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Ceasefire and Hostage Deal Negotiations; U.S Campus Crackdown; More Than 200 Rescued in Texas. Aired 3-4a ET

Aired May 05, 2024 - 03:00   ET

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

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[03:00:00]

ANNA COREN, CNN ANCHOR: Hello and welcome to all our viewers watching from around the world. I'm Anna Coren live from Hong Kong.

Ahead on CNN Newsroom, the world holds its breath waiting for a possible Gaza ceasefire and a hostage deal as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu faces pressure on both sides at home.

In the U.S., there are crackdowns against some pro-Palestinian protesters on college campuses.

And devastating floods hit Texas, prompting emergency workers to launch hundreds of rescues.

Negotiators in Cairo are said to have made some progress in ceasefire and hostage release talks involving Israel and Hamas, but they don't appear to be close to a deal.

CIA Director Bill Burns is in Cairo, representing the U.S. in the talks. Officials from Egypt, Qatar and Hamas are also taking part. The director of Israel's Mossad is not there, but Israeli sources say he could travel to Egypt quickly if Hamas agrees to the framework.

Well, even if there's a framework agreement, both U.S. and Israeli officials say a deal to stop the fighting and release hostages could take days to finalize.

CNN Senior White House Reporter Kevin Liptak has more.

KEVIN LIPTAK, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: American officials are very carefully watching these hostage negotiations unfold in Cairo, and certainly the presence of the CIA director, Bill Burns, in the Egyptian capital does give an indication that at least on the U.S. side, they do see these talks progressing.

And what you're hearing from the White House is cautious optimism, but that caution certainly rooted in the fact that they have been at what appeared to be the final stages of hostage negotiations previously only to see the deal collapse.

And so, certainly, American officials are hopeful that this round of talks could eventually lead to a release of hostages that are being held in Gaza in exchange for a temporary ceasefire. And the framework on the table now, which has been on the table for about a week, is a generous offer, according to the American secretary of state, Antony Blinken. And it would include the release of about 33 hostages in exchange for a ceasefire of about six weeks. This is a deal that certainly the Americans are pressuring Hamas to accept.

Listen to how Blinken described this over the weekend.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ANTONY BLINKEN, U.S. SECRETARY OF STATE: We wait to see whether, in effect, they can take yes for an answer on the ceasefire and release of hostages. And the reality in this moment is the only thing standing between the people of Gaza and a ceasefire is Hamas.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LIPTAK: Now, what American and Israeli officials say is that even if Hamas accepts this framework agreement, that isn't necessarily the end of the road. There still are some final details that would need to be ironed out before the hostages are to come out of Gaza.

And I think the real fear among American officials is that if this deal falls apart, that could be impetus for Israel to begin its ground invasion of Rafah. That, of course, is the city in Southern Gaza, where more than a million Palestinian civilians have been sheltering.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said that he will go into Rafah with or without a deal. And from the American side, they have said that they need to see a credible plan to protect those civilians, and they haven't seen one yet.

And that is certainly the great fear, I think, as these talks heat up, certainly President Biden very hopeful for a deal that would, in his mind, lower the temperature both in Israel and in the United States, provide the diplomatic space to negotiate a broader ceasefire between Israel and Hamas.

Kevin Liptak, CNN, Washington.

COREN: In Israel, protesters are pressuring the government to do more to get the hostages home. They were on the streets of Tel Aviv on Saturday night, calling for new elections and the end of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SHAVIT SAHAR SALOM, PROTESTER: The nation, the people, we just don't want this government anymore. We don't want those 120 Knesset members. We just want someone else to take control.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[03:05:02] COREN: Gideon Levy is a columnist for Haaretz newspaper and a former adviser to Shimon Peres, who joins us now from Tel Aviv. Gideon, great to have you with us.

We saw a rather large turnout at the protests overnight. Do you believe the movement is growing against Netanyahu? Is it gaining momentum or should it be larger?

GIDEON LEVY, COLUMNIST, HAARETZ: It seems that it's growing but it does not reach a critical weight in which Netanyahu will have to listen to them. The protest is focusing only on two issues, getting rid of Netanyahu. This is one part and obviously releasing the hostages, which is another part, not always together. None of them is calling to end the war and say, I don't see it getting more momentum than it got until now, which is very impressive, but it's not enough.

COREN: As you say, many of these protesters are calling for early elections, the prime minister refusing to even entertain the idea, but what would force that to actually happen?

LEVY: No, elections will be only, if they will, if Netanyahu will lose his majority in the parliament. There's no other way to get there. And his government, his coalition, seems, until now, very solely, would he go to an agreement right now, he might lose this majority, and that's exactly what starts now the negotiation, because Netanyahu is more concerned about his government rather than the deal.

