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South Korean President Awaits Verdict on His Impeachment; Vatican Releases a Short Recording of Pope Francis from Hospital; SpaceX's Starship Explodes and Rained with Debris; Two-time Grand Slam Tennis Player Hails First Maternity Fund for Professional Tennis Players. Aired 3-4a ET

Aired March 07, 2025 - 03:00   ET

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

[03:00:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PAULA NEWTON, CNN CORRESPONDENT AND ANCHOR: And a warm welcome to our viewers from all around the world. I'm Paula Newton. Ahead right here on "CNN Newsroom."

Europe rushes to increase defense spending after the U.S. signals it may not always foot the bill.

U.S. President Donald Trump has delayed implementing new tariffs on Canada and Mexico. What's behind the trade war whiplash?

And another setback for SpaceX as a rocket explodes shortly after liftoff. Now authorities are ordering an investigation.

UNKNOWN (voice-over): Live from Atlanta, this is "CNN Newsroom" with Paula Newton.

NEWTON: So the European Union is adapting to the stark realities of Donald Trump's return to the White House. On Thursday, the bloc pushed its own vision for peace in Ukraine amid Mr. Trump's diplomatic pivot towards Russia.

The E.U. summit in Brussels called for strong security guarantees for Ukraine and a seat at the negotiating table for the E.U. and Kyiv. The leaders also approved a massive surge in European military spending as Mr. Trump made it clear U.S. military protection is no longer given. A top E.U. official described the scale of the future military buildup.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

URSULA VON DER LEYEN, EUROPEAN COMMISSION PRESIDENT: We will provide 150 billion euros in loans to member states to accelerate the joint procurement. This is an exceptional measure, but it is the right measure for exceptional times.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

NEWTON: In the meantime, the U.S. is confirming its plans to resume talks with Ukraine in Saudi Arabia next week. As CNN's Nick Paton Walsh reports, Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy will be headed to the kingdom.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

NICK PATON WALSH, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: President Zelenskyy's meeting in Riyadh with the Saudi Crown Prince on Monday, March the 10th, I should point out, is something which he said he was going to do when he cancelled the previous meeting in Riyadh just ahead of the U.S.-Russia summit that occurred in Saudi Arabia nearly two or three weeks ago.

Now his team will then stay on for talks with senior Trump cabinet officials. Now this is obviously a bid to try and get that relationship back on track after Zelenskyy sent a letter to President Trump which he referred to in his Tuesday night speech in positive terms.

Indeed, Zelenskyy does appear to have pretty much acceded to all of the Trump inner circle's demands to fix what they consider to be the fallout from the Oval Office meeting last Friday, which I should say many Ukrainians here feel still was a public drubbing for their wartime commander.

Zelenskyy has said that meeting was regrettable. He says he's ready to sign the rare earth minerals deal and indeed to commit to peace. So this meeting in Riyadh will be particularly pertinent to see if the deal is indeed signed and also to try and elicit some kind of specifics as to the kind of peace deal, indeed, that the United States wants Ukraine to sign up to.

Remember, it is now casting itself as no longer Ukraine's singular most important ally but an intermediary between Moscow and Kyiv. That is a stark and frankly shocking change for Ukraine and also many of its European allies who in Brussels attempted to shore up again support the second time in five days around Zelenskyy talking about the financing of European security but also of Ukraine's defense as well.

But lingering in the background there, in fact sometimes glaring in the forefront, is the recognition amongst these European powers that the peacekeeping plan they're potentially putting together, if there is indeed a ceasefire, is one that can't really succeed without some kind of U.S. logistical or even some said psychological support.

So they're very dependent on how Trump falls in terms of their peace endeavors here and actually there has been some initial reaction from Moscow as to some of these early proposals from both the European powers and Zelenskyy, hinting at the possibility of a month-long partial ceasefire which would involve a truce in the sea and the air and attacks on energy infrastructure. Hints from the foreign ministry that that won't necessarily be something they're willing initially to go along with, the entire policy on that truce not completely clear on a senior level.

So much moving here but the big outstanding question, as Ukraine reels still now 48 hours from a pause in intelligence sharing, slightly longer from a pause in military aid, to exactly what peace plan is it that the White House want them to sign up to for this vital assistance to be resumed. That's a key pressing question here when lives are lost every night in civilian areas, every hour on the front lines.

