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L.A. County Sheriff's Department Prisoner Buses Now Deployed Near UCLA Campus as Authorities now Await to Clear the Pro-Palestinian Encampment; Israeli Government Reopens Erez Crossing to Deliver Aid in Northern Gaza; Ongoing Rescue Efforts in Kenya Continues as Torrential Rains Worsens; CNN Obtains Body Cam Footages of the Actual Breach Inside Columbia University's Hamilton Hall; Haiti's Transitional Committee has Chosen its Council President and an Interim Prime Minister; Tulips now Struggling to Survive Climate Change. Aired 3-4a ET
Aired May 02, 2024 - 03:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[03:00:00]
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ROSEMARY CHURCH, CNN ANCHOR: Hello and welcome to our viewers joining us from all around the world and everyone streaming us on CNN Max. I'm Rosemary Church.
Just ahead, a standoff on campus. Police at the University of California in Los Angeles appear ready to disperse pro-Palestinian protesters. We will take you live to the scene. Plus--
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ANTONY BLINKEN, U.S. SECRETARY OF STATE: There is no time for delay. There's no time for further haggling. The deal is there. They should take it.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHURCH: An urgent appeal by the U.S. to Hamas: Take the hostage and ceasefire deal on the table. We will have a live report on the stalemate.
And a glimmer of hope in Kenya after weeks of torrential rain and deadly floods. We're live in Nairobi with a look at the ongoing rescue efforts.
UNKNOWN (voice-over): Live from Atlanta, this is "CNN Newsroom" with Rosemary Church.
CHURCH: We want to get right to our breaking news out of Los Angeles. Officers from multiple law enforcement agencies have flooded the campus of UCLA and any moment now they could begin clearing out pro- Palestinian protesters. A source told CNN their encampment has been declared an unlawful assembly. Prisoner buses from the L.A. County Sheriff's Department are now
parked nearby to take away those who are arrested. This is the second straight night of incredible tension at UCLA. Just 24 hours ago, violent clashes between rival protest groups left at least 15 people injured.
So let's go to CNN's Nick Watt. He's standing by there on campus at UCLA. So, Nick, pressure building there. What is the latest?
NICK WATT, CNN U.S. NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, it's about midnight here in Los Angeles and it's actually been eerily quiet amongst the crowd since I last spoke to you an hour ago. But there was a little bit of -- They're booing somebody. Yeah, so every now and again what happens is like we just had CHP, California Highway Patrol officers walking through that crowd wearing riot gear.
They had water bottles thrown at them. There was a round of booing. Shame, shame.
So basically what is happening here right now, Rosemary, is what I've been told is that the LAPD, Tom, if you come around here, the LAPD here in the dark uniforms and the riot helmets, they are here along with the Sheriff's Department to make sure that this crowd of hundreds that has gathered around the encampment over the past six or seven hours, make sure that they do not cause a problem.
Behind them, I'm not sure if you can see them even in the sandy colored uniforms, that is the California Highway Patrol.
The California Highway Patrol will actually be making the move into that encampment. We expect sometime, anytime now in the middle of the night here in California.
Now, we are told that they are concerned about human waste in that camp. That camp's been there for a week. They're also concerned that some of the protesters have bear spray. So I'm told that it will be a slow, meticulous, methodical process.
Then, as you mentioned, those prisoner buses that are staged just about a mile away, they will be brought up and into those buses will be loaded. Everybody who has decided not to leave that camp, and listen, the people in that camp today said they were determined to stay. In fact, they spent a lot of the day reinforcing the barricades around the encampment after that clash last night with pro-Israel protesters. There was a firework, there were chemicals, there was physical clashes and very little police presence. Today, a massive police presence.
The governor of California called for that and they are here to go into that camp and clear it out. Rosemary.
CHURCH+: Nick, as you mentioned, the California Highway Patrol and police will move in and start clearing that encampment. Of course, there's this excruciating build-up to this. Why have they waited until the dead of night? We don't know when they're going to eventually do this, but why have they waited this long? WATT: Well, I could only imagine that they've waited this long because
they're hoping that this crowd that has gathered will die down. I mean, we have seen some people looking a little tired and going home.
[03:05:03]
The crowd is not as big as it was six or seven hours ago. Listen, the rumors started before sundown that this encampment was going to be breached.
The crowd then was massive, but they've been here a long time. It's getting cold. It's getting late. So I can only imagine that the CHP and the other law enforcement are hoping that this crowd dies down so that they can go in. A lot of people have said that they will stay for as long as it takes. We just showed you last hour they were moving dumpsters. They were moving bike racks, possibly to try and cut off the entryway for the CHP.
