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CNN International: IDF Blames "Mistaken Identification" For Strike On Aid Workers; White House: Biden Demands Changes From Netanyahu; Israel Bracing For Potential Action By Iran. Aired 8-9a ET
Aired April 05, 2024 - 08:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[08:00:00]
ROSA FLORES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I went for the hat, John. But, let me toss back to you. Hold on. Hold on. All right. Back to you.
JOHN BERMAN, HOST, "CNN NEWS CENTRAL": I always go for the shafts. Rosa Flores, thank you, partner. Great to see you this morning. Multiple props to you and your team for being there. We appreciate you. Someone does. Be sure to catch CNN's special coverage of the eclipse across the country. Our coverage starts at 1 p.m. Eastern, or you can stream it on Max. We've got --
ERICA HILL, HOST, "CNN NEWSROOM": Hello, and welcome to our viewers around the world. I'm Erica Hill in New York. This is CNN Newsroom.
Just ahead this hour, the IDF's newly released report blames a case of mistaken identity for the strike that killed seven World Central Kitchen aid workers. The fallout from that investigation, more on its findings. Plus, two legal setbacks for Donald Trump, as the former President pushes to have multiple criminal cases thrown out. And two days after Taiwan's strongest earthquake in decades, the frantic search for the missing continues. We'll have the latest from the quake zone.
First up here, Israel's military just releasing its report on the deadly strikes that killed seven World Central Kitchen aid workers in Gaza on Monday. According to the IDF's internal investigation, Israeli forces believed they were targeting Hamas operatives in the vehicles of that aid convoy. Israel says two military personnel have been fired. World Central Kitchen says that report shows the IDF deployed deadly force without regard to its own protocols, and is calling for systemic change. The organization, of course, has also been calling for an independent investigation.
The report comes after a tense phone call between the U.S. President and the Israeli Prime Minister on Thursday. The White House says Mr. Biden demanded specific, concrete, measurable steps to protect civilians and aid workers in Gaza, and threatened consequences if Israel fails to act. Hours later, Israel announced it would reopen the Erez border crossing between Israel and northern Gaza to allow for aid shipments, and the security cabinet agreed to use the Israeli port of Ashdod to help transfer more aid into Gaza. The U.S. Secretary of State speaking in Belgium, sounding a cautiously optimistic note. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ANTONY BLINKEN, SECRETARY OF STATE, UNITED STATES: We welcome the steps that had been announced by Israel opening Erez as a new crossing point, having shipments go directly from the Ashdod Port, maximizing the route from Jordan. These are positive developments, but the real test is results, and that's what we're looking to see in the coming days and in the coming weeks. Is the aid effectively reaching people who need it throughout Gaza?
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HILL: Our reporters across the globe are covering this story. CNN's Arlette Saenz at the White House this hour. International Diplomatic Editor Nic Robertson is in Jerusalem.
Nic, let's begin with you here. Going through this report, it is fairly brief, and there are still some questions on the heels of it. What more can you tell us about the details that were offered?
NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: There are still questions. The IDF is saying that this was a misidentification by its forces of vehicles that were involved, and a misclarification of the events. What they describe is that the IDF initially spotted what they thought was one gunman on an aid truck, a big truck carrying aid. Then looking closely, they said they saw another gunman on one of those aid trucks. Now, after the SUVs carrying these aid workers left the warehouse, the IDF say that they didn't know that these were World Central Kitchen SUVs., and they assumed that that the gunman that they'd seen earlier on the aid trucks were now in these SUVs.
They also say, this is an additional detail that the IDF is now saying, that they thought they saw something slung over the shoulder of one of the passengers in one of those vehicles that they now believe was a bag and nothing nefarious. Another detail, particularly perhaps gruesome and harrowing to hear, is the IDF is saying that when the first of those SUVs carrying the aid workers was hit, some people survived and scrambled out and got inside the second vehicle, and that's when the second vehicle was targeted.
Now, the questions that really remain unanswered here is, how did the IDF not know that these were World Central Kitchen SUVs, when all the coordinations and protocols were being followed? This is what the World Central Kitchen tells us. The IDF separate to the report is saying that it was nighttime and they couldn't see the markings on these particular vehicles. Now, World Central Kitchen has responded and they are saying that while it is good that the IDF has acknowledged responsibility and the IDF has actually disciplined two senior staff members, a major directly involved and a colonel overseeing that particular brigade, the Chief of Staff there had been removed and dismissed from their positions.
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While the World Central Kitchen says these are good steps, these outrageous killings, they say, this assessment so far from the IDF is cold comfort, when World Central Kitchen were following all the protocols and everything that they should have been doing. So, this initial assessment from the IDF really leaves a lot of questions unanswered, if the gunman was spotted on trucks before they went into the warehouse and then the SUVs were targeted afterwards. And part of the question that hangs out there, where is the video evidence to support this? But, the World Central kitchen says the video they've been shown by the IDF does not adequately support this report from the IDF.