Nick Paton Walsh, CNN, Kyiv, Ukraine.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

[03:05:00]

NEWTON: U.S. officials meantime are working to mend ties with Ukraine following last week's contentious meeting. You just heard Nick speak of it there.

Now, President Trump's special envoy to the Middle East says the letter from Ukraine's president earlier this week was a positive first step for potentially resuming aid and sharing intelligence.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

STEVE WITKOFF, WHITE HOUSE SPECIAL ENVOY TO THE MIDDLE EAST: I think that the president has said that there's a path back and President Zelenskyy has demonstrated that he's intent on that good faith path back.

He's apologized. He said he's grateful. He said that he wants to work towards peace.

By the way, that's ultimately the goal here.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

NEWTON: Joining me now from Canberra, Australia, is Malcolm Davis. He's a senior analyst of defense strategy and capability at the Australian Strategic Policy Institute. Really good to see you again.

It's kind of difficult to know where any of this is going, especially when it comes to pausing U.S. military aid, but also significantly the intelligence sharing. There has been a suggestion that the U.S. paused some of that intelligence sharing, maybe not all, right? We honestly don't know.

Is there a sense that they will still share intelligence about missile attacks on civilian targets that what they were trying to get at is stopping that intelligence sharing that allowed Ukraine to strike inside of Russia?

MALCOLM DAVIS, SR. ANALYST OF DEFENSE STRATEGY AND CAPABILITY, AUSTRALIAN STRATEGIC POLICY INSTITUTE: Look, I think the information that is out in the open domain suggests that the U.S. will not provide intelligence support to the Ukrainians across the board, and that includes intelligence on incoming missile attacks, which is really tragic, because that would suggest that the U.S. essentially is leaving Ukraine wide open to attack. If the Ukrainians don't have intelligence on incoming missiles, they're not going to be able to effectively use their air defense systems to shoot down those missiles or those drones or what have you. So, I do think that if, in fact, the information that is going around, that it's across the board, is correct, that's a very bad move by the Americans.

NEWTON: And Malcolm, can you put that in perspective for us? I want to remind our viewers that at times, even in the last three years, the United States has shared intelligence with Russia about potential terrorist attacks on its own soil, meaning seeking to protect civilians everywhere, even if they are civilians, you know, in Russia.

DAVIS: Exactly. There is a norm of behavior here where states go out of their way to protect civilians against attack by hostile forces, be they terrorists or other states.

And if, in fact, the U.S. government under Trump has decided to withdraw intelligence support to the Ukrainians in a way that prevents them from effectively defending their airspace against Russian missile attack, then the U.S. is breaking that long held international norm of behavior. And that's unacceptable.

NEWTON: Now, we can get to whether or not anyone can fill that gap. But before I get to that question, if the United States itself has paused all intelligence sharing, what could it mean for Russian gains on the battlefield?

DAVIS: Well, there's different types of intelligence sharing. There's obviously the intelligence sharing that allows Ukraine to defend its airspace against missile threats. There's also the intelligence sharing that allows the Ukrainians to better understand the tactical situation on the battlefield, to be able to understand where the Russian forces are.

To a certain extent, Ukrainians are gathering that intelligence themselves. They're using drones to be able to identify Russian positions and then attack those positions with long range fires. But they would also be getting a certain amount of intelligence from the Americans.

And if the U.S. has actually withdrawn that, it makes it more difficult for the Ukrainians to attack the Russians and easier for the Russians to attack Ukrainian forces. So if, in fact, the U.S. has placed a blanket wide ban on intelligence sharing against the Ukrainians purely to coerce them into signing this peace deal, then it's going to make it easier for the Russians to make gains on the battlefield.

NEWTON: And do you believe there's any of these gaps? Can they be filled by Europeans?

DAVIS: I would say probably yes. The French have an independent intelligence gathering capability for military intelligence. They have their own satellites. So, you know, it would be a case of the French and others in Europe

stepping in to fill that gap. And that mirrors a move by Macron just yesterday, basically announcing that France is prepared to extend its nuclear deterrent capabilities across Europe in the anticipation that maybe the United States is going to withdraw extended nuclear deterrent security guarantees from Europe.

