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Israel Faces International Outrage Over Deadly Rafah Strike; Closing Arguments in Trump Hush Money Trial; Villagers Digging by Hand After Massive Landslide in Papua New Guinea; Spain Pledges Over $1 Billion in Military Aid to Ukraine; Taiwan Lawmakers Debate Controversial Reforms; North Korean Rocket Carrying Spy Satellite Explodes in Air. Aired 12-12:45a ET

Aired May 28, 2024 - 00:00   ET

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

[00:00:30]

JOHN VAUSE, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: Ahead here on CNN NEWSROOM.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BENJAMIN NETANYAHU, ISRAELI PRIME MINISTER (through translator): Unfortunately, a tragic mistake happened last night.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: A tragic mistake in Rafah, which the U.S., the United Nations, aid agencies, humanitarian groups, and the International Criminal Court all warned Israel for weeks would happen.

New York jury will soon hear closing arguments in Donald Trump's hush money trial. Their verdict could decide who will be the next president of the United States.

And from rescue to recovery in Papua New Guinea four days after a deadly landslide. Hopes of finding anyone else alive are quickly fading.

ANNOUNCER: Live from Atlanta, this is CNN NEWSROOM with John Vause.

VAUSE: Israel's offensive around the border city of Rafah in Gaza's south has continued overnight with at least four Palestinians killed by artillery fire. That's according to the Palestinian news agency WAFA, which adds a camp for those forced from their homes was targeted and it comes a day after the Israeli prime minister said a weekend airstrike on a similar camp in Rafah, which killed at least 45 civilians, was a tragic mistake.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

NETANYAHU (through translator): Despite our best effort not to harm those not involved, unfortunately, a tragic mistake happened last night. We are investigating the case.

(END VIDEO CLIP) VAUSE: According to one U.S. official, Israel says an early assessment indicates shrapnel from the airstrike ignited a nearby fuel tank, sparking an inferno, melting the plastic tents many were using for shelter. The Israeli military says two senior Hamas officials were killed in the strike and has begun an investigation. In a statement saying the IDF regrets any harm to uninvolved civilians during combat.

In the hours after the strike protests were held at a number of cities around the world with U.N. agencies, aid groups, governments all calling for Israel to respect last week's ruling by the International Court of Justice for an immediate halt to the offensive in Rafah. All of this comes as Spain, Ireland, Norway each planning to make a formal declaration in the hours ahead recognizing a Palestinian state.

More now from CNN's Jeremy Diamond on the aftermath and the attack in Rafah and a warning his report contains graphic images.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Their blood-curdling screams tell the story of the unfolding horror more than words ever could. But it is only as bodies are pulled out of the inferno that the scale of this attack becomes clear.

At least 45 people were killed after an Israeli airstrike targeted this camp for displaced Palestinians in Western Rafah, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Health. Plastic tarps engulfed in flames, sheet metal walls crushed by the blast, a block of makeshift shelters flattened in an instance.

The Israeli military says the strike killed two senior Hamas militants who commanded Hamas' West Bank operations, Yassin Rabia and Khaled Nagar. In a rare move, the Israeli military's top lawyer launching an investigation into the strike, saying civilian casualties had not been expected. "It was assessed that there would be no expected harm to uninvolved civilians. The IDF regrets any harm to uninvolved civilians during combat."

Mohammed Abu Ataiwi (PH) is one of those civilians, so badly burned that he cannot even open his eyes. But there are so many more. So many children writhing in pain. And then there are the parents desperate to save babies whose cries have been silenced, perhaps forever. For those who survived, whatever thin sense of safety they still had has now been completely shattered.

We were sitting and suddenly there was a big blast and fire. People started screaming, Ranin (PH) says, describing how they spent the whole night pulling charred bodies out of the embers.

While hundreds of thousands have fled Eastern Rafah after the military ordered its evacuation, many others like this man displaced from Central Gaza came here to Western Rafah, told the area would be safe. And then there are the mourners.

The occupation army is a liar. There is no security in Gaza, says this man, whose brother was killed in the strike. [00:05:04]

Here he is with his wife. They were murdered. They are gone.

For one man, a brother, for another, his sister. She was the only one, he says, she was the only one and she has gone.

