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Connect the World

Rescue Continue as Death Toll Passes 42,000; Putin Praises Russian Efforts to Move Ukrainian Children; Indian Tax Authorities Search BBC Offices for Third Day; Portions of Report on Trump's Election Meddling Released; Palestine Activist Responds to Beating by Israeli Soldier; Belgians Break Speed Date World Record. Aired 11a-12p ET

Aired February 16, 2023 - 11:00   ET

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

[11:00:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LYNDA KINKADE, CNN HOST, CONNECT THE WORLD: Hello, I'm Lynda Kinkade. Welcome to the second hour of "Connect the World", good to have you with

us. Well, the number of people who perished in the earthquake in Turkey and Syria has climbed by nearly thousand in the past two days.

The confirmed death toll now topping 42,000 it's a staggering number and today we are hearing of only one survivor rescued. We'll have her story in

a moment. At first the story of a little girl who was pulled from the rubble last week in Northwestern Syria's Idlib Province.

The 8-year-old doesn't know it yet according to her uncle, but she is the only member of her immediate family to have survived. Her father, mother,

4-year-old sister were all killed. Her uncle says she keeps asking about them. Doctors say she is in a stable condition but an arm was badly injured

in the quake.

Hope and despair continue to collide in the quake zone and today we are hearing of a new miraculous rescue. 17-year-old Alaina is being called a

miracle girl by Turkish state news. This video shows her being carried to safety after 248 hours buried under debris.

Her doctors say she is in a good condition. But local media say her brother who was in the same room when their apartment building collapsed, did not

survive. CNN's Jomana Karadsheh is live for us in Turkey. One of the hardest hit cities in the disaster zone.

Thanks for being with us, Jomana. So some 8,000 rescue workers from 74 countries have been working day and night to try and find people still

under the rubble. You've been seeing some incredible stories there, but certainly a great deal of loss.

JOMANA KARADSHEH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Absolutely, Lynda. I mean, we've been here over the past couple of days. And as you can see behind me the

operations are ongoing. You've got work around the clock here, whether it's the excavators and diggers, this constant buzz as they're trying to clear

debris from all these sites open up the blocked roads.

But also clear areas at collapsed building sites to help and allow the search and rescue teams to continue their work. And it is such a time

consuming efforts Lynda, we watched that yesterday at one site for hours you had this constant shift between this heavy machinery, removing rubble,

and then you would have these search and rescue teams meticulously going through the sites to try and locate survivors.

And it was actually at that site that a woman and two children were rescued alive after more than 220 hours under the wreckage. And you know you look

at people around there Lynda these are families who had been sitting there in the freezing cold waiting for more than 10 days for their loved ones

they wanted to see.

They were hoping for good news. And they tell us that you know when they see these rescues, it gives them hope that their loved ones are alive. But

it's really starting to look like these rescues, or what families are describing as miracles are very, very rare right now.

We have seen a constant stream of dead bodies being pulled out of various sites around the city. You're constantly seeing ambulances and funeral cars

from the municipality driving around collecting dead bodies. So the hopes of finding anyone alive right now is growing slimmer by the minute as you

can imagine.

But that is not stopping these teams that are working tirelessly around the clock, trying to see if they can find any more of these miracle survivors,

or at least to try and retrieve the bodies of the dead. So many people we have met who say all they want is to recover the bodies of their loved ones

and to give them a proper funeral.

And this is just one city Lynda; this is going on across this earthquake zone in different cities in different towns where people are still dealing

with this. And what we've heard from people and also from rescue teams here is that there isn't enough manpower to deal with this.

I mean, the scale of the devastation here is just unbelievable. And so, you know, we spoke to one American volunteer who was here and he said to us.

Look, there are more than 100,000 rescuers who are involved in this effort and they're going from building to building.

But there are so many other buildings that they haven't been able to get to because there's just so much right now. He said even if you had a million

people out here working around the clock it wouldn't be enough Lynda.

[11:05:00]

KINKADE: Yes, the scale of the disaster just absolutely mammoth. Our thanks to you, Jomana Karadsheh and your team there for your days of nights of

reporting underground for us, we appreciate it.

Well, personnel carrying out damage assessments have examined nearly 400,000 buildings in Turkey so far, and authorities say more than 50,000 of

them must be demolished as quickly as possible, because they are at risk of collapse. CNN's Sarah Sidner shows us the work being done in that wreckage.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SARA SIDNER, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Rescue teams from around the world attack the piles of crushed buildings, sometimes with brute force and

other times as carefully as possible. It's a delicate balance trying to save any possible life underneath, or at the very least, keep bodies

intact.

