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U.N Inquiry Finds Israeli Authorities and Hamas Responsible for War Crimes and International Law Violations; Hunter Biden Found Guilty on Three Counts of Gun Felony Charges. CNN Gets Rare Access to some camps where Families of ISIS fighters are situated; NoKor Football Star Reappears after Three Years; BTS' Jin Completes Military Service. Aired 3-4a ET

Aired June 12, 2024 - 03:00   ET

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

[03:00:00]

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LYNDA KINKADE, CNN CORRESPONDENT AND ANCHOR: Hello and welcome to our viewers joining us here in the United States and all around the world. You're watching "CNN Newsroom". I'm Lynda Kinkade.

Just ahead, Hamas responds to the latest ceasefire deal while its military leader is reportedly caught saying, we have the Israelis right where we want them.

A federal jury hands down guilty verdicts for Hunter Biden on all three counts against him, making him the first child of a sitting U.S. president to be convicted of a crime.

The wife of U.S. Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito secretly recorded what she said about the controversial flags outside her home and the people who criticized her for flying them.

ANNOUNCER: This is CNN Breaking News.

KINKADE: But we begin this hour with breaking news, a damning new report released just moments ago from a U.N. commission finds Israeli authorities and Palestinian militant groups, including Hamas, responsible for war crimes and other violations of international law. The commission has also found Israel responsible for crimes against humanity during its military operations in Gaza following the October 7th Hamas attack.

I want to bring in CNN's Jomana Karadsheh, who joins us live from London. Thanks for being with us. The U.N. says it has evidence that both Israel and Hamas have committed war crimes. A report just handed down. Jomana, what can you tell us?

JOMANA KARADSHEH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Lynda, this is a -- these are the findings of the U.N. Commission of Inquiry on the Palestinian territories in Israel. This is a body that was set up by the United Nations Human Rights Council back in 2021 during the offensive in Gaza at the time. And now for the past few months, they have been investigating the events of October 7th and events since. And they have released two damning reports, 200 pages long in total, with their findings on both what is happening in Gaza during these military operations, as well as what took place in Israel on October the 7th.

And what they say here is that they have found Hamas and six other Palestinian armed groups responsible for war crimes committed in Israel.

And they also found that, as you mentioned, that they accuse Israel of committing war crimes and crimes against humanity during its military operations in Gaza. Now, this, Lynda, they say, is the first in-depth U.N. investigation into the events of October the 7th and events since.

They accuse Israel of obstructing their investigations, not giving them access to Israel or Palestinian territories. But they say that this investigation relied on interviews with victims and witnesses. They went through thousands of open-source items that they verified, they say, through advanced forensic analysis. They had hundreds of submissions, satellite imagery, forensic medical reports.

Now, when it comes to October the 7th, Lynda, these are the main findings. They say that these militant groups, Hamas and these other groups, are responsible for war crimes, including intentionally directing attacks against civilians, murder or willful killing, torture, taking hostages, including children, and more.

Now, these crimes, they say, were committed by these militant groups, as well as Palestinians, they say, in some instances, in civilian clothing. They identified, they say, patterns indicative of sexual violence and concluded that these are not isolated incidents, but perpetrated in similar ways in several locations, primarily against Israeli women.

And the indiscriminate firing of thousands of projectiles against Israeli towns and cities, they say, that, you know, causing deaths and injuries, is a violation of international humanitarian and human rights law.

And then you've got the report on what is happening and what has happened in Gaza during these military operations. They're accusing Israel of these war crimes and crimes against humanity, including using starvation as a method of warfare, murder and willful killing, intentionally directing attacks against civilians, sexual violence, extermination, gender persecution of Palestinian men and boys, murder, forcible transfer, and the list goes on.

[03:05:05]

But what they say is, when you look at the immense number of civilian casualties in Gaza, the widespread destruction, they say that this is the result of what they have found to be a strategy to cause maximum damage, disregarding the rules of war, the principles of distinction, proportionality, and adequate precautions.

