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One World with Zain Asher
Alexey Navalny's Widow Yulia Navalnaya Vows To Continue Husband's Work; California Crews Close A Stretch Of Highway 101 Due Rock Slide; Health Officials In Gaza Say Israeli Forces Have Effectively Shut Down The Largest Remaining Hospital In The Enclave; Several Cases Of Fertility Fraud Being Uncovered Throughout The United States; "Oppenheimer" Becomes The Big Winner On Sunday Night's BAFTA. Aired 12-1p ET
Aired February 19, 2024 - 12:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[12:00:36]
ZAIN ASHER, CNN INTERNATIONAL HOST: All right, coming to you live from New York, I'm Zain Asher. You are indeed watching "One World". The widow of
Russian opposition leader Alexey Navalny is signaling that she might be a formidable new political opponent for the Kremlin to contend with.
Yulia Navalnaya is vowing to not only continue her husband's work, but to find out and also expose anyone who was responsible for his death. In a
very powerful video message posted on Monday, Navalnaya urged Russians not to be afraid, not to remain silent, but instead to stand united in their
fury and in their anger and in their hope for a better future.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
YULIA NAVALNAYA, WIDOW OF ALEXEY NAVALNY (through translator): I ask you to share your rage -- rage, anger and hatred with me towards those who are
daring enough to kill our future. And I address you with Alexey's words, which I believe it is not a shame to do. It's not a shame to do little, but
it's a shame not to do anything. It's a shame to make yourself intimidated.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ASHER: Three days after officials say that Navalny collapsed at the Arctic prison where he was being held, the cause of his death and actually the
exact location of his body still right now remain a mystery. A spokesperson for the late opposition leader says that Navalny's body will not be
returned to his family for at least another 14 days.
Yulia Navalnaya meanwhile is accusing Russian authorities of fatally poisoning her husband, hiding his body and then waiting for the traces of
Novochok to disappear. In the U.S., a top Democrat is warning that Navalny's death should be cause for concern well beyond Russia's borders.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CHUCK SCHUMER, U.S. SENATE DEMOCRATIC LEADER: The death of Navalny. rings an urgent alarm bell that demands that House Speaker Johnson pass the
Bipartisan National Security Supplemental with the dire help that Ukraine needs in it. The best price the U.S. can make Putin pay is to give Ukraine
the help they need to fend off Putin's evil aggressions.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ASHER: Melanie Zanona is standing by live for us on Capitol Hill. But first I want to bring in Melissa Bell, who joins us live now from Paris. One of
the major cause for concern right now, Melissa, is just really the fact that you're seeing quite a significant crackdown on any sort of Navalny
supporters, mourners who are sort of laying flowers at memorials across Russia.
There's been a crackdown on them, raising a lot of concern about what may happen in the run up to Russia's elections next month. Take us through it
Melissa.
MELISSA BELL, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: That's right. What we've been seeing across the country, these floral tributes, flowers being
put down in memory of Alexey Navalny and very quickly picked up and taken away again by masked men.
And of course, these flowers are proving so threatening, extremely concerning, looking forward. And specifically, Zain, to the next month,
since in about a month's time, Vladimir Putin will stand for re-election. We know that he's swept aside any of those candidates who might have
presented any kind of challenge to him.
So, the result is a foregone conclusion in terms of the candidates that are actually being allowed to stand against him. But the fear is over the
course of the next month, what we're seeing over the course of the weekend that crackdown on any floral tributes, crackdown on anyone who's dared to
show proximity or voice support.
We've seen hundreds of arrests over the course of the weekend, Zain, and of course this does not bode well for the coming weeks. There are fears that
this could be a sign of a broader crackdown on any dissent and any kind, whether it is in the sense in terms of people or of speech, and that this
could be the beginning of much worse to come over the coming days.
In terms of the body itself, we understand that there's 14 days. What we hear from a spokesman is that it'll be some kind of chemical examination
going on the part of authorities.
It is because they've opened an inquiry that Russian authorities have essentially given themselves the possibility, Zain, of keeping the body for
longer and those around Alexey Navalny alleged being able then also either to temper, to wait for the effects of any poison to vanish.
So, a great deal of outrage, a great deal of anger really summed up in that nine-minute video message that you referenced a moment ago of Alexey
Navalny's widow.
[12:05:00]
So far, very much choosing to stay out of the limelight, accompanying her husband steadfast, but really signaling with this nine-minute video her
anger, her fury and her intention, it would seem, of standing perhaps more firmly in her -- in her husband's shoes than she had before, representing
something of a political force, herself, that so far she had shied away from, Zain.