HILL: Very interesting to see if we get any more of those questions answered, and really important ones at that. Nic, appreciate it.
Arlette, there has also been a lot made of this phone call that happened yesterday between President Biden and Prime Minister Netanyahu. President Biden described as reaching a new level of frustration. What more do we know about that call?
ARLETTE SAENZ, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, Erica, President Biden made quite clear to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that Israel would face consequences if they don't alter their plans and operations in Gaza, specifically when it comes to protecting civilians there as well as humanitarian aid workers. Now, officials, we're told right now, are still combing through these -- this initial report that was released by the Israelis this morning. A White House spokesperson, John Kirby, said earlier today that they're reserving judgment on the report until they have the chance to actually go through and assess for themselves of what the Israelis have said caused and led to this devastating strike on that convoy which has killed seven humanitarian aid workers.
Now, earlier today, Secretary of State Antony Blinken's call, you had a bit of new language as he called for an independent and fully publicized investigation into the matter. He said that they want to ensure that there is accountability for what happened. So, we'll be watching closely to see what the White House has to say in reaction to this report.
But really, this call between Biden and Netanyahu could prove to be one of the most consequential calls between the two leaders that's been held so far amid this conflict. The President laid out in very stark terms what he wants to see from the Israelis. That includes ensuring protection for humanitarian aid workers who are working there. The two leaders, a senior administration official said, agreed that there needs to be a better job done about transmitting information about the -- where these aid workers are stationed. The President also pressed for more humanitarian aid to get into Gaza.
And in the hours after that call with President Biden, there were some results. Israel approved the opening of the Erez Crossing in northern Gaza, as well as the opening of other ports to get aid in. But, as you heard Blinken there note the tests will be and how this is implemented. They will be watching to see how many trucks go into Gaza. How that humanitarian assistance is spread throughout the enclave. But, really this call between Biden and Netanyahu was quite significant, because he basically said there will be consequences if Israel does not change course. It comes as the President has already faced some domestic pressure here at home, and some have called for the conditioning of aid that goes to Israel.
So, we will see whether the President might go as far as doing that. He did not exactly outline what changes in policy could look like. But, he did put Netanyahu on notice, saying that changes do need to be made.
HILL: Arlette and Nic, appreciate the reporting. Thank you both.
There are new tensions between Israel and Iran today. Israel now bracing for a potential attack by Iran after this week's airstrike on its embassy complex in Syria. Funerals for those killed took place in just the past few hours. The seven victims included a top commander in Iran's Revolutionary Guards. The Israeli military has not admitted carrying out the attack, but a spokesman said the embassy was a military building. Both Tehran and Damascus are blaming Israel, with Iran warning of a quote "serious response". The IDF has now jammed GPS services in Israel, saying it wants to neutralize any potential threats.
Fred Pleitgen is monitoring more on this story, and joins us now from Berlin. Tensions have been particularly high, as we are at this point, and we're seeing more and more of that play out. We're seeing rallies in support of Palestinians across parts of the Arab world, of course. What more are we hearing from Tehran about this prospect of a potential retaliation?
FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Hi there, Erica. Well, the Iranians have made clear that they will retaliate, and I think it's one of the reasons why the Israelis are both bracing and seemingly also preparing for a possible attack by the Iranians. I think one of the other things that's actually quite interesting is that the Iranians -- that the Israelis have also canceled the leave of some of their frontline troops, at least for the past -- for the next couple of days. And so, they seem to believe that there might be something coming from the Iranians in the next couple of hours possibly, in the next couple of days.
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But, really the main reason for that is also that the Iranians have said that they will retaliate. Both Iran's supreme leader as well as Iran's President have said that they will retaliate against the Israelis, have not said how exactly they are going to do that.
And then, you have two major events that are taking place in Iran today, Erica, that are very significant. We showed some of the video of one of those events in the lead up to our live report right now, which is the funeral for the seven IRGC members (Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps) who were killed in that strike on Iran's embassy compound in Damascus. Significant because it's a very large rally that's taking place as part of that funeral procession in Tehran today. But, because also, last night, Iran's supreme leader himself, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, came out and prayed at the caskets of the seven members of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, just to show how important their deaths is to the Islamic Republic of Iran. And then also, today is Quds Day celebrations in Iran, where tens of
thousands generally come out. It's a pro-Palestinian event where obviously also the U.S. and Israel are denounced.
So, all of those things put together make obviously for a very charged atmosphere in Iran on this day, and of course, there are people who believe that this would be the day that Iran could possibly strike back. So far, we haven't seen that yet. And of course, the big question is also going to be, what exactly is Iran's retaliation going to look like?