And what they say is the intentional use of heavy weapons with a large destructive capacity in densely-populated areas. They say that, you know, all these evacuation orders that the Israeli authorities have issued, that that was not adequate, that that was not enough, that they found that civilians as well came under attack when taking these evacuation routes or in designated safe areas.

And then they go into the humanitarian situation, what they say they have found to be a total siege of Gaza imposed by Israel. And they say that this has, what they found here to be the use of the weaponization of aid and access to Gaza, saying that this was, what is happening amounts to punishment, collective punishment against a civilian population.

And they also found instances, they say, of a significant number of civilians who posed no threat intentionally killed by Israeli forces. And in these cases, Lynda, we have to mention that they mention, they cite two reports that were reported by us at CNN over the past few months.

Now, we have now reached out to the Israeli government for comment, but it's worth mentioning here that they have made their position very clear on this commission. They said that they are not going to cooperate with them months ago, accusing this body of being an anti- Israel and anti-Semitic body.

They have had issues with members of the commission. And of course, this is coming, you know, we've seen the tensions rising, the relationship deteriorating between the United Nations and Israel over the past, during the conflict as much as Israel has come under criticism for its military operations in Gaza. It has accused the United Nations and several of its bodies of an anti-Israel bias and not being fair towards Israel. But we will continue to try and get more comment from Israeli authorities today on these findings, Lynda.

KINKADE: Yeah. We will stay across the story all day. Jomana Karadsheh, good to have you with us on this breaking news story. Thanks very much.

We are following more breaking news out of Israel where the military says a large missile barrage has been fired from Lebanon towards its northern territory. The IDF said about 90 projectiles crossed the border in total with some sparking fires.

CNN's Ben Wedeman is following developments for us and joins us live from Beirut. Good to have you there for us, Ben. And so the fighting at the Israel-Lebanon border is continuing to intensify. Just take us through this escalation.

BEN WEDEMAN, CNN SR. INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yeah. I mean, what we're seeing is a real intensification overnight. There was a strike in the town of Jiyeh where we're hearing reports of four people killed. And in fact, Hezbollah on its Telegram channel has come out and said that four of its fighters were killed, including a senior commander by the name of Talib Sami Abdullah.

Now, we don't know if they were actually killed in this strike in southern Lebanon, because Hezbollah never says where their people were killed. But it appears that this is a, he is described as a commander. So in response, it appears, Hamas has fired a volley of rockets. From the Lebanese side, we're hearing more than 50. The Israelis are saying as many as 90.

According to the Israeli media, it has caused fires in parts of northern Israel. Now, video has come out on social media showing that most of those rockets fired from Lebanon have been intercepted, presumably, by the Iron Dome system. But certainly what we've seen in the last week is that Hezbollah is using weaponry that seems to be somewhat more sophisticated. Last week it appears that they were able to take out one of those Iron Dome batteries. Several days ago Hezbollah was able to shoot down a Hermes 19 Israeli drone.

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That's the third so far. Now, those drones fly at a very high altitude, indicating that Hezbollah is now using fairly sophisticated anti-aircraft weaponry. Twice in the last week they've also used anti- aircraft missiles to fire at Israeli planes in Lebanese airspace.

So although much of the focus of the last few days has been on the situation in Gaza and in Israel, the situation on the border between Lebanon and Israel is becoming increasingly tense, and there is ever more talk of the possibility of war between Israel and Hezbollah. In fact, this morning we heard the Iranian foreign minister warning Israel not to fall into the well of Lebanon.

KINKADE: It's certainly a frightening thought, Ben, but I do, if we can for a moment, want to turn our focus back to Gaza, because the fate of that latest proposal for a ceasefire seems more unclear right now. What are you hearing from Hamas in terms of their response to this proposal?

WEDEMAN: Well, it appears both sides are accusing the other of rejecting the proposal. Now, Israel is telling, Israeli officials are saying that Hamas has rejected it. Hamas has responded saying, no, we haven't rejected it. In fact, Izat Rishq, a member of Hamas's pilot bureau, is saying that Palestinian factions have responded positively and seriously to the proposal and are accusing Israeli media of incitement in attempting to confuse the situation. It's a bit like when you're bargaining in the soup.

