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Police Arrest Columbia Protesters Occupying Hamilton Hall; Judge Fines Trump $9000, Threatens Jail For Contempt In Hush Money Trial; Blinken Pushes Hamas For Ceasefire And Hostage Deal; Haiti Transitional Council Names A New Prime Minister; Columbia University Property Cleared, Dozens Arrested; Australia Fights Back Against Domestic Violence; Political Violence Escalates as Mexico Gears for Election; King Charles Returns to Work after Cancer Diagnosis; Anti- Muslim Sentiment in India. Aired 1-2a ET
Aired May 01, 2024 - 01:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
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JOHN VAUSE, CNN ANCHOR: Hello, I'm John Vause. Ahead here on CNN Newsroom.
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This must end now.
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VAUSE: But will it, riot police arrested dozens of anti-war protesters occupying a main building at Columbia University. Others rounded up and herded onto buses and taken away.
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BENJAMIN NETANYAHU, ISRAELI PRIME MINISTER (through translator): We will enter Rafah because we have no other choice.
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VAUSE: It's a choice. The Israeli Prime Minister makes it clear and offensive on Rafah is more important than saving the lives of about 100 hostages being held by Hamas in Gaza.
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DONALD TRUMP, FORMER U.S. PRESIDENT: This gag order is not only unique, it's totally unconstitutional.
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VAUSE: Wrong. Donald Trump fined thousands of dollars for repeated violations of a gag order at its criminal trial. And warn, prison time could be next. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Live from Atlanta. This is CNN Newsroom with John Vause.
VAUSE: A major police presence remains on campus at Columbia University this hour. After dozens of anti-war protesters were rounded up and arrested or riot police moved into clear one of the university's main buildings, which have been occupied for almost a day.
Demonstrators had stormed Hamilton Hall early Tuesday morning local time. And according to police, barricaded themselves inside using chairs, tables, and vending machines. Police climbed through a second storey window to enter the hall and use what they call distraction devices including flashbangs but not tear gas.
This is the second time in two weeks university officials have invited the NYPD onto campus to clear out pro-Palestinian protesters and a police presence will remain there for the next two and a half weeks.
Before hundreds of riot police marched onto campus, the mayor of New York City urged parents of students at Columbia to call their children and urge them to leave the area for their own good. But student protests leaders have remained to fight while they're speaking to Senator John Berman, as the rest were unfolding.
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MAHMOUD KHALIL, LEADER COLUMBIA STUDENT NEGOTIATOR: The university thinks that this would discourage students for from calling for the end of the war in Gaza and the end of Colombia's investment in the companies that are investing and the genocide of the Palestinian people.
Since we started our negotiation last Friday, the university did not deal with this movement as actual movement and anti-war movement. Instead, they dealt with it as an internal student discipline matter. They've negotiated with us about bringing food and blankets to the encampment.
They refused to acknowledge that this is actually more than that. This is a nationwide movement. This is a movement that ask Colombia to divest its investments from the companies that are fueling the wars and gas right now. So what I'm feeling right now and feeling disgraced.
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VAUSE: CNN's Miguel Marquez was also there as the arrests were being made. Here's his report.
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MIGUEL MARQUEZ, CNN SENIOR U.S. NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: So New York police officers moved in in the hundreds into Columbia University. They were -- they were not in full tactical gear, but they did have helmets and batons, and they moved in on this street. This is 114 Street in Amsterdam right here. They moved in very large numbers onto the campus through a single gate on 114th Street.
You can still see one bus down there that bus is taking whoever is left to arrest we saw dozens of people arrested that were brought up through a separate gate here and 114th but the hole that had been taken over by students. Hamilton Hall is just up the Amsterdam Avenue here.
Police were able to get into it using Bearcats they were lifted up to the second floor. They use flashbang grenades to sort of distract whoever was inside Hamilton Hall and then they were able to get in. They said that the individuals in there had barricaded the doors with everything from chairs and tables to soda machines.
And there weren't many people in there. Police now say it is done that everybody that was on the encampment for the last two weeks has been moved out or assumed that everybody that was in the hall and has been either moved out or arrested and that the entire campus.
[01:05:05]
There was nobody on the Columbia campus that shouldn't be there at this point, say, New York police officers. The Columbia University has also asked the NYPD to keep a presence on the university through May 17. The Commencement is on May 15.
So it is clear that Columbia doesn't want to have a repeat of what happened a couple of weeks ago when they cleared the campus once and the encampment reestablish itself. This time, they want to get back to the business of being a university. Back to you.
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VAUSE: Miguel, thank you. Well, the editor-in-chief of the Columbia Sundial, the university student magazine, describe what he saw during the arrest.
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JONAS DU, EDITOR-IN-CHIEF, COLUMBIA SUNDIAL: We actually went up to the roof to one of the upper levels and we could see sort of onto the street. We could see the buses, they had like five or six police buses, massive police buses coming in. We saw them bring out the protesters. There were massive protests going on Amsterdam Avenue. And they were you know, jeering at the police or bringing the protesters out.
