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Lebanon Bracing for Hezbollah Retaliation Against Israel; Harris Campaign Calls Trump's Remarks a 'Public Meltdown'; Alleged Terror Plot Cancels Taylor Swift Concerts in Vienna; Russia Tries to Halt Ukrainian Incursion into Kursk; Police Crack Down on Peaceful Protestors in Kenya; Families of Slain Demonstrators Remember Loved Ones in Bangladesh. Aired 12-12:45a ET
Aired August 09, 2024 - 00:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
LAURA COATES, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: And thank you all for watching. "ANDERSON COOPER 360" is next.
[00:00:05]
MICHAEL HOLMES, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: Hello, everyone. I'm Michael Holmes in Atlanta. Appreciate your company.
Coming up here on CNN NEWSROOM, the new international push for a ceasefire in Gaza in hopes of stopping the fighting there and perhaps also a wider escalation across the Middle East.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP (R), FORMER U.S. PRESIDENT, 2024 PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: No, I think she's actually not as smart as he is. I don't think he's very smart either, by the way.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: Donald Trump insulting his rivals' intelligence repeating lives and obsessing about crowd sizes during a rambling news conference.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
(SINGING)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: And Taylor Swift fans tried to shake it off, holding their own impromptu concert after the real ones were canceled following an alleged terror plot.
Live from Atlanta, this is CNN NEWSROOM with Michael Holmes.
Well, the threat of a wider war in the Middle East is sparking a renewed push for an end to the root cause of the current tensions. And that is, of course, the war in Gaza. Egypt, Qatar, and the U.S. are calling for Israel and Hamas to resume
ceasefire and hostage talks next week, possibly in Doha, or perhaps Cairo.
Israel says it will send the negotiating team. Hamas says yet to respond. The sponsors of the talks released a joint statement saying, in part, "There is no further time to waste nor excuses from any party for further delay. It is time to release the hostages, begin the ceasefire, and implement this agreement."
Now, the plea comes as the entire region, of course, is on edge bracing for possible Iranian or Hezbollah retaliation against Israel after the recent assassination of senior Hezbollah and Hamas leaders.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MATTHEW MILLER, U.S. STATE DEPARTMENT SPOKESPERSON: There are two sides of this coin. On one side of the coin, yes. We believe that a ceasefire would go a long way towards alleviating tensions in the region.
On the other side of that coin, certainly, any further escalation just makes all of the region's problems more difficult. And one of the problems that we're addressing is the conflict in Gaza and trying to reach a ceasefire.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: Meanwhile, the Israeli military says at least 25 projectiles were fired from Southern Lebanon into Israel within an hour on Thursday.
CNN senior international correspondent Ben Wedeman is in Beirut.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BEN WEDEMAN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Lebanon is waiting and waiting and waiting for Hezbollah to strike back at Israel for its assassination last week of the group's top military commander.
WEDEMAN (voice-over): Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah has vowed revenge is coming. Officials in Washington have warned it's imminent.
The fear is that it won't stop there, that Israel will strike back, setting Lebanon and Israel on a slippery downward slope to all-out war.
Thursday, Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant put out a warning on X, formerly Twitter, vowing that Israel will fight back with all its might.
Both sides continue to exchange fire along the border. Daily clashes that may seem far away to people in cities like here, Beirut.
But Tuesday and Wednesday, Israeli warplanes broke the sound barrier multiple times over the capital -- WEDEMAN: -- providing a stark reminder that the calm here is deceptive. Lebanon's health minister, Firass Abiad, saying the country's South is already at war, but worse could come.
DR. FIRASS ABIAD, LEBANESE PUBLIC HEALTH MINISTER (through translator): Currently, we are in a state of war, and not potential war. I mean, in Southern Lebanon, there are attacks on a daily basis. There are martyrs and wounded.
From the health sector alone, there are more than 22 martyrs. And this is contrary to all international norms, laws, and treaties that are supposed to abide by the laws of the United Nations.
We are currently in a war, but our fear is the expansion and increase of these attacks.
WEDEMAN (voice-over): The U.S. and others are reportedly frantically trying to head off an escalation.
The war in Gaza that has set the region on edge is now entering its 11th month and rages on with no end in sight.
WEDEMAN: The efforts of the would-be peacemakers perhaps too little, too late.
