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President Biden, Israeli PM Netanyahu Spoke Earlier Today; Universities Cracking Down On Pro-Palestinian Protests; Pro- Palestinian Protest & Counter Protest At UCLA Today; SN Comedian Roasts Biden, Trump At Correspondents' Dinner. Aired 2-3p ET

Aired April 28, 2024 - 14:00   ET

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

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[14:00:38]

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN HOST: Hello, everyone. thank you so much for joining this Sunday. I'm Fredricka Whitfield.

And breaking news into CNN a source tells CNN that President Joe Biden and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu spoke earlier today, fueling fresh hope for an end to the Israeli hostage crisis and the resulting six-month war in Gaza.

Meantime, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken is headed back to the Middle East right now for a new round of talks aimed at ending the deadlock between Israel and Hamas. Blinken plans to meet with regional partners in Saudi Arabia.

Journalist Elliott Gotkine is joining me right now with the very latest. Elliott, great to see you. What do you know about this call?

ELLIOTT GOTKINE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Fredricka, we understand this cool is about the ongoing hostage negotiations, the negotiations to try to get a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas in the Gaza Strip that would see a number of hostages released. They were abducted, of course, as part of the Hamas terrorist attacks of October 7. They've been in captivity now for more than 200 (INAUDIBLE). And at the same time freeing a number of Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails, more humanitarian aid going into the Gaza Strip.

And I suppose the other hope for the U.S. administration, for Biden's administration is to try to get this deal done in order to forestall Israel's planned ground operation in Rafah, which it says it has to undertake to take out the last bastion of Hamas in the Gaza Strip. But of course, there are more than a million Palestinians sheltering there.

And the U.S. President Biden's Secretary Blinken, has reiterated time and again to the Israeli government their concerns about the potential for civilian casualties in any operation there.

So I suppose it's a win-win if the hostage deal takes place, then Israel has said that it would, at the very least, postpone its plans for a Rafah operation. And I suppose in that respect, that is something that the Biden administration will see as very good result, Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: And Elliott, you know, this on the heels of Hamas releasing new video that shows two of the October 7 hostages in statements that appear to be recently recorded as well.

American-Israeli Keith Siegel seen for the first time Saturday since October 7, pleading for Israel to negotiate a release with Hamas. He appears to be speaking in under duress. And this is the second recent hostage video released by Hamas.

So what are we learning from these videos? What does this tell you?

GOTKINE: I suppose there are two main things that we're learning, Fredricka. First is that these hostages are definitely alive. As you say, this is the first proof of life. The families and the loved ones of those people who were abducted on October the 7to have had.

So seeing that their family members, that their loved ones are alive is obviously incredibly reassuring for them, even though it was hoped and assumed that they were alive until they had evidence to the contrary.

I suppose what we're also learning here is Hamas is ability to influence Israel's stance in these hostage negotiations. Because what it's trying to do here is, of course, galvanize Israeli public opinion. And again, on Saturday night, we saw tens of thousands of Israelis taking to the streets to demand that their government do more (INAUDIBLE).

WHITFIELD: All right.

Sorry about that. Looks like are shot is not going to improve too much there. Elliott Gotkine. Thank you so much.

All right. Let's talk more now with former hostage negotiator Gershon Baskin, who is Middle East director of the International communities Organization. Gershon, great to see you.

So I want to begin with, you know, a relative of hostage Keith Siegel, you know, whose video proof of life was just released. Hanna Siegel is his niece. And she said it was bittersweet seeing the video and hearing her uncle's voice. Take a listen to what she told CBS today.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HANNA SIEGEL, NIECE OF HAMAS HOSTAGE KEITH SIEGEL: He starts the video by saying how much he loves us, he loves our family and he's obviously under duress.

He's gaunt, he looks weak, but that's real. I know that he misses his family.

SIEGEL: He talks in the video about hearing bombs all around him. And so we worry about the fact that he's being held underground by a terrorist group.

[14:05:00]

Of course, we worry about the fact that he's starving. When Aviva came out because she talked to us about how they were beginning to starve. And I can't imagine that that hasn't gotten so much worse. You can see it on his face.

And we also worry about the bombs going off.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: Keith Siegel is one of several American hostages being held. She makes reference to Aviva. That's his wife, who was also a hostage. But she was released back in November.

So Hanna, as you hear there, Gershon believes also that the release of this weekend's videos and that of Hersch Goldberg-Polin, you know, seen it a proof of life video last week. She believes all of that are signals from Hamas that they are ready to make a deal.