We saw a couple of protesters tried to obstruct the road, sit down, you know, make it make it hard for the police officers. And the police, you know, took care of that. We saw a woman who was, you know, being sort of a hung upside down hold on to the police bus.
But overall, it was it was fairly orderly. It was very loud, even from the height that we're at. But it's just a chaotic scene, even from just outside the campus goods.
(END VIDEO CLIP) VAUSE: We're joined now by CNN senior national security analyst, Juliette Kayyem. Juliette, it's always good to have you with us.
JULIETTE KAYYEM, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL SECURITY ANALYST: Good to see you.
VAUSE: OK. Here's part of the written request to the NYPD to act. It comes from the president of Columbia University, it reads in part with the utmost regret, we request the NYPD's helped to clear all individuals from Hamilton Hall, and all campus and cabinets, we trust that you'll take care and caution when removing any individuals from our campus.
OK, in a non-violent situation where lives are not at risk and property has not been damaged, I thought the usual course of action was simply to wait it out. So was this decision to invite police onto the campus, the best course of action here.
KAYYEM: It depends on sort of what your timeframe is. And so it's hard to second guess here, there's a number of competing interests going on at the university and one is obviously finals. The next is graduation. The facility has to be cleared relatively soon, just to get the graduation set up and stabilized. Lots of parents want to come, most of the students are not involved with any of this whatsoever.
And I think that the that -- that at least from Colombia's viewpoint, and I've talked to people at Columbia, I work with people who are working with Colombia, from Columbia's viewpoint, the escalation yesterday unless stopped, in other words, entering the building, unless stopped decisively in their mind would have just continued to other buildings.
So the most important part that my take away and my nervousness earlier in the evening was, of course, whatever you think about the politics of this, these are students, they're young people, and that no one got hurt is the most important thing. We can figure out their motivations and whether they are from the university or not.
But it seems like the police came in, they first wanted to deescalate, they told people to disperse, they gave students what we would call off ramps to leave without arrest, and then those who want to or to stay or to be arrested were done so.
So, I look at it this now then a little bit differently than I did four hours ago. And I think that's important to remember, these are, John, has we live in the world of like, you know, could it have gone? You know, what could have gone horribly wrong? And we're not seeing that yet.
VAUSE: Yes, it's a very good point to make. Just as a logistics matter, the NYPD told CNN when officers moved into clear the occupied hall, so-called distraction devices were used but they're tear gas. So, what exactly are these distraction devices that simply flashbangs anything else?
KAYYEM: Yes. Yes, mostly that's the only thing I saw I was watching live it's only thing which would essentially just disorient someone, it's not to your guests, the NYPD generally doesn't use tear gas. It was just a way -- basically a way to distract them from whatever organizing may have been done and the relatively few number of people that were arrested I know it's in the dozens suggests either people had left before this moment or that it was just a sort of, you know, group of students is sort of the most persistent I guess I would say, who remained and then got arrested.
And then some of them will face criminal penalty. Others will face clear early academic penalty whether it's a denial of classes credit or even expulsion.
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VAUSE: University officials and others at a number of campuses, not just Columbia made the point that many of these protesters are not, in fact students, not faculty, not staff.
KAYYEM: Yes.
VAUSE: Here's York City Mayor, Eric Adams on that. Here he is.
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ERIC ADAMS, NEW YORK CITY MAYOR: We have sounded the alarm numerous times before about external actors who attempted to hijack this protest who have no, no affiliation with Columbia, Columbia University.
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VAUSE: So exactly who are these outsiders? And what's the endgame here? What are they trying to achieve?
KAYYEM: Well, so some of them are just people who agree with the protests in the Columbia just became a central point for a variety of reasons. One is just because of the police activity there two weeks ago, when you really saw not just a response by Columbia students, but it really did launch the nationwide response by students throughout.
So I want to be careful here. I mean, one is clearly there are outsiders and schools, all schools and universities that's spent a lot of time advising them, which is you've got to get access control to these universities that they can be controlled access to buildings, access to common areas.
On the other hand, just to make clear, we delude ourselves of we think that this is just like outside agitators or naive people that the students are reflecting a very strong sentiment, not just in the United States, but throughout the world. They are they are -- we may not agree with them. They are committed they're allowed to protest, they're not allowed to trespass or to damage property.
And I think as we look at the weeks ahead until graduation, which is essentially, you know, colleges and universities just biding time until summer, right, when the students actually have to vacate is to still allow for that peaceful protest.
I think what we've seen in the backfire significantly when of -- when you don't give an outlet, an outlet for these protests, whatever your politics are. And I think that's important for colleges and universities to remember in the weeks ahead, at least until the students vacate for the summer.
VAUSE: Yes, a good point, Juliette. Thank you so much for being with us, as always so good to have you here with us. Your insights are invaluable. Thank you.
