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CNN International: Many Feared Dead In Major Earthquake In Southeast Asia; U.S. VP Vance Attacks Denmark On Trip To Greenland; U.S. Stocks Sink As Tariffs Hit Consumer Sentiment; Violence Flares Along Israeli-Lebanese Border. Aired 3-4p ET

Aired March 28, 2025 - 15:00   ET

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

[15:00:37]

MAX FOSTER, CNN HOST: Hello and welcome to our viewers all around the world. I'm Max Foster. This is CNN NEWSROOM.

The ground shook. The buildings fell. Now comes the desperate task of searching for survivors. The Southeast Asian nations of Myanmar and Thailand are reeling after a major earthquake rattled the region on Friday.

The 7.7 magnitude quake has left more than 150 people dead and upwards of 700 injured in Myanmar. Those numbers are expected to rise in the coming days as people are pulled out of the rubble. These are live pictures from Bangkok, where it's currently at 2:00 in the morning, and the rescue efforts continuing. Look at that wall facing them.

Across the border in Myanma, the nation has been wracked by violence since 2021. Military coup is ill prepared to handle a disaster like this. U.S. President Donald Trump said just a short time ago that the U.S. would send help to Myanmar, though he didn't provide any specifics. The U.S. has pulled back from international aid efforts during President Trump's second term, of course.

Now, as we mentioned, the quake is also being felt in nearby Thailand.

CNN's Rahel Solomon spoke a short while ago to a witness, Jack Brown, about the partially constructed building he watched collapse in Bangkok. He was inside a car when he felt the earthquake hit and recorded this stunning video.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JACK BROWN, SAW BUILDING COLLAPSE: Earthquakes are not common in Bangkok or in Thailand. I've been living here for over ten years. This is the first earthquake I've ever experienced here. So, I think it took most people off guard.

You know, people weren't expecting it or they didn't recognize the signs of an earthquake. So, I think originally, a lot of people probably thought it was their car or they felt dizzy or something, you know. And a lot of confused, confused people, a lot of panic, I think, especially when seeing the building coming down. People got out of their cars immediately on the expressway. It just came to a standstill.

There was a lot of fear, a lot of panic because people don't know what's going to happen next. Are any other buildings going to come down? Are there any flow on effects? On an expressway even, which is elevated? Is that going to crumble? Obviously, people are frightened.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FOSTER: CNN's Mike Valerio has been covering this story for us all day. He filed this report just a short while ago.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MIKE VALERIO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, we heard from Thailand's deputy prime minister, who said that rescue teams are delicately removing pieces of the rubble from that imploded skyscraper just to ensure that more sections of that collapsed building do not come down. And that disaster site is where we start tonight.

(voice-over): A skyscraper in Thailand's capital, Bangkok, reduced to dust Friday. A massive earthquake in neighboring Myanmar destroying the building. Authorities think many are trapped inside.

BROWN: Earthquakes are not common in Bangkok or in Thailand. I've been living here for over ten years. This is the first earthquake I've ever experienced here.

VALERIO: The earthquake's epicenter was about 1,000 kilometers away, in the center of war-torn Myanmar. It hit just after midday local time with a powerful aftershock minutes later. Residents in the city of Mandalay filmed collapsed buildings on their phones, while golden statues in some of the temples were also damaged by the quake. In Bangkok, the quake sent people fleeing homes and offices for the relative safety of the streets.

VARUNYOU ARMARTTAYAKUL, THAI OFFICE WORKER: I heard the noise of the cracking walls and cracking glass. Part of the ceiling even collapsed. That's when I had to run out.

VALERIO: Water spilling from this hotel rooftop pool onto the roads below. Thailand's prime minister declaring the capital an emergency zone.

SHENGJI WEI, PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR, EARTH OBSERVATORY OF SINGAPORE: It's not an unexpected event. We know that this place, this segment of the fault, is likely to rupture as a big earthquake in the near future.

VALERIO: Tremors were felt as far away as China.

Back in Bangkok, rescuers were hard at work to retrieve bodies from the rubble as people there and across the border in Myanmar continue to reel from the tragedy.

(END VIDEOTAPE) VALERIO (on camera): Now, when we're talking about Myanmar, you got to understand this is a country that is in the middle of a civil war. So, thinking of relief organizations and their efforts to launch a herculean humanitarian response, they are asking themselves, how are they going to send help when different areas of the country are still in the middle of armed conflict?

