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CNN International: U.S. Lawmakers Demand Answers After CNN Report Contradicts Pentagon Probe Into Kabul Airport Attack; Thousands Flee Rafah Amid Evacuation Order; Kerem Shalom Crossing Into Gaza Reopened; Ceasefire and Hostage Negotiations to Resume in Cairo; U.S. Pauses Bomb Shipment to Israel Amid Concerns Over Their Potential Use in Rafah; Judge Indefinitely Delays Start of Classified Docs Case; Stormy Daniels to Return to Witness Stand on Thursday; One Killed, Several Injured in Oklahoma Tornado; Biden to Unveil A.I. Facility in Wisconsin; Prince Harry in London for Invictus Games' 10th Anniversary. Aired 8-9a ET

Aired May 08, 2024 - 08:00   ET

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

[08:00:00]

NICK PATON WALSH, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: And what they've been briefed by the Pentagon on number of occasions now, most recently in the past weeks when the Pentagon finished their second investigation into this. When back to August 2021, the Taliban are taking Kabul, the U.S. are evacuating, taking Afghan civilians to help them out with them. An ISIS bomb --

ERICA HILL, CNN ANCHOR OF "CNN NEWSROOM": Hello and welcome to our viewers around the world. I am Erica Hill. This is "CNN Newsroom." Just ahead, tens of thousands of civilians are fleeing Rafah after an Israeli evacuation order. We have the very latest for you on that Israeli operation and also whether any aid is getting through. Plus, trial delayed. Donald Trump's classified documents now on hold indefinitely. We will explain what's behind the judge's decision and multiple sites across Ukraine are hit in what officials there call a massive attack on the country's infrastructure.

As ceasefire talks are set a resume in Cairo, Israel's defense minister says its military operations in Rafah will continue until Hamas is eliminated from Gaza, or until the first hostage returns. About 50,000 people have now fled Rafah in just the past 48 hours, that's according to an agency. They began to flee on Monday after Israel ordered residents to evacuate the eastern part of the city.

Governments around the world are urging Israel not to carry out a major ground offensive in Rafah. One U.S. official telling CNN the shipment -- a shipment rather from the U.S. of some 2,500 pound bombs to Israel last week was actually paused over concerns about their potential use in Rafah. Meantime, as I noted, that operation though does continue. At least 30 people have been killed since Monday. Israel meantime says a key border crossing is now open for humanitarian aid. CNN's Jeremy Diamond is live in Jerusalem at this hour.

So, in terms of these crossings in and out of Gaza and that aid, right, critical access for humanitarian aid, what do we know what this hour, Jeremy?

JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, the Rafah border crossing and the Kerem Shalom crossing are the two main points by which humanitarian aid has been getting into Gaza over the course of the majority of this war. And until early this morning, both of those crossings were closed. But now, the Israeli military has reopened that Kerem Shalom crossing. We are told by COGAT, which is the Israeli military agency in charge of coordinating humanitarian aid into the Palestinian territories that the Kerem Shalom crossing was reopen.

Trucks have already begun arriving at Kerem Shalom where they are screened for security purposes and then allowed into the Gaza Strip. That comes several days after that crossing was closed on Sunday after a Hamas rocket attack killed four soldiers and injured several others very near to that crossing. The Rafah crossing, however, that's a different story. The Israeli military took over that crossing overnight the -- over 24 hours ago and as of now, as we understand it, that crossing remains closed and that could have some really serious implications for the humanitarian situation in Gaza in the coming days, if it remains closed, because not only is it the entry point for humanitarian aid, but it is also the only site through which humanitarian aid workers have been able well to get in and out of Gaza.

It is also the place where Palestinians leaving Gaza, including those who are being medically evacuated, have been able to leave from. So, that is also a key crossing, a key lifeline for Gaza to the outside world. And as of now, it remains closed.

HILL: Meantime, as I mentioned, some 50,000 people have now left Rafah following that an evacuation order just about 48 hours ago. Where are they headed, Jeremy? Where can they go at this point?

DIAMOND: Well, the Israeli military has long had this "safe zone" in Al Mawasi, which is a coastal area in the western part of the Gaza Strip. It's a sandy area that the Israeli military has designated as a humanitarian zone, although there have been some incidents where the Israeli military has taken military action in that area. So as we know, there are no true safe zones in Gaza at the moment. But that area has been expanded according to the Israeli military, east towards the western part of Khan Younis, which is the city just north of Rafah, as well as north towards the central part of the Gaza Strip. And that's the area where the majority of people have been leaving to.

100,000 people were living in that part of eastern Rafah where evacuation orders were dropped. The Israeli military says the vast majority of those fled before the Israeli military moved in with tanks two nights ago. But today, UNRWA's Gaza Director is saying that roughly 50,000 people according to him, have left the southern city of Rafah in the last 48 hours. And then the question of course is, what are the conditions that they are finding in this area?

The Israeli military has said that they have fixed a main waterline to that area. They have brought in additional tents, food, setup field hospitals. But UNRWA, which is the main U.N. agency in charge of Palestinian affairs, they say that the conditions there simply aren't adequate enough for this large amounts of people.

