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CNN International: Police Poised to Clear Out UCLA Pro- Palestinian Encampment; Israel Reopens Erez Crossing for Aid Deliveries to Gaza; Red Cross: Dozens Rescued from Flood Across Kenya; 48 Killed in Highway Collapse in Southern China; Inside View of Pro- Palestinian Encampment at UCLA Campus. Aired 4-4:30a ET

Aired May 02, 2024 - 04:00   ET

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

[04:00:00]

MAX FOSTER, CNN ANCHOR: Hello and a warm welcome to our viewers joining us from around the world. I'm Max Foster. It's Thursday, May the 2nd, 9 a.m. here in London, 1 a.m. in Los Angeles, where we've been following breaking news for you.

A standoff, a test of wills and a waiting game all unfolding at UCLA. Officers from multiple law enforcement agencies have poured into the campus where they maintained a presence for hours now, after warning pro-Palestinian protesters to disperse.

Anytime now, we are expecting officers to begin clearing out those protesters after their encampment was declared unlawful. It sprung up about a week ago. We're getting our first look inside.

Part of the encampment includes Royce Hall, a performing arts center and concert hall. That's hosted greats like Frank Sinatra, Ella Fitzgerald and Leonard Bernstein. And as you can see, it's now covered in spray paints, barricades and other makeshift barriers.

Until recently, law enforcement at UCLA had been minimal. But the sentiment now seems to be enough is enough. Violence erupted on campus about 24 hours ago with clashes breaking out between the pro- Palestinian demonstrators and counter protesters.

And the governor made it clear he wanted a stronger law enforcement presence. Prisoner buses from the L.A. County Sheriff's Department are now parked near the campus, waiting to haul off anyone who's arrested. CNN's Nick Watt is live for us at the scene, Nick?

NICK WATT, CNN U.S. NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Max, as you say, tensions have been building over the past six or seven hours since just before sundown. Rumors swirled that the California Highway Patrol was going to be going into that encampment tonight. So what happened is a lot of pro-Palestinian protesters gathered around the encampment to give their support and also to create, frankly, a headache for law enforcement.

Now, we've just heard within the past half hour or so more dispersal orders being given to people inside that camp. And what you're looking at here is a pro-Palestinian crowd faced by Los Angeles Police Department officers facing them. The sheriff's department also involved in trying to control this crowd outside the encampment.

And then further in, I don't know if you could even see those barricades. That is the camp. And then California Highway Patrolmen are ready to move in.

Now, they are wearing helmets. They've got gas masks. They are scared of bear spray in there. They're also concerned of human waste. You mentioned that camp's been there for a week. So I am told by a source that it will be a slow, methodical process and that anybody who is in that camp, they're being given a chance to get out.

Anybody who remains in that camp will be arrested. So they will then be taken to those buses. Now, we've heard lulls every time more California Highway Patrolmen walk past. Every time more LAPD officers file into this sort of buffer zone behind me. The crowd boos. We've had water bottles thrown at California Highway Patrol.

Shame on you. Shame on you is the chant. Now, for most of this week, this camp has been pretty calm.

Few scuffles here and there, but low, low law enforcement presence and pretty calm. Then last night, some counter protesters, some pro-Israel protesters, students and clearly people who were not students basically attacked the camp. Fireworks were thrown. Chemicals were sprayed. There were physical altercations. And that is when the decision was clearly made to ramp up the law enforcement presence here.

The governor of California really insisted that all of these police, sheriff's department, highway patrolmen came in. And we heard six or seven hours ago that they were going to be moving into that camp.

It's now the middle of the night here just after 1 a.m. Clearly, they were hoping that this crowd would disperse, making it easier for them to carry out the encampment sweep without having to deal with hundreds of other people outside. It's 1 a.m. This crowd is still pretty thick -- Max.

FOSTER: The police will obviously be very concerned about inflaming tensions.

[04:05:00]

You'd expect the pro-Palestinian protesters to resist being moved. They can probably handle that. But what will the reaction be from the counter protesters, do you think, to all of this? Is there a concern that they may react to the decampment?