I'm Ben Wedeman, CNN, reporting from Beirut.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HOLMES: H.A. Hellyer is a Middle East studies scholar at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. He joins me now from Cairo, Egypt. Thanks for doing so, Doctor.
So how big and, perhaps crucially, how complex do you think the response will be from Iran and other fronts like Hezbollah in Lebanon, the Houthis in Yemen, militia proxies in Iraq and Syria?
[00:05:12]
H.A. HELLYER, MIDDLE EAST STUDIES SCHOLAR, CARNEGIE ENDOWMENT FOR INTERNATIONAL PEACE: Thank you for having me on your program, Michael.
So, the reality is -- is that none of us really know. I think that there will be a response; the question is by whom and when. I -- I don't think that anybody can have any doubts about that.
The Iranians were -- were quite understandably very taken aback by an assassination on their own territory in Tehran. And of course, it was quite embarrassing, because it happened shortly after the inauguration of their president.
The new president, obviously, the -- the Hamas leader was somebody who is right in the heart of Tehran. So there has to be a response in that regard.
And of course, Hezbollah are responding to the assassination of one of their top military commanders.
So, I think that it's inevitable that there will be a response. There've been hints over the last couple of days that Iran might lessen or -- I don't think forego, but might lessen the response, if there were a ceasefire. And the Iranian regime is not, you know, generally a good actor in the region.
But on this particular point, with regards to a ceasefire, I think it's incredibly important, irrespective of whatever response comes from Iran or Hezbollah.
The region is in the dynamic of escalation. It's a dynamic that only leads to devastating wars and conflicts. And I think it's incredibly important that we come back from that, that we actively look for a way to deescalate.
And that starts and ends with a ceasefire in Gaza. It's a ceasefire that, unfortunately, the Israelis have been loath to jump at. The Israeli press has been awash with reports of how Netanyahu has been sabotaging talks, frankly, for months.
And I think that it's actually incredibly annoying and irritating to Washington, D.C., as well. But alas, they haven't been willing to come out publicly and talk, you know, very bluntly and blatantly about this and also use the leverage that is at D.C.'s hands in order to force a ceasefire to go through.
HOLMES: It is true that all roads in this conflict lead back to Gaza. When -- when it comes to possible retaliation, what do you think the targeting strategy might be for Iran? Presumably, they don't want Israeli civilian casualties with the response that that would provoke from Israel. So where might they point their weapons?
HELLYER: So, there are many different targets, but here's the thing, Michael. When we talk about -- so what you're describing is, quote unquote, a calculated escalation, right, but it's calculated. It's calibrated.
So, we can say that we responded, but not so much that the Israelis have to then respond to something even greater. That means that we are -- you know, that's the game that people are playing right now.
And the Israelis and Hezbollah have been playing that game for the last nine or ten months now.
But here's the reality. There's really no such thing. There's no such thing as having a perfectly calibrated escalation. When you set things into motion, then the law of unintended consequences comes into play.
You can't guarantee that you will shoot precisely that number of missiles into that particular geographical area, and that number of people get killed or injured.
HOLMES: Yes.
HELLYER: There is simply no way to forensically tighten it in that point. So it could be that they plan to only hit, for example, military targets of a particular type.
And then something goes wrong, because on the way, maybe a rocket misfires or malfunctions and hits.
You know, I personally think that's what happened, by chance, in the Syrian-occupied Golan Heights, where a rocket of some sort killed these 12 children, these 12 Syrian children who are under Israeli occupation.
I don't think that Hezbollah meant to kill those kids. I'm sure that they were aiming at a more military target. It doesn't make any sense otherwise.
HOLMES: Yes.
HELLYER: But it's what happened. And I think that we -- we have to be very sort of wide-eyed to the fact that unintended consequences in such a deeply, you know, tense situation, it can have incredible consequences and ramifications.
We've already seen Gaza go through tens of thousands of people killed by the Israelis, the vast majority of whom are civilians. We don't need to see a much wider regional conflict where more and more -- HOLMES: Yes.
HELLYER: -- innocent people die.
HOLMES: I wanted to ask you real quick. With Iran, Lebanon, Yemen proxies in Syria and Iraq perhaps gearing up for a role in whatever happens, while the Israeli military is, of course, fully engaged in Gaza, will Hezbollah perhaps see Israel vulnerable militarily, stretched thin? Real quick if you can.
