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CNN International: Hamas: Studying Ceasefire Deal with Positive Spirit; U.S. Defense Secretary Warns Israel Over Rafah Incursion; Los Angeles Police Clear Pro-Palestinian Encampment at UCLA; Demonstrators Rally in Tbilisi Against Controversial Bill; Stormy Daniels' Ex-Lawyer Testifies; Trump Laying Foundation to Challenge 2024 Election Results. Aired 4-4:30a ET
Aired May 03, 2024 - 04:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[04:00:00]
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: There should be no place on any campus, no place in America for antisemitism or threats of violence against Jewish students.
BENJAMIN NETANYAHU, ISRAELI PRIME MINISTER: If we have to stand alone we will stand alone. If it is possible to recruit the Gentiles that's good but if we don't protect ourselves no one will protect us.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: At least 97 members of the press have been killed in what the Committee to Protect Journalists has termed the deadliest period for media workers since its records began.
ANNOUNCER: Live from Atlanta this is CNN NEWSROOM with Kim Brunhuber.
KIM BRUNHUBER, CNN ANCHOR: Hello and welcome to all of you watching us around the world I'm Kim Brunhuber. It's Friday May 3rd 4 a.m. here in Atlanta, 11 a.m. in Gaza where a Hamas political leader says the group is studying the latest hostage and ceasefire proposal, quote, with positive spirit. Ismail Haniyeh spoke with Egyptian and Qatari officials on Thursday. Hamas says it plans to send a delegation to Egypt as soon as possible to continue ceasefire talks.
The U.S. Defense Secretary is delivering a warning to Israel over its planned military operation in the southern Gaza City of Rafah. He says there's a good chance we'll see a lot of civilian casualties unless Israel takes the right steps to evacuate people. Meanwhile, the Israeli Prime Minister met with Holocaust survivors in Jerusalem.
Benjamin Netanyahu is facing growing international opposition to the war in Gaza. He told the group he welcomes but does not expect non- Jewish support. Here he is.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BENJAMIN NETANYAHU, ISRAELI PRIME MINISTER: If we have to stand alone we will stand alone. If it is possible to recruit the Gentiles that's good but if we don't protect ourselves no one will protect us.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BRUNHUBER: CNN's 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, bring us up to speed on the latest on the hostage negotiations.
BEN WEDEMAN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well we are waiting, we are waiting, Kim, to find out whether this is just another round of unsuccessful exchanges in terms of negotiations or it's actually going to achieve something. Ismail Haniyeh one of the senior leaders of Hamas has been in touch with Abbas Kamel who's the head of Egyptian intelligence as well as the foreign minister of Qatar. And he said as you said that they're sort of there's positive aspects to this Egyptian proposal.
They're going to be sending in a delegation to Cairo to continue talking with the Egyptians who are, of course, important intermediaries between Israel and Hamas.
And the Israelis are also talking positively on the one hand about moving forward with the negotiations but the signals continue to be mixed. Prime Minister Netanyahu who's under intense pressure from extreme right-wing members of his cabinet has said that the Rafah operation that Israel has talked about now for months is going to go ahead with or without a deal.
The problem is that the deal that's being considered is talking about a ceasefire or at least a temporary halt in the fighting but if Israel goes ahead with an operation well that sort of contradicts the whole purpose of these negotiations -- Kim.
BRUNHUBER: Yes, as we've mentioned, I mean concern is growing over that planned military incursion into Rafah. So what more are we learning about the operations and, you know, trying to safely get people out there?
WEDEMAN: Well what we've heard for instance from the United Nations is they think that the 1.4 million people who are in Rafah at the moment, who have taken refuge there, it's simply impossible to actually move them and provide them elsewhere with decent sanitation, food, shelter and whatnot. We heard from Lloyd Austin, the U.S. Defense Secretary, saying that it's simply not possible at this point to conduct an operation in Rafah and spare the civilians there.
[04:05:02]
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LLOYD AUSTIN, U.S. DEFENSE SECRETARY: What we've highlighted for the Israelis is that it's really important to make sure that the civilians that are in that battle space move out of the battle space before any activity is conducted. And that when -- if and when they return to any kind of operation that it being conducted in a more -- much more precise fashion. You know, without taking the right measures that the civilians will be, you know, civilians will see a lot more civilian casualties going forward.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WEDEMAN: And in fact, Austin went on to say that the right conditions now are not favorable for any kind of operation in Rafah -- Kim.
BRUNHUBER: All right, thanks so much Ben Wedeman in Rome.
