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CNN International: Protesters in Israel Demand Early Elections, Hostage Deal; Tens of Thousands of People Displace in Southern Lebanon; Trump: Abortion Legislation Should Be Left to States; New Document from Vatican Identifies Grave Violation of Human Dignity; European Court of Human Rights to Rule on Climate Cases. Aired 4:30-5a ET

Aired April 09, 2024 - 04:30   ET

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

[04:30:00]

MAX FOSTER, CNN ANCHOR: Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida is on a week-long visit to the United States. He's set to meet with President Biden Wednesday to discuss several topics including economic growth and the wars in Ukraine and Gaza. On Thursday, Mr. Kishida is set to address a joint meeting of Congress.

Both Jennifer and James Crumbley will be sentenced to prison today. They are the parents of the teenager who killed four students in a 2021 school shooting in Oxford, Michigan. The parents were separately convicted of involuntary manslaughter and face up to 15 years behind bars. Ethan Crumbley is serving life in prison without parole for the killings.

Israel's national security minister is now warning that Benjamin Netanyahu cannot remain prime minister if he defends the war against Hamas without launching a ground offensive in Rafah. CNN's Jeremy Diamond has more on the issues that Mr. Netanyahu is facing right now.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Israeli tanks and troops just returned from southern Gaza, signs of a major withdrawal and another political headache for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

His right-wing governing partners outraged with national security minister Itamar Ben-Gvir warning Netanyahu will not have a mandate to continue serving as prime minister if he ends the war without invading Rafah.

It's the latest layer of political pressure confronting Netanyahu. He's already facing a growing swell of protests calling for early elections and a hostage deal.

DIAMOND: In the early days of the war you really didn't see these kinds of mass demonstrations against the current government. There was a sense of wartime unity that it wasn't appropriate to protest but now we're seeing more and more Israelis coming out to protest, raising their voices against the current government and against Benjamin Netanyahu. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: None of us wanted to protest we just wanted to

survive basically. You can't protest when you're afraid for your life. But I think we're not afraid for our life at this moment and this is the time to replace the government.

DIAMOND (voice-over): Former Prime Minister Ehud Olmert says Netanyahu should resign, accusing him of putting the survival of his government above the interests of the country.

EHUD OLMERT, FORMER ISRAELI PRIME MINISTER: You can't run the national interest on the basis of personal interests of the prime minister and that's what he was doing and therefore he's not fit. More than 50 percent of the Israelis think the same. They don't trust him. They think that he is running the war on the basis of his personal interests.

DIAMOND (voice-over): Aviv Bushinsky, a former Netanyahu advisor, says his former boss learned decades ago to always prioritize those who will keep him in power.

AVIV BUSHINSKY, FORMER ADVISER TO ISRAELI PRIME MINISTER BENJAMIN NETANYAHU: Never betray your natural allies. They are his allies, his buddies. He has to adhere to their will, pay a heavy price, political price, but this is how his coalition is so crystal, strong and solid.

DIAMOND (voice-over): Despite the rhetoric from Ben Gvir, Netanyahu's right-wing partners don't seem inclined to pull the rug out from under him just yet.

Calls for new elections from his chief rival, war cabinet member Benny Gantz.

BENNY GANTZ, ISRAELI WAR CABINET: The Israeli society needs to renew its contract with its leadership.

DIAMOND (voice-over): An increasingly vocal criticism from the White House are drawing little more than signature defiance from the Israeli prime minister.

BENJAMIN NETANYAHU, ISRAELI PRIME MINISTER (through translator): Hamas hopes that the pressure from outside and inside will make Israel surrender to these extreme demands. The pressure of the international community should be directed against Hamas.

DIAMOND (voice-over): For now, Netanyahu is staving off early elections, which polls show he would likely lose to Benny Gantz, who is still mulling a potential exit from the wartime unity government.

DIAMOND: What kind of impact do you think it would have for him to leave this unity government?

OLMERT: I think it would probably trigger the public reaction, the volcano of the public bitterness and disappointment and rage with Bibi's government. And that will force early elections.

DIAMOND: Because right now we've seen more and more people taking to the streets, but it's still not enough, is what you're saying.

OLMERT: It's moving in the right direction, but we need more.