[08:05:00]

DIAMOND: There is not enough sewage, for example. This is largely a coastal sandy area and the challenge, of course, of bringing aid to those areas also still very much remains. So, a precarious situation. We've seen the Israeli bombardment in Rafah has continued as the Israeli military says, it is continuing to carry out precision targeted counterterrorism operations, as they define them. The Kuwaiti Hospital in Rafah says that they had 35 dead people who were brought in over just the past 24 hours. Among them, we should note, was a four-month-old baby. Erica?

HILL: Jeremy, appreciate it. Thank you. America's CIA Director Bill Burns is expected in Israel today as these delicate ceasefire and hostage negotiations are set to resume in Cairo. Israel is sending a delegation to the Egyptian capital to hear what Hamas negotiators have to say. Now, we are hearing a Hamas official says an agreement reached with mediators includes the "withdrawal of the occupation from Gaza."

Here's what John Kirby, the White Has National Security Communications Adviser, has said. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOHN KIRBY, WHITE HOUSE NATIONAL SECURITY COMMUNICATIONS ADVISER: We are at a critical stage right now. We got a response from Hamas. Now, Director Burns is working through that, trying to assess it, working with the Israelis. I mean, my goodness, folks, I don't know that it gets any more sensitive than right now.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HILL: CNN's Paula Hancocks is covering this from the region, live this morning in Abu Dhabi. So Paula, as we look at what is happening in this moment, how could Israel's continued activities in Rafah impact or even threaten the deal?

PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Erica, we've certainly seen some criticism from regional leaders when it comes to what Israel is doing in Rafah at this point. Jordan's foreign minister, for example, say that at a time when Hamas is trying to push towards a deal, Israel is carrying out this offensive, albeit limited.

What we've heard from the U.S. side though, the Biden Administration is Hamas was -- it was less of an acceptance of this Egyptian-Qatari proposal that was on the table and more a counter proposal. So what we see now is that the Israeli delegation is in Cairo. It's a working- level delegation though, which suggests that they're not as close as we assume they may have been back on Monday. If they were close to a deal, certainly you'd expect the Mossad Director, for example, to be heading up that delegation.

But what we are seeing is the CIA Director is heading to Israel to speak to him, clearly, trying to bridge the gaps in-between the two positions to try and push this deal forward. We did hear something interesting as well from John Kirby saying that the U.S. has studied the position of Israel and also Hamas very closely, and they do believe that a deal can be done. So even though we are hearing from the Israeli side that they are far from close, that there are significant gaps between the two sides when it comes to hammering out this deal, we are hearing from the Biden Administration that they believe that there still can be a middle ground.

Now, one of the main sticking points remains the end of the war. We are hearing from the Hamas spokesperson Osama Hamdan that he believes what Hamas has agreed to does include ending the war and does include the Israeli military pulling out of the Gaza Strip. Two things that Israel up until now has refused to agree to. Erica?

HILL: Needs to be watching for more on that. Meantime, a U.S. official telling CNN that it was these concerns over Rafah that actually led to a pause of a shipment to Israel from the U.S. What more do we know about that, Paula?

HANCOCKS: Yeah. So this was according to this U.S. official last week and the package that was withheld was 1,800 2,000-pound bombs and then also 1,700 500-pound bombs. According to this official, what they're most concerned about are these larger bombs, the 2,000-pounds, one of the largest in the American conventional scenario, what they provide to Israel. And they say that they have seen them used in other areas of Gaza, they are not ideal to be used in a densely populated area.

They leave a very significant crater. And then, the very deadly shrapnel can travel up to 100 feet around that area. So, this is certainly not the sort of weaponry that is ideal for what is supposed to be pinpoint targeted strikes into certain areas.

[08:10:00]

HANCOCKS: You can't do that. So when it comes to an area like Rafah, where there is well over a million people believed to be sheltering. Erica?

HILL: Paula Hancocks, appreciate it. Thank you. A potential win for Donald Trump in his classified documents case, Judge Aileen Cannon saying she is now indefinitely postponing the start of that trial as she works through a long list of pre-trial motions, also noting the complex nature of dealing with classified documents is significantly slowing things in this case.

CNN's Senior Justice Correspondent Evan Perez joining me now with more. So Evan, this ruling essentially delaying the trial indefinitely, what specifically are the issues she says that needs to be worked through?

EVAN PEREZ, CNN SENIOR U.S. JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: Well, the Judge Aileen Cannon in this case, Erica, is saying that there are a number of motions, pre-trial motions, mostly from Donald Trump's side that she's still needs to get through. She said there is at least eight of them that are still pending. And so, she has now scheduled hearings and some procedural matters to go through at least late July, which makes the possibility of a trial that much more slim. We don't -- obviously, we've long known that the May 20th trial date that was on the calendar was really not operational anymore. We've seen repeatedly where the Special Counsel Jack Smith has requested for her to make some rulings and she has just refused to. So at this point now, she says that there are things that related to this case, the national security implications that she said present novel and difficult questions. And so, as a result, there's no need to have a trial date on the calendar, right now. Erica?