ASHER: All right, Melissa Bell, thank you so much. I want to go now to Melanie Zanona. So, Melanie, the big question is, will Navalny's death
actually convince very sort of skeptical U.S. lawmakers, especially Republicans in the House, to send more military aid to Ukraine. Walk us
through that.
MELANIE ZANONA, CNN CAPITOL HILL REPORTER: Well, Democrats are certainly hoping that is the case. We've seen President Biden and Chuck Schumer, the
top Democrat in the Senate, really hammering Republicans over their inaction and saying Putin is watching.
There's been these twin developments over the weekend, not only Navalny's death in captivity, but also the fact that Ukraine has fallen to Russian
forces on the battlefield. That news came out this weekend just as foreign leaders, including members of Congress, were gathered in Munich for an
annual security conference.
So, you've heard Democrats really beating this drum, especially as the House of Representatives Senate right now are both on recess, so they're
not even scheduled to be back here in Washington legislating until next week. But as of right now, the fate of additional Ukraine aid rests
entirely in the hands of Speaker Mike Johnson.
He is the brand new Speaker. He's only been on the jobs for a few months. Sources tell me that as a rank-and-file member, he never even visited
Ukraine on what is known as a congressional delegation, which is a foreign trip. And what he is dealing with right now is he has this right flank,
this rambunctious group of hardliners who are completely opposed to Ukraine aid.
So, he is at a crossroads. He's caught between some Republicans in his conference who do want to see additional support Ukraine. He's also, as
Speaker, now saying that he recognizes the gravity of the situation, even though he had a different view as a rank-and-file member.
But you have Donald Trump also injecting himself into the debate, urging Republicans to oppose any additional Ukraine funding and also railing
against NATO. So, it's just a complicated position for the new Speaker.
As of right now, he has not said what he plans to do. He told members during a closed door meeting last week that there's no rush to address the
issue, but as the two-year anniversary of the war approaches and as all these developments come into focus, there is a new sense of urgency for
Speaker Mike Johnson to make a decision here.
But as of this point, it's just hard to imagine what a compromise would look like that would satisfy the right while also providing additional aid
to Ukraine.
ASHER: And I'm glad you touched on Donald Trump sort of being the puppet master here because he has been notably silent about the death of Alexey
Navalny. Melanie Zanona, we have to leave it there. Thank you so much, appreciate it.
All right, Marina Litvinenko knows more than most about opposing the Kremlin. Her late husband, former FSB agent Alexander Litvinenko, died in
London back in 2006 after drinking tea laced with radioactive polonium. A U.K. public inquiry conducted 10 years later concluded that the killing
was, quote, " -- probably approved by Russian President Vladimir Putin.".
Marina Litvinenko joins us live now from London. Marina, thank you so much for being with us. So, I'm sure you watched that nine-minute video with
Alexey Navalny's widow just vowing to take up the mantle and continue her husband's work, continue the fight on his behalf. Walk us through what
she's up against, Marina.
MARINA LITVINENKO, ALEXANDER LITVINENKO'S WIDOW: I'm very proud of Yulia and she made a very serious decision. In my way, when my husband was
killed, I was here in London and I knew I would be able to get justice. It would be proper investigation and we will have a name of people who
committed this crime.
But Yulia, whose husband was killed -- Alexey Navalny, was killed in prison in Russia. And when he was poisoned in Russia, it's never been proper
investigation at all. And now we will have to wait for 14 days, maybe even more to know what was exactly happened to Alexei Navalny.
An only way for Yulia is to stand in the place of Alexey to keep all his great team to work more -- harder and explode this regime to the end and
bring Russia to a brighter future.
ASHER: Marina, the fact that Alexey Navalny's body is not going to be released to his family for 14 days. I mean, a lot of people look at that
with some skepticism. You know, Yulia herself talked about the fact that she believes that maybe her husband was poisoned and that they're trying to
hide the traces of it.
Just give us your take on that. The fact that, you know, his body's not going to be released for another 14 days.
[12:10:00]
That's a very long time.
LITVINENKO: Again, it's a very shocking situation. And we have to talk about Alexey Navalny's mother, who saw her son a few days before he
collapsed, absolutely normal, alive. We can't say healthy after what he had processed more than two years. But he -- Alexey Navalny's mother, who saw
him and went to receive this news, he died, and she came immediately to take a body of her son.
And now she needs to travel from one place to another one. And I think it's just a torture, and we have to remember about this woman, too, and how she
must be strong to get her son's body. And we need to support the family -- of all family of Alexey Navalny who is suffered now.