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HELLYER: So, the fact is, is that if Hezbollah wants to launch a wide- scale attack in the North, then I think that they would inflict an incredible amount of damage at least on the North, the North of Israel.
But the question is, does Hezbollah want that, precisely for the reasons that you laid out in terms of retaliation? I don't think they do.
So, I think that they will retaliate. They will engage in a reprisal. But I think that they will try to calibrate it in order to ensure that, you know, that's the end of the matter.
My concern is that the calibration will prove not to be precise enough, in which case Israelis will then respond. And then we get into this ongoing cycle and spiral where, again, devastating for everybody involved.
HOLMES: Right. Right. I appreciate the analysis. Dr. H.A. Hellyer in Cairo. Thank you so much.
HELLYER: Thank you.
HOLMES: Well, Donald Trump tried to reclaim some of the spotlight from Kamala Harris with a news conference at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida.
While defending his own campaign on Thursday, the U.S. Republican presidential nominee insulted his Democratic rival's intelligence and made a series of false claims.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: Nobody was killed on January 6.
I had 1 percent inflation. I had actually no inflation.
Nobody's spoken to crowds bigger than me. If you look at Martin Luther King, when he did his speech, his great speech, and you look at ours, same real estate, same everything. Same number of people. If not, we had more.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: The Harris campaign is calling Trump's rambling remarks a public meltdown. They come as a new poll from Marquette Law School shows Harris with a four-point lead over Trump, just within the margin of error. You see the numbers there.
CNN's Kristen Holmes with a report for us from Florida.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
KRISTEN HOLMES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Former President Donald Trump gave a very wide-ranging press conference on Thursdays, speaking for more than an hour, calling Kamala Harris, his now rival, barely competent, calling her names; attacking Tim Walz, her now running mate on the Democratic ticket.
But he's spent a lot of the time really doubling down on this news narrative that we've heard from the Republican Party. And that was part of why they did this press conference, that Kamala Harris will not sit down for an interview, that she will not take questions from the press. Here's what he said about this.
TRUMP: She's not doing any news conference. You know why she's not doing it? Because she can't do a news conference. She doesn't know how to do a news conference. She's not smart enough to do a news conference.
K. HOLMES: When I talked to campaign officials, they did want a split screen of the fact that Harris has not sat down with reporters, has not answered any of those questions.
But there was also some news made out of this press conference. The fact that Donald Trump agreed to three debates with Kamala Harris, one of them being the debate that he had agreed to with President Joe Biden on AB -- on ABC on September 10. Of course, he had agreed to that, then reneged. Now, he is saying he
will, in fact, do that debate. Harris has not answered about the other two debates that were also proposed by Donald Trump for September.
The other thing that was asked of him, partly by me, partly by other reporters, was why he wasn't campaigning more, why his campaign doesn't seem to have changed.
And he said that he didn't need to campaign, that he was leading by so much. But if you talk to his senior officials and advisers, they know that's not the case. They know that there's been a change in this ticket and in this race, given the enthusiasm we now see around Kamala Harris and Tim Walz, the enthusiasm that is there that wasn't there for President didn't Joe Biden.
But clearly, Donald Trump, getting under his skin. What you're seeing on the other side here with Kamala Harris and Tim Walz, part of that being the crowd size.
He said there wasn't that much enthusiasm on that side. When he was asked about the fact that there was all -- there was more -- bigger events for Harris than we had seen for Joe Biden, he said -- lashed out at the media, saying the media inflated her numbers and downplayed his numbers.
But one thing is clear: He was out there. He was talking to reporters, and he is definitely on the offensive right now as we are heading closer and closer to November.
Kristen Holmes, CNN, West Palm Beach, Florida.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HOLMES: Joining me now from Mount View, California, is Republican strategist Lanhee Chen. He's a fellow at the Stanford University's Hoover Institution, and also served as policy director for former Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney.
Good to see you.
Trump could've used the time to outline, you know, cohesive policy plans, talk about issues. But as usual, it was rambling. It was grievance. It was scare tactics, complaints, and lies, to be frank.
Missed opportunity, or was this just how his campaign is and will be?
LANHEE CHEN, REPUBLICAN STRATEGIST: Well, the contrast between this press conference and what we saw out of the Trump campaign. Let's say, for example, leading into the Republican National Convention, could not be more different.
