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CNN International: Israel Takes Control of Palestinian Side of Rafah Crossing; Israel Says Hamas Proposal Far From Israel's Requirements; UNRWA Says Operation at Rafah Could Halt Humanitarian Response Across Gaza; Trump Organization Insiders Testify About Reimbursements for Cohen; Judge Holds Trump in Contempt, Threatens Him With Jail; Stormy Daniels Takes the Stand Today; Putin Inaugurated for Fifth Term as Russian President; Two Ukrainian Security Officials Detained Over Zelenskyy Assassination Plot; U.S. Soldier Detained in Russia Over Suspected Theft; Fashion Takes Center Stage on Met Gala Carpet. Aired 8-9a ET

Aired May 07, 2024 - 08:00   ET

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

[08:00:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BECKY ANDERSON, CNN ANCHOR OF "CNN NEWSROOM": Hello and welcome to our viewers around the world. I'm Becky Anderson and this is "CNN Newsroom" this hour. Major new developments in the Israel-Hamas war, medical officials say that airstrikes in Rafah overnight killed nearly two dozen people, as Israel steps up its operations there. Meanwhile, major confusion over the status of ceasefire talks.

AMARA WALKER, CNN ANCHOR OF "CNN NEWSROOM": And I am Amara Walker in Atlanta, also this hour, Donald Trump heads back to a Manhattan criminal courtroom for his hush money trial, just one day after the judge warned he could face jail time if he violates his gag order again. We will go live to New York. And President Putin inaugurated again for a six-year term, we'll tell you what message the Russian leader had for the West.

Well, Israel says it has taken control of the Gaza side of what is known as the Rafah Crossing, a crucial entry point for humanitarian aid into the enclave. U.N. agencies say the move could bring aid efforts across the entire Gaza Strip to a standstill and Egypt is condemning the operation, calling it a dangerous escalation that threatens the lives of more than a million Palestinians.

Israel is also keeping up its airstrikes on Rafah, medical officials say at least 23 people were killed overnight, including six children. Hours earlier, Palestinians have been celebrating in the streets.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

B. ANDERSON (voice-over): Well, these scenes after Hamas announced that it had agreed to a ceasefire and hostage release proposal. Well, later, and this was late at night -- later, Israel said the terms of that proposal were far from meeting its demands. Ceasefire talks are set to resume in Cairo later today. B. ANDERSON: Let me get you to CNN's Ben Wedeman who is joining us now on all of this. And Ben, let's just start with Rafah. What do we understand to be going on in and around Rafah as we speak?

BEN WEDEMAN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Sometime after midnight, Becky, Israel began bombarding the south east corner of Rafah. That is particularly the area between the Israeli border and the Rafah Crossing, which is the main crossing between Gaza and Egypt. And what we understand from various hospitals in Gaza, as you said, 23 people killed so far, including six women and six children, although they -- we expect that death toll to increase.

As a result, the Israelis now are in full control of the Rafah Crossing. They have put out video of their armor there. They have replaced the Palestinian flags with Israeli flags. And at the moment, there is no movement in that crossing, the main crossing for humanitarian goods into Gaza and also the main crossing for people to leave Gaza. In particular, according to the Palestinian ministry of health, there were 140 people, injured people and their companions, and sick people who were supposed to leave, according to coordination with the Egyptians, were supposed to leave today for Egypt for urgent medical treatment. They can no longer do that.

There are apparently thousands of people on a waiting list to leave Gaza for medical treatment as a result of injuries and other medical conditions. They cannot leave. And of course, now nothing can get into the Gaza Strip as well from the Rafah Crossing. Now, other crossings have been sporadically open, but most of the humanitarian goods have been entering Gaza through the Rafah Crossing, and that is no longer operational. Obviously, as result of that, the already dire humanitarian situation is going to get much worse according to the United Nations and other relief groups, and it appears the Israelis are saying that this is a limited military operation.

[08:05:00]

WEDEMAN: Now, the Americans have warned the Israelis that they really shouldn't do any sort of military operation in the Rafah area, given that there are as many as 1.4 million people who've been displaced from other parts of Gaza, taking shelter in the Rafah area. The Americans said the Israeli simply have not taken the necessary precautions, A, to avoid civilian casualties, the kind of which we've seen, more than 34,000 fatalities in Gaza since October of last year, and also the Israelis simply have not laid on the sort of shelter and food and sanitation facilities necessary, if all of these people are going to have to leave the Rafah area to safer areas elsewhere inside Gaza. Becky?

