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USC: Police Clear Pro-Palestinian Encampment, Campus Reopened; More Than 200 People Rescued From Flooded Texas Neighborhoods; New CNN Poll Of Polls Show A Close Race For The Presidency. Aired 3-4p ET

Aired May 05, 2024 - 15:00   ET

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

[15:00:47]

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN HOST: Hello again, everyone. Thank you so much for joining me. I'm Fredricka Whitfield.

And we start with new developments in the college campus protests sweeping the country. The campus of the University of Southern California is now open after police dismantled an encampment early this morning. It comes after police broke up an encampment at the University of Virginia on Saturday arresting 25 people for trespassing there.

Pro-Palestinian protests have been going on for weeks now. Demonstrators are calling for an end to the war in Gaza and for their universities and colleges to divest from all Israel-linked entities.

CNN's Camila Bernal is at USC.

Camila, what is happening on that campus and what prompted authorities to reopen it?

CAMILA BERNAL, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Hey, Fred. So its reopened because the encampment has been cleared. Authorities here saying it took them 64 minutes to get everyone out of that area, and what's interesting here is that they are saying that this was peaceful, that there were no arrest. This is completely different from what we saw two weeks ago where more than 90 people were arrested.

The school is saying they already started the disciplinary process for the people that were detained on April 24th. It is repercussions that you're seeing, not just here at USC, but really all over the country.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SABRINA ELLIS, UCLA STUDENT It's really heavy emotionally. You're hearing the stun grenades. You're hearing shots fired from the rubber bullets, and you don't know what's happening.

BERNAL (voice over): These are the moments UCLA student Sabrina Ellis is still trying to process.

ELLIS: I was just trying to go minute by minute. My feet were hurting from standing up for so long. I do think that the message of the encampment and the protest was important enough that I felt the risk was worth it.

BERNAL (voice over): While Sabrina is not facing charges, the consequences for some protesters around the nation can be serious and include detainment, misdemeanors, school suspensions, and expulsions.

And in the case of Michael Allen, a lecturer at Washington University in St. Louis, paid administrative leave.

MICHAEL ALLEN, LECTURER, WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY IN ST. LOUIS: I was arrested within three minutes of the police's decision to push into the encampment.

BERNAL (voice over): He says he was not part of the encampment but was there to protest.

ALLEN: Just faculty member concerned about my students getting arrested.

BERNAL (voice over): That was the moment of his arrest. He says he's not facing criminal charges, but the detainment and suspension mean he's not allowed to set foot on the university pending an investigation.

ALLEN: Don't hurt him.

BERNAL: He says he was told by the university that he cannot finish the semester, have contact with students, or attend commencement.

ALLEN: What the university in effect is doing is actually impacting a lot more people than just those of us who were on campus on April 27th.

BERNAL (voice over): The university said they don't comment on personnel matters, but said that of the 100 people arrested, 23 were Washington University students.

It is reflective of what authorities have announced around the country. Of the more than 2,100 arrested during the clearing of encampments, not all have been students.

At the University of Southern California, school officials say of the 93 arrested, 51 were students. Officials have said they too have started a disciplinary process for campus members who have violated their policies and the law. Some California legislators calling for even harsher punishments.

JAMES GALLAGHER (R), CALIFORNIA ASSEMBLY LEADER: There does need to be accountability, yes. And I think some people need to be fired.

BERNAL (voice over): They point to harassment, antisemitism, and unsafe campuses. And say that those convicted should be punished through the state budgeting process, losing funding for the university or grants. GALLAGHER People doing this should have been arrested. They should be suspended, but there should also be other accountability for this action.

BERNAL (voice over): But some of the students that were in the encampment and part of the more than 200 detained at UCLA say that, while they won't reveal future plans, this is far from over.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

[15:05:01]

BERNAL (on camera): And it is unclear if protesters here at USC have future plans, but the university already saying that they are not allowing any camping gear on campus. You have to have an ID to be able to go inside of the campus -- Fred.

WHITFIELD: All right, Camila Bernal, thank you so much.

All right, turning to Texas now, were more than 200 have been rescued from their homes and vehicles because of the widespread flooding. Millions in the southeastern part of the state are under flood watches after five straight days of heavy rain. Entire neighborhoods in fact are inundated with water. More than a third of Texas counties have already been declared disaster areas and Texas Governor Greg Abbott could expand it to include more counties.