CHRIS ALLENDER, USAID RESCUE TEAM MANAGER: It's going to take the thousands of rescuers here, not just the United States, but it's going to take a

collaborative effort of all the rescue teams here.

SIDNER (on camera): People are actually just hoping to find anybody even if they're dead so they can bury them.

ALLENDER: And that's very important too.

SIDNER (voice over): The teams do this as bereaved families look on watching their every move.

MEHMET AYDIN, NEPHEWS TRAPPED UNDER RUBBLE: I swear I have lost my days and nights he says in tears, our sorrow is great.

SIDNER (voice over): While he waits he prays for the four members of his extended family to emerge and remembers the terror of waking up to the sway

of his own building. Our building was bending like this. But unlike this one, his building did not break apart. Los Angeles County civil engineers

are on the site with USAID to help the Turkish Government sort out which buildings have light damage, major damage or which need to be demolished?

KAITLIN HANNON, LOS ANGELES COUNTY CIVIL ENGINEER: I think it would be OK to live here.

SIDNER (on camera): You would?

HANNON: Yes, I think you know from this viewpoint, that main concern is actually the building next to it falling on top of it.

SIDNER (voice over): We are there when the owner of an apartment building approaches asking whether it's safe for her to live here again. And

Engineer Hannon goes with her inside. While the homeowner decided she was too afraid to stay in her building, despite Hannon saying it was assessed

as being safe. Others Hannon has met are relieved to hear an assessment like that

HANNON: A lot of them that we've gone in are actually doing well. And once we tell those people that they'll start crying give us hugs and it's

heartbreaking. But to be able to tell someone your house is safe and it kept you safe during this you know it's something we can help with

something small we can do.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Over 6000 structures we put eyes on just to assess at a very quick glance.

SIDNER (voice over): The findings of civil engineers are then put into a grid created by Los Angeles County Fire.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: So we can see where the rescue is needed.

SIDNER (voice over): Even in the disaster zone, children find a way to soothe themselves despite the grief that continues to weigh heavy on

everyone here Sara Sidner, CNN Adiyaman, Turkey.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KINKADE: Well, we have got some news just into CNN that reports in how Donald Trump and his allies tried to overturn the 2020 presidential

election in Georgia has just been released. A judge ordered portions of a special grand jury's report to be made public.

We're just getting those excerpts out now and I'm looking through them and as soon as we have some more details on exactly what the grand jury had to

say we will bring those to you. As you may recall, Trump was recorded asking Georgia election officials to help him find enough votes to overturn

Joe Biden's victory there.

Well, NATO Chief Jens Stoltenberg is offering his condolences for what he calls the deadliest natural disaster on alliance territory since the

foundation of NATO. He's been in Ankara meeting with the Turkish President before heading to the Port City of Iskenderun.

That's when NATO says it will build container housing for homeless quake survivors. The NATO Chief brought up the issue of Finland and Sweden

joining the alliance when he met with the Turkish Foreign Minister in Ankara. He urged Turkey to ratify the application saying "The time is now".

[11:10:00]

KINKADE: The two countries had applied to join NATO following Russia's invasion of Ukraine a year ago.

The Turkish prime minister says it's possible that the two applications could be assessed separately. Turkey says Sweden harbors members of the

Kurdish separatist group PKK, which it considers a terrorist group. And NATO allies are continuing to reassure smaller nations today.

The U.S. Defense Secretary says his nation remains steadfastly committed to the freedom and sovereignty of the Baltic Allies. Lloyd Austin arrived in

Estonia today; he met the prime minister there and held a news conference with the defense minister.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LLOYD AUSTIN, U.S. DEFENSE SECRETARY: Next week, we'll mark a year since Russia launched its full scale invasion of its peaceful neighbor, Ukraine.

And we mourn the lives lost so needlessly and Putin's cruel and unprovoked war of choice. As Ukrainian people fight so bravely to defend their

sovereignty, they remind us that we can never take freedom for granted.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KINKADE: Meanwhile Russia firing a barrage of missiles into Ukraine overnight, including the western parts of the country. Ukraine says at

least 16 of the 36 missiles fired were shut down and some critical infrastructure was hit. In eastern Ukraine officials say at least three

people were killed Wednesday when Russian strikes hit an apartment building in school.

Then Ukrainian troops are released video these days shows a strike against a Russian multiple rocket launcher and with thermo baric weapons, those

stripes are ongoing ahead of an expected Russian offensive in Ukraine. The Kremlin confirms that President Vladimir Putin will host Belarusian leader

Alexander Lukashenko in Moscow on Friday.