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B. ANDERSON: Ben Wedeman on the Rafah story and we'll get you up to date on where ceasefire talks stand in a moment. From Ben though, want to get to our next guest, the U.N. agency for Palestinian refugees says that the Israeli capture of that Rafah Crossing in Gaza could bring humanitarian efforts in the besieged enclave to a complete standstill. Scott Anderson is a senior deputy director of UNRWA affairs in Gaza and he joins me now live in Rafah. As I understand it, you are in Rafah to the west. Do you have people on the ground in eastern Rafah, right now? What is the status from where you are about what is going on there?

SCOTT ANDERSON, SENIOR DEPUTY DIRECTOR, UNRWA AFFAIRS IN GAZA: Yes, we do have people on the ground in east Rafah. They are primarily tracking displacement of people that are leaving the neighborhoods that were asked to evacuate. And we are also seeing a lot of movement across all of Rafah, including neighborhoods where people were not asked to evacuate. So, we do have teams on the ground tracking to displacement and we are trying to make sure we understand where people are moving, so we can provide services to them where they are.

But I think the situation on the ground is a little bit confused. Yesterday, we went from what people thought was a ceasefire overnight to an operation this morning. And people being unable to leave through Rafah and as I said, I think people find it quite confusing and they are quite scared and we are seeing mass displacement across Rafah.

B. ANDERSON: Let's talk about this Rafah Crossing and indeed, Kerem Shalom, the two main aid entry points to the south have now been closed. Can you just explain what the immediate impact of those closures will have on Palestinians who are sheltering in the south?

S. ANDERSON: It will have an impact on Palestinians across Gaza, in particular, the Rafah Crossing from Egypt is where the United Nations International Humanitarian Community get all our fuel. We need at least 194,000 liters of fuel a day. We currently have access to 60,000 liters, which obviously is only a third of a day. And if we don't get fuel, then tomorrow, we are going to see an impact in hospitals, in water generation, in aid distribution, solid waste management, and sewage being pumped. So, it literally impacts everything we do in Gaza, everything starts with diesel.

Now, Kerem Shalom has been the main lifeline for supplies for everyone in Gaza. We've been importing 300 trucks a day at a minimum, and that has all stopped. The International Humanitarian Community under WFP, we have enough food to get through the rest of the week. And at that point, if we don't have more supplies coming in, we will not have food to distribute to people that are very much in need of food. And it is also more than food, it is also camps and women's hygiene kits, and all these things that people need just everyday to meet their basic necessities. All that will stop if the crossings aren't reopened.

B. ANDERSON: And this, of course, is not a full-on offensive at this point, a military offensive. This is Israel effectively occupying the area ahead of what is an anticipated offensive. From your perspective, I know that that is very, very significant. You're talking about what is needed on the ground for those who are there at present and are -- I want to say relatively safe from any of the activity at present.

But if this is to be a significant full-on offensive, what evidence do you have that Israel has effected plans to ensure civilians are not in harm's way? Because the Americans have asked for that and they've said you don't get our blessing unless you provide a plan. Is there any evidence, to your mind that there is a plan, a clear plan to protect civilians?

S. ANDERSON: What I can say is I have not seen a plan.

[08:10:00]

S. ANDERSON: I know that's been recorded. Briefings have been done to others in the United Nations and the U.S. My concern is there are 1.4 million people in Rafah, over half of them are children, all are innocent civilians and what is needed is a way for them to remain safe either (ph) limited military operation or a full-scale operation.

To move that many people somewhere safe is not something that will take days, it is something that will take weeks. And our concern, as I said, it is the innocent civilians, the innocent children, and that they are given the opportunity to move somewhere safe and receive aid.

B. ANDERSON: So just 24 hours ago, Israel dropped leaflets over Rafah, where half of Gazan population is now sheltering, ordering them to evacuate. You've said that the area Israel's military is ordering them to move to in Al Mawasi is not "suitable for habitation." Just explain.

S. ANDERSON: There is no basic infrastructure for people there. So firstly, there are a lot of people already there, up to 400,000 have sought shelter there. Some have tents, most are in makeshift plastic structures, but there isn't a water infrastructure. There isn't a sewage infrastructure, and there aren't latrines.

So, anything that happens there is trucked in by the United Nations or other international partners. But it is very much something that's -- it's a beach essentially that we are asking a bunch of people to set up and live on, and it is just not something that is suitable without significant preparation that would take months to put that kind of infrastructure in place.

Adding potentially another million people to that is, in my mind, something that just calls for a disaster, very significant challenges around sewage and what could be an outbreak of disease.

B. ANDERSON: Scott is with us from UNRWA out of Rafah in Gaza. Thank you. I want to get some reaction on all of this state side, on both, what is going on in and around Rafah and at the negotiating table. Arlette Saenz joins us live from the White House. How is the White House responding to these latest developments in an around Rafah? This is an operation, not yet a full-on military incursion, but this is something the White House has been warning Israel of for weeks.