Do you agree?

GERSHON BASKIN, MIDDLE EAST DIRECTOR, INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITIES ORGANIZATION: Hamas has been ready to make a deal for quite some time, but their conditions are that the deal include the formal end of the war and its commitment to Israeli withdrawal from Gaza.

And that's a step too far for the current Israeli government. Netanyahu who's held hostage by the right-wing, more right-wing elements within his government say that if Netanyahu agrees to end the war. In fact, if he agrees not to attack in Rafah, his government will break apart. Netanyahu is most concerned with the prolongation of his government which means that he wants to prolong the war.

And here's where we're stuck because the negotiators have come back to Israel, the Qataris and the Egyptians over and over again and said that Hamas is willing to release all the hostages dead and alive, all 133 of them but the condition is that this war come to an end.

And here's where were stuck.

WHITFIELD: And so Hanna, you know, seemed to think that this isn't coming to an end, or at least an agreement seems elusive. At least in part because of Prime Minister Netanyahu. And that it's not in his political interests, she believes, to close a deal. Do you share that same view?

BASKIN: I do. I think it's very clear that Netanyahu has missed opportunities that have been there on the table in the past months to make a deal.

There was a short period of time when that might have been possible to do what they call a humanitarian deal. A release of the remaining women and children, sick, elderly, and wounded without the Israeli commitment to end the war. But Israel was too slow to act on that. And Hamas leaned back and hardened its positions and demanded the end of the war. And here as I said, Netanyahu does not want to end the war. He

believes that there can be the complete victory that no one else agrees with. There's no such thing as a complete victory in these circumstance.

The longer that Israel remains in Gaza, the more we will see armed insurgency against Israel and will encourage the development o, Hamas and more radical groups than Hamas.

There must be a political alternative put on the table for the day after, and Netanyahu and his government refused to do that? And the negotiators are stuck. They can't negotiate without having an alternative for Hamas on the table because an Israeli withdrawal from Gaza and ending the war leaves Hamas in place in Gaza.

WHITFIELD: The U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, heading to Saudi Arabia to try again, y k, to end this deadlock. So what can be done or said from his point of view, from his role that hasn't already.

BASKIN: Well, I think that the Saudis and the other Arab neighbors, the moderate Sunni Arab states have been talking to the Palestinians of different factions and trying to come up with a solution of a credible, legitimate Palestinian entity that can take over control of the Gaza Strip but not only the Gaza Strip, the West Bank as well.

And here there would be a requirement for President Abbas, the long- term Palestinian president, 18 years or 19 years in a four-year term, who has lost his legitimacy amongst his own people. He would have to step aside.

And here we have a great reluctance from his side as well. But perhaps the Arab countries can persuade Abbas to step aside and they can support a credible, legitimate Palestinian element to take over with the agreement of the Saudis and the Jordanians and the Egyptians and the Emiratis and perhaps others to send a peacekeeping force to Gaza once Israel withdraws.

This is the political element that Netanyahu refuses to accept. And perhaps the carrot that the American administration is waving in front of Netanyahu of normalization of relations between Israel and Saudi Arabia might be sweet enough for Netanyahu to try and accept and persuade his government to accept.

WHITFIELD: Do you find any encouragement that an end is near.

BASKIN: I'm rather skeptical. I don't think that Hamas will agree to a partial deal.

I hope that they would so we can get some kind of ceasefire. I believe that once we have a ceasefire in place for four weeks or five weeks or six weeks, there might be a way of negotiating to turn that into a permanent ceasefire, the end of the war and the political solution that we need to enable Israel to withdraw from Gaza.

[14:10:00] Right now, we're deadlocked. The war goes on. The Israeli threat of the incursion into Rafah is genuine. You don't make threats unless you intend to carry them out. Israel has issued draft notices to reserve soldiers to show up on May 1st to begin their preparation for the incursion into Rafah.

So I think everything must be done to prevent that because there are 1.5 million Palestinians in that small area of the Gaza Strip. And we really do need to get the hostages home and to end this war. Enough already.

WHITFIELD: Gershon Baskin, thanks so much.

BASKIN: Thank you.

WHITFIELD: All right. Let's get more now on this breaking news from the White House. A source telling CNN that President Joe Biden and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu spoke earlier today.

