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Turmoil At College Campuses Nationwide; Reproductive Rights. Aired 1-1:30p ET

Aired May 01, 2024 - 13:00   ET

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

[13:00:56]

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN HOST: Turmoil as pro-Palestinian protests reached a boiling point at colleges nationwide. We are seeing violent clashes with police, hundreds of arrests, suspensions, even expulsions. We're following the very latest. Plus, four to six week abortion ban kicks in and Democrats sound off. The White House seizing on the new law to slam Republicans and former President Trump.

ALEX MARQUARDT, CNN HOST: And forcing a vote, Republican congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene unveils her plan to oust House Speaker Mike Johnson. But here's the thing, she doesn't have support from her own party or from Democrats to do that. Following these major developing stories and many more all coming in right here to CNN News Central.

KEILAR: We are following breaking news as protests have grown increasingly confrontational on college campuses. This was the scene at the University of Wisconsin earlier today.

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KEILAR: See officers there? You see officers there in riot gear. They were removing an encampment of protesters. At least 12 people arrested in this case, including several who resisted arrest according to police.

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MARQUARDT: And then in New York, police just releasing these new images from inside Columbia University. They show the aftermath at Hamilton Hall after police were called in last night to help clear out the protesters who had occupied that building and then refused to leave. Around 300 people were arrested. And the New York police are now saying that it may deploy more than a dozen offices on that campus through graduation.

And then this over at UCLA in Los Angeles, protesters and counter protesters clashing overnight, and the LAPD was called in. Police do remain on campus at this hour. First, let's bring in CNN's Whitney Wild who is on the University of Wisconsin campus. What do you what are you seeing there?

WHITNEY WILD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, right now, hours after that police confrontation, we've seen this protest grow back to dozens, if not hundreds, of students here at the University of Wisconsin. Right now I'm on the Library Mall. This is pretty much the center of campus. And as you can see, even after that police action, tents we're going back up.

So we spoke with one student earlier today who was here when that police confrontation happened. She said she's a mediator. She raced down here. What she saw was the groups of students sort of encircled by police as they were pushing their way in.

And let's take a look at these orange tents. This is what was left after that police confrontation, so most of this was actually cleared during that police confrontation and then police left. During that confrontation, there were around 30 arrests. According to the University of Wisconsin's chancellor's statement that went out a few minutes ago, most students at that time chose to leave. And the reason that police felt and the school felt like it was important to move in was because they say that there's an explicit ban on camping at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, that they were obligated to basically enforce the code that bans camping.

So again, these few orange tents were all that was left after that police confrontation. That was hours ago. In that time, a lot of tents have gone back up. This is a very calm, very peaceful protest at this time. But certainly students are concerned that there may be more police action. We don't know if that is going to happen, but it's certainly something that students are asking and wondering about.

I spoke with that mediator earlier today about how she felt about what she saw. And here's what she said.

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MA KURZER, UW STUDENT ORGANIZER I was raised to be anti-war. I was raised to be pro-peace. And it's not a Jewish versus Muslim issue. It's not the Jews aren't doing anything wrong. It's the leaders in Israel are doing things wrong. They're bombing Gaza.

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[13:05:06]

WILD: There are still law enforcement presence. There are five law enforcement officers. Just off camera here, as you can see, they're still walking around. It's not clear if they're planning to move back in again. But as you can see, the school says that there's a ban on camping and it continues. Back to you.

KEILAR: All right. Whitney, thank you for that. Let's go to Gabe Cohen, who is live at Columbia University. And, Gabe, the mayor in New York, Eric Adams, is now blaming not students, but outside agitators for the unrest at Columbia. Tell us what you know about this.

GABE COHEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Brianna. As you can hear around me, there's a protest that has started here in the last few minutes as same organizers who have been involved in the protests over the past couple of weeks that ultimately culminated in the NYPD coming onto campus at the request of the school last night, arresting more than 200 people.

You asked about those outside agitators that the mayor claims are leading a lot of the efforts as part of this protest. I interviewed one of the protesters who was handcuffed last night just outside of Hamilton Hall where we're standing. She told me, that is a lie. That she is a student here at Columbia, a grad student she says. The vast majority of the people that she has been in contact with her fellow protesters are also affiliated with Columbia.

We just heard a press conference here led by faculty of Columbia who were extremely critical of the administration, and the president of the school saying that they should never have called in the NYPD, that they were not negotiating in good faith with the protesters. And they claim what happened last night was police brutality.

We are seeing a lot of signs you can see criticizing Shafik, the president of the school, as well as signs that say cops off our campus. Clearly the message is that last night and the NYPD's actions did not end the protest action here at Columbia. So we'll see what the coming hours bring here.