As the flooding spreads, the high-water rescues have also surged, but no reported serious injuries or deaths. First responders rescued this dog, right here, north of Houston. He is one of more than 150 pets that have been pulled from the floodwaters.

We have team coverage from CNN correspondent, Rosa Flores and CNN meteorologist, Chad Myers. Good to see both of you.

So Rosa, let's begin with you. You're on the ground there in Harris County, Texas. How are people doing there?

ROSA FLORES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Fred, we are getting rain, thunder, some lightning a little while ago. This is not what this community needs. This is a multicounty weather event, but I want to start here in Harris County where I am because this is part of the mandatory evacuation zone.

You can look behind me, the water levels here are still high. This road moves to a community. There is a restaurant back there. There is an area where people call home that they don't have access to right now.

Now, earlier today, we went on a ride along with the Harris County Sheriff's Office. They took us back there. We were able to see conditions. The water is still very high. You don't know where in the San Jacinto River ends and where this community begins because the water is so high.

Now, the team that we were with rescued multiple people from that area yesterday when they went door-to-door. Now, we were live on CNN when their air boat came up shore here where we are standing right now and we have video of it. You can see that this is the same team that we were with today.

Now, the woman that they rescued, the deputy tells me that she was in that community, in that area, that they showed us earlier today, the water levels were a lot higher. He says that the water was probably about chest deep. It was very difficult to get that woman out of the RV area where she was living, but they tell us that she wanted to be dropped off on this street because there was family waiting for her.

And I actually talked to her after our live report and she confirmed that there was family waiting for her. We saw her drive away, but we talked to Deputy Bailey about the challenges of rescuing people when waters are rising. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DEPUTY DARNELL BAILEY, HARRIS COUNTY SHERIFF'S OFFICE: ... they primarily have is just the elements that in reference to water there because you don't know what's in the water. Whether it is ants, whether it is snakes, whether it is spiders, it is going to be the biggest challenge. But we do best to get out the boat and then get them into the boat the best possibly we can.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FLORES: Now, Fred, last time when we were talking about how it doesn't matter if it is raining, officials here are concerned about rising waters. Why? Because this a multicounty weather event, there are -- there was a lot of water that fell in Montgomery County, Polk County, Liberty County and all that water, Fred, is expected to flow in this direction towards Harris County because Harris County is before the Gulf of Mexico.

And so that is the big concern, that's why the officials that we talked to today say that they don't expect conditions to improve until later next week, because imagine all of the water that you see around me and there is more coming from the lakes that are just northeast and northwest of where we are.

Fred, back to you.

WHITFIELD: Oh, that is terrible. All right, be careful out there. Rosa Flores, thank you so much, you and your crew.

All right, Chad Myers here in The Weather Center. When in the world might folks look forward to drying out.

CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Well, the people where the water was, the two feet area, right, that rain came in, that's really shut off. But now the rain has moved into the more populous areas like Harris County, where she is and that's Houston proper.

So yes, all of this water north of Houston has to make it to the Gulf of Mexico, and that's all of this. Here is Houston way down there. And those purple areas, go to the Key, that's 10 inches or more. This a lot of acreage here where you have ten inches or more and some spots we are over 24 inches. I mean, just ridiculous numbers when it comes to the rain gauges.

But now what its setting up for Houston, right along I-10 is another round of rain just like we had earlier today, not here where the floodwaters are coming from, but right now, where the floodwaters are moving to.

[15:10:06]

So, you don't need water anywhere, and yes, we will see more in the way of rainfall today, and it is that raining along I-10 tend that I am most concerned about, do we get Houston with water in the streets? Because urban flooding is very easy when all of a sudden there is nothing -- there is not a thing that it is going to soak in.

Already eight reported gauges over into major flood stage, which means out of the banks into houses, not just into farm fields, but then by tomorrow, especially tomorrow morning, this weather is long gone, well off to the east.

Now there is still a chance of a tornado today, and that would make unbelievably 11 days in a row, if we have one today, 11 days in a row with tornado on the ground.

