economy. There are many issues right now that voters care about. Are Democrats perhaps running the risk of overplaying things right here? What do you think?

COLLINSON: I think that you have to kind of fight the election that's in front of you, if you see what I mean. If you look at polls, abortion is one of the very few issues on which President Joe Biden polls better than former President Donald Trump on issues like immigration, the economy, even foreign policy. Trump tends to do better than the President. So, obviously, Biden has to bring those numbers into a little bit more equal balance. He has to address the issue of the economy. He has been trying to diffuse Trump's advantage on immigration by being willing to accept some rather harsh border measures of his own.

And Biden, of course, has another problem. He has got this issue of the Democratic coalition that helps him win in 2020 not being that engaged. There has been a fall-off among black male voters, for example. A lot of progressives are very upset about the way he has handled the -- Israel's war in Gaza and the toll of casualties among Palestinians. So, Biden has an awful lot of problems. I think one reason why Democrats are interested in pushing abortion so much is it's one of the few areas where they have an advantage.

SOLOMON: Yeah. Super interesting. Stephen Collinson, it was a great piece. We appreciate you coming on today. Thanks, Stephen.

COLLINSON: Thanks.

SOLOMON: All right. Let's discuss this more. I want to bring in today's political panel. Joining me now is Republican Strategist Rina Shah, and former Special Assistant to President Biden, Meghan Hays. Good to see you both ladies.

Meghan, let me start with you and pick up where Stephen left off. They were saying, and I'm paraphrasing here that Biden has a lot of issues, but it doesn't appear that abortion or reproductive rights will be one of them. But, in terms of Florida, do you think Democrats are sort of overplaying how mobilizing this issue could be? What do you think?

MEGHAN HAYS, FORMER SPECIAL ASSISTANT TO PRESIDENT BIDEN: No, I don't think so. I think it's shown in the midterms and in some of these special elections that Democrats have overperformed with the issue of abortion, also that Joe Biden has an extreme advantage with the amount of cash on hand that he has that puts Florida back in play. I think it's a really big opportunity to pick up voters, but it also picked up momentum for him going into some of these other swing states.

SOLOMON: And then, Rina, to that point, I mean, Meghan just mentioned sort of Biden's financial advantage. Trump does not have that advantage, not yet, at least.

[11:25:00]

How much of a challenge does this create for him whereas he might have to start dedicating some resources to Florida, a state where perhaps maybe a month or two ago you would think would go red and win for him the last two presidential elections? So, how much of this creates a challenge for Trump? RINA SHAH, REPUBLICAN STRATEGIST: Not only is that Trump and the RNC going to have to dedicate some resources to Florida, they're going to have to dedicate way more than they expect it to. It's a very expensive state to play in. And every dollar spent there is $1 not spent elsewhere to do the work that's needed in swing states to turn out your voters. So, Republicans have a major problem on their hands, not just the Florida Republican Party itself, which is going to have to deal with districts that are swinging, that are going to become even swing year, but national Republicans now are going to see exactly the same type of life-saving methods that the Republican Governors Association used for Ron DeSantis to just sort of run up the score for him there.

One out of every $4 was spent in Florida by the Republican Governors Association, again, for DeSantis. So, this is a really terrible moment, because not only is the RNC and Trump deficient in cash, they're going to have to redirect that cash and there are going to be states that are mad, and they're going to be national level Republicans who are going to be sounding the alarm.

SOLOMON: Rina, let me stick with you for a moment more. So, Trump wants to call it a six-week ban, a terrible idea. Yesterday on the back of these rulings out of Florida, Trump declined to answer questions on the matter. He said he is going to issue a statement next week. How does he thread the needle here? I mean, is that even possible on this issue?

SHAH: At this point, it's really hard to see how Trump can at all really take an about face on this issue and start to do well on messaging about it. I mean, say for Nikki Haley, who at the national level leadership of Republicans, whether congressional or anywhere else, has properly talked about abortion in an empathetic way, in a way that as, Nikki Haley put it, humanize the issue. And so, it demonized women. I haven't heard it. And you don't even hear too much of that practical argument of, hey, look, the overturn of Roe, all it meant was that we wanted to kick it back to states to determine what was best for their people. You hear that every now and then.

