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CNN NEWSROOM

E.U.'s Donald Tusk Suggests 12-Month Flexible Delay; E.U. Expected To Propose Up To One-Year "Flextension"; UNICEF: Blast Kills 14 Children In Yemen; Mar-a-Lago Intruder Loaded With Spy Tools; Netanyahu and Gantz Both Claim Victory in Israeli Election; Democrats Promise to Fight to See Full Mueller Report; Putin: Investigation a "Dark Page" in U.S. History; Sudanese Protesters Want to End the Rule of Omar al-Bashir; Tensions Rise over Kashmir as India Gets Ready to Vote. Aired 2-3a ET

Aired April 10, 2019 - 02:00   ET

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


[02:00:00]

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ROSEMARY CHURCH, CNN ANCHOR (voice-over): Hello and welcome to our viewers joining us from all around the world. I'm Rosemary Church with your next two hours of CNN NEWSROOM, let's get started.

Israel's closely contested race as the results come in, it appears to be a virtual tie between the prime minister and his challenger. But both have already claimed victory.

Theresa May is going to Brussels about another Brexit delay and there's a chance she will get more than she bargained for.

Election campaigning is gearing up for ahead of its elections. We will look at how tensions of Kashmir could play into the prime minister's favor.

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CHURCH: Well, the race to be Israel's next prime minister is too close to call. With more than 90 percent of the votes counted, incumbent Benjamin Netanyahu and his Likud Party are at about 26 percent. The prime minister may have an edge forming the coalition but he's in a virtual tie with his main challenger, Benny Gantz, and the Blue and White Party. It's been a hard-fought election and both candidates have claimed victory.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BENJAMIN NETANYAHU, PRIME MINISTER OF ISRAEL (through translator): As we said, the biggest party is the one Likud will form with the government.

In elections, there are losers and winners. And we are the winners.

I want to clarify that this will be a right wing government, that I will be a prime minister of all Israeli citizens, Jewish and non- Jewish, left or right, all citizens. And I will take care of all of them.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH: For more, CNN's Michael Holmes joins us now live from Jerusalem.

Good to see you, Michael. So Netanyahu and Gantz claim victory but Netanyahu appears to have the edge here when it comes to forming a governing coalition.

It's not over yet, is it?

MICHAEL HOLMES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: As you say it's really too close to call with any degree of certainty around this point. It could be days, in fact, before all of this is sorted out. You had that bizarre sight of both leaders, Netanyahu appearing before their supporters, claiming victory.

We were at the Gantz camp. One of them's got to be right. And Benjamin Netanyahu appears to have the easier path. Israel's Channels 12 and 13, they say the right has a 65 to 55 seat advantage. And that's on assumptions of which party will go with which party. And not every party has made its position clear.

But Gantz will have to get defections from smaller parties more traditionally aligned with Netanyahu. It could happen; deals are done in this game here in Israel. But it's a long shot. Yes, Netanyahu appearing to have the easier path -- Rosemary.

CHURCH: So once all of the votes are counted, what's the next step in the process of forming a viable government?

HOLMES: Because there's so many parties -- we still don't know which parties will end up with the required 3.25 percent of the vote to make the cut and get seats but when that all shakes itself out in the next day or two, what happens is the president, Reuven Rivlin, he will ask a delegation from each party to say which Knesset member do you think has the best chance of forming a government?

That may not even happen until the weekend. But after he does consult with each party then with seven days he ask to ask one member of the newly elected Knesset to come back and accept the job of forming a government.

Then the clock starts and that person, whoever it is, it could be Netanyahu -- probably will be -- or it could be Benny Gantz, they have 28 days to form a government. And it is a process that could take weeks -- Rosemary.

CHURCH: Unbelievable, we will be following right along, as you will be. Many thanks to you, joining us now from Jerusalem. We'll check next hour as well.

In the U.S., lawmakers will look at the report on Russian election interference within a week. But in his first appearance on Capitol Hill since the probe ended, the U.S. attorney general said portions of the document will be redacted. Pamela Brown reports Democrats will fight to see the full report.

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PAMELA BROWN, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Tonight, attorney general William Barr setting the stage for a showdown with Democrats on Capitol Hill, who are demanding the full Mueller report.

WILLIAM BARR, ATTORNEY GENERAL NOMINEE: I don't intend, at this stage, to send the full unredacted report to the committee.

BROWN (voice-over): Barr insisted redactions are necessary to protect the integrity of ongoing investigations, grand jury and sensitive intelligence materials and individual privacy. The attorney general told Democrats they'll only get explanations for any blacked out sections.

BARR: We will color-code the excisions from the report and we will provide explanatory notes, describing the basis for each redaction.

BROWN (voice-over): House judiciary chairman Jerry Nadler now promising a fight if his committee doesn't get the full report.