[15:05:08]

Mike Valerio, CNN, Seoul.

FOSTER: Well, our weather team is closely following today's disaster in Southeast Asia. Let's bring in CNN meteorologist Derek Van Dam from the weather center in Atlanta.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DEREK VAN DAM, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Extraordinary video coming out of Thailand and Myanmar from this devastating 7.7 earthquake.

Let's talk about this video behind me. This coming out of Bangkok, Thailand. Look at the water sloshing around on this high-rise building, doing as it's supposed to. In fact, some of these high-rise buildings are actually designed to have a pool at the top of them to absorb and dampen the intense shaking from an earthquake nearby. So, it is working as it's planned to.

Unfortunately, not all buildings survived this earthquake, and we've seen multiple instances of that pancaking effect of the buildings collapsing one floor by one floor as the severe shaking from this intense earthquake took place.

Seven-point-seven, the depth, though, that's so crucial. Ten kilometers below the surface. Puts it very, very close to the surface of -- of the ground. So, where the general population lives, right?

If this was a deeper focused epicenter, we're talking well over 300 kilometers below the surface, there would be plenty more ground to absorb that shaking that occurred. But because this was only ten kilometers deep, that means the potential here for this to create catastrophic damage. And we've already seen that with the videos coming out of the region.

This was a strike slip fault. So, the ground in central Myanmar actually moved like this next to each other. And that built up tension and the energy associated with that slipping action occurred in and resulted in an earthquake that was felt by millions.

In terms of the weak and light shaking, we're talking nearly 90 million people feeling the impacts of this earthquake. We know that Bangkok, which is over 1,000 kilometers away, saw damage and felt the shaking from the epicenter that is well to the north and west near this particular part of Myanmar. So just incredible.

But the -- the significant shaking, the severe and violent shaking was also felt by millions near the epicenter. So, we can anticipate aftershocks to continue for days, if not weeks to come. This is how it works with this powerful of an earthquake.

And unfortunately, we need to prepare ourselves for at least the potential of a high fatality event because we can compare to previous events of similar magnitude, taking into consideration the type of building material that was used to construct the homes, the buildings, the houses in and around this region, and the damage that we've already seen on the ground. This will likely be a high impact event, and we know that just basing it off of previous events.

So, let's talk about going forward, the search and recovery effort that is ongoing and will be for the days and weeks to come. No significant weather situations in this forecast. I guess that's the glimmer of hope here.

The only concern that I do have is that it is extremely hot in and around Mandalay, for instance, near the epicenter. So, with this type of heat, without electricity, without the ability to cool oneself, without hospitals being able to create ICE, for instance, this could serve as a compounding factor in this search and recovery effort.

Back to you.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

FOSTER: We're going to go to our breaking news out of Greenland. A short while ago, U.S. Vice President J.D. Vance used a trip there to attack Danish rule over the island and warn of Chinese and Russian interests in the Arctic. It comes amid President Trump's repeated threats to annex the territory, which largely desires independence.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

J.D. VANCE, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: With Denmark over the last 20 years has failed to do in some cases because we know that, unfortunately, this place, this base, the surrounding area is less secure than it was 30, 40 years ago because some of our allies haven't kept up, as China and Russia have taken greater and greater interest in Greenland in this base, and the activities of the brave Americans right here, we know that too often our allies in Europe have not kept pace. They haven't kept pace with military spending, and Denmark has not kept pace in devoting the resources necessary to keep this base, to keep our troops. And, in my view, to keep the people of Greenland safe.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FOSTER: This visit by Vance and his wife was overshadowed by president Trump ratcheting up his talk of annexation, saying Thursday will go as far as we have to, to gain control of it. The VP and second lady have been touring a U.S. Space Force Base near the Arctic Circle, accompanied by national security advisor Mike Waltz.

Meanwhile, the four leading Greenland parties formed a coalition government, shutting out a pro-independence party interested in working with the U.S.

[15:10:05]

Joining me now, chief global affairs correspondent, Matthew Chance.

He wasn't parroting Donald Trump's language, was he the vice president today?

MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN CHIEF GLOBAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: He was slightly softening it, I think. That was -- that was the sense that we got listening to it. And other people have commented on that, too. He said that the president says we need to have Greenland. He was asked a question about that, what his position was.

And he said, I think we need to be more serious about security of Greenland. So there's a sort of fine distinction there. I mean, you can be serious about the security of Greenland without actually owning it, obviously.