And there was campus chaos and unrest at other universities across the U.S. Tuesday. The last day of classes were canceled at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill because of disruptions from pro- Palestinian protests.
At the University of South Florida the police used tear gas to break up demonstrations. CNN's affiliates reports police took a number of people into custody. Scenes were similar at California's Cal Poly Humboldt campus, where police in riot gear removed protesters camped there for more than a week now. Police say more than two dozen people were arrested.
Publicly at least the U.S. Secretary of State continues to pressure Hamas to accept a hostage and ceasefire deal. But comments by the Israeli prime minister may have created new complications and will likely be under discussion when Secretary Blinken meets shortly with Israeli officials.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu made clear that regardless of any hostage deal rather with us, he intends to order a major military offensive on the southern Gaza City of Rafah, a position which aligns him closely with the far right anti-Arab extremists within his coalition government.
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NETANYAHU (through translator): We will enter Rafah because we have no other choice. We will destroy the Hamas battalions there. We will complete all the objectives of the war, including the return of all our hostages.
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VAUSE: According to the Israeli Defense Forces, plans for upcoming missions have been approved. But White House officials do not believe any offensive on Rafah is imminent, mostly because there's no detailed plan from Israel on how to protect more than 1 million civilians sheltering in the border city.
Meantime, the U.N. Secretary General Antonio Guterres urging both sides to agree to a ceasefire and hostage deal.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) ANTONIO GUTERRES, U.N. SECRETARY GENERAL: for the sake of the people of Gaza, for the sake of the hostages and their families in Israel, and for the sake of the region and the wider worlds, I strongly encourage the Government of Israel and Hamas leadership to reach now and agreements.
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VAUSE: More details down from CNN's Jeremy Diamond reporting in from Jerusalem.
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JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Israeli officials are awaiting Hamas his response to the latest ceasefire and hostage deal proposal. But as they are doing that the Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is vowing that Israeli forces will enter Rafah one way or the other. He says with or without a deal, Israeli forces will enter Rafah and eliminate the Hamas battalions there.
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Now, the Israeli Prime Minister his words should certainly be taken with the seriousness that they require but they should also be taken with a grain of salt and viewed through the lens in which they were delivered. And that is certainly a political lens.
One that is -- words that are intended for a domestic political audience, as the Israeli Prime Minister tries to ensure that his right flank in his current government sticks with him. But there's no question that this is bluster in part, and that's because in speaking privately with Israeli officials, it's very clear that a hostage deal would indeed a prevent or at least delay a significant Israeli ground operation in Rafah if there is a hostage deal that means that there will be a ceasefire on the ground and that means that Israeli forces will not for at least some time enter Rafah.
And there's no question that the possibility of that Rafah offensive is weighing very heavily on these negotiations, weighing very heavily on this latest Egyptian framework, which could see some 20 to 33 Israeli hostages released over several weeks, weeks of pause in the fighting and potentially even a longer term ceasefire for at least one year.
But now the question is, what will Hamas his response be? Hamas' leader in Gaza, Yahya Sinwar has received this proposal over the course of the last few days, and he's been reviewing it, and his response could come as early as today, perhaps tomorrow.
But there's no question that that response will be critical to determining whether or not a hostage deal a ceasefire will be possible in the coming weeks, or whether instead, Israeli forces will begin evacuating civilians from Rafah and then moving troops in. Jeremy Diamond, CNN, Jerusalem.
(END VIDEO CLIP) VAUSE: And the permanent Palestinian observer to the United Nations is warning an Israeli incursion into Rafah would be catastrophic. And he spoke Tuesday with CNN Christiane Amanpour.
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RIYAD MANSOUR, PALESTINIAN OBSERVER TO THE UNITED NATIONS: The way to protect the 1.4 million Palestinians who have been told to move to the south and they are around Rafah is not to allow the storming of Rafah. This is the only way to save this large civilian population and Rafah and around Rafah.
CHRISTIANE AMANPOUR, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: Are you concerned that if it does come to pass that there is a storming of Rafah, as you put it, that, again, there will be this idea of potentially forcing the Palestinians across the border into Egypt.
You remember that was a fear at the very beginning and the Egyptians said no. And from the West Bank side, the Jordanian said no. What is your concern now could that happen?
MANSOUR: We are still extremely concerned as Palestinians, as Palestinian leadership, also as Egyptians and as Arabs. We lived one Nakba in 1948. We do not want to live another Nakba. If one or two million Palestinians to be forced to be pushed into the Sinai into Egypt, that would be catastrophic. That would be a second Nakba for us and that could potentially harm the agreement between Israel and Egypt.
AMANPOUR: Do you think if they were pushed out they would be allowed back?
MANSOUR: If they're pushed out they will not be allowed back.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: We'll take a short break. When we come back, after being fined thousands of dollars for violating a gag order during his husband's trial, Donald Trump now I noticed that jail time might just be next.