The top U.S. intelligence official warns Congress that Iran-backed militias continue to plan attacks on U.S. forces in the Middle East despite an apparent pause in carrying them out. The Director of National Intelligence spoke to the Senate Armed Forces Committee on Thursday telling them it's not clear when attacks might resume. Iran- backed militia groups in Iraq and Syria ramped up attacks on U.S. troops in the region after war erupted between Israel and Hamas. Three U.S. service members in Jordan were killed by one of those groups in January. U.S. responded with broad strikes and since then the attacks have largely ceased.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
AVRIL HAINES, U.S. DIRECTOR OF NATIONAL INTELLIGENCE: The crisis has galvanized violence by a range of actors around the world. Both Al Qaeda and ISIS inspired by Hamas have directed supporters to conduct attacks against Israel and U.S. interests demonstrating yet again the degree to which so many threat streams have system effects.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BRUNHUBER: The European Union will provide Lebanon with a billion dollars in financial aid to help address what it calls a volatile situation in the region. EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen says the security of both Lebanon and Israel is at stake. She announced the aid after a meeting in Beirut on Thursday with the leaders of Lebanon and Cyprus.
She says it'll include support for the Lebanese military and security forces mainly focused on equipment and training. The three leaders say they're deeply concerned about security in southern Lebanon where there's been regular cross-border fire between Israel and the Iran- backed Hezbollah since October.
For the past few weeks, the U.S. President has publicly said little about the unrest gripping certain college campuses, drawing criticism from Republicans. But that changed on Thursday when Joe Biden warned that, quote, violent protest is not protected. Police have now arrested more than 2,000 pro-Palestinian demonstrators over the past few weeks on at least 40 college campuses in at least 24 states. Biden acknowledged the right to free speech and peaceful protest but he stressed, quote, we are not a lawless country and order must prevail. He added that there is no place in the U.S. for antisemitism or Islamophobia. Here he is.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Trespassing, breaking windows, shutting down campuses, forcing the cancellation of classes and graduations. None of this is a peaceful protest. Dissent is essential to democracy, but dissent must never lead to disorder.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Has the protests forced you to reconsider any of the policies with regard to the region?
BIDEN: No.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BRUNHUBER: And Biden also dismissed calls to involve the National Guard.
Meanwhile, tensions have been simmering at the University of Pennsylvania. Administrators at the Ivy League institution say protest activity has been escalating at the encampment and they've asked for a stronger police presence. So far, there have been no arrests.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
EYAL YAKOBY, UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA STUDENT: I know I speak for myself and every other student and faculty as well, that we really just want to return to the classroom without fear and without having to worry about protesters storming in like we saw at Columbia and really just wrapping up the semester and then working on building back our community.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BRUNHUBER: The pro-Palestinian encampment at the University of California Los Angeles is gone now. The dismantling and cleanup got underway on Thursday with bulldozers used to fill dumpsters and trash bins. That's after police launched a pre-dawn operation to clear the encampment that authorities had deemed unlawful.
210 people were arrested on Thursday. The mayor of Los Angeles said harassment, vandalism and violence have no place at UCLA or anywhere in the city. CNN's Camila Bernal shows us how the police action unfolded.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CAMILA BERNAL, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Violent, tense and chaotic scenes at UCLA.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Get back!
BERNAL (voice-over): More than 200 arrested as hundreds of law enforcement officers using flashbangs, batons and what appeared to be rubber bullets to disperse more than 200 pro-Palestinian protesters from a university encampment.
[04:10:04]
ALEJANDRO RUBIO, SUPERVISOR, CALIFORNIA HIGHWAY PATROL, SOUTHERN DIVISION: We had fire extinguishers thrown at us, smoke thrown at us, water bottles and other various items.
BERNAL (voice-over): Officers moved in at around 3 in the morning. Police gained ground, breaking makeshift barriers, clearing tents and belongings and detaining protesters one by one.
CROWD, CHANTING: We will not stop! We will not stop!
BERNAL (voice-over): The mostly peaceful encampment was set up a week ago. But violence erupted during counter-protest on Sunday. And even more tense moments overnight Tuesday, leaving at least 15 injured.
CROWD: We will not stop!
BERNAL (voice-over): Last night, protesters attempted to stand their ground, linking arms, using flashlights on officers' faces, shouting and even throwing items at officers. The encampment was cleared and the protesters that were walked out in zip ties were put on buses and taken to a detention facility to be processed.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You're under arrest!
BERNAL (voice-over): Across the country, similar scenes as officials cracked down on encampments. Police in Oregon cleared out the Portland State University library.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hey, did we have any of those zip ties?
BERNAL (voice-over): Where students had barricaded themselves inside with furniture.
CROWD: Divest! Don't arrest!