The deal might bring the fall of his government, because the right wingers threaten him that they would leave the coalition, and then he doesn't have a government.

COREN: I want to speak about the precarious situation that Netanyahu finds himself in, but you mentioned that deal. Israel refused to send a delegation to Cairo for the hostage release ceasefire talks with Hamas, but we are hearing about these positive signs coming out of Egypt. Do you believe this time is different and that there will be progress from the talks?

LEVY: It depends now on Israel and on the United States. Unlikely what Blinken said, as far as we hear it here, the main obstacle right now is Netanyahu, and he tries to sabotage it, no other way to describe it. He published two announcements over the weekend on the name of sources, anonymous sources, in which he claimed that Israel will go to Rafah in any case, and it will not bring the end of the war.

This is sabotaging the deal, and this, in my view, is almost criminal because Israel has now the last chance to release the hostages, and a very big chance for creating a new reality in the Middle East. I don't exaggerate because Saudi Arabia is waiting, Hezbollah is waiting. We are really at a turning point, very dramatic one, and this government might spoil it all, and this will never be forgiven.

COREN: Gideon, you say that Netanyahu's coalition appears solid, but he is struggling to keep the right wing faction of his government happy. And as you say, these are the people keeping him in power. His National security minister, Itamar Ben-Gvir, tweeted overnight. Let me read to you what he tweeted. I welcome the prime minister's decision not to send the Israeli delegation to Cairo. I hope he will also fulfill the other commitments he made to me in last week's meeting, no to reckless deal, yes to Rafah. The P.M. knows full well the price of not upholding these commitments.

I mean, Gideon, to me, that sounds like a threat.

LEVY: Not only to you but also to Netanyahu, and therefore we are stuck. And therefore it is so criminal because those people took not only Netanyahu hostage but Israel hostage and the Israeli hostages are in their hands. Their fate now is the fate of all of us is in the hands of a small, crazy, racist, fascist minority and Netanyahu is not strong enough or courageous enough or both to overcome this obstacle and say first priority is now the state, not my government, not my personal fate, and then we'll see. But his priorities are different, unfortunately.

COREN: Gideon, the prime minister, as you mentioned, has said he will not agree to end the war as part of this deal with Hamas. He's also said that Rafah will happen.

[03:10:01]

How would a Rafah offensive affect any ceasefire hostage deal?

LEVY: It will just prevent it as simple as this. There is no deal if Israel goes to Rafah, but it will be much worse than this. Because if Israel will really go to Rafah with all its massive power, then we will face a new reality, then Hezbollah might get in, then the bloodbath that might be there will be even worse than in the other places that Israel conquered, and Israel will really become a pariah state. I don't want to exaggerate the scenarios, but Rafah can be really a catastrophe.

COREN: Gideon Levy, we always appreciate your insights, your frank and honest assessment of what is happening inside Israel. Thank you so much for joining us.

LEVY: Thank you for having me.

COREN: Well, CNN has been investigating a strike on a refugee camp in Gaza that happened two weeks ago. More than a dozen people were killed, most of them children at the Al Maghazi refugee camp in Central Gaza, yet the Israeli military still hasn't taken responsibility for the attack.

Jeremy Diamond has more on what CNN has learned, and we warn you his report contains distressing images.

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JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): This grainy home video is the closest Mona Aoudatala (ph) will ever get to seeing her ten-year-old daughter. A stack of school certificates, a wardrobe of her favorite clothes, the perfume she used to wear, all that remains of the daughter Mona poured everything into.

There is no Shahed (ph) now. Every time she came in, she said, Mom, I would say my soul, my soul, my soul is gone.

Shahed was one of ten children killed when an Israeli airstrike hit the crowded street in the Al Maghazi refugee camp where she was playing with her friends. Her pink pants impossible to miss, among the small bodies splayed around a foosball table in the chaotic aftermath. Two weeks later, the Israeli military still won't take responsibility for the strike that killed her.

CNN provided the IDF with the coordinates and time of the attack, based on metadata from two different phones in the immediate aftermath. The IDF said they did not have a record of that strike. They said they carried out a strike at a different time than described, and that the collateral damage as described in the query is not known to the IDF. The IDF makes great efforts to mitigate harm to the civilian population from areas where strikes are being carried out.

Evidence recovered and documented by CNN at the scene of the strike paints a very different picture of Israeli military responsibility. This circuit board and bits of shrapnel, walls and shop steps distinctively pockmarked, and a small crater barely a foot wide, all pointing three munitions experts to the same conclusion, the carnage was likely caused by a precision-guided munition deployed by the Israeli military.