Jeremy Diamond, CNN, Jerusalem.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

VAUSE: Joining us now from Tel Aviv is Alon Pinkas, former Israeli consul general in New York.

Ambassador, good to see you again.

ALON PINKAS, FORMER ISRAELI CONSUL GENERAL IN NEW YORK: Hi, good morning, John.

VAUSE: Good morning to you. Here's a little more from the Israeli prime minister speaking about the strike on Rafah. He was talking to lawmakers in the Knesset on Monday. Here he is.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

NETANYAHU (through translator): For us every noncombatant that is hurt is a tragedy. For Hamas, it's a strategy. This is the whole difference.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: You know, when it comes to Hamas, Netanyahu is correct. Civilian casualties are part of their overall strategy. But given the repeated warnings from the United States, from allies, from the U.N., from humanitarian groups, it seems disingenuous in the extreme for Netanyahu to talk about the loss of life here as a tragedy, also to call it a tragic mistake by Israel. They've been warned about it for weeks.

PINKAS: You're absolutely right. I'll tell you more than that, John, given the terrain, given that the plastic tent, given how densely populated that area is, by the way, with refugees that Israel insisted move there from the northern part of the Gaza Strip, attacking there and result in this tragedy in an almost inevitable way. It is disingenuous and Mr. Netanyahu can call it a tragedy all he wants and he can even mean it.

But this was reckless. This is inexcusable. And I'll tell you something even more tragic and crude, if Israel maintains this type and scale of operation in Gaza this is almost bound to repeat itself and so there's absolutely no way of explaining this.

VAUSE: Yes. Hours before the strike on Rafah Hamas fired a barrage of rockets at Central Israel from areas in Gaza which the IDF said had been cleared. So at this point, what is the justification for continuing with this military operation in Gaza, given the fact that it does seem that Hamas will not be defeated purely in military terms? And there has been this demand three times by the International Court of Justice for an immediate ceasefire?

PINKAS: I think that part of the taking just the end of what you've just said, John, the International Court of Justice, the ICJ issuing its provisional injunction or provisional ruling, the continuation of the operation in Rafah led Mr. Netanyahu to come out so quickly and call this a tragedy. Otherwise, I'm not sure he would have even said that.

Now, as for the justification, look, this goes, and I think we've talked about this on your show several times, there is no justification. That is the plain truth. If you want to get rid of Hamas and eradicated it militarily entirely, assuming and that's, you know, that's a far, far reaching assumption that it is even possible and attainable, then you basically have to occupy the entire Gaza Strip and run it for months, if not years.

That is something that Israel says it does not want. That is something that Israel pledged to the U.S. it would not do. As things stand now either you launch a huge military operation in Rafah, which would result in another tragedy like this, or you reached the conclusion, as you just suggested, John, that there is no justification for this continued onslaught or continued operation.

Now, you know, this is tied to something much bigger. The fact that the war, from its outset, other than being a just war or retaliation for horrific terror attack on October 7th, the war never had any feasible, any attainable, any achievable, call it what you want political goals. The military means that usually need to be aligned with the military -- with a political objective are just not aligned.

And so this is just a military operation with no end in sight. And I think this will bring about even more pressure on Israel for a ceasefire, even separate from a hostage deal.

VAUSE: Well, with that in mind, there's also the impact that this will have on, you know, the hundred or so Israeli still being held by Hamas somewhere in Gaza. On that, here's Osama Hamdan who's a senior Hamas official. Listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

OSAMA HAMDAN, SENIOR HAMAS OFFICIAL (through translator): The longer Netanyahu and his supporters delay committing to this entitlement, the more of their prisoners will lose their lives at the hands of their army with Zionist bombing and American missiles. The continued procrastination and airstrikes mean that their hostages may not return, but as corpses, and perhaps they will never return.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[00:10:00]

VAUSE: And during that address to the Knesset, Netanyahu told lawmakers, I promised them, the families of the hostages, that I will not let go of the effort to bring them all back home. Those who are alive and those who are dead to the last of them.

It would seem keeping that promise just got a lot harder to keep, right?