You know, just because you reject a price doesn't necessarily mean you're not going to buy the goods. This is a bargaining. This is negotiation. So at this point, I think both sides are accusing the other of rejecting it. But I don't think we can say that the deal is dead yet. It's just bargaining. Lynda?

KINKADE: Yeah. We will continue to see what comes out of the next round of mediation. Ben Wedeman for us, covering all those developments. Thanks so much.

Well, Hunter Biden, the son of Joe Biden, is now the first child of a sitting U.S. president to be found guilty of a crime after his conviction on three federal felony gun charges. The president embraced his son after landing in Delaware hours after Tuesday's verdict. The jury deliberated for less than three hours, concluding that Hunter Biden violated laws meant to prevent those suffering from substance abuse from buying or owning a firearm.

And of course, it created an awkward political moment for the U.S. president, who just hours after his son's conviction, was speaking at a previously scheduled gun safety event, heralding his efforts to strengthen gun laws and enhance the penalties for those who violate them.

Well, let's discuss this with Areva Martin, an attorney and legal affairs commentator. She joins us from Los Angeles. Good to have you with us.

AREVA MARTIN, ATTORNEY AND LEGAL RIGHTS COMMENTATOR: Hi, Lynda.

KINKADE: So Hunter Biden found guilty of three felonies, lying to a licensed firearms gun dealer, making a forced claim on a firearms application and, of course, possessing that illegally obtained gun for those 11 days. He does face up to 25 years in prison, but could get a fraction of that. What do you anticipate?

MARTIN: Well, one thing we do know is that Hunter Biden does not have any prior felony or any kinds of convictions on his record. He didn't use the gun that he purchased for any crime, so no crime was committed with that gun.

He has been, according to reports, clean and sober now for at least four or five years. Given that he is likely to demonstrate a great deal of remorse, given the types of mitigation letters and testimony I expect that we will see from supporters and friends, I think he'll get the lowest sentence possible. And I think it's so important to note that this case, the case that was brought against Hunter Biden, several former prosecutors who had been in charge of U.S. attorneys' offices said this is not the kind of case that they would have even brought.

So I think we can't overlook or gloss over the political aspect of this prosecution. So I don't expect there to be any sentence in the range of what's being reported with respect to the 25 years. I think it'll be at the lowest end of the sentencing range.

KINKADE: Yeah. And I'm worried that just on that point, as you alluded to, people at the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms and Explosives did apparently say that anyone else would have seen these charges dropped or this case drop if he wasn't as well known.

[03:15:06]

Just how unusual is it for someone with no criminal record to go to court for an offense like this?

MARTIN: It's very unusual. I saw some statistics that talked about less than three to five percent of individuals in this situation would have ever had charges brought. And even if charges were brought, most likely this was the kind of case that would have resulted in a plea deal, not the kind of case that would have occupied, you know, the time and resources that we saw the government put forth.

And you can't help again, but look at all of the personal and very embarrassing information that was revealed during this trial. It seemed like the trial was about embarrassing Hunter Biden and therefore embarrassing the entire Biden family more so than seeking justice. I was quite surprised, I should say, at the outcome, the verdict by the jury. I thought there would be jury nullification. I thought the jury would look at this and say, this just doesn't pass the smell test. There's something blatantly unfair about this prosecution.

But they looked at the facts and said they put aside the reality that this was the president's son and reached their conclusion. And like Democrats have been saying throughout the day, you have to accept the verdict of the jury. And I'm prepared to do that. But I was surprised by it.

KINKADE: Of course, Hunter Biden does face another trial in September over his failure to pay his income taxes during a year's long crack alcohol spending binge. Should that case be of more concern to him?

MARTIN: Well, absolutely. Much, much more serious case. Very easy to prove cases where there are allegations of failure to pay federal income taxes. The allegations here is that he failed to pay over a million dollars over a three-year period.