BERNAL (voice-over): At Dartmouth College in New Hampshire, a standoff with police. Before more than 90 people were arrested on campus, including some who were not students.
That mirrored the mass arrest in New York City the night before, where an NYPD official tells CNN roughly half of the nearly 300 people arrested at Columbia and City College were not affiliated with either school.
BERNAL: And take a look behind me, cleanup efforts are underway. It's hard to believe that just hours ago, the space here behind me was covered in trash. Tents, blankets, food, you name it.
We were here and we also found a number of the casings for the flashbangs and also the rubber bullets that were used to disperse the crowd. UCLA releasing a statement saying that they ultimately decided to clear this encampment because of the violent clashes that we saw earlier this weekend, because this was unlawful. They also said this is one of the most painful periods for the university.
Camila Bernal, CNN, Los Angeles.
(END VIDEOTAPE) BRUNHUBER: University administrators have been wrestling with the issue of when to summon the police. We asked a CNN national security analyst whether the police action at UCLA was the right decision. Here she is.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JULIETTA KAYYEM, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL SECURITY ANALYST: What happened at UCLA, I guess I'll put it this way, was avoidable. In other words, what happened was it was the vulnerability, the attacks that had happened the night before against the protesters that at least the chancellor of UCLA said was the reason for the police coming in. Essentially, the whole system had broken down.
Before that, there were incidents of violence and fears amongst the Jewish population there because of the protesters, but the protesters themselves, at least described by the chancellor, were peaceful. That's the challenge right now is everyone's looking at different images and saying, well, they weren't really peaceful or they were peaceful.
The most important thing at the end of this is twofold. One is, are there outlets for students to protest? I think we've seen in a dozen instances now that when schools try to completely shut down a certain viewpoint, it only escalates the tensions.
The second is if the police come in, they do so in a manner which gives students an ability to walk away. That's what happened at UCLA. About a couple hundred students understood what was going on and didn't want to get arrested or arrest them in a fashion that is nonviolent. And I think we are seeing that so far to a certain extent, although we've seen a couple images of police, I think, overuse of force, and those will be examined, I think, across the country.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BRUNHUBER: Children and the elderly among the three people killed and 14 injured by Russian strikes in several regions of Ukraine over the past 24 hours. Officials say an attack in the Kharkiv region killed a 66-year-old man and wounded eight children and a 75-year-old man. The country has come under a relentless barrage of Russian assaults this week.
Ukraine's national police say Russia carried out nearly 2,000 rocket artillery and airstrikes in the eastern Donetsk region on Thursday. Meanwhile, the death toll in a Russian attack on Odesa on Tuesday rose to six after one of the wounded victims died in hospital. That's according to Ukraine authorities who said the attack left an educational institution engulfed in flames.
Officials said Russian forces carried out another ballistic missile attack on Odesa on Wednesday, wounding at least 14 people.
[04:15:00]
Protests against a controversial foreign influence bill continue in Georgia's capital. Hours ago, thousands of demonstrators took to the streets of Tbilisi once again.
Local news reports say they blocked roadways around Heroes Square, a monument to those who fought for Georgian independence. Clashes erupted outside Parliament Wednesday night, damaging the building and prompting Parliament to suspend Thursday's events. The bill has been called the Russian law by critics, due to its similarities with the measure used by the Kremlin to crack down on dissent. On Thursday, the U.S. said it's, quote, deeply concerned with the legislation.
Earlier, I spoke with a former adviser to the National Security Council of Georgia about the protests and the bill's potential impact on the future of democracy in Georgia. Here she is.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ETO BUZIASHVILI, RESEARCH ASSOCIATE, ATLANTIC COUNCIL DFRLAB: We also saw some people who are met in black, basically, without any identification marks, cracking down on BDL students and children. These are all unlawful movements. And, of course, these all jeopardize Georgia's European future. Basically, in everything, what European Union stands on, rule of law, human rights and democracy.
Earlier this week, I should highlight that the ruling party has announced plans to, for election capture, censorship and Soviet-style political repression. So I guess that we're seeing the signs of this currently in the streets.
BRUNHUBER: You spoke about it, all of this sort of jeopardizing Georgia's European future. I mean, the U.S., for example, has indicated its displeasure about the law. The State Department saying it jeopardizes its path to Euro-Atlantic integration.
As I say, you talked about the jeopardizing the European future. Is there any sense that the pressure from the U.S. and from Europe will work? Do they have any leverage here or is Moscow able to offset that?
