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Slovakia's Prime Minister Robert Fico Hospitalized After Being Shot; Vladimir Putin Arrives in Beijing for State Visit with Xi Jinping; U.S. Rushing Weapons, Ammunition to Ukraine's Front Lines; Deadly Anti-Government Protests in French Territory of New Caledonia; Yoav Gallant: Oppose 'Israeli Military Rule' in Gaza; Palestinian Evacuees Deal with Scars of War; Biden, Trump Agree to Debates in June and September. Aired 12-12:45a ET

Aired May 16, 2024 - 00:00   ET

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

[00:00:50]

KIM BRUNHUBER, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: Hello, I'm Kim Brunhuber. Ahead on CNN NEWSROOM.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ROBERT KALINAK, SLOVAK DEFENSE MINISTER: What's happened, it's a political assault. It's absolutely clear.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BRUNHUBER: Slovakia's pro-Russia, anti-immigrant prime minister is shot multiple times in what his supporters believed was a politically motivated attack.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ANTONY BLINKEN, U.S. SECRETARY OF STATE: We are rushing ammunition, armored vehicles, missiles, air defenses.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BRUNHUBER: The U.S. says it's working to get long awaited weapons to Ukraine's battlefield just as Kharkiv faces a new assault from Russia. And the children of Gaza badly injured by war tried to overcome their physical and emotional scars.

ANNOUNCER: Live from Atlanta, this is CNN NEWSROOM, with Kim Brunhuber.

BRUNHUBER: Our top story, an assassination attempt on a world leader. Slovakia's Prime Minister Robert Fico who's considered a Kremlin sympathizer. Now we're waiting for an update on his condition, but the Slovak deputy prime minister said Fico is expected to survive. He was shot five times on Wednesday by a man in a crowd, even though they were separated by barriers.

Now you can see the security team leading Fico to a car for safety and the crowds watching nearby. The gunman was quickly apprehended and no one else was hurt. And Fico was rushed to the hospital and spent hours on an operating table. The deputy prime minister said the surgery went well.

Now, prior to the attack, Fico had been attending a government meeting in the central town of Handlova. He won a third term as prime minister last October after running a campaign that criticized Western support for Ukraine. Slovak leaders have called the shooting an assault on democracy and blamed rising hate speech for the country's tense political atmosphere.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KALINAK: We're just talking about the level of democracy, about the ability to understand each other, to accept the other opinion, that not only one is that good one. Somebody have a different opinion. It's also his place on the year and the political field. So this is the issue, what's happened, it's a political assault. It's absolutely clear. And we have to react on that.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BRUNHUBER: Fico who is 59 leads a deeply divided country that's been wrestling with its direction. Slovakia is a member of both the E.U. and NATO and isn't used to political violence.

CNN's Fred Pleitgen reports from the Slovak capital Bratislava.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice- over): An assassination attempt in broad daylight. Slovakia's Prime Minister Robert Fico shot and unable to walk. Bodyguards rushing him into a car. The alleged shooter still just feet away, tackled by police.

Fico was shot multiple times and immediately rushed to the hospital, then airlifted to a major trauma center. One eyewitness said the scene felt like, quote, "a nightmare" and described hearing quick shots ring out in the crowded area.

LUBICA VALKOVA, WITNESS (through translator): It was quick one by one, like if you throw a firecracker on the ground. I saw a scratch on his head and then he fell next to the barrier.

PLEITGEN: No one else was injured in the shooting, which happened in the central Slovak town of Handlova, just after an offsite government meeting. This was Fico right before the attack, speaking calmly at a press conference, like any other day.

Fico, who served two previous terms as prime minister, was a divisive figure in Slovakia and across Europe. He won a third term last year by running on a campaign to end military support for Ukraine, making no secret of his sympathies for Russia.

Fico is known for being anti-immigration, anti-LGBTQ rights, and very critical of the European Union. But in the immediate aftermath of this assassination attempt, politics has been set aside. One of Slovakia's opposition parties also calling it an attack on the nation's security.

[00:05:03]

MARIA KOLIKOVA, SLOVAK MP, FREEDOM AND SOLIDARITY PARTY (through translator): An attack on the prime minister is clearly an attack on the internal security of Slovakia.

PLEITGEN: Many in this country of about 5.5 million people, deeply shaken and shocked by the violence.