REP. JERRY NADLER (D-NY), CHAIRMAN, HOUSE JUDICIARY COMMITTEE: I presume we're going to get the redacted report within a week. When we do so, if we don't get everything, we will issue the subpoena and go to court.

BROWN (voice-over): Nadler has demanded that Barr go to court to seek the release of grand jury material. But today, Barr said he sees no exception in the rule to allow him to release that material to Congress.

BARR: Unless there is a provision that permits it. And the chairman of the Judiciary Committee is free to go to court if he feels one of those exceptions is applicable.

BROWN (voice-over): Barr faced criticism from Democrats over his letter summarizing the main Mueller findings, submitted less than 48 hours after he received the over 300-page Mueller report.

REP. NITA LOWEY (D-NY): All we have is your four-page summary, which seems to cherry-pick from the report, to draw the most favorable conclusion possible for the president.

BROWN (voice-over): Barr defending his work and his intentions.

BARR: I was not interested in putting out summaries. I felt that I should state the bottom line conclusions and I tried to use special counsel Mueller's own language in doing that. BROWN (voice-over): Though only about 100 words of Mueller's report are used in the four-page letter. Barr downplayed reports the prosecutors for the special counsel are frustrated with his summary of principal conclusions.

BARR: I suspect that they probably wanted, you know, more put out. Any summary, regardless of who prepares it, not only runs the risk of, you know, being under inclusive or over inclusive but also, you know, would trigger a lot of discussion and analysis that really should await everything coming out at once.

BROWN (voice-over): And the attorney general revealed that he offered the special counsel a chance to review his summary letter before sending it to members of Congress but Mueller declined though Barr did not say why. And the White House, he said, did not make any changes to his letter.

But Barr wouldn't say if the White House has been briefed on the full report.

BARR: I'm not going to say anything more about it until the report is out and everyone has a chance to look at it.

BROWN: The attorney general also said that he doesn't plan, as of now, to withhold any information in the Mueller report on the basis of executive privilege. But he also wouldn't say whether he has consulted with the White House on that matter since he release that four-page memo to Congress. A White House official declined to comment -- Pamela Brown, CNN, Washington.

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CHURCH: Josh Rogin joins me now, he is a CNN political analyst and a columnist for "The Washington Post."

Good to see you.

JOSH ROGIN, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: Likewise.

CHURCH: So Attorney General Bill Barr says he will release a redacted Mueller report to the public within a week but refused to answer whether the White House had seen it.

Why not just say yes or no? What does it signal when he avoids that question? And if the Democrats issue a subpoena, will they ever get to see the full, unredacted report?

ROGIN: Attorney General Barr is doing what he's always done, which is giving Congress only the information he believes that he is directly obligated to give them, no more, no less. That's his style.

It's making Democratic members of Congress very unhappy. He shows no signs of altering it. That applies to when he talks about directions with the White House. It also applies to the details of what exactly these redactions will be and whether or not he will explain them once he hands them over.

Now what's clear is that the Democrats in Congress have no intention of being satisfied by taking Attorney General Barr's word for this. So you can be sure that no matter what the redactions are, since he has promised not to give Congress the full version of the Mueller report, there will be a subpoena.

Whether or not that subpoena is successful depends on the courts. That just means we don't know how it's going to come out but there will be a long, protracted legal battle.

CHURCH: And why do you think Robert Mueller declined an offer to see Bill Barr's summary of his own report before its release? Does that make sense to you?

ROGIN: It makes a lot of sense if you're Robert Mueller. His goal, his imperative is to stay --

[02:10:00]

ROGIN: -- out of the political fray and to maintain his own sense of independence. And not weighing in on the letter is the best way for him to avoid becoming entangles in the politics of this.

Robert Mueller is trying to avoid those mistakes that James Comey made. When James Comey crossed over from being a prosecutor and an investigator into being making political decisions.

Robert Mueller has learned the lessons of that and why not let the administration and the political appointees take the heat for whatever it is they decide to do with Congress. Robert Mueller has done his job and he's standing by that.

CHURCH: To immigration now and President Trump is now blaming his family separation policy on Barack Obama and denying he has any plans to resurrect it. Let's just listen to what he said Tuesday.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Obama separated the children by the way. Just so you understand, President Obama separated the children. Those cages that were shown, I think they were very inappropriate.

They were built by President Obama's administration, not by Trump. President Obama had child separation. Take a look. The press knows it. You know it. We all know it. I didn't have -- I'm the one that stopped it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH: Josh, let's fact-check that statement from the president. What is true and what is false?

ROGIN: I mean it's a grossly misleading depiction of events. It's true that during the Obama administration, there were some instances of child separation. It's false that the Obama administration made this into a policy.

It happens to be a fact that the Trump administration did expand the use of child separation, including by claiming that they believed it was a deterrent. And even today, as the president tries to publicly take credit for ending the policy, all of the reporting by several news organizations, including CNN, has shown that privately he's pushing for a reinstatement of the very policy he's criticizing publicly.

