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International Court of Justice Orders Israel to Immediately Halt Rafah Offensive; Gaza Aid on U.S. Pier Distributed After Days of Delays; Desperate Struggle to Survive in Gaza Amid Ongoing War; Ebrahim Raisi Laid to Rest in Holy City of Mashhad; U.S. Attorney General Blasts Trump's Claims about Mar-a-Lago Search; New Troubles for Israeli Government; American to be Sentenced in Turks and Caicos on Ammunition Charge; Singapore Airlines to Make Changes Following Turbulence Incident. Aired 10- 11a ET
Aired May 24, 2024 - 10:00:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[10:00:24]
ANNOUNCER: This is CNN Breaking News.
BECKY ANDERSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: And we start with breaking news out of the United Nations' top court. The world's top court. The
International Court of Justice has ruled that Israel must immediately halt its military offensive in Gaza's southernmost city of Rafah.
Take a listen to the moment that verdict was handed down a short time ago.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JUDGE NAWAF SALAM, PRESIDENT, INTERNATIONAL COURT OF JUSTICE: Under the Genocide Convention, Israel must immediately halt its military offensive
and any other action in Rafah Governorate which may inflict on the Palestinian group in Gaza, conditions of life that could bring about its
physical destruction in whole or in part.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON: Well, it follows an emergency request by South Africa two weeks ago, which is part of a wider case by that country in which it accuses
Israel of genocide. Well, for context, the ICJ's decisions are binding and cannot the appealed. But the court has no way of enforcing them, and they
have been ignored by countries in the past.
Well, Jeremy Diamond joins me now from Jerusalem.
What's been the response to date from this decision which was handed down just in the past hour -- Jeremy.
JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, we've just been told that the Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said to hold a phone
consultation with key ministers regarding this ruling by the International Court of Justice. He's going to be speaking with the foreign minister, the
minister of strategic affairs, the minister of justice, minister of defense, the head of the National Security Council, and the attorney
general to discuss this latest ruling by the International Court of Justice, which we should note is very, very significant.
The first time in this nearly eight-month-long war that the International Court of Justice has actually ordered the Israeli government to halt a part
of its military offensive in Gaza, ordering the Israeli government to halt this military offensive in Rafah, describing the events of the last three
weeks since the Israeli military began that offensive in Rafah as exceptionally grave, resulting in the displacement of already extremely
vulnerable people, saying that this results in a material change in the situation that then empowered this court to issue this latest provisional
ruling.
We should also note that in this order, the ICJ is also calling on the Israeli government to immediately open the Rafah Border Crossing, which has
been closed since the start of that Israeli military offensive in the early hours of May 7th. But the question will ultimately be, what will this
result in? We don't expect the Israeli government to comply with this order by the ICJ. We're already hearing from several ministers in Netanyahu's
government saying that this order should be ignored, calling it irrelevant, saying that Israel should ramp up the military pressure in Rafah rather
than bring it down.
But then the question will be, what will the resulting actions be from other countries around the world? We have been watching over the course of
this week beginning with the International Criminal Court seeking arrest warrants for the Israeli prime minister and the Israeli defense minister,
then three European countries unilaterally recognizing a Palestinian state.
What we have been watching through all of that is not only growing condemnation for Israel's actions in Gaza over the course of the last
nearly eight months, but we're also watching Israel's growing isolation on the world stage. And there is certainly a possibility that should Israel,
as we expected to, choose to ignore this ruling by the ICJ, that it could face not only further isolation, but sanctions from other countries who
want to uphold the authority of the International Court of Justice, which we should note does not have any enforcement mechanism on its own -- Becky.
ANDERSON: I just want to bring up a couple of things that the presiding judge brought up. The court is not convinced he said that Israel has taken
sufficient measures to alleviate the immense risk to which the Palestinian population is exposed as a result of the military operation. The military
action has resulted in the forced displacement of nearly 800,000 people from Rafah of an already extremely vulnerable population.
We made the point that this is, this is a binding decision and that this is not a decision that can be appealed.
[10:05:05]
But of course, this court has no infrastructure to actually enforce at this point, Jeremy.