Belarus has remained a key ally to Russia throughout this war. During a news conference today Mr. Lukashenko said he would not commit any trips to

Ukraine unless Ukraine was to attack his country first. Our CNN International Correspondent Frederik Pleitgen was at that news conference,

take a listen to what he told me.

FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: But it was quite interesting when he said that Belarus would not be sending any troops

unless Ukraine invaded Belarus or tried to invade Belarus. However, at the same time, he did make very clear that he's staunchly at the side of

Vladimir Putin. He praised Vladimir Putin several times during that very long press conference.

And also said that he remains fully committed to supporting Vladimir Putin and the things that Vladimir Putin is currently doing in Ukraine and in

general the policies of the Kremlin. Now, one of the things that I asked Lukashenko in this press conference is I said, look, I had just been to

Ukraine, and I certainly haven't seen very much in the way of progress on the part of Russian forces there.

In fact, it seems as though they're making very little progress. A lot of Russian soldiers are dying on the front lines. And also, of course, a lot

of Ukrainian civilians are being killed. And then the question was why Lukashenko is still supporting Vladimir Putin's war and here's what

Lukashenko had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ALEXANDER LUKASHENKO, BELARUSIAN PRESIDENT: This is another rhetorical question, why do you support Ukraine pumping him with weapons instead of

sitting down to negotiate, as I suggest? You are already discussing sending long range weapons missiles up to 300 kilometers and range, an F-16 fighter

jet state of the art fighter jets after hundreds of leopard tanks have gone there. Why are you doing this? You understand this as escalation.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PLEITGEN: So there's Lukashenko, essentially trying to turn things around there. He also insisted that he believes that Russia in the end would win

and that Ukraine needed to start negotiations with the Russians as fast as possible. One of the interesting things that we did hear from Lukashenko is

that he essentially believes that what he would like to see is for President Biden to come here to Mintz and to have a top level meeting with

Vladimir Putin here also with Volodymyr Zelenskyy, as well.

Now, certainly there's no indications that there is something that could happen in the future, but that's certainly something that he had several

times during this press conference mentioned, where he said that he believes that he could broker a deal to end the war, Lynda.

KINKADE: Thanks to Frederick Pleitgen there. Well, aside from the devastating impact Russia's invasion has had on Ukrainian lives and

landscapes. There are other horrific effects of the war taking place. One of them involves Ukrainian children separated from their families.

Russia calls a new U.S. commission report on Russian camps holding Ukrainian children absurd. In a video released by the Kremlin today,

Vladimir Putin praises a Russian official for efforts to ferry children out of Luhansk and Donetsk. A Yale University study backed by the U.S. State

Department says the official is at the center of a scheme to re-educate Ukrainian children.

It's a situation that's left Ukrainian parents who are missing their children in anguish. CNN's David McKenzie has the story about one woman who

was desperately trying to get her daughter back.

[11:15:00]

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DAVID MCKENZIE, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Weeks ago, we first met Tetyana Vlaiko in Kyiv in a shelter for displaced

families. All of the mothers here separated from their children by the trauma of war.

TETYANA VLAIKO, UKRAINIAN MOTHER: Emotions overwhelmed me when Leila left. When I realized what was happening, it terrified me. All I wanted for the

best for my child at the time.

MCKENZIE (voice over): Her 11 year old daughter Lilia stuck in a Russian camp in occupied Crimea. All the lessons are in Russian. At first glance,

the retreats seem like any other summer camp, but the loyalty expected from Ukrainian children is crystal clear. Part of what a new Yale University

study calls systematic re-education efforts.

But Tetyana and Lilia story begins a year ago, the hometown of Kherson fell quickly to advancing Russian troops. Within days, the occupiers began a

campaign to rectify the population, often coercing thousands of parents like Tetyana, to send their kids to the camps. But when Ukrainian forces

took back Kherson in November, Tetyana's daughter was on the wrong side of the front line.

MYKOLA KULEBA, SAVE UKRAINE: We provide rescue mission for children who were abducted now in Russia Federation and in Crimea.

MCKENZIE (voice over): Mykola Kuleba, the Founder of Save Ukraine, declined to say exactly how they negotiate the entry into enemy territory, just that

the mothers can't do it on their own.

KULEBA: It's impossible to communicate with any Russians because you can ask this mothers, they don't want to give children back.

MCKENZIE (voice over): But Tetyana was ready to take the risk.

VLAIKO: I am worried; of course, you cannot even imagine my emotions inside. Its fear and terror it's emotional that I could see Kherson. And

this is a big deal for me.