So there's a lot of misdirection, a lot of misinterpretation, a lot of spin. Some outright lies. But I think what you're seeing here is a struggle both inside the Trump administration and around Washington to figure out what the immigration debate is going to be heading into the 2020 election.

The president knows he wants to run on this. I spoke to a senator just an hour ago who talked to the president about the situation. This senator told me that the president is convinced that this is the issue that will get him re-elected.

The problem is he hasn't figured out what the policy is and he hasn't figured out what's politically possible and that's why we're seeing this back and forth we're seeing right now.

CHURCH: Yes. We shall watch to see what he does in the end when it comes to this particular issue. A lot of people very concerned. Josh Rogin, thank you so much for joining us. We appreciate it.

ROGIN: Any time.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CHURCH: Russia's president is breaking his silence on the Mueller investigation for the first time since it wrapped up. Matthew Chance reports Vladimir Putin's reaction to the report is strikingly similar to Donald Trump's.

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MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): This is the first time Vladimir Putin has even mentioned the Mueller report in public since the Russian probe was brought to its anticlimactic end. Not surprisingly, the Russian president was scathing in his condemnation.

"The investigation was a dark page in American history," he told a televised panel discussion in St. Petersburg. He also reminded the audience it found none of the collusion, as he put it, Mueller was trying to find.

DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: The collusion disillusion is over.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Come on, stop -- CHANCE (voice-over): It's not the first time Moscow has seemed in lockstep with the White House.

CHANCE: Are you concerned that the investigations into Russia are going to turn up more secret meetings?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Please, stop this spreading lies and false news.

CHANCE (voice-over): Frank similarities in messaging, even language probably helped fuel collusion suspicions in the first place.

But the allegations of Russian interference and U.S. politics remain, like this secretive troll factors in St. Petersburg, where online attempts were made to amplify social discord in America.

And the Democratic Party email hacks, allegedly carried out by Russian military intelligence and released by WikiLeaks in a bid to influence the 2016 presidential election campaign.

But the U.S. attorney general's recent summary of the Mueller report, in which he said it didn't find evidence of a criminal conspiracy between the U.S. president and the Kremlin, has left both Trump and Moscow feeling vindicated.

And like the U.S. president, the Kremlin is on the offensive against Trump's enemies.

VLADIMIR PUTIN, PRESIDENT OF RUSSIA (through translator): See, what is happening is that those groups that attacked the legitimately elected president do not agree with the choice of the American people. We've never seen this in the history of the U.S.

TRUMP: Wouldn't it be great if we actually got along with Russia?

Am I wrong in saying that?

CHANCE (voice-over): Russia has already been sanctioned by the United States for its election interference and could face more in the weeks ahead. But it continues to cast itself and President Trump as victims of the same political foes -- Matthew Chance, CNN, Moscow.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CHURCH: A new wave of protests in Sudan turn deadly after thousands of people stage a sit-in at the military headquarters. Ahead, why these demonstrations have escalated.

And with the world's biggest election about to begin in India, we look at how the crisis in Kashmir could play right into Prime Minister Narendra Modi's hands. We are back in just a moment.

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CHURCH: The World Health Organization says 47 people have been killed and more than 180 wounded in three days of intense fighting in Libya. The victims include doctors and civilians. The U.N. backed government has been battling the renegade Libyan national army for control of the capital.

The U.N. special envoy to Libya is calling for a national conference as soon as possible.

In Sudan, people are fed up and they are fighting back in the only way they can, mass demonstrations. Security forces are cracking down. Doctors say 22 people have been killed in anti-government protests since Saturday.

And protest leaders are now urging the military to join them in calling for the president to go. CNN's Farai Sevenzo reports.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

FARAI SEVENZO, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It's nearly dawn on Tuesday morning in Sudan's capital, Khartoum. This as they have been facing live ammunition since Saturday.

Protests that began in December over rising living costs have only one aim: to end the two-decades rule of Omar al-Bashir, Sudan's long- serving ruler, since a military coup I 1989.

The soldier presenting post (ph) a state of emergency in February and has yet to answer charges of past war crimes at the International Criminal Court. Sudan's protests were reignited by changing events in North Africa.

A potential new kind of Arab Spring is prompting a change of guard in this region, unplanned and unexpected. Algeria's Bouteflika resigned following protests over his intention to run again in elections (INAUDIBLE).

In Libya, a new civil war seems possible, some even say likely. While Sudan has seen protests and deaths since December 2018. Thousands of Sudanese have been staging a sit-in at the very symbol of their soldier presence power (ph), the military headquarters.

Since Saturday, they have surrounded this massive conference (ph) at the heart of the capital, an area housing the state police, army, navy and al-Bashir's residence close to the airport.