And last time, I heard from Antony Blinken, certainly, he said the U.S. has not seen a plan on how Israel is set to evacuate civilians from harm's way. What do we know at this point?

ARLETTE SAENZ, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, Becky, the White House is certainly watching developments in Rafah with some concern as they have continued to warn against a wide-scale operation in that area of Gaza for fear of what it could mean for the civilians who are currently in that area, more than 1.4 million Palestinians. Just yesterday, President Biden against spoke with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, the White House said that he once again repeated the U.S. position on Rafah.

And it comes is just yesterday, National Security Council Spokesperson John Kirby was here at the White House in the briefing room, again, warning against a wide-scale operation for fear of what it could mean for those civilians. Now, as recently as last week, the Israelis had briefed the U.S. on their latest thinking relating to Rafah and sources familiar with those conversations say that they had not yet presented a final plan as it relates to ensuring the evacuation and safety of the civilians there.

Now, while the Israelis have said that this is a limited operation in Rafah, we are still waiting painting to hear more from the White House about what specifically they believe this operation means. But last night, they had indicated that some of these actions that have been playing out at the Rafah Crossing that they did not believe that this was the start of a major military offensive. Of course, the U.S. is also still working to try to secure a deal when it comes to hostages as well as securing some type of temporary ceasefire.

CIA Director Bill Burns will actually be traveling to Cairo today as talks continue and it comes as we saw this back and forth between Israel and Hamas relating to some type of agreement. Hamas yesterday saying that they accepted the terms of a proposal presented by the Qataris and the Egyptians, but U.S. official say that they don't really see this as an agreement. They saw this as a counter proposal. So the U.S. is still trying to work out some of these details, trying to get Israel on board as they really believe that a hostage agreement is the best way to secure the safety and release of these hostages, but also prevent a wide-scale operation within Rafah.

B. ANDERSON: Israel does not see a ceasefire and hostage deal as mutually exclusive to an offensive on Rafah at this point. They are making that quite clear.

[08:15:00]

B. ANDERSON: I mean, it was made clear by the IDF in the wake of the very late announcement by Hamas last night that they had agreed to this proposal and it's been said, again, the CIA Director, as you rightly point out, on his way to Cairo. What Hamas said last night is worth just having a look at because they suggested that the United States has given them an assurance that a sustainable ceasefire effectively is in the offing that they will guaranty a ceasefire going forward.

Now, it is very difficult to get any detail on what the U.S. is offering in these mediation talks. They are not an official mediator, of course, that is Qatar and Egypt. How much sway does the U.S. have at this point? When we hear this talk of a U.S. guaranty, what does this mean? What does it look like?

SAENZ: Well, the White House so far has not commented on those suggestions that the U.S. has offered some guaranty relating to a more permanent a ceasefire. But what the U.S. has been trying to do is work with the Qataris to draft some type of agreement that might overcome those Israeli hurdles with a proposal, and something that Hamas might eventually be able to get on board with.

Now, the hope is that in the coming days, they will be able to work towards an agreement. We saw a lot of optimism just last week from the U.S. side, as you heard Secretary of State Antony Blinken saying that the Israelis had put forward a very generous proposal, but what remains unclear is whether they actually will be able to bridge the differences. But it comes as President Biden is facing significant pressure here at home as we've seen play out in those protests on college campuses in recent weeks, as we've seen this growing frustration with his steadfast support for Israel among key parts of his constituency, including young voters.

And so, there is a lot of pressure for President Biden to act politically, but they also want to see some type of end to this crisis and their hope is that some type of agreement, even if it would just call for a temporary ceasefire in the time being, could pave the way down the road for having a full cessation of these hostilities. So, we will see what exactly Burns might be able to present in these talks. As you mentioned, he is not speaking directly with Hamas, but is speaking with Israel and the Qataris about some type of path forward as they are hoping to get these hostages out and also have some type of ceasefire in place for this war.

B. ANDERSON: The restoration of sustainable calm is the phrase being used by the United States. And certainly, as we understand it from sources close to this matter, that was a phrase that was coined by the United States to ensure that some negotiations could continue around what is ultimately a ceasefire without actually using the term.

Thank you, Arlette. Later this hour, I'll be back with much more on the crucial talks that are underway. They do continue. These could, of course, decide the fate of so many Israeli hostages and many more Palestinian civilians inside Gaza. For now, let's turn it over to my colleague, Amara Walker with the very latest on the Donald Trump trial. Amara?

