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CNN International: Blinken in Riyadh to Press Ceasefire, Hostage Talks; Pro-Palestinian Protests Shake U.S. College Campuses; At Least 35 Dead, Dozens Missing After Dam Burst in Kenya; At Least 4 Killed in Oklahoma Tornado Outbreak. Aired 4:00-4:30a ET
Aired April 29, 2024 - 04:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[04:00:00]
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Secretary of State Antony Blinken headed to the Middle East.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's in everybody's interest in the region that we find a pathway to resolve this issue once and for all.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: In 2015, a year-long campaign made Columbia University the first to divest from private prisons.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You just can't believe the destruction. Like, it seems like every business in downtown's been destroyed now.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It was like just a freight train. The noise was so loud.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANNOUNCER: Live from London, this is CNN NEWSROOM with Max Foster.
MAX FOSTER, CNN ANCHOR: Hello, a warm welcome to our viewers joining us from around the world. I'm Max Foster. It is Monday, April the 29th, 9 a.m. here in London, 11 a.m. in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. And that's where U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken is right now, hoping to jumpstart hostage release and ceasefire talks involving Israel and Hamas. He met just a few minutes ago with Saudi Arabia's foreign minister. He'll also meet with other Arab officials later today.
They're expected to discuss aid to Gaza, how to achieve it, and, quote, a lasting peace and a potential pathway to a Palestinian state as well. This comes after U.S. President Joe Biden and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu spoke by phone on Sunday. The source described that call as constructive and said they addressed a number of issues regarding the war.
CNN's Priscilla Alvarez has more now on the discussion between the two leaders and other U.S. diplomatic efforts in the Middle East.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) PRISCILLA ALVAREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: President Biden on Sunday spoke with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in a call that was primarily focused on a hostage deal, that, according to a source familiar. Now, this call lasted just under an hour and was described by the source as, quote, constructive. Of course, U.S. officials have been working around the clock to try to reach an agreement that would allow for a temporary ceasefire of about six weeks and also the release of hostages held by Hamas and for more humanitarian aid to get surged into Gaza.
Senior U.S. officials have been traveling to the region over the last several months to try to advance these talks. And Secretary of State Antony Blinken headed to the Middle East on Sunday, where he, too, will be involved in these conversations as well as conversations about getting more aid into Gaza.
Now, the president and the Israeli prime minister also touched on other issues, including, for example, Iran's airstrikes against Israel and Israel's airstrikes against Iran. The first time they've discussed that since that occurred earlier this month.
And about Rafah, that's an area where Israel has said that they would potentially launch an operation. It's also where there are over a million Palestinians displaced.
And according to a White House readout, it said, quote, the leaders discussed Rafah and the president reiterated his clear position, that position from the U.S. being that an operation at this point would be untenable. Of course, those conversations are ongoing.
Now, what happens after this call and the results of it are still unclear, but what we will be monitoring in the weeks to come.
Priscilla Alvarez, CNN, the White House.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
FOSTER: Scott McLean is live with us in Istanbul with more on this. Are we getting a sense of Blinken's strategy -- Scott.
SCOTT MCLEAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, I think the priorities here are pretty clear, Max. Obviously, he wants to go and try to create the conditions to drum up support for a ceasefire here and a return of the hostages. And obviously, there's many countries in the room that he'll be meeting with who could potentially play a useful role in doing that.
He is also meeting with a handful of Arab countries on a plan for the day after this war actually ends and a pathway to a two-state solution. And that's where the Saudis come in. Of course, the U.S. has for some time been trying to expand on this landmark agreement that was signed under President Trump called the Abraham Accords, which normalized relations between Israel and a handful of Arab countries. And they would like those agreements to also include the Saudis.
But the Saudis have made abundantly clear that they're not going to be signing anything like this, any kind of normalization with Israel until the war in Gaza is over and until there is an irreversible pathway toward a two-state solution and a Palestinian state. Here's the Saudi foreign minister yesterday.
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PRINCE FAISAL BIN FARHAN AL SAUD, SAUDI MINISTER OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS: It is in everybody's interest in the region, our interest, the interest of the Palestinians, the interest of the Israelis, the interest of the global community of nations, that we find a pathway to resolve this issue once.
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MCLEAN: He also went on to say that finding a solution, a two-state solution, would also avoid history repeating itself and also ensure that the suffering that we have seen on all sides of this conflict would not be in vain.