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VAUSE: Haiti's Transitional Council is slowly piecing together a new government, namely a new council president a crucial step towards returning stability after months of gang violence and lawlessness.
The nine-member council has a long to do list which includes forming a new cabinet called at the arrival of multinational security forces to reclaim Port-au-Prince and then eventually hold fresh elections. He is the new Transitional Council president.
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EDGARD LEBLANC FILS, HAITI'S TRANSITIONAL COUNCIL PRESIDENT (through translator): There are some important decisions to be taken in terms of security, which is why we spent the whole day yesterday meeting with the high command of the army, the high command of the national police force, the units in charge of security at the National Palace and the advisors. We looked at how things stand today what's missing and what we need to achieve results because we're motivated and they're motivated to.
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VAUSE: Since February gang violence at the Port-au-Prince International Airport and sea port has disrupted vital supplies of food and humanitarian assistance. Millions are now suffering from acute food insecurity.
Donald Trump has been put on notice continued violations of a gag order put in place by the judge and his hush money trial could result in jail time. Judge Juan Merchan handed down a $9,000 fine for nine violations $1,000 each the maximum allowed by law. Trump later criticized a punishment after court called the gag order unconstitutional likely faces more fines for other gag order violations when the trial resumes first day. CNN's Kara Scannell has more now reporting in from New York.
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KARA SCANNELL, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): On the stand the ex- lawyer for two women a Playboy model and adult film star at the center of former President Donald Trump's criminal hush money trial. Attorney Keith Davidson testified on Tuesday, revealing new details about the deal at the crux of the prosecution's case, a $130,000 payment to adult film star Stormy Daniels to kill a story on an alleged affair with Trump weeks before the 2016 election.
Davidson represented Daniels in the arrangement selling the story to Trump's Former Attorney Michael Cohen. Trump denies having an affair with Daniels. Prosecutors have alleged that Trump did not want to write the check. So Cohen put up the money on his behalf. After Cohen confirmed Trump would pay him back.
Davidson testified the release of the Access Hollywood tape in October 2016 sparked tremendous interest in her story, the National Enquirer editor Dylan Howard text Davidson, that our story would be the end for Trump's campaign.
Davidson text Howard Trump is F'd. Wave the white flag. It's over people, Howard responded to Davidson's text. Howard said in a text, yes, but her talking and taking is the final nail in the coffin. But he's F'd already. After Cohen missed the deadline to wire the money multiple times, Davidson testified he believed Cohen was stalling on the deal. Davidson said he told Cohen, I don't believe a word really that you say Cohen responded, goddammit. What do you expect me to do? My guy is in five different states today.
And Davidson told him of his clients and happiness. We're calling Cohen told him goddammit, I'll just do it myself. Davidson told the jury, I thought he was trying to kick the can down the road until after the election.
Earlier in the day the jury heard from Michael Cohen's former banker Gary Farrow, who testified about Cohen's scramble to open and fund and account in late October 2016. Farrow revealed he did not know Cohen's payment was being made to an adult film star or that it was related to political activity. If he had he testified it would have required a much longer review and potentially would not have opened the account.
Davidson also represented former Playboy model Karen McDougal, who alleged a nearly year-long romantic affair with Trump, which Trump also denies. Prosecutors asked Davidson about the agreement to sell McDougal story to the Enquirer, which was ultimately sold to the tabloids parent company for $150,000 and buried before the election.
Davidson text Howard in June 2016, I have a blockbuster Trump's story. Howard text back, talk first thing. I will get you more than anyone for it you know why.
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Days later Howard responded again asking, did he cheat on Melania? Davidson testified there was an unspoken understanding that the Enquirer bought her story to bury it because of a close affiliation between the tabloids publisher and Trump, and that AMI would not run this story or any story related to Karen and Donald Trump because it would tend to hurt Donald Trump.
Well, Davidson testified about MacDougal and Daniels, Trump's son Eric Trump sat in the front row of the gallery listening. He is the first family member of Trumps to attend the trial. In court began with Judge Juan Merchan handing down a much anticipated ruling saying Donald Trump violated a gag order that prevents him from discussing witnesses in the case nine times. Trump was fined $9,000 total, $1,000 per violation. Kara Scannell, CNN, New York,
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VAUSE: The founder of the world's largest cryptocurrency exchange, has been sentenced to four months in prison in the United States for allowing money laundering on his platform Binance. In a settlement with the U.S. government, 47-year-old champion Changpeng Zhao, also known as CZ agreed to step down as CEO and pay $200 million in fines.
Prosecutors wanted a three-year sentence after U.S. authorities said Binance allowed bad actors to use the platform for transactions linked to child sex abuse, narcotics, and terrorist financing.
We will take a short break when we come back, please enter one of America's most elite universities to try and end weeks of pro- Palestinian protests. And they will not be leaving anytime soon. The very latest on the situation at Columbia University in a moment.