If we go from experience from the past, like for instance when the U.S. killed Iran's top Quds General Qasem Soleimani in 2020, there was a pretty powerful response by the Iranians, but also a limited one. We will wait and see what happens. This time, the Iranians certainly are saying it is not an "if" but it's a "when" it happens question, Erica.
HILL: Yeah, which has everybody watching very closely, and as you point out, sort of a perfect storm of events today. Fred, appreciate it. Thank you.
In the U.S., Donald Trump dealing with a pair of legal losses in his efforts to get some of the many charges against him dropped. The federal judge overseeing the classified documents case denying Donald Trump's claim that he couldn't be prosecuted because he believed he had the right to keep those documents under the Presidential Records Act. The judge did, however, leave open the possibility that she might revisit that defends claim during trial. Meantime, in Georgia, the judge in the election interference case there tossed out the former President's argument that his actions to overturn the election were protected as free speech.
CNN's Katelyn Polantz is tracking all of these developments for us. Couple of denials for the former President. Let's start with this documents case. The Special Counsel, I guess, technically got a win here. But, there are, as we noted, there are some loopholes, I guess you could say, in terms of that ruling. Some of it could be revisited at trial.
KATELYN POLANTZ, CNN SENIOR CRIME AND JUSTICE REPORTER: Loopholes, for sure. But, Erica, what is happening here is the process of moving these cases toward a trial. Donald Trump's team has had the opportunity to make a lot of different arguments to try and dismiss the criminal cases against him, and he is losing those so far. In the Mar-a-Lago documents case, Judge Aileen Cannon says these attempts that Trump has made to have the case dismissed because he claims he had authority as President to take documents as personal if he wished, that is not going to fly at this stage.
However, she says that this issue of presidential records, if they are personal records, the claims that Trump is trying to make, that is something she may want to revisit. It's very likely. It's something that the Special Counsel's Office, the prosecutors are going to want to try and cut out from the trial. But, Cannon is very not definitive on exactly when this is going to take place, when she is going to be giving a final word on this. There is a lot of debates and arguments to go before then, before there is a jury in the room.
And she also dings the Special Counsel's Office a bit for pressuring her. She says this is just a genuine attempt in the context of the upcoming trial to better understand the party's competing positions and the questions to be submitted to the jury in this complex case is the first impression. She had asked for additional ideas from both sides, some thought experiment of what if presidential records this argument from Trump and personal records that was part of what was presented to the jury and the Special Counsel took issue with that. So, she has reserved quite a lot of weighing in on this case and this argument in particular.
HILL: There is certainly a little bit of frustration, I think we could say, on both sides here, and we're seeing it more publicly and perhaps more forcefully, you could say, from the Special Counsel.
POLANTZ: Yeah. You could say that in their writings in the case. Their arguments in the case are becoming more forceful.
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And there have been rulings that Judge Cannon has made that they have disliked, specifically one ruling recently that was about releasing names of witnesses and FBI agents around the Mar-a-Lago search. The Justice Department went back to her and said, we need you to reconsider this. We think this would be very problematic for the case. But, with Judge Aileen Cannon, there is very little that she has done that is definitive. There are very few lengthy opinions from her, and there are many things she hasn't ruled on at all, including no trial date. 35 days ago, there was a hearing where we were in Florida, both sides presented a scheduled to her, and there is just no calendar for this case now.
HILL: It is something, I guess the upside is it keeps you very busy, my friend. CNN's Katelyn Polantz joining us. Thank you.
Still to come here, a show of courage and resilience, people in Taiwan already looking to rebuild and to recover on the heels of this week's devastating earthquake. Plus, that was not the only legal drama we're looking at involving Donald Trump. Why defense lawyers are now considering asking for a gag order against the district attorney in that Georgia election interference case? Stay with us.
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HILL: Of all the legal drama, there is more surrounding Donald Trump, looking specifically now with the election interference case in Georgia where sources tell CNN some of the defense lawyers in that case are considering asking the court for a gag order against Fulton County DA Fani Willis. Willis has spoken at length about the case to the media and in other public appearances, and has been scolded by the judge in the case for making racially charged comments about it.
CNN's Sara Murray is tracking this for us and joins us now with more. So, there are these specific comments. Which comments in particular are defense attorneys saying are really grounds here for a gag order in their view?
SARA MURRAY, CNN POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: I think there is this overall sense of concern about how much she has been talking about the case publicly. It's an interesting position because Fani Willis is up for reelection this year at the same time that she is prosecuting this Trump case. So, she needs to be out in the community, sort of making herself visible, making her presence known. But, defendants have been really uncomfortable with the kinds of things that she is saying, particularly bringing up race related to the case.