MCKENZIE (voice over): 11 mothers and one father putting on a brave face, but theirs is a perilous route. From Ukraine by road to Poland, and to

Russian ally Belarus, through the Russian Federation to occupied Crimea.

VLAIKO: We were counting every kilometer on approach. I could feel it with every cell in my body. I was very emotional when we went closer and closer.

MCKENZIE (voice over): Save Ukraine spent many months planning this moment. Reuniting families shattered by war, returning children who just wanted to

go home to Ukraine.

VLAIKO: Once I entered --it was an outburst of emotions. Once were embraced, it was like a great weight lifted.

MCKENZIE (voice over): In the end, they gave up the children willingly. But Save Ukraine says that hundreds, perhaps thousands remain. Our two

countries are at war, says Tetyana. But there are good people everywhere. David McKenzie, CNN, Kyiv.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KINKADE: Well still to come, the British government is now keeping a close eye on raids taking place with BBC offices in India. We'll take a deeper

look into growing concerns of media censorship. Plus reversing a record, Nigeria says it will re-circulate an older bank notice currency shortages,

lead to outbreaks of violence.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[11:20:00]

KINKADE: Welcome back. Well, sources tell CNN that Indian tax officials have been searching BBC offices in New Delhi and Mumbai for a third day.

The surge has come weeks after India banned a BBC documentary critical of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The documentary features the deadly 2002

riots in Gujarat, where Mr. Modi was the state's Chief Minister.

The prime minister has denied accusations that he did not do enough to stop the violence. British government sources say the UK Foreign officer office

is monitoring reports of the activity at those offices in India. While press freedom advocates are raising red flags.

My next guest is Rituparna Chatterjee; she is the Indian representative at Reporters without Borders, which has said that these rates have all the

appearance of a reprisal against the BBC. It goes on to say that this has come at a time when independent media being hounded more and more and when

pluralism is shrinking in India due to increased media concentration.

And Rituparna Chatterjee joins us now live. Rita, good to have you with us! So three days of raids out these BBC officers find the release of this

documentary, which is critical of Modi. Is this a blatant attack on freedom of the press?

RITUPARNA CHATTERJEE, INDIA REPRESENTATIVE, REPORTERS WITHOUT BORDERS: We at RSF we've been watching these rates now. The government, of course

doesn't call them rates. It's a term that they using as a survey, which is supposedly a less aggressive form of the search. We've been watching tax

officials at the BBC office for three straight days now. And so say that the BBC staff, some of them has been asked to stay back.

We it's with mounting concern that we are following this story. It does deeply concern us in a way that this is the - speaks of the already

shrinking space of media freedom press freedom in India. As you know, RSF ranks India 150 among 180 countries, and there are like many reasons behind

that. But as for now, we can say that we condemn this raid.

And what we are most importantly is, we urge the government to protect the rights of the journalists who are there in the BBC office, as vis-a-vis

their right to privacy being one of the major ones, as the government will, I'm sure are confiscating there, you know, electronic digital equipment,

which for journalists, it also compromises there's a high risk of compromising their sources and sensitive people who are vulnerable,

sensitive documents. So yes, we are very, very concerned that what is going on, and hopefully this will be resolved soon.

KINKADE: So what is the reason India is giving for these so-called surveys, these raids are what our authority is looking for?

CHATTERJEE: So the official reason that the government is, they're looking for, you know, transactional tax related issues. And there's something on

the saying that the BBC violated their transfer pricing rules. And that's the official statement from the government. They've said that they've been

issuing notices to BBC, which has not they've not responded. BBC is of course, saying that they're cooperating with tax officials.

But if you look a little bit, you know, deeper into this, it's not that difficult to connect the dots, especially in the recent few weeks lost, the

three last past three weeks, especially since the release of the Modi documentary, the government has spoken in no uncertain terms as to what it

feels about this documentary.

And the timing of these surveys, as the government calls them is very, very crucial. The government or government representatives, ministers, officials

have gone on record saying a variety of you know statements saying especially in no uncertain terms that they will not tolerate and an affront

on India's prestige in the world in the way the world looks at them.

[11:25:00]

CHATTERJEE: The BBC is they've called the BBCs documentary propaganda meant to harm the image of this government. And all of this has led up to what

we're seeing happening over the past three days. And it's anyone's guess as to the timing of these surveys.

KINKADE: And it's interesting to know the UK is not really responding, no official statement, what should we read into that?

CHATTERJEE: Yes, we think the foreign office is following the story. That's the last that we heard. And the world is watching this, as you know, this

unfolds and the very fact that international media is taking note of this speaks volumes. India is soft bar economics of bar, India holds a lot of

clout as of now in the world stage. So it's not it's also a matter of diplomacy.