Also, Australia announced its funding to fight violence against women renewed funding that is, details on how the government is planning to tackle this issue after a quick break. One that they call a national crisis. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
VAUSE: Welcome back, I'm John Vause. You're watching CNN Newsroom. More now on our lead story. New York police have cleared pro- Palestinian protesters from the campus of Columbia University, arresting more than 100 people both at the school as well as the nearby city college.
[01:29:15]
Police faced loud jeers as they approached the campus to remove protesters who barricaded themselves inside one of Columbia's main buildings, Hamilton Hall.
You see here on the right side of the map where police entered the campus and where Hamilton Hall is located not far away.
CNN's Julia Jones Vargas was there as it all unfolded.
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JULIA JONES VARGAS, CNN REPORTER: There they are. There they are. This is -- this is the library, the main library at Columbia, Butler. And they're giving, orders to disperse. Police is on campus. The New York Police Department is on campus.
They're walking. Yes, they came from another gate on 114th and they're coming -- coming in our direction. So I'm going to step to the side. make sure that we are ok.
But there's an order to disperse lots of -- lots of student media here, Anderson, you can see. But this is what we thought would happen. This is what we've been waiting to happen really all day.
So yes, so police is here, they're turning towards me and they're coming.
This is Hamilton Hall so -- ok. We're moving. We're moving, we're moving, we're moving.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VAUSE: New York's finest. Authorities say the occupation of Hamilton Hall was led by those not affiliated with the university. Police have been asked to remain on-campus for the next 2.5 weeks to ensure protesters do not rebuild their encampments. Graduation ceremonies are set for midnight.
Joining us now is John Towfighi a Columbia undergrad and a CNN freelance reporter. John, thank you for being with us. Where exactly are you right now? And what is the latest dirt you have on the demonstrations in the scene on campus at Columbia.
JOHN TOWFIGHI, CNN FREELANCE REPORTER: Yes. Thank you for having me on John. So I am currently in an undergraduate student dorm that is located off of the main campus, but just across the street from the campus gates at 114th and Broadway.
So currently students are in their dorms because NYPD are still out on the streets with quite a large presence. And as your viewers know, the NYPD raided Hamilton Hall, which was being occupied by pro-Palestinian protesters. They have confirmed they have cleared all protesters, but the NYPD remains on the streets ensuring students aren't lingering about and milling.
VAUSE: So essentially they've -- they've sort of surrounded the perimeter of the campus on the outside. And there is a strong police presence, actually on campus as well.
TOWFIGHI: Yes. So the police specifically on Columbia's gated campus, which is a few block perimeter, which had the Hamilton Hall building has been pretty much cleared out. However, that perimeter around the campus, which is on the streets were my dorm is, there are still lots of police.
I actually just went to the entrance to my dorm where there are still NYPD officers and they informed me that they are not allowing students to roam freely. There are barricades on the street and they were trying to restrict pedestrian movement for the time being.
VAUSE: A spokesperson for Columbia University wrote in a statement, "We believe that the group that broke into and occupied the building, Hamilton Hall, is led by individuals who are not affiliated with the university."
In other words, they're not faculty, they're not students, they're not staff. So is there any word on who these people are, how many of them there are, are they the majority, are they the minority, those who occupied the building?
TOWFIGHI: Yes. That's a great question and something people are wondering on campus. So the NYPD they think about half of the protesters that were occupying Hamilton Hall were not university affiliates, and were what they call agitators, outside actors taking advantage of the movement.
Now, I can't independently confirm the number that were a part of the movement that were not students. But I'd like to highlight that the university has been enforcing a Columbia person ID only policy on the campus for the past two weeks.
So any non-affiliates that entered the campus would have done so, breaking university's laws and a law that was not necessarily enforced.
VAUSE: Before police actually moved in to end the presence of the pro- Palestinian protesters there, the mayor of New York, New York City rather, he made this appeal to parents or students at Columbia. Listen to this. Here he is.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MAYOR ERIC ADAMS (D), NEW YORK CITY: Maybe some of the students involved don't understand what they are involved in. If you are a parent or guardian of a student please call your child and urge them to leave the area before the situation escalates in any way.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: I'm pretty certain you haven't had a chance to speak to every protesting student on campus, but in a general sense, are these student protesters naive children swept up in a protest movement. They don't understand because they're too young and immature. How do you see them?
TOWFIGHI: Well, I would say, you know, I'm an undergraduate student. These are my peers and I've been reporting on this movement, not just for the past two weeks, but for the past few months as a student journalist.
[01:34:50]
TOWFIGHI: And I can tell you the students who were organizing this pro-Palestinian movement were not naive individuals who are unsure what they were getting into. This was a very, very organized, strategized, and politically-oriented movement particularly the student negotiators who were talking with the university were, you know, articulating very interesting and well thought out demands.
Of course, the student negotiators in the university did not come to an agreement. But the protesters who are students certainly knew what they were getting into and were taking a stand that they really felt was worth taking.