CHRIS COBB-SMITH, WEAPONS EXPERT: I've seen these strikes so many times. There's a relatively small crater in the road. There's no large shrapnel holes or fragmentation holes, which would have been caused by, say, a mortar round or an artillery round. The fragmentation is consistent

DIAMOND: So, in your view, this strike was caused by a precision- guided drone-fired missile?

COBB-SMITH: Absolutely. This is an Israeli munition. The local militias, the local forces do not have anything with this amount of sophistication.

DIAMOND: Before carrying out the strike, Israeli drones would have surveilled the Al Maghazi refugee camp from above. Seconds later, the missile hits the street below, landing in the middle of the road, just a few feet away from the foosball table, where Shahed and her friends were playing that day, delivering certain death.

Against all odds, these children have returned to play at the very same foosball table, including some of Shahed's friends.

I miss her a lot, Sama says, wearing a necklace Shahed made her. She says she was nearly killed with her friend, going home moments before the strike to drink water.

Others were not as lucky. Eight-year-old Ahmed is fighting for his life, bleeding from his brain, his skull fractured. His chances of surviving are slim, his doctor explains. He is fighting not to become the 11th child killed in that same strike.

Jeremy Diamond, CNN, Jerusalem.

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[03:15:01]

COREN: And we regret to report that little Ahmed died of his wounds earlier this week. He was just eight years old. Ahmed becomes, as Jeremy says, the 11th child killed in that Israeli strike. More than 14,100 children have been killed in this war on Gaza since October 7th. That's according to the Ministry of Health in Gaza.

Well, some U.S. universities are cracking down on pro-Palestinian demonstrations as graduation ceremonies get underway. The University of Virginia says after days of peaceful protests, it had to call in police on Saturday to clear out an encampment.

At least 25 people were arrested. Video shows officers tearing down tents and spraying something into the crowd. The university says police were met with agitation, chanting and violent gestures.

A group of protesters stood up and walked out of Indiana University's graduation ceremony on Saturday night. CNN's Whitney Wild has the details.

WHITNEY WILD, CNN LAW UNIVERSITY: Here at Indiana University, what we saw was dozens of students stand up as Indiana University President Pamela Whitten began speaking. And while it did not disrupt the ceremony, people that we spoke to who were inside Memorial Stadium here in Bloomington said that they could at least hear the protest.

Our understanding, based on those conversations as well as social media video, is that the students stood up, made this audible protest, and then walked out. It was a big question here, to what degree protests might disrupt the ceremony, if at all, for two reasons.

The first is because Indiana University had set up a protest zone outside Memorial Stadium, but also because they have had pretty robust protests here in Bloomington. It was in April that 33 students were arrested at Indiana University at a pro-Palestine protest.

And what we've seen all across the country is that schools that have seen those protests in many cases have seen disruptions to their ceremonies. For example, at the University of Michigan, pro-Palestine protesters were able to actually disrupt the ceremony briefly before they were escorted out by Michigan State Police.

So, again, that was the big question here at I.U. in Bloomington, Indiana, 41,000 people inside that stadium, and our understanding is that just dozens of students stood up, again, as the president was speaking, and then filed out. It was audible, but it was not disruptive.

Whitney Wild, CNN, Bloomington, Indiana. COREN: Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has a new status in Russia. He's been placed on Moscow's official wanted list. That story ahead.

Plus, the U.N. warns that nearly two million people face emergency levels of hunger in Western Sudan, as fighting in the country's civil war escalates. That story and much more coming up.

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COREN: Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is officially a wanted man in Russia.

[03:20:03]

A state news agency says he's been put on the government's wanted list under Russia's criminal code. Ukraine dismissed the move as an act of desperation and a publicity stunt.

Meanwhile, six people are injured after the city of Kharkiv came under attack for a second straight day. Officials say debris from a Russian drone fell in a residential neighborhood this morning, damaging multiple buildings. Ukraine says it shot down multiple drones the day before, but the falling debris left four people injured.

A 98-year-old woman says she walked ten kilometers to escape Russian shelling in her Ukrainian hometown. She used sticks to support herself, but fell several times along the way. Lidia Stepanivna says she left her town in the Donetsk region, now occupied by Russia, hoping to reach Kyiv-controlled areas. She slept on the ground without food or water, her legs shaking and giving out throughout the journey. After surviving World War II, she says she's determined to survive this war as well.