PINKAS: Impossible to keep, and I have to tell you, you know, although he's the prime minister of my country, he's being disingenuous again. He did not make every effort or any effort for that matter to secure the release of the hostages. In fact, since November, just the first hostage deal there has been little -- almost zero progress in terms of a hostage deal because of one reason and one reason only, John, and that is that any hostage deal is linked, you know, inseparably to a ceasefire, and Mr. Netanyahu, for the last several months, is just not interested in a ceasefire.

Because if there is a ceasefire, he cannot claim this oval victory that he's bragging about or did not -- could not achieve the goal of "eradicating Hamas," quote-unquote, and so to say that he's going to do his best, to say that he's going to continue his effort, just listen to a former major general, Nitzana Lawn, Major General Nitzana Lawn, who's head of the hostages on negotiating team, just two days ago saying, I'm very -- quote, unquote, "I'm very frustrated with this government. It was and is and remains impossible to reach any kind of deal."

So, you know, Netanyahu could say all he wants and make these hollow promises. I don't think he's ever made a serious, genuine effort to secure the hostages.

VAUSE: Ambassador Pinkas, thank you, sir. As always good to have you with us. Thank you for getting up early. Thank you.

PINKAS: Thank you, John.

VAUSE: Just hours now before closing arguments in Donald Trump's hush money trial, the first criminal trial ever against a former U.S. president, one which could see the 45th president of the United States sentenced to up to 20 years in prison.

More details now from CNN's Kara Scannell.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KARA SCANNELL, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Donald Trump watching NASCAR in North Carolina this weekend, while his hush money trial approaches the final lap in New York.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Are you going to win North Carolina?

DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: We believe so. I think by a lot.

SCANNELL: Trump's lawyers and prosecutors will square off trying to win over the jury of seven men and five women. Prosecutors called 20 witnesses over five weeks and in their closing arguments, they're expected to tie testimony together with a paper trail of text messages, phone calls, and the records at the center of the case. The 11 invoices seeking payment pursuant to a retainer agreement, a dozen vouchers and 11 checks most signed by Trump.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Mr. Trump, how do you feel with your lawyer's closing?

TRUMP: I feel very good. I think we have a great case was put on. There is no crime.

SCANNELL: During the trial, the jury heard from former members of Trump's inner circle, the publisher of the "National Enquirer," David Pecker, campaign aide Hope Hicks, and his former fixer and personal attorney, Michael Cohen, who is the only witness to directly tie Trump to the coverup. Trump's attorneys are up first in closings and are expected to attack Cohen's credibility, arguing to the jury that they cannot find Trump guilty based on the testimony of a convicted liar.

TRUMP: Michael Cohen is a convicted liar and he's got no credibility whatsoever.

SCANNELL: Cohen was on the witness stand for five days, telling the jury Trump called adult film actress Stormy Daniels' story a disaster for his campaign and directed Cohen to take care of it. Cohen testifying he spoke with Trump twice to get his approval just before wiring the $130,000 payment to Daniels' attorney to block her story of an alleged affair with Trump from becoming public to influence the 2016 election.

Trump denies the affair.

MICHAEL COHEN, FORMER TRUMP LAWYER: And I can't even tell you how many times he said to me, you know, I hate the fact that we did it, and my comment to him was, but every person that you've spoken to told you it was the right move.

SCANNELL: He told the jury that Trump signed off on the repayment scheme in a meeting at Trump Tower with former Trump Organization CFO, Allen Weisselberg. Cohen walked the jury through the 34 allegedly falsified documents testifying there was no retainer agreement. The money was payback for the Daniels deal.

COHEN: This $35,000 check was one of 11 check installments that was paid throughout the year while he was president. The president of the United States thus wrote a personal check for the payment of hush money as part of a criminal scheme to violate campaign finance laws.

SCANNELL: Trump attorney Todd Blanche has used Cohen's own words to bolster their defense that Cohen would say anything to take Trump down and is out for revenge.

[00:15:06]

COHEN: I truly (EXPLETIVE DELETED) hope that this man ends up in prison.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SCANNELL (on-camera): Trump's lawyers are also expected to highlight the witnesses that the prosecution did not call, including Weisselberg, who was in that meeting with Cohen and Keith Schiller, Trump's former bodyguard, who was with Trump during the campaign. Closings are expected to go all day Tuesday. On Wednesday, the judge will instruct the jury on the law, what prosecutors need to prove in order to win a conviction, and then the jury will begin deliberations. The jury of seven men and five women will continue until they reach a verdict.