To be clear, this is a peaceful protest. We're on a public sidewalk. I do want to show you, walk over. Where we are standing, there were a lot of NYPD officers here just a few minutes ago when you can see they're standing by. This is happening in public, it is peaceful, but they have been called in by Columbia. And they will remain here until May 17th after graduation to maintain the order as the school and the city has put it.

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MARQUARDT: And the mayor of New York claiming that those young people are being radicalized, he said, by professionals. Gabe Cohen there at Columbia University, thank you very much.

Let's head out to LA where CNN's Stephanie Elam is on the campus of UCLA. Stephanie, those scenes that we saw overnight, on that campus, were some of the most violent and dramatic that we've seen during these weeks of protest at universities, a full on clashes between pro- Palestinian protesters, and then counter protesters in the predawn hours. So what's the latest?

STEPHANIE ELAM, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, it's closer to midnight, local time, Alex. Obviously, it's a much different scene now, much calmer here. Classes have been canceled by UCLA. They just put that message out recently. But you can see the effects of what has happened here last night.

When we got here, there was just still the tension was here. There was chanting, there was people going up against the police officers who made a line and pushed people out, and just been fenced in this area where we saw those clashes happening last night. This is that grass where you saw that.

And you see now since 9:00 AM local, security has come back out here. They were out there last night too. And then security is further up there and more law enforcement from different agencies are out here. What has been interesting, though, is what did happen last night. And I talked to a woman, Felicia Ford, who is a native of Los Angeles. She felt compelled to get out here last night. She said she got out here shortly around midnight. And this is what she says she saw.

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FELICIA FORD, WITNESSED VIOLENCE ON UCLA CAMPUS: But I just saw that these are young students going to school. They're protesting for cause. But the people that I saw and that I understood were the people that didn't go to school here that were causing the blood violence that they were committing here. Pipes, Mace, this -- a couple of people had knives.

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ELAM: And she says -- I actually watched her in the middle of the night pulling people apart, getting in the middle of people, keeping them away from the law enforcement line. And as you can see, she's been out here all night. She's still out here. And she's the only person out here who's cleaning up the campus but she says he's basically team human, and she wants to make sure that people are treating each other right while the situation got very tense last night.

BOLDUAN: Wow, that is something. Stephanie, thank you so much for bringing that to us we appreciate it. Stephanie Elam there at UCLA.

[13:10:05]

Joining us now is Jewish student and pro-Palestinian protester Benjamin Kerstan. He's a graduate student at UCLA. He's a member of the school's chapter of Jewish Voice for Peace. Benjamin, we do want to note, as we're talking about what happened overnight, you were not there when the violence broke out, as we understand. But tell us about your reaction to what happened.

BENJAMIN KERSTAN, JEWISH GRADUATE STUDENT AT UCLA PRO-PALESTINE PROTESTER: Absolutely. I'm in regular touch with people on the ground, and was following and supporting from afar as best I could. Around 10:30 or 11:00, I think what can only be described as a Zionist militia descended upon the encampment, throwing fireworks and other projectiles using bear spray canisters, which have been found around and trying to rip apart the barricade and force their way in.

And this is a really horrifying escalation of what's been a regular presence of counter protesters and outside agitators as at this encampment, which, once again, is calling on the UCs to divest from their complicity in a genocide that's killed over 34,000 people.

BOLDUAN: Benjamin, I just want to ask you about that. You said a militia and we're seeing a lot of violence here. You also mentioned outside agitators. You know, explain to us as you see this a militia being armed. But how do you see a distinction between students, non- students and those who may be coming from outside of the community, explain that to us? KERSTAN: Yes. I think there may have, you know, certainly there are outside groups that have coordinated a presence on campus to come up and agitate against the encampment. These include the Israeli American Council stand with us, the United Jewish Coalition. They may have connections to groups on campus. But by and large, these do seem like folks who are affiliated, several of them from what I saw are regular presences, based on certain identifying features and flags that I've seen carried several times over the last few days.

Yes, and I'm very proud of the students here. This is a student-led activist effort that is remaining principled and clear-eyed about the stakes, which are that, you know, for us here, the risks that we face are very little compared to what Palestinians face in Gaza, wherever university has been decimated.

MARQUARDT: Benjamin, can also press a little bit on that, that term that use, Zionist militia. I mean, as a Jewish student, what are you calling Zionism if not the right for Israel to exist? What do you think that -- what are you protesting here? What are the people out there protesting against?

KERSTAN: Yes, thanks so much. You know, as a student of Jewish history, I think one thing we need to be very incisive about is how we make distinctions between Jewish and Israeli, and Zionist. And of course, these things bleed together. I understand the political Zionism that is dominant to be a settler colonial political ideology that has sought to establish a Jewish ethno state in Historic Palestine, and it's resulted in massive amounts of material harm.