The death toll has been rising since Saturday alone, say Sudan's doctors' union. But now, the stakes are higher for the beleaguered president. Eyewitnesses said that there has been gunfire between the security forces, with many soldiers protecting civilian protesters from police and national intelligence officers.

Cracks in the military's heretofore unwavering loyalty (ph) for al- Bashir are everywhere as a new camaraderie emerges between soldiers and the people. The stakes will be high for the men in camouflage, too. If this does not go the way the protesters expect, with al- Bashir's departure, there will surely be executions for treason.

The president is striving for control, addressing his ruling party and urging people to wait until the elections as his officials rush to declare that the sit-in is over. Conflicting statements from officials cannot hide the growing crowds at Sudan's military headquarters.

After months of protests, the decision on whether he should stay or he should go may no longer be in Omar al-Bashir's hands -- Farai Sevenzo, CNN.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CHURCH: And there is already a symbol of the pro-democracy movement in Sudan. This image, a woman dressed in a white robe, standing on the roof of a car, leading protesters in a chant. A fellow protester took the photo during a recent rally in Khartoum and said, at that moment, she represented all Sudanese women and girls.

Another demonstrator captured the same on video.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH (voice-over): The images are being shared thousands of times on social media. One user saying, "Resistance is a woman. Sudan."

Another user says, "Thank you, people of Sudan, for showing us how strong you are."

And some on Twitter have been calling this woman a Statue of Liberty.

India's prime minister is projecting himself as the only leader capable of standing up to Pakistan. This comes as tensions between the two countries recently escalated over the disputed Kashmir region. And as Indians begin heading to the polls this week.

But for ordinary Kashmiris, violence remains a reality of --

[02:25:00]

CHURCH: -- everyday life. Nikhil Kumar has our report.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

NIKHIL KUMAR, CNN NEW DELHI BUREAU CHIEF (voice-over): In the shadow of the line of control, the de facto border that divides the disputed Kashmir region between India and Pakistan, a protest.

These locals in Indian controlled Kashmir want bunkers to protect them, as the two nuclear powers continue to fire artillery shells at each other. Just weeks after an aerial dogfight, the first such confrontation in almost five decades threatened all-out war.

KUMAR: The driving impulse behind these protesters, kilometers from the de facto border, it's fear, fear of cross-border shelling. That's already maimed or killed innocent citizens.

KUMAR (voice-over): Innocents like the 32-year-old Mohammad Riyad. His voice cracking, he tells me a shell struck his border home in late February. Shrapnel ripped open his abdomen, his intestines spilled out.

And 16-year-old Mohammad Ansar, the fear in his eyes, this black head wound the result of shelling in mid-March. His brothers, both 10, and his mother were also injured.

KUMAR: Are you still scared?

"We're still very scared," he says.

"Every time I hear a loud noise, I panic."

India and Pakistan have already fought multiple wars over Kashmir and now as India prepares for general elections, the renewed conflict here has become a major campaign issue.

NARENDRA MODI, INDIAN PRIME MINISTER: This is a new India.

KUMAR (voice-over): India's nationalist prime minister, Narendra Modi, is holding up the recent air skirmishes as proof that he's strong on defense. The tensions were sparked by February car bomb attack on Indian forces which India say Pakistan had a, quote, "direct hand."

Pakistan rubbishes India's claim. As politicians grandstand, fear stalks ordinary Kashmiris.

KUMAR: For people here, violence is nothing new. The line of control, the site of so many armed showdowns between India and Pakistan, is right there, nestled in those mountains. But residents say the shelling hasn't been this bad for several years.

KUMAR (voice-over): Riyadh and his family fled the border earlier this month. Shells drove them out. Huddled together in temporary housing in the biting Kashmiri cold, they tell me they don't know when they can return home.

"We were having lunch when the shelling started. The children were terrified. We had to flee," he says.

"We had to leave our home, our possessions, everything. We had no choice."

With Kashmir still tense, they have become refugees in their own land -- Nikhil Kumar, CNN, Indian-controlled Kashmir.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CHURCH: We'll take a short break right here. Still to come, Theresa May is off to Brussels in search of another Brexit delay. And the European Union may come through with more than she ever hoped for. The details on the flextension just ahead. Israel's next prime minister could radically reshape ties with the

country's neighbors. How some Palestinians are assessing the candidate. That's coming up in just a moment.

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[02:30:30] ROSEMARY CHURCH, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: Welcome back to CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Rosemary Church. I want to check the headlines for you this hour. British Prime Minister Theresa May is set to make her case for the European Union for another Brexit delay. As she could get much more than she was hoping for, one plan would grant a flexible extension of up to eight years with France pushing for strict limits on Britain's influence in the E.U.

The U.S. Attorney General says he will release the Mueller report on Russian interference in the 2016 election within a week. But William Barr told lawmakers that parts of it will be redacted. Democrats are promising a legal battle to obtain the fill report. With more than 90 percent of the vote counted, the race to Israel's Prime Minister is in a dead heat. Fewer than 13,000 votes separate Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his chief rival Benny Gantz.