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LIDIA STEPANIVNA, ESCAPED RUSSIAN SHELLING ON FOOT: I woke up, they were shelling. It was horrific. How could one possibly sleep? My daughter-in-law said we must leave. I said, son, we should have left before.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COREN: Ukraine's military found the woman and handed her to police who took her to an evacuation shelter. She was uninjured. She says her character kept her going. What incredible resilience.

Well, ceremonies are underway around the world as orthodox Christians celebrate their Easter.

Well this is video from St. Volodymyr's Cathedral in Kyiv where a service began in the last hour. Some Ukrainians flock there to receive blessings and pray for peace. Similar scenes will play out at orthodox churches around the world today.

The holiday falls on a different day than in western churches because the orthodox ones use a different calendar and because orthodox Easter is celebrated after the Jewish Passover holiday.

Well, turning now to Sudan where civil war is raging and nearly 2 million in Darfur are facing starvation. That's the warning from the U.N.'s World Health Programme, which says nearly 2 million people across Darfur are experiencing emergency levels of hunger and people are eating grass and peanut shells to survive.

Fighting that broke out in Sudan last year has forced nearly 9 million from their homes. Aid groups are being targeted by gunmen as they try to deliver assistance. Combat is now surging in North Darfur with paramilitary forces encircling the capital of Fasha forcing more than 36,000 people to evacuate.

The city is also sheltering some half a million people displaced from other parts of Sudan.

Well, Leni Kinzli is the communications officer for the World Food Programme in Sudan. She joins me now from Nairobi, Kenya. Great to have you with us.

Explain to us the humanitarian catastrophe that is unfolding in Sudan right now.

LENI KINZLI, COMMUNICATIONS OFFICER, WORLD FOOD PROGRAMME SUDAN: It is a humanitarian catastrophe of epic proportions. And we are looking at an impending hunger catastrophe. We are really running out of time to prevent starvation. We're already receiving reports of children dying of malnutrition, people eating grass, leftover peanut shells, really resorting to the very extreme measures just to put something in their bellies.

And in this situation, WFP is extremely challenged to get assistance because of lack of access and security guarantees as the fighting engulfs El Fasher in North Darfur.

COREN: You say people are eating grass, peanut shells. We've also heard reports they're eating dirt, leaves. What else are your staff on the ground telling you about the scale of this crisis?

KINZLI: So, our partners on the ground are telling us that it is an extremely dire situation. One example, I personally have, I'm regularly in touch with a farmer in El Fasher who is relatively well off compared to people who are already internally displaced living there. She was telling me her family has already run out of food, they're living day-by-day, and this also is an indication of just how much worse the situation will get in the coming months as the lean season or hunger season when people run out of their food stocks starts this month.

COREN: Leni, there are so many global conflicts competing for the world's attention, but Sudan, as you know, is an afterthought, if not ignored by the international community.

[03:25:05]

Why is there this collective apathy towards Sudan? KINZLI: The crisis, of course, is competing with other crisis in the world, but it has regional and global implications, and it's time for the international community to step up with concerted efforts and focus on Sudan.

That being said, we did see an increased attention on Sudan just one month ago when there was a conference in Paris where countries came together and pledged additional funding. But we need more than funding. We need advocacy for access, and we need a concerted diplomatic push to guarantee access and to put an end to this conflict.

So, it's really time for the international community to step up, otherwise this brutal impact on the civilians will be on the world's conscience.

COREN: This violent civil war now in its second year is between the RSF, the Rapid Support Forces, and the SAF, the Sudanese Armed Forces, and their two warring generals. Both sides have been accused of either stopping aid delivery or looting aid. What are the options for aid organizations like yourself on the ground?

KINZLI: So, we actually do have options. And when we are able to access and reach locations, especially conflict hotspots, we have been able to very quickly deliver emergency food assistance. Last month, 50,000 people in Khartoum, between March and the middle of April, nearly 300,000 people in Darfur.

But now with the fighting in El Fasher, that means that one corridor we were using to cross into Darfur from Chad is no longer viable because of the security situation and the risk as fighting is ongoing.

However, there is another border crossing from Chad into West Darfur via Adre. And there, we are facing bureaucratic impediments from authorities in Port Sudan who have closed that border. But if that border were to be opened, we could, in the next coming weeks, support over 700,000 people in the broader Darfur region.

So, we are urgently calling for all border crossings to be opened because we have the supplies on ground. We have the logistics capacity. We simply need the access.

COREN: We hope authorities are listening. Leni Kinzli in Nairobi, many thanks.

Well, on a break from his criminal trial in New York, Donald Trump takes the stage at a Republican donor retreat and rails against Democrats, comparing them to Nazis.

Plus, evacuations and rescues amid historic flooding in southeast Texas, and even more rain is on the way.