DIAMOND (voice-over): Jeremy Diamond, CNN, Tel Aviv.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

FOSTER: The Israeli military says it has killed a Hezbollah commander responsible for attacks against Israel. He reportedly died in an airstrike in southern Lebanon on Monday. This comes a day after the Israeli Defense Forces said Hezbollah, an ally of Iran, must pay an increasing price for its participation in the war in Gaza. Adding that the IDF is in a very high state of readiness. Iran, meanwhile, has vowed retaliation against Israel for the recent attack on its consulate in Syria.

And U.S. intelligence sources now say an Iranian proxy would likely carry out that attack.

The U.N. is urging all sides to halt the violence to prevent a wider conflict. Meanwhile, the ongoing shelling in southern Lebanon has driven tens of thousands of people from their communities.

[04:35:02]

CNN's Ben Wedeman has our report.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BEN WEDEMAN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): These boxes of food are the difference between survival and desperation. Provided by Virginia-based non-profit Islamic Relief USA. They're a lifeline to the around 90,000 Lebanese civilians who have fled their homes along the border with Israel.

Abu Fadl takes a box. He normally grows tobacco. He's grateful for the help, dubious about the source.

I'll think of this as Islamic, not American, he says. If it were American, I wouldn't take it.

Since last October, Israel and Hezbollah have engaged in daily and often deadly exchanges of cross-border fire. As a result, most of the communities on both sides of the frontier have become ghost towns.

Murtadam Hanna (ph) juggles tasks in the operations room, overseeing relief efforts for the southern Tyre governorate. He worries after six months, calls for more help are increasingly ignored.

At the beginning of the crisis, it was better, he tells me. Now the response is much less and much slower.

Wafa and her sister rent a small room in Tyre's ancient quarter. It's been months since they've been home.

Honestly, we've lost a lot, Wafa says. We've lost everything in our area.

Their olive groves are abandoned, the land left untended. But Wafa is lucky. At least she lives in a pleasant area.

Tens of thousands of others are camped out in schools across the south. Ten-year-old Zahra spends her days scampering around the corridors with her friends. She told me she had to leave her home five months ago because of the war.

The bombing scared her, she says.

In another school, Mustafa Saeed despairs over the loss of his livelihood.

I had three horses, a cow, four sheep and 120 chickens, he recalls. They're all dead.

And thus they're left in limbo, waiting for the day when the guns go silent, when they can go back to their homes or what's left of them.

Ben Wedeman, CNN, Tyre, South Lebanon.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

FOSTER: U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris is criticizing Donald Trump after the former president teased a big announcement on abortion, only to punt abortion laws to states.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP (R), FORMER U.S. PRESIDENT, 2024 PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: My view is now that we have abortion where everybody wanted it from a legal standpoint, the states will determine by vote or legislation or perhaps both. And whatever they decide must be the law of the land, in this case, the law of the state.

Many states will be different. Many will have a different number of weeks or some will have more conservative than others, and that's they will be. At the end of the day, this is all about the will of the people.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FOSTER: Well, Harris warned that Trump would go much further to restrict abortion rights if he was given the chance.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KAMALA HARRIS, U.S. VICE PRESIDENT: If he were to be put back in a position where he could sign off on a law, he would sign off on a national abortion ban. Let's be very clear about that.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FOSTER: Well, Trump's decision coming nearly two years after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade was also criticized by some Republicans who want a national ban on abortion. Trump's stance on abortion has shifted so many times over the years, it's hard to keep up. CNN's Randi Kaye has a look at Trump's track record.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

RANDI KAYE, CNN U.S. NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Donald Trump staked out his first public position on abortion in April of 1989 when he co-sponsored a dinner at the Plaza Hotel in Manhattan for the president of a national group that advocates for abortion rights.

Then, more than a decade later, in 1999 on NBC's "Meet the Press", Trump defended his position, doubling down on it.

DONALD TRUMP, THEN-REAL ESTATE DEVELOPER: I'm very pro-choice. I hate the concept of abortion. I hate it. I hate everything it stands for. I cringe when I listen to people debating the subject, but you still, I just believe in choice.

TIM RUSSERT, THEN MEET THE PRESS HOST: But you would not ban it?