VALKOVA (through translator): I think it's a nightmare that this is not possible to happen in Slovakia.

PLEITGEN: Fred Pleitgen, CNN, Bratislava, Slovakia.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BRUNHUBER: International condemnation was swift to come from both allies and opponents of Fico. U.S. President Joe Biden said he was alarmed by the news of the attack, which he called a horrific act of violence. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy called it appalling and said, every effort should be made to make sure that violence doesn't become the norm.

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, a Kremlin ally, said he was shocked by what he called a heinous attack on Fico, whom he called a friend, while Russian President Vladimir Putin said, there can be no justification for what he described as a monstrous crime. In a message to Slovakia's president, he also called Fico a courageous and strong- willed man.

The Slovakian prime minister has subscribed to the Kremlin's narrative about the war in Ukraine, blaming Kyiv for provoking the conflict.

All right, I want to head now to Los Angeles where we're joined by Dominic Thomas, CNN's European Affairs commentator.

Thank you so much for being here with us again. So Slovakia historically no stranger to political violence, but this seems the first time in recent years that someone this high up has been targeted.

DOMINIC THOMAS, CNN EUROPEAN AFFAIRS COMMENTATOR: Yes. Suddenly in this part of the world, although as you know, Kim, elsewhere, political tensions have been high with protests, with attempted assassinations on other leaders, in some cases, former prime ministers where it's been unsuccessful and also on politicians.

So these sorts of things are playing out and these are high-risk environments and that division and the polarization that has very much been a characteristic most notably of European politics, certainly over the last 10 years, have unfortunately here played out in the way that we witnessed during the unfolding of this today, Kim. BRUNHUBER: Yes, I want to ask you about that polarization a little

later, but just right now, to the motive. I mean, we don't know much about the motive beyond what we heard from the government saying it was politically motivated. But the prime minister certainly was a divisive figure, right?

THOMAS: Yes, so, I mean, it's interesting to think about these sort of questions. I mean, in many ways, the sort of the geography of Slovakia is so interesting in terms of understanding how this sort of polarization is playing out. It's a landlocked country. It has the politics of Ukraine, one of the neighbors there, Poland and in addition to Austria, of course, Hungary, and his friend and ally and Viktor Orban.

So E.U. politics around immigration, around the question of Russian sanctions, support yes or no for the conflict between Ukraine and Russia. And then beyond that, the kind of rebranded Fico is somebody who's very much played out in the public space on sort of culture wars, LGBTQ rights, the kind of things Fred Pleitgen was referring to. But I think more importantly, since election, it has been various ways in which Fico has gone about very much like his neighbor Orban undermining the media, weakening the judiciary, and so on.

And these are proving increasingly polarizing issues and questions particularly when one considers that the election itself did not turn his party to power. He simply emerged in the parliamentary system as the leader and have an opportunity to create this coalition government. So it's quite a divided political landscape, as we see in many European countries today, Kim.

BRUNHUBER: Yes, that's right, and now with all of that division, I mean, we heard the government pleading against further violence or against the backlash to what's happened, how likely is that do you think that this isn't the end, just the beginning?

THOMAS: Right. Well, what we've seen here this attempted assassination of a leader is of course absolutely unacceptable. But the fact is that in the public space, as we see in other areas in the region, the sort of recent tensions in, say, Georgia, the ways in which conflict in the Balkans and so on. But I think what we see here is the divisiveness of the country electorally shifting kind of political alliances with those in power now with this very weak alliance in the national parliament, where they -- with three political parties are essentially in charge.

And between the rural vote and the urban vote, we see these kinds of divisions play out in Hungary as well where Orban is more popular in rural areas in the way that Fico is, and around these questions of kind of cultural wars and the conflict and so on. And so it's a very divided highly polarized country.

[00:10:02]

And the reality is that, yes, of course the attack on Fico is an attack on democracy. But the attempt to weaken the media, to weaken the judiciary, and so on, also assaults on the democratic system, on the kind of preconditions of the E.U. membership, and these are the sorts of things that are also upsetting people in the national context, Kim.

BRUNHUBER: Yes. We'll have to see how this plays out. In the meantime, I want to ask you what happens next? I mean, who might take over for him and until hopefully he recuperates, and then if he isn't capable of carrying on as leader, what then?