And J.D. Vance spent a good deal of time talking about how important Greenland is to the security architecture of the United States and to the rest of the world, as well. And he's absolutely right about that. But at the heart of the argument is a problem, which is that or a contradiction, which is that, of course, the United States can already upscale its military presence in Greenland if it wants to. It used to have many more military bases there than it currently has. It downsized them after the Cold War and before the Cold War, in fact, ended.

And, you know, the Danes and the Greenlanders are all very open to the idea of them building more military bases, even a submarine dock and to do whatever they like in terms of military infrastructure there. You don't have to do that. You know, and to do that, you don't have to annex the place or own it. And so that's the contradiction at the heart, I think, of the White House's argument.

FOSTER: You did mention minerals as well though, so that would be part of this deal. So, you would need some ownership, I guess if you look at it from that point of view. But it was interesting how he was very much toning it. As you know, he was appealing to Greenlanders, saying, Denmark hasn't protected you. You need protection against China and Russia, and we will.

CHANCE: I mean, that's what he's saying. Thats the argument.

But again, he could do that without taking ownership of the place. The truth is it's not really -- it's falling on deaf ears when it comes to the Greenlanders and, of course, Danes as well. They do not -- they've been fighting for decades for their own independence. What they don't want to do is swap, you know, an imperial sort of colonial overlord in Denmark, for one in Washington.

And, you know, Greenlandic voters and the people of Denmark have made that have made that quite clear. Theres only one person, really that has, you know, outside of the United States, outside of the Trump administration, that's really in favor of this, and that's Vladimir Putin in the Kremlin.

And he was speaking about this very positively earlier. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

VLADIMIR PUTIN, RUSSIAN PRESIDENT (through translator): So, we're talking major plans, serious plans of the U.S. with respect to Greenland. And as I just mentioned, those plans have deep historic roots. And it is obvious that the United States will continue to promote the geopolitical, military and economic interests in the Arctic.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FOSTER: Obviously, the Arctic, you know, the wider region. I mean, there is genuine interest in it for obvious reasons, strategically.

CHANCE: Yeah, there is. And the Russians have been very active, as J.D. Vance said, and the Chinese as well, in asserting themselves in that region.

But I can guarantee, you know, that one of the reasons, two of the reasons that Putin is so supportive of this is, first of all, if the U.S. annexes Greenland or takes ownership of it in some way, it kind of legitimizes Russia's own expansion into areas like Ukraine.

Also, it's been a longstanding objective, as I've spoken to you before, of the Kremlin, to undermine western institutions like NATO. He knows very well the pressure, the strain this is putting on the Western military alliance.

FOSTER: Okay. Matthew, thank you so much.

President Trump is asking the U.S. Supreme Court, meanwhile, to overturn a ruling blocking him from enforcing a wartime act for deportations. The Trump administration made its emergency appeal to the Supreme Court earlier today. It comes after the Trump White House used the Alien Enemies Act of 1798 to quickly deport alleged members of Venezuelan -- of a Venezuelan gang to a maximum security prison in El Salvador.

Our chief legal affairs correspondent, Paula Reid, joins me now from Washington.

I mean, how would you encapsulate today's developments, Paula?

PAULA REID, CNN CHIEF LEGAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: So here are the Supreme Court is being asked to wade into one of the most contentious battles that the Trump administration has launched so far. And there are two issues here. One is the legal issue at the core of this case, which is President Trump's sweeping use of this wartime authority to facilitate the deportations of people that the administration alleges were affiliated with the Venezuelan gang.

The other issue is the judge, who they are asking the Supreme Court to overturn, Judge James Boasberg, because he has been a target by President Trump and Attorney General Pam Bondi with relentless attacks over the past few weeks, including President Trump calling for him to be impeached because he did not like the decision that Boasberg made in this case.

Now, that prompted a rare response from the chief justice of the Supreme Court, Judge John Roberts, and he -- Justice John Roberts. And he said, look, impeachment is not the proper remedy.

[15:15:02]

If you don't like a decision, you appeal it, which is, of course, what they have done here. But the Supreme Court currently has three pending appeals from the Trump administration that they are weighing. One related to birthright citizenship. Another related to grants and states that would address teacher shortages.

It's unclear what the Supreme Court is going to do here. They might say, look, it's premature. We want to let this larger constitutional question work its way through the courts and get to us, maybe sometime next year when they might take it up or they might be willing to move on this now just given how heated this has become.