Kara Scannell, CNN, New York.

VAUSE: For more now we're joined this hour by Josh Gerstein, senior legal affairs reporter for "Politico."

Josh, thank you for being with us.

JOSH GERSTEIN, SENIOR LEGAL AFFAIRS REPORTER, POLITICO: Sure, John. Happy to do it.

VAUSE: So during his meltdown on social media on Monday the 45th president of the United States posted this. "Why is the corrupt government allowed to make the final argument in the case against me? Why can't the defense go last? Big advantage, very unfair. Witch hunt," exclamation point.

This isn't really unusual, is it? The U.S. system allows the party with the burden of proof to have the last word, in this case, it's the prosecution.

GERSTEIN: Well, that's standard practice in any criminal case that's going before a jury in the United States for the prosecution to go last. As you suggested, they have to prove the case beyond a reasonable doubt. They have quite a few different things that they have to prove here beyond a reasonable doubt so they're given the first word and the last word in the closing statements, and the defense gets to make their presentation usually of equal length sandwiched in between that.

VAUSE: And there are a few outcomes here for the jury. They could find guilty on all 34 felony counts. Guilty on some, acquittal on others. Acquittal on all 34 felony counts. It could be a hung jury. There's also a very unlikely outcome of a directed verdict from the bench, which basically means the judge directs an acquittal for various reasons, but that's unlikely here.

And as was reported in "Politico" for the jurors to find Trump guilty of all 34 counts, they must find beyond a reasonable doubt not only that Trump falsified or cause the falsification of business records with intent to defraud, but also that he did so with the intent to commit or conceal another crime, which is what makes this all a felony.

So how important will these final words be to the jury? Is there one side which has more work to do than the other?

GERSTEIN: Well, I think that Trump's side has probably more to do here because they're going to need to stitch together sort of things that they have left hanging in various arguments. They have put out a number of different issues that they want the jury to consider as the prosecution case was presented. Remember, the defense didn't really call very many witnesses compared to the prosecution, maybe 10 percent as many, only two witnesses. One was sort of almost trivial to put in some phone records.

And so they have been cross-examining the prosecution's witnesses, but not necessarily trying to string together a full theory of what happened. Whereas I think the prosecution's theory is pretty evident, so even though the prosecution has the burden of proof, I think the defense is going to have to try to, you know, make a more if not consistent, you know, more explained argument than they have thus far.

VAUSE: You mentioned that the case being put forward by the defense or they're -- sort of, you know, the way they've handled themselves throughout this trial. One of the outcomes is a hung jury which just takes one holdout juror to make this a hung jury by essentially maybe a Trump supporter who always says, not guilty, not guilty, not guilty. And they can't come to a unanimous decision.

If they reach that point, what happens then? And does it seem that that has been sort of the strategy here by the Trump team?

GERSTEIN: Sure. I think that's part of the Trump team strategy. It's frankly not that unusual strategy for the defense in any criminal case that goes in front of a jury. You know, as I was saying they need to stitch together an explanation, but they don't really have to come up with an explanation for everything that might be an issue in the case. If they can convince one juror this and another juror that, and that creates reasonable doubt for those two jurors. Now they've got to holdouts and that could prevent a conviction.

If that happens, usually the judge will prod the jury a few times to try to come to a unanimous verdict or verdicts and if they can't do so that any counts that the jury hangs on, the judge would declare those mis-tried, a miss trial on those counts, and it would be possible if the D.A. wanted to re-prosecute. But I don't think that that would happen before the election.

VAUSE: Here's a little more from Trump's Monday meltdown. He tweeted, "Happy Memorial Day to all including the human scum that is working so hard to destroy our once great country and to the radical left, Trump- hating federal judge in New York that presided over, get this, two separate trials."

[00:20:04]

It goes on and on and on. You know, if there is a guilty verdict, which Trump will appeal, but if this case ever gets to sentencing, which I know there's a couple of ifs there, but how problematic could those outbursts which we've seen over and over again from Donald Trump attacking the court, attack, you know, the judiciary and the court workers, how could that be a problem come sentencing?