But I again feel so sorry for all people in Russia who have no proper justice. They have no any rights to get truth and this is 14 days would be
used against this family. They will fabricate the result. They would make anything but not truth.
And in the same case, we have another example of Vladimir Kara-Murza, who was poisoned twice, and we still don't have what was behind of this. And
now he's in prison, and he has 25 years sentenced to stay in prison, and we need to remind him, and his life is in danger, too.
ASHER: One of the unique things about Alexey Navalny is that he was one of the few people in Russia who was actually capable of mobilizing a large
number of Russians, thousands of Russians to come out in the streets and participate in organized protests against Vladimir Putin, against the
Kremlin.
He played a very unique role in Russia's political life. Who takes up that mantle now? What happens to the opposition movement now that he's gone?
LITVINENKO: I'm definitely not going to name anybody because it's a means to make this person a target immediately. But I think what was a huge
problem to Putin's regime, Navalny was absolutely different type of political leader. He was not corrupt. He built his activity in a different
way. And he could talk to young people of his languages.
I mean, young people understood Alexey Navalny, but what can't understand Putin. He might write anything, but he never would be able to attract young
generation. He might corrupt, he might bribe these people, but not attract.
And now we can call this conflict of generation. And more and more young people will understand life what provided Vladimir Putin in Russia. It's
not to them. And it would be maybe another leader, maybe less charismatic, maybe more.
But now we do understand it's a different way how you can go to talk to people. What Alexey Navalny did. And I'm sure he still maybe just attract
people and maybe who will be not exactly one person, but a team of Alexey Navalny would be able to talk to this young generation.
ASHER: You know, one of the things that Yulia, Alexey Navalny's widow, has been saying is that, look, I am determined -- I am determined to find out
who exactly was responsible for my husband's death.
You see a lot of Western leaders on Friday after it happened coming out with statements talking about accountability. What does accountability look
like here? How hard is it for anyone to get justice at this point in time against Vladimir Putin for what many believe that he's responsible for?
LITVINENKO: When you're talking about justice, it's quite difficult moment. I just mentioned what happened to me. I was lucky to be in the U.K., in
London, and I had a great support of justice system. Even sometimes, even British government were not happy to get some knowledge of what happened to
my husband. In Russia, it will be completely different.
And another thing that might be a big plus for this situation, when it happened to me in 2006, it was not so much support for the U.K. Even if it
was the first act of nuclear terrorism, it's never happened in history when radioactive material was used on the street of London.
And what was the international reaction? Not so much, because Russia was a stable partner, very good to do business, and everybody wanted to do
political communication.
[12:15:00]
But since 2006, even if they tried to say, Putin is not a business, not a political partner, he's a murderer, it was not easy to prove. But now,
after 2014, when we have a war in Ukraine started.
When they have another poisoning in U.K. in 2018, when it was Yulia and Sergey Skripal poisoned by Novichok, the same agent what was used against
Alexey Navalny, it's now much easier to prove Putin's regime is not a regime you can make any communication and agreement.
And when we call election in a few weeks in Russia, I call you not to call this election. It's not election at all. And even after that, Putin doesn't
need to be called a President. He is not President of Russia, because this is not election.
ASHER: Right, and many people have voiced that opinion that the election is pretty much all but decided at this point in time. Marina Litvinenko, we
have to leave it there, we are out of time. Thank you so much, appreciate it.
All right, still to come here on "One World", a new warning from Israel about a potential ground offensive in Rafah will explain when exactly it
might happen. The details in a live report for you from Tel Aviv just ahead.
Also, California is bracing for more extreme wet weather as scenes like this play out across the state. We'll have that straight ahead to then the
dark side of the U.S. fertility industry. How a decades-old secret came to light, turning this woman's life upside down.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
VICTORIA HILL, DISCOVERED FERTILITY DOCTOR SWAS HER BIOLOGICAL FATHER: I mean I'll just put it out there I mean I was intimate with my half-brother.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ASHER: All right, road crews in California had to close a stretch of Highway 101 because of a rock slide over the weekend. Here you see trees
falling onto the road below and forecasters say there is a lot more bad weather to come. That's because another atmospheric river has nearly all of
California under flood alerts.
It is bringing heavy rainfall, high winds and heavy snowfall in the mountain regions, too. CNN Meteorologist Derek Van Dam has more on this
latest round of bad weather in California.
[12:20:00]
DEREK VAN DAM, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Yeah, that's right, Zain. Well, unfortunately, this is what can happen when we combine steep mountainous
terrain and already very saturated ground from previous atmospheric river events.