Both have claimed victory but Mr. Netanyahu may have the advantage when it comes to building a coalition. While the Prime Minister may look to smaller right-wing and ultra-orthodox party to govern over the weekend. He made a last-minute campaign pledge. Seen as a bit to win their support, he promise to annex west bank settlements if reelected. Palestinian slam the move but many don't see a viable peace partner in Gantz either.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SAEB EREKAT, CHIEF PALESTINIAN NEGOTIATOR: I think we have just witnessed a clear cut vote by the Israelis to maintain the status quo as far as we Palestinians are concerned. This was a vote to maintain the status quo, to maintain upper fight. I think in the new elections from the exit polls, I think there are only 80 seats in the 120 seats in asset that support the two-state solution on the 1967 lines.

That means, 102 seats in the Knesset don't support the two-state solution on the 1967 lines.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH: And for more I'm joined by Yaakov Katz, he's the editor-in- chief of the Jerusalem Post. Thank you so much for being with us.

YAAKOV KATZ, EDITOR-IN-CHIEF, JERUSALEM POST: Thank you.

CHURCH: So we are seeing both Netanyahu and Gantz declaring victory in this election. But there can of course be only one winner and most suggest that Netanyahu is the one with the most likely path to victory certainly when it comes to building a coalition. Do you agree with that?

KATZ: I think so. The Israeli system as a coalition system. So even if Benny Gantz were to come up with one or two seats more or even a few more than that, although it now seems that it might be a dead heat tie down the middle 35-35 or 36-35, one more than Netanyahu. It doesn't make a difference. At the end, it's who can build a coalition, who can a majority in Israel's Parliament, the Knesset, and that seems that the only track to that government, that coalition is in Netanyahu's hands.

He has the orthodox partiers, he has the smaller right-wing parties and Benny Gantz does not have a coalition and that's ultimately what will determine who will continue or who will be Israel's Prime Minister.

CHURCH: Right. Of course, this elections was viewed as a referendum on Benjamin Netanyahu and if that is the case, it has to be said he's done very well, hasn't he? Despite corruption charges against him, a possible indictment. But he did get a big boost from his friend, U.S. President Donald Trump. Why do you think voters in the end decided to stick with Netanyahu as it appears to be the case?

KATZ: I think you're 100 percent right, Rosemary. This was a total referendum on Netanyahu. And he came out with an excellent grade. The Israelis flock behind them, they decided to vote for him in large numbers. And as you mentioned, not only did he get help by the way that boost from Donald Trump two weeks before elections when Netanyahu visited Washington and came back to Israel with recognition of Israeli sovereignty over the Golan Heights.

But he also then went a week later to visit Vladimir Putin in Moscow and came back with the remains of a soldier, an Israeli soldier who had been missing in action for 37 years. And between that, got a visit from the president of Brazil. So, you saw an outpouring of world leaders who were kind of flocking and basically signaling to Israelis, we enjoy working with this guy. We want Netanyahu to stay in power.

And I think that that's the story. The story for Israelis is that they look around and they see the foreign credentials that Netanyahu brings.

[02:35:04] The way he can open up the doors to capitals around the world. Whether it's D.C., Moscow, and other places everywhere across the globe. They see economic success and the resilience of Israel. And therefore they say, why touch it if it's not broken. On the other hand, there's no question that he's facing down a serious criminal allegations. There's already a recommendation that he'd be indicted on charges ranging from bribery to fraud to breach of trust.

But despite all of that, the Israeli people decided that they don't necessarily have faith in that legal process and they prefer to have Netanyahu stay as prime minister. I think the bottom line is because Israelis look first and foremost at security. They want to know that they are safe and secure. And Netanyahu seems to be able to give them that feeling and that's why they vote for him.

CHURCH: And, you know, given the power he has, it shouldn't be a surprise and the boost he got from Donald Trump but it has to be said too but Benny Gantz did very well for a newcomer and a novice politician. What was it about Gantz that put him so close to victory? Because he did -- he really gave Netanyahu a run for his money, didn't he?

KATZ: Oh, you're right, Rosemary. 100 percent. Look, Gantz came and he come alone, he came with two other former I.D. of generals, chief of staff just like him. So you had together the three of them with over a hundred years of military experience accumulatively. They were also joined by the party Yesh Atid which was led by Yair Lapid, a former finance minister. And he kind of brought the infrastructure, the party infrastructure and the activist on the ground.

And they were able to put up a fight and I think it was because for the first time there was a real formidable candidate or adversary to Netanyahu who had the security credentials that he has for so many years flaunted to the Israeli people. But that's what makes the story even more amazing and that's why a lot of Israelis, they are calling him a magician because even though Netanyahu, with the criminal charges, with the pending indictment, with the fact that he's been prime minister 13 years, 10 years consecutively.