BUZIASHVILI: Yes. Following the Russia's re-invasion of Ukraine, we saw very clear pro-Russian policy moves, such as Russia becoming Georgia's number one trading partner, the renewed direct flights between two capitals, relocation of thousands of businesses. One of the great moves that the U.S. had done was, the U.S. sanctioned a former prosecutor general and a person close to a ruling party for acting as an influence agent for Russia's intelligence service, FSB, who attempted to sway Georgian society and politics in favor of Russia.
Of course, this is a huge development for Georgia. We are seeing more harsh and harsh statements coming from the U.S. as well as the EU. But I guess the Georgian people are waiting for more actions on their end.
There should be personal costs set on the people who are undermining Georgia's democracy, including targeted personal sanctions.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BRUNHUBER (on camera): After the break, the lawyer behind Donald Trump's hush money deal takes the stand in day 10 of the former U.S. president's criminal trial.
Meanwhile, Trump may be spending fewer days on the campaign trail, but he is making controversial remarks about election results months before a single vote is cast. And we'll have the current U.S. president's response. We'll have all of that coming up next. Stay with us.
[04:20:00]
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BRUNHUBER: Donald Trump's hush money trial is scheduled to resume in just a few hours. Adult film star Stormy Daniels' former lawyer, the man who brokered the hush money deal, returned to the stand Thursday. Trump's defense sought to paint the key witness as untrustworthy and the hush money deal as extortion.
CNN's Kara Scannell was in the courtroom.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
KARA SCANNELL, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): New details from a key witness, the ex-attorney of an adult film star and Playboy model who brokered hush money deals at the center of former President Donald Trump's criminal case.
DONALD TRUMP, FORMER U.S. PRESIDENT, 2024 PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Getting ready to spend another day in the courthouse, which is bogus trial.
SCANNELL (voice-over): Keith Davidson, back on the stand on day 10 of Trump's trial, cross-examined by Trump's attorney who attempted to discredit Davidson by painting him as a shady lawyer.
Meanwhile, prosecutors tried to show how Davidson's arrangement with a tabloid and Trump's ex-lawyer, Michael Cohen, to kill two bombshell stories about Trump's alleged affairs directly impacted the 2016 election. Trump denies both affairs.
In his testimony, Davidson recalled texting National Enquirer editor Dylan Howard on election night in 2016 as results came in in favor of Trump.
Davidson said he texts Howard, What have we done?
Oh my God, Howard replied.
Davidson testified: There was an understanding that our efforts may have in some way -- strike that -- our activities may have in some way assisted the presidential campaign of Donald Trump.
Prosecutors played an audio recording of Cohen saying Trump hates that they paid off adult film star Stormy Daniels.
Cohen was heard saying: I can't even tell you how many times he said to me "I hate the fact that we did it," and my comment to him was "But Every person that you've spoken to tells you it was the right move.
The payment and conspiracy of Trump's involvement in Daniels' hush money deal is the crux of the prosecution's case. Prosecutors also questioned Davidson about Daniels sitting down with Jimmy Kimmel in January 2018. Before the interview, Daniels and her attorney released a statement denying an alleged affair with Trump.
But hours later, she told Kimmel it didn't look like her signature.
JIMMY KIMMEL, HOST, JIMMY KIMMEL LIVE: Did you sign this letter that was released today?
STORMY DANIELS, ADULT FILM STAR: I don't know. Did I?
KIMMEL: Wait a minute, that you can say, right?
DANIELS: That doesn't look like my signature, does it?
SCANNELL (voice-over): After Davidson said Cohen threatened to: Rain Legal hell down upon her.
And threatened to sue Daniels multiple times and saying: Don't f**k with us. You don't know who you're f**king with.
Later that year, Daniels said she felt she had to sign the letter denying an affair, which she said was a lie.
ANDERSON COOPER, CNN ANCHOR: If it was untruthful, why did you sign it?
DANIELS: Because they made it sound like I had no choice.
SCANNELL (voice-over): Throughout the sometimes testy cross- examination, Trump's attorney, Emil Bove, sought to paint Davidson as untrustworthy. He zeroed in on a 2012 FBI investigation into possible extortion involving the selling of former wrestler Hulk Hogan's sex tape. Davidson said he was not charged in connection to the case.
Bove attempted to tie Davidson's involvement with Hogan's alleged extortion plot to his hush money deals for Daniels and former Playboy model Karen McDougal.
Bove asked Davidson if he goes right up to the line without committing extortion.
Davidson responded, I don't understand the question.
After court, Trump said he's pleased with how his team is doing.
TRUMP: We had a long day in court, as always, but very happy about the way things are going.