But, the fuzzy messaging for Trump is really a shot in the foot for him. I don't know what he could say now to really instill faith in, again, that independently-minded voter in a swing state that he is the right person to not enact a federal ban if he wins office again.

SOLOMON: Meghan, let me ask, if you're on the Biden campaign and you're waking up this morning, you are looking at the results from some of these primary states where this protest vote continues to be there and state after state. You're looking at this Wall Street Journal reporting that suggests in these battleground states, it is an extremely close race. What is the loudest warning sign that you are -- if you were looking at this morning, looking at these two sorts of events? And what does the Biden campaign do with this?

HAYS: Look, I mean, these are all within the margin of error. I think that the President needs to stick his course. He needs to stick to his messaging. He needs to continue to draw the contrast between him and Donald Trump. There is a lot of freedoms that are being -- that Donald Trump would like to take away from people and he needs -- and the President needs to run on how he wants to protect people's freedoms, whether it be abortion or other different rights.

So, I think that where these are -- these polls are concerning, you can't live and die by the polls, especially a poll that comes out in March, where it's seven months away from the election. It's -- you take note, but it's also -- these are all within the margin of error. And the President then -- the election in November is a long ways away. And like the fact of the matter is, 95 percent of the people have already made up their mind of where they're going to vote. So, the other five percent probably aren't paying attention till late September, early October. So, these polls, they're here, but they're not something to -- we don't need to live and die by them.

SOLOMON: Rina, let me ask, Trump was in Wisconsin last night and had this to say. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: A vote for Trump is a vote to save Wisconsin and is a vote to save your country. This country is finished if we don't win this election. And I heard somebody say it, a scholar say it, two, three days ago, said, if we don't win, this may be the last election our country ever has, and there could be just --

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SOLOMON: So, Rina, we've only seen with what time that his rhetoric has ratcheted up. I'm curious what you think when he says things like this may be the last election our country ever has, maybe it fires up his base. But, should Republicans be worried about language like this, turning off moderates, turning off independents?

SHAH: Republicans should be worried but they're not, and it's obviously evidenced by how they're messaging out to certain communities. Look, in Wisconsin, it's a different set of messaging you have to employ there because you've got Trump lying about a win there for himself. And then he goes even further to try to appeal to sort of the rural Wisconsin knights that essentially have had his back there at all. You look at a lot of that polling out of that state and it shows you that that is a state whose Republicans to me look a lot like my native, West Virginia's Republicans. They're very loyal to Trump. But again, he has a problem there of squeaking by when you're looking at the polling.

[11:30:00]

Again, we shouldn't put too much stock in these polls because the political winds can change at any moment. We also don't know how many of these Republicans would leave him inside if he were to get a conviction in any of these criminal cases that he is facing. So, what I'm seeing right now is the Wisconsin elected elite really pull out all the big guns for Trump. And I just -- I have nothing else to say except for somebody has got to check the former President is live in that state because he loves to do that when he shows up at rallies there. SOLOMON: Meghan, let me ask, I hear both of you say that it's March. Well, it's actually now April. Time really flying here. It is April. Obviously, a lot can happen between now and November. The situation in Gaza, though, does not appear to be improving much. I want to play for you a clip. The President was expected to have a Ramadan dinner. That was sort of scaled back and turned into a meeting. A Palestinian- American doctor who was there walked out in protest, and here is what he said last night on CNN.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DR. THAER AHMAD, PALESTINIAN-AMERICAN DOCTOR: We are not satisfied with what has taken place. There has been no concrete steps. But, keep in mind, we're very concerned about the people that are over in the Gaza Strip, that are in Palestine right now, who are not just starving but are facing the threat of a looming Rafah invasion. And so, I was able to share that with the President and let him know that out of respect for my community, out of respect for all of the people who have suffered and who have been killed in the process, I need to walk out of the meeting. And I want to walk out with decision makers and let them know what it feels like for somebody to say something and then walk away from them and not hear them out and not hear their response.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SOLOMON: So, Meghan, what is the strategy with the situation not substantially improving on the ground, not improving? The photos more and more dire. We just had this attack on the aid workers, Biden said he is heartbroken by it. But, politically, it's a big problem for him. I mean, what's the strategy?