THOMAS: Yes. Well, he's got quite an expansive cabinet and what we've been hearing, of course, because of the nature of the attack, domestic violence, and so on, we've been hearing the home secretary, the Ministry of the Interior, basically he talking about it. But the fact is he currently has four deputy prime ministers that also hold cabinet positions, defense, environment, and so on. And that reflect the different coalition organization that we have here.

He's in party with a breakaway group from his party and also with the Slovakian National Party, which is a far-right leaning organization. So he has that. But the bigger question or the most important answer here this is a parliamentary system. Fico himself was not elected. His party came out ahead in the election and as the leader of that party, he had the opportunity to create a government.

So were he to be replaced in the long-term, it would essentially be up to his party to go about identifying a new leader. But in the short- term, his party and his cabinet are able to run the show and there's also, let's not forget it, an elected president and the incoming president who will be in office June 15th is a former a member of his party and a member of the breakaway party. So there's a lot of allegiance there and solidarity when it comes to sort of following the part that Fico and his folks are trying to map out, Kim.

BRUNHUBER: All right. As we wait to hear more details about his condition, we'll have to leave it there, but certainly appreciate your analysis.

Dominic Thomas, thank you so much.

THOMAS: Thank you.

BRUNHUBER: Russian President Vladimir Putin is in Beijing for a two- day state visit and he was just greeted by Chinese leader Xi Jinping a short time ago. The two plan to discuss a wide range of topics during the trip including, quote, "peaceful nuclear energy use," and foreign policy coordination, hoping to show the world that China and Russia are very close and are only growing closer.

Kristi Lu Stout joins me now from Hong Kong.

So their no limits alliance back in focus with Putin returning to China. What's he after here and what is China willing to deliver?

KRISTIE LU STOUT, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Putin is seeking a show of unity and he is getting just that. The two leaders are meeting right now in Beijing. And according to Chinese state media, Xi said that China is ready to work together with Russia to achieve development and rejuvenation. The Russian president is back in China for a state visit. It is his first overseas visit in his new six-year term. He last visited China in October 2023.

You see his red carpet welcome on the tarmac. That took place earlier. Welcomed by a Chinese delegation there but Chinese President Xi Jinping was not there early on the tarmac. And today a busy program in Beijing. Putin and Xi again right now they're having talks in the Great Hall of the People in Beijing. They're discussing regional issues as well as Ukraine and the Middle East.

And then later today in Beijing, there'll be a ceremony to sign joint documents. There'll be a state reception and also a gala concert to mark 75 years of diplomatic ties. And then tomorrow Putin will go to the northeastern Chinese city of Harbin for a visit.

Now ahead of the state visit, Putin celebrated the relationship in an interview with state-run media. Let's bring it up for you. This is what he told Xinhua, saying this, quote, "Today, Russia- China relations have reached the highest level ever. And despite the difficult global situation, continued to get stronger," unquote.

Relations have grown stronger as the U.S. and its allies imposed sanctions against both countries, in particular, Russia after it invaded Ukraine. In fact, and let's bring up the graphic for you, trade between Russia and China has absolutely surged. In fact, if you look at the graphic, it reached an all-time high last year of around $240 billion as Russia gobbled up Chinese commodities, you know, like vehicle parts, machinery, semiconductors.

And China bought discounted Russian fuel, namely crude oil. But China has been coming under rising pressure from the U.S. and Europe to make sure that its exports are not supporting the Russian war machine. In fact, last month in China when he was visiting the U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken warned Chinese official that the U.S. and other countries would act if Beijing doesn't move too curb the flow of those products.

And there are signs that China may be doing just that. In fact, according to Chinese customs data, China's monthly exports to Russia fell in both March and April compared to last year.

[00:15:06]

And keep in mind the Chinese economy is wobbly. China is working really hard on its economic recovery. So despite that, no limits relationship, China may very well put its own interests first -- Kim.

BRUNHUBER: They are. Kristi Lu Stout in Hong Kong. Thank you so much.

Ukraine's president says the country's defense forces have partially stabilized the situation in the Kharkiv region against the ongoing Russia offensive. Heavy fighting had gripped the areas near the border for days after Russia launched a surprise cross-border assault on Friday. The town of Vovchansk is the scene of some of the most intense battles. Ukrainian officials on Wednesday said some of its troops were forced to move positions and suggested Russian forces made further gains.

