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U.S. And Ukraine Sign Critical Minerals Deal; Trump Blames Biden For Country's Economic Woes; Trump Administration Weighs Sending Migrants To Libya And Rwanda; Gaza Nears Famine Two Months After Israel's Total Blockade; Interview with Dr. Ahmed Al-Farra of Nasser Hospital; India Shuts Its Airspace to Airlines from Pakistan; Cardinals Will Start Conclave to Elect New Pope on May 7. Aired 1-2a ET

Aired May 01, 2025 - 01:00   ET

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

JOHN VAUSE, CNN ANCHOR: A new deal and a fairer deal for Ukraine. Ahead here on CNN Newsroom.

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JEFF ZELENY, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: A diplomatic breakthrough of sorts between the United States and Ukraine.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: With an economic agreement on rare earth minerals, removing a U.S. demand for Ukraine to repay billions of dollars in financial assistance. Who to blame for a shrinking U.S. economy?

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, U.S. PRESIDENT: That's Biden. That's not Trump.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: No, this is on 47, not 46. Whose tariffmageddon threw a robust economic growth into reverse and starvation as a weapon of war.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translator): There is no food, nothing. Death is easier than this life.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: Israel's total blockade of Gaza puts almost 2 million Palestinians at risk of a slow cruel death from famine.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Live from Atlanta. This is CNN Newsroom with John Vause.

VAUSE: After months of on again, off again negotiations as well as a now infamous Oval Office confrontation, the U.S. And Ukraine have signed a modified economic agreement which will give American investors preferential access to Ukrainian rare earth minerals. And in return, Ukraine will get a long term economic partnership with the United States.

Ukrainian resources will remain under Ukrainian ownership and control. Mining costs will be shared 50-50 with future U.S. military aid counted as financial contributions. Revenue will be split 50-50 as well. This agreement is also expected to help fund Ukraine's post-war reconstruction. All of it though is put on hold back in February.

That's after a blow up in the Oval Office during a visit from the Ukrainian president. He was publicly berated by President Trump and other senior White House officials. But now there's a notably different tone coming from the Trump administration. Here's the treasury secretary speaking Wednesday.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SCOTT BESSENT, U.S. TREASURY SECRETARY: Today's agreement signals clearly to Russian leadership that the Trump administration is committed to a peace process centered on a free, sovereign and prosperous Ukraine over the long term.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: It is notable the modified agreement removes an earlier demand by the White House for Ukraine to repay billions of dollars in pass funding and it will focus on new mining ventures. But opening new mines and processing facilities for rare earth minerals like titanium is an expensive long term investment and may not pay dividends of 15 years or longer. Recently, Nick Paton Walsh visited a titanium mine in Ukraine for a firsthand look at the extraction process.

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NICK PATON WALSH, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Now all the talk of Ukraine's rare earth minerals and metals comes down to a place like this. A critical metal, titanium. You can see down here the scrape of the earth, huge machines required to do this. And they run on electricity, the owner here saying, but because of Russian bombing of the electricity grid, sometimes they only get three hours a day in which they can work.

And this whole place, they say, not really making much of a profit at all. Kept open its male workforce here, kept away from the front lines so they can maintain this kind of industry in Ukraine. But when people start talking about half a trillion dollars, the first sum that President Donald Trump mentioned about Ukraine's natural resources here, you get a sense of the investment required to start turn that kind of profit. They're eager for it.

They say anything is better than where they are at the moment. But it's an exceptionally complex task. With the electricity they need to run the plant more expensive because of Russian bombing. The mass of this is often really hard to understand. (END VIDEOTAPE)

VAUSE: Gracelin Baskaran is a mining economist specializing in critical minerals and trade with the Center for Strategic and International Studies. Welcome back.

GRACELIN BASKARAN, DIRECTOR, CRITICAL MINERALS SECURITY PROGRAM, CSIS: Thank you for having me.