CNN White House correspondent Priscilla Alvarez joining us now. Priscilla, their readout about that call.

PRISCILLA ALVAREZ, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, we're expecting that there will be one later today, Fredricka but a source telling me that this morning President Biden and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu did connect by phone.

Now of course, the two leaders have spoken multiple times since the October 7 terrorist attacks, although less frequently over recent months as there had been a public rift that had started to unfold in how Israel was handling the conflict in Gaza as they were trying to, in their words, eliminate Hamas.

But there is a lot for the two of them to discuss. Of course, not so long ago we had those Israeli strikes against Iran. Now, they had not spoken after that. In fact, the White House had really kept a tightlipped strategy as that unfolded and Israel did as well.

And so that is something that we know they've talked about before, particularly after Iran struck Israel. So that could have been something that came up in this phone call between the two leaders.

But also as you were just talking there with your guest about the hostage deal, this has been front of mind for U.S. officials for months now. It's a top priority one that they consistently come back to and are concerned about because it is a deal that until it's finalized, it's not clear whether it can come through. That was the case in last November.

And so this is a topic of discussion, particularly with the Secretary of State in the region that the two are expected to have discussed. And if there can be a ceasefire that can be reached, and that is really where it has gotten quite tricky and whether they can agree on the parameters of what a ceasefire would look like.

Whether too, where Israel stands with its operation into Rafah. That is a place where over a million Palestinians have been displaced and the U.S. stood firm in their position that it would -- that they couldn't support that type of operation, given how many people are there and they're concerned about containing any sort of civilian casualties.

So there's a whole gamut of issues that these two leaders likely talked about. We'll get that readout later this afternoon to get a little more detail as to what that was.

But clearly, when these two jump on the phone, it does come at a pivotal moment. And that is one that we're in right now.

WHITFIELD: All right. Priscilla Alvarez at the White House. Thanks so much.

All right. Right now, we're seeing more pro-Palestinian protests at colleges across the country after more than 200 protesters were arrested, at just four U.S. campuses on Saturday.

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WHITFIELD: All right.

We're following new developments on the crackdown by universities on pro-Palestinian protests. Demonstrations escalating in recent weeks to widespread campus occupations, putting some students and administrators on edge. Overnight, the University of Southern California said it was temporarily closing campus to everyone except for residents following disruptions and reports of vandalism.

Green Party presidential candidate Jill Stein was among more than 80 arrested during a protest at Washington University in Lt. Louis. The school says demonstrators included students, employees, and people not associated with the university.

And at Arizona State, university officials say a majority of the 72 arrested there for trespassing on Friday were not students.

Tensions have been mounting for months following Hamas' horrific October 7th attack on Israel and the war in Gaza. Pro-Palestinian groups are demanding an end to the war and for universities to divest from Israel-linked entities.

We have correspondents covering the protests coast-to-coast.

CNN's Polo Sandoval, is at Columbia University in New York and CNN's Camila Bernal is at UCLA in Los Angeles. Let's begin with you, Camila, what is the situation there?

CAMILA BERNAL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hey Fred, it's a lot more tense right now. There's a lot more confrontation and at times violence. The university was trying to keep protesters separate, right?

So here on this side, you have the pro-Palestinian and they were supposed to be closer to their camp. This is actually not at the encampment. So this is an area that the university said eventually, people broke through those barriers and that's where you're encountering both protests.

ALVAREZ: So on this side of me, you're seeing the group supporting the Jewish students here at the university and what they're telling me is that they're going to have that image, the video, right, going up for days to comment.

[14:20:00]

They say they're going to keep playing images of what Hamas has done in Israel so that students that are in the encampment can see those images.

Again, very high passions on both sides on dolce sides and when these two come together, we have seen confrontations like you're seeing right now. People who are screaming at each other, sometimes shoving and pushing. And it does get at times.

Again -- and it is people on both sides of this issue. I'm not talking about one side or the other. Both of them extremely passionate. They're screaming at each other.

And, you know, I talked to them separately and organizers on both sides they say that they're trying to keep things peaceful. They say that they're trying to get the other side to understand.

But the reality is that that's not so what you're seeing. It is impossible to get these people to agree. And the university does have police officers on standby. They are not here at the moment. The policy is that these police officers will not come in until the point they feel that the students are in harm's way.

So I did see officers in riot gear standing towards the side. So we'll see how the day develops. But again, even the university is confirming that there had been violence here. There has been some harassment. It is not peaceful in comparison to what we saw yesterday, Fred.