In the past couple of weeks, 224 reports of tornadoes and yes, tomorrow, they are definitely, definitely will be tornadoes on the ground again.

WHITFIELD: Oh, no, and this is more than usual this time of year. I mean, this is usually a peak season for tornadic activity. April-May and beyond, but this seems exceptionally high.

MYERS: It is exceptionally high. Just because it is now concentrated into such a small time frame, not exceptionally high for the entire month, but when we spread that out, all of a sudden, you take a look and go, whoa, 224 in five days, holy cow, right? And this was spread around, I mean, we went into Missouri, we were in Nebraska, Iowa, all the way down to Oklahoma, but boy, tomorrow is going to be a bumpy day.

WHITFIELD: My goodness. All right, Chad Myers, thanks so much. Appreciate it.

MYERS: Thank you.

WHITFIELD: And Rosa Flores, also in Texas.

All right now, we are just six months away from the 2024 general election and a new CNN Poll of Polls shows just how tight the race is between President Biden and former President Trump. We will break it down, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) [15:16:32]

WHITFIELD: All right, with exactly six months until voters head to the polls and pick a president, a new CNN Poll of Polls shows no clear leader in the presidential race at this moment. Right now, 46 percent of voters support President Biden with 47 percent supporting former President Donald Trump.

The Poll of Polls includes four of the most recent national polls. CNN White House correspondent, Priscilla Alvarez, joining us right now.

Priscilla, how is the Biden campaign viewing this closely divided race and these polls?

PRISCILLA ALVAREZ, CNN WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: Well, polls up until this point have consistently shown that it is a tight race and Biden campaign officials are aware of that. This is a race that they often say is going -- they know is going to be closed and is going to require voters to turn out.

So again, going through what we saw in this poll that was conducted in mid to late April, you have that 47 percent for Trump, 46 percent for Biden. There was no sampling error in this poll.

Now a separate poll, ABC/Ipsos poll conducted in late April among registered voters, we see Biden at 46 percent and then Trump at 45 percent, again, there a margin of error of two percent.

Now, a lot is going to come down to voter turnout. That is what you hear from Democratic strategists and from Biden campaign officials, and so they are seizing on issues to mobilize voters. Also aware that there is waning enthusiasm among voters about either one, either of the candidates.

And so abortion rights is one of those, we have seen them ramp up their messaging on that with abortion-related ads running across battleground states. The vice president going to Florida last week as that abortion ban went into effect, and also taking note of those states that will have abortion on the ballot because that is something that they see could really mobilize voters to the polls.

So it is going to be a confluence of factors that is going to influence voters heading out to the polls. The Biden campaign is aware of that, but look , the other thing that they often say is it is still early in the year. When presented with these polls, they often say voters are going to pay more attention as we get closer to November, and that is when it will click for a lot of people that the election day is around the corner and who the two candidates are.

But that is often the response, but there is no doubt that this has been consistently showing across polls. It is a very tight race between President Biden and former President Donald Trump.

WHITFIELD: All right, Priscilla Alvarez, thanks so much.

All right, tomorrow, Donald Trump will return to a New York courtroom for week three of testimony in his hush money trial. The former president spent this weekend in Florida at the Republican National Committee's Annual Retreat.

He lashed out against prosecutors who have charged him with criminal indictments and he accused the Democrats of "running a gestapo administration."

Here is CNN's Alayna Treene.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ALAYNA TREENE, CNN REPORTER: Behind closed doors at his Mar-a-Lago club on Saturday, the former president took out his anger over a litany of criminal charges that he is facing in a wide-ranging, profanity laced speech that he delivered to wealthy donors and high- profile Republicans as part of a luncheon fundraiser.

Now, during those remarks, Donald Trump attacked aggressively Special Counsel Jack Smith. He also went after Democrats more generally, and argued that they are running a gestapo administration, essentially equating the Democratic Party to Nazi Germany.

[15:19:04]

And he also baselessly blamed Democrats for what he said are being behind the criminal charges that he is facing. Now, also during this weekend in Palm Beach, it was the RNC's Annual Retreat, bringing together high-profile donors Republicans. And at one point, Donald Trump's campaign managers, Chris LaCivita and Susie Wiles, as well as his pollster, Tony Fabrizio walked the group through their recent fundraising figures.