But the next thing that will happen here is that the other side of this case will have to weigh in by Tuesday, and then the Supreme Court can read what they say and decide what their next step is. But as we have reported since Trump was elected, all of these issues around Trump's expansive use of executive power will eventually get to the Supreme Court.

The decision is whether the justices want to weigh in, whether they want to hear arguments and make a ruling, or if they're just going to let this all percolate in the lower courts for a while longer.

FOSTER: Okay, Paula, thank you so much indeed for that.

U.S. President Donald Trump says he -- excuse me, had what he describes as an extremely productive conversation with the Canadian prime minister, Mark Carney, today. This is the leaders' first phone call since Mr. Carney was sworn in 14 days ago. It comes amid, excuse me, a strained ties between the U.S. and Canada over an ongoing trade war.

Alayna Treene, I got there in the end, but I think what struck me first about this was how long it took. Normally, the Canadian and American heads would come together very quickly.

ALAYNA TREENE, CNN WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: That's absolutely right. It was one of the things most notable to me. I mean, I've been asking ever since Carney was sworn in, when the president was going to be speaking with him. And, you know, now it's come 14 days later and you're exactly right, because, you know, Canada is one of the United States' strongest allies. At least, you know, previously it was before this tit for tat kind of trade war started.

But I will say what also struck me from this this morning was the favorable kind of friendly language we heard President Donald Trump use. He said it was an extremely productive call. He said that they were going to meet immediately after Canada's upcoming election, which I should note is exactly one month from today. He reiterated those comments later in the Oval Office, saying that he

thinks that the United States and Canada will have a great relationship moving forward.

I mean, this is not the rhetoric, Max, that we heard from President Trump, really, ever since he took office and even before then. Gone are the taunting of former Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, when the president used to refer to him as the 51st governor of the United States, he referred today to Carney as prime minister. So just some notable language there.

Also notable, though, is Carney's office issued a statement after the call saying that carney made clear to the president that they are planning to implement retaliatory tariffs on the United States after this next wave of tariffs that the United States is going to be implementing on April 2nd.

And then we heard different language from Vice President J.D. Vance. As we heard, he is in Greenland today. He had a much sharper tone when addressing Canada. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

VANCE: The Canadian leadership threatening retaliatory tariffs against the United States. As President Trump often says, they just don't have the cards. There is no way that Canada can win a trade war with the United States.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TREENE: So as you heard from him there, there's no way Canada can win a trade war with the United States. Again, much sharper rhetoric from the vice president than what we heard from the president today following that call.

But, look, all of this could change depending on what happens in the Canadian elections next month. But it does seem, at least for now, that President Donald Trump is trying to use a friendlier tone and have potentially a better relationship with Carney than he did in the final weeks of Trudeau's term -- Max.

FOSTER: Okay, Alayna, really appreciate that. Thank you.

U.S. stocks are sinking today. Richard will be with me after the break to explain why, he's already with me. Bracing.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:22:25]

FOSTER: Richard joined me because U.S. stocks are sinking. Just minutes left to trade on Wall Street as well. That comes after consumer sentiment numbers sharply lower. That was a new survey. Worries about tariffs also weighing on the U.S. economy.

President Trump still insists the Americans don't have to worry. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REPORTER: Should Americans buy cars now if they want to avoid higher prices and then just --

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: No, I don't think so. I think you're going to have a country that's going to boom.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FOSTER: He accepted there will be short term pain with these policies, asking people to hold on.

RICHARD QUEST, CNN BUSINESS EDITOR AT LARGE: Yeah, he's saying that, you know, you can't turn this thing around. You can't make the structural changes that he believes are necessary without there being pain. And he says, if you bear with it, then the fruits will eventually arrive.

Don't forget, the president's within the president's gift up to a certain point to suddenly boost the economy and boost the market. If he decides to pull back on any of these policies, then he would be having an artificial boost that he has created.

So, he's created the misery in a sense. He can reverse it if he wants to. The bigger question always in this thing is, you know, the short- term gain. Is it worth it? Now, on the tariffs, it's probably not because it's going to take so long for domestic production of car companies to ramp up new factories. And nobody in their right mind is going to build a factory until they've got certainty.

