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Israel Claims Control of Egypt-Gaza Buffer Zone; Pro-Democracy Advocates Found Guilty in Hong Kong; Jury Begins Deliberations in First Trump Criminal Case; Support Grows for Ukraine's Strikes Inside Russia; Ukrainian Soldiers Say U.S. Tanks Make Them Russian Targets; 260+ Bags of Garbage Floated from North to South Korea; Prime Minister Blames Climate Crisis for Deadly Landslide. Aired 12-12:45a ET

Aired May 30, 2024 - 00:00   ET

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

[00:00:14]

JOHN VAUSE, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: Hello, everyone. I'm John Vause. Ahead here on CNN NEWSROOM.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REAR ADM. DANIEL HAGARI, IDF SPOKESPERSON (through translator): The Philadelphi Corridor served as Hamas' oxygen pipeline.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: Israel's military claims operational control of the Philadelphi Corridor a buffer zone along the Gaza side of the border with Egypt.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOHN BURNS, EMERITUS AND HONORARY PROFESSOR, UNIVERSITY OF HONG KONG: The National Security Law reduced the independence and the autonomy of the judiciary.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: Guilty verdicts for more than a dozen pro-democracy advocates in Hong Kong. The biggest prosecution under the Beijing-imposed National Security Law.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It seems that the fisheries being stretched a little bit further south. That's not a good thing.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: Iceland's volcano once again rumbling back to life with residents of the nearby town of Grindavik evacuating the area again.

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

VAUSE: The Israeli military claims to take an operational control of a strategic buffer zone on the Gaza side of the border with Egypt. The Philadelphi Corridor is 14 kilometers long, about 100 meters wide, and according to Israeli officials, where 20 tunnels have been found which crossed into Gaza and were used by Hamas to smuggle weapons into Gaza. Egypt, though, disputes the Israeli claim, saying all tunnels in that area were destroyed earlier by the Egyptian military.

The IDF has released these images of what it says are rocket launchers and other terrorist infrastructure found in the area.

More now from the Israeli military spokesperson, Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HAGARI (through translator): Hamas took advantage of the Philadelphi Corridor and built these infrastructures a few meters away from the border with Egypt so that we would not attack them. It was in the vicinity of between 10 to 40 meters from the border so Israel in such way would not attack near the border with Egypt.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: More details now from CNN's Jeremy Diamond reporting from Jerusalem and a warning his report contains graphic video.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): On a hilltop in Western Rafah, Israeli tanks overlook Gaza's border with Egypt. The Israeli military's latest prize. Three weeks into its Rafah offensive, Israel says it now controls the strategic Philadelphi Corridor spending the length of that seven and a half mile long border, which the Israeli military says Hamas has used to smuggle weapons into Gaza. Egypt denies these tunnels exist.

HAGARI (through translator): The Philadelphi Corridor served as Hamas' oxygen pipeline through which Hamas regularly smuggled weapons into the Gaza Strip. So far our forces have located about 20 tunnels in the Philadelphi Corridor area. We investigate these tunnels and neutralize them.

DIAMOND: This is the human toll of that military offensive. United Nations says more than 940,000 people have been forced to flee the city in recent weeks. For many, this is not the first time.

There is no safety, Al-Mawasi is hit, the U.N. warehouses are hit, the U.N. schools are hit, there is no safety, Taisir al-Ja (PH) says. You might die at any moment anywhere.

Multiple Israeli strikes on camps for displaced Palestinians in recent days have made that point with deadly clarity. None more so than this strike in northwestern Rafah on Sunday night, which killed at least 45 people and injured hundreds more, according to Gaza's Ministry of Health. The Israeli military has said it did not expect civilians to die and has launched an investigation into the strike, which killed two senior Hamas militants. But at least three people can be seen on the road outside those

structures moments before the strike. The Israeli military targeted these two container-like structures, just steps away from structures housing displaced civilians, which were also destroyed in the blast or the subsequent fire. Four weapons experts tell CNN the weapons used in the strike were U.S. made bombs.

They say these remnants found at the site of the attack are pieces of a GBU-39 small-diameter bomb carrying a relatively small payload intended to minimize civilian casualties, but dropping them in densely populated areas can still have devastating consequences.

JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: If they go into Rafah, I'm not going to supply the weapons that have been used historically to deal with Rafah.