HILL: She also scheduled two hearing thanks for late June, one is to deal with this claim from Donald Trump's legal team that the special counsel was unlawfully appointed. The other has been what was seen as sort of a long-shot bid, but it is a hearing about a push from Team Trump to get a number of records from federal agencies, including the White House.

PEREZ: Right. I mean, these -- both of these requests from the Trump side were seeing as long shots because, again, these are the types of things that a judge would ask the two sides to put -- to do briefs, and then she makes a decision. In this case, she has scheduled late June hearings for both of these matters. It's a big victory for Donald Trump whose entire goal, Erica, has been to just delay this and make sure that there is no trial before the November election.

And of course, if he is elected, the whole goal here is to just dismiss these cases. So at this point, now, the judge it is looking to have hearings, again, on things that typically a lot of judges would just ask for briefs and for filings before making decisions. Erica?

HILL: Senior Justice Correspondent Evan Perez, appreciate it. Thank you.

PEREZ: Thanks.

HILL: Well, when it comes to that hush money trial here in New York, court is dark today for Donald Trump, but what a day it was on Tuesday. Adult film star Stormy Daniels will actually return to the witness stand tomorrow after some really explosive testimony yesterday, speaking about her alleged sexual encounter with Trump in explicit detail. Here's more from CNN's Kara Scannell.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KARA SCANNELL, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): On the stand, Stormy Daniels, the former adult film star and director, at the center of the first criminal trial of Donald J. Trump. The $130,000 deal in exchange for her silence is at the heart of the prosecution's case.

On Tuesday, prosecutors tried to paint Daniels as a credible witness, having her reveal specific details on her alleged sexual encounter with Trump and the events surrounding it. Trump denies the affair. Meanwhile, during cross-examination, Trump's attorneys tried to undercut Daniels' testimony by attacking her motivations, credibility, and demonstrating how much she hates Trump.

Daniels testified she we met Trump while working at a celebrity golf tournament in 2006. That's when Trump invited her to dinner. Later in Trump's penthouse suite, she said they talked for two hours and Trump asked thoughtful business questions. She explained she went to the bathroom and when I exited, he was just up on the bed like this, in boxers and a t-shirt, she said while demonstrating his pose for the jury.

She noted it was not in a threatening manner. Daniels said, the next thing I know, I was on the bed. She described their relationship in a 2018 interview with Anderson Cooper for "60 Minutes."

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ANDERSON COOPER, CNN ANCHOR OF "60 MINUTES": So, he definitely wanted to continue to see you?

STORMY DANIELS, AMERICAN PORNOGRAPHIC FILM ACTRESS AND DIRECTOR: Oh, for sure. Yes. And this was not a secret. He never asked me not to tell anyone. He called several times when I was in front of many people and I'd be like, oh, my God, he is calling. Shut up. The Donald?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCANNELL (voice-over): During her testimony, Trump nudged his attorney repeatedly, who objected to questions and answers when Daniels suggested she didn't want to be alone with Trump again. The judge agreed and struck several of our answers from the record.

[08:15:00]

SCANNELL (voice-over): When the Access Hollywood tape came out before the 2016 election, Daniels said she spoke with her publicist about selling her story.

DANIELS: Suddenly, people are reaching out to me again, offering me money, large amounts of money.

SCANNELL (voice-over): She soon learned Trump and his ex-attorney Michael Cohen were interested in paying for her story, in a $130,000 deal that came with a non-disclosure agreement. Daniels testified how she wanted the deal done before the election because she was worried I wouldn't be safe or that he wouldn't pay, and there would be a trail to keep me safe.

Prosecutors then turn to Daniels' 2018 statement denying a sexual affair with Trump ahead of a "Wall Street Journal" article that was going to outline their deal. Daniels said she did not want to sign it because it was false. The day it was released, she was interviewed by Jimmy Kimmel and denied it was her signature.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JIMMY KIMMEL, AMERICAN TELEVISION HOST AND COMEDIAN: Did you sign this letter that was released today?

DANIELS: I don't know, did I? KIMMEL: Wait a minute. That you can say, right?

DANIELS: But that does not look like my signature, does it?

KIMMEL: It doesn't?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCANNELL (voice-over): Daniels testified she purposely signed her name in a different way to tip off Kimmel. After a court break, Trump's team moved for a mistrial pointing to aspects of Daniels' testimony. Trump Attorney Todd Blanche argued this is the kind of testimony that makes it impossible to come back from. Judge Juan Merchan ruled against the call for a mistrial. Then Trump's team took their turn to question Daniels.

Trump's Attorney Susan Necheles asked Daniels, am I correct that you hate President Trump? Yes, Daniels responded.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SCANNELL (on camera): During Daniels' testimony, Donald Trump was taking notes. He was actively engaging in conversations with attorneys, even nudging them at times. The jurors also seemed to be paying attention to Daniels' testimony, writing down in their notepads and watching and observing the back-and-forth between Daniels and the prosecutor and Trump's attorney, particularly during the cross- examination.

There's no court on Wednesday, but cross-examination will continue on Thursday. And prosecutors said they also will have additional questions for Daniels.