WHITFIELD: Wow, passion on both sides on one campus there in UCLA.

Thank you so much, Camila. We'll check back with you.

Polo, to you, Columbia University is seen as the epicenter of the movement. So what is happening there today in New York?

POLO SANDOVAL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Fred, it really is quite the juxtaposition when you see those images happening on the other side of the country and then you come here to the northeast where that movement actually originated, where we have seen relative calm all weekend, off campus and also on where that encampment now continues for well, about a week-and-a-half or so.

In terms of the demands of those students, we heard from them. They said that they have seen some progress on a couple of their demands, mainly in transparency when it comes to the university's investments. Also some progress when it comes to the president's potential statement that she may possibly issue when and if it gets resolved.

However, that sticking point about divestment, that is where the university and student negotiators have not seen any common ground and we are told as we get ready for yet another week of potential protests here at Columbia University, both on-campus and off-campus, it's important to remind you, that those negotiations they're still ongoing though there haven't been any updates this weekend.

As for Columbia University, no doubt every day, certainly ramps up the pressure on the university to see what will be their next step. Will they once again call on the NYPD for assistance in clearing out that encampment on campus, which would make them subject of a Columbia Senate investigation.

Or do they allow those students to continue to camp out in a peaceful way on the lawn, which is expected to be the stage of this massive commencement ceremony in less than two weeks.

WHITFIELD: Quite extraordinary in both campuses. Polo Sandoval, Camila Bernal -- thank you so much.

So there remains growing debate on Capitol Hill about how to handle the widespread pro-Palestinian protests engulfing college campuses.

Last week, House Speaker Mike Johnson visited Columbia University seen by many as a launchpad for the student-led movement as Polo said.

Well, the House Speaker said, he's demanding President Biden send in the National Guard. But today, Senator Tim Kaine said that would be a big mistake.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. TIM KAINE (D-VA): I think calling in the National Guard to college campuses for so many people would recall what happened when that was done during the Vietnam War and it didn't end well.

There are other ways using campus security, but also again, offering students more opportunities to have dialogue that is, that is civil and constructive where people hear one another.

That's by far preferable. So no, I do not think the National Guard is a solution to this.

All right.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: All right. I'm joined now by Frederick Lawrence. He is a lecturer at Georgetown Law School, a senior research scholar at Yale Law School, and the former president of Brandeis University. Great to see you.

FREDERICK LAWRENCE, GEORGETOWN LAW SCHOOL: good to be with you today.

WHITFIELD: So let's begin with what we just heard. Do you think sending in the National Guard is a viable solution for some of these campus protests?

LAWRENCE: I think that's the last preference by far. You know, you've got to take a step back and see what's making this so difficult. Two of the core values of the institution of higher education are coming into conflict here.

First and foremost is free expression, academic freedom, free inquiry, the right to think, to question, to raise issues, express oneself.

The other, of course, is to keep the campus safe. But we have to remember keeping the campus safe is instrumental to higher education whereas free expression is fundamental to higher education.

So campuses have to start with the proposition that were going to allow expression unless what -- unless there's actual violence and unless it disrupts the operation of the university.

[14:25:00]

Where those things are not happening, we have to be very careful to try to dial down the pressure. You bring National Guard onto campus and you are dialing up the pressure in a very major and insignificant and dangerous way all right.

I want to ask you more on that in a second. But first I do want to also follow up with you on what we just saw happening at UCLA today. You saw our correspondent Camila Bernal there on the UCLA campus. And they have decided to allow like side-by-side protests.

And she said it got a little heated. People have been arguing. It can be confrontational there, right there. Is that a compromise that is unique perhaps to that university, or is that something that other campuses might be exploring, you know, making sure that they have a space for all sides to demonstrate together simultaneously.

LAWRENCE: The model of having all sides able to demonstrate is exactly the right model. And if you do put people next to each other, which they've done at UCLA and other schools have, of course, you're going to have tension and, of course, you're going to have what we saw behind your reporter and it feels like it's a very tense situation.

It is a tense situation. That's not the same thing as violence. It's good the police are standing by. Its good they're there in case something does go in that direction. But you don't start that way.

And letting people express themselves is a very important way to do it. And obviously the goal is to get them to listen to each other. That's not going to happen overnight.

But by the way, that's not just about our campuses. That's true in many places in our country right now. We have to learn how to listen to each other and especially how to listen to people we don't agree with.