One of the things that she said back in January, giving a speech to a church, actually came up in this effort to disqualify Fani Willis from the case. And when Judge Scott McAfee, who is presiding over this case, was considering whether to disqualify Willis because of her comments, because of her romantic relationship with another prosecutor, he decided not to disqualify her, but he all but invited defendants to essentially ask for a gag order. He said some of the comments Willis has made publicly are legally improper, and basically said that the comment she made could be damaging to the reputation of defendants and could suggest that they are doing something ahead of their trial, other than just trying to prepare themselves, file pretrial motions, sort of present the defense that they're allowed to present.
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So, that's why we're seeing these defendants consider, look, should we go to this judge? Should we ask for a gag order? The trick is, there are a lot of defendants who still want to see Fani Willis removed from the case. So, they don't necessarily want to ask for a gag order while they're still trying to have her removed, while they wait to see if an appeals court will take this up. And there are plenty of defendants who talk publicly about Fani Willis. Donald Trump is one of them. Rudy Giuliani is one of them. And so, they don't want to be in a position where they move forward and ask for a gag order and it boomerangs back around, and the judge says, OK, nobody can talk about the case.
HILL: Yeah, some ways be careful what you wish for. Right? What about the DA herself, and these claims, right, which have been made for some time that she does talk too much about the case?
MURRAY: Yeah. I think the District Attorney's Office feels like she is allowed to talk about certain things related to the case. She is allowed to say, we're moving forward. She is allowed to sort of explain to the public where they are in such an important monumental case, especially because she is running for reelection and she needs to sort of tell her voters what she is doing for them. And this, obviously, isn't the only case on her docket. There is plenty of other things she can campaign on.
But, I think the District Attorney's Office feels like they are well within their rights to make some comments. She is not going out there and pre-judging the guilt of the defendants.
HILL: Sara Murray, good to see you. Thank you.
MURRAY: Thanks.
HILL: President Biden set to meet today with families of the six construction workers who died in the Baltimore bridge collapse. The White House had previously announced that the President would be viewing the wreckage of the bridge. It, of course, collapsed last week after it was hit by a massive cargo ship, that ship going right into one of its support pillars. White House aide Tom Perez visited with some of the victims' families last week, saying their deaths are a gut punch for both the President and of course for their families.
Another close call to tell you about in the air in the U.S. The Federal Aviation Administration is now investigating a Southwest Airlines flight that apparently flew too close to the air traffic control tower at New York's LaGuardia Airport. This happened during a landing attempt last month.
CNN's Pete Muntean has those details.
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PETE MUNTEAN, CNN AVIATION CORRESPONDENT: The bottom line here is this could have been so much worse. This Southwest Airlines flight 737 coming into land on March 23, a Saturday, at LaGuardia Airport. The issue here was the weather was pretty poor, the visibility only down to about three quarters of a mile, according to air traffic control audio. This flight went around once, aborted its landing there on Runway Four at LaGuardia.
The pilot said they had a bit of a tailwind and were too fast and too high. They came back around for something called the ILS, the Instrument Landing System. That's a radio beam that beams out of the runway, gets the airplane on the glide path, and lined up with the center of the runway. And the flight got down to about 300 feet above the ground, according to data from flight radar 24. And this is the alarm that came across the radio from air traffic controllers. Listen.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Go around. Go around. Fly runway heading, climb and maintain 2,000. Climb and maintain 2,000. 2,000. Continue climbing. 7447, and whenever a reason, you were like not on the approach.
MUNTEAN: The air traffic controllers went on to tell this flight Southwest flight 147 that it was not lined up with the approach, that it was actually a little bit more east of the approach, and you could see the track here from flight radar 24, the line there pretty close to the control tower. Flight radar 24 tells us this plane was horizontally separated from the control tower by about 250 feet, but that only factors into position of the antenna on the center of the airplane. When you factor in the wingspan, the tip of the wing, may have been only about 65 feet away from the control tower.
The FAA says it's investigating, looking into whether or not this plane truly did come that close to the control tower. The National Transportation Safety Board says it is gathering information. Ultimately, this flight that was inbound from Nashville, diverted to BWI in Baltimore.
Pete Muntean, CNN, Washington.
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HILL: Appreciate the reporting, too close for comfort.
Still to come here, an anguished father speaking with CNN, as he clings to hope that his kidnapped children in Gaza will one day come home. Plus, a high level warning for Beijing as the U.S. Secretary -- Treasury Secretary visits China. We will tell you what she says poses a risk to the global economy. A report from Hong Kong just ahead.
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HILL: More now on our top story this hour. Israel's military is blaming what it calls a mistaken identification and errors in decision making for its deadly attack on World Central Kitchen staff in Gaza on Monday. The IDF just releasing its report into that tragedy, saying quote "Those who approved the strike were convinced they were targeting armed Hamas operatives." World Central Kitchen, meantime, is responding to the report, calling for systemic change, or saying in its words, there will be more military failures, more apologies, and more grieving families.