And he was up against three former IDF Chief of Staff. They (INAUDIBLE) and defeated them. And that's really the story of this election is how Netanyahu has managed to hold on by his teeth almost and able to stay it seems. We'll see what happens in the coming days whether he gets tapped by the President to form that coalition but definitely it looks like that's what's going to happen.

CHURCH: And while that rivalry plays out, Palestinians are not happy with the outcome either way. They view it as Israelis maintaining the status quo, abandoning the two-state solution, that's their view when they look at the numbers there and look at the seats. Where does it leave efforts to find peace in the region and why do you think there was that record low turnout for Israeli Arabs for this election? What might that signal?

KATZ: Well, that's a good question and it's a story that is yet to be completely told and we'll try to find out in the coming weeks exactly why there was that low turnout. But if I had to guess from what I'm hearing, look, the Israeli Arabs who are about two million of Israel's 8.7 million people feel that there's nothing moving on their front, there's nothing moving on when it comes to the Palestinian issue.

They feel that there is not enough investment in infrastructure in their own communities. And they're also fed up by the way we thrown representation in the Knesset members who come from the Arab community. And I think that what we're seeing is just a general sense of disappointment but we'll see exactly how that plays out. When it comes to the peace process, we're still kind of waiting with a lot of anticipation to see what will happen with Donald Trump's -- what he calls deal of the century, the peace plan that he and his administration been working on for the last two years.

They're expected to roll it out sometime in the upcoming weeks now that elections in Israel are over and especially in the fact that Netanyahu is remaining as Prime Minister, so it has that kind of stability in succession. But I wouldn't have a lot of great hope that anything is going to move here. We've seen that the Palestinians and the White House are not talking already for a couple of years definitely since the administration moved the U.S. embassy to Jerusalem, it's complete disconnect to expect that Trump will be able to succeed somehow in getting the Palestinians back to the table, I'm not very hopeful.

And the fact now that Netanyahu who looks most likely to be forming a coalition that's going to be narrow, made up of ultra-unorthodox parties and of the right wing parties. I would expect to actually that we're going to see a prime minister who is vulnerable because of the criminal allegations and suspicions against him. And who his partners will be able to extort him out of him, stuff that they haven't been able to do in the past. And therefore, to expect progress on the peace track I wouldn't hold my breath.

CHURCH: Very sobering analysis there. Yaakov Katz thank you so much for joining us. We appreciate it.

KATZ: Thank you.

CHURCH: Well, British Prime Minister Theresa May is just hours away from a critical meeting with E.U. leaders in Brussels. She is expected to ask for another Brexit delay until June 30th.

[02:40:05] But European Council President Donald Tusk is planning to propose a flexible extension for up to a year. Meaning the U.K. could leave the E.U. whenever Westminster approves a deal. Of course there will be strings attached among them, France wants to limit Britain's influence in the E.U. in the interim. Still others seeming climb to go along.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

STEF BLOK, DUTCH FOREIGN MINISTER: It's in the Dutch interest to avoid a hard Brexit and if more time will be needed to avoid a hard Brexit, well, we should allow for more time.

AMELIE DE MONTCHALIN, FRENCH MINISTER FOR EUROPEAN AFFAIRS: We want to understand what the U.K. need this extension for and what is the political surroundings on Theresa May to have this extension. And then consequences of the conditions of what role want the U.K. to play during this extension time. How does it want to decide and what -- on what type of decisions they want to play a role.

SIMON COVENEY, IRISH FOREIGN MINISTER: I think that E.U. leaders this week are open to an extension but they certainly want to see a plan to go with that extension.

CHURCH: And CNN has correspondents covering developments across the continent. Isa Soares is in London this hour and Melissa Bell joins us live from Brussels. Good to see you both. So, Isa, let's start with you in London. The European Council President's proposal to offer a longer extension and allow the U.K. to leave once the deal is agreed upon, would if unanimously passed take considerable pressure of Prime Minister May. Although she favored a shorter extension. What's been the reaction so far to this proposal in the U.K. or what will be the likely reaction?

ISA SOARES, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Rosemary. Well, so far the reaction has been muted for several reasons. One, we do not know at this stage of course what -- how long an extension or Flextension Theresa May is going to get from the European Union. And also as one of -- you just heard there in that sound bite, what conditions will come with that extension and that -- and that will be critical to many here within her own party to see what she gets.

What we know for certain is Rosemary, what she is going t be asking for. She wants a delay, an extension until June the 30th with the idea that if a deal is agreed they can come out earlier on May 23rd before the European and Parliament elections. Now, as you clearly outlined there , if she goes for a long extension, perhaps less than a year, that gives her breathing room, gives her time to get a deal passed through Parliament.