VAUSE: John, great reporting, we appreciate your time and thank you for being there for us. John Towfighi, there at Columbia University. Thank you, sir.
TOWFIGHI: Thank you, John. I appreciate it.
VAUSE: Australia's prime minister says a surge in gender violence is now a national crisis. His comments come in the wake of nationwide protests over the weekend. Demonstrators demanding government action to protect women.
On Wednesday, the prime minister announced hundreds of millions of dollars in new funding for a nationwide program called Leaving Violence.
Financial support will be available for eligible women, as well as other government services.
Here's Prime Minister Anthony Albanese.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ANTHONY ALBANESE, AUSTRALIAN PRIME MINISTER: This is indeed a national crisis and it's a national challenge. And we're facing this with the spirit of national unity. Today is about who we are as a nation, as a society. We recognize that governments need to act but we also recognize that this is an issue for the whole of society.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: Hayley Boxall was a senior research fellow at the Australian National University and joins us now live from the capital Canberra.
Thank you for taking the time to speak with us.
HAYLEY BOXALL, AUSTRALIAN NATIONAL UNIVERSITY: Thank you for having me.
VAUSE: In the wake of that mass stabbing a few weeks ago at a Sydney shopping mall, where it became really clear that women were being targeted, this pressure has been building on the government to do more when it comes to gender violence, the Australian prime minister now announcing this new funding. It includes new measures up to another $600 million in funding. That's U.S. dollar -- $925 million Australian for a permanent program to support women facing domestic violence. This comes as the most recent data shows and almost 30 percent increase in intimate partner homicide.
But all these funds are essentially remedies for after the violence has actually happened. What is being done to prevent it in the first place.
BOXALL: Australia had national action plans to end violence against women and children since 2010. And a really strong focus of those plans has been prevention and primary prevention so some really key, I guess, strategies that have been implemented as part of that is education and training for young people about respectful relationships.
So what does respect look like within relationships, as well as trying to address community attitudes that condone violence against women and things like that. So I actually think it's really positive move that we have now started to look more at the tertiary end of things. So what do we do with really high-risk cases as well?
VAUSE: Would you say those prevention programs as effective as they could be?
BOXALL: It's a difficult thing to evaluate because we're looking at intergenerational change. So I mean international evidence does suggest that a lot of these awareness campaigns are really effective at addressing at least short-term kind of behavior change and attitudes but we really need a longer period of time to kind of look at the effectiveness over time.
Having said that there's been some really understandable criticisms of that work of that we are too reliant on that kind of adage of we have to wait a long time to see if its effective. And there's also been a lot of conversations about how we need more targeted kind of awareness rising campaigns for those sectors of the community that are most likely to experience these types of violence.
VAUSE: There does seem to be agreement, at least most, most -- for the most part. Like gender violence comes down to a problem within Australian culture. Essentially Australian men who lack respect for women.
And on that, here's former Australian prime minister Malcolm Turnbull. Here's what he said.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MALCOLM TURNBULL, FORMER AUSTRALIAN PRIME MINISTER: We really have to make sure that men respect women, and that men do not respect other men who disrespect women. So there's a huge role in this for men. They're not just the perpetrators, they're also the friends and relatives and employers, employees, colleagues of men who commit those crimes. And they have to be held to account.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: You can't change what's in someone's heart, ok. Thats just impossible. You can't change their actions through government policies and legislation. So the question here is are the right policies in place for those changes to happen.
BOXALL: It's a really good question and I don't know if they are. I mean, I think that there's evidence of certain programs being really effective.
But this big piece of how do we, I guess make men part of this conversation in terms of doing a lot of this work is a really important one.
[01:39:50]
BOXALL: I mean, when we look at the homicide research, we do know that a lot of these men do tell their friends that they're going to kill their partner in the lead up to the lethal violence. And yet no one reports anything.
And we're just not really that good yet at really kind of getting people to not only be able to understand what violence against women is, but also to do something about it.
So we really need to push it to that next stage, but it's a really tricky space to get into.
VAUSE: Yes. All of this is difficult and often it's complicated and it's not easy, but according to Australia's version of counting dead women, 27 women have allegedly been killed by a partner or former partner so far this year, an average of one every four days.
So how does that actually compare to similar countries like say New Zealand or the United Kingdom? Is this the only record of women being killed by their partners? It's a Facebook group. Is that the only official count? BOXALL: No. I mean, it's one of the only real time accounts that we
have in terms of they add the numbers on an ongoing basis based on media reporting and things like that. But the statistics that you cited, the 28 percent increase actually comes from the National Homicide Monitoring Program which is a monitoring program that's been operating for 30 years in Australia.
So we do have pretty good (INAUDIBLE) around these kinds of trends it's just that we need to move towards more real-time reporting of those figures.
But on your question of where's Australia at in terms of international trends, we're actually very comparable and even have better statistics than a lot of other western nations.
But I think that this spike is really concerning and it really should be telling us something about the need to do, to do more and to do more targeted work to really prevent these high-risk cases escalating in the way that they are.