VAUSE: OK, so this deal will give the U.S. preferential access, rather not just to Ukraine's rare earth minerals, but also oil and gas. It establishes the United States Ukraine Reconstruction Investment Fund. Each country going half on costs associated with extraction of rare earth minerals as well as oil and gas. Revenue will be split 50-50. And here's the U.S. Treasury Secretary talking about the big picture.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BESSENT: This partnership allows the United States to invest alongside Ukraine to unlock Ukraine's growth assets, mobilize American talent, capital and governance standards that will improve Ukraine's investment climate and accelerate Ukraine's economic recovery.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[01:05:07]

VAUSE: So taking all of this into consideration and thinking in terms of out of the deal, does this agreement benefit one side more than the other? How do you see this deal?

BASKARAN: Ukraine has a pretty good deal here. There's a couple of reasons for that. So first of all, this fund is jointly owned and managed by the United States and Ukraine. Second, we see that Ukraine still retains full control of soil natural resources. Three, neither side is paying tax on it. And importantly, both the U.S. is going to put money in this one and Ukraine is going to put money in this fund and it can fund future development in Ukraine, which is really important given the amount of infrastructure that has to be rebuilt.

Now the U.S. on the other hand, I mean, this deal does not include current producing oil, gas or mineral projects. So it's only in the future. And developing a project on average globally takes 18 years. So it's a long Runway before Ukraine has to put 50 percent of those mineral revenues. But until then, they really will become a preferential destination for investment.

VAUSE: Here's a reminder of what is at the center of this agreement. Listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JULIE KLINGER, GEOGRAPHER AND SENIOR VISITING FELLOW, INSTITUTE OF HUMAN SCIENCES: Rare earth elements are not actually rare. They've held on to that name since the late 1700s. They're used in all manner of electronics technologies and high performance alloys. They're often described as the vitamins or the spice of industry because they have, over the past several decades, they've enabled, through advances in materials science, our technologies to get smaller and faster and stronger and more resilient.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: I know you know all of that already, but here's another key point. Global production of rare earth minerals and other strategically important materials has long been dominated by China, leaving Western countries desperate for other alternative sources, which includes Ukraine.

So 90 percent of rare earth minerals are sourced from China. Source not found. It's a big difference. So what is the secret sauce here which gave China the upper hand in the extraction and processing of these rare minerals?

BASKARAN: China has had an advantage for over 40 years now. So what they've done, as you noted, they don't have all the minerals. Big landmass doesn't have all the minerals. But what they've been doing strategically is sourcing minerals from around the world, including rare earth, and bringing them back home to process.

In the case of rare earth, we didn't really build a lot of those separation capabilities outside of China. So it basically began to grow a monopoly that has continued for many years to process.

VAUSE: OK, so that's where Ukraine comes in, right, because there are significant deposits of these minerals. Here's a map showing where they are actually located. And if you take a closer look at that map, you can see the division line marking Ukrainian territory under Russian occupation. And that's on the right of screen and that's where some very big deposits of rare earth minerals can be found.

So, accessing those reserves in territory occupied by Russia right now, that's a more immediate problem I imagine. But long term is the bigger problem that none of these reserves can actually be mined in an economically viable way. If that's the case, does that mean that this isn't such a great deal after all for the US?

BASKARAN: The short answer is actually that we don't know because the majority of Ukraine was actually geologically mapped 30 to 60 years ago by the Soviet Union, which means we don't actually have a modern mapping of a lot of materials. So for example, the Ukrainian -- former Ukrainian director of the Ukrainian Geological Survey has come out and said there's no modern mapping of rare earths.

So one of the first things we're going to need to undertake if we want to think about what successful, you know, mining looks like in the future, the first is we need a complete mapping of Ukraine to understand where the resources are, how deep they are, what are they found with and if we can cost competitively extract them. Second thing, we have to rebuild a lot of infrastructure.

Mining uses 16 percent of the world's electricity, but about half of Ukraine's energy infrastructure has been damaged in the war. So there are certain kind of prerequisites that we need to do and that's actually going to determine if we can cost competitively mine these resources in the long term.

VAUSE: So there are a lot of ifs, to say the least as we move forward. Gracelin, thanks so much for being with us. Appreciate it.

BASKARAN: Thanks for having me.

VAUSE: Over the past three days, almost 400 Russian attack drones have targeted Ukrainian towns and cities. According to Ukrainian officials, that's almost as many drone attacks for the entire month of May last year. And the Kremlin says a small rural village near the eastern city of Kramatorsk is now under Russian control. All of this part of a ramped up Russian offensive just days before Moscow's unilateral 72 hour long pause in fighting goes into effect. The very latest now From Moscow is CNN's Fred Pleitgen.