TRUMP: No.

KAYE (voice-over): As the years passed and Trump grew more serious about running for president, his position on abortion flipped. This was him at CPAC, the Conservative Political Action Conference, in 2011.

TRUMP, THEN-REALITY TV SHOW HOST: I'm pro-life. I'm against gun control.

[04:40:02]

KAYE (voice-over): By then, Trump was opposed to abortion rights. In a CNN interview in June 2015, even Trump himself seemed momentarily confused about where he stood on the issue.

JAKE TAPPER, CNN ANCHOR: I know you're opposed to abortion.

TRUMP: Right. I'm pro-choice.

TAPPER: You're pro-choice or pro-life?

TRUMP: I'm pro-life. I'm sorry.

TAPPER: Pro-life.

KAYE (voice-over): Later in 2015, at a GOP presidential primary debate, Trump was asked why his position on the issue changed since 1999. He explained he'd, quote, evolved.

TRUMP: What happened is friends of mine years ago were going to have a child and it was going to be aborted and it wasn't aborted and that child today is a total superstar, a great, great child. And I saw that and I saw other instances.

KAYE (voice-over): The following year, in 2016. TRUMP: I'm going to, I'm pro-life. The judges will be pro-life.

KAYE (voice-over): As recently as May last year, Trump was still noncommittal about what exactly a national abortion ban might look like if he were elected again.

KAITLAN COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: -- abortion ban. You did not say yes or no to that.

TRUMP: It depends what the deal is. And I'll make the right decision.

KAYE (voice-over): In February, Trump signaling he was open to a 15 week federal ban with exceptions for cases of rape, incest and when the life of the mother is in danger.

TRUMP: Now people are agreeing on 15 and I'm thinking in terms of that, I'll make that announcement at the appropriate time.

KAYE (voice-over): That announcement, when it came today, marked Trump's latest attempt to thread this political needle.

Randi Kaye, CNN, Palm Beach, Florida.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

FOSTER: The Vatican names what it considers, quote, grave violations of human dignity in a new declaration issued on Monday.

The Dignitas Infinita, which means infinite dignity, says, or lays out the Catholic Church's stance on inherent and unalienable worth and rights afforded to every person. Things that would violate that dignity include issues like sexual abuse, surrogacy, abortion, and gender-affirming surgery.

The document says, in part, quote, any sex change intervention, as a rule, risks threatening the unique dignity the person has received from the moment of conception.

CNN Vatican correspondent Christopher Lamb has the detail.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHRISTOPHER LAMB, CNN VATICAN CORRESPONDENT: Gender theory, surrogacy, and gender-affirming healthcare are all violations of human dignity, according to a new Vatican document. The declaration, which was signed off and approved by Pope Francis, lists the gender theory alongside other violations of human dignity, such as abortion and euthanasia.

The document also includes, however, social issues, such as the plight of migrants, the violence against women, and the death penalty, saying that these issues are also important and that Catholics should not simply focus on abortion and euthanasia.

Whilst the document is critical of gender theory, it does include a strong condemnation of the criminalization of homosexuality in certain countries around the world, something that Pope Francis spoke about in 2023 ahead of a trip to Africa.

Cardinal Fernandez presenting the document said he was shocked that some Catholics were supportive of these laws criminalizing homosexuality.

The document appears to be a balancing of both Pope Francis' desire to maintain Catholic teaching and doctrine, but also his pastoral welcome to same-sex Catholics and LGBTQ plus believers.

This document comes in the months after the Vatican issued a groundbreaking text offering blessings to same-sex couples, something that sent shockwaves through the church, and allowing for trans- Catholics to act as godparents at baptisms.

So with this document, we see a reaffirmation of Catholic teaching and doctrine, but at the same time a desire to apply that in a pastoral and compassionate way.

Christopher Lamb, CNN.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

FOSTER: Still to come, we're awaiting the ruling in a series of landmark climate change cases. We'll have the latest from the European Court of Human Rights.

Golfers and spectators getting ready for the Masters to begin this week. But a dazzling display in the sky had many people looking up to Monday's practice round.

[04:45:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

FOSTER: The European Court of Human Rights is expected to rule today whether insufficient government action on climate change amounts to a human rights violation.