DIAMOND: Yes, that's right. And when you point out the facts that the court says that they believe Israel hasn't sufficiently addressed concerns about
the impact of its military offensive in Rafah on the civilian population there, it's also important to note that the presiding judge also brought up
the months of warnings from humanitarian aid officials on the ground who have said that a military offensive in Rafah, which was previously viewed
as somewhat of a last refuge for more than a million Palestinians, that that would have tremendous impacts on the flow of humanitarian aid, on the
ability to distribute that aid.
And also the concerns about where that population that we have now been watching be displaced over the course of the last several weeks, where they
would go and the conditions that they would find. And indeed many of those warnings from humanitarian aid officials have indeed come true because the
conditions that they have found at the Al-Mawasi Humanitarian Zone as the Israeli military describes it are totally insufficient for human beings to
actually be able to live in for that number of human beings to be able to live in.
And in particular, when we're talking about no sewage infrastructure, no water infrastructure, insufficient tents for people to actually live in,
the combination of all of that is the picture that the ICJ was painting here, one that they view as something that could potentially be -- have
irreversible effects. And therefore they believe empowered them to issue this ruling today.
ANDERSON: It's good to have you. Thank you very much indeed. We'll do more on this as we move through the hour.
Well, Israel announces it will ban the Spanish consulate in Jerusalem from providing services to Palestinians from the West Bank. Tensions have
escalated in recent days between Israel and Spain, partly in response to Spain's plans to recognize a Palestinian state, but also because of remarks
made by Spanish official who posted a video to X on Wednesday in which she said, Palestine will be free from the river to the sea, which Israel's
government and some Jews call antisemitic.
Well, after days of delays, aid groups have finally begun distributing humanitarian assistance from the U.S. pier in Gaza. More than 500 tons of
food and other items have now been handed off to partners, set now in the process of being distributed to those who need this aid most, who are in
critical need of this aid. The deliveries come after aid groups encountered significant obstacles, including Hamas drones and looting.
Well, CNN's Natasha Bertrand joins us live from the Pentagon.
What do we understand to be happening right now?
NATASHA BERTRAND, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Well, Becky, that aid that has been coming across the pier into Gaza and handed off to the
U.N. and other humanitarian aid partners it does seem like it's now finally starting to be distributed throughout the Gaza Strip. However, it's taken a
while to get to this point, the pier operation was launched last week after two months of the U.S. military constructing it using over 1,000 soldiers
and it got off to a really rocky start.
And that was not necessarily because of the U.S. military and how it was building the pier, but it was mostly on the backend, of course, of that
operation with all of the difficulties that we have seen elsewhere in Gaza in just the sheer challenges in distributing that aid. And according to
officials that spoke to reporter yesterday that included a Hamas drone attack on the IDF earlier this week, that led to a freeze of all convoys
heading to distribute aid in that area, as well as significant looting that we saw earlier this week that forced the U.N. to work with the Pentagon to
try to come up with alternative safer routes for delivery of that aid inside Gaza in that area, which is a fairly new area for these U.N. groups
to be distributing aid, especially when it comes to that stretch between the pier on the beach in Gaza and the warehouse, which is a bit longer
according to aid groups than what they are typically used to and therefore poses more challenges.
And so now it seems that that aid is getting across the pier. It is getting into the Gaza Strip. It is being distributed by humanitarian groups, but
still, it is not the amount that the U.S. military had originally foreseen at being delivered across the causeway and into Gaza. Originally, they had
said it would be about 90 trucks per day as an initial point to get into Gaza, that it has really not come anywhere near that amount at this point.
However, they do say that a lot of that aid is still waiting in Cyprus to be delivered by boats to the pier and then shipped over the causeway into
Gaza. But of course, a main difficulty with this, a big challenge that the U.S. does not have any boots on the ground in Gaza and still is saying that
they have no plans to do so in a way that could help with that distribution.
[10:10:09]
That is simply a red line for President Biden -- Becky.
ANDERSON: And just to add here that this has caused more than 300 million according to reports. And we've had, what, 27 trucks across and sort of
actively able to get to the point at which these aid groups can get distributed. So, you know, when you speak to sources at the Pentagon,
frankly, there's much criticism that today this has been a failure. What's the response from the Pentagon?
BERTRAND: Well, they insist that this maritime corridor was always meant to be additive to those land routes that are frequently closed and
bottlenecked by Israeli inspections, that it was never meant to actually replace the land routes, which of course, when fully operational, are much
more efficient at getting aid in. They say that, look, the fact that they have been able to get hundreds of tons of aid into Gaza over the last week
alone is nothing to sneeze out.