But I think we're going to see something happen in the tax evasion case based on what we saw in the case that just resulted in the conviction. And that's probably a lot of testimony about his drug use, about his addiction that probably had something to do, played some role in why he did not pay his federal taxes.

Again, this is the case, too, Lynda, that ordinarily would have been resolved by plea deal. And remember, there was a deal that was entered into by the special prosecutor and Biden's attorneys that would have allowed for both the cases, the gun charge case and the tax case, to be resolved without going to trial.

KINKADE: And so given that it is going to go to trial, the second case in September, does Tuesday's guilty verdict potentially raise the stakes for any future sentencing?

MARTIN: Absolutely. Again, I don't think he has much jeopardy when it comes to the convictions today.

The nature of the charges, his background, what we expect to see in terms of mitigation. However, the federal income tax evasion charges, we've seen very high profile, famous people serve jail time on very similar charges. So my estimate is that to the extent there is jail time and that Hunter Biden has to serve any jail time, it's much more likely to be related to the tax evasion case than it is with respect to the gun charge case.

KINKADE: All right. Good to get you on the program, Areva Martin, as always. Thanks so much for your time.

MARTIN: Thank you, Lynda.

KINKADE: Well, the new controversy for the U.S. Supreme Court. One justice and his wife are caught on tape speaking to someone they thought was a religious conservative. That conversation next.

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KINKADE: Well, several critical primaries could serve as a test for the U.S. elections later this year. In the key state of Nevada, Sam Brown won the Republican Senate nomination. He'll face off against Democratic incumbent Senator Jackie Rosen in one of the most important races of the 2024 election.

And in South Carolina, CNN projects that Congresswoman Nancy Mace will win the Republican primary for the state's first congressional district. That's despite opposition from allies of former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, whom she voted to oust. Mace defeated two challengers and should be able to avoid a June 25th primary runoff.

Well, a left wing activist has just added to the political turmoil roiling the U.S. Supreme Court. The activist posed as a religious conservative and secretly recorded conversations with Justice Samuel Alito and his wife, Martha Ann, as well as Chief Justice John Roberts. She released those secret recordings on Monday. Jessica Schneider explains what they reveal.

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JESSICA SCHNEIDER, CNN JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Tonight, no comment from the Supreme Court after two of its most senior justices and one of their spouses are heard on secret recordings discussing sensitive topics.

LAUREN WINDSOR, LIBERAL ACTIVIST WHO SECRETLY RECORDED JUSTICES: People in this country who believe in God have got to keep fighting for that to return our country to a place of godliness.

SAMUEL ALITO, ASSOCIATE JUSTICE OF THE U.S. SUPREME COURT: Oh, I agree with you.

SCHNEIDER (voice-over): Justice Samuel Alito speaking to Lauren Windsor during a dinner last week hosted by the Supreme Court Historical Society. Windsor, a liberal activist posing as a devout Catholic when talking with the justice, where he also addresses the current polarization of the country.

WINDSOR: I don't know that we can negotiate with the left in the way that like needs to happen for the polarization to end. I think that it's a matter of like winning.

S. ALITO: I think you're probably right. One side or the other. One side or the other is going to win. I don't know. I mean, there can be a way of working, a way of living together peacefully, but it's difficult, you know, because there are differences on fundamental things that really can't be compromised. They really can't be compromised. So it's not like you're going to split the difference.

SCHNEIDER (voice-over): The society condemned the secret recordings, saying attendees are advised not to discuss anything from the event. Windsor defended her actions today in an interview with CNN.

[03:25:04]

WINDSOR: There's nothing illegal in D.C. about recording people so long as one person is a party to that conversation. To people who want to pearl clutch about this, you know, please tell me how we're going to get answers when the Supreme Court has been shrouded in secrecy and really just refusing any degree of accountability whatsoever.

SCHNEIDER (voice-over): CNN has not independently obtained or heard the recordings in full, but they come after recent ethics concerns involving the court, including controversial flags flown at homes of Justice Alito, flags that the justice said were put up by his wife.