They said that the campaign and his allied groups raised $76.2 million in April. Now, we can independently confirm those numbers given the FEC reports won't drop until later this month, but they said they saw that as a sign of optimism for their chance in their attempt to try and close the gap with the Biden campaign's ever growing war chest.

Now during that session, they also made a pitch for how they think Donald Trump could be competitive in states like Minnesota and Virginia, both states that recently went for Democrats in recent elections.

Now I also just want to bring you another news that we got just today, which is that Charlie Spies, the RNC's chief counsel, was pushed out of the RNC. This came just months after he was brought on by Chris LaCivita to help the RNC, particularly with a focus on election integrity.

Now, we are told that his hiring actually rankled some officials in Donald Trump's inner orbit. They had pointed to past criticism from Charlie Spies of Donald Trump for claiming that the 2020 election was stolen.

Spies had also, in the past, helped represent people like Jeb Bush, Mitt Romney, and Ron DeSantis. Alayna Treene, CNN, Palm Beach.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: Thanks so much, Alayna.

All right, new details this afternoon, we are getting an update from police in Mexico into the disappearance of an American man and two Australian men. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:26:21]

WHITFIELD: We are getting new details from Mexico where an American man and two Australian brothers disappeared. Minutes ago, police wrapped up a press conference. Journalist Stefano Pozzebon is joining me right now with the latest.

What did they say -- Stefano?

STEFANO POZZEBON, JOURNALIST: Yes. Fredricka.

Well, not good news unfortunately, out of Tijuana, the capital of Baja, California, because the attorney general, Maria Elena Andrade focused her press conference on the three bodies that were recovered that you'll remember on Friday morning from a cliff about 80 kilometers or so, 50 miles south of the city center of Ensenada, and of course, there has been huge speculation about the identity of those three bodies.

She did not confirm the identities of those three bodies, but she said that those corpses were the product of a murder, that they had been assassinated and that they recovered the preliminary exams, identified some fire shots at the head as the main cause of the deaths.

She said that there is and I quote, "... a very high degree three of probability that these bodies are indeed those of the three missing surfers, Callum and Jake Robinson from Western Australia, and Jack Carter Rhoad.

She said, however, she insisted that the families will need to do identification of the bodies before, they can be pronounced dead and that she confirmed that the families of both the two Australian brothers and the American surfer, Jack Carter Rhoad, they arrived in Tijuana where these examinations are taking place and she said about half an hour ago that the identification process was taking place at that moment.

In case that the families could not perform a full identification because of the state of decay of those three bodies that were recovered that she said in a well from a cliff close to the ocean, they will have to perform a DNA match.

And then the attorney general presented some motive, some leads on the motive behind these crimes. She said that they believed that investigators believed that that this was a case of a car robbery gone wrong, and that two people have been taken in and there are two suspects in custody -- Fred.

WHITFIELD: Terribly sad.

All right, Stefano Pozzebon, let us now when you learn more. Thank you.

And we will be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:33:21]

WHITFIELD: All right new today, the University of Mississippi is opening a student conduct investigation after what officials call actions of, and I am quoting now, "hostility and racist overtones."

We are about to show you some of that confrontation and a warning, you may find this disturbing.

(VIDEO CLIP PLAYS)

WHITFIELD: Adding to the outrage, that video was shared on social media by Georgia Republican Congressman Mike Collins, who posted "Ole Miss, taking care of business."

CNN's Rafael Romo has been looking into all of this.

Rafael, CNN actually spoke with a woman that was being taunted in the video. And what did she say?

RAFAEL ROMO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, first we wanted to make sure that it was her and we wanted also to hear from her and Fred, there are multiple videos circulating online showing the protest at the University of Mississippi and Oxford but there one video in particular that has gone viral. It is the one that we just showed and is at the center of a controversy.

Before I show you the video, we need to warn our viewers again that it may be offensive to many people.

(VIDEO CLIP PLAYS)

ROMO: And as you can see, the video shows a group of mostly young White men in the counterprotest yelling at a Black woman, at least one counter protester is seen on video and appears to be making gestures at the woman.

[15:35:05]

We now know who the woman in the video is. Her name is Jaylin R. Smith. She is 24 years old. She confirmed to my colleague, Dianne Gallagher that as she is the woman seen in the video.