They say that that is in itself very significant because it's still amounts to additional food, aid, medical supplies getting into Gaza to people who
need it. But still of course, a very expensive project, a risky one, because you have U.S. troops of course just right off the coast there and
vulnerable to potential attack by Hamas and other terror groups. So the question is how helpful is this ultimately going to be?
We'll have to wait and see. The U.S. military projects that it's going to be operating that pier for about the next two to three months.
ANDERSON: Good to have you. Thank you.
Well, that humanitarian aid can't arrive quickly enough. But food, water, and medicine aren't the only needs since Israel struck back at Hamas. The
living situation for people in Gaza has become increasingly dire. In fact, the presiding judge at the International Court of Justice just in the last
hour calling the situation disastrous.
CNN's Paula Hancocks has more on the struggle to survive.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Living in a city of ruins is barely living. The daily search for water and food in Gaza's second-
largest city of Khan Younis is relentless. This young man says life is horrible.
Isan (PH) shows us what's left of his home, a twisted shell of concrete with tarpaulin for walls. The bathroom he says is half destroyed, the
living room half destroyed. And I'm now sleeping in the kitchen with my family, with my children. Ominous cracks slice through the ceiling, which
bulges precariously over the family below. As you can see, he says, the ceiling is cracked and could fall at any time. God knows, we could be dead
or alive in the morning.
It is dangerous and it is unsanitary. And yet better than the alternative. He says he has been unable to secure a tent for his family.
Others have found shelter in a bombed school. Around 100 families live here.
Mohammad (PH) was an engineer in Gaza City. He has been forced to move his family almost half a dozen times so far by the Israeli military, most
recently from Rafah. He points to his 7-month-old son, saying he needs to be allowed to live.
MOHAMMAD (PH), PALESTINIAN ENGINEER: Do you think he is Hamas? Does he have a Kalashnikov or RPG, have something to make a war with Israeli soldiers?
HANCOCKS: His only hope he says he shares with all Gazans that the war will end.
MOHAMMAD: We are humans, not animals, like some people said. Israelis and people say. We're not animals. We are humans. We have rights.
HANCOCKS: This is where the Israeli military says the displaced should move to, Al-Mawasi, calling it a, quote, "humanitarian zone." As waste piles
high alongside makeshift shelters, aid groups call it unfit for human habitation.
The Israeli military response to the Hamas October 7th attacks continues to be overwhelming for those trying to survive in Gaza. Israel insists it
needs to destroy Hamas and find the remaining hostages. Local officials estimate 80 percent of buildings in Khan Younis have been destroyed and yet
amid the dusty wasteland, a makeshift market has sprung up.
Everything is destroyed, this vendor says. This is a ghost town. People living on top of dead bodies still under the rubble.
[10:15:05]
Paula Hancocks, CNN, Abu Dhabi.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ANDERSON: Well, the war has extended beyond Gaza's borders. We've seen a spike in cross-border strikes between Israel and the Iran-backed group
Hezbollah in Lebanon. And this hour the head of Hezbollah is speaking at a ceremony to honor Iran's late President Ebrahim Raisi. He was killed, of
course, when his helicopter slammed into a mountain on Sunday. Investigators are still looking at evidence, but they say so far there is
no sign of foul play. Raisi was laid to rest yesterday in his hometown of Mashhad.
CNN's Frederik Pleitgen was there.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice- over): The streets of Mashhad jampacked with people mourning the late president,
Ebrahim Raisi, as a truck with his casket made its way to the Imam Reza shrine, one of the most important holy sites in Iran.
Hundreds of thousands of people have come out here on the streets of Mashhad. This is really very much the political and the spiritual homeland
of Ebrahim Raisi. And the people here say while they're in great sorrow, they hope that Iran continues down that conservative trajectory that was
common for Ebrahim Raisi's administration.
(Voice-over): In power for three years, Ebrahim Raisi was a conservative hardliner. Overseeing a crackdown on protests against Iran's strict hijab
laws in 2022 but also the first ever strikes against Israel from Iranian soil in retaliation for the bombing of Iran's embassy compound in Syria.
Crowds at the funeral screaming death to Israel and death to America vowing to remain loyal to Raisi's hardline agenda.
100 percent, 100 percent, this man says, these are all Raisi's and they will continue.