MARTHAN ANN ALITO, WIFE OF JUSTICE SAMUEL ALITO: You come after me, I'm going to give them back to you.

SCHNEIDER (voice-over): Martha Ann Alito also heard on the audio where she addressed the flag controversy head on.

M. ALITO: You know what I want? I want a Sacred Heart of Jesus flag because I have to look across the lagoon at the pride flag for the next month.

WINDSOR: Exactly.

M. ALITO: And he's like, oh, please don't put up a flag. I said, I won't do it because I'm deferring to you. But when you are free of this nonsense, I'm putting it up and I'm going to send them a message every day. Maybe every week I'll be changing the flags.

SCHNEIDER (voice-over): Windsor also secretly recorded Chief Justice John Roberts, who rebuffed her when she made a case for a more Christian society.

WINDSOR: I think that we live in a Christian nation and that our Supreme Court should be guiding us in that path.

JOHN ROBERTS, CHIEF JUSTICE OF THE U.S. SUPREME COURT: Yeah, I don't know that we live in a Christian nation. I know a lot of Jewish and Muslim friends who would say maybe not. And it's not our job to do that. It's our job to decide the cases as best we can.

SCHNEIDER: We have not seen any comment on these secret recordings from the Supreme Court or from the justices or Justice Alito's wife. Now, the Supreme Court Historical Society hosted this dinner where the recordings were made. It is a yearly event held inside the court building where members of the society are allowed to buy tickets for themselves and one guest. And the gathering provides members rare access to the justices, as we saw in these secret recordings.

Jessica Schneider, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KINKADE: One person is dead and a suspect now in custody following the hijacking of a commuter bus here in Atlanta Tuesday. Authorities say they responded to a report of gunfire on the bus. And when they arrived, the bus took off with 17 people on board.

It led police on a dangerous rush hour chase through heavy traffic, with the bus striking several vehicles along the way. When it finally came to a stop, the suspected gunman was arrested. On board, police found a bus driver with a gunshot wound who later died in hospital. Here's what the city's mayor had to say about that harrowing ordeal.

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ANDRE DICKENS, ATLANTA, GEORGIA MARYO: No mayor, no, no chief, no sheriff, nobody wants to have a day like this, a gunman with a gun to the head of a bus driver saying, don't stop this bus or else worse will happen. This is the type of thing that obviously no one is. I mean, it seems like the movies.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KINKADE: Well, still to come, a ticking time bomb about to explode. CNN gets exclusive access to a camp housing the families of ISIS fighters. What a top U.S. general calls a breeding ground for the terror group's next generation.

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LYNDA KINKADE, CNN CORRESPONDENT AND ANCHOR: Welcome back, I'm Lynda Kinkade.

It's been five years since the fall of ISIS in Iraq and Syria, but the terror group's ideology is far from gone. To this day, two sprawling camps in northeast Syria are still housing the families of ISIS fighters, including their wives and perhaps most alarmingly, thousands of their children. Many now coming of age in what the head of the U.S. Central Command calls a breeding ground for the next generation of ISIS. And in many cases they're living side by side with some of the terror group's victims.

CNN's Clarissa Ward was allowed extraordinary access to some of the facilities at those camps, as well as the notorious Panorama Prison. This is her exclusive report and a warning, it begins with some disturbing images.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) CLARISSA WARD, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Cell phone videos of ISIS' brutal justice that the world hoped it would never see again.

Shared for the first time with CNN, these images weren't captured in Raqqa or Mosul in 2016.

They were taken in 2022 in the Al-Hol camp in northern Syria, the sprawling dumping ground for the women and children captured after ISIS was defeated.

Five years after the fall of the caliphate, ISIS's ideology lives on here.

Security officials warn it is a ticking time bomb, ungovernable and hostile to the outside world.

WARD: You can see just how vast this place is, more than 40,000 people are living here. And the most dangerous part of the camp is called the annex. That's where some 6,000 foreign nationals are currently living.

WARD (voice-over): We were granted exceptionally rare access to the annex by the U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces, or SDF, who control the camp.