Smith said that during the protest, pro-Palestinian demonstrators were kept in an enclosure, which police said was for their safety. She also said that she briefly stepped out of the enclosure to go live on social media and that was when the confrontation took place. CNN has made efforts, but has not identified any of the counter protesters seen in the video.

We have also learned that the University of Mississippi has opened an investigation into student conduct, but didn't say who or what they were specifically investigating.

In a letter, Chancellor Glenn Boyce says, university officials are aware that some statements made were offensive, hurtful, and unacceptable, including actions that conveyed hostility and racist overtones.

Smith tells CNN she said some insults back to the counter protestors, but asked the following: "People calling me fat or Lizzo didn't hurt my feelings because I know what I am. I am so confident in my Blackness. I am so confident in my size, in the way that i wear my hair and who I am. They do not bother me. If anything, I felt pity for them for how stupidly they acted."

The controversy took another turn when US Representative Mike Collins, a Republican representing parts of Georgia, shared the viral video on X the following day saying, "Ole Miss, taking care of business."

CNN has reached out to Collin's office, but there hasn't been an answer so far. And then yesterday, Fred, Congressman Collins' tweet prompted the NAACP to send a letter to congressional leadership Saturday asking for an investigation into Collins' conduct in part, the letter says the following: "These actions conducted by a member of the House of Representatives regardless of intent, legitimize and propagate racism and undermine the principles of equality and justice that our government is sworn to uphold."

Some of our viewers may remember that the University of Mississippi has a long history of racial incidents, including the deadly riots that broke out there in 1962 when James Meredith became the first Black student to enroll at the school.

So a lot of controversy there -- Fred.

WHITFIELD: All right and lots of follow-up to come. Rafael Romo. Thank you so much.

All right, so pro-Palestinian protests have been going on for weeks now at dozens of college campuses across the country, something like 80 college campuses and universities, and it also meant that there have been something in the realm of 2,400 arrests that have resulted consequently.

Let's talk more about the road ahead, because many who have demonstrated said that they will continue to do so on college campuses.

In fact, on the campus of the University of Southern California, it has since reopened after police his went in and dismantled an encampment there.

Let's bring in now former president and CEO of the NAACP, Cornell William Brooks. He is now a professor at the Harvard Kennedy School of Government.

Good to see you.

So at USC --

CORNELL WILLIAM BROOKS, FORMER PRESIDENT AND CEO OF NAACP: Good to see you.

WHITFIELD: At USC, there have been some students who vowed that they will still continue to protest even after that encampment has been dismantled. What do you think colleges and universities need to be positioned for, prepared for? Now, while this semester might be ending, there are summer school and there will be fall, and there may be still some students who were vowing to continue to demonstrate.

BROOKS: Well, first of all, our college leaders, presidents and administrators need to be prepared for the protests to continue.

What we know about student movements is that they grow in response to what students as people of content on the news, see on their phones, and so they had to prepare for these protests to continue.

But in preparing for the protest to continue, it is not merely about securing the physical facilities of a campus, it is also about preparing students to participate in a democracy on a nonviolent constructive basis.

So in other words, where we have as seen at the University of Mississippi jumping up and down, like a simian, ape or monkey mocking a Black woman, calling her Lizzo, as though all Black women look the same, where we have a Black student declaring that Jews or Zionists don't deserve to live, where we have another student, will be calling a Black person the N-word and spitting on them.

This says to us, it says to college administrators, the presidents and college leaders that we have to stand with our students in terms of helping them to protest, to dissent, to express their opinions in ways that do not vilify and dehumanize one another and allow them to make their points in ways that really edify and strengthen our Republic without destroying it from within.

[15:40:22]

So, this is a very serious moment, it was not an aberrational moment, but a serious moment.

WHITFIELD: How do you see that commitment being carried through? Because there are lessons to be learned in which how many college campuses handled, you know, what some are calling unrest, handled a movement by students who felt that they wanted to voice their thoughts, opinions, their emotions on this? BROOKS: Well, one of the things we have to fully appreciate is the police, the National Guard, law enforcement is a tool of last resort. The tools that you first want to employ are negotiations, discussion.