FOSTER: I mean, he's obviously interested in Wall Street. He doesn't seem to care the ups about the ups and downs. But of course, you know, you've covered so many financial crises. There is a tipping point where the panic sets in and goes down.

FOSTER: It's hard to know if we're there. Thats a very good point. There is a point at which you cannot have this much dislocation without there being a recession. And the feds already alluded to that. And we've already got some suggestions.

You can't have these sort of falls consistently over a long period of time before because at the same time, Max, you've not only got the stock market worried, which makes perfect sense if you're a consumer at the moment, you're worried about higher cars, you're worried that interest rates aren't coming down as fast. Theres certain job insecurity now for those in government, it makes sense.

You can't continue to have this and dramatic trade disruption, and eventually, it will have its effect.

FOSTER: And they're very short-termist investors, aren't they?

QUEST: Well, the president, of course, is saying it's very funny for the president, by the way, who has to have been the most short-termist businessman that one can remember. But, all of a sudden, Donald Trump is now.

FOSTER: Talking about the long term.

QUEST: The long term, China, 100 years.

[15:25:01]

There have been some people who've been -- Warren Buffett's been saying that. And of course, the quarterly reporting season.

I think what's happening here is investors are starting to say we just don't know. And we're worried.

FOSTER: But they're not panicking. Are they?

QUEST: No, they're not panicking. But -- but what's worse, a rout or a salami slicing, you know, which goes down over a period of time because well get a better well get better visibility next week, of course, with the tariffs.

FOSTER: Where are they putting their money, gold presumably?

QUEST: Cash. Gold. Nothing. Sit and watch. Wait and see. Because you don't want to go overseas just yet.

Some stuff in Europe, defense stocks in Europe obviously have done extremely well. Probably defense stocks in the U.S. will continue to be a great barometer. The magnificent seven are -- you know, because don't forget there were already there were already legitimate questions about the profitability of A.I. in the short term. So there's - you've got this confluence of events taking place, which is why the Nasdaq is the one that's been most clobbered lately.

And I think it's worrying. It's not a crisis, but it certainly could turn into one.

FOSTER: In terms of the tariffs, what's your concern about them? The longer they're in place. Because structural change does happen around tariffs doesn't it. If the -- you know, the German car industry has to adapt to not having an American market, for example, are they going to do that or are they just going to hope for them to be over?

QUEST: Oh, the latter, because nobody in a short period of time, you're going to see a fall-off in consumer demand for cars. You're going to see a fall in the price of cars. You're going to see all those sort of things short term.

If these tariffs stay long enough, then you will see a shift in production and investment into the United States. But there again, you're going to be investing in higher cost jobs. Remember the whole point about NAFTA and USMCA was to have this beautiful system of Canada, Mexico and the U.S. with a freedom of borders that would make inefficiencies a thing of the past.

What I think is going to also take place is an ability of business to move around very quickly if they have to. But until we see that taking place, and one of the final thoughts. Tariffs are very easy to put on and very difficult to --

FOSTER: Yes, exactly. And every economist says, no one wins. Isn't that right? No one wins from a tariff war.

QUEST: No. Targeted tariff war may be, this sort of broad-based. We haven't had it since the 1920s, and even I don't remember.

FOSTER: That's when you started.

QUEST: Yeah, thank you. Yes.

FOSTER: We'll have to get the archive out.

Richard, thank you. More on "QUEST MEANS BUSINESS", of course, at the top of the hour.

Still to come, a powerful earthquake rocking Southeast Asia. We'll talk to a seismologist about what caused the ground to shake.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:31:12]

FOSTER: To our top story, rescuers racing through rubble and assessing the damage after a powerful 7.7 magnitude earthquake rocked Myanmar on Friday. At least 144 people have been killed there. Thats according to the country's military government. That number is expected to rise.

Tremors were felt as far south as Bangkok and as far east as China. A strike slip fault is reported to have triggered the powerful quake. Thats when two tectonic plates move side by side.

Let's bring in Taimi Mulder, a seismologist with the Geological Survey of Canada.

Thank you so much for joining us.

A strike slip fault, just explain that in more detail if you could.

TAIMI MULDER, SEISMOLOGIST, GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF CANADA: So, a strike slip fault is when you have two plates moving horizontally past one another, which is what happened in this case. This earthquake was quite shallow. It was at ten kilometers depth along this interface between the India and the Sunda plates.

FOSTER: It was predictable, though, wasn't it?