We've seen rock slides. This is coming out of Del Norte, California and you can see just how quickly this ground gives way. Gravity wins. The ground
becomes so saturated from the recent heavy rainfall that unfortunately it starts to slide.
Now, we are talking about extremely high rainfall values for the month of February, so much so that we're approaching some of the wettest February's
on record. Look at Los Angeles, 211 millimeters above their February average to date in terms of rainfall. Santa Barbara at 176 millimeters.
Today, more rainfall is occurring and will continue through the course of your Monday. You can see slight risk of flash flooding across the north and
central parts. But let's focus in on southern California, particularly Ventura and Los Angeles counties, where a moderate risk of flash flooding
is the latest information we can pass along to you from the Weather Prediction Center.
A band of heavier rainfall moving through the region that will lead to localized urban flooding and it doesn't stop there. Look at this. More
rainfall spreads in from the north, eventually making its way southward. San Francisco Bay Area will get hefty rainfall totals this time tomorrow.
An additional 100 to 125 millimeters possible from L.A. westward, that includes Santa Barbara and some of the mountainous regions throughout this
area of southern California. And we'll be measuring snowfall at feet across the Sierra Nevada mountain range.
Very impactful winter storm warnings in place across that part of California. A lot of energy with the system, as well. So, high wind
warnings, as well. And this is rather rare, Zain. We have a -- isolated risk of a passing tornado across the Sacramento Valley, something we need
to keep an eye to the sky. Back to you.
ASHER: All right, thanks Derek. Alright, still to come here, the largest remaining hospital in Gaza is said to be completely out of commission,
completely out of service. We'll have more on the growing humanitarian crisis in just a moment.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[12:25:44]
ASHER: All right, welcome back to "One World", I am Zain Asher. Health officials in Gaza say Israeli forces have effectively shut down the largest
remaining hospital in the enclave. Take a look here. This is what Nasr Hospital in Khan Younis looked like just a few days ago. Israeli forces
raided the facility last week, claiming that hostages had been kept there.
The Hamas-controlled Gaza Ministry of Health claims that 70 healthcare workers were arrested by the Israelis and that 80 patients were taken to an
unknown location. Gaza officials say that only 25 medical workers remain at the hospital and that they're unable to handle any critical cases.
The war is taking a devastating toll on children in Gaza where living in constant fear also forced to flee their homes, as well. Many still dream of
a brighter future after the war is over. CNN's Nada Bashir has more.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
NADA BASHIR, CNN INTERNATIONAL REPORTER: In this camp for the displaced in Der al-Balah, little Mohammed has only these biscuits to sell. Two for just
under 30 cents is his price. Just the one for this young girl. Another child feeling the pain of Gaza's deepening hunger crisis.
Children across this camp are part of the near two million people who have been displaced in Gaza fleeing in search of safety, warned by the Israeli
military of its forces encroaching operation.
But even as bombs continue to come crashing down around them, children here, like Rafah, still have hope for a life after war. I hope to go home
and see my brother, she says. I want to apologize to him and kiss his feet. We left and couldn't take him and my grandparents with us.
After the Israeli military ordered Ghazans to move further south of the strip, many were left with nowhere else to turn just like Nama and her five
grandchildren, whose parents were killed in an airstrike.
"I don't know what to say. I don't know how it happened," she says. "I suddenly found everyone had been killed. Nobody was left." The memory is
clearly still so raw and painful for her grandchildren. Instead, she asks Mustafa what he wants to do when the war comes to an end. "The beach," the
says.
"God willing, we will be able to take you to the beach and the amusement park, too."
But that joyful dream is short-lived, punctured by the unavoidable reality surrounding them. "Tell them, my dear, tell them about how you lost your
parents and how they saved you from under the rubble. Tell them. Tell them everything."
BASHIR (voice-over): Back at the camp, Ahed paces up and down, checking his phone for news from his friends. It's his dream, he says, to see them alive
one more time. "I want to go back to my home, safe and sound, to see my friends, to go to school and learn."
But as Israel warns, the war could last for many more months. The dreams of Gaza's children are slowly fading as they try to survive just one more day.
Nada Bashir, CNN in London.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ASHER: And amid all of that, Israel is issuing a fresh warning and also a deadline to Hamas. War Cabinet Minister Benny Gantz says forces will expand
military operations into Rafah -- into the southern Gaza city of Rafah if Hamas does not return the remaining hostages by Ramadan.
The Holy Muslim month is expected to begin during the second week of March. Roughly one and a half million displaced Palestinians are taking refuge in
Rafah, close to Egypt's border and there's a growing international concern right now they will have nowhere else to go if Israel carries out a ground
operation. The U.N. is once again sounding the alarm.