So I do think that Europe can stand up. It can fill the gap left by the Americans to a certain degree. It's never going to be to the same scale as the Americans, but Europe does need to stand up and it can stand up.

NEWTON: On the intelligence portion itself, along with obviously pausing all military aid that is still in place, do you believe it will embolden Russia in the end?

[03:10:08]

DAVIS: Absolutely. Everything that Trump is doing is emboldening Russia. Everything that Trump is doing is handing Russia a victory. Now the Trump's --

NEWTON: Because that's not what Trump allies say, right? They say that this is some kind of genius strategy.

DAVIS: They would say that, of course, but no, in actual fact, the real consensus of the strategic policy community across much of the world is that Trump is embracing a strategy of capitulation to Putin, either because he thinks somehow that it's going to entice Putin and Russia away from China, which I think is extremely unlikely to happen, or more likely because he just wants to align himself with Putin.

And I think that the real shame of this is that in doing that so, he's actually endangering European security because this will embolden Putin not only to make gains in Ukraine, but also prepare the ground for a possible attack on NATO at some point in the future.

NEWTON: Yes, sobering analysis there indeed. Malcolm Davis, thanks so much. I appreciate it.

DAVIS: Thank you.

NEWTON: Now, the sharp pivot by the U.S. from supporting Kyiv is drawing applause from Russia. CNN's Matthew Chance has more now from Moscow.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN CHIEF GLOBAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It's a sign of the times that even the Kremlin's old propagandists are rapidly changing their tune. Dmitry Kisilov is the state mouthpiece who once boasted how Russia could reduce America to nuclear ash.

Now he's talking about a great troika, the U.S., Russia and China forming the new structure of the world. And Ukraine is where that structure is being forged. Trump

administration's hard line on Kyiv, including the suspension of U.S. military aid, has been greeted with glee in the Kremlin, with Russian officials now berating Europe while flip flopping on Washington's historical role.

All of the tragedies of the world originated in Europe, claims the foreign minister, Sergei Lavrov. Colonization, wars, the Crimean War, Napoleon, World War I, Hitler. If we look at history in retrospect, he says Americans played no instigating or even inflammatory role. It's extraordinary revisionism in extraordinary times.

DONALD TRUMP, U.S. PRESIDENT: You don't have cards right now. With us, you start having cards.

VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY, UKRAINIAN PRESIDENT: I'm not playing cards.

TRUMP: Right now, you don't have your playing cards.

CHANCE (voice-over): This was the moment that underlined how everything had changed. The humiliation in the Oval Office of the Kremlin's sworn enemy took even Russians aback, with Kremlin channels struggling to make sense of Washington's seismic shift.

Trump speaks about peace and those around him talk about Ukraine's success, says this reporter on state television. But it looks like he's giving Russia all the cards to achieve success on the battlefield, he adds.

TRUMP: So Vladimir, thank you very much.

CHANCE (voice-over): And it's far more than that. The strange Trump- Putin bond is now threatening Western unity. In exchange, all Putin has done is offer potentially lucrative business deals. Trump's kryptonite, according to one Russian commentator.

Trump is like Superman. And our President Putin has found his weakness, he tells state T.V. As soon as Trump hears the words rare earth metals, he's ready to accept any terms, he adds.

Little wonder the Kremlin's propagandists are now falling over themselves to praise the United States. They may have changed their tune, but America has too.

Matthew Chance, CNN, Moscow.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

NEWTON: U.S. President Donald Trump is making new concessions in his trade war with Mexico and Canada. Mr. Trump says he will delay tariffs on more Canadian and Mexican products until April. The concession applies to goods covered by the existing free trade deal between three nations.

Now, it has been a rocky week for Wall Street as investors tried to grapple with the uncertainty around the tariffs. The Dow Jones lost nearly one percent on Thursday. The Nasdaq slid more than 2.5 points and the broader S&P 500 fell as well, as you can see there.

Now, CNN's Jeff Zeleny has more.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JEFF ZELENYY, CNN CHIEF U.S. NATIONAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: A whiplash in trade policy here at the White House has sent the stock market reeling for the last several days. President Trump adjusting course on the Canada and Mexico tariffs specifically, offering on Thursday yet another month long reprieve, a day after he offered automakers a similar reprieve.