MULDER: Well, there's been a history of large magnitude seven earthquakes on this fault in the past. So in in that way, yes. The largest was a magnitude 7.9, in 1912. And then that was followed by a 7.7 in 1988, with the most recent being a magnitude 7 in January 1990, and that one collapsed 32 buildings. So, it's not at all unheard of, you know, for there to be these large earthquakes in this region.

FOSTER: And it's a big region, isn't it? I mean, how far away would people have felt it, do you think? MULDER: Well, the -- the length of the fault rupture was approximately

200 kilometers, mostly heading south of Mandalay. And so, this was felt hundreds of kilometers away. It's -- it's a -- it's a very large earthquake, extremely violent, shaking near the epicenter and in the area extending south from there with the, you know, intensity of shaking dies off with distance. But people who are standing still probably could feel it easily 1,000 kilometers away.

FOSTER: Obviously, we're struggling to get a full picture from Myanmar because we don't have the links as we do to countries like Thailand, but how would it have been? How -- how would it have been felt in Mandalay, for example?

MULDER: Oh, that would have been very violent shaking. So very difficult to stand. Objects inside a building that were unattached would have probably been moving from side to side in the room. Yeah, I expect that people would not have been able to move from where they were due to the violence of the shaking, and they would not have been able to leave the buildings until after the shaking had stopped.

FOSTER: And is the danger over? Im thinking about aftershocks.

MULDER: Well, the largest aftershock so far was a magnitude 6.7. So, on average, it's probably the largest aftershock that they'll get. Mother Nature has her own plans, so we can't guarantee that.

However, typically, the aftershocks drop off in frequency as time goes on. And so, there will be a number of magnitude six aftershocks and then quite a few magnitude fives.

And sometimes, it's -- it is -- it's still very hazardous because it is -- these aftershocks. So, for buildings that haven't collapsed in the initial earthquake but may have been damaged, they're at risk for being further damaged or potentially collapsing in some of the larger aftershocks.

[15:35:03]

However, that being said, I would expect the magnitudes of the aftershocks to start dropping off over time.

FOSTER: Okay, Taimi Mulder --

MULDER: It's a shallow earthquake. Yeah, because there is -- this is a shallow earthquake. It's quite likely that there will be a lot of aftershocks.

FOSTER: Yeah, that's tragic, isn't it?

Taimi Mulder, thank you for that.

Turning to another of our top stories. A ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah is hanging in the balance after the first Israeli strike on Beirut since the deal was agreed last year. The IDF says it was in response to two projectiles being fired at Israel from Lebanon, and says it targeted a Hezbollah stronghold in the south of Beirut. Israel is also warning of repercussions if Lebanon fails to enforce

the ceasefire.

You're looking at people fleeing Beirut following the attack, the first of its kind in four months. Of course. And Hezbollah denies it was responsible for targeting Israel. And Lebanon insists that Israeli strikes were unjustified.

France's prime minister is also speaking out against Israel's actions.

Jeremy Diamond has the latest from Tel Aviv.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN JERUSALEM CORRESPONDENT: Israel on Friday carrying out an airstrike in the Lebanese capital after two rockets were fired from Lebanon towards northern Israel. It is the first time since the November ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah went into effect that the Israeli military has carried out strikes in Beirut.

The Israeli military said that they went after a Hezbollah drone storage facility. You can see the enormous blast caused by that airstrike. And in the aftermath of that strike, absolute destruction, that entire building was leveled in that strike. And you can see the damage in this video.

The Israeli military issued evacuation orders for that area about an hour and a half before carrying out this strike, and it said it carried out this strike in retaliation for those two rockets that were fired earlier on Friday against Israeli territory. One of those rockets was intercepted by the Israeli military. The other fell short in Lebanese territory, actually, according to the IDF.

Now Hezbollah has denied that it was responsible for carrying out those rocket attacks. And in fact, the images that we have of those two rocket launchers that were used in Friday's attack appear quite rudimentary. And it led Lebanon's president to say that he does not believe that this was Hezbollah. Instead, it seems more likely that this was a smaller militant group. Perhaps that is also based in southern Lebanon.

But the Israeli government has made quite clear that they will consider any kind of attack from Lebanon towards Israel, that they will fire back at Hezbollah, whether or not it was Hezbollah actually responsible for that attack. They have also said that they will hold the Lebanese government responsible for any violations of the ceasefire that occur on Lebanese territory.