WALKER: All right, Becky, thank you. Donald Trump's hush many trial resumes next hour and we still don't know who will be called to testify next. On Monday, the court heard from a former senior executive at the Trump Organization who discussed payments that were made to Michael Cohen, as well as documents that tied those payments to the hush money paid to Stormy Daniels.

The judge also fined Trump once again for violating his gag order and warned him that he could be thrown into jail if there are fresh violations. Monday's court action was all about the paper trail and how former fixer Michael Cohen was reimbursed after paying off a porn star. CNN's Kara Scannell has more.

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KARA SCANNELL, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Insiders at the Trump organization on the stand walk through key payments at the center of the case against Former President Donald Trump as the first criminal trial of a former president begins its fourth week.

DONALD TRUMP (R), FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES AND 2024 PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: It is a ridiculous case. I did nothing wrong.

SCANNELL (voice-over): Jeffrey McConney, a former executive at the company, testified Trump used his personal account to reimburse his former attorney, Michael Cohen. Prosecutors alleged the payments were reimbursement for a hush money payment Cohen made just before the 2016 election to adult film star Stormy Daniels to quiet her story of an alleged affair with Trump. Trump denies the affair. McConney said the reimbursements came in $35,000 monthly increments through 2017.

MICHAEL COHEN, TRUMP'S FORMER ATTORNEY: It was actually 11 checks because one of the checks, January and February were combined.

[08:20:00]

SCANNELL (voice-over): Prosecutors aimed to prove Trump's business records of the payments were falsified and the money was not for a retainer agreement as stated on Cohen's invoices, but instead payback for the hush money to Daniels. Prosecutors asked McConney if this was all happening above his head? Yes, he replied.

McConney testifies former Trump Organization Chief Financial Officer, Allen Weisselberg, was the one who told him they had to reimburse Cohen. Weisselberg who is currently serving five months in jail on perjury charges in Trump's civil fraud case had sketched out the payment to Cohen on a bank statement that showed Cohen transferred the $130,000 payment to Daniels' attorney.

The total pay to Cohen, $420,000 allegedly included reimbursing Cohen for the money he paid to Daniels' attorney to kill her story, cash owed for other expenses, and a hefty bonus for Cohen. It was marked on the books as a legal expense. McConney suggested Trump kept a tight reign over his account. But Trump attorney Emil Bove in rapid-fire questioning tried to show Trump was not involved in accounting at the company in 2017 when these payments were made.

Bove asked McConney whether he talked to Trump about these payments. I did not, McConney testified. Bove pressed him further if Trump ever asked him to do any of the things he described. He did not, McConney testified. Also testifying on Monday, Deborah Tarasoff, a Trump Organization accounts employee who cut the checks to Cohen. Tarasoff said that Trump was the only one who signed the checks for his personal account. Only Mr. Trump, she testified, adding if he didn't want to sign it, he didn't sign it.

COHEN: It certainly goes well past the Stormy Daniels hush money payments.

SCANNELL (voice-over): Monday morning before the witnesses took the stand, the judge found Trump in contempt for again violating a gag order, preventing him from discussing witnesses or jurors in the case, this time criticizing the makeup of the jury in an interview with the outlet, "Real America's Voice."

TRUMP: That jury was picked so far, 95 percent Democrats, the areas (ph) -- all -- mostly all Democrats. You think of it as a just a purely Democratic area. It is a very unfair situation that I can tell you.

SCANNELL (voice-over): Judge Juan Merchan said the magnitude of this decision is not lost on me. But at the end of the day, I have a job to do. So as much as I don't want to impose a jail sanction, I want you to understand that I will, if necessary, and appropriate.

TRUMP: Because this judge has given me a gag order and said you are going to jail if you violate it.

SCANNELL (voice-over): Now, it is because Trump has violated the gag order in this case that prosecutors say they won't publicly identify the next witness that they will call, but one prosecutor said in court that they have about two weeks left of this case. That's about eight days based on the court's schedule. And among the witnesses yet that they have not called, Stormy Daniels and Michael Cohen.

Kara Scannell, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WALKER: All right, Kara, thank you for that. Later this hour, we will have much more on Donald Trump's hush money trial. I'll speak to a former judge about how Trump's repeated violations of the judge's gag order and whether the former president could actually be facing some jail time.

Also, he has been down this road a few times before. We will bring you details of Vladimir Putin's inauguration and his message to the West.

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[08:25:20]

WALKER: Russia has just inaugurated its president for another six-year term.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

WALKER (voice-over): And yes you know this man, it is the same president who has been in power for the last quarter of a century. This is Vladimir Putin's fifth walk down the aisle at his inauguration. He won his last election in March by an overwhelming majority. Russia's top military and political bras showed up.