The passions are high here and a lot of these people have seen this encampment over the past week, have supported this encampment. Of course, there are many college students who have not supported it, but they've been there a week and they are determined to stay.
And so, listen, is it easier to do it in the dead of night with the smaller crowd around? Got to be. Back to you.
CHURCH: And of course, Nick, last hour you and I talked about the fact that bringing police on campus entails some risks with concerns for students getting hurt, maybe worse. But UCLA administrators have been criticized for not bringing police on campus earlier than this. How do they make that calculation, though? How do they decide, OK, now is the time?
WATT: Well, I don't think they really decided. I think they were forced. Their policy over the past week was to really try and keep law enforcement at a distance so as not to create a flashpoint.
That was their plan. They were balancing freedom of speech, safety of students and also their mission, trying to educate people, trying to keep the college going. That after what happened last night with these pro-Israel protesters moving against the barricades there, that was all over. There have been no classes here at UCLA today. This massive campus, more than 40,000 students, no classes.
And the police presence came in because the governor of California said it was really inexcusable what happened last night, that the security and the police were so far back. So and clearly, they also made a decision at some point that they were going to go in and move into this encampment. And for that, they needed a massive presence.
They needed sheriffs. They needed LAPD to control the crowds and they need CHP to go in. It is a massive operation. There are, listen, I looked over the wall there just an hour ago, dozens and dozens of tents, hundreds of people still in that encampment, hundreds more out here. They need a massive force in order to make this work. And they need a
lot of people to try and prevent this crowd getting too unruly. And, you know, the more officers, I suppose, their calculation, the less violence. Rosemary.
CHURCH: Just after midnight in Los Angeles, our Nick Watt there on UCLA's campus as pressure is building. We'll be watching this very closely and we'll come back to you, Nick, for further reporting on what is happening. I appreciate everything you're doing there. Thanks so much.
All right, well now to New York City, where police took action against pro-Palestinian protesters once again on Wednesday, this time removing them from Fordham University.
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There was an announcement from police first warning the demonstrators to disperse. Police then began clearing an encampment, which included pop-up tents and arrested at least 15 people. Fordham has asked police to remain on campus for another three weeks to make sure the encampments are not re-established.
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Meantime, at Columbia University, demonstrators are protesting not just the war in Gaza, but also the recent police operation on campus on Tuesday night. Body cam footage shows how officers entered one of the main campus buildings where protesters had barricaded themselves inside.
They had to push past many pieces of large furniture while carrying out arrests. Authorities are still trying to figure out how many of the demonstrators detained at Columbia University were actually students.
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MAYOR ERIC ADAMS (D-NY): There is a movement to radicalize young people and I'm not going to wait until it's done and all of a sudden acknowledge the existence of it. This is a global problem that young people are being influenced by those who are professionals at radicalizing our children and I'm not going to allow that to happen as the mayor of the city of New York.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHURCH: A professor at New York University recently weighed in on the demonstrations across U.S. campuses, suggesting the protesters have been given tremendous leniency. Take a listen.
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Desperately needed aid is again flowing into northern Gaza through the Erez crossing for the first time since the Israel-Hamas war began. A convoy of 31 trucks from Jordan passed through the checkpoint on Wednesday, soon after the Israeli government agreed to reopen it for humanitarian deliveries. The announcement by Israel came as U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken wrapped up his trip to the country, his seventh visit to the Middle East since the fighting broke out in October.
He met with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Jerusalem. Blinken reiterated his message to Hamas, take the hostage and ceasefire deal currently on the table. And to Israel, the U.S. will not support a major military operation in Rafah without an effective plan to protect civilians.
Blinken also visited Kerem Shalom, a key border crossing into southern Gaza, where an additional 48 Jordanian aid trucks were due to pass through on Wednesday. He got a closed briefing on the aid operation. And while he noted there's progress, he reminded Israel it must be accelerated and sustained.
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BLINKEN: We have seen in recent weeks, real, meaningful progress that is starting to make a difference for people in Gaza. Yesterday, we were in Jordan. Some of you saw the trucks being loaded in Jordan.
They went through Erez for the first time today. And that's very important because that's direct access to the north of Gaza.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CNN senior international correspondent Ben Wedeman has spent decades covering Gaza, often from inside the enclave, and he joins us now live from Rome. So Ben, what is the latest on this new hostage and ceasefire deal and when might we know if Hamas accepts the terms or not?