[01:10:03]

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FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice- over): While President Trump believes he can unite Russia and Ukraine at the negotiating table, Russian state TV showing their disdain for Ukraine's president, claiming he threatened Moscow's parade to commemorate victory in World War II, even though Zelenskyy only vaguely said Russia should be concerned.

I advise Zelenskyy to follow the example of the idol of Ukrainian Nazis Hitler, who shot himself in his fur bunker 80 years ago on April 30, 1945, the host says. And Ukraine says the Russian army has drastically ramped up offensive operations in several sectors along the front lines, while the Kremlin bluntly says the unconditional 30- day ceasefire President Trump wants is not going to happen anytime soon.

Before it is established, several questions should be answered, the spokesman says, and several issues should be settled. They were all listed by President Putin.

Those questions include the areas Russia currently occupies and wants to keep and questions about Ukraine's future political and military status. Complicated long term issues as the fighting remains in full swing and the Russians feel they currently have the momentum on the battlefield after all, but completely ousting Kyiv's forces from the last pockets of Russia's Kursk region.

We have driven the enemy out of the Kursk region, but they're still sitting in some cracks in some basements, Vladimir Putin says. While the Trump administration warns it's close to walking away from its own initiative to try and broker a peace agreement between Moscow and Kyiv, Trump telling ABC he still believes Putin wants peace even though the Russian leader might be stalling the process.

TRUMP: He could be tapping me along a little bit. I would say that he would like to stop the war. I think that if it weren't for me, I think he'd want to take over the whole country personally.

PLEITGEN (voice-over): A recent meeting between Putin, his senior negotiators and Trump envoy Steve Witkoff appears to have produced little in the way of tangible results. Witkoff now telling podcasters he's struck by the magnitude of his task.

STEVE WITKOFF, U.S. SPECIAL ENVOY TO THE MIDDLE EAST: I got to the Kremlin. It's an impressive place and I was a little bit awestruck, but awestruck in the sense that I was there on behalf of the United States government trying to get a peace deal and the enormity of it sort of struck me.

PLEITGEN (voice-over): But while the Trump team may be awestruck, the Kremlin is showing it's firmly in control of the process, saying Russia will not agree to any ceasefire if Moscow's demands are not met. Fred Pleitgen, CNN, Moscow.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

VAUSE: First Quarter GDP numbers for the U.S. economy are out and they're bleak, with an outlook for dire. The Commerce Department reports for the first time in three years, negative economic growth. U.S. GDP shrank by 3/10 of a percent. Most were expecting an economic slowdown, not a contraction with growth at eight-tenth of a percent. That sent the Dow into negative territory for most of the day before closing, about a third of a percent higher, but finishing the month in the red.

Keep in mind this is only the beginning of the impact from sweeping U.S. tariffs. During a Cabinet meeting, President Trump said American consumers may need to adjust their spending and consumption. While almost every economist and investor blames Donald Trump and his tariff chaos for the negative growth, Donald Trump blames someone else.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: He came in on January 20th. So this is Biden and you could even say the next quarter sort of Biden because it doesn't just happen on a daily or an hourly basis. But we're turning it around.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: More details now from CNN's Julia Benbrook reporting in from the White House.

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JULIA BENBROOK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: President Donald Trump is looking to take a victory lap at this 100 day mark. But recent CNN polling shows that his approval rating stands at just 41 percent. That Americans are frustrated with the overall state of politics right now.

One of the top issues for voters is the economy. And a new report shows that the U.S. economy had its worst quarter since 2022. That's a sharp slowdown from the fourth quarter's 2.4 percent rate and much worse than the 0.8 percent rate economists projected. Before even starting his current term in office, Trump looked to take

credit for the economy, writing, this is the Trump stock market because my polls against Biden are so good that investors are projecting that I will win.

But following this new report, he looked to place blame on his predecessor, writing, quote, our country will boom, but we have to get rid of the Biden overhang, claiming that this will take a while and has, quote, nothing to do with tariffs.

[01:15:03]

Now, the Trump administration has been on a chaotic tariff spree over the past several months, escalating trade tensions. And most economists say Trump's monumental bid to reshape global trade is likely to send inflation climbing in the United States.

