Return to Transcripts main page

CNN Newsroom

CNN International: Humanitarian Crisis in Gaza; U.S. Pauses Bomb Shipment to Israel; Federal Judge Indefinitely Postpones Classified Documents Case; Stormy Daniels Testifies in Detail About Alleged Affair with Trump; Russian Plot to Assassinate Zelenskyy Foiled; U.S. Lawmakers Demand Answers on Kabul Airport Attack. Aired 4-4:30a ET

Aired May 08, 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: People are already forgetting that Hamas unleashed this terror. It was Hamas that brutalized Israelis. It was Hamas that took and continues to hold hostages.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Rafah, that crossing is the lifeline. To try and prevent famine in the Gaza Strip with that border closed is almost impossible.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: These are fragments of a video not fully seen in public before that revealed brutal facts long denied by the U.S. military.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: More than half were killed by gunshots.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ANNOUNCER: Live from London, this is CNN NEWSROOM with Max Foster.

FOSTER: Hello and a warm welcome to our viewers joining us from around the world. I'm Max Foster. It's Wednesday, May the 8th, 9 a.m. here in London, 11 a.m. in Gaza, where Israeli authorities say a key border crossing is now open for humanitarian aid.

The Kerem Shalom crossing was closed on Sunday after a rocket attack killed four Israeli soldiers. A government statement says trucks are already arriving at the crossing and will be allowed into Gaza after inspection.

Meanwhile, Israel's military offensive on Rafah in southern Gaza is now into its second day, despite weeks of very public opposition from Washington.

And one U.S. official tells CNN the White House paused a shipment of 2,000-pound and 500-pound bombs to Israel last week over concerns about civilian casualties in Rafah. The Rafah incursion has killed at least 27 people since it started late on Monday, including six women and nine children. An IDF spokesperson says approximately 20 terrorists have been killed so far.

Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Galant visited an artillery battery at the Israel-Gaza border near Rafah on Tuesday, where he outlined the IDF's mission.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

YOAV GALLANT, ISRAELI DEFENSE MINISTER (through translator): This operation will continue until we eliminate Hamas in the Rafah area and the entire Gaza Strip, or until the first hostage returns. We are willing to make compromises in order to bring back the hostages, but if that option is removed, we will go on and deepen the operation. This will happen all over the Strip, in the south, in the center, and in the north. We know that Hamas only responds to force.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FOSTER: Well, James Elder, the spokesperson for UNICEF, has visited Gaza many times. He describes the devastation that he witnessed in his latest piece for The Guardian, saying, in Rafah, I saw new graveyards filled with children. It's unimaginable that worse could be yet to come.

Now he's warning about the catastrophe that could come with Israel's military offensive there.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JAMES ELDER, UNICEF SPOKESPERSON: Rafah, that crossing is the lifeline for all the things UNICEF and all the other agencies do. Food, water, medicines. It's been closed now. It's closed. And we don't have big warehouses in the Gaza Strip. This is day-to-day. You need those supplies. Fuel. Fuel is so that surgeons can operate with light.

We're about a day or two away from having no fuel again in the Gaza Strip. So right now it's closed. And to try and prevent famine in the Gaza Strip with that border closed is almost impossible.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FOSTER: CNN's senior international correspondent Ben Wedeman has spent decades covering Gaza. He joins me now. And Ben, so this key crossing is now open, but aid will be inspected on the way through. There will be inspections, of course. So how much aid is actually going to get in?

BEN WEDEMAN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, we don't know how much aid has gone in already today. Now, the Israelis said they opened it this morning. This is the Kerem Shalom, or as it's known in Arabic, the Karim Abu Salim crossing, has been opened.

But the Israelis very thoroughly inspect these trucks. So it will be slow getting started. And, of course, the other main crossing, the Rafah crossing from Egypt into Gaza, which Israel took over yesterday, remains closed. And so only a certain amount of aid can get through.

And also importantly, the Rafah crossing into Egypt is where many of those who are injured and their caretakers cross into Egypt.

[04:05:00]

Now, yesterday there were supposed to be 140 people crossing into Egypt today. That didn't -- yesterday. That didn't happen. And today it's not going to happen either if that border crossing remains closed.

Now, the Israelis say that the northern crossing, the Erez crossing into Gaza, is open, and aid continues to enter through there. But at best it's going in in a piecemeal manner. And as we've heard time and again from relief officials, whether NGOs or the United Nations, simply enough is not getting in.

And because of the ongoing fighting, not only in southeast Rafah, but in other parts of Gaza, it's very difficult for that aid to actually reach those who desperately need it --Max.

