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G7 Leaders to tackle Middle East Conflicts; Sudan May Collapse as Starvation and Famine is Now Experiencing, Just Two Years Into The War; Extreme Weather Felt in UAE and Neighboring Countries; Boeing Whistleblowers Testify Before a Senate Committee Hearing; Raptors Player Slaps Ban for Life by the NBA for Sports Betting. Aired 3-4a ET
Aired April 18, 2024 - 03:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
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KIM BRUNHUBER, CNN ANCHOR: Well, welcome to all of you watching us around the world. I'm Kim Brunhuber, live in Atlanta. This is "CNN Newsroom".
Western allies urge Israel to restrain its response to Iran as leaders meet this hour in Brussels and Italy to discuss Middle East tensions.
Mass displacement, famine, and a health system near collapse. Aid groups say the world is ignoring Sudan's deteriorating humanitarian crisis. And later --
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ED PIERSON, FORMER BOEING MANAGER: Boeing's corporate leaders continue to conceal the truth. They continue to mislead and deceive the public about the safety of planes. I'm not going to sugarcoat this. This is a criminal cover-up.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BRUNHUBER: More shocking allegations of safety lapses at Boeing, including a culture of cover-ups that goes all the way to the top.
UNKNOWN (voice-over): Live from Atlanta, this is "CNN Newsroom" with Kim Brunhuber.
BRUNHUBER: We begin with the growing tensions in the Middle East, the war in Gaza, and concerns over an Israeli counter strike on Iran will dominate the agenda during a G7 meeting in Italy happening later this hour.
Foreign ministers will discuss the situation and the possibility of new sanctions on Iran as world leaders scramble to prevent a wider conflict in the region, especially after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said during a cabinet meeting that Israel would respond to Iran's attack as it sees fit. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BENJAMIN NETANYAHU, ISRAELI PRIME MINISTER (through translator): I thank our friends for their support for the defense of Israel. And I say this, both support in words and support in actions. They also have all kinds of suggestions and advice. I appreciate it, but I want to make it clear. We will make our own decisions, and the state of Israel will do everything necessary to defend itself.
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BRUNHUBER: Now, that message from the prime minister may be in part due to pressure from within his own coalition government, specifically Israel's far-right finance minister, Bezalel Smotrich, who has openly called for a military response with a, quote, "disproportionate toll that would, quote, rock Tehran to deter any future strikes".
But it appears most Israelis don't share his opinion. A Hebrew University poll finds 74 percent of Israelis are opposed to a counter strike on Iran if it would harm relationships with Israel's allies.
CNN's Nada Bashir is following all developments and joins me now from London. So, Nada, let's start with Iran, top of the agenda for world leaders. What are we expecting in the hours ahead?
NADA BASHIR, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Certainly is high on the priority list, and there will be a significant focus on what further action can be taken against Iran, in particular a focus on the potential expansion of sanctions.
Now, that is something that the Israeli government has been pushing for amongst its European counterparts. We heard from the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, calling on international allies to take a stronger stance. That was certainly the message we heard yesterday from Israel's foreign minister, Israel Katz.
He met with his British and German counterparts, not only calling for tougher sanctions, but also calling on both the United Kingdom and Germany to designate the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps, the IRGC, as a terror organization and also calling for the prevention of any sort of ceasefire agreement until all hostages are released.
Now, of course, we have heard messages of solidarity from both the United Kingdom and Germany with the potential for a further expansion of sanctions. We did hear that message from the British foreign secretary, David Cameron, although not going so far as to suggest whether Britain would consider designating the IRGC a terror organization, but saying that they will look at taking further steps and in particular the potential expansion of sanctions on the IRGC.
Of course, the U.K. has already placed sanctions on the organization, but that will certainly continue to be a key focus, particularly as E.U. leaders meet today and of course as foreign ministers meet in the G7 setting in Capri in Italy.
That will continue to be a focus. We heard from David Cameron calling on the world's largest economies to take a united front when it comes to confronting Iran and to look at the possible expansion of sanctions. But of course there is still mounting concern around how this may escalate tensions in the region and of course how a reaction, a response, particularly on the military front from Israel directly targeting Iran could further expand tensions in the region.
We've heard warnings already from members of the international community and of course U.S. officials saying that they believe that Israel is looking at a limited response targeting Iran directly. Of course, no details as to when or where that might occur, but certainly a huge point of concern there.
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BRUNHUBER: All right, we'll have to leave it there. Nada Bashir, live in London. Thanks for that.
Now, earlier I spoke with Yaakov Katz, a senior columnist and editor at the "Jerusalem Post" and asked him about the divisions within Israel. Here he is.
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YAAKOV KATZ, SR. EDITOR AND COLUMNIST, THE JERUSALEM POST: There's no question, Kim, that Israel is really at a divisive point at the moment. And we have to remember that when the war broke out with Hamas on October 7th, it came on the heels of about a year of a severe rupture within Israeli society over proposed judicial reform, if you recall, that the prime minister and his coalition were trying to push through.
But I don't think that this is all just about what's happening internally, right? Israel today is the country that is most attacked and most threatened in the world. We have five active fronts as we speak, where Israel is being attacked, Hamas in Gaza, Hezbollah in Lebanon, where you had 18 soldiers just yesterday severely wounded from anti-tank missiles and suicide drones.