On Friday, Antony Blinken said that it was possible in his mind to get a normalization deal without a ceasefire being agreed to in Gaza. This would be a departure from what U.S. officials have been saying for some time. But either way, he certainly has his work cut out for him. You mentioned those new pictures that we saw him meeting with the Saudi foreign minister. He's also going to be meeting directly with the Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.
And he will take all of this information that he's gleaned from these Arab leaders and take it to Israel, where he will present it to them. And surely a lot of what he's going to be telling the Israelis is the need to not go into Rafah and to dramatically increase the amount of aid going in there -- Max.
FOSTER: I'm wondering if the Israelis can reassure him, at least, that civilians will be protected if they go into Rafah.
MCLEAN: I mean, it's worth pointing out that there are ongoing airstrikes happening in Rafah, this place where you have well over a million, perhaps 1.5 million civilians who are continuing to take shelter, according to a hospital in Rafah. Twenty people were killed in airstrikes just overnight.
President Biden, you heard Priscilla Alvarez talking about the call between Biden and Netanyahu, where the U.S. has made clear its position that there should be a clear, credible plan to get civilians out of the way. And there's been plenty of doubts cast by U.S. officials as to whether that's even true at all.
And of course, the U.S. has been hammering on aid as well. Weeks ago, you'll remember that President Biden had a first conversation with Prime Minister Netanyahu in the wake of the killing of the World Central Kitchen staff in Gaza. And there was a time where Israel really came out and made clear that it was going to ramp up aid into Gaza, and it did. But now, if you ask the U.N., those numbers have dropped well below the target of 500 trucks per day.
Perhaps then it's not a coincidence that, given these calls happening, given Secretary Blinken's trip, given the fact that we know that he's going to be checking in with the Israelis on how things are going, that the Israelis have again announced new efforts to further step up aid, including getting more through a crossing into northern Gaza, more by sea and that floating pier that it's helping the U.S. to build, and also more coming in through Jordan and through Israel en route to Gaza as well -- Max.
FOSTER: OK, Scott in Istanbul. Thank you.
Dozens of students and children in Gaza are thanking the pro- Palestinian protests at U.S. colleges nationwide for their support. They spray-painted messages of gratitude on makeshift tents, which now serve as a shelter for displaced Palestinians in Rafah.
One message reads, quote, Thank you, students in solidarity with Gaza. Your message has reached us.
And the demonstrations continue to grip major universities across the U.S. And some of those college campuses are being shaken by unrest, like at the University of California, Los Angeles, where physical altercations broke out between protest groups after a security barrier was breached. A UCLA official said the school condemned the violence, and on-site security measures have been increased. Some UCLA protesters are speaking out.
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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We've seen it historically that when the students decide to unite, that the people will rally behind them. So this is no surprise to me. I know that the American public is not OK with their own tax-paying dollars going to fund Israel, and they're also not OK with students paying tuition and their money going to fund Israel instead of funding their investments here as students.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We were pepper-sprayed. We were pepper-sprayed, and they also threw stink bombs at us. It was disgusting. Somebody stole my sign. They really, really believe in intimidating. They were trying to say they were cussing at us and saying terrible things. I believe in protests. I do, but not like this. Not like this.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
FOSTER: Meanwhile, there's deadlock at New York's Columbia University, the epicenter of those demonstrations, with student protesters saying talks with the administration have slowed. CNN's Polo Sandoval has more.
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POLO SANDOVAL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: If you speak to the Columbia students who are actively engaged in negotiations with Columbia University, they will tell you that those talks are at an impasse. Now, they have seen some progress when it comes to some of their demands, including for complete transparency.
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It's number one that is the really big sticking point here, divestment, which is they are asking for all financial ties between the university and tech or weapons companies with Israeli ties be completely cut. If you look back through history, you will find that there have been many other calls for divestment. Some have actually been successful, including in 1968.
That's when Columbia students occupied several buildings, including Hamilton Hall that you see off in the distance, by doing so, raising awareness of the Vietnam War. In 2015, a year-long campaign made Columbia University the first to divest from private prisons. And then a few years later, on those very steps that you see off in the distance in front of the library, that's where a group of climate activist students staged a hunger strike to divest from coal and fossil fuels.
But perhaps one of the most successful calls for divestment came in the 80s, when students called for the cutting off of financial ties between the university and South African companies during the apartheid. And that is when, once again, in Hamilton Hall, we saw this occupation of students that eventually led to a trustee vote that would make Columbia University the first Ivy League to cut said ties.