DIAMOND: But for now, the U.S. doesn't plan to stop providing those weapons with the White House insisting Israel hasn't crossed that red line.

JOHN KIRBY, U.S. NATIONAL SECURITY COUNCIL SPOKESPERSON: We don't want to see a major ground operation. We haven't seen that at this point.

DIAMOND: Major or not, the Israeli military is now deep in Rafah where Palestinian rescuers are struggling to safely reach the wounded, as the dangers are mounting for so many.

[00:05:08]

Jeremy Diamond, CNN, Jerusalem.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

VAUSE: And the border city of Rafah in southern Gaza is unlikely to be the final battleground against Hamas as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has repeatedly claimed. Israel's National Security adviser says the war with Hamas could last until the end of the year.

And the condemnation continues over the Israeli strike, which killed at least 45 people at a displacement camp in Rafah on Sunday. Described as appalling by the U.S. special coordinator for Middle East Peace.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TOR WENNESLAND, U.N. SPECIAL COORDINATOR FOR MIDDLE EAST PEACE PROCESS: Nearly two million Palestinians have been displaced from their homes in the Gaza Strip. Many of them multiple times. And some 100,000 Israelis have been displaced from communities in Israel's north and south. Agreement on a deal to achieve a ceasefire and secure the release of hostages is blocked, and as Israel rolls out a significant ground operations in and round Rafah, the devastation is only intensifying.

(END VIDEO CLIP) VAUSE: U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken has delivered some of his most pointed comments to date on the war in Gaza. He says Israeli leaders must decide if their military campaign is worth the cost in civilian lives.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ANTONY BLINKEN, U.S. SECRETARY OF STATE: It has to ask whether and especially in the absence of a plan for the day after in Gaza further incremental gains against Hamas, but gains that may not be durable in terms of Hamas' defeat. In the absence of a plan how that stacks up against some of the, again, unintended but horrific consequences of military action in a place where the people you're going after are so closely embedded with civilians.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: Hong Kong's draconian National Security Law has been used with full force in the city's high court, with the government appointed judges handing down guilty verdicts on 14 of 16 pro-democracy activists.

This was the largest prosecution under the National Security Law. Dozens of activists and politicians arrested in 2021 for organizing an unofficial primary election ahead of the city's legislative vote.

CNN's Kristie Lu Stout joins us now live from Hong Kong with the very latest.

If this law was meant to stifle public dissent, it seems to be very effective.

KRISTIE LU STOUT, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, John, the verdicts are out in Hong Kong's largest national security trial to date. It evolves 47 pro-democracy figures, 31 had already pleaded guilty of subversion. Now 16 had pleaded not guilty, but of the 16, 14 were found by the court today to be guilty, including the former journalist (INAUDIBLE) and the former elected opposition lawmaker, also known as Long Hair, and sentencing is due out next.

Now security has been tight around the courtroom today. We have watched hundreds of people show up to witness the proceedings, including diplomats from the United States and the E.U. And when the verdict was read aloud in the courtroom, some family members of the defendants cried out openly.

Now this has been a long legal process and drama for everyone involved. It goes all the way back to more than three years ago in January of 2021, when 47 pro-democracy figures were arrested in a dawn raid. They were charged with conspiracy to commit subversion, a very serious crime here in Hong Kong.

Under the National Security Law, which is punishable by up to life in prison, they're accused of staging an unofficial primary vote, which was deemed illegal by authorities here in Hong Kong. Now the National Security Law was imposed by Beijing on Hong Kong in 2020 in the wake of a massive anti-government protests of 2019 and critics say it has dismantled the opposition. Supporters say it restored law and order. But Chinese authorities adding that it's a matter of national security and that they warned against any foreign interference.

But when you talk to legal observers and political analysts, they tell you that this trial has been a test of Hong Kong's judicial independence. Watch this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BURNS: It's absolutely clear that the National Security Law reduced the independence and the autonomy of the judiciary. No juries, much more difficult to get bail. Those are all things that previously were determined by the judges.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LU STOUT: Now, the state has won every single national security case until now. Two former district counselors have become the first national security defendants to be acquitted after trial.

Back to you, John,.

VAUSE: Kristie, thank you. Kristie Lu Stout with the very latest there from Hong Kong.