We have the Houthis in Yemen who are firing still drones and missiles into Israel and, of course, Iran and Iraqi and Syrian militias. So this is a country that is facing the gravest external threats, I think, today on the globe.
BRUNHUBER: Internally, though, the war cabinet itself is divided as well. The prime minister, the defense minister and the former head of the military. How are the divisions and the lack of trust between them affecting the decision making on what to do about Iran's retaliatory attack?
KATZ: Israel faces, like you said, Kim, a very serious dilemma of what to do when it comes to what Iran did this past Sunday morning when it launched hundreds of drones and cruise missiles and ballistic missiles at Israel.
The first direct unprecedented attack from Iranian territory against the Jewish state of Israel and the cabinet is divided because on the one hand, there are people who were almost what were five, six days into this almost.
And Israel has yet to retaliate. People are concerned legitimately, I think, that this policy of containment, of not retaliating will only invite Iran to think that it can do this again. On the other hand, there are those within the cabinet who are listening to what the Americans and the British and the French and other G7 friends of Israel are telling us, which is don't retaliate.
The interception of those missiles and drones was a win. You were able to do it successfully with this new collective regional alliance which involved the Jordanians and the Saudis and others.
That's the big win to show in defiance of Iran that the region stands together.
Don't escalate things and focus on what you have to do, which is finish up the Gaza Strip. So Netanyahu is really trying to thread a very difficult needle, I would say, through this whole situation. On the one hand, wrap up the war in Gaza. On the other hand, make sure that Iran learns a lesson. It can't do this again.
BRUNHUBER: Yeah. And then you talk about threading the needle. There are also domestic calculations in terms of timing. Right.
KATZ: No, without a doubt. I mean, you know, Israel today, we have two million Israeli schoolchildren who are on vacation because Passover starts Monday night. So they've already gone on holiday break.
The whole country, at least of the seven million Jews in this country, will be sitting down Monday night for what's known as the Seder. Right. That festive Passover meal as Jews gather around the world that will also be taking place here.
Is this the time you want to maybe gamble and go to a larger, widespread conflict with Iran that could also engage Hezbollah in Lebanon? And then people, instead of sitting at that Seder meal, they'll be sitting in their bomb shelters. Right. And trying to hunker down in face of another onslaught of Iranian and Hezbollah missiles. So this is definitely another calculation. But I have to say, Kim, is that I think Israelis look at this whole situation. They understand something very simple.
It's not normal what's going on here. It's not normal that Israel is attacked every single day on multiple fronts. It's not normal that there is a country called Iran, which has fired hundreds of missiles and drones into Israeli territory. And yes, they were intercepted.
But they need to be looked at as if each one landed, damaged and killed people. Just because a bullet was shot doesn't mean and it didn't hurt you. It doesn't mean it wasn't shot. It was still fired. And therefore, Israelis realize that the situation is not tenable and it needs to change. And we want the world to stand with us to make a change. BRUNHUBER: Yeah, but I mean, polls suggest that Israelis, you know
what, 74 percent of them don't want a retaliation that would jeopardize its relationship with its allies. I mean, you talked about these calls for moderation from the U.S. and also its allies within the region. So what is your sense? Do you think that they -- they will listen to those calls?
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KATZ: Look, this is a severe problem, I think, that we suffer from at the moment, and this is a lack of trust that we have between our government here in Jerusalem and, let's say, the Biden administration in Washington and other governments around the world. It's no secret that there is a tension and there's a tenuous relationship today between Prime Minister Netanyahu and President Joe Biden.
And this has to do with past grievances and maybe the form of the Israeli coalition and the right wing bent and the judicial reform. But whatever it is, when you don't have that basic trust, which you need between a prime minister and a president, you need between two governments, especially when facing the magnitude and scope of threats that Israel faces, that's going to be a handicap.
And I think that that contributes to this lack of decisiveness that we're seeing right now in how to respond or retaliate potentially to Iran. So definitely there's a lot of blame to go around. And it falls on all the sides here when it comes to what's happening.
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BRUNHUBER: Within the next two days, the U.N. Security Council is scheduled to vote on a Palestinian request for full U.N. membership. The U.S. is expected to block the measure since it would effectively amount to recognizing a Palestinian state. The Biden administration says that should happen through direct negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians, not at the U.N. The General Assembly voted in 2012 to grant the Palestinians non-member observer status.
A new statement from UNICEF details just how deadly the war in Gaza has been for children. UNICEF says nearly 14,000 children have been killed since the war started on October 7th. Another U.N. group reports one child in Gaza dies or is injured every 10 minutes.
In one of the latest strikes, eight children are among those killed at a refugee camp in central Gaza. CNN's Jeremy Diamond spoke with a family of one of the youngest victims. And we just want to warn you, his report does contain graphic images.
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JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): A moment frozen in time, the bodies of at least four children splayed around a foosball table, laughter and shrieks of joy silenced in an instance.
Blood now marking where they stood only minutes earlier.
Shahid, no way. Shahid, my beloved. Her cousin screams from behind the camera.