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[03:30:00] COREN: It's official, Londoners have re-elected Mayor Sadiq Khan, giving him a historic third term in office. Khan won easily, beating his closest rival, Conservative Susan Hall, by 11 percentage points. The mayor thanked voters in his victory speech on Saturday.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SADIQ KHAN, LONDON MAYOR: I promise to repay the trust you've placed in me by working tirelessly to deliver the fairer, safer and greener London you deserve.

It's been a difficult few months. We faced a campaign of nonstop negativity. But I couldn't be more proud that we answered fear mongering with facts, hate with hope, and attempts to divide with efforts to unite.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COREN: Khan's Labor Party also did extremely well in Thursday's local elections, their success and electoral warning to Conservative Prime Minister Rishi Sunak ahead of the general election, which must take place by January.

Well, former President Donald Trump lambasted Democrats on Saturday, even comparing President Joe Biden's administration to the Gestapo. The comments come at a Republican retreat in Florida, where Trump also railed against prosecutors behind his 88 criminal charges and praised a former Illinois governor convicted of corruption.

As CNN's Alayna Treene reports, the main purpose of the retreat was fundraising.

ALAYNA TREENE, CNN REPORTER: Former President Donald Trump traded the courtroom in New York for Florida this weekend on the backdrop of the Republican National Committee's annual weekend retreat. Now, during one of those sessions hosted by Chris LaCivita and Susie Wiles, two of Donald Trump's campaign managers, as well as Tony Fabrizio, one of his pollsters, they walked the group through the latest fundraising figures.

Last month, they said that they brought in $76.2 million. And this is noteworthy because it comes as they are trying aggressively to match President Joe Biden's campaign in their fundraising and their ever- growing war chest.

Now, on Saturday, part of the event was hosted at Mar-a-Lago, and Donald Trump addressed the group and also appraised many of the vice presidential contenders on his shortlist. That includes people like Elise Stefanik, Tim Scott, Doug Burgum, and J.D. Vance, among others. He brought them up on stage and talked largely about the core issues that he cares about for his campaign.

Now, during one of these presentations today, they also laid out a plan of how they want to be competitive in states like Minnesota and Virginia, both traditionally Democratic-leaning states that they said they're going to run toward aggressively ahead of November. Alayna Treene, CNN, Palm Beach.

COREN: Well, flooding is devastating parts of Southeast Texas, where some towns saw more than a half a meter of rain in just five days. River flooding in Harris County, which includes Houston, is expected to top out at a level not seen since Hurricane Harvey in 2017. One county official says 224 people have been rescued from homes and vehicles.

CNN's Rosa Flores is there.

ROSA FLORES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, there's been a lot of emotional and very tense moments for individuals who have been rescued from these rising waters.

What you hear in the background is an airboat. They're still rescuing individuals, but they're also trying to convince them to evacuate.

Let me show you around. This is an area that's called the river bottom. Now, this street curls around and there are homes back, there R.V.s back there. I've talked to neighbors who say that there are between 8 and 15 individuals back there who do not want to evacuate.

But take a look around and you'll see the water levels. You see the water level on the fence and on the trees. If you look closely, the good news is that some of the water is receding because you can tell that water level from the tree.

Now, I talked to the owner of this mobile home. Her name is Stacey Smith (ph), and she is one of the individuals who has access to her home. She has taken everything out. She has left the area. But she says that she's trying to come back because she's trying to convince the 8 to 15 individuals that she calls friends and family who are back in the river bottom because she's hoping that they evacuate to safety.

[03:35:02]

Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The ones that didn't want to come right now, we're going to go back and get with a personal boat and we're going to go get everybody. We're not leaving nobody behind because they're like our family. They're like family down there and

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FLORES: And just to put this into perspective. Harris County, Texas is one of the biggest counties in the country. And according to authorities at this point, they estimate that several hundred homes are being impacted.

Now, the damage assessments have not been made. According to authorities, that might start on Monday. That, of course, is if the water starts to recede.

But the message to everyone in those evacuation zones is the following from authorities, get out. They are asking individuals to please go to safety to higher ground because there is more rain expected overnight and through the weekend.

Rosa Flores, CNN, Harris County, Texas.

COREN: Flooding in Kenya has killed at least 210 people. The country delayed the reopening of schools nationwide until further notice. The Kenyan president says the situation is expected to get worse, citing forecasts of more intense rainfall over the coming days and weeks.

Heavy downpours are expected today in some parts of the country. The president blames the extreme weather on climate change.