FOSTER: In terms of this pausing of shipments as well from the U.S., I think that started last week, didn't it? Can we directly link it to Rafah? What's the message from the U.S.?

WEDEMAN: Yes, clearly the United States is very unhappy that Israel is launching this operation. Now the Israelis told the United States it's limited. Yesterday we heard Matthew Miller, the State Department spokesman.

At first he said it looks like a prelude to a major operation. Then he backstepped and he said, no, no, maybe it's not. But what is clear is the United States has warned Israel time and again.

Not only the United States, but the Europeans and others have told them that this operation, if it goes ahead in the Rafah area where more than 1.4 million people have taken refuge, could result in massive civilian casualties.

So the United States, as a result of Israel actually starting this operation -- although I stress we still don't know to the extent this is a limited or major operation -- the United States has paused the delivery of 1,800 2,000-pound bombs and 1,700 500-pound bombs.

Now, CNN has done an analysis of satellite imagery, which has shown that 500 craters would indicate that those 2,000 bombs have been used that many times, at least in Gaza.

And one analyst told CNN that the intensity of Israel's use of this weaponry in the first month of the Gaza war has not been seen since the Vietnam War -- Max.

FOSTER: Ben, thanks for joining us from Rome.

Another one of the four criminal cases against Donald Trump is now on hold. The classified documents trial, originally scheduled to begin this month, was indefinitely postponed by a federal judge appointed by Trump.

He's charged with mishandling national defense information after the FBI seized boxes from his Mar-a-Lago estate nearly two years ago. Judge Aileen Cannon cited issues around classified evidence, saying they need to be worked out before a jury is chosen. She said the process will take until at least late July. Adding in a statement that finalizing a trial date at this point would be, quote, imprudent and inconsistent.

The judge's decision is considered a major victory for Trump, who's eager to delay all of his trials as long as possible. If he's elected president in November, he could theoretically have the Justice Department make all these charges against him disappear.

One of Trump's lawyers from his time at the White House blasted the order to postpone the classified documents case and suggested Judge Cannon is both biased and incompetent.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

TY COBB, FORMER TRUMP WHITE HOUSE LAWYER: She had no intention of getting this case to trial and she wasn't competent to get this case to trial. She talks about her duty to fully and fairly consider the pending motions. She's had months to do that and did very little.

She's ruled on only three of the 12 motions to dismiss, all of which could have been easily resolved by now. The things that she has done here are really inexplicable and it's tragic. She talks about having honored the public's interest in the administration of justice by postponing the trial.

You know, she has not honored the public's interest, you know, for one day in this case, as she has sat in her office apparently paralyzed from ruling on easily resolvable motions. And sadly, this case will not go to trial, notwithstanding the fact it's one of the most important cases in history and could have easily been tried in advance of the election.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

FOSTER: Well, Trump's hush money criminal trial won't resume until Thursday. So he's spending his day off back at Mar-a-Lago. On Tuesday, Trump was forced to listen to former porn star Stormy Daniels describe salacious detail about their alleged affair and how she came to accept a payment for her story.

[04:10:00]

The defense also drilled down on her defamation suit against Trump from six years ago that was dismissed. CNN's Paula Reid has our report.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DONALD TRUMP, FORMER U.S. PRESIDENT, 2024 PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: It's a very, very unfair trial. PAULA REID, CNN CHIEF LEGAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Donald Trump coming face to face with Stormy Daniels in court as she took the stand to tell the jury about her alleged sexual encounter with a then businessman. Prosecutors asked Daniels to identify Trump in the courtroom. She pointed towards him, saying, in the navy blue jacket. With Trump having no visible reaction.

After walking through how she got into the adult film industry, the prosecution quickly turned to Daniels first introduction to Trump at a 2006 golf tournament in Lake Tahoe. That meeting turned into a dinner invitation she initially declined. But her publicist got her to reconsider. What could possibly go wrong, were his words to me, Daniels recounted with a giggle. If nothing else, you'd get a great story.

She described Trump's hotel suite in detail, saying that when she arrived, he was wearing satin pajamas. Does Mr. Hefner know you stole his pajamas? She teased him, asking him to change. And he obliged.

Daniels said Trump asked her about the business aspects of her adult film directing and her possibly appearing on The Apprentice. And she briefly asked Trump about his wife, Melania, who had recently given birth to their son, Barron.

Recalling Trump said, we don't sleep in the same room.

The statement causing Trump to shake his head and murmur to his attorneys.

When she later returned from a trip to the bathroom, Daniels testified that Trump was waiting for her on the bed, wearing only boxers.