So, what you saw going into that convention, and really even coming out of it, was a pretty disciplined campaign. We did not see former President Trump out there doing these freewheeling press conferences. We saw a very disciplined message. And really, what you saw today was a reversion to the mean, as I would
say. It's sort of what we've come to know and expect from President Trump in the way that he campaigns.
And so, I think that what you saw was a little bit of a lack of focus. I think you saw a lot of different issues being addressed in the press conference.
And this is nothing new for people who followed American politics and follow Donald Trump. I think the question is, how does something like this play in this totally new environment, where he's not going up against Joe Biden? He's going up against Kamala Harris, somebody who brings a different kind of energy into the race. I think that question will play out over these next several weeks.
HOLMES: Yes. Speak to him trying to figure out more about how to respond to the ticket, Harris-Walz, and his struggle to appeal to moderate or undecided voters.
I mean, saying stuff like Walz will unleash hell on earth, that might play well with MAGA, but can that approach work with the independents who are undecided, who may well swing the election?
CHEN: Well, that's an interesting question. I think the Trump campaign's theory of the case right now, the theory about how they win this election, is they believe they're going to go out and find a bunch of voters who are much more episodic, do not participate in politics as often, and they're going to motivate them.
These are people who probably are working-class white voters. These are voters who reliably voted Democrat for many, many years, who probably in 2016 voted for Trump; thought about voting for him, if not voted for him in 2020.
And they're counting on this group of people. It's not the MAGA base, to be clear. This is a different group of voters that they believe they can get to and motivate and bring out for this election, who probably didn't vote in the midterm elections, would not vote if Donald Trump were not on the ballot.
And that's their theory. They need to figure out how to motivate those voters.
Now, the reality is those voters may not be enough to get Trump to get across the finish line against Kamala Harris. They were enough to get them across the finish line against Joe Biden. But this race is different now.
So, they're going to have to figure out if that theory still holds. And today's press conference probably spoke to those voters. It did not speak to the kind of typical suburban women voter that would be the traditional independent constituency that swings American elections.
HOLMES: I heard a Republican strategist on CNN, actually, after the news conference. And yes, when asked about the lies that were told, essentially said, you know, people expect that from Trump. It's baked in.
But how dangerous is that attitude? The oh, it's just Trump being Trump attitude, getting a free pass that others like Kamala Harris, for example, would not get? Normalizing what's normal.
CHEN: Well, and this is part of the problem we have, is that we've seen the same kind of -- roughly the same kind of performance since 2016. And as a result, I do think, whether we think it's right or not, that has been normalized.
Now, whose job is it to call that out? Whose job is it to run an aggressive campaign? It's the Harris-Walz ticket campaign. It is their job now to prosecute the case against Donald Trump.
And it's going to be up to them to see if they can run an effective campaign. Remember, one of the challenges that we have had in this cycle so far is that Joe Biden and his team, they weren't running that kind of campaign. They were running a campaign to try and have Biden, in some ways, float above this, to look as though he was above the kind of conflict that this kind of engagement requires.
Clearly, Kamala Harris and Governor Walz, they're approaching this very differently. They're not going to have any trouble at all calling out Donald Trump.
HUNT: Yes.
CHEN: So, I think this race is going to change. The dynamic of the race is going to change. And frankly, the responsibility for calling these things out does shift to the Democratic ticket.
HUNT: Good point. I want to ask you this, too. Former Trump official Anthony Scaramucci said after the news conference that Trump looked and sounded scared. Would you agree with that? How worried do you think the campaign is, you know, about the momentum, about the numbers that are shifting?
CHEN: Well, they're projecting a lot of confidence publicly. I guess my -- my perspective would be no campaign likes to be thrown a curveball.
No campaign likes to have to deal with something that you have not had to deal with previously.
From my experience on four presidential campaigns, I'll tell you, it is difficult when things happen that you didn't expect. But the question now becomes how they'll adapt. They've got some professionals on that team who are very, very good, who have run a lot of campaigns before, who understand what it's going to take to get Donald Trump across that finish line to victory during November.
So, we'll see how they respond and react. But there's no question they would have preferred the campaign as it was prior to whatever it was, ten days, two weeks ago to the campaign they have now. Nobody likes that kind of change.