[03:14:58]

Now, there is no question the financial markets have been wondering what exactly this White House is up to as the stocks have fallen, the dollar has weakened and there's been an inconsistent pattern across many of these decisions. But the president on Thursday insisting the market had nothing to do with it.

TRUMP: No, nothing to do with the market. I'm not even looking at the market because long term, the United States will be very strong with what's happening here.

ZELENY: Of course, that is very much an open question. The president has long used the stock market and the financial markets as a whole as a metric for how he guides his success. He certainly did so during the first term in office and he has throughout the course of much of his life.

But there is no doubt the president is also still in favor of imposing some type of tariffs, he believes. And he said again Thursday at the White House, the United States is being ripped off, in his words, by some of these countries.

He's also insisting that reciprocal tariffs will go into effect on April 2nd and that would really cover the gamut of goods from autos to alcohol to so many other things and not just Canada and Mexico. It's all reciprocal tariffs. Any country of the United States does business with.

So the bottom line to all of this, the questions here now is the president has delivered a series of threats over tariffs, but taken many of them back. Is he serious about the next round? Of course, we'll have to wait and see on that as the markets still wonder what this White House is up to.

Jeff Zeleny, CNN, the White House.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

NEWTON: OK, ahead just for us. Why South Korea's embattled president could soon await the verdict in his impeachment trial from the comfort of his home.

The pope releases his first audio message after being hospitalized. Just ahead, we'll get an update on the pontiff's condition.

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[03:20:00]

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NEWTON: This just in to CNN, the Associated Press reports that train travel in France has come to a halt after the discovery of an unexploded World War II-era bomb near Paris. Eurostar trains to London and all trains heading to northern France are now on hold. In fact, many are canceled.

France's national train operator says travel will be stopped at a key hub for Europe, Gare du Nord, which is located in Paris. Until mid- morning at least, that's the request of police.

Bombs left over from World War II and World, pardon me, from World War I and II are regularly discovered around France. But a new find in such a densely populated area is rare indeed. We will keep you updated on the situation as it develops throughout the day.

Now, after two months behind bars, suspended South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol could in fact return home.

A South Korean court canceled his arrest warrant. Yoon was detained in January on charges of leading an insurrection and lawmakers voted to impeach him for declaring martial law back in December.

We want to bring in CNN's Mike Valerio, who is live for us from Seoul. So do we have any update? This has been one of the rulings, but is he actually going to be released?

MIKE VALERIO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That is the biggest question, Paula, and, you know, it's just an open question whether or not prosecutors are going to appeal this decision. And the big takeaway, you know, for all of our international viewers, this is such a big deal in this corner of the world because South Korea has never had a sitting president behind bars before.

If you just imagine wherever you're watching, if your leader of state and government is fighting for their political survival and fighting criminal charges from behind bars while they are still in office, this is what we are dealing with in this bastion of democracy in East Asia.

And this is all happening, Paula, as you rightfully point out, because of the martial law declaration on December 3rd, when, faced with a stalemate in the legislature, the now-suspended president of South Korea, Yoon Suk-yeol, decided to call in the military, declare martial law to try to end this political stalemate, nothing going his way in the legislature and sending those troops that you see right there to the foot of democracy in South Korea, banning political activity from happening at the National Assembly. It was overturned, of course, six hours later. Legislators in this country can vote to overturn martial law. So this is what's happening now. This is an effort to criminally hold the suspended president accountable. And a court ruled just a few hours ago that he should be out of jail, Paula, because in the court's view, charges were filed too late after he was detained.

And also, it's unclear whether or not the corruption investigators have jurisdiction over the charge of insurrection. So it's a little bit in the weeds.

But the big takeaway here is that the court doesn't want any kind of problem at the end of this legal saga. They don't want the eventual verdict to be overturned or to be questioned because this has been so divisive in South Korean society.

So we could, in the next few hours, see the suspended president, Yoon Suk-yeol, return home and see from the comfort of his home rather than a jail cell if he gets to stay or go as president and then prepares to potentially battle these criminal charges, Paula.