CNN's Paula Hancocks has more now on the details on that IDF report, joining us from our bureau in Abu Dhabi. So, Paula, as we look at this report, it offers some detail, but it is very short, and it leaves people with a lot more questions.
PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It does, Erica. We have been told by the IDF that this was going to be an initial investigation, an initial report, and there will be more detailed investigations following. But, what it says at this point is that it believes that they had identified, forces had identified a gunman who was on board one of the aid trucks that was going towards a warehouse, saying that they also then identified a second gunman. Now, they say that once that aid was delivered to the warehouse, then the vehicles that left those -- which, of course, were carrying those seven aid workers, there was an assumption made that Hamas operatives were on board, and that is why they were targeted.
Now, there has been a very clear admission of mistakes having been made in the statement. They say it was a grave mistake, stemming from a serious failure due to a mistaken identification, errors in decision-making, and an attack contrary to the standard operating procedures. We've also just heard from a spokesperson from the IDF as well, pointing out that what was believed to be a gun over the shoulders of one of the individuals may actually have been a bag. So, there is this initial investigation where Israel has made it clear there were errors made. They say they have fired two individuals over what has happened.
But, what we're hearing from World Central Kitchen is they say it's an important step forward to be taking responsibility, and pointing out these errors, but they also want an independent investigation, saying the IDF cannot credibly investigate its own failure in Gaza. Now, it's interesting because we're also hearing that now from the U.S. side, which we hadn't before. We heard the U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken saying that it does needs to be an independent investigation into what happened.
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Now, whether that happens, we don't know. It would be almost unprecedented, really, for Israel to open up its military operations and intelligence communications for independent viewing. So, it'll be interesting to see if that does happen. But, the call is becoming louder, that the Israeli military cannot investigate itself. Erica.
HILL: Yeah. It certainly is. Meantime, ceasefire and hostage release talks are resuming in Egypt. Sources telling us, the CIA director and Israeli intelligence chiefs will be there this weekend. What more do we know about where things stand at this point?
HANCOCKS: That's right. So, we're hearing from sources and then Israeli government source as well that there'll be there in Cairo along with the Egyptian intelligence chief and the Qatari Prime Minister. Those two really have been the key mediators when it comes to these talks between Israel and Hamas. And what we understand at this point is also that from that call that happened between the U.S. President and the Israeli Prime Minister, that there was a push from the U.S. side that the Israelis need to do more in order to make this deal work. There has been a call, according to the statement of the call itself, for Israel and the Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, to give his negotiating team more leeway, more power to be able to maneuver and to make the parameters less strict so that they can actually make some leeway.
Now, these -- all these intelligence chiefs and the Qatari Prime Minister have met a number of times. Last month, they were in Doha. And we heard from the U.S. side that progress was made, but it was slow. And we heard from many sides that some progress had made, but the gaps still remained. So, whether or not what we have seen with this phone call between the American President and the Israeli Prime Minister, there is almost ultimatum given whether or not that sparks an interest in Israel to allow more leeway for its negotiators and to allow more progress to be made in these talks. It will be an interesting weekend to see if anything comes out of the negotiations. Erica.
HILL: Certainly. Paul, appreciate it. Thank you.
The father of two hostages being held by Hamas is speaking out about what his family is enduring the horrors of the October 7 terror attack, understandably, still loom large, even six months after that deadly day. He tells CNN's Melissa Bell, however, he continues to hold on to hope that he'll be reunited.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) MELISSA BELL, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): For Yechiel Yehud, time stopped on October 7. He shows us into his orange orchard, normally at this season, his joy.
YECHIEL YEHUD, FATHER OF HOSTAGES: This time, I can't enjoy the smell of the blossom from the trees. Yeah. Like, I can't enjoy of nothing.
BELL: It's so strong, though.
YEHUD: Yes.
BELL (voice-over): But, nothing this year has been normal Yechiel. On October 7, two of his three children, seen here at their home in kibbutz Nir Oz, were kidnapped by Hamas.
BELL (voice-over): Six months, I didn't touch them. I didn't smell them. I didn't talk with them. I didn't hug them. It's not six months. It is one long day.
BELL (voice-over): This, he says, is now his mission room, where he and his wife Yahel (ph) work for their children's return and try to stay sane, partly, he says, by not watching the news at all.
YEHUD: What keep us alive that will keep us in our mission of life to get birth for the second time for our children. Without this hope, we can do nothing.
BELL (voice-over): His is 35-year-old Dolev was last seen leaving the shelter where his pregnant wife and their three children were cowering to see if the coast was clear. For six months now, he has been without his medication.
YEHUD: These bills, one pill, without these pills, the body get weak from day to day until a live danger. If they didn't kill them, why they took him or in the prison, I don't know how we will come back to us.
BELL (voice-over): But, it is his fear for his 28-year-old daughter Arbel, who was also taken from the kibbutz that day along with her boyfriend Ariel, that take an even darker turn.