Here at the Harvard Kennedy School, we started a whole series on having hard conversations facilitating and engagement and interaction among students of different opinions. It is critically important that we lay the groundwork for dissent or disagreement for debate within and well before and well after protests and demonstrations.

So in other words, police cannot solve a problem that is a democracy problem, a First Amendment problem. This requires a much more thoughtful approach because, Fredricka, when have you ever seen students arrested or students detained and the protests decrease? We have seen over and over again that when students obeys law enforcement without engagement, protests expand and oftentimes become more dangerous.

WHITFIELD: Right. So if you want to draw some comparisons to say the Civil Rights movement or even anti-apartheid movements of which I participated in that when I was in college, you know, and it was a time in which differences were expressed, but you also had particularly in the Civil Rights movement, you had unified student-led groups. There were meetings to help maintain some uniformity even in the face of potential violence.

Can this generation of demonstrators who are enduring different kinds of stressors, right, can they reach similar goals through peaceful demonstrations?

BROOKS: Fredricka, I absolutely believes so. Why? Because the majority of these protests and demonstrations have been peaceful, not really the encampments, but protest, disagreement in classrooms and hallways and across the college campus.

So if we invest in training many and support and classroom time both between now and the end of semester and across the summer, we will be well-positioned when school resumes in the fall.

And lets bear in mind, the three fears at work here. There is fear of antisemitism and islamophobia, but also fear of the police. And there is an emotional empirical basis for these fears. Hate crimes are up, people are seeing ugly things on their phones and our students know according to American history that when you call law enforcement and call police in unwisely and unthoughtfully, bad things can happen.

And the last thing I will say here, Fredricka is this, during the anti-apartheid movement, yours truly as a seminary student hung a banner out of my seminary window and was faced with eviction from my college, from my seminary. I'd like to believe that it is enough to be a good citizen and I learned with a great many people in my generation, to resist injustice vigorously, but to do so in the context of a democracy, nonviolently.

WHITFIELD: All right, well said. We done. Cornell William Brooks, great to see you. Thank you so much. BROOKS: Great to see you, as always.

WHITFIELD: We will be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:48:55]

WHITFIELD: The Hamas delegation has left Cairo after the latest round of hostage negotiations wrapping up. Several countries, including the US have been trying to strike a deal that would potentially lead to a ceasefire in Gaza and the release of hostages. CNN's Paula Hancocks is in the Middle East for us.

So what is the status of the talks -- Paula?

PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Fred, at this point, we know that the latest round of negotiations has ended. It certainly hasn't ended with as positive a push as some were hoping for.

We heard from the Biden administration that they believe this proposal on the table was extremely generous by Israel and it was effectively the best that Hamas was going to get, but it certainly doesn't feel, at least from the public statements, that there has been any kind of breakdown either.

So the Hamas delegation we know has left Cairo. We heard from the political the leader, Ismail Haniyeh that they have given their response to the deal that is currently on the table. They said they were in-depth and serious discussions.

[15:50:00]

However, when it comes to the Israeli side, we've heard from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and he has said that Hamas has stuck to what he calls their extreme positions. The fact that they want the Israeli military to pull out completely from Gaza, something which Israel is not willing to do, and also that they want a complete end to the war.

Now Netanyahu said that that would effectively leave Hamas intact. They could regroup, rearm, and then threaten Israel at a later date, so that is something Israel cannot accept.

So what this has done, at least from the public statements, we are hearing from both sides is that it shows us there is significant differences of opinion and the gap between the two sides when it comes to trying to secure this deal -- Fred.

WHITFIELD: And Paula, Israel has now closed down the operations of the Al-Jazeera Network operating inside Israel. What do we know about that?

HANCOCKS: So this happened earlier this Sunday, Fred. It was a unanimous votes in the Cabinet to shut down Al-Jazeera. So you can no longer hear, see, or read Al-Jazeera within Israel itself. They said that it was going to be effective immediately, and sure enough, we saw images of some of the camera equipment being confiscated from their Jerusalem bureau.

Now, Israel has said that Al-Jazeera has been in harming Israel's security and inciting IDF soldiers, calling them Hamas' mouthpiece. Al-Jazeera and its state funding from Qatar, they have said that this -- they deny these accusations from Israel.