I felt like the room spun in slow motion, Daniels said. I thought, oh, my God, what did I misread to get here? She testified that the two had sex.

Although Trump did not initially ask her to keep the encounter quiet. She said, I told very few people that we actually had sex because I felt ashamed that I didn't stop it.

It was after Trump began running for president.

TRUMP: And when you're a star, they let you do it. You can do anything.

REID (voice-over): And the infamous Access Hollywood tape came out that her then publicist said she should sell the story.

My motivation wasn't money. It was to get the story out. She testified.

But when she found out Trump and Michael Cohen were interested in buying the story for $130,000, she told the court it was the best thing that could have happened because then I'd be safe and the story wouldn't come out.

Then in a searing cross examination, Trump's attorney, Susan Necheles, pushed Daniels. Am I correct that you hate President Trump?

Yes, Daniels replied.

You want him to go to jail? Necheles asked.

I want him to be held accountable, Daniels said. If he's found guilty, yes.

Daniels casual and relaxed demeanor changed as the defense's questions became more pointed. Attacking her credibility and trying to establish Daniels has always just been trying to make a profit.

You've been making money by claiming to have had sex with President Trump for more than a decade, Necheles asked. That story has made you a lot of money, right?

Daniels responded, It's also cost me a lot of money.

REID: Court will not be in session on Wednesday, but Daniels will be back on the stand Thursday to continue that cross examination.

The big thing we're watching for the next 72 hours is whether Trump can continue to abide by the gag order that prohibits him from attacking any witnesses in this case.

Daniels clearly got under his skin at times, but the judge has threatened him with possible jail time if he violates the gag order again.

Paula Reid, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

FOSTER: Live pictures right now from Belgrade in Serbia, following Xi Jinping's whirlwind visit to Europe, his first in five years. The Chinese president hopes to strengthen ties with one of his country's closest European trading partners there.

Xi and the Serbian president are set to meet this hour and sign several agreements. It's the highest level visit by a foreign leader to Serbia in years. Before Belgrade, Xi was in France, where he met with President Emmanuel Macron, who was the Chinese leader to use his relationship with Russia to end the war in Ukraine. Xi will wrap up his visit a bit later on in Hungary.

Ukraine says Russia has launched a massive missile attack. More than 50 missiles and 20 drones targeted power generation and transmission facilities in regions across the country.

Clare Sebastian joins me now. Air sirens being blasted over Kyiv in the early hours. This does seem pretty significant.

CLARE SEBASTIAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, this is a large scale attack. We've seen a number of these recently covering multiple regions, using multiple different types of missiles and drones. The Air Force was able to avert most of them. [04:15:00]

But, you know, one attack Shahad drone and 16 missiles got through, including some of Russia's most powerful ballistic missiles. And the target, as we have seen as part of the playbook recently, seems to be mainly critical infrastructure, energy infrastructure. The largest private energy company in Ukraine, saying that this was an extremely difficult night.

It says three of its thermal power plants were hit. And this was the fifth time its facilities have been damaged in these massive missile and drone attacks in the last one and a half months. So you can see that this is stepping up.

President Putin has previously claimed that this is in response to Ukrainian attacks on Russian energy facilities, which we have seen using Ukrainian drones deep into Russian territory. But obviously, this has been going on long before that.

And, of course, today is also when Ukraine marks Victory Day, victory in Europe. It has distanced itself from Russia's celebrations, which are happening tomorrow on May 9th. But President Zelenskyy coming out and sort of likening this to the actions of the Nazis in a sort of counter to what we repeatedly hear from Russia about denazifying Ukraine.

So it's saying the entire world must understand who is who. The world must not give a chance to new Nazism.

FOSTER: There have been assassination attempts on President Zelenskyy. And there's a report of another one which was obviously foiled. But it was very close to home.

SEBASTIAN: Yes, this was interesting. We got a lot more detail from the Ukrainian secret services than we usually do about these assassination attempts. Frankly, President Zelenskyy tends to dismiss these. He said in a recent interview that he sort of lost interest after the fifth time of being told about these.

But this was a significant one because it seems to have been a long- term and extensive infiltration of the secret service, which is the agency charged with protecting him, by the Russian FSB. There are two colonels, which is a very high rank, who have now been charged with treason. One of them, which also charged, was preparing a terror attack.

So that is one thing. I think on the one hand, Ukraine says it's foiled it. That shows the weakness of the enemy. But on the other hand, it is concerning that they were able to infiltrate so close to the president. So that is something that certainly Ukraine wanted to get out there, but will be a cause for concern going forward.