So how do Americans see Trump's overall handling of the economy? Recent polling shows that 59 percent say that his policies have worsened U.S. economic conditions. His message to Americans right now is to, quote, be patient. Reporting at the White House, I'm Julia Benbrook.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

VAUSE: Earlier, I spoke Rana Foroohar, CNN's global economic analyst and associate editor for the Financial Times, asked her if there's any basis at all for blaming Joe Biden for this poor economic growth.

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RANA FOROOHAR, CNN GLOBAL ECONOMIC ANALYST: We came in to this administration in the best recovery post COVID, recovery in the rich. I mean, people were dying to have our recovery. Within 100 days, President Trump has managed to turn it into what is almost certainly by most Wall Street analysts assumptions, going to be a recession by the second or third quarter of this year.

Everything from the trade wars to the market crash to the general uncertainty of not knowing whether what you're hearing today is going to hold tomorrow has just put an absolute dampener on business, on trade, and on consumer spending. So hard to argue that this isn't about Trump.

VAUSE: Well, let's hear some alternative facts then from White House trade adviser Peter Navarro. Here he is.

PETER NAVARRO, SENIOR COUNSELOR TO THE U.S. PRESIDENT: This was the best negative print, as they say in the trade for GDP I have ever seen in my life. It really should be very positive news for America.

VAUSE: All you have to do is strip out the negative effects from a surge in imports. Click your heels three times. But a bing, bada boom. The U.S. economy grew by 3 percent. You know, I don't think you get to take the bad numbers out right, to get a better result. That's not how it works. FOROOHAR: You know, a lot of people feel that the American economy and

American society is becoming more like China. And Peter Navarro is going a fair way towards making that happen. Made up statistics. You know, John, I just don't know what to say. Can't make heads or tails about.

VAUSE: And when it comes to possible shortages in stores because of the Trump's tariffsrmageddon, as well as higher prices for U.S. consumers, President Trump seemed kind of dismissive about all of that. Here he is.

TRUMP: Somebody said all the shelves are going to be open. Well, maybe the children will have $2 instead of $30, you know, and maybe the $2 will cost a couple of bucks more than they would.

VAUSE: There's a couple of things there, but I just want to get your reaction. Did that comment sound totally, completely out of touch to you?

FOROOHAR: It sounded flippant. It's Trump's take on something that has been said in more coherent ways by some others in the administration, and particularly in Trump. One, you know, Bob Lighthizer, the former USTR, was a big fan of, look, we don't need more cheap stuff. You can argue that. You can argue that, you know, we don't need $30 that are going to go into landfills.

But I think what the President's doing there is a little bit disingenuous because he's trying to sort of, with a wave of the hand, make light of something that really isn't going to be about dolls. It's going to be about cars and about factories and whether they can stay open and get their inputs. It's about rare earth minerals and whether we're going to be able to actually have a clean energy revolution in this country.

So, you know, I think he's trying to have a little bit both ways there.

VAUSE: He did seem to acknowledge that prices are going up because of tariffs, and that does seem to be an achievement. But they're going up not by a couple of bucks, they go up by a lot of bucks. And they're also seem to be kind of a tacit acknowledgment, if you like, that things just aren't really going according to plan.

FOROOHAR: Yes, I would say so. I mean, I think that it's hard for the President at this stage to argue that, hey, it's all sunshine and roses. I mean, you know, we haven't had 100 days that's been this devastating for the market in almost 100 years. So I think he's trying to find some way to square this.

But the truth of the matter is there's more pain coming. You know, tariffs take effect slowly, and we don't seem to have any clear deals in place. Whether or not that happens in the summer, who's to say what we are seeing is hoarding, inventory hoarding, which has the effect of actually driving inflation up because people don't know if they're going to be able to get things tomorrow. And again, I think that you can see in the poll numbers that this

president has got some of the worst numbers for a sitting president at this stage than we've seen in 100 years.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[01:20:03]

VAUSE: Still to come here on CNN, multiple sources tell CNN talks are underway between the U.S. and El Salvador over Kilmar Abrego Garcia, the man who is mistakenly deported by the Trump administration. Also wildfires burning out of control near Jerusalem, forcing evacuations and road closures.