And this all comes at quite a precarious moment for Lebanon. It is just trying to stand up this new government, funding coming in from the United States and France to stand up the Lebanese army and to send them into southern Lebanon, to take over territory that was previously largely held by Hezbollah.

And now, the question is whether or not this cease fire will actually hold up. Questions over whether Hezbollah will feel the need to retaliate against Israel for this strike in Beirut. A very tenuous moment, a very fragile moment, certainly, as everything seems to be escalating in the region at the moment.

Jeremy Diamond, CNN, Tel Aviv.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

FOSTER: Still to come, a chilly reception from Greenlanders for U.S. Vice President J.D. Vance. We'll tell you what they had to say after the break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:41:58]

FOSTER: As we mentioned earlier, U.S. Vice President J.D. Vance is or he has used his trip to Greenland to attack Danish rule over the island and warn of growing Chinese and Russian interest in the Arctic. He made his pitch for Greenlanders to partner with the U.S. this amid President Trump's repeated threats to annex the territory.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

VANCE: Our message is very simple. Yes, the people of Greenland are going to have self-determination . We hope that they choose to partner with the United States, because were the only nation on earth that will respect their sovereignty and respect their security, because their security is very much our security.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FOSTER: The government in Greenland wants no part in this visit. So, it took place at a military base far away from the capital.

In a January opinion poll, 85 percent of Greenlanders said no thanks to becoming part of the U.S. and they haven't changed their minds.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I don't want to be bought by a crook like Trump. I am a human. I am a human.

Human are not for sale. We are not for sale. You are not for sale in your country. You know that. Thats why I am very angry about that.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Somehow, we want to govern our -- our country by ourselves. We aren't interfering from Denmark or USA. So, I would like to say to Trump, don't - don't even think about. Repeating it. Don't even think about repeat it that you want Greenland. We don't want you here.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FOSTER: Joining us now, Kuno Fencker, a member of parliament in Greenland.

Thank you so much for joining us.

I mean, everyone's got different views on this. What did you make of the slight change in tone we seem to get from the vice president today? He's not. He wasn't talking about annexing Greenland. He was talking about, you know, effectively, Greenlanders choosing their destiny, voting effectively, to partner with America.

KUNO FENCKER, GREENLAND PARLIAMENT MEMBER: Yeah. That is also what we have heard on the positive side of the rhetoric, but we have also heard some -- some negative rhetoric that the audiences are well aware of. And that is what is the Greenlanders are reacting to. So, I must say that both from the Greenlandic, Danish and U.S., and there have been some, fails in diplomacy and pragmatism and friendliness. And I think that the situation now with the visit in Pituffik shows that we must learn from our mistakes and see how we can create a good environment between our countries.

And we know that the U.S. needs Greenland in regards to national security, international security, and also for the Greenlandic security.

[15:45:01]

So I hope that the new government of Greenland will take this as a pragmatic way to improve the relations with the United States, and also work on our own sovereignty of Greenland, which was taken away from us in 1953, from Denmark. We just want it back, and we need to have an independent Greenland that is not working towards utopia, which is because we need to work with a bigger ally in regards to defense and security for the Greenlandic side. And of course, the -- of the national security of the U.S. is absolutely understandable from my end.

FOSTER: Because there has to be a security deal with someone, doesn't it? If you're going to go independent, you, you know, it's a population of about 55 -- 50,000 people. You need to have some guarantees from a partner. But America has shown with Ukraine, for example, they're not just going to give, you know, an unconditional guarantee. There's going to be a deal that comes with that, access to minerals and effectively handing the country over, don't you think? Or do you see a different sort of partnership forming?

FENCKER: Well, there's always a give and take. And Denmark has taken a lot from Greenland in regards to minerals and other kinds of resources. Of course, they have given back some sort of subsidies, and Denmark has threatened Greenland with taking away the subsidies. And if then Greenland became independent, they would leave Greenland militarily.

That would have created a security and defense vacuum in Greenland, which I, understandably, the United States can't accept. So that's why they are proactively, talking to the Greenlanders now in regards to securing Greenland, because it's a national security issue for the North American continent.

FOSTER: Yeah. Okay. Thank you. I really appreciate your analysis today. It's been a fascinating day seeing the vice president there in Greenland.