It's also how hard to trade into, because as you know, that anytime these things happen, India's response is always, you know, you are trading into

our internal matters. This is our internal matter, especially if it is a tax related issue. This is already a government minister has said that

nobody is above the law. If they are violating the country's law, then the government will take action.

So it's anyone's you know, it's a matter of diplomacy. I think it's more of you know, they're trading carefully. They're waiting to see how this

unfolds. They're waiting to see what the government's next move is.

KINKADE: All right. So we will stay on a story. Rituparna Chatterjee, good to have you with us. Thanks so much for your time.

CHATTERJEE: Thank you. Thank you.

KINKADE: Well Nigeria will begin re-circulating an old bank note after cash shortages in the country led to riot. The government has been recalling

certain bank notes as part of a plan to redesign the currency. But frustrations boiled over to banks were unable to gain sufficient supplies

of the new notes. And Nigerians couldn't get access to enough cash to meet their needs.

CNN Senior Africa Editor Stephanie Busari is joining me now from the Nigerian city of Lagos. Good to have you with us, Stephanie. So the

government seeming to backpedal right now, is this going to be enough to bring a sense of calm?

STEPHANIE BUSARI, CNN SNIOR AFRICA EDITOR: Well, in this flip flopping between the Court, the Supreme Court, and the government is really just

causing a lot of headaches and frustration, as you've seen in those videos in a country. That's just simply not enough money to go around. We're

seeing long lines across the country.

Even today, as we walked around the city, the government, the Supreme Court had ruled that the government should hold that decision to stop that this

use of the old notes following a challenge from some state governors. But in a televised national address, Thursday President Buhari - those old

notes will be discontinued.

However, he asked that the lowest denominator which is a 200 Naira note to be made available to ease the cash crunch. Now it remains to be seen, if

that will that will help to ease this, the situation that's built up across the country. And because these notes are the least used, actually, Lynda,

but it will go some way, I think to release some cash to Nigerians who are simply not able to live without cash, Lynda.

KINKADE: All right. Stephanie Busari in Lagos, Nigeria, we will speak to you again about this, no doubt very soon. Thanks very much. Well still to

come on "Connect the World", the Israeli Defense Force has arrested an Israeli soldier after a video of him assaulting a Palestinian activist went

viral. We'll speak to that activist about his experience next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[11:30:00]

KINKADE: Welcome back to "Connect the World". I want to recap our developing story this hour. A portion of a report into how Donald Trump and

his allies tried to overturn the 2020 presidential election in Georgia has just been released. CNN's Sara Murray is tracking this story. So you've got

some of his excerpts now. What are you learning Sara?

SARA MURRAY, CNN POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: That's right. You know, we got only a sliver of this special grand juries months of work, you know, they

interviewed 75 witnesses. They were really digging into efforts by Donald Trump and his allies tried to overturn the 2020 election in Georgia.

And one of the things that Trump said is they released this paragraph about the special Grand Jury is concerned that there were witnesses who appeared

under oath, who may have lied, you know, they're basically encouraging the District Attorney in this case to pursue perjury charges.

If she believes the evidence is there, they say seek appropriate indictments for such crimes where the evidence is compelling. That's an

indication we could see some perjury indictments in this case going forward. They also wrote in their introduction, you know, they heard from

all these witnesses, they heard from technical experts, they heard from poll workers, they heard from Georgia officials.

And they concluded unanimously that there was no widespread fraud in the 2020 election in Georgia that could have overturned the results there.

Obviously, this is a claim that Donald Trump has made that it's false, that there was widespread fraud. This is a claim his allies have made.

And they even note in this introduction, that they heard from witnesses who maintained this false claim that there was widespread fraud in the 2020

election. So it sort of gives you a little bit of an idea of the tone of the tenor of the grand jury.

But this real meat that we know is in their report that has not been made public is who if anyone they recommended should face criminal charges. That

is still remaining under wraps. The judge said essentially it was premature to release that because so far no one has made his face charges in this

case.

So now it's really over to Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis to decide if she's going to go to a regular grand jury and seek indictments.

And if so, is that going to be for the former president? Is that going to be for his allies? Is that going to be for others who may have lied to the

grand jury?

KINKADE: All right, we are going to continue on this story. Sara Murray thanks so much for that update. I want to bring in Legal Analyst Jennifer

Rodgers. She's a former federal prosecutor and a law professor at NYU and Columbia universities. Good to have you with us.

So you've had a chance to read through some of these excerpts too, that have been made public this hour. And while a special grand jury can't issue

indictments, it can't recommend charges. But at this point in time, it seems like those recommendations haven't been made public.