Worth reminding of you is -- has been voted out. Three times already and they will give her more time to work on the cross-party talks which Jeremy Corbyn has been going on for five days. And although they're being constructive, they've been productive so far from what we're hearing, Theresa May has not budged on any of her red lines. So, the cliff edge on the terms of timing, that would have ease the pressure on her.

But and it's a huge but, she -- if she gets a long extension, Rosemary, she will be coming back to intense amount of pressure within her own party. That could be rebellion, that could be revolt and to give you an idea of the scale potential revolt within her own party, yesterday, Parliament voted to extend Article 50 within her own party about 97 or so M.P.s voted against that extension. So it gives you a sense of what she may face when she gets back to London.

Of course we'll get a better sense of the anger within Parliament when she faces Prime Minister's questions in around midday also here in London. Rosemary?

CHURCH: Yes. Brexiteers are not happy. Thanks for that, Isa. And Melissa, this proposal to extend the Brexit deadline, we'll require unanimous support of all of the 27 other members state. How likely is it that they will all get onboard with his longer extension in the coming hours and what conditions will be attached here or likely attached?

MELISSA BELL, CNN PARIS CORRESPONDENT: Well, first of all, one thing that's been striking over the course of the last couple of years really, Rosemary has been the remarkable unity of which they've spoken the 27. I think this likely to continue today. We have a fair idea of what's going to be in the agreement that's hammered out later today once they will meet here around Theresa May before going off to dinner without her to agree on everything because these conclusions were -- come to were brought by the ambassador submit in Luxembourg.

Yesterday crucially what's been left blank is the length, the duration of that extension. So the idea that an extension will be given is almost certain for the time being what is unknown is how long it will be also the question of how hard they will be in terms of the conditions that they'll see to extract from Theresa May in terms of the U.K.'s position within the E.U. over the course of that extension period. What powers will it have as a member state and its ability to get in the way of E.U.'s business. Things like fixing its budget, things like appointing its commissions. Things that are crucial to its functioning, to its credibility, to its future.

The French, in particular, Emmanuel Macron who's been much more hard line on extracting from the United Kingdom. Conditions, concessions in order to make any moves towards Theresa May's position, and a request for an extension.

Emmanuel Macron has been very clear that he is going to be seeking when he gets here later today, having spoken to Theresa May yesterday. Harder conditions to ensure United Kingdom cannot prove to be a difficult member while it remains within the E.U.

Of course, as long as Theresa May is in power, things have function as well as they can. But really the E.U. wants to protect itself from the possibility that perhaps, another British government might come to power during that extension period. One that was less favorably minded toward the E.U. One that was more troublesome in terms of its intentions, perhaps, one led by a Brexiteer. And to that is something that the E.U. is going to be looking very carefully.

For another important point, is of course, that they're going to be very hard on the fact that if U.K. stays in the E.U., it is going to have to take part in those European elections, though a spokesman for Downing Street has said they will do everything to avoid. So, another sticking point that we're likely to hear a lot more about later tonight.

[02:46:16] CHURCH: Yes. So, we will know a lot more in the coming hours. Many thanks to Melissa Bell in Brussels and Isa Soares, there in London. Let's take a short break. Still to come. The tools of the spy trade.

What investigators say if this woman was carrying when she'd conned her way into Donald Trump's Florida resort. We'll have the details when we come back.

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CHURCH: The four year Civil War in Yemen has claimed more innocent victims. UNICEF says a blast near two schools in Sana'a killed 14 children and critically wounded 16 others.

Houthi rebels who control Sana'a blamed the Saudi-led coalition for the airstrike. But the coalition denies this and is blaming the rebels. UNICEF, says the fighting in Yemen has killed or seriously injured more than 400 children this year alone.

Well, prosecutors in the U.S. say they are still not sure if the woman accused of conning her way into Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago resort is a spy. But the evidence against her seems to be stacking up CNN's Brian Todd has our report.

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[02:49:59] BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: This woman, Chinese national Yujing Zhang is behind bars in Florida, charged with infiltrating the president's private club. But it's what she had on her when she was caught by Secret Service that has national security experts concerned.

ANTHONY FERRANTE, FORMER FBI CYBER COUNTERINTELLIGENCE AGENT: She was able to carry into Mar-a-Lago a modern-day Burglar's toolkit.

TODD: Among the high tech devices Zhang had on her, a thumb drive, a laptop, an external hard drive, and four cell phones. When they searched her hotel room, investigators found even more. Another cell phone, five SIM cards that change of phones number, nine USB drives, and a signal detector: a device for detecting hidden cameras.

Experts say a signal detector is a device as simple as this one that can be used to scan a room for tell-tale radio frequencies from spy cams and bugs. Which show up like this.

But Christopher Costa, who runs the International Spy Museum says a signal detector can also be concealed.