Decisions are expected in three cases the court heard last year from residents of Portugal, Switzerland, and France. They claim their governments are part of the problem while some of the governments argue the cases are inadmissible to the court.

Clare Sebastian joins us with more. I mean, the governments have a lot to lose if this goes through.

CLARE SEBASTIAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: If this goes through in any of the three cases, I think it could potentially open the floodgates to more climate litigation because it will send a message that it is a significant tool alongside sort of international treaties like Paris, for example, to force climate action from governments.

So what we have, Max, is sort of three distinct cases, right? These are really the first cases to be heard on a regional level by the European Court of Human Rights. We've had national decisions on these types of cases before. One is from the Swiss senior women. They've already had their case thrown out in Switzerland. They are suing the Swiss government essentially, accusing them of violating their human rights because they say that as older women, they are more vulnerable. You see them there to the effect of things like heat waves.

Then we have a case brought by the former mayor of a French flood- prone town saying his rights are being violated because government alleged inaction, he says, threatens his home.

And then we have the biggest and most ambitious case which has been brought by six young Portuguese people ranging in age from sort of early 20s down to 11 saying that they, as young people, are being disproportionately discriminated against and their rights being violated because the planet, thanks to alleged government inaction, is becoming increasingly unlivable, and they are suing 32 different governments.

So this is a massive case and one that tests not only the idea of linking human rights to climate change, but the sort of -- the idea of where the jurisdiction lies, right? Do countries have a responsibility to protect the rights of people outside their national borders?

So this is why we see this being heard today by the European Court of Human Rights. It's already a big deal that it made it there. It's being heard by the highest bench there, the ground chamber. So we await to hear the verdict, but it could set a significant legal precedent.

FOSTER: The thing about the young person's case is people have more sympathy for it because they, you know, genuinely are likely to suffer, aren't they, from climate change, whereas the older claimants, you could argue, were complicit.

SEBASTIAN: Well, I mean, I think the young people's case is probably in many ways the most ambitious because they, as I say, are taking on 32 governments. They have not exhausted domestic remedies. They have not been through, unlike the Swiss women, they haven't been through the national court systems in each of those 32 countries, they say, because it basically would take too long given the urgency of the situation.

If that case goes in favor of the claimants, that would be very significant because that essentially would create what they say, the lawyers backing this case, would be a separate framework sort of alongside the existing international treaties like Paris to try to compel governments to do more, perhaps even to reduce consumption of fossil fuels, perhaps even to reduce production.

These decisions, I should point out, are legally binding and there's no option of appeal.

FOSTER: And the governments, you know, how easy would this litigation be to take against governments if all of this goes through today? SEBASTIAN: It's very difficult and time-consuming. This has been many

years in the making for these various claimants, but there are other cases that have been adjourned at the European Court of Human Rights and that are waiting, essentially, for the results of these cases to see how the outcome could impact their cases.

[04:50:06]

The governments, though, of course, argue that this stretches the European human rights framework beyond its purview. There are questions around the sort of the victim status of the claimant and, of course, the issue of domestic remedies, whether the Portuguese case should have gone through national courts first.

FOSTER: OK, Clare, thank you. We'll wait to see what that says.

Now, still to come, strange behavior in the animal kingdom, how the solar eclipse affected the non-human world just ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

FOSTER: Tiger Woods is back at the Masters Golf Tournament this year, playing in practice rounds at least. He's already won five times and this could be his 26th appearance at the Augusta National. But some spectators were more interested in what was happening above the course, that eclipse.

Masters branded eclipse glasses were even handed out. Here's what some of the golfers had to say about the spectacle.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BRIAN HARMAN, 2023 OPEN CHAMPION: Timed up pretty good. We get to watch the end of the world at Augusta National, right?

WILL ZALATORIS, FINISHED 2ND AT MASTERS IN 2021: I found a couple of Masters eclipse glasses, which I will be keeping those for absolutely the rest of my life. Those will be some collectibles that will be in my office forever.

CAMILO VILLEGAS, FIRST MASTERS APPEARANCE SINCE 2015: Is it getting better?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh, yes. Looking up.

VILLEGAS: About a quarter. You want a quote?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You could probably get a pair of those.