In fact, Al-Jazeera has called it a criminal act, accusing Israel of suppressing free speech to try and cover up their crimes. Also highlighting the fact that more than 140 journalists have been killed in Gaza.

WHITFIELD: All right, Paula Hancocks in the Middle East, thank you so much.

All right, nearly seven months after the Hamas attacks sparked the war in Gaza, a new exhibit is giving visitors an immersive look at the events of October 7th.

One of the main targets of the October 7th attack was the Nova Music Festival held near Israel's border with Gaza. And in this exhibit now on display in New York, a recreation of some of the horrific scenes with charred vehicles, bullet riddled bathroom walls, and other items left behind.

Here is CNN's Polo Sandoval with a look.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

POLO SANDOVAL, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): You may not notice this nondescript building when walking down Wall Street but inside, you'll find a glimpse into the events of October 7th.

That is when thousands of music lovers gathered in Southern Israel for the NOVA Music Festival.

Millet Ben Haim remembers it well.

MILLET BEN HAIM, NOVA MUSIC FESTIVAL ATTACK SURVIVOR: The atmosphere was so unique because there are so many good people and it is so pure. We were genuinely happy. I was just myself.

I was very -- and I felt so safe.

SANDOVAL (voice over): What was supposed to be a desert rave celebrating life turned into a frenzied massacre at sunrise.

Hamas gunmen stormed the festival grounds, killing and kidnapping as they advanced into Israel from Gaza, traces of that terror attack now make up this exhibit.

Nearly everything on display here, according to organizers, was abandoned in the chaos. The items from tents to charred vehicles and bullet-hole-riddled toilets, they were curated and staged to recreate a semblance of the mayhem.

Loud audio from witness video adds to the chilling weight of the experience. That's intentional explains this 28-year-old survivor.

BEN HAIM: When you see the chaos, you understand house scared we were, how helpless we were, how not prepared and you can -- and you can see the actual items, you can understand that these are people such as you.

SANDOVAL (voice over): Visitors walk under the same vibrant tarps that covered the NOVA dance floor.

BEN HAIM: When I look at it and I know how I stood under it, dancing and then also stood out there, not stood, but ran for my life under this canopy.

I have all the memories going through my mind and you know, all the different emotions -- and it is so beautiful.

SANDOVAL (voice over): Then there is the haunting lost and found. With more than 260 bodies recovered at the festival, many of these personal effects will never be reclaimed.

While looking over these relics, Ben Heim came upon her favorite sweatshirt.

BEN HAIM: We lost so many things and we lost so many loved ones and there is something about getting back just this one thing, and it means the world to me.

SANDOVAL (voice over): These are some of the images captured by Ben Haim that day. One moment she danced with her friends, the next, they huddled in the brush waiting for rescue.

Reflecting on that day is difficult, says Ben Haim, but she does it to share this message amid a war that is only deepening divisions.

BEN HAIM: You can try and twist it and make it about politics but actually, this is a story about innocent people who came to dance and celebrate life.

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And this is what happened.

SANDOVAL (voice over): The NOVA Music Festival founders are partially behind this exhibit. Donations from it will go to the NOVA Healing Journey, an initiative supporting mental health treatment for victims and their families according to organizers, but it is also a traveling tribute, honoring those who are yet to come home and those who fell while dancing in the desert.

BEN HAIM: The most beautiful souls danced here and now they will dance forever in the sky and one day, we will be reunited with them.

(END VIDEOTAPE) SANDOVAL (on camera); Ben Haim shared with me that in the immediate moments after the attack, she even struggled to get out of bed, Fred, often overcome with a sense of loneliness.

Well now as we approach seven months since the attack, and still with those emotional scars quite raw. There are some signs of healing. She is traveling, she is sharing the story of her NOVA community. I asked her if she would ever attend a music festival in the future, and she vowed to dance again.

The exhibit continues here in New York City for a few more weeks. It initially premiered in Tel Aviv for 10 weeks, so it really is just an important perspective in what has become a politically charged environment when it comes to the war in the Middle East.

WHITFIELD: That is incredibly sad and what a powerful exhibit. You did a beautiful job telling that story.

Polo Sandoval, thanks so much.

We will be right back.

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