[00:10:04]

Well, Donald Trump's fate now rests with the seven men and five women jury in his hush money payment trial to a porn star. On Wednesday afternoon after receiving instructions from the judge, they deliberated for more than four and a half hours. Those deliberations are set to resume later on Thursday.

CNN's Kara Scannell has details now reporting in from New York.

Norm Eisen is a CNN legal analyst, as well as the former House Judiciary special counsel in Trump's first of two impeachment trials. He's also our eyes and ears in court in 1530 Manhattan Supreme Court.

Welcome back. Good to see you.

NORM EISEN, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: Thanks for having me back, John. Another big day in part 59.

VAUSE: Exactly. Well, now we're now in sort of the part where, you know, after the, what, two dozen witnesses or the yelling between the lawyers, it's been three weeks and it seems Donald Trump still doesn't really understand what this case is about. Here he is.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Nobody knows what the crime is because there's no crime. Nobody knows what the crime is. The D.A. didn't name the crime. They don't know what the crime is. That's what the problem is. (END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: Surely anyone who was awake, who sat through this trial listening to the evidence and the testimony has a very clear understanding of the alleged crime here and that would include the 12 members of the jury, right?

EISEN: That's right, John. By the time Judge Juan Merchan instructed the members of the jury on the law on Wednesday morning it had been abundantly clear for many, many months exactly what he would say to them. It was a formality when he talked to them to say that Donald Trump is accused of election interference, of a conspiracy two unlawfully influence the 2016 election by paying hush money and covering it up with 34 false documents. It's simple. You can get it in one sentence.

VAUSE: Well, we're now in this sort of limbo period between testimony and verdict, and everything is now with the jury. Any indication of what they may be thinking came by two jury notes. The first one was a request to review testimony from key witnesses that Trump allegedly conspired with his former fixer, Michael Cohen, and the tabloid publisher, David Pecker, to bury negative stories during the 2016 campaign.

So what is the relevance of that? And is that essentially sort of a bad sign, if you like, for Donald Trump?

EISEN: It's always tricky to read jury notes as if they were tea leaves, but I do not think that this one created a very good feeling in Trump and his defense team today because what jurors are asking about is the theme of the prosecution's closing argument earlier this week, which is corroboration. They're saying tell us about what David Pecker, the former publisher of the "National Enquirer," said to Donald Trump about the catch-and-kill campaign that was agreed upon to assist Donald Trump's pursuit of the presidency in a Trump Tower meeting, Pecker, Trump and Michael Cohen.

And then they asked about several other Pecker contacts, including a direct call with Trump to implement that alleged conspiracy. And if the "National Enquirer" was spending anything of value to benefit the Trump campaign. Prosecutors alleged they were and the testimony the jury has asked for supports that in the form of David Pecker, then that would constitute one of those unlawful election influence crimes by wrongful means.

So ominous for Trump and somewhat of a vindication of the prosecutor's approach of saying, hey, go chronologically here starting with that August 2015 Trump Tower meeting.

VAUSE: The other note from the jury was asked Judge Merchan to reread his instructions, which came earlier in the day, and that's where we had this very clear direction about Michael Cohen. The judge told the jury they cannot convict Trump on Michael Cohen's testimony alone because he's an accomplice. But they can use his evidence if corroborated with other evidence. And he also directed the jury on some very basic mundane stuff like they must make -- must not make a decision rather based on biases or stereotypes.

You know, for the most part, the directions from the judge seemed sort of fairly, you know, mundane if you like, there's nothing unexpected or unusual about. But this is an unusual trial. Why won't the judge make no mention to the jury to focus just on this case alone and you ignore the wider political implications of a verdict?

EISEN: John, the jury's role here is really to apply the law and the judge stated the law to them I thought clearly, forcefully. It did take 80 minutes so I understand why they want to hear it again, particularly the elements of the crime to really understand the legal checklist. Their job is not to worry about the political consequences. They need to put blinders on. The whole idea of a rule of law system is no one is above the law.

So if the judge had mentioned those considerations, he would have actually risked the very bias he seeks to prevent.

VAUSE: A verdict could come at any moment. They'll begin deliberations again in the morning, but as Trump left the courtroom during a break it seems him and his legal team are now trying to sort of lower expectations if you like. Here he is.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: Mother Teresa could not beat these charges. These charges are rigged. The whole thing is rigged. It's a disgrace. And I mean that. Mother Teresa could not beat this charge. But we'll see. We'll see how we do.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: Mother Teresa, huh. So if there is a guilty verdict, what happens to Trump in the moments after that verdict is announced?