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VAUSE: Libya and Rwanda may soon join El Salvador as a destination forced deportations from the U.S. of migrants with criminal records. That's according to multiple sources, but the White House's plan is likely to face a raft of legal challenges.

[01:25:02]

U.S. officials want to replicate the deal with El Salvador with hundreds of deported migrants now held in a notorious supermax prison. Secretary of State Marco Rubio confirmed talks are underway with a number of other countries.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MARCO RUBIO, U.S. SECRETARY OF STATE: We are actively searching for other countries to take people from third countries. So we are actively, not just El Salvador, we are working with other countries to say we want to send you some of the most despicable human beings to your countries. We do that as a favor to us. And the further away from America, the better. So they can't come back across the border.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: But wait, there's more. Sources say the U.S. wants to send asylum seekers detained at the border to Libya through a safe third country agreement. Rwanda had a similar deal with the United Kingdom, but it was discontinued after a very short time amid a lot of legal trouble.

The Trump administration has insisted there's little to be done to bring home Kilmar Abrego Garcia, who is mistakenly and forcibly deported from the U.S. to a prison in El Salvador. But multiple sources tell CNN the Secretary of State Marco Rubio has been in contact with the president of El Salvador, Nayib Bukele, discussing Abrego Garcia. CNN's Katelyn Polantz has details now on where the legal battle stands to bring him home.

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KATELYN POLANTZ, CNN CRIME AND JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: There's no resolution in the situation of Kilmar Abrego Garcia, the Maryland man who was mistakenly sent by the United States to El Salvador and who remains there. His, his case has been in a standoff, but there were glimmers of possible movement, a possible diplomatic resolution that sources say was being discussed between his side, the U.S. and potentially El Salvador over the past couple days. It put a pause on his court case.

What we also know is that US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and the Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele, they were in touch to talk about Kilmar Abrego Garcia, what to do with him.

And on top of that, there has been a US Official who's saying that the Trump administration was working closely with El Salvador, made the ask to return Abrego Garcia to the United States and Bukele in El Salvador said it's not going to happen. And so it has not. He still is there.

There is still this court standoff and a judge that's looking closely at this, all of it at a time where the judge has been unsatisfied with what the Trump administration has been willing to do for Abrego Garcia after mistakenly send him to El Salvador and the judge is now asking for the government to turn over evidence to Abrego Garcia's lawyers answering questions, as well as putting officials under oath for depositions to explain exactly why this mistake was made, what the agreements are with El Salvador over his custody, and what steps have been taken, if any, to potentially get him out of that country where he was not supposed to be sent. Katelyn Polantz, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

VAUSE: When we come back here on CNN, as food stocks in Gaza are depleted, the most vulnerable are impacted the most. A closer look at this entirely preventable humanitarian crisis.

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[01:33:18]

JOHN VAUSE, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome back everyone. I'm John Vause. You're watching CNN NEWSROOM.

With the ceasefire with -- when the ceasefire, rather, with Hamas collapsed earlier this year and Israel ramped up its military offensive in Gaza, senior officials within the Netanyahu government pushed for a blockade of the territory.

But unlike the tough border controls during the first 15 months of the war, this blockade would be total, sealing off Gaza from the outside world.

For close to two months now, no humanitarian supplies have been allowed in. Where there was once 500 aid trucks crossing into Gaza every day. Now, not one.

The plan was to pressure Hamas to starve the population, to make life there so difficult, so miserable they would turn on Hamas and the Israeli hostages would then be released.

Well, Hamas remains in power. The hostages are still being held and the blockade has resulted in thousands suffering from malnutrition and fears that much worse is just weeks away.

Our report now from CNN's Jeremy Diamond. And a warning it contains images which are difficult to watch.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN JERUSALEM CORRESPONDENT: Inside her fly- infested tent, Yiman Rajab (ph) is doing her best to keep her six children alive.

Today, survival looks like this, sifting the half bag of flour she found on a garbage dumpster in Gaza City, after all of its bakeries shut down. It is rancid, crawling with pests and clear signs of contamination.

But Rajab hopes she can salvage enough to make bread for her children.