JENNIFER RODGERS, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: That's right, as Sara said, there's really not much there. They seem to recommend perjury charges against

certain witnesses. We don't know who yet. But that's pretty interesting, because there were some Trump allied witnesses big names who testified in

front of this grand jury, including Rudy Giuliani, Lindsey Graham, Michael Flynn, and others.

So it'll really be interesting to see when we get to see the rest of the report, who they recommend charging with perjury. And of course, most of

the report remains under seal but it certainly does suggest that they have recommend charges against people. We'll just have to wait and see how far

they go and what charges they suggest bringing.

KINKADE: So at this point in time, the only parts released were the intro the conclusion as well as juries concerns about witnesses lying under oath.

What could happen to those witnesses if they face charges and they are indeed found guilty of lying under oath?

RODGERS: Well, you know, perjury carries typically up to a five year sentence. This is a Georgia State charge this would not be a federal

charge, this is for testifying falsely in front of the Georgia grand jury.

[11:35:00]

RODGERS: So they would have to go down there and face those charges. You know, I do expect, though that some of these witnesses may have pled the

Fifth Amendment, some of these witnesses actually have criminal exposure of their own. This is why I'm so interested to see who actually is on their

list of recommended perjury charges, because of course, someone who takes the fifth and refuses to testify, won't have any perjury there.

So it'll be interesting to see. But, you know, they will have to face those criminal charges in Georgia State Court, just like anyone charged with any

of these charges by the grand jury, ultimately, we'll have to do.

KINKADE: So this was a major investigation, but much kept secret. What do we make of the fact that somebody has to report has been kept secret?

RODGERS: Well, Grand Jury investigations are secret until someone is actually charged with a crime. Our system provides that the investigation

not be revealed publicly, it's in order to protect people who ultimately may not be charged with a crime. So only those investigations that result

in charges will become public.

That's one of the rules both of the federal system and of Georgia State system as well. So it's actually highly unusual to hear anything about a

grand jury investigation. This one, of course, has spilled into the public realm, because of the names involved, because there's such public interest

in following the story.

So reporters have, for example, kind of staked out and seen who's going into the grand jury to testify. So we actually know more than we normally

would in a grand jury investigation. So I guess we should count ourselves lucky there. But certainly we'll know a lot more, as the evidence pertains

to people who are charged once those charges are filed. Once you get litigating into court, that's when you really start to see the information

coming out.

KINKADE: And just quickly, any sense of a timeframe as to when that could happen?

RODGERS: So Fannie Willis told the judge overseeing the grand jury that she was going to make charging decisions imminently. But I think imminently to

lawyers mean something different than kind of everyday eminence. She clearly meant a matter of weeks, and not hours or even days, because it's

been a couple of weeks since she made that statement.

So I think she and her folks are turning over the evidence trying to decide how to do it, what charges they want to bring. And, you know, there really

some interesting, unprecedented issues here. I mean the notion of charging a former President of the United States with a criminal offense has never

been done before. So they're really going to want to think through not only should they do it, but logistically, what happens next, how do you arrest

him? How do you bring him in for processing?

I mean, these are things that have never been done before. So they're going to need a lot of forethought. So if she's actually thinking about charging

the former president, those are some of the additional things that she'll be thinking of.

KINKADE: Certainly a lot of interest in history. Jennifer Rodgers, good to have you with us. Thanks very much.

RODGERS: Thanks.

KINKADE: Well, still to come new details just in from police into the investigation of Monday's deadly mass shooting at Michigan State

University. We'll have those details when we come back.

[11:40:00]

KINKADE: Well, the U.S. Office of Palestinian Affairs has released a statement condemning the attack on a Palestinian activist by an Israeli

soldier. The assault of the activist is the embryo was caught on video in the West Bank earlier this month. It went viral after journalist Lawrence

Wright, who writes the New Yorker Magazine, posted it on Twitter when soldier has since been sentenced to 10 days in a military jail.

In a statement the IDF said the soldier had "Asked a Palestinian who approached a military post to step away". And the IDF says the man started

cursing him and a verbal confrontation followed, which led to a physical confrontation. Wright rejected that version of events saying it was the

Israeli soldier who initiated the encounter.

Well, there's generated a lot of steam online and one of his responses, Issa Amro tweeted "It's not about Issa Amro; it is about the Palestinian

women and children who are attacked frequently by Israeli soldiers and settlers. All Palestinians are living under Israeli occupation and

apartheid. The video of this attack tell the story of each Palestinian in Palestine". Well, Issa Amro joins me now live from Hebron in the West Bank.