WHITFIELD: And it's not just finding their voices. Many of these students, these demonstrators, are actually vowing that they will not stop until colleges or universities and make a variation of divestments. They are calling for action.

Do you think these campuses whether it be Columbia University, USC, UCLA, are willing to do that in order to end these campaigns.

LAWRENCE: I think the universities are going to have those kinds of discussions that are going on behind the scenes right now. And they're going to look for some kind of a middle position frankly, based on what we've seen on universities across the country, I'd be surprised if you see an agreement in response to this to change an investment strategy.

They also have to keep in mind the way most endowments are operated today. It's not specific stocks that are owned, it's funds that are owned, it's much more diffuse than that.

So my guess is universities are going to try to find some other way of addressing these concerns that the students have.

Students are right to raise their concerns. They have a right to raise their concerns. But sometimes winning doesn't mean you get everything that you set out to get.

WHITFIELD: Right. And maybe the goal isn't ending the campaigns, it's making sure that these campaigns or these movements can continue without posing any harm to anyone, right?

So you know, you've got these college campuses that have been seeing student-led protests for a long time. I mean, historically, I mean, it is a bedrock of what it is to go to college or university right, from civil rights movement to the Vietnam War, to South Africa as a (INAUDIBLE) and so much more in recent years.

So why does it seem that this movement which stems from Israel, Hamas conflict present a greater challenge or is it not creating a greater challenge?

LAWRENCE: I'm not sure it's a greater challenge. It feels very present because it's our challenge. But those of us who can remember what was going on campuses in the late 60s, early 1970s, it felt very much this kind of way.

So the issues are very passionately held on multiple sides of the issue. That's part of this. I think the role of technology, which makes it much more immediate, makes it much more possible for people to be in touch with people around the world certainly makes it more pressing.

I think this is our issue. This is our time. I would also add that this is a time of enormous polarization. Again, not just on campuses, but in so many ways across the country.

So we shouldn't be surprised is that what we see in other places in the country, it gets reflected on campus and usually even more intensely, because the lives of our undergraduates (INAUDIBLE) so intensely lived in the world of ideas and thoughts and policies. WHITFIELD: And again, we're looking at pictures. I believe these are

live pictures, right? Correct me if I'm wrong -- ok, live pictures right now. UCLA campus, while that campus is encouraging, allowing protests, those who are pro-Israel, pro-Palestinian are there sharing the same space. And we just saw a little pushing back and forth and hopefully that's the worst of it. It doesn't get any worse than that.

But let me ask you real quick, though. A teachable moment. I'm hearing that from a lot of academicians that this is a teachable moment. How? And how can that be encouraged on campus without violence breaking out?

LAWRENCE: There are a lot of things happening on campus besides what you see in those demonstrations. Classroom discussions are going on. At Georgetown Law, I teach a class in higher education law. I teach a class in free speech on campus.

I have a syllabus that I set six months ago, but you can bet that we have vary (ph) that syllabus to take these very issues into account.

I'm not the only academic in the country doing that. People all over the country are doing that.

[14:30:02]

We will never, never solve problems of ignorance by punishing people in disciplining people. You don't discipline ignorance, you educate ignorance. If we think students don't have a full grasp of the issues, our job as universities is to educate them. And I think that's what universities do best.

I'm not saying it's easy in this time. I'm just saying it's essential and core to our mission.

WHITFIELD: Frederick Lawrence, formerly the president of Brandeis University, now a lecturer at Georgetown University really appreciate your time, thanks for being with us.

LAWRENCE: Nice being with you.

WHITFIELD: We'll be right back.

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WHITFIELD: All right. Let's get more now on the breaking news. A source telling CNN that President Joe Biden and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu spoke earlier today.

[14:35:02]

CNN White House correspondent Priscilla Alvarez joining me right now with more in this.

Priscilla, what are you learning?

ALVAREZ: Well, Fredricka, we're getting a readout from the White House about this phone call that happened today and they talked about multiple issues. First of all, that they talked about the U.S. ironclad commitment to Israel's security following, quote, the successful defense against Iran's unprecedented missile and drone attack earlier this month.

Recall that when that occurred, the White House took a pretty tight lip strategy. They didn't weigh in on it and Israel also was quiet about it, but this is a moment where when the two connected, they did discuss it.

