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Judge To Rule Whether Trump Violated Gag Order; Jewish Student Sues Columbia, Says It's Failing To Provide Safety; World Central Kitchen Resumes Aid Operations In Gaza. Aired 11:30a-12p ET

Aired April 29, 2024 - 11:30   ET

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

[11:30:00]

KAREN FRIEDMAN AGNIFILO, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: Are violations both the hearing that we've already had, and these continuing violations. So, it'll be interesting to see when the judge chooses to determine whether or not he is in violation. But in the meantime, it does seem to be having somewhat of an impact on Donald Trump. He is getting -- he is de-escalating his rhetoric in his comments. So, it is having an impact one way or another.

WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: Politically speaking, Ron, do you think -- if the judge rules that Trump did violate the gag order, you think -- and he's going to have to pay a few thousand dollars in penalties, do you think that will have any impact politically?

RON BROWNSTEIN, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: I think -- as I said before, I think the real impact here is going to be at the -- at the -- at the finish line. I think Trump has successfully framed this to enough of his electorate, as you know, an unfair targeting of him that you know, these intermediary steps probably will not have a big impact. And as I said, you know, the Supreme Court seems determined to protect him from a trial before the election on the most important allegations to voters. And that's why I think the impact of this case will be less from the specifics, then from in effect that generic, which is are -- if he is convicted, are Americans willing to make a convicted felon their president? There's polling that suggests there is resistance to that idea, but we'd have to see when -- if and when we get there.

BLITZER: Yes, good point. Ron Brownstein, Karen Friedman Agnifilo, to both of you, thank you very, very much. Still ahead. There's breaking news coming in from Columbia University right now. A Jewish student is now suing Columbia University saying the school is "failing to provide a safe environment." We'll go live to Columbia, that's next, for the very latest.

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[11:36:24]

BLITZER: We're following some breaking news out of Columbia University this hour. Columbia University, as you know, has been the epicenter of the nationwide college protests over the Israel-Hamas war and the civilian casualties in Gaza. Let's go back to CNN's Omar Jimenez. He's joining us from Columbia University. So, what's the news? What are you learning, Omar?

OMAR JIMENEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Wolf. We're following a lot of developments. For one, an anonymous Jewish student has now filed a lawsuit against Columbia University alleging that it is now a campus not safe for Jewish students in particular. Saying "It has become a place that is too dangerous for Colombia's Jewish students to receive the education they were promised." Now in particular, it takes issue with the university's decision to go to a hybrid learning model last week, as they said that safety was a number one priority, and amid the encampment-led pro-Palestinian protests that we have seen on campus for almost two weeks straight now.

Now, all of that comes as the university is now setting a 2:00 p.m. Eastern deadline today for students to leave the encampment or face suspension, at the very least, ineligibility to finish the semester in good standing. And as the university announced that, student protesters are now rallying folks at least on campus to show up beforehand and to not leave what -- by that deadline. So, we're going to continue to monitor how that plays out as we get, you know, in the next few hours now.

At this point, negotiations between student protesters and the university had stalled as we found out this morning. And, of course, that's significant because with graduation in a little bit over two weeks from now, it really has put the university in a position where they are saying definitively, they will have a commencement, implying that they plan to have this encampment resolved in some way. We do not know which way or what that resolvement -- resolution will look like. But we are at least starting to see the beginning portions of it now, Wolf.

BLITZER: And Columbia University, the leadership has announced they will not suspend or end their connections, or their relationships with Israel. Is that right?

JIMNEZ: Correct. As part of their announcement this morning, the university says they will not divest from Israel, which of course, was one of the central points that these protesters have been asking for from the beginning here.

BLITZER: So, I assume that means that Columbia University students, if they want to spend a junior semester abroad at Tel Aviv University or the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, they will still be allowed to go and receive credit for their studies in Israel, is that right?

JIMENEZ: As it stands, that would likely be the case. It would not change whatever the picture is right now to this point. And that was one of the things that the student protesters had been asking for as well as part of that divestment to essentially sever at the very least decreased ties with partner universities in Israel that have partner programs back and forth there.

So, with the university making this commitment, they will not divest from Israel, essentially putting a stamp on where the negotiations have finished or at the very least stalled from the university's standpoint that does not appear to be going away. But obviously, it puts the students in a position to either clear the encampment, face suspension, or we will see what comes after that, Wolf.

BLITZER: All right, we'll stay in close touch with you. Omar Jimenez is over at Columbia University in New York, thank you very much. I want to go to Washington right now. CNN Correspondent Gabe Cohen is joining us live from George Washington University here in the Nation's Capital. What's the latest there, Gabe?

GABE COHEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Wolf, it is day five of the camp here at GW, but tension seemed to be hitting a new high. Overnight, protesters ripping apart and piling up all of these barricades. They said it was to liberate this section of the camp right here that was surrounded by those barriers.

[11:40:14]

There were only about 20 protesters or so left here on GW's campus in the early hours of this morning. But as we give you a 180 view of the University yard here, you can see all of these new tents that have popped up, it appears, and dozens of them. And this is all GW's property.

Then, there are more than a dozen tents that have been erected on Eighth Street, which of course, is the District of Columbia, not GW property, Wolf. The big question this morning is when if at all, will D.C.'s Police Department, metropolitan police, come in and clear out this protest and potentially arrest many of the protesters. Sources for days have told me that police really don't want to do that. They don't want the optics of arresting protesters given that so many have told me and others that they are going to stand their ground and they are not willing to leave until GW divest, as Omar has mentioned, from Israel and the Israeli government.