But the U.S. and many European countries did not send representatives, claiming -- calling the election a sham. Clare Sebastian joining us now from London with more.

Yeah, we talked about it in the lead up to the election in March. This was no surprise to anyone. What was the significance of Putin's inauguration today then Clare? CLARE SEBASTIAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yeah. Amara, like this was a ceremonial event, very choreographed. It sort of lends the trappings of credibility, obviously, to Vladimir Putin who swept to power certainly as believed. Outside of Russia in an election that was neither free nor fair, but inside Russia, like nothing changes, if anything, there is a renewed sense of permanence around his rule. This is his fifth term, may not even be his last. He is eligible to run again in six year's time should he decide to do that.

But look, internationally, obviously, many diplomats did not attend this event. But what we could glean from the very short speech that Vladimir Putin made is that the policy of confrontation with the West will certainly continue in his fifth time. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

VLADIMIR PUTIN, RUSSIAN PRESIDENT: We do not refuse dialog with Western states. The choice is theirs. Do they intend to continue trying to restrain the development of Russia, continue the policy of aggression, continuous pressure on our country for years, or look for a path to cooperation and peace?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SEBASTIAN: So obviously, when he says we do not refuse dialog with the West, take that with a pinch of salt. He goes on to say that a conversation even on security is possible, but not from a position of strength. It has to be on equal ground. The translation is that he will only engage in dialogue with the West if they stop supporting Ukraine, which of course is not happening right now. But significant also that Putin sees one key lever that he can pull and that is, of course, the nuclear threat just one day before this inauguration, Russia announcing that it is preparing drills, military drills that would simulate the use of a battlefield nuclear weapon, a non- strategic nuclear weapon.

This was in response, they said, two comments from David Cameron, the U.K. Foreign Secretary and the French President Emmanuel Macron suggesting that the West's aid for Ukraine could go even further than where it is right now. So, you can see that this policy of confrontation, that nuclear threat that will be a key challenge for the West as it approaches Putin now in his fifth term.

WALKER: And Clare, we are hearing some reports of a possible assassination attempt against Volodymyr Zelenskyy, the President of Ukraine. What are you learning about that?

SEBASTIAN: Yeah, this news is coming from the Ukrainian Security Services saying that they have caught and arrested two employees of the Ukrainian secret -- the State Secret Service, that is the department that is charged with protection for President Zelenskyy and other top officials. Now, these two employees have been charged with treason. They are accused of being part, according to the Ukrainian Secret Service, of a network of Russian agents working for the FSB, which is of course Russia's own security service and passing classified information to Russia about the whereabouts of President Zelenskyy, and not only him but also the Head of the Ukrainian State Security Services and the Head of Defense Intelligence as well.

So, they are saying that they have foiled this plot. Now, this, of course, is not the first time that we've seen assassination attempts against President Zelenskyy. He himself said in an interview in February that he lost interest after the fifth time, but it does seem to have been a pretty major operation to foil this plot. Amara?

WALKER: All right, Clare Sebastian, thank you so much. A Russian court has ruled that an American soldier who was detained last week in Russia's far east will be held for at least two months. Staff Sergeant Gordon Black was arrested in Vladivostok on suspicion of theft while on leave from his posting in South Korea. Officials say he did not desert from the U.S. Army but the reason for his trip is unknown.

Natasha Bertrand joining us now live from the Pentagon with more. What are we learning about the soldier, Natasha?

NATASHA BERTRAND, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Well, Amara, we are told that he was stationed in South Korea and he was actually due to change his stations back to the United States, back to Fort Cavazos in Texas when he decided beforehand to take a leave of absence.

[08:30:00]

BERTRAND: So he was not AWOL, he was not absent without leave. He just decided of his own volition, according to officials, to travel to Russia. And according to an interview that his mother gave to the "Washington Post," it did have something to do with a woman, with a relationship that he was in, going to visit her in Vladivostok, which is the far, far east of Russia. And so, what we are learning is that at some point, while he was there, he was detained by Russian authorities. This was last week, last Thursday, on charges of suspected theft and criminal misconduct.

It is unclear what the details of his arrest actually are and what he is alleged to have done. U.S. officials have not disclosed that. But look, I mean, this is obviously a very, very tense moment for the U.S. and Russia and very delicate negotiations going on right now to get other U.S. detainees out of Russia, including Paul Wieland and Evan Gershkovich. So, we'll have to wait and see what happens to Gordon Black, but he is currently in pre-trial detention in Russia until at least July 1, Amara.