Ten-year-old Shahid is one of those children. Her bright pink pants unmistakable in the arms of the man carrying her away.
With her family's consent, CNN has decided to show Shahid in life and death in order to give a face to this war's deadly impact on children.
At Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital, those who can still be saved arrive alongside those who cannot. Amid the chaos, Shahid's pink pants dangling as a doctor confirms what is tragically obvious.
But Shahid is not alone. She is one of eight children who died on that crowded street in Al-Maghazi. The hospital says they were killed in an Israeli airstrike. By publication time, the Israeli military said only that the incident is under review.
One after another, their small bodies arrive at the hospital's morgue and into the arms of grieving parents.
His eyes swollen and red, the father of nine-year-old Lujain recounts his daughter's last moments playing foosball with her friends.
This is my eldest daughter, he says. A drone strike hit them while they were playing. They're all children.
Hours earlier, Yusuf was one of those children playing alongside Shahid and Lujain when he was suddenly killed in a war he did not choose. His mother still clinging to her son.
Neither does this boy who cannot believe his brother is dead.
He is still alive, he cries. Don't leave him here.
Amid the outpourings of grief, there is Shahid, her blood stained pink pants once again impossible to miss.
Dear God, what did they all do? One man cries. What did they all do?
Jeremy Diamond, CNN, Tel Aviv.
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BRUNHUBER: Ukraine has struck a Russian airfield in occupied Crimea. That's according to Ukraine's president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who says the target was on the northern end of the peninsula.
A local pro-Ukraine resistance group says a Russian air defense system and a command post were hit. Meanwhile, Ukraine's reeling from a Russian missile strike on the northern city of Chernihiv.
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Officials say at least 18 people were killed in the attack early Wednesday and close to 80 others injured. The strike damaged a hospital and more than 20 apartment buildings. President Zelenskyy said it wouldn't have happened if Ukraine had enough air defenses to fight back. He also urged allies to ramp up their weapons production. Here he is.
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VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY, UKRAINIAN PRESIDENT (through translator): This is time that everyone in Europe, in the free world, needs to use to strengthen, for more arms production, for more arms supplies, for determination in general. The normal life of the world is based on determination. And Europe can definitely not lose this time for the sake of our common security.
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BRUNHUBER: Ukraine could be one step closer to getting the aid it's been asking for. Wednesday, U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson said he will put a $61 billion package up for vote on Saturday. He's been holding up the bill for months, partly because of opposition from online Republicans within his own party. Among other things, the aid would help Ukraine buy advanced weapons and other defense equipment.
But Johnson's decision sets the stage for a tense political showdown with hard-liners opposed to any Ukraine funding threatening to oust the speaker. So that means Johnson may need help from Democrats just to keep his job.
CNN's Melanie Zanona reports.
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MELANIE ZANONA, CNN CAPITOL HILL REPORTER (voice-over): Speaker Mike Johnson in the fight of his political life.
REP. MIKE JOHNSON (R-LA), SPEAKER OF THE U.S. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES: When you do the right thing, you let the chips fall where they may. I mean, that's my life philosophy, and that's how I govern here every single day. I have got to stay focused on that every day, and not all the drama.
ZANONA (voice-over): Plowing ahead with a package of foreign aid bills and setting up a showdown with his right flank, who are furious over Ukraine funding and demanding border security, a risky move for Johnson that has fueled growing calls to oust him from the speakership.
REP. MARJORIE TAYLOR-GREENE (R-GA): I think some people are becoming more angry than I am. So we'll see what happens today. I don't know how much longer our members are going to tolerate the Republican speaker.
ZANONA (voice-over): After months of inaction, Johnson has teed up Saturday votes to send billions of dollars to Israel, Ukraine and Taiwan, closely resembling a Senate-passed version and earning a stamp of approval from President Biden. The package includes $9 billion in humanitarian aid for Gaza and other
conflict zones, a key demand from Democrats, who support Johnson will need to get the bills over the finish line and perhaps keep him in the speakership.
JOHNSON: We have the small majority in the House. The Democrats are in charge of the Senate and the White House. So by definition, we won't get everything we want. But we got a great product here.
ZANONA (voice-over): To placate conservatives, some of the aid will be structured as a loan. Johnson has also promised a separate vote on a border bill. But hardliners say that's not enough.
REP. MATT GAETZ (R-FL): There's no other way to describe it. It's surrender. It's disappointing. I won't support it. I'll encourage others to hold a similar view.
ZANONA (voice-over): As others leave the door open to removing Johnson from the top job.
REP. ERIC BURLISON (R-MO): I haven't made up my mind yet that I'm not happy about this rule. And he's pushing us to the brink.
REP. CHIP ROY (R-TX): I'm well past the point of giving grace here. So we're going to go. We got to go have some conversations.
ZANONA (voice-over): But some Republicans who voted to depose the last speaker say they don't want to go down that road again.
UNKNOWN: It's not the right call at not the right time right now. It's a very tough time right now.
REP. ELI CRANE (R-AZ): As somebody who's already gone through that exercise. It's we're concerned with what the alternative might be.