Kara Scannell, CNN, New York.

HILL: Still to come here, we will have more on Donald Trump's legal situation, including whether that testimony from Stormy Daniels helped or hurt the prosecution, plus a new demand for answers about the violent end to America's longest war. Lawmakers want to know exactly what happened on the day ISIS attached U.S. troops on their way out of Afghanistan. Those questions coming on the heels of exclusive CNN reporting, stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HILL: Here in the United States, parts of Missouri, Tennessee, and Oklahoma are grappling with the aftermath of deadly tornadoes. At least one person was killed and several injured when a powerful storm tore through Oklahoma on Monday. You can see some of the aftermath there. Officials say dozens of homes were badly damaged in two cities, rescuers are still searching for some people who may remain unaccounted for. The state itself was at a (ph) rare Level 5 tornado risk watch on Monday. That had happened for the first time in nearly five years.

In Ukraine, Russian forces carrying out a massive attack on the country's power grid, injuring at least three people, including an eight-year-old child, according to Ukrainian authorities.

[08:20:00]

HILL: Those strikes in the early hours of Wednesday targeted the energy infrastructure in several locations from Lviv in the west to Zaporizhzhia in the southeast. And the attacks also come as Ukraine is commemorating the victory over Nazism in World War II. CNN's Clare Sebastian is following these developments for us.

So, it's not, Clare, a new tactic from Russia. We have seen Russia go after the power grid, go after the infrastructure before. But, the scale of this attack is really something today.

CLARE SEBASTIAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yeah, Erica, this was the biggest set of airstrikes that we've seen from Russia in several weeks now, not the biggest that we've seen in recent months. A reminder that back on March 22nd, they used some 150 missiles and drones when targeting Ukraine. In the middle of April, an entire power station just outside Kyiv was completely destroyed. But this, according to the air force (ph), was a mixture of missiles and drones, some 76 aerial targets as they call them in total.

So, it wasn't a large scale and other measure of that is that the public is now being told to conserve energy, even though the weather, of course, in May is relatively mild. Ad I think the key thing to note here as well is that Russia, Putin in the past has said in the past few weeks, I should say, that this is a response to Ukrainian attacks on Russia's energy facilities, things like oil refineries. We know that they've been doing that using drones deep into Russian territory. But this is part of a playbook that we've seen all along really, an effort to exhaust the Ukrainian population, to cripple their economy. This sort of ongoing attrition that you see and it's a cumulative effect on the energy grid.

DTEK, which has Ukraine's largest private power-generating company, said that three of its thermal power plants were badly damaged today. They had already reported back in mid-April that 80 percent of their power generating capacity had been taken offline. It's not clear how much of that has been repaired, but this look -- really underscores Ukraine's vulnerability. Of those 76 aerial targets, 16 missiles, and one attack drone actually got through. So if Russia is going to continue this tactic, then Ukraine is going to continue to I think call for more air defenses and have to grapple with the prospect of repairing these facilities only to see them potentially damaged again.

HILL: Which is really just frustrating in so many ways. We also can't ignore the significance of the date here. The day that this attack is coming on, significant in Ukraine and also a number of other countries, of course, in Europe.

SEBASTIAN: Yeah, Victory Day, I should note, is a massive holiday in Russia which marks it on May 9, tomorrow. I have been there multiple times on Victory Day. It is one of the biggest days of the year in their calendar. Ukraine though, in an effort to distance itself from Russia, has moved its celebrations of Victory Day to May 8, which is when it's widely marked in Europe. And so, I think it's logical to look for a connection here between the massive attack we saw overnight and this date.

And certainly, President Zelenskyy has drawn on that connection in a post on X. He said that Nazi Putin, as he called him, launched a massive missile attack on Ukraine. And then said the entire world, you can see at the bottom there, must understand who is who. The world must not give a chance to new Nazism. Of course, we know that on the flip side, Russia continues to claim that it is de-Nazifying Ukraine.

On the other side of this is that Russia, I think despite having not achieved a strategic victory on the frontlines in recent months, will go into its own Victory Day celebrations, which we'll see tomorrow, somewhat emboldened by the gains it has been able to make while Ukraine waits for military aid. And I think that that is really going to be part of the narrative that we see playing out on Russia's Victory Day on Thursday. Erica?

HILL: Yeah. We'll be watching for that, Clare. Thank you. A group of U.S. lawmakers are now demanding answers from the defense secretary about the military's chaotic exit from Afghanistan, specifically the Pentagon's report into the ISIS suicide blast outside of Kabul Airport in 2021. That attack at Abbey Gate killed 13 U.S. service members and 170 Afghans. The Pentagon's report contradicts CNN video, which appears to show there was much more gunfire than the Pentagon has suggested.

The parents of seven U.S. Marines who died in that attack accused the Pentagon of misleading them. Reporting from CNN's Nick Paton Walsh helped to prompt this new demand from lawmakers. Here is some of his reporting.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

NICK PATON WALSH, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Two Pentagon investigations have insisted everyone was killed by the bomb and dismissed dozens of Afghans' accounts to CNN two years ago that Afghan civilians were shot in the chaotic aftermath.