[08:35:00]
YEHUD: When I'm thinking about Arbel, my soul birth, what kind of sexual she has passed. How fears she is met every minute with men's around her. From time to time, I have in my mind, Anna (ph), father, come to release me. Where are you?
BELL (voice-over): Some of the accounts of former hostages, like Amit Soussana, who recently spoke publicly of the conditions and the sexual abuse endured, which Hamas has denied, have only added to Yechiel's fears. He records them in a journal at night.
YEHUD: Because it's always on my mind. While I'm talking with you now, I'm thinking about Arbel, if she could hear me talking with you like that. And now, she is hugging me from behind and give me power to continue to talk with you, to stay calm.
BELL (voice-over): Calm that he says he also finds by the tree his son was named for, the pain tree or dollar tree in Hebrew. In its shade, he has waited for six months at once hopeful and fearful of news.
Melissa Bell, CNN, (inaudible).
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HILL: Out thank to Melissa for that important report.
Turning now to the rescue efforts in Taiwan following this week's 7.4 magnitude earthquake, efforts to rebuild Hualien city are well underway, as a community rallies together following that disaster. We have some pictures to show you, a work to demolish this building that was left tilted. You see it there after the quake. Rescue workers are focusing much of their efforts, meantime, over the past 24 hours on some of those hard to reach mountainous areas where dozens are stranded. These images show you first responders working to rescue people who are trapped in a hotel in a Taiwanese national park.
CNN's Ivan Watson has been visiting the quake zone and just filed this report.
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IVAN WATSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): A daring mountain rescue, one day after Taiwan is pummeled by a powerful earthquake, emergency workers struggle climbing over treacherous landslides, trying to bring victims home. Among those initially stranded, dozens of miners and two remote quarries.
On Thursday, authorities announced their successful rescue, some choppered to safety. There were too many rocks falling like bullets from above, this minor says. We didn't know where to run. The aftermath of some landslides visible from a moving train. Many paved roads to the disaster zone are still blocked. But, on Thursday, the railways resumed service.
WATSON: It has only been a day since this powerful deadly earthquake rocked Taiwan, and already, this train to the epicenter is running on time.
WATSON (voice-over): In the small city of Hualien, residents still coming to grips with the earthquake's damage. Though there are some scenes of real destruction, it also feels like this earthquake-prone community is quickly bouncing back. The city government set up this temporary shelter in an elementary school.
WATSON: This is your home?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Living room.
WATSON: There is a hole in the wall.
WATSON (voice-over): Huang May Fen (ph) is camping out here with her husband and mother.
WATSON: Do you feel safe staying in Hualien?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'm not afraid. I was born here.
WATSON (voice-over): Among those here the Mayor of Hualien, who was injured in the quake.
WATSON: What happened?
WEI CHIA-YAN, MAYOR OF HUALIEN, TAIWAN: (FOREIGN LANGUAGE).
WATSON (voice-over): A cabinet fell on me, he says. He attributes the relatively low death toll in his city to advanced preparation.
WEI CHIA-YAN, MAYOR OF HUALIEN, TAIWAN (Interpreted): Here in Hualien, we grew up with earthquakes. Our teachers and relatives always taught us how to react when earthquake strike. So, we've known about this since we were kids.
WATSON: This ruined building is a terrifying example of the power of Wednesday morning 7.4 magnitude earthquake. But, look down the road here. And you see that most of Hualien is not damaged. It is lit up, intact, and very active.
WATSON (voice-over): Amid these scars, an impressive display of community resilience.
Ivan Watson, CNN, Hualien, Taiwan.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HILL: Just ahead, the U.S. jobs report for March is now out. How could it impact interest rates? We'll take a look. Plus, parts of New England under a blanket of snow in April. Late season storms really pummeling the area. We've got more straight ahead.
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HILL: 18 million people in the U.S. are starting off the first weekend of April with freeze and frost alerts. A late season nor'easter brings some really rough weather to parts of New England, including reports of up to two feet of snow in some areas. Crews are working to restore power to more than 400,000 homes and businesses in Maine and New Hampshire. Meantime, across other parts of the U.S., 11 million people are facing the threat of wildfires.
CNN Meteorologist Elisa Raffa joins us now from Atlanta. So, we are technically into spring. I checked the calendar, but it seems not everywhere.
ELISA RAFFA, CNN METEOROLOGIST: No. It definitely doesn't feel like, it doesn't look like it in New England, where they're starting out the day with power out because of heavy snow and gusty winds. Still more than 400,000 customers without power, most of them in Maine and New Hampshire, from the intense winds and heavy snow that they got yesterday. There are a couple of snow showers still left over parts of Maine, even from Cleveland, getting into Pennsylvania. This is not going to really amount to too much more today. But, that's after they already got a foot to two feet already on the ground. You can see the snow depth there, really popping over parts of Maine and New Hampshire. Some of these totals have been 24 inches in some communities in Vermont, 20 inches in New Hampshire, eight inches in parts of Massachusetts.