The women here hail from more than 60 different countries. Several raised their right index fingers for the cameras, a sign of solidarity with the Islamic State.

WARD: Do you regret your decision to join ISIS? Why should I regret it?

WARD (voice-over): She complains that the conditions in the camp are awful.

WARD: There are people in the world who will say, you went to join ISIS, you deserve it. You deserve it. What do you say to that?

UNKNOWN: Normally, even with enemies, women and children need services.

WARD (voice-over): The majority of Al-Hol's residents are kids, who have ended up here through no fault of their own.

The U.N. has called it a blight on the conscience of humanity. It is effectively a prison camp, where women and children are arbitrarily and indefinitely detained.

A group stops us with a frantic plea. One of their sons has been arrested trying to escape the camp.

WARD: She's asking if she can get her son back who's in a prison. He's 10 years old.

WARD (voice-over): We wanted to send him out so the SDF wouldn't take him, she tells us. [03:35:10]

Once boys turn 12 here, they take them.

It is a troubling story we hear over and over again. The SDF says it is their policy to separate adolescent boys because they are being radicalized by their mothers.

An SDF raid earlier this year netted this video of a training session for children inside the camp. The SDF claims young teenage boys are married off to repopulate the next generation of ISIS fighters, which they say may explain the roughly 60 births recorded here every month.

This is where some of those boys end up after they are taken. The Urkesh Rehabilitation Center. Conditions here are much better than the camps, but there are only 150 beds and they are all full.

Shamil Chakar grew up in Cologne, Germany, until his parents took the family to the ISIS capital, Raqqa. A shrapnel injury to his head has left Shamil confused.

WARD: How old are you? You don't know?

WARD (voice-over): Shamil was living in Al-Hol camp with his mother and siblings until a few years ago, when security forces came into their tent in the middle of the night.

A man came and pulled me up and tied my hand behind my back. My mom was screaming. She said, leave him alone, he tells us. I didn't want to go with them. He pushed me, saying, put on your shoes. But I didn't. Then he hit me.

Islam is from Dagestan, Russia, and is one of the youngest boys here.

WARD: So he's saying that he is just 12 years old. He has been here about three or four months. He was taken from his mother. He doesn't even know what his last name is.

WARD (voice-over): Human rights organizations have said the separations are an appalling violation of international law.

But the SDF's top general, Mazloum Abdi, defends the policy.

GEN. MAZLOUM ABDI, COMMANDER, SYRIAN DEMOCRATIC FORCES (through translator): Instead of these organizations condemning what we are doing and calling it a human rights violation, these organizations should give us help when it comes to our program that we have in place for years now to rehabilitate these children.

WARD: But part of the problem seems to be that once these young boys turn 18, there's not anywhere for them to go, particularly if they can't return to their home countries. And so some of them, I believe, are ending up in prison.

ABDI (through translator): This is not a policy that we are following to put them in prison at 18. The reality is the goal is to reintegrate them with society.

WARD (voice-over): But CNN has found that boys as young as 14 have been held here at the notorious Panorama Prison. With an estimated 4,000 inmates, it is the largest concentration of ISIS fighters in the world.

No journalist has been allowed inside Panorama since 2021 until now.

WARD: So the head of the prison has asked me to put on a headscarf. When we walk through here, because these are some of the most radicalized prisoners they have.

WARD (voice-over): A senior U.S. official told us the number one concern at Panorama is a prison break, a fear that was realized in 2022 when hundreds of inmates managed to escape.

WARD: Can I look inside?

WARD (voice-over): 25 men sit cross-legged in silence. The cell is spotless. The men we see appear to be in decent physical condition. But tuberculosis is rampant in the prison and we are only allowed to look inside two cells.

WARD: Are you British? You are? Where are you from?

WARD (voice-over): A British man approaches the great but does not want to show his face.

Advocacy groups call the U.S.-funded Panorama a legal black hole, worse than Guantanamo Bay.

In an interrogation room, we meet 19-year-old Stefan Outerloo from Suriname. He tells us he was brought to the prison when he was 14, along with more than 100 other minors.