[00:20:09]
HOLMES: Wow, fascinating. Lanhee Chen, really appreciate it. Thanks so much.
CHEN: Thank you.
HOLMES: Still to come on the program, Russia said Thursday that Thursday's attack the stopped Russia's largest incursion began since the war began. But evidence suggests otherwise. We'll have that.
Also, police reveal how they believe a teenage suspect planned to carry out a deadly rampage at a Taylor Swift concert. We'll be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (singing): Players got to play, play, play, play, play. And the haters going to hate, hate, hate, hate, hate. I've just got to say, say, say, say, say shake it off, shake it.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: Well, the concerts might be canceled, but the Swifties' spirit was on full display in Vienna Thursday when Taylor Swift fans gathered to sing some of the pop star's hits and trade those signature friendship bracelets.
Swift was scheduled to play three shows in the Austrian capital until authorities uncovered an alleged terror plot targeting the concert venue.
CNN's Nick Paton Walsh with the story.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
NICK PATON WALSH, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Three nights of record-breaking teen-ish revelry halted by unprecedented teen horror.
Austrian police Thursday outlined how this 19-year-old man had planned a suicide attack with knives and a bomb on doting crowds in the periphery of Taylor Swift's three constants in Vienna.
Here, where he lived, an hour South, police found 21,000 euros fake cash, chemical bomb precursors and detonators, clearing nearly 60 homes in case of a blast.
And troublingly, a police car blue light, perhaps meant to ease his vehicle into the crowd so he could attack.
He quit his job two weeks ago, changing his appearance, saying he planned something big.
Another teenager, 17, was detained Thursday just outside the stadium where police say he'd been hired to work. And a third teen, just 15 years old, was also questioned.
Radicalized online by ISIS, the teenagers are Austrian-born.
It left Swift fans, 65,000 disappointed per night, about as distraught as they can get, some in tears. But police very clear about how close they got.
GERHARD KAMER, AUSTRIAN INTERIOR MINISTER (through translator): We also have to say, more specifically, to the current events, major
concerts offer a favorite target for domestic attackers.
WALSH (voice-over): Echoes of the horrific ISIS-K bombing in Manchester at an Arianna Grande concert in 2017 that killed 22 fans. After which Swift herself said in 2019, "I was completely terrified to go on tour this time, because I didn't know how we were going to keep 3 million fans safe over seven months."
[00:25:10]
Police claim ISIS radicalized the teens online, where they also got their bomb instructions.
OMAR HALJAWI-PIRCHNER, AUSTRIAN DIRECTOR OF SECURITY SERVICES: We can see that in Austria, we have very young guys that are radicalized due to the fact that they are using the online propaganda.
WALSH (voice-over): The arrests add to a litany of teen ISIS plots tracked in a landmark study by researcher Peter Neumann. Nearly two- thirds of ISIS-related arrests in Europe in the past nine months have been of teenagers.
PETER NEUMANN, TERRORISM EXPERT: They may mess up. They may change their mind. But at the end of the day, some of them may actually be quite useful, not least because they are less suspicious. Who would think of a 13-year-old as a terrorist.
WALSH (voice-over): Nobody surely. But now the threat is evolving, radicalized online in days, and younger.
Nick Paton Walsh, CNN, London.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HOLMES: It is morning in Russia's Kursk region on the border with Ukraine, and Russian forces are trying to repel Ukraine's largest incursion in this more than two-year-old war.
Russian officials say 66 people have been wounded, and the fighting appears to be ongoing.
According to the Kremlin, President Vladimir Putin met with regional leaders and said there would be compensation for those forced to evacuate.
Some residents said on social media the situation is not under control. A Ukrainian presidential adviser praised Western allies who said
they've no issue with the incursion. It's the first time Kyiv acknowledged the offensive.
The Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy has a warning for Moscow Thursday, although he didn't explicitly mention Kursk.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY, UKRAINIAN PRESIDENT (through translator): Ukrainians know how to achieve their goals. And we did not choose to achieve the goals in the war. Russia brought the war to our land and should feel what it has done.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: CNN's Clare Sebastian now with more on the incursion, from London.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CLARE SEBASTIAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, this is now the third day of what appears to be an attempt by the Ukrainian military to advance inside Russia --
SEBASTIAN (voice-over): -- the first time we've seen anything like this in this two-and-a-half-year-old war.