[12:30:00]
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SIGRID KAAG, U.N. SR. HUMANITARIAN COORDINATOR: Currently, an extension of military operation in Rafah will have very dire humanitarian consequences
for the innocent civilians that are there.
At the same time we hear very clearly, of course, the different voices from the Israeli war cabinet, their intent to proceed, the timing seems to be a
matter of discussion.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ASHER: CNN's Jeremy Diamond joins us live now from Tel Aviv. So, Jeremy, prior to this war, Rafah had a population of about 300,000. Now there's
about one and a half million people crammed into the city right now. If the Israelis go in, if they do start a ground assault, what happens to the
people there, Jeremy?
JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN JERUSALEM CORRESPONDENT: Well, that is absolutely the core of the question here, because the Israeli military has said that they
will evacuate much of that population.
The Israeli Prime Minister has said as much himself, but so far they have yet to release any details at all about exactly how they would accomplish
that or where they would go beyond the Israeli Prime Minister saying effectively that there is plenty of space further north in Gaza.
What we have seen already, though, in recent days is that even just the threats of this Israeli military offensive, even as it doesn't necessarily
appear imminent based on the Israeli military capabilities at the moment is that even just those threats have already prompted a sense of fear, a sense
of panic among some of those one and a half million people in Rafah.
We have seen hundreds, if not thousands of people already beginning to flee Rafah heading for the central areas of Gaza, searching for safety. But
instead, in some cases finding more war, more destruction.
That was the case yesterday as an airstrike hit a neighborhood in Deir al- Balah in central Gaza, a house where approximately 40 people from Rafah had just fled and were sheltering there. Many of those killed and wounded were
children, as well.
And so, enter into the picture, all of this, you have Benny Gantz, a minister in the war cabinet who is now effectively giving a deadline,
saying to Hamas, saying to the world that if Hamas doesn't return hostages, if Hamas doesn't agree to a deal to return hostages by Ramadan on March
approximately March 10th or 11th, that Israel will indeed proceed with this offensive into Rafah.
And it's very clear that the Israeli government is taking a very hard line in these negotiations and Hamas also appears to not be moving up until now.
The Israeli Prime Minister just a couple of days ago said that Hamas' latest counterproposal was effectively zero change from its previous
counter-proposal, that they hadn't moved even a millimeter or a nanometer, he said.
And the Israeli Prime Minister says that until Hamas does move, he is not going to engage in further negotiations. So, a very tense moment, a very
uncertain moment.
And not only, of course, you have the fate of some 130 plus hostages hanging in the balance, but also, of course, the lives of one and a half
million people in Rafah who are waiting to see whether or not there will be a ceasefire, waiting to see whether or not there will be a deal that could
perhaps avert a deadly military offensive in that very same city.
ASHER: All right, Jeremy Diamond, live for us there, thank you so much. All right, time now for The Exchange to break all of this down. Joining me live now is CNN Political and National Security Analyst David Sanger. He's
also a 'New York Times" White House and National Security Correspondent.
David, thank you so much for being with us. So, just recently, the Biden administration warned Israel about conducting an operation in Rafah without
a credible plan to ensure the evacuation and safety of the civilians who are there.
We know that Israel has said that they are going to evacuate the civilians in Rafah first before going in. But what does an evacuation actually look
like? Where do the people there go? And what does Israel risk in terms of its relationship with the United States by going into Rafah, David?
DAVID SANGER, CNN POLITICAL AND NATIONAL SECURITY ANALYST: Well, this is a great mystery because the plan for going into Rafah, at least as explained
by American officials, calls for moving civilians, but they don't seem to fully understand where.
They can't go to the north where they have come from. That's where they were previously evacuated and there are still military operations there.
Rafah is right up against the southern fence of the Gaza Strip, and Egypt has made sure that they're not going into Egypt.
So, the Israelis have to put out a really credible understanding of not only where they're going to move them, but how they're going to feed them,
how they're going to take care of medical conditions.
And Israel's larger problem here is that by the assessment of American and European intelligence agencies, they haven't come close to getting most of
the tunnels that are underneath, presumably there are more in Rafah, and they haven't gotten the leadership yet, which they suspect may be around
Rafah.
[12:35:00]
And if that's the case, this could go on for some time. What happens if you take Rafah but you still have not destroyed the leadership of Hamas, which
of course is the strategic objective the Israelis have laid out?