WALKER: All right, Natasha Bertrand at the Pentagon, thanks so much. And still to come, a dangerous escalation or a strategy meant to put pressure on Hamas. The Israeli military says it has captured the Palestinian side of the Rafah Crossing. My colleague, Becky Anderson is back live from Abu Dhabi with more.

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B. ANDERSON: We are returning now to our top story, Egypt calling it a dangerous escalation that is threatening the lives of more than a million Palestinians. Israel says it has captured the Gaza side of the Rafah Crossing. You can see tanks moving into the area earlier. That crossing is, of course, a crucial entry point for desperately needed humanitarian aid to Gaza.

Meanwhile, medical officials say Israeli airstrikes killed at least 23 people, including six children, in Rafah overnight. And it all comes as ceasefire talks are set to resume in Cairo today, after Israel said the deal that Hamas agreed to in the past, about 12 hours or so, was "far from meeting its demands."

CNN's Jeremy Diamond joins me now live from Jerusalem. There are things we know at this point and there are clearly some things that we don't. What we know is that there is an operation on Rafah.

[08:35:00]

B. ANDERSON: This is not yet a full-on military incursion that has been threatened by Israel. What is the latest on what you are hearing on the ground and in talks, what Israel's next move might be?

JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Becky, they may not be a full-on military incursion, but last night was the first time that we saw Israeli tanks and troops roll into a part of Rafah, the area where the Israeli military and its political leadership have been threatening a major military offensive for months now. The Israeli military now says that it has "operational control of the Rafah border crossing and the area surrounding it."

This is, of course, a key crossing where a lot of humanitarian aid, the majority for a long period of time of the humanitarian aid has been coming in from Egypt into Gaza. It is also the only crossing point for people, for those who are getting medically evacuated from Gaza, for people who are looking to leave the Gaza Strip, for humanitarian aid workers who are coming in and out. And now, that is controlled by the Israeli military. And at this point, that crossing is closed today and humanitarian aid organizations are warning of enormous potential disruptions to the flow of humanitarian aid and to the ability of aid workers to get into the Gaza Strip, which has been enduring unspeakable horrors, of course, for the last seven months of this war.

The Israeli military, for its part, says that Hamas operatives were operating around that Rafah Crossing. They say that they kill 20 Palestinian militants. Palestinian officials for their part say that 23 people were killed and they say that six of them were children. Now, as far as those negotiations are concerned, they are continuing even as this military incursion took place last night.

The mediators as well as an Israeli delegation are set to meet in Cairo today. The CIA Director Bill Burns also set to arrive in Cairo today to see if they can bridge the gap between what Hamas agreed to, this latest proposal that they have agreed to, and what Israel was on board with regarding the previous Egyptian framework which as we know, Becky, these two framework proposals are simply not the same thing anymore.

A senior American and a senior Israeli official telling me and my colleague Alex Marquardt last night that it was the end of the war, a permanent ceasefire. That was one of the key differences between these two proposals. That is something that the Israeli government has said it will not agree to. Hamas is continuing to insist on it. And so, we will see how they can bridge the gap, if they can bridge the gap in the coming days. But certainly, this will be another critical week, perhaps the most critical week of negotiations that we have seen so far. Becky?

B. ANDERSON: Let's be quite clear about this. I mean, it is -- it seems the gap is a Hamas wanting to get an announcement of a ceasefire in what is described as the second phase of any deal and as far as we can tell, that is certainly not what the Israelis are currently prepared to sign up to. It may be that negotiators can get to the point where we see a negotiation, and negotiated -- a period of negotiation for a sustainable calm, as some are describing it. But there are clearly gaps as to where both parties stand at present.

It is (ph) H.A. Hellyer from the Royal United Services Institute for Defense & Security Studies and also a scholar at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. I just want you to step back for us and give us your perspective on this past 24 hours. Because for our viewers, it will be somewhat confusing perhaps, not only what is going on with regard to talks, but what is going on in and around Rafah, your sense.

H.A. HELLYER, ROYAL UNITED SERVICES INSTITUTE FOR DEFENSE & SECURITY STUDIES: Well thank you so much, Becky. Always a pleasure to be on your show. Here is where things stand. According to the Israeli press, Israel accepted the terms of a deal that was proposed quite some time ago. Hamas just accepted that very same deal yesterday. This was confirmed again in the Israeli press yesterday that it is the same deal but that the Israelis are now saying that no, we don't accept this.

The Israelis might have been putting in regularly over the past few weeks constant diversions against the deal, insisting that they intend to go into a Rafah irrespective of any deal, which of course the derails negotiations, when you are trying to negotiate with your adversary on the ground. And the Israeli press again they confirm that the leaks in this regard, Israeli officials came directly from Netanyahu's own office.