GEN. KENNETH F. MCKENZIE, COMMANDER, U.S. CENTCOM: No definitive proof that anyone was ever hit or killed by gunfire.

PATON WALSH (voice-over): But this new video, which begins outside the airport's Abbey Gate entrance, reveals much more shooting after the blast than the Pentagon said. Combined with new accounts to CNN of marines opening fire and gunshot injuries on Afghan civilians, it challenge is the rigor and reliability of the two Pentagon investigations that declared no Afghan civilians were shot dead in the chaotic aftermath.

[08:25:00]

SAYED AHMADI, FORMER KABUL HOSPITAL DOCTOR: 170 people were killed totally. But the register, what we had, maybe 145.

PATON WALSH: And by your estimation, about half --

AHMADI: More than half, I think, were killed by gunshot.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HILL: That information, your interview with that doctor, so powerful in terms of what he revealed. What specifically do these lawmakers want to know now, Nick?

PATON WALSH (on camera): Yeah, the eighth Republican Congressmen, a lot of them veterans who actually served in Afghanistan. They want an answer really between the discrepancy of the information they got in briefings from the Pentagon in line with the two investigations the Pentagon had put out over the last couple of years, and the information in the video that we reported on and released.

The big discrepancy really comes around gunfire in the aftermath of that blast. Now, the video we showed shows 11 episodes of gunfire over about four minutes, far more, far longer than the two Pentagon investigations said. The Pentagon insisted there had only been three bursts of gunfire that were nearly simultaneous. There were fired by U.S. or U.K. troops, the only people firing in the area and that nobody had crucially been hit by any of these shots.

Now, that was important because we had also heard from nearly 20 Afghan survivor that they had either been shot or seen people shot in the aftermath. Now, the Pentagon say the only people shooting there were American or British troops that leads to a specific conclusion. Now when you hear that doctor talk about the scale of the casualties of the dead, they saw at their major Kabul hospital in the aftermath, over 70 people with gunshot injuries who died. That suggests a significant development here.

Now, at the heart of what the congressmen I want to know is exactly why this video does not tally with the Pentagon investigations. They want to know too why it was these to investigations didn't interview any Afghans. The Afghan doctor you saw there not interviewed throughout two Pentagon investigations. They said that wasn't part of the scope of what some of what they were looking at indeed was. So, a lot of volume here from Congress for answers.

The families, you mentioned, well, they say yes, they've been misled. That's seven -- families of seven marines out of the 13 Gold Star families who lost their lives there, the U.S. service personnel, and they say they want proper answers and feel that the briefings they had led to them being told lies by the Pentagon. The Pentagon themselves, well, they say they'll respond directly to the Congressmen and they say that they have a sacred obligation to honor the service and sacrifice of those 13 service members who died, through providing the best information they can, and the truth to their families.

But, it is the truth that's at the heart of this letter from the Congressmen say that they say the truth must come out, and they urge in the strongest possible terms, the U.S. Secretary of Defense, Lloyd Austin to handle this. Look, two years -- over two years now, two investigations, it's clear that so many of the facts are alluding the Pentagon's investigators, they did a misstatement to me yesterday, suggest that they would be open to new information if it came to light, but they have steadfast stuck by the idea, there was limited gunfire, it hit nobody, and only American and British troops opened fire, despite the growing evidence from there their own marines to their own investigators, and from the Afghans we spoke to, that wasn't entirely the case.

So, so many questions to be answered here and now they're being asked by U.S. Congressmen. Erica?

HILL: Yeah, absolutely, it is so important. Nick, really appreciate it the reporting as always. Thank you.

Still to come here, a high stakes decision and what it could mean for the White House, the Biden Administration preparing to release a report to Congress on whether Israel has violated international law during its war in Gaza, plus the youngest victims of this war, this Palestinian girl from Gaza who you see, now an orphan, has been relocated to Qatar. Ahead, how she and thousands of others children are surviving without their parents.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[08:32:08]

HILL: Israel's defense minister says the IDF's military operation in Rafah will continue until Hamas is eliminated from Gaza or until the first hostage returns. The southern city was hit with deadly Israeli strikes once again overnight, three people were killed in two separate attacks. The U.N. Agency for Palestinian Refugees says roughly 50,000 people have left Rafah in the last 48 hours, ahead of Israel's threatened ground offensive.

Authorities, meantime, say the Kerem Shalom crossing into Gaza is now open for humanitarian aid. This, of course, is one of two critical entry points that had been closed by Israel since Hamas rocket attack killed four Israeli soldiers on Sunday. In Cairo, ceasefire talks are set to resume. CIA Director Bill Burns was their Tuesday. He is expected to be in Israel today to meet with his counterpart there.

The Biden's Administration, meantime, is rushing to finish a report that is due to Congress this week on whether Israel has violated international humanitarian law during the war in Gaza. CNN's Kylie Atwood joining us now, live from the State Department.

So, it is due this week. Do we have a sense of when this report is going to drop and any sense to (ph) just how problematic the ultimate findings could potentially be for the Biden Administration?