We appreciate your time today. First of all, how are you doing? Are you injured?

ISSA AMRO, PALESTINIAN ACTIVIST: Thank you very much for having me. Yes, I am. I am injured, I have been in my both arms and my back and my leg. And

I'm psychologically affected from this attack and from the consequences of that attack after that attack of you know, being feared supporting the

soldier and the army lying about what happened.

And now I'm afraid about my life and I'm afraid about you know the life of the people who are living in the same area from any kind of revenge from

Israeli soldiers.

KINKADE: So the IDF gave their version of what they say happened. Can you tell us what happened?

AMRO: What happened is that it's a typical day that I give tours to international to Israelis to journalists diplomats in my own city Hebron to

show them the closed streets closed markets, the segregated neighborhoods, the totality of the Israeli army under Israeli settlers violence.

And there was explaining Mr. you know, Wright about how this model in Hebron will be transferred and used in other cities in the future. And it's

the model which the current Israeli government, especially being poor and smart, which we'll use in Jaffa, in - in East Jerusalem and how they are

really fanatic and extreme. The soldiers didn't like that.

And he first he tried to force the Belgian photographer to delete what she filmed in the streets and then what happened and even he managed to do so.

When I arrived to take them, I started filming for sure my right to film, and a soldier didn't like that. And he tried to force me to delete what I

found, that I found him forcing her to delete the videos, because usually there's the Elon military in Hebron.

They try to hide the truth. They try to hide what is going on, it's even you know, it's an Israeli military occupation system. They don't want

anyone to know what is happening on the ground. So the soldier first detained me, they threatened me, and then he beat me up and throw me to the

ground and hit me again and threaten me again.

And, and then the RV life in spite that, really, everything was on video, you know, we had from the first moment I arrived, I started filming, and

Belgian neutral photograph was filming. And Lawrence was with us. And he saw what was happening.

And even I was all the time asking the soldier, bring your commander, bring your commander, I want to talk to your commander. I know by the law that

I'm allowed to do it. I'm allowed to do film and I'm allowed to walk in my own streets. And despite that, when the soldier came, I was walking in the

cemetery in parallel to the street where Mr. Wright and the Belgian photographer were walking because I'm not allowed to walk in my own

streets.

KINKADE: So the U.S. office, the Palestinian affairs released a statement today and they said and I quote, "We condemn aggression towards civil

society and the attack on Issa Amro. We note that the IDF has said it disciplined the soldier involved. Authorities must exercise restraint

towards civilians in the West Bank, not resort to disproportionate violence anywhere including at checkpoints". What do you make of that statement?

[11:45:00]

AMRO: Unfortunately, you know, what happened to me is happening almost every day. I like the videos; we see it on social media, or social

violence, similar violence without any accountability. I find many complaints to the Israeli police about a similar violence. I find many

complaints to the military police without any accountability for the Israeli soldiers and many Israeli human rights organization.

They spoke loudly about the impunity of the soldiers and impunity of the Israeli settlers. And what happened to me was got attention because of

Lauren's and because of the international media, and the soldier would not be accountable, or nobody would condemn this without international

attention, international media attention, I want this kind of violence to stop.

I want the American State Department and the American administration to really put high pressure and make the occupation and apartheid costly for

the current Israeli government. Imagine that the National Minister, the Security National minister in Israel, backed up the soldier he described me

as another case, I know him, he knows me, I'm not an anarchist.

How come he described me as an anarchist, and, and he said, the soldier did what he has to do, you know, to beat me up and to do this, to me, if a

minister in this government of the soldier, what does it mean? It means that green light to you know, to do anything bad to me, and to many other

Palestinian and Israeli human rights defender. I want to thank the, you know, the Office of Foreign Affairs and the American Embassy for this.

But we want the American administration to reopen the Palestinian, the consulate in East Jerusalem for, for the Palestinians. We want the Biden

Administration to reverse everything that Trump did to the Palestinian people.

We really ask for the opening PLO office and the relation between the Palestinian people and the American people to be much stronger and to make

Israel, you know, accountable, according to the international law and describe what is happening on the ground.

I am under the Israeli military law without any basic human rights, non- violent resistance not allowed. I'm guilty until I'm proven arrested. They may arrest me a few days and say, you know that I attacked the soldier.

This is what happened to me in the past.

I was arrested many times after being attacked by soldiers. Two months ago, I was arrested after I was threatened; I am a soldier beating up an Israeli

visitor to Hebron. I was arrested and ill-treated. So it's a military system. It's not only about individual soldier, it's about system. I want

the American administration to really target the military system target apartheid. This is what I want as a person.