And that is the kind of legacy that is certainly not lost on all of the young people that we have seen in this encampment, and is really why the reason why they are reluctant to pack up and leave.
Now, in terms of Columbia University, they are certainly still under pressure. What will the administration do? Will they once again turn to the NYPD for assistance in clearing out this encampment, which previously made them the subject of an investigation from the Columbia University Senate? Or do they allow them to remain as the big graduation commencement ceremony nears in this very spot in a matter of weeks?
Polo Sandoval, CNN, New York.
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FOSTER: U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders is expressing his support for the ongoing pro-Palestinian protests on U.S. college campuses, but he stressed the need to condemn anti-Semitism and other forms of bigotry.
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SEN. BERNIE SANDERS (I-VT): Right now, what Netanyahu's right-wing extremist and racist government is doing is unprecedented in the modern history of warfare. They have killed in the last six and a half months 33,000 Palestinians, wounded 77,000, two-thirds of whom are women and children.
They have destroyed over 60 percent of the housing. They have destroyed the health care system. They have destroyed the infrastructure, no electricity, very little water. And right now, we are looking at the possibility of mass starvation and famine in Gaza.
When you make those charges, that is not anti-Semitic. That is a reality. So our job is to condemn Hamas, a terrorist organization that started this war, condemn in every form anti-Semitism, Islamophobia, and other forms of bigotry.
But we do have to pay attention to the disastrous and unprecedented humanitarian disaster taking place in Gaza right now.
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FOSTER: We will take you now, though, to Saudi Arabia's capital, Riyadh. You can see U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken there for talks with foreign ministers of the Gulf Cooperation Council member states. It is his latest trip to the region following the October 7th attacks by Hamas on Israel.
It comes as the White House is urgently trying to broker a ceasefire and hostage release deal. It also wants to hammer out details for an eventual two-state solution between Israelis and Palestinians, as well as get efforts at Saudi-Israel normalization back on track. Do stay with us for details on how those talks go.
Now, a CNN poll, a new one, finds high levels of disapproval for U.S. President Joe Biden's handling of the conflict in Gaza. 71 percent of respondents say they don't like the way he has handled the war between Israel and Hamas. That number is 81 percent amongst those aged 18 to 34.
A political analyst has the advice that he sees in this for Mr. Biden.
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LARRY SABATO, DIRECTOR, CENTER FOR POLITICS, UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA: There's a limit to what President Biden can do. But what he can do is make clear and do it much more publicly than he has been. His opposition to some of the policies of the Israeli government, certainly in Gaza, and what he's doing on the humanitarian side to increase the relief that's going to those in Gaza who don't have enough to eat, that would help.
It's not nearly enough. And people always expect too much of a president. They do not have magic wands. They can't end wars overnight. They can't tame inflation overnight, but that goes with the territory. We expect them to do much more than they can.
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FOSTER: The CNN poll also asked registered voters for their preferences in a head-to-head match between Mr. Biden and Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump and found Trump and found Trump leading by margin of 6 percent. Larry Sabato says he expects that to change before the election.
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SABATO: It is surprising, certainly to Democrats, and I think certainly to the Biden White House, that it would be tied, given the fact that one of the candidates is in a courtroom day after day and that he's facing a total of 88 felonies in four separate jurisdictions. That's unusual. It's totally unprecedented in American history.
And for that reason and not just that reason, I expect things to change maybe several times between now and the actual fall voting in October and November.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
FOSTER: Now, coming up, a dam burst adding to the misery in Kenya, which is already reeling from weeks of devastating rain and deadly flash flooding.
Plus thousands of protesters in the former Soviet Republic of Georgia demonstrate against a bill that's making its way through Parliament there. They say it brings them too close to Moscow for their comfort.
And later, only two teams remained in the hunt for a chance at the English Premier League title, and both are aiming to turn up the pressure.
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FOSTER: At least 35 people have died and dozens are missing after a dam burst its banks in Kenya. It comes amid weeks of devastating rain and flash flooding, which the government says has killed more than 100 people. CNN's Larry Madowo has the latest.
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LARRY MADOWO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Overnight in Kenya, another sign of the devastation brought on by recent heavy rains that have been pounding all over East Africa. A dam bursting its banks about 50 kilometers northwest of Nairobi in Mai Mahiu. A multi-agency search and rescue team on the scene right now trying to reach survivors, but it's been made extra difficult because part of the road had been cut off due to recent heavy rainfall.