EISEN: Well, I'm not an authority on Mother Teresa, but I'm pretty confident, John, that she never paid hush money to a porn star to allegedly to influence the outcome of an election, and then allegedly engaged in a cover-up.

In terms of what happens to Trump when we have an outcome here, if he is convicted, he will face sentencing in 30 to 60 days. Defendants who are found guilty of these falsifying business records, felonies, and Trump is looking at 34 of them, do get jail time in the most serious cases.

VAUSE: Mother Teresa paying money to a porn star, it's an interesting visual.

Norm Eisen, thank you, sir, for being with us. As always very much appreciated.

EISEN: Thanks, John.

VAUSE: Coming up here on CNN, be careful what you wish for. Ukrainian soldiers say the U.S.-made Abrams tanks they once begged for are now making them prime targets on the battlefield.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

VAUSE: The White House may be moving closer to lifting restrictions on how Ukraine can use U.S. supplied weapons. Right now Kyiv is prevented from hitting targets inside Russia mostly over fears of possible escalation of the war from Moscow. But U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken has hinted that policy may change and adjust due to the war and its progress so far. Just no word on when.

The U.S. has supplied Ukraine with ATACMS missiles with a range of up to 300 kilometers. Any change by the U.S. would move closer to many NATO countries which have stated publicly recently that Kyiv has every right to use weapons as they see best.

[00:20:04]

Here's NATO's secretary-general.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JENS STOLTENBERG, NATO SECRETARY-GENERAL: According to international law, Ukraine has the right to self-defense. And self-defense includes also the right to strike targets outside Ukraine, including legitimate major targets in Russia. Some allies have not imposed any restrictions at all. Other allies have and I have said to that, I think now the time has come to reconsider whether it's right to have those restrictions or not.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: In response to this outrage from Moscow, which now says it could ramp up missile production that may involve both intermediate and short-range missile systems, according to Russia's deputy foreign minister. On Tuesday, President Vladimir Putin said Ukraine wouldn't be able to use a Western long-range weapons without NATO support. And he warned that NATO's involvement could lead to, in his words, a global conflict.

With us this hour is CNN military analysts and retired Air Force Colonel Cedric Leighton.

Good to see you, sir. Welcome back.

COL. CEDRIC LEIGHTON, CNN MILITARY ANALYST: Thank you so much, John. Great to be with you.

VAUSE: OK. So let's just begin with international law. What is and is not allowed under the rules of war. It's very clear that targeting civilians and civilian infrastructure like Russia is doing is illegal. While targeting military assets on enemy soil is in fact quite allowable. There is no law which prevents, you know, all military strikes on enemy territory. And in 1967, Israel launched a preemptive strike on Egyptian forces in the Sinai, all of it perfectly legal before the six-day war. So what Ukraine wants is to have the same legal right to defend, right, that every other countries around the world has. There's nothing unusual about this.

LEIGHTON: Yes, that's basically it, John. And the real idea that the Ukrainians have is the Russians are using all of their territory as a huge base from which to attack Ukraine. Now of course they concentrate their forces along the Ukrainian border, but they're also using the Black Sea. They're using the Caspian Sea. They're using in the airspace above those areas. They're using bomber bases all throughout Russia.

And that is in essence a series of legitimate military targets that the Ukrainians have been denied. And that is what they're trying to basically circumvent. And in essence, level the playing field.

VAUSE: And the reason why they are being denied is essentially a policy put in place by NATO, most likely, you know, so basically the U.S. And here's a reason for those restrictions placed on the use of Western weapons. Here's Vladimir Putin. Listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

VLADIMIR PUTIN, RUSSIAN PRESIDENT (through translator): This unending escalation can lead to serious consequences. If Europe were to face those serious consequences, what will the United States do? Considering our strategic arms parity, it's hard to tell. Are they looking for a global conflict?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: So that warning came in response to the leaders of France and Germany who suggested that, you know, Western supplied weapons should be allowed to be used by Ukraine anyway they see fit, and you know, and we keep getting these threats about nuclear Armageddon. You know, when Sweden and Finland applied for NATO membership, Moscow made all sorts of nuclear threats, but nothing happened. When does someone call Putin's bluff on this? Or that's just simply too dangerous?