NEWTON: Yes, just stunning developments here yet again. You know, Mike, you were there to see the struggle between those who supported the president and those who are against the president when they were trying to arrest him in the first place. How are South Koreans taking all of these developments in right now?

[03:24:56]

VALERIO: You know, I think that so many people should realize this is a hugely divided country. There are millions of people who support Yoon Suk-yeol, who are saying that this is, in the words of conservatism that we hear in the United States, a witch hunt. And they believe that the president is being stolen from his office.

But meantime, Paula, I will say in the next couple of hours, if this president does go back to his home a couple of kilometers away from where we're standing, I would say the larger section of this country, the larger section of the electorate, will be furious and say that he needs to be held accountable because this country does not want to go back to the time when martial law was OK, Paula.

NEWTON: All right. We'll wait to get more of your updates throughout the day. Thanks so much. I appreciate it.

Now, a new update from the Vatican on Pope Francis Health. The 88- year-old pontiff has been in hospital since February 14th.

CNN's Barbie Latza Nadeau comes to us live now from Rome. Barbie, good to see you as we continue just to try and get any news we can about the pope's condition. What were you hearing this morning?

BARBIE LATZA NADEAU, CNN REPORTER: Yes, you know, we got our usual message from the Vatican press office that he had a tranquil night and that he woke up a little bit after 8:00 local time. That's a little bit over an hour ago.

But there was some somewhat encouraging news last night in the more detailed health bulletin, one that they said he's progressing the way they expect with this double pneumonia, given the fact that he has a very complex clinical picture. He's missing half of one of his lungs.

But, you know, they've decided that they, unless it merits, they won't even give us a detailed medical report today. The next one is anticipated to be Saturday. He's stable within that critical condition that he's in, and it's still reserved or guarded in terms of the prognosis, Paula.

NEWTON: Yes, and I was glad to hear that at least he did have the peaceful night. I am wondering, though, a lot of people were obviously relieved to hear his voice the other day when he spoke, but we have not seen him.

LATZA NADEAU: No, that's right. We haven't seen a photo of him. He's been in the hospital here behind me for over three weeks.

And, you know, we've seen in the last, I think, 10 days now, every evening, the faithful gather in St. Peter's Square and say the rosary together and pray for him. It's always led by a different cardinal.

And last night he surprised these faithful with a recording of a message to them. Let's listen to what he had to say.

(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)

POPE FRANCIS, HEAD OF THE CATHOLIC CHURCH (through translator): I thank you from the bottom of my heart for your prayers, for my health from the square, I accompany you from here. May God bless you and the Virgin protect you. Thank you.

(END AUDIO CLIP)

LATZA NADEAU: And, you know, Paula, when you listen to that, he spoke in his native language, Spanish, which he often does when he's speaking to pilgrims. But his voice is really tired. You can really hear the stress of it.

And the Vatican press sources said as well that, you know, to be expecting that, that he obviously is not a well man.

He's 88 years old. He's in, you know, has mobility problems, he's been in the hospital, he's getting oxygen. We understand through the nose during the day and with a noninvasive mask at night.

So while the road is still long for him, we don't know how long he'll be in the hospital. There is hope this morning that he is on the bend. Paula?

NEWTON: Yes, and a big question for everyone is, you know, how will he recover in the coming weeks? Barbie, thanks so much, I appreciate having you there.

Now, for what's believed to be the first time ever, the U.S. negotiating directly with Hamas will have President Trump's take on those talks. Plus a scrapping -- scraping, pardon me -- scraping to get by in the

ruins of Gaza and worrying about shortages, the effects of Israel's blockade on humanitarian aid.

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[03:30:00]

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PAULA NEWTON, CNN CORRESPONDENT AND ANCHOR: And welcome back to "CNN Newsroom." I'm Paula Newton. Let's check today's top stories.

The Vatican said Pope Francis spent a peaceful Thursday night in hospital. The 88-year-old pontiff has been hospitalized with a respiratory illness. On Thursday, supporters heard his voice for the first time in three weeks when he released an audio message.

Meanwhile, Mr. Trump is delaying tariffs levied against Canada and Mexico until April. The move applies to goods covered by the existing USMCA free trade deal.

It's been a tough week for Wall Street amid the uncertainty around those tariffs. The Dow Jones lost nearly one percentage point and is now set to have its worst week in two years.