At least 56 people have been killed and 67 are still missing in Brazil, as torrential rains pummel the southern part of the country. A governor there calls it the worst disaster in the state's history.

CNN's Allison Chinchar has the tragic details.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ALLISON CHINCHAR, CNN METEOROLOGIST (voice over): Houses submerged to their rooftops roads only navigable by boat. Some, like this couple, forced onto their roof, rising waters giving them nowhere else to turn.

RAUL JR METZEL, RESIDENT: Humans must be doing something different for her, the planet, to be basically punishing us. I think pollution. Something is happening because this is not normal. It's not natural at all. This has been caused by something.

CHINCHAR: Tens of thousands of people in Brazil's Rio Grande do Sul are displaced as heavy rainfall pounds the southern state, authorities declaring a state of emergency and rescuers searching for the dozens missing among the devastation.

Hundreds of thousands of people have been without access to electricity or drinking water, while blocked roads, damaged bridges, and rising waters make it difficult to reach safety. More than 8,000 residents have found what refuge they can in shelters, many able to salvage nothing but themselves.

SUSETE PEREIRA, EVACUATED TO SHELTER: I lost everything. I lifted some furniture that I could, but I believe I lost everything. I really am desperate. It's the first time this has happened.

CHINCHAR: Authorities have urged people to avoid highways, rivers and hillsides, warning of mudslides and further flooding. Brazil's president, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, stressing that his government will be, quote, 100 percent available to the suffering state.

LUIZ INACIO LULA DA SILVA, BRAZILIAN PRESIDENT: I want to tell you there will be no shortage of aid from the federal government for health care. In other words, there will be no shortage of money to take care of transportation. There will be no shortage of money to take care of food.

CHINCHAR: As heavy rains make their way from Northern to Southern Rio Grande do Sul, floodwaters won't begin to recede for days, keeping away those hoping to return to their homes or what's left of them, forcing the ominous question of when or how to rebuild.

Allison Chinchar, CNN.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COREN: A teenager who attacked a man in Western Australia with a kitchen knife has been shot dead by police. Officials say the 16-year- old male stabbed a middle-aged man in a suburb of Perth before he was confronted by officers. The victim is hospitalized in a serious but stable condition.

The teenager was known to police as part of a program focused on online extremism. Officials expressed their gratitude to the local Muslim community for raising concerns about the teen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

COMMISSIONER COL BLANCH, WESTERN AUSTRALIA POLICE: Members of the Western Australian Muslim community contacted police also ringing 000 just prior to the incident with their concerns. And I want to thank them for having the courage to reach out. We enjoy a very good relationship with our Muslim community and they rang up with their concerns.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COREN: The incident is the latest in several recent stabbing attacks in Australia. Last month, a man armed with a knife killed six people in a Sydney shopping center.

[03:40:01]

Days later, a teenager allegedly stabbed a Christian Orthodox bishop, also in Sydney.

In a statement released after this most recent attack, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said, we are a peace-loving nation and there is no place for violent extremism in Australia.

Well, Mexican authorities are confirming the recovery of three bodies from a cliff near Ensenada, Mexico, but they have not yet been formally identified. This comes amid an ongoing investigation into the disappearance of three surfers, two Australians and one American.

Journalist Stefano Pozzebon has the latest.

STEFANO POZZEBON, JOURNALIST: Mexican authorities, as well as the families of the three missing surfers, are still waiting for the final results from the forensic examinations performed on the three bodies that were recovered on Friday morning.

At this point, the authorities want to make sure that there is an ultimate and definitive DNA match between those three bodies that were recovered in a cliff about 15 miles south of the city center of Ensenada and the three surfers, two Australians, one American, before drawing any conclusion. Of course, these are hours of frantic wait and great caution.

CNN's affiliate network in Australia have reported that the family of Jake and Callum Robinson are traveling to Ensenada to be as close as possible to the investigation and perhaps even assist with that DNA matching.

In the meantime, the three Mexican citizens who had been previously brought in for questioning in relation to this investigation had since been detained on the allegation of kidnapping, according to the attorney general of Baja California, the state where Ensenada is located.

The FBI and Australian Foreign Office are also assisting the Mexican police, but so far, the ultimate clue on what happened to those three tourists who have been reported missing since April 29th has not surfaced yet. And we will be sure to report back to you as soon as there is an official pronouncement from the authorities in charge of this investigation.

For CNN, this is Stefano Pozzebon, Bogota.

COREN: Coming up, Boeing is hoping its Starliner spacecraft will soon be a serious competitor in the commercial spaceflight field. We'll tell you what's at stake, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COREN: Well, NASA says two of its astronauts are about to make history on Monday as the first pilots to fly a Boeing Starliner to the International Space Station. The Starliner spacecraft has taken two unmanned test flights to the ISS before. Well, Boeing is banking on this mission being a success.