President Zelenskyy is said the fighting in Kharkiv won't lead to the defensive gaps elsewhere along the frontline areas.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY, UKRAINIAN PRESIDENT (through translator): In the Kharkiv region, the areas near the border, our defensive actions are continuing. The occupier is being destroyed by all means. Artillery, drones, and our infantry are working quite accurately.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BRUNHUBER: Meanwhile, the U.S. secretary of state wrapped up his visit to Kyiv by meeting with the Ukrainian foreign minister. Antony Blinken announced the U.S. will provide an additional $2 billion in military financing for Ukraine and says weapons are being moved quickly to the battlefield. Here he is.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BLINKEN: We're rushing ammunition, armored vehicles, missiles, air defenses. Rushing them to get to the frontlines, to protect soldiers, to protect civilians.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BRUNHUBER: All right. I want to go live now to Mick Ryan, retired major general of the Australian Army, and he is also the former commander of the Australian Defense College and the author of the book, "War Transformed."

Good to see you again. So, President Zelenskyy claimed the situation around the Kharkiv has been partially stabilized. So how partially do you think that is both geographically and also in terms of time? Do you think Russia is capable of making a renewed push?

MAJ. GEN. MICK RYAN (RET.), AUSTRALIAN ARMY: Yes. Hello. I think it is partially stabilized due to two key factors. Firstly, the Ukrainians have been able to rush reserves to the area, but secondly, it appears the Russian objectives here might be limited, at least in the initial phase. They appear to be establishing a buffer zone which Putin discussed in March rather than aiming at a deep incursion into Ukraine, at least in this initial phase.

BRUNHUBER: All right, and I want to get back to that buffer zone in a second, but President Zelenskyy also said Ukraine's focus on defending Kharkiv won't lead to defensive gaps elsewhere along the frontline. But given the shortage of ammunition and manpower, is that likely?

RYAN: Yes, it is going to be very difficult for the Ukrainians to reconcile keeping territory and not losing more men. So I think it will be very difficult for them to potentially not lose more territory in the east if they do rush more forces in Kharkiv.

BRUNHUBER: All right, so that buffer zone, I mean, if this was, as you say, all part of Putin's aim of creating that buffer zone that he's spoken at length about, how far is he towards mission accomplished?

RYAN: Well, it affects only one at the moment. He's pretty close. We saw the Russians advanced on two axis, like last week, they are in the process of joining these two advancing bodies up in the middle. It'll be interesting to see what happens once they've met here. They may just decide mission accomplished and sit there or it could just be preparatory for a subsequent phase of Russian advances. But what they will be doing is advancing into more staffed Ukrainian defenses.

BRUNHUBER: Yes. And bolstered by that American support that we heard about there. Ukraine meanwhile has attacked a Russian air base in Crimea. So take us through how they were able to do this.

RYAN: Well, the Ukrainians for some time now have been attacking Russian air defense systems, radars, air defense missile sites, command and control aircraft. And Crimea has been a key location. They've attacked this space and others multiple occasions before. And they will have used an array of different mechanisms to deceive the Russians about where they're actually attacking, but at the end of the day, the Ukrainians were able to destroy Russian air defense system as well as at least one aircraft and kill multiple Russians on the ground.

BRUNHUBER: So how significant is this capability? What does it mean for what we presume would be an upcoming air battle once the F-16s are flying?

RYAN: Well, it's part of the overall Russian air defense system. The Ukrainians have attacked multiple air defense radars and launch sites. And this is gradually weakening the coverage the Russians have in the southern and eastern Ukraine. This will help the Ukrainians in the use of HIMARS, ATACMs, as well as their indigenous long-range strike drones. But eventually it will help support the introduction of F-16s when they arrive sometime this year.

[00:20:09]

BRUNHUBER: All right, we'll have to leave it there. Always appreciate your analysis, Mick Ryan. Thank you so much.

RYAN: Thank you.

BRUNHUBER: All right. Still to come, another day of unrest in New Caledonia. Dozens arrested amid deadly anti-government protests in the French territory. We're going to have a French government's cracking down on the violence. Plus a manhunt of unprecedented scale in France after a fugitive known as the fly busted out of a prison convoy in deadly ambush. That's all coming up. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BRUNHUBER: An intense manhunt is ongoing in France for a fugitive known as the fly. 30-year-old Mohammed Amra, a known drug trafficker with more than a dozen convictions, escaped from a prison convoy on Tuesday after gunmen ambushed the van that was transporting him, killing two guards and wounding three others. Prison guards blocked the entrances to some French prisons on Wednesday, protesting for better security and work conditions. One guard told our affiliate BFMTV, he'd never seen a hijacking like this in his 35-year career.