HAYS: Yeah. I think this is a huge problem. It's a huge concern. This issue is fraught with a lot of different complex issues for the administration. There is no clear answer. This -- the conflict has a lot of nuance here that's complicated to understand. I think that two things can be true, that we need to be supportive, but also we need to get more humanitarian aid into Gaza. I think it's just very complicated. And I do believe that the President is heartbroken. He is friends with Jose Andres. We've done work with them when we were in Poland when the Ukraine crisis first happened or the invasion of Ukraine first happened.

But, it's a nuanced issue. It's a problematic area for the administration. But, they are working through the best that they can, and I think that they are just -- they are working to a peaceful solution, but it takes two people to come to the table, and I think that they are working to get that done.

SOLOMON: Yeah. OK. We'll leave it here. Republican Strategist Rina Shah and former Special Assistant to the President, President Biden, Meghan Hays, good to see you both. Thanks, ladies.

All right. Still ahead for us, coming up, a Ugandan court keeps in place severe laws against homosexuality. We will have details on the anti-gay legislation that includes the death penalty. Plus, what happens if you send thousands of elephants to Germany? It sounds like a setup to a joke, but it's not. One President is trying to make that a reality. We will explain just ahead.

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[11:35:39]

SOLOMON: Welcome back. You are watching CNN Newsroom. I'm Rahel Solomon live in New York.

And here are some of the international headlines we're watching for you today. The U.S. Defense Department has assessed that Israel carried out the deadly airstrike Monday in Damascus "serious". Iran reported that its consulate was hit there, killing more than a dozen people, including top Iranian commanders. The Government of Israel has not acknowledged carrying out the attack. But, an Israeli military spokesperson did say that the site was a military building.

We have new images from the aftermath of that deadly fire in Istanbul. This is what's left of the nightclub after Tuesday's fire. At least 29 construction workers were killed, with their ages ranging from 17 to 64. Nine people have now been arrested in connection to the fire.

A five-judge panel has upheld Uganda's Anti-Homosexuality Act. The ruling keeps in place harsh laws that outlaw gay marriage, punishes same-sex acts with life imprisonment, and calls for the death penalty for so-called aggravated homosexuality. It also requires Ugandans to report suspected homosexuals or violations to authorities. A member of the LGBTQ community spoke earlier about the ruling.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The ruling today was disappointing. That is for sure. But, it does not make us lose hope. It actually puts us in more energy to ensure that we actually go to the Supreme Court to be able to appeal on what has happened today, because what has happened today is an injustice.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SOLOMON: And CNN's David McKenzie has more now from Johannesburg.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DAVID MCKENZIE, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Human rights activists and lawyers are deeply disappointed in the decision of the Constitutional Court in Uganda to unanimously uphold a draconian anti- LGBTQ law that calls for a life sentence in some cases, even the death penalty in certain circumstances for the LGBTQ community in Uganda. Now, there were two aspects of the law that the judges said could be thrown out, including issues of privacy and health, but in the main, they let it stand, despite the incredible pressure coming from Western governments and others ever since President Museveni signed the law last year. And extensive reporting by CNN has shown that LGBTQ Ugandans have been

harassed, evicted, and beaten, and in some cases even had to flee the country to seek asylum elsewhere because of the conditions in Uganda. Now, it's likely the lawyers will appeal this ruling at the Supreme Court.

David McKenzie, CNN, Johannesburg.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SOLOMON: Well, Botswana is threatening to send 20,000 elephants to Germany, and the President says he is not choking. Germany has proposed banning the import of hunting trophies, such as the tusk of an elephant. But, the President of Botswana says that his country needs to tackle overpopulation. He argues that Elephants eat crops, destroy villages and even trample people, which is why the country issues annual hunting quotas. And if you think the threat to send elephants to Germany sounds like an empty one, well, Botswana already sent 8,000 elephants to the nearby African nation of Angola. Who knew?