WATT: Well, there are no pro-Israeli counter protesters right now. There was a small bunch of them here earlier. They have left.

This is now a fully, let's say, 99 percent pro-Palestinian crowd. They will obviously react badly when the California Highway Patrolmen move in. And we've seen over the past hour, atmosphere getting a little more tense. We've seen more people who, I hesitate to say, but look like they're here for a fight rather than to support a cause. And they have been gathering where we just were, just around the side of Royce Hall, where you mentioned, where they can actually see into the camp.

Now, there are a lot of people wearing helmets, wearing goggles. They've set up medical stations, the protesters. They've been handing out eye solution. They're obviously concerned that there's going to be tear gas.

They have been getting ready, frankly, for some chaos. And the LAPD have been lining up in greater and greater numbers. The crowd is really bigger, I think, than any law enforcement was really imagining here.

And that's why the Sheriff's Department has also been brought in to try to deal with this. They want this over tonight. They want this camp cleared out.

This was always an illegal encampment, but UCLA was really working with them. They let the protesters basically control who came in and out of the camp. And frankly, a lot of Jewish students on campus were feeling uncomfortable.

A lot of other students just wanted to be able to walk around their own campus, and they weren't allowed to. And then particularly since yesterday, the pro-Palestinians inside that encampment say that they feel really threatened, because the law enforcement response last night, when they were attacked by these pro-Israel counter-protesters, law enforcement just kept way back. I mean, the governor really decried that as a terrible response.

So today we have seen a very different scene. So many highway patrolmen, so many LAPD on campus, all building up to a moment that is going to happen any minute now, which will be California Highway Patrolmen moving into that encampment and making arrests -- Max.

FOSTER: I don't know if you had a chance to speak to any students who aren't involved in any of this, because obviously there's been a huge amount of disruption to their lives. You know, this is a big investment for them to be at college and to just try to do their work, and they're having all that disruption.

We should also point out some of the nuances here, because there are obviously some Jewish supporters, Jewish students who've been supporting the pro-Palestinian campaign here.

Also, lots of pro-Palestinian students who want nothing to do with this because they think it's a really bad look. So it's quite nuanced, isn't it? And there's a lot of people that have been affected by this who aren't directly involved.

WATT: Correct. I mean, a small number of Jewish pro-Palestinian protests. I mean, we spoke to a guy, really interesting guy, Milagro Jones, on Friday, who is a young black American man who used to be homeless, managed to get a diploma while he was incarcerated, made it to UCLA. He has no dog in this fight. He's not supporting the Palestinians or the Israelis. But he's saying, I worked really hard to get here, so I want to walk wherever I want on my campus.

So he walked into the encampment and it did not go well. He was surrounded by the pro-Palestinian protesters who wouldn't let him leave. It was an ugly scene, but he was making a point.

Listen, this is an enormous university, more than 40,000 students, undergraduate and postgraduate. And, you know, at some points this week, there have been maybe 100 people inside that encampment. So it is a very small group of people really having a huge impact on a massive student body.

Tonight, I would say that there are a few thousand people out here. And listen, some of them are out for a bit of fun. Some of them don't really know what they're protesting about, to be perfectly honest.

Some of them are genuinely very invested and very passionate. And it's all going to come to a head within the next, I would guess, hour or so.

FOSTER: OK, Nick Watt in Los Angeles, thank you so much. And we'll be back with you as soon as we have any movement there. Thank you.

The college protests have put U.S. President Joe Biden in a bad spot as he seeks re-election with the war in Gaza dividing some Democrats. His administration has condemned the forceful takeover of campus buildings and instances of anti-Semitism while remaining mindful of students' right to protest

[04:10:00]

According to the White House press secretary, President Biden will drive home the need to fight anti-Semitism when he delivers the keynote address next week at the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum's annual remembrance ceremony.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KARINE JEAN-PIERRE, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: The president is being kept regularly updated on what's happening, as you just stated, across the country. He is monitoring the situation closely, so is his team. And I would just add that no president, no president has spoken more forcefully about combating anti-Semitism than this president.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FOSTER: The university protests haven't been limited to the U.S., with demonstrations popping up in campuses from Europe to Australia. Students set up an encampment at Newcastle University in England on Wednesday featuring tents, banners and Palestinian flags. But unlike the chaotic scenes we've been seeing in the U.S., the Newcastle protests remain peaceful.