LEIGHTON: Well, it's always dangerous in these kinds of situations, but it's pretty clear, as you mentioned, that when Sweden and Finland joined NATO, there were lots of threats from the Russians that they would up the ante, that they would, you know, make some moves against the Baltics or that they would make some move against Poland, or potentially use the nuclear trigger. And that's the kind of thing that at the present time at least has not happened.

So the White House is basically being put in a position where they have to take a calculated risk and if they're going to really support Ukraine and allow Ukraine to defend its territory, they are going to have to allow Ukraine to go after Russian targets that are legitimate military targets and really go after them in a way that will make -- put them at risk, will make it harder for the Russians to attack the Ukrainians and then that will level the playing field for the Ukrainian forces.

VAUSE: There are members of NATO apart from France and Germany who are in favor of this change in policy. The big hold-out as always has been in the United States when it comes to any sort of incremental increase in military assistance to Ukraine. But it seems on this policy of how the weapons are used may soon be changing. Here's Secretary of State Antony Blinken.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BLINKEN: Another hallmark of our support for Ukraine over these now more than two years has been to adapt as the conditions have changed, as the battlefield has changed, as what Russia does has changed in terms of how it's pursuing its aggression, escalation, we've adapted and adjusted, too. And I'm confident we'll continue to do that.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: This U.S. policy that we've seen towards Ukraine is a bit like the anti-Colin Powell doctrine. He believed if you go to war, you're all in. Use everything you have. There's no short-changing it.

[00:25:01]

Whereas the White House with Ukraine has had this incremental increase in assistance and it seems to have dragged out this war for much longer than it should have been going.

LEIGHTON: Yes, well, incrementalism is a very dangerous thing in military doctrine and military action. When it comes to military operations, John, it's really important to act decisively and time is really your enemy when it comes to military reaction because if you don't act quickly, the enemy then gets a chance to regroup. And what have we seen in Ukraine? We've seen the Russians be able to regroup, be able to develop new tactics, techniques, procedures that allow them to do much better on the battlefield than they were doing when they first invaded the country back in February of 2022.

That's why you see electronic warfare, for example, on the Russian side being so much better than it was before. And that also means that the weapons systems that the Western are using, that those weapons systems are not as accurate as they once were. So that's the kind of price that you pay if you don't go in decisively and don't go in to win.

VAUSE: Colonel Leighton, as always, sir, thank you for being with us. Appreciate your thoughts.

LEIGHTON: You bet, John. Anytime.

VAUSE: While the Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy says he grateful for all military assistance he receives from the West, it seems there's little less gratitude for the U.S.-made Abrams tanks. Ukrainian soldiers say the tanks which they worked so hard to get are actually more trouble than they're worth with a number of glaring flaws and weaknesses, literally the armor, making them the number one target for Russian attack drones.

Here's CNN's Nick Patton Walsh.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) NICK PATON WALSH, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT (voice- over): They hide feverishly as they're a prime target for Russian missiles. But if Moscow knew the trouble these U.S. supplied Abrams tanks are causing Ukraine, they might not bother. Let them keep them. The M1 Abrams, America's main battle tank, a veteran of fighting Saddam in Iraq and desert insurgents, but muddy Ukrainian fields and $500 attack drones, not so much.

There was such a fuss around whether Ukraine would get these but from the moment the decision was made, yes, through the training, through the time it took to get to the frontline, the war has enormously changed.

(Voice-over): All 31 America gave and now in one area in the east where Ukraine is losing ground. Training in Germany, the interior in Ukrainian, and while there is gratitude for all U.S. help, they can't pretend this is working.

"JOKER", UKRAINIAN 47TH MECHANIZED BRIGADE (through text translation): Its armor is not sufficient for this era. It doesn't protect the crew. For real, today it's a war of drones. So now when the tank rolls out they always try to hit it.

PATON WALSH (through text translation): Number one target.

"DNIPRO" UKRAINIAN 47TH MECHANIZED BRIGADE: Number one target on the battlefield. Without defense the crew doesn't survive.