ZANONA (voice-over): Last week, Johnson traveled to Mar-a-Lago to secure a lifeline from Donald Trump, who said he stands by the speaker. But now Trump not making any predictions about Johnson's future.
DONALD TRUMP, FORMER U.S. PRESIDENT: We'll see what happens.
ZANONA: Now, Democrats have not yet committed to bailing out Speaker Johnson if he faces a motion to vacate the speakership. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries said he has not been asked by Johnson to save him from a motion to vacate or to put up the votes in order to advance a procedural rule for that package of foreign aid bills.
But Jeffries did say that Democrats are going to huddle as a caucus on Thursday to discuss it over further. So we could see a decision coming out of that key meeting. But at this point, it's looking increasingly likely that Johnson is going to need Democrats to save him.
Melanie Zanona, CNN Capitol Hill.
(END VIDEOTAPE) BRUNHUBER: Still to come on the brink of starvation and collapse, aid agencies warn of a dire situation in Sudan after a year of devastating civil war.
Plus, Boeing's battered reputation takes another hit on Capitol Hill as key witnesses raise more concerns about the airplane's safety.
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SAM SALEHPOUR, BOEING ENGINEER: Right now, from what I've seen, the airplanes are not being built per spec and per requirement.
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BRUNHUBER: As Sudan heads into a second year of a brutal civil war, aid agencies are warning the country is on the brink of collapse in a crisis that's largely been ignored by the rest of the world.
The U.N. Secretary General says potential crimes against humanity are being committed in the conflict between the Sudan Armed Forces and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces, known as RSF. The humanitarian group Islamic Relief warns of a looming famine and crisis levels of food security. It says many young children could soon starve to death.
Medecins Sans Frontieres, or Doctors Without Borders, is calling on world leaders to immediately step up their humanitarian response. The group says Sudanese authorities are blocking aid delivery to some areas and that the RSF has looted critical aid supplies. But despite the dire situation there, the international response has been tepid, with only 5 percent of requested aid being funded so far this year.
CNN's Larry Madowo has our report.
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LARRY MADOWO, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): 14,000 killed. More than eight million people forcibly displaced from their homes.
Accusations of rape, murder and horrific abuses. Sudan is on the brink, begging the world to see what's happening and send real help.
BASHIR AWAD, SUDANESE RESIDENT (through translator): All countries of the world are busy with the rest of the world, but we are third world countries. No one is concerned about us. That is why we all suffered.
MADOWO (voice-over): Suffering so grave that half the population need humanitarian aid.
A brutal war between the Sudanese Armed Forces and a rival paramilitary group, the Rapid Support Forces, just entered its second year. Nothing was spared, and civilians trapped in the conflict zone are traumatized.
DR. MAYMOUNA AL-BAKRI, SUDANESE RESIDENT (through translator): We were inside our house when we were looted, robbed and beaten. All of this happened to us.
MADOWO (voice-over): The U.S. is the largest donor of humanitarian aid to Sudan. And just days ago, Washington pledged another $100 million in emergency aid, bringing the total amount donated since the start of the conflict to $1 billion.
But Secretary of State Antony Blinken has accused the warring parties of blocking vital aid to civilians and egregious abuses.
ANTONY BLINKEN, U.S. SECRETARY OF STATE: Both the SAF and RSF have carried out war crimes, including rapes, torture, extrajudicial killings and other human rights abuses.
MADOWO (voice-over): Commanders for the SAF and the RSF have previously denied such allegations.
With the world seemingly powerless to stop it, Amnesty International warns that the war in Sudan is likely to continue and cause more civilian suffering.
MADOWO: If these strong statements and condemnation from the U.S. and the U.N. and the African Union have not worked in Sudan, so what's the fastest way to resolve the conflict?
ABDULLAHI HASSAN, SUDAN RESEARCHER, AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL: Exert pressure on the warring parties to end violations against civilians, to end indiscriminate attacks against civilians, to allow humanitarian access, and to ensure they are held accountable for the violations they are committing in Sudan.
MADOWO (voice-over): Larry Madowo, CNN, Nairobi.
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BRUNHUBER: And joining us now is Elsadig Elnour, country director for Islamic Relief in Sudan. And he's speaking to us from Gedaref in Eastern Sudan. Thank you so much for being here with us. So, what we just saw and heard there paints a bleak picture of the situation right now in your country. Tell us what you're seeing.
ELSADIG ELNOUR, COUNTRY DIRECTOR FOR ISLAMIC RELIEF, SUDAN: Thank you very much. As you have just mentioned, the war has entered second year in the country, and still the conflict is ongoing in different parts of Sudan.+
And this conflict resulted in devastating consequences, such as mass displacement, and it ravaged and destroyed all the public institutions, markets, hospitals, and many people have been internally displaced. More people crossed the borders to the neighboring countries, such as Egypt, Central Africa, South Sudan, and (inaudible).
BRUNHUBER: I just want to -- Yeah, I just want to jump in. Your organization has said that the country is on the brink of collapse. I mean, the situation as we're seeing it right now is pretty horrific for so many people I mean, what exactly would collapse mean? How would it get worse?