And E.U. leaders have approved a massive boost in military spending to the tune of up to $860 billion. They also spelled out their vision for peace in Ukraine during a summit in Brussels on Thursday. It calls for a plan that respects the country's independence and territorial integrity.

Donald Trump confirmed on Thursday that his administration is holding direct talks with Hamas about releasing the remaining hostages in Gaza. President Trump said the U.S. won't be giving cash to Hamas, but stressed the need for negotiations.

[03:35:06]

This marks a sharp break in the decades-long U.S. policy of refusing to speak with groups it considers terrorist organizations.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REPORTER: My understanding is that the longstanding U.S. policy is that we do not negotiate with terrorists. So how did you come to the decision to send somebody from your team to negotiate with Hamas?

DONALD TRUMP, U.S. PRESIDENT: You have to negotiate. There's a difference between negotiating and paying. We want to get these people out.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

NEWTON: Now, when asked what actions the U.S. would take if the remaining hostages are not released, Trump said, you're going to find out, adding that things will get a lot rougher for Hamas.

Meanwhile, Human Rights Watch warns that Israel's decision to block humanitarian aid into Gaza could shut down most of the territory's water infrastructure within a week by starving it of fuel. CNN's Jeremy Diamond reports on the impact of the crippling blockade.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN JERUSALEM CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): In the desolate ruins of northern Gaza, Hala assembles scraps of wood and chunks of foam to build a fire. Proper housing and basic infrastructure are nowhere to be found.

But for now at least, there is flour, water, and oil, and Hala's mother can make bread.

The food aid is what's keeping us alive, she explains.

Like so many others, Umm Mohammed and her family of 11 are surviving thanks to the tens of thousands of aid trucks that entered Gaza during the first six weeks of the ceasefire.

We eat and drink for the whole month from aid. Without that, it will be very difficult. Food and drinks are very expensive, especially when crossings were closed.

We couldn't buy sugar or flour, she says. Aid makes us live.

That lifeline is now under existential threat. Israel is laying siege to Gaza once again, shutting down the supply of food and other humanitarian aid in a move decried by the United Nations and human rights groups as a violation of international law.

Israel says it is trying to pressure Hamas into releasing more hostages and accuses Hamas of profiting from the aid to, quote, "rebuild its war machine," a claim Hamas calls a baseless lie.

It is also threatening to cut off water and electricity if Hamas does not give in to new conditions. And a return to war could also be on the horizon.

In Gaza, where markets have only recently begun to come back to life, Israel's renewed blockade is already driving up prices. Aid groups say minimal stockpiles of aid are beginning to dwindle. Without more aid, the World Food Program says bakeries and soup kitchens will likely shut down in less than two weeks.

For those living amid the rubble, aid running dry will revive the threat of famine and spell an end to what little they can still rely on.

We are so happy when aid keeps coming, Ibrahim says. We have no work. Our lives are on hold. Our businesses and homes are gone.

So when aid comes, the children are happy. Whether it's food, drinks, cleaning products, this is the only way we can live. For some, the aid blockade already feels like a return to war.

They are fighting us through food, Abu Mohammed says. Netanyahu is now publicly saying, I will close the crossings and starve you. No one is standing against him.

He wonders who will stand with the people of Gaza, and how he will feed his children when the aid runs dry.

Jeremy Diamond, CNN, Tel Aviv.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

NEWTON: Shaina Low is a communication advisor for the Norwegian Refugee Council, and she joins us now from Amman, Jordan. Good to see you again.

SHAINA LOW, COMMUNICATION ADVISER, NORWEGIAN REFUGEE COUNCIL: You know, striking images and obviously voices from Jeremy's report there with the ceasefire, that desperately needed aid did flow back in, as we just heard. In terms of the conditions, have they improved materially?

Well, of course conditions improved, because the conditions were at such a low point that any surge of aid coming in was going to help to make people's lives better. But we are still in an emergency mode.

We have not addressed all of the basic needs that people in Gaza have after 15 months of sustained hostilities and bombardment.

And so, and one of the things that I think is really important to note is that because we were operating in emergency mode and because the needs have been so high, there really wasn't much of an opportunity to stockpile aid. As soon as we were getting it in, we were working to distribute it and get it into the hands of the people who need it.