SCANNELL: Kara Scannell, CNN New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BRUNHUBER: And Trump's latest remarks over the upcoming election in November are raising red flags. CNN's Kristen Holmes explains.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
TRUMP: Democrats rigged the presidential election in 2020.
KRISTEN HOLMES, CNN U.S. NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Former President Donald Trump doubling down on 2020 election claims at the heart of his candidacy and laying the groundwork to challenge the results this November.
TRUMP: We're not going to allow them to rig the presidential election, the most important day of our lives in 2024.
HOLMES (voice-over): Once again, refusing to commit to accept the results of the November election. In between campaign events in Battleground, Michigan and Wisconsin, Trump telling the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, quote: If everything's honest, I'd gladly accept the results. If it's not, you have to fight for the right of the country.
The remarks coming on the heels of another interview earlier this week with Time Magazine, where Trump did not rule out the possibility of political violence if he were to lose the 2024 election. President Joe Biden's campaign condemning the remarks in a statement.
Quote: Trump is a danger to the Constitution and a threat to our democracy. The American people are going to give him another electoral defeat this November because they continue to reject his extremism, his affection for violence and his thirst for revenge.
[04:25:00]
It's not the first time Trump has hedged on questions about accepting the election results since leaving office.
TRUMP: If I think it's an honest election, I would be honored to.
HOLMES (voice-over): It's rhetoric he amplified in 2016.
TRUMP: Folks, the system is rigged. It's rigged, OK?
HOLMES (voice-over): And again in 2021, before a mob attacked the U.S. Capitol on January 6.
TRUMP: And if you don't fight like hell, you're not going to have a country anymore.
HOLMES (voice-over): The issue comes as Trump's plans for a second term come more into focus. Trump speaking with Time magazine about pardoning January 6 defendants, mass deportations and firing civil servants to replace with loyalists.
TRUMP: We will demolish the deep state.
HOLMES (voice-over): Trump's current campaign appearance is few and far between. He's currently mandated to appear in a courtroom for his New York hush money case four days a week. TRUMP: You know, I got to do two of these things a day. You know why? Because I'm in New York all the time.
HOLMES: And of course, as we know, he was back in the courtroom today in New York. He'll be back again Friday.
Now, over the weekend, his next day is off from court, he won't be on the campaign trail. Instead, he'll be attending the RNC spring retreat in Florida. Big fundraiser there. Spending his time also trying to raise money in the off days.
Kristen Holmes, CNN, Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BRUNHUBER: Meanwhile, U.S. President Joe Biden is offering a brief response to Trump's latest controversial comments. In North Carolina Thursday, Biden was asked if he was worried after Donald Trump told a newspaper that he would refuse to unconditionally accept the 2024 election results. Here's his answer.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Are you worried that Trump says he won't accept the election results?
BIDEN: Listen to what he says.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Listen to what he says?
BIDEN: Listen to what he says.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BRUNHUBER: Now, earlier in the day, Biden was in Charlotte, North Carolina, visiting the families of police officers killed and wounded in a horrific shooting.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BIDEN: I spent some time with some of the families of the eight police officers who were shot in the line of duty on Monday. Four of them were killed.
We pray for the loved ones and those left behind. I met their children, their husbands, their wives, and their mothers and fathers. We pray for the recovery of the brave wounded as well.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BRUNHUBER: Four officers, including a deputy U.S. marshal, were killed Monday while trying to serve a warrant for illegal firearm possession by a convicted felon.
A victory for abortion rights activists in the U.S. state of Arizona. After a contentious and hours-long debate on Wednesday, state lawmakers narrowly passed a measure repealing Arizona's 160-year-old near-total ban on abortion.
Governor Katie Hobbs signed the bill on Thursday, setting the stage for a 15-week restriction to remain law. But the repeal measure won't take effect until 90 days after the state legislature adjourns later this year.
All right, the new trading day gets underway in the U.S. in little less than five hours. So here's where stock futures stand right now. They're all in the positive territories. You can see they're waiting on today's job report to be released.
Meanwhile, European markets are up and running, and they're also all in positive territory. And here's a look at how markets across Asia fared. A bit of a mixed bag with Hang Seng and Shenzhen index only in the positive there.
So as I just mentioned, these investors are looking forward to the April jobs report, set to be released in a few hours by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. That and the Federal Reserve's decision this week to leave interest rates unchanged helped drive the markets higher on Thursday.
The Dow and S&P 500 both gained close to 1 percent. Nasdaq was up 1.5 percent.
Journalists in Gaza experienced the trauma of war while also risking their lives to tell the truth about the horrors. We'll meet some of them after the break.
Plus, the U.S. president addressed the campus protests that have led to clashes, standoffs, and arrests. Coming up, stay with us.