And tensions are high in the French territory of New Caledonia, where nearly 200 people have been arrested amid anti-government protests. Violence broke out on Monday after the French government proposed changes to New Caledonia's constitution, which would give more French residents living in the territory the right to vote. Pro-independence groups feel it's an attempt by France to consolidate power over the Pacific Island chain.

At least four people have been killed in the protest violence. France has declared a state of emergency in the territory, sending an additional 500 police officers to assist the nearly 2,000 police and military officers already stationed there.

CNN's Ivan Watson has more on the history of the territory and the cause of the unrest.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

IVAN WATSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): An island paradise in turmoil. In the South Pacific, the French territory of New Caledonia erupting in violence for the third straight day, Wednesday.

Pro-independence protesters clashed with security forces leaving shops, cars, homes burned. Mostly young demonstrators are protesting against a vote held over 10,000 miles away. In Paris on Tuesday, France's National Assembly passed changes to voting laws in New Caledonia. The aim of the legislation to open up voter lists to French residents who've been in New Caledonia for 10 years.

Local independence activists believe new voters want the Pacific archipelago to stay with France, which has ruled the island since the 19th Century.

DENISE FISHER, FORMER AUSTRALIAN CONSUL-GENERAL IN NOUMEA, NEW CALEDONIA: The Kanak people are objecting to that not just because it's being decided in Paris without them, but also they feel that they wanted to be part of a negotiation, a whole negotiation, which would include another self-determination vote.

[00:25:14]

WATSON: The French government wants more talks with the independence leaders before the voting rules are formally changed.

GABRIEL ATTAL, FRENCH PRIME MINISTER: Our priority is to find a global political agreement, the broadest possible political agreement with the separatists and the non-separatists, which will allow us to move forward and right the future of New Caledonia.

WATSON: Leaders of the independence movement are calling for an end to the violence, which has turned deadly. For the first time, deaths reported by the president's office as gunfire erupted between rioters and security forces.

FISHER: The last two days we've seen violence of a scale we haven't seen for 30 years in New Caledonia. It is kind of marking the end of 30 years of peace in New Caledonia.

WATSON: New Caledonia has had the chance to vote for independence. Three recent referendums all resulted in the decision to remain with France. That's done little to defuse tension between some residents of New Caledonia and the government in Paris.

Ivan Watson, CNN.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BRUNHUBER: Well, their physical injuries may be slowly healing, but it's the unseen wounds of war that continue to trouble them. Coming up, how children evacuated out of Gaza are coping.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BRUNHUBER: Hello, you're watching CNN NEWSROOM. I am Kim Brunhuber.

Israel is ramping up military operations in the southern Gaza city of Rafah, despite U.S. warnings to hold off to avoid mass civilian casualties. The Israel Defense Forces say they've targeted a Hamas training compound in the eastern part of the city. According to the U.N., about 600,000 Palestinians, a quarter of Gaza's population, have fled Rafah after the Israeli military ordered them to evacuate the city last week.

The IDF says they've also engaged in intense battles in parts of Northern Gaza, including the Jabalia camp and Gaza City where it had previously claimed to have dismantled Hamas.

Now the renewed fighting in Northern Gaza is raising questions about Israel's long-term strategy in Gaza. Here's Israeli defense minister Yoav Gallant is voicing his frustration at Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's failure to address the issue of a post-war plan for the enclave and warns that he proposes Israeli -- or he opposes Israeli rule there. Here he is.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

YOAV GALLANT, ISRAELI DEFENSE MINISTER (through translator): We call on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to make a decision and declare that Israel will not have a civilian rule over the Gaza Strip, that there will be no Israeli military administration in the Gaza Strip. And that a governing alternative to Hamas in the Gaza Strip will be promoted immediately.

[00:30:22]

KIM BRUNHUBER, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: Gallant says the day after Hamas can only be achieved with Palestinian entities taking control of Gaza and establishing a governing alternative to Hamas.