And so this is, as we've seen this siege for now almost a week, things are going to increasingly get worse and we're going to return back to the conditions that we saw prior to the implementation of the ceasefire.

[03:40:07]

NEWTON: Which must be absolutely terrifying. You know, I noticed in Jeremy's report that, you know, there are babies and children there that have known nothing else, meaning getting as excited to see food as other children would be to see a toy. And that's where we're at here again.

I want to ask you just in terms, we did see early on in the months previous, this issue with security and the distribution of aid. How have things been now in the last few weeks? Have things been orderly and have the most needy been getting what they need?

LOW: Well, of course, once hostilities ended and we had free access, not free access, but greater access and an increased flow of goods, many of the issues around security disappeared or reduced considerably.

Part of that was in part because there was so much, there was much more aid going in. So the levels of desperation and the panic reduced.

We also saw that because Israel stopped targeting the civilian police force in Gaza, that there was able to be better protection and enforcement of order during distributions to make sure that they were safe for both the people seeking out the aid and for the humanitarians distributing it.

NEWTON: And in terms of what happens now, I mean, do you fear what will happen next? I mean, certainly we heard in the voices from Gaza that they do. In terms of any lobby efforts, I mean, people just can't go back to those conditions. As bad as they were, they've improved a bit, but only a bit from what you're saying.

LOW: Of course we're concerned. We've been in touch with our, I've been in touch with our staff on the ground in Gaza in just the last day or two and have heard about how the markets are now running dry. There's no cooking fuel or cooking gas available in the markets in Gaza City.

The price of food has skyrocketed. We know that needs remain very high. We saw just in the last couple of weeks before the expiration of phase one of the ceasefire, six infants died from exposure.

And of course that wouldn't have happened if they'd had adequate shelter, food, medicine, and medical care and warm clothes. And so we know that conditions will continue to deteriorate despite the gains, the small gains that were made.

And it's important to remember that these are just innocent civilians in Gaza. These are people who have endured 15 months of hell and survived. And their lives are really at stake and they shouldn't be used as a bargaining chip in order to come to some political agreement.

They have a right to receive aid. Israel has obligations as the occupying power of Gaza to facilitate that aid's entry and provide for the basic needs of the people of Gaza. And we need to continue to put pressure on the international community to push to make sure that those obligations are abided by.

NEWTON: I don't have a lot of time left, but given the chaos with USAID right now and the chaos in general with the Trump administration, do you worry that those strong voices are just not there in any way, shape, or form to persuade the Israeli government that this is not a good route to go down?

LOW: Well, I think our focus is really on making sure that we're continuing to do our advocacy, continue to engage with all states to put that pressure on. Of course, we've seen with the reduction of U.S. assistance that that is going to have dramatic impacts on Palestinians and people receiving aid all around the world.

And we need to continue to push both for the opening of these crossings and the free flow of aid, and for continued support for Palestinians who have faced the unthinkable over the last year and a half.

NEWTON: Right. Shaina Low for us, grateful for your insights, given some of this stuff just gets lost in the politics sometimes. And it's just important to shine a light on what those people are still going through in Gaza.

Thanks so much. I appreciate it.

Now, people in Florida and the Caribbean are sharing videos of falling space debris. When we return, the latest on a failed SpaceX launch.

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[03:45:00]

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NEWTON: SpaceX is now facing another setback after its Starship spacecraft exploded on Thursday night. Video shows debris lighting up the sky over the Caribbean.

Now, SpaceX lost contact with the uncrewed mission in a few minutes into the flight. That's almost exactly what happened during the last test flight in January when falling debris littered nearby islands and struck a car. The FAA is now requiring SpaceX to launch an investigation.

Here's what CNN aerospace analyst Miles O'Brien told us earlier.

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MILES O'BRIEN, CNN AEROSPACE ANALYST: The idea is that SpaceX has the freedom to make mistakes like this. A lot of folks at NASA would tell you they don't have similar freedom, but each time they fail, they do, in fact, learn. We are on number eight when it comes to Starship.

Some of the things seem to be similar, but who knows? It's the thing about when you get into rocket science, unlike anything in Silicon Valley involving software, is you got to get a lot of plumbing right. And that's what gets challenging.