CHRISTOPHER COSTA, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, INTERNATIONAL SPY MUSEUM: A device that you describe could be built into something as simple as a notebook. Where built inside the notebook, there is an ability to collect from the spectrum to look for crystals in a video. And then, you will know that there'll be some kind of detection capability where the person would know that -- OK, there is video inside this room.

TODD: A useful device, Costa says because cameras can be embedded virtually anywhere.

COSTA: The cameras would be built into innocuous normal-looking things such as a T.V. or a pinhole camera in the walls.

TODD: It's not clear if you Yujing Zhang is a spy. So far, she's only been charged with lying and entering restricted grounds. And she has not entered a plea. But prosecutors said in court, they are investigating a possible espionage operation.

They say, when the Secret Service examined the thumb drive she carried, the agent found a malicious file that began to install itself on a computer being used to test it.

FERRANTE: Here is an example of a thumb drive that's built into this Swiss Army knife. If I simply open this up and put it in the computer, you see that it automatically begins self-executing the code that is prewritten on this device. And in this case, the code has been written to collect files on the computer and send them to a remote location.

TODD: National security experts are now asking if Mar-a-Lago could be a target for spies. The president travels with secure communications equipment and a portable skiff, a sensitive compartmented information facility, like a tent that can be set up in a room to block eavesdropping.

But President Trump has been seen conducting sensitive talks in plain view of other guests. Some guests witnessed him talked to Japanese leader Shinzo Abe in 2017, about how to respond when North Korea launched a missile.

Another photo posted online that same night shows a guest posing with an aide, who the guest said held the president's nuclear launch code satchel.

FERRANTE: I think it's extremely concerning that those types of conversations are happening in an environment like that. I also think that this is a wakeup call to the U.S. government.

TODD: If Yujing Zhang is a spy, our espionage experts offer a cautionary tale regarding this story at Mar-a-Lago. They say the spy is going into a place like that should avoid carrying so much equipment that it will get them into trouble, or at least, get them noticed. Don't go in they say with much more than a phone. Maybe a camera hidden in a wallet or a pen. Objects that you can easily access and operate and objects that you can explain if they're found by a security person. Brian Todd, CNN, Washington.

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CHURCH: Still to come. Deadly weather in Brazil as heavy rains pound Rio de Janeiro and it's not letting up anytime soon. We'll have that for you.

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[02:55:11] CHURCH: Well, at least, seven people have died as torrential rain slash Rio de Janeiro. Brazil's public news agency says three bodies were found in a car buried by a landslide. Emergency crews are having trouble rescuing people because of the intense rains. Some areas got more than 21 centimeters in just a few hours. And more rain is expected.

In the coming days, a massive storm system is set to impact much of the United States. It is sweeping in from the west bringing blizzard conditions and heavy snow. So, let's turn to our meteorologists Pedram Javaheri who has all the details on this. Pedram.

PEDRAM JAVAHERI, CNN INTERNATIONAL METEOROLOGIST: Yes, Rosemary, no spring, of course, has been here for a couple of weeks now. And incredibly, these areas that are seen and going to be seeing blizzard conditions have been feeling very mild temperatures in recent days, but it's all about to change and a very impressive map here. When you take a look at how many states and how many areas across the portions of the western U.S. and the plains are dealing with not only wind alerts but also fire weather alerts to the south.

Severe weather concerns, the east of this, and blizzard conditions back towards the west of this region. In fact, wind gusts could exceed what would be hurricane-force or over 120 kilometers per hour in an impressive system.

Here, when you take a look at the expansive nature of this, of course, the wind advisories covering some 40 million people across this region. And then, you look towards some of these severe weather elements. And we have all of that in place as well.

Blizzard warnings includes the Denver metro area. This would be for late Wednesday and for Thursday. Officials in this region saying, if you have no plans, if you don't have anything serious to be outdoors, really make no plans to be outdoors because it's going to be dangerous go across this region with hurricane-force winds, and of course, powerful snow falling across this region at the same time.

So, here is the setup here. We think sometime late into the afternoon hours. We would not be surprised if Denver's International Airport is severely impacted by this as early as say, 2:00 to 3:00 p.m.

And then, work your way farther towards the east record amounts of snowfall could come down across some of these regions for the month of April. And a lot of these areas have actually had significant flooding in recent weeks. So, it just certainly not going to help to get additional moisture on top of what has been the flooding risk.

In fact, look at this, Rosemary, as much as 60 centimeters of April snow across portions of the Dakotas. And again, it was in the 20s Celsius here in recent days. And now we're talking about 60 centimeters of snow. So, spring a wild one across this region.

CHURCH: Just extraordinary, isn't it? Thank you so much, Pedram for keeping an eye on that. Appreciate it.

JAVAHERI: OK.

CHURCH: And thank you for joining us. I'm Rosemary Church. Remember to connect with me anytime on Twitter and I'll be back with another hour of news in just a moment. You are watching CNN. Do stay with us.

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