VILLEGAS: Yes, it looks pretty good.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

FOSTER: The home opener for the Cleveland Guardians was plunged into darkness as the total solar eclipse crept over Ohio. The game against the Chicago White Sox started after the eclipse had passed, but some fans at the progressive field came early to enjoy the cosmic show.

The Rangers-Astros game in Arlington, Texas was also in the path of totality, making these first major league games to coincide with a total solar eclipse.

In the U.S., many couples chose to declare their undying love under the twilight of the solar eclipse. More than 350 couples gathered at the Elope at the Eclipse event in Arkansas, tying the knot right before the moment of totality. Other states held mass weddings ceremonies too, with couples making the start of their married lives just a little more unforgettable.

And it wasn't just humans that were affected by the eclipse. Animals could be seen behaving in unusual ways as well. CNN's Ed Lavandera has those details.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ED LAVANDERA, CNN SENIOR U.S. NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It was like momentarily walking into the classic comedy "Night at the Museum," a glimpse into the secret lives of animals at the Dallas Zoo when humans aren't around to watch.

LAVANDERA: Zebra started chasing him, and then the ostriches got into the mix as well.

LAVANDERA (voice-over): Just as the zoo slipped into total darkness, a jolt of, well, animal energy seemed to shoot through the grounds.

The moment mesmerized Lisa Van Slett, a curator of mammals at the Dallas Zoo.

LAVANDERA: So did the total eclipse day meet your expectations?

LISA VAN SLETT, ASSOCIATE CURATOR, DALLAS ZOO: It exceeded my expectations today. There was a lot more activity than I expected to see out of the animals.

LAVANDERA (voice-over): Just before total darkness, an ostrich laid an egg and hovered over it for a time, protecting it. Zoo officials say it's not clear if the moment was caused by the eclipse, but that the timing was certainly curious, they said.

Guinea fowl suddenly crowed wildly.

SLETT: We heard the -- I heard the birds are crying.

LAVANDERA: The birds are getting louder.

LAVANDERA (voice-over): Just before the moon covered the sun for almost four minutes, a young giraffe and its mother galloped around the enclosure.

[04:55:00]

The zebras joined in the chase as well. Here and around the country, elephants grouped together and appeared to head back to the area where they sleep. Flamingos packed together in the middle of a pond in their habitat. Primates apparently also thought it was bedtime.

Animal experts say the sudden darkness triggered a natural reaction among many of the animals.

SLETT: At nighttime, predators go out a lot more, and so they have to kind of huddle together to be safety in numbers and in case something's coming. So they went into that instinct pretty quickly.

LAVANDERA (voice-over): At this doggy daycare in the Dallas area, this group of dogs seemed to stop, confused by the sudden darkness. When the sun returned, the dogs started playing around again.

Another video captured a cat wanting to come inside its home when darkness struck.

At the Toledo Zoo, a polar bear didn't seem to care about all the fuss, nonchalantly dove into the water before the sun disappeared.

Texas Parks and Wildlife officials teamed up with NASA to set up these acoustic recording devices to monitor the sounds of animals in the wild. But not all animals were flustered or impressed by the total eclipse.

Tobogo the giraffe mostly walked around unfazed, ready to start chewing on the lettuce the humans feed him when the sun came back.

LAVANDERA: Because a total eclipse is so rare, there's very little documentation, very few studies that have been done on animal behavior during a total eclipse. Because of that, zoo officials say they plan on sharing their observations and the data they gather, not just with other zoos that were in the path of this eclipse, but as well as with other zoos across the country.

Ed Lavandera, CNN, Dallas.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

FOSTER: German Chancellor Olaf Scholz is trying to reach a younger audience online by guess what? Joining TikTok, he's already promising he won't dance.

I don't dance either, you'll be glad to know on TikTok, but you can follow me and get videos like this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

FOSTER: Artists with a wider fan base than Beyonce because she's just made history by going in straight at number one across seven different billboard charts with this song you might be able to hear. Just one song. It wasn't just the all-genre top 100, it was also the country, dance, gospel, R&B.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FOSTER (on camera): Thank you for joining me here on CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Max Foster in London, CNN "THIS MORNING," up after a quick break.

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