But Netanyahu says it's essential to eliminate Hamas first. Here he is.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BENJAMIN NETANYAHU, ISRAELI PRIME MINISTER (through translator): Until it's clear that Hamas does not control Gaza militarily, nobody will be prepared to take upon himself the civil management of Gaza, out of fear for their lives. Therefore, all the talk about the day after while Hamas remains intact, will remain mere words, devoid of content.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BRUNHUBER: Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh is rejecting any suggestion the group could be excluded from post-war decisions on Gaza. He's also blaming Israel for the current deadlock in the hostage ceasefire negotiations, saying Israel responded to it by starting military operations in Rafah and refusing to end the war in the enclave.

Meanwhile, Palestinian evacuees in Doha who have escaped the horrors of the conflict are trying to find some semblance of normality. CNN's Jomana Karadsheh spoke to some of them.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JOMANA KARADSHEH, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Far from a place of death and destruction, Gaza's children try to be children again. But everywhere you look here, you see the real cost of a war Israel says is against Hamas. What the U.N. has called a war on children.

So many injured little ones, so many who've lost limbs.

Mahmoud (ph) can no longer ride a bike. The nine-year-old lost both his arms in an Israeli strike. He's one of hundreds of children evacuated by Qatar for medical treatment.

Mahmoud (ph) is finding ways of living a childhood shattered. He shows off how he's learned to use his feet to play video games.

"I want to fulfill my dreams. I want to be a journalist and a pilot," he says. The once independent child now needs his mother to feed him, dress him, and take him to the toilet.

I ask what makes him so resilient.

"Because I'm from Gaza, because I'm Palestinian," he says. "Nothing can stop me."

Those children here like my Mahmoud (ph) don't want to talk about their injuries. They've found sanctuary in this unlikely place. A compound Qatar built for World Cup fans now turned into housing for nearly 2000 Gaza evacuees, most of them women and children.

It's a safe space to deal with the trauma of war and offers us a firsthand glimpse into the suffering which Israel has forced us to cover from afar by preventing international journalists from freely accessing the enclave.

In this room, women gather for a session of Palestinian embroidery. It's therapy: a distraction. But how could anyone forget what they've been through and all they've lost?

Alma (ph) quietly sits watching her grandmother embroidering. Her wounded mother's in hospital. Her injured father still in Gaza.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translator): I didn't expect Alma (ph) to survive. She had a fractured skull, an amputated leg, shrapnel in her back, and a broken arm.

KARADSHEH (voice-over): Like many children, Alma (ph) has lost more than her leg. The blast that maimed her took her eight-month-old sister, Sham (ph), who died in her arms, and her six-year-old brother, Ahmad (ph).

"I am sad about my brother and sister." Alma (ph), choking back tears, can't see any more.

Everyone in this room is missing loved ones: those gone, and those they've had to leave behind. Weighed down by grief and guilt, they tell us they deprive themselves of food and sleep.

SOHEIR ISSA, EVACUATED FROM GAZA (through translator): I've been sleeping on a couch. How can I sleep on a bed when my sons are sleeping in a tent and on sand? How can I eat when my children are hungry?

KARADSHEH (voice-over): Soheir's three children and husband are in Rafah. Like others, she desperately wants to get them out. She shows us pictures of what used to be home, where she was injured, where she lost her mother, six-year-old niece, and two of her sons, all killed in a strike, she says, while they were sleeping.

She gleams with pride, talking about her boys. Sixteen-year-old Sharif (ph) was top of his class. Mahmoud (ph) had just gotten a scholarship to study medicine abroad.

[00:35:09]

"Israel left no dreams. I now find myself thinking, I wish I had let my sons take up arms instead of dying like this."

Soheir says she raised her boys to never carry weapons, to serve her people through their education. "I want to tell them you destroyed the people, the mothers. You created more hatred. I used to feel for them with the hostages. As a mother who's lost her children, if I could avenge my sons' death, I would do it myself."

Memories and photos all she has left of them. "When I go to sleep at night, I put my arms like this. I imagine I'm hugging Mahmoud (ph) and Sharif (ph), hugging my mother."

pain in this place is palpable. Those who've made it out may have escaped the war, but there's no escaping the everlasting scars it leaves behind.