Well, before the Nakba, when 750,000 Palestinians were displaced in 1948, and continuing, of course, up to the current genocide that's being carried out with US funding and weapons, and political cover.

BOLDUAN: Talk to us about, you're looking for divestment. So tell us what you want there if you're having, you know, what you're hearing from the university, if anything, and if you think it is, you know, realistic what you're asking for, if you think that that's anything that the university would, you know, see you on.

KERSTAN: Yes, thanks so much. You know, I mean, my first response to that is to say that student pressure on universities to divest from conditions of apartheid has worked in the past, and it will work again with sustained pressure. The UCs chiefly through its asset manager, Blackrock, has funds that are tied up in companies like Northrop Grumman and (inaudible) systems that make technologies that militarized, say the US Mexico border, but are touted as being field tested on Palestinians.

And so, as students in the United States and at US institutions, we are refusing our complicity in this latest escalation of violence. So we need binding policies toward more just and democratic investment principles on the part of the university. And that means getting all funds out of weapons manufacturing, companies that are complicit in the Israeli genocide, occupation and apartheid, and also adhering to the guidelines of the academic boycott of Israel. BOLDUAN: Benjamin, what do you think would happen to Israel if they didn't have, you know, defense defensive system? And I understand, you know, certainly some of the issues that you're taking with Israel and specifically are very opposed to the war in Gaza.

[13:15:10]

But when it comes to Israel's defense, and its use of obviously some military assets, I mean, what do you think would happen without those?

KERSTAN: Sure. You know, yes, it's a complicated question and I feel that my position as someone in the United States is really to figure out my own complicity, and to use my positionality as a Jew in the United States to argue against the US involvement here. As a member/leader of Jewish Voice for Peace, the values that we abide by our equality, justice and dignity for all without exception, and I think that that world remains possible.

You know, I think that there are like real questions we have to ask around what we're calling defense. I mean, you know, once again, I look at what's taking place with genocide and forced starvation.

BOLDUAN: And I -- Benjamin, just -- Iran, I mean, you know, what do you think would happen without is -- I understand your opposition to the war, and we've seen, obviously, some horrible things. But what do you think Israel would do without defenses in the region? And I'm talking about Iran, specifically. I mean, what do you think would happen?

KERSTAN: Yes, thanks. You know, I mean, I think that we -- I think we need to be doing everything we can to push for ceasefire and deescalation on all, like on the part of all parties involved. I think that part of what's been taking place, regionally, is a result of Israel's policy toward Palestinians.

BOLDUAN: Benjamin, thank you so much. Obviously, we're keeping a very close eye on what is happening there at UCLA, and we appreciate your time today. Thank you.

KERSTAN: Thank you.

BOLDUAN: In the meantime, Secretary of State Antony Blinken meeting today with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as the US seeks to pressure Hamas to accept a new ceasefire and a hostage deal. The secretary says there has been meaningful progress in getting aid into Gaza.

MARQUARDT: But there is a new report from Doctors Without Borders that says, "Deliberate deprivation there could lead to tens of thousands of non-trauma related deaths from starvation and a lack of medical care." The Ministry of Health in Gaza says that Israel's bombardment has killed now more than 34,000 people since the war started following the October 7th terror attack in Israel.

The ministry does not distinguish, we should know, between casualties of civilians and fighters in that data, which CNN cannot independently verify. For more, let's go to CNN's Paula Hancocks in Abu Dhabi.

So, Paula, what can you tell us about what's happening in Gaza against the backdrop of these protests?

PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Alex and Brianna, certainly what we are seeing is the humanitarian crisis continuing. We are seeing more aid trucks getting into to the area itself. And interestingly, the Secretary of State visited Kerem Shalom today, one of the land crossings into Gaza so that he could get a briefing on exactly what the issues are and why so little has been getting in over the months.

So we have heard that last month, there were more trucks that got in since October itself that coming from UNRWA, but they also say that still it is woefully inadequate, the amount that's getting in. And the UN is warning that fears of starvation of disease are increasing.

Now we heard also from Doctors Without Borders, some frontier saying that they believe that there is an issue also with the silent killers, which they refer to the decapitated health system in Rafah, in parts of Gaza, pretty much all of Gaza, that when you do fall ill or when you are wounded by the bombing, it is inevitably going to lead to worse injuries or in some cases deaths, saying that there really is not a chance of survival in all the necessary conditions for survival are absent in Rafah.

Now, this is the part in the southern part of Gaza, of course, where the Israeli military told many hundreds of thousands of people to move to, and it's where much of the aid has been coming in. So if the situation is that dire in the south, we can only imagine what it is like in the north. But it all ties in to what we see with these, this hostage deal, which Secretary Blinken has effectively said today is the best that Hamas is going to get. And Hamas should accept it so that there can be a ceasefire in Gaza and so that humanitarian aid can get to those who desperately need it.