For the United States, to answer your question about risk, the Israelis are going to be using American provided weapons here. And I think there's
increasing concern, understandably by American officials, that the U.S. will be implicated if those weapons are used in ways that kill large
numbers of civilians.
ASHER: Yeah, you bring up some really interesting points. I mean, the fact that, you know, there's still a vast network of tunnels that haven't been
interrupted yet. The fact that they haven't gotten key factors, key members of Hamas is leadership and yet still 29,000 people are dead as a result of
this war is no doubt alarming.
But the fact that Israel is resorting to this method, this idea of saying, listen, if you don't release the hostages by Ramadan, we are going into
Rafah. The fact that this is the method with which they're using to try to get the hostages released, what does that tell you about the state of
negotiations and the possibility of reviving some kind of truce here?
SANGER: Well, there had been a theory for a long time that the pressure to go into Rafah was an effort to get the Hamas leadership to agree to some
kind of pause. The Israelis will not call it a ceasefire. And of course, that hostage exchange.
You've seen the CIA Director, Bill Burns, traveling in the region, most recently in Egypt, to try to negotiate that. It's a complex process in part
because the U.S. and other powers are talking to the Qataris and others. They are then talking to the political leadership for Hamas.
They are then passing the message in some unclear way that must be logistically pretty complex to the military leadership of Hamas, which is
frequently out of touch because they don't want to get tracked down by the Israelis.
So, we don't even know how well the messages are being passed. And so far, Hamas has asked for a very large number of Palestinians to be released for
each Israeli who's released. And the number seems out of whack to almost everybody else in these negotiations.
ASHER: David, let's talk about the Houthi rebels who remained ever active in the region. The U.S. military is saying that it struck an underwater
vessel in the Red Sea on Saturday, deployed by the Houthi rebels. What does that tell us?
I mean, this is the first time that the U.S., according to the U.S. assessment, that they, the Houthi rebels have been known to use an unmanned
underwater vessel, a UUV. What does that tell us about their capabilities, really?
SANGER: What it tells you is that, like the Ukrainians, they are innovating under battle conditions. You know, first, it was airborne drones. Undersea
drones have come increasingly to the fore in Ukraine. They've been used by the Ukrainians to strike at the Russian fleet.
And if you've already developed a drone technology, it's not a huge leap to then turn these into basically pilotless submarines. Fundamentally, they
are like torpedoes, but a little more controllable.
This wasn't moving that fast, and the U.S. was able to destroy it underwater. But clearly the Houthis, with Iranian help, have gotten pretty
creative here. And it's not clear that Iran is directing any of this.
In fact, we have more evidence now that the Iranians want this cooled down so there's no direct conflict with the United States. But the Houthis sort
of depend for their own political purposes on showing that they can take something out of the U.S. and the West.
They're much better at that than they are at governing. And that will be the great test here, because they keep coming back, no matter how often the
United States says that its strikes are intended to deter them from future action.
ASHER: Yeah, I mean, it's interesting. I mean, the Houthis have proven to be remarkably resilient, and the U.S. is letting that up close --
SANGER: Absolutely.
ASHER: -- just as the Saudis did, right, back in 2015, and are still learning. David Sanger --
SANGER: That's right.
ASHER: -- live for us there. Thank you.
SANGER: And there's no evidence that's changed.
ASHER: Right. Thank you so much, David. We appreciate it. All right, still to come here on "One World".
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNKNOWN: I am happy to be alive, but I don't want to be the product of a fraud.
ASHER: The U.S., the United States is behind much of the West when it comes to regulation of fertility treatments. CNN investigates how that lack of
regulation can actually disrupt lives. We'll explain after the break.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[12:42:56]
ASHER: All right, thanks to the use of easily available genetic testing, several cases of fertility fraud are being uncovered throughout the United
States. In some really extreme cases, fertility doctors misled their female patients and their families by secretly using their own sperm instead of
that of a donor.
CNN's Kyung Lah spoke to a woman whose story reflects just how loosely regulated this industry actually is.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
V. HILL: I mean, I'll just put it out there. I mean, I was intimate with my half-brother.
KYUNG LAH, CNN SENIOR INVESTIGATIVE CORRESPONDENT: But you didn't know. HILL: We didn't know. Yeah.
LAH: They couldn't have known. In the early 2000s, they were two teenagers growing up in Wallingford, Connecticut, a suburb like any other, where
Victoria Hill met her high school boyfriend.
HILL: This I think was junior year.
LAH: Obviously you're dating here.
HILL: Yeah.
LAH: What Victoria didn't know then --
MARALEE HILL, DISCOVERED SHE WAS INSEMINATED WITH DOCTOR'S SPERM: My husband and I tried for a while and it wasn't working.