[01:34:44]

DIAMOND: "My kids are vomiting after they eat it. It smells horrible," she says. "I keep cleaning it and it won't get clean. But what else can I do?" She asks, "What will I feed my children, if not this?"

Rajab is one of hundreds of thousands of parents in Gaza struggling to feed their children, an entirely man-made crisis that is rapidly spiraling.

For nearly two months now, Israel has carried out a total siege of Gaza, refusing to allow a single truck of humanitarian aid or commercial goods into the Strip.

Israel says it is trying to pressure Hamas into releasing the hostages, but it is civilians in Gaza who are paying the heaviest price.

"There is no food, no nothing. Death is easier than this life," this elderly woman says.

This soup kitchen in central Gaza can now only provide one meal a day to those who are growing increasingly desperate.

This man says he has been standing in line for hours, hoping to feed his family.

These scenes, an echo of last summer when hunger swept across Gaza, killing 52 Palestinians according to the Ministry of Health. The Biden administration pushed Israel then to let in aid. There is no such public pressure from the White House now, which says it backs Israel's tactics. Food warehouses are now barren.

YASMIN MAYDHANE, EMERGENCY COORDINATOR, WORLD FOOD PROGRAMME: We are in a position now where over 400,000 people that were receiving assistance from our hot meal kitchens, which is the last lifeline for the population, is in itself grinding to a halt.

DIAMOND: Cases of acute malnutrition are now spiking. The United Nations said nearly 3,700 children were diagnosed in March, 85 percent more than the previous month.

Five-year-old Osama Al-Arakab (ph) is among those most severely affected by Israel's blockade, which has exacerbated his pre-existing medical conditions. He has lost eight pounds in the last month and now weighs just 20 pounds. His skin sticking to his bones, every movement is painful.

"Because of this war, my son has reached this state," she explains. "Now he can barely walk. I have to carry him everywhere."

Every day, his condition worsens. Every day, Israel prevents food from getting into Gaza, Osama's life becomes more at risk.

Jeremy Diamond, CNN, Jerusalem.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

VAUSE: With us now from Khan Yunis in southern Gaza, is Dr. Ahmed Al- Farra, head of the pediatrics department at Nasser Hospital. Doctor, thank you for taking the time to speak with us.

DR. AHMED AL-FARRA, PEDIATRICS HOSPITAL DIRECTOR, NASSER MEDICAL COMPLEX: Most welcome, my friend.

VAUSE: What has been your experience over these last few weeks as food and medical supplies running critical -- critically low because of Israel's blockade? What has been your experience in dealing with people who are suffering malnutrition and worse?

DR. AL-FARRA: First, thank you for having me this morning. Actually, the situation is very serious and bad in Gaza.

The WHO and the international governments are talking about the fifth stage of starvation in Gaza.

There is no connection between the hostages release and the -- and the situation in Gaza. There is no connection. We have to change the concept that if the hostages are released, the starvation will end.

No, no, no. It will be continued. Even after they will be released.

They are talking about evacuating Gaza from her people. They are talking about to do a security area in Rafah City and to allow the people in Gaza to go in that area. And if anyone stay in his land or in his home, he will be targeted (INAUDIBLE).

What I'm talking about in Gaza nowadays, that they are killed upon starvation -- on starvation. And this is the most critical period among this genocide war.

VAUSE: Doctor, if I could just if --

(CROSSTALKING)

VAUSE: -- if I could just interrupt you, I just want to know if you could just for a moment -- I'm sorry to interrupt, but I just would like to know first about your experience working at the hospital, working with newborn children, and working with pregnant women who have been suffering and impacted the most from this lack of food and lack of medical supplies.

It must be incredibly difficult work for you right now.

(CROSSTALKING)

DR. AL-FARRA: Yes, we are talking about two months with nothing enter from the borders. No food, no medical supplies, no fuel. Everything, what we need are not allowed to get in.

[01:39:44]

DR. AL-FARRA: So you can -- you can imagine Gaza nowadays like a prison, like a jail. That that it contains 2,030,000 people. They are -- they have no food. They have -- they are starving. They are in bad situation. They lack medical supplies.

Nowadays we can see a case of malnutrition -- severe malnutrition in pediatric and in maternity. Unfortunately, we see small babies, little babies. We see premature babies.