BEN WEDEMAN, CNN SR. INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Rosemary, we're expecting Hamas' final decision on this Egyptian proposal to come within perhaps hours, maximum days. But the signals coming from both Israel and Hamas seem to be somewhat confusing. Osama Hamdan, who is a Hamas official close to the senior leadership, yesterday in an interview on Al-Manar television, affiliated with Hezbollah in Beirut, said that Hamas' attitude toward the Egyptian proposal as it stands now is, in his words, negative.
It's not a final rejection of the Egyptian proposal, but it appears that Hamas still wants modifications to it before it agrees. From the Israeli side, the messages are very confusing. The Israelis have said they're considering this proposal.
They seem to be positive. On the other hand, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said that the Rafah operation, Israel's offensive in the Rafah area where more than a million people have taken refuge, he says it's going to go ahead with or without a deal. But the deal, as is on the table at the moment, talks about a pause in hostilities.
So if the prime minister is talking about hostilities, then he essentially is rejecting the deal. So the situation is confusing. And, of course, every day the death toll is rising, and the people of Gaza are desperate for some sort of pause in the fighting.
But it appears that neither Hamas nor Israel is ready at this point to actually cease fire. Rosemary?
CHURCH: Meantime, across the United States, we have been seeing all of these pro-Palestinian protests pop up on various campuses with arrests. And, of course, we're watching this here at UCLA. There's a standoff there. But talk to us about how these protests are being perceived abroad.
WEDEMAN: Well, it depends what you're talking about. Certainly in Gaza, what we've seen is a fairly positive response to this outbreak of protests against Israel's war in Gaza. Elsewhere, for instance, here in Europe, there's been a fairly positive attitude as well toward these protests. There is a feeling that there's a certain amount of hypocrisy coming from the United States, which tends to clutch its pearls when it sees suppression of popular protests in places like Iran or Russia.
But when it comes to the United States, they seem to be using fairly heavy police tactics against peaceful protesters on U.S. campuses.
[03:15:02]
So, yes, there does seem to be a certain amount of shock at the use of force in the United States from coming from a country that oftentimes is highly critical of other countries where similar uses of force are seen. Rosemary?
CHURCH: All right. Our thanks to Ben Wedeman reporting there from Rome. I appreciate it always.
And I spoke earlier with Alon Pinkas, former Israeli Consul General in New York, and I asked him how Hamas views the latest Egyptian peace proposal.
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ALON PINKAS, FORMER ISRAELI CONSUL GENERAL, NEW YORK: Reportedly, Hamas is unhappy with the plan because parallel to the idea, to the proposal, Israel pledged in the last two days, and you mentioned it in your introduction, Israel pledged to invade Rafah no matter what, with a deal or without a deal. So that's sort of a disincentive for Hamas.
Secondly, I don't know, and I don't know that anyone knows, what exactly is the command and control and communication streamline in Hamas. I don't know how decisions are made these days. It takes it a long time. The Egyptians, the Qataris attested to that effect, that it takes too long, and no one knows who makes the exact decision and why it takes so long, obviously because some of them are hiding in tunnels.
So that leads to the, you know, unfortunate and tragic conclusion that it's at 50 percent at best.
CHURCH: I mean, what is the advantage of Hamas not accepting this? Because, I mean, Blinken is saying, Secretary Blinken says it's incredibly generous. Do you agree with that?
PINKAS: Yeah. Well, I don't think that Hamas, and again, I don't know what's going on in their heads and what the decision-making process looks like. I don't think that they trust Israel's pledge to stop hostilities, to, you know, to adhere to a lengthy and prolonged ceasefire. And they think it's a game.
They think they will pay with the deal and then Israel will resume military activities three, four weeks later. They're not happy with the assurances they're getting from Qatar, from Egypt, and indirectly from the Americans. I think this is part of what Secretary Blinken tried to relay to them, that the assurances are real.
But there's another issue here, Rosemary. I don't know that Mr. Netanyahu wants that deal, because if the deal, as was reported, includes a lengthy and almost indefinite ceasefire, then the war ends with almost zero tangible achievements, and he is left with Israel in Gaza and the Gaza quagmire without any post-war Gaza plan.
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CHURCH: Russia's defense ministry is showing off dozens of Western tanks, weapons and other military hardware captured in Ukraine. The weapons are from some of Ukraine's staunchest allies, including a U.S.-made Abrams tank and a German Leopard 2 tank. The weapons are on display in Moscow ahead of Russia's Victory Day celebrations on May 9th, one of the biggest public holidays and marks the Soviet defeat of Nazi Germany.