GERSTEIN: I think it could be a pretty big problem for him if he has to face sentencing in one of these cases, any one of the cases that he's facing. You know, his defiance towards the judges, the courts, the prosecutors., he has been found already responsible for something on the order of 10 violations of the gag order in this New York case by the judge in the state hush money case who will be sentencing him.

So, you know, those are things that the judge is entitled to take account of at sentencing. A lot of people said, look, even if Trump was convicted of these offenses, its falsifying business records, it's not usually so the kind of thing that standing by itself will guarantee a jail sentence. But I think the odds of that do increase sort of the more cantankerous and problematic things that are heard from Trump on social media or sometimes in his hallway press conferences or his speeches.

VAUSE: Josh Gerstein there from "Politico." Hey, thank you for the reporting. It's been good to read and we thank you for being with us as well.

GERSTEIN: Anytime, John. Take care.

VAUSE: When we come back here on CNN, hopes fade of finding more survivors from a landslide in a remote part of Papua New Guinea. Thousands are feared dead. Thousands more ordered to evacuate.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

VAUSE: Four days after a deadly landslide in Papua Guinea officials had ordered thousands to evacuate the area with fears of another landslide. As many as 2,000 people are feared to have been buried alive on Friday. And with the main highway for the region completely blocked, rescue crews are struggling to reach those in need. It's believed the landslide destroyed more than 150 homes, burying villages in a tons of rock and mud as they slept.

CNN's Anna Coren live in Hong Kong for us this hour following all the developments.

So this new evacuation order, which just seems to have just come out in the last hour or so. What are the details with that? How dangerous does the situation remain right now?

ANNA COREN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: You know, John, I don't think that the pictures and the video that we are getting from the area really represent the true scale of this disaster. We just got off the phone from an official from the U.N. development program and he told us that the area affected is nine hectares. That's more than nine football fields covered in this earth, this debris, this rock, these boulders as large as shipping containers.

Only six bodies have been pulled from the rubble, John. Two people miraculously survived but there are believed to be up to 2,000 people buried under this mass of earth.

[00:25:11]

The evacuation order that has just gone out for more than 7,000 people in the area is because these landslides are still happening. This official was on the ground yesterday and he said he saw it with his own eyes, just the earth still slipping, still moving. So it's incredibly unstable. There is no heavy machinery on site as yet. We know that people obviously using shovels, using their hands, using sticks, you know, to try and dig up whatever they possibly can, but that heavy machinery is making its way, but then it has to just clear firstly the highway.

This village, John, was located on the highway. There were homes, there were a lodge, there was a school, a church, a gas station. You know, there were farming plots. There was livestock. That is all completely gone. 150 meters of the highway has been covered, then you've got 150 meters on either side that has sunk. So the engineering feat ahead of them is just enormous.

So these 7,000 people have been told that they need to get out and they're talking about setting up these two evacuation sites to cater for the villagers in the area. We know that the basic aid has got to them, you know, food, clean drinking water, but other aid will be coming in in the coming days. The U.N. obviously providing NGOs, Australia, New Zealand, but they need those geotechnical engineers to assess the earth, assess whether this land can be stabilized for this heavy machinery to get in there and to start digging.

But let's have a listen to another official from CARE.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JUSTINE MCMAHON, PNG COUNTRY DIRECTOR, CARE INTERNATIONAL: Given that the houses are buried under up to eight meters of dirt so it will be difficult to reach some of the victims. They're saying that 60 houses have definitely been covered in dirt and debris. And they estimate that each house would have a population of between 10 to 18 people. So potentially, yes, it could be quite high.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COREN: Could be quite high. More than 2,000 people, John, buried alive.

VAUSE: Anna, thank you. Anna Coren live for us in Hong Kong with the very latest.

We'll take a short break. When we come back, the death toll continues to rise in Kharkiv after one of the deadliest Russian airstrikes in weeks. Also ahead this hour protests outside Taiwan's parliament has opposition lawmakers pushed for tighter scrutiny of the new president.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

VAUSE: Welcome back to viewers all around the world. I'm John Vause. You're watching CNN NEWSROOM.

[00:30:19]

A Russian airstrike on a hardware mega outlet in Ukraine's second- largest city is now the deadliest attack the country has seen in weeks. The death toll rising to 18 on Monday.

Almost 200 people were inside the building in Kharkiv when it was hit on Saturday. Five remain missing.