[13:20:08]

BOLDUAN: It is obviously a desperate situation. Paula Hancocks from Abu Dhabi, thank you for that.

And ahead, Vice President Harris heading to Florida just hours after the state's strict new abortion ban went into effect. But will the White House strategy to blame former President Trump for these restrictions resonate with voters?

MARQUARDT: And after weeks of threats, Republican Marjorie Taylor Greene just unveiled her plan to try to House Speaker Mike Johnson, but is this whole vote going anywhere fast? Stay with us.

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[13:25:01]

BOLDUAN: Florida now has one of the most restrictive abortion laws in the nation. As of today, the state's six-week ban is now in effect. And, of course, the six week point of a pregnancy is before many women even realize that they are pregnant.

A new CNN polling out today shows how Americans are feeling about abortion laws nationwide. Nearly two years after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade rolling back federal abortion rights. The polling found a two thirds majority of Americans, 65 percent, oppose the decision. And if you go ahead and break this down by party, nearly all Democrats disapprove and so do a large swath of Independent voters.

Now, when it comes to how Americans feel about abortion laws in their own state, a little less than half say the laws are currently about right. But in the states where abortion is currently banned, more than half of adults between the ages of 18 and 44 think that their state abortion laws are too restrictive.

CNN's polling also found a majority of voters are unhappy with President Biden's handling of abortion policy, although his approval grows to 62 percent among those who want to see abortion access protected nationally. Nearly half of Americans, 49 percent want to see federal lawmakers protect access to abortion nationwide. And most Americans say they believe that Biden will work to enact national laws ensuring access to abortion if he's reelected, while the majority say they think Trump will be leaving abortion laws to the states, if he wins.

And in an interview that Trump just did with Time Magazine, that's exactly what he suggested could happen. He was asked about if he would veto a Republican proposed bill saying the right to life extends to the moment of fertilization. He said, "I don't have to do anything about vetoes because we now have it back at the states."

What is clear, though, is that abortion is going to be a factor in the 2024 election. You probably already see that but we're knowing it here, 55 percent more than half of voters say abortion is one of several factors that will be affecting who they choose at the polls. And for nearly a quarter of Americans, it is going to be a decisive factor. They say that they will only support a candidate who shares their views on abortion, Alex?

MARQUARDT: Thanks, Brianna. And as that six week abortion law in Florida goes into effect, the Vice President Kamala Harris is set to blame these restrictive bans squarely on the former president, Donald Trump. In just about an hour, Harris will be speaking at a campaign event about what's at stake in the November election for reproductive rights.

Our MJ Lee, CNN Senior White House Correspondent, is live in Jacksonville. So, MJ, what more do we know about what the vice president is going to say today?

MJ LEE, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, Alex, as you just said, there is a new reality starting today for women and families in Florida. Most abortions are now banned here after six weeks of pregnancy. And that is precisely why vice president Kamala Harris is headed here to Jacksonville, Florida where we are told she is going to explicitly blame Former President Donald Trump not only for the overturning of Roe v. Wade back in 2022, but for the variety of abortion bans and restrictions, including the one here in Florida that we have seen go into effect across the country.

According to excerpts that were shared by the Biden campaign, the vice president is going to refer to this fan as another Trump abortion ban and we expect her to say "the extremists who wrote this fan don't even know how a woman's body works, or they just don't care."

Now, the vice president's visit come just one week after President Biden came to Tampa, Florida last week for the exact same reason of drawing attention to the issue of reproductive rights. Of course, this is an issue that the Biden campaign has said over and over again, they believe can galvanize voters and also just drum up enthusiasm including in a state like Florida, which of course, former President Donald Trump won in both 2016 and 2020.

MARQUARDT: And, MJ, in that interview that Trump Just Did with Time magazine, he said it should be up to the states to decide whether to prosecute women who have an abortion and he left the door open to states even monitoring women's pregnancies to identify women who've had abortion procedures in states where it's where it's banned. How's the Biden campaign reacting?

LEE: Yes. This is definitely something that we expect the vice president to address on stage today as well. You know, Donald Trump was asked by Time Magazine whether he is comfortable with the idea of states punishing women who get abortions in places where they are not allowed to get them. He said, it's not up to me. It is really up to the states.

We expect that the vice president will say that these comments show that under Donald Trump it would be fair game for women to be monitored and punished by the government. We also saw a President Biden responding to these comments from the former president in a video message. Take a listen.

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JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF UNITED STATES: After bragging about overturning Roe, and said women should be punished for access to reproductive healthcare. He said states should be able to prosecute women and appears perfectly fine with signing a national ban that would take away IVF.