Two children are amongst the most recent victims of an Israeli airstrike, meanwhile, on the southern Gaza city of Rafah. Palestinian officials say the Al-Shaboura refugee camp was targeted late on Tuesday. The Israel Defense Forces say operations are underway in the area to dismantle Hamas, but precautions are being taken to mitigate civilian harm.

Meanwhile, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken has wrapped up his 11th, sorry, 7th visit to the Middle East since the war in Gaza began. He again urged Hamas to take the hostage and ceasefire deal currently on the table and reiterated to Israel that the U.S. will not support a major military operation in Rafah without an effective plan to protect civilians.

Israel says it's expanding humanitarian aid corridors for civilians in southern Gaza, while in the north, a convoy of 31 trucks from Jordan entered Gaza on Wednesday. A day earlier, Israel said more than 300 aid trucks were allowed into the enclave.

Israel officially reopened the Erez crossing for aid deliveries into northern Gaza for the first time since October 7th. The U.S. Secretary of State praised the move but says more still needs to be done.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ANTONY BLINKEN, U.S. SECRETARY OF STATE: 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)

FOSTER: CNN's senior international correspondent Ben Wedeman has spent decades covering Gaza, often from inside the enclave as well. And Ben, finally, the Erez crossing is open, allowing aid into Gaza, but how much is this going to help at this point?

BEN WEDEMAN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: It's difficult to say. Keep in mind, of course, the Erez crossing in the past was only for people, not for goods. So it had to be reconverted to a cargo crossing.

It's still also worth noting that Israel continues to bar international journalists from entering Gaza. We used to go through the Erez crossing, but that hasn't happened. No one, no journalists have entered Gaza through the Erez crossing since before the 7th of October.

Now, the Israelis are now saying that they're doing all they can to allow humanitarian aid into Gaza. That was after the U.S. put extreme pressure on the Netanyahu government to allow more aid in, but there continue to be complications. The Jordanian convoy that was trying to get into northern Gaza was actually attacked by Israeli civilians who don't -- certain extremists who don't want aid to enter Gaza until all the hostages were released. Now, Israeli police, when it comes to, for instance, Palestinian demonstrations inside Israel or the West Bank, are very quick and able to stop any protests, but we're seeing that they somehow, for some reason, can't stop Israelis from attacking a Jordanian convoy going in.

So the United States continues to pay lip service to the idea that Israel needs to do more, but beyond words, doesn't seem to be putting much pressure on the Israelis to finally allow unfettered access to aid groups to get the humanitarian supplies into the Gaza Strip, where malnutrition and starvation continue to be a problem for the civilians inside of Gaza -- Max.

FOSTER: You're watching Nick there in L.A. reporting on these pro- Palestinian protests and how they're blowing up across the U.S., how law enforcement is reacting as well.

[04:15:00]

I wonder how much this is playing into the debates there in the region because, obviously, it's putting pressure on the U.S. government.

WEDEMAN: Well, yes, I mean, keep in mind that the United States is very quick to criticize Russia, Iran, and others when it comes to crackdown on peaceful protests, but what we're seeing at the moment is, in the United States, what appears to be a nationwide paramilitary crackdown on student protests at universities across the United States, but it seems that the United States doesn't quite understand that this is being viewed as hypocrisy. We've seen, for instance, people expressing support in Gaza for the protests in the United States.