ELNOUR: Yes, it gets worse because the conflict is ongoing, and most of the areas of the Sudan now are under war. And most of the people are war-affected people. Around 18 million people now are currently facing food insecurity at the crisis and emergency level, and the imminent famine. This is the crisis. And more than 70 percent of all these public institutions are out of service.
People are now either IDPs within the country or refugees out of the country, and no services, and they don't have any employment, they don't have income, people are starving elsewhere, and children are dying, and the malnutrition rate has already crossed the threshold. This is now the situation in the country, yes.
BRUNHUBER: Yeah, you were talking about IDPs, I mean, you know, displaced people, you yourself have shared much of the hardship that so many people have gone through being displaced yourself, having to flee your home. I mean, can you share what it was like to be caught in the middle of the fighting and you know, trying to find safety for yourself and your family wherever you can?
ELNOUR: Of course, like all other Sudanese, everyone has been affected by this war in a way or another. I have been displaced from my house, I was in Khartoum, the capital, and then we tried to move from Khartoum to this place, Gedaref, as all the country, we moved here to continue the business from place, a safe place for us.
Most of my staff, the country staff in Khartoum, have been relocated to Gedaref area to continue the business and to respond to the IDPs, and fortunately, we were able to reach around 600,000 people. IDPs are vulnerable communities in different (inaudible).
BRUNHUBER: Listen, it's so vital to draw attention to this story and the situation of so many people who are suffering right now, as you and your group have said, the world's attention is engaged elsewhere, but it certainly has to focus on the situation in Sudan that's desperate for so many people.
We really appreciate hearing from you. The signal, unfortunately, isn't great, but your words are vital, carrying a vital message, and we appreciate having you on. Elsadig Elnour, thank you so much for joining us.
All right, still ahead, some of the world's top diplomats are gathering in Italy. We're live in Rome with a look at what's on the G7 foreign ministers' agenda.
Plus, under pressure from the left, U.S. President Joe Biden draws protests from younger voters, a group critical for his reelection. We'll talk about the reason for their revolt next. Stay with us. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
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KIM BRUNHUBER, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome back to all of you watching us around the world. I'm Kim Brunhuber. This is "CNN Newsroom".
Leaders of the European Union are meeting today in Brussels to talk about how they can keep up with economic superpowers, the U.S. and China. The bloc's facing new challenges in areas including green energy and digital technology. They're expected to set out a nine- point plan that includes deepening the single market and creating energy unions and capital markets.
And G7 foreign ministers are gathering on the Italian island of Capri for day two of a summit that will include talks on the Middle East and Ukraine. Italy, which holds the rotating G7 presidency, is calling for a ceasefire in Gaza. But everyone's waiting to see if Israel retaliates against Iran for Saturday's drone and missile attacks. Ukraine's foreign minister and NATO's secretary-general are set to join the talks in the coming hours.
I want to go live now to Rome and CNN's Barbie Nadeau. And Barbie, let's start with the Middle East, plenty of urgency around the situation in Gaza and trying to prevent a larger regional conflict with Iran as well.
BARBIE NADEAU, CNN REPORTER: That's right. You know, it's really three priorities when it comes to the Middle East. One is to try to convince Israel that their response needs to be a little bit tempered and not to make things not to de-escalate, let's say, the situation.
The other is, of course, how to punish Iran, whether they do targeted sanctions, how they can agree on that. And of course, the humanitarian crisis in Gaza, which would have been probably the priority of this meeting when the plans were being made and the agenda was being set.
But so many times in these G7 meetings, and these are the foreign ministers, the real talks happen on the sidelines. And there are a lot of bilateral meetings in addition to these group meetings. And we're expecting to see some movement in terms of an agreement on what they think should happen, especially with regard to the targeted sanctions against Iran. Kim?
BRUNHUBER: All right. And then, Barbie, of course, Ukraine also at the top of their agenda as well. So what are we expecting there?
NADEAU: Yeah, you know, the situation in Ukraine, we've seen a lot of pressure in every country, basically, that is giving support to Ukraine to try to come up with a solution rather than to continue to support financially or with weapons.
And one of the things they're talking about, of course, is how to use the assets taken from the Russian oligarchs and all those sanctioned Russians, especially here in Europe and especially here in Italy, and to see if that can be used somehow funneled into support for Ukraine, into the purchase of weapons and things like that. So that's going to be a really important conversation. And as you said, the foreign minister of Ukraine and the officials from NATO will also be attending the meeting this afternoon in Capri.
And you know, we're expected to see tomorrow on Friday a press conference, which will answer many of the questions people have in terms of what they've come up with. And we're expecting to see some sort of document come out of this at the end of the day tomorrow. Kim?
[03:35:06]
BRUNHUBER: All right. We'll see what does come out of it. Barbie Nadeau in Rome. Thank you so much. I Appreciate it.
U.S. President Joe Biden is under pressure from a key group of voters over his handling of the war in Gaza. University students and younger voters are pivotal for Biden's reelection bid, and they're demanding to be heard on the campaign trail.
CNN's Jeff Zeleny reports from the battleground state of Pennsylvania.
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JEFF ZELENY, CNN CHIEF U.S. NATIONAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT (voice- over): At one stop after another, cries of protest trail President Biden.