KYLIE ATWOOD, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Yeah. Well, Erica, it's due to Congress today from the Secretary of State, but we've been told by Congressional sources that the administration has said it's expected to be slightly delayed. We don't know exactly what that means, but probably in the coming week here. We do know that the State Department is working to try and finish this report right now.

They have said that there's a lot of input that they've been collecting, trying to finalize this report. And as you said, it looks at the question as to if Israel is using U.S. weaponry in accordance with international law. And the report requires the United States to get assurances from Israel that they are using those weapons in accordance with international law. And the Secretary of State has to make a determination as to if those assurances are credible and reliable.

It will also look at the question as to if Israel has impeded the delivery of humanitarian assistance. Of course, that's significant because the U.S. has consistently said that Israel is making strides on that front, but can do more. So, we'll have to watch and see where that portion of this report lands. But it comes at this incredibly tense moment. You have members of Congress on the Democratic side who are urging the State Department to make sure that this is a legitimate report.

They don't just want officials to take Israeli assurances on face value. They want to make sure that there is evidence that backs up what Israel is saying that there are explanations for why they carried out certain attacks in Gaza, of course, after October 7. And then, of course, Israeli officials are highly cognizant that this report is coming and the fact that it could potentially mean major repercussions for U.S. policy.

[08:35:00]

ATWOOD: This report doesn't require a change in policy, but it could definitely trigger one and potentially trigger pressure on the Biden Administration to change their arms sales to Israel.

HILL: Kylie Atwood, appreciate it. Thank you. Well, the U.N. estimates now some 600,000 children are currently taking shelter in Rafah. Many of those children have lost their parents or even their entire families in the war. CNN's Jomana Karadsheh meets with one orphan child coping with the pain of this loss, this incredible loss. And I do want to warn you, some of the images you're about to see are difficult to watch.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOMANA KARADSHEH, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Darin giggles and shrieks at the same time, the pain from bending her knees is just too much. You promised you won't make me cry today, she tells the nurse. Months of these physical therapy sessions after multiple surgeries has gotten her back up on her feet, starting to walk again as she turned 11.

Last time we saw Darin, she was lying injured, unconscious in a hospital bed in Gaza last October. She and her brother Kenan had just survived an Israeli airstrike. Kenan was quiet and confused, barely able to open his eyes. They're great aunt was by their bedside, trying to shield them from the most crushing of news.

DARIN ALBAYYA, PARENTS KILLED IN GAZA (through translator): For the first time now, I feel that I am an orphan. In the morning, when I go to school, Mom and Dad are not there to give them a kiss before I leave. KARADSHEH (voice-over): Darin and Kenan now know they were the only ones who survived that airstrike. Their mom, dad and eight-year-old brother Walid (ph) are gone. Their grandparents, uncles, aunts, and cousins, 17 loved ones, all perished that October day. The children made it out to Qatar for medical treatment. They have new friends. They go to school. They play and laugh.

But beneath this veneer of normal scene is the pain they share with nearly 20,000 Palestinian children who the U.N. estimates have lost their parents in this war. Five-year-old Kenan seems oblivious to it all, but sometimes his aunt says he pretends he is on the phone to his parents.

They laugh, they smile, but they also cry Ursula (ph) tells us. Sometimes I can't be strong anymore. I hug Darin and we cry, then I pull myself together and tell her we have to be strong and get through this. Ursula (ph) separated from her own family in Gaza, has not left their site since October. She has become their everything; they now call her tata (ph) or grandma.

Not a day goes by for Darin without thinking of her parents and all those she has lost. She interrupts her interview several times to look through their photos. It's what she does when she misses them.

ALBAYYA (through translator): I miss mom's coking, I miss Mom, my dad and my brother. Dad made me my own princess themed room. Mum used to spoil me. When I was little and war would come, it would last a few days, but this war is unlike any other war. God chose to take the people we love, the good people.

KARADSHEH (voice-over): On a call to her injured uncle in Gaza, Darin breaks down begging anyone to get him and his family out. She has to protect them, she says. It's that all-consuming fear of losing those she has left.

ALBAYYA (through translator): I wish I could go back to Gaza, but what will be left of Gaza? Destruction, people are all in tents. Gaza is no longer Gaza. It is now a city of ghosts.

KARADSHEH (voice-over): For now, she's finding her own way of dealing with grief.

ALBAYYA (through translator): I am not sad that my family was killed, because they are happy in heaven. They are not dead, they are alive. We don't see them, but they see us.

KARADSHEH (voice-over): Jomana Karadsheh, CNN, Doha.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[08:41:34]

HILL: A new development to tell you about in Donald Trump's legal trouble department, news yesterday that the judge overseeing Donald Trump's classified documents case in Florida has now indefinitely delayed that trial, citing complex legal issues that still need to be decided.

Also, there's been a fairly slow place in terms of handling some of these documents. The hush money trial for itself here in New York, that of course, is on a break today. No court on Wednesdays in that trial, but there are still plenty of buzz about the dramatic testimony on Tuesday from Stormy Daniels. Part of that detailed her alleged sexual relationship with Donald Trump.