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[03:50:09]

NEWTON: Now, sexual predators have more ways than ever to access children. Social media, online gambling and the Internet make it easier for traffickers and buyers to stay out of sight. But now, A.I. bots are giving law enforcement an edge to root out and intercept predators.

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FAYTHE KADONA, HUMAN TRAFFICKING SURVIVOR AND ADVOCATE: The very first time that I was sold for sex, I was 18 years old and my best friend's mom sold me for $50 to a man that she knew.

It was this breaking moment in my life of almost like this finality of you're never going to be worth anything. No one's ever going to love you.

As I got older, I experienced more abuse and I was trafficked in and out of hotels in Atlanta.

PRODUCER: How much do you think is happening online?

KADONA: I think it's easier. It's easier for traffickers to stay hidden. It's easier for buyers to have anonymity.

BROOKE RUFFIN, VICE PRESIDENT AND EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, STREET GRACE- GEORGIA: Transaction Intercept is an online platform for law enforcement to use in their human trafficking operations. When you log in, you set up an operation, you've spun up a bot, you now have a number where you would place on a nefarious site.

Buyers would then message the number found on that ad to pursue a purchase or to strike up a conversation. Officers can then observe the conversation. They can take over the conversation to gather further intel or to have that human in the loop that is often needed for prosecution.

UNKNOWN: So this is a 46 year old and he's approached an ad that's 14.

He says, hi there, honey. Want to meet up, love?

The bot says, hey, there. Have to check to be sure.

He asks if the bot is a cop.

She says, no cop.

Call me Bridget. How old are you?

I'm 46, honey.

The bot then fully discloses the age at 14.

Then the conversation is taken over to go in and make that arrest.

KADONA: I got involved with Street Grace in 2017. I've been able to help with some of the personas that law enforcement is able to use. Because the one thing is, I know how to act in that world.

RUFFIN: The authored bot personas are structured to ask for certain intel that will be needed for prosecution.

UNKNOWN: In our beta testing over the last several months, within 20 states, we've had 17,925 transactions disrupted.

RUFFIN: We have intercepted somebody from causing another person harm.

KADONA: There is a piece to this that I didn't see in the beginning. There is a -- there's hope in it.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

NEWTON: Street Grace says Transaction Intercept is building one of the largest data sets of human trafficking buyers and their behaviors in the United States.

And we will be right back.

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[03:55:00]

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NEWTON: Mount Etna's last eruption began in early February, but that isn't stopping some tour guides from making the most of visitors' experiences. A group of volcano guides have been collecting hot lava to make ashtrays and souvenirs.

They use special tools to gather the hot lava and put it in a mold and then cool it down with nearby snow. Italian authorities say they are monitoring eruption developments and restrictions to ensure safety.

Now, a game-changing moment for women's tennis, a landmark fund has been created to provide professional tennis players with paid maternity leave. And it also includes parental support and resources such as grants for egg and embryo freezing and IVF treatment.

Two-time Grand Slam champion Victoria Azarenka has been at the forefront of this issue, and she spoke with CNN's Amanda Davies in this exclusive interview.

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VICTORIA AZARENKA, TWO-TIME GRAND SLAM CHAMPION: It was an interesting way for me to find out that we didn't really have any rules even in our organization to address maternity leave and stuff like that. Not everybody has the financial opportunity to just, you know, stop playing and not have any income. So that was a very big project of mine.

AMANDA DAVIES, CNN WORLD SPORT: That's the point, isn't it? We've had for a few years now the protected rankings allowing players to step away from the game. But the big thing with this announcement and this fund is the financial aspect, because we're talking about players across a huge cross-section with a massive discrepancy in terms of earning and, and financial power, aren't we?

AZARENKA: We have full members covered and we have non-full members covered, which is very unprecedented, I think, in sports. I feel like it's much bigger than just sport.

I think it's such an important topic in all sorts of life, in all walks of life. People have families. And I think that is a very important conversation to continue to bring to the table. (END VIDEO CLIP)

NEWTON: Thanks to Amanda Davies there.

And I'm Paula Newton. I want to thank you for your company.

"African Voices: Changemakers" is next. And then there's more "CNN Newsroom" with Rahel Solomon in about an hour from now.

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