All right. Still ahead, solar eclipse mania is reaching a fever pitch. It is spreading through North America as people strategize plans on getting the perfect view. Plus, out with the old and in with the new, Amazon is revamping the shopping experience in their Fresh stores. That story just ahead in today's one more thing.

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[11:41:21]

SOLOMON: Welcome back. We are less than a week away from the total solar eclipse in North America. And cities across the path of totality are getting ready for the spectacular show. That path where the moon will completely block the sun stretches across 13 U.S. states this year as well as parts of Canada and Mexico. CNN affiliate KUSA shows us how one hardcore eclipse chaser in Colorado is making his final preparations.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DAVID BARON, SCIENCE WRITER AND ECLIPSE CHASER: it was just a bunch of photos and videos from some of my clips chasing. This was just last year in Australia. You had to be a hardcore eclipse chaser to go there.

UNIDENTIFIED MAN: That's the sun. That is the sun.

BARON: This was my eighth. Yeah. That was my eighth. So, the one this year, it will be by ninth. My name is David Baron, and I'm a Science Writer and Eclipse Chaser. An eclipse chaser is someone who is so in love with the experience of seeing total solar eclipses that they will travel around the world to see something that lasts usually three minutes. But, I want to capture my own reaction.

So, this now was in Chile in 2019. It's such a precious and brief experience. I don't want to waste any time trying to take pictures of the eclipse itself. That was August 21, 2017. I mean, a total eclipse connects people. Yeah. It gives me chills. I mean, it's just -- it's like I leave my normal everyday existence and I am suddenly transported someplace else. It's just all about appreciating being alive. It's just meeting new people and seeing new places, and experiencing something so rare and so brief. It just reminds me to appreciate that I'm here. It's as simple as that.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SOLOMON: Always a good reminder. And let's dig deeper into the science of the upcoming eclipse and what we can all learn from it. Chris Packham is a Professor of Physics and Astronomy at the University of Texas in San Antonio, which will be in the path of totality next Monday. Professor Chris, good to have you. Thanks so much for the time today.

CHRIS PACKHAM, PROFESSOR OF PHYSICS & ASTRONOMY, UNIV. OF TEXAS AT SAN ANTONIO: Thank you so much for hosting me. Can't wait to talk about the eclipse.

SOLOMON: So, you say -- I mean, eclipses are rare, in general, but you say this is especially rare. Talk to us about why?

PACKHAM: Well, an eclipse on any one particular part of the Earth occurs once every 375 years. Here in San Antonio, we'll be experiencing a next total eclipse in February 2343. So, it's once the lifetime literally. The Sun is particularly active. Every 11 years, the Sun becomes a little more active than usual. That means the atmosphere, the part that we can only see during a total eclipse could be more active, larger, and will have more structure than usual. I can't wait to see this.

SOLOMON: Yeah. And talk to me a little bit about that excitement. We heard in the last package there. The extreme hardcore chasers say that it really gave him chills. How would you describe emotionally sort of how you're feeling about this moment?

PACKHAM: This will be my first total eclipse. I've never had a chance to see one. So, I'm super excited myself. But, for us here in UTSA, we're having an eclipse watch party here for the students. And through our partnership with folks in the city, City Hall, also some sports organization and local businesses, we're hosting a large STEM event. What we want to do is activate the kids and adults to understand the science behind the eclipse as a way to keep people involved in STEM, get them excited about space, and hopefully engender the next generation of folks that are interested in helping to advance NASA's goals of getting up into space, going to the Moon, and getting to Mars.