WARD: Have you had a lawyer ever? You talked to a lawyer?

[03:40:01]

STEFAN OUTERLOO, PRISONER: No. I don't know about the big guys. If you're speaking about the kids, us, if you want to know the truth, we don't know even why we're always like punished. It's like five years in this prison and we're punished. We don't even know what we've done. We've been in prison because of our parents.

WARD (voice-over): At the SDF intelligence headquarters, we meet British-Pakistani doctor Muhammad Saqib. Accused of joining ISIS, he claims he was the victim of an elaborate kidnapping plot and says Panorama's inmates are abused.

MUHAMMAD SAQIB, PRISONER: So we live in torture. I live in fear.

WARD: When you say you live in torture, do you mean that you are actually physically being tortured?

SAQIB: This happens on and off. WARD: What kind of torture?

SAQIB: Like beating by the stick, by the guards. To be honest, I'm just waiting for my death. There's no getting out of this prison. Probably never.

WARD (voice-over): The warden at Panorama called Saqib's claim of abuse false, saying, quote, "all parts of the prison are monitored by cameras and no prison guard can act in this way."

The SDF and the U.S. are pushing countries to repatriate their citizens from Syria, saying it is the only solution to this complex and dangerous situation. But the process has been slow, and many, including Western allies, are dragging their feet.

In the Al Roj camp, we meet Brits, Canadians, Belgians, Australians, and a couple of Americans.

30-year-old Hoda Muthana has been stuck here with her seven-year-old son for more than five years.

WARD: I have to ask you, I'm seeing all of the women here are fully covered, a lot of them covering their faces. You're not covered. You're wearing a T-shirt. Is that hard?

HODA MUTHANA, DETAINEE: It was hard when I first took it, I would say for the first two, three years. People were not accepting of it, you know, and they harassed us a lot. They stole our stuff, you know, and I had to stay strong and show example for my son, you know.

WARD (voice-over): Born and raised in the U.S., Hoda became radicalized online at the age of 20 and left her family in Alabama to live under ISIS, a decision she quickly regretted.

WARD: If you were to be able to go back to the U.S. and you had to go on trial, potentially serve time in prison, have you reconciled yourself with that possibility?

MUTHANA: I always tell myself that going to prison would be a step forward in my life. If I had any time to serve, I'd serve it, and I'd come out and begin my life with my son. For now, that is not an option.

WARD (voice-over): While the U.S. advocates repatriation, it ruled Hoda's U.S. citizenship invalid on a technicality. Now she lives in fear for her son's future.

WARD: What do you miss most about America?

MUTHANA: I just want to breathe American air and be around people. I love the people of America. They're very open and they're very forgiving and they're people who give second chances. And I think if they were to sit down with me and listen to my story from the beginning, they would give me a second chance.

WARD (voice-over): But second chances are hard to come by here. For most, repentance is demanded and forgiveness rarely given, as the cost of ignoring this ugly crisis continues to mount.

Clarissa Ward, CNN, Northern Syria.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KINKADE: Well, in a statement to CNN, the U.S. State Department said the department has not changed its position with regards to Ms. Muhyul Thana's citizen status, as the State Department determined and the courts agreed she's not and never was a U.S. citizen.

Well, still to come, the mystery of the North Korean football star who went missing three years ago only to make a dramatic return now. Well, look at what's going on.

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[03:45:00]

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KINKADE: Hundreds of animals have died after a fire ripped through a popular market in Bangkok, Thailand on Tuesday. It started around four in the morning local time and raged for about 30 minutes. The fire ripped through 118 shops before being extinguished. Authorities say no one was injured, but many animals were killed, including dogs, cats, rabbits, snakes, birds, fish and chicken. One pet shop owner says 400 of her exotic snakes, worth about $136,000, died from smoke inhalation.

Well, he was once a promising young football star, attracting interest from Europe's top clubs. But when the COVID-19 pandemic hit, North Korea's Han Kwan-sung suddenly disappeared. Three years later, he returned to the football pitch, trying to help his country qualify for the 2026 World Cup.