In Europe, many people are simply fed up. We're now almost seven months that this war has been going on. The United States, which is the major supplier of weaponry and political support to Israel, has expressed concern about the loss of civilian life, but certainly in Europe, people who've been watching it for the last seven months don't quite understand why the United States, on the one hand, seems to be giving writing a blank check for Israel when it comes to weaponry, and at the same time is cracking down on protests against the war in the United States. And people here in Europe are watching and scratching their heads, not understanding what's going on with the United States and in the United States -- Max.

FOSTER: Ben Wedeman in Rome, thank you.

In Kenya, we're seeing brief moments of hope after weeks of torrential rain and deadly floods. The Red Cross says 11 people were rescued from the floodwaters from an area south of Nairobi on Wednesday, and more than 90 were rescued in western Kenya, where a riverbank broke.

Tourist camps were flooded with tents, they were swept away. The death toll from the flooding across Kenya is now approaching 200, with more heavy rain forecast for this month as well.

CNN's Larry Madowo joins me now live. As we say, the forecast is showing this isn't going away, it's tragic.

LARRY MADOWO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It's not going away, Max. The forecast expects even more heavy to very heavy rainfall in many parts of the country, and the government has said this enhanced rainfall, as they're calling it, is because of the El Nino weather phenomenon. President William Ruto has gone even further and said the people suffering these effects are victims of climate change.

Right now, 188 people, according to the government, have been killed in heavy flooding across the country. Almost 200,000 people have been displaced. And we're seeing scenes like this all across the country.

Rivers swelling, some bursting their banks, people having to be moved on short notice because of flash flooding. Some of the worst we saw was in Mai Mahiu, just an hour northwest of here, Nairobi. But we also saw in the Masai Mara National Reserve, this world-famous game park, several tented camps having to be closed, tourists evacuated, at least 90 people were evacuated, and more than a dozen tented camps having to be closed.

After the Talek River burst its banks, it's a tributary of the Mara River, and there are so many tourist properties around the banks of that river, and they were all overnight shocked with this raging floodwaters. Some in one camp had to go to elevated water tanks just to be safe throughout the night until they were rescued in the morning. And because the roads are impassable, the local authorities, the Kenya Red Cross, the national government were using helicopters to try and pull them out of where they were.

Listen to this one tour guide.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

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, 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.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MADOWO: He might be able to pull his jeep out of the bushes if the waters keep subsiding, as they report. However, it keeps raining, so the fear of flooding is not completely gone. In fact, the local authorities there in Nauru County are telling any more hotels that continue to have people, any residents there to move to higher ground, and the authorities have said if anybody remains there, they will take action against them because that is considered attempted suicide.

That is the real danger here, not just in tourist facilities, but across the country, that as the rains continue, the ground is saturated, the possibility of floods becomes extremely elevated -- Max.

FOSTER: OK, Larry in Nairobi, thank you so much.

[04:20:02]

At least 48 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 team is still on the scene.

Kristie is joining us with the very latest on how on earth they manage this. Hi.

KRISTIE LU STOUT, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Max, you just reported on that grim update to this ongoing story, this disaster that we're following closely here at CNN. The death toll just continues to rise after that chunk of highway collapsed before dawn on Wednesday. The death toll has risen to 48.

This is according to the Meizhou City Party Secretary. 30 people are in hospital. This highway that you see here on your screen is located in the south of China in Guangdong province.

It has been experiencing very heavy rain, and amid the heavy rain, the highway there just disintegrated in the early hours of Wednesday at around 2:10 a.m. local time. We want to show you video that we've been collecting and monitoring, video that's been widely circulating on social media that purport to show the disaster. And in this clip, it shows the initial emergency response. Rescue workers, ambulances on the scene in darkness, and you see a raging fire where the road should have been.

And then in social media video that was taken in daylight, it shows very clearly the aftermath, including the 18-meter-long gash in the earth. Aerial drone video shows dozens of cars that are in piles at the bottom of a ravine next to the collapsed highway.

And you can also see the smoke rising from these charred vehicles scattered across the side of the mountain in Guangdong. It is not clear who shot these videos, and CNN has not been able to independently verify these videos. Hundreds of rescue workers were sent there to the scene.