And Russia is claiming it now has the upper hand. The Ministry of Defense says it's brought in reinforcements and has stopped the Ukrainian advance.
This video published by the Russian Ministry of Defense purports to show a Russian airstrike destroying Ukrainian armored vehicles.
CNN has geo-located this to a Russian village in the Kursk region near the Ukrainian border.
But unofficial accounts, including from Russian military bloggers and other video evidence like this, filmed inside a car, which CNN has geo-located to just outside the town of Sudzha, also in the Kursk region, appears to show panicked civilians driving through deserted streets, claiming at one point they're being shot at.
SEBASTIAN: That all suggests that hostilities are still very much ongoing.
Now, the official Russian approach here is telling far from trying to hide the fact that they failed to protect their border. But deflecting.
President Putin accusing Ukraine of indiscriminately shelling civilians, portraying Russia as the victim of what he called a major provocation.
And the White House often given advanced warning about major operations, says it also knew nothing and will be seeking more clarity.
Clare Sebastian, CNN, London.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HOLMES: Quick break here on the program. When we come back, police in Kenya face down anti-government protesters with flashbangs and tear gas.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
(SCREAMING)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: Ahead, a closer look at the demonstrations as police appear to target CNN's correspondent, Larry Madowo.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LARRY MADOWO, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: That was aimed directly at me. He is aiming directly at me. He's aiming directly at me. He's shooting directly at me. Why are you shooting at me?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[00:31:30]
HOLMES: You're watching CNN NEWSROOM with me, Michael Holmes.
Turning to Kenya now, where more than 170 anti-government protesters were arrested on Thursday, according to CNN affiliate Citizen TV.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
(SCREAMING)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: Police firing tear gas and flash bangs, as you can see, at people who were peacefully protesting in the capital after they took to the streets for an eighth week.
It started as a protest against a finance bill which President William Ruto has since withdrawn, but has evolved into a movement against corruption, the high cost of living, and police brutality.
CNN's Larry Madowo has been on the scene in Nairobi.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MADOWO: There is nowhere to escape to. There's tear gas and flash bangs in every direction you turn. So even though the constitution guarantees the right to protest,
that's the scene everywhere, with police violently dispersing the protesters, shooting in the air, flashbangs. Making the whole city look like a warzone.
As we're doing this, we have to get out of here right now. There's literally nowhere to escape. OK. We need to -- Falls (ph). We have to run from there; try and get to safety.
HUSSEIN KHALID, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, VOCAL AFRICA: Kenya is not a police state. So many have been killed. So many continue to be abducted. So many have been battered. They're in school. They're amputated. And no justice has been done to date.
Not a single police officer has been held to account.
MADOWO: Protestors on the streets for at least two weeks now. We've been hearing a lot of flashbangs, a lot of tear gas in the air. Police shooting in the air throughout the day, trying to disperse these protestors, who are unhappy about the government of President William Ruto.
They're unhappy about the fact that he fired a cabinet after public pressure, but then reappointed half of the cabinet back to their positions.
SUNSHINE ZOLA, PROTESTOR: I'm telling the president, you had the perfect opportunity to fix this nation, but you refused. I voted for you, but here I am. I've lost faith and trust in you.
(CHANTING)
MADOWO: So, you feel that the president is not listening.
MAWASI, PROTESTOR: I don't feel he is not listening. Everyone is tone deaf. Nothing will get to him. This, maybe this will get him to listen, yes. The demonstrations.
MADOWO: It's supposed to be rush-hour, but the streets of Nairobi are completely empty, because police have made sure that no protesters gathered.
That is directly in contravention of Kenyan law that allows protesters to peacefully gather. And that's one of the reasons why they've been so angry about this heavy-handed response.
Larry Madowo, CNN, Nairobi.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HOLMES: Now as Larry was reporting, federal police firing two tear gas canisters directly at his -- where he was standing.
He's OK after being hit by a fragment to the face.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) MADOWO: That's one of the reasons why the protesters are so angry that police were not uniformed or hooded, covering their identities, masking their plates, are on the streets applying excessive force on largely peaceful protesters.
And then, as we were just speaking, as they're leaving, they fire even more.