They also talked about the hostage deal. This again has been a top priority for U.S. officials and it includes a six-week temporary ceasefire, as well as the release of hostages to allow for the also the opportunity to get additional humanitarian aid into Gaza. This has been an ongoing effort. Secretary of State Antony Blinken is in the region now and clearly, we're at a pivotal a moment with the two discussing it in their phone call today.

They also talked about, again humanitarian aid into Gaza, another priority for this White House and one that they have been hammered on by the president's own party as well as by humanitarian aid organizations and the protests across the country, given the situation that is unfolding in Gaza.

And importantly, that Rafah operation. Israel has said that they may move into Rafah. That has been a concern for the White House because there are more than 1 million displaced Palestinians there and they have wanted to contain civilian casualties. So this operation is one that the U.S. has been certain about and in this readout it says, quote, the leaders discussed Rafah and the president reiterated his clear position. His position being that right now is untenable, given how many civilians are in Rafah.

So, clearly the two of them discussing multiple top priority issues for this White House in this phone call that happened earlier today between President Biden and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Now, it is about money what happens as a result of this call for Israel -- Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: All right. Priscilla Alvarez, keep us posted. Thank you so much from the White House.

All right. So, we are following new developments now in the pro- Palestinian protests and counterprotests happening right now at UCLA.

CNN's Camila Bernal is in the thick of it all with this dueling protests taking place, sharing the same space.

What's happening?

BERNAL: Hey, Fred. Just since we talk, so many more altercations and confrontations. Very physical, very violent at times, even protesters fighting with the security guards here at the school.

So, what you're seeing is two sides trying to push into each other. The people who are supporting the Jewish students have, of course, set up a stage. They are speaking. They are singing.

But you also have on the other side, the students that are supporting the pro-Palestinian movement. And they're just trying to push into each others spaces. So you see sometimes the students on the pro- Palestinian side linking arms trying to get closer and closer to the group supporting the Jewish students and vice versa, you feel a lot of the Jewish supporters essentially trying to get closer to the pro Palestinians, and that's when you have these confrontations. And that's when you have people shouting at each other and really there is no way to get these people to agree.

This is just people more passionate or shouting about their issues. And who want to have their voices heard. You know, I've talked to people on both sides of this issue who have told me that yes, they're trying to keep it peaceful, but the reality is that it has not always been peaceful here.

And this is separate from the university encampment. The university really trying to keep those two areas separate, but it has been almost impossible for the university to really control what's going on. And again, right now, we have not seen police officers being involved. We did see officers with riot gear sort of standing to the side, but as of now still, no police involvement.

Again, we'll have to wait to see how this all develops, but we have seen many, many more confrontations here, Fred.

WHITFIELD: All right. So right behind you then, so you've got pro Israel and you've got pro-Palestinian demonstrations right there on- campus, and these are sanctioned meeting being encouraged by the university, correct? I mean, these are I guess the parameters at the university has imposed to say, we want these dueling demonstrations, protests to happen side-by-side right here.

BERNAL: Yeah. And they've tried to keep these barriers in place and those security guards really trying to stand firm against those barriers. I'll show you them right now if we can get closer to them and you'll see the security guards because they do not want to involve police officers. So instead, they're using these security guards and trying to keep the two sides apart.

So what you're seeing across, that's the encampment that's a lot of the students that have in participating in the encampment, they tried to block it off with that wood so that you don't see through it, but back there is where all the students that have been participating in that encampment and that protests have been.

[14:40:08]

So on this side, you're seeing a lot more of the Jewish students and those supporting the Jewish students. They have taken over this area was a set which essentially is what the university wants to do. They want to keep them separate at times, they just absolutely cannot do that, but they continue to try to keep them separate.

WHITFIELD: Right? I see, the physical barricade sounds like it would be put in place to discourage any kind of physical conflict, but we did see in live pictures moments ago that we saw some pushing. So tensions are high.

Camila Bernal, thanks so much. We're going to check back with you.

BERNAL: And a lot of pushing.

WHITFIELD: Right. Were going to keep close tabs on all that's happening there on the UCLA campus. Thank you so much.

And we'll be right back.

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[14:45:28]

WHITFIELD: All right. We're following dangerous and deadly weather across multiple states, more than 50 million people are under a risk for severe storms today from Texas to Minnesota, the danger zone includes parts of Oklahoma, a state that was hit by a tornado outbreak Saturday, emergency officials say at least three people, including an infant, were killed.