FOSTER: OK, Clare, thank you.

The peak of tornado season is in full force across the U.S., with watches again in effect for a number of states in the Midwest and south for the next few hours or so. A severe storm threat for today stretches from Texas to Maine, affecting more than 140 million people.

In the south, storms are expected to ramp up in the afternoon and produce strong tornadoes, giant hail and damaging winds. Now, parts of Missouri, Tennessee and Oklahoma are grappling with the aftermath of tornadoes. At least one person was killed and several injured when a powerful storm tore through Oklahoma on Monday.

Officials say dozens of homes were badly damaged in two cities, and rescuers are searching for one or two people still unaccounted for. The state was under a rare level five tornado risk watch on Monday for the first time in nearly five years.

Several tornadoes hit Michigan late on Tuesday, injuring at least a dozen people. Rescuers are still looking for more possible victims. A mobile home park and a FedEx facility both sustained major damage. Residents in the city of Portage have been advised to check on neighbors after reports of gas leaks and potential live wires on the ground there.

The death toll from devastating floods in Brazil now up to 90, with more than 100 people still missing. Heavy rain flooded an airport in the southern city of Porto Alegre on Tuesday. The flooding has also caused landslides and destroyed roads and bridges. Brazil's president called on Congress to declare a public emergency.

And the Iguazu Falls bordering Brazil and Argentina are roaring stronger due to all that heavy rain. According to local reports, the waterfall is flowing three times faster than usual.

Prince Harry will deliver remarks at London's St. Paul's Cathedral today. The Duke of Sussex is in the U.K. to attend events and meetings celebrating the 10th anniversary of the Invictus Games and its foundation. The Prince founded the international sporting event for military personnel wounded in action.

And at a meeting on Tuesday, he spoke about why he established the Games a decade ago. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PRINCE HARRY, DUKE OF SUSSEX: Sport was the magic that I witnessed. And having just come back from Afghanistan myself, seeing the wounded, injured and sick and seeing the effect this was having on all the families and just the weight, the load on defense and on the individuals and on the rehabilitation programs, there just wasn't enough being done. And at the same time, not enough celebration, recognition of those sacrifices that were being made.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FOSTER: There had been speculation that Prince Harry would meet his father, King Charles, during his visit.

[04:20:00]

But a spokesperson for the Duke of Sussex says they'll not meet because the King is basically too busy. Their last meeting was in February when Prince Harry flew from his home in Los Angeles to briefly visit his father after Buckingham Palace revealed the King was diagnosed with cancer.

No plans to meet his brother, Prince William, either, which is probably where the deepest tensions are within the family.

Still to come, an historic legal battle taking shape, pitting security concerns against First Amendment rights, as TikTok sues over a new law which could see the app banned in the U.S.

Plus, U.S. President Joe Biden delivers a somber speech saying anti- Semitism has no place in America.

Plus, U.S. lawmakers say the Pentagon must explain some major contradictions in reports about the deadly attack at Kabul airport during America's exit from Afghanistan.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

FOSTER: A group of U.S. House Republicans are urging the U.S. Defense Secretary to explain some discrepancies in the investigation into the United States' chaotic exit from Afghanistan. They're specifically asking about Pentagon reports into the ISIS suicide blast outside the Kabul airport in 2021, the Abbey Gate attack that killed 13 U.S. service members and 170 Afghans. They're asking why the Pentagon's reports contradict CNN video that reveals there was much more gunfire than the Pentagon ever admitted.

The parents of seven U.S. Marines who died in the incident have accused the Pentagon of misleading them. CNN's Nick Paton Walsh has been covering this closely, and here's some of his earlier reporting.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

NICK PATON WALSH, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Two Pentagon investigations have insisted everyone was killed by the bomb and dismissed dozens of Afghans' accounts to CNN two years ago that Afghan civilians were shot in the chaotic aftermath.

GEN. KENNETH F. MCKENZIE, THEN-COMMANDER, U.S. CENTRAL COMMAND: No definitive proof that anyone was ever hit or killed by gunfire.

WALSH (voice-over): But this new video, which begins outside the airport's Abbey Gate entrance, reveals much more shooting after the blast than the Pentagon said. Combined with new accounts to CNN of Marines opening fire and gunshot injuries in Afghan civilians, it challenges the rigor and reliability of the two Pentagon investigations that declared no Afghan civilians were shot dead in the chaotic aftermath.

DR. SAYED AHMADI, FORMER KABUL HOSPITAL DIRECTOR: One 170 peoples were killed totally. But the register, what we had, maybe 145.