And this woman says, we have come here to say if they took Raisi from us, we still have our supreme leader and we back him and we'll never leave him
alone.
We have always expressed our position towards the U.S., this man says. Just like the policy of the president and the martyr Qasem Soleimani to struggle
against arrogance. we won't allow the arm of arrogance to go around the world. We'll cut it down.
After Raisi, Iran's foreign minister, Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, and several others were killed in a chopper crash in northern Iran on Sunday, Tehran
says a new president will be elected in late June. But this week has been one of mourning, culminating in the funeral prayers for Raisi inside the
Imam Reza shrine.
As the body of Ebrahim Raisi was brought to its final resting place, Iran is looking ahead. One of the U.S.'s toughest adversaries soon to decide its
political future.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ANDERSON: Fred Pleitgen there reporting from the holy city of Mashhad, and he joins us now live.
Just described the atmosphere, if you will.
PLEITGEN: Hi, there, Becky. Well, here in Mashhad I actually went into the Imam Reza Shrine that you see behind me and went past the grave of Ebrahim
Raisi. And as we just talked about there in our report, of course, this is really the political heartland. He does have a lot of support here even
though of course in other parts of the country, he might be more controversial than he is here. And there still are a lot of people who are
coming to his grave.
There's a lot of people who are taking pictures of the grave. There's still a lot of people also bursting out into tears. One of the interesting things
about Ebrahim Raisi's grave in that shrine, which of course you know also from being here so many times, this shrine is one of the most important
holy places in this region. Certainly the most important one in Iran. Ebrahim Raisi's grave is actually very, very close to the tomb of the Imam
Reza, which in itself is certainly remarkable here for this country.
So the mood here of course still one very much of mourning, certainly in the city of Mashhad. But at the same time, a lot of people already looking
ahead and waiting for that political machine to start kicking into action. Of course, the big questions that now await Iran is first of all the
presidential election, which is said to be held on June 28th. Who are the candidates going to be? Are more moderate candidates going to be allowed to
actually run in that election than for instance when Ebrahim Raisi was elected and the turnout was quite low?
And of course, who those candidates are going to be shaping the political future of Iran? Because of course, while the supreme leader of Iran
certainly is the final authority on everything here in this country, the president also does have significant powers to shape policies.
ANDERSON: Fred, we are expecting a speech from the leader of Hezbollah. And representatives from Hamas and the Houthis, Hezbollah, in attendance for
these funeral services. These are of course the Iranian proxies around the region.
[10:20:08]
We've also seen in attendance delegations from around this region of the Gulf and beyond. Certainly the sense from the Gulf in speaking to sources
here is a show of support for de-escalation and for working on better relations around this region. That certainly from the foreign ministers
leading delegations from the Gulf. That's quite different from the positioning of course of the Iranian proxies and particularly the leader of
Hezbollah -- Fred.
PLEITGEN: Yes, I think you're absolutely right. And I think it really is fascinating to see some of the policies that have been enacted under the
Raisi administration over the past couple of years where of course you had that big standoff with Israel, the standoff with the United States, but
then also of course Iranian proxies are hitting U.S. forces in Jordan as well. So a lot of fire there in the region because of that.
But at the same time, you did have especially the foreign minister, Hossein Amir Abdollahian, who of course was also killed in that chopper crash going
around the region and trying to mend some of those relations with some of these countries in the region. For instance, tried to better relations with
Iraq. You look at the relations with Pakistan, for instance, the United Arab Emirates but also several other countries in the region like, for
instance, Saudi Arabia, where for the first time in a longtime diplomatic relations had been restored.
So I think that that was very important for the Iranians. It was certainly a different tone than you've seen before. And I think it is absolutely
right that all these countries or a lot of these countries sending some pretty high-level delegations does show that there was a bit of detente
going on in that regard. At the same time, of course, you do have all of these organizations like for instance, Hamas, like for instance, Hezbollah,
where it's absolutely clear that they are very close to Iran.
And of course, those are also organizations that right now are involved in a lot of the big issue here in this regions and also very adverse to any
sort of American presence in the Middle East as well -- Becky.
ANDERSON: Good to have you, Fred. Thank you.
Fred is on the ground in Mashhad in Iran. And we will have more on the region. And very specifically on the war in Gaza. Just ahead, from the ICJ
order on Rafah just delivered. The ICJ ruling that Israel must immediately stop its military offensive on Rafah, to arrest warrants for the Israeli
prime minister.