VAUSE: Yes. And the point that Malcolm Turnbull made about men just not taking this disrespect from other men and speaking out is a really important point.
So Hayley, thank you so much for being with us. Really appreciate your research and your time today. Thank you.
BOXALL: Thank you very much.
VAUSE: Well, in a major policy shift, the Biden administration plans to reclassify Marijuana as a lower risk drug. Recommendation from the Justice Department on Tuesday would downgrade marijuana from a schedule one substance which includes drugs like heroin and ecstasy to schedule three, similar to prescription drugs like ketamine or Tylenol with codeine.
Currently, 24 states have legalized cannabis for adult recreational use. 38 allow it for medical use. It's now a multi-billion-dollar industry, but marijuana is still illegal under federal law and reclassifying that would actually not change it. What about that?
Violence surges across Mexico as the country prepares for a crucial general election but the powerful gangs are killing political candidates. More on that in a moment.
Plus King Charles back at public duties at last for the first time since he got cancer treatment. We'll tell you about his first official outing in a moment.
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VAUSE: Mexico is facing a surge in political violence ahead of the largest election in history. More than two dozen aspiring politicians have been attacked so far
this year with a number of them killed as cartels seek to clear the field for preferred handpicked candidates.
CNN's David Shortell has details.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DAVID SHORTELL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Gisela Gaytan was running to lead the city of Celaya, Mexico where she had spent her whole life. In recent years, crime had engulfed the city.
"We're survivors," she says in a campaign ad, "Together, we're going to find the strength to confront our fear."
She would never get the chance.
Authorities say Gaytan was shot dead by men on motorcycles as she processed down the street on April 1, it was the first day of her campaign.
Since the federal election process began in September, at least 20 candidates from across the political spectrum have been killed in Mexico according to Votar Enter Balas (ph), a civil society election monitoring project.
Security expert Sandra Lay studies how organized crime in Mexico has increasingly used violence to influence elections over the past 20 years.
SANDRA LAY, SECURITY EXPERT: This is how organized crime has become def facto rulers in these communities trying to capture politics, economics, and social -- the social life of these territories.
"I know where you are. Watch your back."
This is a recording of a threat made in March against Jesus Corona, the candidate for municipal president in the city of Cuautla, a couple of hours outside of Mexico City.
"They want me to drop out of the campaign," he says. "They don't want me to participate. They want to continue this corrupt government."
Organized crime nearly got their way.
Corona was driving home one night in March when two men on a motorcycle sped past and opened fire.
He's showing us the bullet holes. There were three up here that you can see on the front of the car.
Corona now campaigns under armed escort, part of a security program run by the federal and local government that experts (INAUDIBLE) at times moved too slow to keep up with the threats that candidates are facing. In Celaya, just hours before she was killed, Gisela Gaytan telling
reporters, we've asked for protection. Let's see if we get a response today.
In the wake of her death, Mexico's president, vowing to make it easier for candidates to apply for protection.
"If it's necessary to eliminate procedures to make support more expeditious, we'll do it. We can't hesitate with this."
With one month until voters head to the polls a devastating calculus for the candidates here who are putting their lives on the line.
"I was born here. My grandchildren were born here. I'm going to continue fighting. If it's necessary to risk my life, I'll risk it."
You're not scared.
"I'm scared. I'm a human being. But that same fear lifts me up to move forward and trust in God."
David Shortell, Mexico city.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VAUSE: Britain's King Charles III is back at work for the first time since he announced his battle with cancer.
The 75-year-old monarch and his wife, Queen Camilla met with other cancer patients at a treatment center in London.
The first official public outing was meant to reassure the public and to send a message, an important message about early cancer screenings.
CNN's Max Foster has our report.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MAX FOSTER, CNN ROYAL CORRESPONDENT: King Charles was all smiles on this visit to a cancer unit in London. This was his first official engagement since his cancer diagnosis back in February.
We've only seen him once in public for an impromptu walkabout around Easter, but clearly, his doctors are comfortable enough for him to go back to his diary of engagements.
We don't know how many there will be, but clearly, he's allowed to meet the public, and there's no vulnerability there.
Royal sources being clear, they're not going to give any more detail about what type of cancer he has or at what point he is in the treatment.
But this visit was significant. He chose a cancer center for this first engagement because he wants to promote awareness around cancer. He spoke about the importance of early diagnosis, something that he's really keen to emphasize.
He's using his high-profile position to get a positive outcome, if you like, from his illness.
He was on good form, as was the queen. And we expect to see him more. The diary of engagements is there, but they're going to take each one as they go, again, on medical advice.
Max Foster, CNN -- London.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VAUSE: Indonesia's Mount Ruang volcano has erupted again, sending ash and lava high into the sky. The volcano has erupted more than half a dozen times this month. Officials have now raised the alert status to the highest level.