KINKADE: Isaa Amro, we hope you stay safe. And thanks for sharing your story with us. Well, in the last hour, police in Michigan gave new details

on their investigation into Monday's mass shooting at Michigan State University that left three students dead. Five victims remain in a critical

condition.

Police say the gunman Anthony McCray had to legally purchase handguns on him when he was found, as well as nine loaded magazines and more loose

ammunition. They also had a bus ticket. It's a list of several other intended targets. And notes that may give an indication into why he carried

out this attack.

CNN's Adrienne Broaddus joins us now from Michigan State University campus in Lansing where the communities grief and shock. Still very raw, what more

can you tell us?

ADRIENNE BROADDUS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: And folks in the community are still on edge. I can tell you that we are learning more about this 43 year old

shooter ever since Monday night. The big question has been why, what led to this mass shooting on the campus of MSU, we still don't know why the 43

year old targeted MSU.

But we are learning according to investigators when they discovered this shooter, there was a note in his wallet containing a list of targets

according to members of law enforcement. And I asked the representative from the Michigan state police more about what they saw or what they

learned and what that note contained. Here's what he had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LT. RENE GONZALEZ, MICHIGAN STATE POLICE: You paid us a note for finding his wallet which was on his person as well. That was the note that

indicated where he was going to visit and also kind of given him why he needed the motive, but nothing that we can actually confirm just yet.

For our investigation we found that he had contact with some of those places and a couple of other businesses, it appears that he had some issues

with employees there where he was asked to leave. So it looks like he possibly a motive for that was he just felt slighted.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[11:50:00]

BROADDUS: And that was the investigator describing the list of targets. For example, on that list, we know there was a church, there was an employment

agency, and also a warehouse which you heard the member of law enforcement say, at one point, the 43 year old shooter who they say died by suicide,

worked at that warehouse.

Investigators also found the 43 year old Anthony McCray had two hand guns. And in the backpack that he was carrying investigators say he had eight

loaded magazines of nine millimeter ammunition along with a pencil sized pouch containing 50 loose rounds of ammunition. And he also had an empty

magazine on him. Investigators say when they made contact with him.

The 43 year old exited the car did not say anything to police, according to members of law enforcement that we heard from here today before ending his

life. We know that shooting killed three people, three students here at Michigan State and it left on Monday night, five others critically injured.

The press conference today ended with an update one of those students the condition has been upgraded to stable, Lynda.

KINKADE: Let's hope for the others that their condition also improves. Adrienne Broaddus, good to have you with us. Thank you. Well, Texas police

have two suspects in custody in connection with a deadly shooting at an El Paso mall on Wednesday. You can hear the gunshots in the security camera

footage from a bar inside that more.

One person was killed in the shooting three others hospitalized. And off- duty police officer working as security in the more quickly responded apprehending the first suspect, no word yet on the motive there. So far

this year, there have been 70 mass shootings in the U.S. in 2023. And we're only in February. Well, still to come, a change of pace, the remarkable

story of the real estate professional that somehow beat one of the best tennis players in the world.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KINKADE: Well, there's a new record in the world of speed dating, now I don't think this was the fastest date, but it certainly was the most amount

of people. More than 1300 people showing up in Brussels on Valentine's Day to chat the night away and help set a new record in the process. The

holiday usually meant to celebrate couples also gave single people a night to look forward to. And over the course of the night attendees were able to

meet around 16 people each.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ELISABETH ELLEBOUDT, SPEED DATING PARTICIPANT: I do think that's in a few minutes for tonight seven in general, you get a good idea of the person,

the first impression is usually the good one.

JILL DE GRAAF, ORGANIZER, "DARE TO DATE": It's like the day of love, but also all of the couples like I'm single and I know all my friends who are a

couple, they're all gone.

[11:55:00]

GRAAF: They're all doing something and it can be a pretty sad day for singles but we're just taking it back.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KINKADE: That's hopefully some lead to a second day. Organizers say it broke 2019 record of 964 participants at an event in Dublin. Well, finally

real estate financing by day a professional tennis player by night, Matijia Pecotic, the former top 10 player Jack Sock Tuesday in the ATP tournament

in California.

The 33 year old has an MBA from Harvard and is the Director of Capital Markets for a billion dollar real estate firm. He was a star tennis player

in college and tried to make it on the pro tour for a while before turning to business full time. Still, he plays tennis whenever he can and was

shocked when he recorded his first official victory on the ATP tour.

Well done! Well stick around. I'm Lynda Kinkade, thanks so much for joining us for "Connect the World". "One world" with my colleague and friend Zain

Asher is coming up after a very short break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[12:00:00]

END