We look at back at Israel's setbacks off the battlefield this week. Plus campaigning hard in New York, Donald Trump makes an appeal to black and
Hispanic voters that he is the best man for the president's job. More on that after this.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[10:25:04]
ANDERSON: Donald Trump is making the most of his time off from the hush money trial in New York by holding a rally on Thursday in the Bronx, hoping
to appeal to black and Hispanic voters. Trump makes his case on "FOX and Friends" on why he is the best hope for change for their communities.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: So you're different. Why?
DONALD TRUMP, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES (R) AND CURRENT U.S. PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE (R): Because I did things in office that nobody else
has done. Criminal justice reform. I did criminal justice reform at a level that nobody thought was possible to get. And I did that largely for the
black and Hispanic community. They're the ones that wanted opportunity zones with Tim Scott and he was so much in favor of it. And it's probably
maybe the best economic development package ever for African-Americans, for Hispanic Americans, Asian Americans. We did a lot of things that people
couldn't believe were able to get done.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON: Well, this week, Trump is being claiming that the FBI was authorized to shoot him during its search of his home in Florida two years
ago. U.S. attorney general Merrick Garland blasting Trump's claim, saying they are false and extremely dangerous. The FBI searched Trump's Mar-a-Lago
home in 2022 to retrieve classified documents which led to one of his four criminal prosecutions.
Let's bring in CNN's Katelyn Polantz on this.
Just explain exactly what Donald Trump has said here and the response from the attorney general.
KATELYN POLANTZ, CNN SENIOR CRIME AND JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: So there are some documents that came out in his classified records, criminal case in
Florida. Internal documents related to the FBI's search of Mar-a-Lago in August of 2022, that included language that was boilerplate about how when
agents conduct that search, they had an operations procedure that limits their use of deadly force.
That is absolutely standard for law enforcement searches. That became something that Trump has latched onto over the past couple of days and
publicly claimed that he nearly escaped death because of how this search was conducted.
Not true, Becky. That is just not the case. The attorney general yesterday did say that it was extremely dangerous for the former president to be
saying this, amplifying that idea. It's false and that not only is this the sort of standard language the FBI uses to make sure that searches are
executed in a safe way, it is also the standard protocol that was in place when the FBI did a consensual search of Joe Biden's home in Delaware for
classified records in a separate investigation that has now ended.
So this is the sort of thing that is just becoming so amplified by the former president with no basis really of truth there.
ANDERSON: What's the accountability here? And how do you prevent this?
POLANTZ: Well, in some of Donald Trump's cases, there are things that he is not allowed to talk about publicly. This is about his classified documents
case in Florida, there was no gag order on him there, and he is someone who is running for president campaigning. He's saying different and things and
so the federal government can't push back against it. But in his ongoing trial in New York, there are certain restrictions about him coming out of
the courtroom, say, and saying something different than what -- saying something about, you know, a witness or a juror that is barred from him.
He also cannot comment in similar ways in his federal case in D.C. related to January 6th, but the former president is doing quite a lot with what he
says publicly versus what is experienced. For instance, Becky, in trial in New York, he's sitting in court every day. He's been coming out of court
and saying it's an ice box. It's a refrigerator. It's very, very cold in the courtroom. In fact, it is nearly 80 degrees and quite humid in there,
according to several people I've spoken to inside the courtroom, and a reporter who has taken a thermometer in there in recent days -- Becky.
ANDERSON: It's good to have you. Thank you.
Well, from arrest warrants to a call to end its Rafah offensive, this has been a rough week for the Israeli government. So I'm going to talk with
this Haaretz columnist Gideon Levy when we come back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[10:32:38]
ANDERSON: Welcome back. You're watching CONNECT THE WORLD with me, Becky Anderson. It's just after half past 6:00 in the evening here, just after
half past 5:00 in Israel, where the Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is scheduled to be holding a conference with his cabinet to discuss the ruling
from the International Court of Justice.
The court just in the past hour also ordering Israel to immediately stop its operations in Rafah. Well, Israel's finance minister has already
released a statement saying those who demand the state of Israel to stop the war are essentially demanding that Israel, quote, "decree itself to
cease to exist."