Officials had feared a tsunami could be triggered by volcanic material collapsing into the ocean.
I think we meant last month, given that today is the first.
Still ahead, Muslim leaders in India blame the Modi government as religious tensions soar as voters cast their ballots.
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VAUSE: Phase three of elections in the world's biggest democracy set to begin next week. As India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi is seeking a historic third term, there's been a rise of divisive anti-Muslim rhetoric during his campaign rally as the ruling party looks to drum up support among its Hindu base. And this is resulting in tensions between two religious communities.
CNN's Will Ripley has our report.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
WILL RIPLEY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: In Varanasi, on India's holiest river, the Ganges, Hindus worship with the purifying power of fire.
But smoldering religious tensions risk igniting a dangerous conflict between India's Hindu nationalists and their Muslim neighbors, who tell us they no longer feel welcome or safe.
We came here as tensions are rising over this 17th century mosque. Hindus say it sits on land stolen from them hundreds of years ago. Now, they're fighting in court to get it back.
SM YASEEN, MUSLIM LEADER: My community is very much worried.
RIPLEY: Longtime Muslim leader SM Yaseen says Hindus are trying to take over their mosque.
RIPLEY: How difficult is it to fight this in court?
YASEEN: It's very difficult. Nobody is listening to us. Nobody.
RIPLEY: Yaseen blames India's popular Prime Minister Narendra Modi, for mixing politics and religion. Modi's political opponents say he's marginalizing the nation's more than 200 million Muslims.
YASEEN: They are treating us as second-class citizens.
SWAMI JITENDRANAND SARASWATI, HINDU RELIGIOUS LEADER): If they're saying they feel like they are second-class citizens, then this makes me happy.
RIPLEY: Swami Jitendranand Saraswati is a Hindu spiritual leader with views on Muslims many would consider Islamophobic.
SARASWATI: In the blood of a Muslim, there is a desire to want to riot all the time.
RIPLEY: Muslim shopkeeper Shamsher Ali feels like he's being pushed out.
SHAMSHER ALI, MUSLIM SHOPKEEPER (through translator): Anything can happen at any point. That is the amount of hate now.
They say, leave the country. Where will we go? We were born here. We will die here. This is my country.
RIPLEY: A country where violence against Muslims is on the rise. A Delhi police officer was caught on camera last month kicking a group of Muslim men praying by the side of the road. The video went viral. The officer suspended.
Another police officer arrested for killing three Muslims on a train, praising the prime minister while standing over their bodies.
The worst was in 2020. Violence broke out between Hindus and Muslims in the capital, New Delhi. Dozens of people died, mostly Muslims.
It happened around the same time Modi was meeting then-President Donald Trump. Even those who survived one of the darkest chapters in India's recent history will never be the same.
Nasir Ali says a Hindu man shot him in the face near his home, the one place he should have been safe. He says the police did practically nothing, a charge they deny.
[01:54:51]
NASIR ALI, DELHI RESIDENT (through translator): Everyone was feeling unsafe. We can no longer rely on the police.
RIPLEY: A court order called their investigation casual, callous, and farcical. Four years later, the case is still ongoing in a higher court.
RIPLEY: Is there justice for Muslims like you in India today?
ALI: No. Our only crime is that we are Muslims.
RIPLEY: The national spokesperson for Prime Minister Modi's party, the BJP, says people of all religions have the same rights.
Is this a Hindu-first government?
JAIVEER SHERGILL, NATIONAL SPOKESPERSON, BHARATIYA JANATA PARTY: India by fabric, by design, by structure, by constitution, is secular. India's constitution protects the Indian democracy. No political party in country is strong enough to bulldoze the constitution, to bulldoze the will of the people.
RIPLEY: Muslim-owned buildings are literally being bulldozed in what the government calls a crackdown on illegal construction and accused criminals. A brand of bulldozer justice all too common in India.
Prime Minister Modi accused of adding fuel to the fire when he used a derogatory term for Muslims at a recent election rally.
NARENDRA MODI, INDIAN PRIME MINISTER (through translator): Should your hard-earned money be given to infiltrators?
RIPLEY: He's running for a rare third term.
What is the worst that could happen, in your view, over the next five years?
YASEEN: What happened, I don't know, but that will be not good for our country.
RIPLEY: Many Muslims in Modi's India say it doesn't feel like their country anymore.
RIPLEY: Prime Minister Modi has said in interviews that everyone's equal here in India, but then you have that campaign rhetoric calling hundreds of millions of his own citizens "infiltrators".
And it does raise questions about this globally-accepted narrative about India, that it's a nation on the rise with the fastest growing major economy.
I had no idea until landing here just how many people on the ground say they're being marginalized under Prime Minister Modi.
Will Ripley, CNN -- New Delhi, India.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VAUSE: Thank you for watching the past hour.
I'm John Vause. Please stay with us.
CNN NEWSROOM with my friend and colleague Rosemary Church after a very short break. Hope to see you right back here tomorrow.
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