To speak more about these cases, Former Federal Prosecutor Michael Zeldin is with me now. Michael, always good to see you. This was quite the testimony, yesterday, specifically on cross-examination. It didn't seem like it was all that great for the prosecution. I know testimony continues tomorrow with Stormy Daniels on the stand. But based on day one, was she a credible witness?

MICHAEL ZELDIN, FORMER FEDERAL PROSECUTOR: I think so. You bring to your evaluation of a witness what you started with, and if you started with her, she's a porn star. She's an extortionist. She has an axe to grudge, then there's enough in the cross-examination to feed that narrative. But if you felt that she was a young woman, age 27, who was brought under bad circumstances to a hotel room by now former president wearing pajamas and they ended up having sex when they were supposed to have dinner, then I think she has painted herself as a very vulnerable person who, when it became clear that she had a story to sell, she decided to sell it.

And if selling a story is bad, then we've got a lot of former politicians selling books with sort of these salacious stories that have apologizing to do so. I think that all in all, the prosecutor got what he wanted or she wanted out of Stormy Daniels and probably the defense got what it wanted. And this is all going to lead to a closing argument which says on the Trump side, reasonable doubt, and on the prosecution side, this defies logic to think that he didn't know about all of this stuff. And we'll see how the jury decides.

HILL: The judge actually objected to some of that testimony. Defense later complained, right, about some of what was admissible essentially on Tuesday. And the judge said, hey, you have the opportunity to object too, I kind of did it for you a couple of times, but you have this, this chance to do so. Do you think that was a calculated move on the part of Donald Trump's legal team to set them up for a possible appeal, should there be a conviction?

ZELDIN: I don't know. When you're in the midst of a trial, a lot of times you have to make a decision as a lawyer whether you're going to object question after question after question, and create an appearance that you're hiding something from the jury, or whether you hope the judge will run his courtroom pursuant to the pre-testimony rules that they set out, which was she wasn't good to go into all this salacious stuff, or you do what they ended up doing and file a mistrial motion, have it denied. They knew it would be denied. And that's just setting a record on appeal, but I don't think it's a viable appellate issue in any event. HILL: OK. Let's move south to Florida and the ruling that we got from Judge Cannon yesterday that this -- we are not going to trial there in May.

[08:45:00]

HILL: She said there are a lot of complications in dealing with the classified documents in this case, lot of motions that still need to be gone through. Are you surprised at all by that? And what do you make of her assessment?

ZELDIN: You know, it's very hard to figure out Cannon, whether or not she's incompetent, whether she's just inexperienced, or whether she's got a political motive here. It doesn't really make a difference which of those three things apply, because the delay in this case and the manner in which she has run this case, I think if I were the chief judge in that district, I'd have her removed.

I just think at this point, this many months into what is not that complicated a case, there are way more complicated national security cases that go to trial much more expeditiously than she's running her calendar. I just think enough is enough with her.

HILL: She also set a couple of hearings for late June on motions from Donald Trump's legal team that seemed like a long shot for a lot of people. They want -- the special counsel they say was unlawfully appointed there, and then they're also raising questions about getting documents, certain documents, federal documents, including some from the Biden White House. As it was noted earlier, these are things that would normally be handled by each side submitting a brief, the judge would then rule. Instead, she has scheduled two hearings.

ZELDIN: Right. These motions that they're filing are motions that would be dealt with on the paper as they say, without oral presentation, and they should be dispatched within about 15 minutes after the papers are filed. These are not serious motions. Yet, she continues to entertain what I think are essentially frivolous motions. And as I say, I don't know whether it's incompetence, inexperience or political motive.

But it doesn't make a difference which of those three it is, because all she's doing is denying the American people the right to have this case tried, so they can understand whether Former President Trump did or did not commit a crime, so that they can safely evaluate it before they go to the polls. It's really too much for me at this point. I wanted to give her the benefit of the doubt all along. But at this point, I think, Erica, as I say, enough is enough and she should be removed by the chief judge. I think it's an embarrassment to the district court in the southern district of Florida.

HILL: We will continue to watch and see what happens there. Former Federal Prosecutor, Michael Zeldin, always appreciate your insight, your expertise. Thank you.

ZELDIN: Thank you. HILL: Well, Joe Biden out on the campaign trail today in the coming hour in Wisconsin. (Inaudible) new artificial intelligence facility in Racine. Microsoft is set to spend some $3.3 billion to build that facility, creating 2,000 jobs. There's also plans to invest in training for new staff and local business leaders. Arlette Saenz is in Washington with more on the plans for the day. So, what more will we be hearing from the president on the trail today?

ARLETTE SAENZ, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Hello, Erica. President Biden is heading to the critical battleground state of Wisconsin with an economic pitch to voters. He will be on hand to tout a recent announcement from Microsoft that they will invest $3.3 billion to build a new data facility in the state to train workers on how best to use artificial intelligence.

Now, if you take a look at the number of jobs that will be created, they anticipate that there will be 2,300 construction jobs created through the building of this facility. They are also, the White House says, hoping to train about 1,000 workers focused on IT, ways to use artificial intelligence, and overall, they believe that this will ultimately create 2,000 jobs on the state. But the announcement today also comes as a bit of trolling of Former President Donald Trump.