Kyiv called the exhibition propaganda meant to discredit Western assistance. Ukraine has relied heavily on military aid from partners across the world, in particular the U.S., which just approved a new aid package worth $61 billion.
The five-month wait for Congress to approve that military aid to Ukraine may have caused lasting damage on the front lines. Russian forces have used the delay to make the largest advance since the early months of the war. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on Monday that vital U.S. weapons were finally starting to arrive in small amounts, but deliveries need to be faster as Moscow is able to throw vast resources at Ukraine's limited defenses. Listen to these Ukrainian servicemen on the front lines near Russian-occupied Donetsk.
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OLEKSANDR KOZACHENKO, HOWITZER COMMANDER, UKRAINE'S 148TH ARTILLERY BRIGADE (through translator): Of course, we don't have enough shells. If we compare with the beginning of the invasion, when we fired up to 100 shells a day to now, when we fire 30 shells, it's a luxury.
IHOR BOICHAK, ARTILLERY SERVICEMAN, UKRAINE'S 148TH ARTILLERY BRIGADE (through translator): We only know what amount of shells we get when we see the list of the day in the box with shells. If it happens that we get a bit allocated, then we fire more. If the list is small, then we don't fire much.
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CHURCH: Moscow's progress comes ahead of an expected Russian offensive in late May and has prompted senior Ukrainian military officials to warn of the risks to Kyiv's supply lines in the east.
In Georgia's capital, Tbilisi, a massive crowd of anti-government protesters gathered outside parliament as lawmakers passed the second reading of the foreign agents' bill.
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Critics call it the Russian law as they say it's inspired by laws used to suppress dissent by Vladimir Putin. It would require organizations to register as agents of foreign influence if they receive more than 20 percent of their funding from abroad. If the bill passes one more vote, it will become law. Georgia's health ministry says 11 people, including six police officers, were injured after police used tear gas and stun grenades during Wednesday's protests.
Coming up, rescuers are scrambling to help people reach safety as the floodwaters continue to rise in Kenya. We will have a live report. That's next.
Plus, dozens are killed in southern China when a highway collapses beneath their cars.
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CHURCH: In Kenya, we are seeing brief moments of hope after weeks of torrential rain and deadly floods. The Red Cross says 11 people were rescued from the floodwaters south of Nairobi on Wednesday and more than 90 were rescued in western Kenya where a riverbank broke. Tourist camps were flooded and tents swept away. The death toll from the flooding across Kenya is now approaching 200 with more heavy rain forecast for this month.
CNN's Larry Madowo joins me now from Nairobi. So, Larry, what is the latest on this deadly flooding across Kenya?
LARRY MADOWO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Rosemary, the rains continue across Kenya and sadly the casualty numbers keep rising. Right now, the government is saying 188 people have died from the heavy rains and the flooding we've seen in different parts of the country.
They have pulled out two more bodies from the scene of the flash floods, the worst that Kenya has seen in Mai Mahiu, just about an hour northwest of here, the capital Nairobi.
We've also seen extraordinary scenes at the world-famous Masai Mara National Reserve. Tourists are scrambling to get evacuated after the Talak River, a tributary of the Mara River burst its banks and swept through several tented camps and tourist lodges across its riverbanks.
There were cars submerged, sometimes entire buildings submerged in these raging waters in the Masai Mara. That popular park now having to close several camps, at least 14 have been closed because of that. At one camp, the Talak River Bush Camp, a quick-thinking Kenyan tour guide saved the lives of 14 tourists and 25 local staff members after he woke up and found some water in his tent. He shepherded them, all of them, to shelter on top of elevated water tanks and they were there getting rained on all night until they could get rescued in the morning. Listen to his account.
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JAMES APOLLOH, KENYAN TOUR GUIDE: When we came out of the tent, the water was already reaching in our waist. The water literally surrounded the entire camp. So we couldn't get out. Even the planes coming to rescue us couldn't come in time.
MICHAEL MUREITHI, KENYAN TOUR GUIDE: I hope all the other camps were, everyone was rescued because on our camp we made sure everyone was out. Unfortunately, my jeep did not survive and it's somewhere up there in the bushes. It was out there in the bushes.
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MADOWO: It's still probably out there. The waters are now subsiding. The Kenya Red Cross said it did rescue 90 people from the Masai Mara National Reserve, working with local and national governments there.
Kenya has seen these heavy rains since March and the forecast is there is still more rain to come. Rosemary.
CHURCH: Larry Madowo in Nairobi. Many thanks for that report.