Take a listen. Here's what one of the organizers told me just about an hour ago when I asked what could happen today if police do come here to the protest.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We are refusing to leave until our divestment -- until divestment has been met. We're refusing to leave until our demands have been met. Period.

COHEN: Even if that means getting arrested?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: A hundred percent. A lot of us went into this knowing that risk, and we are putting the fact that a genocide is happening over our own individual futures.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COHEN: And GW said it will at least temporarily suspend any students who remain here at the camp. I was told by one of those students who is still protesting here that as of yesterday, at least seven people had been notified that they are suspended from GW. But you can clearly see as you look around it does not appear to have deterred so many people. We know though it is going to be very hot here in DC today, Wolf. Tensions again, are rising. So, we will see if the posture from police changes. But as of this morning, that source telling me, nothing, not even this escalation that we're seeing has changed the way police are handling this.

BLITZER: All right, Gabe Cohen at George Washington University here in Washington, thank you very much. Still ahead. World Central Kitchen is resuming its operations in Gaza nearly a month after seven of its aid workers were killed by an Israeli airstrike. Why its leader says the organization is critical for the region. We'll update you on that when we come back.

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[11:47:13]

BLITZER: The food charity World Central Kitchen is resuming its operations in Gaza nearly a month after seven of its aid workers were killed by Israeli airstrikes. The attack brought worldwide condemnation as Israel's military called it a grave mistake. The IDF dismissed two officers and formally reprimanded others after the incident. CNN spoke to the charity's founder, Chef Jose Andres last month before the attack. He told us what he wants President Biden to know about the crisis in Gaza, and what his organization was trying to do to help.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JOSE ANDRES, FOUNDER, WORLD CENTRAL KITCHEN: The humanitarian crisis should stop, that food and water is a universal right, and that no person should be going hungry. I hope that he will push for a ceasefire. I hope -- yes, he can say we need to be protecting our partner, Israel, but you can be -- also be protecting the men and woman and children of Palestine today.

More needs to be done. We need to make sure that more trucks are able to flow in. This should be a very simple solution. If Israel allows other entry points, all of this time, we can bring enough trucks to make sure that everybody is fed, that everybody has medicine, that everybody has access to water.

World Central Kitchen obviously, we have 64 kitchens with community organizations plus one more on our own. We have a plan to build a total of a hundred kitchens all the way to the North. But in order to fulfill all the food needs that those kitchens need to keep making sure that every kitchen is a hub to feed the people surrounding that kitchen, we need a constant flow of food, constant flow of water. And this unfortunately is not happening. Sundays has been the case that no track has reached into Gaza and that puts us behind.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER: The nonprofit is opening another kitchen in Gaza right now named after a Polish aid worker who was killed in that Israeli strike. World Central Kitchen says it continues to call for an international investigation into the strike.

Still ahead. Four people are dead including a 4-month-old baby after a string of tornadoes rips through multiple states. The threat continues today. We're tracking it just ahead. Stay with us. You're in the CNN NEWSROOM.

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[11:53:54]

BLITZER: New this morning. At least four people are dead after multiple tornadoes ripped through parts of Oklahoma this weekend. CNN Meteorologist Derek Van Dam is joining us right now. Derek, Oklahoma saw a record number of tornado warnings during these weekend storms and they're still taking the possibility of more severe threats in the coming days. What's the latest?

DEREK VAN DAM, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Yes, right. This is saying something, Wolf, too because this is really in the heart of Tornado Alley. Norman, Oklahoma. The National Severe Storms Laboratory is located there.

The National Weather Service, the local office, issued 59 tornado warnings. And that is the most they have ever experienced and ever issued in a single day. And this was the resulting damage.

This is coming out of Sulphur, Oklahoma, which by the way, was ground zero for two violent large, and destructive tornadoes that moved within this area causing the damage you see behind me, within the span of an hour. You can imagine the emotional toll, not to mention the physical toll on that community. 139 tornado reports over the past three days or so, and that extends across much of Tornado Alley.

And we're advancing this to tomorrow. So, you see that the severe weather threat continues and ramps up again through the course of the week over some of the areas that were hardest hit within this past round of tornadoes and outbreaks this weekend. We're nearing that average to date.

[11:55:15]

But look at what's happening across the deep South. We've been tracking this line of storms from Houston, Galveston, through Lake Charles all the way along the I-10 corridor. It's largely fizzling out, but still, a flash flood threat remains across this portion of southern Louisiana. It's about to impact New Orleans with the potential for another one to -- one and a half inches of rain.

Severe threat, diminishing. Definitely not as high as what we experienced yesterday through the course of the weekend. But I want to put forward and put this in your ear because this is where we need to focus our attention for tomorrow and in the days to come as more tornadoes are possible, Wolf.

BLITZER: All right. Derek Van Dam, we'll stay in touch. Thank you. And to our viewers. Thanks very much for joining me here in the CNN NEWSROOM.

I'm Wolf Blitzer. I'll be back later tonight at 6:00 p.m. Eastern in "THE SITUATION ROOM." "INSIDE POLITICS" with Dana Bash is next after a very short break.

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