She says after this dam burst its banks overnight, it swept everything in its path. And social media videos have shown the harrowing situation there of this search and rescue operation. They have been clearing debris in this area, trying to reach survivors, trying to pull out some bodies, sending them to hospitals. They have set up a place in a nearby town for families to report any family members that are still missing.
But that also is a sign of deeper problems with the recent heavy rainfall in the country. Overnight, the government of Kenya postponing the reopening of schools nationwide for at least a week to avoid endangering the lives of learners across the country. There had been recent calls for the government to do so, but it did it at the absolute 11th hour of that. There's been devastation all across the country. Kenya's longest and largest river, Tana River, also burst its banks, rendering some roads impassable, and some people have drowned in different parts of the country.
So far, the government says it has a plan to provide shelter and basic necessities for those who have been affected and to make sure that everybody is taken care of. And the government also asking Kenyans to move to higher ground wherever they are, close to banks or places that are prone to flooding.
Larry Madowo, CNN, Nairobi.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
FOSTER: Tornado watches are now expiring in parts of the U.S., but a multi-day storm system is still bringing severe weather risks to millions as it continues to move across the country. According to the U.S. Storm Prediction Center, there have been nearly 500 storm reports since Thursday, including more than 135 reports of tornadoes.
The storm system has already left a path of death and destruction in its wake, and some of the hardest-hit communities in states like Oklahoma and Nebraska are now left picking up the pieces.
CNN's Rafael Romo reports.
RAFAEL ROMO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Oklahoma Governor Kevin Stitt increased to four the number of storm-related deaths in his state, with one county alone reporting at least 30 injuries. Officials had earlier said there's an infant among those who died. The governor said two people died in the city of Ada, located about 85 miles southeast of Oklahoma City.
A third person died in Marietta, Oklahoma, which is located on Interstate 35, about 115 miles south of Oklahoma City. The fourth person died in Sulphur, a city the governor visited on Sunday to assess the damage. Governor Stitt had earlier declared an emergency disaster in an area that includes Marietta.
Altogether, the governor's declaration includes 12 counties. The declaration states that severe storms, tornadoes, straight-line winds, hail, and flooding affected different parts of Oklahoma. The damage in Sulphur, the governor said, was hard to watch.
KEVIN STITT, (R) OKLAHOMA GOVERNOR: Early reports, they think this is an F4, just kind of blowing right through downtown here. And I just haven't seen this much destruction from my time as governor. You just can't believe the destruction. Like it seems like every business in downtown has been destroyed now here in Sulphur.
ROMO: The Oklahoma Department of Emergency Management said it has received reports of injuries, property damage, flooding and downed power lines and trees across several counties. We're also getting new images of severe flooding in the city of Tonkawa, located about 90 miles north of Oklahoma City. And this all happened in the wake of yet another series of powerful storms that left a devastating trail of destruction in Nebraska.
An Omaha resident described to CNN affiliate KETV what it was like to hear a tornado coming.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Just like the movies state, it was like just a freight train. The noise was so loud. I'm not too afraid to admit it, I was crying like a baby because it was just the scariest feeling in the world, yet is helpless.
[04:25:00]
ROMO: Elkhorn, Nebraska, was one of the hardest hit areas in the state. Nebraska Governor Jim Pillen said this weekend, it is a miracle there were no deaths.
Rafael Romo, CNN Atlanta.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
FOSTER: Still ahead, the Iraqi government promises to investigate after a popular social media star was gunned down outside her home.
Plus, Australians are taking a stand against an issue their prime minister is calling a national crisis. More on that after the break.
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FOSTER: Welcome back to CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Max Foster. Some of our top stories today.
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken now in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. He is there to discuss a potential ceasefire and hostage release deal between the Israeli government and Hamas. Secretary Blinken will head to Israel and Jordan later this week.
In the coming hours, Spain's Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez will announce whether he'll step down from office. He said last week he might resign after a Spanish court began a business corruption investigation into his wife's private dealings. He denies the allegations against his wife, saying it's part of a campaign against him by political opponents.
Prince Harry and wife Meghan will travel to Nigeria next month. The Duke and Duchess of Sussex will be meeting with service members during their stay and will discuss possibly bringing the Invictus Games to Nigeria.
Elon Musk spent time courting officials and other influential figures in -