Kharkiv has faced a sharp increase in the number of attacks in recent weeks as Russia continues to advance on Ukraine's Northern front.

Spain is promising Ukraine more than a billion dollars in new military assistance, including air defenses, a top priority for the Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

He was in Madrid on Monday to sign a new security deal with the Spanish prime minister.

CNN's Melissa Bell has details.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MELISSA BELL, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Spain has become the tenth country to sign a bilateral aid deal with Ukraine, pledging 1 billion euros --

BELL (voice-over): -- worth of extra military spend. This after the G- 7 had called for Western allies to strike just these kinds of deals.

This particular aid package likely to focus very much on the air defense systems that President Zelenskyy has been so desperately calling for, even as Russia has upped its attacks on civilian infrastructure over the course of the last few days in and around the city of Kharkiv.

We saw, of course, on Thursday a series of attacks that led to the ruining of a printing press on Saturday. It was a hardware store with many hundreds feared to have been in around the building when the strike took place. The death toll continuing to rise on Monday, even as Ukrainian officials say they've only sifted through a small part of the rubble that now remains.

BELL: Those assaults on civilian infrastructure coming even as Russian forces continued to press their advantage militarily. The Ukrainians --

BELL (voice-over): -- say they've seen, over the course of 24 hours, no fewer than 15 strikes on the front lines of Kharkiv region. A reminder of Russia's aim of continuing to pile pressure on that new Northern front.

President Zelenskyy urgently asking for Western help and increased help with his air defenses. We've also been hearing from President Macron, speaking in Dresden as part of a three-day state visit and calling for peace and the unity of Europeans in continuing to back Ukraine --

BELL: -- at what many consider could be a crucial turning point in Moscow's favor.

Melissa Bell, CNN, Paris.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

VAUSE: To Taiwan now, where protests are expected to continue outside the island's legislature, with lawmakers once again debating controversial reforms aimed at the presidency.

Opposition leaders are pushing for tighter scrutiny of the island's new president and the administration. Protesters, though, warned the bill could undermine Taiwan's democratic institutions and lead to greater influence from the mainland.

CNN's Mike Valerio is following development. He is live in Hong Kong this hour for us.

So Mike, you know, we've seen the images. Fights in Parliament. The punches are flying again. There's protesters numbering in the thousands.

MIKE VALERIO, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes.

VAUSE: It's all quite dramatic right now. What's the situation?

VALERIO: Well, when you look at those video -- or videos, John, you get an idea of how divisive politics are on Taiwan right now. So you know, John, at this hour, we're watching several themes from the protesters.

And they're saying essentially this: that from their point of view, what is happening in Parliament right now represents a dangerous overreach by the legislature that could -- again, from their point of view -- potentially threaten the national security of Taiwan.

So you know, John, it's worth talking about how -- how exactly do they get to that point of view? So what this bill would do, it would strengthen the investigative power of the legislature.

So if you're a member of Parliament, if this passes, which we expect it will, you're going to be able to get sensitive documents, state secrets from the upper echelons of power. Think the president or the military, for example.

So, you know, that happens all the time in the U.S. Congress or in the U.K. Parliament in Westminster.

But protesters here are saying this. The parties that want this, the Kuomintang and the Taiwan People's Party he are both favoring closer ties to China.

And the concern voiced by the protesters is that, if members of these two parties get these sensitive secrets, those secrets could end up potentially, from their point of view, in the wrong hands, potentially into Chinese hands.

So we've been speaking with protesters over the past few days. Here's just a sample of what some of them had to say. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LIU YAN CHENG, JOB SEEKER (through translator): The process does not reflect our democratic value. I will slowly lose my trust in Taiwan's democracy if they continue to pass new laws in this matter. I hope through this protest, we can stop slowdown and improve the process.

FONG JYE-MEI, RETIREE (through translator): Both Kuomintang and Taiwan People's Party are secretly supported by the Communist Party. This is why they create chaos in our Parliament.

[00:35:07]

Our Parliament does not need reform into what they proposed. I think China is the one needing reform. Why do they have to meddle with us when they themselves do not have a democratic system?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VALERIO: So the parties that favor closer ties to China, they want this to happen. They form a majority. So John, that is why this is likely to pass through the Parliament.