We see hypovitaminosis signs and symptoms. We studied that symptoms in the textbook. And nowadays we can see this. We can see signs and symptoms of malnutrition and hypovitaminosis.

Unfortunately, yes --

VAUSE: I'm sorry -- the effect that you're talking about death from famine which -- and starvation, which is especially cruel and it's very slow. It takes about ten weeks of no food for a person to die. Give conditions in Gaza right now, that would be optimistic, I believe.

So if the Israeli blockade is not lifted, if nothing changes, if everything continues as it is =-- is the only outcome here mass starvation?

DR. AL-FARRA: If this starvation is continued in this situation this is -- this will be a very big crime. You know, we are talking about 600,000 children below ten years. They are targeted in this -- in this starvation.

We are talking about loss of weight. We are talking about loss of ability to survive. We are talking about lack of immunity. We are talking about marasmus. We are talking of hypervitaminosis symptoms. We are talking about anemia.

This means that you are doing -- that you are dealing with a generation -- that generation is targeted in concentration, in ability to think, in ability to speak, in ability to comprehend that means this generation will be unable to work in the future.

They are anemic. They are lethargic. They are fatigued. They are -- they have chronic diseases. They are debilitated. They are anorexic. All these things, if nothing happened among -- to allowing the borders to be open, this will be the most catastrophic or disaster situation happened worldwide.

VAUSE: Dr. Ahmed Al-Farra, thank you so much for being with us. We appreciate you taking the time to share some of your experiences and expertise as well. Thank you sir.

DR. AL-FARRA: Most welcome my friend.

VAUSE: Well, Israel is facing a national emergency and asking for international help to battle wildfires burning out of control near Jerusalem. More than a dozen people have been taken to hospital because of the fires, fueled by dry conditions and strong, gusty winds.

At least ten communities have been evacuated and authorities had to close the main highway connecting Jerusalem to Tel Aviv.

No word yet on the cause. They're burning very close to where another wildfire broke out just last week.

Still to come on CNN, new efforts to bring India and Pakistan back from the precipice after a deadly massacre in Indian-controlled Kashmir. Details in a moment.

[01:43:12]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

VAUSE: With India and Pakistan locked in an escalating confrontation, efforts are underway by the U.S. and China to find an off ramp. Tensions erupted last week after dozens of tourists were shot dead in Indian-administered Kashmir.

The U.S. Secretary of State is urging both sides to de-escalate after Pakistan claimed to have credible intelligence a military strike by India was imminent.

On a Wednesday call with India's external affairs minister, Marco Rubio confirmed the U.S.'s commitment to fighting terrorism. He expressed his regret for the loss of life as well.

Rubio urged Pakistan's prime minister to condemn the bloodshed and reestablish direct communications with New Delhi. China is also urging restraint.

India has blamed Pakistan for being involved in the attack, which claimed the lives of 26 people. Pakistan has denied any responsibility.

Meanwhile, India has shut its airspace to Pakistani Airlines. This is a tit for tat move after Pakistan closed its airspace to Indian Airlines last week, retaliation for other hostilities.

This is the latest flare up in the decades' old conflict over Kashmir.

CNN's Ryan Young explains why it's a dangerous flashpoint.

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RYAN YOUNG, CNN CORRESPONDENT: For nearly 80 years, the disputed region of Kashmir has been at the center of conflict between India and Pakistan. After the British partitioned the Indian subcontinent into the nations of India and Pakistan, several princely states and kingdoms remained independent including Kashmir.

Ultimately, the Hindu ruler of the Muslim majority region decided to join India, sparking the first war between India and Pakistan which killed thousands before an uneasy stalemate was established.

Another war over Kashmir sparked up in 1965 and the two powers went to war again in 1971 which led to the breakup of Pakistan and independent Bangladesh on Indias eastern flank.

[01:49:44]

YOUNG: Following the last war, the two sides officially established the line of control, the border separating the Indian-controlled part of Kashmir from the Pakistani-controlled side.

India and Pakistan claim the entire region. India controls around 45 percent, Pakistan about 35 percent and China controls the rest.

Decades ago, both sides agreed to a referendum to allow the people of Kashmir to decide which country to join but the vote has never been held.