Even outside the United Steelworkers' headquarters in Pittsburgh, one of the many friendly venues the White House selects in hopes of minimizing angry disruptions over the Israel-Gaza war.
Whether or not the president can hear their message, many demonstrators share a common bond. They are students frustrated and furious at U.S. foreign policy.
KARIM SAFIEDDINE, STUDENT, UNIVERSITY OF PITTSBURGH: If there is indeed a will to stop this conflict, it can be stopped.
ZELENY (voice-over): Karim Safieddine is a Ph.D. student at the University of Pittsburgh, one of many young Americans speaking out.
ZELENY: There is not something that changes dramatically. Can you vote for Joe Biden?
SAFIEDDINE: I do not believe so. And I do believe that many people will not be voting for Joe Biden. And if this indeed does something, it does open a debate, a discussion.
ZELENY (voice-over): The debate plays out most everywhere Biden goes as he tries to rebuild his winning coalition. One of the most resistant pieces of that puzzle is young voters on college campuses, a place Biden has avoided almost entirely.
DAHLIA SABA, STUDENT, UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN-MADISON: I think he would be met with a lot of backlash, a lot of protest, because his policies have killed tens of thousands of people.
ZELENY (voice-over): Dahlia Saba is a Wisconsin graduate student who helped organize a protest vote in the state's primary earlier this month. She bristles at the notion of whether her opposition to Biden could help Donald Trump.
SABA: We reject the idea that the Democratic Party feels like they have to coerce people into voting for them by leveraging the threat of another candidate that is worse.
ZELENY (voice-over): If protests rage until the election, Biden could well become the first Democratic president since the Vietnam era, unwelcome to large crowds of students.
BARRY BURDEN, DIRECTOR, ELECTIONS RESEARCH CENTER, UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN-MADISON: He does have this problem of a kind of nagging protest vote on the Democratic side because of his handling of things in Gaza.
ZELENY (voice-over): Barry Burden leads the Elections Research Center at the University of Wisconsin, where presidential visits to college campuses --
BURDEN: Thousands of people to see Kennedy.
ZELENY (voice-over): -- have long been a historically critical stop for Democrats.
BURDEN: You could feel the kind of youth energy behind the Clinton campaign. This was just a very comfortable place for Obama as a candidate and a very necessary place for him to find votes.
ZELENY: What do you make of the protest vote and how that could impact November?
BURDEN: Well, Biden certainly does not have the support of young people the way Obama did. I think the Vietnam War is the closest analogy. That was also the period when we had the biggest generation gap between the parties.
ZELENY (voice-over): While pro-Palestinian demonstrations are far more than a campus movement, Biden's advisers are studying young voters carefully.
ANNA SORYAL, STUDENT, CARNEGIE MELLON UNIVERSITY: The one thing that's surprising me is the degree to which he's disregarding public opinion.
Anna Soryal is a graduate architecture student at Carnegie Mellon in Pittsburgh. She regrets her vote for Biden four years ago.
SORYAL: That was the first time I could vote in a presidential election. Frankly, I look back, I'm embarrassed.
ZELENY: These protests are coming from within the president's own coalition. That is what worries some of his top Democratic supporters so much. One top adviser told me if politics was driving this, he would have reversed course months ago.
The question, of course, as commencement season begins in the coming weeks, will the president be able to do those and will he be on college campuses by the fall?
Jeff Zeleny, CNN, Pittsburgh.
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BRUNHUBER: Former U.S. President Donald Trump met with Poland's president in New York on Wednesday. The Trump campaign says the two discussed Russia's war on Ukraine and NATO member states increasing their defense spending. Polish President Andrzej Duda has called for pledges to be increased from two to three percent of a country's GDP.
Trump, the presumptive Republican presidential nominee, has, of course, been critical of NATO defense spending. In February, he said he would encourage Russia to do, quote, whatever the hell they want to any NATO member that doesn't meet spending guidelines on defense.
Jury selection will resume later today in Trump's hush money trial. And we've learned from a filing released on Wednesday that if Trump chooses to testify, the Manhattan district attorney's office wants to be able to bring up his long list of legal dramas and dirty laundry to discredit him to the jury. CNN's Kara Scannell explains.
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KARA SCANNELL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Prosecutors want to be able to ask Trump if he takes the stand on cross-examination about a lot of the legal issues that he's had, including the verdict in the civil fraud case where the judge found Trump liable for persistent and repeated fraud. They also want to bring up the verdicts in the E. Jean Carroll cases where two different juries found Trump liable for defamation. One found Trump liable for sexual abuse.
And among the other legal run-ins Trump has had, they also want to focus on a judge sanctioning him for filing a frivolous lawsuit against Hillary Clinton.
They also want to be able to ask him about a settlement that the Trump Foundation had with the New York attorney general's office in which Trump agreed to dissolve his foundation.
And lastly, they want to ask him about the criminal convictions of two Trump entities for tax fraud in 2022.
Trump's side has signaled that they're going to challenge this. The judge said he will hold a hearing over this issue before he rules whether any of this will come in. He said that could be as soon as Friday afternoon if they wrap up jury selection in time. So he seems like he thinks that that is possible.