At least 36 people have died after a section of highway in a mountainous region of southern China collapsed, sending cars plummeting down a hill. It happened in Guangdong province on Wednesday. Chinese state broadcaster CCTV reports that 30 people were hospitalized and that disaster response teams are on the scene.
Kristie Lu Stout joins me now from Hong Kong. So Kristie, what is the latest on this bridge collapse?
KRISTIE LU STOUT, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Rosemary, the death toll has been rising after that section of highway disintegrated. This happened before dawn on Wednesday. The death toll has risen to 36. Some 30 people are in hospital. This highway is located in the south of China, in Guangdong province.
And amid very heavy rain this rainy season, the road there just gave way. It just crumbled apart in the early hours of Wednesday, about 2:10 a.m. local time. And I want to show you some video that was widely shared on social media, a video that purports to show the aftermath of the disaster.
In this first clip, it shows you the initial emergency response with rescue workers at the scene in darkness. You see a raging fire where the road should have been.
And then in social media video that was taken after daybreak, it shows the very clear aftermath of this disaster, including that nearly 18- meter long gash in the earth. And when you see the daytime video, the aerial video, you could see dozens of cars in piles at the bottom of the ravine.
And you can also see the smoke rising from these charred vehicles as they're scattered across the side of this mountain. It's not clear who shot these videos, and CNN has not independently verified their authenticity.
Hundreds of rescue workers were sent to the scene. This disaster has injured dozens of people who are being treated in hospital and are said to be in stable condition. And this is taking place in Guangdong province, which is a very large province.
It's an economic powerhouse. It's home to 127 million people. And recently, it has seen very heavy rain, as well as widespread flooding, flooding that has also taken lives. And the flooding has displaced over 110,000 people. That's according to official estimates. And the heavy rain, that is what caused this disaster on this mountainside highway, that caused that section to literally disintegrate. Back to you.
CHURCH: All right. Our thanks to Kristie Lu Stout joining us live from Hong Kong.
The Israeli military is responding to questions from CNN about a deadly strike that killed 10 children. What they're saying, that's just ahead.
Plus, Haiti's new transitional council is slowly putting together a new government to reestablish security and order after months of brutal gang violence. We'll have details for you after the break.
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[03:30:00]
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ROSEMARY CHURCH, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome back, everyone. Well, the latest now on our breaking news on the standoff at the University of California Los Angeles, there is a massive police presence on campus right now. And it is clear they will at some point be moving into an encampment of pro-Palestinian protesters after the gathering was declared unlawful.
Now, exactly when that happens remains a mystery. Protesters have been chanting, we're not leaving. But some have actually left. It's after midnight local time at 12:31, to be exact. And the crowd has grown smaller.
Prisoner buses from the sheriff's department are waiting nearby. We are hearing it's the California Highway Patrol that will actually begin to break up that encampment because it is a state agency and this is state land. Now, this situation is playing out just one night after fighting broke out between the pro-Palestinian demonstrators and counter-protesters.
Now meanwhile, at Columbia University in New York, dramatic scenes played out as police officers moved into clear Hamilton Hall. That was Tuesday night, an academic building where demonstrators were barricaded. Journalists say they were blocked from entering the area and were unable to cover the arrests that night.
But CNN has now obtained body cam footage showing the New York Police Department breached the hall and CNN's John Miller gives us a closer look at that.
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JOHN MILLER, CNN CHIEF LAW ENFORCEMENT AND INTELLIGENCE ANALYST (voice-over): The retaking of Hamilton Hall by the NYPD. At the front door, students singing a protest song.
The first layer, a tangle of barricades.
Metal tables and chairs stacked and tied to the doorway outside.
Police break a window.
Through a vestibule, more furniture and debris.
The door chained shut.
Police use a high-powered electric saw.
Then a hydraulic tool, the Jaws of Life, in an attempt to breach the door. But it wouldn't budge.
Finally, they break through, confronted by another tangle, layers of furniture, chains and metal grating.
Police said, unable to see beyond the barricades, they deployed distraction devices upon entry.
With loud bangs and blinding flashes.
To disorient anyone who might have posed a threat.
It took six minutes and 40 seconds. To breach the layers of barricades, to reach the protesters who had been holding the building.
As one protester appears to advance towards police, a second protester wrestles him to the ground.
Police reach a stairwell.
And advance upwards through the building. Finding more locks, chains, barricades, but no more protesters. (END VIDEOTAPE)
CHURCH: Palestinian civil defense and hospital officials in Rafah say two children have been killed in an Israeli airstrike.