We'll be back after a quick break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

FOSTER: Well, this visit to Greenland we've been discussing was the first public appearance for J.D. Vance since the infamous "Atlantic" article on the Signal chat, which included the vice president. Vance downplayed the use of a publicly available app to discuss highly sensitive attack plans, calling it a private conversation. This despite a journalist accidentally being invited to the chat and publishing what was in it as well.

[15:50:01]

He's accusing the media of overblowing the incident.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

VANCE: That is not honest behavior from the American media. And if you think you're going to force the president of the United States to fire anybody, you've got another thing coming. President Trump has said it on Monday, on Tuesday, on Wednesday, on Thursday. And I'm the vice president saying it here on Friday. We are standing behind our entire national security team.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FOSTER: Our chief national security correspondent, Alex Marquardt, is in Washington.

I mean, there's a bit of frustration there, isn't it? This story keeps coming back to him. But is it just the media that's obsessed with this?

ALEXANDER MARQUARDT, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: It's not, Max. It's -- it's a lot of national security officials who we've been speaking with. This debate over whether what was included in this conversation, whether that was classified or not, is not going away anytime soon.

Democrats have very much latched on to this, saying that those national security officials are lying about their characterization of the conversation, and there is going to be an investigation that was asked by a Republican, the top Republican of the Senate Armed Services Committee asked that the Pentagon's inspector general to carry out an investigation and essentially get back to them on -- on this question of whether this was classified or not.

Amid all of that debate, Max, there has been less attention on what exactly was said by the vice president. And -- and on one level, that is some of the most interesting stuff, if you will, because we rarely see Vance out of step with the American president. But when you look at the text messages in this group chat, the deliberation before the strikes actually happen over whether they should take place, he is very, very clearly against the strikes. He says verbatim, I think we are making a mistake. And he goes on to

say that he does not believe that President Trump understands how this flies in the face of his policy on Europe.

Now, of course, the Trump administration has been pushing the Europeans to do more for themselves on defense, to spend more money on their military. And what Vance was arguing in this group chat was essentially that the U.S. is bailing out Europe again. In fact, he says just that, I hate bailing Europe out again.

Now, eventually, the group comes around to agreeing that these strikes should take place. And of course, that did end up happening. But in the defense that we've also seen in the past few days, aside from pushing back against the classification arguments, is, well, what the public actually got to see was a robust debate among top national security officials. Thats been some of the strongest spin coming from the Trump administration.

Here's a little bit more of what Vance had to say on that subject today in Greenland.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

VANCE: What I saw in that signal chat, and, of course, what I've seen in the president's senior national security team is that sometimes we all agree and sometimes we all disagree, but it's important that we all have an honest conversation amongst ourselves and with the president of the United States about what we think is the best interest of the national security of the United States of America.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MARQUARDT: Max, I don't think anyone would disagree that healthy policy debate is something that is needed at the highest levels of -- of some of the biggest governments and strongest governments in the world, especially as they're about to undertake deadly action like this. But Vance went on to say that he always supported the president's actions and decision to strike the Houthis, and he supports the presidents, the national security team having this argument about how to best support the American people.

That, of course, stands in stark contrast to what he actually said in this chat was, I think we're making a mistake, and I'm not sure how aware the president is that he is going against his own policy. So, Vance there trying to play some cleanup on this issue, this scandal, if you will. That is not going away after it has really dominated this week here in Washington -- Max.

FOSTER: Okay, Alex, as ever, thank you so much for bringing us all of that from Washington.

And a reminder of our breaking news. It is past 2:00 a.m. in Myanmar, where at least 144 people have died and more than 730 people have been injured after a massive 7.7 magnitude earthquake struck on Friday. The military junta making a rare plea for international help. Tremors caused damage in neighboring Thailand. Look at this. A

skyscraper in Bangkok collapsing into dust as people run away. At least eight people were killed because of that. Rescuers still searching for people believed trapped under the rubble as well.

These are live images, and it's always such a painful process to watch because they have to go so slowly not to cause any damage to people underneath. But massive frustration that it isn't going more quickly too.

We'll have a live report from Bangkok in just a few minutes for you.

We also want to check on the U.S. stock markets before Richard comes in. The Dow falling as new numbers show consumer confidence plummeting.

According to a University of Michigan survey released a short while ago, consumer confidence sank 12 percent in just a month.

[15:55:04]

That's the lowest since November 2022. Some of it is due to President Trump's newly announced tariffs as well.

More on that explained by Richard. He's standing in the wings. He's ready to take over. Thanks for watching.