[00:35:00]
(FLASHBANG)
MADOWO: Ow! That was aimed directly at me. He is aiming directly at me. He's aiming directly at me. He's aiming directly at me.
(GUNSHOT)
MADOWO: Ow! He's shooting directly at me. Why are you shooting at me? Why are you shooting at me? Why are you shooting at me? There's a flashbang there. Watch out.
He is still shooting.
The police shot at least two tear gas canisters directly at me while I was looking at them, at close range.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: CNN has reached out to the authorities but has yet to hear back.
Well, Thursday marked the start of a new era in Bangladesh. The country's interim government, led by Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus, was officially sworn in.
Yunus is a longtime critic of former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, who fled the country Monday after weeks of violent protests that left some 300 people dead.
The new government is urging Bangladeshis to return to law and order and step back from the protests that turned deadly under the now- ousted prime minister's crackdown.
Our Anna Coren spoke with family members of some who lost their lives.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ANNA COREN, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): In the searing afternoon heat, tear gas hanging thickly in the air, 25-year- old Makdo (ph) hands out bottles of water.
"Does anyone need water? Water, brother? Water?"
The maths graduate, doing his MBA, had been watching the protests on the streets of Dhaka grow and decided he, too, wanted to play a role by helping fellow students. But 15 minutes after this video was filmed, Makdo (ph) was shot in the
head. His identical twin, Singdo (ph), raced to the hospital. But Makdo (ph) was already dead.
A small birthmark beneath his right eye was the only way people could tell them apart.
MIR MAHBUBUR RAHMAN, TWIN BROTHER OF VICTIM: I'm watching him. And I can see that he's sleeping the way he always sleep. I didn't have any realization in my whole body. I just hugged him, and I cried for almost 30 minutes.
COREN: He is your twin. He is part of you.
RAHMAN: He was not only my brother. He -- he was my best friend. People will forget him after some days. I cannot forget him because he's with my face. He is with my soul, and he's with my body.
COREN (voice-over): Makdo's (ph) death was a tipping point for the student-led protests that began early July over a quota system that gave preferential treatment in government jobs.
But the brutal and deadly crackdown, ordered by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina to extinguish the protests, backfired, igniting a firestorm of pent-up anger, frustration, and defiance by a population tired of her increasingly authoritarian rule.
FARAH PORSHIA, PROTESTOR: Anybody of my age, we've never been able to vote in a diplomatic manner, we've never attended election, because we've never given the right.
We have never had a choice. There was no alternative.
COREN (voice-over): But for the prime minister, whose father founded Bangladesh, her 15-year iron rule had come to an end. As tens of thousands marched towards her residence, calling for her resignation, Hasina boarded a helicopter and fled to neighboring India.
Jubilation was shot-lived before Bangladesh descended into lawlessness.
Nobel Peace Prize winner Muhammad Yunus has returned to Dhaka to set up an interim government, appealing for calm and an end to the violence.
But that's cold comfort for the mother of 13-year-old Mobarak (ph). His TikTok videos is all she has left.
"Oh, God, there is so much pain in my heart," she wails. But as one of the hundreds reportedly killed over the past month, his far the believes his death will not be in vain.
"My son has been martyred for this movement," he explains. "This is for all people, for the future of Bangladesh."
Anna Coren, CNN. (END VIDEOTAPE)
HOLMES: Take a quick break now. We'll be right back.
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[00:41:36]
HOLMES: Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro is escalating his feud with X owner Elon Musk.
The embattled strongman signaling -- signed a resolution on Thursday banning the social media platform, formerly known as Twitter, for ten days and accusing Musk of being a driving force behind the protests that followed his contested reelection.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
NICOLAS MADURO, PRESIDENT OF VENEZUELA (through translator): Elon Musk is the owner of X and has violated all the rules of the social network Twitter itself, today known as X. He has violated the rules by inciting hatred, fascism, civil war, death, confrontation of Venezuelans, and has violated all Venezuelan laws.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: Maduro and Musk have frequently traded barbs on the site.
Earlier this week, Maduro urging supporters to abandon Meta-owned WhatsApp, claiming it's being used to threaten the families of the country's security forces.
I'm Michael Holmes. Thanks for spending part of your day with me. I will be back at the top of the hour with more CNN NEWSROOM. But first WORLD SPORT after the break.
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[00:45:26]
(WORLD SPORT)