[03:35:03]
The attack, late Tuesday, hit the al-Shaboura refugee camp in the southern Gaza city and injured several other people. The Israel Defense Forces responded to a request for comment, saying the IDF is operating to dismantle Hamas and is taking precautions to mitigate civilian harm.
But it said remaining in an active combat zone has inherent risks. One man who survived the airstrike said he plans to leave, although it's not clear where he'll go next.
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MOHAMMED ABU YOUSSEF, INJURED IN AIRSTRIKE (through translator): I was spending the night at my relative's home. I came back home at around 9:30, 10 o'clock, prayed. And as I was turning around here to pick up two loaves of bread to make dinner, the rocket hit us. We did not do anything.
Do you see the ceiling? If it was made out of cement, then I would have lost all my children. What can we do? Where will we go? I'm waiting to get my tent to leave. I'm waiting for it so I can leave.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHURCH: That airstrike in Rafah comes just two weeks after 10 children were killed in a strike on a refugee camp in central Gaza. Now the Israeli military is responding to questions from CNN's Jeremy Diamond about that strike, as friends and family of the victims still mourn their loss. We want to warn you, some of the images in his report are graphic and difficult to watch.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): This grainy home video is the closest Mona Audatallah will ever get to seeing her 10-year-old daughter.
A stack of school certificates, a wardrobe of her favorite clothes, the perfume she used to wear. All that remains of the daughter Mona poured everything into.
There is no Shahed now. Every time she came in she said, Mom, I would say my soul, my soul, my soul is gone.
Shahed was one of 10 children killed when an Israeli airstrike hit the crowded street in the al-Maghazi refugee camp where she was playing with her friends.
Her pink pants, impossible to miss, among the small bodies splayed around a foosball table in the chaotic aftermath.
Two weeks later, the Israeli military still won't take responsibility for the strike that killed her.
CNN provided the IDF with the coordinates and time of the attack based on metadata from two different phones in the immediate aftermath.
The IDF said they did not have a record of that strike. They said they carried out a strike at a different time than described and that the collateral damage as described in the query is not known to the IDF. The IDF makes great efforts to mitigate harm to the civilian population from areas where strikes are being carried out.
Evidence recovered and documented by CNN at the scene of the strike paints a very different picture of Israeli military responsibility. This circuit board and bits of shrapnel, walls and shop steps distinctively pockmarked and a small crater barely a foot wide, all pointing three munitions experts to the same conclusion.
The carnage was likely caused by a precision-guided munition deployed by the Israeli military.
CHRIS COBB-SMITH, WEAPONS EXPERT: I've seen these strikes so many times. There's a relatively small crater in the road. There's no large shrapnel holes or fragmentation holes that would have been which would have been caused by, say, a mortar round or an artillery round. The fragmentation is consistent.
DIAMOND: So in your view, this strike was caused by a precision-guided drone fired missile.
COBB-SMITH: Absolutely. This is an Israeli munition. The local militias, the local forces do not have anything with this amount of sophistication.
DIAMOND (voice-over): Before carrying out the strike, Israeli drones would have surveilled the al-Maghazi refugee camp from above.
Seconds later, the missile hits the street below, landing in the middle of the road, just a few feet away from the foosball table where Shahed and her friends were playing that day, delivering certain death.
Against all odds, these children have returned to play at the very same foosball table, including some of Shahed's friends.
I miss her a lot, Sama says, wearing a necklace Shahed made her. She says she was nearly killed with her friend, going home moments before the strike to drink water.
Others were not as lucky. Eight-year-old Ahmed is fighting for his life, bleeding from his brain, his skull fractured. His chances of surviving are slim, his doctor explains. He is fighting not to become the 11th child killed in that same strike.
(END VIDEOTAPE) [03:40:00]
CHURCH: After months of gang violence that left the capital of Haiti in chaos, the country's transitional council has named a new council president and proposed a new interim prime minister. The nine-member council has several immediate tasks, including choosing a new cabinet, coordinating the arrival of a multinational security force to reclaim Port-au-Prince, and eventually holding elections.
Since February, gang violence in the capital Port-au-Prince has left the international airport and seaport inoperative, disrupting vital supplies of food and humanitarian aid, and left millions suffering from acute food insecurity.
Etienne Cote-Paluck is the editor-in-chief of "Haiti Weekly". He joins me now from Port-au-Prince. Appreciate you being with us.
ETIENNE COTE-PALUCK, EDITOR-IN-CHIEF, HAITI WEEKLY: My pleasure.