The company is dealing with several controversies with its airplanes after some deadly crashes and other high-profile incidents.

[03:45:01]

But if this launch goes on schedule and according to plan, it will give Elon Musk's SpaceX a competitor in commercial space flight.

Well, joining me now from Houston is retired NASA Astronaut Leroy Chiao. Leroy, fantastic to have you with us.

This, as we know, is a long time coming for Boeing and Starliner. How is the team feeling about Monday's launch?

LEROY CHIAO, RETIRED NASA ASTRONAUT: Oh, I think everything's looking really well. I mean, it's been a long time coming, as you just said, and, you know, Boeing has had its growing pains and its other problems unrelated, but they desperately kind of need a win and hopefully we'll see that on Monday.

COREN: You talk about the growing pains that Boeing has been going through. It's been plagued with problems, recent problems. How important would a successful launch on Monday mean for its credibility?

CHIAO: Well, it's a very big deal. They've suffered a lot of problems in their airplane business. And, of course, their space business is a separate unit. But they've had their share of problems with the Starliner, too.

I mean, Boeing was given a contract or the same kind of a deal at start SpaceX was given several years ago. SpaceX has been flying astronauts to the ISS for the last three and a half years. Boeing was given almost twice as much money because they were the ones that knew how to do it. And here they are playing catch-up, and hopefully they'll have a success on Monday.

COREN: That is quite extraordinary. So, as you say, you know, SpaceX have conducted something like nine taxi trips from NASA to the International Space Station since 2020. So, tell us why has it taken Boeing so long, considering this was the company that knew how to do it?

CHIAO: Well, that's right. And I think it has to do with the overall bigger problems at the company, with the culture change when they took over McDonnell Douglas. You've seen all these stories in the news about their problems. We've had CEOs resign, other senior leadership resign. They're looking for a new leader right now.

And so the problems that have plagued Starliner are kind of indicative of the overall bigger problem, I believe, at the company. And, hopefully, at least for the Starliner, they've got it ironed out. A lot of good engineers there, of course, and so, hopefully, things will come together soon here in a couple of days.

COREN: One of the astronauts going up on Monday is Sunny Williams, and she said, quote, we are the Q.A., the quality assurance. Our eyes are on the spacecraft. I mean, you know the crew. Tell us about the crew and what is involved on this mission.

CHIAO: Sure, absolutely. You know, I've known the Sunny and Butch for many years and, you know, especially Sunny. We train together in Star City, you know, for space station missions. And I know that both of them are very, very good at looking at the spacecraft and looking at all the procedures, making sure that everything is safe. After all, they're the ones that are going to be inside of it. And so I have every confidence that they've looked at everything and that everything is ready to go.

COREN: And, Leroy, Butch and Sunny, they will board this capsule. It's not very big, something like 3 meters tall, 4.5 meters diameter. Tell us about, I guess, the conditions inside this capsule, how long it will take to get to the space station, and then how long they will spend there and what they will do.

CHIAO: Well, sure. The space capsules by their nature are much smaller than, say, the space shuttle was, but this particular capsule, 4.5-meter base, as you mentioned, much bigger than the Soyuz, the Russian Soyuz that many of us flew to the space station on, including myself on my last flight, 3-meter base, outside diameter of the Soyuz spacecraft.

So, the spacecraft was designed to take four. And so with just two of them inside, they'll have a little more room, and it's a modern spacecraft. So, they should have a lot more comfort than, say, for example, on the Russian Soyuz, which Sunny has flown aboard.

COREN: As somebody who has done this, Leroy, it just blows my mind to think that you have flown to the International Space Station. But as someone who has, I mean, how do you feel knowing that two of your friends will be doing this on Monday?

CHIAO: Yes, I'm very excited for them. You know, it's been a long time coming. They've been training for a long time, been waiting through all the, frankly, years of delay, and now they're finally going to get their chance.

[03:50:02]

So, I'm very happy for them. I think they're going to have a great flight.

COREN: Fantastic. Well, we wish them all the very best. Leroy Chiao, great to speak to you. Thanks so much for joining us.

CHIAO: My pleasure. Thank you.

COREN: After the break, the Kentucky Derby has its newest winner after an incredibly tight race. That's next.

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COREN: Real Madrid fans celebrating near the Spanish capital Cibeles fountain after the club claimed a record 36th La Liga title. They waved flags and honked car horns well into the night in utter jubilation.