(END VIDEOTAPE) BRUNHUBER: U.S. Senate put a swift end to the impeachment case against Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas. Lawmakers rejected both articles impeachment largely along party lines. The Republican- led House impeached Mayorkas in February over his handling of the southern border. He's the first cabinet member to be impeached in nearly 150 years. The Senate trial had barely gotten underway on Wednesday when Democrats derailed it on procedural votes.
Still to come, record rain dumped on the desert.
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ELENI GIOKOS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: And you can see behind me just how deep and extensive this is.
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BRUNHUBER: We'll have a full report on the tremendous flooding in the UAE. That's coming up. Please stay with us.
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BRUNHUBER: A popular tourist destination in central Mexico is at risk of disappearing. Lake Patzcuaro has lost more than half of its volume since authorities started tracking its falling water levels. People flocked to the lake during the November Day of the Dead festivities. Authorities say a combination of factors is causing the lake to dry out, including drought, deforestation, and water theft.
The death toll continues to rise in Afghanistan after unprecedented heavy rains and flooding. Afghan officials say at least 70 people have died so far, with dozens more injured and thousands of homes damaged.
Extreme weather is also affecting Pakistan, where at least 40 deaths have been reported. Experts fear the damage could get even worse, with rain forecasts to continue through the weekend in some regions.
The UAE and neighboring countries are trying to recover from record rains. We'll have full details on that in a moment. But first, a heartwarming moment of compassion. Dubai police saving a fur baby from the floods.
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Oh, you see it there, the tuxedo kitty clearly exhausted from clinging to that door handle. Glad to see it get out alive.
We have more now from CNN's Eleni Giokos.
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GIOKOS (voice-over): Powerful storms, torrential rainfall, bringing Dubai to a standstill, disrupting the lives of thousands. Among the towering skyscrapers, the rain fell so heavily and so quickly. Streets were turned into rivers, highways into lakes.
Cars submerged underwater. People stuck for hours on the main road to the airport, forced to abandon their vehicles as the flooded water rose.
And at Dubai International Airport, planes battled against flooded runways. Emirates Airlines halted all departing flights from Dubai on Wednesday, with incoming flights being diverted to neighboring countries.
Severe weather also affected other Gulf States. In neighboring Oman, at least 18 people died in flash floods, according to the country's National Committee for Emergency Management.
GIOKOS: This region is known for its hot and dry weather. That is why scenes like this are completely unprecedented. We're talking about four inches or 100 millimeters of rain in the course of 12 hours. That is what Dubai normally experiences over one year.
Now, this is also record rainfall since data began around 75 years ago. Dubai is known for its dazzle. It's known for its innovation. But perhaps in many ways, infrastructure has been overlooked because it simply cannot cope with this type of rainfall.
And with climate change becoming a reality globally and also here in the Middle East, perhaps that needs to change.
GIOKOS (voice-over): Rain is expected to taper off in the region, but a few showers may linger before dry weather returns.
Eleni Giokos, CNN, Dubai.
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BRUNHUBER: An erupting volcano has forced more than 800 people from their homes in a remote region of Indonesia. A tsunami alert has been issued amid fears it could collapse into the sea. Tuesday's eruption sent a column of smoke and ash more than a mile into the sky, and eruptions were even stronger Wednesday. So far, no reports of deaths or injuries, but people have been told to be on alert for potential dangers like flying rocks, hot cloud discharges, and tsunamis.
Hawaii's attorney general has released her first report into the Maui wildfires last August, which killed 101 people. She didn't determine a cause for the fire, but provided a comprehensive timeline of events. CNN's Mike Valerio reports.
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MIKE VALERIO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: While Hawaii Attorney General Anne Lopez declined to assign blame or reveal if criminal or civil charges are likely against emergency response officials as she presented the first findings of a Lahaina wildfire report commissioned by her office. The report released on Wednesday detailed warnings issued by the
National Weather Service a week before the disaster, bulletins cautioning local authorities that red flag fire danger could be possible in the week ahead.
Lopez declined to answer reporter questions about decisions made by Maui County and Maui Emergency Management Agency officials. And when asked if she would be looking into whether anybody could be held criminally liable, the attorney general's response was brief.
ANNE E. LOPEZ, HAWAII ATTORNEY GENERAL: We are going to continue this investigation and we will follow it wherever it leads.
VALERIO: So what was not in this report? The cause of the catastrophic wildfires. Officials said that will be determined by the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.
Officials speaking at Wednesday's press conference added ATF investigators hope to share their findings into the cause and origin of the wildfires by the first anniversary of the disaster.
Mike Valerio, CNN, Los Angeles.
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BRUNHUBER: A Boeing whistleblower says when he expressed concern about the airplane safety to his bosses, he was ignored and worse.
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SAM SALEHPOUR, BOEING ENGINEER: I was sidelined. I was told to shut up. I received physical threats. My boss said I would have killed someone who said what you said in a meeting.
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BRUNHUBER: Boeing employees took center stage on Capitol Hill on Wednesday. We will have details after the break. Please stay with us.
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BRUNHUBER: North Korea has a new hit song. It's called "Friendly Parent" and is dedicated to leader Kim Jong-un. Lyrics praise Kim as not just a friendly parent, but also a great leader.