[08:40:00]

HELLYER: So, I think what we are seeing here is the engagement on negotiations and movements on the ground in the Rafah being primarily about not security concerns or anything like that, but being primarily concerned with the continuation of Netanyahu's government and his domestic considerations within Israel. While the Israelis last night said that they're sending a team to continue negotiations, as your report has just pointed out, they did invade parts of Rafah that they didn't do so before.

They took over the border crossing completely where they had partial control before, because nobody he could leave without Israeli permission, but now have complete and total control over Rafah and actually drove a tank around the border crossing with a massive, huge flag, which frankly strikes me as a provocation to the Egyptians because this all, of course, goes against the annexes to the Camp David Peace Agreement, the only peace agreement that actually ended a major conflict and state of war between Israel and its neighbors.

So, a very dangerous escalation in that regard. The Israelis continue to engage in strikes and bombing campaign in Rafah. They've already told Rafah residents that they need to leave and I think it was UNICEF -- no, UNRWA who said yesterday that they expect anywhere upwards of 100,000 people already on the move. But on the move where? There is nowhere for them to go because there is no safe zone in Gaza.

B. ANDERSON: Right.

HELLYER: -- for them to go to, and that safe zone was supposed to the Rafah. So, I'm not surprised that your viewers would be very confused because indeed the situation has been down to a lot of misdirection and conflicting signals to the point where D.C. itself is a noise that the Israelis are blaming them for how the negotiations have worked out. That was reported in the press earlier this morning.

B. ANDERSON: That's right. And H.A. Hellyer, there is a sense certainly from officials that CNN is talking to and officials who are being reported on the Israeli side, a sense that friendly they feel -- the Washington has blindsided them with the latest offer which was, as they say, conceived by the U.S. and mediators in Qatar and then offered to Hamas.

This is how Egypt has responded to what is going on in Rafah, this morning. I just want to get your sense of this. Egypt call on the Israeli side to exercise the utmost levels of restraint to stay away from a policy of brinkmanship that has long-term impact and that would threaten the fate of the strenuous efforts made to reach a sustainable truce inside the Gaza Strip.

What's the Egyptian strategic thinking at this point? They are, of course, intrinsically involved as key mediators alongside Qatar in these ceasefire and hostage talks and of course, on the other side of this Rafah Crossing, and they fear a security issue building on their side of that crossing.

HELLYER: So, I think that the Egyptians are very concerned about what this means in terms of Palestinians having to flee Rafah either to go into even more dangerous areas within Gaza or try to cross the border, fleeing from Israeli fire. And I don't think that they have any confidence that the Israelis are operating in good faith with regards to the negotiations. You mentioned that the Israelis felt that they were blindsided.

I frankly think this was a spin that the Israelis put out there because the Israelis were invited to the negotiations and they refused to send a working group, which the Americans invited them to do. So, it really feels like we are talking about this particular round of negotiations without being clear that the -- I don't mean you and I, I mean, generally just the overall discussion here. Let me include that the major obstacle to concluding these negotiations in a way that does bring about a ceasefire is, frankly, Netanyahu's domestic considerations. He has people in his cabinet from the Israeli far right that have made very clear that if they do not invade the Rafah, that they will pull out of government. And that means that his government stands the risk of falling entirely.

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HELLYER: And I find it very intriguing to put it politely that when you have a prime minister that is constantly saying we are going to invade the Rafah irrespective of any deal and at the same time, expect the deal to go forward successfully, quite extraordinary. And even so, Hamas, which is designated a terrorist organization by many, many countries, Hamas actually signed up to a deal to precisely that and it has been the Israelis that have be an obstacle in this regard.

So, I think that Egypt sees all of this. The Cairo (inaudible) and is very concerned about what this means in terms of security for itself. The Philadelphi Corridor, which is along the border between Gaza and Egypt, specifically should not have any Israeli troops and that is in one of the agreements between the Israelis and the Egyptians. And here you have an Israeli tank parading up and down the border with a massive flag. So, I think that there is a lot of distrust here. I think there is a lot of suspicion that the Israelis are not interested in a deal. They are not interested in de-escalation. They are interested in going into Rafah irrespective of what D.C. says or what the European Union says, or what the international community says. And I am afraid, I think that they will unless Washington, D.C., which does have leverage over the Israelis, actually uses that leverage and that leverage I have to repeat is not about rhetoric, but actual leverage in terms of the provision of arms and support at the United Nations, not rhetoric, but actual leverage.