Well, this week we've seen a number of issues pile up for the Israeli government. On Monday, the International Criminal Court sought arrest
warrants for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his defense minister over the war in Gaza. On Wednesday, Ireland, Norway, and Spain say they
would formally recognize the state of Palestine. Also on Wednesday, the families of several female soldiers released graphic video of their
abduction, hoping to pressure the government into getting them back.
And then in the past hour also, the International Court of Justice, the world's top court, ordered Israel to immediately halt its Rafah offensive.
Well, for more on all of this, I want to bring in Gideon Levy. He's a columnist with Haaretz and was an adviser to the late Israeli president
Shimon Peres.
Let's be quite clear. This is a binding decision by the court. Can't be appealed but they have no mechanism to enforce this.
Gideon, what do you make of what we have just got from the presiding judge at the International Criminal Court?
GIDEON LEVY, COLUMNIST, HAARETZ: I don't think that Israel was declared -- is declared as a pariah state. No other way to describe it. Israel is now
looking for ways how to ignore the hearing, how to ignore the ruling, and if so, and I'm sure that Israel will continue, by the time we are talking
now, Israel is continuing to kill in Rafah and to have all kind of operations in Rafah, and by ignoring this resolution, like many resolutions
before, international resolutions, Israel will just become a pariah state with sanctions on its way, with maybe even any new attitude from the United
States.
[10:35:15]
And I asked myself, where were this crazy journey come to its end? When will the Israeli wake up and say enough is enough?
ANDERSON: Well, let's probe that. When will that happen? When do you expect if at all in the short term anything to change?
LEVY: No, it's very hard to see any change with the current government. And also I must say with the current atmosphere in Israel. The atmosphere in
Israeli is still pro-war. Those protests, which are very meaningful and should be very appreciative, they call for releasing the hostages. They
call for the fall of Prime Minister Netanyahu and his government. There are no protest against the war.
There is no protest movement in Israel that calls stop the war today because every day that passes now, the damages that Israel -- I'm not
speaking about the suffer of the Palestinians, which is unbelievable obviously. But ever the point of view of Israel, the damages are increasing
from day to day and some of them are irreversible, irreversible. Israel will not be able to remain a part of the democratic world if it will go on
ignoring the most important institutions of the international community.
ANDERSON: Can you give us some understanding of what is going on within the war cabinet and then the wider cabinet of ministers? There are reports that
both the defense minister and war cabinet minister Benny Gantz have clashed I think publicly at this point with Netanyahu about the fact that they say
he has no plan for the day after. Less criticism it seems by either of them about Netanyahu's position with regard what is going on on the ground at
present and indeed, what should happen with any ceasefire talks at this point.
But we do know that these talks are up and running once again. Do you get a sense from speaking to your sources that the Israeli government
particularly Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is in any way minded to accelerate work with the mediators and accelerate the potential for a
ceasefire and a hostage release in the first instance, then working towards which of course would stop a Rafah operation then working towards what
happens next? What's your sense about what's going on internally at present?
LEVY: You see, Becky, I've been in the last days in Doha and I met some senior Qatari diplomats who are very involved in the negotiation. And they
kept on telling me that there is no one to talk within Israel because everything is blocked by the prime minister. Those who talked to the Qatari
have all kinds of ideas how to get out of this stuck situation in which no negotiation leads to nowhere. But it's always blocked by the prime minister
who has different -- who has a different agenda.
But I would like to mention, Becky, that you mentioned the other ministers, the so-called moderate ministers, in the consultation, which is taking
place right now, Benny Gantz and Eisenkot are even not taking part and the only issue on the table is how can we ignore this resolution, and they
don't have either a plan for the day after. You really think that Benny Gantz has a plan for the day after?
No one has a plan for the day after because Israel went to this war without having a plan for the day after, and therefore everything is so stuck now.
ANDERSON: You penned an op-ed this week about the ICC arrest warrants, the request for those, an arrest warrant for Benjamin Netanyahu, for Yoav
Gallant, and indeed for members of the Hamas leadership. Let's be quite clear about that. That happened Monday of this week, bookended this quite
historic week by what we've just heard from the ICJ.
[10:40:09]
You penned this and I just wanted to read out bits of it and discuss with you, you know, what you wrote and to explain a little bit more. At last
justice, the very earliest signs at the beginning of a late partial justice, yet still a measure of justice, you said. Bundling them does not
imply moral symmetry or legal equivalency. Even if Israel and Hamas were accused separately, Israel would have raised a ruckus against the court.