WALSH: And by your estimation, about half? AHMADI: More than half were killed by gunfire.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

FOSTER: Nick is here with us. So obviously, viewers came out of that report asking lots of questions and now House Republicans are, too.

WALSH (on camera): Yes, certainly. I mean, this is a significant moment because eight Republican congressmen who are members of the House Foreign Affairs Committee have said that they want the Pentagon to explain the discrepancies before what they were told by the Pentagon during briefings they had about this incident.

[04:25:05]

A lot of families of the dead Americans there are still asking answers and congressmen have been pressing the Pentagon for that.

There in this letter demanding that those discrepancies between that briefing and the video you saw part of there be explained. They're also asking that the Pentagon release any other video that they have. They're also asking, why did the Pentagon for this investigation, two investigations now, not interview any Afghans?

The doctor you just saw there, they've never spoken to him. And they're pressing pretty hard for what they say is the truth that must come out.

Let me wind back and explain why this is all important. This is the deadliest incident for the Americans for decades, particularly in Afghanistan. Nearly 200 Afghans dead as well. It was an ISIS suicide bomb, certainly, that killed a lot of people there, but there were reports from Afghans we spoke to of shooting. Some said they'd been shot, some said they witnessed shooting.

And the Pentagon have always insisted the only gunmen there were U.S. troops or U.K. troops, and that the small amount of firing they did, three near-simultaneous bursts, didn't actually hit anybody.

The video we had showed there was so much more gunfire than that over a four-minute-long period, and that really undermined the Pentagon insistence that gunfire wasn't really part of something that killed people there.

Now we're in this strange moment where yesterday the Pentagon for the first time said to me that they would consider or be interested in seeing any new video that emerged.

They told the congressmen who wrote this letter that while they hadn't seen our video prior to publication, they didn't think it changed the nature of their investigation. But the congressmen clearly disagree about that.

And also, too, Max, seven families of the 13 Gold Star families of the dead U.S. service members there, they've released a statement in which they say the Pentagon has misled them, saying that they were told lies during a recent briefing about this.

And so we're into an interesting moment here where quite clearly there's a demand for facts to be addressed. The Pentagon kind of insists they won't look at it again.

FOSTER: So where can the congressmen take it?

WALSH: Well, they're asking for more video. They could potentially ask for more inquiries publicly. They've asked for a classified briefing from the Pentagon. The Pentagon have said to me that they will respond directly to the congressmen.

But there's a lot of questions that still have to be answered here, because ultimately the version of events the Pentagon have put out suggest that nobody was hit by gunfire at all, that it was limited and controlled and only three bursts. And there've been Marines who've said to them during their inquiries that they opened fire or were targeted by gunfire or they heard gunfire.

As I said earlier, two years ago we spoke to 19 Afghans who were either shot or saw people get shot. And again, the theory that the Pentagon have always pushed is there were no other gunmen in the area firing apart from American or British troops. So who did the shooting here?

No one we've spoken to in the Afghan side saw Taliban or ISIS gunmen as part of what people thought might be a complex attack. There's been limited and I think not entirely solid reporting from some Marines. There may have been an ISIS gunman who fired once there. The Pentagon have discounted that.

And so we're left with this strange moment where the Pentagon are just so insistent that gunfire killed nobody at all and don't want to address a lot of the evidence that points to a different direction about that, leading I think many people to question why. Why are they so insistent that couldn't possibly have happened when the congressmen in this letter point out quite clearly that it's not really clear whether the Pentagon even managed to assess quite what the gunfire after that aftermath was, particularly how that is such discrepancy to our video.

FOSTER: And how much damage do you think this does to U.S. reputation abroad? Because it was already, you know, chaotic, wasn't it, from what we knew about what happened there with the withdrawal?

WALSH: Yes, I mean, this was a horrifying incident, certainly. And the allegation that potentially the death toll was augmented by some actions of U.S. personnel there, that would of course, if proven in the fullness of time, be damaging. But also importantly too, this was a horrific moment at the end of America's longest war.

Not only was it the largest casualty event for U.S. forces for quite some time, it was also the largest casualty event for Afghan civilians for many decades. And that says something after the horrors Afghanistan has had to visit on it. And so clarity over this, truth over this, is important for so many families involved. And you might argue too, for the history books, when it comes down to America's longest conflict, many critics of which say it was often mired in mistruth and a lack of transparency while it was being conducted.

FOSTER: OK, Nick, thank you so much.

Now the Biden administration is pausing a shipment of bombs to Israel. We'll explain how that's related to the military offensive in southern Gaza.

[04:30:00]