LAH: What was the infertility world like back then?
M. LEE: Back then everything was quiet. It was kept not really secret- secret but it wasn't advertised.
LAH: Her mother Maralee Hill turned to a New Haven Connecticut fertility specialist, Dr. Burton Caldwell. She says Dr. Caldwell told her he would
inseminate her using an anonymous medical student's sperm. Hill got pregnant.
UNKNOWN: There's baby.
M. LEE: I kind of erased it in my mind that they weren't my husband's biological children.
LAH (voice-over): Until recently, when Victoria took a commercially available DNA test, curious about her health history. To her shock, she
found half siblings she never knew existed. One of them reached out, revealing their biological father is Dr. Caldwell.
V. LEE: When I opened it up, it basically just kind of put out there, what you're seeing is some half siblings because we believe that the doctor that
did your mother's fertility treatment might be our biological father. And I just remember sitting there just being like, what?
[12:45:00]
What is happening?
LAH (voice-over): Victoria's high school boyfriend, who asked his identity be concealed, was also donor-conceived. His parents also used Dr. Caldwell.
The boyfriend took a DNA test.
V. LEE: He texted me and it was a screenshot of the 23 And Me connection and it said, you are my sister. What? We're siblings?
LAH (voice-over): So, she continued to find more brothers and sisters all discovered through DNA.
LAH: All connected to Dr. Caldwell.
V. LEE: Yeah. I've slept with my half sibling. There were four of us that we know of in the same high school. Another half sibling, we went to the
same elementary school, and that's just in the 23 that I know. My children have 41 first cousins that we know of most, which are local.
LAH: So, how many could there be?
LAH (voice-over): Victoria's story is a worst case scenario in the fertility field. The FDA regulates sperm and egg donations, but doesn't
limit the number of donations nor the amount of offspring, vastly behind some western countries with tighter controls.
And when it comes to doctors using their own sperm without patient consent, there's currently no federal law and only 13 states with existing fertility
fraud laws.
V. LEE: I consider you guys sisters or I'll say like half-sisters.
UNKNOWN: A lot.
ALYSSA DENNISTON, DISCOVERED FERTILITY DOCTOR WAS HER BIOLOGICAL FATHER: More people than I think we know struggle to conceive and that's why all of
our moms did what they did because they wanted babies. They would do anything. For my kids sake, I hope you get the tall gene.
LAH (voice-over): Victoria and two of her half-sisters say they are Caldwell's biological children, all born within four years in the 1980s.
It's only through commercial genetic tests that they can track their growing numbers.
V. LEE: None of us knew and every single time it comes up we end up having to relive what that experience was like.
LAH: So Janine, you went and saw. Dr. Caldwell.
JANINE PEARSON, DISCOVERED FERTILITY DOCTOR WAS HER BIOLOGICAL FATHER: Yes.
LAH: You snapped a picture. Why did you take a picture?
PEARSON: I wanted proof, but I still, when I see that picture, it's this sick feeling. I felt strongly that I had to meet him to make him and the
whole situation real. I try to make it make sense.
LAH (voice-over): Janine Pearson filed a civil lawsuit against Caldwell last year. It's all she can do for some sense of justice.
V. HILL: We don't want this to happen to anybody else.
LAH: Dr. Caldwell stopped practicing sometime in the early 2000s, but he still lives here in Connecticut. So, we decided to stop and see if we could
chat with him. Okay, so I saw Dr. Caldwell. He appears to be frail, quite elderly. I chatted briefly with his wife, who did not want to talk.
MATT BLUMENTHAL, ATTORNEY REPRESENTING VICTORIA HILL: The law is frankly way behind technology in this area.
LAH (voice-over): Attorney Matt Blumenthal represents Victoria Hill, her high school boyfriend and Hill's mother. There are dozens of reported cases
like this of other fertility doctors accused of impregnating their patients. Hundreds of offspring who only recently discovered the truth
because of DNA testing.
BLUMENTHAL: It's been kept from them for so long they can't do anything about it because the legal system may not provide them a remedy.
V. HILL: It's insane to me that there's just no justice, there's no recourse. The reason why I'm telling this story, I mean, for me coping, I
need to make meaning of this somehow. I am happy to be alive, but I don't want to be the product of a fraud.
LAH: A Victoria Hill joined by advocates are spending the rest of this week trying to talk to members of Congress. They are pushing for proposed
federal legislation that would outlaw fertility fraud.