Now, there is cold air coming in behind this. So, we've got some frost and freeze alerts for all of Missouri, or most of Missouri, getting into Illinois, even now Tennessee, and this is where the growing season has started. But, these temperatures will dip to and below freezing, and that could put our vegetation and the cold sensitive plants at risk to damage.
Now, the next storm is already brewing on the West Coast. Here you could see some of the rain and snow showers in San Francisco, and it's going to really pack a punch with wind. We already have high wind warnings in effect for gusts up to 65 miles per hour. So, you can see the storm system really start to move east and get into the U.S. As we go into the weekend, we'll have some snow showers up in the Rocky Mountains there. A couple of showers and storms across the Central Plains. And this rain will continue to spread east. This is part of the system that will give us some of that cloud cover as we head into the eclipse on Monday.
But, ahead of this, because this has so much wind with some of that air being dry across the south, we have that critical fire danger Friday and Saturday across areas that have some burn scars already from fires earlier in the season in the Texas panhandle there. So, that's something that we'll have to watch out for because we're looking at the gusts up to 60 miles per hour and the relative humidity value is down to about 10 percent. So, that's where those wildfires can spark and spread pretty rapidly.
Up where you have more moisture with this system. We're looking at a severe risk. We got a level two out of five, four severe storms over parts of Kansas there, and getting into Nebraska from Lincoln, down towards Wichita, where we're looking at some damaging wind gusts possible, large hail and the threat of isolated tornadoes. So, another multi-threat system that we'll have to track, and again, this will eventually be the piece that could give us some clouds as we look ahead towards the eclipse on Monday.
[08:45:00]
HILL: This is certainly keeping you very busy across the country. Elisa, appreciate it. Thank you.
Janet Yellen kicking off her second visit to China as U.S. Treasury Secretary, with a warning for Beijing. She says China's overproduction of certain goods poses a risk to the global economy. CNN's Kristie Lu Stout has a closer look at what's at stake.
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KRISTIE LU STOUT, CNN CORRESPONDENT: U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen is back in China to further stabilize U.S.-China relationship and press Chinese leaders on the threat posed by overcapacity. Now, she says China is overproducing exports like solar panels and EVs, which distorts global markets and harms workers. China dismisses the notion. Now, Yellen is making two stops, Guangzhou and Beijing. And today in Guangzhou, she met with members of the business community as well as Chinese leaders, including Vice Premier He Lifeng. The visit comes days after that phone call between U.S. President Joe Biden and Chinese leader Xi Jinping on Tuesday. They had their first direct talks since November, and Xi criticized Biden's moves to quote "suppress China's trade and tech development".
Tech and trade development have been in focus today in Guangzhou. Here is Janet Yellen.
JANET YELLEN, U.S. TREASURY SECRETARY: I believe addressing overcapacity, and more generally, considering market-based reforms, is in China's interest. As I've said before, China is too large to export its way to rapid growth. And if policies are oriented only at generating supply and not also at generating demand, global spillovers will result.
STOUT: Overcapacity is the key word here. The Biden administration is concerned that Chinese subsidies will spark a flood of low priced exports and Chinese state-run Xinhua has slammed such concerns as hype. But, in his March 5th work report, Chinese Premier Li Qiang (ph) acknowledged that overcapacity is a problem. Out in Yellen's current trip is a follow-up to her meetings in Beijing last July when she had those direct and productive talks with Chinese economic leadership. And during her latest trip, Yellen has been praised by state media for mastering the use of chopsticks. Yellen was observed while eating at a famous local restaurant in Guangzhou.
Kristie Lu Stout, CNN, Hong Kong.
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HILL: There you have it.
Well, still to come here, as excitement builds for the solar eclipse, some businesses see a golden opportunity. That's just ahead.
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HILL: The U.S. economy added 303,000 jobs in March. That is well above the forecast of 200,000 jobs. We'll take a look at how Wall Street is digesting these numbers. Futures up for you there, up slightly. We'll take it. Right? For investors, of course, it's all about interest rates. U.S. stocks plunged on Thursday after the Minneapolis Federal Reserve President said rates may not be cut at all this year if inflation stays high. CNN's Matt Egan joining us now to take us behind the numbers. So,
we've got the jobs report. You have the markets. We've got interest rates. All eyes, of course, on the Fed and how this will all add up for them. I am struck by those job numbers. What do you think the potential impact could be here when it comes to interest rate cuts?
MATT EGAN, CNN REPORTER: Well, Erica, I think for now, let's focus on the positive, which is the jobs number. Right?