[11:45:00]

SOLOMON: And so, events like this can really create an opportunity to really drum up some support from young people, and maybe they go into the industry a little later because they've sort of been exposed to this at such a young age. PACKHAM: Absolutely. That's totally our hope. Often, when we think about NASA, we think about the astronauts that sit on top of the rockets, or the astronomers that get to use these wonderful telescopes, like the James Webb Space Telescope, for example. But, really, NASA needs all types of folks to help out, people in computing, engineering, human resources, nutritionists for feeding the astronauts as we go off to Mars. We need basically any discipline under the Sun and Moon, if you excuse the pun, in order to get the goals going and get us to the Moon and onwards to Mars.

SOLOMON: Look, we will take all the puns. It's all in good fun. You are talking about the eclipse. So, practically speaking, for those of us on the ground who want to watch, we see the really cool sunglasses. Do you need the sunglasses? Can you use normal sunglasses? What do people need to know just to be able to do this safely?

PACKHAM: Thank you for that. That's really important. I'm holding here some of my NASA eclipse glasses. I'll be wearing these because I want to keep my eyes safe and sound at all times during the eclipse. The only time I can take them off is at the short period of totality. Here at the venue that I'll be helping to run, it's about two minutes 30 seconds, I can take these glasses off. I could look directly and see the Sun's atmosphere. Otherwise, I have to have these glasses on to protect my eyes. We can really damage our eyes by looking at the sun without glasses. Please, everybody, get these glasses and you can view the total solar eclipse through these things.

There are ways that we can project it. We can just get like a colander out of our kitchen and project it onto the floor there. That makes like a little pinhole camera. We can do that. But, I recommend to use these glasses.

SOLOMON: Super cool. Good information. And let me just ask, are you surprised by just the level of interest and enthusiasm? I mean, it's hard to overstate the economic boost that this is going to give communities really sort of through the path of totality in terms of hotels, in terms of flights, in terms of accommodations. It's really creating quite a boost, quite a juice to a lot of communities.

PACKHAM: Absolutely. In (inaudible) San Antonio, we are certainly seeing a lot of extra folks coming in. People are excited. You can feel the buzz around the city. I'm regularly wearing my little eclipse T-shirts, that's through the eyes of NASA. I'm super excited. And yeah, it's just a thrill. But again, it's this chance to get STEM out. We're working on a new telescope called the "Habitable Worlds Observatory" that uses a very similar technique as the eclipse to blot out the light from distant stars, see those distant planets. And this is NASA's mission to search for life, potential life on those planets. It's using a very similar technique.

So, it's a wonderful way that we can say the eclipse happening on Earth like this, using the next generation space telescopes that we hope to build. We could use a similar approach and we can begin that search for life on other planets. It's so (inaudible).

SOLOMON: So interesting, and it's such a connector. People from around the world are coming to sort of be able to see this. And just when you think about the amount of people who are coming together to all witness the same thing, to all appreciate the same thing, in and of itself, it's a pretty beautiful thing. We'll leave it here. Professor Chris Packham, thanks so much for the time today.

PACKHAM: Thank you so much.

SOLOMON: And a quick programming note, join us next Monday for the total solar eclipse as it travels from Mexico across the United States and into Canada. Experience the total eclipse from numerous locations along with plenty of science and excitement along the way. Our special coverage starts at 12 p.m. Eastern. We do hope you can make it.

Well, still to come, Amazon is changing up the shopping experience at its Fresh stores. What old feature is getting a revamp, coming up next?

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[11:51:07]

SOLOMON: Well, some of the biggest names in music are calling on the industry to protect artists from the threat posed by artificial intelligence. More than 200 artists including, Billie Eilish, Kacey Musgraves, Ja Rule, and Jon Bon Jovi have signed an open letter addressed to developers and tech companies, and it reads in part, "We must protect against the predatory use of AI to steal professional artists' voices and likenesses, violate creators' rights, and destroy the music ecosystem."

All right. One lucky millionaire will soon get a chance to own some literary history. Fans of the fictional detective Sherlock Holmes' stories can bid on an original manuscript at a June auction. According to Sotheby's in New York, the vintage work could fetch $1.2 million. It includes Conan Doyle's handwritten manuscript of his second novel, "The Sign Of Four", along with letters recounting a famous 1889 dinner where Doyle agreed to write the famous story, and Oscar Wilde committed to writing "The Picture of Dorian Gray".