B. ANDERSON: Right. The perspective of H.A. Hellyer. Good to have you, sir. Thank you. That's it from me in Abu Dhabi this hour. I'll be back at the top of the hour with a special edition of "Connect the World" with me, Becky Anderson. Now though (ph), it is over to my colleague, Amara.

WALKER: All right. Thanks, Becky. Next, we'll get back to Donald Trump's hush money trial and we will talk to a former judge about whether the threat to throw Donald Trump in jail could turn into reality.

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WALKER: Breaking news in the Donald Trump hush money trial, prosecutors are expected to call Stormy Daniels, the adult film star at the center of the case, to the stand today. She was paid $130,000 in hush money, allegedly to keep her from going public before the 2016 election about her claim that she had had an affair with Trump in 2006. We will bring you more details as soon as we get them.

But first, let's get Judge Jeff Swartz's take on what has been happening inside and outside of the courtroom. He is a former Florida judge. He is now a law professor at the Cooley Law School in Tampa, Florida. It is great to see you again, Jeff. All right. So today, as we are hearing from a source here at CNN that Stormy Daniels will be taking the stand today.

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WALKER: What will you be watching for?

JEFF SWARTZ, FORMER FLORIDA JUDGE: I think that you have to understand that Stormy Daniels is not an unintelligent woman. She has given a number of interviews. She knows how to handle questioning. She knows how to handle herself. I think that she will be a much better witness than people anticipate. She has a vivid recollection of her encounter with Mr. Trump and that is going to play very heavily upon the jury.

I think you're going to have to look more towards cross-examination than direct examination because Mr. Trump's lawyers are going to have to tread lightly when they cross-examine her because many of the jurors will start to feel sorry for her if they tried to beat up on her for what she does for a living or where she has been in her life. So, they are going to have to be very careful.

I think what you are going to hear is how much she wanted, how much she thought she was going to get, all the things that go with it. The fact that she received money, how little of that money she actually got in her pocket, and things that surround the events that led to her encounter with Mr. Trump, which she has recounted on numerous times before.

WALKER: Yeah. So, what do you think that --

SWARTZ: (Inaudible).

WALKER: Absolutely interesting. So, what do you think the prosecution strategy will be with her? Will it be about showing intent to this alleged cover up?

SWARTZ: I am not sure that it is intended shows the reasons behind it in the context of this is why I did not want this to go public. Remember, all of this rush to pay her and the things that they had to do and pecker pulling out, all related around the Access Hollywood tape. And we are talking about the last two to three weeks before the election took place and that is the circumstances we are going to present -- or they are going to present.

One of the things that happens is this is going to date back several months prior to the election, and somehow this came rushing back to Mr. Trump, who obviously did not want this on top of the Access Hollywood tapes and the McDougal problem. It was all starting to pile up on him.

WALKER: So this week, we saw the pivot from the CD and the salacious to a bit drier testimony regarding financial records, not that it wasn't significant or important in any way, but just curious, do you think in addition to Stormy Daniels' testimony today, do you expect that we may see some hard evidence as well, some kind of paper trail communications between Trump and herself? SWARTZ: Well, yeah, the paperwork between the two of them, there might be a contract that was signed that he obviously did not sign in the end, but that she signed. She will talk about the negotiations and what she was told and how it turned out, what she thought her story was worth, which wasn't anywhere here what she was asking for. All of those things will come through and you'll probably see some checks hopefully, that were made out from Michael Cohen to her lawyer and then the money that came from her lawyer to her to pay her all of this.

They will create the sequence of events and show the documents behind it. But the problem is that a lot of times this kind of paper stuff really does bore the jury. You really have to keep them awake. So, Stormy is there today to bring them back into the fold after having to listen to all the mundane stuff yesterday.

WALKER: Yeah. We don't know when she will testify today, if it'll be first thing in the morning or later in the afternoon, but we have heard that Donald Trump has just departed Trump Tower. He is now headed to the Manhattan courtroom. Jeff Swartz, good to see you. Thanks so much.

We will be right back.

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WALKER: Finally, this hour, one of New York City's most exclusive events took place Monday night. The Metropolitan Museum of Art rolled out the red carpet for A-list celebrities attending the Met Gala. And the star is brought their own style to this year's theme, the Garden of Time. Chris Hemsworth was one of the co-chairs of the extravagant fundraiser for the Museum's Costume Institute.

Rapper Cardi B wore a voluminous black gown that she joked weighed five pounds more than she does. That was quite a gown. And model Kendall Jenner paid homage to the theme with a look reminiscent of a queen from a fantasy series. They all look stunning, especially Hemsworth.

All right, that's (inaudible). Thanks so much for being with me here on "CNN Newsroom." I am Amara Walker. "Connect The World" is next.

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