The song debuted this week during an evening concert and ceremony in Pyongyang. Kim Jong-un presided over the event, which also celebrated the completion of a new high-rise apartment development that spans 80 hectares. A sign atop one of the buildings reads Heaven on Earth and no word yet on whether "Friendly Parent" will be available on iTunes or Amazon Music.
The safety of Boeing was front and center at two Senate committee hearings on Wednesday. A former Boeing manager testified that he believes the company was involved in a criminal cover-up. Boeing didn't provide any witnesses at the hearings, but has defended the safety of its airplanes.
We have more on the story from CNN's Pete Muntean.
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PETE MUNTEAN, CNN AVIATION CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The crisis facing Boeing has landed on Capitol Hill. In dueling Senate hearings Wednesday, rapid-fire allegations against the manufacturer in Goliath once considered to be squeaky clean.
ED PIERSON, FORMER BOEING MANAGER: Every person stepping aboard a Boeing airplane is at risk.
JOE JACOBSEN, FORMER FAA ENGINEER: Boeing concealment led to two crashes and 346 deaths.
MUNTEAN (voice-over): The newest whistleblower claimed that Boeing's flagship 787 is dangerously put together.
Sam Salehpour served as a quality engineer at the 787 factory in South Carolina. He alleges that large sections of the fuselage are put together with gaps that are too big, creating stress and wear, which over time could cause catastrophic failure.
SALEHPOUR: When you are operating at 35,000 feet, details are that the size of a human hair can be a matter of life and death. They are putting out defective airplanes.
MUNTEAN (voice-over): Boeing insists there is no evidence of fatigue failure in the 16 years the 787 has been flying. There are about 1,100 operating worldwide, and none have been lost to a crash.
In a briefing for Reporters Monday, Boeing detailed that it tested the 787 to 275 years of flights. Boeing is standing by the design, saying, quote, "claims about the structural integrity of the 787 are inaccurate and do not represent the comprehensive work Boeing has done to ensure the quality and long-term safety of the aircraft".
Senator Richard Blumenthal called this hearing.
SEN. RICHARD BLUEMENTHAL (D-CT): What we see here is simply management that has been failing, manufacturing that has defects and a broken safety culture.
MUNTEAN (voice-over): Lawmakers' anger is the latest chapter in a years-long saga of Boeing disasters. Two 737 MAX crashes in 2018 and 2019 killed 346 people abroad. In January, a door plug blew off an Alaska Airlines 737 MAX 9.
Whistleblower Ed Pierson told lawmakers Wednesday that Boeing is hiding key documentation about workers failing to install the door plug properly.
PIERSON: I'm not going to sugarcoat this. This is a criminal cover-up. Records do, in fact, exist. I know this because I've personally passed them to the FBI.
MUNTEAN: Boeing, for the record, referred our questions about the missing documents to the National Transportation Safety Board. As for the alleged gaps on the 787, they are very small, about the width of a single human hair or two pieces of paper. That is on a huge jetliner that can sit nine people across.
Senator Blumenthal says passengers should not be afraid to step on a plane today, but that the issue is important to investigate.
Pete Muntean, CNN, Washington.
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BRUNHUBER: Police in Brazil are still trying to figure out what happened after they were called to a bank in Rio de Janeiro.
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Bank employees say the woman in this video, shown on the left, brought in her uncle to get a $3,000 loan. Problem is, police believe he was already dead. The woman talks to him and appears to support his head. Suspicious employees called an ambulance. A pleader later detained the woman. Paramedics say the man had been dead for hours, but the family's lawyer says he arrived at the bank alive, according to CNN Brazil. Police are investigating to see what charges his niece could face.
The Toronto Raptors' Jontay Porter has played his last NBA game, banned by the league for violating betting rules. The NBA, says Porter, disclosed confidential information to sports bettors, limited his participation in games for betting purposes and bet on NBA games himself. The 24-year-old Porter played in 26 games with the Raptors this season, averaging just over four points a game.
A new study published in the journal PLOS One presents evidence of a new species of prehistoric marine reptile. Experts believe it's likely the largest of its kind ever to swim in the Earth's oceans. Researchers think the creatures, called Ixiothors, looked similar to modern-day dolphins but bigger. The study was published years after a father and daughter in the U.K. came upon fossils while walking on the beach in 2020. They contacted a paleontologist familiar with a fossil of the same type, and their crew was able to find and piece together an entire jawbone.
Dean Lomax hopes they continue to find more pieces of the creature.
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DR. DEAN LOMAX, PALEONTOLOGIST: No other marine reptiles, and you can include turtles and crocodiles, no other marine reptiles got as large as these animals did. It's quite remarkable to think that gigantic blue whale-sized ichthyosaurs were swimming in the oceans around the time the dinosaurs were walking on land in what is now the U.K. during the Triassic period. These jawbones provide tantalizing evidence that perhaps one day, fingers crossed, a complete skull or a skeleton might be found.
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BRUNHUBER: And their discovery will soon be displayed at the Bristol Museum and Art Gallery for all to see.
I'm Kim Brunhuber, in Atlanta. "CNN Newsroom" continues with Max Foster in just a moment.
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