While outright war has been avoided for decades, the region has seen numerous border clashes. And in 1989, Kashmiri militants began an insurgency against India that has lasted to this day.

India has accused Pakistan of training and arming the militants, a claim Pakistan has repeatedly denied. The resulting conflict has killed tens of thousands of people, most of them civilians. Tensions again escalated between India and Pakistan following militant attacks in 2016 and 2019. Both times, the nuclear powers were able to deescalate the conflict before all-out war broke out.

Ryan Young, CNN.

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VAUSE: Still to come on CNN as cardinals prepare for the conclave to elect a new pope, many Catholics continue to visit the basilica where Pope Francis was laid to rest.

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VAUSE: Britain's King Charles has shared his thoughts on his cancer diagnosis and how he dealt with it. The king hosted a reception in honor of community-based cancer support groups Wednesday at Buckingham Palace.

Charles said that while receiving a cancer diagnosis can be daunting and at times frightening, he went on to say the darkest moments of illness can be illuminated by the greatest compassion.

He also said cancer gave him a deeper appreciation for the organizations he supported before he was sick. Both the king and his daughter-in-law, Catherine, Princess of Wales, were diagnosed with undisclosed forms of cancer last year.

135 Catholic cardinals will gather at the Vatican next week for the mysterious conclave, where they'll decide on who will be the next pope, who will be God's emissary on earth.

Many continue, though, to travel to Rome to pay their respects to the previous pope, who was laid to rest Saturday in a simple tomb, as he requested.

CNN's Rafael Romo spoke with some who visited the Pope's final resting place.

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RAFAEL ROMO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Built at the top of Esquiline Hill 16 centuries ago, Santa Maria Maggiore is one of Rome's four papal basilicas and since Saturday, the final resting place of a pope.

What was it like to enter Santa Maria Maggiore and visit the Pope's tomb?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Chills. Surreal. Something that we'll never ever experience again obviously, in our lifetime.

ROMO: Tina Simmons and her sister Laura Johnston are among the thousands of people who have flocked to the basilica Pope Francis used to visit frequently to worship the Virgin Mary.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Now that his tomb is Here and his resting place forever, it meant everything in the world to me because this pope has been a phenomenal pope for this day and age, for bringing people together.

ROMO: The first official images from the Vatican show a white rose lying on a simple marble tomb with the inscription "Franciscus". Above is a crucifix illuminated by a single spotlight.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It was plain in comparison of the -- anything else in the church, the basilica. It was all white, all minimalistic. I think it will be -- he's happy with that.

[01:54:48]

ROMO: People who came to pay their respects here at the Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore say they especially admire Pope Francis, because he was a humble man who chose a simple tomb for his final resting place. Some say humility and compassion are among the qualities they would like to see in the next pope.

This Italian Catholic woman says it's going to be very hard to fill Pope Francis' shoes.

"It will be a great challenge because I think that Francis' closeness to all humanity must be maintained," she says. "I hope the next one keeps Pope Francis' message of peace alive."

"My hope is that he's not a conservative pope because it would mean going back 20 years," this Italian Catholic man says.

More than 180 cardinals that have traveled to the Vatican have been meeting daily to discuss church matters and get ready for the conclave.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I don't think there's any room for politics here. I think we need somebody that follows in his footsteps with the same type of belief system to make the Catholic Church all-inclusive and not turn people away.

ROMO: About 80 percent of cardinal electors were named by the late pontiff. But we will not know until the end of the conclave that's starting next week, if they choose a reformer like Francis or someone more conservative.

Rafael Romo, CNN -- Rome.

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VAUSE: Now to an unlikely doggy duo. Meet Pearl, the world's shortest living dog, at just over nine centimeters, there she is on the left in case you couldn't tell. Reggie, the world's tallest dog, about a meter in height.

Now, recently, there was a bit of a get together in Idaho as part of the Guinness World Records 70th anniversary celebration.

Despite a difference in size, the chihuahua and Great Dane got along well. They played happily together. That's according to their owners, with Reggie being extra careful and gentle around his tiny, itty, bitty, little friend. Imagine what the puppies would be like.

Thank you for watching CNN NEWSROOM. I'm John Vause.

Please stay with us. Rosemary Church takes over after a short break.

See you right back here tomorrow.

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