All right. Before we go, one more thing, it just might affect your next trip to the grocery store, maybe. There are reports that the retail giant Amazon is scrapping the "Just Walk Out" technology from their Fresh stores. So, this technology allowed customers to skip standing in line to pay for items. Instead, they would scan their smart device, walk out of the store, and a receipt would be sent to them afterwards.

Let's bring in CNN's Business Reporter Nathaniel Meyersohn, who joins us with more from New York. So, why? Why is Amazon removing this technology, Nathaniel, from what we know?

NATHANIEL MEYERSOHN, CNN BUSINESS REPORTER: So, Rahel, it really has to do with the fact that it hasn't resonated well with customers. And you think about the technology, Amazon rolled it out several years ago. It was supposed to revolutionize grocery shopping, get rid of the cashiers. You walk in the store. You don't have to wait on these long lines anymore. But, some customers found it a little bit creepy, the cameras, the sensors, they just did not -- were not able to get used to it. It reminds me a little bit of some of the backlash we've seen to self-checkout technology, another form of technology that was supposed to improve the grocery shopping experience, but that has not quite worked out. It turns out, Rahel, that people just like old fashioned grocery shopping.

SOLOMON: Yeah. I mean, listen, I wasn't going to say anything. But, from the very beginning. I was like I'm not really a fan, but I'm old fashioned at heart. So, don't judge me for it. Nathaniel, how is Amazon's grocery strategy now going? What are they doing now?

MEYERSOHN: I think that we can describe Amazon's grocery strategy, Rahel, as stagnant. You think a few years ago, Amazon bought Whole Foods. That was supposed to shake up the grocery industry. Amazon was really trying to take aim at Walmart and Kroger, grab some market share from them. But, Whole Foods, it's kind of a niche grocery store. It's still kind of -- it appeals mostly to wealthier shoppers. So, it's not been able to really make a dent in Walmart or Kroger, other rivals sales. They have Amazon Fresh stores.

But, people are a little bit confused by that branding. They have -- now, they're reversing this "Just Walk Out" technology, about 40 Amazon Fresh stores across the U.S. And then they also have these "Amazon Go" convenience stores, which they're sticking with the "Just Walk Out" technology. But, look, Rahel, Amazon has not proven as successful in groceries as it has in clothing, books, other industries. So, look, it has a lot of work to do still.

SOLOMON: Yeah. I mean, to that point, Nathaniel, would you say that Amazon is trying to sort of narrow sort of its strategy, or are they still sort of operating and playing in different spaces? Because I do feel like you still hear about Amazon sort of entering new spaces. Are they still playing? Are they still experimenting, or are they narrowing based on what you can tell?

MEYERSOHN: They're still experimenting. They're trying to figure out the right formula. They're constantly rolling out these different types of stores.

[11:55:00]

They even tried at a kind of an Amazon department store but that didn't work. So, you'll often hear of Amazon launching a new technology or launching a new type of store, and then a couple of years later, kind of walking it back. It's just the fact that Amazon is more successful online than it is with stores.

SOLOMON: Yeah. Super interesting. Nathaniel Meyersohn live for us in New York. Nathaniel, thank you.

Let's take a quick look and see how Amazon stock is doing today. Last I checked, shares were up almost one percent. So, shares right now trading at $182.32 a share.

And a broader look at trading on Wall Street, where the Dow is up. It's trading at about 39,221. Still pretty far off that 40,000 mark that we got, just a hair away from. We got so close, but didn't quite get there. The NASDAQ also up about four tenths of a percent, and the S&P up about one third of a percent.

European markets closed higher with the FTSE 100 pretty much flat, the DAX up half a percent, and the CAC 40 up three tenths of one percent.

Asian markets, meantime, closed lower.

Well, speaking of money, we know your time is money. So, thank you for spending some time with me today. I'm Rahel Solomon live in New York. Stick with CNN. One World is coming up next.

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