Jomana Karadsheh, CNN, Doha.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BRUNHUBER: Wall Street surged to record highs on Wednesday after a new report showed inflation may be cooling off. See, the Dow was up almost 350 points, closing near the key 40,000 level.

The Nasdaq also set a new record, and the S&P finished above 5,300 for the first time.

Now, the latest Consumer Price Index showed prices rose at a slower pace in April than they had the two previous months. Investors believe the cooling inflation, along with week retail sales last month, could lead the Federal Reserve to cut interest rates this year.

President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump don't agree on much. But on Wednesday, they suddenly agreed to set the presidential debate schedule ahead of the crucial election in November.

They'll face each other in the first of -- first, rather, in late June here on CNN from our studios right here in Atlanta. And the second debate will be on ABC in September.

CNN's Jeff Zeleny has the details.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Well, make my day, pal. I'll even do it twice.

JEFF ZELENY, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): With those words today. President Biden formerly challenged, and Donald Trump quickly accepted, two presidential debates, with their first face-to-face encounter now set for late next month on CNN.

The June 27th showdown, followed by a second one on September 10th on ABC, would become the earliest presidential debates in memory. A sign that both rivals are eager to appear side-by-side to gain advantage in their historic rematch.

After weeks of taunting from Trump, who often deploys an extra podium as a prop.

DONALD TRUMP (R), FORMER U.S. PRESIDENT, 2024 PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: That's for Joe Biden. I'm trying to get him to debate.

ZELENY (voice-over): The Biden campaign sought to gain the upper hand in the debate over debates, in a video today.

BIDEN: Donald Trump lost two debates to me in 2020. Since then, he hasn't shown up for a debate. Now he's acting like he wants to debate me again. So let's pick the dates, Donald. I hear you're free on Wednesdays.

[00:40:09]

ZELENY (voice-over): That message a not-so-veiled reference to the former president's criminal trial now underway in New York.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Hi, Mr. Trump.

ZELENY (voice-over): Court is not in session on Wednesdays.

Even as he accepted two debates, Trump called for more.

TRUMP (via phone): I really think he has to debate. He might as well get it over with. Probably should do it early. So that he can -- you know, he's not going to get any better.

ZELENY (voice-over): Televised debates have long been a storied part of presidential campaigns, with history-making moments for candidates.

RONALD REAGAN, FORMER U.S. PRESIDENT: I am not going to exploit, for political purposes, my opponent's youth and inexperience.

ZELENY (voice-over): But American history offers no modern-day guide for a sequel to this --

TRUMP: Because they want to give good health care.

CHRIS WALLACE, JOURNALIST: In fact, if I may ask questions, sir.

BIDEN: Would you shut up, man?

TRUMP: Did you use the word "smart"? So you said you went to Delaware state, but you forgot the name of your college?

BIDEN: He's the racist. You're the worst president America has ever had. Come on.

TRUMP: Let me --

ZELENY (voice-over): As their 2024 contest intensifies, Biden and Trump are both hoping to keep the debate stage free of third-party candidates like Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who blasted his rivals, saying, "They are trying to exclude me from their debate, because they are afraid I would win."

Advisers to Biden and Trump have been working behind the scenes in an effort to bypass the Commission on Presidential Debates. The group has organized such forums since 1988 and had three presidential and one vice-presidential debate already set for this fall.

In a statement today, the Commission said, "The American public deserves substantive debates. We will continue to be ready to execute this plan."

ZELENY: The Biden campaign is eager to have American voters focusing on this race in a side-by-side comparison with former President Donald Trump. They believe that that is a strong position for them, because voters, they hope, will view this as a choice between the two candidates, not simply a referendum on the Biden administration.

Of course, that is very much an open question. But one Biden adviser said that this race is quote, "stubbornly stable." They are trying to shake this race up, and they hope a debate in June is the best way to do it.

Jeff Zeleny, CNN, Washington.

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BRUNHUBER: The NFL has released its schedule for the upcoming season, and one of the highlights is play outside of the United States.

Five international games will be held in three countries. They include the first ever NFL game in South America. The week one contest pits the Green Bay Packers against the Philadelphia Eagles at the Corinthians Arena in Sao Paulo, Brazil.

Three games will be also played in London, and one in Munich.

All right. I'm Kim Brunhuber. I'll be back at the top of the hour with more CNN NEWSROOM. But first, WORLD SPORT starts after the break.

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