CHURCH: So Haiti has a new president and prime minister after gangs forced the previous government out of office amid growing chaos and violence in the country. The hope is that these choices by the newly- installed transitional national council will quell the violence and establish a stable new government. But instead, it appears to be dividing Haiti's transitional council. What is going on and what's the latest on this?
COTE-PALUCK: There's four members out of the seven voting members of that committee that made an alliance during Tuesday and yesterday by night in secret and decided on the new prime minister and decided that they will control the council itself, the four of them, and will probably decide who's forming the next government with the ministers.
They announced their choice as prime minister. The three other members rejected that choice and asked that they respect the original accord, which said that they should have different parties having different candidates for the prime minister before holding a vote together.
CHURCH: So why is the choice for Prime Minister Fritz Belize a little known former sports minister causing so much concern and what all do we know about him? What does he bring to the table?
COTE-PALUCK: He's a not well-known politician in Haiti. He was a minister in 2007. And really, it's someone that is out of a hat. Like we said, nobody really heard I've heard his name before. But it seems like the four different political parties and groups that decided to vote to have him as the next prime minister concluded that it was a political accord between them that would help the country further. But still, tonight, we just heard that they took a step back and now are open to other suggestions as prime minister.
CHURCH: What about the man chosen by the panel to be president, former presidential candidate Edgar Leblanc-Fils, and what does he bring to the table?
COTE-PALUCK: He's a well-known politician in Haiti. He was the president of the Senate at one point. He's from an old party that is well known. So he was not everybody's choice on the table. But the process to elect him was unanimous, and there was no reaction out of it. Everybody was content with what happened. But it's the choice of prime minister that didn't get through the proper channels that really irritated the three opposed members.
CHURCH: And the transitional council still has to choose a cabinet and eventually hold new elections. How soon will all that happen and how precarious is this whole process as heavy gunfire and violence continues to envelop the capital and, of course, neighboring regions?
COTE-PALUCK: Yes, and it's really a political discussion right now, really tense here in Port-au-Prince. All the parties are talking to each other, but also through the press. So we really don't know the outcome of it.
But for now, we're all waiting to see what's going to be, especially for the security and then for maybe for an election. But right now, what's on everybody's mind is get back some sense of security in Port- au-Prince.
Again, tonight, there was attacks in two neighborhoods we just heard of. So every week, it's different parts of the town that is attacked. Now, the majority of Port-au-Prince is now controlled by some armed groups.
[03:45:02]
The other parts, the free parts, that's where the activities are. But all the schools are still closed.
Most of the activities have been down for the last two months. So the people here are really suffering. There's people displaced from their neighborhoods all the time every week. So it's really a hard, hard situation here. Everything is stopped. The city is in siege in some ways by those groups. So we're all waiting to see what's going to be the response to it, how the police is going to have new plans to maybe attack a bit and take back some of the neighborhoods that were lost.
CHURCH: Etienne Cote-Paluck, thank you so much for talking with us. I Appreciate it.
COTE-PALUCK: It was my pleasure.
CHURCH: British regulators are investigating the adult website OnlyFans over a report it's not doing enough to prevent children accessing pornography on its platform. Ofcom is also accusing the platform of not complying with their request for information. A spokesperson for OnlyFans says they use an age verification system, but a technical issue led to a reporting error and they work with regulators to ensure best practices.
Still to come, Donald Trump returns to the campaign trail where his anger over his criminal hush money trial was again front and center at a number of rallies.
Plus, a stricter abortion law takes effect in Florida. What the U.S. Vice President is saying about the new restrictions.
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CHURCH: A more restrictive abortion law just went into effect in Florida and it will likely affect thousands of people seeking reproductive care within the first month. The law cuts the 15-week ban down to a six-week ban before most women even know they're pregnant.
New data reveals more than 1,300 women traveled from other states to Florida to get an abortion so far this year. U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris was on the campaign trail in Florida on Wednesday and she blamed Donald Trump for the new law.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KAMALA HARRIS, U.S. VICE PRESIDENT: Across our nation, we witness a full-on assault, state-by-state, on reproductive freedom. And understand who is to blame. Former President Donald Trump did this. Joe Biden and I have a different view. We believe the government should never come between a woman and her doctor.
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CHURCH: Donald Trump was back on the campaign trail for the first time since the start of his criminal hush money trial. The Republican presidential frontrunner held rallies in Wisconsin and Michigan Wednesday. Two battleground states he won in 2016 but lost in 2020.