[08:50:00]
303,000 jobs added last month. That is 50 percent more than the consensus was expecting. Right? And the unemployment rate, which had ticked up recently, going back down to 3.8 percent. These are really, really strong numbers. And it's just amazing how resilient this jobs market is, so much more than people expect, right, both on a short- term basis, where it seems like month-after-month, job growth comes in harder than economists expected. But also, when you zoom out, a lot of people thought that the Fed's war on inflation, right, spiking interest rates at the fastest pace in 40 years, a lot of people reasonably thought that that was going to potentially cause a recession. Right? A lot of economists had been expecting that the U.S. economy would start losing jobs on a monthly basis.
That -- not only that has that not happened, but the jobs market is getting hotter and hotter. Some context here. So, the 3.8 percent for unemployment, now that marks 26 consecutive months of sub four percent unemployment. We haven't seen anything like that since the late 1960s and early 1970s, under LBJ and then Richard Nixon. And then, on this job growth number, we now have 39 consecutive months of monthly job gains. That is the fifth longest streak on record. So, these are really impressive numbers.
And to your point about what this means for the Fed, markets are taking this in stride for now. Let's see if that continues where stock futures are pointing to a slightly higher open. But, you do, Erica, have to wonder whether or not a number like this, on top of some of the recent inflation readings, on top of what we're seeing in the energy market where prices are going up, whether or not this gives the Fed pause about cutting interest rates in June, which is what markets have been anticipating recently.
HILL: We'll continue to watch it. Matt, appreciate it. Thank you.
EGAN: Thanks, Erica.
HILL: OK. Three days now, if you're counting down until the solar eclipse. Millions of people are expected to travel for the best possible view they can find. Those few minutes in the Moon's shadow could also mean big bucks for certain businesses.
CNN's Stephanie Elam has more.
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STEPHANIE ELAM, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Four minutes of daytime darkness across America is turning into a massive bright spot for businesses, from a mass wedding in Arkansas to sold-out hotels in Dallas.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Friday, Saturday, Sunday, Monday since last year.
ELAM (voice-over): As the eclipse charts the American sky from Texas through the Midwest and on into the northeast, it will trail with it an economic impact of up to $1.5 billion. A big chunk of that boosting the Lone Star State, which will experience the eclipse for a fraction of an hour.
BULENT TEMEL, ECONOMICS PROFESSOR, UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS AT SAN ANTONIO: I call this the most profitable 22 minutes in Texas history.
ELAM (voice-over): At the intersection of the 2017 and 2024 events, Carbondale, Illinois, is dubbed the crossroads of the eclipse. That's where a Southern Illinois University will cancel classes and fill its 15,000-seat stadium with sky gazers. A local cafe is serving up eclipse cookies, lots of them.
LEAH MACIELL, OWNER, CRISTUADO'S CAFE & BAKERY: We will probably end up doing around 60 dozen a day.
ELAM (voice-over): For those who want to get closer to the action, Delta and Southwest are offering special flights during the eclipse, while United is giving out eclipse glasses.
ROGER SARKIS, FOUNDER, ECLIPSE GLASSES USA: I just remember how awestruck everybody was at the time.
ELAM (voice-over): Roger Sarkis and his wife Elissa (ph) were inspired to start Eclipse Glasses USA after the 2017 eclipse. Their sales of protective spectacles to view the upcoming celestial spectacle exploded on Monday, Sarkis says. He now expects they will sell out again.
SARKIS: We actually sold out of our original inventory in February. So, I bought more inventory. And I think we're on track to sell 500,000 pairs.
ELAM: So, this is beyond what you ever thought was possible.
SARKIS: Yeah.
ELAM (voice-over): But, all kinds of businesses are getting in on the skyrocketing excitement with eclipse specials, from Krispy Kreme's eclipse donut featuring an Oreo cookie in the middle to Sun Chips' solar eclipse chips that will only be available for four minutes and 27 seconds, the length of totality, perhaps a once-in-a-lifetime experience with stellar money-making opportunities.
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HILL: And our thanks again to Stephanie Elam for that report. Well, the solar eclipse is also impacting the start of a Major League Baseball game on Monday. The New York Yankees just announcing they're pushing back the start of that game on Monday, they're playing the Marlins, due to the solar eclipse. So, originally, it was supposed to start at 2:05. First pitch, though, is now set for 6:05 Eastern Time, mainly to avoid any possible in game delays. They were a little worried about what could happen during the eclipse moments. And if you're lucky enough to be in New York, the first 15,000 fans at the game will receive a Yankees solar eclipse t-shirt on Monday night.
Be sure to join us right here on Monday for the total solar eclipse as it travels from Mexico through the U.S. and into Canada. You can experience it from numerous locations with plenty of science and excitement along the way.
[08:55:00]
Our special coverage begins at 12 p.m. Eastern Time.
Thanks so much for joining me today on CNN Newsroom. I'm Erica Hill. Connect the World with Becky Anderson is up next.
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