The people who are outside Parliament right now, they are making their discontent known. They are saying that this process has been rushed. Very little debate, but again, the parties that want this are saying this is just a basic measure of accountability. It is a check and balance of government. So we are going to see how this shakes out in the next few hours, John.

VAUSE: Mike, thank you. Mike Valerio there, live for us in Hong Kong. Appreciate your time.

When we come back, another failed launch for North Korea, the second time in six months. This one, though, came with a notification ahead of time. Just what exactly was the North trying to put into orbit? We'll tell you.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

VAUSE: North Korea has once again tried to send a military spy satellite into orbit, but didn't go so well.

State media announced that the rocket carrying the satellite exploded during the first stage of flight.

CNN's Will Ripley has details.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

WILL RIPLEY, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: North Korea putting the world on edge, attempting to launch a suspected military spy satellite for the second time in six months.

North Korean state media says the rocket exploded during the first stage of launch. (SIRENS SOUNDING)

RIPLEY (voice-over): Sounding emergency sirens on Okinawa, Japan. That alert later lifted.

Footage from Japanese broadcaster NHK appears to show a shining orange dot flying in the sky and bursting into flames.

Japan's Coast Guard got advanced warning from Pyongyang of an eight- day launch window ending June 4th, rocket debris potentially falling in three locations near the Korean peninsula and the Philippines island of Luzon.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): The so-called satellite launch that North Korea announced today is a clear violation of U.N. Security Council resolutions, and the international community should respond firmly.

RIPLEY (voice-over): South Korean and U.S. intelligence closely monitoring North Korea's satellite launch site. Kim Jong-un was there in November when North Korea successfully launched its first spy satellite after two failed attempts last year.

Experts warn spy satellites give Pyongyang valuable intelligence on South Korean and U.S. military assets in the region, potentially making missile strikes more accurate.

The latest launch announcement as Japan, South Korea, and China hold their first summit in nearly five years, a meeting overshadowed by North Korea's latest moves.

[00:40:09]

Pyongyang says Kim is preparing to host Russian President Vladimir Putin soon, a sign of deepening diplomatic and military ties.

What analysts call Kim's strategic pivot away from U.S. diplomacy, five years since summit talks with former President Donald Trump fell apart.

JO BEE-YUN, ASSOCIATE RESEARCH FELLOW, KOREA INSTITUTE FOR DEFENSE ANALYSES: North Korea is interested more in engaging the so-called Moscow friendly network of countries. For instance, Iran.

RIPLEY (voice-over): Like Iran, Pyongyang is selling weapons to Putin. Ukraine says North Korean missiles have killed and injured dozens this year.

Giving North Korea valuable real-world data on the accuracy of its missiles, made with recently produced U.S. and European parts, a U.K. think tank says.

At their meeting in Russia last year, Kim said, "I will always be standing with Russia." Putin promised to help Kim's satellite program.

VLADIMIR PUTIN, RUSSIAN PRESIDENT (through translator): The leader of North Korea shows great interest in space and rocketry. We'll show them our new objects.

RIPLEY (voice-over): An alliance the U.S. warns could see Russia, providing critical ballistic missile technology to North Korea, further destabilizing the region and the world.

RIPLEY: North Korean state media is reporting initial analysis suggests a newly developed liquid fuel rocket motor may be the cause of this midair explosion, although other causes are also being investigated.

We do know that the North Koreans learn a lot from these failures. Sometimes even more than from successful launches. And Kim Jong-un has already announced plans to launch three more military spy satellites this year, part of a military modernization program, which means North Korea is undoubtedly going to try this again.

Will Ripley, CNN, Taipei.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

VAUSE: Elon Musk's A.I. startup has just raised another $6 billion from Silicon Valley investors and a Saudi prince.

XAI, now valued at $24 billion. That positions the company as a possible future rival to OpenAI and its chatbot, ChatGPT.

Musk says xAI will have more to announce in the next few weeks. And just like X, formerly known as Twitter, Musk is calling on those who believe in our mission of understanding the universe, quote, "without regard to popularity or political correctness" to sign up for his xAI. Watch this space.

Thank you for watching CNN NEWSROOM. I'm John Vause, back with more news at the top of the hour. WORLD SPORT is up after the break.

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