This disaster has injured dozens of people. They're being treated in hospital. They're said to be in stable condition, according to local authorities.

And Guangdong Province is this major province in the south of China. It's home to 127 million people. Every year this time of year, it sees heavy rain, but it's seen very heavy rain this season, which has led to widespread flooding.

It has been so bad, it's displaced over 110,000 people. And the heavy rain has also caused this section of highway to literally crumble apart and disintegrate. And, Max, just want to add that this happened at a time when many

people were on the road just starting their vacation. On Wednesday, it was the start of China's Labor Day holiday. Back to you.

FOSTER: Kristie in Hong Kong, thank you.

Much more to come on our breaking news from LA, where law enforcement appears poised to break up a pro-Palestinian protest encampment on the UCLA campus. That could happen at any time.

Also ahead, Russia calls these trophy weapons from its so-called special operation in Ukraine. Tanks and weapons from the U.S. and Ukraine's other allies are now on display in Moscow.

And Donald Trump will be back in court today, just a day after he returned to the campaign trail where he again blasted his criminal hush money trial and the judge overseeing that case.

[04:25:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

FOSTER: Taking you to UCLA in Los Angeles. We're expecting the pro- Palestinian camp to be removed by police. They're certainly in position to do that. We haven't seen any movement just yet. It's pretty tense there.

Graeme Blair is an Associate Professor of Political Science at UCLA. He's in Los Angeles, right by the encampment. Take us through what you're seeing, Graeme.

Hi, Graeme. Can you hear me?

GRAEME BLAIR, UCLA ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR: I'm currently standing here in front of officers from a California law enforcement agency. I'm standing here in a line of 15 faculty who have come out here to support students' right to protest peacefully. These students have been out here for five days and they've been demanding that the University of California divest.

And they've been learning about the history of Palestine and talking to each other about the challenging issues that face us today. And the University of California and the State of California of Los Angeles have decided to send in the police to clear them out after an extraordinary and violent set of attacks last night. I wish they decided not to send in the police to protect them from a set of violent attacks.

These are police who are carrying non-lethal rounds.

FOSTER: How are they going to react when the police go in?

BLAIR: To protect our students. I'm showing you another set of students. These students are here peacefully and are just asking for the right to express their ideas on campus, which really is what an academic community should be all about. FOSTER: You've got the students within the encampment. You've also got pro-Palestinian supporters outside the encampment. What's going to happen when the police go in?

So we're looking here at pictures of the police lining up around the encampment and we're speaking to a professor who's supporting the pro- Palestinian supporters.

Professor, just explain what you think is going to happen when the police go in.

BLAIR: We're here to support the students for the rest of the night and if that means that we're erected alongside with them, that's what we're willing to do because we want to send the message to UCLA administration, to the Regents of the University of California, that students simply have the right to protest peacefully and to talk about their ideas.

And so, we're all expecting to be arrested in just a few minutes given that we're standing in front of here and a set of professors have stayed here and decided that they want to take that calculated risk in support of our students. Hundreds of whom who are here right now are also facing that risk to ask the university to change its investment policies to minimize its contribution to the genocide in Palestine.

And we think that they should be allowed to have their discussion. That's why we're out here and preparing to be arrested by these officers that have been authorized by the Chancellor of UCLA, Gene Block, the senior administration and we understand if that sign off from the Mayor of Los Angeles, the Governor of Los Angeles, Gavin Newsom and we're ashamed of the fact that we are faculty at this institution.

FOSTER: The Chancellor is your boss. There's a lot of sympathy for the fact that, you know, students should be able to protest. Should professors be getting involved? Why are you getting involved?

BLAIR: I think that's a great question and we've been out here for the last five days because we've seen at campuses across the country that the right under the American First Amendment for free expression and free speech has not been defended by universities who should be the primary defender of those rights. And so after seeing the incursions into the Columbia campus and at Emory, at Northeastern and around the country we felt that students -- that we could come here and help demand that our administration not ...

[04:30:00]