[03:50:09]
A day earlier, the judge in Trump's trial fined him for violating a gag order and warned jail time could be next if he does it again. But the order does not prevent Trump from taking shots at the judge.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: There's no crime. I have a crooked judge. He's a totally conflicted judge. So I got indicted four times. Then I have civil trials too. All coming out of the White House. Everything. Like a third world country. And the good news is people get it. Most importantly, people get it. And my poll numbers are higher than they've ever been. I mean, higher than they've ever been.
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CHURCH: CNN's Kristen Holmes has more on Trump's rally in Michigan.
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KRISTEN HOLMES, CNN U.S. NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, here in Michigan, Donald Trump railing against his New York hush money case, talking about that gag order, complaining about the judge this coming the same week that Judge Merchan, the judge in that case fined him $9,000 after he ruled that he had violated his gag order. He did appear to stay within the parameters tonight.
In addition to talking about his various legal problems, Donald Trump focused on abortion, on crime, on the economy and hit Biden. This is an earlier event in Wisconsin over those campus protests, a place where he and his team believe that there is an opportunity as they see his rival, President Joe Biden, sort of scramble and try to navigate this very sensitive topic. Take a listen to what he said.
TRUMP: But he hasn't been hurt from, you know, he's the president. When you have a problem like that, you should go out and talk about it and talk to the people.
HOLMES: And in the same speech, Donald Trump pointed to a CBS report that said that the Biden administration was considering letting in certain Palestinians who are fleeing from the war in Gaza into the United States as refugees, soaking fear about immigration, saying that these people would be in the various towns and cities in which his rally attendees live in.
Donald Trump also focusing again, crime, the economy, trying to take advantage of the one day a weekday a week that he doesn't have in a New York City courtroom. He will be back in court on Thursday morning and back at those cameras to talk about the case.
Kristen Holmes, CNN, Michigan.
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CHURCH: When we come back, they are a symbol of unconditional love and a hallmark of spring. And now they're being threatened by a warming planet. We'll explain.
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CHURCH: A beloved springtime flower is being threatened by climate change, with wetter winters and hotter temperatures proving to be a deadly combination for tulips. Here's CNN's Lynda Kinkade.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
LYNDA KINKADE, CNN ANCHOR AND CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Springtime is bloom time for tulips, the flower, a sign of unconditional love, rebirth and forgiveness.
From afar, these majestic blooms in the Netherlands look like a perfect field of budding pink and red tulips. But up close, they're suffering.
These fields have grown generations of tulips, with Arjan Smit's family overseeing operations since 1940.
But climate change is changing their production year after year.
ARJAN SMIT, TULIP FARMER: Last winter, it was very wet, totally in our sector. We lost around eight to nine percent of the bulbs in the fields. They kill by water. And we were planting also four hectares, four percent of the total less.
[03:55:05]
KINKADE (voice-over): Smit says with this change, they'll lose at least 13 percent of next year's bulbs. Higher temperatures add more water vapor to the Earth's atmosphere and cause wetter winters.
SMIT: And what you see here is the damage from the water.
KINKADE (voice-over): Hotter springs and summers are also less than ideal for farming. When Smit began this work 30 years ago, he says they only watered the fields two to four times in spring. Now he says sometimes they have to water them every week. But the changing climate is not the only challenge. Farmers say Brexit and its increased border controls could have negative repercussions for tulip farmers.
SMIT: I think it costs export from the Netherlands, from the flower industry, to send to England. Because sometimes it happens that trucks stay many days waiting by the border before they can pass.
KINKADE (voice-over): Even with an uncertain future, Smit stays positive, recalling the smiles his flowers brought when he donated them to the people of Ukraine.
SMIT: I was silent there. People comes to me, they tell me with tears in their eyes and shaking their voice, thank you for the flowers. It means for us a little bit mentally healthy. That gives you so, then everybody can say what they want, but we need flowers. They need tulips, more different varieties, more colors, happiness.
KINKADE (voice-over): Lynda Kinkade, CNN.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CHURCH: For the first time, astronomers have determined that a potentially hazardous asteroid flying near Earth came from the moon. The space rock, known as 2016 HO3, orbits the sun but sticks close to our planet. It's about half the size of the London Eye Ferris wheel.
Scientists say the rock appears to have come from an impact crater on the far side of the moon, unlike most near-Earth asteroids, which originate between Mars and Jupiter. Their modeling suggests an object hit the moon millions of years ago, digging out the chunk of rock. The findings could lead to other revelations, including how the ingredients for life made their way to Earth.
And thank you so much for spending part of your day with me. I'm Rosemary Church. "CNN Newsroom" continues next with Max Foster.
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