PATON WALSH (voice-over): They've learned the hardest way here in the pitched battle for the city of Avdiivka. One of their drivers lost a leg recently. Off camera, they show us how they're adding active armor plates on themselves. Then there were the shells. Not enough of the wrong type for the wrong sort of fight.

JOKER (through text translation): We have ammunition for direct tank to tank battle. Much more often we work as artillery. We take apart a tree line or a building. Once we fired 17 rounds into a house, and it was still standing.

PATON WALSH: Better than Soviet tanks they still say even though this one fresh from Poland is already broken down. Condensation can fry the electrics, they also say. Really, this is a solid gold wrench of a gift.

This is a tank for a kind of war NATO would only fight backed by huge artillery and air power. They're being asked to do things NATO never would.

JOKER (through text translation): They would never do it. Aviation, artillery, then the tanks enter and infantry.

Call the aviation, call the artillery. We have no aviation and artillery. We have only tank. And it's the problem.

PATON WALSH: When Abrams was captured and paraded in Red Square recently. The crew here joke at least the Russians managed to tow it away. They've been struggling because these are so heavy. This threadbare army losing ground perhaps wish they'd got a gift receipt.

If you could ask the Americans for one thing now what would you ask for?

JOKER (through text translation): I only have one question. Why is this thing taking so long and why it comes partially? We are losing time. It's death to us.

PATON WALSH (voice-over): Machines built at the peak of American hyper power decades ago, sent half-heartedly it seems to hold back a fast changing world.

Nick Paton Walsh, CNN, Eastern Ukraine.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

VAUSE: When we come back here on CNN, from North Korea without much love. Balloons carrying trash, radio jamming, and likely missile launches next. The details ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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

[00:32:31]

Well, according to officials in Seoul, a barrage of missiles have been fired off the East coast of North Korea. Ten short-range projectiles flew about 350 kilometers, landing in the sea between the Korean Peninsula in Japan.

South Korea condemned the launches and also accused the North of jamming GPS radio wave signals for two days. It says its military operations were not affected.

And now, to a much messier situation. The hermit kingdom has floated more than 260 balloons filled with filth over the border and into South Korea, Officials there released photos showing the giant balloons spilling all sorts of rubbish onto the roads and sidewalks.

CNN's Will Ripley has the latest on the mess.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

WILL RIPLEY, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: This seems to be a new strategy by North Korea, sending so far hundreds of these trash-filled balloons into South Korea.

Local residents have actually been getting warnings to avoid outdoor activities, because authorities just don't know exactly what is inside these things.

Photos show plastic bags with garbage and filth, as South Korea described it. You know, scraps, paper, dirt, that sort of thing. North Korea says this is a response to South Korean activists sending

prohibited materials. For a long time now, South Koreans, a lot of NGO's, sometimes former North Korean defectors that are now living in South Korea, they sent into the North, sometimes using balloons, leaflets, food, medicine, even media like Korean dramas or K-pop music that is forbidden for North Koreans to listen to, programs that are forbidden for North Koreans to watch.

But they send them from South Korea anyway as part of this propaganda push to try to convince the North that there's a better way of life in the South.

This has been going on for a long time. North Korea has long accused the South of psychological warfare and has promised retaliation. So now, by sending these hundreds of trash-filled balloons, they want South Korean authorities to experience the headache of cleaning up and locating all of this, just like they say they've been dealing with for a long time.

But for North Koreans who receive content, particularly from South Korea, the penalties can be extremely severe. Remember, we showed you rare footage of those North Korean teenagers, apparently sentenced to hard labor for viewing and distributing South Korean content.

There was a time -- 2017, 2018 -- when there were some brief periods of cultural exchange between the North and South, part of that diplomatic detente. And at that time, North Koreans were allowed to legally get a glimpse of South Korean culture.

But those days seem like a distant memory now, with information controls arguably tighter than ever inside North Korea. And now these trash balloons being sent to the South part of this for tat back-and- forth. And just yet another sign of the escalating tensions on the Korean Peninsula.

[00:35:15]

Will Ripley, CNN, Taipei.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

VAUSE: Still to come here on CNN, we head back to Iceland for more displays of volcanic power and might. The latest on the eruption there, not far from the town of Grindavik.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

VAUSE: Volcanic eruptions again in Iceland, with lava shooting into the air and over roads leading to a nearby town.