CNN's Hanako Montgomery explains.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

HANAKO MONTGOMERY, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The vanished North Korean soccer superstar. Missing no more. Han Kwan-sung, the young striker from Pyongyang who played for Italian giant Juventus against some of Europe's elite clubs.

He disappeared for more than three years after U.N. sanctions ordered North Korean workers abroad to head home, playing for North Korea against Syria, Myanmar and Japan. Finally taking to the field again during the recent World Cup qualifiers. But the mystery surrounding his absence remains.

An Yong-hak, a Japanese-born North Korean former soccer player who knows and met Han, tells me the striker has extraordinary talent. The two first met in 2019, when Han said he watched An play for the country. A pandemic later, they briefly met again in Tokyo just this last March. An encouraged Han to help the team reach the World Cup. An says he was told by a North Korean official that Han was stuck at a North Korean embassy in China when the country shut its borders during the pandemic.

AN YONG-HAK, FORMER NORTH KOREAN NATIONAL MIDFIELDER (through translator): Han had to train alone for about two to three years. Last September, I think, they let him into the country.

MONTGOMERY (voice-over): An is worried the time away from the pitch severely affected the budding star's career.

YONG-HAK (through translator): I feel like he lost out on the chance to grow more at the right age and time when he could have really developed. I think he could have played better even during national team matches. It's really regrettable.

MONTGOMERY (voice-over): In North Korea, sports are a popular pastime and a tool for social control, discipline. Soccer in particular is a fan favorite and draws in thousands of spectators under the watchful eyes of sports enthusiast and leader Kim Jong-un. The Kim regime is looking to elevate North Korea into a sports powerhouse, echoing its 2010 World Cup qualification, only the second time it has done so.

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A moment An remembers with pride, saying players were recognized with a certificate and apartments in Pyongyang. But the country suffered bruising defeats on the actual World Cup stage and rumors quickly ensued of the national team facing punishment from the regime, including public shaming, a narrative An strongly denies.

YONG-HAK (through translator): It's pretty hard to get information about the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, so there are still stories about people being sent to the coal mine after losing a match or being lectured for six hours. But there are no such stories at all, as far as I know. I was on the national team for more than 10 years, and that never happened to me.

MONTGOMERY (voice-over): An holds high hopes for his countrymen's return to the global stage. Han can't get back the time he lost.

YONG-HAK (through translator): So, going forward, I hope he becomes a great player who will improve the image of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea's national team.

MONTGOMERY: With little getting in or out of North Korea, it's hard to know what the future holds for Han. But his country's attempt to play in the World Cup continues.

Hanako Montgomery, CNN, Tokyo.

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KINKADE: We're going to take a quick break. We'll be right back. You're watching CNN.

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[03:54:57] KINKADE: Welcome back. K-pop supergroup BTS reunited just hours ago, but not to make new music. Jin, the oldest member of the group, was discharged from the military after completing his 18-month mandatory service requirement. He was greeted by five of his six bandmates. South Korean media reports they requested leave from their own military assignments to celebrate the occasion.

Jin immediately got in front of the camera on social media, Weverse, racking up more than three million views. A performance and fan event are planned for Thursday. At age 31, Jin is the first member of BTS to finish his military service, with the band expected to reunite next year once all members are discharged.

Well, get your brooms ready. Warner Brothers has announced a sequel to the 1998 hit film "Practical Magic". Sandra Bullock and Nicole Kidman, stars of the original film, are in talks to return for "Practical Magic 2". Well, "Variety" reports the actresses are also expected to produce the project.

The story follows two witch sisters who curse every man they love. The film is based on Alice Hoffman's 1995 novel of the same name. No word yet on a release date for the sequel. Warner Brothers, which is producing the movie, is part of CNN's parent company Warner Brothers Discovery.

Thanks so much for your company. I'm Lynda Kinkade. Have yourselves a wonderful day. "CNN Newsroom" continues with Max Foster in London after a short break. Stay with us.

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