And then you went on to say, and I think this is important. Quote, "Every Israeli must ask themselves how have we come to this?" It is not enough to
blame Netanyahu, the main culprit, nor, you say, is it enough to whitewash this with evasive arguments about Hezbollah, faulty legal counsel, and
extreme remarks from Israeli officials. The issue, you say, runs far deeper.
For 57 years, Israel has been maintaining a regime of wrongdoing and evil, and now at last, the world is waking up and starting to act against it.
Will it also be able to wake up at least some Israelis from their heedless, twisted sense of justice?
You posed the question, and again, you know, I close this discussion with you with that very question. You posed it. What do you think? What's the
answer here?
LEVY: You see, Becky, the discourse in Israel, the debate, the public debates in Israel, these all the time was the wrong questions. First of
all, we are blaming the entire world and never take any accountability of what we are doing and even ask ourselves, maybe we have some share in this
situation, this unprecedented situation, in which one state is being brought to justice in the two most important international courts, half of
the word is recognizing Palestine.
I mean, this can't get much worse than that. So maybe we carry some responsibility. Maybe we did something. And the second thing is really the
only question which is at stake now. Were there crimes of war committed in Gaza? And I think that any decent person the world cannot answer with a
negative word, with a negative answer to this question. Because the facts really are screaming out of the blood and the destruction of Gaza.
So if there were crimes committed, someone must be taken accountable. So it means there are criminals of war who are responsible for them. If there are
criminals of war, with some sense of justice, ought to see them being brought to justice. Israel will judge its own criminals. It's only about
the international community and those are very hard words as an Israeli but I don't see any other way to describe the situation.
ANDERSON: It is starvation as a method or weapon of war that the arrest warrants for both Benjamin Netanyahu and Yoav Gallant of course are being
sought by the ICC. You rightly point out the world's second and most important court alongside the ICJ. What a week.
Gideon, thank you very much, indeed, for joining us.
You are watching CONNECT THE WORLD. Still to come, as a jailed American awaits sentencing in Turks and Caicos, the British territory is slamming
talk of possible bias against U.S. citizens. More on that is just ahead.
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[10:46:10]
ANDERSON: Well, an American charged with possession of ammunition is expected to be sentenced this hour in Turks and Caicos. Bryan Hagerich is
one of five Americans potentially facing 12 years in prison after being arrested in recent months in the British overseas territory. U.S. lawmakers
traveled to the island earlier this week to press for their release.
CNN's Carlos Suarez watching this for us and he joins us now live.
Just explain what we understand to be the details here.
CARLOS SUAREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's right, Becky. Good morning. So that sentencing hearing was scheduled to get underway about 47 minutes ago.
And so we're still waiting on word from the court in Turks and Caicos on the judge's decision. Just how many years this -- Heydrich rather is going
to serve for these firearm offenses.
Now the sentencing is taking place as the back-and-forth between officials in Turks and Caicos and the U.S. really was heating up. And yesterday, the
country's premier went after the allegations that were made by some U.S. lawmakers that the country there was targeting Americans rather. The
premier noted that in the past six years 195 people have been convicted of firearm offenses in Turks and Caicos, but that only seven of them, just
seven of those 195 people have been Americans.
And so the premier said, look, let's allow this judicial process to play out. Judges in Turks and Caicos have discretion when it comes to handing
down sentences for these type of offenses and so it's possible that none of these Americans that have been arrested will receive the mandatory minimum
of 12 years in prison. In fact, rather, the premier said that no American that has ever been convicted on these types of charges has ever received
that kind of sentence.
Heydrich, who is from Pennsylvania, was arrested back in February. He is one of these five Americans that have been picked up on these charges of
possessing ammunition in the Caribbean Island. Heydrich said that he forgot that he had these hunting ammunitions in his luggage. And he told a CNN
affiliate that since he's been on the island, unable to come back to the U.S. he has missed several important family events including the graduation
of his daughter from kindergarten.
Now, Becky, U.S. lawmakers said that just how these court cases end up playing out could determine their next possible steps. Some congressmen
here in the U.S. said that they may call for a do not travel advisory to the Turks and Caicos Island, which you can imagine would be a direct hit on
the tourism there. As for the four other Americans, they're expected back in court, one of them next week, where he will be sentenced, and then the
remaining will be in court in June and July.