Microsoft will be building this facility on lands that was previously owned by the technology company Foxconn. If you remember, back during President Trump's Administration, he had touted a $10 billion investment by Foxconn in the state of Wisconsin, which would have led to 13,000 jobs. But the catch is that plan never actually materialized. And officials here at the White House say President Biden will blame Former President Trump specifically for the fact that he was unable to bring those jobs to the state of Wisconsin.

And it all comes as Wisconsin will be critical in both men's path to the White House in November. Biden won Wisconsin by less than 21,000 votes. And so, he is trying to make inroads with people in the state, especially when it comes to economic issues as many recent polling still continue to show concerns relating to the economy and inflation, but really have shown that they have trust Former President Donald Trump more than Biden. So, Biden's advisers acknowledged that they still have work to do on that front.

Now, while he is also in Racine, president will stop by a campaign office where he will meet specifically with black voters.

[08:50:00]

SAENZ: Black voters, especially black men really made up a core constituency for Biden back in 2020. But there has been some narrowing in his support in recent polls between him and Trump with black voters. The campaign also trying to do more to energize support with that community as they're heading into November's election. But it's clear that they're also trying to take advantage of this split-screen that's been occurring in recent weeks between Biden and Trump as Former President Trump has spent much of the past three weeks in a courtroom in New York City, while President Biden has sought opportunities to hit the campaign trail. That's something that his advisers say they will continue in the weeks ahead as they are facing an incredibly close contest with President Trump across battleground states, including in critical Wisconsin.

HILL: Arlette Saenz at the White House. Arlette, thank you. Still to come here for us, a bittersweet homecoming for Prince Harry, back in London to celebrate a major achievement but it comes with a little disappointment for this trip, we'll explain.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HILL: Prince Harry in just a few hours is set to deliver remarks at London's St. Paul's Cathedral. The Duke of Sussex travelling back to the U.K. to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the Invictus Games and its foundation. On Tuesday, he spoke out why he established Invictus a decade ago. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex: Sport was the magic that I witnessed. And having just come back from Afghanistan myself, seeing the wounded, injured, and sick, and seeing the effect this was having all the families, and just the weight the load on defense and on the individuals and on the rehabilitation programs, there just wasn't enough being done. And I don't -- and at the same time, not enough celebration and recognition of those sacrifices that were being made.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HILL: Now, there have been some speculation that with this trip back to the U.K., Prince Harry would be meeting with his father, King Charles. Joining me now, CNN Royal Correspondent Max Foster. Max, no family meeting here?

MAX FOSTER, CNN ROYAL CORRESPONDENT: Doesn't look as though that's the case. So the service at St. Paul's is coming up in a couple of hours. There may be members of the family there, but we are not going to see King Charles. And actually, spokesman for Prince Harry said that was because the king had a full schedule. Harry had hoped to meet him, it's not going to be possible.

So, I don't know whether he -- how much notice the king had or whether he's able to shift his diary, but basically, Harry was told there's no room in the king's diary to meet his son. Prince William, which is where probably the big attention is in the family, isn't expected to attend either, or to meet Prince Harry. So, that's the family side of it.

In terms of the event itself, a big anniversary for Prince Harry. It's been ten years since he set up the Invictus games. It's been a triumph on many levels, a huge amount of people who used to be in the military really sort of value what it gives, and it's been seen as a -- his primary success really in his public work and it is certainly the priority for him as well as he goes forward. And we expect him to be traveling to Nigeria as well, very soon, where he'll be joined by Meghan, where he will be promoting Invictus yet again. So it'll be interesting to see him out and about, who is invited you to the service.

Of course, all the talk is about the family tension. I think that'd be reflected about -- in the fact that we just won't see it because the two main members of the family won't be there.

[08:55:00]

HILL: We may not see it and it is such an important organization and has done so much and certainly, worth celebrating that ten years of this important work. But I mean, Max, give me a sense, they're in the U.K. How much is this very public diss, frankly, by the king? How much is this overshadowing that, the fact that he couldn't find five, 10, 15 minutes in his calendar?

FOSTER: Well, it's interesting. It has made some headlines, not as big headlines as you might expect. A lot of these family tensions have made huge stories in the past and certainly, Harry hasn't been shy about the media on this visit. We were told when he landed, we were told that he wasn't going to be able to meet the king. We've had lots of helping covering the services afternoon.

So there's a slight change here, I think the way that they are working with the media and promoting Harry's work. But I think in this country, there has been a huge amount of talk about Harry and Meghan, and they're not popular throughout society, but there is a lot of people who do support him. So, I don't think there's anything new in the fact that wouldn't meet Charles, so maybe that's the thing. But certainly, there has been a lot of push from his side about promoting the word, we haven't really seen before.

HILL: The family drama, it never ends, keeps us very busy. Max, always good to see you. Thank you.

Thanks so much for joining us here on "CNN Newsroom" this hour. I'm Erica Hill, stay tuned. "Connect The World" with Becky Anderson is up next. Have a great day.