Iceland's public broadcaster reports electricity has been cut as a precaution to avoid damage to a nearby power plant, which may have been caused by lava possibly covering high-voltage lines. It's unclear when power will be restored.

On Wednesday, the country's civil defense urged residents to evacuate. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ARI TRAUSTI GUDMUNDSSON, GEOPHYSICIST: This is always most powerful in the beginning. But it seems that the fissure is being stretched a little bit further South. That's not a good thing.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: Iceland's famous tourist destination and geothermal hotspot, the Blue Lagoon, was evacuated Wednesday before the volcano erupted.

The prime minister of Papua New Guinea is blaming the climate crisis for an increase in natural disasters after Friday's deadly landslide. Now, India has joined Australia and New Zealand in pledging aid to Papua New Guinea, where as many as 2,000 people may be buried under rubble.

More details now from CNN's Anna Coren.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ANNA COREN, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Almost a week since a catastrophic landslide wiped out a vibrant community in Papua New Guinea. The people of Yambali are trying to come to terms with their loss.

Hundreds, if not thousands, of people lie buried under nine hectares of debris the size of more than nine football fields, with rubble eight meters deep at some points.

MATE BAGOSSY, UNDP: What is an entire village and shops and a fuel station and a lodge and the church and the school. It's basically a mountain that has fallen on their heads.

COREN (voice-over): Those who did survive have used what they can to shift boulders the size of cars. But generations of families may never be seen again.

SANDIS TSAKA, ADMINISTRATOR OF ENGA PROVINCE: The trauma and -- and the emotional scar on the people that have survived is -- is great. And we continue to see kids without parents who keep crying out for them, for their parents, where they are, or friends. You know, father's dead at most, entire families, mothers. They don't know what to do.

COREN (voice-over): Miok Michael lost six loved ones in the disaster.

MIOK MICHAEL, LOST FAMILY MEMBERS IN LANDSLIDE: My aunties, my grandma, and three of my cousins. And within my friends and (UNINTELLIGIBLE), it's adding up to 19 of them.

COREN (voice-over): Michael went to the site when he heard what had happened, filming this video. He says homeless survivors had no place to sleep.

The sheer scale of the disaster and the remoteness of the site has made the response extremely challenging.

TSAKA: The disaster is of a scale and magnitude that we've never experienced in this part of the world or in this country for that matter. And the loss of life, the number of lives we lost will surpass any natural disaster that has happened in Papua New Guinea.

COREN (voice-over): Papa New Guinea's prime minister pointed the finger at climate change for an increase in disasters across the rugged (ph) Pacific nation.

JAMES MARAPE, PRIME MINISTER, PAPUA NEW GUINEA: In this year, we had extraordinary rainfall that has caused flooding in river areas, sea level rise in coastal areas, and landslips.

COREN (voice-over): Now Australia has begun flying in and distributing aid.

The Papuan military says it will open the highway soon. Help at last for people who have lost their homes, their way of life, their entire community.

Anna Coren, CNN, Hong Kong.

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VAUSE: Panda diplomacy seems to be back on track with the return of giant pandas to the Smithsonian's National Zoo in Washington.

The announcement came Wednesday with U.S. first lady Jill Biden planning a black-tie vegetarian dinner for the two-year-old pandas. They're due to arrive from China by the end of the year.

And China's ambassador says the newest envoys of friendship are a symbol of the friendly ties between both China and the United States.

Another strange twist in the bizarre attempt to foreclose on Elvis -- Elvis Presley's iconic Memphis home, Graceland.

A person replied to a CNN email claiming responsibility for his scheme to steal Graceland. The self-proclaimed scammer wrote the message in a garbled mixture of English and Ugandan, a language spoken mostly in Uganda.

It red, we think, "I didn't win this one. I've stolen many identities and received monies. We don't win it all."

Last week, an investment company said Elvis's daughter, Lisa Marie, had failed to pay back a multi-million-dollar loan before her death and that she used Graceland as collateral.

But Lisa Marie's daughter, actress Riley Keough, sued to remove the estate from the auction block, claiming fraud.

The foreclosure sale was stopped. CNN, though, has been unable to find any evidence that the investment company even exists.

But Graceland does, and so did Elvis.

I'm John Vause, back with more CNN NEWSROOM at the top of the hour. In the meantime, WORLD SPORT is up after a very short break. See you back here under 18 minutes.

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