ANDERSON: Good to have you, sir. Thank you.
Well, still to come, we're going to tell you about the changes Singapore Airlines is making to its flights after what was severe and sudden
turbulence that killed one passenger and seriously injured dozens more on Tuesday. Details on that are ahead.
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[10:51:03]
ANDERSON: Singapore Airlines says it is adopting a more cautious policy towards turbulence following an incident this week on a London to Singapore
flight where one person died and dozens were injured.
Now the airline will reportedly not serve hot drinks or meals when the seatbelt sign is on. It is also altering at least one flight routes over
the part of Myanmar where the sudden extreme turbulence occurred on Tuesday. Now the plane was diverted to Bangkok after the incident. Hospital
officials there say 22 passengers are still being treated for spinal injuries, six with skull and brain injuries.
CNN's Pete Muntean joins me now live from Annapolis, in Maryland.
Pete, I've just detailed sort of the kind of broad brush of these Singapore Airlines changes. What do you make of them and what more might we expect?
PETE MUNTEAN, CNN AVIATION CORRESPONDENT: Well, you know, this is something that all airlines deal with all the time and turbulence is insidious and
invisible. And so many airlines are investing into trying to predict turbulence, in some cases using machine learning to try and get around it.
The old school way is typically the best method. Pilot reports or wide reports where pilots radio ahead to say what the turbulence is like in
front of them to the airplane behind them, that is only as good as the information that pilots put into it. So now Singapore Airlines is saying
it's taking these extra steps to try and mitigate the problem of turbulence.
The three steps it has laid out, trying to make it so that flight crew take their seats when the seatbelt sign is on, stopping service on board the
plane when the seatbelt sign is on, that includes meal service, and securing more things in the airplane when bad weather is expected. That
includes things in the galley. It is a top cause of injuries on board commercial flights. The top cause of injuries on board commercial flights.
And airlines are really trying to tackle this turbulence issue as more and more of these severe incidents come to light, like the Singapore Airlines
incident. So few end in a fatality like this one did.
ANDERSON: Yes, absolutely. And look, you know, this isn't -- although it's frightening to hear reports of incidents like this, this is not stopping
people in the States at least traveling for Memorial Day weekend. Millions are on the move. Some of the numbers here, Pete, 44 million people expected
to travel over the four days from Thursday, according to AAA, with the vast majority going by car.
But you can also expect the nation's airports to be packed. The TSA expects to screen more than 18 million passengers over the weekend. This is going
to throw up some logistical problems, let's call them that, Pete.
MUNTEAN: Yes, that's a good way of putting it. And it's going to be so busy at airports, too. And that's where these two stories really dovetail into
one another. This is significant because the numbers have already been so huge for air travel here in the U.S., about 2.9 million people screened by
TSA just yesterday. That is the second highest number, very close to the all-time TSA record.
In the month of May, there have been five days that have ranked in the top 10 for busy days that TSA has recorded since its inception back in 2002. So
this is just the precipice of a huge holiday weekend. Of course, for people here in the U.S., but also for people coming into the U.S.. And so many of
these airports could be also impacted by whether the FAA here in the U.S. concerned about thunderstorms, impacting some big international hubs like
Chicago, Atlanta and Minneapolis.
[10:55:06]
ANDERSON: Good to have you, sir.
Just some news coming in, we're just learning of the death of the prominent American documentary maker and former CNN colleague Morgan Spurlock.
Apologies for that. Spurlock best known for his film "Supersize Me" in which he ate fast food for a month and looked at the health issues it
caused. Morgan Spurlock died of complications from cancer according to his family. He was 53 years old. And our condolences to them.
Well, today's "Parting Shots" for you and a treat for stargazers. This week, May's Flower Moon has been blooming in the night sky. You may be
feeling a bit moonstruck because it's been, well, it's been putting on quite the show, isn't it? May's full moon gets its name from a reference to
its appearance in late spring in the Northern Hemisphere but the celestial spectacle has a number of monikers. There's milk moon in Old English and
planting moon among the Dakota and Lakota people of the U.S. Great Plains.
It was remarkable to see it here in Abu Dhabi last night.
That's it from CONNECT THE WORLD. From the team working with me here in Abu Dhabi, it is very good evening wherever you are watching in the world. Stay
with CNN. NEWSROOM is up next.
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