Carlo Ancelotti's champions cruised to a 3-0 victory over Cadiz on Saturday. Their fate was sealed when Barcelona then lost 4-2 to Girona.

Well, it might have been by a nose, but Mystik Dan is the winner of the 150th Kentucky Derby.

CNN's Patrick Snell with more now on the dramatic three-horse photo finish at Churchill Downs.

OK, we will move on now to the tulip season in the Netherlands. At this time of the year, the flowers can be seen blooming at their best, but it's not all rosy. They're falling victim to rising temperatures, wetter weather and border controls, as CNN's Lynda Kinkade explains.

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LYNDA KINKADE, CNN ANCHOR (voice over): Springtime is bloom time for tulips, the flower a sign of unconditional love, rebirth and forgiveness. From afar, these majestic blooms in the Netherlands look like a perfect field of budding pink and red tulips. But up close, they're suffering.

These fields have grown generations of tulips with Arjan Smit's family overseeing operations since 1940. But climate change is changing their production year-after-year.

ARJAN SMIT, TULIP FARMER: Last winter it was very wet, totally in our sector, we lost around 8 to 9 percent of the bulbs in the fields, they kill by water. And we were planting also 4 hectares, 4 percent of the total less.

KINKADE: Smith says with this change they'll lose at least 13 percent of next year's bulbs. Higher temperatures add more water vapor to the Earth's atmosphere and cause wetter winters.

SMIT: And what you see here is the damage from the water.

KINKADE: Hotter springs and summers are also less than ideal for farming.

When Smit began this work 30 years ago, he says they only watered the fields two to four times in spring. Now, he says sometimes they have to water them every week. But the changing climate is not the only challenge. Farmers say Brexit and its increased border controls could have negative repercussions for tulip farmers.

SMIT: I think it costs exports from the Netherlands, from the flower industry, to send to England, because sometimes it happens that trucks stay many days to waiting by the border before they can pass.

KINKADE: Even with an uncertain future, Smit stays positive, recalling the smiles his flowers brought when he donated them to the people of Ukraine.

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SMIT: I was silent then. People come to me. They tell me with tears in their eyes and shaking their voice, thank you for the flowers. It means for us a little bit mental health. And that gives you so. Then everybody can say what they want, but we need flowers. They need jobs, more different varieties, more colors, happiness.

KINKADE: Lynda Kincade, CNN.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COREN: We certainly all do need flowers. Let's go back now to Patrick Snell with more on the running of the Kentucky Derby.

PATRICK SNELL, CNN SPORT: One of the most prestigious and famous occasions there is on America's sporting calendar, the famed Kentucky Derby, the race at the iconic Churchill Downs in Louisville, noticed the greatest two minutes in sports and this one did not disappoint.

156,000 packed inside this world-famous venue, so much of the focus ahead of the big race on the favorite, Fierceness, but Fierceness ending up in 15th place.

This an occasion, though, as I say, would not disappoint for the 150th anniversary. The race itself seeing an amazing finish with Mystik Dan crossing the finish line first, but it was so close. The 18-1 Mystik Dan by a nose, edging out the second favorite Sierra Leone in a photo finish, Forever Young finishing third, this the 10th time in the race's history, a horse has won by a nose and the first time in 28 years.

Well, let's hear now from the winning jockey, Brian Hernandez Jr., who couldn't initially be sure he'd actually won. This though has now been confirmed as his first Derby victory.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BRIAN HERNANDEZ JR., MYSTIK DAN JOCKEY: That was the longest few minutes I've ever felt in my life waiting for them to hang that number up. It was exciting when we hit the wire but I wasn't sure if we won. So, it was quite a rush to sit here and wait for it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SNELL: Well, two years ago, we had an absolutely epic finish when Rich Strike caused a huge shock by sealing victory at odds of 80-1.

On this Saturday, another really dramatic storyline, the Derby is the first leg of the Triple Crown, which also includes the famed Preakness Stakes and the Belmont Stakes. It's the Preakness in Baltimore that's next up on May the 18th, that's in two weeks, the Belmont Stakes on June the 8th.

With that, it's right back to you.

COREN: In some parts of the world, it still may be May 4th, recognized by many people all over the globe as International Star Wars Day. In Chile, enthusiasts celebrated on planet Tatooine, a world in the famous George Lucas franchise, aka Noah's (ph) Cantina, a bar in San Diego.

Partygoers marked the occasion with costumes, Star Wars-themed menu items, lightsabers, fights, and of course, chanting, May the 4th be with you.

Thanks so much for your company. I'm Anna Coren in Hong Kong.

Kim Brunhuber picks up our coverage next on CNN Newsroom.

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