Governor Kevin Stitt has declared an emergency disaster following reports of injuries, heavy damage, and flooding. And right now, nearly 65,000 customers are without power across Texas and Oklahoma.

This outbreak was the latest in a series of storms that first hit the Central Plains on Friday, causing widespread destruction across Nebraska and Iowa.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GOV. PILLEN (R), NEBRASKA: I think the weather service said there were over 80 events across the state. We -- I know some folks in Greeley county and so there were their cells damage everywhere across the state. And so if we keep everybody across the state our prayers and just make sure we get through this next 24 hours being safe.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: All right. Here with me now for the latest is meteorologist Elisa Raffa.

So, Elisa, I mean, where's the biggest threat for severe weather right now?

ELISA RAFFA, CNN METEOROLOGIST: We're looking at storms exploding in Texas and a lot of the same areas that have storm reports from yesterday and the day before, look at the last 48 hours. Nearly, a hundred and 20 tornado reports, a lot of damage to sift through. And when you look at the risk for today, you could see it's a lot of the same areas, just a little bit farther to the east, including states like Missouri, Arkansas, and then the heart of it today could be eastern Texas. But look at the warnings that we've had over the last 48 hours. It is

incredible. On Friday the weather service office in Omaha issued the most amount of tornado warnings that they have ever issued in a day at 42. And then yesterday, Norman, Oklahoma, did that as well, 59 warnings just yesterday, the most that they have ever issued in a day.

So incredibly busy and we've had some flooding rain with this too. It hasn't just been the tornadoes. I mean, look at cars an undated in parts of Oklahoma, flooding risk continues as we go through the day today, flood watches span from Missouri down to the Gulf Coast there for parts of Louisiana and Texas, storms are exploding again. As we start to refuel the atmosphere, you get that daytime heat and humidity and the storms are exploding, particularly in eastern Texas.

This is what were watching June right now, the Storm Prediction Center just put out an update saying that there are watching to see how the atmosphere could be refueling. This could be our next tornado watch spots. We'll have to watch that closely. Here's the bulls-eye for today. You see that orange enhanced risk parts of Shreveport going into Eastern Texas again, multiple tornadoes, damaging winds and large hail, all on the table.

WHITFIELD: Wow, a lot.

All right. Elisa, thanks so much.

All right. We'll be right back.

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[14:52:54]

WHITFIELD: All right. Last night in Washington, journalists, politicians, and celebrities gathered for the annual tradition that is the White House Correspondents' Dinner to celebrate the importance of the free press. President Biden was front and center as most U.S. president has been for decades there, and he was taking shots at his rival on the campaign trail.

And no one was off limits for "Saturday Night Live" comedian Colin Jost.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

COLIN JOST, COMEDIAN, SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE: Before I begin tonight, can we just acknowledge how refreshing it is to see a president of the United States at an event that doesn't begin with a bailiff saying, all rise?

The Republican candidate for president owes half a billion in fines for bank fraud and his currently spending his days farting himself awake during a porn star hush money trial, and the race is tied?

I was excited to be up here on stage with President Biden tonight, mostly to see if I could figure out where Obama was pulling the strings from. It's also wonderful to be back in Washington. I loved being in

Washington the last time I was in D.C., I left my cocaine at the White House.

Luckily, the president was able to put it to good use for his State of the Union.

I'm not saying both candidates are old, but you know, Jimmy Carter is out there thinking, I could maybe when this thing. He's only 99.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: All right. A quick programming note: tonight, a new episode of this CNN original series, "HOW IT REALLY HAPPENED" investigates both the Titanic shipwreck of 1912 and the more recent underwater voyage to its ruins that cost even more human lives. Here's a preview.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The two lookouts on duty at the time in the crow's nest were Frederick Fleet and Reginald Lee.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There was what the lookouts described as a slight haze all around the horizon. That's called a refraction haze, and that delayed the sighting of the iceberg.

[14:55:02]

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They didn't see the iceberg until they were just practically right upon it.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Kind of rose up out of the ocean.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The lookouts described it as a dark mass that came through that haze.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They realized it was an iceberg and rang the warning bell. Three rings on the bell for an obstacle directly ahead and then telephoned the bridge.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Fleet called down and said iceberg dead ahead.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: CNN original series, "HOW IT REALLY HAPPENED WITH JESSE L. MARTIN". That's returning to CNN with a special two-hour premiere on the Titanic tonight, 9:00 p.m. Eastern and Pacific.

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