The bill has been written. It is sitting in the House. We will be following them on their journey. We did reach out to Caldwell's attorney one more
time. He did not have any comment. Kyung Lah, CNN, Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ASHER: There are no words. All right, still to come here on "One World", are you an "Oppenhomie"? If you're a fan of Cillian Murphy in
"Oppenheimer", you'll know exactly what I mean. It's all about the BAFTAs next, and he was just one of the big winners to light up the red carpet in
London. We'll recap the ceremony for you after the break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[12:51:57]
ASHER: Donald Trump is selling gold high-top sneakers to his fans. You heard me right. Donald Trump is launching a sneaker line. Just one day
after being hit with a $355 million judgment by a New York judge, Trump traveled to Philadelphia on Saturday for SneakerCon, billed as the greatest
sneaker show on Earth. Take a look.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP, FORMER U.S. PRESIDENT: This is something I've been talking about for 12 years, 13 years. And I think it's going to be a big success.
That's the real deal. That's the real deal.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ASHER: Trump's so-called "Never Surrender" high-top sneaker cost $399 a pair. The website says they're made to order and will not ship until July.
On a chilly night, excuse me, in February in the British capital, things turned red hot on the red carpet. That's because some of the top acting
talent on the planet turned out for the 77th Annual British Academy Film Awards, better known as the BAFTAs.
"Oppenheimer" was the big winner on Sunday night. The biopic about the man who helped usher in the nuclear age won seven awards, including Best Actor
for Cillian Murphy and Best Director and Film for Christopher Nolan. My colleague Max Foster was there as the stars greeted the fans and one
another to celebrate the most applauded movies of the season. Take a look.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MAX FOSTER, CNN ANCHOR AND CORRESPONDENT: London -- rolling out the red carpet. Welcome to the BAFTAs, the biggest night of the year for the
British movie industry.
UNKNOWN: So much talent comes out of England, so to be here, it's exciting.
UNKNOWN: I'm having the best time. Kind of absolutely mental, but also just in the best way.
FOSTER: The British Academy Film Awards are where cinema royalty meets U.K. royalty. But some glamour was missing this year, as the Princess of Wales
continues to recover from surgery. Prince William attended alone signalling that Kate is at least well enough for him to return to public duties.
The night, a celebration of British culture. Seeing Sophie Ellis Bexter perform her 2001 single, "Murder on the Dance Floor", currently
experiencing a social media explosion after its appearance in "Saltburn".
SOPHIE ELLIS-BEXTOR, SINGER AND SONGWRITER: Other songs have had a resurgence, like many decades after they released. Never in a million years
thought I would be able to experience that.
FOSTER (voice-over): The ceremony also paid tribute to those impacted by the war in Ukraine, as "20 Days in Mariupol" took home the prize for Best
Documentary.
MSTYSLAV CHERNOV, DIRECTOR, "20 DAYS IN MARIUPOL": Thank you for empowering our voice. Let's just keep fighting.
FOSTER (voice-over): But alongside the impassioned political statements, the ceremony found some lighter moments.
HUGH GRANT, ACTOR: Oompa loompa, doompity dong. Most of these films were frankly too long.
[12:55:00]
UNKNOWN: This is a national emergency.
FOSTER: Despite taking some heat for its three-hour run time, "Oppenheimer" cleaned up, bringing home seven BAFTAs in total.
CILLIAN MURPHY, ACTOR, "OPPENHEIMER": I want to thank my fellow nominees and my "Oppenholmese". That was a rhyme. The BAFTA goes to. I want to thank
my fellow nominees and my Oppenholmese. That was a rhyme.
UNKNOWN: The BAFTA goes to --
UNKNOWN: "Poor Things". An imaginative feminist take on Frankenstein.
UNKNOWN: Good evening.
FOSTER (voice-over): "Poor Things" also took home five awards, including leading actress. Thank you for the line, I must go punch that baby. And in
a BAFTA's first, the award for the best film, not in the English language, went to a British film, "The Zone of Interest".
CLAIRE FOY, ACTOR, "ALL OF US STRANGERS": I think that the BAFTAs celebrate smaller films in a way which I think is really amazing. I think it's really
important that younger filmmakers are appreciated and that it's a diverse set of filmmakers.
FOSTER: So, what does this tell us about who might win of the Oscars? Well, not very much, it seems, because only two of the winners of Best Movie
here, other BAFTAs, have gone on to win the Oscars, as well. That's over the last 10 years. So, it's all still to play for.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ASHER: Thanks, Max. All right, that does it for this hour of "One World". I'm Zain Asher. Thank you so much for watching. Amanpour is up next. You're
watching CNN.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
END
